– CHAPTER TWO –
Diagon Alley
It had been a week since Lily had found out about the adoption and the fact that she was a witch. Slowly she began to come to terms with it. However, she did not know anything about the world she was going to experience yet. Sure, she had known her uncle Earl, but she had never known he was a wizard. Truth be told, she had just thought that he was a little bit weird. He never quite knew how to dress properly. Often she had found him wearing weird cloaks, and whenever he tried to put on 'normal' clothes he wore things that didn't match or were completely ridiculous. Now, of course, she knew this was due to the fact that wizards didn't wear muggle-clothes, as it was apparently called. There were other weird things about her uncle earl too. He had not known how to use a cellphone. Sure, most people over forty didn't know how to operate a smartphone, or could only use them to call and text, but her phone was an oldfashioned nokia, without internet, apps or games, and he had not known how to use that either. He didn't even know you had to type in numbers to call someone! She realized now that wizards and witches used very different ways of communication.
Yesterday morning an owl had showed up, tapping against her window with its beak. She had been scared at first, never really having liked birds. But the bird had been very persistent, staying at her window for over 30 minutes. As she walked towards her window to take a closer look she had noticed a piece of parchment tied to its leg. As she let the owl in, it sat down on her desk, giving her easy acces to the parchment. She soon realized this was why her uncle didn't know how to use the telephone. This was one of the ways wizards and witches communicated. She opened the piece of parchment, that was neatly folded in four, and realized it was a letter written by her uncle.
Hogsmeade, August 30, 2011
Dear Lily,
I will be picking you up tomorrow at nine o'clock in the morning. Make sure you have packed all the belongings you wish to take with you to Hogwarts, seeing as we won't have the time to go back to your house after we have done the shopping. You won't be needing any money, your muggle money isn't worth anything in our world. Your parents have left you a great deal of wizarding money in the bank, so don't worry about it.
- Your uncle Earl
It was five to nine, and Lily was waiting for her uncle Earl to show up. She started to get nervous, she hadn't realized how close the first of September was. Tomorrow she would be off to Hogwarts. She would learn how to be a witch.
Lily sat down in their living room, anxiously looking through the window to see if she could see her uncle Earl arriving. She had never been this excited to see her weird uncle, at least, that was what she'd always thought of him. However, now that she knew what, or rather who, he was she found him a lot less weird and a lot more intruiging. Then an idea popped into her mind. He had known her parents, he did, after all, help find her a new family, so he must have known them. She made a mental note to ask him later.
Suddenly she heard a lot of coughing on the other side of the room. As she looked around she saw her uncle Earl stumble and fall out of the fireplace. 'Ugh, you really have to clean that fireplace of yours, sis.' He yelled to her mother. Then he continued on to himself 'I should have known a muggle and a squib wouldn't clean their fireplace out regularly.'
While this played out in front of her eyes, Lily could do nothing but look at it. She was totally flabbergasted, wondering how her uncle could have just appeared out of a fireplace. A fireplace of all things. Brilliant.
She heard her mom running down the stairs, skipping the last step like she always did herself. 'Oh Earl!' she cried out 'I am so sorry, I figured you would take the car like you did last time. Of course, I didn't realize that you would use wizarding transport now that Lily knows about magic.'
Uncle Earl shook his head like she was crazy. 'Of course I'm not taking a car if I don't need to. They are awfully comfortable and they cost a lot of unnecessary time. The Floo network is much quicker.'
Then he turned around to face Lily 'Ah, miss Lily Potter. You have no idea how great it is that you finally know who you really are.' He grinned at her widely 'You ready for some shopping? It will be fun!' He looked around the room, trying to find her trunk. 'Where's your trunk darling?' Lily pointed to the hall, and he followed her directions. After a few seconds he was back, carrying her trunk. He turned to his sister again 'Well, sis, I would love to stay a little longer. But I'm afraid we have a lot of shopping to do, and we have so little time.'
Lily felt her heart racing. Sure, she had been looking forward to this. She was very excited to find out more about her background, find out more about the wizarding world. However, she dreaded the thought of having to leave her parents behind. She turned to her mother and her father, who had just walked in, tears in her eyes. 'I'm gonna miss you guys. I won't be able to see you for months.' Her mother engulfed her in a big hug.
'I know sweetie, but you know what you'll be experiencing so many new and great things you won't have time to miss us.' Emily said.
After she had hugged her mom, Lily turned to her father. He pulled her in for a hug as well. As he let her go again he kissed her on the forehead. 'You'll do great sweetie, I just know it. We'll write you every week! Your mom knows how to use owls.' He chuckled, knowing that Lily found the whole wizarding communication just as weird as he did.
'Alrighty' Earl broke up the goodbyes 'You ready?' he held out a bowl with some powder in it. Lily just looked at him, confused as to what to do with the powder. 'Right, you haven't done this before. We're gonna take the Floo network.' This didn't make things any clearer for Lily 'We're gonna travel through the fireplace.' Her uncle clarified. 'Take some of the powder.' Lily did as she was told 'When you're ready, you'll throw some of the powder in the fireplace, step in it and say The Leaky Cauldron. Say it clearly or you'll end up in the wrong place, and we want you to be in London!' He warned her.
'London?' she questioned 'Is that where we are going? Can you find all this stuff in London?'
Earl chuckled. 'Of course, as long as you know where to be you can find everything in London.' Then he waved his hand towards the fireplace 'Go on then, remember to say it clearly. The Leaky Cauldron.'
Hesitantly Lily walked towards the fireplace. She threw the powder on the floor of the fireplace and stepped into it. She had expected something to happen as soon as she threw down the powder. Maybe like a door appearing? But nothing did. So she just followed her uncles instructions 'The Leaky Cauldron'. As soon as she was done talking green flames came up around her. She expected it to burn, but she couldn't feel the flames at all. However, no more than a second later she felt the world around her beginning to spin. Before she knew it she fell out of another fireplace. Quickly she scrambled up, not wanting to be crushed by her uncle, who was supposed to follow her. As she looked up she saw that she had landed in some sort of pub. She was surprised to find that noone found it weird that she had just come out of a fireplace. Everyone continued with whatever they were doing. Not at all fazed by the fact that someone had appeared out of a fireplace. As she looked around she noticed that all the people were dressed like her uncle. They were wearing long robes, of all different sorts. She even saw some people wearing the pointed hats that muggle fairytales associated with witches. So they weren't all just fairytales.
Not long after she had come out of the fireplace, her uncle followed. He was immediately greeted by the people in the pub. After shaking some hands, he walked to a little table near the door of the pub. A man was already sitting at the table. 'Tom! What happened to the retirement? Shouldn't you be enjoying your freedom instead of sitting here?' The two men heartily laughed.
'Ah, can't an old man enjoy a butterbeer anymore?' The man Earl had called Tom looked towards Lily 'Merlin's beard!' he exclaimed loudly 'You must be-'
However, before he could continue Earl had cut in 'Ssh, I think it's best no one knows. She's my cousin, alright?' Although it sounded like a question, his face showed that there was no room for discussion.
'Of course, ofcourse.' Tom extended his hand towards Lily 'Nice to meet you, Lily.' He looked towards Earl to see if it was okay to use her first name. Her uncle nodded in response 'My name's Tom. This lovely pub used to be mine, untill I retired. Lovely Hannah is doing a great job of running it now.' Then a light seemed to go on in his head 'And Neville ofcourse, he will be your herbology teacher!' Then he continued softly 'And he knew your parents, very well.'
Lily didn't quite know how to respond to this man. Luckily he didn't expect her to, as he turned to Earl soon after. 'So will you be joining me for a butterbeer?' Earl just shook his head, explaining the fact that they had a lot of shopping to do. 'Ah right, a muggle family right. That means they didn't have anything required for Hogwarts. Am I right?' He waited for Earls confirmation 'Well then, it's best I don't keep you from your duties any longer.' He spoke to Lily once again 'It was very nice meeting you, Miss Lily. And you Earl...' he addressed her uncle 'Come by soon, so that we can have that butterbeer!'
'All right, follow me' Lily had expected her uncle to walk to the front door of the pub, and was very much surprised when she realized he went to the rear of the Leaky Cauldron. As they stepped out of the back door they found themselves in a little courtyard. Encircled by a brick wall. Lily realized he took out his wand. She had totally forgotten about those, of course he would have a wand. It had been on her supplies list as well. 'Okay, look closely my dear. If you want to go into Diagon Alley, take out your wand, which we will be getting later, and do exactly as I do now. Go three bricks up, and two across, tap the brick three times. And voila.'
Lily was watching the bricks starting to move, forming an arch, through which she saw a crowded shopping street. 'Bloody hell...' She heard her uncle chuckle lightly 'This is all so weird. I could never have dreamed something like this existed.' As they walked through the arch Lily didn't know which way to look. Everything around her was so differen from what she was used to. There were shops filled with owls, a shop selling wands, cauldrons were set out in front of another shop and besides people there were little... Lily didn't really know what word to use. They weren't beasts, they were much more like humans. They were little beings with long thin fingers and feet, black eyes and huge heads.
Earl saw her looking at one of the beings 'Ah, you've noticed the goblins. You'll be seeing a lot more of them in a minute, when we get to Gringotts, the wizarding bank. It is completely operated by Goblins.' He stood still for a moment, halting in front of a huge white building with marble steps leading up to large bronze doors. 'Here it is, Gringotts.' He hold out his arms in a melodramatic way, pointing towards the building 'Your parents left you a good fortune in this bank, and trusted me with the key.' He continued as they walked inside the lobby which was paved with marble. It was a busy place, hundreds of wizards and goblins running around. Along the side of the room were long counters, behind it goblins were sitting on high stools to help the customers. They walked towards the counter and Earl spoke to one of the goblins. 'Griphook, how great to see you again.' Earl said, disdain clearly heard in his voice.
'Mr. Diamond.' The goblin nodded curtly 'How may I help you today' He took a quick glance at Lily standing behind her uncle.
'My niece would like to enter her parents' vault' Earl entered, politely, though it was clear he did not like the goblin.
'Ah' recognition was visible in the goblins eye 'Miss Potter, I see.' He was looking her up and down, making her feel uncomfortable. 'Key please!' Earl handed over a small golden key. 'Good. Now follow me Miss Potter.' He spoke softly enough, so that nobody besides the three of them would hear. 'I shall take you to your vault.' They followed him through one of the doors leading from the hallway. They stepped into a small cart, just big enough to fit the three of them. They took only a short ride in the cart, before they turned a corner and stopped in front of a big door. The goblin, Griphook, placed his hand on the door of the vault and the wooden door melted away. Quickly Earl took some golden coins out of the vault, before he returend to the cart. They were outside again in a matter of minutes.
'Okay, now let's go shopping!' he enthusiastically exclaimed.
They spent hours buying everything that was on the list from Hogwarts. Around half past 4 they only had one more thing to do. This was the part Lily had been looking forward to the most. 'A wand' she softly whispered 'I'm going to get my own wand' She looked up to her uncle with big eyes, while he just grinned at her.
'Here we are, Ollivanders: Makers of fine wands.' He laughed at her amazed expression 'Let's see what wand will pick you.' She had heard about this earlier in the day. Apparently it wasn't the buyer who picked which wand they wanted to buy, the wand picked the buyer.
They walked into the little store. It looked a little shabby, small boxes piled up against the walls. Lily wondered how these boxes would stay up, they were all just piled up on one another, looking as if they would fall down any minute. Dust was covering the top boxes, though the counter was very clean. Boxes were scattered all over the floor. 'I am truly sorry for the mess' a man with white hair and a sunken face speaks up 'The last customer wasn't quite used to holding a wand, and I am afraid he made a pretty big mess.' However, with one wave of his own wand, all the boxes that were lying on the floor placed themselves on top of the boxes piled up against the walls. 'There we go, looks a lot better.'
Only then he realized that Lily was standing behind Earl. He looked at her intently. And then looked away when he was speaking. 'Your mothers red hair and your fathers green eyes, you must be none other than Lily Potter. You look just like your grandmother when she was young. I wondered when you would show up here.' He walked towards the boxes on his left hand side and carefully took one of the boxes out from the bottom. Slowly he took of the lid, taking out the wand the box was holding. He gave it to her 'Hold this, and wave it carefully'. Lily had expected something to happen, however, nothing did. The man quickly took the wand out of her hand, put it back in the box, and with a wave of his own wand put the box back between the others. 'All right, no phoenix for you.' He murmured in himself 'I really thought you would be easy, seeing as both your brothers had wands similar to your fathers wand. Apparently, it's a little more difficult than that.' Lily looked stunned. Did she have brothers? Why had nobody mentioned this? She was about to speak up, but her uncle held up his hand, indicating that she needed to stay silent. 'All right, let's try this one.' He said as he took out another box from the pile. 'It's core is a unicorn tail hair, taken from a beautiful unicorn. Soft and sweet, much like yourself from what I have heard.' He gave her another wand, a long thin wand, very flexible made of a very light coloured wood. She waved it around softly, and saw silvery white sparks coming out of the end. 'Very well, you were an easy customer after all.'
Earl payed for the wand with the large golden coins they had taken from Gringotts. 'Very well then, thank you Ollivander.' The old man nodded towards them as they waved their goodbyes. As they walked out the door her uncle told her they would go back to The Leaky Cauldron. 'We will get ourselves a room in The Leaky Cauldron, so that we are well on time tomorrow so you won't miss the train!'
As they walked into their room after they had payed for it at the bar of the Leaky Cauldron Lily let herself fall down onto her bed. She was totally drained after that day. There had been so many new experiences. She had seen so many things she would have never thought possible. And yet, it all felt so familiar. She finally felt like she belonged. In the world she grew up in, her powers were weird. The fact that she could make things happen was looked upon strangely, while in this world everyone had magical powers. She looked at her uncle, who had carried her books up the stairs, or rather waved them up the stairs with his wand. She had heard him use some spell, and the books flew through the air towards where his wand pointed.
Now Earl was putting the books in her trunk, so that she wouldn't have to pack them the next morning. One book, however, he left out. After he finished he handed her the book. 'You might want to read the last chapter before you get on the train. It might come in handy to know something about your own background.'
She read the title on the book A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot & Hermione Granger. As she read the Introduction she saw that Bathilda Bagshot had covered all the magical history up to 1900 and Hermione Granger took over afterwards to complete the book and add the most recent history. She quickly looked at the contents. Towards the very end, she was shocked to find her own last name, at least her birth name, Harry Potter page 519. She quickly looked up the page to find the chapter. The second page of the chapter consisted of a picture of a man and a woman. Standing besides them were two little boys and in the woman's arms was a little girl. She looked at the caption under it. It read: Harry, Ginny, James, Albus and Lily Potter. She let out a soft gasp, loud enough, though, for her uncle Earl to hear it. She quickly looked up to him 'Are they...' she couldn't find the words to finish her scentence.
However, Earl knew what she meant. 'Yes. Yes, they are.' He smiled softly, though she could see the sadness through the smile 'Harry and Ginny Potter. They were the two most amazing people I have ever met. You should read the chapter, it explains a lot.' With that he turned away, leaving Lily alone with her thoughts and the book.
HARRY POTTER (AND THE DARK LORD)
This article only gives a short overview, for further reading please see my book 'Harry Potter: a Biography'
Many of the readers won't need an introduction to Harry Potter. Known first for being the only person ever having survived an attack by the Dark Lord, and later for ending the reign of the Dark Lord by killing him.
Harry Potter was born to James Potter and Lily Evans-Potter. However, when he was only a few months old, the Potter family was attacked by the Dark Lord. His parents died trying to protect him. And they succeeded, Harry was the only person ever to survive an attack by the Dark Lord and was therefore called 'The Boy Who Lived'. It is unknown why the Dark Lord could not kill Harry. However, many theories have been formed around this question. The most plausible is the theory Albus Dumbledore, late Headmaster of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, formed. He found that the Dark Lord had underestimated the power of Love, with which Harry's mother protected him as she offered herself to the Dark Lord to safe her son. What we do know is that the failed spell had a huge effect on the Dark Lord himself, hurting him immensely. For years his powers were weak and his influence seemed to be minimal. Many people had hoped the Dark Lord had been beaten forgood, though it would soon become apparent that this was definitely not the case.
Harry, in the meantime, was dropped of at his aunt's, his mothers sister's, house and was therefore raised by muggles. Thus, he did not know the effect he had had on the wizarding world. However, as soon as he entered Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry it became apparent that he was to play an important role in the defeat of the Dark Lord, who was getting stronger and stronger. After he left Hogwarts Harry married Ginny Weasly, who was also his best friend's, Ron's, sister.
Together with his friends Ron Weasly and myself, Hermione Granger, Harry fought the Dark Lord multiple times. In his first year at Hogwarts they prevented the Dark Lord from getting the Philosophers stone, made by Nicolas Flamel, which can be used to brew an elixir that can make the drinker immortal. In his second year Harry killed the beast hidden in the chamber of secrets and destroyed the Dark Lords' first horcrux, a piece of his soul hidden in an object. In his third year Harry helped Sirius Black, who was thought to be one of the Dark Lords helpers, but turned out to be on the good side, escape. In his fourth year at Hogwarts Harry competes in the Triwizard tournament. The tournament is used by the Dark Lord to get acces to Harry, one of his deatheaters turned the trophy in a portkey, using it to transport Harry to a graveyard where the Dark Lord is waiting for him. In the process one of Harry's classmates, Cedric, was killed, however Harry survived and turned back to Hogwarts. During his fifth year Harry faced the Dark Lord and his deatheaters again. However, not without loss, his godfather Sirius Black, whom he helped to escape in his third year at Hogwarts, was killed by Bellatrix Lestrange. During his sixth year at Hogwarts the Dark Lord had returned to his full power again. His deatheaters had used a fellow student of Harry, Draco Malfoy, to get access to Hogwarts castle. Where they attacked Albus Dumbledore. It is Severus Snape, teacher at Hogwarts severely mistrusted by many people at Hogwarts except for Dumbledore himself, who kills Dumbledore to prove himself to the Dark Lord. Later it turned out that this was planned by Dumbledore himself, who was already dying. In what was supposed to be his seventh year at Hogwarts, though he never attended in his last year, Harry, Ron and myself, Hermione Granger, set out to destroy the remaining horcruxes. He succeeded to destroy all, but one; namely himself. Therefore, as the Dark Lord attacked Hogwarts at the end of the school year, Harry offered himself to the Dark Lord, who did not realize Harry was his last horcrux. The fact that he offered himself saved him, very much like the way his mothers offer had saved him once before. Therefore he was able to kill the Dark Lord in a battle later that day.
Though many people believed that this would be the end of the dark wizards ruling the world, Lucius Malfoy, whose son Draco has been mentioned before, took over the position the Dark Lord held. He has never been as strong as the Dark Lord, however, he managed to kill Harry Potter and his wife Ginny Weasly-Potter at an unexpected moment. They left behind three children; James Sirius, Albus Severus and Lily Luna.
Harry has been known for his kind and courageous heart. Striking is the way he treated house elfs. His relationship with the house elf Dobby is very well known, he is one of the first people to actually start a friendship with an elf. Also his courage is shown through his behaviour towards the Dark Lord. Harry refused to call him by that name, or by another name that was frequently used, namely; 'He who must not be named'. Instead Harry decided to call him by what the Dark Lord called himself; Voldermort. The only other wizard known to have done this is Albus Dumbledore. Besides this his courage shows through his actions on the night he killed the Dark Lord; offering himself to save the rest of the wizarding world.
Needless to say, Harry Potter has had quite an impact on the wizarding world. Even though he had to pay for it in the end with his own death, he has changed the hearts of the people in the wizarding world by showing them his courage and his determination to ban dark magic from the wizarding world.
When she had finished reading the article Lily was in tears. 'My parents, they died because they fought against the Dark lord?' She couldn't get out any more, she was choking on the sobs she was letting out.
Her uncle Earl nodded 'Yes. They were such brave people. This is why we couldn't have you know you were a witch before. Those dark wizards, though not nearly as strong as they used to be wen Lord Voldemort was alive, are still out there, possibly trying to hurt you and your brothers.' There it was again, her brothers, she was trying to ask her uncle about it. However, he wouldn't answer his question. 'That is a question you will get an answer to at Hogwarts. You've had enought to deal with for today. Let's not put any more information on top of that. Go to bed. This has been a long day.'
She nodded and got up to get ready for bed. After she had done so she crawled under the covers of the bed, which was squeaking as she layed down on it. Although millions of questions and thoughts were going through her head, she was so tired that she fell asleep within seconds of her head touching the pillow.
