Chapter Four - Diagon Alley
"Are you sure we can find all this in London?" Violet asked, rereading the list of school supplies.
"O' course ya can, if ya know where to look!" Hagrid replied cheerily. Violet raised her eyebrows at him. "Well, now, don' look at me tha' way, Violet, I know what I'm doin'!"
"I've never been to London before, but I'm certain if I had I wouldn't have seen any shops that sell magic wands! In fact, looking around now, I realize that I'm right! There aren't any magic shops at all around here, Hagrid, so what are you playing at?"
"Easy, there, Vi, easy--"
"Please don't call me Vi, Hagrid, it's Violet, six letters, not two."
"All righ', all righ', I'm sorry, Vi- er- Violet, I didn't mean to get you excited!"
Violet didn't reply. She was very annoyed with Hagrid now; he'd led her all the way to London, a city which Violet had always wished to see, having never been out of Surrey, but things were starting to get a bit suspicious. Violet's temper ran high as she and Hagrid made no progress, and Violet couldn't help but allow her original suspicions that this was all just an elaborate hoax come back to life.
The pair turned onto Charing Cross Road, and Violet's gaze swept around the corner. It took her a moment to really take in the pub that was before her. It was called the Leaky Cauldron, and Violet couldn't help but notice that she and Hagrid were apparently the only ones who could see it.
"Here we are," Hagrid said.
Violet was speechless for a moment before gasping, "I'm sorry I doubted you, Hagrid, and I'm sorry I was such a brat a moment ago."
Hagrid chuckled. "Don' worry, Violet, it don' bother me..." He started to cross the road, with Violet on his heels.
When they stepped into the Leaky Cauldron, Violet saw that the pub was dark and shabby. A few old women were sitting in a corner drinking sherry, and a little man in a top hat was talking to the old bartender, who was quite bald and looked like a toothless walnut. Violet noticed that everyone seemed to know Hagrid. The low buzz of chatter stopped as they walked in, and people smiled and waved at Hagrid.
"The usual, Hagrid?" asked the bartender, reaching for a glass.
"Can't, Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business," Hagrid said, indicating Violet.
"Good Lord," said Tom the bartender, peering at Violet, "bless my soul, Violet Potter... what an honour."
He hurried out from behind the bar and seized Violet's hand.
"Welcome back, Miss Potter, welcome back!"
Violet didn't know what to say. She wasn't used to everyone staring at her, so she was somewhat uncomfortable. But after a moment of ringing silence where everyone in the place stared at her, people started jumping up out of their seats and shaking Violet's hands. Violet didn't quite know how to react to this, and was eager for this moment in the spotlight to be over.
After Hagrid and Violet finally got out of the Leaky Cauldron, they went behind the pub to where there was simply a brick wall and a waste bin.
Violet looked around. "Um, Hagrid? Why are we back here?"
Hagrid chuckled and replied, "We're here to enter Diagon Alley!"
"Diagon Alley?"
"Sure! It's where all the witches an' wizards buy their school things." With that, Hagrid drew a pink umbrella from his overcoat, tapped a brick on the wall, and stood back as a little peephole appeared. Then the hole grew bigger until an archway formed revealing on the other side a bustling street full of colourfully-dressed people. Many people were dressed in strange looking robes. Violet wasn't so sure if she wanted to dress that way, and remembered that the supply list had said that the school robes were supposed to be black. That was a relief.
Suddenly, Violet remembered another bothersome thing.
"Um, Hagrid?"
"Yeah, Vi? Er, sorry- Violet?"
"I, uh, I don't have any money. And there's no way the Dursleys will pay for me to go to school."
Hagrid chuckled. "Ya think yer parents didn' leave yeh anythin'?"
Violet blinked. "Well, I've never thought about that," she said truthfully. Then she became excited. "They left me money, then? Were they rich?"
Hagrid chuckled and replied, "They weren' rich, no. But they were pretty well-off. O' course they left you their money! It's all in their vault at Gringotts, the wizard bank!"
"There are wizard banks?" Violet asked.
"Gringotts is the only one," said Hagrid. He smiled and motioned for Violet to follow him, so the pair headed down the street.
Violet couldn't keep her head from snapping all about as she tried to get a good look at all the amazing things in Diagon Alley. What really caught her attention was a shop with a few younger children standing outside it admiring a broomstick in the window. Somehow Violet found herself believing the children when they said that it could really fly.
Finally Violet and Hagrid got to the end of the street and gazed up at the enormous building that was Gringotts.
"Here we are," said Hagrid happily. Violet merely nodded.
They started up the steps and at the top were greeted by a couple of short, odd looking creatures.
"What are they?" Violet whispered inquiringly to Hagrid.
"Goblins," Hagrid replied.
The goblins bowed them through the gates and into the bank where they beheld many more goblins bustling about and sitting counting money. Hagrid approached one goblin at the counter, and Violet wandered off to the side to gaze at all the marble in the building. She didn't hear nor care what Hagrid was saying to the goblin.
Violet's attention was attracted when a wizarding family entered the enormous room. A tall wizard with grey eyes, blonde hair, and a pointed nose, dressed in what appeared to be expensive robes moved quickly toward a goblin at the counter. On his arm was a blue-eyed woman with long blonde hair who must be his wife. She might have been pretty if it weren't for the fact that her nose was stuck in the air like she smelled something terrible. A young boy trailed behind the couple, undoubtedly their son, with grey eyes, slick white blonde hair, and a pointed face quite like his father.
Violet stared at the boy. He looked like he was about her age. He had a sour expression on his face. His parents didn't seem to be paying the least bit of attention to him. He turned his head then and his eyes met Violet's. His expression changed slightly, adding a hint of mild surprise, or perhaps it was interest. He and Violet stared at each other for a moment, heat creeping up Violet's cheeks. It was embarrassing to be caught staring. The boy glanced at his parents' backs, then returned his gaze to Violet and began walking toward her.
"Hello," he said haughtily, his facial features rearranged now so that he appeared spoilt and confident. "My name is Draco Malfoy. Are you attending Hogwarts, too?"
"Yes," Violet said, feeling a bit stupid for not having anything else to say.
"Well, that's good," said Draco, eyeing Violet as if he were trying to decide if she was worth talking to or not. "I'd prefer not to speak to a foreigner."
"Mm," was Violet's only reply.
"I hate the fact that first years aren't allowed to have their own broomsticks. That's such a ridiculous rule," Draco went on. "I might try to smuggle mine in anyway. I enjoy playing Quidditch, and I'm actually quite good at it. Do you play?"
"No," said Violet, wondering what in the world Quidditch was.
"Draco," a voice called suddenly, and Draco and Violet turned to see the woman facing them. "Draco," she said again, "come here!"
"That's my mother," Draco muttered, and headed off toward her, leaving Violet standing there watching.
Draco's father turned around as well and glared at his wife. "Narcissa, you were supposed to keep an eye on your son! He's your responsibility!"
"I was, Lucius!" Narcissa snapped, glaring at her husband. "I only took my eyes off of him for a second! And he's our son, Lucius!"
The couple bickered as they walked away, their son trailing behind them.
"Violet!" Hagrid called. Violet turned and hurried over to him. "Violet, don'-"
"What's Quidditch?" Violet interrupted.
Hagrid blinked, and then replied, "It's a sport, played on broomsticks. There are four balls: the quaffle, the snitch, and the two bludgers. It's kind of like soccer in the Muggle world."
Violet cocked her head. "Muggle world?"
Hagrid sighed. "I forge' yeh weren't brought up in our world… A Muggle is a non-magic person, like the Dursleys."
"Interesting," said Violet, as a goblin named Griphook led them to a cart on tracks in a dark passage. Violet, expecting more marble, was mildly surprised.
The ride down to Violet's vault was quite an exciting one. Hagrid, however, seemed ready to vomit. The goblin Griphook didn't seem to care.
"Key, please," he said when they arrived at Violet's vault, and Hagrid gave him a key which he used to unlock the door. Violet gasped. Inside were mountains of gold, silver, and bronze coins.
"All this belongs to me?" Violet asked quietly.
"Yeah, tha's righ'," replied Hagrid, and he helped her scoop some of the coins into a moneybag. As they filled the bag, Hagrid explained that the gold coins were called galleons, the silver coins were sickles, and the bronze ones were knuts.
Afterward they took another cart ride to vault seven hundred and thirteen, out of which Hagrid took a grubby little package. This he called "Hogwarts business", and wouldn't tell Violet what it was.
After heading back out into Diagon Alley, Hagrid and Violet went shopping. They bought a cauldron, new robes, and everything else on the list, except for a wand.
"All that's left is a wand," Hagrid said, consulting the school supply list. "There's only one place to go to get a wand, an' that's Ollivander's."
So Hagrid led Violet to an old looking shop with a sign over the door that read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.
A bell tinkled as they stepped inside. It was small, and there was only one spindly chair. Hagrid sat on it to wait. Violet shuffled her feet in the dust on the floor and started when a voice said, "Good afternoon."
An old man stood before them, staring at them with wide, pale eyes that shone like moons.
"Hello, sir," Violet said politely.
She moved forward and offered her hand, but Ollivander did not shake it. He merely stated, "I thought I'd be seeing you soon, Violet Potter."
He looked at her closely, then continued, "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work. Your father, on the other hand, favoured a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favoured it- it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."
Mr. Ollivander came so close to Violet that they were almost nose to nose. Violet suddenly noticed that he was staring at her forehead, where her lightning bolt scar was visible. Violet shook her head so her bangs fell over the odd mark, concealing it. She wasn't comfortable with Ollivander staring at it.
After measuring almost every part of Violet's body with a charmed tape measurer, and then handing her two dozen wands to try before snatching them away again, Ollivander disappeared into the back of the shop once more and came out carrying an old box.
"Try this one," he chided, removing the lid from the box and proffering the wand. "Holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple. Give it a wave, Miss Potter!" So Violet gave it a wave and to her surprise a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls.
"Oh, bravo!" cried Mr. Ollivander. "Yes indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well... how curious... how very curious."
"...What's curious?" asked Violet.
Mr. Ollivander fixed Violet with his pale stare.
"I remember every wand I ever sold, Miss Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather-- just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother- why, its brother gave you that scar."
Violet swallowed.
"Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember... I think we must expect great things from you, Miss Potter... After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things-- terrible, yes, but great."
Violet shivered. She'd actually kind of liked Ollivander until this moment. She wondered if he had somewhat lost his marbles.
After paying ten galleons for her wand, Violet left Ollivander's with Hagrid.
"Why do people stare at my scar?" Violet asked, pointing at her forehead. "All the people in the Leaky Cauldron, and then
Mr. Ollivander…."
"Why, tha's yer trademark, Violet!" Hagrid replied gruffly. "Yer famous for havin' that scar!"
Violet blinked. "I'm famous?" That's why everyone at the Leaky Cauldron--
"Yeah," said Hagrid, interrupting her thoughts, "tha's where You-Know-Who—"
Hagrid was interrupted as a little red-haired girl ran between Violet and him, yelling, "I want a cauldron, too! Why can't I have a cauldron and go to Hogwarts?"
"Because you're too young, Ginny!" cried a stout woman who could only be her mother. "Pardon me," the woman said as
she moved passed Hagrid and Violet to follow her daughter.
Violet stared after her for a moment. "Are they from a wizarding family?" she asked.
Hagrid nodded. "The girl mus' have an older sibling goin' to Hogwarts- yeh'll probably meet 'em!"
Hagrid then took her to Eeylops' Owl Emporium to buy her a snowy owl for her birthday present. Violet couldn't thank him enough.
After that they headed back out into the Muggle world and took a train back to Surrey.
"Here's yer ticket fer the Hogwarts Express. Remember that term begins on September first. If yeh have any trouble with the Muggles, just send me yer owl. She'll know where to find me. See yeh soon, Violet."
And Hagrid got off the train, leaving Violet there to make her own way home. She sighed and sat back in her seat. She glanced out the window once to see if Hagrid was still out there, but he had gone.
A/N: Yeah, I finally updated! Woohoo! Yeah, massive writer's block while writing this chapter... hope it doesn't show too much. The Ollivander quotes were from Ch. 5 of Sorcerer's Stone. What'd you think of the different setting for meeting Draco and for introducing his parents so soon? And the early appearance of Ginny and Mrs. Weasley? Please tell me in a review!