A Day in Diagon Alley
The two of them walked through Diagon Alley, James following Hagrid as he parted the streets. Questions popped into his head like kernels in a popcorn maker as he walked besides Hagrid. There were all kinds of wizards everywhere haggling over powdered Unicorn tails and crushed salamander skin. Looming over the street was a tall white building. A stack of spell books tottered perilously behind him and some lady was screaming at her son for breaking a wand. James wished there were twenty of him so he could go and explore every nook and cranny of Diagon Alley.
"Tha's Gringotts," explained Hagrid pointing to a large pearly white building, "It's a wizardin' bank. Run by goblins."
"Goblins?" asked James.
"Yup Goblins," said Hagrid, "Dead clever they are. Yeh'd by an idiot ter try an' steal money from 'em. Got tunnels goin' hundreds o' miles beneath London. Inside 'em are all sorts o' charms an' protections. An' if yeh can get ter the treasure, it'd take yeh weeks jus' ter hind yeh way back out. Them goblins give me the creeps sometimes. Rumor has it tha' they even go' dragons down there. Did I tell yeh I love dragons?"
James nodded his head shivering inwardly. If Hagrid thought dragons were cute and cuddly, just how monstrous would the goblins have to be to give Hagrid the creeps?
"Are goblins evil?" asked James.
"Nah," replied Hagrid, "They jus' give me the creeps."
"My family is so much richer than yours," James heard a tall thin boy with curly blond hair standing on a street corner boast, "He's head of the Department of Magical Sport."
"What did my parents do?" asked James abruptly.
"They were Aurors," explained Hagrid, "Dark Wizard Catchers. Yeh had ter be really powerful ter become Aurors an' yer mum an' dad were the bes' Dangerous job though."
There was a small hooded figure lounging at the door steps of to huge burnished bronze doors.
"Tha's a goblin," whispered Hagrid into his ears with a slight shudder. Whatever it was though didn't look creepy at all though. It stood a good head shorter than James, (James was already a good head shorter than most people his age and the goblin didn't even reach Hagrid's navel.) It had a dark but clever face with a long airy nose that reminded him of Pinocchio. His flowing black beard reached past his long dexterous looking fingers and abnormally large feet. All in all, James thought the goblin looked kind of odd.
Apparently, however it was James who looked a little funny, as the goblin gawked at him as if he had a candleholder growing out of his nose. It was probably his golden eyes, that always gave people some pause. Although he should have been used to it know, his face still burned with embarrassment.
"What yeh looking' at," growled Hagrid, "I got some business ter do. Can yeh open the doors, or not?"
"Y-yes sir," stuttered the goblin stepping falling backwards as led them through the doors, which opened, on their own accord. The two faced a second pair of doors, these ones silver. A warning was embossed upon the door.
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
"Don' mess wi' 'em goblins. Like I tol' yeh, yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob this place."
"My name is Blorin how can be of service?" asked another Goblin ushering them into Gringotts. The new Goblin was a few inches taller and had a much longer curlier beard.
There were a couple hundred goblins working behind tall counters lining the wall all being quite industrious. Some were examining jewels through long monocles while others led patrons through dozens of doors behind them.
Hagrid and James had just walked into a huge marble tiled
"Need ter get into James here's bank account. Some Order business too." mumbled Hagrid barely coherent.
"Do you have his keys?" asked Blorin suspiciously while strumming his beard.
"Yeah somewhere in here," said Hagrid a vile of some rotten smelling potion, among other things onto the floor while fumbling through his moleskin coat. The smell made James feel nauseous but luckily it only lasted for a few minutes.
"Sorry 'bout tha'," said Hagrid apologetically, "It's food for 'em Pyrexian Piranhas I'm raisin'"
James listened to goblins and wizards screaming at each other over monetary details. It reminded him greatly of Mr. Gadfly and Uncle Midas negotiating.
Hagrid continued emptying out his coat searching for his keys when he announced with a whoop of excitement, "I've found 'em!"
Hagrid handed him a small, extremely battered gold key.
"hmm…," thought the goblin out loud, "The key is old but it will do." He led them to a small door into a narrow stone passage lit with torches. They climbed into a small wooden cart which rapidly hurtled towards them on rails. James doubted Hagrid could actually get into the cart but he managed with great difficulty. The cart creaked under their weight, (mostly Hagrid's weight actually)
"I know yeh tol' me yeh can' but can yeh still try ter make this cart go lil slower." said Hagrid as the cart started magically moving on its own accord.
The goblin gave Hagrid no answer as the cart quickly gained speed. This must be what a roller coaster feels like, thought James to himself. The cart zoomed through a maze twists and turns veering from right to left in only seconds. James was braced for impact with one of the hundreds of stalagmites and stalactites passing him buy but the cart seemed to know the path well. They zoomed passed a lake where James could have sworn he saw a fireball explode behind him. They passed by a lake on their inexorable journey downwards.
The cart came to an abrupt stop nearly springing James over the edge of the cart. Luckily, Hagrid was a rather difficult object to fly across.
The goblin opened a locked door they had stopped near after which billowing clouds of green.
Hagrid tottered out of the cart leaning on a wall for support to keep his feet from caving in. His face was the color of a sour apple and he looked ready to vomit.
After regaining his composure, Hagrid proudly announced, "This is all yours."
James gasped at the huge golden stacks, silver mounds and bronze heaps that lay in front of him.
"29 Bronze Knuts to Silver Sickle. Seventeen Silver Sickles to a Gold Galleon." explained Hagrid. He stuffed a heap of coins into a bag he pulled from his coat.
"And the Goldman's complained about feeding me," muttered James to himself. James's parents were definitely not the drunk hobos his Aunt and Uncle had described them as.
The journey back was much the same though nonetheless exciting. Hagrid was still parrot green puking nastily as soon as he got out of the tracks. The goblins were yelling furious in some gibberish like language kicking them out of the bank as politely as they could.
"Think it'd be all righ' if I get me somethin' ter keep my guts in my belly." said Hagrid, "Jus' stand here an' we can get all the rest of yer stuff."
James stood at the corner, where he had heard the wizard boys talking before. They were still their, huddled in a circle whispering secretively amongst themselves.
"Transmorgificus Rana Portento," cursed the tall blond boy who seemed to be the leader of the group. James gravitated to his crowd hoping to get a better glimpse of some real magic performed. He felt extremely foolish as he peeked over the head of a short boy with a bulldog like face that only his mother could love. His large hands swayed from side to side like those of an orangutan.
Standing beside him stood a somewhat taller boy, who looked like an escapee from the museum's Neanderthal section.
The leader was tall, blond and had a sharp aquiline nose. He had large watery blue eyes that seemed far kinder than the sour look that never seemed to leave his face. He looked quite aristocratic in his silver robes.
"Looks like we have a guest," sneered the tallest boy haughtily, "I'm Wolfgang Lestrange and if I'm correct you would James Potter."
"That's Marcus Morder," he said pointing to the bulldog like boy, "and that's Karl Kriller."
"How do you know my name?" wondered James out loud.
"Its all over the Daily Prophet," he answered nonchalantly.
"Stupid spell worked last time I tried it," he muttered, "Let me try it again.""Transmorgificus Rana Portento" he cursed, pointing a wand at the frog. But the frog didn't seemed to have changed in the least.
"So what exactly are you going to do?" asked James eagerly.
"Make this frog inflate like a balloon and watch it pop," said Augustus nastily. James shuddered internally. Were all wizards this morbid?
"Oh, I give up," sighed Wolfgang, "They got some interesting stuff in Quality Quidditch Supplies. Maybe I'll get a third broom. Are you coming Potter?"
"No," said James a little to quickly, "I have to wait for Hagrid to pick me up."
"Speak of the devil," answered Wolfgang, "That big stupid oaf's coming to pick you up. If you end up in Slytherin I can tell you what kind of sort proper wizards associate with."
James walked away from Wolfgang and his friends as quickly as possible; not only were they about to kill an innocent frog in a torturous manner, they had also insulted his first and best friend in the world.
"Wha' was tha' 'bout," said Hagrid, who apparently hadn't heard a word Lestrange said.
"Nothing," said James wanting to keep it that way.
"What's Quidditch?" he asked abruptly.
"Forgot how much yeh still got ter learn. Wizardin' sport," explained Hagrid, "Play it on brooms. Rules kind o' complicated. Huge 'round here. Yeh'll learn the rules soon in enough."
"I bet I'm the dumbest person there," said James glumly thinking how about intelligently Wolfgang was able to speak.
"Nah," said Hagrid, "Loads a wizards come from muggle families. Yeh know, non-wizardin'. Plus, all 'em pureborn wizards won' go knowin' much more an' you do anyways."
"What's Slytherin?" asked James abruptly.
"Yeh see," explained Hagrid, "They got four houses in Hogwarts. Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw an' Slytherin. They'll put yeh in one of them. Slytherin' always turns out rotten wizards. Yeh know, Voldemort was in Slytherin too."
"Voldemort was in Slytherin," ejaculated James.
"Shh…" whispered Hagrid, "Mos' people are still afraid ter say his name so yeh better jus' say You-Know-Who."
The rest of the day was rather pleasant. James bought his wizarding robes from Madame Malkin's. (Hagrid had to drag James out because he was a little too engrossed by the magical tape measure) James bought all of his books from Flourish and Blotts. The text books which once seemed strange and exotic seemed stuffy and downright boring compared to some of the other books available. Friendly and Not So Friendly Bewitchments, a Practical Guide For Getting the Latest Revenges on Your Friends.
Giving Aunt Ursula the Hair Loss curse seemed like a rather interesting option. James was looking on ways to turn Princess into a pig when Hagrid pulled him out.
"Yeh know wizards can't do magic 'round muggles." said Hagrid, adding hastily, "An' all tha' stuff'll be way too hard fer yeh."
The got a nice pewter Cauldron and solid gold scales. Hagrid bought him a duel strength collapsible telescope that made whizzy noises when James opened it. The Apothecary was also fascinating. Although the stench inside made Hagrid's piranha food smell like the finest perfume, the hundreds of jars of dried roots, crushed salamander tails, scarab beetles and dragon scales and Giants' toenails were a veritable feast for the eyes.
The only thing James didn't like was the random people gawking at him as they walked by. Although they would always shake his hand and thank him profusely, James felt disconcerted for being lionized for something his father did. Still, being treated like a celebrity was a thousand times better than being treated like dung.
"Jus' yer wands now," said Hagrid, "The mos' important thing ter get. We'll be at Ollivanders. Ruddy bes' wand maker in the world.
This was what James was looking forward to the most. The wand shop though, was rather unimpressive. It was a dingy looking place; the windows were narrow and coated with a layer of dust and grime so thick James couldn't see inside. The doors had pealing golden letters which read, "Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 392 B.C"
A small bell tinkled announcing their arrival. Their was only as small spindly chair that looked so fragile that it could support James weight much less Hagrid's.
"Good evening," said gentle voice that gave both Hagrid and James a shock. A tall frail incredibly old was standing in front of them. His hair had fallen out and his skin had the texture of a prune. He could barely walk relying on the support of a magically propelled walker. His breathing was heavy and walking a few feet had the effect of a marathon on his body. The dour look on her face, and her overlarge glasses made him look like a stern librarian. Instead of unloading a barrage of questions, James simply observed the rows and rows of boxes. It just didn't seem proper in the store.
"Good to see you Mr. Potter, Mr. Hagrid" he said with an icy tone that undermined her words.
"Good ter see yeh too," replied Hagrid cordial as usual. James sat in silence.
"You have your father's face," said Mr. Ollivander ignoring Hagrid entirely, "But I don't know where those eyes came from. Magical perhaps…."
James didn't like the way Mr. Ollivander's creepy gray eyes stared at him.
"Ten inches long, Oak Unicorn's hornbeam. Short but rather flexible, quite excellent for charms. That was your mothers wand. You're father's wand, thirteen and a half yew. Phoenix's tail feather. Powerful. Very powerful…."
He added after an uncomfortable pause,"But to you James," said Mr. Ollivander, "It's your turn to select a wand. Of course, it is the wand that selects the wizard…"
" I remember every wand I sold, make sure their the finest quality and only the finest quality for you." Mr. Ollivander was so close that James could see his pale reflection in those misty blue eyes.
"But I still don't know who bought the wand that did it. If only I knew…"
James swallowed loudly holding back a cough. The ancient dust in the room didn't make him feel to good.
"Rubeus Hagrid," said Mr. Ollivander noticing Hagrid finally, (It was quite a feat not to notice Hagrid for that long)
"Good ter see yeh," said Hagrid, seemingly immune to the awe inspiring effects of Mr. Ollivander and his shop.
"Oak sixteen inches," he said cheerily, "Pity they had to snap it when you were expelled. It was a good wand. Quite swishy."
"Still got the pieces," said Hagrid.
"You know that umbrella of yours goes against every rule on wand control," said Mr. Ollivander sternly. Hagrid looked down shuffling guiltily gripping his pink umbrella tightly.
"Show me your wand arm," commanded Mr. Ollivander, his brittle looking fingers pulling a tape measure from his pockets.
"Every Ollivander's wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter. We only use Unicorns Hornbeam, Dragon's Heartstring and Phoenix's Tailfeathers. The wand is specifically suited for you and you alone. Attempts to use another wizards will never get such good results."
"How do I know which wand I should take?" interrupted James. James blushed furiously; for some odd reason he felt he was being rude or something.
"It isn't the wizard who chooses the wand," reminded Mr. Ollivander, "it is the wand who chooses the wizard."
"11 ½ inches, Phoenix's tailfeather," said Mr. Ollivander thrusting a wand into his hands.
"Go on, Jus' swish it 'round," said Hagrid enthusiastically.
James followed Hagrid's command, (feeling like an absolute fool in the process) Mr. Ollivander grabbed the wand out of his hands immediately.
"How about Holly 14 ½ inches, Dragon's heartstring…" once again, Mr. Ollivander snatched the wand our of his hands.
"Hagrid, grab me that wand over there," commanded Mr. Ollivander, "Yes, Sycamore, 10 inches, Unicorns hornbeam." Once again, the wand only graced James's hands momentarily. The pile of discarded wands grew taller and taller as the night went on. Despite his age, Mr. Ollivander knew know rest in his quest to find James the perfect wand. James's head was resting on Hagrid's shoulders when Mr. Ollivander finally announced, "Perhaps we should try something unusual; something very unusual. I haven't had to do this for years…."
"Try this," he said handing James a long narrow wand. James felt a surge of warmth course through his veins as he grasped the wands. Dozens of red and gold sparks flew out of his wand with a terrifying bang, throwing dancing fireworks all over the wall.
Hagrid started to whoop and clap his hands but he soon grabbed his leg cringing about arthritis. Mr. Ollivander grinned ruefully saying, "Bravo James. Wouldn't have expected anything less from a Potter."
"Curious…" muttered Mr. Ollivander, as the celebrations died away, "I had only had to give one of these wands out before. It was thirty-nine years ago... Perhaps we may expect great things from you. Then again, the last boy I gave this wand to turned out to be nothing more than a squib. Thirteen inches and the mane of a Griffin it is."
James sniveled slightly, holding back a sneeze as Hagrid paid for the wand. (Mr. Ollivander charged double the normal seven because this was a special wand) James didn't think he liked the place very much at all. More than that, he didn't like how everyone expected him to be great. Just because his father was such a hero didn't mean James would be one too.
