"Alright, we're here. You can get out now," said Vernon as he pulled over to the side of the road. After receiving his letter, Harry had spoken to his aunt and collected all of the specifics regarding Diagon Alley. She had never actually been there, but she had dropped off her sister at the entrance, and knew where it was.
"Thank you, Uncle. I will see you next summer," Harry replied. He had collected all of his belongings from Privet Drive and packed them into a rucksack, along with enough money to rent out a room until September. Now that he was part of the wizarding world, he would avoid his relatives as much as possible.
Vernon grunted as Harry stepped out of the car, and sped off as soon as Harry closed the door. Turning, Harry looked up at the rickety sign above the door hidden between two glass-windowed shops, reading The Leaky Cauldron. With a smile, Harry pushed the door open and stepped inside.
His eyes slowly adjusted to the darkened interior of the pub. It was surprisingly shabby for a place that was meant to be the gateway into London's most populated wizarding area. A bar stretched across the wall to his left, with several patrons hunched over it nursing glasses of some unidentifiable liquor. Tables of varying sizes were scattered about the rest of the room, though only a few were occupied. Behind the bar, a bald man whose head vaguely resembled a walnut absently wiped a glass with a tattered rag. Harry approached the near end of the bar, and the bartender shuffled towards him.
"Morning, young sir. Welcome to the Leaky Cauldron! My name is Tom. How can I help you today?"
"Hello, sir. I will be a first year at Hogwarts this fall, and my family is travelling for the rest of the summer. I will need to rent a room until September first, could you point me towards an inn?" Harry asked.
"As it happens, we actually rent out rooms on the second floor. I've got a few open ones, if you'd like? You have great access to both Diagon Alley and Muggle London, in case you have any business to attend to there. Only two Galleons a night for just a room and loo, three if you want the suite," Tom explained. Unfortunately, Harry had no idea what a Galleon was, or where to get it. He would have to get to an exchange or a bank to figure that out.
"As it turns out, I only have pounds right now. Do you know where I can exchange them for… Galleons?" Harry inquired.
"Of course! Just go into the Alley, and if you turn left and go all the way down, you'll find Gringotts, the bank. Just walk on in and ask for currency exchange and they'll get you sorted. C'mon, I'll open the way for you," Tom answered, coming out from behind the bar and walking towards the back door of the pub.
Harry followed him through the door, coming out in a small area enclosed by high brick walls. "Here you go kid, Diagon Alley!" Tom exclaimed as he tapped a few bricks with his wand. With a clatter, the bricks began to whirl and shift, creating an entryway to the alley beyond.
Harry's mouth dropped open. This place was indescribable. He had only been able to see it for a matter of seconds, but it was already the most wondrous thing he had ever seen. There was a purple robed wizard carrying a cage containing what appeared to be a seven headed chicken, arguing with a vendor working at a stall labelled "Genuine Cockatrice Kidney: Guaranteed to Increase Virility!" The stores lining the alley on either side were selling things that Harry could not have imagined were real. Flying broomsticks, magic carpets, the list was endless.
"Well there you go, kid. Remember, all the way down to the left," Tom said as he turned back into his pub.
Harry wandered down the alley slowly, head swiveling back and forth as he tried to commit the entire alley to memory, even as he knew that he wouldn't be able to take in even a fraction of what he was seeing. Suddenly, the rows of shops came to an end, replaced by carved marble structures. He looked up, and was awestruck once again. The building before him was the most extravagant example of architecture he had ever seen. The details were so fine that he couldn't even make out where patterns began or ended.
He walked up the front steps, then froze as he was once again overwhelmed. Two beings in heavy armor, carrying tall halberds flanked the doors. What fascinated him was the clear inhumanity of the beings. They were short, shorter than even Harry was. Any other differences were impossible to determine, since they were wearing full helmets on their heads. He passed through the doors, into a small but excessively decorated entry hall, with large silver doors at the far end. As he approached, words became clear on the surface of the door, reading:
Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.
Two of the creatures, identical in appearance to the first two, flanked these doors as well. When he came close, the doors opened inwards of their own accord into a massive hall. It was the largest single room Harry had ever seen. The arching ceilings soared nearly a hundred feet in the air, supporting a massive chandelier that hung down over half of the distance from the ceiling. The floors were a combination of black and white marble, blended together into intricate patterns that defied belief in their intricacy. Along either side of the hall, tall counters ran the entire length, with more of the creatures seated on high stools, some sorting what appeared to be gems or precious metals, others attending the needs of customers. Harry moved behind a customer that was already talking to one of the creatures.
"Look here, goblin, I will not be spoken to like that by the likes of you! I demand that you waive the fee. That is complete extortion to charge me for someone else's wrongdoing!" the customer yelled at the creature, now identified as a goblin.
"I'm afraid you declined the option of insuring your key when you first received it, I have no choice but to charge you for a replacement," replied the goblin. His words implied sympathy, but his toothy grin and rough tone said otherwise. "In order to access your vault, you'll need to pay the ten Galleon key replacement charge."
"Highway robbery! I won't be intimidated by you. I have friends in the Goblin Liaison Office, and you can rest assured they'll be hearing of this!" the man exclaimed as he stormed away from the counter.
"Yes, I'm sure they will," said the goblin to himself. He shuffled the files before him into a folder, dropped it into a slot to his side, and turned forward. "Business?"
Harry stepped forward nervously. "Erm… I need to exchange some pounds into Galleons?"
"Name?" asked the goblin as he pulled a form from underneath the counter.
"Harry. Harry Potter."
The goblin's eyes flicked up to Harry's head briefly before focusing again on Harry's eyes. "Really now… isn't that interesting. Hold on a moment." The goblin reached down and pulled out a thin file. Opening it, he scanned the top document for a moment, closed the folder, and dropped it in the slot on the desk. He pressed a button on the countertop. "Send Griphook up here."
"Is there a problem?" Harry inquired.
"It would appear that you own a vault here, but you have never received your key. We will get that taken care of in just a moment."
A goblin walked up behind Harry. "Yes, Clerk Sharpfang?"
"Take Mr. Potter to his vault. I will have someone meet you at the cart with his key. Mr. Potter, would you like to purchase the key loss and theft insurance?"
Author's Note: I made a slight edit to chapter 2 after realizing I forgot to mention something: the spell Dumbledore placed on Harry as a baby naturally degrades when the child turns eleven. Hope you enjoyed!