CHAPTER THREE: Diagon Alley
"Floo powder," Molly announced as she lifted her hands to show Ellie the pile of dust in them. "Most efficient way for underaged witches and wizards to travel. Ron, would you like to show Ellie how it's done?"
Ron nodded, stepping forward to scoop a handful of dust from the bucket in front of Molly. "It's a bit strange-feeling at first, but easy to get used to. You just have to step into the fire, say where you're going, and then drop the dust. Like so."
Ellie watched in fascination as Ron stepped into the fire, shouted "Diagon Alley!," struck the powder down, and disappeared.
"Magic is so cool," she whispered to Fred.
He chuckled.
"Fred, why don't you go with Ellie for her first time?" suggested Molly. "George, you can go with Ginny—it's her first time as well."
Fred reached easily for Ellie's hand. She tried not to blush as she accepted it and stepped toward the fire. She was comfortable with him—with all of them—at this point, but she still didn't have much experience with holding boys' hands—especially not boys who looked at her the way Fred did.
She grabbed a fistful of the dust with her free hand and followed him into the fireplace. The flames felt a bit ticklish, but not hot. She glanced up at him nervously; he nodded back at her with an encouraging smile. Together, they shouted, "Diagon Alley!" and casted their dust.
Ellie tried not to shriek as the flames grew and she felt a strange sensation of being stretched and warped through space. When she arrived safely on the other side, she thought for a second she might vomit, but feeling Fred's hand rubbing her back helped steer her away from it.
"Nicely done," he told her as he guided her away from the fireplace and, to her disappointment, dropped her hand. "Ginny and George'll be along any minute."
Sure enough, they arrived a few moments later. Ginny coughed and sputtered a bit, but was grinning from ear to ear all the while.
"So?" she asked eagerly once the whole group had appeared on the "other side," which looked to be some sort of inn. "Where to first?"
"Well, I successfully convinced Mum and Dad to let us take you to the emporium first," Fred told her. "But that's only after Gringotts."
"Gringotts?" Ellie repeated.
"That'll be the wizarding bank," Molly explained to her. "Your mum has been covering your expenses thus far, but she asked that we take from your father's vault from here on out."
Ellie's eyes widened. "My father's?" she repeated. "But… what if he needs it someday?"
Molly and Arthur exchanged a look at that. Finally, Arthur explained gently to her, "Don't worry—there's plenty."
"I don't understand," Ellie said an hour later as she stood in front of the giant, open vault that was filled with all sorts of gold and treasures. Fred and George had come with her and Arthur while the rest of the Weasleys went off with Molly. "I thought my dad was in his early twenties when he was arrested. How could he have made all this money?"
"It's family money," Arthur explained, looking uncomfortable. "Inherited."
Ellie stared at Arthur in confusion as handed her several sacks to put the money in. "So the Bretherworths are rich? Or… were rich?" She wasn't entirely sure which; her mother had always shied away from discussing her in-laws.
"I'm not entirely sure of the details," said Arthur. "Go on and fill those bags up, Eleanor. We've got a busy day ahead of us."
Ellie glanced at the twins, frowning. George, she could tell, was jealous; the vault was filled with more money than he had probably ever seen. Fred, though, looked more intrigued than jealous—the same way she was feeling.
Like he wanted answers.
About an hour later, Ellie emerged from Eeylops Owl Emporium with the owl of her dreams.
He was a delicate bird—on the lighter side in weight and the smaller size in height—with a kind, white face and soft, light brown feathers. The birdkeeper told her that he was young—only about seven months old—but there was an undeniable wisdom in his expression that made him seem older to her.
"So?" Fred asked as he peered curiously into the bird's cage. "What's the mystery name?"
She grinned. "Everyone, meet Woodstock. Woodstock, meet everyone."
They glanced at each other with confused expressions for several seconds before Ellie explained, "You know—like from Peanuts. The comic strip?"
"Comic strip," Arthur repeated, frowning. "Yes, yes—I think I've studied it before. But what is the significance of this 'Woodstock?' Is he an owl?"
"Well… no. I'm not sure what he is, exactly. But he was always such a good sidekick to Snoopy, and was named after a music festival, to boot. So I liked him."
George and Arthur looked no less confused than they had before, but Fred burst out laughing.
"What?" she asked him, pouting. "I wasn't even making a joke!"
"I know, El," he said, shaking his head, still smiling. "I just find it funny that you've clearly wanted a sidekick for so long, and now you have so many."
"So many?" she repeated. "What…"
But as she trailed off, she realized what he meant: him and George.
He was telling her that they were her sidekicks now.
And she very much liked the sound of that.
Their next stop was Ollivander's—the wand shop.
This time, Arthur stayed outside. It was just Ellie and the twins.
"Name?" asked the surprisingly old man at the front desk when she entered.
"Eleanor Bretherworth," Ellie said, cringing at the sound of her unfortunate name. "But you can call me Ellie."
The man squinted at her. "Muggle-born?"
"No, sir. Pure-blood."
"No need to lie, my dear. No prejudice here. There are no pure-bloods by the name of Bretherworth."
Ellie glanced at the twins, who looked confused, then back to the man. "I'm not lying, sir. My mum doesn't practice magic anymore, but she was a witch. She met my father at Hogwarts."
He held her gaze for a moment, still looking skeptical, then shrugged. "My mistake. You're here for a wand, then?"
She nodded, though she hadn't quite gotten over the fact that he had accused her of lying about her name.
"Fine, fine. Stand up straight and spread your arms."
Ellie did as she was told, trying not to laugh as an enchanted tape measure started unfolding over every possible dimension of her.
"Bretherworth," the man—who she was starting to gather must be Ollivander—muttered as he began to sort through dusty boxes of wands. "Bretherworth…"
But he clearly couldn't place the name.
"All right, then," he said, pulling out a box. "Unicorn hair, cherry, thirteen inches. Try it out."
Ellie accepted the wand eagerly, loving the idea that it had a bit of unicorn magic in it. But when she unintentionally blew up several boxes, she cringed and handed the wand quickly back to him.
She went on that way for several more wands until, finally, he handed her a longer, darker, sturdier wand that he said was made of dragon heartstring and reed.
Ellie knew from the moment she touched it that it was the wand for her, but, just for fun, she gave it a swish. A series of brightly colored fireworks popped in response.
"Wicked!" exclaimed George as he eyed the fireworks. "You'll teach us, yeah?"
"Mine's dragon heartstring, as well," Fred told her with a friendly shoulder bump. "George's is unicorn."
Ellie tried not to smile too obviously at that.
They joined back up with the rest of the Weasleys after Ollivander's. Ellie tried not to notice the obvious strain of financial strife on the whole family as they shopped for books at Flourish and Blotts, but by the time they got to Madam Malkin's robe shop, she couldn't ignore it any longer.
"Perhaps I could buy him a few?" she whispered to Ginny as Ron begged his parents not to force him to wear his brothers' hand-me-down robes.
"Don't even try," Ginny whispered back. For the first time since Ellie had met her, she actually seemed pleased that she had another year before she would start Hogwarts. "They'll never accept charity—least of all from you."
"Your mother has been more than fair in her compensation for us taking care of you this summer," Molly told Ellie, having heard the last bit of their conversation. "It's made the burden of book-buying much more bearable."
"And I'll thank you both to not bring up money again," grumbled George as he and Fred picked out their one robe apiece.
Ellie glanced at Fred, who gave her a weak smile. She could tell that his family's lack of money wasn't easy on any of them, but he seemed to handle it the best.
"Okay," she said, heaving a sigh. "But can I at least treat everyone to a bit of ice cream from Florean's? As a thank you for taking such good care of me this summer?"
Molly smiled, reaching out to tousle Ellie's long, dark hair with a degree of affection Ellie's own mother rarely displayed. "Very well, my sweet girl," she said softly. "Very well."
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