Chapter 3 Diagon Alley

A/N: Once again, thank you to everyone who took the time to review. Enjoy chapter 3. A/N


The next day, Kakashi met Hagrid in the Leaky Cauldron pub at 10 AM, just as the giant had specified. Hagrid was rather apprehensive to see that the exchange student hadn't altered his ensemble much, and he still had that intimidating air of I'm going to kill you if you look at me too long hanging about him.

"Well, eh, alright, then," Hagrid began bravely, and placed the list of Kakashi's school supplies on the table so the boy could look at it. "We've got to do most of this shopping today so we can leave for Hogwarts tomorrow afternoon," He paused. The boy was staring at him, or so he assumed, since he couldn't exactly see his eyes. He cleared his throat and looked for something to say. "Uhm…d-do you like shopping?"

"I didn't bring any money," the boy said flatly, ignoring Hagrid's question.

"It's all right here, Dumbledore's providin' it," the half-giant said quickly, and he withdrew a small pouch of coins from within one of his coat's many pockets. He placed the sac on the table, and Kakashi shook a few coins into the palm of his hand. He looked at them blankly.

"Er, do yeh know much about wizard money?" Hagrid asked carefully, as if afraid of invoking the wrath of the dark exchange student's sword. But the boy just shook his head slowly. Hagrid nodded and explained the relative values of the coins.

Kakashi seemed puzzled after the short lecture. "Oh…" he said, running over the values in his head; they would be difficult to remember, added up with all the other subtle little social rules. "Alright then. So…I pay with these particular units here, then? I will assume I can use the whole percentage if I am not notified otherwise."

Hagrid blinked. "Well, yeah, why wouldn't yeh?"

"I just—you know, on missions it's customary…never mind." Kakashi frowned behind his mask. Normally when a shinobi was assigned to a mission, money was very closely regulated by the Hokage's office. The ninja would be given a fixed amount to spend, along with a percentage bonus for use only in emergencies. Operatives were always told what percent of the money was set aside, and any unnecessary use of the emergency money would result in much confusion for the extremely anal-retentive Revenue Desk and most likely an "incident" with some uptight Chuunin who would proceed to rant for minutes on end about Jounin arrogance.

An awkward silence graced the table. Hagrid scratched at his beard, searching for something to say. "So, er, that'll cover the cost of all yer necessary school supplies, and I think Professor Dumbledore put in a bit o' extra for yeh t' spend on yerself. He's a good man, Dumbledore is."

Kakashi nodded absently and pocketed the coins. "And I'll be able to purchase all of these items within this basic area?" he asked, gesturing around him.

"Er, if yeh'd like I can show yeh around…" Hagrid said rather nervously with an inelegant shrug of his massive shoulders. But to his surprise, Kakashi nodded.

That would be the most efficient way, anyway, Kakashi reasoned. With the help of a guide he could complete the task in half the time it would take him without assistance. He glanced at the list. Displayed on a separate parchment was a list of garments and their pictures. (Okay, so the pictures moved…that was a bit weird. But he had been warned of such things in his briefing.) The uniforms were black, long, and terribly impractical. They looked stupid. "Where do I go to buy this ridiculous uniform?"

The half-giant blinked. "Don't you go callin' it ridiculous!" Hagrid said before he could stop himself. "I reckon it'll look far better than that…whatever it is yer wearin'. Now I dunno what kinda culture yeh come from, Wolf, but yer in wizard England now and you'd better respect that, no brandishin' knives and all that tripe. Rubbish like that's what'll get yeh in trouble here. And I'll have you know those uniforms've been a proud Hogwarts tradition for a hundred years, and—" He took a breath to say more, then seemed to realize how much he had just said, and fell silent with a stubborn, albeit slightly nervous scowl.

Kakashi frowned in surprise, then his face split into a tiny smirk behind his mask. Well, that was interesting. He had taken the half-giant for some sort of cowardly, blundering oaf, but now that he had finally spoken up about something… He let the silence hold for quite some time, simply staring at Hagrid and watching him grow more and more apprehensive as he looked into the hollow eyes of the wolf mask. Finally he spoke in a low, even tone, "A hundred years, eh? It shows." He tilted his head down to look at the pictures again, and allowed himself a small, hollow chuckle.

Hagrid's mouth fell slightly open, completely flummoxed. Now the cold child-warrior, who had been glaring daggers at him seconds ago, was laughing and cracking jokes? It was so confusing. "Er, yeah," Hagrid said, once he had regained his composure. "Well, if that's what yeh want t'do first, then I'll take yeh to the place t'go."

And so he did. The streets of Diagon Alley were clogged with students doing their last-minute shopping, and they were carrying the most peculiar of parcels. Kakashi could not help but stare openly at everything around him, as he traveled in the wake created by his enormous guide. His keen ears picked out snippets of conversation, many of which dealt with such subjects as "dragon hide," or "Quiddich World Cup" and the like. Beyond the heads of people he could see little flashes of items in store windows, including one enormous, violently purple frog, a big golden bowl sort of thing that was stirring itself, and a miniature soccer field with several miniature people flying around over it and throwing around a tiny red ball. His sensitive nose picked up a most interesting range of scents, few of which he could identify.

By the time they were halfway down the street, Kakashi was beginning to feel overwhelmed by the activity, and a pounding headache started up inside his head. He inwardly groaned. This was why he hated parties and avoided festivals like the plague. With his abnormally keen senses, he was very susceptible to sensory overload in places with lots of people. But he was a shinobi, and sometimes the nature of his missions took him to places like this, and it was his responsibility to ignore the headache, nausea and dizziness and do his job.

Presently, however, Hagrid made a right turn and led him inside a shop called "Madam Malkins Robes for All Occasions." He gratefully followed the half-giant inside, and as soon as the door shut everything fell blissfully silent. He ignored the other two students inside the shop, be-robed little brats who both looked absolutely terrified at the sight of him, and waited for Hagrid to stop conversing with the shopkeeper. Presently the squat woman, whom Kakashi assumed was Madame Malkins, approached him with a bubbly smile. Kakashi was impressed by the way the woman carried herself, showing no trace of nervousness at his appearance, her every movement professional and efficient.

He was also quite fascinated by the little tape measurer, that flew around him entirely of it's own accord, measuring everything from the length of his arms to the thickness of his smallest toe, until Malkins commanded it to stop, which it did. The stout woman then proceeded to do her work, and within forty-five minutes Kakashi had three pairs of ridiculous black work robes, a preposterous pointed hat, protective gloves that were made, apparently, of dragon hide, and a long black winter cloak. Everything was wrapped in brown paper and secured with twine, and tucked under Kakashi's arm.

"So. Where to next?" Hagrid inquired as they stepped out of the shop and back into the busy streets.

"What's closest?" Kakashi responded, eager to get out of the crowd as soon as possible.

"That would be…" Hagrid glanced at the list, "The apothecary. This way."

The apothecary stank, to say the least. The smell was so strong Kakashi could sense it before he even saw the sign above the door, and when he ventured inside he nearly threw up and quickly reeled back out into the fresh air, holding a hand to his head. It wasn't really so much that it reeked, per se, it was just so strong and there were so many scents he couldn't quite handle it.

"Perhaps you could perform the transaction?" Kakashi asked, disguising his gag reflex with a cough, "I'm feeling a bit lightheaded. I think I'll wait out here."

Hagrid did indeed handle the transaction, looking slightly concerned and confused as he purchased the basic items. When he came back outside Kakashi was sitting on a bench on the opposite side of the street, looking very disgruntled and naturally attracting many stares for his unusual attire.

"Yeh alrigh' lad?" The half-giant asked as he set the goods beside Kakashi on the bench. "Yeh look a bit peaky."

"I'm fine," Kakashi answered with a clear hint of annoyance in his voice, and he quickly got to his feet. "What's next?"

"Well, hold up now. First I want ter know what that was, back there. You sure yer feelin' alrigh'?"

"Yes!" Kakashi snapped. "I just don't like strong scents, that's all."

Hagrid nodded understandingly. "Yeh want some ice cream? There's a shop just two stores over,"

Kakashi blinked. Ice cream? He hadn't eaten ice cream since his tenth birthday, upon which Arashi-sensei had compelled him to do so by dunking his head forcefully in a tub of it. He smiled sadly behind his mask at the memory. Those were the good days. He just wished he hadn't been so blind to realize it when that time was a reality. It made him want to kick himself, to go back in time and smack that little emotional wreck of a Kakashi, and tell him to Enjoy it while you can, kid, 'cause it's all gonna end before your oblivious little self can even realize what hit him.

"No thank you." He replied with forced politeness. Ice cream was a thing of those bittersweet memories, never to be spoiled. Because the memories were all he had left.

"Suit yerself," Hagrid mumbled, looking slightly disappointed. The half-giant led him around to several other shops, picking up the miscellaneous items that really couldn't be found anywhere else. It took Hagrid half an hour to pull Kakashi away from a large, squishy chair in Flourish and Blots and force him to return several books to the shelves, including, The Art of War: Magic in the History of Europe, The Theory of Strategic Magic and it's Practical Application, and especially How to Bewitch your Friends and Befuddle your Enemies, Volumes 1-3.

"Just yer wand left," Hagrid said, looking over the list. "And it's not even afternoon yet. Well done, eh? You'll have time to look around before we have to leave, assuming the wand business don't take too long."

Kakashi frowned. A wand. He had given the issue of a wand much thought, and was curious whether or not he would even be able to use one. From what Sandiame had told him before he left, the wand was a sort of channel for magical energy, which was similar to chakra in application, but quite different in theory.

Wizards, the Third Hokage had explained, had no chakra coils. That was why they developed wands in the first place, their chakra coils were stunted and didn't really work, their infinite store of magical energy instead dispersed evenly throughout their entire bodies. This was why Kakashi would never be able to sense a wizard's presence by reading chakra signatures; they simply didn't have any. And although "magic" could only be performed when a wizard was using a wand, they never ran out of magical energy and would never suffer the consequences of overuse.

Thus, because wizards had no chakra coils, they could not perform more than the most elementary of jutsu. But because shinobi had conscious control over their chakra, it would be possible, in theory, for one to make efficient use of a wand, though with a significant risk of chakra depletion.

"With practice," Sandaime had said, "I expect your unique chakra manipulation abilities will allow you to grasp the concept quite quickly. In fact, your understanding of chakra application is so extraordinary, I wouldn't be surprised to see you pull ahead of your peers after you master the basics of wand use. Just be careful not to overexert yourself; I know from personal experience just how draining real magic can be."

Keeping this in mind, the application of chakra and magical energy were essentially the same. Both required some semblance of control (in a wizard's case, his magic wand) and a catalyst: hand signs for shinobi, magic words for wizards. With practice and control, the desired event would eventually come about. However, because of the intrinsic differences between the two types of energy, those desired events were quite different in nature.

"Shinobi jutsu, I am sad to say, are used most often for destruction." Sandaime had lectured, "At Hogwarts, you will find a plethora of magical spells dealing with cooking, repairing things, levitation, cleaning, and the like, whereas you will certainly find no such shinobi jutsu anywhere, as you well know. These aforementioned magic spells deal solely with external manipulation, no change in self required; whereas jutsu that deal with external manipulation require a shinobi to expend huge amounts of energy and concentration." He had paused at this point and scratched at his chin. "For instance, do you remember when you were four, and your father was teaching you your first Katon Jutsu? It took you a very long time to master it, even though you were already quite good at internal-manipulation techniques, such as henge and bunshin jutsu. Am I making much sense?" At a bewildered shake of Kakashi's head, Sandaime had chuckled and simply replied, "I expect you'll get it in due time."

But soon these deeply theoretical and rather confusing thoughts were interrupted as Kakashi realized that he had just walked through a door and entered a small, dark room with no one at the grimy desk. "Er, hello? Anybody here?" Hagrid called into the back of the shop, where dusty, dark shelves occupied practically every cubic inch of space imaginable. After a few moments, Kakashi heard a rustling near the back of the store and a thin, withered looking old man with wild white hair and piercing eyes emerged from the dust-coated shelves. His penetrating blue eyes sharpened into a small frown as they fell upon Kakashi, but Hagrid was waving an envelope at him, so he chose to take it first rather than make some rude, yet unsettlingly wise comment about one of Kakashi's, er…eccentricities.

As soon as he had finished reading the document, his eyes darted up to stare at the Wolf's visage, an expression of restrained delight pulling on the corners of his mouth. He lifted an aged finger and pointed it at Kakashi, his mouth opening to speak. "I've been looking forward to this," he said, "For a very long time."

Kakashi blinked.

But Ollivander wasn't done. "The boy comes, he wants a wand. Neither wizard nor muggle, but something else entirely…a shinobi from the far east, a son of our sister people of lore…" he let out a harsh laugh. "Forgive me, boy, but I thought your kind were wiped out; it's certainly been awhile." He didn't wait for a reply, immediately beginning to sort through the shelves. "Which is your dominant arm?" he asked suddenly.

"Ambidextrous," Kakashi answered, glad to see his voice betrayed none of his disquiet at the man's strange little speech. Ollivander nodded and withdrew a little tape measurer, which instantly set about measuring every measurable aspect of his body.

"Mm hmm," Ollivander pulled a long box out from one of the shelves, in a plume of dust, and brought it to the counter. "I do believe this shall be one of my more interesting sales, no, Mr. Hatake?" he opened the box and held the wand out for Kakashi to take. "Seven and one half inches, holly, with dragon heartstring core. Quite stiff."

Kakashi blinked cluelessly.

"Well, go on, give it a wave!" Ollivander said impatiently.

The shinobi took the wand uncertainly and waved it around a bit, feeling quite foolish. Absolutely nothing happened.

"No?" The old man said, looking pleased, "Well, we'll just have to try another one! Here. Ten and three quarter inches, maple. Unicorn tail core, quite whippy."

Kakashi took it, and again nothing happened.

"Ah ha. Beachwood, unicorn tail again. 12 inches long, stiff as a board." With every wand Kakashi tried and rejected, Mr. Ollivander seemed to grow more and more enthusiastic. Soon there were discarded wands and their boxes stacked on every inch of any flat surface, and yet the eccentric old wand seller seemed to be having the time of his life.

"I always love a difficult sale," he told him an hour later, while Kakashi fruitlessly waved a stubby 6.25 inch, oak, stiff, phoenix-tail cored wand. Hagrid had retreated to a bench outside quite awhile ago, since all the chairs were covered in rejected wands, and some minutes ago he had left and returned with a very large ice cream cone, which he ate contentedly.

"There's no hurry, Mr. Hatake," Ollivander said with a happy smile when he saw Kakashi looking out onto the streets. "We've got all day."

"Perhaps we'd be better off just forgetting about it," Kakashi said. "I'm a shinobi, not a wizard. I don't think I can use a wand."

"Nonsense!" Ollivander snapped. "Of course you can use one, it's just a matter of finding the right one. Here. Sixteen inches, very wavy. It's ash wood with unicorn tail core." It didn't work.

"Are you so sure?" Kakashi asked as he placed the wand back in the box and held out his hand to take the next one.

"Of course! I've seen it done. Many years ago, when I was just a small boy, three strange wizards from the Far East visited this land for a month in order to form peaceful relations. I believe one of them was your Sandaime Hokage," He waved the paper in Kakashi's face, and he saw that indeed it was the Third's signature. "It was my father who sold them their wands," Ollivander continued, as he snatched yet another unsuccessful wand from Kakashi's grasp, "And yes, I watched with my own eyes. So indeed it can be done, boy! It just requires a bit of patience. Is that too much to ask?"

"Um—" Kakashi grunted unintelligibly, and waved a 10-inch, stiff, dogwood wand with a phoenix tail core. His wrist tinged a bit, but he figured it was from the waving of uncountable wands rather than from magic. "We've been at it for three hours,"

"Indeed! Wonderful, isn't it?"

"Well…"

It was half an hour later, and Kakashi was about ready to quit, when it finally happened. He took the wand, without even looking at it, expecting to flourish it around and put it back with absolutely no reaction whatsoever. But as soon as his flesh so much as touched the smooth handle of this wand, he felt a wave of warm tingling sweep through his chakra coils, spreading from his arm over his chest, to the top of his head and to the tip of his toes. Ollivander smiled.

When he gave it an exploratory wave, a jet of white snow billowed out of the end, much to Kakashi's astonishment. Before he knew it, he felt a very small grin of delight creeping up his face, his first real smile in weeks.

"Excellent, excellent," Ollivander said with a triumphant beam. "Thirteen and a quarter inches long, ebony, dragon heartstring. Nice and swishy, excellent for charmwork." He took the wand from Kakashi and began to polish it with a cloth from under the desk. "This wand, Mr. Hatake, has been in this store's possession since that day those three wizards from the East came to buy their wands from my father. To show their goodwill to our community, they brought a branch of wood from an ancient ebony tree, one that has stood, according to legend, for one hundred years. This wand was made from that wood."

"I know that tree," Kakashi said suddenly. "It's dead. It was burned in a terrible battle between my village and the Iwa-nins, nearly ten years ago…"

"I see," the old man said, and he looked sad. "I am sorry to hear that, but it appears that it was meant to live on through you, Mr. Hatake. Use it well."