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They made their way through London, Buffy taking in the sights. She was excited to be in a different country, excited enough almost to forget the misery she felt of being ripped away from her home, her friends and her family. They walked down a cobbled stone street and Giles stopped outside of a grubbing-looking pub. It was painted entirely black as though they didn’t want people to notice it. Buffy looked up and read the sign above the door.

“The Leaky Cauldron?” she asked, looking towards Giles.

“This is where we need to be,” he said. He pushed open the door and held it open for Buffy to enter. He walked in behind her, putting a gentle hand on her back to offer her some sort of silent support.

Buffy’s breath caught in her throat as she looked around her. There was a low buzz of noise coming from the patrons who sat at tables drinking their drinks. Buffy couldn’t help but notice that everyone seemed to be somewhat subdued.

Buffy’s eyes widened as she saw an incredibly tall man stand from his seat at a large table and walk towards them.

“Rupert!”

Giles looked up, a smile coming across his face. “Hagrid. Good to see you old friend.”

The two men shook hands. The man that Giles had called Hagrid was twice the size of Buffy and about ten times as wide.

“And who’s this little lady?” Hagrid asked kindly.

“Hagrid, this is Buffy Summers. Buffy, my old friend Rubeus Hagrid.”

“Nice to make yer acquaintance,” Hagrid said, shaking her hand gently.

“Likewise,” she replied, trying to keep the nervousness out of her voice.

“You’ll be attending Hogwarts, no doubt,” Hagrid said.

Buffy nodded. “Uh…yeah.”

“You’ll love it,” he said enthusiastically. “Goin’ into fourth year, eh?”

“Uh…fifth,” Buffy replied, glancing at Giles for confirmation. He nodded.

“Ooo, yer goin’ into Harry’s year,” Hagrid said, smiling a little. She could barely see the smile through the beard that covered his face. “Him and his two friends…yer gonna need to watch out fer those three.”

“Why?” Buffy asked nervously.

Hagrid chuckled a little. “Ain’t no one more prone to mischief than that lot. Great kids, mind, but…very mischievous.”

Buffy breathed a sigh of relief. She’d been afraid that he was about to tell her that they were evil.

“We’d best get going,” Giles said softly.

Buffy nodded and looked up at Hagrid.

“It was nice meeting you Mr Hagrid,” she said politely.

He laughed a little and patted her head. “It’s just Hagrid,” he said. “And I’ll be seeing you at Hogwarts. I’m one of the Professors.”

He walked off towards the bar, leaving Buffy and Giles standing in the middle of the room.

“He’s um…very tall,” Buffy said.

Giles laughed a little and led her towards the back room.

“He’s half-giant,” Giles said.

“Oh. Well, I guess that explains a lot,” she said.

Giles just laughed and opened up the door. They were lead out back to a dead end, a brick wall surrounding them.

“Uh Giles…”

She looked at him, but he appeared to be counting the bricks above one of the garbage bins. “Three up, two across,” he muttered to himself.

He drew out his wand and tapped the wall three times. Buffy watched in amazement as the brick that he had tapped wriggled and finally created a small hole. The hole grew wider and wider, bricks moving out of the way to create an arch. Buffy gasped as she took in what was on the other side.

“Welcome to Diagon Alley,” Giles said quietly.

They stepped through, Buffy staring at everything with wide, shocked eyes.

“This…this is amazing,” Buffy said.

He led her into the alley, taking her past shops filled with all sorts of things that Buffy was desperate to have another look at. They stopped in front of a store that looked to seel uniforms. Madam Malkins Robes for all Occasions. Giles opened the door, and with a nervous glance back down the alley to where they had entered, Buffy stepped into the store.

It was quiet inside, and they were approached quickly by an elderly looking lady. “Hogwarts dear?”

Buffy nodded.

“Just a new set of robes?”

“Oh, uh…this is my first year,” Buffy said.

“Oh. Sorry, dear. You just look older than most first year students.”

Giles stepped in before Buffy could stutter through a long-winded explanation.

“Madam Malkin, she’ll be going into fifth year. But this is her first year at Hogwarts,” Giles explained. Buffy shot him a grateful look.

“Righteo. Well then, let’s get you all measured up,” Madam Malkin said.

Buffy followed her towards the back of the store where there was an array of different sized uniforms. She’d been expecting something much worse, but the uniform was a simple white blouse with a grey skirt and vest. Next to the proper uniforms hung black cloaks.

Before she even knew what was happening, she was trying on skirts and blouses to find the right size. When she’d been fitted, Madam Malkin wrote down the measurements and sent them off with an owl. Buffy looked at her curiously.

“Just to let the Hogwarts people know you’re size dear. That way when you’re sorted they can supply you with a cloak for your own house.”

Buffy looked towards Giles. ‘Sorted?’ she mouthed.

He smiled and shook his head. He’d tell her later.

They left the store with several large parcels.

“Where to next?” Buffy asked.

“Well, we should get your books next I’d say. We’ll need to go to Flourish and Blotts for that. After that, we’ll head to Ollivander’s.”

“Uh huh…and they’re what exactly?”

Giles just smiled and pushed her in the right direction.

Giles leant against a table and watched as Mr Ollivander searched for the ‘right wand’ for Buffy. Giles flicked through one of the set texts for the year, one eye on the book and the other on Buffy. Behind him, the small orangey-red owl that Buffy had selected hooted quietly. Buffy had chosen the tiny creature because of the colour of it’s feathers. She’d named it Willow so that she could have a piece of home with her at Hogwarts.

Mr Ollivander handed Buffy a thin looking wand. She took it and looked at the shopkeeper.

“Well? What are you waiting for? Give it a wave.”

Buffy breathed in deeply and did as requested. Nothing happened. She swallowed nervously, hoping that this had all just been a mistake.

“Not that one, eh?” Mr Ollivander mused, taking it back from her. He went back to the shelves and pulled out another box, opening it to hand the wand to her. She waved it again, to no avail.

“Hmmm…the wand chooses the wizard,” he mused. They tried another two wands before Mr Ollivander stopped to think once more.

“Another tricky customer. I haven’t had this much trouble since…” he trailed off. Mr Ollivander walked behind Buffy and placed his hands on her shoulders, closing his eyes for a moment. Buffy tensed, wanting to move forward, but one look towards Giles who looked to be perfectly calm, made her think again.

“Oh dear…”

Buffy pulled away from him.

“Oh dear what?” she asked.

“You’re…”

Mr Ollivander looked towards Giles who had suddenly stood.

“If you’d be so kind as to supply a wand for us,” Giles said, his voice quiet.

“Giles?” Buffy asked nervously. She hadn’t seen him become Ripperish since the last time Ethan had been in Sunnydale.

Mr Ollivander swallowed nervously but scurried to another shelf. There was only one box on that particular shelf, and he pulled the box down. He took out the wand gently, almost as though he was afraid that it would bite him. He handed it to Buffy who took it and felt an incredible surge of power around her.

“Oh dear…”

“You keep saying that,” Buffy said. She looked to Giles. “Why does he keep saying that?”

Giles placed his hand son her shoulders and shook his head.

“How much for the wand Mr Ollivander?”

Mr Ollivander shook his head. “Take it. Take it and be gone.”

“Why is he so worried?” Buffy whispered.

Mr Ollivander turned to look at the young girl.

“I’ve tried to be rid of that wand for over fifteen years, girl. That wand…nothing but darkness, I’ll tell you that right now. That wand was made by him. Made from his phoenix’s tail feather and from the wood of his throne. I’ll not be held responsible for that wand’s magic, I assure you of that.”

Giles glared at the shopkeeper as he took in Buffy’s pale and shaking form. He led her out of the store and into the sunshine, allowing her time to lean against the wall to catch her breath.

“Breathe, Buffy, breathe,” he said gently.

“Oh god. Giles…I really am evil,” she whispered.

“No, you aren’t. Trust me when I say that you are not evil.”

“But…he said that the wand chooses the wizard,” Buffy said. “He said that this wand was nothing but darkness.”

“It’s not the wand that is dark, Buffy,” he assured her. “It is the witch or wizard themselves. Mr Ollivander doesn’t know you. He’s been brought up in a world of black and white. He sensed that you were Voldemort’s daughter and it frightened him badly. But you are not evil. That wand may well have been created by darkness, but I can not…will not believe that you would ever use it for such. It isn’t our abilities that make us who we are…it’s our choices.”

Buffy nodded, trying to get her breathing to go back to a normal pace. She finally calmed herself down and looked at the wand that was still in her hand. It was gorgeous, made of dark black wood, the handle engraved with what looked to be some sort of a tribal design. She couldn’t help but notice in the centre of the pattern was a large ‘V’.

It didn’t feel evil. She swallowed hard and composed herself.

“So…where to next?”

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