The magic took my breath away. It was unbelievable, I was really here. Women with witches' hats bustled about with their young children, buying owls and cats and various animals. People ran around with their lists, with handfuls of books and potions.

I looked to Hagrid. "Hagrid, this is-is ... it's amazing!"

He looked down to me and chuckled. "Shall we get started then?" He pointed to my list.

I nodded with enthusiasm as he took the list off of me and examined it.

"Well, we need to get ye down to Gringotts, to get ye money."

"Money?" I looked at him. I had no money in Gringotts.

"Hogwarts give muggle-borns a sum of money so that they can get all their equipment. Your parents know nothing of Hogwarts, and could not leave you any money. You get a little sum of money every year to keep you going." Hagrid explained.

"But.. if my parents know nothing of Hogwarts, then how do I go on trips to Hogsmeade?" I sighed, knowing that I couldn't get anyone to sign the permission slip for me. My parents didn't know of this world, and clearly I couldn't go back to them for the holidays.

"You'll have to speak to Professor McGonagall about that." Hagrid gave me a sympathetic look, and carried on down to Gringotts.

Gringotts had been refurbished, after the dragon incident. It was lined with gold, with marble pillars. Goblins lined the hallway, stamping and writing in books, looking up occasionally. We came to the front desk, a busy looking goblin at work.

Hagrid gave a cough, and the goblin looked up slowly and reluctantly.

"Yes?" The goblin said, looking up with a grimacing smile.

Hagrid spoke. "Er, this is Hannah O'Donnell. She's a First Year at Hogwarts. We're here to get some money from her vault."

My vault! I have a vault in Gringotts! I couldn't help but smile at the thought.

The goblin peered over his desk to see me, and examined me with beady eyes. "The key?" He asked Hagrid, and outstretched his bony fingers.

"Oh, yes.. it's here somewhere.." He fumbled about in his pocket in his coat. He turned out things like paperclips, pieces of tissue and parchment, before taking out a little gold key. He handed it over to the goblin, and he examined it closely, turning it around in his palm. He nodded to Hagrid, and got off from his stool and led the way behind him through a large door. I followed Hagrid with curiosity.

We came to a little cart, which we all clambered into. I was shaking with excitement and fear, knowing that this little cart goes upside down and all over the place. It took off at high speed, changing directions almost every second.

The cart slowed down outside vault 738. This must be my vault. I got out, and stumbled about, trying to find my balance. I felt sick and dizzy, but I was too excited to care. The goblin placed his hand on the door, triggering some sort of lock from the inside. He then inserted the key into a golden lock, and turned it three times to the right. The door unlocked and opened slowly, revealing a glow of gold from the inside.

I walked into my vault, and to my amazement, there were hundreds of golden coins glistening proudly. I turned to Hagrid, my mouth open with shock.

"This.. this is mine..?"

Hagrid nodded. "500 Galleons. Professor McGonagall must think a lot of you."

I turned back to the coins, my heart racing. This was unbelievable. This was all mine. All of it. My parents would have never given me this much.

We took 100 Galleons from my vault, and walked back out to the village. Hagrid looked at my list.

"We need to get you a wand, first of all. You can find that in Ollivanders."

"Aren't you coming?" I asked him, as he started to walk away.

He turned to me. "I've got some stuff to do of me own, but after you've got ye wand, I'll meet you outside."

I made my way through crowds of rushing people, occasionally getting hit by a cauldron or a book. I saw a shop with animals outside it; owls, cats and toads were sitting patiently in cages. I walked up to a brown barn owl; it was beautiful. It looked back at me with large black eyes inside the cage. I would come back and purchase this owl, but I had to go and get a wand first and then meet Hagrid outside Ollivanders.

I continued walking down the street, looking at each name of the shops until I eventually got to Ollivanders. I looked through the glass windows, and saw an old man at a desk. I pushed the door open, and a bell tinkled as I walked in. The frail old man looked at me and smiled.

"Ollivander?" I asked him.

He looked at me. "Yes," He coughed and sputtered. He was clearly not in a very good condition. "Are you here for a wand?"

I nodded, worried by his state. He nodded and walked over to his numerous amounts of shelves and pulled out a box from one of them. He came over to me, and placed the wand in my outstretched hands. I looked at it in awe.

"This is a 10 ½ willow and dragon heartstring." He said, smiling.

I grasped it and I felt a gush of magic power through my body. I smiled at Ollivander, who smiled back at me, his wrinkled face tired with fatigue.

I paid him and thanked him for his kindness, and left the store with my wand. I looked around for Hagrid, who was on the opposite side of the street with the brown barn owl that I saw earlier. I ran over to him, and hugged him.

"Oh, Hagrid! He's beautiful! Thank you so much!" I took the bird from him and the owl looked at me with happy black eyes.

"It was a present from me, don't worry about it." Hagrid smiled, and patted me on the back. "We need to go to Flourish and Blott's to get ye books for First Year now." He said, and led me into a large bookstore.

There was a whole list of books that was required for my first year at Hogwarts, such as 'The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)', 'A History of Magic', and 'One Thousand Magical Herbs'. I paid for all the books that were needed, and then I had to go over to get my robes fitted.

Many other students were in there getting their robes fitted, and I talked to a girl whose name was Abi.

"Hello, my name's Abi!" The girl said. She had dark brown eyes and dark brown hair, and wore it in a scraped-back ponytail. She was taller than me, and her hand was outstretched as a greeting.

I shook it, and smiled. "I'm Hannah; it's nice to meet you! Are you a First Year too?"

She nodded. "Yes, I'm just getting my robes fitted. I'm here with my mother." She gestured behind her to a tall woman with the same black hair, who was talking to the woman behind the counter. "Are you here with your parents?"

"No, my parents aren't witches or wizards. I'm a muggle-born." I shrugged. I saw Hagrid who gave me a signal as to come over. "I have to go now, but hopefully we'll meet up again!"

Abi smiled. "I'll try and find you on the train, and then we can sit next to each other." She waved to me as I walked off to Hagrid.

We went into various shops after that, picking up items such as a cauldron, a set of glass phials, a telescope and a set of brass scales.

We walked past a shop with broomsticks being shown in the window. I stopped and looked at them, wondering if I was good enough to play Quidditch.

"First Years aren't allowed their own broomsticks," Hagrid patted me on the shoulder. "We'd better get ye to the train station."

Hagrid and I walked to the London train station, and as we walked past, we got strange looks our way by passing by muggles. Hagrid stopped between platforms 9 and 10.

"Just run straight into that there wall, and then use ye ticket to get on the Express." Hagrid said.

"But Hagrid, I don't have a ticket!" I said.

He looked at me, confused, but then he fumbled around in his pocket for something. He brought out a slightly crumbled train ticket.

"Sorry it's a bit crumpled, I may have sat on it at some point."

I smiled, and took it from him. "Thanks, Hagrid."

"See ye at Hogwarts!" He walked off and gave me a wave.

I looked at the time the Express left, which was at 9am. I looked at the time on the clock – 8.43am. I then looked at the wall in front of me. I positioned myself in from of it, wondering if this really was the way to go. It seemed so simple, yet I was frightened by the fact that it was just a plain brick wall.

I took a deep breath and began to run at the wall. It got closer and closer, and I was expecting to crash into the wall and knock myself out, but I felt nothing. I heard a gush of wind go past my ears, and slowed down. A hoot of a train made me open my eyes, and I found myself on platform 9 and ¾. A massive grin grew across my face. This was it. I was here. I had made it.

Children with trolleys filled up the platform. I went over to a man who was putting away luggage.

"Excuse me, but can you put my luggage on the train?" I asked him.

He smiled. "Of course, leave your trolley with me, and I'll make sure it gets on the train, you just hop on."

He took my trolley, and I found an officer to show my ticket to. He punctured a hole in it and let me on board.

Children were all over the train, finding seats to sit in with their friends. I heard someone shouting my name, and I looked behind me.

"Hannah!" Abi shouted. She came running towards me down the train. "I've been looking for you everywhere! I've got some seats for us!" She led me down the long corridor, past several booths where all kinds of students were laughing and sharing their holiday news. Abi showed me into an empty booth and we both sat down near the window.

"I'm so glad I found you," I said. "I didn't think I would know anyone on the first day." I was relieved to have found a friend, so I wouldn't feel so alone.

"Me too!" Abi said.

We talked about the teachers and the classes at Hogwarts. Time seemed to fly by with all the excitement.

".. I wonder what house I'll be in! It's going to be so excit-" Abi got cut off as there was a knock on the door window. Two girls looked in and smiled.

"Hi, do you think we could sit with you two? There isn't any room anywhere else." Said a brown haired girl. The other was a blonde girl, who was shorter than the other.

"Of course." Me and Abi said. They came and sat down, grateful.

"I'm Tiffany, by the way." Said the brown haired girl.

"And I'm Tilly. It's nice to meet you both." Said the blonde haired girl.

We all shook hands and continued to talk about Hogwarts. The train gave a hoot and it pulled away from the station. Tilly, Tiffany and Abi all waved to their parents. I felt a little disheartened by this, not having anyone to wave to, but I had my new friends, and I was on my way to Hogwarts.