The Subtleties of Sorting
One of the things that Jo had been looking forward to the most, once her letter from Hogwarts arrived, had been going to Diagon Alley to get all her school supplies sorted. Having her books, and her wand and her quills and her parchment, it would all finally make it real. And considering she'd been counting off the days remaining 'til she finally went off to school since before she could remember, it was no surprise that the day she finally got her letter marked the start of a relentless campaign to get her granda to take her. Breakfast, lunch, supper... they all started with the same question: "Can we go tomorrow?"
It didn't take long for her granda to relent.
After they'd gone in through the Leaky Cauldron, they'd decided that it would be most efficient to split up and then meet up for ice cream after. Thus, Jo had been handed a handful of galleons and the mission to pick up robes, books and her wand, while her granda handled her telescope and potions equipment and supplies. This suited Jo just fine. She was eleven now, she didn't need to be accompanied everywhere like a child. Besides, there was something she was hoping to get from this trip that wasn't in her shopping list, and that being unaccompanied would make easier to get. Namely, information--information about the sorting ceremony, information crucial to being properly prepared for school and that her parents and granda had been infuriatingly vague about. Diagon Alley, with the school year right around the corner, would be the perfect place to find a better source.
She chose Flourish and Blotts as the place to stalk for her target. It was ideal as she could just trail kids that looked around her age and just pick one that was buying books that seemed like they would fit what would be on a school curriculum, but that weren't on her own list. And lo and behold, she would have her slightly older Hogwarts student, with the exclusive scoop on how sorting happened.
It didn't take her long. She was soon approaching an exceedingly pale, blonde girl.
"Hullo," she said. Then, without further preamble. "You're a Hogwarts student, right? What year?"
(@Lenora Grace)
It didn't take long for her granda to relent.
After they'd gone in through the Leaky Cauldron, they'd decided that it would be most efficient to split up and then meet up for ice cream after. Thus, Jo had been handed a handful of galleons and the mission to pick up robes, books and her wand, while her granda handled her telescope and potions equipment and supplies. This suited Jo just fine. She was eleven now, she didn't need to be accompanied everywhere like a child. Besides, there was something she was hoping to get from this trip that wasn't in her shopping list, and that being unaccompanied would make easier to get. Namely, information--information about the sorting ceremony, information crucial to being properly prepared for school and that her parents and granda had been infuriatingly vague about. Diagon Alley, with the school year right around the corner, would be the perfect place to find a better source.
She chose Flourish and Blotts as the place to stalk for her target. It was ideal as she could just trail kids that looked around her age and just pick one that was buying books that seemed like they would fit what would be on a school curriculum, but that weren't on her own list. And lo and behold, she would have her slightly older Hogwarts student, with the exclusive scoop on how sorting happened.
It didn't take her long. She was soon approaching an exceedingly pale, blonde girl.
"Hullo," she said. Then, without further preamble. "You're a Hogwarts student, right? What year?"
(@Lenora Grace)