Chapter 2

Diagon Alley

Rapunzel looked out over the mountain glen. Her feet itched to jump down and feel the soft, green grass beneath her feet, but she was nervous. What would her mother think? What would her mother do?

"You comin' or what?" came the voice of Eugene as she descended the outer tower.

"I'm coming," Rapunzel answered. She took a deep breath and then jumped out onto the side of the tower. The end of her hair was tied to a support beam inside and she used it like a rock-climbing rope and walked down the side of the tower.

When she reached the bottom she almost couldn't believe it. The grass was so cool and soft, softer than she had ever imagined. She ran wildly over to everything she saw. Flowers, streams, animals, and even rocks. She had never felt so happy before.

"What's got you all excited?" Eugene asked when he reached the bottom. "You have been out of your tower before, haven't you?"

"Well, uh... no, not really," Rapunzel said, calming down from all her excitement.

"Wow, and I thought I was isolated," Eugene chuckled.

"What do you mean?" Rapunzel asked.

"Uh, nothing. Let's get moving. We need to make up for lost time." Eugene

lead the way through the forest, Rapunzel trailing after him, but as they walked together for a while she started to walk next to him.

"So, I've been thinking," Rapunzel started. "There are a lot of things to buy on

the list I have. How are we going to pay for all of it?"

Eugene didn't answer. Instead he looked panic-stricken at the satchel he was carrying.

"What's wrong?" Rapunzel asked.

"Nothing," Eugene said quickly. "I've got some money to spare,"

"Oh! Thank you!"

"No problem,"

They walked together through the woods for the remainder of the day, though they didn't go very fast with Rapunzel running off to enjoy the scenery. Eugene was very annoyed by the end of the day.

When night had finally fallen on Corona and the sun had retreated behind the looming mountains Eugene showed Rapunzel how to make a camp. He showed her what kind of wood to gather for the fire, how to start a fire, and where the best place to build a camp was. Before too long they where sitting on a log together around a nice big fire.

Rapunzel was glad she had packed some food with her, because they were both famished.

"So, let me ask you a question," Eugene started.

"Okay,"

"How does a girl like you end up all alone in a tower in the middle of the woods? And with such long hair, for that matter,"

Rapunzel looked away from him. How was she supposed to answer him? She could make up a story, but would he buy it?

"Well, um, I lived there with... with my parents until they..." Rapunzel said, but she knew Eugene had not bought it.

"I'm sorry," he said. This startled Rapunzel and she looked up at him with confused eyes. "If it's any consolation, I know how you feel. I never knew my parents,"

"I'm so sorry," Rapunzel said kindly.

"Don't be. It wasn't your fault,"

They sat in silence for a time. The scene felt somewhat awkward, I think, to the both of them.

Rapunzel was about to say something when Eugene stood up abruptly.

"Did you hear that?" he asked quietly. She must have missed it the first time, but she heard it now. The snapping of twigs and the rustling of branches made her stand up too.

"What is it?" Rapunzel asked, matching his quiet tone.

"I can't be sure, but I have an idea," He looked back at his satchel and grabbed it. He pulled out a long broomstick like the one Pricilla was riding on when she left. "Climb on!"

"How did you do that?" Rapunzel asked in amazement.

"There's no time! Hop on!" Eugene ordered.

Rapunzel did as he asked and seated herself, quite uncomfortably, on the broom. Eugene climbed on in front of her and then kicked off from the ground. In a matter of moments, they were flying through the air far away from their camp sight. She looked down and saw two small figures down below starring up at them. It was then that she realized just how high up they were and clung to Eugene for support.

They flew far away and didn't stop for quite some time.

"How did you do that?" Rapunzel asked over the rushing wind.

"What?" Eugene said.

"How did you get this broomstick in your bag?"

"It's, uh, I guess what you might call a magic bag. I can store loads of stuff in it. Think of it as like having a whole closet in a bag."

"Oh," Rapunzel said in wonderment.

As they flew she looked up at the stars and the moon. For some reason they looked closer tonight then they ever had before.

She must have dosed off once or twice during the ride because she awoke that morning in a strange-looking forest on the outskirts of what seemed to be a large town. She sat up and saw Eugene standing just a few feet away stoking a clearly dead fire.

"Hello," she said groggily. "Where are we?"

Eugene turned around and smiled a bit. "Glad to see you're not injured,"

"What do you mean?"

"When you fell asleep you fell off the broom. Luckily I was able to catch you, but I knew I couldn't risk you falling again, so I landed us here on the outskirts of London,"

"London?" Rapunzel repeated. "Where's that?" Eugene chuckled.

"A long ways away from Corona,"

"So is this where Diagon Alley is?" Rapunzel asked.

"Um... in a sense... yes," Eugene answered. He walked over to her and offered her his hand. "Come on. We've got a lot of ground to cover today,"

"Wait, who were those two people I saw back in Corona?" Rapunzel asked.

"Um... they, uh... let's just say that they don't like me and it would be very bad if they find us again," he explained. "Now come on,"

He lead them passed a few houses and then into the cobblestone streets of London. It was very strange and very different from Corona. Almost dismal, Rapunzel thought. It had a certain grey tinge to it.

"Wait a minute, why can't we just use the broom?" Rapunzel asked.

"Because I don't know a spell to make us invisible and we don't want to attract attention," Eugene explained.

"Why?"

Eugene growled and said, "Because Muggles don't know about magic and they're not suppose to!"

"Muggles?" Rapunzel repeated.

"People who don't have magic!" Eugene nearly yelled.

Eugene remained grumpy for the remainder of the trip, though he hardly spoke to Rapunzel. She just followed him quietly and tried not to make too much of a fuss about all the amazing sights she saw.

Her legs were getting very tired when they finally arrived at their destination. It was a shabby old pub with a dingy sign over the front door that read, 'The Leaky Cauldron.' Eugene lead the way inside.

It was as dismal inside as it was outside. There were several people all sitting around and talking making it easy to slip passed them without being noticed. But soon Rapunzel realized, after seeing several of these people perform what simply had to be magic, that this was a wizard pub.

Eugene walked up to the bar keeper on the other side of the room and said, "We're heading for Diagon Alley,"

The barkeeper instantly knew what to do. He took out a set of keys and lead them both to the very back of the pub. He unlocked a big wooden door which lead into a small walled area of stone. He walked up to the back wall and tapped his wand on several different bricks that made up the wall and then suddenly it began to unfold. The large brick wall split in two and disappeared in a matter of seconds.

Rapunzel looked around. The barkeeper was no longer in sight. All she did see was a very strange yet very wonderful looking alley with all kinds of amazing shops and stores.

Hundreds of people were milling about this way and that. Adults, children, and even strange magical creatures.

"Are you gonna admire the scenery all day, or are you gonna come with me?" Eugene asked as Rapunzel was snapped back into reality.

"Oh, um, right," she said following him again. "So where do we go first?"

"To Gringotts," Eugene explained. "It's the bank. All I have is muggle money. We need to change it to wizard money."

Rapunzel tried to walk for a time, but her hair kept getting snagged and stepped on. Eugene then had the brilliant idea of storing all of her hair in his bag and it worked. Rapunzel walked around with a bag strapped around her shoulder and with shorter hair than she had ever had before in her life.

After a short time of walking and looking at all the mesmerizing shops, Rapunzel looked up and saw a large white building that towered above the entire alley. It looked some what daunting, but Eugene just kept going, so she followed.

They walked up a set of white-marble stairs that lead to a pair of burnished bronze doors.

There were two short little men dressed in scarlet and gold uniforms standing at the doors. They were quite ugly with long noses, pointed ears, and sharp teeth. They opened the doors for them as they came closer.

The doors lead down a long entrance hall which in turn lead to one last set of doors. Imprinted on these silver doors was this:

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.

It made Rapunzel shiver to think what might lurk beneath the floors of this strange bank.

"Eugene, what were those things at the doors?" Rapunzel asked.

"Goblins. Very smart, but very touchy. You best let me do the talking," Eugene said calmly.

The silver doors were also flanked with goblins who opened the doors for them. They entered a long and quite large hall with long counters and several chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

There were several goblins doing some sort of bank work at these long counters. Writing down stuff, coming and leaving with various different strange items, and some were counting gold coins.

They came to the goblin at the end of the hall and stopped. The goblin stopped his scribbling and looked up.

"I wish to convert this muggle money to wizard money," Eugene said firmly as he set a small pouch on the counter.

The goblin took the pouch in his grotesquely long fingers and took out the money inside.

"Very well," he said and he vanished from sight. He returned a few minutes later with a sack full of different strange coins that Rapunzel did not recognize. The goblin returned to his writing and they left the wizard bank.

After that, Eugene lead Rapunzel to various stores to buy all the necessary supplies for Hogwarts. They went first to Flourish and Blotts where they bought all of Rapunzel's school books, then they headed over to Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions where Rapunzel was measured and then fitted for her new school robes. They were all black with long drooping sleeves with a Hogwarts symbol on the left side of her chest.

They went to Potage's Cauldron Shop for her cauldron, Amanuensis Quills for a set of quills for her as well, and then a quick stop at Olivanders for her very own wand. It was a light golden brown with a snug little handle. Mr. Olivander, the shop keeper, had said that it had been an eleven inch willow with a unicorn hair core.

They were just on their way out of Diagon Alley when Rapunzel's eye caught on one store in particular. It was a store called Magical Menagerie and it was simply stuffed full of animals.

She rushed inside and saw cage upon cage of stacked animals screeching and meowing, barking and cawing, growling and roaring. Rapunzel had always dreamed of owning a pet, but her mother had never let her.

She moved passed every cage until she came to the back of the room where she found a small cage containing a small, green lizard. He seemed sad and alone. When he turned and saw Rapunzel he shrieked and then disappeared. Rapunzel gasped and looked at the cage from every angle until she realized that the lizard had not disappeared, but simply changed color to blend in with its surroundings.

"Can I help you?" the shop keeper said coming toward her.

"Um, I think so," Rapunzel answered. "What kind of lizard is this?"

"Oh, him? That's a chameleon," she explained. "Would you like to buy him?"

Rapunzel was just about to say yes when Eugene bursted into the store.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I want to buy this little guy!" she said happily.

"You don't need a pet, you know," Eugene said angrily. "It's not one of the things you have to get,"

"I know, but I want to buy him," Rapunzel explained. "Please?" She starred at Eugene with the biggest, saddest eyes she could muster until finally he gave in.

"Fine! How much is he?" he asked the shop keeper.

"He's on sale. No one's seemed to want him," she explained. "He's not worth much, either. The total being two galleons and five sickles,"

Eugene reached his hand into the pouch and pulled out the money. He gave it to the shopkeeper who in tern gave Rapunzel the cage containing the lizard.

"I think I'll name him Pascal," Rapunzel thought out loud once they had exited the store. "What do you think?"

"He's your chameleon," Eugene said.

After that Eugene decided that they had just enough money left over to indulge in some sweets. They went straight for Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour where they each got a delicious ice cream cone to feast on as they made their way out of the bustling alley. It had been a very fun day.