An American at Hogwarts

New Beginnings

I woke up fairly late. I'd landed at Heathrow early in the morning and this was my first trip overseas in years, so the jet lag was killing me. I had asked my mom why we couldn't just apparate, but apparently it's not particularly stable with overseas trips, and my dad hates it anyways, so I begrudgingly went along with Muggle travel. It's not that I hated it, my dad was a Muggle after all, but when I envisioned my first trip to Hogwarts I didn't quite think it would start with a turbulent transatlantic flight. The Irish Sea had been particularly stormy as we flew in, which I found rather ironic considering my mother grew up in Ireland. Maybe the sea there didn't like that I'd never visited it before. My wandering, still half asleep mind was shaken to full alert by my mother's voice.

"Y/N! Come on, were going to be late!"

"Late for what," I grumbled. "We're just picking up supplies at Diagon Alley today. Last time you brought me there it was like nine at night and the shops were still open..."

"Aye, but I told Tom I'd be there by two. So get dressed."

"Tom?"

"The bartender at The Leaky Cauldron? You don't remember him?"

"Mom that was like four years ago. I was seven. I only remember Diagon Alley because of the fight outside that pub."

My mom blushed. "Didn't I tell you to forget about that?"

I smirked back at her. "Yeah, but I didn't listen."

"Alright, alright. Just get dressed already. Your dad is still a bit sick from the flight so he won't come with us today."

I groaned and got up, getting dressed quickly once I shook myself awake. I was exhausted, sure, but excited too. I was getting my wand today after all!

About thirty minutes later, we made it to The Leaky Cauldron. As we walked in, the man at the counter, Tom presumably, broke out into a wide smile.

"Bridget, dear! How are you? And young Y/N as well! It's been too long!"

My mother smiled at him, shaking his hand firmly. "We're doing well! At least now. Someone gave me quite the fuss about getting him up." My mother looked at me smirking. I gave her a quick punch in the side.

"Oh shut up mom, you know how I get with jet lag."

Tom raised an eyebrow. "You flew?"

My mother nodded. "Daniel doesn't much like apparition. Flights are bad enough, if we apparate somewhere or even use a portkey, he will be laying in bed sick for days. Doesn't do well with travel in general I'm afraid."

Tom smiled. "Aye, fair enough. Can't say I'm the biggest fan either. You two here to pick up school supplies?"

I nodded excitedly. "Yep! It's my first year at Hogwarts!"

My mom ruffled my hair, laughing. "Well you seem awake enough now! What say you we go over to Diagon Alley?"

I grinned. "Sounds good to me!"

We walked off though a door in the back of the pub. My mom tapped the bricks in the correct order, and the wall folded away to reveal Diagon Alley, a bustling street full of shops. Our first stop was Gringotts. My grandparents had apparently left a sizable fortune to me, thanks to their long career at the ministry and investments in various areas, but stipulated that I was only to access it when I began attending school, so I was rather excited to see exactly how sizable it was. As we walked in, we saw countless goblins running around. The first time I'd been here, they had freaked me out a bit, but my mother had said not to worry. Apparently they're a bit stand-offish in general but not really mean or anything. Just very serious about their work. My mother told me they made great company outside of work hours.