Chapter 1 - Diagon Alley
Hermione blinked up at the bustling street.
“Come now child, we have shopping to do,” coaxed the professor. “Your parents mentioned to me that you may feel more comfortable acclimating on your own so I suggested I show you the basics and then they would meet you afterward.”
She nodded, knowing that having her parents there would only add to her anxiety. She simply wanted to fit in, and had a feeling that toting around two “muggles” as they were called wouldn’t be of much help in that regard.
“So I’ll help you get your account set up at Gringotts, our bank, and then point you in the direction of the shops to get your school list, and let you wander,” the witch smiled kindly at her. “Ah here we are.” They had come to a magnificent marble building. She climbed the stairs after the professor and froze.
“Ma’am,” she stuttered, “are those.. What are they exactly?”
“Goblins, you’ll be learning quite a bit about them in History of Magic. I hope you don’t mind but in addition to your school list I also compiled a list of books and other items I thought might help you to better acclimate to our world,” she explained as she passed Hermione a copy of her school list and an extra sheet of parchment.
Hermione let the professor set up her account as she took in the bank and it’s patrons. While they weren’t the only customers this morning, it was fairly empty allowing her a good look at the few other groups, also dressed in long robes. The goblins caught her attention as well. All along the edge of the room, they were involved in varying tasks, some weighing piles of glittering jewels, or counting coins, a few were scratching away with what looked like quills, while others were coming and going with the varying patrons disappearing behind the second set of doors at the end of the hall.
“Now Miss Granger,” she turned at the raspy voice addressing her, “your vault has been established at Gringotts Bank, and is accessible by this key,” he held up a small golden key, “or your wand for identification. If you need to convert more funds in the future you can do so in person here, or via owl. Here is the amount requested out today.” He handed her a small sack of clinking coins along with the key. “Thank you for your patronage.” He abruptly turned away and began speaking some language with one of his fellows that sounded oddly gurgly.
Professor McGonagall led her outside into the street which had become a fair bit busier in the time since they entered. “Now, Miss Granger, if you stick to this main street,” she indicated the road they had walked from the pub, “and Horizont,” she pointed towards a cross street, “you’ll be able to find all the shops you need for both lists. The other shops off the main roads are fine to explore as well, however, don’t go down Knockturn Alley,” she gestured towards a street some ways back that seemed oddly dark, “it is mainly dark artifacts and while I’m sure you would not go looking for trouble, the sort of people who frequent those shops would likely not be kind to someone of your background.”
Hermione gulped. “Yes ma’am, thank you.”
“Now, I’ll be off unless you require other assistance?”
“No ma’am thank you!”
“Well then, Miss Granger, I will see you on September 1st. Oh, I almost forgot, when you purchase items that are too large to carry about, you can request them to be discreetly owled to you, this will ensure they are only delivered when there are no muggles present.” And with that she promptly shook Hermione’s hand and turned on the spot, disappearing with a small pop.
Hermione smiled to herself, walking towards the first shop on the list, Ollivander’s. This was where she’d be getting a magic wand.
A small bell sounded as she stepped into the dim shop.
“Good Afternoon,” called a mysterious voice from among the many piles of boxes. There had to be hundreds in the shop all varying sizes, and piled so precariously upon one another that she couldn’t believe they didn’t fall at the faintest hint of a breeze.
“Hello,” she started timidly. She rolled her shoulders, she was not scared, she was simply shopping, an activity she was well used to with her mother. While it wasn’t everyday she bought a magic wand, she supposed it was a similar experience.
“Ahh Hogwarts age then are we?” The voice asked, as a small frail looking man emerged from behind a mountain of boxes. She nodded.
“Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, unicorn hair, phoenix tail feathers, and dragon heartstrings. No two wands are quite the same just as no two unicorns, phoenixes, or dragons are quite the same. And of course, you’ll never get such good results with another wizard’s wand, as we who study wandlore know, the wand chooses the wizard,” the man with a flurry Hermione blinked at the man, she assumed must be Ollivander.
“Well then let’s get started.” A tape measure flew to meet her and began measuring her arm, hands, and a number of other body parts she couldn’t believe were relevant as the man, not paying any attention to the tape measure, began pulling boxes from varying shelves and piles and placing them on a rather dusty glass table at the front of the store.
“Here give this a try,” handing her a wand, “unicorn hair and holly, rather supple,” she felt rather foolish, but took the stick of wood giving it a wave.
“No, no, no I think not,” he snatched the wand back before handing her a second, shorter wand, “phoenix feather tail, and pine,” she took it and the light across the room sparked and went out. “Well I guess not,” he chuckled, taking the wand back.
“Why don’t we try the dragon,” handing her an engraved wand, “vine wood, 10 ¾ inches very powerful.” As she took it she felt a warmth rush through her fingers as sparks flew from the end of the wand. “Well then Miss Granger, it seems you’ve found your match. I’m impressed, that wand would take a very powerful magical core to wield.” She was stunned, she only learned she was a witch a few days ago. However the wand had chosen her, so she must be a good fit.
She paid for the wand as he packed it up, reminding her she wasn’t to use it outside school. She thanked him as she left the shop, ready to move on to her other purchases, realizing that the wand store took quite a bit more time than she had thought. She was amazed at the bookstore, Flourish and Blotts, she bought all of her school books, all of the ones on the professor’s recommended list, and several others including a few about other muggle-borns, recent histories, and even some of the advanced textbooks she saw some older students picking up. She even met a few other students, Penelope Clearwater introduced herself as a prefect that year in something called Ravenclaw and helped Hermione select an appropriately challenging introductory book on Transfiguration. A blonde girl wearing pigtails called Hannah was another first year student excited to start Hogwarts and they made plans hastily to sit together on the train.
Hermione sent her books by discreet owl as suggested and after stopping for a quick pastry at a cafe, continued on to buy her cauldron, scales, the recommended potion ingredients, and a set of phials, also owling the Potion supplies. She decided against getting a pet since she didn't fancy the responsibility while she was getting settled into her new school. The professor had assured her that there were many school owls she could utilize if she wished to send any post. She huffed when she realized she had managed to complete everything aside from her uniform. She hated clothes shopping.
She headed towards Madam Malkin’s, passing by a rather large man walking with a scrawny black haired boy who appeared very overwhelmed. She smirked to herself knowing she at least didn’t seem as outwardly out of place. She stepped into the bright shop, greeted by a plump, cheerful woman.
“Hogwarts dear?” at Hermione’s nod, she was ushered towards a stool in the middle of the room, as she was measured by an autonomous tape measure for the second time that day. Just as the woman was placing a set of robes on her, the door opened and a boy walked in.
He had pale skin, and hair so blond it was almost white. His grey eyes took her in amid the rest of the shop, as he was ushered to a stool near hers.
“Hello,” she began. The boy turned to her and sneered, “I haven’t seen you around, what’s your name?” She considered for a moment, but she was known for being rather quick on her feet, and her gut was telling her just not to play all her cards with this boy.
“I’m Hermione, and you are?” she asked, letting some of the boy’s tone reflect back towards him.
He seemed to smirk at this, “Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, are you starting Hogwarts this year as well?”
“Yes, my family just got back to England,” not technically a lie, they had returned from vacationing in Italy not more than a week ago.
“Well welcome back I suppose, although Father says that with how the country’s being run these days it might be better to go abroad.”
Hermione scoffed at this. While she held a mild interest in politics, she hadn’t yet had a chance to read up on wizarding politics, focusing instead on Hogwarts during her quick lunch and still only getting so far as the four houses and their descriptions. “Well they do say Hogwarts is the best, so at least we’ll have that.”
The boy opened his mouth but the door opened again to admit the black haired boy she saw earlier. As the blonde boy turned his attention to the new arrival, Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, she really needed to get home so she could prepare. She planned to read all of her new books between now and September 1st hoping that would bring her up to speed to the level of her classmates who grew up with wizarding parents.
“I really don’t think they should let the other sort in, do you?”
Hermione scoffed, drawing the attention of the two boys. The darker haired boy looked appreciative, while the blonde smirked approvingly, both interpreting the sound differently. Thankfully she was saved an explanation by the witch, who had just finished with her set of robes, and directed her to a set of auxiliary accessories. Hermione chose a soft grey cloak and matching gloves and requested all her items be owled. She called out a “See you at school” as she left the shop feeling accomplished. She continued wandering the streets, until almost dinner time, feeling she had gotten her fill and eager to describe the day to her parents. Although once in the car, fell fast asleep as soon as they were out of the city.
Over the next week all of her parcels arrived and she tore through her new books with a fervor her parents hadn’t seen before.
“Should we start limiting her to one book a day?” Her father asked one evening as they watched her devour one of the tombs.
“We shouldn’t take this away from her,” her mother sighed, looking up from Recent Wizarding History. They were each reading their own books on the wizarding world and had been quite surprised at what they had read.
There had been a war around 10 years ago surrounding the existence of people like their daughter. They worried for her entering the school, knowing that there was likely some prejudice still at play, but when they had brought up their concerns she brushed them off explaining that she had a plan to handle any issues that arose. They had shrugged and dropped the subject knowing that she was perfectly capable of handling herself and that she would ask if she needed help.
On August 31st, Hermione packed her trunk, and discussed her drop off with her parents. The Professor had told them how to get through to the platform at Kings Cross, but had been clear that her parents would likely not be granted access. So Hermione arranged for them to drop her off at 10’oclock, leaving plenty of time for her to find the platform, change into her robes, and find a seat on the train before it became too crowded.
She laid out her clothes for the morning, feeling giddy, knowing it was the first real day of her new life, and eager to start over. She hoped Hannah would remember their plans and that she would have her first real friend. She drifted off to sleep with dreams of being popular, and loved by hordes of friends.