A Hogwarts Tale
Annastasia Hoyer jiggled her phoenix feather quill in between her fingers, slowly waiting for inspiration to strike. It was summer, but not time relaxing like most. Summer was rapidly coming to a close and her return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry seemed extremely soon. She felt as if she had just completed her fifth year at the school hours earlier, but already her sixth was about to begin. Anna looked forward the many adventures which were sure to happen at school, but was still sad to her free time stop abruptly. The over-the-summer homework had to be accomplished soon and school supplies needed to be bought at Diagon Alley, the typical place for most magically gifted students to buy everything from robes to cauldrons, owls to Dragon scales.
"Honey, your grandfather's here to take you to Diagon Alley to restock your potions ingredients and to buy you some new school robes and an owl! Come down as soon as you're ready to leave!" Anna's mother yelled, her sweet and comforting voice echoing in her huge room. 'Yea!' Anna thought to herself as she quickly gathered up a few galleons and some knuts together into a stylish brown suede bag. 'Grandad is here!' She always loved when her grandfather visited her house, located right on the outskirts of the big bustling city of London. He loved spoiling Anna, buying her lavish gifts and telling her true, but outrageous stories.
"I"m all ready to go!" Anna announced, emerging from her room and practically running downstairs. She looked at her grandfather and the lines around his eyes looked more prominent as he smiled widely at her and winked. "I need to take a couple things out of the school vault and buy some new things for my office and then we can buy your robes and get some huge mango sundaes at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. Then it's off to Magical Menagerie to see what kind of owls are available and finally to a few different shops to get books and ingredients for potions. Sound good to you kid?" Anna's grandfather was always organized and today was no different.
"Sounds like a plan to me. And," Anna glanced at her dragon hide and pearl watch which was a very expensive gift from, needless to say, her grandfather. "it's starting to get late so we really should be leaving for the Leaky Cauldron."
"Since you two will be out fairly late, why don't you guys stay at the Leaky Cauldron for a night. It'll give the poor shopkeeper some business and you two should catch up with out us two around." her father said with a crooked smile on his weather beaten face. Anna couldn't help but smile to herself. She couldn't be any luckier! A day with her favorite person in the world and an action and fun filled day at Diagon Alley. Anna reached for her grandfathers hand, and together the walked out the door and onto the vacant dirt road which would eventually lead them into the heart of London, to the Leaky Cauldron. They had a lot of walking to do and Anna couldn't stop the frown which slowly began to emerge across her face. It would take hours to reach their destination.
"Guess what I did this morning, before I reached your house." her grandad told Anna, stopping to kick a huge stone, and accidentally hitting a toad which croaked loudly and hopped away, obviously annoyed. Anna looked curiously into his eyes and tried to put on a smile.
"What?"
"No come on, you have to guess. Not guessing takes the fun out of the whole thing" Anna sighed and thought hard about what he could've done that day. She studied her surroundings a bit. Lush green foliage lined the old country road. Her house stood a few hundred feet away, rising several stories high. She noticed an old crisp bag lying on the ground, sodden with clay and bird droppings.
"Well, did you buy me a dragon, which by the way is illegal you know, and tether it to that big oak tree in my backyard and while I was working on my school work, you taught it how to produce money out of thin air?" Anna knew what she had just said was nothing that her grandfather would do, but still, it could happen.
"Nice try, but look right over there." He pointed to a spot right in front of them. All there was that empty, disgusting, soiled crisp bag. Anna gave him a puzzled look and continued to stare at the spot to which he had just pointed. A thought struck her. She couldn't believe how clueless she had been.
"It's a portkey, isn't grandpa? It's the perfect place for one and no muggle would surely pick that filthy thing up in a million years." Anna had a smug look on her face and look up at her granfather in happiness. They didn't have to walk till their feet bled after all.
"Wow! I can't get anything past you anymore can I? Remember to pick it up at the same time as I do." They strode over to the bag and counted slowly to three. At the exact same time, as her grandfather advised, they picked up the bag and waited to be transported to the Leaky Cauldron. Anna felt the familiar slight tug behind her belly button as she plummeted forward. She could feel her grandfather right next to her, but could not see him. She wished more than ever that they would stop moving and have their feet back on solid ground once more. Abruptly, the moving sensation stopped and they were on the busy London street, right in front of the run down building called the Leaky Cauldron.
"After you," Anna's grandfather told her she stepped into the dark foggy bar-like place, followed by Grandad. As soon as they entered, a rush of people came up to her grandpa and Anna felt abandoned. As her grandfather tried to talk to all of them at once, as to save time, Anna slowly walked to the bar and pulled herself up onto one of the high stools in front of the business' owner. When she was smaller, she always felt happy, like she was taller than anyone else on one of the high stools, but today was different. Today, she was still lonely.
"What'll it be, sweetheart?" the kind old gentle man asked. He wasn't the cleanest looking guy in the bar. He had graying auburn hair and his teeth had turned yellow with age. While he wore a burnt orange suit, it gave him the appearance of a huge orange. It didn't strike her as funny though as it usually would. "One butterbeer on the rocks please." Anna asked politely, turning to look at her grandfather. He was still talking to several witches and a few wizards. They all seemed to be very intrigued with what he had to say. Occasionally, a few of them would laugh nosily, acquiring several glances in their direction. There was only a handful of other people at the establishment and none of them looked friendly enough to sit with.
"Here's your drink young miss. Can I get you anything else?" the bartender asked, looking over at her grandfather, instead of her while he was talking. "No thank you, this is just fine." Anna replied. It was useless to reply to the bartender however because he was still staring at her grandfather. It seemed to her that everyone loved and paid attention to her grandfather and not to her whenever she was with him. It was if she was invisible to anyone that laid eyes on the pair.
"Well, I hate to cut this conversation short, but I must be going now. My granddaughter awaits and I don't want to keep her. Until another time then." Anna's grandfather walked over to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry I kept you waiting. It's just that they had a couple very important issues to discuss wit me and I hate to turn down everyone who talks to me. From now till tomorrow morning, my whole, undivided attention is yours darling. Now, off to the bank!" Just those two little sentences had made Anna feel almost a hundred percent better and she happily set off with in the direction of the huge, crumbly brick wall. Her shopping partner took out his wand and tapped some random bricks, and soon the bricks moved quickly into a gorgeous arch which led to packed Diagon Alley.
They weaved their way through the different clusters of people chatting and window shopping, heading towards the humongous building in front of them, the bank. As they reached the front doors, she caught a glimpse of Hermione Granger, strolling out of a jokes shop with Ron Weasley. She suddenly thought of Harry Potter and had butterflies in her stomach. She had always wanted to have a good, long conversation at school with him, but he always seemed to be with either Hermione or Ron and she didn't want to butt into one of their chats. She pushed away her feelings and put her hand onto the cold brass door handle. With a strong tug in her direction, the door flung open and she walked inside. She always loved Gringotts. It was such a strange place. Goblin looking creatures did most of the labor and so many different looking people went in and out of bank everyday. They walked right up to the counter and her grandfather spoke to a goblin who looked like he was free at the moment.
"I"d like to make a withdraw from a vault," he told the goblin the number of the vault.
"Name please, the goblin asked, not looking up from the computer screen he was staring at.
"Albus Dumbledore," her grandfather replied. All three of them walked quickly heading to a nearby cart which was empty. Anna held her breath as the cart started to make it's descent into the dark paths underneath Diagon Alley. The ride was a relatively long one and after several complicated twists and turns, they reached the vault safely. Albus took his long, pale, pointer finger and smoothed it over the door in just the right to dissolve the door. He walked inside and carefully picked up a book sized package and stuck it in the front of his long, golden, sweeping robes. They stepped gingerly into the cart once again and the goblin hit the rusty lever and they lurched forward into darkness, back up to the main floor of the building.
Once they were in the fresh air and bright, almost blinding sunlight, they went to an office supply store called Magical Nonsense and Stuff. Then they were off to Madame Malkims Robes. While they were walking there, Anna noticed a whole bunch of witches he age staring into a shop window with dreamy looks in their eyes, whispering and giggling. She wanted to see what all the fuss was about so she slowed her pace and squished in between the gaggle of girls. What she saw astounded her. It was a small watch which you could bewitch to have a picture of whomever you wished to spy on. It was like it was wirelessly connected to whomever you had bewitched the watch on. It followed that person around so you could see exactly what a person was up to 24/7. "How cool!" she said to no one in particular.
"I know! Isn't it just the greatest thing you've ever seen. I've heard you can also listen on some of the conversations that person has with other people too. The bad thing is that you have to be within 1,000 feet of the person. I was hoping that I could check up at home sometimes, but my house is too far away from Beauxbatons," a pretty young girl with bright blonde hair and piercing blue eyes told her.
"Oh, that's too bad." Anna replied, not meaning what she had just said at all.
A group of three girls, around her age, were giggling loudly from behind. Without turning around, she pretended to study the device behind the clear glass window, but really listening to what they had to say. I'm totally going to bewitch this thing to follow Erik," indicating to the bag that she held in her hand. "He's just so sooo cute. I want to see what he talks about with the guys when us girls aren't around!" one girl squealed. "Yeah, you're right. We should all pick a guy to spy on!" another girl agreed. The third group had a different idea.
"We should follow Madame Maxime around and see if and what she's still doing with that awful loaf of a giant she seemed to be taken to at Hogwarts, two years ago. I still say Fleur should have won the goblet. The contest was totally fixed. Harry didn't deserve the money!" The three continued chatting, and left the window to walk into a shop next door which carried things such as love potions and brightly colored, scented stationary. Anna fumed, thinking about how they insulted the groundskeeper at Hogwarts who, to her, was a sweet and friendly man.
Anna jogged to catch up to Dumbledore. She could see he was a few feet away, talking with Mr Weasley. She stood behind them and used her eavesdropping skills once again to listen in on their conversation. She wished she would have bought a pair of those blasted pair of ears which Fred and George were selling in the beginning of the year, before they left.
"I'm so glad to hear that Harry doesn't have to put up with those muggles anymore. Molly and I knew that he would be so much better off with people who love him. I have to hand it to you, Albus. You're a genius. I'll have to visit Harry sometime soon and give him a ride to King's Crossing. Honestly, I always hated to see Harry off on that train every year, mostly because of all the trouble he seems to get tangled into, what with the Death Eaters and you-know-who. Oh wow! Look at the time! I fear I must be going now, can't keep Ron and Hermoine waiting now, can I? Nice talking to you. We'll be in touch shortly I presume?" Mr Weasley asked, his pale freckled face breaking into a wide grin.
"Yes, yes very soon. Actually, I'll be heading over to the house tonight and possibly spending the night with my granddaughter Anna. If you're interested in joining us, I'm sure you'll be welcome.
"You know what? I just think I might. I'll just round up the misses and the rest of the children and take off." With that, Mr. Weasley walked briskly over to a rusty looking pillar and leaned back against it, taking in some of the surroundings before calling over to Ron and Hermione who came to him at once.
'What house were they talking about? Harry doesn't have to put up the muggles anymore? We're spending the evening and possibly the night at a mysterious house?' Anna wondered what in the world was going on. She tapped Albus on the shoulder lightly. Before he could say anything, Anna bombarded him with questions regarding the house and the famous Harry Potter.
"I er- well, I was listening to what you and Mr. Weasley were talking about," Anna confessed. "and, well, why exactly are you a genius?" Anna prepared herself for a lecture on eavesdropping. She was constantly being told off for nosing into other people's business. Even now, people compared her to the annoying Rita Skeeter. But Anna shouldn't have worried.
Albus laughed gently. "I'm terribly sorry Anna, but I just can't tell you anything about what we were conversing about. There are some things in life that have to be kept secret for one reason or another. And you don't think I'd possibly tell you on this highly populated street, do you? What with all these new highly magical gadgets and things, anyone could be listening to everything I have to say. Anyway, you'll find out shortly about the house. Now, on to the robes shop!" They quickly finished their shopping strode along the winding streets to Diagon Alley, back to the Leaky Cauldron, and started their short walk to the "house".
Annastasia Hoyer jiggled her phoenix feather quill in between her fingers, slowly waiting for inspiration to strike. It was summer, but not time relaxing like most. Summer was rapidly coming to a close and her return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry seemed extremely soon. She felt as if she had just completed her fifth year at the school hours earlier, but already her sixth was about to begin. Anna looked forward the many adventures which were sure to happen at school, but was still sad to her free time stop abruptly. The over-the-summer homework had to be accomplished soon and school supplies needed to be bought at Diagon Alley, the typical place for most magically gifted students to buy everything from robes to cauldrons, owls to Dragon scales.
"Honey, your grandfather's here to take you to Diagon Alley to restock your potions ingredients and to buy you some new school robes and an owl! Come down as soon as you're ready to leave!" Anna's mother yelled, her sweet and comforting voice echoing in her huge room. 'Yea!' Anna thought to herself as she quickly gathered up a few galleons and some knuts together into a stylish brown suede bag. 'Grandad is here!' She always loved when her grandfather visited her house, located right on the outskirts of the big bustling city of London. He loved spoiling Anna, buying her lavish gifts and telling her true, but outrageous stories.
"I"m all ready to go!" Anna announced, emerging from her room and practically running downstairs. She looked at her grandfather and the lines around his eyes looked more prominent as he smiled widely at her and winked. "I need to take a couple things out of the school vault and buy some new things for my office and then we can buy your robes and get some huge mango sundaes at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. Then it's off to Magical Menagerie to see what kind of owls are available and finally to a few different shops to get books and ingredients for potions. Sound good to you kid?" Anna's grandfather was always organized and today was no different.
"Sounds like a plan to me. And," Anna glanced at her dragon hide and pearl watch which was a very expensive gift from, needless to say, her grandfather. "it's starting to get late so we really should be leaving for the Leaky Cauldron."
"Since you two will be out fairly late, why don't you guys stay at the Leaky Cauldron for a night. It'll give the poor shopkeeper some business and you two should catch up with out us two around." her father said with a crooked smile on his weather beaten face. Anna couldn't help but smile to herself. She couldn't be any luckier! A day with her favorite person in the world and an action and fun filled day at Diagon Alley. Anna reached for her grandfathers hand, and together the walked out the door and onto the vacant dirt road which would eventually lead them into the heart of London, to the Leaky Cauldron. They had a lot of walking to do and Anna couldn't stop the frown which slowly began to emerge across her face. It would take hours to reach their destination.
"Guess what I did this morning, before I reached your house." her grandad told Anna, stopping to kick a huge stone, and accidentally hitting a toad which croaked loudly and hopped away, obviously annoyed. Anna looked curiously into his eyes and tried to put on a smile.
"What?"
"No come on, you have to guess. Not guessing takes the fun out of the whole thing" Anna sighed and thought hard about what he could've done that day. She studied her surroundings a bit. Lush green foliage lined the old country road. Her house stood a few hundred feet away, rising several stories high. She noticed an old crisp bag lying on the ground, sodden with clay and bird droppings.
"Well, did you buy me a dragon, which by the way is illegal you know, and tether it to that big oak tree in my backyard and while I was working on my school work, you taught it how to produce money out of thin air?" Anna knew what she had just said was nothing that her grandfather would do, but still, it could happen.
"Nice try, but look right over there." He pointed to a spot right in front of them. All there was that empty, disgusting, soiled crisp bag. Anna gave him a puzzled look and continued to stare at the spot to which he had just pointed. A thought struck her. She couldn't believe how clueless she had been.
"It's a portkey, isn't grandpa? It's the perfect place for one and no muggle would surely pick that filthy thing up in a million years." Anna had a smug look on her face and look up at her granfather in happiness. They didn't have to walk till their feet bled after all.
"Wow! I can't get anything past you anymore can I? Remember to pick it up at the same time as I do." They strode over to the bag and counted slowly to three. At the exact same time, as her grandfather advised, they picked up the bag and waited to be transported to the Leaky Cauldron. Anna felt the familiar slight tug behind her belly button as she plummeted forward. She could feel her grandfather right next to her, but could not see him. She wished more than ever that they would stop moving and have their feet back on solid ground once more. Abruptly, the moving sensation stopped and they were on the busy London street, right in front of the run down building called the Leaky Cauldron.
"After you," Anna's grandfather told her she stepped into the dark foggy bar-like place, followed by Grandad. As soon as they entered, a rush of people came up to her grandpa and Anna felt abandoned. As her grandfather tried to talk to all of them at once, as to save time, Anna slowly walked to the bar and pulled herself up onto one of the high stools in front of the business' owner. When she was smaller, she always felt happy, like she was taller than anyone else on one of the high stools, but today was different. Today, she was still lonely.
"What'll it be, sweetheart?" the kind old gentle man asked. He wasn't the cleanest looking guy in the bar. He had graying auburn hair and his teeth had turned yellow with age. While he wore a burnt orange suit, it gave him the appearance of a huge orange. It didn't strike her as funny though as it usually would. "One butterbeer on the rocks please." Anna asked politely, turning to look at her grandfather. He was still talking to several witches and a few wizards. They all seemed to be very intrigued with what he had to say. Occasionally, a few of them would laugh nosily, acquiring several glances in their direction. There was only a handful of other people at the establishment and none of them looked friendly enough to sit with.
"Here's your drink young miss. Can I get you anything else?" the bartender asked, looking over at her grandfather, instead of her while he was talking. "No thank you, this is just fine." Anna replied. It was useless to reply to the bartender however because he was still staring at her grandfather. It seemed to her that everyone loved and paid attention to her grandfather and not to her whenever she was with him. It was if she was invisible to anyone that laid eyes on the pair.
"Well, I hate to cut this conversation short, but I must be going now. My granddaughter awaits and I don't want to keep her. Until another time then." Anna's grandfather walked over to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry I kept you waiting. It's just that they had a couple very important issues to discuss wit me and I hate to turn down everyone who talks to me. From now till tomorrow morning, my whole, undivided attention is yours darling. Now, off to the bank!" Just those two little sentences had made Anna feel almost a hundred percent better and she happily set off with in the direction of the huge, crumbly brick wall. Her shopping partner took out his wand and tapped some random bricks, and soon the bricks moved quickly into a gorgeous arch which led to packed Diagon Alley.
They weaved their way through the different clusters of people chatting and window shopping, heading towards the humongous building in front of them, the bank. As they reached the front doors, she caught a glimpse of Hermione Granger, strolling out of a jokes shop with Ron Weasley. She suddenly thought of Harry Potter and had butterflies in her stomach. She had always wanted to have a good, long conversation at school with him, but he always seemed to be with either Hermione or Ron and she didn't want to butt into one of their chats. She pushed away her feelings and put her hand onto the cold brass door handle. With a strong tug in her direction, the door flung open and she walked inside. She always loved Gringotts. It was such a strange place. Goblin looking creatures did most of the labor and so many different looking people went in and out of bank everyday. They walked right up to the counter and her grandfather spoke to a goblin who looked like he was free at the moment.
"I"d like to make a withdraw from a vault," he told the goblin the number of the vault.
"Name please, the goblin asked, not looking up from the computer screen he was staring at.
"Albus Dumbledore," her grandfather replied. All three of them walked quickly heading to a nearby cart which was empty. Anna held her breath as the cart started to make it's descent into the dark paths underneath Diagon Alley. The ride was a relatively long one and after several complicated twists and turns, they reached the vault safely. Albus took his long, pale, pointer finger and smoothed it over the door in just the right to dissolve the door. He walked inside and carefully picked up a book sized package and stuck it in the front of his long, golden, sweeping robes. They stepped gingerly into the cart once again and the goblin hit the rusty lever and they lurched forward into darkness, back up to the main floor of the building.
Once they were in the fresh air and bright, almost blinding sunlight, they went to an office supply store called Magical Nonsense and Stuff. Then they were off to Madame Malkims Robes. While they were walking there, Anna noticed a whole bunch of witches he age staring into a shop window with dreamy looks in their eyes, whispering and giggling. She wanted to see what all the fuss was about so she slowed her pace and squished in between the gaggle of girls. What she saw astounded her. It was a small watch which you could bewitch to have a picture of whomever you wished to spy on. It was like it was wirelessly connected to whomever you had bewitched the watch on. It followed that person around so you could see exactly what a person was up to 24/7. "How cool!" she said to no one in particular.
"I know! Isn't it just the greatest thing you've ever seen. I've heard you can also listen on some of the conversations that person has with other people too. The bad thing is that you have to be within 1,000 feet of the person. I was hoping that I could check up at home sometimes, but my house is too far away from Beauxbatons," a pretty young girl with bright blonde hair and piercing blue eyes told her.
"Oh, that's too bad." Anna replied, not meaning what she had just said at all.
A group of three girls, around her age, were giggling loudly from behind. Without turning around, she pretended to study the device behind the clear glass window, but really listening to what they had to say. I'm totally going to bewitch this thing to follow Erik," indicating to the bag that she held in her hand. "He's just so sooo cute. I want to see what he talks about with the guys when us girls aren't around!" one girl squealed. "Yeah, you're right. We should all pick a guy to spy on!" another girl agreed. The third group had a different idea.
"We should follow Madame Maxime around and see if and what she's still doing with that awful loaf of a giant she seemed to be taken to at Hogwarts, two years ago. I still say Fleur should have won the goblet. The contest was totally fixed. Harry didn't deserve the money!" The three continued chatting, and left the window to walk into a shop next door which carried things such as love potions and brightly colored, scented stationary. Anna fumed, thinking about how they insulted the groundskeeper at Hogwarts who, to her, was a sweet and friendly man.
Anna jogged to catch up to Dumbledore. She could see he was a few feet away, talking with Mr Weasley. She stood behind them and used her eavesdropping skills once again to listen in on their conversation. She wished she would have bought a pair of those blasted pair of ears which Fred and George were selling in the beginning of the year, before they left.
"I'm so glad to hear that Harry doesn't have to put up with those muggles anymore. Molly and I knew that he would be so much better off with people who love him. I have to hand it to you, Albus. You're a genius. I'll have to visit Harry sometime soon and give him a ride to King's Crossing. Honestly, I always hated to see Harry off on that train every year, mostly because of all the trouble he seems to get tangled into, what with the Death Eaters and you-know-who. Oh wow! Look at the time! I fear I must be going now, can't keep Ron and Hermoine waiting now, can I? Nice talking to you. We'll be in touch shortly I presume?" Mr Weasley asked, his pale freckled face breaking into a wide grin.
"Yes, yes very soon. Actually, I'll be heading over to the house tonight and possibly spending the night with my granddaughter Anna. If you're interested in joining us, I'm sure you'll be welcome.
"You know what? I just think I might. I'll just round up the misses and the rest of the children and take off." With that, Mr. Weasley walked briskly over to a rusty looking pillar and leaned back against it, taking in some of the surroundings before calling over to Ron and Hermione who came to him at once.
'What house were they talking about? Harry doesn't have to put up the muggles anymore? We're spending the evening and possibly the night at a mysterious house?' Anna wondered what in the world was going on. She tapped Albus on the shoulder lightly. Before he could say anything, Anna bombarded him with questions regarding the house and the famous Harry Potter.
"I er- well, I was listening to what you and Mr. Weasley were talking about," Anna confessed. "and, well, why exactly are you a genius?" Anna prepared herself for a lecture on eavesdropping. She was constantly being told off for nosing into other people's business. Even now, people compared her to the annoying Rita Skeeter. But Anna shouldn't have worried.
Albus laughed gently. "I'm terribly sorry Anna, but I just can't tell you anything about what we were conversing about. There are some things in life that have to be kept secret for one reason or another. And you don't think I'd possibly tell you on this highly populated street, do you? What with all these new highly magical gadgets and things, anyone could be listening to everything I have to say. Anyway, you'll find out shortly about the house. Now, on to the robes shop!" They quickly finished their shopping strode along the winding streets to Diagon Alley, back to the Leaky Cauldron, and started their short walk to the "house".