A/N: Thank you, trickstersink, for favoriting! (How do you spell that word? Google doesn't like it...) You made my day, now I'm posting another chapter.

Disclaimer: Not JKR, don't own HP.


And they materialized in a narrow alleyway. Professor McGonagall led Andi, who was gasping for air, into a small pub called The Leaky Cauldron.

"Morning, Professor. Anything I can get for you?" asked the bartender.

"No thank you, Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business with Andi here," said the professor. Tom smiled at Andi and went back to waving his wand at the dishes farther behind him, which were washing themselves. Andi started as she realized that the pub was almost running itself.

Professor McGonagall led her out into the back-patio of the little pub. She walked up to a trash can, pulled out her wand, and tapped the bricks of the wall in a specific order. Andi watched in amazement as bricks, rotated, pulled aside, and rearranged themselves to form an arched doorway. She walked through it with the professor, looking every which way: there were shops of cauldrons, shops of broomsticks, clothing stores, and everywhere people in robes were bustling around, lugging bags of products from place to place.

"This is Diagon Alley," Professor McGonagall told Andi.

"It's amazing," Andi said.

"We'll stop at Gringotts first. Gringotts is the wizarding bank," added Professor McGonagall at Andi's confused glance. "It is run by goblins. There is a special fund for muggle-borns like yourself who haven't any money."

"But I have money-"

"Not Muggle money, wizarding money. Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts. 29 bronze Knuts to a silver Sickle, and 17 Sickles to a gold Galleon."

"Oh." Andi was slightly confused. She knew that she would mess up how many Knuts to a Sickle and how many Sickles to a Galleon before long.

Professor McGonagall took her inside the wizarding bank. Carved into the marble, there was a warning.

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief you have been warned: Beware.

That was all she saw before entering the building. Andi shivered. She would never steal from Gringotts.

Creatures she assumed were goblins were counting money, weighing jewels, and more along the walls. Professor McGonagall walked up to one.

"I need to access the Muggle-born fund vault, number 289."

"Key?"

Professor McGonagall handed the goblin a metal key. He examined it carefully, then led them over to a cart. Andi climbed in with Professor McGonagall, who grabbed a side rail.

"Do hang on tightly, Andi, there's only one speed," she said stiffly. Andi grabbed the other rail as the cart dropped almost vertically, then twisted sharply to the side. The goblin looked supremely unconcerned as he managed the brakes. Andi tried not to throw up as she clung to the rail and wished the ride would be over quickly.

Which it was; after only a few minutes of sickening twists, drops, and turns, the cart skidded to a stop by a stone door. Andi climbed out immediately, then almost fell down with dizziness. The goblin and Professor McGonagall followed. The goblin opened the door by finding a hidden keyhole and using the key.

Inside were mounds of Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts. Andi's eyes went wide. She had never seen that much money in her life.

Professor McGonagall filled a medium-sized bag with a mixture of coins.

"That shall do. Back up we go," she said. Andi reluctantly got back into the cart and got a death grip on the rail.

The ride up wasn't quite as bad as the ride down. Still, Andi felt like she might puke as they walked away from Gringotts. Remembering the poem, she turned and looked at it again.

Enter, stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed,

For those who take, but do not earn,

Must pay most dearly in their turn.

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there.

Andi shuddered. The implied warning was dire.

Professor took her to a variety of shops. She bought sets of robes and jumpers in one shop, and potions supplies in another. In one, she found a beautiful barn owl for sale because he was just a hatchling, and couldn't carry anything heavier than 5 lines of parchment yet. Andi immediately purchased him and named him Nutmeg.

"Nutmeg, you are cute," she decided, holding his cage in one hand. The little owl peered up at her and let out a small hoot, as if he was agreeing.

Next, they went to Olivander's Wand Shop. Andi noted that Olivander's had been in business since 382 B.C. Whoever Olivander is, he sure is old! Maybe it's a family business…

Olivander was indeed old. He was short, gray-haired, and distracted-sounding. There were hundreds of rows of wands.

"Let's measure you, then, Miss…"

"Kirkwood," Professor McGonagall supplied. "Olivander, this is Andi Kirkwood. Andi, this is Olivander."

Andi nodded hello to the old wandmaker. He ignored her and stared at a small tape measure, which had started measuring random body parts-like the distance in between her nostrils-by itself.

"Maybe this one? Holly and unicorn tail, 8 ¼ inches, rather springy." Andi took the wand in her hand and waved it. A nearby vase exploded, but Olivander didn't look upset at all.

"This one, then? Elm with dragon heartstring, powerful, 10 ¼ inches, brittle." Andi waved that one, too, and flinched as a window pane shattered. Olivander snatched it back immediately.

"Well, not that one, certainly. This one, perhaps? Birchwood and phoenix feather, 9 ¾ inches, middling flexibility."

Andi took it and waved it in the air, wondering what she would destroy this time. A flurry of multicolor sparks flew from the wand. Andi wondered what that meant.

"Excellent!" Olivander proclaimed. "A perfect fit. That will be 13 Galleons."

Andi hurriedly paid Olivander and they left the shop, Andi clutching her new wand

"Well, he was…" Andi trailed off.

"Eccentric. But he's the best wandmaker in all of Britain. He has supplied Hogwarts students for centuries."

"Him? He can't be that old."

"Can't he? It seems that he is."

They visited only a few more shops. In one, they bought a large pile of books, and in another, a trunk for her to put her things in.

"Let's go back to your parents' house, Andi. They'll be wanting you home for supper, I think." Andi took Professor McGonagall's hand and they turned, Andi once more nearly suffocating.

Then, they appeared in Andi's backyard.

"Thank you, Professor McGonagall," said Andi.

"You're quite welcome, Andi. Now, here is your ticket," Professor McGonagall said, handing a slip of cardstock paper to Andi. She grasped it in her hand. "The train leaves at precisely 11:00 from King's Cross Station."

Then the witch turned and disappeared with a pop.