Thump thump thump.

Maggie's heart raced in her chest. What had gotten into her? She'd never done anything like this in her entire life! One moment she had been standing patiently with her father outside of some strange sports store. Strange. What a redundant choice of words. 'Everything here was strange' she thought. Yet, somehow it didn't feel like a bad strange. Between her beating heart, the clacking of her mary-janes on the stone pavement, and the hustle and bustle of Diagon Alley, Maggie could no longer hear her father down the street. The muggle man had become entranced in a conversation with a wizard about some magical sports ball. A glitch? Pinch? Finch? She hadn't quite been listening. She had something else on her mind. A shop her father had told her not to enter. 'A shop for hooliganry and riffraff' as he put it. 'Far below their family station'.

Maggie couldn't help herself. She knew her mother would give her an ear full later. But right now Mother was at a gala and Maggie was here. Those four hundred and something kilometers felt like an entire galaxy of distance. She wasn't sure what had gotten into her, but she liked it. The rush!

She slipped in with the crowd into the joke shop and her jaw hit the floor. She'd never seen anything like this place. It was amazing! Not that she had anything to compare it to. She had never been to a muggle joke shop before. It was different from the other shops she'd visited on Diagon Alley. The noise drowned out the sound of her rapid heartbeat. Her wide green eyes jumped from one product to another - and the kids playing with them. It was all so overwhelming. Just as her feet had felt like they moved on their own before, now they felt as if they were glued to the floor. Like she was wearing cinderblock shoes. Kids rushed past with their toys, jostling her as they did, to beg their parents to buy them such oddities as Fanged Flyers and Whiz-Bangs. She only managed the barest glimpse at the packaging, wondering what they were. She clutched her white sunhat as it was almost knocked off her head.

Maggie was so overwhelmed; she didn't even realize she was blocking the store entrance.

Location/Time Reducio Diagon Alley|Weasleys Wizard Wheezes

Current Outfit Reducio New Hufflepuff Robes

Mentions Reducio @Margret Murphy

Veda checked her supply list again. Books, check! Caldron, Check! Remembrall, not check. Veda sighed, as her feet were starting to hurt. However, she had to keep shopping. This whole experience has been crazy. First, she accidentally cassmagic! Who knew that existed. Second, while her and her mom were trying to figure out what happened, she got a mysterious letter to a school named Hogwarts. Which turns out to be a magic school.

Then, she and her mom debated if this was real, and finally they went to where the letter says to go. A place called Diagon Alley. After trial and error on many shops on the streets of London, Veda found a store called The Leaky Cauldron, which fit the odd events that have been happening. So she went inside, followed a lady with a witch hat on and a boy with her. She watched in amazement as the woman tapped some bricks and the wall opened. She took her mother's hand and quickly followed the mother and son before the bricks shuffled back into place. "This is real." she murmured, looking around with wide eyes.

Diagon Alley was a bustling street, with tons of witches and wizards bustling around. The buildings varied in shapes, sizes, and colors. It was beautiful in a crazy sort of way. Veda took out her list of supplies and went into each store listed on the parchment. It all blurred together. She got a wand,
spell books, a cauldron, and tons of stuff she couldn't pronounce to go in said cauldron.

That led up to this moment here, where she had a few things left to get, and one was the Remembrall. She headed in the direction of the store Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. However, when she got there, the entrance was blocked by a young girl. Veda tapped the girls shoulder. "Pardon me!" She said.

Maggie jumped at the feeling of a tap on her shoulder. A small 'eep' escaped her. For a moment ice ran in her veins. She half expected her mother to be standing behind her. Or the butler or maid. No. That was ridiculous. Neither of them even knew. She spun around to face the other girl and released a sigh of relief. Her shoulders relaxed. She hadn't realized how tense she was!

Maggie looked puzzled for a moment, but then realized what had happened. She was blocking the whole doorway! Her cheeks flushed. What would mother say. She could practically hear her voice all the way from Dublin chastising her to get her head out of the clouds and pay attention. She could hear the word 'klutz' echoing in the back of her mind.

"Sorry," Maggie quickly spat out. She moved to the side to allow the other girl entry into the shop. She tugged on one of her pigtails. "I'm still new to all of . . ." Maggie paused for a moment and flourished her hand around the store. "-this."

"I'm Maggie, by the way," she introduced, finally realizing she had not done so. The nervous girl was dressed in rather preppy, but expensive looking traditional muggle clothes. More like what one might've expected a child to wear to Sunday church than out shopping for school supplies. She extended a white gloved hand to the other girl.

@Veda Lunar

Location/Time Reducio Diagon Alley|Weasleys Wizard Wheezes

Current Outfit Reducio New Hufflepuff Robes

Mentions Reducio @Margret Murphy

Veda took Maggie's hand while smiling warmly. "Nice to meet you! My name's Veda. And I am new to this, uh, lifestyle as well. That's the word, right? Muggle? Anyway, are you here for Hogwarts? Like, school supply shopping? Veda rambled, then immediately flushed with embarrassment after. She wasn't one to talk a lot, but when she did she always got embarrassed.

Veda examined the girl. Maggie had on some old fashioned clothes with a preppy style. It was a bit interesting, but Veda wasn't judging. She never liked to judge. Veda's mom, Skye, raised her on compassion. Whether that was hosting charity events, volunteering, or anything else, Veda learned that there are many different views in the world, and different hardships people have to face. Everyone has a different story, and rght now she was currently wondering what Maggie's was.

From what Veda could tell, Maggie looked pretty wealthy, and she was obviously not from a magical family, from the way she was talking about Diagon Alley. She also was very jumpy, but Veda didn't know why. Veda stepped off to the side so other people could go into the shop while she waited the other girls answer to her previous question.

Maggie shook Veda's hand. Her eyes widened at the mention of the school, and she rapidly nodded her head in response. "Yeah!" Maggie said enthusiastically, her head still nodding up and down along with the shaking of their hands. It took a moment for her to realize and the nodding and shaking stopped abruptly.

"What was it that was on the list from here?" Maddie thought aloud. It was her cover after all. For when her father eventually found her. "Oh right. a rememem- a rembell - ramamb- a remmmmbrul- rememball-" Maggie's brow furrowed as she struggled to pronounce the word. "Remembrall," Maggie finally managed. Her cheeks were redder than the inside of a remembrall whose owner had been obliviated.

"I'm going to need a spell just to properly say some of these things," Maggie joked about her mishap. She wondered if there was such a spell. It was all so new and strange and wonderful and intimidating. Some part of her liked that last bit the most. Intimidating. The entire magic revelation gave her goosebumps. Somehow, when she got her letter, she didn't question it. So many things pieced together. Her entire life it had felt like a piece of her was missing. There was an emptiness within her. A void. She felt crazy for not thinking it was fake. Perhaps it was hope more than true outright belief. Hope for a chance to finally break away.

"Have you gotten everything else on the list already?" Maggie asked. She wasn't sure what to say. Having a real conversation with someone her age was about as new to her as magic was. Sure, she'd talked to other kids at the parties her parents forced her to attend. But those weren't real conversations. Not truly. They were conversations wrapped in bubble wrap and surrounded by pits and shards of glass she had to tiptoe around.

[edited for grammar mistake.]

@Veda Lunar

Veda Lunar wrote: 2 Jul 2024, 09:18

Location/Time Reducio Diagon Alley|Weasleys Wizard Wheezes

Current Outfit Reducio New Hufflepuff Robes

Mentions Reducio @Margret Murphy

Veda laughed at Maggie's joke. It was true, all these wizardly names were hard to pronounce. This was all new, but at least now she has a friend to go through it with her. Hopefully. Unless she screws it all up, or catches her on fire, or makes a fool out of herself, or- Veda stopped herself before she had a full blown panic attack.

Maggie seemed a little socially awkward. That was great for Veda though, as she was socially awkward too. Veda never really had friends. She was always the quiet kid, standing at the back of the crowd, trying to blend in with the wall. she had acquaintances, but never that one friend. That one friend you can confide everything too and they will keep your secrets. The friend that you can show up to their house without an invite and they will let you in. Veda was hoping this girl, Maggie, could be that friend. Anyway, she realized she still needed to answer her question.

No, I haven't! I need, Veda checked her list again "A wand, potion supplies, the remembrall, and a pet! I also wanted to pick up some extra quills and parchment." She told the other girl. Veda wanted to make sure she had enough supplies to talk to her mom for the entire school year. she wasn't sure if hogwarts had supplies, so might as well be safe rather than sorry.

The word 'pet' struck a chord with Maggie. She perked up at it. Her imagination ran wild with thoughts of strange magical creatures. Dragons and griffins and unicorns and phoenixes and all sorts of creatures flooded through her mind's eye. She wondered if any of them were real. Was the Lochness monster real? She wondered if she could get her very own miniature Nessie. No. That was ludicrous. Even if they were all real she knew her mother would never allow it.

"I always wanted a pet," Maggie pondered aloud. "But Mother always says they're more trouble than they're worth." Maggie frowned. There were times her mother had said that about her. She buried that quickly and smiled again. "Plus she says they get hair everywhere." She didn't understand why that was a problem. They did have a maid. Maggie had already begged profusely for a pet. The answer was a clear and firm 'No.' From her mother and an 'Ask your mother' from her father.

"Where do you want to go first? After you get your remembrall, I mean," Maggie said, doing her best to repress any emotions that were coming up. Maggie began to tentatively enter further into the store, keeping an eye out for a remembrall. Whatever a remembrall was. She wasn't quite sure what she was looking for. But surely it would be labeled.

@Veda Lunar

Veda Lunar wrote: 2 Jul 2024, 09:18

Location/Time Reducio Diagon Alley|Weasleys Wizard Wheezes

Current Outfit Reducio New Hufflepuff Robes

Mentions Reducio @Margret Murphy

Veda smiled softly. "Well, your parents won't be there to not let you get a pet, so might as well take advantage of that. You could start with something small, like a frog. I'm going to get a cat. I think we should go to the potion supply store after this, to get it over with. I heard it's quite... unpleasant." Veda said.

She wasn't sure why Maggie looked a little sad, but she decided not to ask. Sometimes people need to think for themselves. Veda followed Maggie into the store, looking around for the Remembrall. She overheard a young boy saying it was a clear glass ball that magically turned red when you forgot something. She walked through an archway into a section less crowded with people, thank god, and saw it. "Remembrall", the sign said.
Veda picked up two, one for her and one for Maggie, and walked back to her new found friend. "Maggie! I got them! She called out a little too loud, and people around her turned to stare. Veda flushed with the attention and lowered her head. God she hated people staring.

"Maybe . . . I'm not sure," Maggie answered nervously. "I've never really taken care of a living thing before. Much less on my own." Heck, she never really took care of herself. She'd never even picked out her own clothes before. She tugged on her skirt at the thought. How could she be expected to take care of someone else? Even if she did want a pet. Maybe she wasn't responsible enough.

Maggie turned towards Veda at her exclamation. "Good eye," she complimented. She examined the strange object. Her brow furrowed. "How do you remember what you've forgotten though?" Maggie shrugged. It didn't seem very useful to her. Technically, you were always forgetting something. Maybe there was more to it though. She wasn't exactly in the know when it came to magical doohickeys. And she'd only gotten a brief glimpse.

Maggie looked back up from the remembrall she was examining. A frown tugged at her lips. It looked like something was bothering Veda. "Is something wrong?" Maggie asked. Her eyes then moved to everyone looking at them. It wasn't something Maggie was unused to, but it didn't mean she liked it any more than the other girl.

"Come one, let's get out of here," Maggie said, taking charge. She made her way to quickly pay so that the duo could escape the gaze of the other shoppers as quickly as possible. "The faster we pay, the faster we can check out the other shops."

[edited for grammar]

@Veda Lunar

Veda Lunar wrote: 2 Jul 2024, 09:18

Location/Time Reducio Diagon Alley|Weasleys Wizard Wheezes

Current Outfit Reducio New Hufflepuff Robes

Mentions Reducio @Margret Murphy

"quote]

Veda smiled gratefully. Maggie understood her perfectly. As they stood in the checkout line, Veda looked around. The joke shop was definitely colorful, that's for sure. There were pops of orange, lime green, yellow, pink, and more everywhere. There were young boys, "maybe nine?' she thought, running around chasing each other with their wands.

Veda started wondering what it would be like to grow up in a magic household. Could you make the dishes wash themselves? What elementary school would you go to? Are there other schools like Hogwarts? She pondered. One thing lead to another and she started thinking of her dad. Why did he leave? Why didn't he tell her mom he was a wizard?

Thankfully, before she got too deep into her thoughts, the cashier called the next in line, which was them. Veda handed the cashier the coins she got from the bank with the goblins. She shuddered thinking about that experience. Best to keep it locked away in her memory. She paid for hers, and she also paid for Maggie's. Before the other girl could protest, she quickly thanked the cashier and ushered her off to the side. "My treat. In return, you can by a pet for yourself," Veda winked.

[/quote]