Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Diagon Alley

It was an unprecedented disaster. As Mr. Weasley lay in his chair by the fireplace, staring vacantly down at the carpet, Harry couldn't help feeling guilty, and judging by the look on Ron's face, he felt the same way. Just then, Fred and George walked in chuckling; scrutinising a new idea for their shop, but with one look at their father, the laughter was silenced, and they hurried quickly through to the kitchen.

"Arthur, come on! You've been sitting in that chair for an hour! Get up and do something!" groaned Mrs. Weasley as she came into the lounge and started dusting the mantelpiece.

"I'm as good as fired," Mr. Weasley sighed in reply, "I'll be sacked."

"Don't talk like that Arthur! They aren't going to fire you over a silly mistake like that. Besides, they need you more than ever at the ministry, what with all this extra security."

This was true. Not only had a Deputy Minister of Magic been appointed for a fallback plan, the Ministry had been seriously downsized to the most faithful of people, in an attempt to prevent any spy's working for Voldemort from getting their hands on any information. It had so far been relatively successful, but cracks were beginning to show. Many members of the ministry were suffering from stress and serious over-work.

"I suppose so…" he muttered.

"Oh Arthur! You've got to go in sometime!" she groaned, "It won't do you any good just sitting there."

Mr. Weasley sighed again, and Mrs. Weasley gave up. She carried on into the hall to dust the ornaments on the table.

"She's right dad," said Ron, getting up off the floor, "it won't do you any good sitting there doing nothing."

"Oh, I know Ron," said Mr. Weasley, hoisting himself out of his chair, "but working up the courage to go into work is another thing entirely."

He strolled off into the kitchen looking surly, and started making a cup of tea.

Harry felt a strong surge of guilt from somewhere in his belly. It was because of him that Mr. Weasley was so upset. Maybe Mr. Weasley wasn't going to get fired, but Harry still felt awful. Ron seemed to read his mind.

"Look Harry, it wasn't your fault. We all saw those Death Eaters, we all know they were real, but what happened to them is anyone's guess."

Harry knew Ron was right, but he still felt bad, so he decided to go to bed early. He trudged upstairs and went into Ron's room. He slumped down on his sleeping bag and stared vacantly at the ceiling. About ten minutes later, Ron came upstairs, but Harry pretended to be asleep.

Ron also curled up on his bed, and within ten minutes, they were both snoring loudly.

* * *

"Wake up boys! Come on, get up boys! Rise and shine!" said Mrs. Weasley.

Harry gave an enormous groan as he sat up out of his sleeping bag, and blinked against the sun shining through the open window. Another huge groan from somewhere to his right signified that Ron had been woken up as well.

"Mum, why 'ave you woken us up? It's only s-s-seven o'clock!" yawned Ron indignantly.

"Because you want to get into Diagon Alley early," she replied, whipping Harry' sleeping bag away from under his feet, and dragging Ron out from underneath his bed sheets, "you know how crowded it is just before the start of the school year."

Ron gave a great sigh in reply, and walked over to the wardrobe to find something to wear, while Harry collected his clothes and headed off to the bathroom.

Ten minutes later both Harry and Ron were downstairs eating half a dozen slices of hurried toast.

"Your school lists are here. Harry, I took the liberty of getting yours out of your bag for you."

Harry forced down the remainder of his toast and unfolded the piece of paper that Mrs. Weasley had left on the table.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Set Books:

All Seventh Year Students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 7) by Miranda Goshawk

An Advanced Guide to the History of Magic by Ivan Droning

The Expert's Guide to Transfiguration by Maydo Clay

The Final Guide to Herbs and Fungi by Grassen Leef

Rare Magical Creatures and Their Habitats by Maurice Zoo

Difficult Divination Techniques by Trisha Voretold

The Encyclopaedia of the Dark Arts by Gareth Nox

Self-Defensive Duelling by William Wandla

"Ron, what's the Duelling book for?" asked Harry, looking up from his booklist.

"Dunno, maybe it's a new class," replied Ron, "Mum? What time are we leaving?"

"We aren't going anywhere. You two are going on your own, I've got far too much to do. You'll have to take Ginny with you, or else she won't have time to get her things. We've left it a bit late really, we've only got two more days till you leave."

"But mum! We don't want to take… Oh, hi Ginny."

Ginny Weasley had just walked in the kitchen door, and with a great humph, stormed out again.

"Oh, Ron… now look what you've done! Your taking Ginny whether you like it or not. Now go and get ready and say sorry to Ginny, I've got to find some Floo Powder."

So Harry and Ron went upstairs to put on their jackets and say sorry to Ginny. Five minutes later they were coming down the stairs again, followed by a slightly disgruntled Ginny.

"Now boys, I expect you back by six o'clock. Ron, if anything happens to Ginny, you will be in serious trouble. Now, there's some more Floo Powder in the Plant Pot on the mantelpiece, so get going before everyone else does. Shopping in Diagon Alley is much harder when you're surrounded by every other witch and wizard from up and down the country.

Harry went first. He collected a pinch of Floo Powder and threw it into the fire. The fire burned bright green, and Harry stepped in. A warm tingly sensation surged through him as he said:

"Diagon Alley!"

Harry felt himself being whipped from the fireplace at the Burrow and heading towards the fireplace of The Leaky Cauldron in London. The flames hit his face as he travelled ever upwards, and the soot was clouding his vision. He caught glimpses of other fireplaces; an old abandoned home, several kids playing in front of the fire, even an old woman on her rocking chair, before he finally reached The Leaky Cauldron.

Harry was thrust out of the fireplace at The Leaky Cauldron, just managing to keep his balance, and turned round to wait for Ron and Ginny. As he was wiping the soot off of his jeans, Ron appeared out of the fireplace. A few seconds later, Ginny was climbing out of the fireplace as well.

"Where shall we go first then?" asked Harry, looking around.

"How about Gringotts? We need to get our money before we can spend it," suggested Ron.

"Good point," said Harry, tapping the special brick in the wall, opening up an arch.

"It's right over on the other side of Diagon Alley so we might as well get going," piped up Ginny.

The three of them set off down the relatively empty street, passing by all the shops along the way; 'The Apothecary', 'Ollivanders', and even a shop that seemed to be giving advanced lessons in Dragon dissection.

Eventually they reached the marble steps of Gringotts, with two surly looking goblins guarding the door.

The three teenagers strolled into the impressive marble hallway, and were approached by another Goblin, looking equally surly and particularly disagreeable.

"Which vault?" the Goblin croaked at Harry.

"Er… Harry Potter please," said Harry, with a slight hesitation.

"Do you have the key?"

"Yes, right here," said Harry, handing over the bronze key.

The Goblin inspected the key closely, right down to the fine engravings on its handle, and held it up to the light, apparently attempting to see through it. The key seemed to pass the test, and was handed back to Harry.

"Spinclaw will take you down to your vault."

"Thank you," said Ron, as the Goblin left and Spinclaw approached.

Spinclaw looked decidedly more cheerful, and also appeared to be significantly younger than the small Goblin.

"Good morning sirs and madam. Please collect all your belongings and secure them properly. Those of you with weaker stomachs should inform me now so that I may provide you with a paper bag," said Spinclaw, wearing what seemed to be a smile, although it was hardly noticeable.

Harry, Ron and Ginny gave each other mildly curious looks, but followed Spinclaw into the dark underground torchlit passageway before them nevertheless.

The passage way was almost completely different to the artfully crafted marble hallways they had just come from. The soil and the rock that formed the walls was not covered with anything, and looked as if huge shovels had crafted them many centuries ago.

Along the floor of the tunnel lay many lengths of rails, spawning off in every direction, some dropping slowly or rising steadily, and some plummeting into near vertical drops.

The three of them clambered into the cart at the start of the long line of railings, and stuffed their bags underneath the wooden plank seat.

Spinclaw hopped into his seat at the front of the cart, released the rusty iron handbrake, and they sped off immediately, careering down the tunnel at tremendous pace.

The cart raced down the tunnel, needing no intervention from Spinclaw whatsoever. Left it turned, right, right and left again. On one left turn Ginny almost lost a hairpin, and Ron nearly let go of his watch.

"Ron, why've you got your watch out?" asked Harry, with the wind blowing in his face.

"Trying to work out our speed. I'd say the new nimbus isn't this fast," replied Ron, tapping his watch to make sure it was working.

At long last, the cart came to a shuddering halt, and Spinclaw quickly shoved the key into the lock, turned it, and opened the door, revealing a large pile of gold that had been left to Harry by his parents.

Harry glanced over his shoulder at Ron and Ginny, who were waiting patiently. In previous years Harry might have felt awkward, but this year Harry was safe in the knowledge that he wouldn't be embarrassed when they reached the Weasley's vault.

Only a year ago, Mr Weasley had been given a big promotion, and was made the Head of the newly created Dark Arts Defence Department.

Harry swiftly retrieved all the money he needed, and slammed the door. Spinclaw leapt forward and locked it as Harry turned back to the cart. Harry hopped back into the cart, and was followed by Spinclaw.

"Any other customers?" he croaked as he laid his hand on the handbrake.

"Weasley's please," replied Ginny.

Spinclaw pushed the handbrake forward and off hey went again, hurtling downwards for what seemed like forever until they reached the Weasley's vault.

Ron handed Spinclaw the key, and the door was opened. He took out a small leather bag, gathered together a heap of gold galleons and put them in his bag.

"Right, we're done," said Ginny, raising her voice so Spinclaw could hear.

"Very good miss. Very well, off we go back to the surface," Spinclaw replied, and he pulled the handbrake back. The cart set off backwards, and all on its own, headed up to the marble hallway.

Within a few minutes, the three of them were out on the steps once more, blinking into the sun.

"Well, lets get going then," said Ron, turning off down the gradually crowding street.

They stopped off first to buy parchment and some new quills. Harry couldn't stop himself from buying a quill with everlasting ink, and parchment that magically made itself longer and wider if you ran out of space.

Next, the trio went into Flourish and Blotts to buy their schoolbooks. As it turned out, their new Defence Against the Dark Arts book was almost the size of a paving slab, and nearly twice as thick. Along with all their other books, they were hard pressed to carry them around. In the end they had to convince the store manager to put charms on their books to make them feather light.

Ginny needed some new robes, so while she went into Madam Malkin's to pick up some new clothes, Ron and Harry went to Ollivanders. Harry's wand had been smashed to pieces at the end of last year while he was battling the dark wizard Braldemar, Lord Voldemort's right hand man. Harry brought the ceiling down on their heads, smashing his wand to pieces in the process.

Ollivander's shop was dark and musty, so dark in fact that Harry couldn't see the wall on the other side of the dark shop. Mr. Ollivander himself could just be made out staring into a mirror. His bright eyes glowed like discs in the dark of the shop, reflected in the mirror.

Mr. Ollivander turned slowly to face Harry staring him up and down with a thoroughly calculating look, before he said, "Ah yes, Mr. Potter I was expecting you sometime soon. The circumstances of the destruction of your previous wand are quite famous in Diagon Alley, if not entirely consistent."

Harry blushed, not knowing quite what to say, luckily however Ollivander carried on for him. "As a matter of fact, I had one old warlock stroll in here raving about how Harry Potter had conjured a legion of centaurs to beat Braldemar to death."

Harry gave a short chuckle as Mr. Ollivander strolled behind the desk to fetch his tape measure. Once he stretched it out, it magically measured every dimension of his body, and Ollivander pulled several boxes out of the cupboard. He handed Harry each one in turn waiting for something to show that would point out the perfect wand for Harry.

"How much longer Harry?" droned Ron. It was now almost half an hour after they had entered the shop, and Ginny had come to sit beside Ron.

"I can't help it," shrugged Harry, "but there can't be many wands left to try."

Harry started to feel slightly anxious at his own comment. What if he couldn't find the right wand and didn't have one for the start of next year? What if he had to go through the entire year without a wand?

Mr. Ollivander returned from the back of the shop carry seven boxes with a wand in each.

"Always the tricky customer eh Mr. Potter?" said Mr. Ollivander. "This is my last batch, so if its not here, its not in my shop. There are several other wand makers I could suggest… but first we should try these."

These boxes looked like the dustiest of the lot. Each box was marked with a date, probably the date they were made. The top box was marked 1437.

"Your going to sell me a 500 year old wand?" asked Harry, a doubting look on his face.

"Indeed young Mr. Potter. Pegasus Ollivander, my great-great-great grand father, crafted these wands. He was the most skilled of all my predecessors. These, Mr. Potter, are probably the finest wands to be handled since his death."

Having been given his answer, Harry shrugged and took the first wand in his hand. Feeling no special tingle, he place back in its box, putting it on the pile of tried wands that was now in danger of blocking the door.

Having thrown three more wands in the pile, Harry picked up a golden, scarlet lined box, dusted it off and opened the lid. Hidden beneath two inches of woollen padding lay the most magnificent wand Harry had ever seen. It was a long sturdy oak wand, dyed scarlet, and decorated with intricate golden lines up and down its length. The lines were as fine as the pattern was complex, it was an awe-inspiring sight. This truly was a magnificent wand.

Harry carefully lifted it out of the box, and as he held it in his palm, felt an instant surge of power, as he brought it swishing down, stars radiated out from its point, illuminating the entire shop in a flurry of light.

A loud round of applause came from Mr. Ollivander as he hurried over to inspect the wand, "ah yes, a fine wand indeed ah ye… oh, oh my…" he said, looking completely thrown.

"What is it mister Ollivander," asked Ron, as he hurried over to have a look as well.

"Well it's… it's just so… well sufficed to say this is one of the most unique wands I have ever seen." He inspected the wand thoroughly, and his eyes opened even wider than they normally did, and his jaw dropped. He looked as if he had been caught completely off-guard. "Look there, in that space in the gold markings."

Harry took the wand back not knowing what to expected, and was stunned to see the words Godric Gryffindor, glowing red along the gap. Suddenly, the words faded away, and the wand returned to normal.

"What… why is that there?" mumbled Harry.

"I… I don't think it would be appropriate to discuss it here." He replied, stealing a glance at Ron and Ginny still standing there looking completely bewildered. "You should probably wait until you have the opportunity to speak to Albus Dumbldore about it."

"Okay," said Harry, only half listening, "I'll speak to Professor Dumbledore once school starts."

Harry pocketed the wand, and placed the gold galleons on the counter. Harry didn't care about the change, he just wanted to get out of that dark shop as fast as possible.

"Good, good. Now go on," said Mr. Ollivander, "let me clear up this mess we've made."

Harry stumbled out the door, nearly tripping over several boxes, followed closely by Ginny and Ron, and the inescapable bombardment of questions, but quite frankly, Harry had no idea what to make of it all. He barely even noticed when Neville said hello from across the street.

"Harry, what was all that about?" asked Ron, looking thoroughly perplexed.

"Nothing… it was nothing… lets get back to your house Ron," replied Harry, a vacant look across his face as he pushed through the crowd.

The three of them hurried down the street, back towards The Leaky Cauldron, Ginny nearly dropping her bags as she bumped into people along the way. They entered the Leaky Cauldron, only to find a queue for the fire.

They dropped their bags and waited in line for use of the fire. Harry listened in as people were whisked away to places like "Whisky Waters" and "Glytheburg". There was even one old man who seemed intent on reaching Paddington Station through the fire.

As Harry neared the front of the queue, he heard many voices outside, gasping and screaming, as several people crowded through the magical entrance to The Leaky Cauldron.

He raced outside to see what was wrong, only to be greeted by a scene of chaos. People were racing off in every direction, screaming and shoving other people, running from the enormous group of Death Eaters headed in their direction.

Suddenly, before anyone knew what was going on, twelve Death Eaters had appeared behind the bar, and two appeared next to the door, blocking it completely.

Many people attempted to run for the exits, but it was clear that no one could escape, or stop the Death Eaters. It seemed at least two hundred had appeared out in the street.

Several people had already been frozen, and a few were under the body-bind curse. Harry tried to help, stopping several Death Eaters in their tracks, but he could see nothing could be done. There were just too many of them. He told Ron and Ginny they should get out while they could, and Harry threw some floo powder into the flames, telling the fire their destination. Just as one of the Death Eaters noticed them and prepared to curse them, the three leapt into the fire at the same time, and where whisked away back to the Burrow.

Mrs. Weasley appeared from out of the kitchen, and greeted them with a warm smile and a saucepan. "Hello you three, your back late, what took you so long?"

Ron, barely able to speak charged into the kitchen, and then proceeded to search every room for his father.

"Mum, where's dad? We need to talk to him," asked Ginny, in a panic.

"He's at work dear, why what's wrong?"

"Something happened at Diagon Alley, we need to tell him now!" replied Ginny, grabbing some floo powder out of the pot. "Ministry of Magic" said Harry, and the flame flashed green, illuminating the entire room.

Ron came rushing back into the living room, and he, Harry and Ginny all walked into the fire and were instantly transported to the Ministry of Magic.