Chapter One
The minute Rose stepped off the plane, she knew that the right decision had finally been made. Even inside this stuffy old airport, everything was different. The smells, the sounds, the look! Well – okay, not so much the look. This was only her second encounter with an airport; her first being in Toronto about 3 hours ago. So honestly, she couldn't really spot much difference. But that fact aside, everything was new and exciting. She felt as if life was worth exploring again. Suddenly, the doom-and-gloom stuck-in-one-place-forever feelings lifted and her happy learn-and-see-all-you-can personality returned with enthusiasm.
"What to do first?" Rose said quietly to herself, after having finally made it past the various check points. She had virtually been awake 'all night' in London time. Back in Toronto, it would only be 1 or 2 am but here it was early morning. Accounting for the jump of about 5 hours, she figured it was probably 7am here – way too early to expect to check into a hotel. That wasn't high on her priorities, though; her job had given her the ability to stay up all night and still be cognizant. She would take advantage of that and spend most of the day exploring.
So what did she want to do then? Was she up for renting a car, or was the driving system entirely too different to try learning it on her first day here? Surely, this being a smaller country, castles and landmarks weren't as hard to get to? Castles. Landmarks. Museums.
"Right, pamphlets" she said out loud, nodding to herself and walking over to one of the little stores. If she didn't want to drive, then she'd have to find something that was within walking – or bussing – distance. Butterflies erupted in her stomach – the bus system! What would it be like here? Probably different! "So much to learn", she said, smiling. "But lots of time" she added.
She was having a little difficulty finding exactly what she was looking for in this store. Rose didn't shop the way most tourists or women did – she would scan quickly, roving her eyes over the racks of things. She didn't like to sit still in one place, and that meant that picking things up and looking for more detail did not happen. Instead she would walk around, rather quickly, scanning all the titles and pictures. If she didn't catch everything the first time around, she would repeat the process.
She didn't realize at first that this peculiar habit was attracting attention – which wasn't surprising considering this was her third trip around the same rack. An old man off to the side at the magazine stand was holding his magazine rather high. Every once in awhile he would peer out from behind it at her and glance quickly. She saw him do this once and wasn't sure what to make of it. Rose looked around her to see if anyone else was looking covertly; no one was. She started to worry a little bit – what if he was one of those guys who scouts out people alone? He had probably heard her speaking under her breath earlier and such too, which would make it a little obvious that no one was with her.
But he was so old. That beard must stretch down to his waist if only it wasn't tied up a little. He wore strange spectacles and his attire wasn't exactly modern. His face looked kind, and his eyes had a certain sparkle she couldn't quite help but feel drawn to. He was smiling at her now, openly staring. Rose looked away, embarrassed. She had never been one to be caught looking at strange people.
"Right..." she said to herself. "Just another day in this crazy life of mine". She smiled and continued looking up and down the racks with information on various things to do and see. Not a few seconds had passed, however, and someone was beside her.
"Excuse me", they said in the lowest of voices. "I really think", he paused and held out something "that you might find this of some interest. You won't find anything like it here, in this store, or nearby". She took it, and looked up into his face quickly. It was the old man – he smiled and turned to walk away.
She looked at the paper he had handed her.
'Open an Account Today!
Gringotts, goblin owned and run.
Your gold will never be safer!
From Britain to Mozambique,
Australia to the North pole
--
Trusted by the World Over
--
Diagon Alley' she skimmed.
"Wait!" she called after him. Was this some sort of trick to lure her out to a secluded place? But…then, who would honestly use something so obscure ('gringotts' and a 'diagon alley')? For that matter, how could a complete stranger know that something obscure would be exactly what would lure her places?
He turned around and gave her a quizzical look, but still with a smile and a twinkle in his eyes.
"What is this for?"
"An establishment for exchanging money"
"Where is this?" she asked, giving him what must have been a very clueless look.
"Oh I think you'll find an intricate map, with directions, conveniently located on the back of this specific flyer" he said and walked away.
Rose turned it over and sure enough, there was a very intricate hand-drawn map. It had little arrows pointing from where she was standing – exactly – to where she could find this gringotts – she assumed it was a bank (but was completely perplexed about the gold part). There were hand-written directions about a specific part of the way:
'When you reach this corner,
enter the shop with the sign
"the leaky cauldron".
See 'Tom' for help reaching
Diagon Alley.'
'Was he Tom, The old man with the long beard? If he was, why didn't he show me the way to this Diagon Alley himself? If he wasn't…well then, why was I supposed to meet Tom instead?' she brooded over these questions.
Still…a bank had to be a pretty safe place, right? She was planning on being in Britain for a long time, and sooner or later she was expecting to visit one to exchange currency. It didn't seem like a bad idea for her first day here, actually. Rose memorized the map and decided to start out. 'I wonder' she thought to herself 'why me?'
She finally reached the corner indicated, and saw what looked like an old run down shop. Her gaze shifted so quickly back and forth from the paper to the empty shop that she must have resembled a bobble head. A few people stared at her as they walked by. Her face turned red from embarrassment. At least she was wearing her Canadian flag and would have that excuse; for all the passers knew, she was referring to a map. 'A real map', she added to herself.
She walked closer to see what the sign on the next shop was – it was labelled on her paper. Maybe she could figure out whether the empty shop was the right one, based on the shop next to it? But she didn't need to walk far. Upon moving closer, the sign suddenly had words etched into it "The Leaky Cauldron".
Rose stopped dead in her tracks. "What?" she said out loud. She backed up, and the words disappeared again. She moved forwards, and there they were. This process was repeated a couple of times until suddenly a hand touched her shoulder.
"Are you lost dear?" an old voice croaked. It belonged to a woman with grey hair and a well lined face. She was doubled over and it must have cost her quite some effort to reach Rose's shoulder.
"No! Not at all, thank you!" she squeaked in response quickly and ran until she was a couple of streets away. That interruption had scared her more than the strange sign. She leaned against a wall, catching her breath. A few minutes later, she looked at the paper again. Something she hadn't noticed before was written in tiny letters – 'things are not always as they appear – trust is a leap of faith'.
After a few good moments of chewing this over, she decided that maybe the shop wasn't really empty. Maybe, since the sign appears when you get close, the shop becomes an actual place too. She turned and walked back towards it.
The corner was deserted now – which Rose was thankful for. She was about to walk into the unknown and didn't exactly want any witnesses. As she got closer, the sign appeared again – The Leaky Cauldron. She walked forward without hesitation, pretending like she did this every day. She opened the door, it gave no resistance, so she continued in.
The light was very dim inside, and her first impression was that it was the place time forgot – dust was everywhere, and it had a general ancient look to it. As she looked around, however, she noticed the shelves behind the bar were stocked. Her gaze continued and she saw not only a man behind the bar, but also the older woman who had given her a scare just moments before. Both were smiling at her, as if they were expecting her. She grinned back sheepishly and walked over to them.
"You must be" the old woman started "the young lady Dumbledore told us about." When all she received was a blank look, she continued "from the aeroport place?"
"Oh…" Rose said. "He never…he…well…names", she stuttered and looked at her paper again. "I'm looking for Tom. He's supposed to show me a Diagon Alley?"
"That's Tom, the barman. He's busy, m'dear, I'm going to show you instead. If you don't mind?"
"But…I've got it here. What-did-you-call-him gave me this. It says…Tom?"
"Aye, she'll help you miss." Tom the barman said, pointing to the old woman.
Rose looked at them both in turn. Finally she decided that she'd rather be shown around by a woman than a man anyways – not that she was biased – but just because it was moderately safer. She still didn't know exactly where she was being led to. Having decided this, she nodded and said to the woman "my name is Rose".
This gained some sort of approval, and the woman smiled again and introduced herself "Ms. Wisthera. Pleasure to meet you"
Ms. Wisthera got up and was no longer doubled over. She looked much healthier than before, actually. She beckoned Rose to follow her, and walked across the room to another door that led out into a tiny courtyard. This courtyard contained a single garbage can. The old woman gave instructions on how to get to Diagon Alley, and moved aside to let Rose try it out.
Innocently, Rose stepped up and went to touch the brick with her hand. Ms Wisthera tried to stop her, however, saying something about needing 'wands' and 'should have known better'. Rose put her hand down on one brick absentmindedly and it began to move, much to both of their surprise. It shifted into a wide arch that opened into a long, shop filled alley that many people were happily bustling around in. She gasped and stepped forward; Ms Wisthera looked at her in shock but followed nonetheless.
They walked in silence for a few moments; there was so much to take in.
"Madame Malkins Robes for all Occasions, the Apothecary, Olivanders makers of fine wands…" Rose took in all of the shop names. Ms Wisthera took her arm and spoke again after a few minutes:
"We should visit Gringotts first, m'dear. You'll need gold if you're to purchase everything on this list Dumbledore left me".
Rose looked over at her guide. "Who's Dumbledore? What list do you mean?" she asked. Then she remembered the other side of the paper. "What's gold mean exactly?" she blurted out.
"Dumbledore is the one who er – met you in the aeroport place. He's away on business at the moment, but will meet you later tonight to take you to Hogwarts. It's a school dear", she added upon seeing the bewildered look on Rose's face. "Although that's not without saying; you should be very careful who you accept invitations from these days. Oh if one of them nasty ones had of spied you first…I'd hate to think…but…well, that's behind us now. You're safe dear.
Dumbledore left me a list of things that he thought you would need. He'd like you to study magic at his school. Since it's still a good three weeks until term starts, he's going to give you a crash course on the basics. He'd like you to mingle in with the 7th years. You've got a lot of catching up to do if you ask me…but if Dumbledore says you can do it…" she trailed off.
"And…and gold?" Rose prompted.
"Yes! Oh, gold. Its our currency dear." Ms Wisthera explained all about the wizard monetary system as they walked towards Gringotts. Rose was quiet through everything, and listened to more random chatter while they waited in line. She looked at the goblins curiously, and they too were explained to her.
At last it was her turn, and Ms. Wisthera helped her get most of her cash exchanged to wizarding gold – apparently the exchange rate was favourable right now. So favourable in fact that Rose was prompted to open a bank account. Ms Wisthera nodded her head in approval, and with her help opened an account. She kept with her only what was needed for the supplies on the list.
Throughout the rest of the day, most of the shops were visited and Rose acquired many of the items on the list. She had bought robes – plain black, because she wasn't sure which house she would be placed into – and some dress robes (something about a few dances being held?); many different books, including some which peaked her interest that were not on the list; potions ingredients and a cauldron; quills and parchment; and a wand.
Her favourite experience had of course been getting her wand: Olivander was an incredibly kind man, and went through extreme lengths to assist her. He went through an incredible amount of wands and none of them seemed to work for her – he had said that she would just know if the wand had chosen her. At long last, a strange look came over his face and he rushed through a tiny door behind his counter. He emerged, slightly dusty, a few minutes later holding a wand on a pillow.
"Try this" Olivander said.
Rose picked it up off the pillow and instantly felt different. She couldn't explain quite what went through her, but she knew that she never wanted it to leave. She didn't want to change back.
"That would be it, then. One of a kind. Bloodwood, 12 ¾ inches, a single Peryton feather. Incredibly difficult creatures to find". Rose stared at him in wonder – she barely registered the fact that he was talking, and the significance of his words were lost on her. The only thing that mattered was that this wand was now hers.
