Chapter 2
The Diagon Alley
[Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto manga or Harry Potter, a series of seven fantasy novels. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto and British author J. K. Rowling respectively. This fiction is just for fun.]
"Character Dialogue"
'Character Thoughts'
"Serpent-tongue"
"Telepathic Conversation"
"Magical Spells"
"Demon /Monsters/Summon"
(Place: London)
It was August 31st. Our favourite heterochromatic wizard boy, Naruto, was standing on the balcony of his hotel, looking at the nice view of London City. He was dressed in black pants and a purple t-shirt.
After arriving in London by portkey, he and Shizune were staying in the Merchant Inn, one of the finest hotels in London, which was rarely ever visited by middle-class wizards and witches, and was also never really spoken of unless you were an upper-class wizard.
The hotel room was pretty big. It had two bedrooms, and a large living room. The rooms were luxurious and fashionably furnished: large paintings on the walls, curios on the sideboard, vases of flowers, expensive furniture and a large fireplace. The place itself was very beautiful.
"Naruto-kun!"
It was Shizune. She was sitting at the dining table and waiting for Naruto.
Naruto entered the room and went into the dining area. There Shizune sat, sipping tea. He sat down in front of her.
"Tea, Naruto-kun?" Shizune asked.
Naruto nodded as the kettle magically lifted into the air and poured some hot tea into one of the cups. He dropped two sugar cubes into the tea and stirred. Then he lifted the cup to his lips and sipped the hot tea with a sigh of pleasure.
As they were enjoying the tea and some slices of cake, they heard a knock at the door. Shizune pulled out her wand and with a wave of her wand, she opened the door.
"You may enter," she called.
A man, who was dressed in flowing black robes, entered through the now open door. He was thin, with sallow skin, a large, hooked nose and yellow, uneven teeth. He had shoulder-length, greasy black hair which framed his face in curtains, along with curling lips and dark, penetrating eyes.
He saw Shizune and Naruto sitting at the dining table. He walked towards them, distaste in his eyes.
"Did Dumbledore-sama send you here?" Shizune asked, standing up and pushing her chair back into the table.
"Yes, he has sent me here to show Naruto Uzumaki Diagon Alley and tell him more about Hogwarts School," he said, showing slight displeasure in his voice as he didn't want to waste his time on them.
'Judging from his tone and voice, he didn't even want to come here,' Naruto thought.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki," he introduced himself to the man.
The man just looked at him for a few seconds and said, "My name is Severus Snape. I am the Potions master and Head of Slytherin House at Hogwarts."
"Nice to meet you, Snape-san," Shizune said and gave a slight bow in welcome to him. "I am Shizune, attendant and apprentice of Tsunade Senju."
"Tsunade Senju," Snape said curiously that looked very foreign on his face. "Is she really as strong as witches and wizards say about her?"
"Yes, she has immense raw strength, with which she can create fissures with a single finger jab at the ground."
Snape thought something for few second before he looked at Naruto's hand.
"Let me show you how to get into Diagon Alley," He said, "But we need to go to the lobby. The whole hotel is secured by anti-Apparition wards and the lobby is the only place where we can Apparate in or out of the building."
Both Shizune and Naruto nodded and they started to walk toward the lobby.
XXX
(Place: Leaky Cauldron, London)
Snape, Naruto and Shizune Apparated in a tiny, grubby-looking pub. Snape stared at Naruto as though he was expecting something from him.
"It isn't your first time Apparating, is it?" he asked when he saw Naruto looked perfectly fine.
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked confusedly.
"Most people vomit the first time they successfully Apparate."
"Aha, yes."
"So where are we?" Shizune asked as she interrupted their conversation.
The place was very dark and shabby. A few old men and women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. A large man was talking to the old bartender, who was quite bald and looked like a toothless walnut. The low buzz of chatter stopped when they Apparated in. Everyone seemed to know Snape; some of them even became nervous once spotting him.
"It is the Leaky Cauldron, a popular wizarding pub in London. It is the entrance to Diagon Alley," Snape explained, ignoring the tension around them.
Naruto noticed that many of the people outside of the pub were hurrying by and didn't even glance at it. Their eyes slid from the big book shop on one side to the record shop on the other as if they couldn't see the Leaky Cauldron at all.
'So Muggles can't see the pub,' he thought silently to himself.
Snape led them through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a trash can and a few weeds.
"This wall is the entrance of Diagon Alley," he explained, gesturing to the brick wall above the trash can.
He pulled his wand out of his sleeve and tapped the bricks in the wall five times—three up and two across—in an anti-clockwise order, and quickly placed it back in his sleeve.
The bricks his wand had touched quivered—it wriggled—in the middle. It started moving out of the way. Seconds later they were facing an archway large enough for them, onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight.
They stepped through the archway. Naruto looked quickly over his shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall.
The Alley was an assortment of restaurants, shops, and other sights; some even had tables out front with coloured umbrellas. It was packed with witches and wizards.
"Nice place," Shizune said, looking around the Alley. She turned toward Snape. "Snape-san, where is the Gringotts Wizarding Bank, we want withdraw some money?"
"Follow me," He said as he turned and walked off.
They were walking down a busy street, when Naruto saw a shop called Broomstick. Several boys around his age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it.
Naruto looked at Snape. Trying to start a civil conversation, he asked, "Professor Snape, you are the Potions Professor in the Hogwarts, right?"
Snape glanced at Naruto then looked forward. "Yes."
Naruto nodded, figuring that Snape wasn't a person for conversation. "What is the first-year potions curriculum?" he asked.
Snape looked down at Naruto. "We teach first-year students the Cure for Boils potion, and the Forgetfulness Potion."
"And?" Naruto said as he expected more.
Snape raised his brow slightly. "Aconite, bezoars, and some basic details on preparation of the Draught of Living Death, collecting the ingredients for Wiggenweld Potion and the 12 uses of dragon blood," he added after that.
"No more healing potions or any advanced potions?" Naruto asked. Snape shook his head. "That sucks."
"Naruto!" Shizune shouted as she slapped him upside down on the head.
"Ouch! Sorry, Shizune nee-chan," Naruto said while rubbing his head.
Ignoring them like nothing happened; Snape asked Naruto, "Why do you want to learn Advanced Potions?"
"I want to become the best Healer ever and Potion is one of the requirements to become a Healer." Naruto answered.
Snape stared at him for a few seconds turning to walk away.
XXX
A few minutes later, they had reached a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops. Standing on either side of its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, were two goblins.
"This is Gringotts Wizarding Bank," Snape said. Then he looked at Naruto and Shizune. "I've got to go somewhere; I'll meet you two later. You can find all of the items on the Hogwarts supply list in Diagon Alley."
"It's ok, Snape-san," Shizune said. "Thank you."
Snape then turned away and disappeared with a pop.
Both Shizune and Naruto they walked up the white stone steps toward the goblin. He was about a head shorter than Naruto. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside.
Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:
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 than treasure there.
A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these.
Shizune and Naruto made for the counter.
"Hello," she said to a free goblin. "We've come here to take some money out from Mr Uzumaki's vault, No. 721."
"Do you have his key?"
"Yes," Naruto said, holding up a golden key.
The goblin looked at Key closely. "That seems to be in order," he said. "I will have someone take you down to vault. Nboxez!"
Nboxez was another goblin. Shizune and Naruto followed Nboxez toward one of the doors leading out of the hall.
Nboxez held the door open for them, showing a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. It sloped steeply downward and there were little railway tracks on the floor. Nboxez whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. They climbed in and were off.
At first they just hurtled through a maze of twisting passages. The rattling cart seemed to know its own way, because Nboxez wasn't steering it.
Then they plunged deeper, passing an underground lake where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor. The air became colder and colder as they hurtled round the tight corners. They went rattling over an underground ravine.
The cart stopped beside a small door in the passage wall. Vault seven hundred and twenty-one had no keyhole. They got out and stood front of the door.
"Stand back," Nboxez ordered.
He stroked the door gently with one of his long fingers as the door melted away, showing another door inside with a keyhole. Using the key he unlocked the door. A lot of green smoke came billowing out. Inside were many large mounds of gold Galleons, many columns of silver Sickles and heaps of little bronze Knuts.
"Is it a some of money?" Naruto asked Shizune.
The vault was filled with a large fortune. It would most likely put any high-class wizard family's vault shame.
Shizune shook her head as she helped Naruto pile some of it into a small bag. They took some money—around 200 gold Galleons, 600 silver Sickles and 1200 bronze Knuts—from his vault.
"Let's go," she said.
Another hell ride later, they were standing outside of Gringotts.
"Now what?" Naruto asked.
"Maybe we should first buy your uniform." Shizune said, nodding toward Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.
XXX
They entered Madam Malkin's shop. They saw a women, Naruto assumed she was Madam Malkin, fixing a uniform for another customer.
A boy around Naruto's age was standing on a footstool, looking goof with flying tape measures all around him. He had round-faced with a short, chubby build and brown hair. There was an old lady right behind him, wearing a hat with a stuffed vulture on it. She had a bright red handbag in her hand.
Both Shizune and Naruto went near them.
"Excuse me," Shizune said to Madam Malkin.
Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve. She looked at Shizune and then looked at Naruto.
"Hogwarts, dear?" she said. "Got the lot here—another young man being fitted up just now." She pointed at the chubby boy.
Shizune nodded dumbly. 'Her English is weird,' she thought.
"You're not from around here, are you?" the old lady next to her asked.
"No," Shizune answered, "I'm from Japan."
"I thought so," the old lady said. "I'm Augusta Longbottom and this boy," she pointed at the brown haired boy, "is my grandson Neville Longbottom."
"My name is Shizune."
"Hi, I'm Naruto," Naruto introduced to Neville, sticking out his hand towards him. He was standing on a stool next to him.
The boy reached out his hand and stepped forward but tripped over the stool. Naruto caught him so quickly; the boy didn't get a chance to yelp. The boy seemed stunned at first, but he quickly stood up and straightened his robes.
"Neville, stop being so clumsy!" his grandmother scolded him.
"S-sorry, Gran," Neville said. He turned towards Naruto. "Thanks...my name is Neville."
Madam Malkin came toward Naruto and slipped a long robe over his head, and began to pin it to the right length while a second witch was doing same with Neville.
"Are you going Hogwarts, too?" Naruto asked.
"Yes," Neville said shyly.
'He's shy, and has very low self-confidence. Those traits will seriously affect his Wizarding abilities and training,' Naruto thought as he analysed the boy's condition by his behaviour. 'It must be because of a traumatic event or something else. I'm not sure.'
His train of thought was cut off by Madam Malkin' voice.
"That's you two done, my dears," she said to both boys.
"Thank you," Naruto said as he hopped down from the footstool. Neville did the same.
Madam Malkin handed packages to both boys. Shizune paid for Naruto while Augusta paid for her grandson.
Just before leaving the room with his sister, Naruto looked back over at Neville's grandmother, Augusta.
"Your grandson's shy behaviour and low-confidence are making him clumsy," he said to Augusta, stunning her. "That will seriously affect his Wizarding abilities and training. There is only one solution on this...you'll have to first believe in him, so he can believe in himself."
There was absolute silence in the shop. No one said anything, not even Neville's grandmother.
"A man is not as big as his belief in himself; he is as big as the number of persons who believe in him," he added. He looked at Neville, who had tears in his eyes. It was probably the first time someone had stood up for him. "I'll see you at Hogwarts, Neville."
He and Shizune left the shop, leaving Neville and his grandma in the shop.
XXX
Both Naruto and Shizune were now outside of the shop.
"Naruto-kun...you did a good thing back there," Shizune said, smiling.
"Thank," Naruto said. "I don't doubt that she loves her grandson. I sensed her emotion when she was looking at Neville. It was love and care...but there was also sadness and disappointment," he glanced at the clothing shop. "Neville's parents must be a powerful witch and wizard, and she would have been expecting great things from Neville."
"You have never failed to amaze me with your empathic ability and analysing skill, Naruto-kun," Shizune said as she ruffled his hair.
"Being an empath, sometimes, is not good thing," Naruto said, running his hands through his hair to get them in the right place.
"What do you mean?"
"Being an empath, you can't lie to himself about others feeling towards you. You can feel their hatred or anger towards you. It is not easy dealing with people's negative emotions."
Shizune nodded and said, "Now, let's go. We still have to buy other items on the list."
They bought school books from a shop called Flourish and Blotts where the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all.
They got a nice set of scales for weighing potion ingredients and a collapsible brass telescope from Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment. Then they visited the Apothecary, which was fascinating enough to make up for its horrible smell, a mixture of bad eggs and rotted cabbages. Barrels of slimy stuff stood on the floor; jars of herbs, dried roots, and bright powders lined the walls; bundles of feathers, strings of fangs, and snarled claws hung from the ceiling. They bought a supply of some basic potion ingredients from there.
Outside the Apothecary, Shizune checked Hogwarts supply list again.
"Well, the only thing left is your wand," She said.
XXX
The wand shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.
A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop when Naruto and Shizune stepped inside. The shop was tiny, empty except for a single, spindly chair in the corner. Thousands of narrow boxes were piled right up to the ceiling of the tiny shop, and the whole place had a thin layer of dust.
"Good afternoon," a soft voice said.
It was an old man, standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop.
"Hello," Naruto said.
"I'm Garrick Ollivander. Welcome to the Ollivanders Wand Shop, the best wand shop in Britain," Old man said. He looked at Naruto. "A student?"
"Yes," Shizune answered. Then she placed her hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Naruto needs a wand."
"May I ask who you are?" Mr. Ollivander asked. "Are you a witch? Because I don't remember you buying a wand here and I know every wand I ever sold."
"I'm Shizune. I'm not from Britain," she answered.
"Really? Where are you from then?"
"Japan," she answered in an irritated tone.
"Aha! Yes, yes," he said and then turned toward Naruto. "What is your name?"
"Naruto Uzumaki."
"An Uzumaki? Any relation with Uzumaki Enterprises?"
"Yes," Naruto said. "I'm the heir of Uzumaki Enterprises."
"Nice to meet you," Ollivander said as he, suddenly, seized his hand to shake it. "Most of wand making materials of my shops are supplied by Uzumaki Enterprises."
"Ok, Old man," Naruto said as he pulled his hand out of his.
"Well, now, Mr. Uzumaki Let me see," Mr. Ollivander said as he pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"
"I'm an ambidextrous. I can use my both arms," Naruto said.
"Ambidextrous, that's interesting," he said as he manoeuvred the tape measure around his body.
He measured Naruto from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head.
"Mr. Uzumaki, every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance. We sell only best wands. No two Ollivander wands are the same. They are always different and unique. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."
While Ollivander was talking and flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes, the tape measure was measuring Naruto its own.
"That will do," Mr. Ollivander said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Mr. Uzumaki. Try this one. Hawthorn and dragon heartstring. Ten inches. Nice and flexible."
Naruto took the wand in his hand and said, "It doesn't feel right." He waved the wand, and it made many boxes fall out of the shelves.
Ollivander snatched it out of his hand. "You are quite right," he said as he got another wand for Naruto. "Here, willow and unicorn hair, seven-and-a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."
Naruto waved it, and it made a flower pot break. It was snatched back by Ollivander again.
"Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try—"
Naruto tried. And tried. It seemed that he had tried out almost all of the wands within the shop, he had vandalized the half wand shop in the process, but couldn't find the right one for him.
"How is this possible?" Ollivander stated in disbelief, not once has a wizard been reject by so many wands.
"As a member of the Uzumaki clan, he has both an exceptionally long life-span and a high potency level of magic compared to others," Shizune explained to him.
"Really?" Ollivander asked. He looked surprised. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"
"Because you never asked me," she said. However, silently she thought, 'Serves you right for irritating me before.'
Before he could go to get Naruto a new wand, he paused and stared at Naruto's eyes.
"You've two different-colored eyes?" Ollivander said as he moved closer to Naruto. "You've heterochromia?"
"Yes."
"Interesting," He muttered under his breath, and went to the back room, reaching for a wand that Naruto hadn't tried yet.
Ollivander searched the back room until his eyes laid upon a black wand box with a lock on it.
'I wonder,' he thought.
He took the box and turned around, slowly walking back toward the boy.
Naruto looked up from the counter as Ollivander walked towards him, he opened a drawer and pulled out a key to unlock the box.
"Here… try this one…"
Naruto could hear the nervousness in the man's voice. He saw the wand. It was a black-coloured wand that had purple coloured design on it, which reminded him of Karasu's feathers.
Naruto took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers and then something amazing happened. A purple-black river seemed to pour from the wand, it twisted and turned and slithered around him. It stopped right above his head; the end of the red river twisted into large black coloured bird— it looked like a raven. It opened its wings and gave a loud cry of joy, which shattered all glass objects in the shop, before dissolving into small black coloured light dust-particles.
"Wow!" Naruto said. "I'll take this. How much?"
Ollivander didn't hear him. He was looking around the shop while crying anime style that his nice clean store was now a mess.
Both Naruto and Shizune sweat dropped at this. "Don't worry; I'll pay extra for it," Naruto added.
"Thank you," Ollivander said. He took a deep breath. "Anyway, your wand is one of the oldest wands in my shop. It was crafted by my great-grandfather. Twelve-and-a-three-quarters inches. Yew. Its core is rare, quite picky and... dangerous. In my father's time, one wizard forcefully tried to wield this wand by doing a spell. It was a bad decision. Very bad." He looked at Naruto. "You see in the most of case, a wand does refuse to cooperate with wizard, but this wand did something more...evil. It consumed that wizard soul and left him as an empty shell."
"What is its core?" Shizune asked curiously. She wanted to know about the wand while Naruto was also eagerly waiting for his answer.
"Well, to tell you the truth, I don't know much about it."
After hearing his answer, both Shizune and Naruto nearly fell on the ground.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Shizune shouted.
"My great-grandfather found it when he was in japan to collect new ingredients for wands. The core of wand is feather of an unknown black bird. My great-grandfather had described about the bird that he was only saw a glance of it before it disappeared into the shadow, leaving its single black feather on the ground."
'This sounds familiar,' Naruto thought.
He asked, "Can you tell me more about this feather?"
"From my great-grandfather has written about it that it was beautiful black coloured feather with purple coloured rune-like markings over it."
"A Yatagarasu's feather," Naruto concluded.
"That's why," Shizune said, looking at purple marking over Naruto's wand, "this marking looks familiar to me."
"The Yatagarasu, Do you mean the Three-legged crow?" Ollivander asked. Naruto nodded. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. They have black feathers with purple coloured rune-like marking over it and the power to disappear into the shadow," Naruto said.
"Naruto know more than anyone in the world about them, because his animal companion is a Yatagarasu," Shizune said.
Ollivander just stared at Naruto with a shocked expression on his face. "Your animal companion is a Yatagarasu?" he asked.
"Yes," Naruto said. He noticed the hungry look in his eyes. Naruto sweat dropped. "No. I am not giving you her feather. She loves her feathers very much."
"Well, ok," Ollivander said. There was disappointment in his voice.
"Anyway," Naruto said, "can you make a custom wand-handle for me?"
Ollivander nodded. "What kind of handle you want?" he asked.
"Well, I want," Naruto said as he told his requirement for his wand-handle. "Can you do that?"
"Yes, I can," Ollivander said. "It would take me minimum of two hours to make it for you."
Naruto gave his wand to Mr. Ollivander. "Also," he said. Out of his pocket, he pulled a small red bag and handed it to Wandmaker, "Place it on the end of my wand-handle."
Ollivander opened bag and looked inside of it. "Where did you find this? They are very rare."
"It belongs to my family," Naruto said.
XXX
Both Naruto and Shizune were now outside of the wand shop. They were walking on the street while their cart, which was filled with Naruto's school items like cloths, books etc., was following after them magically.
"So what now?" Shizune asked.
"Let's check out that shop," Naruto said, pointing at Magical Menagerie shop.
By placing some security charm, they left their cart outside and entered in the Magical Menagerie. It was a pet shop. It was very cramped with noisy every inch of wall covered by cages.
"Welcome to the Magical Menagerie." They heard a female voice behind them. Turning around, they saw a woman in her sixties. "What can I do for you, Madam and Sir?"
"We are jus—" Shizune couldn't finish her sentence as the old lady suddenly appeared front of her and held her hand.
"I've a perfect pet for you, Madam," the old lady said as she pulled Shizune with her and started to show her various animals in her shop.
Naruto sweat dropped as he knew Shizune was struggling to free herself from the old lady's hold. But her efforts were turned out to be useless; the old lady, who was apparently stronger than her age suggested, was perfectly holding her.
'Is she related to Grandma Tsunade?' Naruto thought. 'Nah, I don't think so.'
In the all noise in the shop, there was a strange hissing sound coming from the corner of the shop—well, a strange hissing sound for a normal person but not for Naruto.
"Hhello. Iss anione herrre?" the hissing voice said.
Naruto moved his head to the side listening. Slowly, he turned his head towards the noise and looked at the corner of shop. Narrowing his eyes, he went in the direction the voice had come from.
"That's interesting," Naruto said.
In the corner of the shop stood a large glass tank holding a white snake of considerable size, the same size of an average king cobra.
He was a rather pretty snake. His scales weren't just white, they were more "Mother of Pearl" in colouring, and looked glossed with the finest polish. His head stood a tall three feet off the ground, showing a small red diamond in the middle of his head.
And his eyes, his eyes like the brightest gold flakes with slits.
Naruto moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake.
"Vhhat iss yourr name?" he asked in parseltongue, the language of serpents—it made a hissing sound, similar to a snake.
Snake looked him with his golden eyes. "I havve no name," he replied.
"Thhen I'll givve you one," Naruto said. "Vhhat do thhink about Nagi?"
"Nagi—It iss a good name." the snake nodded his head.
"Vherre arre you frrom?"
"I—don't knov?"
"Vannt to come vithh me?" Naruto asked. Nagi nodded. "Givve me ffew minutessss."
Naruto turned around and started walking towards the cashier counter.
'That snake isn't a normal magical animal,' He thought while walking. He could feel a large magical energy coming from Nagi.
When he reached at counter he saw Shizune, holding a white cat in her hand.
Shizune saw Naruto. "Naruto-kun, look at her, isn't she adorable?" she said, showing him a white cat.
The cat was a large. She had a pure white coat, bottle-brush tail and big blue eyes. She was really cute. Naruto noticed she was releasing a small magical energy.
"She is not a normal cat, is she?" Naruto said.
"You are right, Young man," Old lady said. "She is cat-Kneazle crossbreed."
"Hmm," Naruto said as he looked at the cat. "She is cute, Shizune nee-chan. What are you going to call her anyway?"
Shizune looked at the cat. "I'm going to name you Miyuki," she said, petting the cat and getting a purr in return.
"Nice name," Naruto said. Then he turned toward the old lady. He pointed at particular corner of the shop. "I want to buy that white-snake."
"You want to buy a snake?" the old lady asked in surprised tone.
"Yes," Naruto said. "But why are you surprised?"
The old lady said, "Snake are usually attributed to the Dark Arts. In these days not many people like snakes because of You-Know-Who." She whispered last part.
Naruto nodded. "But I want to buy him," he said.
"Well, alright," the old-lady said.
When she went the back room to get the papers they needed, both Shizune and Naruto went toward the white-snake.
"He's really a pretty snake," Shizune said, seeing a white-snake.
"He's also intelligent," Naruto said.
Shizune suddenly turned toward him. "You talked to him," she asked. Naruto nodded. "Naruto-kun, for everyone, especially in Britain, Parselmouth is the mark of a Dark Wizard. So please, from now try to avoid using parseltongue in public places."
Naruto nodded. "I'll try, Shizune nee-chan."
Few minute later, the old lady came toward them, holding necessary papers.
"These are your papers," she said as she handed papers to them.
They took the papers from her. After reading them over, they signed their respective names, the amount they were paying, and paid the old lady.
"Thank you," the old lady said, taking both the papers and money from them.
"Can you tell me more about him?" Naruto asked as he pointed at his new pet.
"Well, he is poisonous. But don't worry about it, he is a generally docile snake. His favourite food is fish. About his species, he is crossbreed of king-cobra and a magical snake, though what breed I don't know."
'I don't think he is a crossbreed,' Naruto thought. 'No crossbreed has that much amount of magical energy.'
XXX
After spending a long time looking at many magical items in various shops they were once again in Ollivanders wand shop.
When Naruto and Shizune walked into the shop, they instantly noticed extra damage in the shop.
"Welcome back Mr. Uzumaki and Miss. Shizune," Ollivander said when he saw both of them.
"Another customer?" Naruto asked, pointing at extra damage.
"Yes, yes," Ollivander said."A very tricky customer."
"Anyway, is Naruto's wand ready?" Shizune asked, suddenly, ending their conversation.
"Yes, it is," Ollivander said. He went the back room in his shop and came back with a black wand box. "Here it is."
Ollivander opened the box, showing them Naruto's wand. It looked same, but the end of the wand was a new silvery-black coloured handle, engraved with silvery-white Snake and black Raven. The snake's mouth was open and around the upper wand while its tail and rest of body was wrapped around the Raven. The bottom of the handle had small blood-red ruby which was held by one of the Raven's talon. If anyone looked closely at ruby, they could see the Uzumaki Clan Swirl inside of it. It was—
"Beautiful," Shizune said.
"You did a great job, Old man," Naruto said. He really liked his new handle.
"Thank you," Ollivander said, happily.
He put Naruto's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper. He gave it to Shizune.
"What is the total cost of all items?" Shizune asked, taking Naruto's wand from his hand.
"Fifteen Gallons for the wand and five Gallons for the custom handle," Ollivander said. "Total twenty Gallons."
Shizune gave him twenty-five Gallons. "Extra five for the damage," she said.
Ollivander nodded. "Thank you," He took the money from her, "You are my second famous customer in this year, whom I've sold a wand," he said, referring Naruto's famous reputation as the heir of the Uzumaki Enterprises and the son of Minato and Kushina.
"Who is the first?" Shizune asked, curiously.
"Harry Potter," Ollivander answered.
"Is Harry Potter attending the Hogwarts this year?" Naruto asked.
Ollivander nodded.
'This is interesting,' Naruto thought himself. Then he looked at the wandmaker and said,"Anyway, goodbye, see you next time."
"Goodbye, Mr. Uzumaki, and good luck with your future studies in Hogwarts." Ollivander said.
Naruto nodded as he and Shizune left the wand shop.
XXX
It was mid-afternoon and the sun was blazing high in the sky as Naruto and Shizune made their way back down Diagon Alley, back through the wall, back through the Leaky Cauldron. When they reached there, they saw Snape waiting for them.
"Hello, Professor Snape."
"Good afternoon, Snape-san."
Both Naruto and Shizune greeted him.
"Good afternoon," Snape said. Then he noticed a snake sleeping inside of the tank on his cart. "You like snakes."
"Yes, he likes snake," Shizune said as she narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you one of those kind of people who thinks that snakes are a symbol of the Dark Arts?"
Snape shook his head. "No, I'm the head of Slytherin House and its emblematic animal is a snake."
"Oh! Sorry," Shizune apologised for the misunderstanding.
Snape reached into his pocket and pulled out a ticket. It was ticket for the Hogwarts Express. He gave the slip of paper to Shizune. "This is a ticket for the Hogwarts Express for. All required information is printed on the ticket. Ask your lobby manager about Platform Nine and Three-Quarters (Platform 9¾); he will tell you more about it," He said before disappearing with pop.
"He is cold," Shizune said, "but he is a good man."
"Yes, but his heart is filled with pain, guilt and regret," Naruto said as he had sensed those emotions from the depth of Snape's heart.
With that Naruto was again able to amaze Shizune with his empathic ability.
"Anyway, let's go," Shizune said as she placed her hand on Naruto's shoulder before disappearing with a loud crack.
(TBC)
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