My Time to Shine (Dance Moms/Harry Potter Crossover - Part 1)

Chapter 3: A New Friend

The Zieglers' flight arrived in London with two days to spare before the departure of the Hogwarts express. Mackenzie, Maddie, and Melissa spent the first day sleeping and trying to adjust to the time change. The jet lag only made Maddie's grumpiness worse and tensions were high among this mother/daughter group. For Mackenzie, however, nothing could curb her enthusiasm. She couldn't sleep when Hogwarts was right around the corner and they still had so much to do. She didn't have any of her school things and was dying to roam the streets of Diagon Alley like she had done last year. This time, she who was going to get robes and a wand and maybe, just maybe an owl? She knew that owls were a common means of communication in the wizarding world and thought it would be a good idea to have one after discovering that cell phones were not allowed within the school grounds. She would love to see the look on Abby Lee Miller's face when an owl showed up at the dance studio carrying a letter signed by Mackenzie Zeigler. Would she write back to her? Could an owl travel all the way to the United States and back? There's a lot of ocean in between, she thought to herself as she tossed and turned that night. She supposed she wouldn't need to write to Abby as she would be here soon enough and what would she have to say to her anyway? 

The three of them awoke the following morning and set off for the wizarding shops of Diagon Alley. It was earlier than was preferable for Maddie. She wanted to sleep longer as the girls were performing and doing a meet and greet in London later that day. It was all part of Melissa's elaborate schedule she had comprised with Abby months ago.

"Why isn't Miss Abby going to be here for his one, Mom?" Maddie looked at her mother with a puzzled expression.

"She is holding auditions for ALDCLA, which isn't exactly something she can just blow off, is it?" replied Melissa, in a tone that implied she had answered this question several times before.

"No, you're right. It's important for her to be there, especially since we aren't going to be at her LA location this year. She will need to make sure the dancers are at a high enough level." she replied.

"It's amazing that you got through last season being on the show and being at Hogwarts, Maddie. I seriously don't know how you did it!" Mackenzie said to her sister, who gave somewhat of a humble smile. 

The Zeigler girls and their mother had been featured on the Lifetime reality series Dance Moms for 5 seasons and were set to begin filming Season 6 as the new school year commenced. They had also competed on Abby Lee Miller's Junior Elite competition team for as long as Mackenzie could remember. 

Although they fought and there was often jealousy and frustration at play, Mackenzie and Maddie did get along much of the time. "Can we get going to the shops now though? I've been waiting to go myself for a whole year!"

They took the underground to a stop near The Leaky Cauldron and walked the rest of the way. Mackenzie was buzzing with excitement as she spotted the pub, concealed from Muggles, that would allow them to enter the wizarding street. The summer was definitely fading. It was cold and blustery, however, this could not have dulled Mackenzie's spirits in the slightest. Finding the wizarding pub that concealed the entrance to Diagon Alley was not nearly as challenging as it had been last year, as they had had little to no knowledge of the wizarding world back then. They didn't run into very many people inside the pub but this was not surprising as it was barely nine in the morning.

Flourish and Blott's was the first shop they strode into after trading some muggle money for shiny gold galleons at Gringott's wizard bank. Seeing as Mackenzie was one year behind Maddie, she was able to use her old books and Maddie got new books for her second year. Mackenzie didn't mind having second-hand books but was able to convince her mom to also purchase Hogwarts, A History, and The Tales of Beedle the Bard for her, so she could have some new books of her own. Mackenzie was quite a bit smaller than Maddie so they bought her her own robes from Madam Malkins Robes For All Occasions. They also purchased basic potions ingredients from the apothecary, a cauldron from Potage's Cauldron shop, some quills, ink, and parchment from Scribbulus Writing Instruments, and something Kenzie had really been wanting, an owl from Eeylop's Owl Emporium. It had been a tough sell but Melissa was convinced after Mackenzie pointed out that she had given Maddie a new cat prior to commencing her first Hogwarts Year.