This past school year had been too calm for Amanda’s liking. Sure, there was the Masked Man and all of his shenanigans, but Amanda herself had been rather well-behaved. At least compared to how she usually behaved. At home, Amanda would normally badger her twin brother with all sorts of pranks and he would retaliate, ensuing a war of sorts between the two of them until one of their parents intervened.

And that was the precise reason why she was here. Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes was the place to go if you wanted to stir up some trouble. Amanda browsed the shelves, looking for the perfect items to buy. Dungbombs? Nah, too basic. Fireworks? That had already been done while her mum was at Hogwarts. Amanda sighed. She wanted to do something big, something big and grand. Something that people would remember for years to come. She shook her head in an attempt to clear her mind. I’ll save that for when I graduate, so I that I can end my time at Hogwarts with a big bang. Fanged frisbee? Leprechaun gold? Enchanted snowball? Amanda thought carefully and picked up some leprechaun gold. I guess this’ll have to do. She glanced around the store, recognizing a few faces from school. Amanda smiled at her schoolmates, hoping to strike up a conversation with some of them.

Yong and her mother were browsing around Diagon Alley. As a child, and those creatures often can't get enough candy, Yong decided to enter the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes to find some candy. She had never entered this type of store, as a Muggle-Born... or any wizard shops, honestly. 

Through the door she walked, and she stopped, and gazed. Everything the store was colourful. Nothing lacked some sort of neon colour. In case some people wanted to walk through to get inside the store, Yong continued walking, forward to a cage of purple and pink fluff balls. What are these? Yong thought, eyes wide open. A sign on the cage gave her an answer:

𝒫𝓎𝓰𝓂𝓎 𝒫𝓊𝒻𝒻𝓈

Yong closed her mouth and laughed at herself. She turned around, staring at people and pets and pops. She wandered around aimlessly, gaping at every single thing in the store. 

But, Yong had forgotten what she was here for: delicious wizard candy! She looked around for someone who didn't seem too busy. She spotted a girl who she recognised somewhere; she reminded Yong of a celebrity, whose name she couldn't remember. And - fortunately - she didn't seem too busy. So Yong strode up to her. 

"Excuse me? Do you know if there's any decent sweets in this shop?" Yong asked the girl, smiling kindly.

Amanda was comparing prices between two items when a voice startled her out of her thoughts. That particularly deep voice happened to belong to a tall Asian girl. Amanda’s eyes widened, shocked at this girl’s height. She doesn’t seem to be much older than I am, Amanda observed, her face still occupied with a look of surprise. “Wow, you’re tall! What year are you in?”

Then Amanda remembered that the other girl was asking her a question and cleared her throat. “Oh, right. There’s some Exploding Bonbons over there. They’re pretty tasty,” she said, gesturing to some shelves. “I believe that there’s also chocolate frogs, acid pops, and Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. I wouldn’t recommend the acid pops unless you feel like getting a hole burnt straight through your tongue. Personally, I rather like them myself, but it took me quite a while to get used to them. Also, there are some particularly nasty flavors in that box of jellybeans. I’ve gotten Vomit and Earwax-flavored ones before, and my twin brother swears that he got one once that tasted like an earthworm. I’m honestly not quite sure how he knows what earthworms taste like and I would rather not find out.” Amanda grinned at the other girl. “My name’s Amanda. What’s yours?”

The girl Yong had asked a question to turned to her, and widened her eyes.

"Wow, you're tall! What year are you in?"

Yong smiled to herself awkwardly and then properly at the girl. She quickly said her year - going into her first year at Hogwarts. And then the girl proceeded on to the different candies about the store. Exploding Bonbons. Had she heard the girl correctly? Exploding Bonbons. How peculiar, Yong thought, following the girl's gesture to a shelf with signs promoting candies. Does it explode in me? Will I have to go to the hospital?

EXPLODING BONBONS

One had said. And there were frogs made of chocolate. Frog made of chocolate! And sour pops (or acid pops, as the girl had said). And jellybeans - ones of allegedly every single flavour. Yong nodded understandingly.

Apparently now was time for a story. About those jellybeans. The girl once got a vomit bean! And an earwax one! And her brother an earthworm one! Before the story, after being told abut the beans, Yong had craved a jellybean or a few, thinking 'Every Flavour' meant all flavours ranging from tangerine to blueberry, from raspberry to grape, from apricot to coconut. But now that she had heard that awful story, she had become slightly less interested. She guessed there would be skunk spray and blood, brussel sprouts and snot. How terrible! Yong thought. Perhaps she would just go with the Chocolate Frog, since it couldn't possibly be anything but a frog-shaped chunk of chocolate. 

She was so intrigued in her thoughts and expectations of the candy that she didn't hear the girl ask one more question: what's yours? And Yong was back to reality. "My what? Um... my- my name? Yes, my name," Yong mumbled. "I'm Yong." She held out her hand. 

After a long day of her fathers, JD and Anthony, dragging her around Diagon Alley, they decided to bring her to one of their favorite stores. Weasly's Wizard Wheezes. Her fathers had decided that besides her supplies, she should be sent off with all sorts of fun objects and sweet treats to keep her occupied in her free time. They had been browsing the shop for at least ten minutes now and Ruth was properly occupied in choosing out several types of candies and other snacks. Chocolate frogs? That sounds a bit disturbing to eat. Would it just hop into your mouth willingly? She had so many questions, but at this point, Ruth decided to simply enjoy the sweets instead of questioning it.

Ruth pulled some Chocolate Frogs off the from shelf along with one or two Acid Pops. It sounded dangerous, but curiosity killed the cat, so she had to try them. Her eyes light up at the sight of a colorful box of Jellybeans. Ruth took them from the shelf, reading the packaging. A small voice in her mind doubted that they could manufacture beans that tasted like vomit, but she would find out sooner or later. With all the things she had seen today, she wouldn't be surprised. Ruth giggled to herself as she continued to take down sweets for purchase.

Interactions: Yong Yakimura and Ruth Morrison

Amanda smiled at the other girl. “Hey Yong, nice to meet you. Hogwarts is loads of fun and I’m sure that your first year will be awesome. Mine was.” Yong seems agreeable. Despite Amanda’s devious nature, she loved to make new friends and was fiercely loyal towards those who were her friends. I hope that Yong and I will become friends.

Amanda noticed another girl in the shop out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head to see the girl grab some acid pops to purchase. “Excuse me for a quick second,” Amanda said to Yong as she jogged over to the other girl. Amanda tapped the girl on the shoulder. “Hi there. I just wanted to make sure that you were aware that those acid pops will burn right through your tongue. Usually people don’t really enjoy them, but I think they’re good. If you really want to try them, though, I would recommend doing so at Hogwarts where you can run straight to the nurse’s office to get healed.” Amanda waved Yong over and smiled at the girl with the acid pops. “I’m Amanda and this is Yong. What’s your name?”

This girl, whose name Yong hadn't quite listened to, seemed cheerful and nice. She ran off to another girl, who was looking at the candies. The evil candies, Yong thought, squinting at the shelves. Now, Yong wasn't quite sure whether she wanted the candy. She could always ask her parents for permission to get sweets from the corner shop across the road. 

Since the girl had left her, Yong turned around, to look at the closest thing to her as to not draw unwanted attention to herself. Immediately on her left was a stack of heart-shaped glass bottles, filled to their brims with pink liquid, pink Pygmy Puff-like furballs hooked to the cap. Each bottle had a white sticker on them, saying: AMORTENTIA. And there were hearts scribbled around the word on each sticker. How strange, Yong thought. 

Yong looked back at the girl she had introduced herself to, and then at the other girl. One of them was gesturing for her to come over, so Yong did. She smiled at both girls. Just as Yong had opened her mouth to introduce herself, the first girl had done it for her. She introduced both Yong and herself to this new girl. Thank Merlin this girl had come along to unknowingly save Yong from embarrassment from not knowing anyone's name. Amanda. Oh, yes! Amanda!

Ruth fumbled with the several items in her hands at the sudden contact. She quickly turned around to face Amanda, a slight look of surprise was on her face from being startled. A look of alarm came across her face as the stranger explained how the candy worked. Was it even legal to sell those types of candies? She knew that she wouldn't be able to find anything like that back home. "Thank you for telling me about that. I just assumed they were just a really sour apple flavor lollipop." Ruth shuddered at the thought of a simple candy having the ability to burn your tongue. It was a bit scary.

"I'm Ruth. Ruth Morrison. It's a pleasure to meet you." She smiled a bit. "Are you guys also going into your first year at Hogwarts? I've been shopping with my parents all day. It's a bit exhausting." She glanced over to where JD and Anthony were; they seemed to be engaged in a slightly heated argument over a Pygmy Puff. Ruth sighed a bit, they were so immature and it was honestly embarrassing in public settings sometimes but she couldn't help to let out a small chuckle. She loved her parents very much.

Amanda smiled when the girl thanked her. “Sure, no problem. Always glad to help out.” Amanda always hated to see clueless kids trying their first acid pop. It had not been a pleasant incident for her.

She had been roughly eight years old. Her twin Johnny had discovered them, only to give one to Amanda a few days later. “Do you want a lollipop?” he had asked, smirking mischievously. Amanda had been suspicious, but she never turned down candy, not even if it was her troublesome twin providing the sweet. Amanda had snatched the candy, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth, only to discover that it burnt her tongue. Amanda had run crying to her mum, who had healed her tongue and disciplined Johnny accordingly. Johnny had never let it drop, always teasing her about that incident and jokingly offering her one. Determined to get him back, Amanda had set her mind to conditioning herself to like them. So everyday, she would sit in her room and lick an acid pop, always consuming a little bit more the next day, until she had begun to be fond of the candy. So, the next time that Johnny had offered her an acid pop to tease her, Amanda had grabbed it and stuck it in her mouth. Johnny had watched, eyes wide, as Amanda had finished every last bit of that lollipop. For some reason, he had never offered her another acid pop, not even to this day.

Amanda was shaken out of her reminiscing when the girl, Ruth, asked a question. Amanda shook her head in response. “Nah, I’m a Second Year. I’m actually pretty excited.” Amanda followed Ruth gaze over to the other girl’s fathers, who were arguing about Pygmy Puffs. Pygmy Puffs, that’s a whole other story, Amanda thought as she studied the bright balls of fluff. That little fluff Lola had caused more trouble than she had been worth. In Amanda’s opinion, it was a good thing that that nuisance of a pet had gotten lost.

Ruth smiled a bit. "You're the second person I've met today who is going into their second year of Hogwarts. What house are you in?" The question was a bit more directed for the both of them. "The other girl I met today is in Hufflepuff. She said that they are the best house, but I'm not sure if that's true or not. She seemed sure of it." Ruth shrugged a bit. She would probably find out when school started, but she wanted everyone's opinion about their own houses at Hogwarts before she went.

"Are you excited to go into your Second Year? Besides your classes, does anything change greatly? Like do you get new dorms or a new wand?" Ruth asked hurriedly, an excited tone in her voice. She paused for a moment, giggling a bit. "Actually, ignore that question about the wand thing. It wouldn't make sense because isn't every wand special to it's owner? I feel like it would take a lot of work to replace one."

Ruth's cheeks flushed a deep red color and she rubbed her arm a bit anxiously. "I'm sorry! I'm rambling aren't I? I'm talking so much that I'm not even allowing you to get a word in.". Ruth let out a nervous laugh.