Sally loved everything about Diagon Alley, but today's visit was by far the most exciting because she was about to get everything she needed before she left to Hogwarts. Her eyes wandered from the Potage's Cauldron shop to Flourish and Blott's, then to Quality Quidditch Supplies. She was very giddy and found it difficult to focus on one thing at a time.

Her mother steered her firmly through the crowd, and she found herself being shoved into Madim Malkin's. Sally struggled to free herself from her mother's grip. She hated being marshaled and detested being told what to do. She squirmed every time her mother made another suggestion to Malkin, and involuntary jumped out of the poor woman's grip every time her magical meter tried to figure out her arm's length.

More than anything, Sally hated being in one place for too long.

"Sally Gemma Williams! Stay put, or Merlin help me I will ground you!"

Her mother threatened, but to no avail. Sally did not like being fussed over and she found that she was particularly freaked out by the self operating meter. The shop was also dingy, and the smell of cloth everywhere made her gag. Sally felt like she was suffocating.

Without thinking, she found herself hurtling towards the front of the shop and out.

"Sally! Come back here this instant young lady!" Her mother yelled.

Sally grinned to herself, proud to be elusive. She slowed down as she took a random turn and found herself walking along an unfamiliar road. The scenery had changed. The pavement looked dirtier, and the crowd seemed different. People were eyeing her in a nasty way. Something about them made her feel uneasy. She wished Phoenix, her best friend, was around. She was the one who always knew what to do.

She felt her shoulder being grasped. Startled, she jumped around, only to be faced by the ugliest witch she had ever seen. Her teeth were yellow and came out of her gums at different angles. Her skin was cracked around her lips, and her filthy, somehow, purple hair was standing on end.

The woman didn't speak; she drew in a wheezy breath that made Sally shudder. Sally twisted and turned, and managed to escape the witch's strong grip. She bolted to the nearest side street. It was a blocked.

She started shaking and her heart was beating so fast. She knelt behind a large garbage pile that reeked. She almost wished she was back at Malkin's.

Sally looked around frantically. She thought she saw something glimmer in the dark. She rubbed her eyes, feeling exhausted. Two bright yellow eyes were staring from the other end of the alley.

Sally backed away, her heart started to hammer in her chest again. She fled, and ran headlong into a door. It burst open and she toppled on the floor. Her nose started dripping blood, and she felt a small bump forming on her forehead. She got up, still shaking. Her pants were torn at the knees and her palms were scratched from trying to break her fall.

She looked around. She was in a... parchment shop?

It was a strange place, narrow, and rectangular. On both sides of the shop, there were only glass shelves covering the walls. On them were endless stacks of parchment. At the far end of the shop was a small black counter, and next to it what looked like a trapdoor.

Sally knew she had to get out, but it seemed like her legs were rooted to their place. She felt like she was going to cry from her own stupidity. Why couldn't she just stay put as her mother fussed over her?

She struggled to keep herself under control. She looked around, desperately trying to find something that would tell her how to get back to her mother.

To her left, on the lowest shelf, she spotted a small piece of parchment on top of a particularly large pile. Its edges looked torn and burnt. Something about it was peculiar.

Sally frowned; she could hear a faint woman's voice, whispering from the direction of that parchment. There was no one around. She dismissed the voice thinking she had hit her head too hard when she had fallen.

But then the voice grew louder, the woman was talking faster and it seemed like the source was getting nearer. She didn't know how, but she found herself crouching near the shelf, and in her hand she was clutching the small parchment tightly.

She shook her head. What was happening to her?

"You! Who are you?!" A man's voice brought Sally back to reality. The woman's voice vanished.

She looked around. A bald man with small, enraged black eyes, stood halfway through the trapdoor.

"How did you get here? What are you doing here?!" He asked as he hurriedly climbed out and closed the trapdoor.

She gaped at him.

"Out! Out! Filthy kid- trying to pry around!"

Sally found herself being shoved brutally out of the shop, and back again onto the scary streets. Next thing she knew, something came out of nowhere and crashed into her legs. She looked down; it was a small cat with fluffy black hair, and large yellow eyes. She reached down and grabbed it. It started thrashing around hysterically and managed to pierce its claws into one of Sally's arms. Sally yelled.

"Laila! Laila!" A tall, middle aged witch with wild brown hair, ran towards Sally, brandishing her wand.

Sally dropped the cat, and the witch pointed her wand and cried "Petrificus Totalus!"

The cat went rigid, halfway through jumping over a log, it fell with a thump.

"Thank you for finding her! She's- she's so much trouble!" The witch wheezed, as she tried to catch her breath. Sally was too shocked to reply.

"I'm Wendy," the witch said, then stopped and gasped. "Wait a minute! What's a kid like you doing in Knocktern Alley?!"

Sally frowned as realization finally downed at her.

"Are you mute? Let's get you out of here before you get into real trouble," said the witch, grabbing Sally by her scratched arm which was now burning with pain.

The witch grabbed the cat firmly with one hand, and started dragging Sally with the other. Sally didn't complain. She was glad she was getting out of the horrible place. She didn't realize she still had the piece of parchment in her fist.