Diagon Alley
Sirius Black was tall for his age. He was long and lanky and was growing out of all of his clothes. He had a wavy chin length mess as hair and his eyes were a handsome brown. He had a wolfish grin and a sarcastic sense of humor. And he always wore the same chain necklace, with a small 'S' on it. But yet, as normal as he looked, Sirius Black was not normal. He grew up in a pureblood family of wizards. His mother was a vicious supporter of believing that muggle-born wizards should be deprived of learning magic. Though he grew up knowing that he would be accepted into the Wizarding world; he was still thoroughly excited when his letter came announcing his acceptance into Hogwarts: School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"Mum, Dad, it came! It came!" Sirius thundered into the parlor, where his mother was currently having tea, with his father. The parlor was a relatively large room, painted a cream color with light blue trimming. Sirius disliked this room, having been told off by his mother many times in it. When he stopped jumping up and down, he saw that his father was dressed in his best Wizarding robes, and that his mother was wearing an olive green muggle dress. His father, Theodore Black, had his wand in his hand and was lighting a candle. His mother, Aurelia Black, was shocked at how Sirius bounded into the room.
"My dear, what came?" Aurelia looked stubbornly stern; Theodore looked pleased. Sirius grinned and brushed his hair out of his eyes.
"My Hogwarts letter came at last! We can go to Diagon Alley now!" He grinned again and plopped down on a couch, which made a cloud of dust fly into the air. Theodore smiled and stood up from his spindly chair.
"Good job son. If Aurelia doesn't mind, we can go to Diagon Alley today. How `bout it?" Aurelia rolled her eyes slightly and sat up straight. She sighed and raised a hand to pull a piece of hair out of her eyes. Then she stood up and straightened her dress.
"Go ahead. Take Regulus as well. He needs new formal robes for the ceremonial dinner tonight." Aurelia strode out of the room, leaving Sirius and his father. Regulus was Sirius's younger brother; he was too young to go to Hogwarts. Sirius rolled his eyes, but only after his mother left. He always brought Regulus along. Theodore, who was much taller than Sirius looked down at him.
"We won't bring Regulus along. We'll buy him robes, but this is your special day, not Regulus'. Come on son, go get some decent clothes on." Sirius grinned and jumped back up stairs. He had always liked his dad more than his mom. Sirius threw on some Wizarding robes and slowly walked downstairs. I'm going to Hogwarts! I get to learn magic. But you were expecting this; this is nothing new to you. He thought all the way downstairs. When he passed Regulus' room, he saw that the door was open. He dared a peek inside, only to see Regulus staring at the ceiling watching a magical poster of his favorite rock band. The drummer had broken one of his drumsticks. Sirius sneezed. Regulus looked at the doorway.
"What do you want Sirius?" Regulus threw his legs over the side of his bed, which was covered in dirty clothes.
"I got my letter. I'm going to Hogwarts. You get to stay here and stare at your bedroom walls. Fun." Sirius stuck out his tongue and raced down another set of stairs. When he reached the entrance hallway, his dad was waiting for him.
"What took you so long? I just asked you to change." Sirius knew his dad wasn't angry. He saw his dad had changed into another set of robes. Theodore didn't like to show that his was wealthy, and Sirius liked him for that.
"How're we getting there? I can't Apparate!" His dad looked down at him. He grinned.
"Course you can't. We'll be traveling by Floo Powder. You're mother hates traveling like this, says it's too cheap. I prefer it though, quicker than any broom or train." Theodore led Sirius into the kitchen, where a humongous fireplace stood. A fire was merrily cracking in it. A flowerpot, which held Floo Powder, hung next to it. Theodore took the flowerpot and handed it to Sirius. Sirius took the last handful of powder and threw it into the flames, which turned a lime green, and then he stepped into the flames. Sirius shouted, "Diagon Alley!" and went spinning away.
Traveling by Floo Powder wasn't very comfortable. Your arms would hit the walls of chimneys and it was unbearably hot. Sometimes the spinning would make you sick, but Sirius agreed, there was no other quicker means of travel.
Sirius started to spin slower. Then, with a FWOOM, he landed in the back fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron. Dizzily, he stepped out of the fireplace and looked around the room. The wallpaper was peeling slightly, and the window looked as though it hadn't been washed in ages. A great deal of wooden chairs was spread around the room. Sirius collapsed into one of them. He waited patiently for his dad, who, Sirius knew, was planning to Apparate. A minute later, then the flames in the fireplace were turning lime green, and another person arrived with a FWOOM. It wasn't Theodore though; it looked like a boy, a boy around Sirius's age. He collapsed into the chair next to Sirius.
"Hullo." Said the boy. The boy had black hair, very messy. He wore glasses, a metal frame. His clothes said enough to explain that he was pureblood as well. He was wearing a Quidditch shirt, and an old pair of jeans. The boy had light blue eyes.
"Hullo." Said Sirius, answering the newcomer. The boy looked familiar.
"What's your name? You look familiar." The boy tilted his head and took his glasses off; they were smudged with soot from the fire. He wiped them on his pants and put them back on.
"You look familiar too. My name's James. James Potter. How bout you?" the boy said. Potter. That rang a bell in Sirius's head. AH! Potter, that was the name of a player on England's Quidditch team. Sirius grinned his wolfish smile.
"I'm Sirius Black. You're dad's a Quidditch player, isn't he?" Sirius looked at James. James grinned back at Sirius.
"Yeah, that's right. Your dad's a Ministry worker, am I right?" James answered. Sirius looked about the room again, as though searching for an answer. So, he nodded.
"Yeah. You a first year as well? I just got my letter today." Sirius said. James fiddled with the edge of his shirt.
"First year it is! I got my letter a week ago. Who are you waiting for? My mum is supposed to be Apparating." Sirius fiddled with a Galleon in his pocket.
"My dad. I don't know what happened to him. Want to go out front? They'll eventually find us. Diagon Alley's not that big. We can also leave a note with the bartender." James looked reproachful. James never really had a Wizarding friend before. All of his old friends had been muggles.
"Sure, why not. It's getting boring in here anyway." James and Sirius stood up brushed off their clothes and walked out of the room. After peeking around a bit, they found their way to the front.
Once out front, they saw wizards buying drinks, witches talking about the latest fashions, trolls comparing gold, and the bartender speaking about fifty different languages at once. When the bartender saw them, he smiled, revealing many missing teeth.
"Hello, young sirs. And why, look who it is, young Potter! What can I get for you today?" the bartender wiped his hands off on a small rag. Sirius grinned. He loved being in the Wizarding world. Everything was so different.
"Sorry, Tom. We don't need anything, but for you to open the way to Diagon Alley, and to leave a note for our parents." James said friendly. Tom placed his hands on the bar.
"Ahh. Well, finally got the letter, did `ja now Potter? Now, what is this leaving a note for your parents?" Tom came out from behind the bar. It was Sirius who spoke this time.
"Our parents, that is, my dad, and his mum, were supposed to be Apparating here. They haven't come yet, and that's wasting valuable sunlight, to be shopping in," Sirius paused to breathe, and then went on, "so can you leave them a note, telling them that, Sirius Black and James Potter are out shopping?" Tom smiled and nodded.
"Sure thing! Now follow me and I'll open the way." He led them out back, into a small courtyard. He took out a wand and tapped a brick above the trashcans. Magically, the wall opened to reveal a large shopping alley. Sirius and James turned back to Tom.
"Thanks!" Tom waved as they stepped out into the alleyway. Everywhere Sirius looked was magic. In the display case of Flourish and Blott's, a book was reading itself. In the window of Madame Malkin's Robes of All Occasions, a piece of cloth was making robes. In a magical creatures shop, little orange fuzz balls were jittering about and a large parrot was popping from a perch on the wall to a perch on the floor.
"Have you ever been here before?" asked James, seeing the amazed look on Sirius's face. Sirius nodded. He had been here before, but each time, it always amazed him.
"Yes, I have been here before, but every time I come, something changes. It's always so amazing." James laughed at Sirius's seriousness.
"Well, where do you think we should go first? I'd say go and get the boring books. And then work our way down." James pointed down the road, to the very last shop, which was Flourish and Blott's. Sirius shrugged. He didn't care; he just wanted to get his wand and magical creature.
"Alright, well, let's go."
So they went to Flourish and Blott's. Inside there was every book you could imagine. There were small ones, as small as a postage stamp, and large ones, so large it could take up your whole desk. There were books that read themselves out loud when you opened them, books that weren't really books, just paintings pretending. Sirius was so amazed at one, that he picked it up, opened it, and started to read, when, it clamped shut on his hand. James thought this was funny, but helped Sirius unclamp the book.
When they were done in Flourish and Blott's and all the other stores, they stopped at Magical Menagerie. The shop was filled with animals, and distinctly smelled like rotten cabbage. There were cats of every breed, frogs, toads, newts, owls, and little orange fuzz balls that hummed. Sirius thought this had to be the best shop yet. James walked up to a cage with a very large and handsome tawny owl. He saw a tag with the price on it and carried the cage up to the counter.
"I've always wanted my own owl. What about you, Sirius?" James looked back at Sirius, who was staring up at the many cages of owls.
"Yeah, I've always wanted one. My dad would never buy me one though. Said it would have to wait until Hogwarts. I think this one's rather nice." Sirius pointed to a smaller black spotted barn owl, with large yellow eyes. It hooted softly, while Sirius checked the price. He then carried up to the counter, placing it along side James's. James paid for his owl and waited for Sirius. The shopkeeper looked at Sirius menacingly. Sirius grinned wolfishly and slapped the money on the counter.
"There you go! Have a nice day!" Sirius grabbed his owl and walked out of the shop, James right beside him. They walked out into the sunlight, joking about the shopkeeper.
"He looked like he was about to explode." Said Sirius, whose laugh almost sounded like a bark. James laughed along with him.
"Yeah, I thought he was about to start growling at you. Didn't look like a happy chap, now did he?" James stopped walking at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. He placed down his packages and fell into a nearby lawn chair.
"I'm starting to worry bout our parents mate. They should have been here a long time ago. I wonder what's come up. Let's have a chat with the owner of this place." James slapped his hands on the metal table and pointed to the ice cream parlor.
A waiter came out from the parlor and walked up to the two boys. He was an aging man, with white hair and icy blue eyes. He was wearing a red and white striped shirt with the words, FLOREAN FORTESCUE'S ICE CREAM! ONE OF THE BEST, embroidered in yellow on his shirt. His wand was stuck in an apron, which was tied around his waist.
"Hello young sirs. My name is Florean Fortescue, owner of this fine ice cream parlor. May I interest you in a pecan nut sundae? Or something more unusual?" He smiled at James and Sirius, who grinned happily. James shook his head.
"Ah, I wish we could, Mr. Fortescue, but we are looking for our parents. Sirius's dad and my mom. They were supposed to Apparate back at the Leaky Cauldron, but they haven't yet, and well, you can guess, we've been worried." James looked heartily back at Mr. Fortescue.
Mr. Fortescue sighed. He looked around, as if searching for an answer. He shoved his hands into his pockets.
"My dear friends come inside, away from the sun. I'll tell you all about it inside." They followed him inside the shop, leaving their owls on a tabletop. The shop was brightly lit with red and white striped wallpaper, with yellow and white checked flooring. Mr. Fortescue gave them free ice cream cones, their pick. Sirius picked a chocolate chip one, James, on the other hand, preferred a strawberry cone. At last, Mr. Fortescue sat down with them.
"Now, my friends. I don't like to be the bearer of bad news, but what'd you imagine is only worse." He paused to think. Sirius and James were thinking the worst. My dad can't be dead. No, he hasn't died. Can't be. No. James looked scared. His hands were in his lap, shaking. Mr. Fortescue shook his head.
"Apparation has been down for about 3 hours. Seems a bloody chap shut down the system, without even knowing it. All I know is, the systems down and they're trying to fix it. I don't know if there is any other way your father could get here, or your mother. I suppose you could rent a room back in the Leaky Cauldron for a night, until the systems up, otherwise, looks like you two are stuck in Diagon Alley without parents." Mr. Fortescue paused again, looked at the wall, on which hung a magical calendar. "AH, but no! Tomorrow is September 1. You go back to school tomorrow! This won't due at all." Mr. Fortescue spotted James and Sirius's owls. "Send your folks a letter, saying that the systems down. And, that you're stuck in Diagon Alley, and school starts tomorrow. Do you have your tickets?" He added with a final thought.
James shook his head. Sirius looked at his shoes. He hadn't known school started tomorrow. He had only gotten his letter today! August 29! The thought made him nervous.
"No sir. We don't have them. We'll put that in our letters as well. Thanks for the help and the ice cream!" James said. Florean walked off to help a band of customers that walked in. James turned to Sirius with a serious look on his face.
"How are we supposed to pull this off? School starts tomorrow, we haven't got tickets, we stranded in Diagon Alley. What a lovely day this is!" James rolled his eyes and pulled his owl closer to him. He pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill. James read a loud what he wrote.
"Dear Mum,
I am stranded in Diagon Alley with a new friend. His name is Sirius Black. I don't know if you know his father, Theodore Black. We've met with Florean Fortescue, who told us Apparation is down. School starts tomorrow, or so we've been told, and we don't have our tickets. I know the Floo Powder's run out, so you have no means of getting here. I guess we'll spend the night in a room in the Leaky Cauldron. I have enough gold, don't worry. Sirius and I were just getting worried about our parents. Please send Hogwarts Express Tickets with my new owl!
Thanks, James
How's that sound mate? I think it sounds happy enough to make her not worried. What a bloody bad piece of luck we're in though." James finished his letter, just as Sirius had. They tied their rolls of parchment to their owls' legs and opened a nearby window to let them out.
"I think it sounds lovely! Hope my dad doesn't worry though. I know my mom won't, she's too worried about my brother Regulus. She so sure that he'll become the next Minister of Magic, she's bought him a nametag already. It reads: Regulus Black: Minister of Magic in England." Sirius made a gagging noise and James laughed.
"How lousy. I haven't got any brothers or sisters, mate, so I don't know what you're wining about. Well, if we are to spend the night in the Leaky Cauldron, I suppose we better get walking." James packed up all of his purchases, his new wand on top. Sirius shoved his new black wand in an inside pocket of his robes, and carried his empty owl cage. James pushed his glasses up and they were off.
Despite the fact that they had only met 4 hours before, Sirius felt that James was becoming a true friend. Sirius had never really had any real friends. His mother never let him make contact with a muggle. His mother pushed all of the 'friends' Sirius had had, at him. They had been all purebloods, all magical. Sirius didn't care how is friends were brought up, whether they were pureblood or muggle born, or even whether they had a criminal past. All he wanted was a friend.
Once they reached the Leaky Cauldron, it was beginning to get considerably darker. The sun was going down slowly, and the shop owners began to light the torches hung out by their windows. James opened the squeaky back door to the pub and held it open for Sirius. Sirius, who was holding many packages, didn't see James put his foot out, as to trip him. Sirius went tumbling, but inside of being furious, he started to laugh. James snorted with laughter as he helped Sirius off of his back. They picked up Sirius's packages and walked into the Leaky Cauldron.
Inside, Tom, the bartender, recognized them and acknowledged them. He waved a great arm with welcome. The bar was still light, illuminated by many floating candles. James heaved his bags onto a nearby empty table and walked up to the bar. Sirius dumped his stack of bags onto the same table and sat down in a scrubbed chair. He watched James walk up to the bar. Tom turned to him.
"Hello, Tom. The Apparation Network is down, so our parents are stuck at home, and we're stuck here. Can we rent a room for one night?" Tom smiled his toothless smile. He wiped his hands on the rag, and gave James a key.
"The charge?" James asked, looking worried. The bartender shook his head.
"Don't worry about it. Looks like you two have had enough trouble for one day. That key's to room number 17." Tom pointed to a dark hallway to the left of the bar. "Go down that hallway, and to the right. You can't miss your room. Tell Sirius there that I said hello."
James looked positively gleeful when he returned to Sirius. He picked up his bags and led Sirius down the hallway. It was a dark hallway with one torch on the end. The door on the end had a shiny number 17 on it and James placed his packages down on the ground and shoved the key into the lock. He turned it and it clicked. He shoved the door open revealing a medium sized room with two twin beds a wardrobe. There were candles floating near the ceiling, unlit. A mirror hanging on the wall was snoring.
"How do we get the candles to come down?" James asked curiously. Although he had come from a pureblood family, they lived in a farmhouse, with electricity. Sirius, having lived in a wizard house all of his life, knew how.
"Down." He said softly. The candles floated downward slowly. Sirius grinned. This was his time to show that he could do magic. He reached for his wand and said "Lumos" the wand lighting spell. A flame appeared at Sirius's wand tip and he laughed. He spread his wand from candle to candle, lighting each one. James looked impressed that his friend knew a spell.
"You knew how to do that? I mean, I grew up in a pureblood family, but I never learned a spell. How'd you do that? That was awesome, mate!" James patted Sirius on the back, as he told the candles to return to their normal height. (UP)
While waiting for their train tickets, they talked about Hogwarts. James knew a lot more about it then Sirius did. Sirius listened anxiously as James explained to him.
"There are 4 houses: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. Your house is kinda like your home while your there. The worst one to land in though is Slytherin You-Know-Who was in Slytherin. It spits out the darkest wizards. I'd say I'd want to land in Gryffindor, they're known for they're bravery and intelligence. Ravenclaw wouldn't be bad either. But Hufflepuff, on the other hand." Sirius, wanting to know what was wrong with Hufflepuff, interrupted.
"What's wrong with Hufflepuff?" Sirius questioned loudly. James laughed at this sudden outburst.
"Well lets see, 1st, their mascot is a badger, 2nd, most of them are dunderheads, 3rd, their Quidditch team is horrible. If I landed in Hufflepuff, I'd force them to sort me again."
"I see. Well, looks like the two you'd want to be sorted into are Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Tell me about them!" Sirius was all ears. James went on explaining Gryffindor. "Gryffindor is by far the best house. Their colors are scarlet and gold, and their mascot's a lion. Their Quidditch team isn't bad. The members are rivals with the Slytherins, and most of them wouldn't ever cross over." James paused to breathe, having never spoken this much in his whole lifetime.
"What do you mean cross over? I've never heard the term before." Sirius was very clueless in the Wizarding world. His father never spoke about it and his mother refused to explain. James's mood turned suddenly very serious. James lifted a hand to pull his hair out of in front of his glasses. He sighed and got up to sit on his bed. He sat cross-legged and leaned against the wall.
"I can't believe your parents didn't tell you. You do know who You-Know-Who is right? Cause if not, something is seriously wrong with your parents." James looked at his new friend. Sirius nodded vigorously. You-Know-Who was a dark wizard with terrible power.
"Okay, then, we'll start when You-Know-Who began gaining power. So, when he began rising up the power pole, he needed supporters. And, well, you know, dark wizards very well can't just go handing out leaflets about joining them can they? So he thought up of ways to find them. He tortured some, cheated, lied, and sneaked. Many families were lost. My own grandparents refused to join him and they were murdered. Many of his supporters were fooled into joining them, blackmailed, if you will." James sighed. "Crossing over means to join the dark side. Not because of blackmail, torturing, lying, cheating, but, because you want to. Because you felt that he has the right idea."
Sirius looked at the floor, James had been touched by You-Know-Who. He had lost someone. Had Sirius? Sure, just last week, his Aunt and Uncle's family had been murdered. His cousin.
It took some while for Sirius to find his voice. "I know what you feel mate. Just last week, my Aunt and Uncle refused, and their whole family was found dead in the kitchen..." Sirius's voice trailed off. It was hard for him to talk about it. He could imagine how James felt. James looked up.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know. Look at us. Blubbering. School starts tomorrow and look at us. Let's get some cheer into this room." James still looked gloomy, but he stood up anyway.
Then, a fluttering of wings entered the room, and James' owl landed softly on his bed. Both boys looked up, and saw Sirius's owl float down onto his shoulder. Each owl had a letter tied to his or her leg.
"Ah, look who's arrived. What have you named your owl?" Sirius relieved his owl of the scroll and waited for James's answer.
"Duke, I think suits him. What about you?" James untied the letter from his owl's leg and ripped it open.
"Mines a female, so, how about Gwen? I think it's nice." Sirius opened his letter and read it to himself.
Dear Son,
It's hard to believe that tomorrow's your first day of school. I'm sorry your stranded there, but it sounds like you've found yourself a nice friend. We'll send along the rest of your trunk to meet you at Platform 9 and ¾. Enclosed are your train tickets, I am so sorry I didn't get to see you off, but I do hope you got your shopping down. I hope you have a good first year. I don't mind if you stay at Hogwarts for the Christmas or Easter Holidays. Your mother says good bye as well.
Love, Father
James's letter was almost exactly the same. His mother wrote it, but his father didn't write a word. Not that it mattered; James's father was a very busy man. He hardly ever saw him during Quidditch season.
Sirius couldn't wait for the next day. They talked for another hour and then, without any food of any kind, both boys went to bed early. James took off his glasses and placed them on the windowsill. With a last rumple of his hair, James laid back on his pillow.
Sirius on the other hand, took a great deal of time-consuming preparations to go to bed. He took of his necklace and placed it next to James's glasses. He brushed his hair out of his eyes and shook his head to make his hair messy. Sirius coughed about 20 times. This made James laugh so hard, that tears formed in his eyes. James watched his friend get ready for bed.
"Does it always take you this long to get to bed?" he managed to say between laughs. Sirius gave him a look that threw daggers. James replied with a look that could have peeled wallpaper. Then, Sirius called the candles down, one last time to blow them out. Once the room was dark, the two boys fell asleep.
Sirius Black was tall for his age. He was long and lanky and was growing out of all of his clothes. He had a wavy chin length mess as hair and his eyes were a handsome brown. He had a wolfish grin and a sarcastic sense of humor. And he always wore the same chain necklace, with a small 'S' on it. But yet, as normal as he looked, Sirius Black was not normal. He grew up in a pureblood family of wizards. His mother was a vicious supporter of believing that muggle-born wizards should be deprived of learning magic. Though he grew up knowing that he would be accepted into the Wizarding world; he was still thoroughly excited when his letter came announcing his acceptance into Hogwarts: School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"Mum, Dad, it came! It came!" Sirius thundered into the parlor, where his mother was currently having tea, with his father. The parlor was a relatively large room, painted a cream color with light blue trimming. Sirius disliked this room, having been told off by his mother many times in it. When he stopped jumping up and down, he saw that his father was dressed in his best Wizarding robes, and that his mother was wearing an olive green muggle dress. His father, Theodore Black, had his wand in his hand and was lighting a candle. His mother, Aurelia Black, was shocked at how Sirius bounded into the room.
"My dear, what came?" Aurelia looked stubbornly stern; Theodore looked pleased. Sirius grinned and brushed his hair out of his eyes.
"My Hogwarts letter came at last! We can go to Diagon Alley now!" He grinned again and plopped down on a couch, which made a cloud of dust fly into the air. Theodore smiled and stood up from his spindly chair.
"Good job son. If Aurelia doesn't mind, we can go to Diagon Alley today. How `bout it?" Aurelia rolled her eyes slightly and sat up straight. She sighed and raised a hand to pull a piece of hair out of her eyes. Then she stood up and straightened her dress.
"Go ahead. Take Regulus as well. He needs new formal robes for the ceremonial dinner tonight." Aurelia strode out of the room, leaving Sirius and his father. Regulus was Sirius's younger brother; he was too young to go to Hogwarts. Sirius rolled his eyes, but only after his mother left. He always brought Regulus along. Theodore, who was much taller than Sirius looked down at him.
"We won't bring Regulus along. We'll buy him robes, but this is your special day, not Regulus'. Come on son, go get some decent clothes on." Sirius grinned and jumped back up stairs. He had always liked his dad more than his mom. Sirius threw on some Wizarding robes and slowly walked downstairs. I'm going to Hogwarts! I get to learn magic. But you were expecting this; this is nothing new to you. He thought all the way downstairs. When he passed Regulus' room, he saw that the door was open. He dared a peek inside, only to see Regulus staring at the ceiling watching a magical poster of his favorite rock band. The drummer had broken one of his drumsticks. Sirius sneezed. Regulus looked at the doorway.
"What do you want Sirius?" Regulus threw his legs over the side of his bed, which was covered in dirty clothes.
"I got my letter. I'm going to Hogwarts. You get to stay here and stare at your bedroom walls. Fun." Sirius stuck out his tongue and raced down another set of stairs. When he reached the entrance hallway, his dad was waiting for him.
"What took you so long? I just asked you to change." Sirius knew his dad wasn't angry. He saw his dad had changed into another set of robes. Theodore didn't like to show that his was wealthy, and Sirius liked him for that.
"How're we getting there? I can't Apparate!" His dad looked down at him. He grinned.
"Course you can't. We'll be traveling by Floo Powder. You're mother hates traveling like this, says it's too cheap. I prefer it though, quicker than any broom or train." Theodore led Sirius into the kitchen, where a humongous fireplace stood. A fire was merrily cracking in it. A flowerpot, which held Floo Powder, hung next to it. Theodore took the flowerpot and handed it to Sirius. Sirius took the last handful of powder and threw it into the flames, which turned a lime green, and then he stepped into the flames. Sirius shouted, "Diagon Alley!" and went spinning away.
Traveling by Floo Powder wasn't very comfortable. Your arms would hit the walls of chimneys and it was unbearably hot. Sometimes the spinning would make you sick, but Sirius agreed, there was no other quicker means of travel.
Sirius started to spin slower. Then, with a FWOOM, he landed in the back fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron. Dizzily, he stepped out of the fireplace and looked around the room. The wallpaper was peeling slightly, and the window looked as though it hadn't been washed in ages. A great deal of wooden chairs was spread around the room. Sirius collapsed into one of them. He waited patiently for his dad, who, Sirius knew, was planning to Apparate. A minute later, then the flames in the fireplace were turning lime green, and another person arrived with a FWOOM. It wasn't Theodore though; it looked like a boy, a boy around Sirius's age. He collapsed into the chair next to Sirius.
"Hullo." Said the boy. The boy had black hair, very messy. He wore glasses, a metal frame. His clothes said enough to explain that he was pureblood as well. He was wearing a Quidditch shirt, and an old pair of jeans. The boy had light blue eyes.
"Hullo." Said Sirius, answering the newcomer. The boy looked familiar.
"What's your name? You look familiar." The boy tilted his head and took his glasses off; they were smudged with soot from the fire. He wiped them on his pants and put them back on.
"You look familiar too. My name's James. James Potter. How bout you?" the boy said. Potter. That rang a bell in Sirius's head. AH! Potter, that was the name of a player on England's Quidditch team. Sirius grinned his wolfish smile.
"I'm Sirius Black. You're dad's a Quidditch player, isn't he?" Sirius looked at James. James grinned back at Sirius.
"Yeah, that's right. Your dad's a Ministry worker, am I right?" James answered. Sirius looked about the room again, as though searching for an answer. So, he nodded.
"Yeah. You a first year as well? I just got my letter today." Sirius said. James fiddled with the edge of his shirt.
"First year it is! I got my letter a week ago. Who are you waiting for? My mum is supposed to be Apparating." Sirius fiddled with a Galleon in his pocket.
"My dad. I don't know what happened to him. Want to go out front? They'll eventually find us. Diagon Alley's not that big. We can also leave a note with the bartender." James looked reproachful. James never really had a Wizarding friend before. All of his old friends had been muggles.
"Sure, why not. It's getting boring in here anyway." James and Sirius stood up brushed off their clothes and walked out of the room. After peeking around a bit, they found their way to the front.
Once out front, they saw wizards buying drinks, witches talking about the latest fashions, trolls comparing gold, and the bartender speaking about fifty different languages at once. When the bartender saw them, he smiled, revealing many missing teeth.
"Hello, young sirs. And why, look who it is, young Potter! What can I get for you today?" the bartender wiped his hands off on a small rag. Sirius grinned. He loved being in the Wizarding world. Everything was so different.
"Sorry, Tom. We don't need anything, but for you to open the way to Diagon Alley, and to leave a note for our parents." James said friendly. Tom placed his hands on the bar.
"Ahh. Well, finally got the letter, did `ja now Potter? Now, what is this leaving a note for your parents?" Tom came out from behind the bar. It was Sirius who spoke this time.
"Our parents, that is, my dad, and his mum, were supposed to be Apparating here. They haven't come yet, and that's wasting valuable sunlight, to be shopping in," Sirius paused to breathe, and then went on, "so can you leave them a note, telling them that, Sirius Black and James Potter are out shopping?" Tom smiled and nodded.
"Sure thing! Now follow me and I'll open the way." He led them out back, into a small courtyard. He took out a wand and tapped a brick above the trashcans. Magically, the wall opened to reveal a large shopping alley. Sirius and James turned back to Tom.
"Thanks!" Tom waved as they stepped out into the alleyway. Everywhere Sirius looked was magic. In the display case of Flourish and Blott's, a book was reading itself. In the window of Madame Malkin's Robes of All Occasions, a piece of cloth was making robes. In a magical creatures shop, little orange fuzz balls were jittering about and a large parrot was popping from a perch on the wall to a perch on the floor.
"Have you ever been here before?" asked James, seeing the amazed look on Sirius's face. Sirius nodded. He had been here before, but each time, it always amazed him.
"Yes, I have been here before, but every time I come, something changes. It's always so amazing." James laughed at Sirius's seriousness.
"Well, where do you think we should go first? I'd say go and get the boring books. And then work our way down." James pointed down the road, to the very last shop, which was Flourish and Blott's. Sirius shrugged. He didn't care; he just wanted to get his wand and magical creature.
"Alright, well, let's go."
So they went to Flourish and Blott's. Inside there was every book you could imagine. There were small ones, as small as a postage stamp, and large ones, so large it could take up your whole desk. There were books that read themselves out loud when you opened them, books that weren't really books, just paintings pretending. Sirius was so amazed at one, that he picked it up, opened it, and started to read, when, it clamped shut on his hand. James thought this was funny, but helped Sirius unclamp the book.
When they were done in Flourish and Blott's and all the other stores, they stopped at Magical Menagerie. The shop was filled with animals, and distinctly smelled like rotten cabbage. There were cats of every breed, frogs, toads, newts, owls, and little orange fuzz balls that hummed. Sirius thought this had to be the best shop yet. James walked up to a cage with a very large and handsome tawny owl. He saw a tag with the price on it and carried the cage up to the counter.
"I've always wanted my own owl. What about you, Sirius?" James looked back at Sirius, who was staring up at the many cages of owls.
"Yeah, I've always wanted one. My dad would never buy me one though. Said it would have to wait until Hogwarts. I think this one's rather nice." Sirius pointed to a smaller black spotted barn owl, with large yellow eyes. It hooted softly, while Sirius checked the price. He then carried up to the counter, placing it along side James's. James paid for his owl and waited for Sirius. The shopkeeper looked at Sirius menacingly. Sirius grinned wolfishly and slapped the money on the counter.
"There you go! Have a nice day!" Sirius grabbed his owl and walked out of the shop, James right beside him. They walked out into the sunlight, joking about the shopkeeper.
"He looked like he was about to explode." Said Sirius, whose laugh almost sounded like a bark. James laughed along with him.
"Yeah, I thought he was about to start growling at you. Didn't look like a happy chap, now did he?" James stopped walking at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. He placed down his packages and fell into a nearby lawn chair.
"I'm starting to worry bout our parents mate. They should have been here a long time ago. I wonder what's come up. Let's have a chat with the owner of this place." James slapped his hands on the metal table and pointed to the ice cream parlor.
A waiter came out from the parlor and walked up to the two boys. He was an aging man, with white hair and icy blue eyes. He was wearing a red and white striped shirt with the words, FLOREAN FORTESCUE'S ICE CREAM! ONE OF THE BEST, embroidered in yellow on his shirt. His wand was stuck in an apron, which was tied around his waist.
"Hello young sirs. My name is Florean Fortescue, owner of this fine ice cream parlor. May I interest you in a pecan nut sundae? Or something more unusual?" He smiled at James and Sirius, who grinned happily. James shook his head.
"Ah, I wish we could, Mr. Fortescue, but we are looking for our parents. Sirius's dad and my mom. They were supposed to Apparate back at the Leaky Cauldron, but they haven't yet, and well, you can guess, we've been worried." James looked heartily back at Mr. Fortescue.
Mr. Fortescue sighed. He looked around, as if searching for an answer. He shoved his hands into his pockets.
"My dear friends come inside, away from the sun. I'll tell you all about it inside." They followed him inside the shop, leaving their owls on a tabletop. The shop was brightly lit with red and white striped wallpaper, with yellow and white checked flooring. Mr. Fortescue gave them free ice cream cones, their pick. Sirius picked a chocolate chip one, James, on the other hand, preferred a strawberry cone. At last, Mr. Fortescue sat down with them.
"Now, my friends. I don't like to be the bearer of bad news, but what'd you imagine is only worse." He paused to think. Sirius and James were thinking the worst. My dad can't be dead. No, he hasn't died. Can't be. No. James looked scared. His hands were in his lap, shaking. Mr. Fortescue shook his head.
"Apparation has been down for about 3 hours. Seems a bloody chap shut down the system, without even knowing it. All I know is, the systems down and they're trying to fix it. I don't know if there is any other way your father could get here, or your mother. I suppose you could rent a room back in the Leaky Cauldron for a night, until the systems up, otherwise, looks like you two are stuck in Diagon Alley without parents." Mr. Fortescue paused again, looked at the wall, on which hung a magical calendar. "AH, but no! Tomorrow is September 1. You go back to school tomorrow! This won't due at all." Mr. Fortescue spotted James and Sirius's owls. "Send your folks a letter, saying that the systems down. And, that you're stuck in Diagon Alley, and school starts tomorrow. Do you have your tickets?" He added with a final thought.
James shook his head. Sirius looked at his shoes. He hadn't known school started tomorrow. He had only gotten his letter today! August 29! The thought made him nervous.
"No sir. We don't have them. We'll put that in our letters as well. Thanks for the help and the ice cream!" James said. Florean walked off to help a band of customers that walked in. James turned to Sirius with a serious look on his face.
"How are we supposed to pull this off? School starts tomorrow, we haven't got tickets, we stranded in Diagon Alley. What a lovely day this is!" James rolled his eyes and pulled his owl closer to him. He pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill. James read a loud what he wrote.
"Dear Mum,
I am stranded in Diagon Alley with a new friend. His name is Sirius Black. I don't know if you know his father, Theodore Black. We've met with Florean Fortescue, who told us Apparation is down. School starts tomorrow, or so we've been told, and we don't have our tickets. I know the Floo Powder's run out, so you have no means of getting here. I guess we'll spend the night in a room in the Leaky Cauldron. I have enough gold, don't worry. Sirius and I were just getting worried about our parents. Please send Hogwarts Express Tickets with my new owl!
Thanks, James
How's that sound mate? I think it sounds happy enough to make her not worried. What a bloody bad piece of luck we're in though." James finished his letter, just as Sirius had. They tied their rolls of parchment to their owls' legs and opened a nearby window to let them out.
"I think it sounds lovely! Hope my dad doesn't worry though. I know my mom won't, she's too worried about my brother Regulus. She so sure that he'll become the next Minister of Magic, she's bought him a nametag already. It reads: Regulus Black: Minister of Magic in England." Sirius made a gagging noise and James laughed.
"How lousy. I haven't got any brothers or sisters, mate, so I don't know what you're wining about. Well, if we are to spend the night in the Leaky Cauldron, I suppose we better get walking." James packed up all of his purchases, his new wand on top. Sirius shoved his new black wand in an inside pocket of his robes, and carried his empty owl cage. James pushed his glasses up and they were off.
Despite the fact that they had only met 4 hours before, Sirius felt that James was becoming a true friend. Sirius had never really had any real friends. His mother never let him make contact with a muggle. His mother pushed all of the 'friends' Sirius had had, at him. They had been all purebloods, all magical. Sirius didn't care how is friends were brought up, whether they were pureblood or muggle born, or even whether they had a criminal past. All he wanted was a friend.
Once they reached the Leaky Cauldron, it was beginning to get considerably darker. The sun was going down slowly, and the shop owners began to light the torches hung out by their windows. James opened the squeaky back door to the pub and held it open for Sirius. Sirius, who was holding many packages, didn't see James put his foot out, as to trip him. Sirius went tumbling, but inside of being furious, he started to laugh. James snorted with laughter as he helped Sirius off of his back. They picked up Sirius's packages and walked into the Leaky Cauldron.
Inside, Tom, the bartender, recognized them and acknowledged them. He waved a great arm with welcome. The bar was still light, illuminated by many floating candles. James heaved his bags onto a nearby empty table and walked up to the bar. Sirius dumped his stack of bags onto the same table and sat down in a scrubbed chair. He watched James walk up to the bar. Tom turned to him.
"Hello, Tom. The Apparation Network is down, so our parents are stuck at home, and we're stuck here. Can we rent a room for one night?" Tom smiled his toothless smile. He wiped his hands on the rag, and gave James a key.
"The charge?" James asked, looking worried. The bartender shook his head.
"Don't worry about it. Looks like you two have had enough trouble for one day. That key's to room number 17." Tom pointed to a dark hallway to the left of the bar. "Go down that hallway, and to the right. You can't miss your room. Tell Sirius there that I said hello."
James looked positively gleeful when he returned to Sirius. He picked up his bags and led Sirius down the hallway. It was a dark hallway with one torch on the end. The door on the end had a shiny number 17 on it and James placed his packages down on the ground and shoved the key into the lock. He turned it and it clicked. He shoved the door open revealing a medium sized room with two twin beds a wardrobe. There were candles floating near the ceiling, unlit. A mirror hanging on the wall was snoring.
"How do we get the candles to come down?" James asked curiously. Although he had come from a pureblood family, they lived in a farmhouse, with electricity. Sirius, having lived in a wizard house all of his life, knew how.
"Down." He said softly. The candles floated downward slowly. Sirius grinned. This was his time to show that he could do magic. He reached for his wand and said "Lumos" the wand lighting spell. A flame appeared at Sirius's wand tip and he laughed. He spread his wand from candle to candle, lighting each one. James looked impressed that his friend knew a spell.
"You knew how to do that? I mean, I grew up in a pureblood family, but I never learned a spell. How'd you do that? That was awesome, mate!" James patted Sirius on the back, as he told the candles to return to their normal height. (UP)
While waiting for their train tickets, they talked about Hogwarts. James knew a lot more about it then Sirius did. Sirius listened anxiously as James explained to him.
"There are 4 houses: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. Your house is kinda like your home while your there. The worst one to land in though is Slytherin You-Know-Who was in Slytherin. It spits out the darkest wizards. I'd say I'd want to land in Gryffindor, they're known for they're bravery and intelligence. Ravenclaw wouldn't be bad either. But Hufflepuff, on the other hand." Sirius, wanting to know what was wrong with Hufflepuff, interrupted.
"What's wrong with Hufflepuff?" Sirius questioned loudly. James laughed at this sudden outburst.
"Well lets see, 1st, their mascot is a badger, 2nd, most of them are dunderheads, 3rd, their Quidditch team is horrible. If I landed in Hufflepuff, I'd force them to sort me again."
"I see. Well, looks like the two you'd want to be sorted into are Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Tell me about them!" Sirius was all ears. James went on explaining Gryffindor. "Gryffindor is by far the best house. Their colors are scarlet and gold, and their mascot's a lion. Their Quidditch team isn't bad. The members are rivals with the Slytherins, and most of them wouldn't ever cross over." James paused to breathe, having never spoken this much in his whole lifetime.
"What do you mean cross over? I've never heard the term before." Sirius was very clueless in the Wizarding world. His father never spoke about it and his mother refused to explain. James's mood turned suddenly very serious. James lifted a hand to pull his hair out of in front of his glasses. He sighed and got up to sit on his bed. He sat cross-legged and leaned against the wall.
"I can't believe your parents didn't tell you. You do know who You-Know-Who is right? Cause if not, something is seriously wrong with your parents." James looked at his new friend. Sirius nodded vigorously. You-Know-Who was a dark wizard with terrible power.
"Okay, then, we'll start when You-Know-Who began gaining power. So, when he began rising up the power pole, he needed supporters. And, well, you know, dark wizards very well can't just go handing out leaflets about joining them can they? So he thought up of ways to find them. He tortured some, cheated, lied, and sneaked. Many families were lost. My own grandparents refused to join him and they were murdered. Many of his supporters were fooled into joining them, blackmailed, if you will." James sighed. "Crossing over means to join the dark side. Not because of blackmail, torturing, lying, cheating, but, because you want to. Because you felt that he has the right idea."
Sirius looked at the floor, James had been touched by You-Know-Who. He had lost someone. Had Sirius? Sure, just last week, his Aunt and Uncle's family had been murdered. His cousin.
It took some while for Sirius to find his voice. "I know what you feel mate. Just last week, my Aunt and Uncle refused, and their whole family was found dead in the kitchen..." Sirius's voice trailed off. It was hard for him to talk about it. He could imagine how James felt. James looked up.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know. Look at us. Blubbering. School starts tomorrow and look at us. Let's get some cheer into this room." James still looked gloomy, but he stood up anyway.
Then, a fluttering of wings entered the room, and James' owl landed softly on his bed. Both boys looked up, and saw Sirius's owl float down onto his shoulder. Each owl had a letter tied to his or her leg.
"Ah, look who's arrived. What have you named your owl?" Sirius relieved his owl of the scroll and waited for James's answer.
"Duke, I think suits him. What about you?" James untied the letter from his owl's leg and ripped it open.
"Mines a female, so, how about Gwen? I think it's nice." Sirius opened his letter and read it to himself.
Dear Son,
It's hard to believe that tomorrow's your first day of school. I'm sorry your stranded there, but it sounds like you've found yourself a nice friend. We'll send along the rest of your trunk to meet you at Platform 9 and ¾. Enclosed are your train tickets, I am so sorry I didn't get to see you off, but I do hope you got your shopping down. I hope you have a good first year. I don't mind if you stay at Hogwarts for the Christmas or Easter Holidays. Your mother says good bye as well.
Love, Father
James's letter was almost exactly the same. His mother wrote it, but his father didn't write a word. Not that it mattered; James's father was a very busy man. He hardly ever saw him during Quidditch season.
Sirius couldn't wait for the next day. They talked for another hour and then, without any food of any kind, both boys went to bed early. James took off his glasses and placed them on the windowsill. With a last rumple of his hair, James laid back on his pillow.
Sirius on the other hand, took a great deal of time-consuming preparations to go to bed. He took of his necklace and placed it next to James's glasses. He brushed his hair out of his eyes and shook his head to make his hair messy. Sirius coughed about 20 times. This made James laugh so hard, that tears formed in his eyes. James watched his friend get ready for bed.
"Does it always take you this long to get to bed?" he managed to say between laughs. Sirius gave him a look that threw daggers. James replied with a look that could have peeled wallpaper. Then, Sirius called the candles down, one last time to blow them out. Once the room was dark, the two boys fell asleep.