Magical Encounters

Chapter 4: Diagon Alley and The Memories In The Vault.

Disclaimer: I don't own HP

With that said Neville stood at once from the large couch, nearly knocking over the large book in Ariana's lap. He looked down at her still smiling and stretched out his hand to help her up. Ariana raised her eyebrows at his sudden desire to stand and took his hand after a few seconds of hesitation. Neville pulled the second she grasped his hand, causing Ariana to make a high pitched noise that most closely resembled a squeak and making the album fall to the floor, and pulled her to her feet.

" Time to go," Neville said, smiling down at her. "If we leave now we can still return by tonight. By the way grab the key from the album, you will be needing it."

Ariana picked the album up and pulled the key from the front page then Neville began to pull her hand along with him, he had gotten as far as the hallway before Ariana realized what was happening and pulled against his hand, stopping him.

"And, where, may I ask," She began looked up at him completely flabbergasted. "Are we going? What is this alley place? Sounds to me like a black market and if that's the kind of place I have to go to get money for your school then I'm not sure if Hogwarts is the place for me."

She crossed her arms and looked defiantly at Neville. Now, it was Neville's turn to look confused.

"Black market?" He asked, looking at Ariana with his eyebrows furrowed. "Now what in the world gave you that idea? Diagon Alley is a market place were you can get your school supplies for this year, there is nothing dark about it. Now Knocturn alley that's a different story, very dark place indeed, but we have no need to go there, so I don't believe we need to worry about it."

Ariana looked at him for a long time, she wasn't sure if she could trust Neville, but she had to choose what she wanted to do and she had to do it soon. She bit her bottom lip and fidgeted her toes as she always did when she was nervous. She looked down at her feet and sighed deeply.

"I have to tell Mary," She began not looking up at Neville. "Then we can go."

Ariana looked up at Neville and his huge smile was back on his face. He nodded his head deliberately and made a grand gesture signaling that he agreed and that the door was the way he pointed. Ariana began walking towards the door and as she passed Neville she heard him fall into step behind her. Ariana opened the door and crossed over the upraised threshold, she had walked about four feet past this point when she heard a yelp followed by a loud thump coming from behind her. She turned around to see Neville, her professor, lying on the ground in front of her rubbing his butt . She helped him up quickly and looked at his bewildered face, then as if her bubble of maturity had popped, she burst into laughter.

~*~*~*~

Ariana's eyes opened suddenly as the car hit a pothole, causing her to jump as she sat in the passenger seat. She rubbed her eyes and looked at her professor just as he mumbled an apology, his eyes focused solely on the road in front of him. Ariana yawned and looked out the window, it seemed, to her, that they still had a while to go to get to the center of London.

"You know," Ariana said, looking at her professor once again. " I would've thought wizards would travel using, I don't know, cooler methods. Driving a car seems so dull, no offense, but I was expecting like dragons or something."

"Bloody hell," Neville exclaimed, his eyes widening but still focused on the road. "No way, dragons are dangerous! Besides they are too easily seen, there are much safer and more discreet ways to travel in the wizarding world. There are broomsticks, and they are fun but I personally think its not quick enough, plus you are too easily affected by the weather. Then there is the floo network, which is when you travel from fireplace to fireplace and it's safe but I feel like there are too many restrictions. No, the easiest way to travel is apparation, which is kind of like teleporting and it only takes a couple of seconds. I thought about taking you to Diagon Alley using side along apparation but I didn't want to do that just yet since it is quite uncomfortable and you are so young."

"Oh," Ariana said obviously surprised. "Ok then, I guess driving is the best way to go."

"By the way," Neville began, stealing a glance at Ariana. "What did Mary say when you asked her permission to go out?"

"um," Ariana winced as she remembered all the glares she had received when she asked if she could go out with a stranger. "I don't want to talk about it, Mary can be rather scary when she wants to be."

After that the ride continued in silence, with the exception of Neville humming along with some of the songs that came on the radio. Ariana closed her eyes and leaned her head back on the seat, she breath deeply and everything was gone. The noises of the car and Neville fell away as Ariana drifted to sleep, but before she even had a chance to sink into her dreams she was shaken by Neville and told it was time to go.

Neville walked out of the car and around to Ariana's door so that he could opened it and help her out of the vehicle. Ariana stepped out into the sunlight and squinted as she looked toward the stores she was facing. There was a bookstore and a record store in front of her and she raised her eyebrows before looking at Neville.

"This, is where I'm getting my supplies?" Ariana questioned, then she looked again at the shops, to double check what she had seen and gasped. "Bloody hell, I swear that pub wasn't there before."

"Ah," Neville said walking forward towards the pub. "Was it not there? Or, is it possible you were simply not looking for it?"

Ariana and Neville walked closer to the door of the pub and Neville opened the door for Arianna to take a step inside. Instantly Ariana was in a dimly lit room with very few windows, she waited for her eyes to adjust and then took in her surroundings. The table around her were scattered and only some were being used, there was also a counter at the furthest end of the pub and behind it stood a young lady who looked up at Ariana and Neville and smiled.

The people sitting at the tables looked up at Ariana and Neville as they passed and some even seemed to acknowledge Neville with nods of their heads and other gestures. Ariana noticed that this pub had a door leading to a courtyard at its back, she got extremely curious but thought it best to stick close to Neville since no one at this pub seemed too friendly.

They approached the counter and the woman behind it smiled even more and laid two drinks down, gesturing for them to sit. Neville sat down and smiled up at the woman. Ariana sat down and steadied herself on the high chair and just as she was going to look up at the woman and say hello, the woman leaned over the counter and kissed Neville gently on the lips. Ariana swung her feet and looked away, it felt as if she was intruding on something. Their kiss was over quickly, to Ariana's happiness, and before long a conversation had commenced.

" Hello, darling." The woman said smiling at Neville. "How was your day?"

"Exciting, I think." He said looking at Ariana. "Hannah, my sweet, this is Ariana Dumbledore. Ari, this is my wife, Hannah."

"How do you do?" Hannah said taking and shaking Ariana's hand while looking into her icy blue eyes. "Wow, a Dumbledore, I can already tell you are destined for greatness. I can't wait to see which house you're in." She lowered her voice and spoke quietly to Ariana. "Now, my husband will tell you Gryffindor is the best, but Hufflepuff is totally better."

"Hey!" Neville exclaimed. "No influencing her! Anyway sweets we have to be going," Hannah was about to say something before he stopped her. "I know we didn't drink anything but we have to go, I promised her guardian at the orphanage I would have her home by nightfall."

"Fine then," Hannah began as Ariana and Neville began to stand. "You know what to do, and Neville,"-Hannah glanced at Ari and then back to her husband- "You know you have to tell her."

"I know," Neville said and his wife nodded. "Come on Ari let's go."

"O.k.," Ariana stuttered, utterly confused. " Nice to meet you."

Hannah smiled and kissed her husband good-bye, then she watched Neville and Ariana as they walked to the rear courtyard of the pub. Ariana and Neville opened the door and walked out into the sun, squinting as they went, and walked to the center of the courtyard. Ariana looked around and realized at once that the courtyard was very small and very sparsely decorated. All around the tiny courtyard the were weeds poking up from the ground and around its perimeter was a red brick wall.

To the left side of the wall there nothing, but on the right the was a small dustbin which is where Neville led Ariana. They reached the dustbin and Neville looked down on it and smiled.

"You know," Neville said taking his wand out and tapping some of the bricks above the dustbins. "It's been so long since I've used this entrance that I can't remember which brick- Ah!"

Just then Neville had tapped the third brick from the left above the dustbin and suddenly an archway opened in the wall. Neville nudged Ariana to go forward once she did, Ariana couldn't believe her eyes. All around her were shops of every shape and size, one on top of the other plastered with posters advertising their newest products. Ariana smiled as she observed all the other witches and wizards rushing about the place, trying to get where ever they needed to go. She heard Neville say welcome to Diagon Alley next to her but he seemed so far away that she didn't answer. Neville shoved a piece into Ariana's tiny hand and said something to her, although, when it was apparent she was not paying attention he chose to repeat himself.

"Ariana!" Neville very nearly shouted, knocking Ariana out of her trance and making her look at him. "That's your supplies, where would you like to go first."

"I want to get my wand." Ariana said not even looking at the list in her hands. "Can we do that first? Where do we have to go?"

"Yes, we can do that." Neville began but then he sighed and looked down at Ariana. "But before anything, we have to go to Gringotts."

"Oh," Ariana said signaling to Neville that he could start leading the way. " Your right, lets go."

~*~*~*~

After walking for about five minutes Ariana had followed Neville to a building unlike any other she had ever seen. Gringotts was a giant snow-white building that stood above all the other shops around it, up ahead Ariana could see the huge bronze doors leading into what she was sure would be a very extravagant chamber. She and Neville walked briskly up the white stone steps that lead to the doors and were greeted by the goblins there. Ariana, who had never seen a goblin before marveled at them and very eagerly shook their hands and smiled, all the while receiving confused looks from the goblins. The goblins opened the doors for Ariana and Neville and together they stepped into a wide hallway which ended with a set of enormous set silver doors.

"What were they professor?" Ariana asked as they continued down the hallway to the doors.

"Those were goblins, they are very smart but one must proceed with caution with goblins, they have fought with wizards for equal rights for many years and some of them seem remain a tad bit hostile." Neville explained just as he and Ariana reached doors at the end of the short hallway. "Ahh, here we go. This poem talks about how it is impossible to break into this place, its only happened twice ever. You should take a look."

Ariana nodded at Neville and looked up at the doors to read the poem Neville spoke of. It read:

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.

Ariana looked at it for a moment longer and then put her hand on the handle of the doors and pulled. The silver doors opened into a marble entrance hall bigger than anything Ariana had ever seen. There was a long counter at the back of this room laden with goblins talking to the wizards they were serving, and behind them there were dozens and dozens of doors into which the goblins would lead the wizards. In front of the counter were countless witches and wizards waiting for their turn to be served and Neville lead Ariana to the shortest line and they waited there until they were called.

"It's beautiful," Ariana said her eyes jumping around from place to place. "Where do those doors lead?"

"They lead down to the vaults," Neville said looking up as he and Ariana were called up to the goblin in the front of their line. "Ah, here we go." They stood in front of the goblin and Neville smiled nicely at him. "Good day, hello. I'm Neville Longbottom and I'm here to help this little lady withdraw some money from her vault."

The goblin now turned its head to look at Ariana. "And who might you be?"

"I'm Ariana, Ariana Dumbledore?" Ariana said, attempting to sound confident, but instead it came out as a question.

"And," the goblin said looking at her with his piercing Black eyes. "Do you, miss Ariana, have your key?"

"Uh," Ariana began, riffling through her pockets and pulling out the little tiny golden key. "Yeah, here."

The beady eyed goblin took the key from her hands and stood up to lead them to one of the doors behind the counter. Ariana and Neville followed the goblin to the door and as he opened it they stepped inside, instantly the scenery changed. Suddenly they stood in a place that led Ariana to believe they were not in Gringotts anymore. It was a narrow passageway lit only by torches which were hung on the walls. Ariana and Neville followed the goblin for a minute or so until they came up to a little cart. The goblin went inside it and looked at his two passengers as they came on along with him.

"Brace yourself." Neville whispered quickly to Ariana, while reaching out to grab some part of the cart.

Ariana nodded and set out to do the same but before she could the cart jolted forward and started rushing through the dark catacombs. Ariana fell backwards on her rear end and gasped from the pain. She reached for the side of the cart but got Neville instead and held on as hard as she could. Ariana pulled herself up just in time to see the blur of the walls around the cart right before the cart stopped.

Ariana let go of Neville and took a deep breath to steady herself as the goblin opened the cart door, she saw Neville do the same right before he followed the small goblin off the cart. Ariana stepped off cautiously and followed the other two to a large silver door. The goblin stretched out his hand and put the key in the lock but he didn't open the door, he simply turned toward Ariana.

"This is the Dumbledore vault. When Albus Dumbledore died his money was left in this vault and Aberforth got the lot. Aberforth then transferred his gold into this vault, which was his family's original vault given to the eldest son. It now belongs to you Ms. Dumbledore, Take the gold and spend it on what you desire, but don't defile your family treasures and heirlooms. Keep them near your heart and out of greedy hands, most of all the Dumbledore family possessions are in this room."

Having said that, leaving Ariana confused, the goblin turned the key and lead Ariana and Neville into the vault. Ariana gasped at the sight before her. The vault was an enormous room laden with golden coins everywhere she looked. At first this was all Ariana could see, but she ventured deeper into the vault and discovered everything she could have ever imagined. There was jewelry and robes of every color and even photo albums of the family, documented by year and filled completely with moving pictures. On one wall of the room there were newspaper clippings about one of the Dumbledores and Ariana made a mental note to ask Neville about it later.

Ariana was still looking at all this when Neville came up beside her and handed her a pouch. Ariana opened it with ease and it was empty except for a small white gold necklace which Ariana quickly scooped up to examine. Her eyes widened when she saw that the necklace was a an inch long white gold crescent moon attached to a small sapphire star, and that along the moon's outer edge it was engraved with a name. It read Ariana Dumbledore. Ariana felt her eyes water a little and wiped the tears away hoping Neville hadn't seen, although he most likely had.

"That was Aberforth's," Neville began. "He always kept it with him and clutched it when your aunt's name came up. It's a mokeskin pouch and only it's owner can open it, the fact that you can proves that you own all this now. I think you should wear it, I think he would have wanted you to."

"Yeah," Ariana mumbled, putting the necklace around her neck with Neville's help. "We can use this for the gold too, for now anyway, since I don't have anything else to put in here."

"Good idea," Neville said.

Ariana and Neville filled the mokeskin pouch with the galleons and made their way out of the vault. They took the cart back up to the marble chamber and Ariana got her key back. They left Gringotts with their goal accomplished but Ariana couldn't help but feel a little sad at leaving all that information of her family behind. They walked swiftly out of the silver doors then the bronze doors into the open air of Diagon Alley. They mumbled their farewells to the goblins at the first set of doors and left the property, with Ariana very anxious for their next stop.

They walked to quite a few minutes before reaching a dark colored shop with its name gleaming in bright golden letters.

"Welcome, Ms. Dumbledore." Neville said smiling at Ariana. "To Ollivander's. It's time for you to get your wand.

~*~*~*~

Hey every one,

Sorry it took so long I will try to be quicker next time. Next chapter is focused on Ollivander's and the Magical Menagerie. Hope you liked this chapter, by the way let me know if you know whether the mokeskin pouch is invisible to everyone but the wearer/owner. I wasn't sure but if you know for sure let me know and I will edit it. R&R if you want and P.S. I wrote the sorting hat's song already =]

Becca