I hope you enjoy my first ever story I've written for FanFiction, please review and tell me what you think.

Chapter 1 – The Wand chooses the Wizard

Alex Russo marched through the yellow wooden door slamming it behind her and her best friend Harper flinched at her sudden and disruptive appearance. The yellow front door of the Russo's New York apartment re-opened allowing the rest of the Russo family to follow in after Alex.

"Alex don't worry you're going to love Hogwarts." Justin assured coming up behind his sister and taking hold of her shoulders and giving them a supportive squeeze, although this gesture didn't make her feel any better.

"I can't believe I'm going to say this but I want to stay at regular school." Alex moaned slumping down into a stool by the island counter in the middle of the kitchen and placing her head in her hands.

"You're leaving?" Harper cried jumping up from the bright orange couch and turning to look at her best friend.

"Yes." Alex murmured miserably.

"What about WizTech?" Harper asked marching over to where Alex was sitting and taking hold of her arm as if this would prevent her best friend from leaving. Justin cleared his throat preparing to explain.

"Professor Crumbs can no longer run WizTech and the Wizard council have issued a law that all Wizards under the age of 18 must attend a Wizarding school." Justin announced proudly.

"How can you be happy about this?" Harper complained. "I thought you'd want to be as far away from Alex as possible let alone in the same school?" Harper questioned looking from Alex to Justin questioningly.

"You're right Harper but I have attended Hogwarts and there is no way that the Sorting Hat will place Alex in Ravenclaw because let's face it she's not exactly…" Alex interrupted Justin.

"What do you mean what Sorting Hat?" Alex asked her eyes widening.

"You, Max and some of the other WizTech students will have to be sorted into houses each house prizes certain virtues and characteristics of a wizard -" Alex interrupted Justin once again.

"So I'm guessing this Ravenclaw group/house thing is the dull I'm a total nerd group." She laughed smirking at her older brother.

"There is Slytherin…which I wouldn't be surprised if Alex was sorted into." He gloated eyeing his little sister.

"Don't be mean about your sister Justin." Jerry warned looking sternly at his eldest son.

"What's wrong with Slytherin?" Alex asked frowning

"Nothing." Jerry assured her with a small smile. "It's just notoriously known as the house that produces the darker wizards…" He said trailing off for a moment. "Slytherin may hold some of your sisters… qualities, they're not necessarily all bad." He continued as Alex turned and smiled at her father, and turned smugly to face Justin

"Why thank you daddy, least someone has belief in me." She said still smiling at Justin as she said this. Justin glowered at Alex. It seemed that she had always been the favourite and he was quite frankly sick of it.

"Alex, I have no worries about you, I think you will do just fine Hogwarts, most of the spells you have mastered your classmates won't have learned yet." Jerry assured patting his only daughter on the shoulder.

"That doesn't mean she'll be able to grasp their spells so easily!" Justin snorted before leaving the loft.

Alex's jaw dropped as she stepped through the stone archway that had just opened up on to a small, long cobblestone street filled with oddly dressed people with various colours of robes.

"What is this place?" Alex breathed turning and looking at Harper who was wearing the very the same awestruck expression.

"This is Diagon Alley." Jerry answered pushing Alex, Harper and Max through the arch onto the street. They strolled through the street all amazed. There were a wide selection of owls perched in cages and cats of all colours, shapes and sizes laying out, purring loudly. There were also creatures Alex had never seen before as she stared through the dusty window of Eylops Owl Emporium and Magical Menagerie. Her father pulled her away and Alex was brought back to her senses.

"So where to first dad?" She asked finally, her eyes fixing on a small dark shopped piled high with cauldrons of different shapes and colours.

"You'll need a cauldron for potions." Jerry said looking at where Alex's gaze was fixed.

"Cool is it like chemistry where you get to blow things up!" Max chipped in excitedly.

"No…Potions is a skill a very hard skill to learn not for blowing things up Max." Jerry replied sternly. The group made their way from shop to shop supplying themselves with all they would need for their first term at Hogwarts. Everyone was staring at the white marble of Gringotts wizard bank when Alex noticed a small dark alley leading off the crowded street. Alex began to wander towards the narrow alley when a hand caught her shoulder.

"Don't want to be going down there Alex." Jerry warned gruffly.

"Why…what's down there?" Alex asked curiously her eyes fixed on the dirty grimy windows.

"That's Knockturn Alley, people who are up to bad things go down there." Jerry replied leading Alex away.

Jerry sighed as he led Alex and Max towards Ollivanders closely followed by Harper who was still amazed by all of this.

"Alex, I know you're very fond of your wand." Jerry began weakly, knowing this wouldn't go down well. "But you and Max need a new wand to be able to study magic at Hogwarts." Alex shot a glare at her dad.

"What's wrong with my wand!" Alex protested drawing it from her right boot and examining it.

"Nothing…it works fine it just won't while you're at Hogwarts." Jerry sighed. "At least with the new wand you will be able to perform magic at anytime, the wand that you will be getting won't be powered by the system or be effected by plastic." Alex looked down at her wand and slipped it back into her right boot.

"I'm still going to keep it." She said defiantly walking into the dimly lit shop of Ollivanders. The whole shop was thick with dust the windows were so dirty the light from outside barely shone through.

"Hello." A wheezy voice croaked from the darkness of the shop only to appear from behind a stack of dusty shelves.

"How may I help…A wand perhaps?" a small man said he had white wispy hair and his face was wrinkled with dark rings under his eyes as if he hadn't slept for days, a light shadowed beard lay around his face.

"Yeah." Alex said looking around the shop, she frowned and she thought it wouldn't have done any harm to get a duster every now and again. She thought there was even less of an excuse as it could be fixed quite easily with magic.

"Max…why don't you go first?" Jerry smiled pushing his youngest son towards the counter. The old man's misty eyes looked over Max and began to measure him.

"Max, which is your wand arm?" Ollivander asked.

"I don't have a wand arm…It's just a normal arm." Max replied. Mr. Ollivander gave me a small smile.

"Okay, and what arm do you use to write with." He asked politely, ignoring Max's ignorance, Alex sniggered.

"Oh, I think it's my right arm." He replied raising both hands in front on him. "It's the one that doesn't make the 'L' shape." Ollivander nodded and disappeared behind the shelves only to re-appear holding 4 slim boxes.

"Ash and dragon heart-string. Ten-and-three-quarter inches, very swishy." Max tried the wand but managed to shatter the ink bottle covering pieces of parchment and the dust ridden counter in a coat of blackness. "Never mind dear boy, try this one." He then handed Max a long, slightly crooked dark brown wand. "Good at charms this one, very dense and hard." He added with a smile. The wand began to spark yellow and red as Max's eyes widened. "Perfect." The old man smiled. "Dogwood and unicorn hair, thirteen inches, surprisingly swishy." Alex didn't know what any of Mr. Ollivander definitions meant but perhaps it did mean something. Max paid seven galleons for his wand and finally it was Alex's turn. She groaned making her way forwards to get her own wand. The old man he retrieved his tape measure, murmuring to him. "Your wand arm?" He asked not looking up from the tape measure.

"Right." Alex replied confidently. Finally he gave Alex a once over and then again disappeared behind the shelves returning once more with thin boxes.

"Try this." He smiled handing Alex a white wand. "Sycamore and unicorn hair, ten-and-a-half inches very swishy. Good, very sturdy." He added waiting for Alex to wave the wand.

"What?" Alex whispered, glaring at the old man.

"Give it a wave and we'll see if its right!" He snapped. She waved the wand and glass flew from all directions and the grimy windows exploded. Everyone ducted down shielding themselves from the shards of broken glass.

"Nope, not that one." He wheezed pulling himself up from behind the counter.

"Oops." Alex half laughed looking around the shop amused she placed the wand back onto the counter.

"Well it's much brighter in here now." Harper joked brushing herself off and helping Jerry to his feet.

"Try this one. Cedar and dragon-heart-string, thirteen-and-three-quarter inches. slightly yielding, good for defense against the dark arts." He said handing the wand to Alex. She waved the wand only to find the dust creating a mini whirl-wind around the shop. She placed the wand on the counter and sighed.

"Never mind, never mind!" The old man assured. "We'll get there eventually." Alex rolled her eyes. How long is this going to take? She thought to herself wishing she only had to use her own wand. The man placed a dark sleek jet black wand in front of her. "Rowan and unicorn hair, twelve-and-a-half inches, hard." He handed Alex the wand but before she could even wave it he snatched it from her grasp. Alex turned toward Harper frowning, Harper shrugged. "Perhaps this wand… Ebony and phoenix tail feather, twelve-and-a-half inches, slightly yielding." As Alex picked up the wand it began to spark and a warm feeling rushed through her entire body. It was as if she and the wand had connected. She gazed at the wand in her hand for a moment until she finally broke from her trance.

"Why couldn't we just look for the sparks?" Alex questioned as she frowned.

"Wands choose their owners, Miss Russo." Mr. Ollivander stated in a matter of fact tone. Alex raised her eyebrow, looking at the old man questioningly. "Wands have feelings and they must fit with their owners, sometimes it isn't always clear why some are paired but wands say a lot about their owners." He explained. This left Alex even more confused, wands have feelings? Wands reflect their owners? It was all slightly overwhelming and almost sounded nonsense!

"So… how do you know which wand to pick? There must be thousands here!" Alex asked curiously, gesturing the many hundreds of piled boxes that surrounded them.

"When you've studied wands as long as I have, there is a sense of knowing." Ollivander replied giving Alex a weak smile. "That'll be seven galleons please."