Diagon Alley
Written by: Ceriadara and darkangel333
Chapter Summary:
Kailyn meets Hagrid, goes shopping, gets pets and makes two unexpected friends.
Kailyn stepped off the plane, battered green backpack in hand. Or over shoulder. Either way. In it was one change of clothes, pajamas, a toothbrush, and several of her favorite, well-thumbed books.
Her black ponytail fluttering in the breeze as she entered the terminal from the hall, she looked around.
"Kailyn!" boomed a huge voice. She turned and felt her mouth drop open in shock.
A giant man with a large bushy brown beard was hurriedly stuffing knitting into a bag with one hand, waving at her with the other. A number of scared looking people were scurrying past him as fast as they could.
She walked slowly towards him. Holding out his hand, he said in a kind voice, "Rubeus Hagrid."
She shook herself out of her daze and placed her hand in his dustbin-sized one. "Kailyn Bradford…" she said, gazing up at him with a mixture of excitement and shock.
"Er…is it all ri' if I can you Kai?"
"Of…of course." She replied.
"That all?" he asked of her, gesturing at her battered green schoolbag. She nodded and they set off to find the Underground.
As they boarded, Kailyn found herself apologizing to several people that had been knocked over by Hagrid, who was looking sorry yet amused.
"Strange things, these Muggles…" he muttered as he sat down.
"Muggles?" she questioned, looking up at him. He chuckled.
"Non-magic people. You remind me so much of a kid I had to bring to Diagon Alley a whiles back…"
"Who?" she asked. He just shook his head and pulled out his knitting. She didn't utter a word for the rest of the ride.
They finally got off and made their way through the crowded London streets, stopping in front of a small dingy pub. "The Leaky Cauldron." Hagrid said proudly.
"They can't see it…" Kailyn said, watching the Muggles. "It's like it's not even there…" Hagrid nodded. He looked at her again.
"You're so much li' him…" he muttered. Then he shrugged and they entered at last.
"Oi, Hagrid! Anythin'?" called a hunchbacked barman. Hagrid shook his had. "Nah, no' today, Tom."
Hagrid led her out into the back where there was a small dingy courtyard-like thing. He pulled out a bright pink umbrella, chuckling at her raised eyebrow.
He tapped a few bricks with the point of the umbrella in quick succession and broke into laughter at the priceless expression on Kailyn's face.
"I like you, Kai," he announced cheerfully, patting her on the shoulder.
"Glad to hear it," she replied, eyes wide, in a weak voice, still staring at where the wall of bricks had been. Hagrid glanced at her again.
"You…do know that you hafta move to get in, ri'?" he asked, concerned.
Seemingly coming out of a daze she looked up at him a laughed. As she looked at the shops, however, the smile faded. She looked up at him once more.
"And I'm going to pay for all this-"–waving her booklist, "-how exactly?"
"Professor Dumbledore ga' me this to give to you when you asked," Hagrid said, drawing a letter out of one of his many pockets. She took it and opened it.
"Dear Kailyn,
I know that you are probably a bit bewildered at the moment. However, I ask only one thing of you: never doubt that this is real. I must assure you, it IS.
Now, in the bottom of this envelope, you will find a square metal sheet. Ask Hagrid to wait outside Gringotts bank while you go in. Go to the last desk in the row and present the goblin there your card.
My best wishes,
Professor Dumbledore"
She glanced up at Hagrid. "He says we're to go to Gringotts and you're to wait outside for me." Hagrid looked puzzled.
'He's never asked me to wait outside before…but oh well." Hagrid said, shrugging. He led her through the crowded streets, occasionally stopping to wave at a few people.
They came to a stop in front of a large white marble building that gleamed in the sunlight. "Here i' is…" Hagrid said. "Gringotts bank."
She walked up the marble steps and entered the large building. She slowly walked to the last desk in the center, her hand closed round the small metal square. It was something that you could put on a keychain, just a flat piece of silver.
Stopping in front of the desk, she looked at the goblin. He appeared to be the oldest one there, with a very pronounced hunchback and drooping, sagging orange-gray skin. He looked up at her, his black skin bright.
"Wha'?" he asked impatiently.
"Um…I'm here to withdraw, I suppose." She replied.
"Where's your key?"
"My…my what?"
"Your key, witch. You have to have a key to get into your vault."
"All I have is this…" she replied, pulling out the metal square from the pocket of her loose blue jeans and placing it on the counter in front of the goblin. She watched in curiosity as his eyes got very, very wide. E looked up at her with a strange combination of fear and reverence.
"This way, this way, Miss Kailyn," he said, with sudden utmost respect. Raising an eyebrow but not questioning the little man (or goblin, as it was), she followed his through a door and into a small cart. She held on tightly and shut her eyes. Soon she relaxed to the feeling of the whooshing air and the quick dips and jumps.
Finally the ride came to an end, leaving her somewhat happy, surprisingly. They climbed out in front of a huge vault. The door was about eight or nine feet tall and about six feet wide, stainless steel, by the looks of it. There were no markings on it.
The goblin went to the side of the door and dug his fingers into a round crack. He pulled a small round door open and inserted the silver square into a small slot in the indent where the rock had been.
The vault slowly opened, filling the tunnels with a huge rattling and grating.
She looked inside and gasped.
The vault itself was huge, but the money…she was filled with awe. "Is that…real gold?" she asked in a hushed tone, excited.
The goblin refrained from rolling his eyes and answered in a respectful tone, "Yes. The gold are Galleons, worth the most; the silver are Sickle, the second-most; and the bronze are Knuts, worth the least."
He handed her a small leather pouch. "This has an Unlimited Containment charm upon it. You can put as much money as you want into the bag and it will not get any heavier or fill up at all."
"Thank you," she said, taking the bag.
After shoveling quite an amount of money into the bag, the goblin extracted the silver card. As the door closed he handed it to her again, telling her to keep it safe.
"Tell me," she suddenly asked, as they began to upward journey, "can you punch a small hole in this?" she asked. The goblin nodded. "Why?" he asked as they came to a halt and left the cart into the entrance room.
He sat behind his desk and turned to her.
"Why?" he asked once more.
She, in response, pulled out a slim silver chain from her pants. She placed it on the desk next to the card.
"It could be like a necklace," she suggested. The goblin looked thoughtful, then nodded. "Grimwolder!" he called, beckoning another goblin to him. "Take this and have a hole punched near the end."
Grimwolder nodded, took the card, bowed to Kailyn, and strode hurriedly away, muttering something about finding his brother.
A few minutes later he came scurrying back, thankfully breaking the awkward tense silence that had fallen between Kailyn and the goblin. He handed the card back to Kailyn, who took her chain and threaded it through the small hole. Then she slipped it around her neck and clasped it securely.
She nodded a good-bye to Grimwolder and the other goblin, thanking them, and then left the bank to find Hagrid waiting for her.
"Got everything? Good," he said brightly. "Figured we'd go ter Madam Malkin's first, get you some robes, eh?"
"Sounds good to me," she replied, fingering the card around her neck.
She stepped into Madam Malkin's shop (this time Hagrid insisted on staying outside). She heard a small bell ring, and then heard a witch's voice calling, "Coming!"
A few minutes later a small round witch came out from the back out the shop, a young pale eleven-year-old witch trailing behind her, the hems of her robes shimmering with pins.
She shooed the girl onto the pedestal and turned to Kailyn. "Hogwarts?" she asked, a bit breathlessly. Kailyn nodded. She found herself also shooed onto a pedestal next to the other girl as the woman whom she assumed was Madam Malkin bustled around the back of the shop.
"What's your name?" asked the girl. She looked at her. She had long waist-length silky white-blond hair and light aqua eyes.
"I'm Kailyn Bradford." She replied.
"Cameron Malfoy."
"Where're you going?"
"Hogwarts. You?"
"Same here!"
"What house do you think you'll be in?"
"…House?"
"Oh! You must be a Muggle-born or something…where are you from?"
"America."
"Really? Wow."
"Yeah. I'm an orphan so…" she shrugged, indicating that she didn't know where her magic came from.
"I understand. My family's so weird; they're all like, 'Oh, we're pureblood, we're better than anyone else…' I mean, they marry their relatives!"
Both girls suppressed a shudder, realized that the other had done the same, and laughed.
Madam Malkin came hurrying out with some black robes.
After a few minutes, she was done with Cameron, who stayed to talk with Kailyn. She had just finished explaining Quidditch to Kailyn when a tall, regal blond man walked in.
"Are you done, Cameron?" he asked haughtily with a touch of annoyance.
"Yes, Father." She replied pleasantly, with a sweet smile. As soon as he had turned away to pay Madam Malkin, she pulled the skin under her eyes down with one finger, crossed her eyes, and stuck out her tongue. He looked her way and instantly she was all manners and charm.
Kailyn had to work to suppress a snicker at this exchange between father and daughter.
"Come, Cameron." The man said imperiously with a sweep of his hand. Cameron looked at Kailyn.
"Meet you at Platform 9&3/4, then?"
"You bet!" Kailyn said happily as Cameron followed her father out of the shop, waving good-bye to Kailyn.
After purchasing her robes from Madam Malkin, she and Hagrid went to the Apothecary (where she became seriously grossed out at the jars of fresh-plucked beetle eyes), and then the animal store. They went in.
It was dark and musty inside, smelling of cats and wet dogs.
She went up to the counter. The witch smiled down at her. "Anything in particular you want?"
Kailyn nodded. "Do you have owls?" The lady smiled. "I have just the one for you," she said.
Reaching behind her, she pulled down a large bronze cage. She placed it in front of Kailyn and Hagrid.
"Oh…it's beautiful…" she breathed. The owl was medium-sized, silver and black. She opened her eyes, revealing them to be gold-flecked forest green.
"How much?'
"19 Galleons."
Pushing forward the sum, she glanced around the shop. Suddenly, something caught her eye in all of the hooting owls and yapping dogs and growling cats and squeaking rats.
"How much is she?" she suddenly asked, pointing high on the shelf. The shopkeeper and Hagrid followed her gaze. The shopkeeper shook her head.
"She's very temperamental, Ying is. She won't come down from the shelf, and if I do more than give her some food, she attacks me. She's quite young, only about half a year old."
Kailyn looked thoughtfully at the cat. "May I try?" she asked the shopkeeper. She shrugged.
"If you get her down, you can have her for free."
Kailyn held her arms out as the cat looked down at her. "Here, Aysel!"
The shopkeeper's mouth dropped open in shock.
"Wha' did you call 'er?" asked Hagrid, mouth open.
"Aysel." Now the cat was snug in Kailyn's arms, purring softly. Her coat was black with one white paw, sleek and shining. Her eyes opened slightly, showing a blue the same shade as Kailyn's.
"How…but…I…She's yours, then." The shopkeeper stammered. Kailyn smiled at her.
"Have a nice day!" she called over her shoulder as she and Hagrid left the shop.
"Ri'," said Hagrid, looking over the parcels, "I reckon we should go to Flourish and Blotts now."
"What's that?" Kailyn asked, scratching Aysel under the chin.
"Bookstore."
"Really!' asked Kailyn, looking excited.
"Mos' kids ha' Flourish and Blotts…on'y go in there when they hafta."
"Well, I'm not most kids now am I? Books are one of my favorite things!"
"You'd fit in well wi' Hermione."
"Who?"
"A friend o' the kid you remin' me of."
"She like to read too?"
"Yeh, she's a Muggle-born as well."
"Cool!"
And so she entered Flourish and Blotts.
By this time Aysel was around her neck like a scarf, playing around comfortably on her shoulders as if he had been raised there. This attracted a few odd looks, but she ignored them, apparently in heaven.
When she was younger, her only way to experience something new was to read about it. Now, here, were literally thousands of books about the new world she had just discovered!
Hagrid entered after her, carrying her owl, whom she had yet to name. She pulled out her booklist, wincing as Aysel, yawning, dug her claws through Kailyn's shirt into her skin.
After collecting the books on the list, she began to wander the aisles, running her fingers along the spines of the books.
She pulled one out.
"What's this?" she asked Aysel, who gave a small meow, settling on her left shoulder. Kailyn looked at the cat. "What d'you think?" she asked the small black cat. In answer, Aysel extended her paw and batted the book.
"I'll take that as a yes," said Kailyn with a grin, reading the title again.
"The Dark Arts: A Guide. Sounds interesting enough."
She lugged her stack of books to the counter. Thanking the nice man behind the checkout counter, she and Hagrid picked up her bags. They went back to the Leaky Cauldron. After renting a room, they trudged upstairs.
She pushed open room eleven and lugged her newly bought trunk in. Hagrid handed her a ticket. "This'll get you on the train. 'Bye!" he said, lumbering from the room.
"Bye!" she called after him
She lay down on the bed, Aysel jumping from her position in front of the mirror onto the bed to cuddle against her mistress. Her yet-to-be-named owl hooted softly.
Kailyn absentmindedly stroked Aysel's fur, thinking back to the pet shop. She didn't know why she had called her Aysel…but it had worked, hadn't it? Why was the idea bothering her so much?
Because you didn't come up with the name, said a little voice in her head. But then where had it come from?
She shrugged the feeling off and sat up. Her eyes searched for the Flourish and Blotts bag. Finding it, she yanked it over to one of the two beds and pulled out the Dark Arts book that she had found. Flopping down, she began to read, Aysel curled next to her.
The sun was long since set and night had fallen outside her window. Lamps had come on, and Kailyn was still reading, finding the book quite enjoyable, if slightly evil.
"…The Dark Arts are often considered one of the most dangerous subjects. Very rarely are they taught in school to students, replaced instead by Defense Against the Dark Arts. However they may portray the name, it is the same. They must learn the jinxes to learn the counter jinx; thus, they are still being taught the Dark Arts.
"The Dark Arts have been called such for centuries; Muggles know them as "black magic". This is mainly for three reasons that all go by the same title: Unforgivable Curses. There are three Unforgivables:
"The Imperius Curse: The object of this curse is to give the wizard casting the spell complete control over the mind of the wizard on the receiving end. Some wizards, however, are able to throw off the Imperius curse.
"The second is the Cruciatus Curse, the object being, as can be gathered from the incantation, "Crucio", to cause intense pain. The incantation derives, as might be guessed, fro the word "crucify, which is a way of death invented by Muggles that is allegedly very painful.
"The third, and worst Unforgivable is-"
The door swung open to reveal a thirteen-year-old boy standing there, trunk in one hand, owl in the other. They both froze for a few seconds, and then Kailyn stood, putting her book on the bed. Aysel leapt onto her shoulders again.
"Who're you?" they both asked simultaneously. She spoke at last. "I'm Kailyn. Kailyn Bradford."
"Harry Potter." He replied.