Daria Owlyear Diagon Alley Again
DISCLAIMER: Daria is the creation of Glen Eichler and is the property of MTV Viacom. Harry Potter, its cast, and background are the creation of JK Rowling and are the property of JK Rowling, Wizarding World, and Warner Brothers. I certainly don't own them, and neither intend nor deserve to financially profit by this work of fiction.
Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl*Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl*Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl
Both Jake and Daria left Florean Fortescue's ice cream shop sated, happy, but exhausted. They walked back down Diagon Alley, passed through the Leaky Cauldron to get out to Charing Cross Road, then returned to their hotel. Once there, they formally checked in, then went upstairs to take a nap.
They awoke near dusk. Jake woke up first. He went downstairs and walked out and down to Charing Cross Road, thinking that he'd forgotten something. When he tried to buy a newspaper, he was reminded of what he'd forgotten: he'd forgotten to change some dollars into British pounds. He returned sheepishly to his hotel empty-handed.
The hotel did do a little currency exchange, although the cashier assisting the evening clerk took pity on Jake and told him that he'd do better to visit a bank or use his debit card. Not knowing where the nearest teller machine was situated, Jake decided to change forty dollars into pounds at the hotel this once and look for a teller machine the next morning.
Smidget was up by the time he returned to their hotel room. She was frowning. His daughter had unpacked her suitcase and was laying out the clothing she'd brought from Highland as well as what she'd bought today.
"How's it going, kiddo?" said Jake.
"I think I'm mostly good on my clothing," said Daria, "but we're going to have to return to Diagon Alley before I set off for Hogwarts. I need to get my books and supplies."
"We still have a couple of days before your train leaves, so we can go shopping again tomorrow," said Jake. "Do you want to stay in or go out?"
"Let's go take a walk," said Daria.
They went down to the lobby, out the door, and over to Charing Cross Road. They first walked in what they hoped was South and after some huffing and puffing, found themselves at Trafalgar Square. They saw the tall column looming over the Square.
"Nelson's column," said Jake.
"Horatio Lord Nelson, an English Admiral, right?" said Daria. "He won the Battle of Trafalgar."
"That's right," said Jake. "I had to take military history classes back at Buxton Ridge. I remember one quiz where we had to list the major battles of the Napoleonic Wars. Most of the guys failed to remember even half of the battles—I think they were too busy with homecoming. But I was one of the only two guys who remembered Trafalgar."
"I bet your teacher was impressed," said Daria.
"He was," said Jake. "But Cadet-Sergeant Polk wasn't. I had to do two weeks of KP because I got it right and he didn't."
"That stinks," Daria said frowning. One of the things she'd hated about her elementary school were the lazy-asses who not only didn't study but bullied the people who did.
"Let's head back," said Daria. They turned around and started walking back towards their hotel. They soon found themselves near a cross street with bus stop.
"I wish I knew London better," said Daria. "I'd love to see Piccadilly Circus."
Jake glanced up the cross street and saw a London Transport bus stopped behind several automobiles waiting for the light to change. He noted the destination sign above the front windshield: Piccadilly Circus.
"You know, kiddo," said Jake. "That bus over there looks like it goes there."
Jake worried about how he'd get a city bus to stop. In some places they always stopped at certain stops, whether anyone was getting on or off or not. At others, you had to put up your arm and wave. Back when he was a hippie, he'd practically had to do a rain dance to get the driver to slow down and pick him up. He wondered if he'd have to do it here and soon learned that he didn't have to. The bus slowed down to a stop in front of him and discharged a couple of passengers. The front door opened and he and Daria got on.
It took him a few moments to pay the fares for himself and Daria, but he and his daughter were soon on their way: he standing while she sat down. The ride to the Circus was relatively brief and they didn't miss their stop; Daria had asked for help from other riders.
They got off the bus behind several other passengers, stepping aside so they'd not be jostled while they looked around. They found a good vantage-point to marvel at the wonderful panorama of brightly-lit signs and streams of moving automobiles.
Daria let her eyes feast on it. This was so cool, so utterly unlike Highland.
"Thanks, Dad!" she said.
-(((O-O)))—
The next morning Jake and Daria were awakened by the sound of someone knocking on their door.
"Wake up, sleepy-heads!" said Martha. "We have more shopping to do!"
Jake and Daria got out of bed and set about the tasks of waking up and getting ready for the new day. They emerged a short while later dressed and a little disheveled.
"So how did you spend yesterday evening?" asked Martha.
"We took a nap, then visited Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus," said Daria.
"Sounds exciting," said Martha. Despite the fact that she'd lived in the London area for years, she realized that there was so much of the city she'd never seen, particularly the Muggle parts. She wondered why the Muggles would name a London square after someplace in Spain.
Breakfast was nearly over but there was still toast, jam, hard-boiled eggs, and some fruit, so neither Jake nor Daria had to start their morning on empty stomachs. They ate quickly; Jake washing his breakfast down with coffee, Daria with tea.
"So what are we doing today?" asked Daria.
"Well, we still have to get the remainder of your school supplies," said Martha. "You've been measured for robes, you've got a wand, but you still need books, charts, a cauldron, and a telescope, among other things." Daria thought about her luggage and wondered how she'd be able to fit a cauldron and a telescope, not to mention textbooks inside her suitcase. This was definitely going to be a problem.
"We might have to get another suitcase," Daria said worriedly. "I don't see how I'm going to fit all that stuff inside my bag."
"I might be able to help there," said Martha, thinking of her first paying job. She'd learned a thing or two about the sorts of magically-expanding trunks and valises while she worked there and saw no reason why any witch or wizard should have to unwillingly suffer the space and weight restrictions imposed by Muggle luggage.
The three of them left the hotel a short time later, first walking over to Charing Cross Road, then following it to the entrance for the Leaky Cauldron. Martha opened the door and the two Morgendorffers followed her inside.
The late morning crowd was somewhat different from the one Jake and Daria had seen the day before. Most of the wizards and witches that had had morning business in the Alley had already passed through, what was left were late-comers, travelers, families shopping for school supplies for their children, as well as a scattering of tipplers planning to indulge in some day-long drinking. Daria and Jake let Martha lead them to the back and again watched with amazement as the brick wall behind the pub re-arranged itself into an archway leading to Diagon Alley.
Their first stop was at a shop that sold cauldrons. That, at least, was something Daria was familiar with. Martha told them that at a pinch, cauldrons could serve as baskets. Daria noted that the British Number Four cauldrons were slightly smaller than the ones she'd trained on back in Highland and made a note to herself to ask her Hogwarts potions teacher about how that would affect recipes and potion preparation.
Their next stop was at Arsenius & Jigger. Daria was carefully picking out and checking off the ingredients she was supposed to bring to school when she saw her Dad going through some of the supplies and putting things into a small shopping basket.
"Uh, Dad," Daria said worriedly. "Do you know this stuff does?"
"I don't see any harm in trying some with my cooking," Jake said confidently.
"Dad, seriously, I don't think that's a good idea," said Daria. "If you don't know what the stuff here does, I wouldn't mess with it."
"A little wouldn't hurt, kiddo," said Jake. He was reaching for dried moon-lily roots when an unfamiliar hand grasped his wrist.
"Hey!" said Jake.
Jake glanced at the hand and saw himself facing an amused-looking, solidly-built looking matron who reminded him of one of his elementary-school teachers, only this woman had a grip Mrs. Herring couldn't have matched on her best day.
"Muggle?" she said.
"Hunh?" said Jake.
"No-Maj? Mundane?" said the matron.
"Yeah," Jake said, deflating.
"Are you taking potion classes?" said the matron.
"No," said Jake.
"You might want to leave the stock on these shelves alone until you know what you're doing," said the matron.
"All right," Jake said dejectedly.
-(((O-O)))—
Flourish and Blotts was a revelation. True, the books were far more expensive than Mundie books were, but Flourish and Blotts had a wide selection of books about magic that Daria had never seen before. It was almost more than she could do to restrict most of her purchases to the ones on her list: she wanted buy as many books as she could. Even so, she bought five more books that looked useful.
Meanwhile, a helpful healer had pointed out a couple of self-help books written for Mundie or Squib parents raising wizarding parents: one was titled My Magical Daughter: A Muggle's Guide for Raising a Young Witch, the other was Raising Magical Children in an Unmagical World. Jake bought both and resolved to start reading at least one of them on his flight back to Texas. Their line of credit significantly depleted, Jake and Martha left Flourish and Blotts with a sense of relief while Daria left in a state of contentment.
-(((O-O)))—
By the time that Jake had finished shopping for Daria's supplies, not only were Daria's hands full, but Jake was also carrying some of their purchases.
"I think we ought to stop in here," said Martha, turning into a shop that sold luggage. Daria irritably wondered why Martha was taking them on this detour but followed her inside.
They quickly discovered that Martha knew people at this shop. "Miss Haddaway, what brings you here?" said a balding middle-aged man wearing a suit that wouldn't have looked out of place in Charles Dickens' London.
"Trunks," said Martha. "I'm helping a Muggle-born girl prepare for her first year at Hogwarts," Martha replied.
"I see," said the balding man in the Dickensian outfit. "Does the girl have magic?"
"Well, I wouldn't be bringing her around if she didn't," said Martha.
"Well, you brought them to the right place," he said.
"How do you do, sir? I'm Ernest Satchel," said the shopkeeper.
"Jake Morgendorffer," said Jake. "This is my daughter Daria."
"Americans?" he asked.
"Born and raised," Jake replied.
"So you need a school trunk," said Ernest.
"She might," said Jake. "The suitcase we bought back in Texas is getting a little cramped."
"Well, you'll find that our trunks can expand to hold everything a young lady might need short of grand tour of the Continent," said Ernest. "Let me show you this model over here." He pulled what looked like an old-fashioned brown leather suitcase from a shelf and set it on end on a table. He then unlatched it, opened it, then pulled a metal tab on the side of the latch.
Jake's eyes bulged. The space inside the suitcase was far larger than the suitcase itself. Could they do that?
"We sell a lot of these to schoolchildren attending Hogwarts as well as a couple of the smaller schools," said Ernest. "They hold everything: wardrobe, books, school supplies, cauldron, telescope for astronomy classes."
"I see," said Jake, still feeling astonished. "But even if it can hold all that, isn't there a problem with weight?"
"Not really," said Ernest. "Magic. The clothing, books, and telescope are actually in some sort of side dimension; I won't bore you with the details save that I have a squib cousin who is still trying to puzzle it out using Muggle mathematics. I leave him to it; it keeps him from talking about tennis matches."
"What do you think, kiddo?" said Jake.
Daria looked inside the suitcase in wonder. THIS was something they hadn't talked about back in Highland. It would certainly solve her luggage problem. She wasn't a clothes person, she wasn't planning to become one, but she certainly needed the space.
And it definitely would be one up on Quinn, she thought snarkily. Still, questions had to be asked.
"Is this technology new or has it been around for a while?" she said.
Mr. Satchel smiled at the idea of magic being referred to as technology but understood what the girl was asking.
"Not to worry, Miss, but it's magic that has been around for centuries," he replied. "Plenty of time to work most of the, ah, bugs out."
Daria sighed with relief. "Cool," she said.
"Well, in that case," she began. "Uh, Dad, I'd love to have a trunk like this…"
Her dad was distracted. Daria rolled her eyes. That could happen. She saw him stare with delight at a yellow handbag with dots and Xs in it.
"Felix the Cat!" Jake exclaimed.
"Beg pardon?" said Martha.
"Felix the Cat was a cartoon I used to watch when I was a kid," said Jake. "He had a bag of tricks that could assume any shape and hold incredible amounts of stuff. I never thought to see the real thing."
"Really?" said Earnest, who'd ordered two dozen of those bags then wondered why they didn't sell.
"I still remember the theme song," said Jake. "Felix the Cat, the wonderful, wonderful cat. Whenever he gets in a fix, he reaches into his bag of tricks…." He sang the rest of the theme song, ignoring Martha's look of concern about his mental stability and Daria's look of embarrassment.
Earnest looked at Jake in a new light. Maybe he could help him move the rest of those bags. "Mr. Morgendorffer, tell me more about this Felix the Cat," he said.
They left the luggage shop a little later. Jake shared most of what he remembered about Felix the Cat with Mr. Satchel along with a quick pencil sketch and Mr. Satchel gave him a discount on Daria's new trunk as payment.
"Well," said Martha. "It's not even noon yet."
"Huh," said Jake.
"Well, I think that's it," said Martha. "You've got your magical school supplies, a new trunk, and I think you have the rest of the day free to spend as you like. Your robes should be ready Friday afternoon, but possibly not until early Saturday morning. I'd stop in on Friday afternoon just to make sure."
"Mister Morgendorffer, Daria, you know about from where and when the Hogwarts Express leaves London for Hogwarts, don't you?"
"King's Cross Station, track 9 3/4s at 11:00 AM," Daria replied.
"And you have your ticket, don't you?" said Martha.
"We do," said Daria.
"Well, in that case, feel free to tour the city, and if you need me, just call," said Martha.
They shook hands and went their separate ways: Daria and Jake back to their hotel, Martha as far as the Leaky Cauldron, then off to some errand of her own.
Jake helped Daria take her new suitcase up the stairs. Daria set it on the bed, opened her old suitcase, then frowned.
"Dad, you wouldn't mind if I take care of this part myself, would you?" she said.
"Sure thing, kiddo," said Jake. "I'll leave you to it. Besides, I've got to go downstairs and make a phone call."
-(((O-O)))-
Author's notes: I read a lot a lot of Harry Potter fanfiction before and during the time I started writing the Daria Ravenclaw series. I soon discovered that a lot of my fellow fanfiction writers have very bizarre ideas as to London's size and what is landmark is plotted where. One of my favorite blunders was that of a young writer that plopped Little Whinging so close to Diagon Alley that Harry could reach it during an afternoon's stroll.
One of my other pet peeves is that many of my fellow fanfiction writers make no effort to set Diagon Alley in the real London or even a fanfiction London that looks like the real deal. I decided to avoid that mistake and attempted tried to place real London landmarks within walking, bus, or underground distance to Diagon Alley..
I am not a Londoner, and I'm not really familiar with the city. But I have been studying guidebooks and maps. I know I made mistakes-but I'm trying.