Compared to the usual back to school shopping trips, Diagon Alley had certainly been a change of pace so far. Sebastian moved through the streets and shops at a slow pace, taking the time to examine each one in detail as he brought the items on the supply list he'd been sent on his birthday. He was coming up to the end of his trip which made him instinctively slow down more, wanting to take in a little more of this new world before he had to return home until September.

Stopping take a quick rest, he sat down at a table outside of a small ice cream shop and went over the list one more time. So I’ve got my wand, done the bookshop, got my robes and my potions equipment. Now I just need to find out where I can get a Remembrall and I’m done. It seems a shame to leave so soon though, there’s so much more I want to explore. Especially the joke shop over there, oh and the bookshop one more time too!

Of course, he probably couldn’t keep his parents waiting too long. They had opted to wait for him in the car, parked just outside of the pub the guide had shown him through, so he figured he shouldn’t keep them too long. Still one extra shop should be fine right?

Turning around he spotted the sign of the building he was sat in front of, Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. Perfect! I can get one of these to go and make it back in time. Well, unless I run into somebody interesting in there. Or suddenly need to stop by the joke shop. Might as well try though!

Making up his mind Sebastian stepped into the shop, his eyes widening for a split second at all of the flavours on display. Hmm, the three scoop looks good, but I can get those flavours at home, maybe the sticky toffee pudding? Or ask them to mix the praline and raspberry?

As his eyes moved over the flavours one name caught his eye and he started to laugh as he voiced his thoughts. "Peppermint Toad? Is that an actual flavour or something they use to scare kids?"

Anastasia had desperately wanted to get ice cream, since no matter how well bred and mature she was might be, she was in fact eleven years old after all. It had taken begging and wheedling nearly the entire time her parents had been shopping with her, but she had gotten her way, as always. Her father had portkeyed home, since he had said he wasn't really in the mood to run into any muggle borns or, God Forbid, muggles. She'd never quite understood his aversion, but since he was her father and generally knew best, she just listened to him.

Her pace picking up as she got close to the shop, quickening into an almost run. "Darling," she heard her mother call, her tone warning, and she slowed down. She knew it was an honor to be a pure blood, and even more to be a Beckett, but she wished her parents weren't always so controlling. Her mother caught up with her, and they entered the shop.

They were in line behind a confused looking boy, whose parents were nowhere to be seen. She heard her mother whisper a phrase that her father used often but Anastasia had told not to say in public. She wasn't certain what it meant, but people usually looked offended when her father said it, which convinced her not to.

"Peppermint Toad? Is that an actual flavour or something they use to scare kids?"

She glanced at the boy and her mother rolled her eyes. "Of course, it's a flavor," her mother muttered. "Anastasia, dear, come out when you've finsihed." With that, her mother handed her a few coins and swept out of the shop.

"Of course, it's a flavor,"

Sebastian forced himself to keep a straight face after hearing the woman behind him muttering, giving a slight glance over his shoulder as he watched her leave the shop. Wow somebody's having a bad day. Looks like she could have used some ice cream herself, it might help her to take a joke. He wondered why the woman had even come in the shop in the first place if she wasn't going to buy anything. To give the girl, Anastasia he guessed, behind him money? Why not just give her the money at home if she was going to get that annoyed in the shop? With the way she walked out it didn't seem like Anastasia needed her to make the order or anything.

Still, no point in making enemies this early, maybe random ice cream shop woman was important in this world or something. It just gave him more incentive to read up on the history of this place when he went home. At least some research would brighten up his time away from here, even if it couldn't measure up to being around the real thing.

Realizing that Anastasia still waiting, he stepped to the right of the counter and gave her an apologetic smile. As stupid as the other woman had sounded it wasn't her fault and he was probably holding the line up at this point."Sorry if I kept you waiting, I'm still deciding so you can go first. Do you have any favourite flavours? I'm new here so it's hard choose, there are so many different options.

Anastasia took the money from her mother and watch her leave the shop. That was a tad dramatic, even for her mother. The boy had just been confused and her mother had been rather harsh. Although, she was tired and irritated after an full day of school shopping, she didn't need to take it out on this poor muggle boy.

"Sorry if I kept you waiting, I'm still deciding so you can go first. Do you have any favourite flavours? I'm new here so it's hard choose, there are so many different options."

She smiled at the boy and replied, "My favourite is sticky toffee pudding. It is simply superb, and it tastes exactly like the real thing, although if that's not your taste, butterbeer is always good." He was almost certainly a Muggle born, but she didn't want to ask, as that would be incredibly improper. She ordered and paid before turning back to him. She waited for him to order before adding, "I'm Anastasia by the way. Anastasia Beckett." She held her free hand out to shake. He seemed fairly alright, and she was also trying to make up her mother's earlier rudeness. After all, a "proper" Beckett would be cordial to any stranger, even if they didn't know who they were. Despite the fact that meant they probably weren't very important, but there was always the off chance they might be.

Sebastian smiled back at Anastasia. at least she seemed to be nice enough, unlike the woman she'd just been standing with. "Oh, good to know, Sticky Toffee Pudding was actually one of the flavours I was considering, it's one of my favourite desserts at home. They just have so many flavours here, it's hard to choose from a glance."

Sebastian re-approached the counter and ordered one scoop of the sticky toffee in a regular cone. He then turned back around to face Anastasia and shook her hand . "Nice to meet you Anastasia, I'm Sebastian Boyd. You can call me Bas if you like though, everyone used to at my old school."

Suddenly a thought passed through his head, maybe Anastasia was going to Hogwarts as well. If that was the case, might as well try to get some more information about the place first hand before he got home. There was only so much reading ahead could do for you after all.

"So are you going to Hogwarts too? It'll be my first year in September and I was just finishing up on my supply list before I decided to take a break here. Honestly September can't come soon enough, I've seen so much magic here already I just want to get to learning it as soon as I can."

She shook his hand pleasantly although not particularly hard. Her mother had always taught her that a proper Beckett lady wouldn't have something as coarse and common as a firm handshake, and really, shaking hands in general wasn't very lady like. Her mother hadn't pushed the second bit as much as the first and had admitted that part was more of an opinion, since most polite people did shake hands when they first met. The boy didn't seem to have any of the thoughts about handshakes that she did and moved on to the next subject.

So are you going to Hogwarts too? It'll be my first year in September and I was just finishing up on my supply list before I decided to take a break here. Honestly September can't come soon enough, I've seen so much magic here already I just want to get to learning it as soon as I can."

"I am!" she exclaimed. She blushed a bit because she had sounded more excited than she'd meant to, but not actually that noteworthy to the other shop goers, not that she knew that second bit. "My mother's already taught me a few simple spells, but I'm still so excited to actually start learning from someone other than her. What house are you hoping for?

"I am!" she exclaimed. She blushed a bit because she had sounded more excited than she'd meant to, but not actually that noteworthy to the other shop goers, not that she knew that second bit. "My mother's already taught me a few simple spells, but I'm still so excited to actually start learning from someone other than her. What house are you hoping for?

"It's exciting isn't it? I didn't even know what magic was until a few months ago and now I'm going to be able to learn how to master it. It seems like such an amazing opportunity! Honestly a small part of him still couldn't believe that he was here. Then again, he had always suspected something had been up with him all this time, he just hadn't been able to prove the cause. Internally he gave a smile, Looks like I was right after all, shame there was no way to prove this stuff was real sooner though, that would have saved a lot of time.

"It's great that your mum taught you some stuff, I haven't been able to learn any spells yet, for obvious reasons, but I'm hoping to read ahead on some of our school work before we arrive. All our new subjects seem really interesting so far, at least from the look of the books I brought." Although some spell practice would be nice as well. What had the guide said, no underage magic outside of school? Do I count now that I'm eleven? Better not risk it, I don't want to break the law before I arrive. Or blow up my house by messing up a spell, pretty sure my parents wouldn't miss that one.

Sebastian paused at Anastasia's last question, raising an eyebrow in thought. "Houses, the guide mentioned them when they explained everything to my parents, but they only told us the names. Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Like I said, I was hoping to read up on most of this stuff later but maybe you could tell me a little about them now, do you have a favourite?"

It's exciting isn't it? I didn't even know what magic was until a few months ago and now I'm going to be able to learn how to master it. It seems like such an amazing opportunity!

Ah, so he must be what her parents and their friends  called a Mudblood. She had been told not use that word around strangers though, since certain people might find it offensive. She hadn't completely understood that, but she always did what her parents said. "Oh, are you a Muggle born then?" she asked. She'd never met one before, or if she had, she didn't know at the time. This boy seemed alright, she supposed, but even speaking with him was disregarding literally everything her parents had taught her. Well, maybe she wouldn't mention his being a Muggle born to her parents. She'd say he was a Half Blood or a poorer Pureblood or something. While one of those was still looked down upon by her parents, it wasn't expressly forbidden. 


When he talked about how he hadn't learned any magic yet for obvious reasons, it occurred to Anastasia that what her mother was doing was technically illegal. Although, since they hadn't heard from the Ministry about it, she assumed that it was a combination of two things - one being that things were like her father had always said and laws were for poor people, and two was that the Ministry probably wasn't too concerned about underage magic at the moment with all of the Harry Potter mess that was going on. She made a mental note to ask her parents about that when they got home. 

"Houses, the guide mentioned them when they explained everything to my parents, but they only told us the names. Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Like I said, I was hoping to read up on most of this stuff later but maybe you could tell me a little about them now, do you have a favourite?"

She couldn't imagine asking about Houses like they were ice cream flavours, but then again, she'd been hearing about since she was born. For her, the sorting was merely a formality since she knew that she was going to be placed in Slytherin, end of discussion, but she supposed for someone who didn't know much about it, that was the only way you would know about them. "Well, Slytherin is by far the best house. It's for the ambitious, cunning, and resourceful," Anastasia began. "Ravenclaw is for the more bookish people, some of the smartest wizards and witches are Ravenclaws. Gryffindor is for the more reckless and less bright, and Hufflepuff is for the, well, less motivated people who don't really fit anywhere else." She thought she had done a fairly decent job of explaining the Houses in a nutshell, although she knew it was a bit biased.