Harry Potter - Vengeance and Wrath: The Rise of The Dark Lord

- CHAPTER THREE -

The Demise of Diagon Alley

Harry sat at the Weasley's kitchen table and shovelled another forkful of warm pancakes into his mouth. Hot, gooey syrup ran down his chin. Embarrassed, he quickly used the sleeve of his jumper to wipe away the sticky treacle. He hadn't actually realised how hungry he was.

'I want you to get your things together after breakfast.' Mrs. Weasley addressed the table, piling more pancakes onto Harry's already full plate. 'It's straight to Grimmauld Place after we've been to get your school supplies, so make sure you don't forget anything.'

'Will Hermione be meeting us there?' Harry asked Ron.

'Dunno.' Ron mumbled through a mouthful of pancakes. 'S'pect so.'

'We did ask her to come and stay with us a couple of weeks ago, but she wanted to stay with her parents.' Ginny added, 'She's really worried about them.'

Harry nodded. He supposed he'd be worried about the Dursleys too, if he didn't hate them so much.

'How are the Muggles coping with everything, Harry?' Mr. Weasley asked curiously.

'Ummm, not very well I'm afraid.' Harry admitted.

'They think all the deaths are because of a plague!' Ron added, sniggering.

'Really? A plague? That's interesting.' Mr. Weasley replied, intrigued.

'Ron! It's not funny.' Mrs. Weasley scolded her son, who was now laughing so hard he was fighting for breath. 'Those poor dears. They have absolutely no idea what's going on.'

'It's for the best really though.' Percy stated pretentiously. 'I mean, imagine all the mayhem it would cause the Ministry if the Muggles knew the truth.'

After the remainder of the pancakes had been demolished, Harry and Ron, feeling comfortably bloated, made their way to the top of the house to pack their belongings. Harry didn't have much to pack since he'd only arrived at the Weasleys a few days ago. Instead, he sat on the bed and watched Ron throw his things haphazardly into his trunk.

'Ron?' Harry questioned suddenly, 'Will we have to carry our trunks around Diagon Alley?'

'No. I expect Bill, Charlie and Percy will take them straight to Grimmauld Place, seen as they can Apparate and all.' Ron replied, tossing a pair of maroon socks into his trunk.

While Ron was focusing all his attention on desperately trying to close the lid of his trunk, Harry took the opportunity to pull a brown envelope out of his own trunk without being seen. After folding it in half, Harry hurriedly shoved the letter into the pocket of his jeans.

Diagon Alley was almost unrecogniseable from the last time Harry had been there. Tucked behind an old pub in the centre of London, the place had been Harry's first glimpse into the magical world, and Harry had always associated the street with happy memories. But now, the once crowded cobblestone street was almost deserted. The hustle and bustle of witches and wizards going about their business had been replaced by an eerie quietness, and shops that had once proudly displayed colourful and interesting items in the windows, had been boarded up or abandoned. It was as though Voldemort's return had cast a dark shadow over the entire street.

Harry shivered at his own thought.

'It's weird isn't it?' Ron asked, almost as if he was reading Harry's mind. 'I wonder where all the other Hogwarts students are?'

'Maybe they've already been to get their stuff?' Harry answered uncertainly.

'Yeah.' Ron too sounded unconvinced.

'Come on, lets go and see Fred and George. Standing here is creeping me out.' Ginny muttered, walking towards one of the few shops that remained open.

Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes was one of the most amazing shops Harry had ever seen. Every wall was covered with colourful inventions that the twins had spent hours perfecting. Barrels of Ton-Tongue Toffees, Canary Creams, and Belching Bonbons were lined beneath the window; Headless Hats, Portable Swamps, Extendable Ears and fake wands filled shelves, and a glass case in the middle of the room proudly displayed Weasleys' Wildfire Whizz-bangs. In the centre of it all stood Fred and George and their best friend, Lee Jordan, surrounded by an exhibit of Skiving Snackboxes.

'Wow! This is brilliant!' Harry exclaimed.

'We know!' said Fred and George simultaneously.

'So, how are you Harry?' Fred asked cheerfully.

'And how were your O.W.L results?' George grinned.

'I...ummm. Well...' Harry stuttered.

'That bad, eh? Never mind, Harry. Me and Fred didn't do so good in our exams, and look at us now! Getting paid for inventing pranks! We even outsold Zonko's Joke Shop last month!' George replied happily.

'So, it's still going well then?' Ron asked, greedily eyeing the Ton-Tongue Toffees.

'Of course, little brother.' Fred replied.

'What, even though no-one wants to leave their house in case You-Know-Who attacks them?' Ron questioned bluntly.

'We've come up with a solution to that problem.' George smiled.

'What?' Ron asked curiously.

'Mail order catalogues!' Lee grinned, handing glossy pamphlets to Ron, Harry and Ginny. 'Buy anything your heart desires, without even leaving the comfort of your own home!'

'You think of everything don't you.' Ginny laughed.

After lining their pockets with Ton-Tongue Toffees and Belching Bonbons (a new invention of the twins'), Harry, Ron and Ginny left Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and headed to Flourish and Blotts for their new school books.

'Harry, why didn't you-' Ron started, entering the book shop.

'Ron, Harry, Ginny!' Hermione interrupted, emerging from behind a large stack of Arithmancy books. 'It's so great to see you!'

'Hey Hermione!' Harry smiled, glad to see his friend again. 'How are you?'

The smile on Hermione's face disappeared.

'Scared.' she admitted grimly. 'I suppose I didn't expect V- Voldemort's presence in the Muggle world to be quite so-' she stopped, searching for the right words.

'Obvious?' Harry offered.

'Well, yeah. And I'm really worried about Mum and Dad.' she continued nervously.

'I'm sure they'll be fine.' Ginny soothed. 'You-Know-Who's just going after important people from the Ministry. People that are standing in his way.'

Hermione didn't look at all convinced, but she didn't say any more on the subject.

'So, how were your O.W.L results?' Ron asked finally.

'OK.' Hermione replied. 'I passed all my exams, but I got an 'E' for Astronomy and Ancient Runes.' she sighed, disappointedly.

'Oh.' Ron mumbled, suddenly thinking his results weren't so good after all. 'I got an 'O' for Care of Magical Creatures and an 'E' for Defence Against the Dark Arts and Herbology, an 'A' for Potions, Astronomy, Divination, Charms and History of Magic.' he paused, uncertainly. 'But I got a 'P' for Transfiguration.' he admitted.

'That's really good, Ron.' Hermione beamed. 'What about you, Harry? How were your results?'

Harry gulped.

'I...er...' he stuttered, again.

'Well?' Hermione prompted.

Harry could feel three inquisitive pairs of eyes staring at him. It was time to come clean.

'I haven't opened my results yet.' he confessed hurriedly.

'What?' Hermione uttered in bewilderment. 'Why?'

'I don't know.' Harry replied honestly. 'I guess I thought, if I didn't open them, a part of me could hang on to the dream of becoming an Auror.' he finished, his cheeks reddening with embarrassment.

'But aren't you dying to know how you've done?' Ron inquired.

'Not really.' Harry answered.

'And how do you know what books to buy if you don't know what classes you'll be taking?' Hermione added.

'Fine.' Harry retorted, pulling the brown envelope from the back pocket of his jeans. 'I'll find out now.'

With trembling hands, Harry ripped open the envelope and pulled out the piece of parchment containing his results...