So here's Chapter 2. Tell me what you think:)

-Quirkers

When Professor Longbottom asked when I wanted to go to buy all of my school supplies, I responded in the only way an eleven year old could. I shrieked that we should go down stairs while jumping up and down at an impressive height (if I say so myself) and ran upstairs to quickly tell Violet and grab a cardigan. As I ran back down, for fear that he would leave and I would never get to Hogwarts, I crashed into Professor Longbottom walking out of Ms Jones' office.

"Wait, where do we buy all of this? And I have no money! I can't afford it and the Home won't pay!" I exclaimed.

"We will be going to Diagon Alley and Hogwarts has a fund for cases like yours." He replied smoothly.

"But where's Diagon Alley? It's certainly not in Cardiff, I would know."

"Rory, calm down and stop asking questions. This is not the first time this has happened and besides, if I tell you, it ruins the mystery."

And with that, he took a hold of my arm and said "Don't worry, you won't like it but apparition is the fastest way."

"Appa-," I never finished. Before I knew it, I felt like I was being pushed through a pipe that was entirely too small for me.

It ended in a matter of seconds though and suddenly I was standing in the middle of a bustling pub.

"Where are w-," I began, but was cut off. Again.

"Neville, love, I thought you had work today?" A blonde woman appeared at the Professor's side, smiling. Neville, as I assumed was his first name, turned and greeted the woman with a kiss.

Ew, I remember thinking, I hope they're married and that's not how wizards say 'hi'!

"I am, Hannah dear. I am with Rory here, and we're about to buy her school things."

The woman finally noticed Rory and gave her a large grin.

"Hello there! My name's Hannah Longbottom," Hannah extended her hand, which I shook.

Phew, married…

"Hi! My name's Rory!" I smiled back. Hannah looked like she was going to speak again, but Neville cut in.

"Rory Carrow, that is." He said, putting an emphasis on my surname. I frowned as I watched them exchange looks, Hannah's of shock and Neville's of understanding.

Before I could ask then what the matter was, Neville bundled me out of the pub's door, shouting that they must start buying her school stuff.

We walked out to a small, brick surrounded courtyard, and I watched in awe as Professor Longbottom tapped some of the bricks and they moved away, revealing a bustling street.

"This, Rory, is Diagon Alley."

~•~

I spent a good ten minutes rooted to the spot. My jaw was on the floor, my eyes scanning everything and my brain going 90 trying to comprehend it.

We were standing in a street filled with magic. And I could feel it. The magic.

Professor Longbottom eventually managed to haul me away from the brick wall and drag me to Gringotts, where goblins gave me odd wizard-money (Goliums or something) from the Hogwarts Fund for Witches and Wizards of Muggle Upbringing (say THAT five times fast).

Afterwards, he took me to the Apothecary to buy ingredients he said I would need for Potions class. He brought me to Flourish and Blotts (which I refused to leave and, upon being carried out on the Professor's shoulder, loudly vowed I would live my elderly life there), a shop that sold cauldrons, and then Madam Malkin's for school robes and uniform and a cloak.

Professor Longbottom stopped at the Post Office in order to send a letter to the school telling them of my acceptance. The Post Office was a large room filled wall to ceiling with owl perches. The Professor explained that wizard post was carried out mainly by owls, and occasionally used Muggle Post (I then found out muggle was a term for people who aren't magical).

Finally, there was only one thing left on the list. A wand.

Professor Longbottom took me to a shop called Ollivander's, which was owned by an incredibly old man of the same name. Mr Ollivander took all sorts of measurements from the length of my wand hand (writing hand) to the circumference of my head! After all of it, he spent fifteen minutes rummaging around his numerous and frankly MASSIVE shelves, muttering "I know it's here somewhere..." before returning with a dusty box and a triumphant grin, and handed it to me.

"I knew it was there. Willow, 11 inches exactly with Phoenix feather core. It was a bugger to make, a bugger to find an owner for, but it is quite a well-rounded wand. It is particularly good at non-verbal spells," He paused and stared at me, "Well go on, try it!"

I glanced nervously at the wand before flicking it in a sharp arc. The customer bell that sat on the counter began to ring violently and Ollivander clapped in approval.

"Wonderful! You didn't break anything! That's a first."

The three of us laughed before Ollivander rang up the bill and handed me the wand in its freshly-dusted box.

The Professor and I apparated back to the Children's Home (it still felt like being pushed through a tube), and the Professor handed me two tickets.

"That ticket," He pointed to the first one, "will take you from here to King's Cross Station in London. The other will take you from King's Cross to Hogwarts."

I look down at the two tickets before I noticed something odd.

"But, where Platform Nine and-"

There was a loud crack and Professor Longbottom was gone.

"-Three Quarters?" I finished to no one.

~•~

Vi was sitting against the wall opposite her bed, leaning on a book writing a letter to her sister Anna, while I read my new school books. It was the only way Vi was able communicate with her sister, as we weren't allowed use the phones and Anna couldn't visit. She was studying across the country to be a teacher, so she could one day take Vi away from the home. She was lucky she had someone in her family who would do that.

But, for the first time, that thought never occurred to me. I was so excited to go to Hogwarts and learn magic and have a future that I had never even begun to imagine. I was so thrilled.

Until, that is, I learned what weight your surname can have.