January 8th, 1991:
-Katherine-
"Hi Professor McGonagall!" I said cheerfully. I felt really excited about getting to go to Diagon Alley.
"Hello. Is your mother ready? Tell her that I am taking you." She said crisply.
'Cheerful much?' I thought. "Um, n-no not yet. It's o-only 9:15. Excuse me, let me for get her."
Looking over my shoulder, I shouted, "Mum! Professor McGonagall's here! We're leaving."
Two minutes later:
"We're ready, let's go!" I looked down for the first time at the packing list Professor McGonagall gave me.
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HOGWARTS SCHOOL
for WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
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UNIFORM
First-year students will require:
1. Three sets of plain work clothes (black)
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)
Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags
COURSE BOOKS
All students should each have a copy of the following:
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 Best and Where to Find Them
by Newt Scamander
by Quentin Trimble
OTHER EQUIPMENT
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set of glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales
Students may also bring a owl OR a cat OR a toad
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEAR STUDENTS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK
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"Wow. Where can we get that stuff? Especially in London?" I glanced back at the list in wonder.
"Diagon Alley."
"Right. Sorry. But, um, how do you get to Diagon Alley? I've never heard of it." There were no directions on the back or front of the paper.
"Follow me. I am assuming you know how to get from here to central London on the tube (British word for subway)?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"Yes. Follow me." My mum gestured with her hands. She led us to the tube so and showed us the way.
As we traveled through the tube, McGonagall explained some more things that she had not explained the previous night. Like you should not lose your Gringotts key. She said this several times. When we finally reached central London, we walked several blocks till we came to a very dirty looking inn that read 'The Leaky Cauldron'. When we entered, the barman, who's name I later learned was Tom called out, "New student, eh, Professor?" When we reached the back of the shop, Professor McGonagall took out her wand and tapped a seemingly random brick, which then opened up into a large archway.
There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments I had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon, and so much more of stuff. All of these items were displayed in colorful shops and, if not for magic, looked like they would fall down at any time.
When we got to Gringotts, it a was a sight to behold. I won't bore you with all the details, but, wow, it was brilliant. When Professor McGonagall gave the goblins my key, they said vault four. When we got in the cart, it zoomed forward. After what felt like ages, we finally arrived at the vault. When we opened it, there were stacks of gold, mounds of silver, and piles upon piles of bronze. We grabbed a fair amount of money, but we barely made a dent in all the gold. When we finally got outside, I had never loved the feel of fresh air more.
"Well, then. First in the list is robes. Madam Malkin's is this way." McGonagall pointed to the right. We headed down the cobblestoned road. I was starting at all the shops we passed. A few minutes later we came to a bright red shop which read 'Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions'. Stepping inside, I saw thousands of robes, in rows and stacks and on shelves that seemed to go on forever. I didn't know that there could be so many styles of robes. There were robes that looked so warm I just wanted to curl up in them. A woman hurried over to us.
"Alright, let's get you measured." The woman, who I assumed was Madam Malkin started measuring and with just a flick of her wand five other tape measurers came over and a pencil started writing down all the answers.
After two more minutes of this, she stopped. She then started pinning black fabric to me. Three minutes after that an enchanted needle came over and started sewing the fabric up. This happened two more times. After the fitting and sewing, we bought a pointed black hat, and a woolen cloak with slightly ornate silver fastenings. Malkin showed us the gloves and I took a pair that was a bit loose, but that I would grow into.
Amanuensis Quills was right next-door, so we bought a few quills. We then went to Slug & Jiggers Apothecary where I bought all of my supplies for Potions, and we were also able to find my set of brass scales. At Flourish and Blotts, I found all sorts of new books, but McGonagall told me only to buy the necessary ones even though I really wanted 154 Fantastic Herbs. Professor McGonagall did let me get Hogwarts: A History.
We headed to Ollivanders next. Peeling gold letters over the door of the shop read: Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.. The shop's display consists of a solitary wand lying on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window. The shop is tiny, empty except for a single, spindly chair in the corner. Thousands of narrow boxes containing wands are piled right up to the ceiling of the tiny shop, and the whole place has a thin layer of dust about it. "Hello there." I jumped. Coming down from a ladder was a old man who was quite apparently Ollivander, the owner of this shop. "A new student I see. Hmm..." Then he started measuring me, but unlike at Malkin's, his measurements looked pretty random to me.
When we tried wands, we went from 9 inch cherry to 13 inch willow. None of them seemed to work. After a while he pulled out another wand, but, unlike the others, this one actually worked. "Hmm, 11¼ inches, Spruce, unicorn hair, hard." We paid him and off we went.
We still had three things left in the list: a cauldron (pewter, standard size 2), a set of glass or crystal phials, and a telescope. We shopped for another 20 minutes till we were all done. On the way way out, we bought a cat named 'Fortuna', which means 'luck' in Latin.
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I'm just a line breaker, don't mind me
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"Here is your ticket. The train leaves at 11:00 am sharp. To get to the platform, you must run through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10."
After McGonagall left, I ran up to my room. I had never even heard of some of these subjects! I had also bought a trunk that had a charm, so it could expand to twice its size. 'I wonder what this book is about ...'
YOU ARE READING
The Heir To Ravenclaw
FanfictionWhen Katherine finds out she's a witch, all, to put it frankly, she's astounded. When she goes to Hogwarts, she manages to slip under the radar, but what does she do in the shadows? Rated: G -PG On hiatus
