Diagon Alley and cheese

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The twins were told by Mrs. Figgs that they should come over to her house on Friday at eight a.m., so they could get picked up to buy their school supplies.

Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't know yet about the girls going to Hogwarts, but Mrs. Figgs' friend from Hogwarts would explain it after the shopping trip.

At 8:01 a.m., Periwinkle and Azalea sat in Mrs. Figgs' backyard, waiting for this mysterious friend called Hagrid. Mrs. Figgs had to leave, but she had told the girls that he was very friendly.

And so, they waited.

At 8:10 they got a little impatient.

By 8:20, they wondered if this Hagrid person was stuck in traffic.

"Do you think he forgot?", asked Azalea.

Periwinkle exhaled nervously.
"Maybe."
She bit her lip.
"What if it was only a joke? You know, the whole magic thing? Maybe Aunt Petunia set her up."

"Mrs. Figgs wouldn't do that", Azalea reassured her.

"But isn't it a little odd that the person who told us about Hogwarts has no magic to prove it because she's a- a squid?"

"Squib."

"That's what I said."

Azalea sighed.
"Let's just- wait a bit more. I'm sure he'll be-"

A loud crack echoed in the backyard and suddenly, a large figure stood before the girls. He was wearing a large furry coat, had a black, tangled beard and friendly little black eyes blinking down at them. The only thing that didn't quite match his outfit was the pink umbrella in his left hand.

Azalea and Periwinkle gaped up at the large man.

"Mornin'", he said brightly. "Sorry I was a bit late, had some trouble ter get a portkey."

He exhaled excitedly and bent down to look at them.
"Look at ye two", he said with a smile, "ye got yer mom's eyes, ye know? Except for the blue bit in yer eye-", he gestured to Periwinkle, "and the golden bit in yer eye."
He motioned to Azalea.
"I bet that's how people tell ye both apart."

Periwinkle didn't know what to say and looked at her twin, signaling her to do the talking.

"Er-", said Azalea finally, "are you Mr. Hagrid?"

"'Course I am", said Hagrid and straightened back up. "Ye can call me Hagrid. Did Mrs. Figgs tell ye what me job is at Hogwarts?"

The twins nodded in sync.

"Then I guess we can get goin'. Ye two have money for the train?"

The twins shook their heads.

Frowning slightly, Hagrid reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, a few coins that looked like they were made of solid gold, some cookies, an old shoe and finally, after dumping the other stuff into the grass, a handful of money.
"Always forget how this muggle money works", he grumbled and inspected a small, silver coin. "What's that supposed to be?"

After explaining to Hagrid what exactly a penny and a pound was, the large man led them to the subway station so they could take a train to London. Quite a few people stared at them, or more specifically, at Hagrid, since the girls were more or less invisible behind his back.

I hope Aunt Petunia's friends won't see us, Periwinkle thought and anxiously glanced sideways at the staring crowd. It didn't help that Hagrid got stuck in the ticket barrier, that he occupied almost three seats in the train, or that he kept pointing at things, commenting how weird muggles were.

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