Kate received another letter from Dumbledore in the last week of August. A man named Hagrid was supposed to be escorting her to Diagon Alley and to the Leaky Cauldron.
She waited that afternoon, with all her belongings packed in two trunks, her guitar perched on top of one of them.
THUD
THUD
Two loud thuds were heard at the door that made Kate jump, her aunt peered out of the kitchen while Thomas walked to the door and as he opened it; a giant man with a grizzly beard stood at the door frame. Kate looked at him head to toe, she had never seen anyone so big.
"Is there a - Katrina Black 'ere?", he said in his grumpy tone.
"Uh y-yes. That's me", said Kate in a small voice, "you must be...Hagrid?"
Aunt Demetria came scurrying out of the kitchen.
"Oh, hullo, Hagrid" she greeted the very large man, kindly. Kate and Thomas looked at her with bewilderment.
"Demi! How lovely ter see yeh, I didn't know it was yeh...livin' ere" said Hagrid, as Kate and Thomas continued to look at each other they realised that perhaps Aunt Demetria had known Hagrid since a long time.
"Fancy a cup of tea?" She asked.
"Er - maybe, next time. Right, now little one, get yer stuff. We best be leavin'" said Hagrid to Kate. She hugged her aunt, uncle and cousin goodbye.
"Thank you for everything you've done for me. Please, do write to me", she told them softly as her aunt wiped a tear and kissed her forehead.
Kate and Hagrid traveled on a motorcycle to get to the Leaky Cauldron and after a rather bumpy ride, when she had kept all her stuff in one of the best rooms they could give her at the Leaky Cauldron; she, with Hagrid, headed to Diagon Alley.
"Now let's get yer money firs'", Hagrid added while Kate nodded and looked around at the various shops. It was filled with a hubbub of people, there were people going in and out of Quality Quidditch Supplies. They reached a tall, grey, building.
"This is Gringotts?" Kate asked, Hagrid nodded. She had only heard about Gringotts from her aunt but never went there. After Kate had got her money, her pockets dangling with gold, silver and bronze, Hagrid checked the list again.
"What d'yeh want ter get firs'? Wand, books or pet?" Hagrid asked her.
"Books, first" Kate suggested, and they entered Flourish and Blotts, a dark-polished store lined with bookshelves, that contained books of every kind. After getting all her books, they headed to get her wand.
The shop that they were now entering was narrow and shabby, with a sign on top that read:
Ollivander's: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.
Hagrid and Kate stepped in, and were greeted by a very wise, old man who was giving out wands. Kate looked around examining the store, not noticing that the old man was standing in front of her.
"And you must be...?" He trailed off.
"Uh...Black. Kate Black, sir" she replied.
"Of course, Miss Black, of course. Now, which is your wand arm?" He asked politely.
"Well, im right handed?" Kate meant to tell him but it had come out more like a question, and to her surprise her arm was being held up and measured by a tape measure while Mr Ollivander shuffled through the numerous boxes.
"Ah. Rowan wood, unicorn hair, ten inches" he said while handing the wand to Kate.
"Give it a wave" he instructed, Kate had only raised her hand to give a flick but before she could even do that, Mr Ollivander had snatched the wand out of her hand.
He shuffled through more boxes as he continued to hand her more wands but would immediately snatch them before she could do much with them. Confused as she was, she couldn't at all figure out what Mr Ollivander was trying to see.
And then after a couple of minutes of shovelling through boxes, he came from the back wearing a triumphant smile carrying a wand in his hand.
"Yes, Miss Black, this one it is. Spruce, dragon heartstring and thirteen inches" he described, handing the wand to Kate. She held the wand and felt a warming sensation course through her am, she flicked the wand and the room sparkled in a dim purple-blue colour. She beamed as Mr Ollivander clapped his hands along with Hagrid.
"Oh, bravo! Wonderful, my dear" Mr Ollivander cried, "remember, Miss Black, this is a powerful wand and it is a wand that chooses its witch or wizard."
Kate didn't say anything to that, with her wand wrapped in a box; they exited Ollivander's.
"Okay, now yer pet's left" Hagrid told her.
"Hagrid, I want an owl" she said.
Hagrid directed Kate towards Eyelops Owl Emporium, a dark shop full of rustles and big, bright-yellow eyes.
Moments later, they exited the shop with a beautiful, snowy, owl snoozing silently in his cage. They then headed back to the Leaky Cauldron and decided to get themselves some dinner after keeping the rest of her stuff.
"But Hagrid two years are too long. And how will I live alone?" Kate moaned just as Hagrid was about to leave.
"Go out ter London, explore. Or even Diagon Alley but no magic. And...someone'll pay yeh a visit every week. Dumbledore and meself included" Hagrid added when he saw Kate's glum face.
Kate had no friends, all she had was her owl for company who she decided to call Archimedes. She sent letters to Tom as the weeks passed. Hagrid would visit her every week just like he had promised but there was still no visit from Dumbledore. He was the only one she was looking forward to meet, after all she had so many questions for him.
Days, weeks and months had gone by.
Today, was an ordinary afternoon just like any other only until there was a soft knock at the door of her room. Normally, Hagrid never knocked he just came in.
Confused as to who it might be, Kate got up from the bed and reached the door, and there he stood the one man she wanted to see. Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts.
"Professor Dumbledore, good afternoon. Please, come in" Kate greeted and stepped aside to let him in.
"Thank you, Miss Black. I see you've been keeping very tidy" Dumbledore smiled, eyes twinkling behind his half moon spectacles.
"Thank you, sir. You may call me Kate, sir" she said. Professor Dumbledore motioned for her to sit down.
'Well now, Kate you have already been preparing for school as i hear and, so I wanted to tell you that you can use magic to practise some spells. Although, Hagrid told me you haven't been out a lot, why is that?' he asked politely.
"Well, sir. I don't fancy going out alone but I have been out, to get books and to just explore" Kate told him.
"Very fair, perhaps you can accompany me. It's been a while since I have been out" Dumbledore said which made Kate beam.
The duo headed out to Diagon Alley, Kate side by side with Professor Dumbledore. Dumbledore must have earned a dozen of bows on their way which he so tirelessly returned, and only a few minutes later, they arrived at a small pub that had a delicious smell wafting in the air which made Kate hungrier than she had realised.
"Ah, Albus. There's our fine table for you", the waiter said as he directed them. Dumbledore and Kate sat down in a quiet place, and Dumbledore had ordered the house's special which he was looking rather forward to and within a few minutes, their table was full of food and it almost seemed like having a small feast. Kate gaped at all the food.
"Go on, go on", Dumbledore urged her. After their stomachs had been fully satisfied, they headed back to the Leaky Cauldron.
Kate hadn't felt this good in a while but it was all thanks to Dumbledore, of course. As he was about to leave, her owl, Archimedes landed right in and perched on top of the bedstead.
"What is he called?" Dumbledore asked, stroking the snowy owl that had now caught his attention.
"His name is Archimedes, Professor" Kate replied with a hearty smile.
"That's a nice name" he complimented.
"Thank you, sir"
And after that, Dumbledore had also left, leaving Kate alone once again with only Archimedes for company.
Months had passed and it was Kate's birthday, she had almost forgotten about it until Archimedes came flying in carrying two packages. She untied them from his toe and he gave her an affectionate nip for removing the burden.
"Thank you, Archs" she chimed at the owl.
One of the packages was from Thomas and the other from her aunt and uncle. She quickly opened the present that Thomas had sent her; a newly launched polaroid camera with a card attached to it that read:
Happy Birthday, Kate! Take loads of photos with this camera when you go to Hogwarts and send some of them to me as well. I miss you.
With love,
Tom
Kate smiled as she examined the camera and set the card aside on her table then proceeded to open the present from her aunt and uncle. They had sent her a mint mini dress and some homemade cake.
Without further ado, Kate wore the dress and strutted off to Diagon Alley to visit Quality Quidditch Supplies. She had always liked the idea of Quidditch and used to play it with Tom and his friends during vacations.
There were all kinds of brooms, last time there had been the Nimbus 2001, now there was a shiny Firebolt, the fastest broom but also very expensive.
After a stroll through the shops she headed back to the Leaky Cauldron.