I woke up the next morning to my mother's screams. I turned my head and glanced at my alarm clock. 7:30 in the morning. Great. Might as well go save my mother from the terrible. I grabbed my dressing gown and slipped it on. I opened my door and could hear an unfamiliar voice trying to fight its way through my mother's screams.

"Please ma'am. You really don't have to yell. I'm not going to hurt you." The voice was distinctly male but the overwhelming franticness coming from it made it crack.

My mother stopped screaming and promptly after I heard glass breaking. I decided time was of the essence and ran down the steps. "Mom, mom, calm down. Please, don't break anything else."

I stopped in the doorway of the living room. A man dressed in a mismatched three piece suit was standing in the middle of the room. Around his feet was a layer of soot that led all the way back to the fireplace. It really was an odd sight.

"Ma'am I implore that you stop these hysterics at once. I am not here to harm you. Professor Dumbledore sent me to escort you to Diagon Alley." he continued to try to talk reason into my mother. She wouldn't hear any of it. He finally noticed me. "Miss Granger, please, calm your mother. I have a letter from the Professor himself. Here, take it." He reached out towards me with a piece of paper in his hand.

I moved to take care of my mother first. "Mom, please, you have to calm down. Let's find out what he's here for. Okay?" I had at this point restrained her arms by her sides and looked her in the eye.

"Anna, how do we know he's okay?" She was fidgeting, looking past me and at the doors on either side of her.

I led her to the couch. "Just sit here for a moment okay? I'm going to talk to the man. It'll be okay." I let go of her wrists and turned to look at the man. "May I see this letter?" He cautiously handed it to me.

It was made of the same paper that the school letters were made of. I opened it hoping for no new secret messages to me.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Granger Family:

I am sorry for the last minute notification. This is Mr. Miller, a personal friend of mine. He is here to escort you to Diagon Alley seeing as school starts soon and you are need of supplies. Mr. Miller 

has my highest regards and will do his best to accommodate your needs. He knows his way around Wizarding London and can locate any of the supplies on your list.

Again, my regrets for not giving you earlier notice.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

"Mr. Miller, I am so sorry for the poor welcome that you got when you arrived. Let me call my Father so he can come and negotiate times and such with you. If you can just give me a moment." I tried to be as courteous as I could. He nodded and I walked to the phone in the hall.

I picked up and dialed Dad's work. I sincerely hoped he wasn't in surgery again. Usually Thursdays were consultation days. Hopefully he didn't have an appointment right now. "Thank you for calling the Granger and Granger Dental Associates office. This is Emma speaking. Can I help you?" The chipper receptionist picked up.

"Hey, Emma, it's Annalee. Can I talk to Dad?" I was praying at this point that he didn't have an appointment right now.

There was hesitation on the other end of the line. "Sorry, Annalee, but your dad is getting ready to take care of a patient. Can I have him call you back?" She giggled at the finish of her statement.

"Well, it's kind of an emergency. Mom had an episode and there's an issue with this boarding school." I really hoped she was getting the idea.

"Yeah. Of course, Annalee. Let me see if I can get him okay?" she put the phone down, I could hear the thud.

I waited patiently. I knew she would have to try to catch Dad before he went in or I'd have to wait the half hour or so for him to be done. I held my breath. Finally, after thirty seconds of eternity, Dad picked up the phone. "Annalee, what's going on? Your mother should have been here ten minutes ago."

"Dad I know, but there was a hold up at home. Some guy sent by the school Hermione and I got accepted to is in our living room. He scared mom really bad and now she's panicking." I really hoped he could come home soon. "The guy wants to take us shopping so that we can get our supplies. Mom's not fit to take us anywhere."

"Anna, honey, we'll just have to cancel. Let me talk to the man and I'll see if we can reschedule. Can I talk to him now?" Dad seemed tired. It must be all this stress about the new school. "Anna, are you going?"

"Sorry I got a little distracted. I'll go get Mr. Miller for you." I turned to go get him, but he was turning the corner from the other room. "Here he is dad." I turned and handed the phone to Mr. Miller.

"Miss, how do I do this? I've never used one of these before. Fire is a much better way to communicate." He looked so perplexed. I giggled and took the receiver from him.

"Just a second Dad." I had to let him know that we hadn't forgotten him. I turned to Mr. Miller. "Okay, you talk in this end and listen through this end. It's like having a conversation."

"Okay…" he took the phone and started his conversation. "Hello, Mr. Granger? Yes this is Mr. Miller. Yes, I am very sorry about scaring your wife. You see I came by floo and didn't realize she would take it so poorly." He paused. "Yes, I was sent by Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster at Hogwarts. Yes, I am here for your benefit. Oh, of course, if another day would be better that is no problem. When is best for you? Sunday? Of course, sir. I will arrive at 10 o'clock on Sunday. I can come in a better way next time. I promise. Yes, sorry about your wife sir. She is better. Yes, sir, you can talk to your daughter again. Sorry about everything, sir. Yes, sir. See you on Sunday, sir." He handed the phone back to me.

"Dad? Is everything okay?" I figured it was, but I figured I'd act like I wasn't paying attention.

"Yes, Anna. Mr. Miller is going to come back on Sunday. Hopefully he won't come by" he hesitated "floo again. I guess I'll have to learn what that is eventually for your and Hermione's sakes, but right now, I just don't want to know. Please get your mom better and in for work. I'm covering for her right now, but I won't be able to all day."

"Okay, Dad. I will. It sounds like she's up and moving now, so she shouldn't be much longer. Thanks for taking a minute to sort everything out." I felt bad that I was still keeping him.

"It's okay. I do need to get going. I have a patient waiting. I'll talk to you later." He sounded so weary.

"Talk to you later, Dad." I hung up the phone and turned to Mr. Miller. "May I ask a question before you leave?"

"Sure. What would you like to know?" He seemed very friendly. "I'll tell you as much as I can."

"What is transportation by floo?" I had heard him say something about it to Dad. "Does it have something to do with fireplaces? I mean, there was soot all over the carpet when you came in. And there are flues in chimneys aren't there?"

"Very good. Yes, each chimney has at least one flue. The floo network connects chimneys all over the world so that you can have fast and easy transportation." He seemed impressed that I had put two and two together.

"But with so many chimneys, how does it know which one to send you to?" I was hooked now. "And how come I can't access it? I mean, I've never tried, but I don't think the chimney will take me anywhere."

"Very right. There is floo powder which creates sets the magic in motion. I have a little in my pouch here." He indicated a royal blue silk bag that was peeking out of his jacket pocket. "Then, as distinctly as possible, tell the fire where you want to go. If your diction is off, it will not send you to the correct fire. Follow me?" I nodded totally drawn in by his talk of magic. "The Ministry of Magic controls who can be connected to the network. Dumbledore had to pull a few strings to get this house hooked up." He looked at his watch. "Well, young miss, I'm so glad we were able to talk, but I need to get going so that I can report back and let the Professor know of the change of plans. I will see you Sunday." And with that he walked out the front door.

I walked into the living room and found Mom getting her shoes on. "Annalee, thank you for taking care of everything for me. It's not every morning a man comes walking out of a green fire." She laughed.

"I'm glad you're better. Dad would like you to hurry to the office. He says he can't take care of all of your patients today." I really was relieved she was better. It was kind of scary when she wasn't responsive.

She walked over and gave me a hug. "I'll see you tonight, dear. Be good and don't get into trouble."

"Okay, Mom. I'll see you tonight" with that she walked out of the room and out the door.