Thanks again to Mystic.
Apologies on he late update, life did that interfering thing again in both Mystic and my lives… Enjoy.
Chapter 5: Diagon Alley and the Muggle Bank
The next morning McGonagall awoke and after dressing went out into the common room. The first thing she noticed was Meidh asleep in the armchair. The young woman had fallen asleep before she got very far. Gently shaking her shoulder McGonagall called "Miss McRobertson, it's time to wake up."
Meidh stirred and mumbled the age-old plea "Five more minutes please, Dad, I've got five more minutes right?" McGonagall laughed lightly but shook the young woman again.
"Time for breakfast, dear we don't want to be late."
"Or dear brother is going to eat it all. Alright I'm up." Opening her eyes, Meidh stared up at McGonagall startled. About to ask who she was and why she was in her room Meidh snapped her mouth shut and buried her head on top of her crossed arms over her knees. After a few minutes of sobbing, she managed to pull herself together.
"Sorry 'bout that, I was in the middle of a really good dream." She explained, somewhat embarrassed. "I assume it is time for breakfast."
"Are you ok?" McGonagall asked, concerned at the young woman's reaction when she woke up.
"Fine," Meidh said absentmindedly. "Give me a couple of minutes and I'll change and be ready."
When the two women arrived in the Great Hall, Dumbledore motioned Meidh to the empty seat next to him. She sighed but resigned herself to spending more time around the Headmaster than she wanted to.
"Since your magic has now manifested," Dumbledore began once everyone started eating. "It would be prudent to begin your education in the magical arts. Would you be interested in lessons over the summer or would you prefer to begin in September with the regular classes?"
Meidh considered the options carefully. Although she did not relish the idea of taking classes with a bunch of kids, perhaps if she began now, she could complete a couple of years worth of work. "I would appreciate being tutored over the summer – if it's not too much of a hassle."
Dumbledore looked thrilled, "Excellent! Professor McGonagall, would you please accompany her to Diagon Alley tomorrow to purchase the necessary items?"
"Certainly. We can leave shortly after breakfast and be back for supper at the latest; if that works for you Miss McRobertson?"
"Sure, I assume that's some sort of magical shopping district where we can get all the stuff. I would like to make a request to stop in London. There are a few things I need to take care of if I'm going to be here for a while."
"May I ask what you need to do?" McGonagall inquired.
"Just some stuff with banking and contact the kennel about Peanuts," she replied dismissively.
"Why didn't yeh bring h'm w'th yeh?" Hagrid asked.
"Because it's a minimum six month stay in quarantine when he arrives and I wasn't sure I was staying that long. Plus dad bought me a one-third stake in the local kennel shortly after we got him so I'd have a place that could be trusted to leave him when I had to."
Dumbledore looked thoughtful for a few minutes as if considering different options, "Why don't you let me check-up on your dog? Also, there is a Muggle bank close to Diagon Alley the Professor McGonagall could take you to."
Meidh hesitated before replying. "Ok, just let Linda know that I'm not sure when I'll be home, so arrangements for payment will continue hopefully uninterrupted."
"That's all set then. What would you like to do for the rest of today?" Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling madly.
McRobertson's eyes lit up, "Explore the castle!"
By lunchtime McGonagall had managed to show Meidh most of the main passageways and classrooms. As they entered the Great Hall, the professor began a discussion on transfiguration.
As lunch neared its end, Dumbledore turned to Meidh, "What were the contents of your chest?"
"Some old texts and books, a journal, a pair of gloves, a partial set of school robes, the Gringotts key, and the family broom. I've only started reading the journal. However it is proving to be most enlightening."
At the word 'broom' Madam Hooch's ears perked up. "Would you like to learn how to fly it?"
A bit taken aback by the sudden offer, it took Meidh a moment to consider before accepting the proposition.
Later that afternoon, Madam Hooch led McRobertson out to the Quidditch pitch. Ordinarily she would have taught the first session in the courtyard, but Madam Sprout had moved some of her less harmful plants out of the greenhouses. She needed the extra room to grow some of the more dangerous plants that Professor Snape required for his potions.
"Ordinarily, you would begin learning on a school broom as first-years are not allowed to bring their own. Since you are not the age of a first year, we can dispense that condition. Now I want you to mount your broom, and grip it tight." She began giving the standard orders that had shown so many first-years the basics of flight. Once Meidh had successfully done her hover for a moment, Madam Hooch decided to allow the young woman a solo attempt. Meidh rose fifty feet in the air and took off towards one set of hoops. After looping through the three, she headed towards the other end. Soaring to over two-hundred feet before diving on her way over, Madam Hooch knew she had a natural flyer on her hands. Looping the other goals Meidh landed neatly next to Madam Hooch and grinned like the proverbial cat that swallowed the canary.
"That was so cool!" Meidh exclaimed. "I'm going again." Before Madam Hooch could reply, Meidh took off again. After a few laps, she rose higher and higher over a hundred feet higher than the astronomy tower, there she stopped. It was so exhilarating just being up this high and the view was the best she had ever seen. Not realizing how long she had been up there, Meidh simply sat and stared at the clouds just above her.
So close. If I reached out my hand, I swear I could hold one, she thought.
Madam Hooch was becoming concerned. Meidh had been up there for too long. If they didn't hurry they would be very late for supper. Calling up to the young woman would prove to be useless; she was simply too far up to hear anyone yelling. Hurrying over to the broom closet, Hooch grabbed one and headed up towards the young woman.
"Miss McRobertson, come down this instant!" Madam Hooch called as soon as she was within earshot of the young woman. Meidh started, turned toward the professor and said, "Isn't this view magnificent? I can see the whole castle, and the mountains are fantastic!"
"The view is lovely, but if we don't go back to the castle directly we will be late for supper." Madam Hooch asserted.
"Already!" Meidh said, surprised and glanced at her watch. "Have we really been that long? Wow!"
The two women turned and headed for the ground and supper. After another fantastic meal in the Great Hall, Meidh excused herself quickly so she could have a chance to read more in the journal. Later that evening, Meidh found a passage in the journal she couldn't help but snicker at.
'The McRobertson's were once a respected highland clan both in the Muggle and magical worlds. Although the Scots were respected for their bravery, not every family member that attended Hogwarts was sorted into Gryffindor. Approximately only one-half were; the other half was sorted into Ravenclaw. Those in Ravenclaw joked that their Gryffindor counterparts had a sense of bravery that overrode their good sense. The Gryffindors would return that Ravenclaws don't know how to live life because they never took their noses out of their books. Understand, my reader, no one ever took offence to this banter. It was all meant in fun and all involved understood that.'
Meidh looked up and laughed lightly. That sounded somewhat like her family. Her brother and father would start with their 'man talks' in front of her and the fastest way to get them back to a safer topic was to bring up any 'woman problems' she could think of. She smiled wider when she remembered the first time her father took her shopping for underwear – she thought he would be red for a week!
Just then, Professor McGonagall came in. The Professor noticed Meidh smiling and moved over to where she sat.
"May I ask what is so funny?"
"Read this," Meidh handed over the journal and pointed to the passage. McGonagall took the book and attempted to read it. Although she could understand Scottish Gaelic fluently, she had never seen this dialect before.
"I cannot. This must be ancient Gaelic, as I am unfamiliar with this dialect." Meidh looked at the Professor confused.
"What are you talking about, Professor? It's English, not Gaelic."
McGonagall looked confounded for a moment, and then her expression cleared. "The journal must have a translation spell on it. However long it was before the magic returned only the person it returned to would be able to read it. Ingenious." Meidh smiled and read the passage aloud. McGonagall laughed lightly and bid Meidh good night.
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The next morning after breakfast, Meidh dressed in a t-shirt from home and stone-washed, ripped blue jeans and pulled the cloak out of the closet to wear over her, before following McGonagall to the apparation point. She pulled out a piece of parchment and indicated to Meidh that she needed to place a finger on it. She complied and a moment later felt a jerk behind her navel. They landed in an alleyway that ended in what appeared to be a solid brick wall. McGonagall tapped out a pattern on the bricks and stepped back. Meidh had learned not to question what these professors did, as the reason usually revealed itself in due course. Sure enough, an archway appeared in the wall. McGonagall smiled as she repeated Hagrid's standard line "Welcome to Diagon Alley."
The professor steered her pupil through the crowds to a white columned building. Before opening the second set of doors, the young woman read the warning and whistled low. "They should have a warning like that on all banks." After locating a goblin to take them down to her vault, Meidh turned to McGonagall and said, "You know professor, it's a little ironic that the number of our vault is the year I was born. Especially considering if you subtract one from each of the last two digits you have the month and day I was born. I was born on the sixth day of the fifth month. Coincidence?"
"I doubt that Miss McRobertson. You will find there are few, if any, coincidences in the wizarding world."
The goblin opened the vault and stepped aside. The room was almost filled with mainly gold coins but there were heaps of silver and bronze closer to the door. Meidh couldn't help but whistle appreciatively. "It's amazing what over 900 years of interest can do."
McGonagall went about placing the coins they would need into a couple of purses. "If you require more we can always come back and get some."
Back out into the alley, McGonagall steered Meidh over to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Once she was fitted, Meidh was taken over to Flourish and Blotts. "This is going to take some getting used to. The whole quills, ink and parchment thing. I'm used to typing out my papers on computer and printing them off. The main use for writing by hand was taking notes and then as long as you could read it, how messy your writing was didn't matter."
McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "Computer? Is that some new muggle machine?"
"New? I think they're about twenty years old but the technology has improved vastly in the last five years or so."
Shaking her head, Meidh motioned for the professor to lead the way to the next stop. Olivander's was written across the sign in a fancy script. It was a dusty shop with a wand displayed in the window.
"Ahh, Professor McGonagall, so good to see you again…" McGonagall cut the shopkeeper off before he could start sprouting about her wand.
"Mr. Olivander, I've brought Miss McRobertson to purchase a wand."
Olivander squinted at Meidh, "Haven't seen someone from your family in a long time. The last wand I sold them was ebony and dragon heartstring, ten inches, very powerful. Now, which is your wand hand?" Meidh hesitantly raised her right hand and Olivander began his measuring.
Once finished he began pulling down wands. Many, many wands later Olivander conceded he did not have a wand that would be suitable or more correctly had chosen the witch. He began to question the young woman in hopes of gaining some clue.
"Miss McRobertson, what is your favorite tree?"
McRobertson smiled, "Mr. Olivander, I am a born and bred Canadian, the Maple of course." Olivander's eyes twinkled.
"That explains your shirt – 'I may not be perfect, but I am Canadian and that's close enough'. Quite fascinating." Meidh laughed.
"Yeah, I got a lot of looks from it when I traveled."
"Well as I have no maple wands ready I shall have to make you one…"
"Can I watch you make it?" Meidh broke in. Olivander was startled and appeared about to say no so she continued. "Please, my father trained me in woodworking and I would adore being able to see a craftsman at work."
Olivander considered carefully. He was about to say no when a thought struck him. This young woman would never find a wand suitable for herself unless she made it. This was why she had been trained in woodworking. He turned to the professor who was waiting patiently. After a hushed conference, McGonagall took her leave of the shop and Olivander beckoned Meidh to the back of his shop where he worked. After a brief explanation of where everything was and the most common wand-making techniques, he told the young woman to make her own. Meidh started to panic at the thought, but began to calm when she remembered this was her father's favorite way to introduce a new project when she became proficient.
Two hours later she emerged triumphant and handed her wand to Olivander for inspection. She had indeed used maple for the majority of the wand with ebony insets in the handle. He gasped at the power in the wand. It had not one but three cores! Meidh explained, "I did as you said to pick out the core and was only going to use the unicorn hair, but it had wound around a phoenix feather with a dragon heartstring and they wouldn't untangle."
Olivander smiled, "This is your wand, and may you serve each other well." McGonagall walked in and smiled at the pair.
"All finished?"
Meidh turned back to Olivander, "How much do I owe you?"
"Fifteen galleons enjoy your wand."
Once out of the shop McGonagall turned to Meidh, "May I see your wand?"
"Sure," Meidh said handing it over, "It is mainly maple with a little bit of ebony for aesthetics and fourteen inches. The same number as how old I was when the migraines were at their worst."
"Very powerful, it will take much strength to control."
Meidh grinned, "Well, I've always loved having a lot of power at my fingertips. When working on a project I would usually rather use the smaller hand held power equipment than the larger stand-up machines. Where to next?"
"The Apothecary for a cauldron and potions supplies. Also, students may bring an owl, a cat or a toad. Would you like to pick out one?" McGonagall explained.
"Hmm… well, I don't really care for toads, and with Peanuts a cat isn't a good idea so maybe an owl." Meidh contemplated.
"A wise choice, owls are also very useful as they carry your post. After the Apothecary we can stop at Eelyop's Owl Emporium and you can choose one."
The smell that hit Meidh as she stepped into the Apothecary nearly made her lose her breakfast. Hurrying things as best as she could, the women soon made their exit.
"I never thought I'd smell anything more nauseating than my brother's canvas duffle bag did. That was after he spent over a week out hunting in the woods. What kind of owls do they have in the emporium?"
"At one time or another they have carried every type of owl you could imagine. They also have a few very rare breeds."
"Cool, what kind should I get?" Meidh pondered.
"Whichever you fancy best," McGonagall answered the rhetorical question with a slight smile. As they entered the shop, the soft sounds of hooting filled the air. Meidh strolled up and down the aisles of cages trying to decide on only one. In the back corner she came across a section of cages labeled 'Interbreeds – very rare". There near the top was an almost perfect replica – in coloring – of her dog, Peanuts. It looked like a great-horned owl crossed with a snowy owl. He was almost completely black with only the very tips of some feathers white and a stripe that started just under his beak and continued to just above the middle of his body. McGonagall came up behind Meidh. Before the professor could say a word Meidh spoke up.
"That's the owl for me," she said definitively.
After paying for her owl and some treats, the two women walked back out into the Alley. Meidh pulled the Professor into the shop that she had wanted to see since walking past it on her way to the bank. Meidh never noticed the grim expression on McGonagall's face. Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes was fascinating inside. The professor didn't mind seeing the twins again but she dreaded the thought of what her new pupil might purchase to torment the staff with over the summer. Twin redheaded boys stepped over to the pair.
"Welcome to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes" one said.
"What are you in the market for today?" the other finished.
Meidh grinned. She had gone to school with a set of twins for most of her school years. This was going to be a lot of fun.
As the twins looked her over, one spoke up, "What's your name? I'm Gred and this is Forge."
Meidh smirked, she was almost positive that those weren't their real names. "I'm Anvil and this is Professor Hammer."
The one called Forge grinned broadly. "Professor I didn't see you there. So you're going by Professor Hammer now? Interesting choice."
"That's enough Mr. Weasley. This is Miss McRobertson. She is studying at Hogwarts for the summer." McGonagall admonished.
The twins glanced at each other. Gred turned to Meidh and held out his hand, "George Weasley and this is Fred," he moved over and took McGonagall by the arm, "Professor, allow me to give you a tour of our shop."
Fred grabbed Meidh's elbow and steered her to the other side of the shop. "While George keeps the good professor occupied, what are you looking for?"
"No idea, this just seemed like a really cool shop so I wanted to stop and take a look while we were here."
A mischievous glint came into Fred's eyes. "Here try these." He shoved a large plain, paper sack into her arms. "It's a sampler of our most popular items, and a card with the instructions for everything included. Just tap it with your wand and say 'mischief', when you're done tap it again and say 'done'. Otherwise the teachers will discover all our secrets."
Meidh laughed quietly, "Somehow I don't think that it could spill all your secrets. However, thanks for the tip." She quickly paid Fred, just as George finished the tour with McGonagall.
"Very fascinating, but if there's anywhere else Miss McRobertson wishes to visit we really must be going. We are nearly out of time."
"I'm ready. It was a pleasure to meet you both. Goodbye."
"'Bye," the twins chorused. "Come back soon."
As soon as they were out of earshot of the shop McGonagall turned to Meidh.
"May I ask what you purchased in there?"
"Oh, nothing much, a little of this and a little of that," she smiled mysteriously.
McGonagall appeared apprehensive, but after a stop in the candy shop, the pair headed back to the Leaky Cauldron. McGonagall secured Tom's services in looking after their packages while the women went for a quick errand in Muggle London. Meidh removed her cloak and draped it over her arm as they left. Professor McGonagall transfigured her robes into a Muggle dress and jacket. The bank was a glass and marble establishment that was very old and snooty. The Professor waited by the door while Meidh attended her business. The woman at the new accounts desk looked up at the young woman and sneered.
"I don't think you're in the right place, Miss."
Meidh feigned surprise, "This isn't the new accounts desk? Well then they should really change the signs."
The clerk sniffed indignantly, "You wish to open an account?"
"Would I be standing here if I didn't? I need to set up an account with a link to my accounts back in Canada."
"One moment please," she replied. After a brief hushed telephone conversation a man in a dark suit hurried out of the back offices.
"May I help you?" He said in a tone that said 'Get out.'
Meidh smiled and played her card. "Miss McRobertson, I would like to set up an account with connections to my banking in Canada." She reached out to shake his hand.
McRobertson, the name sounded familiar but then he dealt with many people in a single day. A lot of names were familiar simply because of their commonality. Then it clicked McRobertson was to be treated with the utmost respect, and he'd just tried to insult the girl.
The man paled but quickly composed himself. "Certainly Miss McRobertson, right this way." As he led her to the back offices Meidh smirked. She hadn't really wanted to play that card but it was effective. Silently she thanked her ancestor for the information. His great-grandfather had helped establish the back and the family name still held a lot of power over them.
Almost a half-hour later Meidh emerged, smiling. "Enjoy your stay in Britain, Miss," the man called out after her.
McGonagall stood and followed her pupil out. She noticed Meidh's shoulders shaking but she was moving too fast to catch up. Once back in the Leaky Cauldron, McRobertson burst into hysterical laughter. McGonagall could only understand every few phrases.
"Priceless… the look on his face… Service with a smile… anything more Miss? … Whatever you need!" Once she had regained control of herself, she explained everything to the waiting Professor. The women gathered everything from Tom and port-keyed back to the entrance hall. Professor Dumbledore greeted them.
"I trust everything went well."
"Diagon Alley is so cool. I got to meet the Weasley twins and the guy at the muggle bank… priceless!" Meidh burst out in fresh peals of laughter.
Dumbledore's eyes started twinkling madly. "Well in that case, why don't you leave your things there, dinner has begun."
McGonagall followed the Headmaster and Meidh up to the Great Hall shaking her head. McGonagall was amazed at the difference in the young woman. It appeared as though she had been able to place her grief aside for the day. She would certainly be a student to watch, especially with as powerful a wand as she had. The Professor began to worry that Hogwarts had acquired another student with a destiny that was pre-determined for them.
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Pretty please review! The more responses I get the more motivated I am to post the next chapter…
Thanks!
Dragon
Disclaimer: Ms. Rowling is a gold medal writer, I'm not. However I have been advised to add this: All concepts, ideas and characters not recognized from the Harry Potter Series belong to the author unless otherwise specified.