Matilde O’Fionnagan stood on her tiptoes and lifted up her arm, trying to reach a book far above her head. She grasped the spine and managed to pull it down, inwardly grumbling about her short stature. She placed it on the pile, which was growing quite large, in her older brother Martyn’s arms. There were so many interesting titles here. She wished she could buy them all. Alas, this was solely a school shopping spree. Tilly glanced at her list.
“Er, just one more.”
The girl weaved through the shelves, and the other wizards and witches, her brother trailing behind her. She found the book quickly. It was crimson, with gold lettering that read Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them. Tilly had always been an animal lover. Curious, Tilly flipped through the pages. It was filled with illustrations of all sorts of magical creatures, many Tilly had never seen before.
Martyn smirked at his sister, not unkindly. “Take your time. Not holding a heavy stack of books or anything.”
“Sorry.” Tilly smiled. She took some of the books from him, adding Fantastic Beasts to her pile.
Earlier that day, she and her family had traveled by floo to Diagon Alley. Dusting a bit of floo powder off her sweater, she joined her mother on the hearth. Tilly had been going to Diagon Alley with her parents for the past few years to see her brother off to Hogwarts at the start of term. It was always a very exciting day for the little girl- she loved everything about the place. She rarely got to see so many witches and wizards at once. But this time was different. It was her turn.
After leaving their suitcases in the room at the Leaky Cauldron, they made their way through the shops, slowly accumulating Matilde and Martyn’s school supplies. Tilly now had brand new clothes, a cauldron and other potions supplies, and a wand. Her books were the last on the list.
“Do I get to learn about magical creatures at Hogwarts?”
“Not until third year.”
“Oh” Tilly frowned.
“But don’t worry, there'll be plenty of other subjects you’ll love” Martyn looked a little guilty. “I bet you’ll love potions. Remember when you used to make “magic soup”?”
Tilly laughed. When she was little, she loved to mix random ingredients she scavenged from the kitchen and around her house, hoping to invent a potion that would make her pets be able to talk to her. Her mother put a stop to it as soon as Tilly started talking about testing her creation.
Tilly looked around the shop. Her mother was talking to a witch who looked vaguely familiar to the girl, maybe a friend of her mom’s from school? Her father was browsing the shelves, an amazed expression on his face. Sometimes Tilly forgot her father had only known about magic since he had married her mother. He always seemed so comfortable with it all. It was rare to catch him in a moment of astonishment like this one. Martyn had now headed off to talk to a friend too. Figuring it could be a while before her mother had finished her conversation (why are grownups like that?), Tilly sat down in a corner, setting her new books on her lap. She took Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them from the top and began to read.
