Chapter 2 – Diagon Alley

The Leaky Cauldron wasn't that far away from the orphanage. It was about a twenty minute walk but Professor McGonagall took them on a slightly longer route than Emma would have taken were she alone. On the way the professor started telling Emma the rules at Hogwarts. She mentioned things like 'under-age witches and wizards are not allowed to use magic at home', and many others. She seemed to stress one rule most of all. 'There will be no wandering around the castle after hours'. At once, Emma knew that Professor McGonagall had spoken with Mrs Cole and she lowered her head at the accusation. Professor McGonagall also told Emma how to get on to the Hogwarts Express from platform nine and three-quarters in King's Cross before 11 o'clock on 1 September and also how much each wizard coin was worth.

Emma had many questions to ask but kept quiet, as she usually did around adults, until they reached The Leaky Cauldron. It was a tiny grubby-looking pub. If Professor McGonagall hadn't pointed it out, Emma wouldn't have noticed it was there. She'd certainly never seen it before, and she'd been down this street more times than she could count. The people walking by all seemed oblivious to it, their eyes wandering from the book shop on one side to the record shop on the other as if it wasn't there. The professor led Emma inside.

For a place that was meant to be one of the main doorways between the muggle world and magical world, it was very dark and shabby. It was also remarkably empty. The only person in the dimly-lit room, Emma supposed, was the barman who upon seeing the professor said, 'Ah, Minerva. Letter from Dumbledore for you, arrived not five minutes ago.'

The barman handed the letter to McGonagall. It seemed to be of the same type of thick, yellow paper Emma's letter was. Emma watched the professor open and read the letter, while the barman gave a courtesy nod to Emma and went back to his duties.

'I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave you here now Miss Pearson. Something has come up that needs my immediate attention. Diagon Alley is just through there, I'm sure Tom will be happy to show you.' She looked at the barman and he nodded. 'If you buy the supplies you need from the list I gave you earlier and return here, I will make sure someone is able to escort you home.'

Emma nodded. 'Thank you, Professor.'

And with that, Professor McGonagall left the same way they had come in and was gone.

'This way, miss.' motioned Tom the barman. 'Since you don't have your wand yet I'll open the way for you. Pay close attention so that you can open it on your way back.'

Tom the barman tapped the wall three times slowly with his wand making sure Emma was watching. As soon as he was done a small hole appeared in the wall which grew quite quickly into a large archway. The barman smiled at Emma, 'Enjoy yourself now and I will see you later.'

Emma thanked Tom and looked out with wonder into a vast, cobbled street. The street was full of shops and in contrast to the pub, was bristling with people.

'Twenty-nine bronze Knuts to a silver Sickle and seventeen Sickle's to a gold Galleon.' repeated Emma to herself, remembering what the professor had said. She got out the list of supplies and looked in the money pouch again. The professor had said that Emma may have to buy second-hand things, but she had no problem with that. Everything she owned was second-hand.

Emma was a smart girl and knew that because money would be tight she should visit the shops one by one to find out how much items would cost, and so work out what she could afford. As Emma walked forward into the alley, the stone arch behind her collapsed back into a solid wall. The first shop she came to was selling cauldrons. The sign on the shop said Cauldrons – All Sizes – Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver – Self Stirring – Collapsible. Emma went inside. The shop was a mess, cauldrons everywhere in piles stacked haphazardly up to the ceiling. She checked her list and saw that she needed a standard sized pewter cauldron. She found them and noted their price.

Emma visited many other shops, even ones she didn't need anything from. She was finding shopping immensely fun, especially in a place like this. Some of the shops she entered were the apothecary with it's weird and wonderful substances in strange bottles; the book shop, Flourish and Blotts; the uniform shop, Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and even a pet shop, Eeylops Owl Emporium. The last shop Emma went to was Ollivander's wand shop. She didn't go in because it looked a little creepy. She noted how much the wands cost from the window and worked out what she could buy.

It turned out Emma had rather more money than she was led to believe. She had found that if she bought all her books second-hand and got the cheapest cauldron, glass phials, telescope and brass scales, she could buy her robes and wand brand new, and even have a couple of Galleons spare. She was very pleased with this so she went back to buy a trunk to store everything in. Once she had bought the cauldron, the telescope, the phials and the scales she went to get her uniform.

Madame Malkin was a small and welcoming witch dressed in robes of pale-green. She seemed to be alone in the shop this time, for which Emma was thankful.

'Hello again dear. Hogwarts wasn't it?' she asked as Emma closed the door.

Emma simply nodded shyly, not sure what to expect.

'This way then.' said Madame Malkin, motioning to the back of the shop. 'If you'll just stand on there and we'll fit you a uniform.'

Emma stepped onto a footstool and madame Malkin slipped a long robe over her head and began to pin it to the right length. She watched in the mirror while Madame Malkin worked silently and very quickly, she was clearly very skilled at her work. Before long the robes were done. Emma gave her name so that name tags could be put on them, and then paid for them. She thanked Madame Malkin and left the shop feeling much happier. Now she had to get a wand, which she wasn't looking forward to at all. Ollivander's shop looked very uninviting to her.

Emma took a deep breath and sighed before walking into the wand shop. A quiet bell rang in the back of the shop as she opened the door. The shop itself was narrow and small and very old. Emma turned to place her trunk of supplies in the corner and turned back, startled, to see an old man, standing in front of the counter.

'Good afternoon.' Mr Ollivander said quietly.

'Good afternoon, sir.' Emma repeated sheepishly.

'And what is your name, my dear?'

'Emma Pearson, sir.'

'Hmmm, I haven't heard that surname in a long time.' he said, thinking. 'Are your parents magical?'

'I don't know sir. I'm an orphan.'

'Oh, I am sorry to hear that.' he said sincerely, pausing for a moment. 'Well, my dear, to the matter at hand, step forward. Which will be your wand arm?'

'I'm left handed, sir, if that is what you mean?'

'Yes, very well, hold out your arm. Yes, that's it.' He measured from her shoulder to fingertip, elbow to wrist, shoulder to floor, and then he started looking among the boxes on the shelves, while the tape measure, much to Emma's surprise, kept on measuring. As he was searching he said 'Every wand has a magical substance at its core. Here at Ollivander's we use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers and the heartstrings of dragons. No two wands are the same, and you will never get as good results when using another persons wand.'

As he finished talking, the tape measure fell to the floor and he returned with a box and opened it, handing Emma a wand. 'Willow and phoenix feather. Ten and three-quarter inches and quite springy. Give it a wave.'

Emma took the wand and held it apprehensively in her left hand. She noticed in the corner of her eye that Ollivander was looking at her with an unsettling frown and when she looked at him to question it, his pleasant smile had returned. She couldn't help feel that he was a bit mad, so she returned her attention to the wand and went to flick her wrist but Ollivander took the wand from her immediately.

'Very rare to get the right wand first time. Very rare indeed. Not to worry.' he said walking deeper into his shop. He returned a short while later with another box, placing the previous on a chair. 'I wonder... Let's see then, try this. Cherry and dragon heartstring. Nine and a half inches and fairly rigid, but not inflexible.'

Again Emma noticed the unsettling frown but it disappeared the moment she looked at him. Feeling uncomfortable, she took the wand and this time it was not instantly taken from her. She felt a very subtle warmth spread from her fingers and up her arm to her elbow and flicked the end of the wand gently towards a spot on the wall. The point she aimed at vanished and now there was a large hole, through which they could see into the shop next door. It stayed that way for a few moments and then quickly became opaque again.

'Well done, well done. Yes, very good.' said Ollivander beaming. 'Easy customer, yes, thought you might be. Cherry and dragon heartstring, quite unusual. Normally we would use unicorn hair. Interesting, interesting. Magic never ceases to surprise.'

He took the wand from Emma and looked at it, turning it over in his hands. It was finely carved with a subtle cherry blossom branch spiralling and blooming from the base in just the right places so as to make it easier to hold. Emma was already extremely fond of it.

'The wand chooses the witch, miss Pearson. I hope you will accomplish great things with it.' Ollivander placed the wand back into the box carefully and passed it to Emma. She paid seven Galleons for it and left the shop, thankful to be away from the creepy shop and the owner.

Emma gave the list one final check to make sure she had everything and then headed back towards The Leaky Cauldron. On the way she walked past the pet shop again and wanted to get a cat, but she couldn't afford one and not to mention she wouldn't be allowed to keep one at the orphanage. Grudgingly she left the shop and to treat herself, bought two boxes of Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans which she hid in her trunk. She thought if she couldn't eat cereal without feeling ill, maybe she'll be able to eat these, especially since they never had sweets at the orphanage.