Morning greeted Calysta as she slept. Her long red hair was splayed all over the pillow, the sun giving it a fiery glow. Her breathing was slightly uneven, due to the reason that she was having wild dreams.

Dreams that included her setting fire to Uncle Vernon and a giant named Hagrid.

Wait a second, that wasn't a dream... Was it?

The last thought caused her to sit bold upright, her breathing heavy, as she took in the sight before her. Her brother and her were both covered in a massive coat that was big enough for both of them to use as a blanket.

She looked at her sleeping brother, smiling softly to herself, before coming to her feet, her long, unruly chestnut hair falling over her eyes. She noticed that all three Dursleys were most probably upstairs, sleeping soundly, as none of their presences seemed to be downstairs.

Hagrid was sleeping too. His loud snores sent vibrations through the whole shack, giving Calysta the fear that it would cave in any time soon. She tiptoed to the sleeping giant, lips folded in as she tried not to make a sound. About to place a small hand on his arm to shake him awake, she froze in her tracks as she strained her ears.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Calysta looked around, wondering what could have made the sound, when she noticed an owl at the window. Cooing softly, she slowly sauntered over to the window.

"Alright, I'm getting up," Harry mumbled, his eyes opening as his hand rummaged for his glasses.

The girl giggled. Harry looked at the window, noticing the owl, his lips curving into a small smile.

"Morning Cal," he greeted, causing her to give him a wave.

"Morning," she chirped, opening the window, letting the owl in. The bird flapped its wings, dropping the newspaper on Hagrid's sleeping figure, and viciously began attacking his coat.

"Don't do that," Calysta whispered, eyes widening at the strange behavior of the owl.

Harry tried to wave the owl away, but he merely snapped at him with his beak, rendering him to back off.

"Hagrid!" Harry called out. "There's an owl.."

"Pay him," the giant grunted.

"Sorry, what?" Calysta echoed, utterly confused.

"He wants payin' fer deliverin' the paper," Hagrid grumbled. "Look in the pockets."

Calysta checked one pocket, while Harry checked the other. An assortment of random items were pulled out as they looked for the money.

Keys, bits of old candy wrappers, balls of string, peppermint humbugs, teabags... Finally, Harry pulled out a couple of strange looking coins, which Calysta marveled over.

"Uhm.." she began.

"Five Knuts," Hagrid said sleepily.

"Knuts?" Harry questioned.

"The little bronze ones."

"Oh," muttered Calysta, helping Harry count out five of the little bronze coins, and the owl held out its leg, so they could put the coins into the tiny leather pouch attached there.

"Aren't you a smart little owl?" Calysta whispered, gently stroking the owl's feathery head. It hooted in comfort, before affectionately nipping her finger, then spreading its wings and taking off.

Hagrid yawned loudly and stretched. "Best be off, Cal, Harry, got lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London an' buy all of your school stuff.."

Calysta nudged Harry, who suddenly looked a little sick.

"Um-- Hagrid?" Harry questioned, in a low, hoarse whisper.

"Mm?" said the giant, who was pulling on his massive boots.

"I.. We," he corrected. "We haven't got any money, and you heard Uncle Vernon, he said he won't pay for us to go and learn magic.."

"Don' worry 'bout that," Hagrid said, standing up and scratching his head. "D' yeh think yer parents didn't leave yeh anything?"

"But if their house was destroyed.." Cal began.

"They didn' keep their gold in their house, girl," he laughed. "Nah, firs' stop fer us is Gringotts, Wizard bank."

"Wizards have banks?" Harry interjected.

"Just the one," Hagrid nodded. "Gringotts. Run by goblins."

"Goblins?" Calysta asked incredulously.

"Yeah — so yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it, I'll tell yeh that. Never mess with goblins, you two. Gringotts is the safest place in the world fer anything yeh want ter keep safe — 'cept maybe Hogwarts. As a matter o' fact, I gotta visit Gringotts anyway. Fer Dumbledore. Hogwarts business."

Hagrid drew himself up proudly. "He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him. Fetchin' you — gettin' things from Gringotts — knows he can trust me, see."

Calysta nodded, absorbing all of this information like a sponge.

"Got everythin'? Come on, then."

The twins followed Hagrid outside, onto the rock. The smell of seaweed reached Calysta's nose, and her expression contorted in disgust. The salty breeze whipped through her hair, and she could feel a slight spray of water on her skin.

The sky was quite clear now, and the waves glimmered in the sunlight. The boat Uncle Vernon hired was still there, filled with a little water from the storm.

"How did you get here?" asked Harry, looking around for another boat.

"Flew."

"Flew?"

"Yeah — but we'll go back in this. Not s'pposed ter use magic now I've got yeh."

They settled down in the boat, Calysta still staring at Hagrid, trying to imagine him flying.

"Seems a shame ter row, though," said Hagrid, giving the twins another of his sideways looks. "If Iwas ter — er — speed things up a bit, would yeh mind not mentionin' it at Hogwarts?"

"Of course not," said Calysta, eager to see more magic, lips morphing into a sly smile.

Hagrid pulled out the pink umbrella again, tapped it twice on the side of the boat, and they sped off toward land.

"Why would you be mad to try and rob Gringotts?" Harry asked. "Spells — enchantments," said Hagrid, unfolding his newspaper as he spoke. "They say there's dragons guardin' the high security vaults. And then yeh gotta find yer way — Gringotts is hundreds of miles under London, see. Deep under the Underground. Yeh'd die of hunger tryin' ter get out, even if yeh did manage ter get yer hands on summat."

Calysta and Harry both sat and thought about this while Hagrid read his newspaper, the Daily Prophet. They had learned from Uncle Vernon that people liked to be left alone while they did this, but it was very difficult, they'd never had so many questions in their life.

Calysta's eyes widened as she took a closer look at the newspaper. "Hey, the pictures are moving!" she exclaimed, eyes widening.

Hagrid chuckled. "Well, O' course they are, wouldn't expect 'em to sit still now, did yeh?"

Calysta shook her head. "I.. suppose not.."

"Ministry o' Magic messin' things up as usual," Hagrid muttered, turning the page.

"There's a Ministry of Magic?" Harry asked, before he could stop himself.

"'Course," said Hagrid. "They wanted Dumbledore fer Minister, o' course, but he'd never leave Hogwarts, so old Cornelius Fudge got the job. Bungler if ever there was one. So he pelts Dumbledore with owls every morning, askin' fer advice."

"But what does a Ministry of Magic do?" Calysta questioned, eyes sparkling, fascinated.

"Well, their main job is to keep it from the Muggles that there's still witches an' wizards up an' down the country."

"Why?"

"Why? Blimey, Harry, everyone'd be wantin' magic solutions to their problems. Nah, we're best left alone."

At this moment the boat bumped gently into the harbor wall. Hagrid folded up his newspaper, and they clambered up the stone steps onto the street. Passersby stared a lot at Hagrid as they walked through the little town to the station. Harry couldn't blame them. Not only was Hagrid twice as tall as anyone else, he kept pointing at perfectly ordinary things like parking meters and saying loudly, "See that, Potters? Things these Muggles dream up, eh?"

"Hagrid," said Calysta, panting a bit as she ran to keep up with his long strides, "did you say there are dragons at Gringotts?"

"Well, so they say," said Hagrid, picking Calysta up and placing her over his shoulder. She squealed softly, then giggled, sticking her tongue out at Harry, preferring being carried by the giant over walking, or rather, jogging.

"Tha' better, Calysta?"

"Mhmm," she chirped, her tiny hands wrapping around his neck, looking at the ground from her new height. "Thank you."

"Crikey, I'd like a dragon," Hagrid sighed wistfully.

"You'd like one?"

"Wanted one ever since I was a kid — here we go."

They had reached the station. There was a train to London in five minutes' time. Hagrid, who didn't understand "Muggle money," as he called it, gave the bills to Calysta so she could buy their tickets. People stared more than ever on the train. Hagrid took up two seats and sat knitting what looked like a canary-yellow circus tent.

"Still got yer letter, twins?" he asked as he counted stitches on his yellow knitting. Harry took the parchment envelope out of his pocket, and Calysta copied him.

"Mine's a little crumpled.." Calysta commented to herself.

"Good," said Hagrid. "There's a list there of everything yeh need."

The brunette furrowed her brows, looking for the so-called list. "Aha!" she exclaimed, pulling it from the envelope. "Found it."

She spoke mostly to herself, a habit she'd developed when her brain was overwhelmed with information. Opening up the thick, yellowish parchment, she read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:

1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set of glass or crystal phials
1 telescope set
1 brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

As she read, the list kept getting weirder and weirder, her brows furrowing as her eyes skimmed over the text.

"Hagrid," she finally spoke, her hazel eyes still trained on the list. "How on earth will we find all of this in London?" she questioned.

Harry had opened his mouth to speak, but it seemed like Calysta had spoken his mind and beat him to it.

"Ah, Calysta, good question," Hagrid, chuckling as he ran a hand through his scraggly beard. "If yeh know where to go, then yes, I reckon you'll find everything on the list and more.."

The girl couldn't believe her ears. "And more?" she echoed. "There's more?"

"O' course," Hagrid said cheerily. "There's so much more."

Neither of the twins had ever been to London before. They were both just content to watch the busy streets as they walked, or in Calysta's case, carried.

She looked at where Hagrid was heading, all the shops on the street seemed to be normal. She looked away for a second, and then suddenly, there was a dingy, grubby, old pub when she looked again.

She wasn't hallucinating, she was sure of it, when Hagrid put her down and entered the pub, closing the door behind him.

A huge wave of warmth enveloped her, and the smell of freshly baked treats reached her nostrils, her stomach rumbling.

There was a bar, where two women sat on the stools, drinking sherry, talking in low, hushed whispers. An old lady sat with a rather chubby boy in the far end of the pub, and Calysta was rather startled at the clothes she wore. Carrying a handback made out of what looked like genuine fox-fur (there seemed to be a fox head as well), and wearing a hat with a (was it real?) stuffed vulture, her eyes were transfixed on the strange lady. She hoped she didn't have to dress like that, it would make Dudley laugh at her for hours.

Whilst she was staring, she forgot about how it was rude to stare, and the chubby boy made eye-contact with her. She quirked him a quick smile before flushing at being caught staring and looked away. She looked back just in time to see the boy smile back.

The old lady lit a pipe and placed it between her lips after she finished her drink, and Calysta was keen to notice that everyone waved at Hagrid, it seemed like he came here often.

A little bald man, who wore a worn-out top hat, stretched his features into a toothless grin. "Ah, the usual, Hagrid?" he questioned, waving a glass in front of the giant man's nose.

"Ah, 'fraid not," Hagrid declined politely. "Can't Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business," he said proudly, placing both his arms on either of the twins' shoulders, causing them to both stumble slightly.

That was when Tom the Barman noticed the twins. He leaned forward, his breath smelling of whiskey, surveying them from head to to.

"Good Lord," he murmured. "Are these.. could they be...?"

At his question, every single occupant in the Leaky Cauldron went completely still and silent.

Until the old lady spoke, or rather, yelled. "Well, bless my soul," she cried. "It's the Potters!"

Calysta turned to look at her, wondering how she recognized them so easily, noticing the chubby boy who smiled at her gawk, then collapse, probably fainting.

"Harry and Calysta Potter," cried the barman. "What an honor!" he beamed. He scuttled out from behind the bar, taking turns to shake their hands, tears in his eyes.

"Welcome back, Potters, welcome back."

Calysta, for once, didn't know what to say. Even the old lady with the peculiar hat had stopped smoking her pipe, as she surveyed the twins. Hagrid was beaming.

When Hagrid had told them they were famous, she didn't expect this. She didn't expect people nearly in tears after meeting them. Honestly, was this evil wizard that bad?

All at once, the pub seemed to go noisy, as everyone stood up, chairs and tables scraping against the floor, gathering around the twins.

"Doris Crockford," introduced one man. "Can't believe I'm meeting you at last!"

"So proud, Mr. Potter, so proud," said another.

"A pleasure, Miss Potter," said an man wearing a yellow bowler hat with a flower sticking out.

Calysta smiled shakily, shaking the hands of strangers she'd never seen before.

"Always wanted to shake your hand — I'm all of a flutter." 

"Delighted, Mr. Potter, just can't tell you, Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle." 

"Pleasure, Mr. Diggle," Calysta finally said. "I've seen you before!" said Harry, as Dedalus Diggle's top hat fell off in his excitement. 

"You bowed to us once in a shop," Calysta suddenly spoke, remembering that strange moment, when Aunt Petunia rushed out of the shop without buying anything.

"They remember!" cried Dedalus Diggle, looking around at everyone. "Did you hear that? They remember me!" They shook hands again and again — Doris Crockford kept coming back for more.

After what seemed to be the sixty-eighth handshake, a pale, young man made his way up to the front. One of his eyes twitched, and his lower lip trembled.

"Professor Quirrell!" said Hagrid. "Harry, Cal, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts."

"P-P-Potters," stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping Calysta's hand, "ccan't t-tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you." 

Instantly, Professor Quirrell retracted his hand from hers, as if he'd touched something poisonous. She couldn't fathom why, exactly, maybe he'd gotten a static shock...

"What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?" Asked Harry.

"D-Defense Against the D-D-Dark Arts," muttered Professor Quirrell, as though he'd rather not think about it. "N-not that you n-need it, eh, P-PPotters?" He laughed nervously. "You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He looked terrified at the very thought. 

But the others wouldn't let Professor Quirrell keep the Potters to himself. It took almost ten minutes to get away from them all. At last, Hagrid managed to make himself heard over the babble." Must get on — lots ter buy. Come on, yeh two." 

Calysta seemed to be thinking at Professor Quirrell's words. "Vampires are real?"

"O' course," Hagrid chuckled. "So are werewolves, though I'd never put them together in the same room, mind yeh, they'd tear each other apart."

Hagrid led them through the pub's courtyard, past the fountain, and to... a dead end. There was nothing on the ground except a few dying shrubs and trashcans.

Hagrid grinned at the pair. "Told yeh, yer famous," he said proudly. "Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh — mind you, he's usually tremblin'."

"Is he always that nervous?" Calysta questioned.

"Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some first-hand experience... They say he met vampires in the Black Forest, and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag — never been the same since. Scared of the students, scared of his own subject — now, where's me umbrella?" 

Calysta giggled, pointing to the umbrella that was in his hand. He hadn't noticed it. Harry looked to be deep in thought, while Calysta observed the strange method Hagrid counted bricks in the wall, tapping them with the tip of his umbrella.

"Three up . . . two across . . ." he muttered. "Right, stand back, Harry, Calysta." He tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella. The brick he had touched quivered — it wriggled — in the middle, a small hole appeared — it grew wider and wider — a second later they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway onto ac obbled street that twisted and turned out of sight. 

"Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley."

{ here's the next chapter. it's very long, but i like including the tiny details that add up to the descriptions.}