This is the next chapter, I'm so sorry for not posting for almost a month, I was away on vacation, and didn't have much time or internet, anyways I'm back and this is the longest chapter so far. I hope it makes up for my inactivity
Chapter 6
The hallways were just as they expected them to be, completely deserted. They were lucky not to meet anyone, not even peeves, all the way down to the kitchens, where the elves greeted them with great enthusiasm, as they always did. There were more than a hundred elves working in the Hogwarts kitchens, and who knows how many more cleaning the entire castle. As usual, they gave the 3 students everything they asked for and were very welcoming. Lily who'd never been to the kitchens before, also joined Sirius in asking for a couple of treats, which was quite unusual for her, but James knew that everyone who he'd ever taken to the kitchens acted in the exact same way.
When they left, James and Sirius were both carrying a small bag full of different kinds of snacks and sweets. They were only in the kitchens for about 10 minutes, therefore they didn't expect much to have changed around the corridors, and they were right, not a single teacher was anywhere near them, so their way to the common room was clear. Of course, none of them expected anything to come in their way, as nothing showed up on it when they left the kitchens, but they were wrong. Just as they finished climbing the stairs, and were 2 corridors away from the common room Peeves showed up, through a wall, right in front of them, and started throwing, in their opinion, everything he got his hands on that made the most noise when it hit the ground, such as vases, suits of armour... That's when the three of them started running as fast as they could towards the common room, but McGonagall was standing right in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady, still dressed in her day clothes.
"I want all three of you, in my office right now, wait for me there, I'll bet there in a short while, since I have to make sure Peeves stops with all this noise before he wakes up the entire castle!"
"Yes ma'am" said the three of them at the exact same time, as Sirius and James shared a confused look. The three of them started for McGonagall's office as James and Sirius were discussing various excuses as for what they were doing out of bed, luckily Peeves got hold of their food, therefore McGonagall wouldn't know they were carrying it around. Lily wasn't listening to what they were talking about, she was rather making up her own excuses and thinking of ways to get out of this without getting detention. When they finally reached McGonagall's office, which was left unlocked, they all sat down on a chair in front of her desk and the two boys continued their conversation until McGonagall showed up.
"Well, I must say I'm impressed, it's almost the end of the week and this is the first time the two of you have gotten into trouble, now, I don't want to hear any pathetic excuses, just tell me exactly what happened and you might get away with it if the story is really good." She said then turned to Lily, as if expecting her to answer.
Lily sighed and started telling McGonagall "well, we were reading the books professor Dumbledore told you about and in between chapters we decided to go down to the kitchens and get a snack"
"We were being productive, and doing somehitng we were supposed to do when Sirius here got hungry, we usually have extra sweets left after the Hogwarts express, but this time we didn't have any left" continued James
"So you just though it acceptable to go down to the kitchens after dinner and ask for more food," she had a disapproving look on her face, but then continued " well then, as you were unsuccessful tonisght, in getting anything up to your dormitories I suggest you get a few things from dinner next time, instead of sneaking out after curfew, now off you go the three of you, don't make any noise, oh and by the way, I was expecting more from you Miss Evans and Mr Potter, after all Dumbledore trusted you enough to make the two of you head boy and girl, don't disappoint him!" she said, as she opened the door to let them go.
When they were in front of the portrait Lily was the first to say anything since they left McGonagalls office.
"How exactly did we get away that easily?"
"I think she was in a good mood" said James
"Or it might have been because Lily was with us and she wouldn't have expected her doing anything bad." Said Sirius
"Either way, we better take her advice and not wonder around after curfew" said Lily
"Are you kidding? Ha, please you can stay in here if you want but Prongs and I are going back to the kitchens, if you haven't noticed we still don't have anything to eat"
"Actually Padfoot, I think I'll skip it tonight, if we meet Peeves again there's no way we'll get out without detention, and personally I think our free time is very little as it is without us losing any more of it."
"Be as you want it, I'm going down there again, I'll be fast, you guys can go ahead and start the chapter without me"
"You know we won't do that" Lily sighed again "Dumbledore told us we all need to be there when we're reading, oh, you know what, just be really fast, and make sure you don't get into any trouble"
Lily and James both went up to the dormitory where the other were talking away cheerfully, they didn't even notice the two of them coming in, and sitting down on James's bed until they also started conversing with each other. Sirius came in 15 minutes later with his hands full of different kinds of snacks, even more than they had brought originally.
"Alright then, who wants to read now?" Asked James
"I think I will, I haven't read in a while" said Remus, and James passed him the book.
CHAPTER FIVE DIAGON ALLEY
"Finally we get to hear more about wizards and not those stupid muggles!" said Sirius
Harry woke early the next morning. Although he could tell it was daylight, he kept his eyes shut tight.
"It was a dream, he told himself firmly. "I dreamed a giant called Hagrid came to tell me I was going to a school for wizards. When I open my eyes I'll be at home in my cupboard."
"Oh no you won't!" said Lily "Hagrid will still be there to take you away and have a life a million times better than the one you've lived so far"
"Why would he even tell himself it was a dream?" asked Sirius
"Perhaps he didn't want to disappoint himself too much if Hagrid wasn't there" said Remus
"Oh, well for a kid who hasn't had the much excitement in his life, I guess that's normal behaviour." said James
There was suddenly a loud tapping noise. And there's Aunt Petunia knocking on the door, Harry thought, his heart sinking. But he still didn't open his eyes. It had been such a good dream.
"and a very realistic one as well" said George
Tap. Tap. Tap.
"All right," Harry mumbled, "I'm getting up."
He sat up and Hagrid's heavy coat fell off him. The hut was full of sunlight, the storm was over, Hagrid himself was asleep on the collapsed sofa, and there was an owl rapping its claw on the window, a newspaper held in its beak.
"I was actually starting to wonder what that tapping was, do you think it's a letter from Dumbledore?" asked Sirius
"I don't think he would've answered back and anyways that wasn't much of a letter that needs an answer, the letter itself was somewhat of an answer" said Lily
Harry scrambled to his feet, so happy he felt as though a large balloon was swelling inside him. He went straight to the window and jerked it open. The owl swooped in and dropped the newspaper on top of Hagrid, who didn't wake up. The owl then fluttered onto the floor and began to attack Hagrid's coat.
"A prophet owl, of course, they're so annoying, they won't stop plucking at whatever you're wearing or at your fingers until you pay them," said James
"Once I tried to away from one without paying it, it chased me around for about half an hour, and then just stole the 5 knuts from my jacket." Said Sirius
"Yeah, you should never put up with the Prophet owls" said Remus, and then continued reading
"Don't do that."
Harry tried to wave the owl out of the way, but it snapped its beak fiercely at him and carried on savaging the coat.
"When I was younger, one of these owls bit off the head of a doll that Narcissa was playing with while they delivered the Daily Prophet, things turned out quite ugly back then, and she was only ten when that happened" said Sirius
"Yeah, as much as we'd love to hear about how ferocious your cousins are we should go on reading," said Lily
"Not like I want to talk about them, both of them are such bitches, I bet they're both going to rot in Azkaban like rats" said Sirius, as George tried to hide a grin and Lily seemed to be trying really hard not to tell him off for his language
"Yeah, umm I think Remus should go on, perhaps Azkaban is not exactly the best subject right now" George said, while thinking that at this time of the story Sirius had already been in Azkaban for quite a few years. Sirius gave George a confused and disappointed look, probably because he'd probably expected George to take his side and continue arguing with Lily.
"Hagrid!" said Harry loudly. "There's an owl "Pay him," Hagrid grunted into the sofa. "What?"
"He wants payin' fer deliverin' the paper. Look in the pockets." Hagrid's coat seemed to be made of nothing but pockets - bunches of keys, slug pellets, balls of string, peppermint humbugs, teabags...
"Again, I've always wondered how he fits all those things in there" said Sirius
"I know, those pockets aren't even that big" said James
"We're surrounded by wizards, you're wizards yourselves and yet you question a lack of space? That's just pathetic, isn't it obvious there has got to be some sort of expanding spell or something"said Lily
"That actually makes a lot of sense, but Hagrid isn't exactly allowed to use magic" said Remus
"Well, we're not allowed around the school during the night, yet that still doesn't stop us from roaming the corridors at night, does it?" said George
"Yeah, Lil's probably right, well, we figured out one thing at least" said Sirius
finally, Harry pulled out a handful of strange-looking coins.
"They did seem strange at first to me, but you get used to them, they're quite different from muggle coins" said Lily
"Give him five Knuts," said Hagrid sleepily. "Knuts?"
"The little bronze ones."
Harry counted out five little bronze coins, and the owl held out his leg so Harry could put the money into a small leather pouch tied to it. Then he flew off through the open window. Hagrid yawned loudly, sat up, and stretched.
"Best be Off, Harry, lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer stuff fer school."
Harry was turning over the wizard coins and looking at them. He had just thought of something that made him feel as though the happy balloon inside him had got a puncture.
"Um - Hagrid?"
"Mm?" said Hagrid, who was pulling on his huge boots.
"I haven't got any money - and you heard Uncle Vernon last night ... he won't pay for me to go and learn magic."
"Wait I just thought of that, haven't we left him anything after we died, I mean from everything my parents have, I inherited all that right, why would he not have any money?" asked James
"Maybe because all of it is in Gringotts?" said Lily "The kid only heard of muggle banks until now."
"Oh, yeah, right"
"Don't worry about that," said Hagrid, standing up and scratching his head. "D'yeh think yer parents didn't leave yeh anything?"
"But if their house was destroyed -"
"Wizards don't keep all their money in their house, not even muggles do that, at least not normal muggles" said Remus
"They didn' keep their gold in the house, boy! Nah, first stop fer us is Gringotts. Wizards' bank. Have a sausage, they're not bad cold - an' I wouldn' say no teh a bit o' yer birthday cake, neither."
"Your parents left you money in a wizard bank, now have a sausage, Hagrid always does this, just randomly changes the subject from something really serious to something else like food." Said Sirius
"Wizards have banks?"
"Just the one. Gringotts. Run by goblins."
Harry dropped the bit of sausage he was holding. "Goblins?"
"I had an even worse reaction when I first entered Gringotts" said Lily "And Tuney actually ran out of Gringotts shrieking after seeing a goblin"
"Merlin, I wish I was there to see that" said Sirius
"Yeah - so yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it, I'll tell yeh that. Never mess with goblins, Harry. Gringotts is the safest place in the world fer anything yeh want ter keep safe - 'cept maybe Hogwarts. As a matter o' fact, I gotta visit Gringotts anyway. Fer Dumbledore. Hogwarts business." Hagrid drew himself up proudly. "He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him. Fetchin' you gettin' things from Gringotts - knows he can trust me, see.
"I really like how Dumbledore trusts Hagrid to do so many important things, eventhough he did something bad enough to have been expelled, he still trusts him a lot." Said Lily
"Got everythin'? Come on, then."
Harry followed Hagrid out onto the rock. The sky was quite clear now and the sea gleamed in the sunlight. The boat Uncle Vernon had hired was still there, with a lot of water in the bottom after the storm.
"How did you get here?" Harry asked, looking around for another boat. "Flew," said Hagrid.
"Flew?"
"Yeah - but we'll go back in this. Not s'pposed ter use magic now I've got yeh."
"I bet Hagrid would be allowed to use magic for this, but he probably just wants to leave the Dursley's on the island, just imagine thos three trying to swim back, that must be the most hilarious thing ever" said Sirius
They settled down in the boat, Harry still staring at Hagrid, trying to imagine him flying.
"Seems a shame ter row, though," said Hagrid, giving Harry another of his sideways looks. "If I was ter - er - speed things up a bit, would yeh mind not mentionin' it at Hogwarts?"
"Told you he would still use magic" said Sirius
"Actually you didn't say that" said Lily as Sirius interrupted
"And you had to ruin my moment of glory for predicting the future!"
"We're literally reading the future right now, so don't get me started on just how much of an idiot you're being right now!" said Lily in quite an angry tone
"Of course not," said Harry, eager to see more magic. Hagrid pulled out the pink umbrella again, tapped it twice on the side of the boat, and they sped off toward land.
"Why would you be mad to try and rob Gringotts?" Harry asked. "Spells - enchantments," said Hagrid, unfolding his newspaper as he spoke.
"I heard some of the older vaults even have dragons guarding them" said James
"They say there's dragons guardin' the high security vaults. And then yeh gotta find yer way - Gringotts is hundreds of miles under London, see. Deep under the Underground. Yeh'd die of hunger tryin' ter get out, even if yeh did manage ter get yer hands on summat."
"Do you think someone will ever be able to rob a Gringotts vault," said James, and continued immediately so as not to let Lily tell him off "I'm not trying to be mean, I just meant that it would be cool if anyone would ever be able to succeed with this, they would have to be an amazing witch or wizard"
Lily sighed "I guess it would be cool to hear of such a great wizard, but if they would want to rob a Gringotts vault, they would also probably be some Dark wizard, which again is not exactly something or someone we would want to hear about,"
"Actually there are some wizards who would want to rob Gringotts for a good reason" said George with a grin on his face
"Did someone rob a Gringotts vault in the future?" asked Sirius
"I never said someone robbed it, just said that it doesn't necessarily have to be a dark wizard"
Harry sat and thought about this while Hagrid read his newspaper, the Daily Prophet. Harry had learned from Uncle Vernon that people liked to be left alone while they did this, but it was very difficult, he'd never had so many questions in his life.
"Ministry o' Magic messin' things up as usual," Hagrid muttered, turning the page.
"There's a Ministry of Magic?" Harry asked, before he could stop himself.
"'Course," said Hagrid. "They wanted Dumbledore fer Minister, O'course, but he'd never leave Hogwarts, so old Cornelius Fudge got the job. Bungler if ever there was one. So he pelts Dumbledore with owls every morning, askin' fer advice."
"Fudge is going to be minister of Magic? That old git doesn't know anything about ruling the ministry of magic, where is the Wizarding world going to get to?" said Remus
"Yeah, the guy really has certain issues, you should see what happens in Harry's third and fourth year, and I'm going to shut up now." Said George as Lily was preparing to stop him when he started saying too much
"But what does a Ministry of Magic do?"
"I thought Hagrid just told you, mess things up!" said James
"They do a few good things as well, like keep muggles away from any knowledge about the Wizarding world" said Remus
"Well, their main job is to keep it from the Muggles that there's still witches an' wizards up an' down the country."
"Why?"
"Why? Blimey, Harry, everyone'd be wantin' magic solutions to their problems. Nah, we're best left alone."
At this moment the boat bumped gently into the harbor wall. Hagrid folded up his newspaper and they clambered up the stone steps onto the street.
Passersby stared a lot at Hagrid as they walked through the little town to the station. Harry couldn't blame them. Not only was Hagrid twice as tall as anyone else, he kept pointing at perfectly ordinary things like parking meters and saying loudly, "See that, Harry? Things these Muggles dream up, eh?"
"I bet the muggles who saw him doing that though he was a complete psycho" said Sirius
"Of course they did, those are normal things for them, and Hagrid's behaviour is normal wizard behaviour when surrounded by muggle technology" said Lily
"Hagrid," said Harry, panting a bit as he ran to keep up, "did you say there are dragons at Gringotts?"
"Well, so they say," said Hagrid. "Crikey, I'd like a dragon." "You'd like one?"
"Wanted one ever since I was a kid - here we go."
"I've completely lost count of the unusual creatures Hagrid wants, or already has, I heard the forbidden forest is full of creatures that Hagrid has domesticated in one way or another" said Remus
"Some people simply have different interests than others." Said Lily
"I don't think that's Hagrid's interest, more like his obsession!" said James
"Fine, whatever, he just really like strange creatures, now, can we continue reading, it's getting late." Said Lily
They had reached the station. There was a train to London in five minutes' time. Hagrid, who didn't understand "Muggle money," as he called it, gave the bills to Harry so he could buy their tickets.
People stared more than ever on the train. Hagrid took up two seats and sat knitting what looked like a canary-yellow circus tent.
"Knitting? Out of all the things I've seen Hagrid do, I don't think I ever saw him knit." Said James
"Just imagine how weird it is for those muggles, seeing a person as big as Hagrid on a train, and even more, knitting, I wish I could see their faces." Said Remus
"Still got yer letter, Harry?" he asked as he counted stitches. Harry took the parchment envelope out of his pocket.
"Good," said Hagrid. "There's a list there of everything yeh need."
Harry unfolded a second piece of paper he hadn't noticed the night before, and read:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY UNIFORM
First-year students will require:
1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)
Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags
COURSE BOOKS
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emetic Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble
"They only changed half of the books, in about 20 years, I would have expected a bigger change in course books" said Remus
"Perhaps the books we have are better than those that were written until they were at Hogwarts" said Lily
OTHER EQUIPMENT
wand cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
set glass or crystal phials
telescope set brass scales
Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN
BROOMSTICKS
"That's the only part of the entire Hogwarts letter that I actually hate, I mean why can't first year bring broomsticks, if they already know how to use one," said James
"Because it wouldn't be fair towards the muggleborns, that's why!" said Lily
"Still, they can learn as well"
"Just like the others can wait for one more year," said Lily
Everyone was quiet for a bit, then Remus decided he should keep on reading.
"Can we buy all this in London?" Harry wondered aloud. "If yeh know where to go," said Hagrid.
Harry had never been to London before. Although Hagrid seemed to know where he was going, he was obviously not used to getting there in an ordinary way. He got stuck in the ticket barrier on the Underground, and complained loudly that the seats were too small and the trains too slow.
"That's true though, before I thought trains were one of the fastest ways to get around, but after I learned to apparate, it seems like they're really slow and it takes forever to get somewhere." Said Lily
"I don't know how the Muggles manage without magic," he said as they climbed a broken-down escalator that led up to a bustling road lined with shops.
Hagrid was so huge that he parted the crowd easily; all Harry had to do was keep close behind him. They passed book shops and music stores, hamburger restaurants and cinemas, but nowhere that looked as if it could sell you a magic wand. This was just an ordinary street full of ordinary people. Could there really be piles of wizard gold buried miles beneath them? Were there really shops that sold spell books and broomsticks? Might this not all be some huge joke that the Dursleys had cooked up? If Harry hadn't known that the Dursleys had no sense of humour, he might have thought so; yet somehow, even though everything Hagrid had told him so far was unbelievable, Harry couldn't help trusting him.
"Why would he not trust him, it's Hagrid!" said Sirius
"Maybe because some giant person he doesn't know, just randomly appeared on an island in the middle of the sea and told him he's a wizard, which until then he thought existed only in fairytales" said Lily
"That seems like a good enough reason," said Sirius
"This is it," said Hagrid, coming to a halt, "the Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place."
It was a tiny, grubby-looking pub. If Hagrid hadn't pointed it out, Harry wouldn't have noticed it was there. The people hurrying by didn't glance at it. Their eyes slid from the big book shop on one side to the record shop on the other as if they couldn't see the Leaky Cauldron at all. In fact, Harry had the most peculiar feeling that only he and Hagrid could see it. Before he could mention this, Hagrid had steered him inside.
"Can muggles not see the Leaky Cauldron?" asked James
"I guess there are special enchantments on it so that muggles don't just wonder inside" said Lily
For a famous place, it was very dark and shabby. A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was talking to the old bartender, who was quite bald and looked like a toothless walnut.
"A toothless walnut?" said George "Harry definitely lacks talent at comparison"
"Or he's so good at it he even associates people with things such as walnuts" said James
"Whether he's good at it or not, he's hilarious when he describes people" said Sirius
The low buzz of chatter stopped when they walked in. Everyone seemed to know Hagrid; they waved and smiled at him, and the bartender reached for a glass, saying, "The usual, Hagrid?"
"Can't, Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business," said Hagrid, clapping his great hand on Harry's shoulder and making Harry's knees buckle.
"Does he really need to tell everyone he meets that he's on Hogwarts business?" asked Remus
"Let's admit it, I think he's just showing off, it makes him feel in some way special that he has important jobs for the greatest school in the world" said Sirius
"Good Lord," said the bartender, peering at Harry, "is this - can this be -?"
"My son!" said James "That's right, Harry Potter, the son of the great and amazing James Potter!"
"Show off!" said Lily "But he's my son as well!"
The Leaky Cauldron had suddenly gone completely still and silent. "Bless my soul," whispered the old bartender, "Harry Potter... what an honor."
He hurried out from behind the bar, rushed toward Harry and seized his hand, tears in his eyes.
"Welcome back, Mr. Potter, welcome back."
Harry didn't know what to say. Everyone was looking at him. The old woman with the pipe was puffing on it without realizing it had gone out. Hagrid was beaming.
Then there was a great scraping of chairs and the next moment, Harry found himself shaking hands with everyone in the Leaky Cauldron.
"Perhaps he was better off growing up with muggles, but definitely not the Dursley's" said Lily
"Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter, can't believe I'm meeting you at last." "So proud, Mr. Potter, I'm just so proud."
"Always wanted to shake your hand - I'm all of a flutter."
"Delighted, Mr. Potter, just can't tell you, Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle."
"I've seen you before!" said Harry, as Dedalus Diggle's top hat fell off in his excitement. "You bowed to me once in a shop."
"He remembers!" cried Dedalus Diggle, looking around at everyone. "Did you hear that? He remembers me!" Harry shook hands again and again - Doris Crockford kept coming back for more.
"Yeah, Doris has always been something of a fanatic" said Remus
A pale young man made his way forward, very nervously. One of his eyes was twitching.
"Professor Quirrell!" said Hagrid. "Harry, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts."
"P-P-Potter," stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping Harry's hand, "c-can't t-tell you how p- pleased I am to meet you."
Everyone was laughing at Remus trying to imitate Professor Quirrell.
"What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?"
"D-Defense Against the D-D-Dark Arts," muttered Professor Quirrell, as though he'd rather not think about it. "N-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" He laughed nervously. "You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He looked terrified at the very thought.
But the others wouldn't let Professor Quirrell keep Harry to himself. It took almost ten minutes to get away from them all. At last, Hagrid managed to make himself heard over the babble.
"Must get on - lots ter buy. Come on, Harry."
Doris Crockford shook Harry's hand one last time, and Hagrid led them through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a trash can and a few weeds. Hagrid grinned at Harry.
"Told yeh, didn't I? Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh –
"That's something normal, he's always trembling" said Remus
mind you, he's usually tremblin'." "Is he always that nervous?"
"Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some firsthand experience... They say he met vampires in the Black Forest, and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag - never been the same since. Scared of the students, scared of his own subject now, where's me umbrella?"
"Poor guy, but he's a good teacher" said Lily
"Yeah, speak for yourself, I hardly managed to get into his N.E.W.T class" said Sirius
Vampires? Hags? Harry's head was swimming. Hagrid, meanwhile, was counting bricks in the wall above the trash can.
Everyone was laughing again, then George said, "I don't really know why but that just sounds so comical"
"Three up... two across he muttered. "Right, stand back, Harry." He tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella. The brick he had touched quivered - it wriggled - in the middle, a small hole appeared - it grew wider and wider - a second later, they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight.
"Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley."
He grinned at Harry's amazement. They stepped through the archway. Harry looked quickly over his shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall.
"When I first walked into Diagon alley I thought it was the most amazing thing I've ever seen, there were so many things I've never seen and everyone was dressed so weirdly and it was the most amazing day of my life" said Lily dreamingly
"The first time I went to Diagon alley I pooped my diapers" said Sirius and everyone but Lily started laughing
"Oh Shut up, you have no idea how amazing it is for someone who's never been anywhere near anything that has to do with wizards" said Lily
The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. Cauldrons - All Sizes - Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver - Self-Stirring - Collapsible, said a sign hanging over them.
"Yeah, you'll be needin' one," said Hagrid, "but we gotta get yer money first."
Harry wished he had about eight more eyes. He turned his head in every direction as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping. A plump woman outside an Apothecary was shaking her head as they passed, saying, "Dragon liver, seventeen Sickles an ounce, they're mad..."
"Seventeen sickles? Wow prices do go up a lot in fifteen years, last time I was in Diagon Alley it was only ten sickles" said Remus
"Come on, there's things that change dramatically in less than a month, let alone 15 years" said George
A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium - Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy. Several boys of about Harry's age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it. "Look," Harry heard one of them say, "the new Nimbus Two Thousand - fastest ever -"
"Nimbus two thousand? Is that fast?" asked James "I only have a comet 67, and that's one of the fastest there is, there's no way the nimbus can get faster than that."
"Actually you would be amazed with the things they came up with, I have a cleensweep 5 now, you guys can try it out some time." said George
"Ohh Merlin, please don't start on Quiditch now, let's finish reading this chapter, you can talk about that later" said Lily frustrated.
There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Harry had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon...
"Gringotts," said Hagrid.
They had reached a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was -
"Yeah, that's a goblin," said Hagrid quietly as they walked up the white stone steps toward him. The goblin was about a head shorter than Harry. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and, Harry noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside. Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:
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.
"Like I said, Yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it," said Hagrid.
A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. Hagrid and Harry made for the counter.
"I bet he's even famous amongst Goblins and not just wizards" said James
"Of course he is, You-Know-Who also terrorized them, not just the Wizards" said Lily
"I never actually realized that other species can also be terrified of him" said Sirius
"Well you're not very observant then" said Lily
"Morning," said Hagrid to a free goblin. "We've come ter take some money outta Mr. Harry Potter's safe."
"You have his key, Sir?"
"Got it here somewhere," said Hagrid, and he started emptying his pockets onto the counter, scattering a handful of mouldy dog biscuits over the goblin's book of numbers. The goblin wrinkled his nose.
"Classic Hagrid, he really doesn't care about what others think, and just goes on with things, the way he wants to, I think that's actually quite nice" said Lily
"That's until he starts taking mouldy biscuits out of his pockets and other things such as dead mice or toads" said Sirius
Harry watched the goblin on their right weighing a pile of rubies as big as glowing coals.
"Got it," said Hagrid at last, holding up a tiny golden key. The goblin looked at it closely.
"That seems to be in order."
"He doesn't seem to be trusting Hagrid too much" said Remus
"Well, Hagrid has been acting really weird, or at least weirder than most people that have vaults in Gringotts" said George
"An' I've also got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore," said Hagrid importantly, throwing out his chest. "It's about the YouKnow-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen."
The goblin read the letter carefully.
"Very well," he said, handing it back to Hagrid, "I will have Someone take you down to both vaults. Griphook!"
Griphook was yet another goblin. Once Hagrid had crammed all the dog biscuits back inside his pockets, he and Harry followed Griphook toward one of the doors leading off the hall.
"What's the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen?" Harry asked.
"I don't think Hagrid will tell him, but if he's as persuasive and as tricky as Prongs, he'll eventually find out, and it'll probably turn out to be something utterly boring." Said Sirius.
"It's not always boring, well it is usually boring but Hagrid makes these things seem so mysterious" said James
"And of course, you can't resist temptation and torment poor Hagrid continuously until he tells you what it is," said Lily
"If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't be James Potter, the great and the amazing"
"Can't tell yeh that," said Hagrid mysteriously. "Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth ter tell yeh that."
"See? That's what he does all the time, I mean come on, who wouldn't want to find out what it is after Hagrid does that?" asked James
"I don't think Hagrid should go around talking like that, especially with so many idiots around" said Lily "One of them is bound to get interested in that and find out about it."
"Come on Evans, I'm just curious, not an idiot." Said James
"That's what they all say" said Lily
"Well according to the way you're talking about it, you've met a lot of idiots." Said Sirius
"You have no idea," said Lily with a grin on her face.
Griphook held the door open for them. Harry, who had expected more marble, was surprised. They were in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. It sloped steeply downward and there were little railway tracks on the floor. Griphook whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. They climbed in - Hagrid with some difficulty - and were off.
"I'm surprised the other two fit with Hagrid there, those carts are not exactly big" said Remus
"I'm guessing that's why Harry supposedly put the word "small" in, when describing the cart" said George
At first they just hurtled through a maze of twisting passages. Harry tried to remember, left, right, right, left, middle fork, right, left, but it was impossible. The rattling cart seemed to know its own way, because Griphook wasn't steering.
"Those things go really fast, that's why I'm always really sick and confused whenever I get out of Gringotts" said Lily
Harry's eyes stung as the cold air rushed past them, but he kept them wide open. Once, he thought he saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage and twisted around to see if it was a dragon, but too late
"I don't think it was, dragons are usually a lot deeper under the ground, guarding the older vaults." Said Remus
"I'm guessing it was just a torch, they sometimes give that impression." Said Lily
- - they plunged even deeper, passing an underground lake where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor. "I never know," Harry called to Hagrid over the noise of the cart, "what's the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?"
"How's Hagrid supposed to know that, I don't even see a point in learning the difference, they're both basically the same thing" said Sirius
"Oh that's easy, and by the way it is important, they occur in limestone caves. The stalactite is above, and hangs downward like an icicle; the stalagmite is below and sticks up. They grow in pairs, the slightly acidic water dissolves some of the limestone, carrying it downward. When the water evaporates, the limestone appears to have flowed downward. Some of the water does not evaporate until it has fallen through the air, and landed on the floor, the remaining limestone building the stalagmite. Sometimes the stalactite is missing, as they sometimes break off and fall; you will often see their pieces on the floor. Often, the stalactite and stalagmite will connect, and become a column." Lily said with a grin on her face
"How can you remember all of that, I can't even remember which one's up and which one's down, let alone the entire definition and science of it" said James
"She can remember it because she is Lily Evans, and you're not, anyways that is stuff that muggles spend their time on and I don't see how I'll ever need that piece of information in my life" said Sirius
"You're just jealous you don't have such a good memory as Lily" said Remus
"Me? Jealous? Please ! I can't believe you still didn't learn that by now, Moony. I don't get jealous, I'm more fabulous than anyone else, I'm Sirius Black!"
"Wow, calm down there, you really haven't changed at all in 15 years" said George
"ha, ha, that's right I am and always will be awesome!"
"Stalagmite's got an 'm' in it," said Hagrid. "An' don' ask me questions just now, I think I'm gonna be sick."
Everyone started laughing, and then Sirius said, "See? Didn't I tell you Hagrid wouldn't know?"
He did look very green, and when the cart stopped at last beside a small door in the passage wall, Hagrid got out and had to lean against the wall to stop his knees from trembling.
"That's basically description of what I look like every time I go to Gringotts" said Lily
Griphook unlocked the door. A lot of green smoke came billowing out, and as it cleared, Harry gasped. Inside were mounds of gold coins. Columns of silver. Heaps of little bronze Knuts.
"All yours," smiled Hagrid.
"Wow, we left him a lot" said Lily
"I'm guessing it's mostly what I inherited from my parents, or we got a lot of gold for getting killed by Voldemort" said James
All Harry's - it was incredible. The Dursleys couldn't have known about this or they'd have had it from him faster than blinking.
"And that is exactly why they never found out about it, and why they never will" said James
"Before I found out what Tuney was like to Harry I would have never agreed with that but now I do, it really is a good thing that they didn't find out." Said Lily
How often had they complained how much Harry cost them to keep? And all the time there had been a small fortune belonging to him, buried deep under London.
"They've been complaining about how much he cost them? They never even got him anything, I bet they never even fed him enough, how can he cost them a lot?" said James angrily
"I've stopped trying to understand these people a long time ago" said George
Hagrid helped Harry pile some of it into a bag.
"The gold ones are Galleons," he explained. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle, it's easy enough. Right, that should be enough fer a couple o' terms, we'll keep the rest safe for yeh." He turned to Griphook. "Vault seven hundred and thirteen now, please, and can we go more slowly?"
"I wish they could, and the answer I got was" Lily said pointing at Remus as if presenting to them something, while he went on.
"One speed only," said Griphook.
"How'd you know he was going to say that?" asked George
"These Gringotts Goblin's don't say much unless it has to do with their job" said Lily
They were going even deeper now and gathering speed. The air became colder and colder as they hurtled round tight corners. They went rattling over an underground ravine, and Harry leaned over the side to try to see what was down at the dark bottom, but Hagrid groaned and pulled him back by the scruff of his neck.
"I can imagine Hagrid doing that" said Remus while everyone was laughing.
Vault seven hundred and thirteen had no keyhole.
"I think I've heard of those, only the Gringotts Goblins can open them" said James
"Stand back," said Griphook importantly. He stroked the door gently with one of his long fingers and it simply melted away.
"If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there," said Griphook.
"I wonder how often they check inside these to see whether there's anyone trapped inside" said James
"I don't think they ever do" said Lily "That's not really their business, to see how many people tried to break into Gringotts, just to keep it safe from thiefs, and actually not even that, Gringotts does that all by itself"
"How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Harry asked. "About once every ten years," said Griphook with a rather nasty grin. Something really extraordinary had to be inside this top security vault, Harry was sure, and he leaned forward eagerly, expecting to see fabulous, jewels at the very least
"I don't think it's jewels" said Lily "Hagrid could've told him about that"
- but at first he thought it was empty. Then he noticed a grubby little package wrapped up in brown paper lying on the floor. Hagrid picked it up and tucked it deep inside his coat. Harry longed to know what it was, but knew better than to ask.
"What could be so small and so important" asked Sirius
"The most important things are quite often really small" said Remus
"The great Moony has spoken" said James with a grin on his face
"Oh come on guys, I was trying to sound philosophical" said Remus
"And instead you sounded like a paedophile" said George
"Yeah looks who's talking, as if any of you could've come up with something like that. And it was actually a really good answer to Sirius's question" said Lily
"Come on, back in this infernal cart, and don't talk to me on the way back, it's best if I keep me mouth shut," said Hagrid.
"Well he knows what he has to do, now he should learn when to do it, since he tends to have a hard time keeping his mouth shut when it comes to telling people like Harry about important Hogwarts secrets" said George
"He's not that bad, just think about what Hogwarts would be like if Hagrid wasn't here, and after all nobody is perfects" said Lily
"Yeah, Lily's right Hagrid really cares about us I think we shouldn't be talking like this behind his back" said James
"Great, then we can talk about Slughorn behind his back, that git doesn't care about us the slightest, except for Lily and the rest of the slug club" said Sirius
One wild cart ride later they stood blinking in the sunlight outside Gringotts. Harry didn't know where to run first now that he had a bag full of money. He didn't have to know how many Galleons there were to a pound to know that he was holding more money than he'd had in his whole life - more money than even Dudley had ever had.
"Might as well get yer uniform," said Hagrid, nodding toward Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. "Listen, Harry, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringotts carts."
"Wait, a second, did Hagrid just leave my son to roam Diagon Alley all by himself so that he could go and have a drink? Well Hagrid and I will be having one long chat the next time we meet," said Lily
"Come on Lily, he's just being himself and you know that very well," said James
"I know he's being himself but he should really behave better around kids"
"He works at a school, he's always surrounded by kids, and yet if Dumbledore thinks it's ok, I think we can trust him" said James "And I'm sure Harry could get along on his own, after all isn't that basically what he'd had to his entire life?"
"Yeah, I guess so" said Lily
He did still look a bit sick, so Harry entered Madam Malkin's shop alone, feeling nervous.
"Thank god Madam Malkin is a really nice person, he'll be ok with her" said LIly
Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve. "Hogwarts, clear?" she said, when Harry started to speak. "Got the lot here - another young man being fitted up just now, in fact. "
In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him) slipped a long robe over his head, and began to pin it to the right length.
"Hello," said the boy, "Hogwarts, too?" "Yes," said Harry.
"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," said the boy. He had a bored, drawling voice. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."
"Sounds like a spoiled brat if you ask me" said Remus
"He reminds me a bit of Dudley" said James
Harry was strongly reminded of Dudley.
"Just as I said" said James
"Have you got your own broom?" the boy went on. "No," said Harry.
"Play Quidditch at all?"
"No," Harry said again, wondering what on earth Quidditch could be. "I do - Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"
"No," said Harry, feeling more stupid by the minute.
"Of course he doesn't, he doesn't even know what the houses are, or what each of them is like, actually he didn't even know about Hogwarts until the day before, all because of..." said Lily angrily
"Come on Lils, calm down, I think we've all agreed on the fact that we all hate the Dursleys" said James
"Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been - imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" "Mmm," said Harry, wishing he could say something a bit more interesting.
"Slytherin? Well that explains everything." Said James
"I don't think Hufflepuffs are that bad, they're actually really nice people, I don't see what everyone's got against them" said Lily
"They just seem like a bunch of losers, that's what everyone's got against them" said Sirius
"I say, look at that man!" said the boy suddenly, nodding toward the front window. Hagrid was standing there, grinning at Harry and pointing at two large ice creams to show he couldn't come in.
"That's Hagrid," said Harry, pleased to know something the boy didn't. "He works at Hogwarts."
"Oh," said the boy, "I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"
"He's not a servant!" said Lily rather loudly "he's the most amazing gamekeeper the school could have!"
"We all know that, but apparently Slytherins are too royal and too high up to see anyone else but themselves as being amazing" said George
"He's the gamekeeper," said Harry. He was liking the boy less and less every second.
"Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of savage - lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed."
"So what, that doesn't matter, at least he knows how to be nice to people, and how to care for others unlike you filthy little brat" said Lily
"I think he's brilliant," said Harry coldly.
"Do you?" said the boy, with a slight sneer. "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?"
"I feel so bad for Harry, now everyone at Hogwarts will probably start asking him such questions and he'll just awkwardly have to find a good answer" said Remus
"Actually that wasn't really the bad part, people didn't ask him much about his parents, instead they were all asking about what it was like to defeat You-Know-Who" said George
"They're dead," said Harry shortly. He didn't feel much like going into the matter with this boy.
"That's a good way to end a conversation" said James, but the reminder of his death definitely got his mood down.
"Oh, sorry," said the other, not sounding sorry at all. "But they were our kind, weren't they?"
"I hate how these people are so obsessed with the whole pure-blood thing; I mean why does it matter so much? They're just like my family I bet they would even marry their own siblings or cousins if that meant keeping a pure-blood line." Said Sirius
"They were a witch and wizard, if that's what you mean."
"I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname, anyway?"
"I swear I hate that kid more than the Dursleys" said Sirius
"No, there's no way you can hate anyone more than the Dursleys" said James
"Yeah, you're right" said Sirius
But before Harry could answer, Madam Malkin said, "That's you done, my dear," and Harry, not sorry for an excuse to stop talking to the boy, hopped down from the footstool.
"Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," said the drawling boy.
Harry was rather quiet as he ate the ice cream Hagrid had bought him
(chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts).
"That's Lily's favourite!" said James excitedly
"How do you even know that?" asked Lily
"I just happened to have heard it from someone," said James awkwardly
"Just get used to it, Prongs over here has done just about everything he could to find out as much about you as possible" said Sirius
"You know, that's called stalking, right ?" said Lily
"In the muggle world" George reminded them
"What's up?" said Hagrid.
"Nothing," Harry lied. They stopped to buy parchment and quills. Harry cheered up a bit when he found a bottle of ink that changed color as you wrote. When they had left the shop, he said, "Hagrid, what's Quidditch?"
"Blimey, Harry, I keep forgettin' how little yeh know - not knowin' about Quidditch!"
"I know how you feel Hagrid. My son, not knowing about Qudditch, that's just plain torture." Said James
"You know, In the future, when Harry is born, I'm going to get him his first broom, I can promise you that" said Sirius
"aww that's so nice, I never thought I'd ever tell Sirius Black that" said Lily
"Don't make me feel worse," said Harry. He told Hagrid about the pate boy in Madam Malkin's.
"-and he said people from Muggle families shouldn't even be allowed in."
"Yer not from a Muggle family. If he'd known who yeh were - he's grown up knowin' yer name if his parents are wizardin' folk. You saw what everyone in the Leaky Cauldron was like when they saw yeh. Anyway, what does he know about it, some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line 0' Muggles - look at yer mum! Look what she had fer a sister!"
Lily sighed.
"So what is Quidditch?"
"It's our sport. Wizard sport. It's like - like soccer in the Muggle world - everyone follows Quidditch - played up in the air on broomsticks and there's four balls - sorta hard ter explain the rules."
"That has got to be the worst explanation of Quiditch I have ever heard" said James "Why does Hagrid, out of all people have to be the one to tell him what Quiditch is?"
"Well, if it weren't for Hagrid he'd be going to Hogwarts without knowing what Quiditch is at all, so be thankful Hagrid was at least there." Said Sirius
"And what are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?"
"School houses. There's four. Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o' duffers, but -"
"I bet I'm in Hufflepuff" said Harry gloomily.
"NO WAY!" shouted both James and Sirius at once
"There's no way my son's a Hufflepuff" said James
"Says the exact same person who a couple of minutes ago was saying that Hufflepuffs are not that bad" said Lily
"Actually Sirius was the one who said that, I only commented on the Slytherin thing" said James "And anyways, I wasn't saying Hufflepuffs are bad, just that Harry will most definitely be a Gryffindor"
"Better Hufflepuff than Slytherin," said Hagrid darkly. "There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one."
"ahm, explain Wormtail then." Said Sirius
"Come on Padfooot, don't bring it up, it's bad enough we lost our best friend because he's a back stabbing idiot, let's just not talk about it, ok?" said James and everyone agreed
"Vol-, sorry - You-Know-Who was at Hogwarts?"
"Years an' years ago," said Hagrid.
They bought Harry's school books in a shop called Flourish and Blotts where the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all. Even Dudley, who never read anything, would have been wild to get his hands on some of these. Hagrid almost had to drag Harry away from Curses and Countercurses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue- Tying and Much, Much More) by Professor Vindictus Viridian.
"I can imagine what was going through Harry's mind when he found a book with thousands of curses to use on Dudley" said Sirius
"I was trying to find out how to curse Dudley."
"That of course is, if we don't do it before you son" said James
"I'm not sayin' that's not a good idea, but yer not ter use magic in the Muggle world except in very special circumstances," said Hagrid. "An' anyway, yeh couldn' work any of them curses yet, yeh'll need a lot more study before yeh get ter that level."
"Cursing your cousin who's been an absolute idiot and a jerk is a special circumstance." Said George
Hagrid wouldn't let Harry buy a solid gold cauldron, either
"Why would he even want a solid gold cauldron, he's only a first year" said Remus
"The kid got, for the first time in his life a huge amount of money, which was completely his, of course he wanted to get as many things that are expensive as possible" said James
("It says pewter on yer list"), but they got a nice set of scales for weighing potion ingredients and a collapsible brass telescope. Then they visited the Apothecary, which was fascinating enough to make up for its horrible smell, a mixture of bad eggs and rotted cabbages. Barrels of slimy stuff stood on the floor; jars of herbs, dried roots, and bright powders lined the walls; bundles of feathers, strings of fangs, and snarled claws hung from the ceiling. While Hagrid asked the man behind the counter for a supply of some basic potion ingredients for Harry, Harry himself examined silver unicorn horns at twenty-one Galleons each and minuscule, glittery-black beetle eyes (five Knuts a scoop). Outside the Apothecary, Hagrid checked Harry's list again.
"Just yer wand left - A yeah, an' I still haven't got yeh a birthday present."
Harry felt himself go red. "You don't have to -"
"I know I don't have to. Tell yeh what, I'll get yer animal. Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years ago, yeh'd be laughed at - an' I don' like cats, they make me sneeze. I'll get yer an owl. All the kids want owls, they're dead useful, carry yer mail an' everythin'."
"And then he'll be able to write to Remus, since he hasn't yet been mentioned at all, where actually is he?" asked Sirius
"Yeah, I'd like to know that as well, does Harry get to meet me any time soon?" asked Remus
"I won't tell you guys much except for the fact that Remus only makes his appearance in Harry's third year, so you'll have to wait a while" said George
Twenty minutes later, they left Eeylops Owl Emporium, which had been dark and full of rustling and flickering, jewel-bright eyes. Harry now carried a large cage that held a beautiful snowy owl, fast asleep with her head under her wing. He couldn't stop stammering his thanks, sounding just like Professor Quirrell.
"I honestly don't think anyone can sound as bad as Quirrell," said George
"Don' mention it," said Hagrid gruffly. "Don' expect you've had a lotta presents from them Dursleys. Just Ollivanders left now - only place fer wands, Ollivanders, and yeh gotta have the best wand."
A magic wand... this was what Harry had been really looking forward to. The last shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.
A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single, spindly chair that Hagrid sat on to wait. Harry felt strangely as though he had entered a very strict library; he swallowed a lot of new questions that had just occurred to him and looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. For some reason, the back of his neck prickled. The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic.
"I wonder what wand Harry will get, I bet it's willow like mine" said Lily
"You're on, I bet it's Mahogany like mine, are you guys in as well?" asked James
"Alright, I bet it's Willow, winner gets a chocolate frog, from each of the losers" said Sirius
"I bet it's a holly wand" said Remus "Harry seems like the sort of person who would be fit to a holly wand"
"I'm guessing I'm not allowed to bet, right?" asked George
"Of course not!" said Sirius "You already know"
"Oh fine, Remus, go on reading" said George
"Good afternoon," said a soft voice. Harry jumped. Hagrid must have jumped, too, because there was a loud crunching noise and he got quickly off the spindly chair. An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop.
"Hello," said Harry awkwardly.
"Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter." It wasn't a question
"No, it was more of a statement" said Lily
"Again, I don't see why I would need to care" said Sirius
"You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work."
"That explains why she's so good at charms" said James
"Maybe I'm just talented at it" said Lily
"And you have a wand that is especially good at it" said James
"Did anyone else notice that Ollivander is the second person to meet Harry, who's also met Lily and who tells him he's got her eyes, I bet that happens a lot to him" said Remus
"Oh, you have no idea" said George
Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Harry. Harry wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy.
"So I'm not the only one who thought that!" said Lily "My mum said he looked like a funny old person, and didn't see anything creepy about his eyes"
"Actually, if I think about it he is a bit creepy, how he remembers every single wand he'd ever sold and everything" said James
"Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration.
"It's either the wand or the fact that McGonagall really likes you but you deffinetely have grades almost as good as Lily's in transfiguration" said Sirius
"I've actually forgotten about the fact that it was good at transfiguration, well I guess that explains a lot" said James
Well, I say your father favored it - it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course." Mr. Ollivander had come so close that he and Harry were almost nose to nose. Harry could see himself reflected in those misty eyes.
"And that's where..."
Mr. Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harry's forehead with a long, white finger.
"That's really creepy, you just enter a shop and some old wizard just comes really close to you and starts poking your scar, I'm really sorry for Harry right now" said George "Most people just simply stare at it"
"Like that's any better or less creepy" said Sirius
"I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he said softly.
"Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands... well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do..."
He shook his head and then, to Harry's relief, spotted Hagrid. "Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again... Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?"
"It was, sir, yes," said Hagrid.
"Poor Hagrid, I heard they snap your wand in half if you get expelled," said Lily
"But from what I know Hagrid got to keep the remains, and when he first met Harry he had that pink umbrella, I bet the remains of his wand are in the umbrella, and he uses it as a disguise" said Remus
"It all fits together actually, and it explains why he's often carrying a pink umbrella on sunny days" said Sirius
"Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?" said Mr. Ollivander, suddenly stern.
"Er - yes, they did, yes," said Hagrid, shuffling his feet. "I've still got the pieces, though," he added brightly.
"But you don't use them?" said Mr. Ollivander sharply.
"Oh, no, sit," said Hagrid quickly. Harry noticed he gripped his pink umbrella very tightly as he spoke.
"Of course he doesn't, he never uses it, why would you think he would use, I mean the remains of his magical wand, with magical powers, no, never" said Sirius sarcastically
"Hmmm," said Mr. Ollivander, giving Hagrid a piercing look. "Well, now - Mr. Potter. Let me see." He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"
"Er - well, I'm right-handed," said Harry.
"Hold out your arm. That's it." He measured Harry from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head. As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."
Harry suddenly realized that the tape measure, which was measuring between his nostrils, was doing this on its own.
"I've always wondered if all those measurements are actually needed, I mean come on seriously, between his nostrils?" asked Sirius rhetorically
"I guess they are, Ollivander doesn't seem like the sort of person to just do that for his own fun or to annoy his customers" said George
Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes.
"That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. just take it and give it a wave."
"And no one wins" said Sirius
"Wait, perhaps that's not the wand, he's only just trying it out" said James
Harry took the wand and (feeling foolish) waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once.
"See ? Someone has to win" said James
"Not necessarily, there's hundreds of types of wood for wands and we have four guesses, I mean seriously what are the chances of it being one of these" said Lily
"Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try -" Harry tried - but he had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander.
"No, no -here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."
Harry tried. And tried. He had no idea what Mr. Ollivander was waiting for. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.
"I had mine after the third try" said Lily "He really seems to be tricky to be matched"
"Ollivander got mine on the first try" said James "Guess I was quite an obvious person back then"
"Don't worry, you still are, most of the time" said Lily
"For example now, you would do anything for all of us to leave the room, so that you could start snogging with Lily" said Sirius
"Dude, what the hell?"
"Don't worry the chapter is almost over" said Remus
"And don't swear!" said Lily
"oooh, Lily's also becoming obvious" said Sirius with a grin
"ugh, Remus go on reading" said Lily
"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere - I wonder, now - - yes, why not - unusual combination - holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."
Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers. He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls.
"Holly! I win, ha you all better start getting me chocolate frogs" said Remus
"ugh, and I was so sure I was going to win" said Remus
"You'll have to wait until the next Hogsmeade visit, since I'm all out of chocolate frogs" said Lily
"Doesn't matter, anyways we should make more bets like this through the book," said Remus
"Why? Feeling lucky tonight, you shouldn't waste your luck on bets then, I think you could still find a couple of girls down in the common room" said Sirius
"Yeah, and you should share that luck, you know, I'm sure a bit of it to each of us wouldn't make such a great difference" said George
"Great, well lets finish this chapter, and after that you can share whatever you want and do whatever you like" said Lily
" Hagrid whooped and clapped and Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well... how curious... how very curious... "
He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious... curious..
"Sorry," said Harry, "but what's curious?"
Mr. Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare.
"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather - just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother why, its brother gave you that scar."
"No way ! Voldemort's wand has the same core as Harry's ?! That's really weird !" said James. Everyone was quiet for a few moments and then Remus continued reading.
Harry swallowed.
"Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember... I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter... After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things - terrible, yes, but great."
"That is so true, I don't think anyone could have said it any better" said Lily
Harry shivered. He wasn't sure he liked Mr. Ollivander too much. He paid seven gold Galleons for his wand, and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his shop.
"I've always thought that wands are really quite expensive" said Remus
"Yeah, imagine how much more sweets you could get with 7 galleons" said Sirius
"Oh my gosh! Do you ever think of anything else but food?" asked Lily
"Yeah, I think of pranks" said Sirius with a huge grin on his face
The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky as Harry and Hagrid made their way back down Diagon Alley, back through the wall, back through the Leaky Cauldron, now empty. Harry didn't speak at all as they walked down the road; he didn't even notice how much people were gawking at them on the Underground, laden as they were with all their funny-shaped packages, with the snowy owl asleep in its cage on Harry's lap. Up another escalator, out into Paddington station; Harry only realized where they were when Hagrid tapped him on the shoulder.
"Got time fer a bite to eat before yer train leaves," he said.
He bought Harry a hamburger and they sat down on plastic seats to eat them. Harry kept looking around. Everything looked so strange, somehow.
"It happened to me as well, after being around wizards for an entire day, going back into the muggle world was really weird" said Lily
"You all right, Harry? Yer very quiet," said Hagrid.
Harry wasn't sure he could explain. He'd just had the best birthday of his life - and yet - he chewed his hamburger, trying to find the words.
"Everyone thinks I'm special," he said at last. "All those people in the Leaky Cauldron, Professor Quirrell, Mr. Ollivander... but I don't know anything about magic at all. How can they expect great things? I'm famous and I can't even remember what I'm famous for. I don't know what happened when Vol-, sorry - I mean, the night my parents died."
"I can't get over the fact that he's famous because of his parents' death and for something he can't even remember" said Remus
"It is quite weird, and believe me, it gets weirder by the year." Said George
Hagrid leaned across the table. Behind the wild beard and eyebrows he wore a very kind smile.
"Don' you worry, Harry. You'll learn fast enough. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts, you'll be just fine. just be yerself. I know it's hard. Yeh've been singled out, an' that's always hard. But yeh'll have a great time at Hogwarts - I did - still do, 'smatter of fact."
"I love Hagrid when he gets all nice and emotional and stuff" said Lily
"Don't we all?" said James
Hagrid helped Harry on to the train that would take him back to the Dursleys, then handed him an envelope.
"Yer ticket fer Hogwarts, " he said. "First o' September - King's Cross - it's all on yer ticket. Any problems with the Dursleys, send me a letter with yer owl, she'll know where to find me... See yeh soon, Harry."
"Shouldn't he tell Harry about platform 9 ¾ ?" asked Lily "How is the kid supposed to know he has to run into a wall to get onto it, it doesn't say anywhere on the envelope about that part, I had quite a lot of trouble myself" said Lily
"And that's where we come in" said George with a huge smile on his face, "Can't wait for that part" and his smile faded, though the others weren't quite sure what made it fade so fast.
The train pulled out of the station. Harry wanted to watch Hagrid until he was out of sight; he rose in his seat and pressed his nose against the window, but he blinked and Hagrid had gone.
"That's it, we'll read the next chapter the day after tomorrow, right, because of the homework. I would much rather spend all day reading about Harry than doing homework" said Remus
"We all do Moony, but this being the last year here, we have to learn a lot more, and then we'll be done forever!" said James
"Yeah, that's how I'll get through this year, I'll be constantly telling myself, this and then I'll be free, this and then I'll be free.
"Ok, I'll be going now, goodnight guys" said Lily, and left before the others could reply
So, yeah, this is it, I hope you liked it, sorry again for not posting for so long, I'll try to have the next chapter as soon as possible. Thanks for reading and continue reviewing, because I absolutely love your reviews and they really help and inspire me