Chapter Two
Diagon Alley

They arrived in the Leaky Cauldron with a whoosh out of the fireplace in the main bar area. James stumbled up onto his feet and gave a cough to clear the soot from his mouth. Floo powder was not his favourite method of transport.

'Where're Bill and Victoire?' Teddy asked, stepping somewhat more gracefully than James out of the fireplace.

An owl from Shell Cottage had arrived just as they were leaving, saying that James' uncle and cousin were going to be in Diagon Alley as well. The news seemed to make Teddy very happy for some reason.

'Oh, I'm sure they'll be around. We'll meet up with them in Weasley's if we don't find them,' Harry replied.

They made their way to the door at the far end of the bar towards the small courtyard James knew separated Diagon Alley from the Leaky Cauldron. His dad tapped the required bricks on the far wall of the courtyard with his wand, and whole thing began to quiver and wriggle. Slowly, a large archway emerged, leading into a small cobbled street which twisted and turned far away out of sight.

'Come on then, Gringotts first.'

His mum lead the way along the winding alley at a steady pace, allowing James to look around at all the shops. They didn't come to Diagon Alley very often, and James' favourite shops always had new things in them. There was a gaggle of boys and girls surrounding the window of Broomstix, all looking at the new Nimbus Thunderclap with wonder in their eyes. Next to it, TerrorTours was advertising a special all-inclusive tour of Wizarding America. Up ahead he could see the spectacular purple coloured walls of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Outside it there was a thronging crowd, and its windows were filled with a dazzling assortment of whizzing, popping, bobbing, and bouncing toys.

'Keep up James, we'll visit your Uncles later,' he heard his mum call from up ahead.

They turned the corner and came face to face with the snowy-white marble building of Gringotts. James smiled nervously to the goblin standing guard outside the burnished bronze doors, before quickly following his parents and siblings through the second set of silver doors into the vast marble hall.

'Right, you and Lily stay here with your mother,' Harry was saying to Albus, 'and I'll take your brother and Teddy down to the vaults.'

'But I want to go down to the vaults as well,' Albus protested.

'It's quite the ride, Albus. We'll be going all the way down to the bottom for Teddy's vault as well,' his dad said carefully.

'You can go down next year, okay,' Ginny added, 'this is only James' first time anyway.'

Albus walked sullenly over with Ginny and Lily and they sat down on the waiting benches by the entrance door.

'Right then, come on you two,' said Harry.

They made their way over to one of the many counters lining the sides of the hallway, to a goblin sitting on a high stool behind the counter. He was looking thoughtfully at a set of scales next to him and muttering to himself.

'Morning,' said Harry, 'we'd like to go down to the Potter and Lupin vaults.'

The goblin peered over the desk and looked piercingly at all three of them, before leaning back down.

'You have the keys, sir?'

'Got them here,' Harry said, pulling two small golden keys out of his cloak pocket and handing them over.

'Very well,' said the goblin, after looking at both the keys for an uncomfortably long period of time, 'I will call someone to take you down.'

He called for another goblin called Ragnott, who ushered them out through one of the many doors leading out of the hall. On the other side of the door, the marble floors and soaring ceilings were replaced with a narrow stone passageway lined with torches. On the floor in front of them James could make out two railway lines, leading steeply down into the darkness. Ragnott whistled, and a cart came hurtling up, stopping just in time to not fly off the tracks. They all clambered in, and then they were off.

The glow of the torches on the walls flashed past them as they wound through the maze of stone passageways. Left, right, right, left, straight. Eventually they plunged down into a steep descent and James felt his stomach rising up and pressing against his chest, just waiting to burst through. Suddenly, they pulled up from the dive and hurtled along over a huge underground lake. James threw up over the side of the cart straight into the dark water below.

'Don't worry, happens to everyone,' shouted Harry from the front seat.

Soon after, the cart rolled to a halt outside a largish door set against a wall. They all clambered out, and James held his hands up against the wall to stop himself from collapsing as Ragnott unlocked the vault.

Some green smoke puffed out through the opening as his dad stepped through the door to scoop out some golden Galleons, silver Sickles, and little bronze Knuts. James had never seen inside the family vault before. Of course, he knew that they weren't exactly poor, but he hadn't ever appreciated quite how much gold was in there. He caught his father's eye, and quickly rearranged his face from a look of shock to a nonchalant smile. The gentle smile on Harry's face told him that he hadn't managed to hide anything anyway.

'Right then, down to the Teddy's vault I think,' Harry said to Ragnott, who promptly closed the door.

The next leg of the ride was even worse than the first. They swooped and swerved around hairpin bend after hairpin bend, plunging deeper and deeper into the depths of London, passing ever larger and grander doorways which, James assumed, lead to more and more spectacular fortunes. Eventually, they pulled up to a large round hall, with five huge doors leading from it. The floor here was marble again, but seemed to be shattered and burned in some places.

'What happened to the floor?' asked James.

It was Ragnott who replied. 'Dragon. It escaped. Demolished half the building with it.'

James' jaw dropped open. Indeed, he was too shocked to even notice the looks of pure evil that Ragnott was currently shooting towards his father who was, in turn, looking pointedly in the other direction.

'A dragon?' asked James incredulously.

'Yes. To protect the deepest and most guarded vaults,' came the grunting reply from Ragnott. 'Stand back whilst I open the vault.'

James watched as he pulled Teddy's key from the pouch he was carrying and placed it into the lock, before pressing his hand to the door. The door melted away, and James peeked inside before Teddy swept in. There was a sizeable pile of gold inside, and a few of what looked like gold and silver cups and platters.

'All done,' Teddy said brightly, emerging a few moments later and stuffing a clanking pouch into his pocket.

'Come on James,' Harry said, pushing James back towards the cart and looking distastefully at the hall.

#

Soon enough they had bought nearly everything James needed. He visited Madam Malkin's and was fitted for robes whilst his mum went to Flourish and Blotts with Albus, Lily, and Teddy, emerging with a large stack of textbooks and without Teddy. She said that Victoire had been inside with Bill, although James wasn't sure how that was much of an explanation for Teddy's disappearance. Then they bought what James considered to be about half the stock of Scribbulus' in parchment, quills, and ink, before going to Potage's for a cauldron, phials, and a set of scales. Finally, they had only one job left: Ollivanders.

The few times a year they visited Diagon Alley, he had never been into Ollivander's wand shop. He always stopped and looked, though. Through the window, he could see the tall shelves, stacked high with the long, thin, black, battered boxes. Occasionally he even thought he caught a glimpse of Mr Ollivander in the gloom of the shop.

'You go on to Ollivanders, Harry,' said his mum, giving his dad a peck on the cheek, 'I'll take these two to see Ron and George. They're getting a bit restless.'

Indeed, James saw Albus and Lily all but dragging Ginny away towards the fantastical funfare that was the joke shop.

'Just two more stops and we're done,' said his dad, turning towards Ollivander's door.

'Two more...' muttered James confusedly, trailing off as he followed Harry in through the rickety wooden door.

A bell tinkled somewhere in the depths of the place as James followed his dad up to the counter. The boxes were still piled up high behind, just as he had always seen them from outside, but he it was different being inside. He could almost feel the magic of the place surrounding him.

'Ah,' a soft voice came wafting down an aisle between two of the shelves, 'Mr Potter. Eleven inches, holly and phoenix feather, nice and supple, was it not?'

James looked up at his father, who was smiling indulgently. 'I will never work out how you manage to remember, Mr Ollivander.'

'Of course, your mother favours a twelve inch ebony and dragon heartstring, somewhat stiff,' he said, now talking to James. 'Not that a witch or wizard gets much say in which wand chooses them.'

He paused, before narrowing his eyes sharply at James and picking up a tape measure from the counter.

'Now then, hold out your wand arm, and we'll find the right wand for you.'

He measured James' right arm, and then his wrist and his elbow, before allowing the tape measure to continue of its own accord and moving into the back of the shop, muttering to himself.

'Hm, yes, let's try this one,' he said finally, presenting an open box to James. 'Mahogany and unicorn hair. Eleven inches. Fairly swishy.'

James picked up the wand from the box and, with an encouraging smile from his dad, gave it a wave. A vase behind the counter smashed, and James jumped, dropping the wand back onto the counter.

'No, no,' muttered Mr Ollivander, waving a hand at the vase, which promptly reassembled itself. 'Perhaps this one. Hawthorn and dragon heartstring. Ten inches. Quite flexible.'

James picked it up, but Mr Ollivander grabbed it out from his hand almost straight away and went back into the depths of his shop, rummaging through the myriad shelves. James looked worriedly up at his dad. What if he didn't get a wand? Would he just have to sit at home, or maybe he'd just go to Hogwarts for one year and have to settle for just taking W.O.M.B.A.T.s like a squib.

'It took me twelve tries to get my wand. Mr Ollivander quite literally has something for everyone.'

James started, and found Harry leaning down to whisper in his ear. He opened his mouth to reply when Mr Ollivander reappeared and walked back to the counter carrying a battered grey box covered in a thick layer of dust.

'Now then, we've had this one for a while, but I think it will be just the ticket. Maple and phoenix feather. Thirteen inches. Rather rigid.'

James picked it up and instantly knew this was the one. A sudden warmth filled his hand, flowing from where he was gripping the handle of the wand. He gave it a quick wave and some sparks flew out of the end.

'Oh yes!' Mr Ollivander cheered, 'very good, very good.'

James held tightly onto his wand as his dad paid for the wand (eight Galleons), as if someone might swoop down at any moment and take it from him. As they left the shop, he suddenly remembered that his dad had mentioned they needed to visit a second shop.

'Dad,' he began, 'where—'

But Harry was already walking up the alley, towards Eeylops. James grinned.

#

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was as packed as James had ever seen it. It was thronging with children and parents, all taking a break from the back-to-school shopping and laden with textbooks and stationery. The shop itself was covered with merchandise. On the right, by the entrance, was a tall stack of shelves stuffed full of large purple boxes with a large Snackbox logo stamped on the side. Opposite it was another set of shelves, this time filled with orange boxes of spell-checking, self-inking, smart-answering, and auto-insulting quills along with brilliant inks of almost every kind imaginable. In front of the doors was a large staircase, carpeted in plush yellow and surrounded by bins overflowing with joke wands and fascinating little toys. James manouvered around the staircase, trying to avoid hitting people with the cage he was carrying his new tawny owl in, and found another shelf, stacked with little bottles full of an odd silvery fluid that was neither liquid, nor gas, but somewhere in between. They were labelled:

Daydream Delights: simply swallow whole and enter a high-quality super-realistic daydream for approximately thirty minutes. Perfect for those extra-boring lessons!

He had just picked up a box when a voice behind him made him jump and drop it.

'Now then little James,' said George, beaming, 'not already thinking of skiving lessons are we?'

James turned to him and grinned. 'Never.'

His Uncle laughed and tossed him one of the boxes. 'Have one on the house, and make sure you check out the Extendable Ears and Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder upstairs – they're invaluable for, er, learning,' he said the word with a wink, 'and making a quick getaway. Not that you'd be doing anything of the sort, course.'

'The learning? Of course not. Can't guarantee never needing a quick getaway though,' replied James, grinning wider than ever.

James made his way up the bright yellow stairs to the first floor of the shop. It was much quieter here, with a few people milling about looking at the Muggle magic tricks on one side, and a small gaggle of teenage witches surrounding an eye-wateringly pink collection of love potions, make-ups, and little squeaking fluffy balls which appeared to be alive. A sign marked Defence Section caught his eye, and he followed it around the corner of a tall shelf full of fireworks.

'James!' shouted a familiar voice.

He jumped, dropping his box of Daydream Delights, and looked up to see Teddy and Victoire standing in front of him.

'Oh, hey guys,' he said, 'what're you doing up here?'

'You know, just looking,' said Teddy, awkwardly waving a hand.

James frowned, only then noticing that Victoire's normally pristine blonde hair was all messed up, and they both looked particularly warm. Teddy had changed his hair from blue to brown, and it was now steadily turning pink, although that was less surprising. He changed his hair colour on an almost hourly basis.

'Are you alright?' James asked.

'Er, yeah,' said Victoire, running a hand through her hair, 'I think I should probably head back down. Dad's probably worried. Nice to see you James!'

She ran off round the corner before he could reply, followed in short order by Teddy, who was muttering something under his breath. Feeling thoroughly put-out at his cousin and godbrother's rapid departure, James being to look around the Defence Section. It was a noticeably more muted area of the shop, with less painfully colourful boxes, but interesting nonetheless. He eventually found the Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder in-between the Decoy Detonators ('Perfect for a harmless, deafening distraction') and a stack of hats, cloaks, and gloves which were enchanted with a shield charm. It came in a little bronze box which indicated that it contained enough powder to plunge an average sized home into darkness. James took two for good measure.

On his way back downstairs he picked up a few boxes of Extendable Ears. They were next to a large stack of Extendable Eyes, but these were marked Highly Experimental, so James decided to steer well clear. He found his dad talking with Uncle Bill next to a large basket overflowing with dolls of a frog faced woman in a pink frilly coat.

'Ah, there you are James,' his dad said, taking the pile of things from his hands and examining them.

Suddenly, a fluttery, high-pitched voice from behind him called 'I really do hate children!'

James whirled around to find Lily giggling and prodding one of the frog-woman dolls in the face. Each time she prodded it, it came out with another phrase in that stupid girlish voice.

'I will have order!'

'I'm sure we're all going to be very good friends!'

'Naughty children deserve to be punished!'

James turned back around to find that Victoire was now standing next to her dad, looking significantly less disheveled than she had been upstairs.

'Hey. Are you going to tell me—' he stopped short when she shot him a angry glare.

'Tell you what, James?' Uncle Bill said, looking curiously at him.

'What? Oh,' replied James, frowning at his cousin as she continued to glare at him in a way that said, in no uncertain terms, keep your mouth shut. 'Erm... Where's Dominique?' he said finally.

'She's at home with Aunt Fleur,' his dad replied, looking curiously from James to Victoire. He, apparently, had not missed their exchange. 'Packing.'

'Packing?' asked James.

'Did I not mention it to you? She's spending her third year at Beauxbatons. Are you done then, James?'

'Yep.'

'Right then, let's go and pay—'

'Oh no you don't,' Uncle George said, appearing from nowhere and cutting across Harry. 'You don't pay, Harry.'

'George,' his dad sighed, 'it's been nearly twenty years—'

'We have this argument every time you come here,' Uncle George replied, 'and you always lose. You gave us the money to start up, so you don't pay for anything.'

'I gave you that money because I didn't want it,' his dad laughed, 'not so that you would be forever in my debt.'

'You can argue all you like, I'm not charging you for anything.'

His dad sighed. 'Alright, alright. Let's go and find your mother,' he added to James.

They found Ginny near the front of the shop having a heated discussion with Uncle Ron.

'Ron, the place is amazing! I don't know what—' She broke off as they walked up.

'Harry!' Uncle Ron said, giving James' dad a hug and looking delighted for an excuse to stop his conversation with his sister. 'How do you fancy heading up to the Cauldron for lunch? I hear that Pete's got some interesting specials today.'

With that, they all traipsed off to the Leaky Cauldron. Uncle Ron and Uncle George came as well, leaving the shop in the hands of one of their new assistants. Lunch passed uneventfully, as did most of the next month. As each day passed, James found himself becoming more and more restless. Much to Albus and Lily's amusement, he would unpack and repack his trunk every few days, and wore his new robes around the house half the time to 'break them in'. On one particularly boring weekend, he popped open his box of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder and somehow managed to plunge the kitchen, ground floor, and first floor into complete darkness for three hours.

When he wasn't fiddling with his packing or messing around with his assorted Weasley products, he was reading his schoolbooks. Of course, he wasn't technically allowed to use magic until he arrived at Hogwarts, but that didn't stop him managing to successfully get the tip of his wand to light up in a weak glow when he muttered lumos. And then, after nearly a month of monotony, 1 September finally arrived.

- JP -

Thanks for reading! If you've got this far, then please do leave a review. I don't care if it's just one word, but I like to know if people actually managed to make it to the end of a chapter :)