Chapter 8: The World Beyond The Wall

Ellie made it safely through the brick wall. She had only walked a few steps forward when she felt the sensation of being pulled backward. Turning around Ellie saw that the tail end of her "borrowed" cloak hadn't made it through the wall. She tugged on the cloak with all her might until it finally ripped free. A fragment of material was left sticking out of the wall.

Ellie stared at the now solid brick wall in horror.

"What have I gotten myself into?" She thought in a panic.

She was trapped in a place where she didn't belong, and now she had no way of getting back to the other side. Ellie quickly glanced down at her watch. She still had almost four hours before she had to be at Jo's house, but without knowing when, or if she could get back through the brick wall, Ellie didn't know if she would get there in time. As she turned around to face the cobble-stone path, all her panic and worry instantly changed to wonder and amazement.

"Since I have time to kill, I might as well poke around a bit." Ellie mumbled to herself.

The alleyway seemed to have an ancient feel to it. Ellie couldn't believe her eyes as she looked at all the store fronts. One store had several stacks of cauldrons piled in front, all different sizes and made from different metals. Another shop had dozens of owls sitting on perches, anxiously waiting to be bought. Ellie then noticed a group of young children huddled around a store front window, all whispering excitedly. The children couldn't be more than nine years old, but they were all gawking at a broomstick which hung under a sign that read Firebolt.

Ellie was beginning to feel dizzy from her eyes darting back and forth from one store front to the next. She carefully weaved in and out of the busy shoppers that walked by. All of the shoppers were dressed in a cloak of some sort and were also using the strange looking coins to make their purchases.

"I wonder where they're getting those coins from." Ellie thought to herself.

It was as if someone had herd her question, because Ellie suddenly found her self staring at a tall white building that had Gringotts Wizarding Bank etched in gold lettering on it.

"Wizards!" Ellie quietly gasped. She knew that these people had something to do with magic, but she was very hesitant in giving them a proper name. How was she supposed to know what they referred to themselves as? Everything was starting to make a bit more sense.

Ellie gaped up at the tall white building which towered over the rest of the shops. Her eyes slowly made their way down to the large burnished bronze entrance doors. Next to the door stood a very short creature with a pointed beard, long fingers and feet, dressed in a red and gold uniform. The creature was gazing suspiciously at Ellie, who had been transfixed with the building for quite a while now. Ellie snapped out of her stupor and quickly headed over to the Magical Menagerie, just because it was the closest shop.

She made herself appear to be window shopping, and even though some of the animals on the other side of the glass were very weird and unfamiliar to Ellie, her thoughts were still focused on the bank.

"I wonder if I could exchange my money for some of those strange coins."

"You don't belong here!" A voice originating from the back of Ellie's mind said.

"I need to blend in more, and I can't with British pounds."

"This is madness!"

"No, it's an adventure!" Ellie thought back. "I've stumbled across a secret world of wizards that no one seems to know about. Jo, and anyone else for that matter wouldn't believe me if I told them, so I'll have to bring something back as proof. But I can't bring something back without buying it, and I can't buy it with the money I've got."

The argument with the voice inside her head seemed to be over, but Ellie was still too timid to walk pass the troll, goblin thingy, or whatever it was.

She carefully watched an elderly woman out of the corner of her eye walk up the white stone steps of the bank. The woman gave a slight bow to the creature, and casually entered through the bronze doors.

"That doesn't look too difficult." Ellie thought to herself.

Now that she knew what she had to do, Ellie felt more confident about going into the wizard bank.

Ellie casually walked up the white steps, gave the goblin a small bow, and pushed open the bronze doors. The goblin didn't say a thing as Ellie entered the bank, and he didn't try to stop her either.

"So far, so good." Ellie thought to herself, but now she was facing another pair of doors. These ones were silver with words engraved on them:

Enter, stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed,

For those who take, but do not earn,

Must pay most dearly in their turn,

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there.

"That's a freaky poem." Ellie commented. "It's a good thing I'm not planning to steal anything."

A pair of goblins bowed to Ellie as she passed through the silver doors. She now found herself in a vast marble hall, with hundreds of goblins sitting behind a long wooden counter. More goblins were showing people in and out of the countless doors that lined the walls. A small sign with an arrow saying "exchanges" caught Ellie's attention, directing to the closest counter on the right. A woman in light pink robes was already being served, so Ellie lined up in queue, and waited for her turn, her eyes still wandering over the bank.

"Next please!" A surly voice snapped.

Ellie watched the pink robed lady walk by, with several ten pound notes in her hand. It was the first time she had seen a wizard in possession of a familiar currency.

"Next please!" The voice said louder.

Ellie looked at the counter and saw the goblin impatiently staring at her, as he drummed his long fingers on the counter top. She quickly approached the counter, and shoved her hand in her pocket, grabbing all the pounds and pence she had.

"I'd like to exchange this please." Ellie said politely as she placed her money on the counter.

The goblin gave Ellie a disdainful glare and disappeared behind the counter. When he reappeared, the goblin placed a pile of coins on the counter, and removed Ellie's money.

"Will that be all?" He slowly asked.

"Yes, thank you." Ellie replied, and she shoved the pile of coins in her pocket with out even glancing at them.

Ellie knew it would be far too suspicious if she stopped to examine the coins while she was still in the bank, so she waited until she found a quiet spot off to the side of the cobble stone path.

The large gold coin had a dragon on it with the word 'Galleon' around the edge and the number one. The silver coin had a creature with wings that Ellie had never seen before, and said 'Sickle' on it. The smallest coin was bronze with a strange fish on it, and was apparently called a 'Knut'.

"Galleon, Sickle and Knut. That shouldn't be too hard to remember." Ellie mumbled to herself.

In total she was given three Galleons, eleven Sickles and nineteen Knuts.

Suddenly the street and shops seemed to appear much different to Ellie. Before the stores were filled with wonderful and interesting objects and creatures that filled Ellie with awe and amazement. Now the stores were filled with wonderful and interesting objects and creatures that filled Ellie with awe and amazement, and that she could now buy.

The first question that popped into Ellie's mind was 'what should I buy first?'

The answer she got was a low rumbling in her stomach. It had been ages since she had eaten breakfast.

The only place Ellie could find something to eat was at Florean Fortescue's Ice-cream Parlour. Although she was hoping to find something more substantial, Ellie wasn't about to argue with herself about having ice-cream for lunch. She sat at a small empty round table outside the parlour, and ordered a mint-chocolate nut swirl sundae. It had to be the most scrumptious ice-cream Ellie had ever tasted, and she was quite disappointed when she had finished it in two minutes.

With her stomach now full, Ellie began to search the stores for something that would prove that she had been in a wizarding world, but she had great difficulty finding something she could either afford or take home with ease.

An owl or pet form the Magical Menagerie would be too high maintenance, plus her parents wouldn't want her to bring home any strange animals. A quill from the stationary shop wouldn't prove anything, and a cauldron was too heavy to carry. Robes were too expensive, as were magic wands. The joke shop had numerous items Ellie could afford, but she wasn't much of a prankster.

Finally Ellie came to the bookstore Flourish and Blotts, but she was very apprehensive about going in. For some reason she feared that she would spend too much time gaping at the books and arrive at Jo's house late, even though she still had three hours to kill. Instead Ellie thought it would be much safer if she just peeked through the store front window. Sure enough, Ellie was right. She would have been trapped in the book store for hours, maybe even days, had she gone in. Ellie marvelled at the books she could see from where she was standing. Many had interesting titles such as, Magical Drafts and Potions, The Witches Guide to House Cleaning, and The Dark Forces: A Guide To Self-Protection. After several minutes of gawking, Ellie pried herself away from the front window, and stepped backwards onto the cobble stone path. As she did this, she bumped into a ginger haired woman carrying a large number of parcels and bags.