Black Pages (Harry Potter fanfic)

7)Meeting Malfoy

A few hours later, Ava was in Diagon Alley after successfully sending a response letter back to Hogwarts saying she accepted the invitation. She forgot her sour mood upon doing so - her inner fangirl was kicking in that she was actually going to Hogwarts. That alone overrode all feelings of sadness she was previously experiencing.
Ava's book list that came with the acceptance letter was daunting at best. She not only had four large books for her fifth year, but also ten other books that students needed to have already read their previous four years of Hogwarts. It was recommended by Professor McGonagall that she read the books in order to be on the same reading level as her fifth year classmates. That meant Ava had less than a month to learn the curriculum level of students who had five years of preparation.
Harry had overlooked Ava's list with great sympathy. Hermione has said in a rather boastful voice she had already read every book on the list.

Ron had cracked up with amused laughter over how long the list was while Mrs. Weasley explained that Ava needed to know every bit of each of the fourteen books to prepare for her O.W.L.'s this year. Even though the list was long and each book was well over four-hundred pages long, Ava was not phased. With the exception of pre-calculus where she was maintaining a solid B, she was a straight A student with a deep love for reading. She was actually excited to rip open the magic books the first chance she got. Reading about magic and spells was far more entertaining than her World History class back in Ohio.
Mrs. Weasley had determined that everyone should make the trip to Diagon Alley to pick up supplies for their years. Ginny needed robes for her fourth year while the twins needed new cauldrons for strangely melting theirs a couple weeks back. Harry, Ron, and Hermione would pick up their books while Mrs. Weasley helped Ava navigate the alley.

Diagon Alley surpassed Ava's imagination. This was a place of magic and wonder that she read about in stories. It wasn't something that was supposed to exist in real life. Ava stared around at all the wondrous buildings surrounding her, trying to soak in as much of the proverbial magic of the place as she could. There was an apothecary shop on her right side, and a book store on her left. Witches and wizards dressed in robes scurried about the pathway through the ally, and it took Ava a lot of concentration to stick with Mrs. Weasley and the rest of the gang. There was so much to look at and according to Mrs. Weasley, so very little time to look at it.

It was a hard task to keep her mind focused on the Weasley matriarch alone. Every few seconds Ava's head was whipping around to stare at something else entirely. It was seeing multiple owls perched on a nearby stand that caused Ava to grow giddy with excitement. She'd never seen a live owl before - she'd never even been to a real zoo before! Nearly every last foster family she lived with had never taken her on such a trip. She saw exotic or different animals on TV or in books, but never in person.
"Better watch where you're going future girl-" a familiar voice laughed.
"You could get lost." The other red headed twin finishes up for his brother.

Ava resisted a laugh. Her eyes were currently focused on the reproachful look Hermione kept throwing over her shoulder. If Ava were perfectly honest, she could care less that Hermione was suspicious of her. Ava knew she should be worried about Dumbledore and Snape's distrust for her, but there would be time for that later. Harry Potter was right. If they wanted Ava dead, they wouldn't proceed to bring her to Hogwarts. There wouldn't be sense to that.

Right here and now, Ava wanted to soak up as much of the magic as she could before something along the lines of her waking up in a hospital or loony bin actually happened. Did Ava believe her mother from the 1940's sent her through a time turner created by Godric Gryffindor to send her to the year 2000? Not a chance. Ava knew her time here was limited, it had to be. No one in the history of forever just happened to wake up in a Harry Potter book surrounded by the characters. That was every book lovers dream. What Dumbledore couldn't explain was how Ava could've went through a time turner and wound up in ENGLAND in the year 1995. If she were to give into the hypothesis that she actually used a time turner successfully, wouldn't Ava have wound up in 1995 Columbus Ohio?
It wouldn't make sense for her to wind up on another continent. Therefore, Ava determined this all had to be a dream.
"OW! Watch it, muggle dresser!" A particularly rude man is scruffy robes snapped as Ava accidently bumped into him. She wasn't paying attention where she was going - the excitement and thrill of being in Diagon Alley was overwhelming her senses. There were far too many sights, sounds, and smells to take in.
Was that butter-beer she could smell from a bottle someone was holding?