Authors Note: Well, here's Chapter 3! I'm kinda proud of myself for writing this much. Japanese and the translation is in the story now instead of at the bottom. Hope you enjoy! R&R!
There was a loud crack. It felt as though I was being crushed by pure pressure. Around my chest, my legs, my arms… everywhere. I couldn't breathe. Everything was black. But then, just as soon as it came,, it disappeared and I felt my feet touch solid ground.
I opened my eyes and didn't expect what I saw. All around me were different style shops. However, they were all foreign looking. Some of them were bright, cheery and happy. Others were dark, gloomy, and somewhat scary. I saw the apothecary with the different things on display. I am definitely not going in there.
"Welcome to Diagon Alley." I heard a voice next to me say. I had completely forgotten about Professor Dumbledore standing next to me. I then realized I still had his arm. I removed it quickly.
"Oh, sorry professor! Where are we?"
"Diagon Alley which is in England. It's the largest collection of wizarding stores that we have here. You will be able to get all of your school supplies here."
"Alright then. So where do we get my books?" I asked, wanting to get started.
"Ah, that would be Flourish and Blotts. Which I am happy to say is directly behind us."
I turned around and saw a small, cheery shop filled with books. Dumbledore motioned for us to go in so I stepped forward and opened the door. As I did, a little bell went off and a man behind the counter looked up.
"Professor Dumbledore. What brings you here?"
"Hello John. I'm just here getting books for Ms. Takata here."
"Ms. Takata? I haven't seen you here before." Before Professor Dumbledore could answer, I did.
"I'm from Japan. I'm transferring in as a fifth year student. You can just call me Momo by the way."
"Alright Momo. One set of fifth year books coming up."
He wandered around the room, taking out random books from the shelf while mumbling some things to himself. Eventually, he had a fairly large stack of books sitting in front of us on the counter. Dumbledore paid him and we exited the shop back into the street.
"Where to next sir?" I asked, still eager.
"How about the apothecary to get your potions supplies?"
'Oh no, that's that creepy shop I saw earlier.' I thought before I said, "S-sure. Let's just go do that.."
"Don't worry, it's not as bad as you think in there." He said, seeing my hesitation.
We walked into the apothecary and Professor Dumbledore talked to the man behind the counter while I tried not to run out of the store. Soon enough he was done and paying while I ran outside.
"Sorry, Professor. But that is just not a good place for me to be." I said sheepishly.
"It's alright. I only know one or two people who don't mind going in there."
"Where now?"
"We need to get your robes."
"Okay. Where do we get those at?"
"Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. It's right over here."
We walked into a small black/dark brown shop. Inside was a blonde woman who was handing some robes to a teenage girl who then exited the shop.
"Hello Albus. I haven't seen you in awhile. How are you?"
"I'm doing well. This is Momo. She's a transfer student from Japan. She'll be needing some robes if you please."
"Alright. Momo, if you could please step over here so that I can measure you."
"Alright." I said, walking over so that I could be measured. She took all of my measurements. Hips, waist, bust, everything. Soon, she walked into the other room with my measurements and in about ten minutes, she was back with my robes. Again, Dumbledore paid the woman and we were heading outside.
"What else do we have to do?"
"Well, now is something I know you've been waiting for. It's time to get your wand."
I smile and nod and follow Dumbledore to another shop called Ollivander's. We walked in to find no one around. I was getting ready to ask Professor Dumbledore if we were at the right place but I was interrupted by a man's voice somewhere in the shop.
"Hold on! I'll be there in a second!"
All of a sudden, there was a man standing in front of me. He was fairly old with white hair. His sudden appearance made me jump a little but then I noticed Dumbledore was completely relaxed so I relaxed as well.
"Hello Albus. Long time no see. What brings you here?"
"Hello Ollivander. This young lady needs a wand." The wizard named Ollivander turned to me and smiled.
"Hello miss. What, may I ask, is your name?"
"Momo. Momo Takata."
"Well Ms. Takata, could you please hold out your wand arm?"
I didn't know which arm would be my wand arm but I figured since I wrote with right hand, it was probably my right. So I held it out for him. A tape measure came flying towards me and stopped right before I thought it was going to hit me in the face. It began to take measurements in the oddest of places: around my head, my armpit to my knee, my hip to my ankle and so on. While it was taking measurements, Ollivander disappeared into the back. After a minute, he came out with a long, thin, black box. He then proceeded to open it.
"This wand is hawthorn, dragon heartstring core. Nine inches and unyielding." he handed the wand to me while I just stood there confused. Seeing my confusion he said, "Well, give it a whirl."
I whirled the wand and a window broke. He quickly took the wand and disappeared back into the mass of boxes. He came out again after a minute.
"Try this one. Cherry, 10 inches, phoenix feather core. Springy."
I took the wand in my hand and this time, some of the boxes flew off the shelves. He once again took it back and disappeared to look for another wand. After a few minutes he came out again.
"Oak, eight inches, unicorn hair core. Good at charms."
For the third time, I took the wand in my hand. I twirled it and this time, nothing happened. Which was the problem apparently. For the third time, he took it back. For the third time, he went to find another box. And that's how it went for quite some time. He would hand me a wand and something would happen. I broke a vase, turned off all the lights, turned Dumbledore's hair pink, and caught Ollivander's robes on fire among other things. He just kept saying "The wand chooses the wizard". Finally, we were at my thirteenth wand. Lucky thirteenth?
"Never have I had someone this challenging."
"I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed.
"Are you kidding? This is the most fun I've had finding a wand in years. I never get a good challenge." he said smiling before taking out another wand. "Now, I've had this wand for many years. It was one of the first I ever made. It's Willow, ten inches, and flexible. This wand is a dual-core wand. It has both a dragon heartstring and unicorn hair core. Go ahead and try it out."
He handed me the wand and I knew. I knew that this had to be the one. I felt myself be lifted up into the air. I noticed that I was surrounded by a swirl of colors. There was a neutral blue, a dark purple, and a soft green. After a few seconds, I was set back down to the ground.
"Magnificent! I finally found someone compatible to that wand."
"Why was it so hard to find someone compatible with the wand?"
"Well, it mainly has to do with the cores. Dragon heartstring is most commonly found in the wands of dark wizards and those in Slytherin mainly because of its sheer power. However, it sometimes bonds well with Ravenclaw and Gryffindor but never Hufflepuff. Unicorn hair however, is the polar opposite of dragon heartstring. Unicorn hair is by far the best core for healing and is also quite good at charms. Unicorn hair is a more subtle core and gentler wizards and witches find themselves with this core. It finds itself in the wand of those pure of heart and kind. So to find someone compatible with a wand with polar opposite cores is extremely hard."
"Wow. Well thank you for the wand Mr. Ollivander. "
"How much do I owe you?" Dumbledore asked. Ollivander shook his head.
"No, Albus. This wand is free of charge."
"Thank you so much!" I said bowing.
"No problem. By the way, your wand wood, Willow is a feminine wood that is quite good at charms and healing magic. However, it is an extremely powerful wand. It's an incredible wand."
I nodded and Dumbledore spoke. "Well, we best get going. Goodbye Ollivander."
"Good day Albus, Momo." With that, we walked back outside.
"Professor, what else do we have to do?"
"Well, we first I have to ask you a question. Would you like to buy a pet to bring to Hogwarts?"
"What kind of pets are allowed?" I asked, intrigued about the idea. I always loved animals.
"You can bring either an owl, a cat, or a toad."
"Well, I don't really want a toad. I can always use a school owl to send a letter. I guess a cat it is then!"
"This way please." he said, walking towards another small shop. This one was filled with cages and in them, many different animals.
"Excuse me, where are your cats at?" I asked the brunette behind the counter.
"Right over there." she said pointing.
"Thank you." I replied before walking to where she pointed.
There were at least twenty cats and kittens in cages. When I walked by, they all came to the edge of the cage, sticking their paws out at me to try and touch me. All except one. In the corner of one of the cages was a little black kitten with a little grey patch on its forehead. It opened it's eyes and looked at me. They were a deep and beautiful blue.
"Excuse me," I said to the brunette, "What's the story on that little black kitten over there?"
"Oh, that little kitten we found outside the shop. It was exhausted and one of it's paws was hurt. We brought it in and nursed it back to health. However, it's been incredibly shy and because of that, no one will adopt it."
"Is it a girl or a boy?"
"A girl."
"I see. I'll take her if you please." The woman looked a bit shocked but then she smiled warmly.
"Right away."
She came back after a minute with the little kitten in a cage and some food. Dumbledore paid her and we were off once again. When we walked outside, there was a teenager staring at us. He had messy black hair and glasses and he was standing with a group of red headed people and a girl with bushy hair. Dumbledore just smiled and nodded at him and he left.
"Sir, where do we go now?"
"To Gringotts, the wizard bank."
"What are we doing there?" His blue eyes twinkled.
"You'll see when we get there."
I sighed and walked with him to a tall grey building. There were some stairs and past them were several tall grey pillars. There was a polished sign that said "Gringotts" on it in gold letters. We walked in and all around were short men with pointy ears. Goblins I suspected. They all looked so old and wrinkled. We walked up to a counter and Dumbledore spoke to the goblin that was there.
"We would like to open vault 826. Here is the key." he said handing the key over to the goblin who looked at it for a moment.
"Griphook! Take them to vault 826." he yelled before handing the key back to Dumbledore.
"Thank you." Dumbledore said before we followed a goblin into another room.
In front of us was a cart on a track. Dumbledore stepped in and getting the hint, so did I. The goblin stepped in and the cart took off. It was just like a roller coaster. The only time I had been on a roller coaster, I had almost puked. However, being the masochist that I am, I got back in line as soon as I got off. I looked around outside the cart. It was like a huge cave of some sort. Wait… was that a waterfall? After a few minutes, we came to a stop in front of a fairly large vault.
"Key please." the goblin said.
Dumbledore handed him the key and he put it in the keyhole. The vault rumbled and slowly opened. Dumbledore got out and stood in front of me so that I couldn't see. He moved after a second and got to see what was inside. There were huge piles of gold coins along with even bigger piles of silver and bronze ones. There were some jewels as well. Mainly rubies, emeralds, and sapphires. I got out and stood in front of the vault.
"Who's vault is this?" I asked without thinking, mainly to myself.
"Yours."
"What?" I exclaimed.
"When your great-grandmother passed away, her vault came into the possession of the closest magical relative she had. That means that this vault and its contents belongs to you. Go on in."
I rushed inside still shocked beyond belief to see the entire thing. I picked up some of the gold coins and slowly dropped them onto the ground. Dumbledore tapped my shoulder and I turned around. He was holding a small purple sack.
"Put some of your money in here." he said, handing the bag to me.
I put in SEVERAL of the gold coins along with some silver and bronze ones. I then had a thought. Closing my bag, I picked up several more coins. I turned around and grabbed Dumbledore's hand. I opened it up and dropped the coins in there.
"Here." I said.
"Ms. Takata, this is n-" he began before I interrupted him.
"No." I said firmly. "I won't have you paying for my things if I can pay for them myself. That is my final word on the matter."
He looked amused for a moment before he spoke. "You're just like your great-grandmother."
"Is that good or bad?" I asked.
"We'll have to see." he answered.
We got back into the cart which returned us to the big room with all of the goblins in it. We walked back outside before I realized something.
"Professor, where am I staying for the next few days?"
"The Leaky Cauldron." he responded.
"What is that?"
"It's a pub that is very near. Tom has so graciously agreed to let you stay there for the next few days until it's time to go to Hogwarts."
"Alright." I said.
We walked until we reached a brick wall. Dumbledore tapped some bricks with his wand. The bricks began to move until they formed an arch big enough to walk through. We walked through the arch and through another door which led into a pub.
"This is the Leaky Cauldron. Tom will lead you to your room. Goodbye Ms. Takata. I shall be by in two days to take you to catch the train to Hogwarts. Until then, you're free to roam around and explore Diagon Alley." he said and then left.
"Momo Takata?" I heard someone ask.
"Hai." I answered before turning around to see a hunchbacked bald man. (A/N: Hai is Japanese for yes)
"What?" he asked in confusion.
"Yes." I said.
"Follow me to your room please." he said before taking some of my luggage and walking up some stairs. followed him until we stopped in front of a black door. He opened it and set my luggage on the ground. "Here you are. Enjoy your stay."
He left and looked at the room. It was completely grey. The bed, the walls, the floor, the… everything. I set the rest of my luggage down next to my bed and opened the cage with my cat in it. I held her up in front of my face and she opened her eyes to look at me.
"I still need to name you, you know." She just looked at me with those deep blue eyes. "I know, Mizu. I will call you Mizu. With eyes like that, it fits." (A/N: Mizu is Japanese for water) I said before laying down to take a cat nap with my kitten.
Authors Note: I got the Golden Trio in there a little bit. I really wanna spend the day with Dumbledore. I want a kitten too. My mom and step-dad won't let me though. Those jerks... Remember to review!