(The brilliant light is, of course, J.K. Rowling, without whom none of us would be here ... and without whom none of us would be CAMPING OUT AT THE BOOKSTORE ON FRIDAY/SATURDAY!!!! Anybody else doing that? I already pre-ordered a copy awhile ago, but camping out at the bookstore is fun. I want to be part of the excitement, know what I mean?) Wow, I can really babble. But seriously, this one is dedicated to J.K.R. the Great. Think about it - if she hadn't had the UTTER GENIUS to think of that wonderful boy and everything in his world, where would we be?????
I'm Tom, the bartender of the Leaky Cauldron ... I'm sure you've heard of me. I've been working here - oh, now, I suppose it would be about thirty-four years - and I've seen many come and go. Some of the stories are happy, some sad ... but they were all told to me by the people who come here looking for a Strawberry Swirl Smoothie or a Truly Warming Hot Cocoa ... just 2 Knuts! Special sale!
And now I want someone else to hear these stories ... someone else to understand the meanings reserved for me for so long. Something deep inside me tells me that the customers who confided in me did so for a reason.
Alice Wendel's Story
"My parents were - well, I don't exactly know what. They were nice people - I can't say they were good parents, even now - and they loved my older brother and I. But they took drugs. I was born Muggle, that's right. We'd get the welfare checks, and then they'd party all night with their friends or whoever. We lived in a condo, but when I was nine we got thrown out, and dad decided to leave.
"Mom didn't know where to go, so she just led us around the streets. We walked all day, and Mom figured out if we each only ate a can of yogurt a day, we'd be able to keep eating for a long time and she could still have some drugs. I remember walking around the entire city, stopping to go to the bathroom in stores, but that didn't happen often. I also remember going to the supermarket and looking at the best deals, the healthiest foods, trying to figure it out alongside my mother.
"We couldn't live like that for long. Mom finally found a job at the supermarket we'd never been to, and we made enough to eat at last. She saved up, and while she was at work I stayed with my sister right outside the window where she could watch me. I don't know if anybody ever noticed. We finally had enough to get another condo, but it was still smelly and horrible.
"And then ... when I was eleven ... the owl flew in and dropped the letter on my lap. It was like heaven. I felt like I'd just gotten a message from - from - from up there, and I felt like I was free, just like that owl. I'd get meals there, big meals. I'd learn magic, and I could fix things for the entire family. I could save my mother; my sister. We'd be a family again ... well, without Dad.
"For some strange reason I began to wonder about him again, to rewaken the longing and heartache that had been with me so long. Questions rushed through my head again, and I wished he could see me now, going to the most famous magic school in the country. I wished he could see me doing well at last. And I wished my mother wasn't so drug-filled when I got the letter, or invitation. She tried to rip it apart, and yelled that I'd be leaving her all alone.
"I walked to the other side of the condo, shivering and shaking and guilty. I tried to tell myself I wouldn't be leaving her alone ... like she'd said ... but I couldn't. Fear and anger washed over me. What was she going to do? Prevent me to go? This was my only chance, my only ticket out of the life that was her fault for giving me! I couldn't bear it. I didn't want to leave ... but I knew I had to.
"Long ago, when we'd first gotten our condo, she'd told me where the savings were and I'd memorized the place. Grabbing my sister, I snatched enough for the two of us but left enough for my mother - I prayed she'd live on it until I could make more, perhaps at Hogwarts - and, trying to juggle my sleeping sister, my letter, and what was now my money, we left.
"I walked, carrying a sleeping 3-year-old in my arms as I'd done so many times before, in front of the supermarket, right by the window. People looked at us funny, and glared at me, as if it was my fault I'd been born into this life. It was all I could do not to scowl right back. We walked all the way to the Leaky Cauldron - I thanked my lucky stars I'd been able to find it from the directions in my letter, even though I did know my way around the city - and came here, like I came here just now. I walked in, asked you, Tom, where to go, and you directed me, and I went. I wasn't able to buy everything on my list, but I got robes, some of my books, and a wand, which I thought were the most important things. You gave me a room, Tom. Told me I didn't have to pay rent.
"So I stayed in Diagon Alley for the last two weeks until school, making money from you, and because of you, I was finally able to buy everything. I felt like a queen, I have to admit, getting all my school supplies and taking care of my sister, too. She seemed pretty happy - even if she did ask for mom a lot. But I couldn't do anything about that now. I hoped dearly that the school would let me keep her, take care of her, no matter what the other kids said. I was going to concentrate on my studies, not on teasing. I'd had enough of that before ...
"And so it went, astonishingly, and I still had trouble believing that I hadn't vanished in a dream or a book. I tried to forget about everything that had happened up to the moment when I walked into the Leaky Cauldron, a ratty, tattered, worn-out, sore version of what I had become. I boarded the Hogwarts Express, carrying my little sister as proudly as anybody, and nobody made any noises about little Audelia or I.
"That day I met Diana Frankel, who laughed at my little sister on the train, and nearly made her cry. I also met Sandy Sarres, who informed Diana that she would meet a very painful end if she didn't leave my compartment right then. I was already laughing, even before Diana slunk out. Sandy was funny, kind-hearted, and Audelia-loving. She assured me that her parents knew Dumbledore, and she was almost certain he'd let her stay.
"'No doubt about it,' she told me. 'None. Besides, who can resist this face?' Audelia then dissolved into giggles as she was tickled mercilessly.
"And so the first year of my new life passed, and summer came. Audelia was now four, and I was twelve. I wondered if I should go home. Did I even remember where it was now? Yes, I had stamped its location in my head. 459 Summersdale St., Apt. 13. So that was impossible.
"But on the other hand, where was Mom? Was she still taking drugs and spending all our money fast? Was she still even working?? I had written her, every month all year, enclosing some money - I hadn't converted all of my Muggle money for that purpose - and when that ran out, a wand I'd saved up to buy for her - fourteen inches, maple, unicorn tail hair - and some spells I thought would help her. I copied pages from my Charms and Potions books that I thought would help her out. She never answered.
"I once sent a letter to the landlady, who said she'd left - not been thrown out, left, of her own free will - months ago. I was worried, but I'd been informed that I couldn't leave school. I used a Finding Spell, but it didn't locate anything. And now here it was summer, and I had the option of looking for.
"Deep down, I knew that my Finding Spell had been checked and rechecked, and there were no problems. I knew the landlady wouldn't lie. And I knew the apartment was empty. All these counted up to point to the one terrible reality: there was no point in going to look for her. She wouldn't be there.
"I rented a room in the Leaky Cauldron this time, and worked to pay the money. Tom also gave me some extra money as a salary, so I was able to earn enough for the next year and even more! I was thrilled, and decided to put my past behind me as the years flew by at Hogwarts. I wrote to Sandy, on vacation always, and another one of my friends from second year, Jill, and another friend I'd met, James. Three friends were more than I'd ever had in my entire life, and by my third year I was so happy.
"But James sort of strayed apart from me then; we'd never been the best of friends, but I still liked him a lot. He was friendly, and loyal, and creative, and funny - hilarious. He had far too many friends to count - actually, I think it was the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff houses all combined. Everybody liked him but the Slytherins, who didn't like anyone anyway.
"It was in my third year also that I finally noticed Voldemort's uprising - the Dark Wizard was horrible, and seemed to enjoy killing. Two third years and their families died ... but then Voldemort seemed to concentrate on others as James encouraged us all to call him by his real name. Too brave, too good, too nice, too kind ... too lucky, that boy was.
"Voldemort had his revenge when he killed James and Lily, later, when they got married. By then I was working as an apprentice Gringotts curse-breaker while I bought an apartment very near Diagon Alley, and began to save for a house, which went quickly - my high N.E.W.T. scores had given me the chance to earn a very high salary, which Gringotts was famous for - and Audelia was eleven and going to Hogwarts herself. She'd all but forgotten about Mom and Dad, even though sometimes she'd ask me questions. I'd told her everything before she went to Hogwarts, but nobody except us knew.
"Nobody but the two of us knew what mistakes our parents had made, and what not to do, and nobody but the two of us knew what they'd done right, and what to do in life. Maybe you don't choose where, when, or how you're born ... but you choose everything else. I was taught to choose wisely."
And then Alice Wendel left the Leaky Cauldron, for the last time. I still keep room 229 aired and fresh, ready for her if she ever needs it again. Nobody is allowed in there anymore.
Who knows? Maybe sometime else I'll tell you another story. Just wait. And see.