Chapter 5
My eyes snapped open again. I sat up a little straighter and hunched over the book I was trying to absorb. The text said something about floating objects, but every time I got through half of it, I fell asleep. Maybe I should have just gone to bed. All of the books were so confusing, all talking about swishes and flicks and prods with your wand. I was frustrated when I could not practice at all. I had made the portal without a wand, but I could not do it again. It was too hard to concentrate like that.
Glowing embers cast eerie shadows on the walls and furniture. A clock struck two in the morning. I leaned back in the couch and watched the dying fire in the fireplace, content to just lie there. It had been a very exhausting day. I was almost asleep when a face appeared in the fire, in the very flames. I almost fell off the couch, my heart racing. It was Sirius. He, rather his head, said clearly, "Hello Olivia. I'm Sirius Black, we weren't really introduced. Is Harry around?" I shook my head, sitting up. He seemed downhearted by this and appeared rather sad. I felt bad. But wait, the trio said earlier that Hermione could get into the guys' dormitory. Maybe I could too.
"Hold on a second." I pushed the book of third year spells, that was resting on the couch, onto the pile on the small table beside me and stood up, shaking any sleep from my head. I'm sure I looked splendid, curly hair everywhere. I tied my hair in a ponytail quickly, and headed over to the boys' staircase. I breathed in deeply and ran up the stairs as quietly as I could. At the top of the stairs, there were many doors. Which door? I used my instincts and opened the one on my far right. It slid open with a resounding creak. I flinched, but no sounds of movement came to my ears so I entered. Someone in one of the beds was snoring extremely loud. Luggage and clothes littered the floor. Five beds were spread throughout the circular room. I carefully pulled aside the hangings of each one, inwardly cursing as I tiptoed on the cold hard floor. In the first on the right, the round-faced boy was snoring profusely in. The second and third beds, I did not recognize their occupants.
I reached toward the hangings of the fourth bed, hoping it was Harry, when a voice muttered, "Don't touch that." I froze and glanced around hurriedly. There was no one there. "Get away from me spider!" It was coming from the bed I was standing next to. It sounded like Ron, so I went to the last one. Nevertheless, to my amazing bad luck, Ron's luggage carrier, hidden in the dark, became a large obstacle that I could not see. My leg hit it with a thump and I toppled over the luggage cart, landing in a heap on the ground. I gave a yelp of surprise, much like a cocker spaniel. The hangings of the fifth bed snapped open and Harry, in his pajamas, stepped out wand in the air. For a minute, he looked around the room before he saw me sprawled on the ground.
He squinted, "Olivia?" I nodded. He grabbed one of my hands and helped me up. "What are you doing in here?"
I felt a bit guilty for waking him up at two in the morning but I explained that there is a head in the fireplace. Sirius Black's head in fact. He stashed his wand in his pocket and we hurried downstairs. Sure enough, I was not going crazy, for the head was still there. Harry stepped up to the fireplace and asked, "Hey Sirius, what's up?"
Sirius appeared very happy to see Harry and began, "Fudge is coming in a week to see that Pettigrew is really himself, which means that everyone will know that I didn't kill those muggles or Lily and James. I'll be a free man!"
"That's great Sirius!" Harry exclaimed. "But why is he coming so late?"
"He probably doesn't consider this too big, considering he's worrying about Voldemort and all of the Death Eaters. They are attacking villages and muggles more and more everyday. All we have to do is make sure that Peter doesn't escape."
I was almost completely lost, except for the part about Pettigrew escaping. Harry noticed this, so he and Sirius explained everything. Took quite a while too. Sirius finally said goodbye and disappeared into the flames. Harry said goodnight and went back to bed. I sat on the couch for a minute before deciding that if I were to stay awake at all, then I would have to go to bed. I gathered up all of the books and set them on the table that Ron sat at earlier. Then I headed up the Girls Dormitory staircase, backpack in tow, and found the room. I carefully opened the door and looked around for an empty bed. There was one on the left side, with the hangings still tied to the bedposts. I pulled down the pressed white sheets, sunk into my new bed, and was asleep before I hit the pillow.
A voice interrupted my dreams, way to early for my liking. "Olivia, I forgot you were here! You only have fifteen minutes before Sirius is supposed to take you to Diagon Alley!" This shook me from my peaceful slumber, and my eyes shot open. After a moment of blinking furiously against the brightly lit room, a frantic Hermione was standing next to my bed, practically throwing clothes at me. "Here," she said quickly, "These were sitting on the floor by your bed. They're for you to wear." I inspected the clothing in my hands. Normal clothes, a blue long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans and other accessories, were on the top. At the bottom of the pile was a long black robe with the Gryffindor crest on the top right side.
"Thanks." I jumped out of bed, wincing at the iciness of the wood floor. With the clothes in one arm, I grabbed my bag on the ground. My hands reached for the toothbrush and toothpaste that were also on the ground. I also grabbed the hairbrush, towel, shampoo, and soap that were sitting there next to them. With those in hand, I ran into the bathroom to get ready as fast as I could. Ten minutes later, I emerged, hair dripping in tight curls. I hurriedly dried it with the towel, put my other items away in my bag, hung the towel up on a hanger, and bounded out of the door.
I almost ran over two girls heading to their dorm. With a short apology, I ran down the stairs and out of the Common Room. The portrait closed behind me silently. I skid to a stop in the hall. If only I could remember where the Dining Hall was. I walked around randomly until I saw a group of teens go in one direction and followed them. Luckily, my hunch was correct and the Great Hall came into view. I entered and gazed timidly at the four huge tables that occupied the room. I did not know where to sit. Someone recognized me from last night with my grand entrance and pointed me out to a few of his friends. They had a green crest on their robes. Slytherin. They must be slytherin. That table crossed off in my mind, I strode down the row until three friendly faces shone out from the crowds. "Over here!"
I sat down next to Hermione and grabbed a roll, spreading a chunk of butter over it. Harry handed me a piece of paper. It listed all of the classes I was going to take. I set it on the table and leaned over to look at everyone else's'. I had Charms with Hermione, Care of Magical Creatures with Ron, Potions with Harry, and Transfiguration as well as Herbology with all three. Also, Remedial Potions was placed at the top of the chart, though it was hand-written. Next to it the person also wrote '9pm'. A class that late? I showed this to them and Harry's eyes widened.
"I have that class too," he said, almost immediately glancing around to make sure no one extra was listening in. He leaned in further over his plate of bacon and toast. "It's Occlumency lessons," he muttered. Harry then sat back in his chair and glared at the Professors' table to where Snape was sitting. "Snape teaches it." The venom in his voice caused me to drop the subject. I crammed my roll into my mouth and barely finished swallowing it when Sirius came bounding into the Great Hall as a dog. He approached our table and sat down next to where I was sitting. I stood up, grabbed my timetable and said goodbye, and walked out with Sirius.
We exited the castle and began to walk on the trail that the carriages brought us there with. Sirius transformed back into a human and pulled out something from his pocket. It was a soda can. I did not ask what it was for. We approached the gates, where hundreds of floating ghost-like things were residing. Sirius made an incoherent noise next to me and in moments he was back to being a dog. One of the large gates creaked open to allow us to exit. But as we did, it got freezing cold. Horrible things of my past were suddenly rushed to the surface. The onslaught made me stop in my tracks, but Sirius barked at me to get going. I shook my head trying to clear away the images and ran forward, past the Dementors, so Harry had called them. Once past them, the awful feeling disappeared. Sirius was once again a human, glaring back at the evil floating creatures. "I hate those dementors. They remind me of Azkaban, the wizard prison. You never want to go there." He ended the subject, checked his watch, and held up the soda can. "Here," he said, "grab onto this." I did and waited for a moment. Nothing happened.
The tall grass was still green; the rolling hills of the scenery were still there. Then suddenly, there was a tug right around my navel. I gasped and felt myself pulled upwards. Moments later, we were standing in a street. Shops lined the street, as far as the eye could see. A sign behind me indicated that we were in Diagon Alley. Sirius tossed the empty can into a trash container next to the sign. He motioned for me to follow and led the way to the other side of the street, towards a place called 'Ollivander's Wand Shop.' Before he opened the door, he pulled out his wand and muttered something. His hair turned blond and short, and his eyes turned blue. "So no one recognizes me," he explained. We entered the shop, and the first thing that came to attention was loads of shelves. Shelves were everywhere on the walls. A desk was in the middle of the room, a vase full of daisies set on it.
A voice called out from the back of the room. "Wait just a second; I'll be right with you." An old man stepped out from the back room and came up to the desk. He had dark bugged eyes and stringy hair. An apron was around his person, covered in something dark and sticky. "Working on new wands," he explained at my stares. "You haven't been here before." It was a statement, not a question. "So, you need a wand do you?" I nodded. He hung his apron on a hook on a bit of wall that did not have shelving. "Which is your wand arm?" I did not exactly know, but I held up my right. "Very well. Let's try willow, nine and three-quarters inch, unicorn hair." He reached up to one of the boxes on the wall and pulled out a wand. He handed it to me. "What's your name?" he asked.
"Olivia Potter."
The man appeared shocked. "Ms. Potter? Hmm. This wand won't do at all. Let me get you something different." He took it back and searched for a different wand. He finally came back. "Ten and a half inches, cherry with dragon heartstring," he explained. The wand in my hand felt alien, like it did not belong there at all. Nevertheless, I gave it a little wave and the apron hanging up burst into flame. I dropped the wand in shock. Mr. Ollivander just waved his own wand and the flames disappeared. He went to go get another one. Every time I waved a wand, something bad would happen. I felt quite guilty when the vase broke, but the storeowner just said, "It must run in the family," and cleaned it up. Finally, thirty minutes later, I once again held up a wand in my hand. But this time it felt different. Like it wasn't weird to be holding a magic wand in my hand. I fluidly flicked my wrist, and purple sparks shot out of the wand tip.
Sirius who had been standing in the back half-asleep stood up and said, "Good, you've found your wand. How much is it?" he asked Mr. Ollivander.
Mr. Ollivander looked very pleased that I had unearthed my 'destined wand'. "That will be 7 galleons. A great wand you have received there; ten inch, holly, with a phoenix feather, much like Harry Potter's wand, though not the same phoenix feather." Sirius handed seven gold coins to the storeowner who nodded in gratitude. I thanked him. We left the store and started walking down the empty street. It must be just a shop complex, not for any vehicles. Sirius offered me the full bag of coins.
"This is from your parents for new school supplies." I accepted the drawstring bag and opened it, pulling out a small handful of the coins. One was large and gold, another was smaller, and the last was even smaller.
"What are these?" I asked curiously, turning the coins in my hand. They clanked together pleasantly.
Sirius stopped walking and pointed to the largest. "That is a galleon. And those are knuts and sickles," he indicated to the smaller ones. I nodded slowly, in comprehension.
"So galleons are worth a lot of money then?"
"Yes."
"Alright." We continued down the walkway, stopping at various shops. I bought black school robes from Madame Malkins. They looked very nice. Then we stopped at a bookstore and bought books with strange names like, 'Stepping into the Defense' by Frinda Furlocks. Sirius insisted on me buying 'Hogwarts, a History', saying that Hermione would kill him if he did not. With a bag of books and robes, we then went to the Aviary. Sirius explained that to contact people, they used owls to send messages, not postal service. I was going to buy one, but then I remembered my cat, Felix, and decided that I would bring him to school instead. I would borrow a school owl instead.
We went for the door, to go do some more shopping. But when I saw a tiny kitten all alone in a glass container by the door, my heart just melted. It was brown with white spots on his feet, with long fur that poofed him out, like a fuzz ball. He had sparkling blue eyes, which were locked on me. I reached for the door handle slowly, not wanting to leave. I could hear Sirius behind me stop. I asked, "Do you think I could take him?"
He considered it for a moment. "Well, technically they only want you to bring one pet to the school…but I'm not one for following rules myself. Go ahead." I reached in the glass container and carefully picked up the tiny ball of fluff, carrying the kitten to the counter.
The store clerk looked up as I approached the desk. "Oh, you have him." It was a statement. The woman had short brown hair and large glasses, enlarged eyes peered at the kitten and me.
"Yeah," I stated. "How much is he?"
She glared at the kitten. "That kitten has been loads of trouble. Our store bought him a couple of days ago. He is one of those slow-aging cats. Stays a kitten for a long time. Of course, it pleases girls who like small pets, but once he gets to that in-between stage, like teen years, he will be a nuisance. Take him about six months though. Are you sure you want that one?" She paused looking around the store. "What about that one, ages normally, much easier to handle." She was pointing to a red and white cat that changed its colors every couple of seconds. I shook my head. The woman sighed. "Seventeen sickles." I pulled out the moneybag and counted out seventeen sickles. Then I handed them over to the lady who cashed it. She pulled a carrying case out from under the desk and gave it to me. "For the kitten." Like I would use it for myself. I set it on the floor and coaxed him into the small case. With the case in one hand, bag of clothes in the other, I pushed the front door open, stepping into the light breeze outside. Sirius, who was waiting by the door, followed suit.
He turned to me, taking my clothes bag into the hand with the bag of books, as well as the kitten in the other. "I'll send these to Hogwarts so we don't need to carry them anymore. We need to visit a few more stores. I have an errand that I need to run, so I will be back in an hour. Go ahead and explore Diagon Alley." I thanked him for taking the items and he disappeared with a 'pop'.
I began to walk through the streets stopping at various shops. At the Quidditch Store, which I have NO idea what it is, there were brooms inside. One called the Firebolt looked fast, so it could be fun. I kept walking, stopped at an ice cream parlor, and finally got to a street that was called 'Nockturn Alley'. The brick was uneven, and the area was dark and spooky. Half of me did not want anything to do with that street, the other half was curious about what was down there. No one could be seen walking through that street, though at Diagon Alley, groups of people were scattered throughout the area. I wrapped my arms around myself tightly as a gust of wind rolled through. Folding my arms neatly, I put one foot on the twisted stones. Nothing strange happened, so I took another step, then another. Deciding that it was just an ugly part of town, I began to walk down the street. All of the stores had strange names, not adding to my list of good things about the area. Finally, after a couple of minutes, I saw a single person walking down the street, towards me. My instincts told me that I should hide. I quickly searched for somewhere. A pulsing red light caught my eye. I looked down; it was my ring. Taking that to mean that I definitely should hide, I jumped behind a large statue, to my right, of a wizard with the engraved name of 'Horus the Horrible'. The stranger was nearby now and I could tell who it was. It was the woman from the tower that disappeared. I crouched lower into the ground, tucking my ring under my arm to hide the glow. She must not have seen me. The woman glanced around suspiciously, before entering the window-less store ten feet away from me. I stood up after the door shut. What was she doing? I checked my watch. Sirius would be back any moment. Once again, my curiosity got the better of me and I edged to the door. The door had slipped ajar a crack. Raised voices could be heard through the gap. I leaned against the wall and edged it even further open. The woman was standing by two men, one of which was holding a mask, just like the attackers on the train the other day. She was arguing with them.
"You two should have known better than to just appear with others on the train! When I heard her talking to Malfoy's son, I summoned someone to remove the threat, but not until the train was moving. Now the relative is staying under the protection of Dumbledore. There is nothing that I can do there. The Dark Lord has specific orders to capture the relative alive." She paused, glaring at them. "You tell him that his new task will take time." The two men nodded warily. One of them started to talk about a new plan.
Instead of listening, I was in shock. A Dark Lord and others were trying to kidnap me? Why? I was brought out of my stunned state when a tickling in my nose started to rise. It slowly rose up higher. Not now! I tried to stifle it, but to no avail, I sneezed.
All three of them snapped to attention, wands out. I began to back away from the door. Through the crack, the three people were scanning the room. One of the men looked at the entrance and caught me. He gave a yell and pointed. Now all three were looking at me! I took off at once, bolting up the street. The woman screeched, "It's her! After her!" This made me go faster, but footsteps were gaining on me. The men's long legs were to their advantage. The steps got louder and louder until they were nearly to me. I could now see the sign that said Diagon Alley.
Then, from my left, an invisible hand snatched my wrist and pulled me over. I yelped, falling to the side, on the ground. Something light was thrown over me and a hand was put over my mouth. I tried to yell, but a person whispered, "Shh! It's us!" I whipped around and the hand came off. It was Harry and Ron. Harry was grasping the edges of a silvery blanket. Ron, on the other hand, was just staring at me in awe, or perhaps he was nervous. I looked past the silver material and could see the three people that were chasing me. They were pacing the area, the woman was fuming mad. She was screeching in an unknown language, upturning pots and looking behind open doors. Her search got closer and closer, and suddenly, she was standing right next me. All three of us held our breath. The woman leaned in, peering into the darkness. Then the men called something to her and she hastened away. They disappeared with a 'crack', leaving no trace of evidence behind. That is, except for me. How could they not have seen us? The reason for their immediate departure was hurrying down the street. Sirius, still in his disguise, and another man, who you could smell alcohol off a mile away, were speeding down the street.
"Mundungus," Sirius growled. "Let me get this straight. You left to barter for some illegal pixie wands, and when you got back, Harry and his friend Ron were gone. This just happened to occur while you were not here." The other man nodded his head. Harry threw the cloak off his head and called out Sirius' name. The two men turned around and ran over swiftly. I tossed the cloak off me, and so did Ron. Sirius gave a sigh of relief and said to me, "please, for the love of Merlin, don't wander down here. This part is dangerous." I apologized hastily. He waved it off. "I didn't tell you not to come over here; it's not your fault." He then turned to Harry seriously. "What were you thinking? Leaving school to follow your cousin into Knockturn Alley. I thought you knew not to come down here. How did you get here?" Harry appeared a bit gloomy that Sirius did not approve of him leaving school, but he explained anyways.
"I remembered the spell that Olivia yelled and tried it after breakfast. Hermione wouldn't come, but Ron did." Sirius became even more upset.
"Harry, don't use that again. Dumbledore himself wrote that spell, and it must stay in his office. If Voldemort gets his hands on that, he could appear in Hogwarts at any given time. There's no way to counter spell either, unless the user goes through it, as Snape found out." Harry nodded slowly. Great. That meant that at some point in time, I had to walk into the Lord of The Rings fantasy. It could be fun.
The three of us stood up from the ground. Harry stashed his amazing cloak in his robe pocket. We began to walk back up the street. On the way up, I explained to them how I had overheard the people. Sirius and the other man glanced at each other. "Dumbledore will want to hear about this."
We made our way to the front of the ice cream parlor. I soon learned that the staggering man beside me was Mundungus Fletcher, a hardworking special ops leader. That was until Ron began to laugh hysterically and Harry explained that the hard worker was one of the most unreliable people I would ever meet in my lifetime. Mundungus, after talking to a stranger in the parlor, muttered something about used cauldrons and disappeared with the other person. Sirius then pulled out his watch and held out an ordinary muggle pencil. "About time," he said softly. Hermione had told me about the name for non-magic folk. At first, it sounded like a fowl name, but it was much better than mudblood. Sirius reached over and grasped Harry's shoulder with one hand, mine on the other, and instructed me to do the same with Ron.
I did so, and for some reason, butterflies rose in my stomach. I did NOT like Ron. That was ridiculous. Shaking that thought from my head, I took a breath of fresh air and prepared myself as a something tugged my stomach. We whisked away, landing in a heap next to Sirius.