Had I not been in possession of my own huge, hairy half-giant, I might have found Diagon Alley quite intimidating. Coming out of Gringotts Bank, where we exchanged my real money for coins with dragons on them, I made Hagrid walk a good foot in front of me so he could clear away all the shady characters that filled the narrow street. Rubbing elbows with cloaked strangers carrying bundles of herbs or diseased ridden rats did not appeal to me.
"Here's our first stop, Flourish and Blotts," Hagrid pulls the door open for me. I peer inside to find a dimly lit shop crammed full of books.
"No thank you," I say and hand Hagrid the supply list which had come with my letter.
"Really?" Hagrid asks, "That's a new one, I've never had a muggle born kid turn down their first chance to go into a wizard stop but alright, suit yourself." He takes the list in his meaty paws and leaves me standing alone outside. I cling to the wood of the storefront and stare blankly down the grim street.
"They had all your required books except for two. I put in an order for 'A History of Magic' and 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'. They should be delivered in 3-5 business weeks," Hagrid says and hands me a heavy brown package.
We continue to buy wizard things all afternoon. Somewhere between robes and cauldrons, both of which I thought were a joke at first, I began to feel more comfortable in my new surroundings. I figured the crazy was finally starting to rub off on me. Which was why I was completely fine when Hagrid told me, "Now it's time to choose your wand,' and then tried to explain some nonsense about a wand actually choosing me.
A shrivelled old man was ready to help us as soon as we entered Ollivander's wand shop. He lay out some boxes and I held each of the wooden wands inside to see how they felt. The little old man said none of them were a match and brought out more boxes. This happened several times until the man frowned and said, "You should have been chosen by a wand by now. It usually doesn't take this long. I've never seen the wands so unenthusiastic to choose a person before." The more wands he brought out, the more worried he looked.
After pointlessly swishing around countless wands, I removed the lid of yet another box to find the stubbiest wand I had seen so far. "Four and three sevenths inches, half hard maple and half Honduran mahogany with a troll whisker core," the old wand maker announced, "Sorry, I made that one out of some scrap materials I had lying around the shop, I'll put it away," but before he could take it from my hands the little wand emitted a burst of sparks and began to shake in my hands.
"I believe we have found your wand," Hagrid said, trying to sound more excited than uncertain. The old shopkeeper gave me a huge discount on the wand and as soon as we left the shop I tossed it where all my other purchases had ended up, in Hagrid's vast arms.
We had almost reached the end of the street, near the only colourful building on the block. "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes," I read aloud, "Can we go there next?"
Hagrid looks solemnly at the shop for a moment before nodding. I take my time looking around the joke shop. Nothing really catches my eye until I find the cage holding a dozen fluffy balls. "You like the Pygmy Puffs, eh?" a store attendant asks me. I watch one scurry around, bumping into it's brothers and sisters. The attendant opens the cage and hands me one of the little critters, a dark blond one.
"Hey ," I call to Hagrid, sticking the Pygmy Puff on my shoulder, "It matches my hair!" The fluffy ball of energy climbs onto my head and I struggle to detach it from my hair.
"Each Pygmy Puff comes with a unique online code which, when you enter it on , let's you play as your Pygmy Puff in Pygmy Puffz World," the shop attendant tells me.
"Woah really?" I say, trying to hold the creature still while I examine the scroll tied around it's leg.
The shop attendant takes another Pygmy Puff from the cage, "Yes, and the more Pygmy Puffs you have, the more things you can unlock." She hands me the second Pygmy Puff, a light green one.
"Great!" I struggle to keep both Pygmy Puffs from squirming out of my arms, "I'll take one of every colour!"
I soon found out that a dozen Pygmy Puffs were more expensive than I thought. Hagrid had trouble carrying all of their cages, even with his enormous tree trunk arms, so we had to compromise and I ended up carrying my wand so he could balance my books, clothes, cauldron, and Pygmy Puffs.
I hoped to buy an owl at the pet store, our last destination, but discovered that I only had enough money for the tiniest rat. "Ew I don't want a rat. Look at that pathetic thing, it's like it knows how gross it," I complained to Hagrid, who kept a stern expression and jiggled my Pygmy Puff's cages. "Fine, I guess I may as well," I picked up the rat with two figures, holding it as far away from me as I could. I dropped it into the cage with my dark blond Pygmy Puff who starting licking the little thing, like he was trying to suck the ugly right off him.
Daylight was fading by the time Hagrid and I got back to his motorcycle. "Thanks , erm, Hagrid," I say while he is unloading my day's haul into the back compartment, "You should come to the mall with me sometime, you'd sure be handy." Hagrid chuckles.
"Sounds lovely, but no thank you," he replies. I climb into the side car.
"Guess I've got to name all my Pygmy Puffs," I say. Hagrid starts up the motorcycle and I ramble off names almost all the way to Hogwarts.