Chapter 2: Diagon Alley
Early the next day, Dalia woke up. She'd had a strange dream about her brothers being turned into rabbits and hoping around helplessly amid a collection of sports equipment. The developments of the previous day had spun around in her head all night and she felt as though she'd barely slept.
It was Saturday. Her father, on his way out the back door to tend to the garden, told her that they would be going into London for lunch and then to do her school shopping. She really didn't understand how school shopping would help her decide to attend Hogwarts but, it was an opportunity to go into London, her favorite city in the world, and she didn't complain.
After eating breakfast and finishing her morning chores, she settled down with her book. Instead of hiding away in her bedroom, she sat at the kitchen table to read the morning away. She continued in the chapter on wizard history, learning about wizard uprisings and how some wizards weren't satisfied living in hiding from muggles.
As the history began to close-in on modern day, she became abruptly aware of the power of the wizarding world. She learned that some wizards used dark magic, the branch of magic that sought to use extraordinary means to control the lives of others and alter society. After reading about the rise of a dark wizard called Voldemort, she was chilled to the bone.
Voldemort was—there was no other word for it, evil. He had been gaining power at an amazing rate when he was suddenly stopped one Halloween evening almost forty years ago. That night he had gone out to personally murder a wizard baby who, it had been prophesized, would destroy him. Dalia noticed that the pages in this section were a little different than the previous ones. Some of the text looked odd. The illustrations had gaping holes in them, like it had been hurriedly assembled. But she read on.
Voldemort destroyed the child's father without a second thought. He turned to the baby and was confronted by the child's mother whose imploring words had woven a charm that would protect her baby. Voldemort destroyed this woman too, laughing about how easy it had been. But when he turned his wand onto the child, the lingering charm caused the spell to rebound upon Voldemort and his soul was exiled from his body.
As she was about to read further, her father tapped on her shoulder startling her slightly. "Time to go." Her mother and father were standing there waiting for her. She had barely noticed their hustle and bustle to get ready for their trip. The book had taken all of her concentration. She got her pocketbook, said goodbye to Zorro, and followed them out the door, forgetting about the book until they had already gotten onto the motorway.
Her father drove them to London. Dalia deeply regretted having forgotten her magical primer. She had intended to continue reading during the journey but instead she contented herself with looking out the window and asking questions that occurred to her about the wizarding world.
Her mother could not answer many of her questions. She had grown up in a muggle house and didn't know the slightest thing about wizards until after she met Dudley. Her father didn't provide a lot of answers either. Dalia thought he might be holding something back but assumed that it would come out in due course. It had turned out that he spent his childhood bullying Harry and that his father, her grandfather, had not understood the wizarding world at all. However, Vernon Dursley had resorted to pretending that it didn't exist. It was his coping mechanism and her Grandma Petunia had followed along.
"I don't want you thinking badly of your granddad, rest his soul, or your grandmother. They just didn't understand what to do with Harry. They thought that, being muggles and raising a wizard, they were expected to make him behave like a muggle. After what happened to Aunt Lily, I guess they were worried."
"What do you mean? What happened to Aunt Lily? Do you mean her dying?"
Dalia didn't understand why Lily dying would make her grandparents want to prevent Harry from being magical.
"Sort of." Dudley replied as he fought traffic to park on Charing Cross Road. Changing the subject, he said "Harry agreed to meet us here, next to this pizza restaurant."
Once they got out of the car and were standing on the sidewalk, Dalia peered uneasily toward the restaurant. It seemed very empty and she had been hoping for fish and chips, her usual lunch when they went into London for something. Dalia was going to tell her parents that she didn't want pizza when she glanced past the pizza restaurant and saw a dark-haired man with brilliant green eyes smiling at her. Harry was standing in the doorway of the pub next door. Harry waved and she ran over to give him a hug. Dudley and Karen clearly didn't see Harry. They quickly followed their daughter, apparently concerned about why she had abruptly started to run down the busy sidewalk.
As Harry leaned over to hug his niece, he flicked his wand surreptitiously behind her back. Dudley and Karen appeared to have become suddenly aware of Harry. Karen let out the tiniest of screams and Dudley chuckled gently as the pub melted into view before them.
"Come on in." Harry motioned for them to enter the grubby pub doors and they obliged.
"Sorry about that. I had to perform a minor charm so you could see the place. Muggles can't come in, normally," Harry explained as the Dursleys wandered inside. "It's called the Leaky Cauldron."
Dalia took in the surroundings of the pub. It was fairly dark inside, hiding many of the booths. A few assorted people in strange clothes were sitting at the bar. In a well-lit corner, a red-haired boy about her age was sitting with people she assumed were his parents and sister. His sister's nose was buried in a book, her bushy red hair pulled into a loose ponytail. They were dressed just like people on the street and looked perfectly ordinary. She wondered if they were wizards. A pretty blonde lady at the bar was talking in low whispers to a dark-haired man who then gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and went out the back door.
Dalia noticed her aunt and cousins at a table off to the side. Ginny, smiling kindly, got up and waved them over. Her aunt Ginny looked the same as ever, her long red hair was pulled back into a loose knot with the ends escaping. She was wearing a strangely cut deep blue dress that seemed to fit-in with the strange clothes worn by many of the other pub-goers. When Dalia reached her, she gave Dalia a big hug. Dudley wrung the boys' hands. Her cousins seemed the same as ever but a little older than the last time they had met. Lily and Dalia were both about the same height but, while the boys had dark hair like Dalia, Lily was a contrast to Dalia thanks to her red hair. Albus was only a few years older than his sister but not a lot taller. Everyone called him Al except for his mother. James was a few years older still.
As everyone ate, Dalia heard the Potters and the Dursleys exchange niceties.
"How's the old homestead?" Harry asked Dudley.
"It's been an adjustment moving in to Mum and Dad's old place, that's for sure. But since Dad died, Mum hasn't been up to taking care of the place on her own. I think she likes her little retirement flat at Bennington Estates. Lots of neighbors and little scandals to take up her days, you know."
Harry laughed heartily.
"I never expected to inherit Dad's drill-making company. I mean, he only bought it a few years ago, before he got sick. But since he spent all of those years building it up before buying it, I thought it would be nice to take it on."
"Good for you, Dudders," said Harry.
"Karen, are you excited about teaching again? What grade is it?" Ginny inquired.
"It's grade one and, yes, I can't wait. It's been a few years but I think I'll manage. Now that I've got the house sorted, I think it will be a smooth transition."
"As long as the boys don't wreck it in the afternoons before we get home," added Dudley.
"I know exactly what you mean," said Harry, looking at his sons who had just gotten over a furious battle for the sugar tongs. James looked smug; Al had crossed his arms in annoyance.
"So you're coming with me to Hogwarts?" Lily asked Dalia pointedly.
"I'm not sure." She said honestly.
"Oh." Lily was clearly taken aback, "but I thought-"
"Never mind what you thought," interjected Aunt Ginny. "Dalia isn't quite sure if Hogwarts is for her at the moment."
Lily clearly wanted to say something but upon gazing at her mother, thought better of it. Al was now fingering his wand on the table. It was made of a gnarled dark wood. Dalia noticed that it was quite different from James', which lay in front of him, a thin, smooth, and light colored wand. Remembering that wands were each as different as the wizard to whom they belonged, she wondered what hers might look like.
Harry saw her eying the wands, a look of comprehension dawning on his face. "That's what we should look at first, wands. You'll feel like proper witches once you've got your wands."
"Maybe." said Dalia uncertainly. Harry simply smiled.
"Oh, I can't wait!" said Lily excitedly.
Ginny and Karen were chatting away about how much the kids had grown. It was strange having something of a family reunion in this dingy pub without her brothers there to terrorize their cousins. In their absence, Dalia finally felt comfortable talking with her cousins at length. James had even been friendly enough to offer her a sweet but Ginny cut across him with a don't-you-dare glare which Dalia wasn't sure she understood.
"Do you remember my friend Ron, Ginny's brother?" Harry asked Dudley.
"I think so. I remember his father blasting through our wall and leaving behind the sweets that made my tongue grow." said Dudley.
The offer of James' sweet and Ginny's response suddenly made sense.
"That's right. Actually, it was Ron's brother who dropped the sweets." said Harry. "Ron's here with his family, if you don't mind saying hello."
"Sure. I'd like to meet him." said Dudley
"Like?" said Harry.
"It's ok," he told Harry. "I know he won't be giving me a tail."
Harry waved over toward the father of the children in the corner, smiled, nodded, and gestured toward his family. "His son, Hugo, starts Hogwarts this year with Lily. Their daughter, Rose, is in Albus' year. They were going to buy their Hogwarts supplies today too so I thought the kids could get their things together."
The family had come over and Harry introduced them to the Dursleys. "These are Ron, Hermione, Rose, and Hugo." He pointed to each in turn, then added "Weasley."
"Wait," Dalia stopped them remembering that the author of her magical primer was a friend of theirs, "Hermione, is that like Hermione Granger-Weasley?"
"Yes, she's me." said Hermione.
"I'm reading your magic primer. And I know you wrote the Magical History book too," said Dalia.
"What, are you a bookworm like Hermione?" Ron laughed.
"No, I'm just doing research." said Dalia a little shyly.
Dalia met Hugo and Rose. Rose barely had time for them. She was hurriedly reading through a magazine called Trendy Transfigurations.
The whole group ordered their lunch. To Dalia's delight, the pub had good fish and chips. They had a very unusual menu consisting of traditional English foods and an assortment of herbal infusions that could be added to them. When Dalia asked about the strange herbs on the menu she was told that it was because the owner's husband was an herbologist who had catalogued many of those herbs himself and that some of them had magical effects. She was reminded of a smoothie shop and all its various additives but was quite sure the smoothie shop's herbs weren't particularly powerful.
After lunch, they all got up and followed Harry out the back door. Dalia wondered why they didn't just leave through the front door to find the shops they needed but decided to just let her aunt and uncle and their friends lead the way and not ask questions. They emerged in a tiny back garden. It was quite crowded but Dalia pushed her way to the front of the group next to Lily and Hugo.
When he was sure they had all squeezed together, Harry pulled out a wand and tapped one of the bricks. Slowly, the rest of the bricks slid out of the way and revealed an archway and what looked like a collection of shops beyond. Dalia was amazed.
"It's called Diagon Alley," explained Ginny to the Dursleys. "All of the shops are wizarding shops. There are places to get potion ingredients, wizard robes, books, and anything a wizard could need. My brother, George, owns a joke shop down the street. We'll go there later. James can't stay away from that place."
Dalia was in shock. Not only had a whole cluster of shops appeared out of nowhere, but it looked like every person they saw wandering around was a wizard or witch. The street contained people in strangely adorned clothes and hats. She could hear some of the conversations going on between the shoppers. Some were discussing the stars, others were talking about brewing (she assumed they meant potions). She was quite aware that their large gathering was drawing a lot of attention. People looked at her aunt and uncle and nodded in greeting as they walked by.
There were just too many Potters, Weasleys, and Dursleys so they split up. Ginny and Ron took a reluctant Karen and the older children to buy books while Harry, Hermione, and Dudley took the other children to buy their first wands. Dalia was excited to see the wands but was a little worried about finding her perfect match. They made their way to a shop called Ollivander's. There an elderly man greeted them as though he had been expecting them. Hermione whispered to the children and Dudley that this was Mr. Ollivander.
"Ah, if it's not Hugo Weasley and Lily Potter and I see you've brought another relative, though I'm fairly certain this is not another Weasley."
"Uh, that's right, Mr. Ollivander. This is my niece, Dalia Dursley." Harry told him.
"Certainly, certainly." said Mr. Ollivander who gave Dalia a little bow.
Dalia, Lily, and Hugo were all lined up looking over the tall counter at the stacks of long, thin boxes on shelves behind the counter.
"Excuse me just a moment," Mr. Ollivander said before turning to a curly-haired sandy-blond man who had emerged from a back room. "If you would please sort the yew branches for me, Peleg."
"I do apologize. My new apprentice is just getting acquainted with the finer points of wood lore."
"Of course." Harry accepted.
"So, which of you do I try first, hmm?" he seemed to be addressing this question to himself, which must have been true, "Miss Dursley, of course." He turned to look at Dalia.
Dalia was horrorstruck. She didn't know how to go about finding a wand. She could not recall doing any kind of magic before and this seemed a bad time to start trying.
"Now which is your wand hand?" he asked her.
"The hand you write with." added Harry.
Dalia was taken aback and not sure how to respond but her father chimed in, "Neither. She's ambidextrous, like her mother."
Dalia nodded slightly.
"Very good, very good," Mr Ollivander said dismissively as he pulled out a small measuring tape that began to measure Dalia's arms, hands, ears, and just about anything else it could.
As soon as the tape set to work, Mr. Ollivander cleared his throat a little and began speaking slowly. "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magic substance, children. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand. Do you understand?"
Lily and Hugo nodded at him. Dalia quickly added her nod though the others had stopped.
Mr. Ollivander took hold of the tape, which was trying to wrap itself around Dalia's left pinky, and examined it. His brow furrowed and, for a split-second, he looked perplexed. However, when he lifted his eyes from the tape, there was no trace of the expression.
"I believe we should begin with dragon heartstring wands." At his words, one of the bookcases slid to the side to reveal another set of shelves packed with boxes.
"Wands have personalities—moods, like people. Unlike people, they are only content when they are matched with the right wizard. Each kind of core has its own characteristics which suit particular wizards better than others. Dragon heartstrings are not necessarily more magical than other cores." he told her as he motioned at a stack of boxes which gently floated onto the counter and sorted themselves. "However, a dragon's magic is centered deeply within its heart, rather than its mind which offers certain advantages."
"For instance," Mr. Ollivander went on, "I've asked these wands to assemble themselves according to how strongly their instinctual pull is toward you. This is something that only dragon heart string wands can do. Wands with other cores will not be able to accomplish this task. It is likely that the best wand for you is among the first few you will pick up."
"So," said Dalia, a little worried at speaking up "how do I know when I've got the right wand?"
"You'll know" said Hermione, simply.
Mr. Ollivander continued, "Ambidextrous wizards, though there are few, usually find that their magic only truly flows from one hand in particular. While they may perform other tasks equally well with both hands, magic requires more focus. A dragon heartstring is more likely to help you find and focus your magic. I daresay, we are about to find out which is your wand hand."
Dalia looked at her hands, clenched and unclenched them. She had always felt different because she was "neither-handed," as Dougie had always put it. She had spent years testing herself in various ways to see if she could understand why others felt more comfortable with one hand than another to no avail. It seemed that, today, she was finally about to discover the answer to this question.
Mr. Ollivander opened the first box and held it out, indicating for Dalia to pick up the wand. She picked it up with her left hand, which was closest.
"Willow, dragon heart string, of course. Eight and three-quarter inches long. Very springy. If you would please swish it through the air."
Dalia did as she was asked. Next to her, Lily and Hugo were wide-eyed and excited. Dalia barely had it in her hand and didn't even have a chance to really swish it when Mr. Ollivander interrupted.
"Hmmm," said Mr. Ollivander, smiling. "Let's see you try the other hand, same procedure."
Deciding not to argue that she hadn't even had a chance to swish the wand, she put the wand into her right hand. It didn't feel magical at all in either grip. It was as if she were simply holding a piece of wood.
"Ah, yes, that can happen. You do not want a wand with such pretentions. We'll just need to try another."
Mr. Ollivander seemed excited by the prospect. He selected the next wand saying "Olive Branch, 9 and one quarter inches, quite bendy."
In her right hand, the wand felt light and vibrated ever so slightly. The wand felt as though it were an extension of her very fingers. Dalia didn't think anyone could notice the sensation in her hand as she held the wand. She thought she saw a puzzled look on Mr. Ollivander's face, which caught her off guard. However, it was gone as quickly as it came. Dalia was about to swish this wand in the air when Mr. Ollivander interrupted and took it from her.
"Why don't you switch hands for me then?" he said as he held it out for her left hand.
As Dalia took it, the feeling was similar as it had been in her right hand but the wand began to spark as though it were the base of a firework. Everyone applauded. Dalia was in awe. This was her wand. She suspected the sparks started before she'd even taken a firm hold of it. It was strange how differently the wand felt in each of her hands. Although Mr. Ollivander had promised that she had just one "magic hand." She felt a distinctive sensation in each. It was as though the wand were peaceful and content in her right hand, while trying to prove itself in her left. If wands really did have personalities, hers seemed to have two.
She thought of asking about her wand's performance but decided she didn't want to in the midst of the shop and the small crowd that had accompanied her. It was probably as Mr. Ollivander said, magic required focus. Perhaps her right hand was simply less adept and, when she practiced magic, she'd find her right hand was totally inadequate. Still, she thought she'd ask her aunt or uncle about it privately.
Lily took seventeen tries before finding her wand. Mr. Ollivander was not perturbed in the slightest and seemed to enjoy finding more wands for her to try. She ended up with a phoenix feather wand made of zebrawood. Hugo's wand, the fifth he tried, was filled with a unicorn tail hair and was made of beech wood. When they were ready to pay, Dudley pulled out his wallet. "Oh, I forgot," said Harry, "they don't take Muggle money. We'll have to go down to the bank and exchange some for gold. This one is on me." He pushed Dudley's wallet aside and dropped a handful of coins onto the counter.
Dalia thanked Harry and held the box tight to her as she exited the shop with her father and Hermione. Harry had lagged behind a minute. She was fairly sure it was safe to ask Hermione about the strange behavior of her wand. Hermione had, after all, written the magical primer that contained so much useful information. Hermione's eyes were on the window of the shop where Harry could be seen talking to Mr. Ollivander through the window.
Just as Dalia was about to ask her question, Hermione shot a question at her instead. "Do you have a pet? Hogwarts allows some animals, you know."
"I have Zorro," Dalia said, "He's my cat."
"I brought my cat, Crookshanks, in my third year." Hermione seemed to be trying to fill up the time of Harry's absence for some reason. "Crookshanks was part kneazle—a magical creature much like a cat—so I had him for a long time. Kneazles make good guardian creatures for wizards. They are usually mixed with domestic cats because they look a little too odd to muggles. Kneazles live to be a lot older than cats and mixes can live two to three times as long. Crookshanks only died last year."
Dalia thought that Hermione could feel her question and was avoiding it. Not wanting to push Hermione and fearful of how her question would sound to the others, Dalia decided to let the subject drop for the moment and turned to her father who had been strangely quiet. He was not a man of many words, it was true, but she wondered what he thought of everything. He seemed overwhelmed, perhaps by the surroundings of Diagon Alley, because he was looking around at everything as a child might in a candy shop.
Harry finally emerged from the wand shop. Once he joined them, Dalia's father turned to her "So, will you be taking your wand and Zorro to school?"
Her uncle, father, Hermione, Lily and Hugo looked at her, waiting to hear the answer. Getting her wand was one of the most amazing experiences of her life. She supposed that school would be another series of interesting events. Harry and Hermione looked excited for her. Even her father seemed to think that Hogwarts might be right for her. Looking over at Lily and Hugo, she realized that she wouldn't be doing this alone. No bullying brothers, a whole world of possibility ahead of her. She found herself nodding in agreement. She was going to Hogwarts.
She didn't know what Hogwarts would be like but she felt like the fresh start her family was making in Little Winging was not enough for her. Settling down and making friends that she would be able to keep for more than 9 months at a time sounded good. Doing so away at school couldn't have been that much different.
Hugo didn't have much patience with everyone standing around. He pointed down the street. "I'm going to look in the window at the Quidditch shop," he said before tearing off up the street to a little shop at which several people were crowded around a display window. Lily followed and urged Dalia to copy her.
Dalia did and was not disappointed. The displays of broomsticks were fascinating.
"We can't have them in the first year," Hugo told them both.
"I wish we could," Lily sighed disappointedly.
"When I do get to have my own, I'm getting a Mercury XK6."
"Those Mercuries are so flashy." Lily protested. "If you want a good broom, you have to get one designed in Romania."
And the two were off discussing the various brooms in much the same way as Dalia's brothers like to discuss sports cars or soccer clubs.
As the rest of the party approached the shop, the two had stopped arguing to ogle the new two-toned blue robe design for one of the big Quidditch teams, the Tutshill Tornadoes. Dalia had read a little bit about Quidditch in her primer. It sounded a bit like muggle soccer, despite being played in the air.
Dalia saw Lily deftly slide her wand from its box and place it in her hand. Dalia, who hadn't wanted to put her wand away in the first place, copied her, choosing to hold it in her right hand, as her wand seemed less rambunctious there. Dalia felt Hermione's eyes on them as they got out their new wands but Hermione didn't say anything.
Dalia liked having the wand in her hand, perhaps this was because it was so new. However, she noticed that nobody else in Diagon Alley was carrying their wand so obviously. So she pushed it up her right sleeve. It felt warm and friendly against her skin.
The adults, who had been in deep discussion, joined them again and the group walked together to the bank, a tall, white stone building that looked as austere as the old bank buildings in London. She supposed that this was one thing that the muggle and magical worlds had in common—banks that looked foreboding.
As it was a Saturday, Diagon Alley was teeming with witches and wizards out for a day's shopping. This was something that was common in the muggle world too. However, unlike in the muggle world, the six of them couldn't walk two steps before someone was bowing and saying hello to Harry. He seemed to be very popular.
There was a queue inside the bank that stretched to outside. Harry and Dudley agreed to stand in line there while Hermione took the kids to get ice cream. So she ushered the Dalia, Hugo, and Lily to Fortesque's Ice Cream Parlor. There they ate huge ice creams while Hermione told them all about Hogwarts.
"And you shouldn't worry about which house you get in." she was telling them, "You'll still learn a lot and have plenty of fun."
"Mum's supposed to tell us that in case we get stuck in Hufflepuff," said Hugo,
"Hugo Weasley, you know perfectly well that it doesn't matter what house you get into. Besides, Hannah Longbottom was a Hufflepuff and she's very accomplished."
As it turned out, Hugo was a very good artist. He gobbled down his ice cream quickly, took out a little sheaf of papers and quill, and drew a winged dragon while the rest of them ate.
As everyone was finishing their ice creams, Harry and Dudley turned up.
"This wizard money is confusing." Dudley was saying, holding out a small green velvet bag full of coins and handing it to his daughter, "but I'm sure Dalia will have it figured out in no time."
Hermione took one of each kind of coin from the bag and laid them out on the café table. She gave Dalia a quick explanation of the values of each coin while Hugo finished his drawing and Harry bought he and Dudley ice creams.
Next, they met the rest of their group outside a clothing shop. Karen hugged Dalia as though theirs had been an extended absence. As Dalia freed herself of her mother's embrace, she knew that her mother had realized what Dalia's decision must have been.
James, Al, and Rose had already been fitted in new Hogwarts robes. Hermione, Ginny, and Karen took the other three inside for their fittings. The three children stood on platforms while the seamstress measured them. Dalia listened as Hermione and Ginny gave Karen an explanation of Hogwarts uniforms and gave advice on washing them.
"They'll come with cleanliness charms and those should last until school starts," Ginny was saying. "They'll repel dirt, even if the kids wear them around a bit. James wore his for two weeks straight before his first year. He fell in a pool of mud and it still looked brand new."
Dalia quietly giggled at the mothers' conversation.
"Which is your wand hand?" the little seamstress asked Dalia, "so I know which side should have the wand pocket."
Dalia paused a minute, thinking, and was about to tell her that she was ambidextrious when Hermione answered for her.
"Right."
Not wanting to sound contradictory, Dalia left it at that. She wasn't so sure her right hand was her "magic hand" and didn't understand why Hermione had spoken for her. However, she didn't want make a fuss and decided to let the matter pass.
When her robes were finished, Dalia stood there looking at herself in the mirror. Karen burst into tears.
"It's ok Karen, It's hard to see them growing up so much." Ginny consoled her and then, changing the subject, asked "Will the boys still be going to secondary school nearby?"
"Yes," she said, daubing at her tears with a tissue Ginny had produced from the end of her wand, "Dudley would never let them go away to that Smeltings. He hated it there when he was a boy. But Hogwarts sounds lovely."
"It is. It really is." said Hermione, patting Karen gently on the back.
When her robes and cloak had been purchased, Dalia immediately swapped her light jacket for the cloak, placing her wand into the long, thin wand pocket she found in the lining on her left side. At first the pocket seemed a bit too long. Her wand fell deep inside. However, after a few seconds, the pocket had fitted itself around the wand and its handle stuck out just enough for her to grip the end to slide it out.
As the large group walked down Diagon Alley, they cut a wide path. Although the area was packed with people, all of whom seemed to know Harry at least, they found themselves being given plenty of room to maneuver around. Dalia wondered at this until she saw Hermione putting her wand into her own wand pocket. Of course, she thought, Hermione must have cast some kind of spell to disperse the crowd. She made a mental note to ask what it was, thinking it might be something to try on her brothers.
They went to the book shop and the potion supply center and purchased the rest of the items on their lists. The shops were incredible. The shelves were stacked with all manner magical supplies. Dalia couldn't even imagine what all of these things were for. It seemed overwhelming but exciting all at once.
When they reached the joke shop, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, they were greeted by George Weasley, brother to Ginny and Ron, who, Dalia was not surprised, also had red hair, though his was quite long and tinged with a liberal amount of gray. George's face and long red and gray beard had soot marks giving the impression that something had recently exploded in his face. James' eyes twinkled as he asked his uncle "Got the lowdown on the latest and greatest?"
"Don't I always?" he answered back, a smile playing around his eyes.
Dalia was introduced to George who, in turn, introduced her to his wife, Angelina, and his children, Roxanne and Fred who all worked at the shop on summer weekends. Angelina was a black witch who wore her long hair in braids that had been elegantly twisted and arranged high on her head. Fred was almost as dark as his mother and his dark curly hair was cut very short. Roxanne, who was much fairer than her mother, wore her red-brown hair in many braids too but hers were gathered together into a ponytail.
Fred, it turned out, was in his final year at Hogwarts and Roxanne was in school a few years below him. Fred didn't have much time to chat, as he was preoccupied by a display he was setting up. Roxanne seemed nice but was overly curious about Dalia being introduced as Harry's niece because she had been under the impression that Harry was an only child. When Dalia explained the relationship, she seemed satisfied. Albus explained that Roxie was on the school paper and always liked to get the facts straight.
Dalia enjoyed looking around this shop immensely. There were joke wands and cauldrons, fireworks, and a huge array of potions and jars of mysterious potion ingredients. The gag items were supplemented by comic books with pictures that moved and, off to the side, a section of trick sweets.
When they were finished at the joke shop, Ron and Hermione's family broke off from the group. They said their goodbyes and promised they would be meeting Dalia again soon. Then Ginny took Rose's hand, Ron put his large hands on Hugo's shoulders and the four of them disappeared with two loud pops.
The Dursleys and the Potters made their way back to the Leaky Cauldron where they collapsed with all of their shopping. Harry and Ginny had insisted on buying everyone dinner. Dalia enjoyed a large bowl of stew with an herbal infusion Ginny had recommended which the menu proclaimed would both soothe the weary wizard. It did seem to be working as Dalia was filled with a feeling of contentment, though it might have simply been from the day itself. It had been amazing, better than any birthday or holiday she'd ever had.
She still had lingering questions about her wand but, just at that moment, when she felt as though everything was perfect, they seemed unimportant.
Dalia and her cousins sat talking about Hogwarts. Lily, to Dalia's surprise, had no idea how new students were sorted. James and Al refused to tell her only saying that the rumors about how the procedure took place were worse than how it really happened. Even the adults refused to give specific details.
It was agreed that Dalia would spend the last week of the summer with the Potters. Dalia was pleased by this. She felt that she wanted to know a little more about the magical world before getting on the train for school on the first of September. Karen seemed reluctant to let this early separation happen. She wanted to say goodbye properly at the train station. Dudley was insistent that they could say their goodbyes when the Potters came to fetch Dalia.
"It just makes sense," he told his wife "she'll be around family for that first week away from home. It will be a good transition for everyone. We can write to her every day if you'd like—more than once."
Karen began to protest how difficult this would be when Dudley revealed a surprise. On his way back from the bank, he had bought the family a small owl to carry the mail and it had been sent on ahead of them. This was so the Dursleys wouldn't have to worry about having their daughter's mail sent through the postal system. The postal address for Hogwarts mail was in the village near Hogwarts and was sent on via owl. Because it could take nearly a week for mail to arrive in this fashion, Dudley thought it was simpler to just get a family owl.
The families made their farewells and departed. Dalia had wanted to discuss the day during the ride home but she fell asleep and woke up only when they pulled into the driveway.