Continued from here!
Participating: @Eira Cravensworth

Sadie followed Eira's lead out of the increasingly busy shop and into the busy streets of Diagon Alley, where witches, wizards, and everything inbetween dispersed from shop to shop. Some were strolling leisurely, like the people Sadie and Miles often got stuck behind when going for walks, and others were power-walking between businesses, probably just in a rush to get their shopping done and over.

Their conversation continued despite the buzz of conversation around them, and there was a strange bit of cognitive dissonance as they discussed elves. Sadie was picturing beautiful creatures of unearthly grace and wonder who lived within enchanted forests, but somehow the name 'Mitzy' reminded her more of one of Santa's elves.

"Galadriel and Legolas...?" Sadie said, her voice sounding slightly uncertain. "They're... they're fictional, yeah? From Lord of the Rings?"

Sadie knelt to grab a smooth stone from the ground, almost without thinking, and stuffed it into one of the pockets her mom had sewn into the inside of her skirt. It would serve as a decent souvenir of her first trip to Diagon Alley. Hopefully it wasn't radioactive or whatever the magical equivalent was.

"Does the language matter that much when casting spells? I guess it makes sense, come to think of it. Latin is really old, after all," Sadie murmured, tapping her chin thoughtfully, sidestepping an older witch who seemed to be in quite a hurry. She hadn't even noticed Sadie before almost bumping into her, and she clearly hadn't taken the time to get ready that morning, if the way her hat sagged was any indication.

"I always thought that kelpies were legends. Stories for kids," Sadie said with a shrug. "You know, 'don't go to bed without eatin' yer supper, or a kelpie'll drag ye into the lake in the morn.' That sorta thing."

She laughed at the declaration of the 'loch ness monster's,' or, as Eira had explained it, 'Ryon's' true identity. Somehow the thought that such a legendary monster was nothing more than a pet for this other eleven year old girl's family was unbearably amusing. Sadie wiped the tears of laughter which stung her eyes and glanced ahead of them.

As if summoned by the devil himself at Eira's mention, another shop stood boisterously tall before them. The sign atop the building said Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

"Oh! This is that shop you mentioned! With the joke spells!" Sadie said, her grin widening as she reached out for Eira's hand. If Eira allowed it, Sadie would drag the both of them into the shop to peruse.

Outfit: A black pleated skirt just past her knees, a brown jumper with patches that almost matched the color of the original material, but not quite, and a pair of brown trainers with soles that clearly hadn't originally been fitted to this pair of shoes.

The sunlight made her squint as the two girls stepped out of the shop. Honestly, she felt a bit more at ease as they moved away from the chattering crowd that swarmed broomsticks and Quidditch kits.

Eira saw several witches waving at her from a perfume shop, friends of her mum's. Not wanting to be rude, she gave them a faint wave back and gave the most charming smile she could muster before returning her attention to Sadie, who said something about a lord possessing rings.

A jeweler, perhaps?

She was about to ask for more information about this so-called lord when the other girl bent down to pick up a stone and placed it in the pocket of her jumper.

It made the Cravensworth pause.

Was it some kind of Muggle ritual? She wanted to voice her inquiry, but Sadie did it discreetly, and maybe she didn't want to draw attention to it so Eira decidedly ignored the action and continued their conversation.

Sadie had voiced her disbelief about kelpies and about Ryon, and Eira felt a bit flabbergasted at it but she remembered that her companion did come from a non-magical household and if the foot is placed on the other dragon-hide boot, she would be less inclined to believe such things either.

Maybe she shouldn't let Sadie know about Great-GrandUncle Gwydion's disastrous attempt to domesticate redcaps, which almost ended the Cravensworth's main bloodline...

They casually walked through the winding streets of Diagon Alley before Sadie promptly stopped, making Eira look at what Sadie was staring at.

Ah, the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was a eye-catching as ever.

The displayed products on the window jumped, bounced, and shrieked with loud colors popped in every way to catch the attention of any passerby, and it succeeded magnificently as children younger than themselves, to older teens flocked to the establishment.

Sadie pointed out her previous comment about joke spells and, to Eira's amazement, she held out her hand.

Pureblood etiquette called for a respectable distance between peers, though this was usually broken when Eira was alone with Anna and Emile. And by then, they had only begun to learn to give casual touches months after they first met each other. A friendly hug of greeting from Anna, a soft pinch on Emile's face when he whinges about Eira being too bossy during their adventures in the gardens.

But here is a kind newly-discovered witch offering her, symbolically, friendship, and it would be foolish to decline. And Eira Cravensworth is no fool.

So with a shy smile, Eira carefully took her offered hand and let herself be guided in the colorful shop.

Inside, it was even more chaotic as several sweets that offered temporary illness were stacked near the love potions which made her walk several steps away from; hearing more than enough love potion debacle than an eleven-year-old witch should.

Her light blue eyes sparkled as she saw the rack that was shoved on the side of the shop with the words:

Invisible Robes

Her face slightly pinched when she saw the asking price-

Will her parents let her buy one in place of a Christmas present and her next birthday gift?

Sighing, she turned to Sadie and gently led her to the games section,

"Are you familiar with the game of chess? We have them here or if you prefer marbles, they also sell gobstones. Though you have to be careful. Loser gets squirted with stink sap."

Continued from here!
Participating: @Eira Cravensworth

Sadie saw a moment of hesitation from Eira, and she wondered if she was going too far, extending a hand. Was it considered insulting to witches to do such a thing? Maybe witches were different than muggles and saw it as a veiled insult implying that they weren't capable of walking on their own. Sadie had no idea.

But then Eira smiled and took her hand, and she smiled back. Part relief, and part excitement that she was already making a magical friend.

The inside of the shop was everything Sadie could imagine for a magic joke shop and then some. There were other patrons snacking on sweets that gave them very visible and disgusting illnesses, ranging from bloody noses to feverish foreheads. Children were tossing snarling, teethed frisbees. A middle-aged man was fiddling about with a telescope, only for a tiny fist to shove out and punch him in the eye.

The proprietors certainly weren't shy about people testing their products!

She followed Eira's gaze to the potions stacked nearby. Love potions, if the sign was to be believed. That sounded kind of creepy to Sadie, but she couldn't really judge. After what she'd learned from her dad about her grandma being a siren or a Vila, or whatever she was, wasn't Sadie's whole bloodline's existence just a love potion without the potion? She felt filthy just thinking about it.

She was relieved when Eira avoided them, and she eagerly followed, peeking over Eira's shoulder at the Invisible Robes.

"They make everything here, don't they?" she said, laughing as a small group of children younger than her set off a stink bomb of some sort in the corner.

She followed Eira to the game section, wondering what kind of games wizards played. Surely they didn't settle down for a game of Monopoly and the accompanying screaming match like muggles did.

"I... I know the horse makes an 'L,'" Sadie smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck.* "I've not had anyone to learn with. Maybe marb- er, gobstones?" Was she saying that right? "I'd probably be better at that than chess. At least, until I have time to learn it."

What in God's name was stink sap? And what did she mean the loser was 'squirted' with it? She almost didn't want to know, but her curiosity won out.

"What's stinksap?" she asked. "Sorry about all the questions. You just seem to know what you're talking about. I'm a little jealous, to be honest.

It was impressive, Eira's knowledge. Sadie wished that she had had the same upbringing as Eira. Surrounded by magic and coming from two fancy-sounding families that bred kelpies. What was next? Dragons being real?

Pfft. Yeah right.

Outfit: A black pleated skirt just past her knees, a brown jumper with patches that almost matched the color of the original material, but not quite, and a pair of brown trainers with soles that clearly hadn't originally been fitted to this pair of shoes.

Eira waved off her new friend's rueful tone, letting her know that asking questions is never a bother. After all, her mum and Mr. Sheffield encouraged her to ask questions herself to expand her knowledge.

"It's no trouble. Sticksap is a substance that you could get from a plant called Mimbulus mimbletonia. It's terribly foul-smelling, like... leavings" she cringed, before looking around to see if someone took offense to her words.

"I haven't been a victim of that nasty thing but trust me, you would not like that smell hanging around you like a lethifold" she commented before she hastily added-

"Oh, lethifolds are dangerous creatures that eat flesh. Erm, it looks like the being Muggles called the Grim Reaper. Except for the bones and scythe."

Eira browsed through the racks, avoiding the Exploding Snap altogether since giving a card game that explodes is not a welcoming gesture to introduce Sadie to magical games. Hoping to make things light, she pretended to check a deck of Self-Shuffling cards and asked one of the burning questions she had been stewing over since she visited Muggle London with her parents.

"I do have a question, may I ask how Muggles are traveling other than the 'kars' that I've seen on the streets? One of my friends said something about tunnels. Do you have kars underground as well? And does it also have wheels or does it run in ektrisity?"

Muggle inventions are rather interesting, maybe she can take Muggle Studies in Hogwarts in the future.

Continued from here!
Participating: @Eira Cravensworth

Between the apparently unbearable stinksap and the existence of the Grim Reaper, Sadie was beginning to have doubts about this whole 'magic' thing. Well, more doubts than before.

What kind of world was this, where creatures that resembled death itself and ate human flesh were allowed to roam about and children sprayed each other with magical skunk juice that grew on a tree for entertainment? Sadie did, however, have to admit that this was far more exciting than her life as a muggle. She'd had no friends other than her siblings, and her idea of an exciting day was a walk through the city with Miles. As terrifying as all of this sounded, it was kind of thrilling in its own way.

"I'm quickly learnin' that you magical folk don't make a whole lot o' sense," Sadie said, apparently forgetting that she, too, was counted among 'magical folk' now. "So let me guess. There's some sort of repellant, like muggles use for insects, for that... leshifold?" She knew she was getting its name wrong, but it was an honest attempt.

While Eira browsed the games that Sadie didn't really understand, Sadie instead watched Eira. She had mentioned 'pure' families earlier at the broom-sport-shop, so maybe there was a caste system for wizards and witches. Come to think of it, hadn't Sadie's dad told her that his dad came from a pure family, or was she misremembering? Regardless of how families and their legacies worked in magical Britain, it was undeniable that there was something about the way Eira carried herself. She was... elegant? Stately? Sadie didn't know the word she was looking for, but watching her movements in something as simple as window shopping was really interesting.

Then the topic of muggledom came up, and for once, Sadie felt like the expert. She grinned eagerly when Eira seemed to understand 'cars' and 'electricity' about as well as Sadie understood... Quidditch. That's what it's called.

"There are tunnels for cars, but only when they have to go through hills or mountains I think. They have wheels and electricity, but the electricity is generated with a..."

Darn. Her dad had told her this part before, when he'd tried to get her to take an interest in working on their car together. It wasn't a hobby of his, but when they couldn't afford to visit a repair shop, fixing his own car was his only option.

"...a combustion engine," she said, hoping that she was correct in the phrasing and the actual mechanics of how it worked. She'd only been half paying attention while he watched a video on his phone about how to repair something called an altnater, or something like that. "They burn somethin' flammable, which causes pistons or somethin' to move up n' down inside the... the engine, which creates electricity. That causes the wheels to turn, and the car moves."

She spoke slowly, since she was only half-sure of herself, and she was mostly repeating words she remembered hearing her dad explaining to Chloe while he struggled with some bolts that his hands were too big to reach.

"I don't know much about it," Sadie said sheepishly, cheeks pink.

Outfit: A black pleated skirt just past her knees, a brown jumper with patches that almost matched the color of the original material, but not quite, and a pair of brown trainers with soles that clearly hadn't originally been fitted to this pair of shoes.

Eira listened with rapt attention as Sadie explained about kars and 'electricity'. She quickly filed the correct term in her mind for future reference.

Electricity.

Electricity.

Electricity.

"The fact that you know how Muggle technology is simply brill!" Eira exclaimed, "Magic is good and all, but Muggles need to think of such creative ways to make things easier for them."

She placed back the deck of cards and took out a pristine handkerchief her mum had enchanted with an everlasting Scourgify spell and wiped her hands; it never hurts to keep your hands clean after all. Especially when she saw a boy wipe something sticky on a box containing boxing telescopes.

As she pocketed her handkerchief, she felt the slender outline of her wand. Oh! Sadie did say that magic doesn't really make sense, which might be in someone else's perspective. But as someone who was born into it, she can't wait to share her world with the blonde girl.

She gestured Sadie to follow her near the back of the store, effortlessly dodging several panicked store assistants when someone knocked over a case of Screaming Yoyos next to a jar of U-No-Poos. Her parents and Mr. Sheffield had explicitly warned her that the use of magic outside their respective schools is illegal, but she wasn't casting a proper spell.

Not really.

As soon as they were well out of sight from prying eyes, she retrieved her wand from the pocket of her sweater and showed it to Sadie with reverence.

"I just got my wand yesterday with my dad. Chestnut with thestral tail hair. Have you gotten your wand yet?"

Continued from here!
Participating: @Eira Cravensworth

Sadie wondered if the look on her own face when Eira told her about spells and creatures and all things magic was the same fascinated look as the one on Eira's face when Sadie talked about something as mundane - to her - as cars or electricity. It was a good feeling, being the one in the know about something, and it was exciting to share that knowledge. She only hoped that Eira enjoyed it as much as she did, because she would likely quickly push into pestering territory with her questions about Hogwarts.

"I don't know about that. You can't tell me that somethin' as boring as a car could be as interestin' as the broomsticks at the last shop we visited," Sadie said. "And the games and pranks in this shop are better than anything we have. In Ireland, at least. After seein' fanged frisbees, you can't exactly go back to dippin' yer ma's hand into a glass o' warm water at night to make her pee. It just isn't the same."

Sadie followed Eira to the back of the store, dodging the same rushing employees as Eira, but with significantly less grace. She was about to ask where they were going, and why it demanded privacy, before Eira pulled out...

...a stick?

Oh. It was a wand. That was... something, but that sounded so complex. Some sort of tail hair and a very specific sort of wood. Sadie hadn't considered how complex wands would be. She'd only seen the word 'wand' on her school supplies list and thought 'Oh, I get to have a wand! That's amazing!'

"I haven't," Sadie shook her head, her eyes unyieldingly staring at the wooden instrument of magical prowess.

"My parents went to the bank here in Diagon Alley - apparently it's run by goblins, they said - and they had to go back to a muggle bank real quick, so they told me to stick with my brother and sisters and look around a bit until they got back."

Her hand instinctively went to her pocket, to make sure the few galleons they had been able to get were still securely in her pocket. She hadn't even known what a galleon was until she'd seen the coins, and her parents apparently hadn't known the value of a galleon to a Euro, so they had had to go and get more muggle money to exchange. It was all quite complicated, in Sadie's opinion.

"Is chestnut wood a fancy type of wood for wands? And what's a thestral, and why's its tail so special?" Sadie asked, eyes brimming with curiosity and excitement as she memorized every detail in the wood of Eira's wand.

She didn't know for sure, but she got the feeling that wands with chestnut wood and thestral hair were only for the crème de la crème of the magical world. She wondered what sort of wand she would get. If budget was taken into account, probably plastic and squirrel tail or something similar.

Outfit: A black pleated skirt just past her knees, a brown jumper with patches that almost matched the color of the original material, but not quite, and a pair of brown trainers with soles that clearly hadn't originally been fitted to this pair of shoes.

When Sadie mentoned that that he haven't received her wand yet, Eira stamped down the urge to tell her what he could expect, the best feeling she had when she got her wand was the wonderment and suprise of finding her match. Though she thinks she better warn her about Mr. Ollivander's ... oddity.

But then decided against it, talking about other people behind their back is just poor form.

"Is chestnut wood a fancy type of wood for wands? And what's a thestral, and why's its tail so special?"

The other girl's eyes sparkled like sapphires a she took a closer look at her wand and yet again, it made Eira feel like she was in a trance. It felt... strange- It made her curious about Sadie's earlier statement about having non-human ancestry but maybe she shouldn't pry.

After all, she has a secret she haven't even shared to her parents a well.

Eira hummed as she touched the handle of her wand and gently smiled at the warmth that covered her whenever it recognized her magic. "I don't think so" she replied, "They're actually pretty common though their colours depend on their 'personality' I think. According to the wandlore I read in books, chestnut wood wands are great for those gifted in beast taming, herbologists, and natural fliers. Perfect for a Cravensworth heir but..."

She took a deep breath before covering it up with a big smile, "But thestrals are amazing creatures! Er, granted I haven't seen one myself but in the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them (I think it's in our school book list) they have a bad reputation as people who had witnessed death themselves are the only ones who can see them and they are pretty ghastly according to some. But they are rather gentle creatures who keep to themselves."

She straightened up and with a mischievous grin she made a little wave and a tiny sparkle of silver lights like fireflies erupted from the tip before she immediately pocketed her wand, making sure that no one else saw her perform a bit of magic.

"For the hair, I think it says that it's attuned to those who are comfortable with notion of death" Eira shrugged, "Haven't thought of it. I wished I shared a wand core with my mum. Her wand's core is a phoenix fether, seen it cast magic by itself at times. Mum said it gets bored" she laughed.

She thumbed the chain of her necklace when a thought entered her mind, "Oh, you have mentioned that you have your siblings with you while waiting for your parent. Is it alright that we kind of wandered away?"

Continued from here!
Participating: @Eira Cravensworth

"That sounds rather lonely, for those... thestrals?" Sadie could only hope she hadn't butchered the pronunciation. Most things magical had such strange names, and sometimes she felt tongue-tied just trying to repeat what she heard. "They don't hurt 'em when they gather their tail hairs for wands, do they?"

It was quite strange, the way Eira spoke of wands as if they were living creatures. She spoke of 'personality,' and of wands performing magic by themselves because they were bored. Sadie listened intently, only briefly being distracted by the brief spark of magic escaping the tip of the wand in front of her. Her hand itched by her side with the urge to try and touch the little silver lights, but she held back. She didn't want to seem silly and immature in front of her new friend.

"That was lovely!" Sadie beamed, only then realizing that she was not only standing on her tip-toes, but leaning far too closely to Eira in her excitement. She quickly pulled back, giggling bashfully.

"Oh, my sisters and brother are just fine," Sadie waved off the concern.

In truth, she'd forgotten all about them since meeting Eira. But she was the second youngest of the four of them, so it wasn't her responsibility to keep up with them, right?

"If anything happens to them, it's not like I can help. I'm about as magical as they are for now," Sadie held up her own wandless hand and wiggled her fingers a bit. She was still grinning. "I was only watchin' after my brother anyway, but the little traitor ran off to Chloe and Reina. Apparently, lookin' in the window at the pets wasn't very excitin' for him. 'Sadie, we've got cats at home. Let's go look at spell books and stuff,' he said to me. Little eejit."

She laughed fondly at the excited way Miles had bounced from shop to shop, and, in a way, he was responsible for her meeting Eira, so she couldn't be too bothered by the little guy.

"Do you ever look after your cousins?" Sadie asked. "I know you said you don't have any siblings, but siblings can be chosen same as they're born. Least, that's what my dad says."

Outfit: A black pleated skirt just past her knees, a brown jumper with patches that almost matched the color of the original material, but not quite, and a pair of brown trainers with soles that clearly hadn't originally been fitted to this pair of shoes.

Eira nodded at Sadie's words about thestrals. It sounded like a lonely existence, but she knows that thestrals don't mind, they're pretty happy with their own kind, especially if they have a large herd.

"Harvesting hairs is typically painless for them," Eira assured, "Beasts like thestrals and unicorns usually have their tail hairs plucked from their environment like trees or, in kelpies' cases, seabeds and corals. Some wandmakers may pluck it from the beast themselves, but it's hazardous."

Sadie had explained that her siblings had scampered off somewhere, the mention of the menagerie made Eira want to swing by later, before she remembered that she would be in and out faster one could say 'floo powder'.

She doesn't mind owls, she finds them quite cute but unfortunately, her dad is allergic to them, so getting an owl was already of the question. Her mum adores kneazles but for some reason anything from the feline family had Eira feel... uneasy. She doesn't know why, just that any time a cat walks her way, she would freeze up and fear would wrap around her like a cold blanket. Maybe it's the way they stare at her, or how their fur will heckle when she approaches them.

Her mental monologue about cats was interrupted when her friend asked her about potential cousins. Well, there's a complicated subject.

She pursed her lips slightly, trying to soothe the worry wrinkle between her brow that she knew she was sporting Mr. Sheffield and Madam Roscov had kindly pointed out to her numerous times.

'Don't let them know what you're feeling lass,' he once said.

"My cousins and I are... not close, unfortunately," she stated, hoping her tone didn't put Sadie off. Eira immediately smiled to dissuade the bitter feeling in her chest.

"Anyways, anything here that sparks your fancy? I can't imagine how this is compared to the muggle's version of a magic shop."