Beth Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

𝒟𝒾𝒶𝑔𝑜𝓃 𝒜𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎

After a long night with Hagrid, the twins woke early the next morning. They had gone into London using a taxi, then taken the underground to a small, grimy pub. Inside were all sorts of peculiar people wearing odd clothing. Some wore muggle clothes, others wore robes and hats.

As soon as Beth and Harry entered the room, a hush fell over everyone. "Blimey," said a short, plump witch on a stool, "I don't believe it-it's the Potters!" When the word 'Potter' was said, witches and wizards swarmed the twins. People were introducing themselves, shaking their hands, thanking them, and even trying to get their autographs. 

"Budge off now," Hagrid said gruffly. "They're only eleven."

At the sight of the giant man, the mob slowly subsided, and everyone sank back down to where they had been sitting before. The twins followed behind Hagrid over to the back of the room, where there was a brick wall. Hagrid took out a pink umbrella and tapped a few bricks with its tip. "Magic," he explained.

Suddenly, the bricks moved aside revealing a bustling street. There were shops with elegant storefronts crammed together, and they sold things that the twins could only ever dream of. There were magic wands, cauldrons, owls, and even unicorn hair.

"Alright," Hagrid said to the twins, "Let's go to Gringotts, mind the goblins."

"The what?" Beth asked.

"Goblins," Hagrid explained, "Nasty little creatures. They guard the bank."

Soon enough, Beth, Hagrid, and Harry stood in front of a white marble building with gold lettering on the front reading: Gringotts Bank.

Outside, as promised, there was a goblin. It was an ugly little creature, shorter than Beth by a head, with long limbs and a pointed beard. Inside, Hagrid got the attention of yet another goblin, and the group piled into a mining cart, speeding past vault after vault. They arrived at Lily and James Potter's vault, which was filled to the brim with riches, the twins took handfuls, placing them in bags the goblin had given them.

The remainder of the cart ride passed in a blur. Harry was sick to his stomach, but Beth was excited, asking the goblin question after question.

As soon as they were back outside the bank, Hagrid turned to the twins. "Might as well get yer uniforms," said Hagrid, nodding toward Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. "Listen, Harry, Beth, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringotts carts." He did still look a bit sick, so Harry and Beth entered Madam Malkin's shop alone, feeling nervous.

Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed in all mauve. "Hogwarts, dears?" she said, when Beth started to speak. "Got the lot here – another two- young men being fitted up just now, in fact."

In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face and a boy with curly brown hair were standing on footstools while a second witch puttered around, pinning up their long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Harry on the stool across from the pale boy, leaving Beth to stand across from the curly-haired one. She quickly slipped robes over each twins head and began pinning it.

"Hello," greeted the pale boy, "Hogwarts, too?"

"Yes," replied Beth.

"My father's buying our books and my mother's up the street looking for Mattheo and I's wands," said the boy. He had a bored, drawling voice. "Then Mattheo and I are going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."

Beth was strongly reminded of Dudley.

She also couldn't help but notice that the other boy, Mattheo had stayed silent, observing.

"Have either of you got your own broom?" the boy went on.

"No," said Beth.

"Play Quidditch at all?"

"Nope," responded Harry, as Beth wondered what on earth Quidditch was.

"I do-Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"

"No," said Harry, feeling stupid.

"I'm not sure," Beth spoke up, much to Harry's surprise. "Maybe Ravenclaw or Gryffindor."

Harry shot her a quizzical look and Beth rolled her eyes. 

"Honestly Harry, have you not been listening?"

"Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know Mattheo and I will be in Slytherin, all our family have been – imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

"Mmm," said Harry, wishing he could say something a bit more interesting.

"I say, look at that man!" said the other boy, Mattheo suddenly, nodding toward the front window. Hagrid was standing there, grinning at the twins and pointing at three large ice creams to show he couldn't come in.

"That's Hagrid," said Beth with a smile, pleased to know something the boy didn't. "He works at Hogwarts."

"Oh," said Mattheo, "I've heard of him. He's sort of a servant, isn't he?"

"He's the gamekeeper," snapped Beth. She was liking both boys less and less every second.

"Yes, exactly. I heard he's sort of a savage – lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tried to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed," the pale boy retorted.

"I think he's brilliant," said Harry coldly.

"Do you?" said the boy, with a slight sneer. "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?"

"They're dead," said Beth shortly. She had always been better at talking about her their parent's death than Harry

"Oh, sorry," said the pale boy, not sounding sorry at all. "But they were our  kind, weren't they?"

"They were a witch and a wizard-if that's what you mean," Beth admitted.

"I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they got the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname, anyway?" the pale boy asked.

"Potter," said Beth, "and I think that people should be let in regardless of their background, pretty sure that's discrimination if they weren't. Even if their parents were muggles, they still possess just as much magic as any of us in this room. In fact, I bet that they're ten times smarter than both of you dimwits combined"

The two boys stared at the twins in shock. They were surprised that they had been talking to the famous Beatrice and Harry Potter, but also shocked that the girl had enough nerve to answer back towards them.

Before the other two boys could say anything to the twins, Madam Malkin said, "That's both of you done, my dears," and the twins, not sorry for an excuse to stop talking to the boys, hopped down from the footstool.

"Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," said the drawling boy.

Harry and Beth were rather quiet as they ate the ice cream Hagrid had bought them (chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts).

The rest of the day passed in a blur, buying books, potion ingredients, and wands. Harry's wand was eleven inches long, holly wood, with a phoenix feather core. Beth's was 10 inches long, dark cherry wood, with a basilisk fang core. The twins also both got pets, Harry a snowy owl he named Hedwig, and Beth a pink owl which she named Valentine. The rest of summer break went by quickly, until it was finally September 1, and the twins were taken to King's Cross Station to board the train to Hogwarts.