And I Bleed When I Dream
Disclaimer: I still don't own the wonderful world of Harry Potter, or anything else you may find in the is story, minus Alanna.
Kinki: Thank you, dear, for believeing in me. I didn't know you read my stuff.
Naomi: Thanks again. I agree. It's kind of hard to imagine riding lightning, but I heard it somewhere and though it was a cool idea.
chibi-chan: I haven't stopped updating, it's just been a busy time. See? Look, another chapter.
Katie West: Thanks for letting me know you're there.
Kimeko: Here you go.
Chapter Two: InThe ride was a little long, but exhilarating, every second of the way. It really was like riding lightning, snaking a rapid, erratic pattern across the clouds. As far as travel goes, however, it was a tremendously quick ride. They arrived in London only a few hours after they'd left, but the sun was high up in the sky, the time being different so far away.
They landed in an enclosed courtyard with one walkway leading out in the corner of two buildings. The four buildings surrounding the courtyard were all run-down and looked to no longer be in use.
"Well," Tristan said, unstrapping himself from his harness, "this is as far as we can take you."
Alanna unstrapped herself and her bag and climbed shakily to the ground. "Thank you for bringing me here," she said to both of them.
"It was our pleasure," Tristan replied. "Now, you'll want to go out that walkway and turn left on the sidewalk. The Leaky Cauldron shouldn't be too far down the way. The barkeep is looking for you."
"Thank you again," she said. "Goodbye."
"Take care." He strapped himself back in and took off.
She turned and walked out of the courtyard to a busy street beyond. She noted with amusement that all the cars were driving on the wrong side of the street. The sidewalks were full of people walking to and fro, and she stepped out into their stream and was borne on to the left. Each shopfront she inspected closely, and even so, almost missed her destination when it came.
A small wooden sign hanging from the overhang pronounced that the tiny-fronted shop was really The Leaky Cauldron pub. She pushed open the door and stepped into the dimly-lit interior.
All the people inside turned to look at her, as people do when one walks into a room, but they kept staring. The barkeeper walked over, wiping his hands on a towel at his waist.
"Excuse me miss, can I help you?" he asked.
"I think so," she said. "I was told to come to The Leaky Cauldron by a man that Professor Dumbledore of Hogwarts sent to me." She paused and looked around at all the people. "This is The Leaky Cauldron, right?"
The barkeeper smiled. "Yes it is. You're Alanna?"
She nodded.
"Good. We've been waiting for you. At first I thought yeh were a muggle, from your look of confusion and all." The patrons of the bar, some of which she now realized were wearing brightly colored robes, went back to their business.
"People come in here by accident?" she asked. "I hardly saw it, and I was looking for it. I don't think most of the people out there even notice it."
The barkeeper shrugged. "Well, they come in every now and then. Most of them can't see it though, or they choose not to. You've got to have just a little bit o' magic to see it at all, but most of them are so absorbed into their lives yeh can't blame 'em for not wanting things to be out of the ordinary."
"Got it."
"Well now, where're my manners? My name's Andelore Cornes. I tend bar here. Until the train for the school goes out, you'll be staying in one of the rooms upstairs, and you can go shop in Diagon Alley for your school things."
"Okay." She nodded. "How do I get to Diagon Alley?"
"Lousie'll show yeh the way."
A kind looking witch in muggle clothing came over and Andelore Cornes went back to the bar.
"Hullo dear. I'm Louise and I'll be glad to show you around the place." She held out her hand and Alanna shook it.
"Alanna Stalmer," she replied.
The witch smiled. "Good. Now follow me. You can leave your bag at the foot of the stairs there and someone'll move it up to your room while we're gone."
Louise led her through a door at the back of the pub into a little alley. "Now count the bricks like this," she said, pointing at them with her wand, "and tap here."
At the tapping of her wand, an archway morphed open to reveal a bustling cobblestone lane packed tightly with shops on either side. Witched and wizards in both robes and ordinary clothing hurried from shop to shop, strolled down the street, and talked with one another.
"It's beautiful," Alanna said in wonderment.
Louise smiled. "Of course it is dear. Now would you like me to show you around or do you just want to explore on your own? You can hardly get lost, and if you do, just ask directions back to The Leaky Cauldron. Most folk around here are kind enough."
"I guess I'll explore on my own if you don't mind. I've got my list and—oh dear, I haven't got any wizard money."
"Oh that's not a problem," the woman said. "Your first stop will have to be Gringott's, the wizarding bank. It's the huge marble building on the left up that way. You can't miss it."
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it, dear. Now have fun and don't spend all your money. Bye now."
"Goodbye," she said, but the arch had already turned back into a brick wall, and Alanna was on her own.
She looked up and down and all around, and finally began walking down towards the bank. It didn't take long to get there, and she certainly didn't miss it. It was made of shining, white marble, and was easily the biggest building around. She climbed the steps and went through the double set of doors.
Inside was a large room, one wall lined with a counter, and the goblin-esque creatures sitting behind it; the other was lined with imposing metal doors. She glanced back at the counter and realized with a start that the creatures probably were goblins.
There was no line, but a place was marked off for one, so she stood there and waited for one of the tellers to call her over. They all looked immensely busy, so she feared of interrupting them if she walked over to the counter.
After several very long, silent moments, one of the goblins looked up from his work. "Well, do you want something, or are you just going to stand there all day?" he asked impatiently.
She walked over and set a bag on the counter containing her entire bank account which she had closed out prior to leaving. "I've never done this before," she said, "so I don't know what I'm doing."
"You're an American," the goblin said, slightly surprised. "I suppose you'll be wanting to switch over American money then."
"Yes, that's right. Can you do that?"
He scoffed. "Of course. Gringott's handles the wizard banking all over the world. Don't you think American wizards need money, too?"
"O-of course," she stammered.
"Well, let's have it then."
"Huh?" she asked, confused.
"Your money..?" he said.
"Oh, right. Sorry." She opened the money bag and laid out her bills.
"Wizard money is handled all in coins. This translates into quite a few coins. Are you sure you want to take it all with you? Or would you like to open an account?"
"Will I be able to access my account from Hogwarts?" she asked.
"Hogwarts! Full of surprises, aren't you. As to your question, yes and no. You can access your account from the Gringott's in Hogsmeade, but not actually at the school. I suggest you take about half of this with you. That will be plenty to get your school supplies with and some extra if you should need it at school and can't get to town."
"That'll be great," she said.
"Full name?"
"Alanna Stalmer."
"Here you go," he said, handing her a key. "Vault 6341 for Miss Alanna Stalmer."
"Thank you."
He then counted her American money and began making little stacks of gold, silver and brass coins. He divided the money about in half, and put one half in a bag. "Six three four one!" he called loudly. Another goblin came over, took the bag and disappeared behind one of the doors on the far side of the room.
"Your money's safe now, safer than it could be anywhere else. Here's for you." He pushed the rest of the money in her direction and she put it in her bag.
It was a very heavy bag when she walked out. The goblin had been right, there were a lot of coins. And she didn't even have all of them.
She walked down the stairs and paused at the bottom to pull out her list of things to buy. The first thing that caught her eye was, "Each student is permitted to bring one animal, either cat, rat, owl or toad."
"I'd love a cat," she said quietly to herself. She made off down the street until she got to Eyelops Owelry, which also carried, according to a sign:
Cats!
Rats!
Newts!
Toads!
Wizardly animals found
here!
Alanna smiled and entered the store. It was crowded with cages and perches of all sort, not to mention the animals occupying them. There was everything the sign claimed and much more. Several varieties of owls dosed on perches or in cages, cats meowed and lounged, and a pond full of toads croaked loudly.
She walked up and down the aisles, peering into cages and petting the cats. A small, grey ball of fluff mewed curiously up at her. "Hi there, love," she said to the kitten as she pet it. She turned to move on but the kitten mewed at her.
"Hey, kitty. What's wrong? Want a home that bad?"
The cat stretched and meowed again, walking right up to the edge of the shelf it had been sitting on.
"Come here, love." She picked up the cat and it immediately started purring.
"I can see I'll never leave here alive with out you in my arms. Come along." She walked over to the counter, and set the kitten down. "I'd like to buy this kitten, please." She reached into her bag for her money bag.
"A Russian Blue, she is," said the witch behind the counter. "Beautiful cat. She'll cost you sixteen sickles, please."
"Um, those are the silver ones, right?" She raised an eyebrow.
"New to the wizarding world, eh? Yeah, the sickles are the silver ones."
Alanna counted out sixteen silver coins, and left a minute later with a purring grey cat in her arms. She sang to her as they walked down the street outside, telling her all about herself and what their life was going to be like.
"I really ought to name you," she said out loud, scratching the cat under the chin. She thought a moment and then said, "Mo Ghra. I'll name you Mo Ghra. It's Irish for 'beloved.'"
A while later, she looked down at her list, and saw that she had only one thing left to get. She'd gotten her books, her cauldron, her robes. All she needed was a wand. But then, she didn't need a wand, did she? As she looked down at the only item not crossed off, spidery handwriting began to appear next to it.
"Please be sure to purchase a wand, regardless of your ideas on the subject of needing one," the writing said. It was signed, "M.M.G."
"Well I'll be sure to purchase a wand then," she said to Mo Ghra, who was walking along beside her on the ground.
"Mew."
They happened to be conversing right outside the door of Ollivander's Wands. The two turned and went inside, Alanna holding the door open for her kitten. The moment they entered the store, they stopped in their tracks.
This was, quite reasonably, because a stern voice commanded, "Stop!"
No one was in sight. There were shelves packed full of what must have been wand boxes, a small stepping stool, and plenty of dust to go around, but no people.
"Hello?" Alanna ventured.
An old man entered the room through a back door that she had not previously seen. He was dressed in black robes and had a stern look about him. He had to be the person who had spoken.
"I am Mr Ollivander," he said, walking over to her, "but you are not here to buy a wand."
She was slightly taken aback. "But I am," she replied, noting that Mo Ghra was hiding behind her ankles.
"I have spent my entire career identifying people's magical abilities so that I might pair them up with a wand to channel said magic, and I can assure you that you are in no need of a wand to channel yours."
"I'm going to Hogwarts," she said, "and Professor McGonagall requested in no uncertain terms that I bring along a wand. I trust you can help me?"
Ollivander made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat. "Yes, well, let's see what we can do about that." He led her over to the small stepping stool and set a measuring tape to taking her measurements. She tried to ignore the fact that it was doing so without any help from the wizard, who had turned to a wall and was examining the wand boxes.
"No, no, none of these will do," he muttered to himself. He frowned at the wall.
"Is there a problem?" Alanna asked.
"Well, perhaps. The way a wand works is this. It has a magical core to channel the magic already in a person. This magical core must match up to the magic in the witch or wizard in order for it to work. Of course, you can use another person's wand, but it won't work as well as your own. You personally, don't need anything extra to channel your magic. You use your voice. And yet, we have to find you a wand. So my problem is this: what will be the core of your wand? A wand with a magical core might not be able to form to you. A wand with no core might not work at all."
"I see," said Alanna. "Do you have any ideas?"
He shook his head, not to say no, but as a gesture. "I don't know. I suppose we'll have to try a few different things. Let's try some normal wands first. The might work." Though the way he said it left little room for the hope that it would.
He pulled down several different types of wand from the shelves and set them on another foot stool by Alanna. He handed her one.
"Give it a wave, and don't think about using your magic," he instructed.
She took the wand and waved it through the air. Nothing happened.
She tried a few more normal wands, but none did so much as spark for her.
"I guess it won't be a traditional wand then," he said, shaking his head.
They stood for a moment. "Well?" she said. "Let's try something."
Mo Ghra mewed.
Ollivander smiled. "Yes, let's."
Finí
A/N: If you'd like to be notified by e-mail when I update, either leave your e-mail address in your review, or e-mail me at lainey_marie_03@hotmail.com. My name will show up as Lainey Marie on your e-mail and the subject will be something like "AIBWID chapter (whatever) up." Inside will be a direct link, and any news or whatever that I should feel particularly important. --Lainey
