~ Ten years later ~

Rose had finished eating her breakfast early, and was now outside in the garden digging for worms. She was still dressed in her pajamas, but they were now covered in dirt. Rose was fairly small for her age, slim, with dark brown hair that came down to her shoulders. She wore glasses, and she had a scar on her forehead that she always tried to cover with her hair.

Mrs Dursley watched over Rose from the kitchen window as she made breakfast for her son. Rose had always woken up a lot earlier than anyone else in the house. She was usually out of bed by 6am, but her brother would not get up that early even if the house was on fire.

Mrs Dursley always found it odd that Dudley and Rose were so different in so many ways. Dudley was a nice peaceful boy, but Rose always seemed to be busy doing something. She was always climbing trees or digging in the mud. Mrs Dursley rolled her eyes at Rose. Why couldn't she have a normal daughter, she thought to herself.

As Mrs Dursley brought the food to the table, she heard the postman putting some letters through the door. "Rose, get the post, dear," she called out through the window.

Rose stood up and brushed the dirt from her pajamas. Then she walked into the house and headed towards the front door. When she got there, she saw a small pile of letters.

Rose picked up all the letters and flicked through them as she walked back to the kitchen. They seemed to be mostly bills, but then Rose noticed that there was one addressed to her.

Rose gave the other letters to her dad, then she sat down and looked at the letter addressed to her. It had her name on the front, and on the back it was sealed with wax and had a logo for somewhere called Hogwarts.

"Mum, Rose has got a letter," said Dudley.

"Have you, dear?" Mrs Dursley said. "What does it say?"

Rose opened the letter then read it carefully. From what she read, it seemed like she was being offered a place in a special school.

"It says I've been accepted to somewhere called Hogwarts," she said.

"Hogwarts! Oh, no," said Mrs Dursley. "Not you as well."

"What do you mean, mum?" Rose asked.

"My... sister, went there," said Mrs Dursley, her voice faltering. 

"That's cool," said Rose. "You never really talk about her though?"

"It's that school... the magic... all of it," said Mrs Dursley, her face turned pale. "I can't believe my own daughter is one of their kind."

Rose wanted to ask what she meant, but before she could, her mother's face fell to the table and she started to cry. She looked over to her father, but he looked angry and his face turned red. Rose looked back to the letter and read through it again.

"It's for a school of witchcraft and wizardry," said Rose. "Does that mean like real magic or something?"

"Yes, my sister was a witch," said Mrs Dursley.

"And now I am going to be too?" Rose said. "That's amazing. Can I go dad?"

Mr Dursley was about to say no, when Rose came and sat on his lap. She always sat on his lap when she wanted something from him, and it always made it impossible for him to turn her down.

"Well, err, if you really wanted to, sweetie," said Mr Dursley. "I suppose that would be okay."

"Thanks, dad," said Rose, and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Rose then hopped up off her dad's lap and sat back at the table to read the rest of the letter.

"There's a list of things I need to bring, but I don't know where to get any of it from," said Rose.

"Let me see, sweetie," said Mr Dursley. "Hmmm, cauldron... wand... robes... no, I don't know where to buy any of that."

Rose felt sad, and she was not sure what to do. But before she could worry too much, there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," said Rose.

She jumped up and ran through to the front door.  When she opened it, she saw a huge scruffy looking man standing at the door.

"Ahhh, Rose, is that you? Well, haven't you grown," he said. "You were just a baby last time I saw you."

"Yeah, I'm Rose," she said. "Who are you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, my name's Hagrid," he said. "I'm groundskeeper at Hogwarts. The headmaster sent me to help you with buying your school supplies."

"Yeah, we were just wondering about that," said Rose. "Do you want to come in?"

Hagrid stepped forward and crouched down to get through the door. Rose led him down to the kitchen where her parents were sitting at the table.

"This is Hagrid," she said. "He's come from Hogwarts to take us shopping for school supplies."

"Ah, well, yes. I meant just you actually, Rose," said Hagrid. "Don't want to be taking muggles into Diagon Alley."

"Muggles?" Rose asked.

"That's what we call non-magical folk," Hagrid explained.

"I see," said Rose. "And when are we going to go shopping then?"

"Well, I thought we would go now," said Hagrid. "If you just go and get dressed first."

Rose ran off up the stairs to her bedroom. She quickly pulled off her pajamas and threw them to the floor. Then she put on some jeans and a big baggy top that used to belong to her older brother.

When Rose came back down the stairs, Hagrid was sitting at the table awkwardly drinking a cup of coffee with her parents. He quickly stood up when Rose returned.

"I'm ready, let's go," said Rose, excitedly.

"You be careful, baby," said Mrs Dursley.

"I will, mum," said Rose, and she gave her mum a kiss goodbye.

Hagrid and Rose left her home and travelled into London. They took the train into Victoria station, then took the underground into central London.

They looked quite an odd pair as they walked through the streets. The little girl and the giant man. But everyone who saw them seemed to just ignore how odd they looked.

Eventually, Hagrid led Rose to the entrance of a pub called the Leaky Cauldron. It looked rather rough, and Rose was nervous about going in. But having Hagrid with her made Rose feel brave enough to walk in the door.

"Hello, Hagrid," said the barman. "What can I get you?"

"Not today, thanks," said Hagrid. "I'm here on official Hogwarts business."

Hagrid led Rose through the pub and out to a courtyard in the back. He tapped on the wall, and it magically opened up to reveal a street hidden behind it. It was filled with strange looking shops and loads of people.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley," said Hagrid.

"And I can buy everything I need for Hogwarts here?" Rose asked.

"Anything magical that you would ever need is available to buy in the shops here," said Hagrid.

"But I didn't bring any money, how will I pay for everything?" said Rose.

"You've got money, don't worry about that," said Hagrid. "You've got money left to you from your.... err.... aunt and uncle."

"They did?" said Rose. "Why did they leave it to me?"

"Hmmm, yes. Err, they knew you would grow up to be a witch, so they left their money to you in their will," said Hagrid.

Hagrid took Rose into Gringotts to take out some money. She was very surprised to see how much money she had when the vault was opened. Rose took a large handful of coins, then she and Hagrid went to visit the other shops. 

First they went to buy her a cloak and a wizard's hat. Then they went to the bookshop to buy all the books she needed. Lastly they headed into Ollivander's to buy her a wand.

Rose entered the shop alone. It was quiet and musty looking, with loads of small boxes piled up. Rose looked around and saw an old man crouched behind the counter. She coughed quietly to get his attention, and he stood up to look at her.

"Come for a wand, have you, young lady?" said Ollivander. "Well just remember, the wand chooses the wizard."

"Oh, okay," said Rose. "So what should I do?"

"First, tell me your name," said Ollivander.

"My name is Rose Dursley, it's nice to meet you," she said.

"Hmmm, Dursley. Don't know the name, are they muggles?" Ollivander asked, as he started looking through the boxes.

"Errr, yeah," said Rose. "They don't do magic."

Ollivander stared closely at Rose for a moment, then reached out to grab a box. He opened it, then handed the wand to Rose.

"Try this one," he said.

Rose took the wand, then held it in her hand and looked at it. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do, so just turned it around in her hand. As she did, a glass of water on the counter tipped over and spilled.

"Perhaps not," said Ollivander, and he took the wand back.

Ollivander put the box back on the shelf, then turned to stare at Rose again.

"I get a strange sense of power from you," he said. "And I feel myself drawn..."

He suddenly grabbed a dusty box from the shelf.

"I wonder..." he said, as he took out the wand.

Rose reached out her hand, and as soon as she touched the wand, she felt a tingling sensation shoot up her arm and spread through her body. It made her shudder and her hair billow out behind her.

"It seems we have found your wand," said Ollivander, with a look of concern.

"Is there something wrong?" Rose asked, when she saw the way he was looking at her.

"The phoenix, who's tail feather resides in your wand, gave another feather," said Ollivander. "And that wand belonged to a very powerful wizard."

"Who was that?" Rose asked.

"We do not speak his name," said Ollivander, ominously. "But I wonder what the connection is to you? Very curious."

Rose was about to ask for more details, when she heard a knocking on the shop window. She turned around to see Hagrid standing outside holding a cage with an owl inside.

"Rose, I got you an early birthday present," said Hagrid, with a grin.

Rose left Ollivander's shop, and then Hagrid took her home again with all her bags of books and things.