Settling Down in Diagon Alley

Although Aya was a cat spirit, she did not dislike water at all.

The warm water washed over her, filling her whole body with warmth. As she held Xiaohua and scrubbed him, Madam Malkin told her through the door which bottle was body wash and which was shampoo.

It felt wonderful to bathe naked like this for the first time. Aya had so much fun playing with bubbles in the bathroom that she only reluctantly rinsed the suds off when Madam Malkin knocked and reminded her of the time.

Her hair and tail still soaking wet, Aya came out in slippers, wearing underwear and a simple white dress Madam Malkin had just found for her. She held Xiaohua in her arms and dried his fur, while Madam Malkin draped a bath towel over her head.

"How pretty. I didn't notice with all that dust on your face," Madam Malkin said with a gentle smile. "Good girl, come here. I'll dry you off." She drew her wand and cast a spell on her.

Aya watched the long, slender wand curiously. It was very different from her own staff and looked as though it could easily be snapped.

"The Drying Charm is so convenient." Madam Malkin combed her hair. "Now, let me take your measurements, shall I? A little first-year at Hogwarts?"

"All right," Aya said, stroking the now-dry Xiaohua. She paused. "Madam."

Madam Malkin led her onto a footstool, and she held out her arms as instructed. A shop assistant took a robe from a nearby rack and put it on Aya to test the size and see where it needed altering.

"Excuse me-" The shop door swung open, and Aya instinctively turned her head. It was a boy about her age, and his voice was somewhat haughty. "School robes, madam."

"Of course, young sir. Come over here." Madam Malkin led him onto another footstool and selected a robe for him.

"What are you looking at?" The boy glanced sideways at her, somewhat displeased.

Aya found his blond hair and gray eyes oddly familiar—that colorful, flashy look. "I just happened to turn my head."

"Hmph." He raised his chin and glanced at Aya's black cat ears. "Going to Hogwarts?"

"Yes, sir," Aya replied.

"My father is next door buying my books, and Mother has gone down the street to find a wand." He drew out his words, sounding a little like the noble NPCs Aya had met before. "Such a nuisance. If I didn't have to be there myself for the wand-"

Before he could finish, the shop door opened again, and a black-haired boy wearing glasses walked in.

The shop assistant beside Aya tapped her, and she jumped down from the footstool. Madam Malkin came over and waved her wand, quickly adjusting the robes and uniform to fit, while the assistant went to attend to the new boy.

"Why don't you try them on?" Madam Malkin ushered Aya into the changing room, then turned to measure the new boy for his clothes.

Aya took the whole set of school clothes into the changing room with her, leaving Xiaohua outside.

To be honest, apart from the white dress she had just pulled over her head, she had never dressed herself before. The outfits in her backpack could be put on directly by the system, and her clothes could not be removed completely. Sometimes she even thought her cuffs were stuck to her skin, since they had never slipped down.

Holding the entire uniform, she felt somewhat at a loss. As she listened to the blond boy outside saying something about "broomsticks," Aya made several attempts and finally managed to put it on, though rather crookedly. When she pushed open the changing-room door and came out, Madam Malkin smiled and pointed out that she had done the buttons up wrong.

"What a nuisance," Aya muttered, but obediently let Madam Malkin redo the buttons and tie her bow for her.

"Very nice, miss-" Madam Malkin put her hands on Aya's shoulders and pushed her in front of the dressing mirror.

In the mirror was a girl in a school uniform. Her black hair and eyes made her skin look especially pale, and her eyes were very large. Soft strands of hair reached just above them. She had a small face with a little baby fat in her cheeks, and her slightly wavy short hair reached her neck, still some distance above her collar.

"Wait for your professor to come and collect you, good girl. Why don't you sit down for now?" Madam Malkin said with a smile. First-years usually bought three sets of uniforms to change between. Remembering Aya's filthy, oddly styled clothes from before her bath, she tucked two very simple dresses into Aya's bag as well.

Aya sat obediently to one side, listening to the two boys chat as they waited to be measured.

"Look at that man!" The blond boy tilted his chin toward the window. Aya looked over and saw a very tall man standing outside the shop, holding two ice creams and bending down to smile into the room.

He was as tall as the dragons Aya knew—the tallest dragon's lower leg was as tall as the shortest spirit. Aya wondered if he was a dragon, though she had never seen a dragon built like that.

"That's Hagrid." The black-haired boy clearly knew the man outside, and his tone was rather cheerful.

"I've heard of him. He's a servant, isn't he?" the blond boy said somewhat mockingly.

As Aya listened to their conversation, she could not help spacing out. Why hadn't Professor Snape arrived yet? Had she been left at the shop? Would she have to find an inn to stay at later?

"Hey, you over there-" The blond boy chatted on with the black-haired boy for a while, though Aya did not catch what they said. Only when he addressed her did she come back to herself. "Are you here on your own too?"

"What?" Aya's eyes refocused. "No, I'm waiting for a professor."

"A professor? Which professor?" The blond boy clearly knew something about the school. The black-haired boy also looked over curiously and, seeing the inhuman ears on Aya's head, paused in surprise.

"Professor Snape. He hasn't come back yet," Aya answered.

"Oh, Professor Snape!" The blond boy grew excited. "He's the best professor, the head of Slytherin. I think he'll be my head of house too! I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Draco jumped down from the footstool and walked over to Aya, seemingly trying to look out of the shop from her angle and find Snape.

"My name is Aya," Aya replied politely, then turned to the other boy, whose expression had become a little awkward.

"Er, I'm..." Before the black-haired boy could answer, Madam Malkin patted him on the shoulder. "All measured, dear."

The black-haired boy smiled apologetically, jumped down from the footstool, and left with the large man outside.

"He's strange, isn't he? That servant," Draco said. "Where's Professor Snape?"

"I don't know. I have to wait for him here." Aya shook her head, her hands resting on her knees.

"Then I can't wait with you. I still have to drag my father and mother along to look at broomsticks," Draco said regretfully. He was still planning to cry, throw a fit, and threaten to hang himself to get his father, Lucius Malfoy, to pay for his new broomstick. He could not afford to linger here. "See you at Hogwarts!"

"All right, Mr. Malfoy," Aya replied primly. Those few words made Draco a little embarrassed.

"Wh-what do you mean, Mr. Malfoy? Ahem, goodbye, goodbye!" he stammered, awkwardly touching his immaculately combed hair before turning and running off.

After Aya had sat in the shop for a few more minutes, Snape finally returned. He had lost track of time while picking out Potions ingredients. Fortunately, the little nuisance, who looked reasonably presentable after her bath, was still waiting for him where he had left her. She was obedient enough.

"Let's go. There's only one last thing," Snape said to the obedient first-year. She was the only good news in a terrible day. "It's time to buy you a wand."

"Is it a long, thin weapon like yours?" Aya asked curiously, following him with Xiaohua in her arms.

"A weapon?" Snape repeated the word. "Few people call a wand that. To a wizard, it's the most important tool, a companion, perhaps? Most people can't cast spells without one."

Aya nodded. It's a weapon.

The professor led her to a small, shabby shop. Even the gold-lettered sign above the door was somewhat faded. Aya looked up and read it aloud word by word. "Ollivander, makers of fine wands since 382 BC. Professor, how long ago was 382 BC?"

"...Sorry for the trouble, but I don't suppose I've picked up an illiterate?" Snape frowned, too impatient to answer. He pushed the door open to let Aya into the wand shop; he really did not want to go in and listen to Ollivander reminisce about his wand again.

Aya did not mind receiving no answer and walked into the shop alone, silently calculating. Even if it's only 382 years, my age is just a fraction of that!

"Good afternoon," a soft voice said. Aya looked toward it and saw an old man peering out from behind the counter, his eyes a very unusual color.

"Hello, sir," Aya replied.

Ollivander came out from behind the counter and looked Aya over closely. "A very unusual young witch. I haven't seen you before. Here to buy a wand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Let me see-" Ollivander picked up a long measuring tape from the counter. "Which arm do you use for your wand?"

"My right hand." Aya raised her hand and cooperated as Ollivander measured her, from shoulder to fingertip, wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor... By the end, with the tape measure taking the circumference of her head, Aya watched Ollivander go over to the shelves lined with wand boxes and begin searching through them.

"The wand chooses the wizard. You may be a little picky, but we can take our time trying them," he said, holding several wooden boxes.

"Try this one. Acacia wood and phoenix feather?"

Aya took it and, following Ollivander's directions, hesitantly waved it. A small burst of sparks exploded from its tip.

"Oh, no, that's not right. Then how about this one? Black walnut and unicorn tail hair?"

She waved it again. The vase on the counter shattered, scattering flowers all over the floor. Aya jumped, and Xiaohua clung to her clothes, his fur standing on end. Ollivander did not mind, however. "Not suitable either. Hmm-alder and unicorn tail hair?"

Aya took a liking to this wand as soon as she saw it; it looked a little like a vine wrapped around a branch. When she held it in her hand, she found that a force in her body, unlike the internal energy she knew, had suddenly begun to stir. She waved the wand, and a cluster of roses appeared at its tip.

"That's the one!" Ollivander clapped happily, his pale eyes curving into crescents. "Perhaps you should smile more. This material, which represents passion, likes you very much!"

"Thank you, sir." Aya tried to lift the corners of her mouth, but she really had no experience with it and could only press her lips into a faint, barely noticeable curve.

"That will be thirteen Galleons," Ollivander said gently. Aya took the gold coins from her backpack and placed them on the counter.

When Aya came out of the wand shop, Snape was standing at the entrance, head lowered in thought. Hearing the movement at the door, he asked, "We're finished for today. Now I'll take you home. Where do you live?" He did not believe that forest was Aya's home. With a strange and unusual cat at her side, there ought to be a wizard in her family too.

"Professor, I have nowhere to go," Aya said calmly.

The game she came from had no housing system. Every idle character simply found somewhere to rest. More sentimental players would take them to an inn before logging off, but most slept out in the open.

"What?" Snape frowned. "Where are your parents?"

"I don't have parents."

"Family?"

"Not in this world." The player was her family, but she and the player were never truly together.

"...Rent a room at the Leaky Cauldron," Snape said.

"Professor, can I have a house of my own?" Aya asked hopefully. It was something she had wanted ever since she became conscious. She did not like sleeping out in the open. Although the player often took her to a safe zone to log off, where lodging was convenient, she still longed for a little house of her own.

"At your age..." Snape hesitated, considering whether to let Dumbledore take over this nuisance. After all, they were in Diagon Alley now; he could hardly call it survival in the wild anymore, could he?

But he looked down at the first-year gazing up at him with her black hair and eyes... and still felt a trace of compassion. "It's not impossible, though. There are some shabby, unwanted shops on the outskirts of Diagon Alley. They might be cheaper."

"Really!" Aya's dark, bright eyes sparkled, though her face showed little expression.

"...Are you deadpan?" Snape frowned. His complicated feelings from a moment ago vanished as he looked at Aya's expression with some distaste.

"What does deadpan mean?"

"It means being like you."

"Then I suppose I'm deadpan?" Aya blinked.

Buying property went much faster than expected. Perhaps thanks to Snape's titles as a Hogwarts professor and a Potions Master, the purchase of a house in a remote corner of Diagon Alley went smoothly. Everything Aya owned still fell well short of the price, so Snape paid the difference for her and had her keep some gold coins to buy daily necessities.

Though shabby on the outside, the house was actually in decent condition inside thanks to magical upkeep. It had simple, old-fashioned decor and was a small two-story building with a floor area of only thirty square meters. In the backyard was a little garden of a dozen or so square meters, overgrown with weeds.

Like a little bee, Aya ran up and down with Xiaohua, curiously examining the things the previous owner had left behind. The first floor had a sitting room and a simple kitchen, while upstairs was a bedroom with a bookshelf that still held a few books that had not been taken away.

Though she owed more than five hundred Galleons, Aya was not worried. She planned to spend the coming days getting to know this new map. She had just seen quite a few glowing spots in Diagon Alley too, and she thought she could collect a good number of gold coins.