The next day started abruptly for Jonathan, when his mother opened the shutters
to his bedroom window. The sun light woke him with an intensity similar to being
slapped by an infuriated sun god. As he sat up in his bed, rubbing his eyes,
he tried to remember what his mother had just said to him before she left his room.
She was probably telling him to get dressed and come to breakfast, but he was
too preoccupied with the news he had recevied the day before to pay attention.
He got out of his bed and walked over to a large mirror that hung on one of his
bedroom walls. It was one of a few pieces of furniture that he had in his small,
but comfortable room. The other furniture he had included his bed, a desk, chair,
and a large wooden bookshelf. The shelf was full of books that he had collected
over the years and was his pride and joy. Most of the books he had owned were
about magic and the rest were either historical or works of fiction. What he did
not know was that some of the books on magic that he owned actually came from the
wizarding world. Some of them were even made to appear before him in book shops
so they were easy to find. For him to become a knowledgable and experienced wizard
was in the interest of some people in the magical community.
He looked at his reflection in the mirror trying to find some sign he had never
seen before signifying that he was indeed a wizard. Even though he had the letter
as proof, he still had some lingering doubt. So there he stood, staring at the
face of an eleven year old boy with short brown hair and grey eyes, trying to
find the clue that told him he was a wizard.
He gave up the search after several minutes and got dressed. He left his bedroom
and went to the dining room for breakfast.
"Good morning dear," his mother said to him, while putting a plate of food onto
the table.
He smiled at her, sat down at the table and began to eat.
"The carriage should be here by the time we are done with breakfast," she said
to him as she sat down to eat as well. His mother liked to take her time eating
which never bothered Jonathan before, except for today. It felt like the Christmas
dinners that he and his and cousins would have to endure before they could
open their presents.
When they were finished eating, they said goodbye to the rest of the family
and climbed into a carriage that was waiting for them outside. It was a medium
sized carriage that was being driven by a large, burly man.
"An' where would you like to be taken to today ma'am?" the driver asked.
Jonathan's mother leaned out of the carriage and said, "we would like to go
to Charing Cross Road in London, please." She sat back down in the carriage and they
felt the pull of the horses taking them down the road.
The sky that day was clear and the air was cool and pleasant. Unfortunately,
the smells that came from the small town where they lived were not and were
sometimes hard to describe. Jonathan was happy to escape the small town and
was looking forward to the ride in the country. He was also looking forward
to being in London and going to some place that sold magical items. He imagined
that the place would be some large building that had everything from wands to
ingredients for spells.
He then realized that he did not know where they were going.
"Do you know where we are supposed to go to get my school supplies?" he asked.
"We are going to a pub on Charing Cross Road called the Leaky Cauldron.
It is supposed to be the entrance to a place called Diagon Alley, " she told him.
With a look of surprise, she said to him, "I am surprised that you did not know
this. The directions were written on a page in your invitation. You had it in your
hands for the entire evening."
He realized that the whole time that he had been holding the letter and looking at
it, he had never read it. His face became rather red with embarrassment.
"I think that I spent the time thinking about what the letter said I am, that I
actually never read it, " he told her.
"That is all right, " she said. "I guess that learning that you are a wizard
would be an an odd experience and could take a bit of time to accept and
understand."
He shrugged and read the invitation. He found that it contained three pages.
The first page was the official inviation. The second page was the listing
of the school supplies he would be needing to buy at Diagon Alley. The third
page contained a set of instructions on how to get to Diagon Alley for his supplies
and to King's Cross when he needed to leave for school. He returned the pages to the
envelope and stared at the countryside.
The time in the carriage seemed to drag on forever and the scenery of the
countryside never seemed to change. He had forgotted how long and boring the
trips to London were. Just when he thought that there would be no end to the
country road he could see London before him. The town was still as he remembered
it from the last time they were there. A lot of buildings and and a lot of people
hurriedly going from one place to another.
A short while later they were at Charing Cross.
When Jonathan's mother realized where they were at, she leaned out of the carriage
and called out to the driver.
"We would like to be let out at a pub called the Leaky Cauldron, " she yelled trying
to stabilize herself in the rocking carriage.
"I'm sorry ma'm, I don't know of any pub called the Leaky Cauldron," he yelled back.
"We were told to go to a pub called the Leaky Cauldron at Charing Cross Road, "
she yelled.
"I've lived here for twenty years and have never heard of the place, " he said.
She sat down in the carriage with a look of panic and disbelief. "I am sure that
the letter specifically said to go to the Leaky Cauldron at Charing Cross Road, "
she said to herself. She took the invitation from Jonathan and looked at it.
She reread it several times hoping to find some error, but could not find any.
Satisfied that the letter was correct, Jonathan looked out the window and saw a
sign for the aforementioned and missing pub.
"There it is, " he said, pulling his mother's attention away from the letter and pointing
out the carriage.
"I don't see it, " she told him, while looking at all of the buildings. "All I see is
a book shop."
"It is right there," he said. "Right next to the book shop."
He could tell that she could not see the pub and that she was starting to become
agitated. He guessed that since he was a wizard he was probably able to
see things she wasn't able to see.
"Mum, " he said. "You have to trust me. I think it might be something only
magical people can see."
She seemed to have taken offense at the comment, but decided to trust him.
She leaned out of the carriage again and yelled, "driver, could you please
let us out over at that book store?" The driver nodded and led the horses
over to the store. He helped them out of the carriage. As he was driving
away they heard him muttering something about small town folk not being all there.
She followed Jonathan to the area next to the book store and said, "I still
do not see it. Are you sure you are not toying with--" Her words stopped abruptly
when she saw Jonathan open a door she had not seen before. She stopped
and shook her head in disbelief trying to make sense of what she had just seen.
They walked into the Leaky Cauldron and found it to be a small, but cozy pub. There
were several people in there wearing long, single color robes that were
having drinks and engaged in conversations. Several of them stopped talking
just long enough to stare at them. Jonathan waved to them and said hi.
Some of them nodded and returned to their conversations.
From behind the bar, a rather tall and stout bartender called out to them.
"Hello, how can I help you?" he asked, as he was putting some glasses in a
cabinet. His robes were an odd sight. There appeared to be stains on them
that must have come from magical drinks. Some of the stains were glowing
and others appeared to be changing color as he moved.
"We are looking for a place called Diagon Alley. We were told that it could
be found here, " she told the bartender.
"That is correct, ma'am," he said. "I can see that you are here to buy school
supplies for your son."
"Yes, that it is why we are here," she said. "How do we get there? The instructions
did not tell us the specifics of finding it."
"If you will please follow me, I can take you there." He put another glass away and
came out from behind the bar.
"Thank you, " she said.
As they started walking towards the back of the pub, Jonathan saw that some
of the people there were staring at him as they were passed. It unnerved
him a bit. There was something unfriendly about the way they kept looking
at him. He smiled and they stopped looking at him. That seemed to
have satisfied them.
The bartender led them out to the back of the pub into a small courtyard.
He walked up to one of the walls and pulled a long wooden wand from
his robe. He tapped a brick several times and as a an archway appeared, Jonathan's
mouth dropped in sheer amazement. He had never seen anything like that before.
He looked up at his mother and saw that she too shared the same reaction.
Before they could start walking through the archway, the bartender stopped them.
"The first thing you will want to do is go to the local bank called Gringotts
to exchange you money for wizard money. It is a little ways down the street.
Just look for a large white marble building, " he said.
"Thank you, " she said to the bartender as they passed through the archway.
What Jonathan saw as they entered Diagon Alley went far beyond what
he was expecting. There were many shops lining the street offering a
multitude of magical items. He saw a shop that was selling robes, another
shop that had floating broomsticks, and a shop that sold a large assortment
of books. He wanted to go to every shop there to look at and touch everything.
His mother could sense the excitement flowing through his veins.
"We need to exchange some money and buy your supplies before you
can run around and explore."
Jonathan's face was suddenly full of disappointment, like someone having
a really tasty piece of food offered to them, but to have it taken away suddenly.
On second thought, he was not really that hungry at the time.
As they continued walking down the street looking for Gringotts, Jonathan
noticed that even more people were giving him strange looks. At one point
he saw a lady pull her children into a nearby shop. It seems that she was
trying to hide her children from him. Fortunately, there were other people
there that did not stare at him strangely or hide their children. They would
greet Jonathan and his mother with wide smiles and wave. This helped
even out his mood to a nice, calm demeanor.
After several more minutes of walking they finally came upon Gringotts.
It was indeed a very large building. As they started walking up the stairs
to the building, his mother stopped and let out a tiny shriek.
"What is that?" she asked, pointing to a creature that stood guarding the entrance.
"I think that is a goblin. I've read about them in some folk tales. I don't
think they will hurt us," he said trying to calm her.
He grabbed her hand and sher towards the entrance. The goblins there bowed
as they opened the door to let them enter. As they passed through the doors,
his mother tried as hard as she could to avoid any contact with the goblins.
After they passed through the second set of doors they entered a spacious
room filled with more goblins and long counters where they worked.
When Jonathan finished examining the area, he turned to one of the goblins
that was nearby asked it where the area to exchange money is at. The goblin
pointed to a counter and they walked to it.
"I would like to exchange some money, " his mother told the goblin sitting
at the table. The goblin just sat there and stared at her. She decided not to try
and ask the goblin any more questions and took some money out of her purse
and set it on the table. The goblin took the money and counted some rather strange
looking coins and placed them on the table. She took the coins and put them
in her purse. She grabbed Jonathan's hand and quickly led him out of Gringotts.
Once they were outside she let out a deep sigh of relief. She took several
long, slow breaths and regained her composure.
"Ok. What is the first item on the list?" she asked.
Jonathan opened the envelope and took out the page with the supply list.
His face brightened as he saw that the first item listed was.
"A wand, " he said.
He had always wanted a wand ever since he had
read about them in his books at home.
"Did you see any wand shops when we walking to the bank?" she asked, while
looking at all of the shop signs.
"No. I guess we will need to ask somone"
Jonathan walked up to a wizard in blue robes. "Excuse me," he said. "Is there any
shop around here that sells wands?"
The wizard smiled and pointed to a shop that was not that far down the street.
"It is called Ollivander's. They sell some of the best wands ever made."
Jonathan thanked the wizard and walked to the wand shop.
When they entered they found the shop to be very small and empty.
A short, skinny man, who seemed to have appeared from nowhere,
approached them. He had long grey hair and was wearing green robes.
"Good day," he said. "I'm Mr. Ollivander. Are you here to buy a wand?"
"Yes," Jonathan answered.
"Good," said the Mr. Ollivander. "Tell me, which hand is your wand hand?"
"Left, I think."
Mr. Ollivander pulled a ruler from his robes and begin measuring Jonathan's
arm and a good majority of his upper torso. Jonathan found this quite
odd. After he was done measuring Jonathan, he put the ruler back in to
his robe and left the room. He came back with a wand in his hand and
handed it to Jonathan.
"Try this one, please. It is a 10 inch mahogany wand with a piece of unicorn tail."
"What do I do?" asked Jonathan.
"Just wave it around."
Jonathan waved the wand around and nothing happened. Looking disappointed,
Jonathan handed the wand back to Mr. Ollivander. Mr. Ollivander left the room
and came back with another wand and handed it to Jonathan.
"This one is a 9 inch maple wand with a piece of unicorn tail."
Jonathan waved the wand around and once again nothing happened. He handed
the wand back to Mr. Ollivander. He started worrying that none of the wands
would work for him and he would have to return home wandless. Mr. Ollivander
left the room again and came back with another wand.
"This one is made from ash wood and has a heartstring from a dragon, " he said
as he handed the wand to Jonathan. When Jonathan held the wand in his hand,
he felt a strange sensation running through his arm. A light green glow slowly started
to emanate from the wand. As he raised it above his head, he paused and brought it
down in one smooth motion. A large green flame shot out of the tip. He felt a surge
of power as he did this. The flame seemed to dissipate when he relaxed his left hand
as he brought the wand to a stop. The feeling slowly subsided and he was left with
mixed feelings. He was pleased that he was able to make the wand work, but was felt
odd due to the sensation it left him.
Mr. Ollivander looked at him strangely. He seemed somewhat confused.
"That was rather odd," he said. "I have never seen a wand do that before
for a customer." He stood there thinking. "I would like for you to try some more
wands before I make any final decision."
He took the wand from Jonathan and went to fetch another. About 30 wands later,
Jonathan emerged from Mr. Ollivander's shop carrying the third wand he was
only successful with. Despite having the odd sensations, he was very happy
to have his own wand.
"What is next on the list?", his mother asked him, still holding the look of amazement
and confusion knowing that her son just shot a large green flame out of a wand.
He took out the list and found that the course books were the next item to purchase.
Finding the shop was much easier for them since they remebered passing it on the way
to Gringotts. When they arrived at the book shop, they began searching for the
different books listed. After Jonathan had found the fourth book, 'A Standard Book
of Spells', he noticed that a book was drawing his attention away from the other
books surrounding it. He pulled the book from the shelf and read the title.
It was called 'A History and Source Book for Uncommon Spells'.
He opened the book and found that it contained spells to give people the ability
to see into other worlds and other such strange powers.
"That is odd," said a voice behind Jonathan that made him jump. A person who
appeared the be the store owner walked up to him.
"What is odd?" Jonathan asked.
"That book you are holding. I have not seen a copy of it for about thirty years."
"Can I still buy it?" Jonathan asked.
"If you found it on one of these shelves you can buy it," the owner replied.
Jonathan thanked the owner and went to go find the other books he needed.
Ten minutes later, he and his mother left the store with arms full of books to go
buy him the rest of his school supplies.
After buying the rest of his supplies, which consisted of robes, a hat, cloak, gloves,
and a cauldron, they sat down at a nearby bench to rest their feet.
"Is there anything else left?" she asked, while stretching her legs.
"We bought all of the required items that were on the list. The only thing left
that is recommended is an owl."
"An owl?" she asked.
"That is what it says here. I am not sure why though. I think we passed a place that
sells animals back there," he said turning his head to point where he thought the
store was.
"Well," she said. "Let's go buy you an owl."
They stood up, gathered the supplies, and went to the animal shop.
Once inside, they found the shop to be smelly and full of cages housing many
different types of animals. They saw owls, cats, dogs, and bats.
"May I help you?" asked the lady who appeared to own the place.
"I would like to buy my an owl for my son, please."
"Choose which one you would like," said the owner, pointing to a row of cages.
When Jonathan approached the cages he saw that many of the owls were huddled
at the back of the cages as if they were frightened of him. They wouldn't move.
All of them appeared to be hiding in the back, except one. He was a large brown owl
with deep, large eyes. He hooted softly at Jonathan as he went closer to the cage.
"I want that one," said Jonathan, pointing to the owl.
"Good choice, " said the lady. "He is a very strong and willful owl. He will be
of great service to you."
"What service do they provide?" asked Jonathan's mother.
"They are one of our main forms of communication. Just attach a note to
one of their legs and they will deliver it to whomever you wish to send it to."
"How inventive," said his mother as she paid for the owl.
They left the store with their hands completely full and legs competely
tired.
"Is there anything else you would like to do while we are here?" she asked.
"I would like to eat. I am starving," he replied.
"Me too," she said. "Hopefully there is a restaraunt nearby."
They found a restaurant close to the book shop and ate what they
found to be the best fish they ever had in their life. As they sat
there eating a young girl and her mother walked by. The young girl, as Jonathan
saw had bright red hair and was very pretty, waved to him and said hi.
Jonathan waved back as his face was turning redder than the girl's hair.
As she disappeared from their view, he secretly hoped he might see her again.
"It is about time that we head home," his mother said.
Jonathan was sad that he had to leave, but he knew he would be glad when he
was home. As Jonathan was gathering his supplies his mother paid the restaurant
owner and came back to help him. As they left Diagon Alley he noticed more people
giving him strange looks again, but was too tired to really care. When they were outside
the Leaky Cauldron, Jonathan noticed that everything seemed rather mundane.
All the people that were there were wearing the usual clothes he had seen all his
life and all the shops carried items that were of no interest to him.
They loaded all of the supplies into a carriage, with the help of a very
confused driver. Apparently he had never seen people arrive from
a shopping trip with numerous books and an owl. This made Jonathan and his mother
laugh.
As they were leaving London, Jonathan thought about the day he just had
and the days to come before he heads to Hogwarts.
He slept all the way back home.
to his bedroom window. The sun light woke him with an intensity similar to being
slapped by an infuriated sun god. As he sat up in his bed, rubbing his eyes,
he tried to remember what his mother had just said to him before she left his room.
She was probably telling him to get dressed and come to breakfast, but he was
too preoccupied with the news he had recevied the day before to pay attention.
He got out of his bed and walked over to a large mirror that hung on one of his
bedroom walls. It was one of a few pieces of furniture that he had in his small,
but comfortable room. The other furniture he had included his bed, a desk, chair,
and a large wooden bookshelf. The shelf was full of books that he had collected
over the years and was his pride and joy. Most of the books he had owned were
about magic and the rest were either historical or works of fiction. What he did
not know was that some of the books on magic that he owned actually came from the
wizarding world. Some of them were even made to appear before him in book shops
so they were easy to find. For him to become a knowledgable and experienced wizard
was in the interest of some people in the magical community.
He looked at his reflection in the mirror trying to find some sign he had never
seen before signifying that he was indeed a wizard. Even though he had the letter
as proof, he still had some lingering doubt. So there he stood, staring at the
face of an eleven year old boy with short brown hair and grey eyes, trying to
find the clue that told him he was a wizard.
He gave up the search after several minutes and got dressed. He left his bedroom
and went to the dining room for breakfast.
"Good morning dear," his mother said to him, while putting a plate of food onto
the table.
He smiled at her, sat down at the table and began to eat.
"The carriage should be here by the time we are done with breakfast," she said
to him as she sat down to eat as well. His mother liked to take her time eating
which never bothered Jonathan before, except for today. It felt like the Christmas
dinners that he and his and cousins would have to endure before they could
open their presents.
When they were finished eating, they said goodbye to the rest of the family
and climbed into a carriage that was waiting for them outside. It was a medium
sized carriage that was being driven by a large, burly man.
"An' where would you like to be taken to today ma'am?" the driver asked.
Jonathan's mother leaned out of the carriage and said, "we would like to go
to Charing Cross Road in London, please." She sat back down in the carriage and they
felt the pull of the horses taking them down the road.
The sky that day was clear and the air was cool and pleasant. Unfortunately,
the smells that came from the small town where they lived were not and were
sometimes hard to describe. Jonathan was happy to escape the small town and
was looking forward to the ride in the country. He was also looking forward
to being in London and going to some place that sold magical items. He imagined
that the place would be some large building that had everything from wands to
ingredients for spells.
He then realized that he did not know where they were going.
"Do you know where we are supposed to go to get my school supplies?" he asked.
"We are going to a pub on Charing Cross Road called the Leaky Cauldron.
It is supposed to be the entrance to a place called Diagon Alley, " she told him.
With a look of surprise, she said to him, "I am surprised that you did not know
this. The directions were written on a page in your invitation. You had it in your
hands for the entire evening."
He realized that the whole time that he had been holding the letter and looking at
it, he had never read it. His face became rather red with embarrassment.
"I think that I spent the time thinking about what the letter said I am, that I
actually never read it, " he told her.
"That is all right, " she said. "I guess that learning that you are a wizard
would be an an odd experience and could take a bit of time to accept and
understand."
He shrugged and read the invitation. He found that it contained three pages.
The first page was the official inviation. The second page was the listing
of the school supplies he would be needing to buy at Diagon Alley. The third
page contained a set of instructions on how to get to Diagon Alley for his supplies
and to King's Cross when he needed to leave for school. He returned the pages to the
envelope and stared at the countryside.
The time in the carriage seemed to drag on forever and the scenery of the
countryside never seemed to change. He had forgotted how long and boring the
trips to London were. Just when he thought that there would be no end to the
country road he could see London before him. The town was still as he remembered
it from the last time they were there. A lot of buildings and and a lot of people
hurriedly going from one place to another.
A short while later they were at Charing Cross.
When Jonathan's mother realized where they were at, she leaned out of the carriage
and called out to the driver.
"We would like to be let out at a pub called the Leaky Cauldron, " she yelled trying
to stabilize herself in the rocking carriage.
"I'm sorry ma'm, I don't know of any pub called the Leaky Cauldron," he yelled back.
"We were told to go to a pub called the Leaky Cauldron at Charing Cross Road, "
she yelled.
"I've lived here for twenty years and have never heard of the place, " he said.
She sat down in the carriage with a look of panic and disbelief. "I am sure that
the letter specifically said to go to the Leaky Cauldron at Charing Cross Road, "
she said to herself. She took the invitation from Jonathan and looked at it.
She reread it several times hoping to find some error, but could not find any.
Satisfied that the letter was correct, Jonathan looked out the window and saw a
sign for the aforementioned and missing pub.
"There it is, " he said, pulling his mother's attention away from the letter and pointing
out the carriage.
"I don't see it, " she told him, while looking at all of the buildings. "All I see is
a book shop."
"It is right there," he said. "Right next to the book shop."
He could tell that she could not see the pub and that she was starting to become
agitated. He guessed that since he was a wizard he was probably able to
see things she wasn't able to see.
"Mum, " he said. "You have to trust me. I think it might be something only
magical people can see."
She seemed to have taken offense at the comment, but decided to trust him.
She leaned out of the carriage again and yelled, "driver, could you please
let us out over at that book store?" The driver nodded and led the horses
over to the store. He helped them out of the carriage. As he was driving
away they heard him muttering something about small town folk not being all there.
She followed Jonathan to the area next to the book store and said, "I still
do not see it. Are you sure you are not toying with--" Her words stopped abruptly
when she saw Jonathan open a door she had not seen before. She stopped
and shook her head in disbelief trying to make sense of what she had just seen.
They walked into the Leaky Cauldron and found it to be a small, but cozy pub. There
were several people in there wearing long, single color robes that were
having drinks and engaged in conversations. Several of them stopped talking
just long enough to stare at them. Jonathan waved to them and said hi.
Some of them nodded and returned to their conversations.
From behind the bar, a rather tall and stout bartender called out to them.
"Hello, how can I help you?" he asked, as he was putting some glasses in a
cabinet. His robes were an odd sight. There appeared to be stains on them
that must have come from magical drinks. Some of the stains were glowing
and others appeared to be changing color as he moved.
"We are looking for a place called Diagon Alley. We were told that it could
be found here, " she told the bartender.
"That is correct, ma'am," he said. "I can see that you are here to buy school
supplies for your son."
"Yes, that it is why we are here," she said. "How do we get there? The instructions
did not tell us the specifics of finding it."
"If you will please follow me, I can take you there." He put another glass away and
came out from behind the bar.
"Thank you, " she said.
As they started walking towards the back of the pub, Jonathan saw that some
of the people there were staring at him as they were passed. It unnerved
him a bit. There was something unfriendly about the way they kept looking
at him. He smiled and they stopped looking at him. That seemed to
have satisfied them.
The bartender led them out to the back of the pub into a small courtyard.
He walked up to one of the walls and pulled a long wooden wand from
his robe. He tapped a brick several times and as a an archway appeared, Jonathan's
mouth dropped in sheer amazement. He had never seen anything like that before.
He looked up at his mother and saw that she too shared the same reaction.
Before they could start walking through the archway, the bartender stopped them.
"The first thing you will want to do is go to the local bank called Gringotts
to exchange you money for wizard money. It is a little ways down the street.
Just look for a large white marble building, " he said.
"Thank you, " she said to the bartender as they passed through the archway.
What Jonathan saw as they entered Diagon Alley went far beyond what
he was expecting. There were many shops lining the street offering a
multitude of magical items. He saw a shop that was selling robes, another
shop that had floating broomsticks, and a shop that sold a large assortment
of books. He wanted to go to every shop there to look at and touch everything.
His mother could sense the excitement flowing through his veins.
"We need to exchange some money and buy your supplies before you
can run around and explore."
Jonathan's face was suddenly full of disappointment, like someone having
a really tasty piece of food offered to them, but to have it taken away suddenly.
On second thought, he was not really that hungry at the time.
As they continued walking down the street looking for Gringotts, Jonathan
noticed that even more people were giving him strange looks. At one point
he saw a lady pull her children into a nearby shop. It seems that she was
trying to hide her children from him. Fortunately, there were other people
there that did not stare at him strangely or hide their children. They would
greet Jonathan and his mother with wide smiles and wave. This helped
even out his mood to a nice, calm demeanor.
After several more minutes of walking they finally came upon Gringotts.
It was indeed a very large building. As they started walking up the stairs
to the building, his mother stopped and let out a tiny shriek.
"What is that?" she asked, pointing to a creature that stood guarding the entrance.
"I think that is a goblin. I've read about them in some folk tales. I don't
think they will hurt us," he said trying to calm her.
He grabbed her hand and sher towards the entrance. The goblins there bowed
as they opened the door to let them enter. As they passed through the doors,
his mother tried as hard as she could to avoid any contact with the goblins.
After they passed through the second set of doors they entered a spacious
room filled with more goblins and long counters where they worked.
When Jonathan finished examining the area, he turned to one of the goblins
that was nearby asked it where the area to exchange money is at. The goblin
pointed to a counter and they walked to it.
"I would like to exchange some money, " his mother told the goblin sitting
at the table. The goblin just sat there and stared at her. She decided not to try
and ask the goblin any more questions and took some money out of her purse
and set it on the table. The goblin took the money and counted some rather strange
looking coins and placed them on the table. She took the coins and put them
in her purse. She grabbed Jonathan's hand and quickly led him out of Gringotts.
Once they were outside she let out a deep sigh of relief. She took several
long, slow breaths and regained her composure.
"Ok. What is the first item on the list?" she asked.
Jonathan opened the envelope and took out the page with the supply list.
His face brightened as he saw that the first item listed was.
"A wand, " he said.
He had always wanted a wand ever since he had
read about them in his books at home.
"Did you see any wand shops when we walking to the bank?" she asked, while
looking at all of the shop signs.
"No. I guess we will need to ask somone"
Jonathan walked up to a wizard in blue robes. "Excuse me," he said. "Is there any
shop around here that sells wands?"
The wizard smiled and pointed to a shop that was not that far down the street.
"It is called Ollivander's. They sell some of the best wands ever made."
Jonathan thanked the wizard and walked to the wand shop.
When they entered they found the shop to be very small and empty.
A short, skinny man, who seemed to have appeared from nowhere,
approached them. He had long grey hair and was wearing green robes.
"Good day," he said. "I'm Mr. Ollivander. Are you here to buy a wand?"
"Yes," Jonathan answered.
"Good," said the Mr. Ollivander. "Tell me, which hand is your wand hand?"
"Left, I think."
Mr. Ollivander pulled a ruler from his robes and begin measuring Jonathan's
arm and a good majority of his upper torso. Jonathan found this quite
odd. After he was done measuring Jonathan, he put the ruler back in to
his robe and left the room. He came back with a wand in his hand and
handed it to Jonathan.
"Try this one, please. It is a 10 inch mahogany wand with a piece of unicorn tail."
"What do I do?" asked Jonathan.
"Just wave it around."
Jonathan waved the wand around and nothing happened. Looking disappointed,
Jonathan handed the wand back to Mr. Ollivander. Mr. Ollivander left the room
and came back with another wand and handed it to Jonathan.
"This one is a 9 inch maple wand with a piece of unicorn tail."
Jonathan waved the wand around and once again nothing happened. He handed
the wand back to Mr. Ollivander. He started worrying that none of the wands
would work for him and he would have to return home wandless. Mr. Ollivander
left the room again and came back with another wand.
"This one is made from ash wood and has a heartstring from a dragon, " he said
as he handed the wand to Jonathan. When Jonathan held the wand in his hand,
he felt a strange sensation running through his arm. A light green glow slowly started
to emanate from the wand. As he raised it above his head, he paused and brought it
down in one smooth motion. A large green flame shot out of the tip. He felt a surge
of power as he did this. The flame seemed to dissipate when he relaxed his left hand
as he brought the wand to a stop. The feeling slowly subsided and he was left with
mixed feelings. He was pleased that he was able to make the wand work, but was felt
odd due to the sensation it left him.
Mr. Ollivander looked at him strangely. He seemed somewhat confused.
"That was rather odd," he said. "I have never seen a wand do that before
for a customer." He stood there thinking. "I would like for you to try some more
wands before I make any final decision."
He took the wand from Jonathan and went to fetch another. About 30 wands later,
Jonathan emerged from Mr. Ollivander's shop carrying the third wand he was
only successful with. Despite having the odd sensations, he was very happy
to have his own wand.
"What is next on the list?", his mother asked him, still holding the look of amazement
and confusion knowing that her son just shot a large green flame out of a wand.
He took out the list and found that the course books were the next item to purchase.
Finding the shop was much easier for them since they remebered passing it on the way
to Gringotts. When they arrived at the book shop, they began searching for the
different books listed. After Jonathan had found the fourth book, 'A Standard Book
of Spells', he noticed that a book was drawing his attention away from the other
books surrounding it. He pulled the book from the shelf and read the title.
It was called 'A History and Source Book for Uncommon Spells'.
He opened the book and found that it contained spells to give people the ability
to see into other worlds and other such strange powers.
"That is odd," said a voice behind Jonathan that made him jump. A person who
appeared the be the store owner walked up to him.
"What is odd?" Jonathan asked.
"That book you are holding. I have not seen a copy of it for about thirty years."
"Can I still buy it?" Jonathan asked.
"If you found it on one of these shelves you can buy it," the owner replied.
Jonathan thanked the owner and went to go find the other books he needed.
Ten minutes later, he and his mother left the store with arms full of books to go
buy him the rest of his school supplies.
After buying the rest of his supplies, which consisted of robes, a hat, cloak, gloves,
and a cauldron, they sat down at a nearby bench to rest their feet.
"Is there anything else left?" she asked, while stretching her legs.
"We bought all of the required items that were on the list. The only thing left
that is recommended is an owl."
"An owl?" she asked.
"That is what it says here. I am not sure why though. I think we passed a place that
sells animals back there," he said turning his head to point where he thought the
store was.
"Well," she said. "Let's go buy you an owl."
They stood up, gathered the supplies, and went to the animal shop.
Once inside, they found the shop to be smelly and full of cages housing many
different types of animals. They saw owls, cats, dogs, and bats.
"May I help you?" asked the lady who appeared to own the place.
"I would like to buy my an owl for my son, please."
"Choose which one you would like," said the owner, pointing to a row of cages.
When Jonathan approached the cages he saw that many of the owls were huddled
at the back of the cages as if they were frightened of him. They wouldn't move.
All of them appeared to be hiding in the back, except one. He was a large brown owl
with deep, large eyes. He hooted softly at Jonathan as he went closer to the cage.
"I want that one," said Jonathan, pointing to the owl.
"Good choice, " said the lady. "He is a very strong and willful owl. He will be
of great service to you."
"What service do they provide?" asked Jonathan's mother.
"They are one of our main forms of communication. Just attach a note to
one of their legs and they will deliver it to whomever you wish to send it to."
"How inventive," said his mother as she paid for the owl.
They left the store with their hands completely full and legs competely
tired.
"Is there anything else you would like to do while we are here?" she asked.
"I would like to eat. I am starving," he replied.
"Me too," she said. "Hopefully there is a restaraunt nearby."
They found a restaurant close to the book shop and ate what they
found to be the best fish they ever had in their life. As they sat
there eating a young girl and her mother walked by. The young girl, as Jonathan
saw had bright red hair and was very pretty, waved to him and said hi.
Jonathan waved back as his face was turning redder than the girl's hair.
As she disappeared from their view, he secretly hoped he might see her again.
"It is about time that we head home," his mother said.
Jonathan was sad that he had to leave, but he knew he would be glad when he
was home. As Jonathan was gathering his supplies his mother paid the restaurant
owner and came back to help him. As they left Diagon Alley he noticed more people
giving him strange looks again, but was too tired to really care. When they were outside
the Leaky Cauldron, Jonathan noticed that everything seemed rather mundane.
All the people that were there were wearing the usual clothes he had seen all his
life and all the shops carried items that were of no interest to him.
They loaded all of the supplies into a carriage, with the help of a very
confused driver. Apparently he had never seen people arrive from
a shopping trip with numerous books and an owl. This made Jonathan and his mother
laugh.
As they were leaving London, Jonathan thought about the day he just had
and the days to come before he heads to Hogwarts.
He slept all the way back home.