CHAPTER 2:
The Leaky Cauldron
Once Christina has recuperated, Remus escorts her into a pub called 'The Leaky Cauldron'. Inside the place resembles Remus' garb; shabby, dusty, positively old and decrepit. A slouched figure bearing a lantern appeared through the door behind the bar. Whomever he was, he bore the resemblance of a toothless vampire.
"Christina, this is Tom, the landlord." Remus introduces. Tom bows before her,
"Nice to meet you." Christina smiles nervously.
"Your private parlor awaits, Miss Bataskill." Tom announces. Christina throws Remus a look and he pats her shoulder, nudges her to follow Tom. They follow along the narrow passage after Tom's lantern, and then into a small parlor. Tom clicked his fingers, a fire burst into life in the grate, and he bowed himself out of the room. Christina watches the self-lit fire with extreme curiosity. So this is what they meant by different …
"Have a seat. I want to talk to you about tomorrow." Christina does so and just as Remus is about to get started, Tom the innkeeper reappeared, wearing an apron over his nightshirt and bearing a tray of tea and crumpets. He places the tray on a table between Remus and Christina and left the parlor, closing the door behind him.
"Tomorrow we prepare to go to Hogwarts, the boarding school your parents spoke of." Christina lets out a small 'ah' before helping herself to a crumpet, attempting to calm down her stomach.
"We will be heading to Diagon Alley, there you will receive your wand, schoolbooks, robes and you can pick out a pet as well!" Remus says excitedly. He helps himself to some tea while Christina is still sputtering for words.
"Wand … like, for a-?"
"You're a witch, Christina." Christina stares at him, dumbfounded. It made sense but Christina never considered herself a witch, just … different.
"Your mother was a witch too. As am I a wizard. As will all your classmates at Hogwarts. There you will receive a first-class education in all sorts of categories. Charms. Herbology. Arithmancy. And even Defense Against the Dark Arts, which as so it happens, I will be teaching this year."
"You're a teacher there?" She says with a sigh of relief, at least she'd know one person there.
"First year! Should be … well … let's hope for the best." She chuckles.
"Since you'll be joining late, you'll be ushered in with the first years in the sorting hat ceremony." Remus says and Christina again only replies with a blank stare. He smiles to himself, "This must all be very confusing."
"Just a little bit." She admits with a laugh.
"Hogwarts, the school, has four houses you can be sorted into. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Each house has their merits and only accepts students who reflect the core values of each house."
"What house were you?" She asks.
"Gryffindor. As was your mother. Your father was in Ravenclaw." Remus replies. Christina still couldn't believe she was really learning about her birth-parents. It seemed like this was all some elaborate dream.
"Are certain houses better than others?" Christina likened the experience to being put in the 'stupid class' and wondered if Hogwarts was doing the same …
"Not exactly. Each house has good and bad. Gryffindor, known for bravery and impulsivity. Ravenclaw, studious though cautious. Hufflepuff, kind and ordinary. Though, Slytherin house has a particularly bad reputation because of … well, we'll get into that later."
Christina frowns, wanting to know more, "What're their core values?"
Remus bites his tongue, clearly harboring a secret. "Very cunning. Though admittedly selfish."
"That's it? That's not that bad, I've been called that before." Christina says. She reaches for her tea as Remus measures his words, "Yes, but a certain type of individual excels in Slytherin house."
The two regard one another, Remus trying to protect Christina from who knows what and Christina exhausted and curious, "I feel like you should just tell me cause I'm going to find out anyway." She says.
Remus sighs. He starts fussing with the sugar spoon, mind preoccupied. "Just as there are good people and bad people in your world, the same goes for the Wizarding World. And a number of bad witches and wizards all got their start in Slytherin house … It's not mutually exclusive, just because you're sorted into Slytherin doesn't mean you're a bad person, but bad people tend to come from Slytherin house so … correlation versus causation …" He mutters to himself. Christina continues to stare at him, eyes begging for more information, "Christina, I see you're a very bright witch and I can tell you know I'm hiding something from you, but you have to trust that I'm only keeping it from you to keep you safe."
"Safe from what?" She asks.
"The man who killed your parents."
There's a deafening silence. Remus starts stirring sugar into his tea, the clinking of the spoon against the ceramic sounding thunderous.
"I was told … he died …" Christina mumbles, slowly piecing her life story together. Remus shifts uncomfortably in his chair and coughs, clearing his throat.
"I think that's enough for one night—" He stands up abruptly.
Christina stands up with him, "Wait—" Remus collects his coat from the back of the chair, "We have a big day tomorrow –"
"Remus, please!" He begrudgingly stops, watching the small glassy-eyed girl look up to him. She balls her hands into fists, attempting to control herself, "I have spent … my entire life … knowing nothing of what happened to my parents or why they were even killed … please, can't you just tell me?" She pleads. Remus runs his hands over his face, scratching at his patchy five o'clock shadow. He takes in a shuddered breath,
"All I'll say is this … Your parents were part of an alliance against the Dark Lord."
The Dark Lord?
"-He wiped out that entire alliance, or most of it anyway. The night he … disappeared … the Dark Lord's body had perished. All that remained were two infants, one bearing a lightning-bolt scar on his forehead. His name is Harry Potter. Does this name mean anything to you?" She shakes her head. "It is believed … that one or both of the infants vanquished the Dark Lord."
"But – as a baby? How -"
"We do not know what happened that night. We just know that he died, and we thought that was the end of it! We spent ten or so years living our lives, no troubles other than our own. Until two years ago, he resurfaced. His spirit anyway." Christina had so many questions, her head swimming -
"To do what? Get his body back?"
"Christina, that is enough for one night." Remus stands again, this time resolute in leaving.
"But -!"
"I appreciate your curiosity but this will all come in due time." He heads for the door and Christina lets out an aggravated sigh. Remus opens the door and just as he's about to shut the door behind him, Christina calls out, "Who was the other baby? Did they make it?" Remus stares at his shoes, determining whether or not to reveal his information or to just let it be. He looks at her hopeful face and gives in,
"It was you."
He closes the door behind him, leaving Christina with this earth-shattering information.
Christina had spent the entire night awake, lying in her bed contemplating everything Remus had told her and the implications of it all. An alliance? A Dark Lord? Witches and wizards and she was supposed to just go on a shopping spree tomorrow without knowing exactly what was even going on? What happened two years ago, why did the spirit come back? And in what form? Who is Harry Potter and why was she with him that night? Did her parents know his? Were they part of the alliance too? It was all too much. All she knew was this, whomever Harry Potter was, she had to meet him. Maybe he knew more, or maybe he didn't even know she existed. Regardless, it was a starting point.
Remus collects Christina the following morning, Christina understandably exhausted. The circles under her eyes were greyer than Remus' and that was saying something. After some breakfast, Remus takes Christina behind The Leaky Cauldron and introduces her to a brick wall with some trash bins adorning it. Christina looks up at Remus, bewildered.
Remus chuckles and takes out his wand. He taps the third brick from the left above the trash bin, and holds out an arm for Christina to stand back. The brick he had touched began moving, wriggling along with few surrounding it. Suddenly, the bricks began to give way to a small hole that grew wider and wider until a few seconds later the brick wall they were standing in front of was now an archway leading into a busy street of dozens of shop fronts, hundreds of witches and wizards in proper robe and hat garb and the cacophony of excited shoppers.
"Welcome, to Diagon Alley."
Christina follows Remus through the cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight. The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. A sign hanging over them described their various sizes and types, including 'self-stirring'. Christina turned her 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 scales, thirty Sickles a bag, they're barkin'…"
A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium – Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy. Next to it a shop for brooms, the one in the display reading: Firebolt! Fastest yet!
There was shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Christina 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—
"Ollivanders!" Remus announces. They stop in front the last shop on the street, narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters frame the top of the door reading: Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. Christina regards the large dusty windows, two stories high and presenting several magic wands on faded purple cushions.
They enter and a tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place but that was mostly because every inch of the place was stacked with small rectangular boxes, full of wands, Christina assumed. How on earth was she supposed to find a wand when they were clearly in a hoarders nest of them?
A man on a tall ladder comes rolling in and skidding to a halt in front of Christina and Remus. He is an old man, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop. His arm unkempt and was as white as snow. The second he peers down at Christina his eyes widen in a mix of terror and excitement, "Merlin's beard, you're alive!"
"I'm—?"
"Christina Bataskill, very pleased to make your acquaintance." The old man bows in front of Christina and she looks up to Remus for help.
"Uh, Ollivander, we're here for Christina's first wand."
"Of course, of course. Dumbledore told me you were coming Remus and I must admit, I hoped the rumors were true but, you know –"
"What rumors?" Christina blurts out. Ollivander and Remus look at each other with the same look Christina had been receiving all of last night, "you didn't tell her?"
"I'll tell you after." Remus promises. She huffs out an aggravated sigh and they begin searching for a wand. Christina had lost count of how many wands Ollivander handed her and how many she would wave and cause various damage to the shop. Now it made sense why the place was so shabby, it seemed that every time you swished a wand that wasn't right for you, some kind of spontaneous explosion would appear. Finally, Ollivander hands her a wand that gives her a different reaction, instead of the normal trouble from the wand, this one glowed a yellow hue from the tip and it send shivers down her spine.
"The wand chooses the witch." Ollivander pips. "Chestnut, twelve inches. Unicorn hair – and wouldn't you believe it –"
But before Ollivander could finish, Remus is already jumping on it, "It isn't—"
"It is." Ollivander confirms.
"Did you say, unicorn hair?" Christina says, gaping. The two laugh, "Yes, my dear. Unicorn hair. The same unicorn that gave hair to your mother's wand." Ollivander then gestures to Remus, "And to her brother. Your uncle."
"What does that mean?" Christina asks, a little afraid of the answer. Though Remus claps a hand around her, "It means we're family. Thank you, Ollivander."
They head outside, wand packaged back in its box and in a gift bag and Remus directs her back up the street. As they're walking, Christina notices people staring at her, some people whispering and pointing while others just have their jaws dropped.
"Does everyone think I'm dead?" Christina says loudly. She sees a few people grab a friend to direct their attention her way.
"They did." Remus says shortly. "Let's get you an owl! You can write letters that way." Letters, what – ? Wait-
"Why did they think I was dead?" Remus stops at the entry way to Eeylops and pulls Christina aside to a nearby alley. He places his hands on her shoulders, "Christina, I know you have questions –"
"You said you'd tell me outside. After Ollivanders." She folds her arms, pouting.
He drops his head, sighing, caught. "Christina, after that night, when it was just you and Harry Potter left standing against the Dark Lord … the safest – the best—" He clears his throat, "We sent you to America to protect you. No one knew this except for a few and … with you gone, people assumed you had been killed. Until now."
Christina let the words hit her slowly, everyone thought she was dead, she was sent off for safety … what, why and how and who made that decision and who else knew? She looks up at Remus' tired face and instead, says, "Thank you."
Remus look up at her, surprised, "For what?"
"Just for being honest." Remus watches Christina head back to Eeylops, letting herself in. He wordlessly watches this young witch pick out an owl gleefully after just having heard the story of the darkest moment of her and Remus' sister's life. Christina had picked a white owl with a blue wing, apparently from an accidental dyeing. Christina loved it, she named her Tulip. She told the cashier that she too was different. Remus shakes his head, she was so much like his sister. It made him emotional. It was like having his younger sister back.
After a long day of juggling cauldrons, spell books and school robes, Christina and Remus head back to the Leaky Cauldron to call it a day. After the line of questioning about her supposed death, the day was lighter, only pleasant conversation and more details about Hogwarts. From what Remus could relay, Hogwarts was the most wonderful magical and mystical castle Christina could possibly imagine. There were elves that ran the kitchens, a sport called Quidditch that could only be played on broomstick, and class where you learned only about magical creatures and the Great Hall which Remus described as warming in heat and in heart.
Remus had left Christina in the pub to finish her late lunch so he could run some errands. Christina didn't mind being left alone, it gave her more time to oogle at the bar patrons who could be only described as 'rustic'. Just as Christina was about to finish her shephard's pie, three teens enter the Leaky Cauldron alerting the ginger man reading the paper at the bar.
"Harry!" he said, smiling as he looked up. "How are you?" Christina's ears immediately perk up. There's no way this could be the Harry Potter, could it? Certainly the right age … He was walking with another red-haired boy, Christina imaged it was the ginger man's son, and a curly-haired brunette girl. Quite the motley crew.
"Fine, thanks," Harry said. He, and his two friends joined the man at the bar. He puts down his paper and Harry looks at the front cover, "They still haven't caught him, then?" he asked.
"No," said the ginger man, looking extremely grave. "They've pulled us all off our regular jobs at the Ministry to try and find him, but no luck so far." The Ministry-?
"Would we get a reward if we caught him?" asked the red-haired boy. "It'd be good to get some more money —"
"Don't be ridiculous, Ron," said the man, who on closer inspection looked very strained. "Black's not going to be caught by a thirteen-year-old wizard. It's the Azkaban guards who'll get him back, you mark my words."
At that moment a red-haired woman entered the bar, laden with shopping bags and followed by red-haired twin boys, looked to be about a few years older than the trio of thirteen-year-olds. Behind them, another red-head, slightly older and more severe looking and then a young girl, again, ginger. She seemed embarrassed to be seen with the group and gave a meek "Hello" to Harry without even looking at him. The severe red-head held out his hand solemnly to Harry and said, "Harry. How nice to see you."
"Hello, Percy," said Harry, trying not to laugh.
"I hope you're well?" said Percy pompously, shaking hands.
"Very well, thanks —"
"Harry!" said one of the twins, elbowing Percy out of the way and bowing deeply. "Simply splendid to see you, old boy —"
"Marvelous," the other twin joined in, pushing his brother aside and seizing Harry's hand in turn. "Absolutely spiffing."
Percy scowled. "That's enough, now," said the red-haired woman.
"Mum!" said one of the twins, as though he'd only just spotted her and seizing her hand, too. "How really corking to see you —"
"I said, that's enough," their mother snaps, depositing her shopping in an empty chair. "Hello, Harry, dear. I suppose you've heard our exciting news?" She pointed to the silver badge on Percy's chest. "Second Head Boy in the family!" she said, swelling with pride.
"And last," One of the twins muttered under his breath.
"I don't doubt that," their mother said, frowning suddenly. "I notice they haven't made you two prefects.
"What do we want to be prefects for?" said the other twin, looking revolted at the very idea. "It'd take all the fun out of life." The youngest girl giggled.
"You want to set a better example for your sister!" snapped the mother.
"Ginny's got other brothers to set her an example, Mother," said Percy loftily. "I'm going up to change for dinner…"
Christina was slowly gathering the names of this large ginger family, Percy, eldest, Ginny, youngest and Ron in the middle.
Percy disappears and one of the twins heaved a sigh. "We tried to shut him in a pyramid," he told Harry. "But Mum spotted us." The trio of Harry, Ron and the curly-haired girl laugh heartily. Their dad stands from the bar, leaving his paper there, "Boys, clean up for dinner."
The mom follows suit, "Six o'clock, sharp! Come now, Ginny." All at once, all of them begin to disperse to their rooms and Christina leaps up, terrified of missing her chance to meet Harry –
"Um – Harry?" He turns and looks at her having no idea who she was. No gaping look of confusion or whispers to Ron or the girl. "Are you Harry Potter?" She continues.
"Uh, yeah. Hi." He says awkwardly. The curly-haired girl notices the awkward interaction and tugs at Harry's shirt, "Come on, Harry—"
"Wait – I'm," she swallows, "I'm Christina Bataskill." Everyone at the pub went silent. Ron and the twins who were a few feet down the hall stop in their tracks and turn around. Ginny eyes her up and down as though confirming this fact.
"You-you're Christina?" Harry stutters. She nods, and holds out a hand. As their hands touch to shake, there's an odd sense of familiarity, a weird sensation as though they were long-lost siblings or separated twins.
"Dumbledore told me you'd be joining Hogwarts this year."
"I'm Hermione Granger." The curly-haired woman extends her hand as well and Christina makes her rounds through the group. Ginny Weasley, Ron Weasley, Fred and George Weasley and Percy was already gone. Molly Weasley, the mother, introduces herself warmly though Arthur Weasley was transfixed from the brick wall behind them all, suddenly immobile.
"Arthur, don't be ridiculous –" Mr. Weasley suddenly snaps out of his stupor and extends a hand to Christina, shaking it vigorously.
"Very pleased to meet you, Christina. You must understand our confusion, we all –"
"Thought I was dead, my uncle Remus Lupin just told me." She chuckles, though only afterward realizing how morbid it sounded.
"Of course! Where is he?" Mr. Weasley asks, animatedly.
"Running errands." Christina shrugs.
Mr. Weasley continues, "You must join us for dinner, both of you. We'll be here at six o'clock." He smiles down at her, then shakes his head, muttering to himself, "Christina and Harry…" He then places a hand on both Christina and Harry's shoulder, "—together at last."
The two thirteen-year-old regard one another with wonder and that's when Christina sees the lightning bolt scar under a few strands of his hair. It was real, it was all real ... the Harry Potter.