Orphan of Hogwarts

One footstep was all it took to walk straight out of a world of the ordinary and into one of the abnormal. The footstep into The Leaky Cauldron's front entrance in London led Alaina out of that godforsaken orphanage's reach and into a world where she felt invincible to everything. It would have been far too much of an effort on her part to stop smiling as she looked around at her own kind. She didn't feel strange anymore, she no longer felt out of place, and she loved that feeling. For those who said that being odd was something to embrace, they had never taken a walk in her shoes. For those people who thought they had it bad because someone disliked them, they had never had to endure at least fifty other children their own age, younger than them, and older teasing them because they were strange. They had never accidently broken hundred year old pottery when they lost control of powers that they couldn't explain, in front of fifty other people who were bound to spend the next week crossing their fingers in a shunning motion at them and calling them "evil" or "satanic" or "witch." They had never had to endure such things, and thus they could never have felt the happiness felt by Alaina on the day she entered the wizarding world for the very first time. It was, most certainly, a beautiful day to be alive.

True it was, still, that she still knew nothing about her origins. She didn't know if her parents were alive or dead. She wasn't sure if either of them were Magical or Muggles. Muggles were those at the orphanage who knew nothing of the world of magic, the people that had hated her so. She didn't mind them anymore, now that she wouldn't have to deal with them. She was sure she'd hold the same grudge against them that she always had over the summer holidays when she was forced to go back, but the second she stepped into the Leaky Cauldron Pub, Diner, and Inn, she knew she'd be brought back to the state of ecstasy that made her love everyone and everything within the world.

Alaina sat down at the bar at the front of the dining area and waited for the bartender to come over. She kicked her feet restlessly against the front of the bar, the child in her mind more alive than ever at the age of eleven. Suddenly remembering it was there, Alaina quickly pulled the envelope out of her pocket that Miss Hopkirk had given her. She looked at its front, at the address label.

Ms. Unknown Name

Eleven-Twelve Year Old Female Dorms

Number 14 Lander Avenue

London, County of London, England

Alaina smiled. The obviously had been tracking her, just like Miss Hopkirk said. It mad her feel more unique than she had ever felt in her life, even more than at the orphanage, but in a much better way. Someone actually wanted her around. No one had ever before wanted her around; most people chose to shun her away. However, in the wizarding world, she was apparently quite important. Was she more powerful than she had assumed? Maybe that was why Hogwarts had taken so much time and care to figure out who and where she was. Perhaps after all those years at the orphanage, she was going to find out that she actually meant something to the world.

If the envelope itself amazed Alaina so much that she couldn't wait to see what was inside of it. Her excitement made her almost a little afraid to see, but she had to; it was her chance to escape, once and for all. So, slowly, with trembling hands, she opened the envelope. She was careful not to tear it; she planned to keep that envelope for as long as she lived. She pulled its contents out and set them on the bar in front of her. The first thing she noticed was a ticket for a train at King's Cross in London, to Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Was there really such a Platform? She'd never been to King's Cross, so she couldn't have known. There were four folded pieces of yellowed paper that looked oddly like parchment used in the Middle Ages. She unfolded one and read it.

Dear student,

I am proud to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Here, you will learn magic in standard courses such as Transfiguration, Defense Against The Dark Arts, Potions, Astronomy, History of Magic, and Charms, as well as other elective courses. Hogwarts is separated into four houses. These houses are Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. Upon your arrival, you will be sorted into one of these four houses. If you do well in the school, you will gain points for your house. If you cause trouble, you will loose points for your house.

Enclosed is a supplies list, listing everything you will need for your first year at Hogwarts. You will have to hold onto many of the things you buy your first year for all seven years at Hogwarts, so take good care of them.

You are to go to the King's Cross Train Station in London on September 1^st to board the train at Platform Nine and Three Quarters. BE SURE TO HAVE ALL OF YOUR SUPPLIES FOR SCHOOL UPON BOARDING.

Professor Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Alaina set this paper down and picked up another. She unfolded it, and read it silently. This one was written in a loopy sort of script handwriting.

Dear Future Student,

Along with the standard Hogwarts letters, I have chosen to send along a letter informing you of a few things pertaining to your rather unusual situation. As you have lived in a Muggle orphanage your whole life, there is no doubt that you may have quite a few questions about Hogwarts.

Hogwarts is, of course, a school. It is a school of magic. While we do not yet know your name (Miss Hopkirk, who you have met with already, will tell us your name), we do know you are a witch, and that you most definitely belong at Hogwarts. Even at your young age, you've been exerting phenomenal magical abilities for close to six years now. That is how we found you, by tracking your magic to the orphanage and managing to get a clear photograph of you so Miss Hopkirk could find you.

I have also included in this envelope a letter to the Goblins at Gringotts Bank in Diagon Alley (you'll have to ask Tom at the Leaky Cauldron how to get to Diagon Alley, as you cannot get there without a wand from there). That letter will inform them of your situation, and you will be allowed to retrieve money from the Hogwarts vault for students in situations similar to yours. Please do not be greedy about how much money you take; that money is for other students as well.

Your supplies list includes everything you will need to buy for Hogwarts. You will be able to tell fairly easily which stores sell what you need, just by looking at them. Do not stray off of Diagon Alley into any other roads linked to it. Many of them are very dangerous, and are most certainly no place for a first year student. Diagon Alley has everything you need for Hogwarts.

If you need anything else, since you do not yet have an owl to send main (the means of letter and package post for the wizarding world is owls), then feel free to ask any owners or clerks at any stores, or Tom at the Leaky Cauldron. Try to make a few friends as well, as they will also be a great help to you in finding what you need.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

Headmaster

Alaina looked at the other two pieces of parchment as she set that one down, trying to determine which to read next, when she heard a voice speak to her from the other side of the bar.

"May I help you with anything, Miss?" asked a voice.

Alaina jumped a little, and looked up. The balding, toothless bartender standing behind the counter had spoken to her.

"Y - Yes," Alaina said nervously. "Are you Tom, by some chance?"

"Yes."

"I-I-I'm Alaina White, I'm starting Hogwarts this year and Miss Hopkirk said there was supposed to be a room for me here for the rest of the summer...?"

"Ah, you're the one from the orphanage down the road. Yes, Room 11. Just follow me, this way, Miss."

Alaina picked up her letters from the bar's surface and put them in her pocket, and then she picked up her bag from next to her. Tom grabbed a key and walked around to the end of the bar. She followed him up a set of stairs that she assumed led to the inn area of The Leaky Cauldron. Tom stopped at a door with a metal marker that had the number "11" engraved into it. He slid the key into the lock on the door's handle and twisted it. He pulled it back out and handed it to Alaina, then opened the door.

"This will be your room, then, Miss White. If you need to know anything about the wizarding world or just a new copy of your key, feel free to ask."

"Thank you, sir," she said. "Erm... one of my letters said to ask you about Diagon Alley?"

"Ah, yes, yes. Get your luggage put away and come back downstairs."

"Alright, thank you."

Alaina headed into here room. It was definitely a nice room; there was a four poster bed, a dresser, a walk-in closet, a door that most likely led to a bathroom, and an overall homey feel to it. She set her bag down on the bed and took a quick look around. There was a window with a view of the crowded street below. The dresser had a desk sitting next to it with a mirror on top of it. As she looked at her reflection, it crossed its arms. She moved backwards, staring at the mirror reproachfully.

"Don't even know how to get into Diagon Alley." The reflection tsked at her. "Some witch you are."

Alaina continued to look at the mirror a little reproachfully for a moment. She then decided it would probably be best to go back to the bar and ignore the rude comments that the mirror was making at her. Once downstairs, she shook herself mentally before sitting at the bar again and waiting for Tom. She half listened to a bickering family that was walking past.

"No, you can't go to Hogwarts this year Ronald, you're only nine and -"

"But Mum, I want to -"

"Don't worry, Ron, we'll send you back a souvenir."

"Percy, please keep your brothers from sending back any souvenirs."

"Oh, Percy can't stop us from doing anything, can he, George?"

"I don't think so."

"Well, I think you'd both best listen to your brother or you two won't see the light of day for all of next summer!"

"We have a window in our room."

"And if you keep getting smart, then that window will be boarded off by the time you get home!"

"That's a bit brutal..."

"'Ello, Miss White," Tom said. Alaina tuned out the sounds of the family arguing behind her. "I'll have you know, you're going to need your own wand to get into Diagon Alley."

"Really?" Alaina said. "So I'll have to buy one while I'm there this time?"

"Definitely. It's a requirement for every witch and wizard in the magical world."

"And I'm supposed to go to a bank with a letter Dumbledore gave me to give to the bank tellers that tells them I need money from some Hogwarts fund...?"

"That would be Gringotts. It's not hard to spot at all, don't worry. Just go there, get your money, and buy whatever's on your supplies list."

Alaina nodded.

"Now, Diagon Alley," he said. "Follow me, this way."

Tom stepped out from behind the bar and headed to the back door. Alaina followed quickly and followed Tom out the door. He withdrew his wand.

"This brick right here." He pointed to a brick near a trashcan on a brick wall in the back alley, directly adjacent to the back door of The Leaky Cauldron. "Remember it."

Alaina nodded. Tom tapped the brick with his wand three times. That brick disappeared, and the rest of the bricks on the wall began to fold backwards in a synchronized motion. After a short moment, they folded into an archway that led into a crowded street. Alaina gaped at where the wall had been.

"This is Diagon Alley," Tom said. "And that tall white building, you see it? That's Gringotts." Alaina nodded, still speechless. "Now, you have your letter from Dumbledore with you?" She nodded again. "Then go on ahead."

Half-expecting to walk into an invisible wall as she stepped onto the street, Alaina took a wary step forward. However, she walked right through the spot where the wall had disappeared. The road she was on was like heaven compared to the streets of Muggle London that she had always found to be so foreboding and resentful of her. This road, Diagon Alley, gave her a strange feeling of finally having found a true home. Despite the fact that she still didn't know any of her family, she had finally found somewhere with people to whom she could relate. She couldn't help but smile as she walked down the road.

Rather than head straight for Gringotts, Alaina chose to explore the many stores first, matching them to her supplies list. Flourish and Blotts was the book store, where she would have to buy all of her books, like A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration and A History of Magic. She entered the store and looked around inside, and in a few of the books. She was both amazed and somewhat amused by the fact that the pictures within the books could move about within their frames, whether they were artwork or photographs.

She came upon an apothecary on Diagon Alley as well, where she was fairly sure she'd have to buy a "potions kit," as that was also on her supplies list. She chose, however, not to enter that shop. It smelled a little off, even at the entrance, so she decided that she'd wait until she had her money to go in and buy her supplies.

She also needed a cauldron (a standard size pewter one according to her list), a pair of dragon hide gloves, a telescope, and even more strange items that she was sure she couldn't have found anywhere else in London. Of course, one of the first things on the list was a wand; she had already walked past Olivander's Wand Shop, but she decided she'd wait to go in there until after she got her money as well.

The supplies list was definitely strange for any school she'd ever heard of, although the orphanage didn't have a supplies list; school lessons were done right within the orphanage to avoid extra expenses. The courses there had just been standard math, science, reading and literature, arts, and history courses. Hogwarts's courses were much different from those. Alaina didn't even know what Transfiguration was; she only knew that she needed a book for it.

Among other things, the strange list of supplies also said she'd be allowed to bring an owl, a cat, or a toad as a pet to the school. She didn't mind cats so much. They were fairly independent, they liked attention, and the good ones kept away pests. Kittens were definitely cute little creatures. Alaina would have personally never wanted a toad for a pet, but she supposed it couldn't be too uncommon of an idea. However, she'd never thought of an owl as a possible candidate for being a pet. She wondered where in the world she could buy an owl.

Her question was soon answered as her eyes strayed off to a store called "The Magical Menagerie," a pet store filled with some of the most curious looking creatures she'd ever seen in her life, as well as many caged owls in the windows. There were barn owls, tawny owls, beautiful white snowy owls, which were all, as the sign in front of them said, ideal mail carriers. Was that how mail was transported in the Wizarding World? There was most definitely a lack of cars in Diagon Alley, so there had to be some other means of their carrying mail than a postal car.

In the store, there were also cats and kittens prowling along the windowsills. Alaina chose to step into this strange pet store first. Once inside, she saw a tank of toads as well, basking in pools of murky water and grass. She knew that if she were going to buy a pet, it was either going to be an owl or a cat; she'd rather have something a little cleaner than a murky toad. In another glass cage were sleek looking black rats dancing around happily. There was another cage full of what looked like multi-colored balls of fluff with eyes and snouts. They were cute, but Alaina had never seen anything like them. Come to think, as rodent infested as her orphanage had been, she'd never seen a group of rats move with such synchronization as the ones here were doing. As she moved closer to their cage, they stopped dancing and moved to the edge to get a better look at her. As soon as they had, they continued their dance routine.

"May I help you to find anything, miss?"

Alaina looked up at the counter, to where the sudden sound of a voice had been issued from. A young woman purplish-red hair tied back in a ponytail stood there, her eyebrows raised.

"Oh, no thanks," Alaina said, shaking here head. "I've only just got here; I haven't even withdrawn any money from Gringotts yet. I'm just browsing until then."

She heard a quiet mewing noise coming from the rat cage. She looked back down to see a black kitten sitting on top of the cage and bent forward over its side to look in at the rats. It was pawing in a helpless, frustrated manner at the glass. The rats had stopped dancing, and almost appeared to be laughing at the poor kitten. It mewed again.

"How much are the kittens?" Alaina asked, looking back up at the cashier, who was counting out strange looking coins on the countertop.

"Ten sickles," she said.

"S... sickles?" Alaina said, confused. "I'm sorry; I'm just starting Hogwarts this year.... I don't know much of anything about... anything."

"Oh," the cashier said. "It's just the second highest bit of money here in the Wizarding World." She held up a silver coin from the counter. "That's a sickle. The highest are gold galleons, the lowest are bronze knuts."

"Okay..."

Alaina looked back down at the kitten. She stroked its head with two of her fingers. It jumped, almost fell off of the cage it was still bent over, regained its balance, and looked at her curiously. It mewed again.

"Any chance you could hold onto this one for me?"

"Of course, dear," said the cashier. "Just hand her back here to me; I'll make sure no one else buys her."

"Thank you," Alaina said. She picked up the kitten carefully with both of her hands and handed it back to the cashier. "I'll be back as soon as I get my money."

Alaina left the shop, quite happy with the tiny little kitten she'd soon be able to buy. She pondered over names for it for a moment before realizing quite suddenly that she was only a few feet away from Gringotts Bank. She walked to it slowly, wondering what to expect when she went inside. Miss Hopkirk had mentioned goblins the previous day. Although yesterday felt years behind her now, she still remembered a few small details. She'd never pictured goblins as being very civil beings. All she could do was step inside and see what was to come; that was all that she could do anywhere for the rest of the summer. The few weeks ahead before school started seemed likely to be some of the most exciting weeks of Alaina's life.