Chapter 2 -Surprises
Downstairs seemed sort of like a coffee shop. All sorts of people rushed in and out both sides Different color robes were about, some hurt your eyes; some just hid the wearer in darkness. A particular one stood out. He looked like a quiet, little man in a plain beat up robe with patches here and there, and his brown hair all a mess. Next to him was a suitcase; I squinted to see the print on it. "Professor R. J. Lupin"? Professor? I felt like I knew him from some place.
"Oh, yer awake now," said a ruff, low voice that came from beside me. "Been waitin' for hours."
I took my eyes off Lupin and turned my head to the right to see a huge, bearded man standing about seven feet tall. I suddenly felt like a midget.
"Oh…" I had nothing to say except for, "Where am I?"
"Where ar' yeh?" he said, sounding as if I had insulted him. "Yer at ta Leaky Cauldron." I stared at him blankly, hoping he'd pick up that I needed more information than that. He sighed deeply. "Yer tellin' me that yeh 'ave no clue about the wizardin' world?"
"Uhhh… yeah. Well, I know some things. . .," I said quietly, rubbing my scar again. There was an eruption of laughter from a table located behind me. Taking a deep breath, I tried to ignore them and continue my conversation with the "person".
"I'm Hagrid, gamekeeper of Hogwarts. Yeh'll be seein' me throughout the school all year 'ong."
"I'm…"
"I bloody know who ye are!" He gave me a slap on the back; I stumbled forward a little from the force. "Oh sorry 'here." I just pretended to smile. "Well, com'on then! We best be gettin' yer shoppin' done now."
He turned and walked out a back door. Outside was a brick wall and a metal trash can. Watching closely, I saw Hagrid remove an umbrella from inside his coat and count some of the bricks. When he found the one he wanted, a simple tap from the tip of the umbrella caused the wall to spread apart. I looked on, dazed. I've never seen something like this occur before.
Hagrid coughed. "Yeh nev'r saw tha'," he told me, winking. Being already extremely confused, I just nodded. "This –" He pointed to the busy street on the other side of the bricks. " –is Diagon Alley. All yer shoppin' needs will be 'ere."
I took a stop toward it and ended getting pushed into by the groundskeeper. Hagrid told me stories about his umbrella and the headmaster of Hogwarts –Professor Dumbledore. All he really had to say altogether was how great of a man Dumbledore, and that no one in their right mind should go against him.
In Diagon Alley there were stores full of candy, others full of a books and games. After we were done shopping for my school supplies, we returned to The Leaky Cauldron. I was still confused, we were moving so fast down the streets that I hadn't really gotten to memorize where places were. Hagrid walked up to the bar and said something to the toothless bartender. He nodded and came out from behind the bar and led us to the back part of the coffee shop.
We sat down in a small booth, and were served hot chocolate. All of a sudden Hagrid's expression fell from joyful too serious.
"Emi, I need to talk to yeh about yer father." I remained quiet and he went on. "He escaped from Azkaban the other day." My eyes seemed to bug out as I was hit with the news.
"What!" I cried, jumping to my feet. I couldn't believe it! No one had ever done that before! It was said to be impossible.
"Calm down." He waited until I was seated again. "They have a theory that he is after 'Arry Potter."
"Why, Harry? You know just as well as I do that my father had nothing to do with the Potter's deaths. You even knew him personally." I sighed heavily, and slid down the uncomfortable seat partly.
"Oh come on Emily! How 'any people are goin' to believe a 12 year ol' girl about Sirius Black!"
"I would!" I screamed. Usually these kinds of things don't bother me, I mean people not believing me. I even get picked on in school about how my father is a mass murderer, and stuff. And that whatever caused him to go crazy like that is genetic. But this time it was different . . . I hit my fist against the wooden table. Hagrid went to say something, but I put my hand up as a ploy to shut him up. "I'm going to bed." I left the private box and quickly raced up the narrow stairs to my peaceful room number 5.
Plopping down on the freshly made bed, the scent of fresh flowers and cookies flooded my senses. I breathed in the gentle scent, trying to escape the thought of my father. How did he escape the most guarded prison in the World? And why would he go after Harry Potter?
There wasn't any chance of me getting any sleep later that night. There were still voices coming from the bar downstairs. I covered my head with my pillow and shut my sore eyes tightly. It's useless. I thought to myself. Sitting up in bed, I grabbed the new spell book for the year –The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Three. 'Grade 3? I'm not even grade one!' After about 10 minutes of trying to understand it, I put it away in aggravation. My mind wasn't in the condition to read at the moment.
I looked to the window; the cool air covered the glass, making impossible to see out. All feelings seemed to be bottled up inside and I was ready to burst, but there was no way I could express them. Feeling the need to cry, I let my strong guard down and pushed a drop out of my eye. In second, the warm tears covered my cheeks, wishing there was a mother there to hold me.
I still don't understand how, nor why she was killed… I thought to myself, resting my head on the foggy glass. It was truly mind-boggling. And just then it was like a bus hit me; everything seemed to make perfect sense. Potter pissed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named off and he sent someone to set up my father, making it seem like he was the killer. They killed my mother so there'd be less people to say he is innocent . . . it's the only thing that makes sense to me. Don't kid yourself Emi, nothing makes sense. Maybe your father really is a lunatic… I pressed my hand against the window, removing it to see the small imprint left. I wiped some more fog off with my sleeve and stared.
I don't remember falling asleep; I'm guessing I was too tired to care what was happening. Clamor was louder from downstairs, the clanging of glasses, and the bell of the door ringing constantly. "Erg! This is like the nightmare that won't end!" I bellowed. There was a new outfit for me lying exactly where it was yesterday, but this time the ensemble included a new, black robe. Feeling important I quickly washed and dressed, thinking I would try and have fun before I was shipped off to a boarding school in a world that I knew almost nothing about.
--
I heard a high-pitched, rather annoying male laugh loudly from a table near the back when I entered the room. I chose to forget that he might have directed it at me, sat down, and order some tea. There was a squeak of some chairs, and I heard a pair of footsteps walk towards me. Oh my god… I thought to myself, already believing it to be bad before anything happened. Lucky me. I turned to see who was approaching me. There stood a small, blond haired boy, sneering sneakily at me. He had an air of arrogance about him and his nose sort of pointed out a bit much for me. I rolled my eyes; I was so used to this.
"What do we have here?" he asked me obnoxiously, taking the empty seat next to me.
"Go away homofag," I said coldly.
"Ouch. You shouldn't be talking, mudblood."
"Oh, I'm so hurt. I think I'll go cry in a corner." He stared at me for a bit then decided to speak again.
"I'm Draco Malfoy."
"Good for you." Make him go away!
"You aren't very friendly."
"And you aren't very smart." I snickered at my comment. He seemed to let out a small growl.
"Haven't gotten my "small" hints Mr.… uh, was it Draco?" He smiled a little; it sent chills up my spine. His gray eyes met mine; they looked as if they were calling out for someone to help.
"You know what?"
"You're stupid?" I replied.
"You're kinda cute." Oh god.
"Ew. I think I'm going to go vomit now." I finished the last sip of my tea and got up.
"You can't escape me, you'll see me at Hogwarts."
"That's if I don't kill you in your sleep, Blondie." And with that I left, pushing out the back door.
--
What the bloody hell is a Mudblood? I asked myself again and again, pushing through the huge crowd on Diagon Alley. The conversation with the Malfoy kid irked me, and I was quite sure why.
There were more and more people everyday and it was starting to get to the point that I didn't want to go outside. I don't like too many people around; it makes me feel all uneasy and panicky. I don't know why…
I was strolling, like I've done for the past couple days, trying to avoid big crowds. Nothing here really excites me, I know very little about this World, and I already have shopped myself out. I counted have much I have left. 15 Galleons, 36 Sickles, and about 4 Knuts. 'Great. Not much to go on.' Suddenly a small shop across from Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor caught me eye. It seemed to be like a Muggle pet shop…but not. I got a little closer. The sign overhead read 'Magical Menagerie'. I decided that no harm would be done if I went in to check it out.
A little bell rang as door to the shop was opened. My first response when inside, was to cover my nose seeming how it smelled pretty rank. I thought better of it, and looked about. There were cages upon cages of anything you can image. Monkeys, cat, rats, toads, slugs, and uh… spiders. Shivers ran up and down my spine when my eyes set themselves on those cages. Who would want one as a pet? Never mind, I do not want to know.
"How may I help you?" A small looking woman asked me, walking around me and behind the messy counter.
"Uhhh… Well I'm starting school this year and I'm new to the Wizarding World. Can you tell which animal will be the most helpful?" I could feel heat rise up in my cheeks.
"The owls. That's the way wizards communicate. Follow me." She smiled, and began to walk towards the far back of the store. I followed her closely; scared something was going to jump out and attack me. "Here are all the owls we have. Take your pick." And she walked away to tend to other customers. There were all sorts of types. Barn, snowy, hoot, spotted, eagle, I could go on forever. The very bottom cage to my right, there was a small fragile looking one. The tag next to it said "Elf Owl". It had sleek looking black feathers spotted with specks of white and gray. Its huge yellow eyes looked up and met mine. I wanted that one. The owl started to hoot as I went and got the store clerk so she could get her out. We went back to the counter; my new owl perched on my shoulder.
"How much?" I asked her, beginning to get nervous. Was I going to have enough?
"Let's see… for its size… It'll be about 10 Galleons… including the cage and stuff." I let out a sigh and handed her the money. She placed my new owl in shiny new chrome colored cage, and I left.
I breathed deep as my lungs filled with fresh air, and made my way back to the Leaky Cauldron. Upon reaching the room, I set my new pet on the nightstand, and laid on my stomach, looking at her.
"What should I call you?" I asked the animal out loud. It hooted quietly. "How about Fukuro?" She seemed to dislike the thought because she went all crazy. "Whoa, whoa… clam down. Kurai?" She tilted her head a bit, and let out a small whoop. "So, Kurai it is. Kurai Black."
Closing my eyes, I made up a depiction of what I thought Hogwarts would like. There were gloomy clouds, with lightning, and spooky noise –the generic haunted mansion. I must have fallen asleep after that, because next thing I was waking up. The skyline outside told me it was way past dusk. I sat up and rubbed my eyes.
It's too early for my brain to be waking up! I thought. Suddenly, a loud crash came from the other side of the window. Nothing could be seen out of it so I decided to creep downstairs. Nearing the bottom of the staircase I could hear about 3 voices talking
"Blimey! Ern, come 'ere! Come 'ere!" I heard a thick accented boy cry out. He voice kind of hurt my eardrums…
I looked over the corner of the wall to witness a tall teenager in a bright purple suit. His acne was probably worse than the entire teenage population in Burlington alone. Next to him stood another boy, whose clothes hung off his body so loosely that he looked like a person on one of the diet pill commercials. Then my eyes widened as I glimpse his untidy hair, the green eyes. My gaze traveled to his forehead and I saw a think outline of a lightning bolt. I couldn't believe it: it was Harry Potter! I may be new to the actual Wizarding world, but I knew the stories of this young boy. He was the one who pushed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named out of power. And there was a short fat man, wearing a hideous pair of green pants and a striped coat. My aunt's fashion was better than his.
"What didja call Neville, Minister?" The tall kid asked, eager for the answer.
"Neville? This is Harry Potter," the fat guy replied.
"I knew it! Ern! Ern! Guess 'oo Neville is, Ern! 'E's 'Arry Potter! I can see 'is scar!"
"Yes… well, I'm very glad the Knight Bus picked Harry up, but he and I need to step inside the Leaky Cauldron now…" Harry and the fat man walked back into the coffee shop. After a couple of moments, I quickly carried myself up the stairs, and closed the door to the room. I sat with my back against the wooden door, half asleep, wanting to lie down in bed, the other half wide awake, wanting to know if Harry Potter was going to stay here. Not to long after I made my way up, I heard slow footsteps come up the staircase. The noise went past me and faded down the hallway.