Author's Note: Wow. Chapter five! I can't believe I've gotten this far, LOL. In this chapter, Chloe explores Diagon Alley, meets Malfoy, and gets a BIG surprise for Christmas! Happy reading!
Disclaimer: I own Chloe, and a few of the store and street names mentioned in this chapter. All of the Weasleys, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, their pets, Platform 9 3/4, and many other things came out of the brilliant mind of Joanne Kathleen Rowling! I claim no ownership to these characters, and am making no money off of this whatsoever. Thank you :)
Chapter 5
Diagon Alley was baffling, beautiful, and bustling with activity. The stores and streets looked very old-fashioned. At first, I had no idea where to go, but Aunt Molly solved that by grabbing my arm and leading me directly to the bookstore, Flourish & Blotts. She whipped a letter out of her pocket as we reached the doorway.
"Here," she said. "This came for you this morning. I expect that it will have a list of the books you'll need." I opened the envelope, and pulled out a letter.
"Dear Miss Richardson," it said. "I am pleased to be the first to welcome you to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the best magical instruction school in Europe. As you are a transfer student and coming to Hogwarts in the middle of the school year, you have been assigned a mentor your age to show you around the school and grounds. Your mentor's name is Draco Malfoy. Please do not forget his name, as you will need to find him once you get to school." I stopped a moment. Draco Malfoy -- the name sounded a bit forbidding. I read on.
"Please find enclosed a list of the supplies you will need to bring with you. We have all ready processed your transfer forms, and your class schedule is also enclosed. We hope you have a good time here at Hogwarts, and we look forward to meeting you once you arrive. Sincerely, Professor Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress." I pulled out the list of supplies. By now, Aunt Molly had pulled me inside the shop, and was busy talking to the clerk behind the counter.
"Can I help you?" a voice above me said. I looked up to see a woman standing there.
"Um, yes," I told her. "I need all of these books." I showed her the list.
"Follow me, please," she said. She led me to a set of shelves near the back of the room. "The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Five, Miranda Goshawk," she said, placing the book into my arms. She now walked over to a bookshelf a few feet away. "Advanced Charms and How to Use Them, by A. Noying." Another book was placed in my arms. I followed her everywhere as she gave me book after book, including "Unfogging the Future," "The Monster Book of Monsters, version Two," ("This one doesn't bite," I was told) and "Arithmancy at it's Greatest." Not to mention many, many more. My arms were quite tired by the time I got back to the counter.
"Ready to purchase?" the clerk asked me. I nodded my head. He rang up my total purchases. "The total comes to eight galleons, five sickles and three knuts," he said. My head was spinning as I opened up my purse. Mom and Dad had given me twenty-five Galleons to spend while I was here in England, since were weren't sure when I was going home. I handed him the money. "Here you go," I was told, while being handed two bags stuffed full of books. "Enjoy your time here!" Aunt Molly bade him goodbye as we walked out of the store.
"Poor Mr. Lockhart," she said, shaking her head sadly.
"Who?" I asked.
"The clerk back there," she told me. "He used to be a very good writer, and was even a professor at Hogwarts two years ago. His memory got erased when a wand backfired on him -- Ronald's wand to be exact. It has been two years and although he seems fine, he certainly isn't what he used to be."
"Oh," I said. I would have asked how Ron's wand backfired on Mr. Lockart, but Aunt Molly had looked a little enraged at the thought and I didn't want her to go off on one of her rants. I had all ready experienced a couple of them after Fred and George offered me what looked like a perfectly fine custard. I didn't get the chance to taste it though -- Aunt Molly confiscated it immediately. I looked back at my list.
"All students are required to wear plain black work robes, three sets is the standard number to bring. You will need one plain pointed hat (black) for day wear, one pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar) and one winter cloak (black with silver fastenings). Your clothes should carry nametags so you are able to get them back after being cleaned." Aunt Molly cut me off before I could read the rest.
"Let's get your clothes before anything else," she told me, directing me over to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. She walked me in. A smiling woman dressed in dusty mauve greeted us at the door.
"Hogwarts?" she said. "Have I seen you before?"
"She's a transfer student," Aunt Molly told her, before I could open my mouth. The woman (whom I guessed was Madam Malkin) smiled, and whisked me away. "I'll be window-shopping with Ginny!" Aunt Molly called after me. I heard the door open and close. Madam Malkin busied herself taking measurements.
A few moments later, the door to the shop opened again, and someone was dinging the bell on the counter. "I'm all done taking measurements," Madam Malkin announced. "If you'll just wait out front, your robes will be done in a moment." I stepped down from the stool, and walked out front. A boy my age with silver-blond hair was standing there.
"Mr. Malfoy!" Madam Malkin said. "What can I do for you?" My heart jumped, and I looked up from the copy of Witch Weekly I was looking at. Malfoy?
"I need a new set of dress robes," he said. "My ones from last year are so out of style." Madam Malkin nodded, and whisked him to the back room. I tried to peek to see if I could tell if it was Draco Malfoy, but the door had a blocking spell apparently -- I couldn't see anything but grey. He came out a couple of minutes later, followed by Madam Malkin. She handed him a small parcel, and motioned for me to come up while he paid. I was handed a considerably larger parcel. "That will be seven Galleons," she said. Mr. Malfoy left as I paid, and Madam Malkin got a sneer on her face as he did.
"Who is that?" I asked.
"Draco Malfoy," she told me. "His family is quite high up on the lot. They attend many Christmas parties, mostly held with the Ministry of Magic." I nodded. He had looked a little snobbish, although very cute. I gave her the money, and hurried out to see if I could catch up with him.
He hadn't gotten far, he was just two windows down looking in the window of Quality Quidditch Supplies. "Draco?" I said cautiously. "Draco Malfoy?" He turned.
"Yes?" he said, looking me up and down. "What do you want?" I stuck my parcel under one arm.
"I'm Chloe, Chloe Richardson," I told him, holding out my hand. "I was told you're going to show me around once we get to Hogwarts." He sniffed disdainfully.
"Oh yes, you're one of those... American students," he said, as though it were a bad thing. He didn't shake my hand. "Well, I must be going. I got enough money to order a Firebolt this year, and it's just come in." He turned around and walked into the store, leaving me standing there with my hand still outstretched.
* * *
Christmas seemed to come quite fast. The day we went to Diagon Alley, I had gotten Christmas presents for everyone, although most were small since I didn't have much money left. I had all of them wrapped and under the tree by Christmas Eve.
Christmas morning came early. I woke up at 5:30 AM, along with Ginny. Hermione woke up as we were getting dressed, and we snuck downstairs. When we got there, I was surprised to see that Harry, Ron, Bill and Charlie were all up all ready.
"Shh," Ron told me. "Mum and Dad are still sleeping, and Percy will kill us if we wake him up!" We all sat around looking at the presents under the tree wistfully, when we heard a noise, and some of the gifts moved.
"What's that?" Ginny said, fearfully tucking her feet under her. Harry looked strange.
"What is it?" I asked Harry. He shook his head, not answering. Finally, Bill got up and moved a couple of gifts.
"It's a... Snake..." he said, cautiously looking around. "It's for Chloe."
"For me?" I asked. "Yeah, right. I don't even like snakes!"
"Well that's what the tag says," said Charlie, looking over. He handed me the cage. Inside was a small snake, probably a garter snake of some sort. It looked at me and hissed.
"He said hello," Harry told me. "He wants to know if you're his new owner." I laughed.
"Funny," I told him. I turned to the snake. "Hello to you too. Yes I'm your new owner -- did you have one before?" Harry looked down at the snake. Before I knew what was happening, he was... CONVERSING with it! He looked up and saw me looking strangely at him. Ron laughed.
"Harry's a parselmouth, Chloe," he told me. "I think he likes your snake." Harry looked up from his 'conversation.'
"He says he was caught out in the wild," he told me. "He doesn't know who his last owner was."
Ginny spoke up. "It was probably Fred and George, playing another prank on her." We laughed. "Yeah, that's probably it."
"Well," I told the snake, "it seems like I'm stuck with you, eh?" I excused myself, and ran up to put his cage with my suitcase up in the bedroom. I plunked it down next to my backpack, and started to walk out. He hissed at me, so I turned back to him.
Looking at him made me... strangely dizzy. "I won't name you just yet," I told him. He hissed at me again. "Or should I?" I wondered out loud. I looked down at him again, and was overcome with dizziness. I looked at the clock, which now read 5:50, and felt tired. That must be where the dizziness is coming from, I decided. I turned away from the snake, and walked out the door.
