Chapter 3: Diagon Alley

A bustling street full of shops of all sizes, people and all sorts of goods. Children laughing and running by. Brooms in a window shop. Owls flying around the roofs and landing on fences and lamp posts.

Whatever Nelliel had expected, this wasn't it. There were lots of people, but not enough to make her nervous. Filius grinned, motioning to the scene with an outstretched arm.

"Welcome, Nelliel, to Diagon Alley!"

He chuckled again, eyes full of mirth. Her eyes darted around, taking in the bright colors from the shops and how happy everyone was.

"It never gets old, seeing the shock and surprise when the Alley is revealed." He stepped forward and she had to tear her attention away and back to him, or get left behind. "Now then-"

Filius spoke excitedly. He began listing off what they were going to be getting and what stores they were going to. She tried to listen along and not get distracted by all the shiny stuff they passed but it was exceedingly more difficult as they walked.

"Our first stop will be Madam Malkin's to gather some clothes for your wardrobe. After all you will need many new clothes, not just for school either." Filius had a bright smile. "Then we will need to gather your books, tools, a trunk, and a familiar- an animal. Let's not forget you will need a wand as well-"

Among those things he mentioned they would be getting was a pet, or as he said 'Familiar'. Apparently it was odd for a Wizard or Witch not to have one. She felt a tingly excitement at that. She loved animals, and this sounded like she would be able to have a closer bond to them.

Her Biology teacher had a Tarantula named Rosy, an old thing that she let the students hold once. She also had two hissing cockroaches and later that year she brought in baby ducklings to show the students. She was one of her favorite teachers. She loved the hands-on experience with animals. She was also glad bugs didn't bother her as much.

She choked up slightly at the memory. Her hand clenched the opposite sleeve of her sweater. Her gaze followed Filius as he led her through the Alley.

"Normally you would receive a letter of acceptance and list of school supplies. Since I know the list already we'll go ahead and just get everything at once."

She nodded along to show she was listening when he glanced back at her. Taking in the other shops they passed. She realized the shops all were built in a way like the ones that surrounded the square back home. They had the homes or extra stories built above the shops and the shops were pressed tightly together. It was in order to conserve space.

She took note of the sketchy looking alley way they passed with a sign that said Knockturn Alley. From the way people sped up when they passed it she guessed it must be the magical equivalent to the alleys back home that drug dealers resided. Labeling it dangerous until she had more information on it.

"Here we are." Filius announced, leading her into a shop full of beautiful robes of assorted colors. It wasn't just robes either. There were a wide variety of normal clothes such as dresses and skirts and shawls. There were pants, shirts shoes and scarves too. Some things were more modern while others seemed as medieval as the people in the Alley.

There were also hair accessories. Something she would probably be using a lot to keep her hair out of the way. Now that it was long and trailed behind her.

"Ah, Filius, what can I do for you today?"

A woman stood in the middle of the room with an air of familiarity towards him. She had short white hair styled around her face and sparkly blue eyes. She smiled brightly and Filius grinned back. They were clearly old friends. 'Maybe they went to school together...'

"Not for me, Malkin dear." Filius proudly stated. "For this young lady, Nelliel."

The way he said it confirmed for Nelliel that he'd been looking forward to this for a while. He was definitely more excited then her.

She waved from behind him. "Hi."

"Oh!?" The woman smiled brightly, a knowing glint in her eyes at her impending doom. Indeed, as soon as she noticed, the woman pounced.

"Follow me, this way dear," She ordered gently, shuffling her towards the back of the shop. "Let me measure you right up."

She blinked rapidly as she was brought to stand upon a stool and Malkin had her hold her arms up. Dropping her bag by the stool. This reminded her of every time her mom or grandma took her shopping. Unfortunately those usually ended with disaster.

She would end up as a rag doll as her input was ignored. She felt a knot in her throat. Those were simpler times.

From where she stood she could see Filius excitedly running around and looking at all the clothes and resisted face palming. She didn't want to mess up the measurements being taken. Malkin seemed to be taking secret delight in her pain and suffering and she was actually telling him where to go and what to grab.

Her wand waving towards the measuring tape and the pile of clothes that was growing by the counter. Nelliel had to applaud her multitasking abilities.

She found herself lost in thought again and wondered about this new world. Magic. Magic was real, she had it, she was going to a school for it.

'I almost was finished with college now I have to attend schooling again?' She frowned. 'I guess it's not so bad because the whole fictional aspect makes it less bothersome but really...'

Malkin, who she hadn't realized was gone, came back and shuffled her, once again, to some other part of the store. She realized with embarrassment that Malkin meant for her to go through personals and underclothes.

Malkin left her again and she could hear her talking to Filius but couldn't make out their conversation, probably Malkin directing him to different clothing items again. Deciding it wasn't important and moving through the aisles of stuff, some things were normal and some weren't. She picked out things she knew she would use, nothing fancy. She perused the socks and that's where the fun began.

She couldn't help but ogle at them, some had moving pictures like kitties that stretched and chased mice and bats that flew around them. Another pair had a little golden ball with fast moving wings that zoomed every which way. She couldn't help herself here. They were too cute. She may have grabbed more then she intended.

Nelliel eventually emerged from that room to see Filius standing proudly by several bags like he won the Olympics. She placed the stuff she picked out on the counter and the woman bagged them quickly. Filius brought out his wand again and shrink the bags. Malkin then took them to another room before coming back.

"I should get them to the castle by the end of the day if the weather stays nice." She said and he nodded in appreciation, "Now then, I know it's nontraditional but is there anything specific you want done with your school robes?"

The question surprised both her. 'Won't that affect the dress code?'

She thought about it for a moment and her eyes widened, she knew exactly what she wanted. She was a pretty clumsy person and with her hair the way it was, that was an even bigger problem.

"Is it possible to leave off the sleeves?" They both raised their eyebrows. "I'm really clumsy and that would help prevent a lot of messes." They accepted this surprisingly and Malkin wrote it down on a piece of thick, yellow, paper.

"All right Filius, that's everything correct?"

"Yes, of course. If I need anything else I will contact you by owl." He was radiating with excitement and she realized that they still had a lot of stores to go to. It was going to be a long day.

The next place they went to was a shop that sold trunks. Filius insisted she pick it out and so she walked around as he chatted with someone near the front. There were all kinds with different woods and metals. They had lots of compartments. Some even had whole houses inside. She was impressed by that. They all had lists of the compartments and she read each one carefully.

Eventually finding one she liked. It seemed sturdy and had little fishes burned into the wood that swam around and seemed rather cheap compared to all the others. She thought it was cute, and it had a compartment for clothes, books, and potions ingredients. There was a place to store her cauldron and the other tools as well. She could set a password to lock it and thought that was useful.

Really though, she couldn't help herself when cute things were involved.

Filius approved of the selection. The man showed her she could even mimic feeding them. He then shrunk the trunk after she set the password and they moved on to another shop.

The next thing on their list was potion ingredients and tools. Nelliel found it fun to walk around this shop and look at everything, even if she wouldn't be using most of it. It seemed potion making was similar to cooking or medicine making.

Though some of the objects and jars freaked her out a little. It made her remember biology class again. This time the preserved dead things in jars her teacher would put on the desks sometimes.

Filius let her explore for the most part. It seemed he was just glad she was interested in things considering what he knew of her sudden loss of family.

'Maybe I should tone it down or seem sadder...' She watched as the man at the counter gently wrapped and bagged the items they purchased.

Then they got books. Filius had been most excited about books. He pointed out good ones he recommended to her and even encouraged her to look for ones she might like. She inwardly cringed. Having remembered that she really didn't like books very much. She still looked anyway.

Thankfully the subjects here were more interesting and she wouldn't get bored so easily. She got a couple of the ones he suggested in an attempt to appease him and found one or two she thought looked interesting.

They were on the moving paintings. When she first found out the paintings moved she immediately wanted to know more. Filius seemed oddly pleased with the two books on the subject and agreed to them.

Finally, Filius brought her to the one place she had been really looking forward to visiting. There were animals everywhere, of all various kinds. Filius immediately stopped her from running off right away though.

"Owl, Toad or Cat." He reminded her.

She nodded and stood in between said creatures. Her instinct was to go with the cat but decided not to. She couldn't replace a cat she knew she wouldn't see again. Even if they are cute and cuddly. It was just too soon. She bit her lip. Unable to help it but wonder how her cat was faring.

'Would he understand I'm not coming home?' She tilted her head. She should stop those thoughts now, she can deal with the internal struggles later. Right now, she needed to portray herself as a normal ten-year-old.

She turned towards the toads and barely considered them. She liked frogs and toads, she just didn't think she'd like to keep one as a pet. At least not now. That left Owls. She turned her head to where the majestic birds were.

Walking over to some of the stands she couldn't help but be in awe. There were little fluff balls and large majestic ones. She had only really seen owls in books or on TV. To see them up close was exciting.

Filius told her that owls were used for mail, or as he called it, the post. This meant she wanted one that could carry mail well. She turned at the sound of wings flapping to see a woman enter from another room wearing an apron. She had perched on one arm a huge, tawny colored owl with two, black tufts above each eye like eyebrows that made it look angry. Suddenly it opened its long wingspan and took off with a loud call.

The woman let out a surprised shout. She didn't react in time and it circled the room.

It seemed to zero in on her location and flew around her. Almost on instinct she held out her arm and mentally berated herself. She wasn't wearing any protection on her arms. It seemed to be what it wanted though, because it landed on her arm and began ruffling its feathers. She just stood there awkwardly. The woman came over and shook her head at his antics.

"I'm terribly sorry kid, he's usually much more calm. He doesn't like people much." She apologized as she reached out her arm towards Nelliel's. The owl refused to budge.

"He usually keeps to himself."

The owl moved further up her arm. The woman was becoming increasingly nervous when she realized that the bird wouldn't cooperate. Nelliel frowned. She thought such a large bird would be rather heavy, or painful, to hold but it was more comforting than anything, and not as heavy. She felt somewhat like the owl was meant for her. The woman mistook her frown as one of displeasure and went to just grab the bird only for it to peck at the woman's hands. She shook her head.

"I don't think he wants to leave." The lady said matter-of-factly. She asked her to show her where his perch was and she pointed to the one empty cage near the ceiling.

"Turkmenian Eagle Owl." She read aloud and the woman nodded.

"This one is a young male." Nelliel nodded and brought the owl, and the woman as well to speak to Filius. They found him looking at owl treats.

Filius turned to them as they neared and smiled. "Have you decided?"

"Uh..." She looked at the owl which preened and crooned at her. "Yes?"

The woman sighed but nodded her head. Filius led the way to the front of the shop where the woman also handed her a book about owls and their care. They thanked her and Filius paid.

Nelliel stopped Filius outside before we went to our final destination.

"I um..." He waited patiently for her to speak. She looked down. "Thank you..."

"There's no need to thank me, Nelliel." He patted her arm. "I am just glad that I can do this."

They moved on and she followed him to a pretty dingy looking shop. It looked ancient compared to the others. This would be their last stop for the day.

'This is where I get my wand.' She followed Filius into the shop and a bell above the door jingled. 'I wonder how they're made.'

"Ahh-" She jumped and her owl companion fluttered agitated as an old man appeared from thin air next to them. "-Filius, surely your wand is still as strong willed as ever?"

"Of course!" Filius grinned and nodded his head.

He turned to Nelliel and she moved forwards into view, the owl still perched on her left arm.

"Hello sir." She said softly with a small wave.

"Nelliel, though, definitely needs a wand." Filius finished.

The old man smiled warmly, his pale eyes shone with interest. He waved his hand and a measuring tape came out of nowhere and began measuring her.

"Well isn't this delightful, you're practically glowing with pure magic!" He said fascinated. "Tell me, what is your most dominant hand?"

"My right hand."

He nodded in thought and began shuffling about behind shelves.

She looked around. She could tell Filius didn't notice but there was a low hum coming from the many boxes. It seemed to get louder the longer she stood there.

The old man came back with a long, slender detailed wand that he placed in her right hand. She blinked at him. At his urging she gave it a gentle wave only for him to frown. Nothing happened. She looked at him as he took it away and he seemed to consider something as he caressed the wand.

"Odd, odd." He turned and shuffled around in the background. Moving boxes around and shifting between rooms. Loud thuds as he knocked things over and dropped things echoed through the small building.

Every once in a while he would enter with a wand but stopped before coming near her and going back to what he was doing beforehand.

He entered and paused once more. Seemingly in deep thought about something as he watched her. Nelliel couldn't help but feel scrutinized, like he knew. Knew what she really was, what had happened. Which was an odd feeling considering he had no reason to. She still couldn't help but worry a little.

He took off behind the shelves again and this time didn't come back any time soon. She shuffled her feet and looked at all the boxes. The humming was loud and she wondered how Filius couldn't hear it.

The old man finally came back, a purple box in his hands a stark contrast to the black boxes on the surrounding shelves. He gingerly set it down and looked at her and back at it. Opening the box he took out a long, warm colored wand with a jagged and sharp shape.

He brought it to her and she examined it. It was almost shaped like a bird and the handle appeared feathery. It hummed differently to the other wands, which seemed irritated now. She gently brought it up before bringing it down slightly harsher than the wand before. Small, white flower heads sprang forth and gently floated to the floor in a shower of white.

She recognized the flower. It was poisonous. Her favorite flower, Lily of the Valley. The old man clapped and waved his hand to remove the flowers with great enthusiasm. She smiled, glad it was finally over. Finding a wand was for some reason overly complicated.

"Well done! Well done!" He said. "Hawthorn, Phoenix feather, 12 3/4, slightly yielding flexibility." He turned to Filius when he stepped forward.

"I thought it would be slightly more difficult." Filius said, inspecting the wand like she had moments before.

"Ahh, but it was, you see, I had to look for something different, I had to think." She looked up at him. "The wandmaker Gregorovitch wrote that hawthorn 'makes a strange, contradictory wand, as full of paradoxes as the tree that gave it birth, whose leaves and blossoms heal, and yet whose cut branches smell of death.' While I disagree with many of Gregorovitch's conclusions, we agree that Hawthorn wands have complex and intriguing natures that match their owners. Hawthorn wands are both suited to healing magic and adept at curses."

He paused and added something as an afterthought with a pointed look towards her.

"They also appear most at home with a conflicting person or someone passing through turmoil."

Nelliel saw the interested look on Filius' face out of the corner of her eye. She looked again down at the warm wand in her hand and felt it practically vibrate with happiness. Everything he said sounded like what was going on with her right now. She doubted it was coincidence this time.

If only they knew how exactly the truth the words he spoke were, and maybe he did, if his calculating gaze earlier was anything to go by.

"The wand chooses the witch or wizard, Nelliel, but in this case you had to accept each other." He peered down at her and turned back to the counter.

Nelliel ran a finger down the warm wood. The ragged and messy design was comforting. It was a nice distraction to everything that happened.

She looked up to see Filius walk back over to her, he had a small gauntlet looking thing in his hand that appeared to be made of leather.

When he noticed her questioning look he answered the quiet question. "This is an arm holster, it'll hold your wand safely and allow for easier access to it."

"Oh, ok."

He gestured for her to hold out her right arm and she did. He then showed her how to place her wand inside. Once it was inside he showed her how to bring it back out. She flicked her wrist down and caught the wand in the palm of her hand. Once she slid it back in and could successfully do it a few times it was time to go.

Filius led her back to the Leaky Cauldron. They paused inside the brick archway rather than continue into the building. She tilted her head while he straightened his clothes.

'Why did we stop?'

"We're going to apparate outside the castle gates, he will be able to find his way there." He motioned to the owl on her arm.

She blinked at him as he ruffled his feathers. 'I honestly forgot he was there. He's so lightweight…'

At her worried look he patted her arm. "Don't worry he was trained for this. He knows where to go."

She wanted to remain worried but if magic was real then the owl would be able to find a castle. So she muttered softly, "I'll see you again soon."

She still needed to give him a name. He seemed to understand what she wanted because he took off into the sky. She watched him go and then looked back at Filius who held out his hand.

"You will need to hold my hand, don't move until we are on the other side or you'll end up splinched."

She didn't know what that meant but she nodded her head to show she was ready. She took his hand and he turned on his heel. Prepared for the discomfort. With a loud crack they were sucked through a straw.

Nelliel was oddly grateful that Stanley did this yesterday, or she wouldn't know what to expect. The unpleasantness that followed apparition came and she tried not to vomit.

"We're here."

She let go of his hand and opened her eyes. Before her was a huge metal gate and stone wall. Beyond that was one of the most beautiful castles, still intact, she had ever seen.

Not that she had seen many, but in comparison to the few this would be the most memorable. There was a comforting feeling radiating almost from the castle, it reminded her of the tingly sweet feeling when she suddenly made the glass in her eye disappear.

The best way to describe it would be to call it, 'Home.'

The grass was so green and healthy, and the trees surrounding it were big and full. It was definitely one of the coolest things she had ever seen.

"Hogwarts, she's wonderful the first time you see her isn't she? It's even better when you arrive to the school at night and it is all lit up. Come on, let's get you settled in."

Filius smiled kindly and once again took the lead up to the castle. She followed, eyes wandering as she tried to take in as much of the place as she could.

'Maybe things aren't so bad after all...'

AN: Sorry this is so late blame carpel tunnel I'm just glad I got it done. Gonna work on the next chapter now. I hope I got all the spelling and grammar fixed. I probably missed a thing but oh well. -Lav