Here we are, the introduction of Kolya! Keep your eyes peeled, and you may catch a glimpse of some more familiar characters...
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Chapter 2: Wizards, Russians and Other Oddities
In the light of the information that the addressee was born to Muggles (non-wizarding folk) with no known relatives of the wizarding ilk, we enclose this set of instructions to Diagon Alley, London, where you will find the necessary shops to meet the needs of your school list.
Alise looked from the slip of paper in her hand to the tiny, grubby-looking pub in front of her, then back again. Yes, this was the Leaky Cauldron. She reached out and grabbed Devlon's sleeve. "This is it."
"What's it?" Devlon asked. "Don't see anything."
"Look properly," Alise told him, pointing. Confused, her brother looked from the large bookstore on one side to the record shop on the other, as though all he saw was an alley. Slightly frustrated, she handed him the slip of paper with the directions. "Look, see? The Leaky Cauldron."
He peered at the slip of paper, then back up to where she pointed. His mouth dropped open. Curiously, she raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Could have sworn..." he murmured, then shrugged again, and Alise grinned. She had the curious feeling that he really had only seen an alleyway the first time he'd looked.
"C'mon then," she told him, rushing happily into the pub, looking forward immensely to seeing the shops full of spellbooks and magic wands. The door swung closed behind them with a cheery jangling noise.
Nearly everyone inside was wearing a cloak, even though it was a bright, sunny day. Several old women sat at the bar, drinking glasses of something that seemed to be smoking. Laughter rang from all over. As Alise walked through the din, towards the counter, she could catch snatches of conversation from around them.
"And then he told me I couldn't tell a knarl from a hedgehog, and I couldn't take that lying down, so I hit him with a bat-bogey hex right in the face..." a pockmarked young man around nineteen was telling two of his friends excitedly.
"But you can't tell a knarl from a hedgehog, Miles-"
"Well, maybe not!" Miles retorted shrilly, "But you should have seen his face after I was done with-"
"Can I help you, miss?" asked a kind, quiet voice. Alise looked up into the face of an old man with a long silvery white beard that reached his belt. With twinkling eyes he looked over half-moon spectacles perched on a long, crooked nose that looked to have been broken at least twice. "You seem to be looking for something."
"Yes, actually," Alise said politely, glancing over her shoulder at Devlon, who nodded. "Could you point us towards Diagon Alley?"
"Daresay I could," he replied simply, sweeping around, cricking a finger for them to follow. Excited, Alise hurried after him, Devlon following.
The wispy old man led them through the pub and out the back door, to a rather deserted, walled off courtyard with a trash can and a few weeds. Moving strait to the brick wall above the trash can, the old man slipped a length of wood from his sleeve, which Alise was startled to realize was a wand, and began counting bricks. He got to the desired portion of the wall, and tapped his wand three times.
Devlon jumped, clutching her shoulder as the brick wriggled. Then a swirling hole grew in its center, spiraling outward until a large archway appeared, tall enough for a man twice as tall as Devlon to pass through without even grazing the top. It led onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight.
"Wow..." Alise murmured, stepping towards it.
"Thank you, si-" Devlon stopped, and she looked back at him. He was peering around the courtyard, which was quite empty, still seeming dumbstruck. "He's... gone," he said dumbly.
"Our first real wizard, and we didn't have time to ask his name," Alise said rather sadly. Devlon clapped her on the shoulder.
"I'll meet you back here at five then, all right?" he asked. She nodded back, showing him the watch on her wrist, over her black glove. "Good. Sorry I can't stay with you," he told her with a sigh, patting her shoulder. "But the boss wants some last-minute work before I go back to school."
"It's all right," she told him cheerfully. "Go on, you'll be late..."
"Blimey!" Devlon jumped slightly, glancing at his watch, and gave a quick wave. "Don't forget. Five o'clock, out in front..."
"I won't!" she told him, and he gave her a grin before dashing back into the pub, nearly knocking into a family of three on the way. Alise gave a gasp, realizing the archway was closing, and rushed through it. There were a few yells in Russian behind her, and a boy about her age came hurtling through just as it closed, nearly knocking her over.
He shouted something back, seeming agitated, then smoothed back his fine, nearly strait blonde hair. Then he looked up, jumping slightly, as though just realizing she was there.
"Sorry," he told her through a heavy Russian accent, a light blush coloring his pale cheeks. "Parents, you know..."
"Don't worry about it," Alise waved a hand as though to brush it off, smiling. "Sorry I didn't hold the... er... the archway for you."
"It's not as zough you could haff held it anyvay," he told her reassuringly. "It closes after a few seconds." Taking the black felt ribbon from the low, loose ponytail, he held daintily it in his teeth, smoothing back his hair so it looked much tidier, then using the ribbon to tie it back again. "I'm Kolya Vasiliev, by ze vay," he said cheerfully, holding out a hand as soon as he'd finished.
"Alise Gifford," Alise told him with a smile, clasping his hand. "Are you a student? I just got into... Er..."
"Hogvarts?" he supplied, and she nodded, realizing now that he had on some light makeup. "I am a first year too," he told her with a smile. She beamed. "Vould you need some sho'ving around? Unless you've been here before..."
"No, I haven't," Alise told him. "That'd be great."
"Vell, come on!" Kolya said happily, waving her along over his shoulder, setting off along the cobblestones. Alise gave a startled blink as he turned to the very vacant spot beside him, saying. "I feel like company. Stop sniggering!"
"First stop, Gringotts," Kolya said over the hustle and bustle of the crowd. Alise was looking around so much that he'd grabbed her sleeve to keep her from getting lost. She wished she had about five more pairs of eyes so she could see everything they were passing. Kolya had to drag her when she stopped in front of Eeylops Owl Emporium, as well as the Magical Menagerie.
"What's Gringotts?" she asked. He cocked an eyebrow, looking back at her.
"Vizard's bank," he told her. She gave him such a look of unrestrained surprise that he asked. "Alise, vere you Muggle-born?"
"Wha? Er - yeah," she said, remembering what a 'Muggle' was at the last second. "Sorry..."
"Don't be sorry," he told her with a nonchalant shrug. "Just means you have a bit to learn. Don't vorry about it. Lots of kids come from Muggle families, and -" he gave a look to cobblestones to his right, though there was absolutely nothing there that Alise could see. "- and zey do all right."
"Really?" Alise asked, her spirits brightening, not wondering much about her companion's seemingly invisible entourage. Kolya nodded, and they stopped in front of the largest building on the street, made of snowy white stone.
"Gringotts," he said with a flourish of his hand. "Make sure you mind ze goblins."
"Goblins?" Alise gasped excitedly, and Kolya nodded. He seemed to be enjoying her delight at what were likely the most simple things of the wizarding world. Alise didn't have to wait long to see a goblin. There was one standing outside the large brass doors. It was short, about a head shorter than Alise; a squat, wizened creature that resembled a human but for its abnormally large, beaky nose, leathery skin and clawed fingers. The goblin bowed to them as they went inside.
Two more goblins showed them graciously through the second set of doors, silver this time, engraved with the words -
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.
"You vould be mad to rob Gringotts," Kolya told her, catching her reading the inscription.
"Why-" Alise began, but again, words failed her as they entered the huge marble hall. The goblins had caught her attention.
They were scurrying about and sitting behind teller booths, either doing paperwork or measuring glittering gems or priceless metals. Kolya led her up to the far teller booth, to a particularly wizened goblin that was weighing a pile of glimmering rubies the size of small eggs. He leaned forward to see them, as the booth was about two feet higher than their heads. Under his scrutinizing gaze, Alise mindlessly attempted to smooth her dark, permanently windswept hair.
"Change of currency, please," Kolya told the goblin, "Muggle to vizard. Along vith a visit to vault eight huntdred and four."
"Indeed," replied the goblin, in a voice as wizened as he was. "Vasiliev, then?" he asked, checking a note on his desk. Kolya nodded. "Do you have your key, sir?"
Kolya slipped a tiny golden key from his pocket, placing it on the counter. He had to reach up on his tiptoes. "Here ve are."
The goblin gave the tiny key as scrutinizing a look as he'd just given them, and then glanced backed down. "Yes, that seems to be in order. I will have someone take you down to the vaults. Ulric!"
Ulric was another goblin, who showed them off the hallway, to a room much removed from the marble. It was an earthen passageway lit by torches, with small tracks on the floor. Ulric whistled, and what looked like a small mine cart came hurtling around a bend, coming to a screeching stop before them.
"Why would someone be mad to try and rob Gringotts?" Alise asked as they clambered in.
"High security," grunted Ulric.
Kolya glanced back. "Hold onto-"
The cart jerked forward, throwing Alise onto her backside with a shriek. As she made to get up, the cart jerked around a corner at an insane speed, sending her slamming into the side.
"Hey now!" Kolya sputtered indignantly at Ulric, helping up a gasping Alise.
"Should've held on," the goblin said with a swarthy grin.
Alise might have been annoyed, but once she stood, she couldn't help enjoying the exhilarating cart ride. It reminded her of a roller coaster. After a moment they were rumbling over a rocky ravine.
"What kind of security?" she asked Kolya in an undertone.
"Spells, enchantments," he whispered back. "Zere are even some rumors of dragons guarding ze vaults."
"Dragons?" Alise asked, spellbound with delight. They didn't have time to say more, though, because they'd come to an abrupt stop in front of a small door in the dark wall, lit by torchlight. Ulric hopped out, followed by Kolya, who looked a little sick, and Alise, who had to lean momentarily against the wall so her legs would stop wobbling.
"Exchange," Ulric grunted, then inserted a brass key into the doorway, then pushing it open. Alise momentarily went numb, her eyes as wide as saucers. She suddenly knew how Aladdin felt, when he first entered the chambers of the treasure.
She jumped as Ulric gave her a small prod in the back.
"Money, please."
Alise blinked, taking a moment to figure it out. "Oh!" she gave a little gasp, then plunged her hand into her coat pocket, coming up with a roll of different pound notes, which her mother had given her that morning. It was more money than she'd ever seen in her life, until now.
Ulric took the notes, riffled them, nodded to himself, then took a leather bag from a small pile by the door. He began to count out the coins.
"Ze gold vuns are Galleons," Kolya explained. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and tventy-nine bronze Knuts to a Sickle, it's simple enough."
Alise nodded, still dumbstruck.