"We need to buy your school supplies," Tatti said on Sunday morning.
"Where do we get them?" Ari asked.
"Diagon Alley," Tatti answered.
"Where's that?" Ari wanted to know.
"London," Tatti said.
"I don't want to waste a whole day going to London," Ari complained. "It's too far, and I won't have time to play ball."
"Actually, we can get to London in one minute," Tatti said with a smile. "Remember I mentioned floo?"
"What's that?" Ari asked.
"It's a magical way of traveling through fireplaces," Tatti explained.
"I don't want to get burned," Ari grumbled.
"You won't get burned," Tatti grinned. "It's magic."
Ari often wondered why his house had a fireplace when there's never a need for it. Tatti lit a fire and through in a powder that turned the fire green.
"We'll do it together since it's your first time," Tatti said. "Remember to say Diagon Alley very clearly."
Ari held his father's hand as they tumbled through the fireplace. He looked around in shock when he came out on foreign soil. The stores all sold products Ari never heard of before.
"First we need money," Tatti said, leading the way to the bank. There were very strange creatures that Ari never saw before instead of bankers. Tatti changed some pounds into unfamiliar coins.
"Robes next," Tatti said.
"I don't need robes," Ari muttered. "This school is crazy."
"The robes are your uniform," Tatti said firmly, "and you will wear your robes every day you're at school."
Ari fidgeted as he was fitted for robes. He glared at his hat.
"It will cover your yarmulke," Tatti whispered.
He thought the gloves were cool. The winter cloak was old fashioned, and he felt like he just bought a Purim costume.
"Maybe I should lend these out to my cousins for Purim," suggested Ari.
"You're cousins can't know that magic exists," Tatti reminded him. "Even Bubby and Zaidy don't know. They think we're sending you to a yeshiva with a dorm."
The books were easy to get. Tatti knew his way around the bookstore and found all the books. When he go to Fatastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, he said, "The author of this book married an American Goldstein. That means we're distantly related to the author of this book."
After the books, they went for a wand. The creepy man in the store remembered Ari's father and found a wand for Ari easily. Ari didn't correct him when he called him Anthony. He figured he'll get used to the name eventually.
The rest of the supplies were pretty boring until Tatti stopped at a pet store.
"We're going to need an owl to send you your food every day," Tatti told him. "You're going to have to get used to feeding it and untying letters."
"Can't I just bring food with me?" Ari pouted.
"You won't have a refrigerator, oven, or microwave," Tatti reminded him.
"Can we buy one?" Ari asked.
"There's no electricity at Hogwarts," Tatti said.
"That's crazy!" Ari said. "How could they live without electricity?"
"Magic," Tatti answered. "Most magical families don't have electricity at home. They use magic for everything."
"That's pathetic," Ari grumbled. "You really want me to be with these people?"
"I want you to learn what you need to know in order to continue the only Jewish magical line in Europe. Oma already explained why it's important."
Ari sighed. He knew he would never win this argument. He has to give up everything he knows in life just because he can do magic. It's not fair! Then again, the holocaust wasn't fair either. Neither was Shaul Hamelech's decision to kill all the witches. It wasn't fair that his family lived in isolation for so long. It wasn't fair that his American cousins knew nothing about their beautiful heritage. It wasn't fair that none of his friends could go with him to Hogwarts.
"Do they play muggle sports at Hogwarts?" Ari asked.
"They don't," Tatti told him, "but I'm sure you could find some muggleborns to play with during breaks."
"Can I bring my rugby ball?" Ari asked.
"Sure," Tatti said. "I could shrink it for you and teach you how to enlarge it."
"What about a baseball and mitt?"
"You could bring whatever you want," Tatti said. "You may even teach some magically raised children how to play your games. There are no classes on Sunday, so you have all day to play."
Maybe Hogwarts won't be so bad after all, Ari thought. I just need to find some muggleborns who know their sports.