Perhaps Katie's favourite place, besides the Appleby Arrows Quidditch grounds, was Diagon Alley. She never tired of the yearly visits there towards the end of the summer, even if the previous two trips had solely consisted of shopping for Chris' school supplies. Mr and Mrs Blair had been sure to buy Katie and Leo the biggest ice creams they could from Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour to keep them happy. Sometimes Katie was even allowed to buy a little trinket or a poster from Quality Quidditch Supplies too.
Even before Chris had started his education at Hogwarts, the Blairs had visited Diagon Alley for a day of shopping every summer. It was a routine that Maria had as a child, so she opted to continue it.
This particular year, however, was very special. Katie was bursting with excitement, fighting back giggles of glee as she and her family wound their way through the bustling Diagon Alley. All around Katie, families raced by, witches and wizards purchased things that they needed or desperately wanted, and some loudly complained about large prices.
When Maria suggested that their first stop be to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occassions, Leo shamelessly whined about how boring that would be; Anthony offered to take him to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour while Maria went to Madam Malkins with Katie and Chris to purchase their school robes.
They were greeted at the door by Madam Malkin herself, who jostled over, smiling brightly. She was already familiar with Chris and waved him towards the back of the shop, where a second witch would see that he was fitted for his robes.
Madam Malkin then turned to Katie. "First year, I presume?"
As Maria opted to browse the shop, Katie followed behind Madam Malkin. She stood Katie on a stool next to Chris, who was already climbing down. His fitting had been finished rather quickly. He grinned at his sister before walking away with the other witch to pay for his robes.
Madam Malkin pulled out a measuring tape and got to work on taking Katie's measurements.
"Any idea what house you'll be sorted into?" Madam Malkin asked. Katie doubted that she actually cared what house she was sorted into—she was just trying to make conversation.
"Gryffindor, I expect," Katie answered. "My whole family have been Gryffindors. Even my grandparents, both sides."
Madam Malkin slipped her measuring tape inside her pocket and stepped back, giving Katie an odd sort of smile.
"Ever heard of Sirius Black?" she questioned. Katie blinked, taken aback and unsure if she had heard Madam Malkin correctly. Of course she had heard of Sirius Black! He was an infamous murderer, locked away in Azkaban for killing twelve Muggles. Katie was terrified of him, like any sensible person, and she had no idea why Madam Malkin would bring him up, unprompted.
"Of course I have!" Katie sounded just as shocked as she felt. "What has he got to do with anything?"
Madam Malkin gave a shrug of her shoulders as she helped Katie put on a pair of black robes. "Well, he came from a family of Slytherins, but he was sorted into Gryffindor," she explained. "Your family's houses can certainly influence yours, but it's not always the deciding factor."
Katie nodded along, considering Madam Malkin's words. She had never really given much thought to Sirius Black's Hogwarts house, or the house of anybody she didn't personally know, for that matter. Historically speaking, Slytherin had produced the largest number of Dark witches and wizards. Katie had always tried to be rational, telling herself that all Slytherins couldn't possibly be awful, but the stories that Chris brought home from Hogwarts during the holidays made this hard to believe. Not to mention the less-than-fond opinion Katie's parents had always expressed of Slytherin house and the people in it.
"Well, maybe he should've been sorted into Slytherin," Katie said. "Considering how evil he is, it seems fitting."
"I'm just saying, Gryffindor may not necessarily be your house," Madam Malkin hummed. "You could very well be a Ravenclaw, a Slytherin—"
Katie couldn't seem to bite her tongue. "I'm not a Slytherin," she snapped, suddenly feeling defensive. She could imagine the disappointed looks on her parents' face, the venomous scowl Chris would send her way if she was sorted into Slytherin house. She wasn't sure she could handle it.
After the fitting was finished, Maria paid for her Katie's robes, thanked Madam Malkin, and then they exited the shop. Anthony came out of Flourish and Blotts only seconds later. He was carrying a towering heap of books, which swayed dangerously and threatened to topple. Katie couldn't help but giggle as she watched her father struggle to maintain his balance. Then the books did topple, and Anthony fruitlessly scrambled to catch them as they fell. Chris had been reduced to tears from laughing. Leo was too busy eating an ice cream to notice.
Maria opened her large handbag, the material of which closely resembled that of a carpet. Anthony hastily gathered up the fallen books and put them inside the bag. Chris and Katie gripped each other's shoulders for support, their knees weak from laughing. Anthony adjusted his glasses, fixed his shirt and straightened up, taking any means necessary to regain his dignity. This only made Katie and Chris laugh harder.
"You—you—HA!" Chris howled through gasps as Katie dropped her head on his shoulder, their excessive laughter unwavering. Anthony's cheeks blazed a bright scarlet but he brushed away his embarrassment, turning and marching down the street.
Katie and Chris continued to giggle as they followed behind their parents and their younger brother, who was skipping along merrily, humming to himself and devouring his ice cream.
Next on the list was Ollivanders. This was what Katie had been the most excited for. Despite passing by the shop tens upon tens of times, Katie had never been inside Ollivanders. Her parents had sent Chris in alone to purchase his wand, as they did with Katie, and she never had any other reason to go inside.
She pushed the door open, swallowing down a little laugh of excitement. A bell above the door dinged as she stepped inside. Looking around the dusty shop, walls stacked with rows upon rows of thin boxes that reached the ceiling, Katie couldn't help but grin.
"Ah, Miss Blair! Hello."
Katie had been so busy gawking at the wand boxes, she hadn't even heard Mr Ollivander enter the shop floor from the back room. He was stood before her, a frail old man, with wispy silvery eyes that seemed to add light to the dimness of the shop.
Katie wasn't quite sure what she should say, so she decided to point out the obvious.
"You know me?"
"Why, of course," Mr Ollivander said. His lips twisted into what Katie assumed was supposed to be a pleasant smile, but she found it to be rather unsettling. His moon-like eyes scanned Katie's face and she shifted uncomfortably on her feet. "Oh, you are very like your father. Same eyes, mhm. Same eyes."
"I actually think I'm more like my mother," Katie said with a chuckle. Ollivander gave her a minute smile before turning on his heel, whisking away to search through his stacks of wands to find one that might be suited to Katie. She waited patiently, watching long and aged fingers glide over boxes. As he searched, a bewitched tape measure whirled around Katie, working by itself.
"I remember the day your mother came to buy her wand," Ollivander said brightly. "Such a lovely young girl, Maria."
It was hard for Katie to believe that Mr Ollivander could remember his brief meeting with her mother. It must have been almost forty years before, if not more, and Katie didn't mean to be rude, but Mr Ollivander looked ancient. His head was surely teeming with memories far more important than past customers.
Noticing Katie's silence, Mr Ollivander glanced over his shoulder, and he tittered at her sceptical expression.
"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Miss Blair," he told her airily. "If I recall, Maria's was eleven and three-quarter inches, standard flexibility, made of cherry wood with a unicorn hair core."
Katie's eyes widened. He was right. While she didn't know the ins and outs of her mother's wand, she did know for a fact that it was crafted from fine cherry wood, and she was sure Maria had mentioned the unicorn hair core to her before.
As he was scouring the shelves, Mr Ollivander abruptly paused. His wrinkled hand lingered over one of the narrow boxes, and he muttered something incoherent under his breath. He selected the box from his collection and shuffled over to Katie, taking a whiteish wand from the box.
"And for you, Miss Blair," he said, and Katie resisted the urge to shrink away from him when she saw the way his eyes were mysteriously twinkling. "Thirteen and a half inches, yew wood, dragon heartstring core."
Katie's fingers tentatively closed around the wand. At once, she felt her arm grow warm, and it gave a peculiar shudder. She flinched in alarm when gold and red sparks shot out the end of the wand, but Mr Ollivander let out a cry of delight.
"Oh, I knew it!" he exclaimed. He took the wand from Katie, placing it back in the box and bringing it to the counter, where he began to wrap it in thick parchment. "That wand, Miss Blair, is almost identical to your father's."
Katie smiled widely. "Really?"
"Yes, oh yes. The only difference is the core." Ollivander still had that strange twinkle in his eyes that made Katie feel so very uncomfortable, but she was too elated to care. She couldn't even imagine how rare it was for a witch or wizard to find their wand on the first try. When Chris had visited Ollivanders, he tested twenty-three wands before finding the right one, and he set a row of wand boxes on fire in the process.
"You really do remember everyone," Katie breathed, unable to keep the awe from her voice. But Mr Ollivander slowly shook his head, lips curling into a tiny smile.
"I remember every wand, Miss Blair, not every person," he said. As he spoke, Katie dug through her pockets in search of some money. "But your father, now, he wouldn't be one I would forget. But of course, he's not one anyone can seem to forget." He chortled momentarily, but then his face fell. "He was truly a rarity. However, I do regret . . ."
Mr Ollivander promptly trailed off, with the air of a man realising that he had said too much. Katie furrowed her eyebrows, running Mr Ollivander's words over in her head.
"Mr Ollivander, sir, what do you mean was a rarity? My father isn't dead."
Not only this, but Katie was sure her father had never done anything particularly extraordinary in his life. He had been an average student who now worked an average job at the Ministry of Magic. The only notable thing about him that Katie could conjure was the fact that he had come from a family of Muggles.
Katie had been expecting Mr Ollivander to give a giggle of realisation, brush off his foolish words and correct himself, saying that his memories had become muddled in his old age and he had mistaken Anthony Blair for someone else. Instead, however, he stared long and hard at Katie. She felt goosebumps erupt on her skin and, at last, when she could no longer bear Mr Ollivander's eerie gaze, she slid seven gold Galleons across the counter, snatched up her new wand and made for the door.
"Have a good school year, Miss Blair," Mr Ollivander called after her.
It was warm outside, the sun shining brightly in the cloudless sky, but Katie was left shivering after he encounter with Mr Ollivander. Her father was the first one to greet her, approaching her, beaming, with a sparkling golden cauldron clutched in his hands.
"Gold for Gryffindor!" he said brightly. "Let's see the wand, then."
***
Maria let Katie and Chris off on their own to buy ice cream while she and her husband took Leo to look at toads in a shop called Magical Menagerie. Once they had both purchased enormous chocolate and cherry ice creams, they stopped outside Quality Quidditch Supplies to admire the new Nimbus Two Thousand that was on display, gleaming marvellously in the window.
"Merlin, I would kill for that broom," Katie sighed out. She put a hand on the glass as though longingly reaching out for the broomstick. While the Blair family were rather well-off financially, both Katie and Chris knew that asking their parents to get them a Nimbus Two Thousand would be in vain, no matter how much they begged. Their parents would never put so much money towards a simple broomstick.
"You and me both," Chris replied sulkily, shoulders slumping. "Come on, we should get back before Mum freaks out."
But a rack of Quidditch posters inside Quality Quidditch supplies had caught Katie's eye through the window. She told Chris to go find their parents, tell them that she'd be right there, and she'd follow after him in a few minutes. After making haste of finishing her ice cream, Katie reached for the handle of the door.
After a quick browse of the rack, she purchased a poster of Gregory Cotton, the Appleby Arrows' Seeker. She was about to make for the shop's door when someone stepped up to the window, goggling at the Nimbus Two Thousand, and caught her eye.
A shock of jet black hair sat messily on top of his head, spilling over his forehead and brushing the rims of a sellotaped pair of round glasses that were perched on the bridge of his nose. He wore beige jeans and a tattered blue flannel that was much too big for him, and the soles of his too-large shoes were peeling away.
Through the glass, their eyes met. Katie grinned at him, to which he responded with a bashful smile. Poster in hand, Katie stepped out of the shop and back onto the street.
"Do you like it?" she asked. The boy rounded on her, and now that she could see his face more closely, Katie noticed that there was a crack running down the middle of one of the lenses of his glasses. She drifted closer to him, resting her hands on the windowsill of Quality Quidditch Supplies and turning her eyes on the Nimbus Two Thousand once again.
"Uh—yeah, I guess," the boy answered. "It's pretty neat. But there's no way I could afford it."
Katie made discreet work of inconspicuously glancing around, trying to see if the boy was accompanied. As far as she could tell, he was alone. He was carrying his own bag of books and school supplies and she guessed that the lump in the pocket of his jeans was a pouch of money.
"Me neither," she said, giving a small laugh. She turned to face the boy directly and held out her hand for him to shake. "I'm Katie, by the way. Katie Blair."
There was something curious and almost comical about the way that the boy was looking at Katie. He might not have known it himself, but his eyes were opened much wider than could have been normal, and when she offered him her hand they only widened further. Katie made the assumption that he must have been Muggle-born. That would explain why he seemed so in awe of a meagre little girl he met by chance in Diagon Alley.
He came to his senses, grounding himself, and painted a smile onto his face. "I'm Harry."
Katie had the bizarre feeling that she knew Harry from somewhere, though she couldn't quite place him. Perhaps it was just his striking green eyes that gave Katie that sense of familiarity, because if he was Muggle-born (as she suspected), she doubted that she could have seen him before; she didn't exactly venture into Muggle-populated areas very often.
"Katerina!" She looked around when someone called her name and found her father beckoning her over from further down the street.
"That's my dad," Katie explained to Harry. "I should probably go. Are you going to Hogwarts?"
It took Harry a moment to respond—he appeared to be lost in thought, glancing between Katie and her father. Then he blinked, Katie's question finally setting in, and nodded.
Katie smiled. "See you there, then."