Harry Potter - Fanfiction

Year 1 - Diagon Alley

Hermione and I have not been able to stop talking about this magical school Hogwarts ever since Professor McGonagall came to our house that night, explaining all about the witchcraft and wizarding world.

Once our parents were satisfied with all the answers from the Professor, they agreed for us to attend the school. They have become so proud of us that that following night we had gone out to The Shaftsbury Theatre to watch Happy Families to celebrate the good news.

It is the start of August now and this morning we make our way to Diagon Alley, following the strict instructions from the pamphlet on how to get in.

We first set out to what is called the Gringotts Wizarding Bank to exchange our, as they call it, muggle money for wizarding money. From there we set off to Flourish and Blotts, Madam Malkins and then Eeylops Owl Emporium.

At the Emporium I decide on getting a black cat sporting two gorgeous green eyes that stand out from its fur like two emeralds - I choose to name him Styx as per the deity in Greek mythology that represents the boundary between Earth and the Underworld; Hermione could never understand my obsession with Greek mythology, even though we are both named after two Greek deities.

Lastly, we walk to Ollivanders for our wands.

Once inside the store an old man appears from one of the aisles that's piled to the ceiling with narrow little boxes.

"Afternoon," says the old man, as I push Hermione to the front so that she can go first.

In the moments that passed, he hands her a number of boxes, which she pulls out different looking wands each time; Mr. Ollivander explains to us that the wand chooses the wizard and is not a process to be rushed.

In the end it is a vine wood wand with a dragon heart-string core, ten and three quarters in length which, as Mr. Ollivander puts it, 'chooses' my sister.

I am up next. Shaking I take the first box he hands me. I carefully pull out the wand and before I can even give it a swish the wand lets out a series of red sparks. Mr. Ollivander grabs it from me placing it one side as he hands me another box.

This time I touch it with one finger first and close my eyes, preparing for something bizarre, but nothing. Realising that I'm still going to have to physically pick it up.

With a sigh I gently wrap my fingers around the wand and pick it up; when it doesn't react like the wand before I give it a small swish. Eyes closed I see a shimmer of gold behind my eyelids. Tenderly I open one eye and see a golden halo shimmering around my wand.

Mr. Ollivander smiles as he takes the wand, wrapping it up for me, "ah, twelve and a half inches; rowan wood is usually placed with the pure-hearted and is known to frequently out-perform others in a duel.

"And the phoenix core is one of the rarest cores and one of the pickiest when it comes to potential owners, for the creature from which it is taken is the most independent and detached from the world. This usually makes the wands one of the hardest to tame and personalize, making only the most head strong of wizards able to wield these wands."

My breath hitches for a second hearing Mr. Ollivander explain on, feeling slightly intimidated by my own wand.

Afterwards our parents thank Mr. Ollivander before heading out. I am the last to walk out of the shop, too busy admiring my new wand, that I almost stumble into a boy our age and his father; both almost with the same distinguished facial features and striking white hair.

The boy, which has a pale pointed face and grey eyes, looks my way smiling at me. I return the smile as he steps out of the doorway allowing me to walk past him.

Before I can apologize to the pair for almost walking into them, a drawled-out voice comes from above, his father speaking in a rather disgusted tone, "come Draco, let's see if your mother is inside for your wand."

He looks down at me as he continues, still addressing the boy and gesturing towards me, "no need for such formalities, Draco. I still can't believe your mother convinced me to send you to a school that has such low standards on students."

With that the boy's father walks into the shop, leaving him to follow behind. The boy looks over to me, both our smiles slowly fading. He then walks with his head pointed rather more towards the sky as he walks into the shop.

I step into the street looking back at Ollivander's shop. Looking at my reflection in the window rather than the shops contents; I notice my pair of blue/grey eyes staring back at me with my dark brown blackish hair hanging at my mid-waist.

I try to understand why the boy's father sounds so appalled by the mere sight of me. There isn't anything physically wrong with me, or is it just that the muggle born aren't as strong as pure bloods?

Professor McGonagall didn't explain much on that matter, she just explained the three different wizards that you get - muggle born, half blood, and pure bloods. Whatever the case, I decide then and there that I'm going to make sure I prove those people wrong.

Before I turn away from the shops window, I now focus my eyes to look inside the shop for the boy and his father, and I notice for a split second the boy looking back at me smiling slightly before returning his gaze upon whatever his father is holding.

August didn't pass by as quickly as Hermione and I hoped it would. However, that didn't stop us from spending almost every day of the month pouring through each and every book that we bought back in Diagon Alley; memorizing as much as our brains can handle, we even set out to test each other on everything every second or third day.

I had also spent a lot of time working with my wand; as Mr. Ollivander explained, my wand is the hardest to tame which had proven true. I was testing a small spell on one of our first days, once we had become comfortable enough to try them out with our wands, and my wand completely flew out of my hand. It certainly didn't make things easy for me.

It has taken me almost the whole month before my wand even started listening to any of my spells. However, once I managed to get it to pay attention to me, it proved to out-perform itself even in the simplest of spells.

With only three days to go before we head out to King Cross station to find the Hogwarts Express train; we decide to go through any last details that we might have missed.

Hermione is sitting crossed leg on my bed with her back against the wall and I am laying on my bed with my head hanging off the edge.

Hermione asks, laying down the Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 book she is reading, "what do you think will be your favorite subject? I think I'll quite enjoy Charms."

My pillow falls to the floor as my concentration breaks, "it would have to be between Astronomy and Transfiguration. I quite like studying the night sky and transfiguration sounds so exciting."

"Your name certainly does suit you, Nyx. I'm so excited for this year, I can just imagine what friends we are going to make."

I hoist myself up on to my elbows as I respond, "all the Houses sound so exhilarating. Except Gryffindor, I don't think I quite like that House."

Hermione lets out a small gasp, "how can you not like Gryffindor? It sounds like the best one."

I shrug as she continues, "I wander if Harry Potter will be there? He's mentioned quite a lot in some of the books I've been reading."

"Does my sister have a crush on someone she hasn't even met yet?" I playfully throw a small pillow at her while laughing.

She smacks me on the arm laughing as well, "are you insane! I'm just interested to see if he is as good as they make him out to be in those books. I mean defeating such a powerful wizard so early in his life. It's a miracle!"

I reposition myself on to my haunches as I begin singing, "my sister has a crush! My sister has a crush on someone she doesn't even know."

Hermione sticks out her tongue as she tackles me down into the bed, smacking me with every pillow she can find until we can no longer carry on due to the fit of giggles.

Year 1 - Diagon Alley ~ End