Chapter 5 :: Diagon Alley Revisited
A/N Thanks delenda est c for my first review! Harry will complete his shopping in this chapter. In the next chapter, he begins to explore Magic while struggling to live on his own. That one should be ready in a week or so.
THE sun was just beginning its journey across the heavens when I awoke the next morning. The sky looked cold, grey, and foggy, but the interior of the tent felt warm and cozy. Since it was still much too early to return to Diagon Alley and resume my exploration, I settled in and began skimming the first year texts I'd bought.
Over the next few hours I noticed some joggers and cyclists passing by on the path outside my tent. The enchantments preventing the tent from being seen by Muggles seemed to be working flawlessly, and I felt a small thrill knowing I was practically invisible, as long as a witch or wizard didn't happen to walk by.
I tried out the tent's shower for the first time, which had knobs for hot and cold water just like a Muggle one. Once clean, I dressed and returned my Hogwarts letter and Muggle pounds to my robe's pocket, planning on completing my shopping today.
After a moment's consideration I removed my robe and tied the sleeves around my waist; a wizard robe would attract notice in Muggle London. Watching through the windows until the coast was clear, I exited my tent and tapped the black patches to activate the self-packing enchantment. Soon it had folded itself away into a neat canvas bundle and I hitched it up onto my shoulders.
The sun was now high in the sky, and it had burned away the morning fog. I ambled east down Bayswater Drive, which ran along the northern edge of Hyde Park. After twenty minutes I came across a department store called Marks and Spencer on the left side of the street.
I found several packages each of v-neck t-shirts, ankle-cut socks, and boxer briefs, all in black. Tallying the prices, I selected a black hooded bomber jacket, two pairs of soft, loose fitting black chinos, and some comfortable rubber soled black leather shoes. I paid for my new clothing and loaded it up into the pockets of my robe.
Exiting the department store with a handful of pounds leftover, I continued heading east. Five or six blocks further I found a McDonald's, and spent the rest of my Muggle money on a Big Mac, large fries, and a soda. After eating, I turned south onto a street named after Poland, then alternated making left and right turns on the narrow back streets, working my way in a zig-zag southeast.
Luck was with me, and after nearly an hour of steady walking I hit a section of Charing Cross road I remembered from yesterday. Taking a left, I walked a few blocks to the Leaky Cauldron. Shrugging into my robe, I hustled through to the back with my head down. The archway into the Alley was open, with people both entering and exiting, and I slid through the crowded passage.
Perhaps I was being a bit paranoid with my efforts to avoid notice, but then maybe my paranoia was the reason I hadn't attracted any attention yet.
My first stop in the Alley was Gringotts. After collecting three hundred Galleons, I handed fifty to Griphook and asked him to convert them to Muggle currency. He told me that a ten percent money changer's fee would be deducted, so I picked up and forked over another five Galleons to cover it. I emerged from the Goblin bank half an hour and two cart rides later laden down with two hundred and fifty Galleons and the same number of British pounds.
My next stop was Ollivander's, where I got the holly and phoenix feather wand for ten Galleons in a process eerily reminiscent of the scene in the books. I suspected Ollivander might have prepared a script for the encounter. I hoped that none of the shopkeepers would think to mention my presence to Dumbledore, given the volume of Hogwarts shopping going on.
Returning to the second-hand luggage store I'd seen yesterday, I eventually found a promising trunk. It looked like a normal wooden trunk, brass fittings adorning the edges and corners, and a pair of wheels jutting out on one side. The interior was significantly deeper than it appeared from the outside, and a false panel covering half of the trunk's bottom slide aside to reveal a trapdoor.
The trapdoor opened onto a space that was about ten feet cubed, with walls made of the same wood as the trunk, and a rope ladder hanging down to the chamber's floor. I was about to descend when a clerk approached me, a chubby brunette in her thirties with a pleasant smile on her face.
"Hey there, getting your Hogwarts trunk?" she chirped brightly.
"Yes, how much is this one? My family travels a lot, and my father told me to find a trunk like this, with a lot of storage. He gave me Galleons to pay for it," I replied, doing my best to sound like a precocious youngster. I had noticed that when I spoke without hesitation, my words came out with a perfect British accent despite my being an American. That was one thing I didn't have to worry about, at least.
Soon I was counting thirty five Galleons from my pocket as the clerk explained the trunk's features. In addition to the standard weight-reduction and protection charms, there was a custom locking enchantment added by the previous owner. With a grimace of distaste at the barbarity, she explained that I'd need to shed some of my blood on the floor of the chamber under the trapdoor to bind the trunk under my ownership. Thereafter, only I'd be able to open the trunk's clasp.
"Can I go ahead and do that now?" I asked after she'd finished counting the coins I'd handed her. After her nod of acquiescence, I climbed down the rope ladder, pulling the trapdoor closed over me. I set up my tent in a corner of the room, and went inside it to freshen up from the walk across London in the bathroom before changing into my new clothes.
I gathered up all the discarded packaging along with my old hand-me-downs from Dudley and put them into the bag they'd given me at the department store. This was feeling pretty good - new, properly-fitting clothes under my robes, my pockets loaded with Galleons, and even more importantly, a wand! The comfortable new shoes felt particularly good after all the walking I'd been doing in Dudley's ratty old trainers.
Ignoring the urge to try out a few of the Charms I'd read about that morning, and realizing I had nothing to cut my finger with, I climbed back out of the trunk. I then latched it shut and left the store dragging it behind me, waving goodbye to the friendly clerk, who returned my wave with a smile.
I walked into the used broomstick shop next door and spent some time looking at price tags. The most expensive brooms, recent Nimbus models in good condition, were upwards of a hundred Galleons. I found a serviceable looking Cleansweep 7 for forty seven Galleons and bought it, no questions asked. Depositing my broom into my trunk and heading back to the main concourse, I continued on and soon came upon Potage's Cauldron Shop. I bought two cauldrons, the required size two pewter one for fifteen Galleons, and a larger size three self-stirring brass cauldron for thirty Galleons, which I planned to use for personal projects.
The proprietor of Potage's directed me to Slug and Jigger's Apothecary a few shops down, where I got a set of brass scales, some glass stirring rods, a pair of protective dragonhide gloves, a pair of knives for cutting and chopping, and a set of crystal phials and glass vials with cork stoppers held in a two-tier wooden rack.
Altogether this set me back another forty two Galleons. I also picked up an Owl order potion ingredient catalog from a stack I noticed on the counter while paying, loading everything up into my trunk again before leaving the shop.
I'd been trying to keep a running tally in my head of how much I'd spent, and though I'd lost track of the precise sum, I figured I had less than a hundred Galleons left. Wanting to get this last requirement for Hogwarts out of the way before spending some time browsing Flourish and Blotts, I set off in search of Madame Malkin's to get my Hogwarts robes.
The store in question was much larger than the second-hand robe shop I'd visited yesterday, filled with warm daylight from several circular skylights in the ceiling. The seamstress who approached me paused, her eyes flicking up to my forehead for a moment and widening, but she made no further comment.
"Hogwarts, dear? The usual?" she asked.
I nodded, and scanned the shop as a magical tape measure began to snake across my body for a second time that day. Several middle-aged witches were browsing the racks of cloaks and robes, probably shopping for their children. A brown haired pair of toddlers chased each other about the store, shrieking and laughing as they scampered about.
The seamstress told me that my robes would be ready in around an the hour, and that I could pay when I came to pick them up. Thanking her, I left Madame Malkin's and, consulting my Hogwart's letter again, saw that I'd forgotten to get a telescope. I didn't remember seeing one in any of the shops I'd been in so far, so I began scanning display windows for the right sort of shop. Right next to Madam Malkin's was a store selling quills and stationary called Amanuensis Quills. While it wasn't on my list of items I realized I'd probably need some. I frowned; that seemed like a rather glaring oversight, particularly for Muggleborn students.
I went in and seeing the shopkeeper wasn't busy, asked if he could recommend appropriate supplies for a first-year Hogwarts student. He quickly set off about the shop assembling a collection of quills, ink, blotting sand, and rolls of parchment on the front counter.
"That should about cover it. We also do Owl orders if you need anything during term, here's our catalog,' he said, grabbing a small booklet with the store's name printed on it from behind the counter.
"Thank you," I replied. "Do you have journals or notebooks that I could use for my personal notes?"
After seeing the available options I went a single, leatherbound book he called the Variable Volume. At twenty Galleons it was quite expensive for something with blank pages, but the magic it was enchanted with made it worth the price in my opinion.
In addition to several convenient charms, like one which would allow me to erase ink by rubbing the page with the tip of my wand, the Variable Volume was a multi-subject notebook. One merely wrote added the title of the subject on the first page, and tapped a subject three times with a wand to activate it.
"Wonderful choice, sir! The Variable Volume was invented by my great-grandfather and there isn't anything else quite like it. Wouldn't get this at Scribbulus, oh no!" he chortled. From his slightly bitter tone I took it that Scribbulus was his competitor and that perhaps they did slightly better business than his rather deserted shop.
He helped me key the Volume to my ownership, conjuring a pin I could stab my finger with and presenting me with the side of the book. I pressed my bleeding fingertip into the center of the spine as directed, and watched in amazement as my bloody fingerprint faded away as if being absorbed into the leather surface.
I handed over twenty seven Galleons and twelve Sickles and thanked the man for his help, then put my purchases into my trunk and left the stationary store to continue my hunt for a telescope. Before long I had located Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment, which sold a variety of objects I didn't recognize in addition to the few I did, which fortunately included telescopes. The young , bored-looking witch behind the counter pointed me towards a nearby stand of small brass-plated models when I asked about a telescope for Hogwarts, then covered a yawn.
After making my purchase I made a beeline for Flourish and Blotts. First I set about finding the remaining books listed in my Hogwarts letter and piling them up on my trunk, which I left by one of the many small reading tables scattered about the premises. I then set off browsing titles at random, pulling out interesting looking ones and adding them to my stack. After what must have been at least half an hour of this I had amassed a rather impressive heap of books on my trunk, so I sat down at the table and began to attempt to whittle it down to a size I could afford with my remaining funds, while still having enough to pay for me robes.
In the end I decided on five books in addition to the required Hogwarts texts. The Enchanter's Primer listed charms that could be used to enchant places and items. Guide to Advanced Occlumency was an obvious purchase; I had plenty of reasons to get an early start with that. Despite its archaic language, Charms of Defense and Deterrence seemed like a great resource, full of spells I didn't remember from the books, as well as a large section devoted to the Patronus Charm. My final two books were meant to give me deeper background on the Wizarding world, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century.
Shifting my attention to the books I wouldn't be purchasing, I spent some time reading. After skimming ahead through several grades of The Standard Book of Spells, I decided to buy the whole set, since I'd need them anyway for later years and they would make a great reference until then.
Deciding it that my robes were certainly ready by now, I bought my stack of books and returned to Madam Malkin's. After paying for the books and the robes, I was down to a dozen Galleons and a couple fistfuls each of Sickles and Knuts, but had just acquired just about everything I'd needed and felt satisfied with the results of my shopping. I'd need an owl too, but wanted to wait until later in the summer - I didn't need another responsibility given my current living situation.
Afternoon had set in some time ago, so I began to drag my trunk towards the Alley's exit. Much to my satisfaction I was able to activate the entrance to the Cauldron with my own wand this time, and I passed through the pub back into Muggle London. I noticed several Chinese restaurants on the other side of Charing Cross Road and crossed the street. Following the Chinese characters on the sides of buildings, I soon found what I was hoping for - an Asian supermarket.
On the inside, the Chinese grocery store looked exactly the same like ones I'd been to in America. Picking up a cart, I got a few heavy bags of rice, a bottle of soy sauce, a bag full of apples, and a crate of single-meal noodle cups which just needed some hot water added to them. Nothing fancy, but it'd allow me to avoid visiting a restaurant for every single meal.
My trunk was full to the brim after I packed away the groceries. Continuing west along the street I had been following, I soon found myself in an area that looked familiar from the morning's journey. I managed to retrace my steps all the way to Hyde Park and, after a stop for dinner at the same McDonald's, was on the path in front of my 'spot' as dusk settled in. The trunk had been difficult to drag all that distance despite the lightening charm's help, leaving my legs aching and my shoulders sore.
There were only a few people passing through this section of the park and it wasn't long before I had a chance to drag my trunk behind the cover of the small trees and overgrown shrubbery. Not wasting any time, I opened the trunk and piled my purchases out onto the ground to expose the trap door. Climbing down into the chamber I retrieved my tent and set it up outside, then refilled the trunk and pulled it into the tent. Finally feeling secure behind the anti-Muggle charms, I spent some time unpacking the trunk and organizing everything on the shelves lining the walls. Before long my fatigue overtook me, though, and I made my way into the bedroom.
Bundling up one of my new Hogwarts robes to use a pillow, I stretched out on the floor and pulled my new winter cloak over myself as a blanket, and was soon fast asleep.