Chapter 3
Diagon Alley
Matt followed Chris and his friends to plane exit. Lupin was there. "Now, everyone stick together. When you leave, go to the airport exit and get into one of the cars. If you have a relation coming to pick you up then wait for them at the end of the corridor. Those who do not have a relation will be put at the Leaky Cauldron." He was saying. They moved slowly toward the exit. After the first 50 people went though, Lupin held up the others for ten minutes. "I must be staying at the place Lupin mentioned." "The Leaky Cauldron" Chris said. "I'm staying there too. Drew and Rob have relatives here." Lupin started to let them through slowly. "Take care of my broom, Drew." Chris said as they left the gate. The passing Muggles didn't seem to be noticing the gate. Probably hidden by magic Matt thought. Matt held up Chris to wait for Megan, and they walked to the cars together. There were three cars. Each of them was bright blue and the windows black. When they approached the door, it opened by magic. The three got in. "Your names?" asked the driver. "Matt" "Megan" "Chris" The three said. "Alright. The Leaky Caldron, then?" "Yeah" Matt said. The car started forward.
The drive there was interesting. The car went through alleys and made sharp turns. The driver directed the car by talking to it, telling it where to go. When they approached The Leaky Cauldron, it was about a half-hour afterwards. They got out and helped the driver unload there luggage, which had been put there, Matt assumed, by magic. At the Leaky Cauldron, the driver set them up with their rooms. Matt and Chris shared a room, while Megan shared hers with someone she knew on the plane. Suprize, Suprize Matt thought.
"So, what are we supposed to do now." Matt asked. "Well, get our school things. Diagon Alley is right behind the Leaky Cauldron." Chris put his suitcase on his bed and went downstairs, Matt following. "Excuse me, can you let us into Diagon Alley" Chris asked the bartender. "Yeah, sure." The bartender took out a small twig, which Matt assumed was a wand, and went out the back door, telling them to follow. They entered this small courtyard, with weeds and a trash can. The bartender went over to a wall and tapped a brick. The brick gave a jump, them a small hole opened where the brick was, then grew. The hole grew so wide that a truck could drive through it. "Thank you" Chris told the bartender, and they went into Diagon Alley.
"So, what do we need to do first?" Matt asked. "Well, I need to deposit some of my money into a Bank vault." Chris looked at Matt. "Wait, do you have Muggle money? Dollars cents, pounds…" "Dollars." Matt said. "You need to change it to Galleons. Wizard money" Chris said, looking at the confused face of Matt. "Here, Gringotts. It's the bank. I love that poem!" Chris pointed at the doors, which had words engraved on them saying:
Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more then treasure there.
"Uh, why do you like it?" Matt asked. "I just like how the words rhyme. Never been good at doing that myself." They both entered Gringotts. "It's rumored that there are dragons guarding the vaults." Chris said, as they went to a counter. "The place is run by Goblins. They are great at guarding things. Some of the bloodiest wars were fought by Goblins" Chris was saying. A Goblin came up. "Yes came we change some money, please?" Chris told him. "Yes, what type of currency are you using?" "Uh, American dollars." Matt said. "How much?" the Goblin said. "200 Dollars." "It can be changed to 400 Galleons. The dollars." The goblin said, holding out his hand. Matt reached into his pocket, pulled out the money and handed it to the Goblin. "Here you are." Said the Goblin, handing Matt a large leather bag. Matt took the bag and opened it. Inside were tons of Gold coins.
"Matt!" Matt turned around to see Megan. "I need some money." Matt reached into the leather bag and pulled out a handful of gold coins. "Here." Megan looked at the coins. "Cool. Doesn't look like normal money, does it?" "No." Matt agreed. He and Chris walked out of Gringotts. "Well, what should we do first?" "I'm going to get my robes first" Chris said. "See you at the room." He ran off. Matt consulted his list.
Three Sets of plain work robes (black)
One plain pointed hat (black)
One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble
1 Wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales
An owl, cat, or toad eh? Matt thought, putting his list into his pocket. I'll take care of my wand first. He looked around. Where would he buy an wand? He started walking up and down the street look at the store signs. Finally, he spotted Ollivanders. They had a display of wands in their window. He entered. He had never been inside a room quite like this. The very air seemed to tingle with some unseen magic. "Good day." Said a voice. Matt spun around. An aged old man stood in front of him. "Hogwarts?" He asked. "Ahh, well, please, sit down." He gestured to a stool. "Okay." "Stick out your wand hand." "My what?" Matt asked. "Your wand hand." Matt didn't know what his wand hand was, but he guessed it was his left, because he was left-handed. He began to measure. He didn't only measure his hand, but his wrist, elbow… "Every Ollivander wand has a core magical substance." He was saying, pulling long, thin boxes off shelves. Matt looked at the measure, and saw it was measuring on its own. "We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are alike, and you'll never get as good results with another wizards wand." He said, still pulling off more boxes. "Stop." Mr. Ollivander yelled. And the measure fell to the floor.
"Now," said Mr. Ollivander taking a magic wand out of a box. "Maple and Dragon Heartstring, try it." He handed the wand to Matt. Matt took it in his left hand, and Mr. Ollivander snatched it out again. "Ebony and Phoenix Feather, 12 and a half inches. Try…" Matt grabbed it, and instantly his hand felt warmth in the wood, and sparks flew of the wands tip. "Ahh, very good. My judging still isn't that bad." Mr. Ollivander packaged the wand. "That's 14 Galleons." Matt paid him the money. "Well, thanks." Matt said, leaving. "Good day, Mr. O'Brian." Mr. Ollivander said. Matt turned around, to ask Mr. Ollivander how he knew his name, but he was gone.
He chose not to dwell on Mr. Ollivander. He was a strange old man, but probably got his name from the school or something. In the meantime Matt thought. I'll go get my robes. Getting to rest of Matt's supplies wasn't all that exciting compared to Ollivander's shop. The only other one was the owl shop. He bought an owl, a nice brown one. His books he found most interesting. None of my old school books were this interesting to read. Nothing can spoil this, nothing. He thought. He met up with Megan at the Ice Cream parlor. She had bought her supplies and had the same encounter with Mr. Ollivander as Matt did. "His shop was, weird. It didn't seem real. Like a dream or something." Megan said, eating her ice cream. "Did he call you by your name too?" "Yeah. He seemed to know something we don't." "Oh well. How can anything spoil this." Matt said. They laughed and enjoyed their ice cream, the first day of their magical lives.
