After a slightly awkward breakfast, I went to see McGonagall. I knocked hesitantly, and she opened the door right away.
"Miss Green." She stepped away, inviting me into her office. "Please sit." I sat in the straight-backed wooden chair facing her desk, organized and devoid of colour. She sat across from me, then got down to business.
"Your Sorting will take place in Dumbledore's office as soon as we're done here. Your timetable will be in accordance with the first years' of the house you will be put in, but you will stay in the fifth-year girls' dormitory of whichever house that may be. I have arranged for Professor Hagrid to take you to Diagon Alley today, after your Sorting, to purchase the items on the first-year list. He will be waiting in the Entrance Hall."
Wow, a whole day with Hagrid, just like Harry had when he was eleven? I couldn't wait!
"Thank you so much! That will be great!"
"My pleasure, Miss Green. Do you have any questions?"
"Actually, Professor, I do have one. How am I a witch in this world, when I'm a muggle in my world?"
McGonagall nodded approvingly. "That is an excellent question, Miss Green, and Professor Dumbledore has told me his theory on this. He thinks that long ago, when the worlds were not yet divided, your family had magical blood. When they were forced into your world, that blood was suppressed, since magic does not exist there. However, your magical blood reappeared as soon as you stepped foot in this world, owing to the existence of magic here."
"Oh. Wow. So if I had been born in this world, I would have been raised as a witch?"
"Correct."
I sat for a moment in silence, thinking of what could have been.
"Any more questions?"
"No, ma'am."
"Very good. Now, if you'll follow me, we will go straight to Dumbledore's office to get you Sorted." McGonagall lead the way out of her office and to the gargoyles on the seventh-floor corridor, guarding Dumbledore's office. "Toffee eclairs." McGonagall declared sagely, and the gargoyles leapt aside, revealing a twisting staircase moving up.
I stepped onto the stair below McGonagall and watched the carvings on the walls until we stopped and McGonagall knocked on the door to Dumbledore's office.
The door opened immediately, and I stood staring at Harry. He also stood frozen, and my stomach flipped. I moved my gaze quickly to the floor.
"Move along, Mr. Potter, Miss Green is here for her Sorting." Harry came out of his trance, but stumbled a bit and bumped into my shoulder. He muttered an apology at the same time I did. I could feel my cheeks heating up, and Harry hurried down the stairs while we stepped into Dumbledore's office.
"Ah, Miss Green. Here for your Sorting, are you?" Dumbledore smiled at me, and I had the feeling he was x-raying me with his piercing blue eyes.
"Yes." I stammered, trying to force the blood out of my face.
Dumbledore placed the Sorting Hat on the table, and told me to sit down. I sat on the cushioned armchair in front of Dumbledore's desk and McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on my head.
Suddenly, a voice filled my ears.
"Ooh, very difficult. Definitely not Slytherin, though it could shape you, and there's so much bravery, and knowledge… Loyalty and kindness… Yes, you must be a HUFFLEPUFF!" I took off the Hat, relieved. Hufflepuff had always been my favourite house, and that's what I got Sorted into on Pottermore, too.
"Congratulations, May. Your few possessions will be moved to the Hufflepuff dormitories while you're out with Hagrid. You'll know, of course, where the Hufflepuff common room is?" Dumbledore winked, and I nodded eagerly. I knew exactly where the Hufflepuff common room was and how to get inside from Pottermore, since it was only mentioned as 'the Hufflepuffs headed towards the kitchens' in the series. "Good. Then off you go, Hagrid will be waiting by now."
Hagrid was indeed waiting, with his flowery pink umbrella and a huge grin on his face.
"May! I've 'eard all abou' yer! Yer a friend o' Harry's!" Hagrid said gruffly.
"That's right!" I answered, practically skipping down the marble staircase towards him.
"Ready ter go? We'll be catchin' the Knight Bus, if tha's all righ' with yer."
"Perfect!" I cried.
Hagrid headed down the stone steps and across the grounds to the gate, taking a step for every three of mine.
We got to the road, and Hagrid stuck out his wand arm. There was a loud bang, and I instinctively stepped away from the side of the road as a three-decker purple bus with 'The Knight Bus' emblazoned on the windshield appeared in front of us.
A young, pimply boy stepped off and started speaking as though he had memorized some note cards.
"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this morning."
I smiled at Stan, reveling in meeting all the characters I thought were fictional, beyond my reach.
"Listen," Hagrid started. "We need ter get ter London, the Leaky Cauldron?"
"Sure, hop on!" Stan stepped back, letting us in. Hagrid counted out some money and passed it to Stan. As soon as the door closed, Stan shouted, "Take 'er away, Ern!" and we were off.
"Let's go to the top!" I exclaimed. Hagrid looked queasy.
"Yer go. I can' deal with heights." Hagrid told me. "Come down when it's our stop."
So I assured Hagrid I knew what the Leaky Cauldron looked like, and headed to the top floor, having to stop a few times to hold tightly to the railing as the bus stopped or started suddenly. I made it after a while, and took a seat at the front, looking down on the streets below.
Finally, I heard Stan Shunpike yell from two floors below. "Leaky Cauldron, London!"
I hurriedly ran down the stairs, and practically bumped into Hagrid on the way off. He was still looking a little green.
"You okay, Hagrid?" I asked anxiously.
"Fine, fine. On'y got sick twice."
After Hagrid said hello to Tom in the Leaky Cauldron and tapped the bricks with his umbrella, we entered Diagon Alley.
I just stood for a second, taking it all in. The fangirl that took up most of the space inside of me was struggling to get out, to scream, to jump up and down, but I managed to hold her back. Except I maybe did let out one little squeak, and I was smiling so hard my cheeks hurt. And ok, my eyes possibly had a few tears in them.
There was Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, and Ollivander's Wand Shop, Eeylop's Owl Emporium, and Flourish and Blotts, and in the distance I could see the big white building of Gringotts, the wizarding bank.
"All righ', yeh've go' yer list?" Hagrid cleared his throat after I failed to answer.
"Oh, sorry, yeah, I've got it." I whispered. My voice wasn't working properly at the moment.
I pulled the list of supplies I would need out of the back pocket of my jeans, where I had folded it neatly after McGonagall had given it to me in her office that morning. I knew I was only staying for a week, but I couldn't not buy any of the material that was legitimately from the wizarding world and not just from Etsy and Amazon.
'Uniform
Three sets of plain work robes (black)
One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)
Please note that all student's clothes should carry name-tags at all times.
Books
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble
Other Equipment
One wand
One cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
One set of glass or crystal phials
One telescope
One set of brass scales
Students may also bring an owl, a cat, or a toad.'
"Firs', let's go ter Gringotts and get yeh some wizard money." Hagrid headed down the cobblestone road, me running to catch up.
"But I don't have any! I don't even have a vault!"
"Don' worry, it'll be a loan. Yeh'll pay 'em back eventually."
I don't have that much money! I thought desperately. How will I manage to pay them back? I tried to think of something, but eventually decided to put it aside for now because I was going to Hogwarts!
Satisfied for the moment, I followed Hagrid through the crowd that he broke apart easily.
We soon got my robes, my books (it was crowded in Flourish and Blotts today; apparently a big order of a new book had just come in), and all my other equipment except for a wand. This was obviously what I was most excited for, and I actually made it to Ollivander's before Hagrid, bouncing on the tips of my toes, waiting for him.
The ice creams we had eaten for lunch bounced along with me inside my stomach. Hagrid caught up and I swung open the door, jangling a bell. The room was dark and musty, just like the books described.
"Hello?" I called. That was what Harry had done. A shuffling noise came from the back room, and then Ollivander himself appeared, fluffy white hair and all.
"Hagrid." He nodded politely to Hagrid, who nodded back.
"Hello, Ollivander." Ollivander looked at me curiously, but asked no questions. Instead, he took out a tape measure, and waved his wand so that it flew around me, measuring my arms, my toes, and in between my nostrils. After a minute, Ollivander waved his wand and the tape measure fell to the floor.
He skimmed his fingers along the thousands of boxes filling the shelves and paused at one near the bottom. He pulled it out delicately and placed it on the counter.
"Hmm. Why don't we try this one?" He spoke softly, barely more than a whisper. His round eyes regarded me as I lifted the lid of the box and pulled out a smooth, short wand. I waved it, which caused catastrophe. The two windows in the shop shattered.
I placed the wand quickly back in its box, and covered it with the lid.
"Dear me, no, I should have realised…" Ollivander muttered to himself as he scrutinized again every box on the shelves.
He pulled out another one, this one near the right side of the room, and placed it on the counter. I took the wand (this one was still rather short, but with bumps near the handle), and waved it.
This time, the wand produced fire, which caught on the counter.
"Aguamenti!" Ollivander hastily put out the fire, and returned to searching the shelves. He paused at a box right in the middle, and pulled it out thoughtfully. "It wouldn't hurt…" He put the box on the counter, and I picked up an average lengthed wand, almost a caramel colour. I waved it, and yellow and green sparks shot out the end.
"This is it! This is my wand!" I exclaimed.
"Yes, it does seem to like you." Ollivander almost smiled.
I payed for my wand, and Hagrid and I emerged back onto the bustling road.
"Is tha' all?" Hagrid asked. I glanced down at my list.
"I would like a cat..." I looked up at Hagrid. "Do we have time?"
"Loads! Let's get yeh a cat."
And so we entered the Magical Menagerie to a chaos of bright feathered birds, leaping cats, magical mice, and hooting owls.
I looked around the shop. There were so many cats to choose from! Gray and orange and white and black and yellow. Some were sleeping, some were batting around balls, some were even attempting to tap dance.
Then something caught my eye. A gray and white tabby cat had come out from a dark corner to see what was going on. When he saw me, and realised it was just customers, he turned to back into his corner, and his eyes looked so sad.
"I want that one!" I declared, pointing.
"Wha'? I don' see one over there." Hagrid squinted.
I marched over to the corner and approached the cat carefully.
"Hey," I whispered, crouching down. "It's okay. I won't hurt you. Come here." The cat sniffed my fingers suspiciously, but started purring when I started to pet him. I picked him up and went over to counter to pay.
"Knight, you've finally found a home! Nobody ever sees this guy, he's always hiding away in that corner of his." The witch said to me. "He's really shy, but he seems to like you."
"Aw." I smiled. "Animals do seem to like me." I thanked the witch and left the shop behind Hagrid, who had to bend down to get through the doorway.
Knight seemed content in my arms, so I continued patting him as we walked down Diagon Alley.