"Mum, has he arrived yet?" Dora was getting impatient.
"No, I will let you know when Artemis gets here, now sit down and eat your breakfast. You can go out and play when you get dressed. Eugine, what have I told you about feeding Nero at the table?" Nero was Eugine pet ferret. He got him the same time Albus got his ferret, Biscuit.
As the family was sitting down to toast and cereal, Artemis flew in through the kitchen window, carrying a bundle of letters. A second owl flew in aswell. Megs recognised him as a school owl.
"Dad's sent you something," she told the twins. "And it looks as if you have something else here too," she grinned. Dora and Eugine looked at her, not understanding, then screeched in delight as she held out their Hogwarts acceptance letters. Eugine ripped into his straightaway, while Dora was a little hesitant.
"It's fine, sweetheart," said her mum.
"What if they are writing to tell me I didn't get in," she whispered.
"Of course they wouldn't do that, come on, open up and let's see what we need to get you," Megs replied kindly. She busied herself with tidying away the breakfast dishes, while the twins got to opening their birthday cards.
Once they had gotten dressed, Dora and Eugine went out to play with some of their new toys, and to spend some of their birthday money in the village. Megs had already warned Ambrosius Flume they would be coming into Honeydukes, next door to their home, to stock up on loads of sweets! She just hoped they didn't get too much.
A week later, the three of them were in Diagon Alley, buying new school equipment, with Ginny and Hermione and their children, Albus, Lily, Rose and Hugo. Lily and Hugo were upset that they weren't going to start school just yet, but after a large icecream each from Florean Fortescue's icecream shop, they were happy again.
"Ok, what's next on the list?" asked Ginny, as she scanned the letter from school. "Flourish and Blotts. Tell you what, I'll wait outside with the kids, if you and Megs want to go in and pick the books up," she suggested to Hermione.
"Sounds good," Hermione replied. Turning to her children, she said "Right, you two be good for aunty Ginny. If you do anything like last night, you will both get grounded for a month."
"Do I want to know?" chuckled Megs.
"God no," Hermione rolled her eyes. "Let's just say they take after their uncle's Fred and George in some respects. I honestly don't know how Molly did it!"
"How are Molly and Arthur?" asked Megs. "It's been a while since I saw them now."
"Yeah they are doing really well. They had Percy's girls over to stay the other night - Molly and Lucy. I think they love being grandparents."
"Well, with all those grandkids, they haven't got a choice" Megs giggled. "Ah here we are, standard book of spells. And Dora is looking forward to learning Transfiguration. I think she is just a little upset that Eugine is a metamorphmagus and she isn't. But I sat her down and explained it couldn't be helped, he was born that way. It doesn't help that both Tonks and I were born metamorphmagi too, but she gets on brilliantly with mum. They love their baking weekends, Dora comes back with so many cakes, though I'm pretty sure mum helps them along with a bit of magic."
"Ha, yeah that sounds like your mum," laughed Hermione. They paid for four sets of books, then made their way, with Ginny and the kids, to Madam Malkin's to get their school robes.
"Muuum, when can we get our wands?" whined Dora.
"As soon as we have done everything else. Don't talk to me like that, Pandora." Megs snapped.
"Sorry, mum. It's just I'm really looking forward to that bit the most," mumbled her daughter.
"I know, sweetheart," Megs sighed. "But we need to get everything else, and the wands will be last. Once we buy them, we will go back to the Leaky Cauldron for lunch, then we'll go home."
They finally got to Aesops's wand store. The six children ran in excitedly. The three women dropped their parcels by the window, and waited with Hugo and Lily for Aesop to come out from the back.
"Ah, now what do we have here? Four?" Aesop exclaimed. "My, we shall be busy. Ladies, would you like a seat?"
"Thankyou, but we're ok," replied Ginny.
"Right, let's get started. What's your name, young man?"
"Albus. Albus Potter."
"My my, let's get you measured up. Now which is your writing hand, Albus?"
"Right." Albus replied. He was astonished to see the tape measure measuring him by itself, while Aesop went off to find the right wand. Albus swished the wand offered to him, and a jug on the counter exploded.
"No, definitely not," Aesop smiled. "Try this one." 17 boxes later, Albus was finally the proud owner of a new wand. Cherry, dragonheart string, 9 and a half inches.
Rose was up next. She only went through 14 boxes before her wand was found. Black walnut, unicorn hair, 12". Eugine and Dora chose their wands together. Dora was a little trickier, she went through 34 boxes before the perfect wand was found for her. Madrona, boomslang venom core, 10". [Author's note: Madrona is a beautiful evergreen from the Pacific Northwest region of North America, it is rare in British wandmaking. However, its distinctive peeling bark denotes its magical powers of change - hence, a powerful wood for Transfiguration]. Eugine, however, found his wand after only 3 tries. He chose, or rather, the wand which chose him was apple, unicorn hair core, 10".
Megs, Hermione and Ginny paid the 7 Galleons for each wand, and made their way, with six very excited children, to the Leaky Cauldron for something to eat. After a lunch of pumpkin pasties and chips, the three families said their goodbyes, then made their way home.
"Can I practise now please, mum?" asked Eugine.
"No, you won't be able to use your wands until you start school in September," Megs replied. "But you can write a letter to your dad, to let him know how today went if you like." As the twins ran off to write to their father, Megs flopped onto the sofa and put her feet up. Lynx, Dora's cat, came purring over and jumped onto her lap, curling up.
"Mmm, that looks like a great idea Lynx," Megs chuckled.
