Harry Potter and the Bucket List

Year 1 - 1

Beta: Cloudy

(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*

Rosie, age 10

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr. & Miss Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1st. We await your owl by no later than July 31st.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress

Yep.

That's right.

Hogwarts letters weren't individual for twins. What a ripoff.

The day our Hogwarts letter arrived Sirius slapped it on the fridge and told us to get dressed. Harry hurriedly put on his dark blue pants and gray sweater vest while I slipped on my dark blue dress and black tights. Then we put on our fancy black cloaks and wool hats—green for Harry and blue for me 'cause of our eyes. The hats were pulled over to make sure no one could see our foreheads. Mine was scar-free, however Harry wanted to match.

It was still summer, we couldn't get away with wearing scarves, but we could time our visit to Diagon Alley to be in the middle of the workday and avoid the crowd.

At nine in the morning he scooped us up and off we went via Apparition. Side-along Apparition was always unpleasant, but Harry and I had grown accustomed to it. On good weathered days, Sirius would bring us along on his motorbike. We were both small enough (for now) to fit in his side cart without fuss. On bad days—which happened fairly often in rainy Great Britain—we had to Apparate.

It was... not fun. Imagine stepping off a spinning ride without the rush of adrenaline and joy to counteract the dizziness slapped into your face. Disorienting was a severe understatement. The human eyes weren't meant to witness teleportation, yet even with my eyes squeezed tightly shut I could vividly picture the woozy-inducing scene.

Thankfully we landed with our feet firm on the ground in Diagon Alley, and we didn't lose our breakfast that time. The very second our world stopped spinning Harry gasped in wonder. Had I been mentally younger I would have done the same. Diagon Alley was a marvel to behold for those who had previously lived a life without magic. It didn't matter I had been growing up with magic for a little over a decade by that point—it was still magic. Shops ripped straight off the movie set lined up along cobblestone paths. There were sparkling trinkets, gadgets, animals, and so much more in the windows. There were shops never mentioned in the books or built in the movies—for example there was a shop dedicated to chests, bags, and other expandable storage! Magic filled the air and with every breath I took the world seemed brighter.

To be honest, the sheer volume of magic I felt was a touch overwhelming and I gripped Sirius's hand tightly to keep myself steady. He squeezed my hand in comfort.

The shopping district was busy, but not bustling like it would have been on a weekend. No one paid the small family any mind as they went about their business. They had no reason to suspect that such a "famous" trio would arrive and our disguises were plain.

It was a good thing. None of us wanted to be swarmed by paparazzi or rabid fans.

Sirius and Remus had told Harry and I the truth about our parents when Harry asked long ago. Sirius hated the idea of keeping their death a secret. He almost went along with Dumbledore's suggestion to keep our fame hidden, but Remus thought it would overwhelm us if we went into the Wizarding world so unprepared.