Embarking in a New World
A few days
later came Lily's response along with a ticket for the Hogwarts Express on
September the first. The response
suggested finding the Leaky Cauldron in London. They could help her there.
Her parents were skeptical about finding help from pub patrons. "You sure this school teaches magic?" Petunia asked innocently as they left for
London. "Be nice to the owner,
Lily. You might be selling yourself
there upon graduation."
Lily turned
red in anger and their parents remonstrated Petunia for her comment. Like their mother, Lily and Petunia's father
had been shocked by the announcement that Lily was a witch, but had taken it as
well as their mother. Now both parents
encouraged their daughter in her decision.
Petunia, meanwhile, scowled worse than ever and locked herself in her
room, refusing to speak to the family.
Lily had
found the pub before her parents. It
seemed as if they hadn't even noticed its existence until she pointed it out to
them. Inside were a group of customers,
all dressed in long robes, of varying shades and colors. One of them, sitting at the counter talking
to the barkeep, was unbelievably large.
He must have been twice as tall as anyone she knew! He could easily eat an entire cow if he so
desired, Lily figured and she was nervous about going over to him. Seeing as how he was talking to the barkeep
and Lily should talk ask him for help, she had no choice.
Her
parents' eyes were wide watching the man, and grew even more so when they say
their daughter walk in his direction.
Before they could restrain her, Lily reached the bar. Both men looked at her, and she began losing
her nerve. "Can I help you, young
lady?"
"I,
er." Lily's tongue felt numb as she got
a look at the giant's face. Bushy hair
surrounded his head like a halo and covered most of his face. She could hardly see his mouth. Couldn't tell if that was a smile or a
grimace. "I'm, er, Hog-Hogwarts—"
The
bartender smiled a toothless smile.
"First year?" She nodded. He looked over at her parents, shifting
uncomfortably and watching the customers.
"Muggle-born," he said to the large man.
Lily stared
at the man. What had he said? "Muggle-born?"
"Non-magical
parents. In the wizard world, we call
non-magical people Muggles." He smiled
warmly at her, as if this wasn't a problem.
"But I'm guessing you're looking to get your things."
"Er, yes."
"Hagrid?" The shaggy man looked up at this. "Perhaps you could help this young lady out
if you're not busy, as I have a pub—"
"Not a
problem, Tom. Leave it ter me." The man named Hagrid put out a hand for
Lily. She noticed a pink umbrella
clutched in his other hand. "Rubeus
Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts." He did seem to have a friendly smile.
Hesitantly
she took his hand. "H-Hello, Mr.
Hagrid. I'm Lily Evans."
"Jest call
me Hagrid. These yer parents?"
"Yes."
He held out
his hand for them as well, but they seemed even more hesitant than Lily to take
it. "I don't bite," he said with a
chuckle in his voice. Still unsure,
Lily's parents took his hand. "All
right, then. Off we go!"
Hagrid got
up, and Lily craned her neck to see. He
was awfully tall, wasn't he?
Hagrid led
the three of them out the back way into the alley behind the Leaky
Cauldron. "Now where is it?" He muttered to himself, studying the brick
wall above a trash can. "Three up and
two across." He tapped the brick and a
hole spread out from it, creating an entranceway. Lily was in awe. That was
magic!
"Welcome to
Diagon Alley."
* * * * * * * * * *
Lily didn't
know where to look first. There were
witches and wizards here and there on errands.
Stores with unusual supplies as she had only dreamed of. It was as if someone had taken a dream from
her head and placed it in reality. She
wanted to try everything! Didn't matter
if it would be useless, if it was magic, Lily wanted it.
Hagrid took
them to Gringots, a wizard bank.
"Pounds are no good in the wizarding world," he explained. "Got ter trade them in fer galleons,
sickles, and knuts."
"Pardon?" Lily's father asked. "Trade them for what, what, and what?"
"Galleons—gold
pieces, sickles—silver pieces, and knuts—little bronze pieces. Seventeen sickles to a galleon and 29 knuts
to a sickle."
"Uh
huh." Lily's father nodded slowly,
obviously not understanding a word.
At
Gringots, strangely colored men stood guard.
"Goblins," Hagrid explained.
"Gringot's Goblins." Lily's
mother made sure to keep a wide berth around the goblins. "And they say dragons guard the high
security vaults," he whispered confidentially to Lily.
Half an
hour later they emerged with a sack of strange coins. Now time for shopping!
Lily's insides were skipping madly, trying to rush ahead of her
body. "Got yer list of supplies?"
Lily
nodded. "Right then. Onward."
Lily took
everything in as they shopped. Even the
most mundane item had a new glow to it in her eyes. The robes in Madam Malkins seemed to sparkle with stars. Her course books were bibles to her. She couldn't help but find a nice corner and
begin reading Magical History while
her parents paid them with Hagrid's help.
It took them ten minutes to find her.
By that time, she had already begun chapter three. Flourish and Blotts, the owners, chuckled
kindly at her enthusiasm. "They lose it
over time," Flourish explained to her parents.
"Be happy she has it now."
Even the
ordinary quill, ink, and paper shot with sparks as she wrote. Lily begged them to buy her invisible ink,
but they refused, much to her chagrin. Later, she reminded herself.
Finally
they reached their last destination. An
old, broken down building with the name Ollivander's,
makers of fine winds since 314 BC written in pealing gold. Wow, Lily thought. She hadn't given much thought as to how long wizards must have
been around.
"Here's
where I leave you." Lily actually
looked sad to see Hagrid go. "I've got
other things ter take care of. I'll see
you at Hogwarts, Lily."
"'Bye
Hagrid!" She and her parents watched
Hagrid go, then stepped into Ollivander's.
The insides
were as shabby as the outside. Couldn't
they fix it up with magic? Lily
wondered. What was the point in having
magic if you didn't use it?
A shabby
chair was the only furniture in the entire place. Lily had sat down when an elderly man, Mr. Ollivander she
supposed, came from the back room.
Quickly she got up.
"Ah,
yes. New Hogwarts student."
"Er, yes,"
Lily replied.
Mr.
Ollivander glanced at her parents, then back to her. "Name?"
"Um, Lily
Evans."
"Put out
your wand arm."
Not knowing
which was her wand arm, Lily put out her left, as it was the hand she wrote
with. Mr. Ollivander took out a
measuring tape and began measuring nearly everywhere, though the tape moved on
its own. So in awe, Lily hardly
listened as Mr. Ollivander went on to talk about his wands. Instead, she giggled as the tape traveled
around her, tickling her slightly.
"All right,
all right. Now to try the wands." The tape measure fell to the ground. Mr. Ollivander handed Lily a wand. She twirled it only momentarily when he
snatched it away and replaced it with another one.
He did this
countless times, each time Lily's excitement drained, until about around the
twentieth wand, she just shook it slightly.
A flash of color and sparkles shot forth from the wand, lighting the
dark room, making it almost cheerful.
"Ah, there
you are. Willow and unicorn hair. Ten and a quarter inches. Nice wand for charm work."
He smiled,
happy to have found a right match for Lily and she beamed. A magic wand of her own. And did he say it held a unicorn hair as its
core? She couldn't have been
happier. Good for charms, he said? Lily couldn't wait to start her first year
and learn some.
