Chapter 2: Diagon Alley

As soon as my dad told me about Diagon Alley, I was desperate to go.  Since it was the only place possible to find the things I needed for school, dad proposed a trip there only a week before school started.

Such a strange place, it is.  I could only stare in amazement at broomsticks, dragon's liver, hags, giants, trolls, and creatures I'd previously thought all make-believe.  Merely getting me to keep going was a task in itself for my dad.

Gringotts was both fun and exciting, though dad did not seem to enjoy the cart ride to our vault, though Addi and I did.   I'd thought we'd always been short on cash, as my dad was not very prosperous.  But my mum had a good deal of money. Too bad it was all wizarding.  Dad explained wizard money, Knuts, sickles, and galleons.

 We got my robes and my supplies, which took the better part of two hours simply to get my sister and I out of the apothecary my dad even got me an owl that I named Ernie.

" Why that?" my dad asked.

" Because that's his name. "I answered.

"Can I have one?"

"No Addi. They don't approve of owls at Clearglen."

"But Dad!"

"You can borrow mine sometimes." I told her. There was so much to see. I couldn't stop looking. I was so busy staring at what looked like a shop of brooms that I ran right into some one.

He was tall, and old from the look of his long slivery hair and his twinkling blue eyes seemed so familiar. And he was smiling. Then I realized, it was the old man who every so often visited us, the one who dad always talked to in private.

"Orion, how are you?" He shook my dad's hand. My dad smiled back.

"It's good to see you Professor."

"And you. This has to be Adhara. And this is Sirius. He has his mother's eyes."

"Yes. He's starting school this year."

"Well I'm glad to hear it. If he's anything like his mother He'll be head boy in no time."

"Sirius, Adhara, say hello to Professor Dumbledore."

I stared up at the old smiling face.

"Hi."

"Hello."

"What do you teach?" I asked him

He laughed. " I'm headmaster."

I thought for a minute. Then I grinned " This is going to be fun." I received a laugh from my father, an eye roll from Addi, and an eye twinkle from Professor Dumbledore.

"As long as he doesn't meet the Potter's boy, I think the school will survive intact." Dumbledore laughed. Then with another handshake to my father he was gone.

"There's just your wand now." My father said. I ran to catch up. A real wand. This was the part I'd been looking forward to the most. We entered Olivander's shop. As I went inside, I bumped into a boy.

"Sorry." He said, but I was too surprised to do more than nod.  Mr. Olivander was there to greet us.

"Ah yes. Sirius Black. I've been expecting you. Seems like just yesterday your mother was in here buying her first wand. Willow, phoenix feathers, 9 inches. Come here and let's see about you eh?"

He pulled a wand down from the countless rows of wands and handed it to me. "Beech and phoenix feather 12 in. Try it. Wave it around." I did feeling like an idiot. Nothing happened. He grabbed the wand away and gave me another. "Try this, Dragon heartstring and yew. Ten inches."

            Again nothing.

"Interesting combination. Let's try unicorn hair, mahogany, seven inches." He gave me another and another. The pile of used wands was growing.

"Hmmm. You're a tricky one. Let's try a new one I just got in today. Phoenix Feather, Redwood, 8 3/4 inches. First time I've used such a combination, but let's see." He gave me the wand. I shivered when I took it. As I waved the wand, warmth spread from my head to my toes. A few sparks flew from the end.

Mr. Olivander took the wand with a hard to read look on his face. " Odd, very odd indeed." But he gave me the wand.

On the way out my dad stopped to buy us some ice cream. We waited outside with my parcels
           " Hogwarts too?" I spun around to see a thin-faced boy with greasy hair. That was my first reaction, grease.

"I am. My sister's not."

"Why not?"

"I don't have any magic." This was the first wizard my age I had seen.

" Are you pureblood?" He asked eyeing my muggle clothes.

" My mum was a witch if that's what you mean."

"Oh you're half blood. That explains it." He stared at me now with a mixture of amusement and disgust.

" So?" I asked, not liking this boy at all.

" I'm surprised they let you in. Wizards with muggle blood are never as good. What was wrong with your mother that she couldn't find a decent wizard to marry that she had to resort to a muggle?"

I don't know why, but the next thing I knew I had hit him. He hit me back and soon it was an all out fight until someone pulled us apart and lifted us high in the air.

           It was a giant. He was huge with loads of bushy hair. The other boy glared at him, but I just stared.

"What do yeh think yer doin'" the giant asked

"He hit me," the other boy said immediately.

"Did ya?" It was a second before I realized the question was to me.

"Well, he started it."

"Sirius! Adhara! What's going on?"

"Severus! What do you think you're doing?"

Our fathers' had come at the exact same time. And nether looked very happy about it.

" Hello. Found the two of them tryin ta kill each other." The giant said. He still hadn't let us down. The boy's father took him and dragged him away. He glared at me over his shoulder.

"Thanks Hagrid. I'll take him." I was lowered to the ground. I crossed my arms staring after the boy. My thoughts were interrupted when I heard the giant laugh.

"So these are the young twins. Sirius looks like his mother. Grown too since the last time I saw him."

My father laughed. "I should hope so. The last time you saw him, he was no more than a year old."

"Well it's true enough. We haven't heard from ya in a while. Got ta thinkin' ya might have forgotten."

"Forget? With the tricks this one pulls?" he asked, waving a hand at me. They both laughed.

"Well, I'll see ya at Hogwarts, Sirius. No more fighin' ya hear?" With that he walked away.

"Dad, who was that?" I asked.

"Oh that's Hagrid. He's the gamekeeper at Hogwarts. In charge of the grounds and such.  Good friend of your mum's."

My dad turned around and we walked to our car. He didn't speak until we were on our way home

" Sirius, why were you fighting? "I got into fights at school sometimes. I knew he didn't like it.

"He was saying that wizards with muggle blood aren't as good as pureblood. And he said some mean stuff about mum."

My father sighed " And you felt you had to hit him."

"Well, yeah."

He just shook his head " Sirius, Sirius, Sirius."