"But what is little Dudders to do?" Petunia Dursley cried. "We simply don't have room. Our child is the most precious thing in the world, and Lily and James just ruined his childhood by getting themselves killed." Petunia stamped her foot on the polished doorstep. "Why does the brat have to live with us? Send her to an orphanage. Do anything you want with her, just get her out of here!"

"I'm afraid that can't be managed," Dumbldore said softly but clearly. Petunia stared at him. Why not? she thought. Make her go somewhere else. Tatiana will never know the difference.

"Why not?" Vernon demanded, unknowingly echoing his wife's thoughts precisely. " I want that thing out of the house. It's upsetting my wife."

"She must stay here," Dumbledore repeated. "You know she is in danger. The wizard who killed her parents meant for Tatiana to die as well."

"But he's dead!" Vernon blustered. "You said so!"

"One of his followers may try to find her. She is only safe with her relatives."

"Fine." Vernon said flatly. "We'll take her. But get out of our house RIGHT THIS INSTANT!"

The man gently handed Petunia the girl, then vanished. Petunia stared at the year old baby's chubby little face. She walked heavily through the kitchen door and put the kid on the table. Immediately, Tatiana started to wail. Petunia Dursley sighed.

"It looks like James Potter," she observed with disinterest. "I don't care if it lives here, but it will never be part of the family, you can be sure of that."

***

Dudley was giving her a beating, for no apparent reason. Tatiana assumed it was his hobby. If so, then her cousin was bored an awful lot of the time. Anyway, today she had beat Dudley on a quiz, so she supposed he had an actual reason for punching her.

Tatiana stumbled as Dudley hit her in the stomach, but today, unlike the rest, she didn't fall. This only angered Dudley more, and he struck at her again. Tatiana doubled over and clutched at her middle. He was trying to hurt her more than usual (the emphasis being trying, as her cousin was so fat that his punches were ungainly and often missed his target. However, that didn't keep his few hits from being painful). Tatiana screamed in hopes that her elderly neighbor, Mrs. Figg, would come out and give her cousin a scolding. She had long given up on Dudley's parents to do anything for her. They turned a blind eye to anything their precious eight year old son did. Dudley swung at her again, and Tatiana jumped backwards, narrowly missing the blow. She glanced wildly from side to side, looking for a place to run. There. Her opening was to the left. If she could just land a punch on her cousin, then she could run for the gate that led out of the backyard. She just had to be quick.

"What's your problem?" she asked Dudley, trying to taunt him as she slowly stepped to the right. Dudley followed her, his steps crushing the grass on the Dursleys' perfectly trimmed lawn. Tatiana took a deep breath and continued. "You haven't hurt me at all to day. Act like a man, you idiot!"

Dudley growled and ran at her. With a speed she hadn't thought she possessed, Tatiana raced to the left and for the gate. She slammed it behind her and leaned, panting, against it. Dudley pounded on the other side of the fence, but the gate held. She had won. Of course, there would be consequences, but for the first time in her life, Tatiana had won.

***

"Look at her clothes!"

"I know. She has no sense of style."

"It's not her fault, her aunt makes her wear her cousin's clothes!"

"Shut up, Maisy, we all know you're her only friend."

"And you know her cousin's a bully. Why do you even talk to her?"

The whispers followed Tatiana like a cloud as she walked to class every day. She sighed as she heard Maisy defend her yet again. She had told Maisy over and over that she needn't bother, because the other girls would hate her anyway. Tatiana had become an expert in blocking those girls out. She had built a wall around her emotions and hadn't ever shown that she could be hurt by anything. She was steel.

Maisy didn't know about the wall, though. That was Tatiana's deepest secret. If anyone found out what made her tick, well Tatiana didn't know what would happen, but she was sure it would be awful.

***

"Give it!"

"No, you porky bully, it's mine!" Tatiana had been reading a comic book lent from Maisy. It wasn't actually hers, but it didn't matter. She had been reading the book on the way home from summer school and hadn't noticed Dudley until he had sneaked up (surprisingly quietly for his size) and grabbed for the book.

"I'm telling Mummy you said that!"

Tatiana laughed and grabbed the book back. "That's not very brave, you know, running to Mummy every time you get an insult."

"I'm not a coward!" Dudley snatched the copy of SuperAdventures and ran down the sidewalk laughing. Tatiana chased after him, fuming with righteous anger. She owned nothing, and the one thing that was sort of hers from her only friend was not going to get stolen! Tatiana rolled up the sleeves of her ugly navy blue sweatshirt as she ran. It was a hand- me - down from Dudley like all her clothes were, so it had been about five sizes too big when she got it, at age eight. It fit now, but it was also three years old. Grr … she hated everything about her cousin. Everything!

Tatiana flew across the sidewalk, her feet pounding the concrete surface in too big shoes. It was a wonder she hadn't tripped yet. Panting, Tatiana jumped in front of Dudley and yanked the book out of his loosening grip.

He glared at her, his face red from exertion. "You're gonna pay if you don't give me that book right this...erm, NOW!"

Tatiana smiled grimly at his lack of vocabulary. "No, 'Dudders', I won't pay you anything!" Then she punched him in the stomach.

***

Tatiana lay back on her blanket and stared at the ceiling of her cupboard. She had plastered the underside of the stairs with little stickers, tiny doodles, anything really. None of the Dursleys had said she couldn't. Her 'room' was small, but it was her space, and no one ever bothered to go inside it. Tatiana absentmindedly sang part of a song as she twirled her glasses around. Man, she was bored. What was Dudley doing right now? Probably out terrorizing some poor little kid, she decided. Or doing something with Pierce. Pierce was the sleek villain mastermind to Dudley's thug sidekick attitude. He was always the one who planned everything, from who needed to be tripped or shoved in the lavatory all the way to long, elaborate plans designed to make whole groups of students cower. He was the one who had hacked into the school system and disabled practically everything. (The blame had been laid on… guess who? Tatiana.)

Tatiana sighed and kept fuming. She was no stranger to time outs, having gotten in fights with Dudley ever since they were six, but the Dursleys had never locked her up for two whole days before. Tatiana frowned at herself and tried to push that thought out of her mind. She had decided long ago that being angry at her relatives was a waste of time. They couldn't help being a bunch of gits. Tatiana resumed humming.

"La di da boing boing boing!!" she sang at the top of her lungs. The Dursleys weren't home, so she was free to make as much noise as she wanted. She had just reached the 'bridge' of the song when she heard a sharp crack. Tatiana sat straight up, the hairs on the back of her neck prickling. Why was it so dark? The walls seemed like they were closing in on her. Were the Dursleys doing this? Tatiana was sure that the walls weren't really moving, but what was that noise? It sounded like a dull roar that pulsed and turned. Tatiana began to consider the possibility that she was going mad. She shivered and grabbed the door handle. It was locked, as she had expected.

"Open," she whispered. "Come on, door! Open up!" Tatiana felt idiotic talking to a door, but if she was going crazy, what did talking to an inanimate object matter? The walls pulsed, and the darkness grew more absolute. Tatiana pounded on the door desperately.

"Open," she begged. "Please, OPEN." There was a muffled click.

Tatiana drew back, suddenly wary. She tried the doorknob. To her surprise, it opened, and she tumbled out onto the mauve carpet of the Dursley's front hallway. She could see the source of the roaring noise now. The washer was on a particularly noisy spin cycle. Tatiana was relieved that she hadn't imagined the strange sound.

But… the nightmare wasnt over yet, because the whole house seemed to be pulsing. This wasn't natural. The walls shimmered and flickered around Tatiana's head. The floor swayed and dipped under her feet. Something was wrong with the house.Tatiana just wanted to get out of there. She ran out the front door and onto the sidewalk. To her surprise, the street was bubbling too. Tatiana was sure she was going mad by now. She was sure she could not have merely imagined the scenario before her. A sharp pain in her forehead (right where her scar was) only further cemented that idea. Tatiana gingerly touched her face. The skin on her forehead was raw, and stung at her touch. Blinking her eyes from the pain, Tatiana saw the street return to its original state. So the wound on her head and the impossible hallucinations were related. Tatiana prodded her forehead again, hoping the stinging would have gone away with the bubbling road. She winced. Crap! The skin was hardening into its scar form, but it was still painful. Tatiana tried to ignore the pain and set off. She had a lot of things to do. As she walked, Tatiana made a mental list: first she would find a place to stay, preferably not in a big city. If she was in a city, she would be harder to find, but Tatiana had heard to much about muggers and kidnappers to ever feel relatively safe in one. Anyway, she thought grimly, if she got kidnapped, it was likely that the Dursleys wouldn't come looking for her.

***

Nearly a whole day had passed before she noticed the man following her. He was a big man, with long matted hair and beard. He had an owl on his shoulder. At first, Tatiana hadn't thought he was following her. She hadn't thought much of anything, really. When she had run away from the Dursleys, she had completely forgotten that she would need food. As a result, Tatiana hadn't eaten since breakfast a day ago, and that had consisted of barely half a bowl of cereal. She had been too hungry to notice anyone around her. But now it was evening, and the girl was trying to think of places to sleep. Last night she had stayed awake and alert, but today, she was just too tired. She sat on a concrete bench and thought. If she could find a subway station, she could sneak in and… no,that wouldn't work. Tatiana's head drooped, and she snapped it back up. She couldn't sleep until she found a safe place. But nowhere was safe for an eleven year old girl.

That was when she saw the man. He was walking toward her. Tatiana sat very still and hoped that he would walk by and not look at her. Unfortunately, he stopped right at her bench.

"Tatiana Potter?" he said. "Dumbledore was wondering why you hadn't gotten your letter, so he sent me to investigate, ya see." His voice was deep and slightly husky. Tatiana felt like she'd heard it before. Who was this guy?

"How the hell do you know my name?!" she shouted. "And who on earth is Dumbledore?" The man straightened up, apparently shocked, and Tatiana realized how tall he actually was. He was gigantic! Nine feet tall or more! Tatiana screamed and shoved him. It was like hitting a rock, but Tatiana ignored the sting in her hands and ran. She was an idiot, a complete imbecile! Don't talk to strangers, her aunt had said, and here Tatiana had just gone and told this man her name! Well, you didn't tell him, she thought to herself. He already knew your name. That thought creeped her out even more. What if he was a stalker who was going to keep following her until she collapsed from exhaustion? For the first time in her life, Tatiana wished she was at the Dursleys.

***

Tatiana kept running, but the man caught up with her easily. She stopped and stared at him, defiance glimmering in her eyes.

"What do you want with me?" She asked. The man realized she was scared.

"I won't hurt yeh," he said. "Dumbledore told me ta bring you yer letter."

"What letter? Who is Dumbledore?"

"Yer sayin' the Dursleys never told ya?"

"Told me what?"

"Yer a witch, Tatiana." The girl gasped, apparently shocked. That was usual, if no one had told the kid about magic ever. However, when Tatiana spoke, she wasn't asking about magic.

"You know the Dursleys? Is this all part of their plan to get rid of me or something?"

"Nope."

"Then I'm going to make you tell them what you told me, and I'm not looking at any letter unless they believe you."

The man scratched his beard in thought. He hadn't thought Tatiana liked the Dursleys at all. Why was she relying on them to make her decisions all of a sudden? But he agreed to go with her to tell the Dursleys. After all, Dumbledore had insisted that she read her letter.

***

Vernon Dursley was on the phone when the doorbell rang. He put down the phone and sighed. He hadn't wanted to try and find the pesky girl, but Petunia wanted him to find her, so he called up some people and put a flyer on the telephone pole down the street. Petunia had a good point to her argument though, he had to admit. If society thought that they had let their niece go missing, that could tarnish their reputation as good citizens permanently. Mr. Dursley opened the door. There was the brat. Immediately, Vernon flew into a rage, roaring at the ungrateful kid about anything he could think of.

Then something moved behind her.

It was a man, a giant really. He was messy and looked like a homeless person. What was he doing with the brat girl? Maybe he was expecting a reward for finding the girl. Vernon was certainly not giving him anything of the sort. Then the man spoke.

"Mr. Dursley," he said. Oh, right, Vernon thought. I must have put my name in the flyer.

"Dumbledore sent me ta see why Tatiana here hasn't got 'er letter yet." This made no sense at all.

"Petunia!" Vernon Dursley yelled. "Do you know this crackpot? He's saying this Dumplebore person is sending letters to the brat!" His wife appeared almost immediately, a look of worry on her plain face.

"It's happening, its happening," she whispered anxiously. "Unless-" She turned to the homeless person. "Who did you say was inquiring?"

"Professor Albus Dumbledore sent me, ma'am."

"No!" she gasped. "Are you telling me that she's one of them?"

Vernon couldn't stand it anymore. "One of what?" he demanded. Petunia turned to face him, obviously distraught.

"You know I told you my sister was a witch?" Vernon nodded. "Well, she married a wizard, and Tatiana's their ma- ma- magical brat baby!" Vernon clenched his fists as he heard the girl's eager voice inquire of the man,

"So it's true? My mum was a witch? And I've got magic too? Is that like superpowers?"

"YOU ARE NOT A WITCH!" Vernon shouted. He moved to stand by his wife. "I WILL NOT ALLOW IT." Shaking a finger at the girl, he continued. "If magic even existed, which is not possible, I would still forbid you from taking any part in it." This last part he had only added in because he wanted to see the girl cry. Unfortunately, she didn't. She just turned back to the strange man.

"I don't know," she said. "That's just what my uncle is like, you know, nasty. Can I at least see that letter?" Vernon made a grab for the letter as soon as it was produced, but the giant held it out of his reach and offered it to the girl. Tatiana read the letter in silence then smiled.

"Thank you, Aunt Petunia," she said sweetly. Vernon was shocked. The brat, using manners? "I'll be going now," Tatiana continued. "I just needed someone to verify that magic is real. Goodbye."

Vernon saw what was coming. "Oh no you don't," he warned. "You're not going anywhere unless I say so."

The giant snorted. "It's Dumbledore's orders. An' his word better than yours, you being just a bunch o' Muggles."

***

As they left, her uncle roared one more warning. "If you end up dead in an alley, it's not our fault!" Tatiana just smiled.

"I'm sorry I punched you," she said. Then on an afterthought, "What's your name?"

"Hagrid," he replied. "Rubeus Hagrid."

Tatiana and Hagrid got to London without too much trouble. They had gone to the underground station first, but Hagrid didn't have any cash. At least not regular cash. He had a lot of strange fat coins in his pockets.

"Aren't they heavy?" Tatiana asked, trying to get a better look at the coins. Some of them looked like they were made of gold.

"They are sometimes," Hagrid replied. "But Gringotts puts charms on them, so they're real light now." Tatiana stared at the coins.

"Well, we can't buy the tickets with these," she mused, "and I'm out of real money. Got any ideas?"

As it turned out, Hagrid had a different way of transportation. Tatiana watched him as he pulled a pink umbrella out of his pocket. Why didn't he use that before? Tatiana wondered drowsily. Why did we have to walk all the way to the train station She sat down on the sidewalk and watched Hagrid wave around the umbrella. If Hagrid was doing magic, why was it in the open? And why did she trust him again? Tatiana didn't have a very good reason to trust him. Actually, none at all. The Dursleys didn't trust him either. Actually, Tatiana thought, her head slowly drooping towards the pavement, maybe that's why I wanted to go with this guy. To prove the Dursleys wrong.

Tatiana must have fallen asleep, because the next thing she knew, she was moving. The night air, chilly on her cheeks, woke her somewhat.

"Hagrid?" she asked blearily. "Where are we?" And then she opened her eyes. They were flying! Hagrid was driving a motorcycle, but in the air. Tatiana blinked and sat up. She was in some sort of rickety side-car attached to the motorcycle. Through the cracks in the bottom, Tatiana could see the earth go by below. They were flying pretty high, but definitely not as high as an airplane, Hagrid just having narrowly dodged a four story house. They were passing over the countryside now. Tatiana stared, breathless with awe, as she passed over the grass and trees. The Dursleys had never taken her anywhere fun, always choosing to leave her with Mrs. Figg, their elderly neighbor. Tatiana grinned broadly, then winced as the cold air hit her teeth. This was the reason she'd left the Dursleys.

"Wow," Tatiana yawned. She could just go on staring at the countryside forever, but she was too tired. Yawning again, she settled back into the side-car's seat and closed her eyes.

***

Tatiana woke up the next day in a strange room. For a moment she panicked. Did I get kidnapped or something? Then she remembered the night before. Magic actually existed, and she was an actual witch!

Tatiana stretched and looked around. Her room was sort of lacking in the light department, but that was probably because the window was all covered up. She padded over to the curtains, and noticed that someone had removed her shoes before tucking her into bed. Tatiana opened the window, and gasped. Before her was a view of a busy street with wide sidewalks. Lights flashed, and cars sped by. She was in London! It looked fantastic, so busy and crazy compared to Little Whinging. Then Tatiana turned around and gasped again. She wasn't in an ordinary hotel room. In the middle of the room was a four poster bed with royal blue curtains drawn back on the sides. The floor was a matching blue tile, and the walls were a beautiful deep brown wood. However, it was the portrait on the wall that drew Tatiana's attention. The woman seemed to be moving. She flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder and smiled.

"Good to see you've finally woken up," she said. "It's already after noon." Tatiana gaped.

"You can talk? But you're a-"

"Picture?" The girl shrugged. "Yes, I know. Haven't you seen one before?"

Tatiana frowned. "Well, not one that talks. I'm kind of new to all this magic stuff."

"Oh, are you a Muggle-born? That would explain a lot. Hagrid told me your letter didn't get to you, so he had to come find you. Oh, and he's waiting for you, by the way. You're going to Diagon Alley in just about-" she checked an old fashioned pocket watch- "ten minutes."

Tatiana was now thoroughly confused."Wait, what?" she asked. "What's a Muggle-born, and why am I going to … Diagonal Alley?"

"A Muggle-born is a witch or wizard with non-magical parents," the witch replied. "If you aren't one, then why don't you know anything?" Tatiana bristled.

"My parents are dead, thank you very much. And they were magical, but since they died, I had to be raised by my extremely 'Muggle' relatives."

The portrait reeled back. "Oh, honey," she cooed. "I'm so sorry. I really didn't know. Anyway," she said briskly, straightening her skirt, "Diagon Alley is where you get your school things. Get ready!" She whirled around and waltzed out of the frame.

***

Tatiana didn't waste time with getting ready. She raced out of her blue bedroom and down the hall, which was lined with more talking portraits.

"The stairs are the other way!" a cantankerous old man in a gilded frame told her. Tatiana spun around and raced down the stairs. Her frenzied run was only stopped when she hit Hagrid with a thud.

"Ouch!" She craned her neck to look up at the big man. "Sorry." She smiled. "So what do I have to get for school?"

***

Diagon Alley was the complete opposite of London. The first thing Tatiana noticed was the weather. In the real world, the sky had been a dreary gray, but here- Tatiana supposed this was real too, but still- here it was sunny! Tatiana tore her eyes away from the bright blue sky to look at the buildings. They weren't the industrial structures or perfect suburban houses she was used to. These buildings were a random assortment. On Tatiana's side of the street was the hotel they had just come out of, a shabby, yet welcoming structure. Across the street were a pair of squat little shops that seemed to be selling newspapers and big fancy feather pens. At the far end of the street stood the biggest building by far. Gold and white and majestic, it rose proudly for three stories and ended in a domed glass roof.

"That's the bank," Hagrid announced. "We'll go there first."

"The bank? But I don't have any money!"

"Well, Tatiana, yer mum and dad had money. Quite a lot, yeh see."

"So, I'm rich?" Tatiana had never had any spending money in her life, and was excited at the prospect of buying stuff. "Can I get that shirt?" She pointed at a black lacy top proclaiming the words The Weird Sisters on it in neon green paint. Hagrid shook his head.

"We'll see, after we get yer school things."

The bank had a bunch of doors and a big fancy plaque with a poem on it. Tatiana didn't really pay attention to the decorations. Money, money, money! she thought over and over. I'm gonna buy that shirt, yes I am! Hagrid spoke to a creature at a desk and gave it a key, and Tatiana followed them to a rickety looking cart on tracks. That was surprising, considering that the rest of the building looked so nice.

The cart creaked as Tatiana and Hagrid climbed in. Tatiana was sure she saw it bend under Hagrid's weight, but at least it held. What is magic for,Tatiana mused, if it can't even fix an old cart on a track? The wheels started turning, and Tatiana realized that this was actually a lot like a roller coaster. Not that she'd been on one of course, but she'd seen pictures in the Super Adventures comics. This 'roller coaster' was slow at first. Tatiana bounced in her seat. She wanted to get her money fast!

Just then, the cart sped up. Tatiana flew back in her seat and clung to the railing. The car was going so fast, she feared she would fly out! Tatiana gasped and held on even harder as she saw what they were traveling over. Below their track was a gigantic cavern expanding down far below what Tatiana could see. Multiple tracks crisscrossed this massive space, with tiny cars stopping at rocky ledges far below her.

Wow, life is so much better with magic! Tatiana thought. Then everything was pushed out of her mind but the desire to not fall off as the cart went upside down. Moments later, the three people (well really three people and one strange creature with keys) were disembarking on a small ledge in the wall of the cavern. This ledge was the entrance to a rough- hewn hallway of heavy stone doors. The creature (Tatiana was sure she had heard of one of these things somewhere but couldn't remember the name) stopped at the third door down. Tatiana bounced eagerly on the balls of her feet as she stared at her vault. The door opened, and Tatiana raced inside. There was her money. Quite a lot, in fact. Tatiana counted at least three large baskets full of coins. Some were silver and copper, but Tatiana noticed that most of them were gold. So Tatiana's parents really had been rich. Tatiana looked back at Hagrid, who was still in the doorway, having had been too tall to go into the vault.

"So, do I get to take as much as I want?"

After a very short heated argument, Tatiana agreed to only take out a hundred Galleons, which was supposed to last her for the entire school year.

"But, what if I run out?" Tatiana asked curiously. "Is some owl going to just fly in with some cash?"

Hagrid shook his head. "Too dangerous," he replied. "Yeh gotta come back here to get more money. And yeh won't run out. Yer not going to be buyin' anything at school anyway."

***

Soon Tatiana and Hagrid were back in the warm sunlight and walking towards the clothing shop. Hagrid was consulting a list carefully.

"Right, so it says you need three pairs o' school robes in black," he told the girl, "and you need a cloak as well, and-"

"Hagrid?" Tatiana interrupted, totally off topic. "What was that creature in the bank?"

Hagrid looked deeply shocked. "A goblin o' course! Don't tell me you've never seen one of those before!"

"I'm telling you that right now," Tatiana shot back, mildly annoyed. "I've been living with the Dursleys my whole life, remember?"

Hagrid flushed. "Gee, I'm sorry, Tatiana. I jus' keep forgetting-"

"Its fine." Tatiana looked away from the big man. She hadn't meant to make him feel bad. It was so weird having people apologize to her. First the talking painting, and now Hagrid. Wow! Tatiana thought. Is this what being around decent people is like?

"Anyway," she continued out loud, "is there a place where they sell regular clothes too? I'm sort of tired of wearing Dudley's gross old things."

Hagrid shrugged. "Try the robe shop. And do yeh mind if I wait outside? I won't really fit in the store."

Tatiana walked into the clothing store and frowned. The shop was packed with racks of long flowing dress like things, presumably the robes on her list. They were crafted in a rainbow of colors, from a tight green dress with a long sweeping skirt and sleeves made out of something like a fishnet, to a baggy black thing covered in lace and rips. Tatiana wandered around, looking through the collection. There were a lot of ugly striped ensembles on a rack marked ‘clearance’, and a row of mannequins showed off some fancy new styles. This place certainly was interesting, but Tatiana couldn't seem to find any real clothes. She supposed she would ask the shopkeeper. Speaking of which, Tatiana wondered where the shopkeeper was.

"Hello?" she called.

"Over here," a musical voice replied. "Are you here for your Hogwarts robes?"

"Yeah." Tatiana followed the voice to the back of the store, where an eerily pale boy was being measured by a young woman with dark skin and bright green hair.

"Hi," she said to the boy, who she thought looked like a vampire. He had the good looks, as well as a cold and slightly menacing look to his light grey eyes.

He nodded. "First year as well, right?" His voice had a bit of a drawl.

"Yeah."

"Do you know what house you want to be in?"

"Um, no." Tatiana had no idea what a ‘house’ was, except in the ‘building that people live in’ sense. "Do you?" she asked, as the girl with the measuring tape guided her to stand on a block, and started finding the length around Tatiana's waist.

The boy smirked. "I'll be in Slytherin, of course. Like the rest of my family. You look like you'd be a Squib." The shopkeeper left the measuring tape and went back to the boy, starting to pin back the sleeves of his robes. Tatiana's eyes widened when she realized the tape measure was still measuring her, then widened still more when she looked at the boy again. Boys wore robes too? Didn't they hate it? That was like wearing a dress! Then she realized what the boy had said. Somehow Tatiana got the feeling that Squib was not an optimal house to be in.

"Thanks a lot," she said with as much sarcasm as she could muster.

"Oh, you're quite welcome. Ouch!" The boy jumped and rubbed his wrist. "If you want my family to shop here, you can't go around poking me with pins!"

The shopkeeper sighed. "If you would keep still, the pins would stay where they are supposed to go. Now shut your mouth and hold still!" The boy didn't do either.

"My name's Draco Malfoy," he said, pulling at the sleeve of his robes. "What's yours?"

"Tatiana Potter."

"Are you really?" the boy - Malfoy said. "That's funny, you don't look famous, but I could be mistaken. I had thought you'd be a bit … whiter."

"Wait, what?" Tatiana wasn't sure if she had heard Malfoy correctly. "I'm famous?" And what's wrong with not having creepy vampire skin like yours? she added in her thoughts. Tatiana was aware that she had a darker shade of skin than most of the kids at her old school, and that she looked completely different from the Dursleys, but she had never thought that it was a problem. Tatiana glared at the boy as the shopkeeper put a robe over her head and pinned it in place.

"Yeah, you haven't heard?" Malfoy was mocking her, to be sure. "You didn't realize how you killed the greatest wizard of all time when you were only two years old, and your parents died, and that's why you had to live with your aunt?"

Tatiana shook her head. He had to be making this up. And how did he even know so much about her?

"How do you know all this?" she asked angrily. "Have you been stalking me or something?" Malfoy shook his head.

"No, Potter, you're actually quite a celebrity here. Hell, you've even got books written about you. But I suppose you wouldn't know this, seeing as you've been living with Muggles your whole entire life." Tatiana definitely did not like this boy. Turning back toward the seamstress (for that must be what she was, as Tatiana's robes were now sewing themselves to fit) she asked,

"Do you sell any real clothes here?" The seamstress looked baffled.

"Real clothes? I can assure you that these robes are as real as anything else you may wish to buy."

"No," Tatiana corrected. "I mean like the ones I'm wearing."

Malfoy snorted. "Muggle clothes? You have to go to a Muggle store to buy that sort of crap." Tatiana glared at him.

"What about, I don't know, something you wear under your robes?"A thought suddenly came to her. "You do wear things under your robes, right?"

The shopkeeper smiled, probably at Tatiana's ignorance. "If you wanted a lingerie shop, you should have just asked directions. Its two stores down to your left." Tatiana nodded in thanks, even though that wasn't quite what she meant. She had been thinking more of a pair of jeans that fit. Then she noticed that Malfoy was snickering.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "If you had to wear your cousin's disgusting underwear every day of your life, you'd be pretty desperate too!" The boy shuddered.

"That would never happen to me,because I'm rich. And my family cares about me." Tatiana was fuming now. She made toward him, ready to make him eat her fist, but was smoothly intercepted by the seamstress, who handed both her and Malfoy an armload of clothes.

"That's five Galleons, both of you," she said. As Tatiana dug around in her pocket for five golden coins, the infuriated witch added, "And you can take your argument outside of my store!"

***

Tatiana was still fuming as she walked with Hagrid toward the bookstore, the third shop on the list. Tatiana had raced toward the underclothing store with an embarrassed "One moment!" and returned with a bag of knickers and bras that she had randomly selected. Fortunately, Hagrid hadn't asked any questions. Now Tatiana was kicking the cobblestone road and telling Hagrid about her encounter with Draco Malfoy.

"You know," she said bitterly, "some people need to learn manners. I mean, really, who goes and insults your dead parents and only living relatives in one sentence? " Actually, Tatiana had insulted the Dursleys many times in her life, but she felt that she had a right to. After all, they were her relatives.

***

Finally, at the end of the day, it was time for Tatiana to get her wand. She pushed open the door of the shop, slinging some bags over her shoulder. Hagrid had offered to carry her purchases, but Tatiana would not give up her bag of underwear. She had a vivid idea of what her face would look like if Hagrid saw what she had bought.

Walking inside, Tatiana gasped for about the fiftieth time that day. This store was much taller than the outside suggested. The walls here soared toward a high arched ceiling, and every inch of the walls was covered in flat boxes. Light poured in from the ceiling, which was made out of a strange sort of glass that seemed to be changing color. Something whirred, and Tatiana noticed a ladder rolling in out of the distance. Craning her neck, she found the owner of the shop. Perched upon the ladder was a balding old man, carrying an armload of the flat boxes.

"Greetings," he said in a voice that was somehow at the same time creaky and welcoming. "Ah, you are here for your wand. You are Miss Potter, am I correct?"

"Yeah," Tatiana answered. "Why?"

"Oh, I feel very fortunate now. You see, I have always wished to meet you, Miss Potter." Tatiana blushed. So she really was famous. This was so … weird. The wand maker got to work, measuring her with an enchanted tape, much like the seamstress. This measuring tape was weird, though. It measured both of Tatiana's hands, then fingernails, and even her ears! The man climbed on the ladder up a few rungs and grabbed a couple wands, seemingly at random.

"Which is your writing hand?" he asked. Tatiana raised her right hand. "Alright, try this one out. Cherry and dragon heart string, twenty two centimeters …"

Tatiana tried out a lot of wands. Each one did something when she touched it. A grayish wand made some mouselike noises, and a rough brown one shot out a fizzling red spark. None of these seemed to be the one, though, because the old guy made a little tsk-ing noise each time and found another box. Tatiana must have gone through five boxes by the time she saw a wand she liked. It was plain, unlike some of the ones she had previously tested, and it had one odd reddish stripe down one side. Unlike the others, it was warm to Tatiana's hand. She picked up the end she thought was the handle, the slightly wider side. As she picked it up, a stream of golden sparks poured off the tip. Tatiana poked at the sparks. They weren't too hot, so she scooped up some in her free hand and threw them in the air. Tatiana grinned as sparkles rained down.

"Holly, with phoenix feather," the wand maker explained. "I do believe we've found a match for you." He said something else too, that Tatiana didn't catch. Still gripping some of the rapidly disappearing sparkles, she paid for her wand.

***

"I'm going to get you a present," Hagrid said as soon as they exited, "for yer birthday. "You can get that Weird Sisters shirt you saw earlier, or I'll buy you an owl."

Of course Tatiana chose the owl.