"Hailey! Wow, time really flies — you're old enough to start school already."
Madam Malkin glanced toward the door and smiled warmly at Hailey.
"But rules are rules. May I see your acceptance letter?"
"Sure~"
Hailey obediently handed over the envelope, then turned toward Luna.
"Oh right, your acceptance letter too! Give it to Madam Malkin. First-year students get a discount when buying school supplies — but only if you show your acceptance letter."
Luna nodded to show she understood, but she didn't make a move.
She wasn't a first-year — so where was she supposed to get an acceptance letter?
Right then, Tom reached out his paw. Nobody saw where it came from, but the moment Hailey blinked, a sealed envelope was already in his paw — the Hogwarts acceptance letter.
"???"
Hailey stared at Luna… then at the cat holding the letter. Her expression screamed confusion.
Then — as if the lightbulb suddenly switched on — she clapped her hands.
"Oh! I get it! You let your pet carry important stuff for you! That's so smart! What an amazing cat — even better than magically expanding storage!
Luna, what kind of magical creature is he? Where did you find him? Does he have others of his kind? I want a cat like this too!"
To be fair, she wasn't wrong. A magical creature that could store supplies would be ten times more convenient than a regulated extension charm.
Hailey's inner voice:
(๑´ڡ`๑) If I had a cat like that, I'd stuff its pocket dimension full of snacks.
Classic future Hufflepuff — everything loops back to food. Honestly, that might just be standard British culture: cookbook thicker than a U.S. history textbook.
But before Luna could explain, Madam Malkin gasped.
"Tom Lovegood? Don't tell me — you're the cat Dumbledore personally mentioned in the letter this year?"
A small whiteboard suddenly appeared in Tom's paw, clean handwriting across it:
[That would be me, Madam Malkin.]
Hailey: ((ᵒꈊᵒ‖))՞
A second ago she thought he was just storing things in some kind of pocket spell.
But she clearly saw that whiteboard appear out of thin air.
And she just heard that this cat — the one she treated like a pet — was her new classmate.
Yet somehow…
(⁄⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄⁄) …he's so cute though…
But Tom didn't have time for her thoughts — Madam Malkin was already pulling him over to take measurements.
Regular school robes weren't hard; he was about the height of a small wizard, just needed a tail opening added.
The dragon-hide gloves though? That was a problem.
With four-fingered paws, he couldn't wear regular gloves. Those would have to be custom-made.
Once measurements were done and the group left the shop, Hailey finally stopped clinging to Luna and instead shadowed Tom like a curious puppy.
She didn't say a word — just stared at him nonstop.
Whether they were buying books, scales, cauldrons, or anything else, her eyes stayed glued to him.
Tom couldn't take it anymore.
[What exactly are you staring at?!]
The whiteboard snapped up again.
Hailey gasped. "Wait — you can actually talk?!"
[(¬_¬) Seriously? How did you think I was talking to Madam Malkin earlier?]
Hailey: ⊙∀⊙!!
Oh… right…
But a second later she spotted something else exciting.
"Hold on — the writing changes by itself?!"
[No it doesn't! I wrote it myself!]
Hailey: (¬ε¬) yep, suuuuure
She had watched the text switch instantly; there was no way he erased and rewrote it that fast.
But since he wouldn't admit it, she switched to a different angle of interrogation.
"So you're also named Tom? Just like your dad! And since you're so magical, can you turn into other kinds of cats? Like a ragdoll cat?
Also, where do you store all your stuff? I can't see anywhere it could fit on your body! And that whiteboard — where do you get it from?
Oh! And can you run really fast across different cities like delivery pets? Can you teleport packages? Can you—"
At this moment, Tom fully understood Luna's pain earlier.
This wasn't a Hufflepuff king of snacks — this was a Hufflepuff king of curiosity. Bombardment after bombardment nearly fried his cat brain.
He shot desperate looks at Luna and Pandora, begging for help.
Luna answered with a sympathetic but relieved look — the kind that screamed thank god someone else is getting grilled instead of me.
Pandora? She was just trying not to laugh.
Luckily, Diagon Alley wasn't that big. Before Hailey could overload the cat any further, they reached the final stop — Ollivander's Wand Shop.
The moment they stepped in, even the curious Hailey fell quiet.
A magical cat was cool, sure… but nothing beats the excitement of getting your first wand.
With Hailey finally settled down, Tom breathed out slowly.
He didn't mind being liked — especially not by a cute girl — but her enthusiasm was a lot.
Now he had time to look around the legendary wand shop.
Just like in the books, the place felt ancient.
The sign outside carried a sense of history, and inside there was nothing but a long bench — everything else was swallowed up by towering stacks of wand boxes.
Tom wondered whether Ollivander used Wingardium Leviosa to keep the boxes from collapsing on customers.
But before he could think too much, a pale old man with large silver eyes appeared silently in front of them.
"Good afternoon. Two new students here for their wands? Please, come in."
His gaze landed perfectly on Hailey and Tom — completely ignoring Luna.
Classic Ollivander: always knows who needs a wand.
Hailey's wand fitting went smoothly. After only a few tries, Ollivander found her match.
Then his eyes shifted to Tom.
"I assume you're the Tom that Dumbledore wrote to me about. No matter who you are — who you were — or what you will become… a wand is always the truest companion of a wizard.
So come here, child. Let me help you find the wand that belongs with you — the partner who will walk beside you."
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