It wasn't exactly set on which day Maria was going to go to Diagon Alley and get her school supplies, but one note from her friend will do the trick. Julia sent Maria an owl that night and the next morning, they both meet up at Diagon Alley. Julia and Ethan seem to have a jump in their step as they cross the road to enter the famous wand shop, Ollivanders. Julia drags the two inside. "No way, you beat us here!"

The siblings David, Hannah, and Leah turn around at the sound of their cousin's voice. Hannah's face brightens and she runs to hug her friends. "Hey, guys! It's been too long."

No one was able to visit each other because of the events that happened at the end of Hogwarts last year. Mostly everyone's parents have forbidden their kids to wander outside by themselves, and only permitted them to leave when necessary. That means no getting together to see any of their friends, despite the death eater that caused the whole mess being captured and sent to prison.

"We are just lucky we get to go back to school. Have you seen Agnes at all?" Maria asks, her expression turning concerned. Everyone knows how close Agnes was to the girl who died, Alana. Hannah glumly shakes her head.

"She wouldn't even answer to my letters at times," Hannah says, earning a pause from the rest of the group. No one knows what to say, but luckily David is able to break the ice.

"Let's not focus on that for now. It's wand time!" Hannah slightly smiles at her brother's attempt to brighten the mood. She leads her younger sister, Leah, over to the counter where Mr. Ollivander is organizing a huge column of long, old boxes.

"Ah, hello there, Ms. Leah Miller!" Mr. Ollivander looks at Leah knowingly, remembering all the wands he's sold to her entire family. He gets started right away and starts pulling boxes from the shelves. It takes a while, but finally Leah finds a wand that shines bright blue when she waves it. However, Mr. Ollivander seems shaken. "Interesting..." Mr. Ollivander takes the wand back and inspects it. He looks from the wand to Leah. "Hazel, dragon heartstring, 9 inches. The exact same as..." The wandmaker pauses for a moment and then quickly hands back the wand before he could say anything more. "Oh, I'm sorry, I've been rambling."

"N-no! I mean... Mr. Ollivander, it's the exact same as whose?" Leah holds the wand close to her chest, a bit nervous for the answer.

Mr. Ollivander, however, waves off the question and says, "Just an old... friend of mine. Yes, yes, a friend. Ten galleons, sweetie, thank you! And of course, Mr. Copper."

Leah wants to ask more questions about her wand, but Mr. Ollivander has made it perfectly clear that the subject has been changed. Maria, Julia, and Hannah find this odd as well. Ethan walks up to the counter and starts trying out wands. Surprisingly, on his third try he finds the perfect one. It's light brown with a black, swirly handle that hangs off the wand itself. Ethan finds this a bit annoying, but he thinks he will get used to it. He looks at Mr. Ollivander and says, "Looks kind of choppy, but really cool!"

"Yes, yes..." Mr. Ollivander is clearly very shocked at this point. Even if he does try to keep up conversation, he starts mumbling to himself for a few moments, which makes the group know something is wrong. Mr. Ollivander's hands shake as he stumbles around the back of the counter, opening random boxes and putting them into the wall by hand. "Curious... Very curious... Both at the same time?"

"Curious?" Ethan looks at his cousin Leah, and then turns back to the wandmaker. "Sorry, but what do you mean? Did I do something wrong?"

Mr. Ollivander nearly trips over a few boxes on the ground as he makes his way back to the group. He scratches his balding head with one hand, looking as if he's trying to decide on something. Finally, he looks at the wizards and witches, and says, "I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Copper. Then, how is it that I have just sold two wands that were identical to the wands which are owned by two combating wizards?"

"Two combating wizards? You mean two wizards who are... fighting?" Maria takes a step closer to the counter, a confused look on her face. "What's so important about that?"

"They were cousins, but I swore to both of them that I would never speak of them to others. They weren't always enemies, no, they were once very close. They came together to my shop when they were eleven." Mr. Ollivander chooses his words carefully as to not go back on his word. "One of them was bright, young, and eager. He was granted a Hazel, dragon heartstring, 9 inches wand. And the other, calmer and more collected, held yours." Mr. Ollivander turns to Ethan. "An Ash, phoenix feather, 10 ½ inches."

Ethan doesn't know if Mr. Ollivander was made aware that Leah and him are also cousins, but he also doesn't want to bring it up. Julia, intrigued, looks at Mr. Ollivander and asks, "Surely this must be just a coincidence, right?"

Mr. Ollivander gives a not so reassuring smile and nods. "Of course, just coincidence. It happens... it happens..."

Ethan awkwardly pays for his wand and then walks out of the store with the rest of his family. "Something had him all twisted up in a knot. There must really be something bad on his mind."

"Usually Mr. Ollivander is really sweet and calm. I wonder who the cousins were that he was talking about." Julia shakes her head, not really knowing anyone who has those types of wands, especially the exact same as Ethan's and Leah's.

"Wish he could tell us who it was. I'll dig into it when I get to school and see if any famous wizards match that description." Ethan offers, a bit interested in the subject as well.

"Just don't forget about your schoolwork." Hannah teases and suppresses a laugh.

"Yeah, I think we've learned our lesson from last year." Maria smiles and laughs along with Ethan, Julia, and Hannah at the joke. David can take a good guess at what they're talking about, but Leah has no clue.

Lauren walks along with her older brother while carrying a huge bag filled with her school books and Charms equipment. Unfortunately, Ian didn't bring enough money to buy all of his own books, so they have to go into Gringotts to get some gold out and pay for the rest of his stuff. It takes them a while to get to the end of the alley, but they reach the bank and enter the long hallway.

The siblings have only been in here a handful of times. There's apparently a variety of secret enchantments hidden around the vaults to prevent break-ins and stealings. Goblins sit at giant posts across the hall, examining gold and jewels to check their quality. Lauren gulps, never really feeling that comfortable around Goblins that much. Thankfully, Ian leads her up to the front and displays their vault key to the head Goblin. "We'd like to withdraw. Vault number 450."

The Goblin slowly takes the key and examines it. He stares down at Lauren and Ian for a long moment, making the former shiver a bit. "Very well. Hayshine will assist you."

An older looking Goblin takes the key and leads the two siblings over to a few unoccupied carts. Once they hop inside, they are whisked away onto a track and into the depths of the bank. The ride is dark and chilly, making Lauren sit close to her brother. She wonders what kind of madman would ever try and break into this bank. They surely would never find the way out. Plus, there are rumors that a dragon lurks around the bank, guarding the vaults on the lower levels. For the deeper down in the bank you go, the richer the vaults become. It honestly doesn't take long for the cart to reach vault number 450.

"Here we are." Hayshine takes their golden key and unlocks the vault. A huge pile of silver Sickles, a decent amount of Knuts, and a few Galleons rest there, protected by the locked door. Ian walks inside and fills his bag with Sickles and a few Knuts, leaving the Galleons in the bank.

Lauren is lost in thought while her brother sorts out his money, but then she's brought back to reality when she hears a shrilled voice coming from down the hall. The tone sounds rather familiar to her. "Why can't I just look at what's inside? You can watch me the entire time, I won't take anything, I promise!"

"Miss, do you know how many people have told me that just to get me to unlock the vault? I'm sorry, but it's out of the question," a high pitched, squat little voice answers.

"But, look here, it says that something is-"

"I don't care what your piece of parchment says! For all I know, you could have whipped that up this morning in an attempt to break into her vault!"

Lauren gets out of the wagon and hurries down the path, over to the two voices. When she peeks around the corner, she is very surprised to see Agnes arguing with a wrinkly, flaming haired Goblin and her sister Mary standing off to the side. "Agnes? Mary?"

"Oh, Lauren!" Agnes beams and clutches what seems to be an old parchment to her chest.

"What's that you got?" Lauren can take a very well educated guess on what Agnes is holding, but she wants her suspicions confirmed.

Mary is the one who answers once Lauren approaches them. "It's the map, Alana's map. We decided to take a look at it after we got all of Agnes's supplies."

"Remember how Alana said she was in Gringotts last year when the explosion happened? I thought it'd be a good place to start, and look!" Agnes unfolds the map and pans it out so that Lauren can see. It's a very big map, with a lot of things going on at once. Lauren has to blink a few times so that she doesn't get too dizzy. There's a lot of places on the map that range from Gringotts, to empty fields, to Hogsmeade, and even to Hogwarts itself. It's extremely detailed and lines are scribbled everywhere. Lauren has no idea where to look until Agnes points at a spot in the Gringotts section. "Vault 711 shows that there is an artifact hidden there!"

"Gringotts Wizarding Bank is the second safest place in the entire world. Even if there is a slight chance that what you say is true, there is no way any dark wizard or witch can possibly break inside and steal it! Vault 711 is one of the most heavily guarded vaults in here!" The Goblin that Agnes was arguing with yells, his face turning red. "Turn back the parchment and get in the cart before I leave you here!"

"No!" Agnes holds back her tears of frustration and sighs. She feels so close to finding something Alana left for her, and she doesn't want to give up so easily.

"Agnes, do what he says. Now isn't the time to go hunting for Dark Artifacts. We can deal with it later. Maybe have an adult look at the map." Lauren puts a hand on Agnes's shoulder and leads her to the cart.

Feeling angry and humiliated, Agnes steps inside the wagon and rolls up the map. "Fine, but I'm not letting an adult look at this. Alana left it for us, and I'm going to figure it out. I don't care if you or anyone else helps me."

Mary crosses her arms in sadness and sits next to her sister. She hates seeing Agnes this way, remembering how broken she was when she first came home from school. She hoped that Agnes would get better, but something like this takes a long time to get over. Some people never do. Lauren watches as their cart leaves, and she heads back to her own before her brother starts to worry.

"I have an idea." Maria smiles, holding her third year books out in front of her. Her, Julia, Ethan, Hannah, and Leah left David at the book shop so he could take Stephen to get his second year Transfiguration kit. Maria notices all of her friends are interested in her plan, so she elaborates, "Let's go to the apothecary and get our Potions supplies. I think we should buy some moonstone gems as well just in case we need them."

"That's an excellent idea!" Julia becomes excited at the mention of the gems. They are an ingredient needed to create the Persequi Potion, a potion that the five girls, Ethan, and Alana invented in secret last year. "I don't know what we'll be able to do though, if we end up needing the potion. We need Mary to complete it, remember?"

"Hopefully she'll come back on campus to watch your games, then," Hannah says as they walk into the Potions shop.

There's a wide variety of ingredients needed to make very simple, to the most complex potions known to wizard kind. There are weird creepy crawlies on one side of the store while the other half is filled with things that aren't alive. The girls and Ethan have never really liked shopping here because of the smell.

Quickly, the students gather the ingredients they need for their third year Potions class. After Hannah, Maria, and Julia are stocked up on everything they need, they help Ethan and Leah sort out their first year supplies. Ethan grumbles and whines when he looks at everything in his arms. "I spent an entire school year learning about second year Potions, not to mention inventing a brand new potion and going to all the other classes. Why do I have to start at first year level?"

Leah has no idea what Ethan is babbling on about, but she starts to get a bit suspicious of her cousin. "What on Earth are you talking about?"

"Oh, uh, nothing!" Ethan thinks he is very sly on how he dodged the topic, and quickly changed subjects. "So, who does everyone think the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher will be this year?"

"I hope it's someone nice and competent." Maria thinks back to the other professors she had in that position. There was Professor Laney her first year, who was under the Imperius Curse for half the time, and Professor Knisely who, despite his name's pronunciation, was anything but nice to them up until the very end. Both teachers had barely taught them anything on defending themselves against the Dark Arts.

"Well, it's a new year. Whoever it is, we should give them a chance." Julia shrugs and pays for her and her brother's supplies. Hannah pays for herself and Leah, and Maria places some Galleons on the counter for herself. "I just can't wait to start my electives."

"Oh, you're right!" Hannah gasps and forms a smile on her face. "What are you all taking for electives? I'm in Alchemy, Care of Magical Creatures, and Ancient Runes."

"How in the bloody world did you get put into Alchemy? That's sixth year level!" Maria's eyes widen, and she notices that Hannah has indeed bought more potions supplies than normal for a third year.

"I asked Professor McGonagall if she'd let me take it. My grades were top of the Gryffindor house, and as a plus, my sister Katie aced the course when she took it her fourth year. She said I could take it, but to tell her right away if it's too much to handle," Hannah explains, a bit proud and excited to start her advanced class.

"That's insane. I'm taking Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes, and I still think I'm going to be overwhelmed!" Maria groans and puts her head on top of her new Ancient Runes book.

"Look at it this way, we will have more classes together!" Julia puts a hand on Maria's shoulder, but it's in an awkward position because of how much stuff she's carrying. "I'm in Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, and Divination. All three of us should have Ancient Runes together, at least."

"Yeah, and we should have Care of Magical Creatures together, Maria," Hannah says, trying to reassure the Hufflepuff.

Maria lifts her head and does her best to sound confident. "You're right. Lets just hope Olivia is taking something like Muggle Studies so she isn't in one of our classes."

"Knowing her, she'd make sure she's taking all of our classes." Julia rolls her eyes and the others laugh.

The rest of the day is spent at the Leaky Cauldron, a pub right on the edge of Diagon Alley, where the friends all organize their supplies and make sure they have everything ready. Ethan and Leah head off to hang out with the younger Miller siblings and wander around for a bit while Hannah, Julia, and Maria stay put. They start to get worried because they normally meet up with their two friends, Lauren and Agnes, at Diagon Alley. Julia made sure to let them know she was coming here today. It feels odd how they wandered around the entire alley and didn't run into one of them.

All Lauren did for the rest of her time there was go back to the bookshop with her brother and a bag full of Sickles to spend. She asked Ian if she could look around for her friends, but after a while of searching she gave up and left. Little did she know that they were standing right inside the apothecary when she passed by it.

Agnes and Mary gave up on trying to decipher more of Alana's map for the rest of the day, feeling run down and upset. Mary bought Agnes a few sweets while she got herself an ice cream cone with never-ending chocolate syrup pouring out from the middle. Agnes was only a bit happier after the treats, her mind still on the map and what was inside of the vault number 711.