The Blackthorne family had rented a room in the Leaky Cauldron for a whole week of shopping for school supplies! Morgana and Romulus thought it would be a great learning adventure for their children to have a nice, long week to see the sights and learn about the wizarding culture. At home, they all had limited exposure to the wizarding world because they lived among muggles in Godric's Hollow and did everything at home the Muggle way. Morrigan's "twin", her red-haired mute cousin Faye Ruggles, had been staying with them for the duration of the summer and had come along on the trip.

When Morrigan finally arrived downstairs for breakfast dressed in a snazzy outfit, she was amused at the sight of her family sitting at a table. Her dad was absorbed in today's edition of The Daily Prophet and her mother was teaching Faye all about some muggle device called a cell phone and how to "text" with it. Morrigan looked around at her family when she sat down, frowning. Her sisters were missing from the picture.

"Where's Ren and Angie?"

"Gone wandering around Diagon Alley, I expect," her dad said from behind his newspaper.

"How come we didn't get to go?"

"Because you're too young to go wandering about by yourself. We have to go to Gringott's first to get the money. Your sisters took what we had on us."

Morrigan let out a dramatic sigh of exasperation and pulled her toast closer to her. Too young? She was eleven, for Potter's sake! She propped her cheek roughly into her palm, which was propped up by her elbow on the table, and took a bite of her crispy toast. Her mind wandered upstairs to her room where her Tearose Tea Set and magical tiara, which turned some of her very red curls to a light pink, were sitting alone and unused. She had to take her mind off those things. After all, she was a Hogwarts student now! Morrigan wondered how much fun being a First Year would be and whether or not she would make any friends...

Harri entered the dingy old pub with a wicked smile on her lips though her father, towering over her miniscule frame was clearly less than impressed. After much begging, cajoling and even a little arm wrestling she had convinced her father to come along with her to collect her school supplies while her mother had to work. When her Hogwarts letter first arrived her father had sat her down to explain to her what she was. At first she thought he was taking the piss but she had never seen him look so concerned. He finally told a tale about his childhood that she had never heard before, one of a cousin she didn't know he had, pig tails, giant tongues, soul sucking invisible monsters and many, many men in weird clothing. While he did seem excited for her, in his own way, the best way Harri could describe it was fear, which was ludicrous, Dudley Dursley wasn't afraid of anything.

She pushed a dirty mat of hair out of her eyes. Harri herself looked as if she fit right in. Her hair was cut short and looked as though she hadn't washed it in weeks (despite her mother's vigorous shampooing) there was a scuff of dirt on her cheek which made her grey eyes stand out (she had picked up a game of football with her mates before coming) She wore an over sized jersey over top a pair of torn jeans and nearly ruined trainers. Her parents had stopped trying to get her to dress proper for a few years now and instead allowed her to express herself however she saw fit.

A man approached them as they stepped further in, Harri supposed he ran the place. She didn't pay him much mind. She was too busy looking at all the witches and wizards that were currently enjoying morning coffees or perhaps something stronger. She noticed a small family with a young girl who looked to be about her age.

"Welcome to the Leaky Caldron, how may I serve you?"

It took her father a few moments to find his voice, "We were uh, we were told we could get to Diggon Alley from here."

The man nodded, "Shopping for Hogwarts then," he turned his attention to Harri, "and who's this strapping young lad?"

"I'm Harri." She jumped in before her father could correct the barkeep, "do you know where we should go?"

She could feel eyes on her and looked up at the patrons that had come in. As the Leaky Cauldron was not overly busy this morning, the conversation between the massive man and the barkeep had carried over to the family. Morrigan stared at the scruffy person standing beside the hulking figure and realized the peer was staring back. They looked to be the same age.

"Mum, mum," Morrigan tugged at her mother's arm, "they came from Muggleside."

Her dad poked his head over his Daily Prophet to see the Muggles. Morgana hissed at her husband, "Stop staring, Romi. It's not our place to--no! Don't you dare!"

It was too late. Romulus was already getting to his feet and hurrying towards them in a very friendly manner. He tripped over a chair in his haste and righted himself, adjusting the thick-rimmed glasses on his face. Morrigan jumped up and scurried after him to greet the boy in just as friendly of a manner. Her dad ran a hand through his red curls and extended a hand towards the father. Morrigan stopped in her tracks, realizing that it wasn't a boy at all. It was a girl! She was stunned, gaping at her for a moment.

"Good morning," her father said cheerfully. "Welcome to the Leaky Cauldron!"

His youngest daughter tugged on his shirt. "He already said that, dad."

"Right. So sorry! My name is Romulus Blackthorne. This is my daughter, Morrigan. Are you, uh... You wouldn't happen to be, er, Muggles, would you?"

"ROMI!" His wife shouted from across the room. She whispered something to the other red-haired girl, who looked almost like Morrigan's twin but with straight, strawberry-blonde hair, and glided over towards them. Morgana fixed her husband with a scolding glare before presenting the family with a charming smile. "Please excuse my husband. He has no manners at all. I'm Morgana, his wife. Is this your first time here?"

Morrigan looked from her parents to the filthy girl standing beside her father and gave her a smile. "Are you starting Hogwarts this year, too?"

Either everyone was really friendly in the Wizarding world or they stood out more than she thought they would. She could tell that her father was a little uncomfortable at her side but perhaps meeting another student's family would make him relax some. He was always a very social person and never seemed to lack in the small talk department, of course that was back home in Dover, where Magic didn't exist. Here though, well it almost looked like her father was reliving some uncomfortable memory. He extended his hand to Romulous with as much courtesy as he would have given a client, "Dudley Dursley." He winced a bit at being called a Muggle, Harri had no idea what that was but she could tell her father didn't like it, "Yes, well, I am."

He put a hand on Harri's shoulder, "Harri here though is a . . . " He looked to his daughter and Harri gave him a nod, "Harri's a wizard, I supposed you'd say." When he had first explained the Magical world to her she had latched onto the word Wizard and refused to call herself a Witch, much like she didn't often associate herself with being a girl and had been sent to the Headmaster's office often enough for getting into a fight with someone who had said, 'you do that just like a girl'

Dudley greeted Morgana as warmly as he had greeted Romulous, "Here yes. The Weasley's usually handled the shopping."Harri remembered hearing about the magical family that had practically adopted her namesake. Her father had only met them a few times but he didn't seem to have liked them very much, "I've been to the train though. The big Scarlet one."

Harri turned to the young girl that had come over with the family and looked at her awkwardly wondering if she was going to be one of those girls, "Yeah, I am. Pretty excited, Dad doesn't know much about it. His cousin went when they were kids." She looked up at the other girl's parents, "Are they wizards too?" Even her voice was as gruff as she looked, which often made it easier for her to play off being a boy.

Romulus was ecstatic about meeting a Muggle and his witch daughter and his wife seemed just as pleased, though she wasn't bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Well, Mr. Dursley, it is a great pleasure to meet you!" Romulus beamed.

Morgana gave a curt nod to Mr. Dursley's conversation of past experiences. He had mentioned the Weasley family, but he didn't look as thrilled about them as her husband was. Her mother-in-law's family, the Ruggles, were a distant relation to the Weasley's, if she recalled the family histories correctly. "The Hogwarts Express," she nodded again when he mentioned the scarlet train. "A lovely--"

Romulus interrupted her by blurting out, "Would you like us to show you around Diagon Alley? We need to stop by Gringott's first--oh, that's the wizard bank. It's run by goblins. You'll want to exchange your money there. They can convert your muggle bills to--"

"Romi," his wife was stern again, "give the man room to breathe. This is a lot for anyone to take in. You're going to terrify the poor man with talk of goblins!"

"Right... Sorry."

Morrigan rolled her eyes at her parents and smiled again at Harri. She couldn't say a word against the girl being covered in dirt because dirt was a secret love of her own. It wasn't so secret among her family, but to strangers who thought she looked to stylish and pretty, it was absolutely hush-hush. Looking at Harri, she thought the girl was awfully brave to go around proclaiming her love for dirt and roughness. Morrigan knew she didn't have that kind of courage.

"Oh, his cousin went to Hogwarts? What was his name? My parents might have known him.." The girl asked about her parents and she nodded. "Yeah. My dad's a full-blood, but mum is only half. She has a muggle mum who works as a professor at a muggle school. We know more than most wizards about non-magic people because we live in a muggle town and mum's an English teacher at a boarding school."

Harri stopped paying attention to the conversation her father was having with the girl's parents. Something about a bank. She caught him consent to letting the Blackthornes show them around. She loved that about her father. He wasn't afraid to let someone help him out of it decreased the chances of him looking like a tosser. She supposed if she was going to be spending the afternoon with these people she may as well get to know them. From there she could decide if the red head was worth keeping around or if she was going to be yet another girl Harri ignored.

"umm Harry, like me. Harry Potter." she said rather absently. Although her father had told her all he knew about the magical world, all he could remember of his cousin and how his Aunt and Uncle had died he had no idea the impact Harry had on their world and by extension neither did Harri.

She squinted and made a face when Morrigan kept mentioning muggles, "sorry mate, but what the feck is a muggle?" She shot her father a look to see if he had caught her cursing. She was so used to doing it with her football mates that she sometimes forgot she wasn't supposed to, especially around adults.

"umm Harry, like me. Harry Potter."

The wizarding family suddenly fell real quiet. Morrigan gaped open-mouthed at Harri. She was not as quick to recover as her father, who began chattering away with Dudley again.

"You're related to Harry Potter?" She turned towards her red-headed cousin, who was still sitting at the table. "Faye, come here! These Muggles are related to Harry Potter!"

Faye shook her head silently. This seemed to upset Morrigan because when she turned back around, she had her brows furrowed in irritation.

"Sorry mate, but what the feck is a muggle?"

Morrigan nor her parents seemed to catch on to the swear word. She lost the irritated expression immediately. She had completely forgotten that Harri didn't know anything about the wizarding world.

"A Muggle is what we call non-magic people," her smile faded as a new thought crossed her mind. "There are some wizarding families that don't like muggles, but they are rare and usually not worth the trouble."

She reached up to play with her necklace and smooth out her outfit before smiling again at Harri. Her parents were all ready heading across the room of the Leaky Cauldron towards the courtyard.

"Come on. You can walk with me. Don't mind my cousin. Faye is...quiet."

She followed her parents to the brick wall out in the courtyard. Faye had joined Morrigan and gave a shy smile to Harri. Romulus tapped on a certain brick with his wand and the wall opened up to Diagon Alley.

Morrigan kept using that word and once it was explained to her, Harri decided she didn't like the term. There was nothing wrong with her Dad, or her Mom for that matter and there was no reason to label them. She hated labels, they were made to separate and isolate people or force some preconceived notions on them. Harri tried not to abide by labels and instead tried to call things by what they were instead of what category they fit into. Like herself, she wasn't going to be labelled a girl, she was a wicked football player and a decent boxer, she wanted to be known for that, for her accomplishments.

Judging by the girl's (and subsequently her parent's) reaction, her cousin was some kind of big deal and she was suddenly very interested to know why but before she could ask, the group was moving on. She followed the other adults out into the back courtyard and watched curiously as they rapped on some bricks and the wall seemed to pull away to reveal the real world of magic. It was more splendid than Harri had been imagining and nothing like the movies, Hollywood special effects had nothing on real magic.

She let out a long whistle and stepped out onto the cobblestone walkway. She wanted to run, she wanted to explore, she wanted to experience all of this but first they would have to go to the bank. She hoped it wouldn't take long, she hated going to the bank with her Mom. She was desperate to explore all the shops the little Wizarding Market town had to offer.

To keep herself occupied in the mean time she turned to the red head and her cousin, "So my cousin, this Potter bloke, what's so special about him?"

Morrigan had been to Diagon Alley loads of times because while her mum was away at school, her dad would take her for regular visits. She had gone into a lot of places and explored almost every nook and cranny...except Knockturn Alley. Her entire family had forbidden her and her cousins to go there. It was not a new place for her as it was for Harri and she was thrilled to see the bewildered expression on the girl's face.

"So my cousin, this Potter bloke, what's so special about him?"

"Oh, well, umm..." The story of the famous Harry Potter had been one of the most frequently-told stories in their home, sometimes for bed or the holidays. Morrigan knew that she would not be able to do the story justice if she told it: she wasn't as good of a story-teller as her dad. "Faye? Faye, you know the story, right? Could you tell it?"

Faye glared at her younger cousin, though they were practically the same height. Everyone in their family knew that Faye didn't talk, but Morrigan widened her green eyes pleadingly and poked out her bottom lip. "Please, Faye?"

With a roll of her eyes, Faye decided to speak. It was a historical subject after all. The girl looked to Harri, but without the grumpy attitude. "Quite famous, that Harry Potter is. 'Bout fifty years ago, Dark Lord ran 'round killin', forcin' blokes ter joinin' 'im. Dark Side, as they called it. Only a handful o' wizards 'n' witches whot stood up ta 'im. Some prophecy went 'round, caught tha Dark Lord's 'nterest, it did, 'n' here he came ta Godric's Hollow ta get the Potter's out 'is way. Killed 'em, he did. Only Harry's mum didn't die for nuffing. Nah, smart lady, Mrs. Potter. Great mum. Sacrificed 'erself for her baby, she did."

Morrigan jumped up and down excitedly. "Love magic!"

"Aye, love magic. It's a powerful fing." Faye nodded in agreement. They were almost to Gringott's Wizard Bank. "Her sacrifice protected Harry, it did. Dark Lord tried ta kill 'im, too, but the curse backfired on 'im, it did. Got what he deserved, din he? Shor did. He didn't die, but as good as. Went in ta hidin', nothin' but smoke and ash, way I heard tell it. Lil Harry Potter was known as 'The Boy Who Lived'."

Morrigan wasn't paying attention to anything in front and ran right into her mother. Morgana barely noticed. Her husband was blocking the door to Gringott's, turning to look around at Mr. Dursley with a grim expression.

"Now, I will warn you.. Gringott's is run by Goblin's. They're not very...pleasant, but they are good with money."

"Romi, for goodness sake, get out of the way. You're blocking the  door and we've got to get a move on!"

"Er... right."

He glanced at Mr. Dursley as though he might be something delicate that would break once he opened the door, hesitated, then went inside. Morrigan allowed Mr. Dursley to go inside first, then gestured to the younger ones kindly, "Come along, girls."

Morrigan and Faye waited for Harri before going inside. The younger red-head was ecstatic to be back inside Gringott's, but she was watching Harri more than she was the goblins. She beamed at her friend.

"There's more to the story. Tell her, Faye."

Faye went on. "Harry Potter came back from Muggleside, as we called it. Went to Hogwarts fer nearly seven years. Dark Lord came back ta power, he did. Scary bloke. Darker, way I heard tell it. Got 'is Death Eaters back--'is followers, mind--and went after Potter. Harry Potter was The Chosen One so, in the end, it was the Dark Lord or Potter whot's gonna gettit. Potter won, o' course. Harry Potter killed the Dark Lord and there 'int been one Death Eater whot's not locked up in Azkaban--wizard prison, mind--or just plain dead." And she nodded matter-of-factly as her tale ended so abruptly.

"Morgana, you wait here with the girls and Mr. Dursley. I'll go and fetch our money." And Romulus followed a grubby-looking goblin out a side door.

Morrigan wondered what was beyond the doors, imagining a huge vault full of coins. There had been rumors the vaults were guarded by dragons. She tried to picture her father getting past a dragon and couldn't help but smile. Her dad wasn't that brave.

Harri's attention was on the other girl as she began the tale. It sounded so fantastical, so out there, so unrealistic that Harri honestly had a hard time believing it. She couldn't help but be reminded of Star Wars, an old series of movies her uncle (on her mother's side) loved. She had a stern almost confused expression about her as she was told the story, thinking back to everything her Dad had told her. He had admitted that he hadn't always been kind to his cousin, that perhaps as a kid he was a bit of a bully but he had painted a picture of a weird outcast who didn't really have friends, was prone to getting in trouble both in the regular world and the Wizarding World and had been the reason her father and grandparents had to move. Maybe her Dad didn't know the whole story, maybe this girl was making things up.

As they entered the bank Harri's attention was easily drawn to the squat little creatures behind the tall desks and this time she had thought of Lord of the Rings. She didn't take her eyes off them, a slight excited and curious expression on her face as Faye finished off the story of her cousin and how he saved the world. It all sounded like bullocks to her but she wasn't about to tell the girls that. It was clear they revered this guy as some kind of hero. Harri knew that heroes were better kept to story books, no one was actually like that in real life.

With Mr. Blackthorne being escorted to his vault, leaving Harri to bounce up onto her tippy toes to get a better look of them departing, her father - with a puffed up chest and determined expression - approached a nearby desk to exchange his bundle of notes for shiny looking coins.

Harri's interest was lost on her cousin but ignited by the bankers, "Why them eh? Why's them running the bank, stead of Wizards?"

Morrigan was thrilled to have a friend that knew nothing about their world! Her older sisters had half-bloods and muggle-borns for friends and she wanted to have one, too. Harri seemed like a great playmate. She got excited when the girl started asking questions about the goblins.

"Haven't the foggiest," she replied. Morrigan turned to her twin cousin, who was watching a goblin weigh some large gemstones. "Faye? Do you know why goblins run Gringott's?"

"Hm? Oh. It's because a goblin founded the bank." There was a long stretch of pause and then she turned to the girls again. "It was under wizarding management during the early 1500's, but it returned to being fully operated by goblins in 1865. They do hire wizards for curse-breaking since goblins are not allowed to use wands."

"That's a rule made by wizards," Morrigan nodded fervently as though she, too, knew something important. However, she dropped the subject to watch a goblin roll a wheel-barrow full of jewels across the lobby. Several minutes later, Romulus returned from the doors looking slightly ill.

"Mum, what's through those doors that makes him sick?"

"Carts, darling."

"Carts?" She wrinkled up her nose. "What do you mean 'carts'?"

But her mother didn't hear her. Romulus removed his glasses to wipe sweat from his forehead, then put them back on and smiled at them.

"Ready? Let's go."

And they made their way out of Gringott's back to Diagon Alley, keeping the younger girls close as another crowd of wizards and witches entered through the doors.

"Do you have Harri's school supply list with you, Mr. Dursley?" Her mother inquired gently.

Morrigan noticed a large splotch of mud on Harri's jersey. "Harri, what are you wearing?" And she nodded to indicate the jersey.

The explanation on the Goblins was not nearly as exciting as Harri had hoped it would be. Although there were some very interesting points brought up, namely that magic was REALLY old and that Goblins weren't allowed to use wands which meant, "You can do magic without a wand?!" This fact really interested Harri. She hadn't realized that she had already done wandless magic herself, much like any young wizard who's magical abilities were starting to bud. She was eager to get her wand anyway but the thought of possibly not having to use one to use magic was far more fascinating than any dusty old bank no matter which type of magical creature ran it.

They were ushered out of the bank by the parents and Harri had to blink away the afternoon sun, painfully bright after being in the bank. She looked up to her dad who removed a piece of parchment from inside his jacket pocket, "Right here, though I haven't the faintest idea where to get all these things."

Harri turned back to the two girls, "You think the 'rents will let us get our wands first?" Looking over her school supply list the thing that stood out the most was the fact that she got to have her very own wand. She was worried it's be like her elementary school where they had to share things like sellotape, scissors and glue sticks.

She looked up at Mrs. Blackthorne as if she had just asked what those white puffy things in the sky were, "It's a footie jersey, Man Utd."