CHAPTER 2
DIAGON ALLEY
After sending is response to Hogwartz, Keith spent the next few days trying to repair his ocarina. It didn't seem possible; all of those girls had crushed it beyond repair. He knew it was hopeless but he couldn't do anything else, the girls from the talent show were still obsessed with him and following him around whenever he went outside. His mother and Aunt assured him that they had wiped everyones' memories of the previous night away but that didn't seem to erase the effect his abilities had on them. He stayed in his room, hoping that his mother was right when she said that his powers would become subtler soon.
His father had come out of his shock and taken the news of his wife being a witch better than anyone could've expected. He was so interested and curious in how the Wizarding world worked that Keith's mom had ordered a subscription of a Wizard Newspaper called the "Daily Prophet." Now that his father was always asking her about her real upbringing and wanting to know about her world, Keith's mother looked happier than she had ever been.
Keith's Aunt Shari hadn't been near as lucky. Keith's uncle was demanding a divorce and he wasted no time telling a judge that his wife was a witch. Thankfully Aunt Shari was able to wipe both the judge's memory and the memory of her former husband once the divorce was final. She seemed very distant for a while and not at all her usual self. Then one morning she showed up with the same eager smile on her face that Keith had missed so much. "Let's go." She said to him eagerly.
"Go Where?" he asked as he threw on his jacket.
"We're going to get your school supplies," she said, "I haven't been to Daigon Alley in so long." So waving good-bye to his mother, Keith and his Aunt Shari took a cab to the subway station and rode to London. Once there she led him through a strip mall of bookstores, music stores, and other large flashy shops until she stopped suddenly seeming to stare at a wall next to a bookstore. At first he couldn't see what she was looking at, then he noticed that the wall had a door in it and an incredibly faded sign over it that looked like it said "Leaky Cauldron."
The inside of the Leaky Cauldron was very old and seemed like it had been around for centuries. There was a dense haze of smoke in the air from numerous pipes being smoked. The people inside all wore long robes of various colors with strange pointed hats. They all glanced over at Keith and Aunt Shari. Shari smiled at them all and Keith felt sudden warmth spread throughout the room. Suddenly, every man in the pub got up and walked over to her.
"How are you my dear?" Said an old man with a long black beard.
"A pleasure to meet you."
"Is this your brother, he couldn't possibly be your son."
Keith glanced at his Aunt Shari for a moment and realized the warmth was coming from her. Was this what happened when a Veela used their abilities? Shari glanced at Keith out of the corner of her eye and smiled at him, she seemed to be enjoying the attention. She listened to the seemingly endless slew of compliments for a while, acting very embarrassed and then led Keith to a door at the back of the pub. In the back of the pub was a very small area with a few crates and barrels against a very large brick wall. Shari walked up to the wall, pulled her wand out from her back pocket and tapped the third brick from the right.
"You'll love this." She said as she stepped away from the wall. The wall began to shake and then to Keith's amazement the bricks began to shift around creating an opening in the center that kept get larger and larger until it had formed a doorway. Keith's jaw dropped, but not from the creation of the doorway. He was shocked at what the doorway led too. Behind the newly formed door was a walkway that led through an amazing street of shops. People of all ages, shapes, and sizes were walking through the street. As his Aunt led him through the street he looked into every window he could. He saw flying broomsticks, floating books, and strange looking owls. He watched as one girl about the same age as him waved around a wand in her hand and sending blue sparks of light into the air. Keith was trying to look into a shop called "Quality Quidditch Supplies" when his Aunt grabbed him and led him toward a large white building in the distance called "Gringotts."
"Aunt Shari, what is this place?" He asked as he passed a store called "Flourish and Blotts."
"This is Diagon Alley." She said, "and that building we're heading to right now is Gringotts the Wizard Bank. Your Mom and me left a little bit of gold here before we got married. Its should have collected enough interest for you to get your supplies." The inside of the bank was enormous but full of people. Keith could see people trading in their money for gold and silver. The creatures behind each counter though, were short but very dangerous looking. They had long noses, sharp teeth, and very long fingers.
"Um...Aunt Shari, what ware these things?" He asked staying close to his Aunt.
"Goblins. Very dangerous and not very friendly so stay close okay." Keith nodded as Shari led them to a counter at the back of the room. One very short, very mean, and very old looking Goblin leered down at them from a high table. Aunt Shari pulled a very old looking gold key and held it up to him. "My name is Shari DeLacoure and I would like to make a withdrawal."
The goblin plucked the key out of her hand and within five minutes they were being led down a very large sort of mine toward a large door with the number "1025" on it. The goblin walked up to it and used Aunt Shari's key to open the door. As the door opened Keith and his Aunt Shari both looked amazed at the incredible amount of gold that greeted them. It reached to the ceiling of the large room and seemed to be nothing but gold; none of the silver and bronze that Keith had seen the wizards in the streets spending. He glanced over at his Aunt.
"A 'little' gold?" He asked as he walked in and began packing some of the gold into a bag.
"Well," she said looking as amazed as Keith, "either your mother has been depositing behind my back or, it's gained a LOT of interest over the last eleven years."
With some gold in his pocket, Keith and his Aunt Shari began shopping for his supplies. They went to Flourish and Blotts first, and began buying all of his required books. It was when Keith was looking at a copy of "Transfiguration Level 1 by Minerva Macgonigal." That he saw a small pen for animals. Keith looked in to see several large green books scuttling around in the pen like crabs. He leaned in closer to see that the cover of the books all said "The Monster Book of Monsters." He was leaning into the chest so far that one of the books leapt up and tried to snap itself shut on his nose. He pulled back quickly and watched then scuttle around. He was about to turn away when he noticed a very worn version of the monster book in the corner of the pen. He watched it for a while, its cover was worn and torn some of its pages actually torn up. He reached into the pen slowly and picked up the book. It shook madly trying to break loose of Keith but her held hold of it tightly. It snapped its cover trying to bite him but Keith ran a finger along its spine in an attempt to try and calm it down. It shuddered and fell limp in his hand.
After buying his books Keith was taken to Olivander's Wand Shop. Aunt Shari was greeted with a hug by a very old man with thinning white hair. He smiled at Keith as Keith looked around the store. As small as it was it seemed to old over a million different wands in small boxes stacked to the ceiling. Keith was afraid that they might fall on top of him.
"So this is your nephew Shari," Mr. Olivander said as he walked up to him, "yes I can feel something about this boy. A lot of talent in him. Come over here Keith." Mr. Olivander led Keith to the back of the store were there were several black boxes. He pulled out one box near the top of the pile. "Here we are. 12 inches redwood with a phoenix hair inside, excellent for transfiguration." Keith took the long red wand from Mr. Olivander, feeling incredible warmth from it. He waved it around and a stream of beautiful red light flew from its point. Aunt Shari and Mr. Olivander both lit up with happiness.
"I love when I get it right on the first try," Olivander said happily.
It was nearly sunset when Keith and Aunt Shari finished shopping. He had so much stuff to carry that his Aunt Shari decided to simply rent two rooms inside the Leaky Cauldron for the night. Keith spent the night reading through his spell books until his candle began to dim. Giving up he laid his book by the bedside mirror.
"It nice to see you have such an interest in studying." Came a voice from somewhere in the room.
"Who said that?" Keith asked, spinning on the spot to try and find the source of the voice. The Monster Book leapt up and snapped its cover at the mirror.
"I'm right here dear." Keith turned in the direction of the sound to look at himself in the mirror.
"Are you in the mirror?"
"I am the mirror dear." Keith backed away and slumped onto his bed.
"I take it you are muggle born?" The mirror asked.
"Muggle?"
"A non-magic person dear." Keith nodded silently. "Well then, let me be the first to welcome you to the wizarding world."
