A Stroll Down Knockturn Alley

Harry Potter walked along with the Weasley's down Diagon Alley. They were on their way to buy school supplies for Hogwarts.

"Why don't we buy our books first?" Ron said excitedly. " I heard there was this new shop!"

"All right," said Mrs. Weasley. " But do try to stay out of Knockturn Alley."

Everyone broke up and went of to search for their supplies. Harry and Ron where about to go buy quills when, "Harry!" someone called out. Harry and Ron Turned around to see Hermione Granger heading their way.

"I was wondering if you two were going to be here today!" said Hermione. "Did you hear about the new shop?"

"Yeah, we're almost finished shopping, we just need to buy some quills then we'll go." Harry said.

When the three friends were finished shopping, they ventured over to the store. The store was very mysterious. It was dark and lit only by a huge crystal ball. " May I help you?" came an icy voice by the counter. It was a tall woman with long brown hair and sharp green eyes.

"Err, no thanks," said Harry. " We were just looking."

"Ah, I see." Said the woman, and the three went looking through the store.

"Hey, look at this," Ron said, pointing to a long stick with a huge jewel at the end."

Hermione examined it. "It doesn't look like anything I've seen." She said.

After a while the three friends got bored and decided to leave. They walked out of the exit. It took them five seconds to realize that Diagon Alley had changed. For one thing, the shops were completely different, and the walls were lined with torches that had black flames.

"Where are we?" Hermione said.

"You guys," Said Ron. "I think we're in Knockturn Alley."

"Knockturn Alley?" Hermione said." How did we get here?"

"I dunno..."

The three looked behind to see, to their exasperation that the store had disappeared.

"Where'd it go?" Harry asked.

Ron and Hermione shrugged, both looking worried. Harry looked around. A short girl about their age with dirty colored red hair gave them a nasty look as she walked by.

Suddenly, a voice boomed out, "Come get your Predicament Orbs, only ten Galleons!"

Harry, Ron and Hermione whirled around and saw a plump witch standing behind a cart filled with pearl colored orbs.

"They will astound you, amaze you, and positively thrill you! And just think for only ten Galle-"

"Oh, quit your gabbin' woman, and tell us what the dratted thing does,"

snapped an old man, who happened to be watching.

Giving the old man a sharp look, the woman continued.

"What I was about to say, before I was rudely interrupted, it provoke your enemies by getting them into tight situations!"

The old man wasn't satisfied.

"Well then, woman, if you think you're so smart then how do you know the dag blasted contraption works? When I was young, all I had to do to get my enemies in tight spots was to use the old wand-"

"I can prove it works simply by giving an example!" the witch shot back.

The old man looked around. "What example, I don't see any example!"

The woman thought.

"I'll use, um...THEM!" The witch pointed to the first group of people that she saw, which unfortunately happened to be Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"Come here, my little sweets," The witch coed.

"RUN!" Ron shouted.

The three friends charged down the street.

Meanwhile, the woman who was selling the "Predicament Orbs" ordered a ground of extremely mean pixies to search for them.

"That's the spirit child!" The old man shouted. "Scramble around the block!"

"Oh shut up!" said the witch (everyone called her "Vanch") "You said you wanted an example and there it goes! Those three are obviously newcomers and they won't last an hour out here!"

Meanwhile, Harry, Ron, and Hermione dodged the pixies, who were zooming around and making faces at them. Then the pixies attacked.

"Ouch!" Hermione wailed as one of the pixies grabbed her hair at pulled it as hard as it could.

Ron wrestled the pixie, only to get bitten on the nose.

"Listen!" Harry said. "Maybe we can lose them!"

So, they ran as fast as they can only to get mixed up a very large crowd.

"Look! Wizard Duel!" Someone yelled over the crowd.

"Great," Hermione muttered. " This is just what we need."

The crowd was so packed together that the three friends couldn't see the duel. Pixies flew over the crowd, making faces, grabbing peoples' hats, and making rude signs with their fingers. They got through the crowd by tickling people with their light wings.

Hermione, who was quick to notice the pixies coming their way, pulled Harry and Ron into the nearest shop.

"May I help you?" Said a man somewhere in his twenties as he put on what looked like a painful smile.

"Um, no thank you," said Ron. "We were just-"

"Lost?" the man guessed.

Harry nodded.

"Very well," the man sighed. "KATHLEEN!"

"What is it?" an impatient voice answered. In came a girl. "What do you want?"

Harry recognized her as the red head girl they had seen earlier. Harry found that she was incredibly pretty.

"Well?" she demanded, tapping her foot on the wooden floor.

" Katwalk, these people are lost, could you help them for me?" asked the man behind the counter.

" If I must," The girl sighed. She walked over to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

" My name's Kathleen, some people call me ' Katwalk ', where did you want me to show you to?"

"Diagon Alley."

Kathleen's eyes grew wide. "Diagon alley?"

"Diagon alley?" Echoed the man behind the counter.

"But my Mum and Dad told me never to go there!" said Kathleen.

"Well, Katwalk, their absolutely right!" said the man behind the counter. "There are things there that Slytherin himself wouldn't want to walk into!"

"But it's safe!" Ron insisted.

"I think you're very mistaken!" Insisted the man. "Why do you want to go there? Where are your parents? Do they know about this?"

"But our parents are in Diagon alley!" Hermione said, exasperated.

"I'm afraid dear Katwalk can't take you," said the man sadly. "She's my responsibility, and her parents would have a fit if they found out."

"But-" Harry began.

"Off with you know," The man, insisted. "Go on."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked out, disappointed. The wizard duel had ended, the pixies had given up, and it was getting late. When they would ask some one if they knew the way to Diagon alley, they would either say, "No, I'm never going there!", or "Of course not," and even, "I would rather buy seventy of those 'Predicament Orbs' that to let my toe go there!".

Nighttime came and the only souls that roamed the street where the fireflies and some leftover people who roamed suspiciously.

There was a strange noise and Harry jumped.

A woman in a turban was playing a clarinet and somehow making two purple ropes dance.

"Lost, my dears and dearness?" she asked.

The ropes stopped dancing and began to fight.

"Stop it!" the woman snapped, beating the ropes with her clarinet.

"Err, do you know where Diagon Alley is?" Harry asked anxiously.

"Yes," said the woman. "But I can't show you right now. Sorry, I must do my job. Be careful dears and dearness!" She began to play her clarinet again.

The three friends began to walk on, wondering if they'd ever get out of Knockturn Alley. Harry realized he was quite hungry.

"Ouch!" Ron said. A remaining pixie had pulled out a strand of his red hair. It cackled and began to chant, "Example! Example!" in it's shrill voice.

Then, there was a loud zap, and the pixie froze in midair. Someone had put a freezing charm on it.

"Who was-"

Out of the bush came Kathleen. She put a finger to her mouth and beckoned them over.

"Listen," She said. " I'm going to show you where Diagon alley is, okay?"

Harry was taken aback. "But your parents-"

"Shhh!" Kathleen said. "Do you want to wake up everyone? Follow me."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed her as she scurried around and then led them into an alley and to their surprise, there was a doorway labeled "Diagon Alley" in small words. They stepped through the doorway to find the regular streets of Diagon alley.

"So this is Diagon alley," said Kathleen. "Weird."

They could hear the faint callings of "Ron!" and "Hermione!" and "Harry!"

Harry turned to Kathleen. "Thank you so much." He said.

"Oh, no problem," Kathleen replied.

"Oh, there you are," came the voice of Mrs. Weasley "Where were you? We were worried sick."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione told them about the journey down Knockturn alley.

Fred and George were extremely jealous. Mrs. Weasley, however, was extremely shocked.

"You could have been hurt or worse!" She boomed when they were finished.

"It wasn't our fault," Ron insisted. "We just looked up and we were in Knockturn alley."

"Kathleen showed us how to get out, though." Hermione said.

Mrs. Weasley smiled at Kathleen, who blushed.

" I have to get back home." Kathleen said, and she waved and disappeared.

And that was what Harry thought was the last he would see of the prettiest girl he had ever met.

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