"Knuts are kind of like cents, Sickles are the gold coins and Galleons are note money. Well, that's what they're sort of equivalent to, anyway." Leo yawned. I nodded slowly, trying my best to wrap my head around the idea of Gringotts.
"I think I get it." I flashed him a grin and Aries stirred on my lap. Leo looked down at the sleeping bird.
"We can probably get a raptor glove from Eeylops or the Magical Menagerie in Diagon, too," he mused thoughtfully, " and we're definitely getting your wand from Ollivanders."
The bus stopped and Stan called out to us."Aye, Leo, Aria. Vis is yor stop."
Leo nodded thankfully and Stan almost pouted as we sidled past. "Leavin' so soon. Yous 'ave gotta come back a' some point, arncha?"
"Course! See you round, Stan. Bye Ernie." Leo and I waved and the bus emitted an earsplitting crack! and disappeared.
Leo started to walk across the road and I followed hurriedly while lugging my suitcases, the cold air biting at any bare skin it could reach. Leo ducked behind the pub I hadn't noticed at first and waved for me to hurry up.
"In case you hadn't noticed, my bag is heavier than yours plus my guitar and you've only got one suitcase to take, so don't be so pushy." I snapped, my breath huffing in a wisp of white.
"Sorry, love." Leo pulled out his wand and I put my bags down.
"You brought that backpack, right?" He asked. I nodded. "Bring it out. I've got an idea."
I stared at him for a second before kneeling down and fumbling with the zips. I pulled it out and Leo muttered something as I zipped the bigger bag shut again. I stepped back and watched as the bag started to shake, changing shape a few times and unzipping itself before falling still. I stood back with my hands on my hips, unimpressed. "And that accomplished...?"
"Undetectable Extension Charm. I love them." He flicked his wrist and the other luggage levitated into the bag, the material pulsing and bulging for a minute before returning to its original shape.
"Okie doke. All done. I shotgun not carrying it, by the way." He said and turned away.
I growled and tentatively picked up the Pikachu bag and, surprised to find it weighing almost nothing, I slung it over my shoulder. Leo stared intently at the brick wall in front of him.
"What are you do-" Leo cut me off with a rude shh! and I clamped my mouth shut, still looking at the wall. After a few moments, he made a triumphant sound in the back of his throat and tapped a brick.
I stared in amazement as the bricks split down the middle, rolling and moving away from each other to reveal an entirely new street behind it. People flooded the tarmac and shops lined each side of the street, bells ringing and loud chatter filling the air with the occasional shree of a Great Horned Owl or a yowling back alley cat screaming indignantly.
"Holy crow." I breathed.
"This," Leo grinned," is Diagon Alley. Where are we going first?"
"Why are you asking me, you brought me here!"
"Good point. Let's go to... the Magical Menagerie for that raptor glove for that bird of yours."
Leo hooked his arm with mine and pulled me forwards into the bustling alley. "Lead the way." I said sarcastically.
We sidled past the open door of a restaurant slash bar looking place and a beautiful smell reached me.
"Woah." I hissed, sniffing the air and turning towards the door.
"Where are you off to?" Leo asked, bewildered and amused as I tugged him through the sea of people and towards the heavenly scent.
"Can't you smell that?" I questioned dreamily. Leo breathed deeply and nodded.
"Faintly- hey!" I pulled him through the doorway, almost drooling.
"Leonardo!" A thick Italian accent screeched loudly, distracting me for a moment.
Leo twisted free of my grasp to return an enormous bear hug and I started to chase after the smell again until Leo caught the collar of my shirt. I hissed a cuss word at him, low enough that he couldn't hear me.
"Nina!" He greeted warmly. The large woman cooed obsessively, gushing over my godfather. I whined in protest, still muttering.
"Annie, this is Nina, Nina Botticelli. It's probably her Butterbeer you can smell. Nina, I believe you met Aria when she was barely starting to walk."
This caught my attention long enough to look at this Nina, who scrutinized me for a moment.
"Hah! I remember!" She gasped, grabbing my face and planting a kiss on my forehead like an overly enthusiastic aunt- leaving me blinking rapidly like a startled deer.
"My, my, you're so womanly! How old are you now, fourteen? Fifteen? Ah nevermind, that doesn't matter! You like Butterbeer, do you bonbon?"
My head reeled with the speed of her words and tried to catch up, realizing she'd asked me a question. "Um, I, no, I don't know, I've never had it but damn it smells like heaven and-" I paused to sniff the air," so do the caramel tarts and, and the gnocchi," I started to trot towards the smell, rattling off all the scents. " Gosh and the cinnamon donuts seem mouthwatering but not as much as the passionfruit pastries and the fresh bread but the finger buns oh my gosh."
I stopped and realized that I'd wandered into the kitchen.
"Wow!" I said dreamily, feeling like an over-dramatic anime character stumbling into an Iwatobi Swim Club episode, surrounded my cute shirtless men. Except my men were food.
That sounds so bad. I mentally kicked myself.
"I'm impressed." Snorted Leo from behind me and Nina laughed loudly. The cooks all stopped scurrying around, curiously looking at us. They reminded me of mice.
"We have a new foodie to amaze! Choose your batch and set heaven free!" Nina threw her arms out and grinned.
That is ridiculously dramatic, I thought,
And I love it!
"Leo." I groaned, slumping. "I can't move."
Leo chuckled sadistically. "We've still got Ollivander to see, yet!"
I'd ended up tasting everything in reach at the Botticelli Barstaurant after getting the raptor glove and anything else but a wand. Aries gave a low shree that almost sounded like a laugh."Shut up, you." I glared at the gluttonous bird. "You gorged too!"
The kite turned his head away from me, his claws digging sharply into the leather shoulder pad I'd bought .
"Ungrateful ball of feathers." I muttered under my breath and he touched his head to my cheek, making me smile.
"Stop being so soppy, you two, and walk faster!" Leo laughed from ahead.
I jogged to catch up and Leo stopped in front of a small, cute store wedged between a bookstore and Zonko's.
"In you go." Leo pushed me forwards.
I swung the old door open and the small bell tinkled sweetly, the musky scent of dusty wood reaching me. The thing rays of afternoon sunlight bearing down on the floor lit up the dust motes my entrance had disturbed, making the tiny particles spin and dance slowly in the light before being lost to the shadows.
I gazed around curiously. The walls were roof-high with shelves, and filled with what only looked like narrow shoe boxes.
A wiry, wrinkled man sat at a large maplewood table in front of one of the shelves nearby us, a dirtied cloth in his hand as he polished a simple-looking wand, the empty box lying open beside him.
"Good afternoon, you two. Long time, no see, Leonardo Simmons." The man smiled kindly and Leo strode happily towards him.
"Too long, I say, Garrick! You've done me well with this wand and I;ve never thanked you enough. I even managed to pass Transfiguration with it. I brought my goddaughter - I wouldn't take her anywhere else for a wand.
"Twelve inches yours was, and hawthorn. Dragon scale, correct?"
"You never fail to amaze me, my dear man.." Leo smiled widely and brought me forwards. Aries stared apprehensively at the old man, who was staring intensely right back at us.
"I feel this will be difficult."
"Look, maybe Dumbledore was wrong-"
"Dumbledore wouldn't have bothered contacting you if he hadn't pursued your magical signature!" Leo snapped, cutting off my thought before I could finish voicing my worries.
I cringed as a slug splattered to the wooden floor and handed the fourteenth wand back to Ollivander, haking my head.
"I was right, this is proving a challenge."Ollivander mused in a murmur, adding the pale blue box to the growing pile. He looked uneasy as he spoke again.'
"Every single wand is unique. Moreover, each wand, from the moment it finds its ideal owner, will begin to learn from and teach its human partner. The wand chooses the witch though it is sometimes unclear why.
It seems I've only one more for you to try. It is an incredibly powerful wand, and refuses to pick its owner. I hope it is a match." With that, he disappeared into the dark aisle yet again and a few squeaks and scuffles burst from his ladder. Leo put his hand reassuringly on my shoulder, saying, "it's okay. Ollivander'll shine through."
"I'm not so sure." I mumbled under my breath quietly.
After a minute or two, Ollivander came back, holding a dusty silver wand case. Unlike the other cardboard wand-boxes, it was a thin, oval case. It reminded me of the case Leo put his reading glasses in, but twelve or thirteen inches bigger.
The carefully-shaped case had tiny kite-shaped amethysts inlaid in another oval, almost making it look like the Eye of Hades, wizard-style.
"This is ... an extremely ambitious wand. It respects power, but also creativity." Ollivander explained hesitantly, unlatching and flicking open the case. I reached forwards and gently lifted the wand out. It thrummed against my skin and seemed warm.
"Twelve inches, maple wood dragon heartstring and Veela hair. It's the only Veela hair wand I've had here as they make for temperamental wands, and-" Ollivander stopped and stared.
With a subtle flick of my wrist, stardust poured gently from the tip of the wand.
"I think you've found your wand, Annie." Leo grinned.
I looked closer at the apparently random grooves and realized they were intricately carved patterns of vines and miniscule flowers, joining in a wreath collected ar the top of the handle.
I grinned, elated. "I think I have too."
What a day.
