Beta:FlyingLovegood123
The stay at the Leaky Cauldron had been quite pleasant and uneventful. Dumbledore had stated that he would send someone to get him in less than a week, so Edward figured that he might as well use the free time to discover as much about this world as he could. For some reason, Tom warned him against going to the area that lay beyond the front doors of the Leaky Cauldron without a guide and only allowed him to go to the courtyard, where stood a wall that had a hidden door which would only open once you tapped the right brick. The first time Edward saw this, he wondered at the strange mechanism, though he quickly realized that it was magic in nature as well as was everything behind the door. There were hundreds, probably more, of shops of all kinds in the place that Edward learned was named Diagon Alley.
They were very fascinating, selling various items that ranged in every category you could possibly think of. Herbs, animals, books, clothes…, so many that Edward found it hard to keep track of. Those shop items weren't what Edward would expect to find in a normal market, either. Maybe it was just that he couldn't remember a single thing, but his subconscious mind seemed to have retained some of the common sense of wherever he came from, and it was screaming at him that the sight was wrong. Maybe it was the owls that were being displayed in front of the pet shops among the cats and dogs. Or maybe it was the brooms that were labeled like flying vehicles. Edward just ignored those things, though, because that feeling of being out-of-place had been nagging him constantly ever since he first woke up in that rain. He had come to realize that even though his memories were gone, his body still had some of the habits from his life before, but what it kept doing just didn't make any sense to him at all and certainly wasn't of any help. For example, in the morning, Edward got his breakfast only to carry it around in the corridor searching for a nonexistent destination before he was aware of what he was doing. Then for some reason unknown to him, he found himself cleaning the rooms at the pub and was scrubbing the floor in the pubs without even acknowledging it. And the most irritating part was, these unconscious acts did nothing other than confusing him, making him feel like he was about to recall something, only to be disappointed again and again. So he pushed them to the back of his mind and kept himself preoccupied with exploring the shops instead. He could only window-shop, of course, since although he found some coins in his belonging, they looked nothing like the gold, silver and bronze coins he had seen the people here buy stuff with. As such, he was practically penniless. His room and meals at the Leaky Cauldron were of course paid by Dumbledore, but he had no money for other things. Edward had no problems with that, though. He was contented with just having a place to stay. So he spent four days wandering the Diagon Alley, memorizing the shops. And only on the fifth day did something happen.
Edward woke up early that morning. Dismissing the tingling sensation that there was something he supposed to do, which he usually felt at this hour, he rolled off the bed and was about to get dressed when Tom poked his head into the room.
"Morning, Ed." The landlord was waving an envelope in his left hand "You have a delivery."
Edward frowned. Who would be sending him a letter? He knew no one here, after all. Or perhaps he did? Nevertheless, he took the envelope. It was yellow and fairly thick, with his name written on it in green ink. Well, his new name. Judging from this, he supposed the letter came from Dumbledore. The man was the one to give him the name Edward in the first place.
"Thanks." He said to Tom.
"No problem. Oh, and Dumbledore sent me words that Hagrid will be here today to pick you up, so you'd better get ready."
"Hagrid?" Edward tilted his head a little in wonder.
"Yeah, and don't worry, you'll know him when you see him. Well, I'd better leave."
Waiting until Tom had left the room; Edward sat back down on his bed and started examining the envelope more closely. There was a purple wax seal on it and he could make out a lion, an eagle, a badger and a snake surrounding a large letter H. He pulled out the content:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr. Edward,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find an enclosed list of all necessary books and equipments.
Term begin on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31. Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress
Edward had to read and reread the letter for several times, yet still not quite digested its meaning. He was right that this letter came from Dumbledore, or at least the place where Dumbledore was, but the others things confused him. He was suddenly being asked to go to a school out of the blue. Moreover, a school of witchcraft and wizardry? Now that just sounded totally far-fetched. Or maybe not. Edward reminded himself. He had seen a lot of witches and wizards in Diagon Alley, so why was the idea of a magic school still seemed so strange? All he knew was that just thinking about magic being used in the open felt strangely wrong. There was a list of all the books and equipments in the envelope, some of which for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what they were. But, even if he started giving himself questions now, there would be no answer. He would probably be better off taking Tom's advice and gather his belonging, waiting for this Hagrid to show up. It couldn't really be called packing, seeing that all he possessed was his old clothes and the things that came with them like the pouch and that mysterious orb, so he was done pretty fast. All what left was tidying up his room and waiting for the hours to go by.
