Just then, came a knock at the door. Nala looked at her mum who nodded. She rushed to the door and it swang open to reveal a cheerful, squat little witch with a patched hat over her flyaway hair.
"Hello," she said. "You must be Nala."
Nala nodded, "Yes. I am. Are you from Hogwarts...?"
"Indeed I am Miss Dursley," the lady said. "I'm Professor Sprout. May I come in?"
"Uhh," Nala said. She turned and called for her mum. "Actually, yeah, sure."
Professor Sprout pulled a bemused expression but came in.
"Yes, Nala," Petunia said. "Oh, follow me into the living room."
Sprout nodded and followed Petunia into the well-decorated living room. She clapped her hands together and looked from daughter to mother.
"So," she started. "You've got your letter, I suppose? Yes? Good. Si by now you'll have realised that you're a witch."
"Hold up," Nala said. "Sorry, but, you've got the wrong girl. I'm not a witch."
"Not a witch, Nala?" Sprout chuckled, much to Nala's surprise. "Have you never made things happen when you were angry or scared?"
Nala froze. Come to think of it, she had.There had been many. For one thing, just before she got her letter, hadn't the lights flickered? And what about when that girl cheated in SATs, hadn't her cheat sheet blown onto the teachers desk? Was that magic, her magic, that did that?
Professor Sprout gave a long explanation of Hogwarts that Nala wouldn't admit to zoning out of but she did.
"So, are you ready to get your things?" Sprout said excitedly. Nala nodded but her mother's hand flew to her mouth.
"Oh my God!" she said. "Nala, I'm so sorry but I won't be able to come with you! Dudley's party!"
Nala slumped in disappointment but shoved a smile on her face, "That's fine, mum. I'll be fine on my own."
Professor Sprout rolled her eyes, "I'm coming with you."
Nala's face lit up.
"You are?" she exclaimed excitedly. Sprout nodded and Nala flung her arms around the professor's neck. "By the way, I don't have any money."
"Yes you do!" Sprout said. "There's the Hogwarts fund!"
Nala smiled. She ran into the kitchen to grab her things.
"Bye Mum, Dad, Harry," she said, somehow forgetting her brother, oops! Not.
"Bye Princess," Petunia and Vernon said. Harry looked at Nala suspiciously but Nala didn't care for once. She was going shopping for magical equipment and then she'd be going to a magical school. She waved once more and left the house with Professor Sprout. Nala noticed every car was parked on its drive so Sprout's wasn't anywhere.
"How did you get here?" Nala asked.
"Knight bus," said Sprout.
"Knight bus?"
"Yeah- you don't get travel sick do you?" Sprout asked seemingly worried. Nala shook her head. "Good."
She stuck her wand out and not a minute later, a purple bus sped out of nowhere. There was a screech as it stopped. Sprout led Nala onto the bus.
"How did it know to come here?" Nala asked in awe.
"I called it."
"You..?" she started and then realisation dawned on her. "When you held out your wand."
Sprout made a noise of assent and then unfolded a newspaper. Nala knew it could be unwise to speak to Sprout while she was because her father hated it.
"Typical," Sprout sighed. "Lucius Malfoy giving the Ministry a load of money again to get back in their good books-" she suddenly clasped her hand over her mouth "-that's my opinion, don't go repeating that."
Nala looked alarmed at how panicked the cheerful woman had got, "No, of course I won't."
Sprout breathed a sigh of relief.
"But could you please tell me why you feel that way?" Nala said, all sweet and innocent. Sprout rolled her eyes and snorted at the girl but explained all the same.
"Well, they were big supporters of You-Know-Who-"
Nala cut her off, "Who?"
"His actual name is-" she lowered her voice "-Voldemort. You won't hear me say it again, or anyone else to be frank. Nala, the wizarding world is a lot like your muggle one. We have truly brilliant people but we also have horrible twisted people. You-know-who was the most dark and evil wizard that ever existed in popular opinion. He's who killed Harry's parents. Anyway, he was gathering followers, and Lucius Malfoy was very close. He was right in his inner circle. When Harry defeated You-know-who, Lucius came straight back and claimed that he'd been Imperiused. That's a curse that controls you."
Nala shuddered.
"But don't go getting grudges before you even start school, eh?" Sprout said. The bus came to a stop and the woman led the girl out. The two went through an inconspicuous pub and left through a wall.
"Welcome, Nala," Sprout said proudly. "To Diagon Alley."
Nala's face lit up and she ran all the way to the end of the alley. She ran her hand over every shop and looked in wonder at all of the different colours. There were two shops that caught her eye; the ice cream parlour and flourish and blotts (the book shop). She stopped suddenly at the other end.
"Oh poo," she said out loud. "I ran off!"
She ran back to Sprout expecting a lecture. To her surprise, Sprout was laughing.
"Sorry," Nala said.
"Nothing to worry about, I did that on my first time," Sprout said. Nala looked incredulously at the teacher. "Let's go get your wand!"
Nala grinned and sped towards the shop she'd noticed earlier, Ollivander's. She went in and a little while later Sprout entered behind. She felt odd, rather like she'd entered a strict library.
"Hello," a soft voice said. Nala looked up suddenly and saw Ollivander stood upon a ladder. "Ah, Miss Dursley, is it time already?"
Nala widened her eyes in wonder. How did this man know her? She nodded, despite not really knowing what he was on about. The man took out a tape-measure and took all sorts of measurements. He then left to retrieve a wand.
"Try this one," he said, pursing his lips. Nala took it off of him and felt a sudden warmth in her fingers. She swished it across her body and a jet of water shot out.
"First try?" Ollivander said, sounding a little deflated. "That's a first. Nice wand though. Crystal and unicorn hair. Only one I've made with crystal, it's the hardest for me. Good for ...charms."
His hesitation didn't go unnoticed by Nala but she shrugged it off. Sprout paid for the wand and the two girls went to get the rest of Nala's things, spending hours in the book shop.

AN: Nala's wand