Chapter Two

They had to go all the way to London to get everything, and it took a long time to get there from where Rae lived (using normal transport of course) so Abel suggested that Rae stay in a sort of hotel for wizards until it was time to go to the train station. It was a lot more cost-effective and easier on everyone, although Rae's mother was almost in tears saying goodbye. Then again, so was Rae. She collected all of her things and packed it into an old trunk her mother kept in the spare room, it took a while because Rae had so many clothes from over the years that she didn't know how many to pack seeing as it was a boarding school, more or less. Though Abel suggested that she went shopping the next day as it was the free day she had before going to Hogwarts and that the shops in 'Diagon Alley' as it was called, had good Wizarding fashion. Rae didn't know whether to believe it or not, though.

"All packed and ready to go?" he asked, returning from the fireplace downstairs, Rae nodded but she looked back sadly at her laptop, lying very lonely on her bed (which was practically devoid of stuffed animals as she found a way to cram the most special ones into her trunk). Abel noticed this and chuckled, "electrical things don't work at Hogwarts so you're going to have to leave it behind, I'm afraid."

"But… my music! Can't you bewitch it or something to make it work?" she pleaded, she could see that Abel was thinking about it. But then he shook his head and said:

"You have no room for it in your trunk anyway."

"I could take my iPod!" she suggested happily, grabbing her bright green iPod Nano from one of her chest of drawers. He sighed and nodded, finally, saying that the Headmaster may allow something to be done. Rae almost hugged him, and immediately hid the earphone wires underneath her red button-up shirt, leaving the earpieces to dangle over her chest. Quickly pocketing the machine, she announced that she was ready. Abel picked up her trunk as it was too heavy for her to carry and they went to say goodbye to Rae's mother before leaving for London. "I'll write you as much as I can, don't worry!"

When they had gotten the bus to the city Sheffield (where they would get a train to London), Rae remembered how he had asked to use the fireplace. Abel smiled at her and pulled a little leather pouch from inside his jacket. He loosened the strings to open the pouch and Rae looked inside, it was… powder? "It's called Floo Powder, it's used for transport. Basically, you throw some into the fire, step in it and shout clearly where you want to go and it'll take you there. It's a very uncomfortable process though, and sometimes you can end up coming out of the wrong fireplace which can be quite troublesome. Although you can also use it to just pop your head through into another fireplace to deliver a message, which is what I did. Usually you have to send an owl with your letter, saying you're coming to Hogwarts but I didn't have one on me…"

Rae was now really confused. So you could teleport through fireplaces with some sort of powder and you sent your letters with owls? She suddenly realised this must be a mobile phone-free world and was glad she'd left hers at home. Well, it wasn't like she had anyone but her mother to contact anyway.

Once in London, they quickly made their way through the streets. Rae had never been there before, so she had no idea where she was going and almost got separated five times because of the crowds. Abel suddenly took hold of her hand and led her through the flocks of people; at least he knew where they were going. Rae had to wonder, where in London would sell things for wizards? It confused her, surely it would have been noticed or something. And also, she couldn't see anyone that looked different, like Abel, they all looked like normal people doing normal things. "This is the Leaky Cauldron, it's where you'll be staying," Abel said. Rae looked around; she could see a lot of shops, including a large book shop and a run down record shop. Abel looked right between the two buildings and moved Rae's head so she was looking in the right direction, and there it was. It was a grubby looking pub, and no one else seemed to be able to see it. They all rushed by, glancing at the book shop and the record shop as if there wasn't anything between them at all.

Abel lead her up to it, opening the door and holding it open for her. Rae looked around; it was rather dim and empty. A group of old men sat around a circular table, a couple of women were sat in a darkened corner and a young man was at the bar, talking to another young man behind the bar. They looked across as Abel and Rae entered and the barman waved at Abel. "Hogwarts business, Abel?" he asked.

"Yes," Abel nodded with a smile, approaching the bar, "also, I would like to book a room for tonight and tomorrow night. The young girl comes from quite far away, so I thought it would be easier if she stayed here until the first of September." The barman nodded and opened an ancient, beaten guestbook. A few minutes later, he handed Rae a key. "I'll be coming to pick her up at nine on the first, look after her until then, okay?"

Soon, they were standing in a small courtyard, facing an old brick wall. Abel got out a thin stick of wood (a wand! Rae excitedly thought) and began counting some of the bricks. He stopped, and tapped it three times and Rae gasped. The brick had wriggled slightly, and then a hole appeared, growing bigger and bigger until a huge archway had formed, and behind just through it was the most marvellous sight Rae had ever seen. The street was cobbled and winding, going on for ages until it twisted out of sight. There were so many people, too! All dressed in strange clothes that Rae couldn't imagine seeing in the middle of London. She stepped through and watched as the hole shrank until it disappeared, and then began taking in the sight before her. The first shop was selling cauldrons, there were about twenty stacked up outside, Rae saw people her age with their parents and other people who looked like students going in and observing cauldrons, picking them up, comparing one to the other. Abel pushed her forward slightly and they began walking, though Rae wasn't paying much attention to where she was going, she was more interested in what was around her.

A group of women were chattering irritably about the prices in the apothecary across the street, a gang of children were pressing their faces up against the glass of a store selling broomsticks and talking about the brand new models. Owls hooted happily from a store called Eeylops Owl Emporium. Rae gazed at them, they were so beautiful! But that wasn't all, there was a huge store with tottering piles of books and more coming into the store and loads coming out, there were shops selling hundreds of different types of parchment and ink and quills, there were shops with all types of disgusting parts of animals like eels' eyes and bat spleens (Rae wasn't too amazed by that one). There were shops with telescopes and weird silver instruments that Rae wanted to find out about, there were globes of planets and the moon and maps of the skies and then Abel stopped.

"Gringotts, the Wizarding bank," he said, Rae let out a sound of awe and disbelief. The building really looked amazing and beautiful, she thought the cramped, busy stores and winding street of Diagon Alley was amazing but in a completely different way to the bank. They went inside and gave a goblin sitting on a tall stool behind a long counter. Rae tried hard not to stare. She'd only ever read about goblins in fairytales and they always seemed to be the bad guys. Though she could see why, they had narrow, dark eyes and long pointed fingers. They just looked menacing.

After a very sickening ride on a creaky cart, Rae felt happy to be standing outside of her vault, on flat ground! The tiny key was inserted into the door and it opened, revealing a vast room piled with mounds of gold, silver and bronze coins. Rae's jaw dropped. Silently, she stepped inside and looked around. "How long did you say my relatives were saving for?" Abel laughed, giving her a satchel to put some money in.

"Just get enough for this year and we'll save the rest, you're only in your first year so you won't be going to Hogsmeade or anywhere," Abel told her. Rae nodded but still piled quite a bit into the satchel, she had no idea how much things cost in this place so she had to be prepared! A moment later, they were back on the cart and then in the blinding sunlight pouring over Diagon Alley. Taking out the list of equipment, she thought it'd be best to get everything done in order. "So, your uniform is first? You can get that from Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions." They went over to a store not too far away from the bank. There was only one other student in there, but they were just finishing and left as Rae went inside.

After finishing with the robes, Rae and Abel headed to the large book store she had seen earlier, and Rae was glad to see a clothes store opposite, and more witches than she liked to see were crowding inside the shop. Maybe it would be less crowded tomorrow, she hoped. After getting the set books, Abel went to get some books for his classes, so Rae decided to walk around and get some books for background reading. She found a book about Hogwarts, and she decided to get a couple of books about Wizarding History and also another book about mythical creatures. Piling them up in her arms, she turned around and –

"Ouch!" – she fell to the floor.

"Ah, I'm sorry, here let me help you," a boy said. Rae opened her eyes, one of the books about Wizarding History was open and a picture of a young boy was looking right at her, he was laughing. Rae's eyes widened – photographs moved?! But then she remembered the boy and turned to face him. Wait… she looked at the book, and the boy, then the book and then she noticed she'd knocked everything out of his hands too!

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry, here let me pick these up! I'm so sorry I didn't mean to, I'm sorry!" she picked all of his things up and handed them to him, "I can't believe I ran into a famous person and knocked everything onto the floor, I'm sorry!" the boy looked at her a little oddly, his bright green eyes sparkling brightly and his mouth twitching into a smile. Suddenly, a much taller, older version of the boy came hurrying up behind him.

"Albus what's going on?" he asked. Rae almost fainted, the boy called Albus laughed.

"I'm not the famous one; my dad is. He's Harry Potter."

For a moment, Rae didn't move, and then she let out a wail and slapped her hands to her head, feeling unbelievably embarrassed. Whilst she was trying to hide her shame, Harry picked up her books and smiled at her when she looked at him, passing the books back. "I see your doing a bit of background reading… one of my best friends did that when she first came to Hogwarts. She didn't know anything about the Wizarding world because she came from a normal family, I guess I should have done that too." He laughed. Rae took the books, thanking him, but averted her eyes. She was from a normal family… well, sort of. Harry noticed this and smiled gently, placing a hand on her shoulder, "don't worry, it's nothing bad. People who have parents who aren't magical still turn out to be amazing witches and wizards. My best friend, Hermione Granger, was just about the smartest girl in the school. Just try hard, and you'll be able to do anything. It doesn't matter whether you're pureblood, half-blood or what. Chin up," Rae looked at him again. He was very strange. "Come on Al, your mother's waiting." Saying goodbye, Harry turned and walked off.

"I have to go, but… I'm Albus Severus Potter, so… I'll see you in school, yeah?" he smiled and followed his father. Rae's eyes widened. Albus… Severus?

Chapter Three Preview:

"Have I seen you before today?" Harry asked, "it's just… your eyes look familiar." Just then, Harry's scar gave an odd twinge.