Thanks to everyone who reviewed and followed and favourited. I hope you like this chapter. The next will take awhile, because I had the previous four all written. Also, I took liberties with the Hogwarts uniform list, laying it out the way it might be if they actually wore uniforms like they do in the movies.
Chapter Five: Welcome To Diagon Alley
Alice woke first the next morning. Although she could tell it was daylight, she kept her eyes shut tight.
It was a dream. She told herself firmly. I dreamed a giant called Hagrid came to tell me and Harry that we were going to wizard's school. When I open my eyes, I'll be next to Harry in our cupboard.
There was a loud tapping noise.
And there's Aunt Petunia knocking on the door… Alice thought, her heart sinking. But she still didn't open her eyes. It had been such a good dream…
*Tap. Tap. Tap*
"All right," Alice mumbled. "We're getting up."
She sat up, and Hagrid's heavy coat slipped off of her. The hut was full of sunlight; the storm was over. Harry was still sound asleep on the floor beside her, as was Hagrid on the collapsed sofa. The source of the tapping noise, it turned out, was an owl rapping its claw on the window, a newspaper held in its beak.
Alice leapt to her feet, a bright grin on her face, so happy she felt like a balloon was swelling inside her stomach.
"It was real!" Alice said in a whisper.
She ran to the window and opened it quickly. The owl swooped in and dropped the newspaper on top of Hagrid, who didn't budge. The owl then fluttered to the floor and began to attack Hagrid's coat.
"Hey! Don't do that!" Alice cried. The hubbub had woken Harry, who yelled when he saw that his makeshift blanket was being assaulted by a large bird.
"Hagrid!" Alice said loudly. "There's an owl on your coat–"
"Pay him." Hagrid grunted into the sofa.
"What?"
"He wants payin' fer deliverin' the paper. Look in the pockets."
Alice looked at Harry, who shrugged, and they began to search the pockets. Hagrid's coat, it turned out, seemed to be made of nothing but pockets – bunches of keys, slug pellets, balls of string, mint humbugs, tea-bags – but finally Harry pulled out a handful of strange-looking coins.
"Give him five Knuts." Hagrid said sleepily.
"Knuts?" asked Alice.
"The little bronze ones."
Harry counted out five of the little bronze coins, and the owl held out its leg so that he could put the money into a small leather pouch tied to it. Then he flew out of the open window.
Hagrid yawned loudly, sat up, and stretched.
"Best be off, Harry, Alice. Lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer stuff fer school an' all."
Alice was turning over the wizard coins in her hand and looking at them. She had just thought of something that made him feel like the happy balloon inside her had got a puncture.
"Um – Hagrid?" Alice said.
"Mm?" said Hagrid, who was pulling on his huge boots.
"We haven't got any money." Alice said sadly, looking at her brother.
"You're right," said Harry, sinking to the floor.
"And you heard Uncle Vernon," Alice added, sniffing slightly. "He won't give us a single pound."
"Don't worry about that," said Hagrid, standing up, "D'yeh think yer parents didn' leave yeh anythin'?"
"But if our house was destroyed–"
"They wouldn't keep their money in the house, Alice!" admonished Harry, starting to feel excited again. "They'd put it in a bank, right?"
"That's right, Harry," said Hagrid. "Firs' stop Gringotts, wizards' bank. Have a sausage."
"Wizards have banks?"Alice asked incredulously.
"Just the one. Gringotts. Run by goblins."
Harry dropped the sausage he had been holding. Alice nearly choked on hers.
"Goblins?" Harry gasped as Hagrid thumped Alice on the back.
"Yeah – so yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it, I'll tell yeh that. Never mess with goblins, you two. Gringotts is the safest place in the world fer anything yeh want ter keep safe – 'cept maybe Hogwarts. As a matter o' fact, I gotta visit Gringotts anyway. Fer Dumbledore. Hogwarts business." Hagrid drew himself up proudly. "He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him. Fetchin' you two – getting' things from Gringotts – knows he can trust me, see."
Hagrid smiled proudly.
"Got everythin'?" he asked. The twins nodded – it wasn't like they had anything to bring but their one bag. "Come on, then."
Harry and Alice followed Hagrid out onto the rock. The boat Uncle Vernon had hired was still there, but with a lot of water in the bottom after the storm.
"How did you get here?" asked Alice, looking around for another boat.
"Flew." said Hagrid.
"Flew?"
"Yeah – but we'll go back in this. Not s'pposed ter use magic now I've got yeh."
They settled into the boat, Harry still staring at Hagrid, trying to imagine him flying.
"Seems a shame ter row now, though," said Hagrid, giving the Potters a sideways look. "If I was ter – er – speed things up a bit, would yeh mind not mentionin' it at Hogwarts?"
"Of course not," said Alice. They were eager to see more magic. Hagrid pulled out his pink umbrella again, tapped it twice on the side of the boat, and they sped off towards land.
"Why would you be mad to try and rob Gringotts?" asked Harry curiously after a moment.
"Spells – enchantments," said Hagrid, unfolding his newspaper. "They say there's dragons guarding some of the high–security vaults. And then yeh gotta find yer way – Gringotts is hundreds of miles under London, see. Deep under the Underground. Yeh'd die of hunger tryin' ter get out, even if yeh did manage ter get yer hands on summat."
When Hagrid began to read his newspaper, The Daily Prophet, the twins went quiet. They had learned from Uncle Vernon that people liked to be left alone when they did this, but it was very difficult, as they had never had so many questions in their lives.
"Ministry o' Magic messin' things up as usual," Hagrid muttered, turning the page.
"There's a Ministry of Magic?" Alice asked. She didn't think anything would surprise her now.
"Course," Hagrid said. "They wanted Dumbledore fer minister, o' course, but he'd never leave Hogwarts, so old Cornelius Fudge got the job. Bungler if ever there was one. So he pelts Dumbledore with owls every morning, askin' for advice."
"But what does a Ministry of Magic do?" asked Harry.
"Well, their main job is to keep it from the Muggles that there's still witches an' wizards up an' down the country."
"Why?" asked Harry.
Alice rolled her eyes. "Because then everyone would want magic solutions for their problems, Harry." Harry stuck his tongue out at her.
"Right," said Hagrid as the boat bumped the shore, and they climbed up the stone steps onto the street.
Passers-by stared a lot at Hagrid as they walked through the little town to the tube station. Not only was Hagrid twice as tall as everyone else, but he kept pointing out perfectly normal things like parking meters and saying loudly, "See that, you two? Things those Muggles dream up, eh?"
"Hagrid," Alice said cautiously. "Did you say there were dragons at Gringotts?"
"Well, so they say," said Hagrid. "Crikey, I'd like a dragon."
"You'd like one?" Harry asked, sure he'd heard him wrong.
"Wanted once since I was a kid – here we go."
They had reached the station. There was a train to London in five minutes, and Hagrid, who couldn't understand "Muggle money", as he called it, handed some bills to Alice to buy their tickets.
People stared more than ever on the train. Hagrid took up two seats and sat knitting what looked like a canary yellow circus tent. Of course, the twins didn't look much better themselves – they were still in their clothes from the previous night, which were creased from drying on their bodies, itchy from the seawater, and probably smelly. Harry's hair looked worse than usual, and Alice's had knots the size of her fist.
"Still got yer letters?" Hagrid asked them as he counted stitches.
They took out the parchment envelopes.
"Good," said Hagrid. "There's a list there of everything yeh'll need."
They each flipped them over, even though they had already read them. They never got tired of seeing all the strange things on the list, especially now that they knew they were going to own these things:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
UNIFORM
First-Year students will require:
1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)2. At least three plain white collared shirts (short or long sleeved)3. At least two pairs of black, dark grey, or navy trousers for gentlemen, the same colours in skirts for ladies4. Socks (of any length) in white, black, dark grey, and/or navy5. At least three sweaters (no–sleeved or long–sleeved) in black or grey6. Black shoes of any style7. Winter accessories such as hats, scarves, and gloves in black or grey.8. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)
COURSE BOOKS
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Books of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Magical Draughts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble.
OTHER EQUIPMENT
1 Wand
1 Cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales
Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS.
"Can we buy all this in London?" Alice asked, thinking of wands and broomsticks in the front window of Toy Master.
"If yeh know where to go," Hagrid replied with a wink.
Harry and Alice had never been to London before. Although Hagrid seemed to know where he was going, he was obviously not used to getting there in a way that was ordinary…to the twins, at least. He got stuck in the ticket barrier on the Underground, and complained loudly that the seats were too small and the trains too slow.
"I don't know how Muggles manage without magic," He said as they climbed a broken-down escalator that led up to a bustling road lined with shops.
Hagrid was so large that he parted the crowd with ease; the twins simply had to keep up. They passed book shops, clothing shops, music stores, hamburger bars, and cinemas, but nowhere that looked as if it might sell a magic wand or a cauldron. This was simply an ordinary street full of ordinary people. Could there really be mounds of gold buried miles beneath their feet? Might this not be an elaborate joke the Dursleys had cooked up?
If the twins hadn't known that the Dursleys had no sense of humour, they would probably think so. Yet, even though everything Hagrid had told them so far was almost unimaginable, Harry and Alice couldn't help but trust him.
As they continued past ordinary shops, Alice wondered. Maybe Hagrid would help her and her brother buy some 'Muggle' clothing, so to speak. Their ordinary clothes were so horrible, and after all they did have a while to wait before they could go to Hogwarts. The Dursleys would hardly let them prance about in robes until then.
"This is it," said Hagrid, finally coming to a halt. "The Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place."
It was a tiny, grubby-looking pub. They wouldn't have noticed it at all if Hagrid hadn't pointed it out. In fact, the twins both had a feeling that they and Hagrid were the only ones who could see it. Before they could mention this, however, Hagrid had steered them inside.
For a famous place, it was very dark and shabby. A few old women were sitting in a corner drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. The low buzz of chatter stopped as they walked in. everyone seemed to know Hagrid; they all waved and smiled, and as the twins and Hagrid approached the bar, the bartended said, "The usual, Hagrid?"
"Can't Tom. I'm on Hogwarts business," said Hagrid, clapping a hand on Alice and Harry's shoulders and causing them to sway a bit on the spot.
"Good Lord," said the bartender, peering at the children. "Are these – can they be–?"
The Leaky Cauldron had suddenly gone completely still and silent.
"Bless my soul," continued Tom, "The Potters….what an honour."
He hurried out from behind the bar, rushed towards Alice, and seized her hand, tears in his eyes.
"Welcome back, Miss Potter, welcome back."
He moved to Harry nearly sobbing by the time he shook the boy's hand.
Harry and Alice didn't know what to say. Everyone was looking at them. The woman with the pipe was puffing it without realizing it had gone out. Hagrid was beaming.
Then there was a great scraping of chairs and the next moment, Harry and Alice found themselves shaking hands with everyone in the Leaky Cauldron.
"Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter, can't believe I'm meeting you at last."
"So proud, Miss Potter, I'm just so proud."
"Big honour, Mr. Potter. May I call you Harry?"
"Alice, isn't it? Oh my stars, you look just like Lily!"
"Always wanted to shake your hands – I'm all of a flutter!"
"Delighted, Mr. Potter, just can't tell you, Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle."
"We've seen you before!" cried Harry, and Dedalus Diggle's top hat fell off his head in excitement. "You bowed to us in a shop once, didn't you?"
"He remembers!" cried Dedalus, looking around at everyone. "Did you hear that? Harry Potter remembers me!"
They shook hands again and again – Doris Crockford kept coming back for more. After a moment, a pale young man made his way forward, very nervously. One of his eyes was twitching.
"Professor Quirrell, didn' see you over there!" Hagrid cried. "Harry, Alice – Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts."
"P-P-Potter," stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping Harry's hand first. "C-can't t-tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you t-t-two."
"What sort of magic do you teach, Professor?" asked Alice curiously.
"D-Defence Against the D-D-Dart Arts," muttered Quirrell with a slight shudder, as though he'd rather not think about it. "N-not that you n-need it, eh, P-Potter?" he laughed nervously. "You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He looked terrified at the very thought.
But the others wouldn't let Professor Quirrell keep the Potters to himself. It took almost ten minutes to get away from them all. At last, Hagrid managed to make himself heard over the babble.
"Must get on – lots ter buy. Come on, Harry, Alice."
Doris Crockford shook their hands one last time, and Hagrid led them through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a rubbish bin and a few weeds.
Hagrid grinned at them.
"Told yeh, didn't I? Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh – mind you, he's usually tremblin'."
"Is he always that nervous?" Alice asked sympathetically.
"Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some first-hand experience… They say he met vampires in the Black Forest, and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag – never been the same since. Scared of students, scared if his own subject, even – now, where's my umbrella?"
Vampires? Hags? The twins' head were spinning. Dragons and goblins were bad enough – what else was actually out there? Hagrid, meanwhile, was counting bricks in the wall above the trash can.
"Three up…two across…" He muttered. "Right. Stand back, you two."
He tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella.
The brick he touched quivered – it wriggled – in the middle, as small hole appeared – it grew wider and wider – a second later they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight, lined with shops of all kinds.
"Welcome," Hagrid said. "To Diagon Alley."
He grinned at the Potter's amazed looks, and they stepped through the archway.
The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. Cauldrons – All Sizes – Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver – Self-stirring – Collapsible, said a sign hanging over them.
"Yeah, you'll be needin' one," said Hagrid. "But we gotta get yer money first."
Harry and Alice wished they had about ten more eyes. They turned their heads in every direction as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, and the people doing their shopping. A plump woman outside an Apothecary was shaking her head as they passed, saying, "Dragon liver, sixteen Sickles an ounce, they're mad…"
They heard a soft hooting from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium – Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy. Several boys of about their age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it. "Look," They heard one of them say. "The new Nimbus Two Thousand – fastest ever–" There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments, shops with shelves full of jars of various disgusting looking things, tottering piles of spell books, rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon…
"Gringotts." Hagrid announced.
It was a very tall white building. On the front was an inscription, a poem warning intruders, and inside it looked like a great marble hall with desks against the walls and goblins working busily at them. Hagrid went up to one and said they needed the Potter vault. When the goblin asked for a key, Hagrid promptly emptied several pockets of various things: mouldy dog biscuits, a ham, and several white dormice until he announced that he had it.
Hagrid then said he had a letter from Professor Dumbledore and he need to get "The You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen". The goblin read the letter seriously, then called two other goblins named Griphook and Appock to take them to the vaults. Harry asked what was in vault seven hundred and thirteen, but Hagrid said he couldn't tell them, and then climbed into a cart with Appock, while the twins went with Griphook. Hagrid said he'd see them in a few minutes, but he didn't look very optimistic.
Though they were a little nervous about being alone with the slightly scary looking goblin, the Potters relaxed as they zoomed through the dark underground, and it was impossible for them to remember which roads they had taken, though Harry tried at first. Alice heard him murmuring, "Left, right, right, left…" but he stopped after only five. The rattling cart seemed to know its way, because Griphook wasn't steering.
Finally, they arrived at their vault. Griphook unlocked the door. A lot of green smoke came tumbling out, and as it cleared, Harry and Alice gasped.
Inside were piles of gold, silver, and bronze coins. It was incredible – a small fortune, belonging to them, buried under London. Yet all their lives, they had worn old, ill-fitting clothes, slept in a closet, and never had a single toy…
Griphook gave them each a 'complementary' leather money bag, and they piled as much as they could into them, not knowing how much they would need. Griphook explained that the gold ones were Galleons, the silver were Sickles, and the bronze were Knuts. Seventeen Sickles to a galleon, and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle.
"It's easy enough to remember," he added at the end, and laughed darkly at the twin's doubtful looks.
One wild cart ride later and the twins were waiting in the lobby of Gringotts for Hagrid to emerge with Appock. After a few minutes, his giant figure appeared, looking very green and shaky. He told them that the carts made him nauseous and said he was going to get a drink back at the Leaky Cauldron. He pointed them towards Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions to get their school clothes.
"Do you think we can get normal clothes there?" wondered Alice. "I mean, we have money now…"
"We'll have to ask them, I suppose," Harry said as they approached the store.
Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed in all mauve.
"Hogwarts, dears?" she said when Harry started to speak. They nodded nervously.
Madam Malkin smiled. "Got one in there now being fitted up, s'matter o' fact."
In the back of the shop was a pale boy with white-blond hair, a pointed face, slicked back hair, and steel gray eyes. Madam Malkin stood Harry across from the other boy, then Alice on his other side, and began to pin them as well.
"Hello," said the blonde boy. "Hogwarts as well?"
"Yes," answered Harry.
"My father is next door buying books, and mother is across the way looking at wands." He continued in a bored, drawling voice. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't understand why first years aren't allowed them. I think I'll bully father into buying me one and smuggle it in somehow." He grinned evilly and added, "Have you got your own brooms?"
"No," Alice said.
"Play Quidditch at all?"
"No…" Harry said, wondering what in the world Quidditch was.
"Well, I do." Continued the boy. "Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my House, and I must say I agree. Know what House you'll be in yet?"
"Er – no…" said Alice. They were feeling stupider by the minute. Houses? Quidditch? What was all this?
"Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, the whole family's been for generations." Said the boy. "Imagine being in Hufflepuff. I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"
Not knowing what he was talking about, the twins gave noncommittal shrugs of their shoulders.
"I say, look at that man!" cried the boy suddenly, nodding toward the front window. Hagrid was standing there, grinning at the twins and pointing at three large ice creams to show he couldn't come in.
"That's Hagrid." Alice said, glad they knew something the other child didn't.
"He works at Hogwarts." Added her brother.
"Oh," said the boy. "I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"
"He's the gamekeeper." said Alice. They liked this boy less every second.
"Yes, exactly." He said. "I hear he's a sort of savage – lives in a hut on the school grounds. And every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic, and sets fire to his bed." He laughed.
"We think he's brilliant." Harry said coldly. He and his sister glared at the boy.
"Do you?" he sneered. "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?"
"They're dead." Alice said shortly. They weren't going to go into that matter with this kid.
"Oh, sorry." He said, not sounding sorry at all. "But they were our kind, weren't they?"
"They were a witch and wizard, if that's what you mean." Harry said.
"I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you?" he said. "They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never heard of Hogwarts until they get their letter, imagine. think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname, anyway?"
"Potter." Harry said flatly.
Simultaneously, the blond gasped, Madam Malkin shrieked and tripped, ripping Alice's sleeve, and her assistant toppled over on top of Harry.
"Did you say Potter?" he stammered. "You're Alice and Harry Potter?"
"In my shop too! Such an honour!" Madam Malkin said excitedly, beaming as she hurriedly repaired Alice's robe with what must have been a wand, and helped Harry up.
"But who have you been living with all this time?" asked the boy suspiciously as the two women got back to work, focusing on Harry and Alice, much to his obvious annoyance.
"Our Aunt, Uncle, and cousin." Answered Alice.
"Our Aunt was our mum's sister." Harry added.
The boy stared at them for a moment, then burst out laughing.
"What?" Alice demanded angrily, feeling really annoyed with the boy. He was a brat!
The boy answered quickly, though sneering again, "You've been living with Muggles all your lives, that's all,"
Before he could say any more, Madam Malkin announced, "That's you done, dears," she said, smiling happily at them, and the two, not sorry for an excuse to stop talking to the boy, stepped quickly from their stools.
"Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose." He said in his drawling voice. The Potters were not looking forward to it.
As the twins were paying Madam Malkin for their robes, Alice asked, "Do you know of any shops here that might sell Muggle clothes?"
"Yes, there's a shop just down the street on the right side." She chirped happily.
Harry and Alice were rather quiet as they ate their ice cream. Hagrid took them to buy parchment and quills, and they cheered up a bit when they found a bottle of ink that changed colour as you wrote.
When they left the shop, Harry asked, "Hagrid, what's Quidditch?"
"Blimey, Harry, I keep forgettin' how much you two don' know – not knowin' about Quidditch!"
"Don't make us feel worse," said Alice, and they told them about the blond kid in Madam Malkin's.
"–and he seemed to find something hilarious with the fact that we were raised by Muggles."
"Don' worry about that," said Hagrid, waving his hand dismissively. "Some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line o' Muggles – look at yer mum! Look what she had fer a sister!"
"So what is Quidditch?" pressed Harry.
"It's our sport. Wizard sport. It's like – like soccer in the Muggle world – everyone follows Quidditch – played up in the air on broomsticks and there's four balls – sorta hard ter explain the rules."
"And what are Hufflepuff and Slytherin?" asked Alice.
"School Houses. There's four – Gryffindor – that's where your parents were, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o' duffers, but–"
"I bet we're in Hufflepuff." said Harry gloomily.
"Hey – speak for yourself!" cried Alice jokingly, but privately she thought Harry might be right.
"It's better Hufflepuff than Slytherin," Hagrid said darkly. "There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one."
"Vol-, sorry – You-Know-Who was at Hogwarts?" Harry asked.
"Years an' years ago." Hagrid said.
Next they bought Harry and Alice's school books at a shop called Florish and Blotts where the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with all manner of books. Hagrid almost had to drag them away from Curses and Countercurses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and Much, Much More) by Professor Vindictus Viridian.
"I was trying to find out how to curse Dudley." Harry defended.
"I'm not sayin' that's not a good idea, but yer not ter use magic in the Muggle world except in very special circumstances," said Hagrid.
Alice decided it would be a good idea to get extra books, for background reading, so they pick up copies of Modern Magical History, Hogwarts, a History, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, and Great Wizarding Feats of the Twentieth Century, not to mention plenty of novels written by wizards and witches.
Hagrid wouldn't let Harry by a solid gold cauldron, either ("It says pewter on yer list"), but they got two nice sets of scales for weighing potion ingredients and some collapsible brass telescopes. Then they visited the Apothecary, where Hagrid asked the man behind the counter for two supplies of basic potion ingredients for the twins.
Outside, they checked their list again.
"Just got yer wands left – oh yeah, an' I still haven't gotten you two a birthday present."
The twins went red.
"You don't have to–" started Harry.
"I know I don' have to. Tell yeh what, I'll get yeh each an animal. We can go over to the Magical Menagerie before yeh get yer wands."
Twenty minutes later, they left the Menagerie. Harry was carrying a cage which held a beautiful snowy white owl, fast asleep with her head under her wing. Alice carried a rectangular cage carrying a large white and green cat that was part Kneazle – Hagrid had explained to them what that meant. Harry and Alice had always loved animals, but never had any of their own before. They couldn't stop thanking Hagrid.
"Don' mention it," said Hagrid gruffly. "Don' expect you've had a lotta presents from them Dursleys. Just Ollivander's left now – only place fer wands, Ollivander's, and yeh gotta have the best wands."
Magic wands…this is what they had really been looking forward to.
A tinkling bell sounded in the back of the store as they stepped in. They set their bags and animals by the door, and Hagrid sat on the single wooden chair to wait. There were thousands of narrow boxes stacked up to the ceiling, and the very air seemed to tingle with magic.
"Good afternoon," said a soft voice. The Potters jumped. Hagrid must have jumped, too, because there was a loud crunching noise and he got quickly of the spindly chair.
"Hello," They said together, rather awkwardly.
"Ah yes," said the man, who had white hair and silver eyes that didn't seem to need to blink. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you three soon. Harry and Alice Potter…"
"Why am I always last?" asked Alice, rather annoyed. The man didn't seem to hear her.
"Harry, you have your mother's eyes, and Alice, you have your father's – but my goodness, you look so much like your parents at your age. I remember when your mother first came in here and bought her wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work."
Mr. Ollivander moved closer to them. Harry wished he would blink; those silvery eyes were a bit creepy.
"Your father, on the other hand, favoured a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for Transfiguration. Well, I say your father favoured it – it's really the wand that chooses the wizard."
Mr. Ollivander had come so close that they were about a foot apart.
"And that's where…."
Mr. Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Alice's forehead with a long, white finger. She was started to think that Mr. Ollivander may not be all there.
"I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he said softly. "Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands…well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do…"
He shook his head and then, to Alice's relief especially, spotted Hagrid.
"Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again…. Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?"
"It was, sir, yes," said Hagrid.
"Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?" said Mr. Ollivander, suddenly stern.
"Er – yes, they did, yes," said Hagrid, shuffling his feet. "I've still got the pieces, though," He added brightly.
"But you don't use them?" Ollivander said sharply.
"Oh, no, sir," said Hagrid quickly. Alice noticed he gripped his umbrella rather tightly as he spoke.
"Hmmm," said Ollivander, giving Hagrid a piercing look. "Well, now – Mr. Potter, you first. Which is your wand arm?" he pulled out a long tape measure.
"Er – well, I'm right-handed," Harry said.
"Hold out your arm. That's it…"
He measured Harry all over, and then his sister. They seemed to try every wand in the shop; Harry would try it and then pass it to Alice, and they all ended up in a pile on the spindly chair.
Finally, Ollivander said, "Hmm…tricky customers, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match somewhere…." And then he scurried into the back of the shop, emerging a second later with two very dusty boxes. He handed one to Harry and one to Alice.
Looking at each other nervously, the twins took them and waved them
Immediately, a warmth went up their arms and red and gold sparks shot out the tip of Harry's wand and red and blue from Alice's. They grinned at each other. Hagrid whooped and clapped, and Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well…how curious….yes indeed…very curious…"
As he wrapped their wands up in brown paper, Alice asked, "Sorry, but, what's curious?"
Ollivander fixed the twins with his silver stare again.
"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Miss Potter. Every single one. It just so happens that you two have very rare double cores, and they all share one common half. It is curious that the phoenix that gave half of each of your cores gave one other feather. Just one. It is very curious indeed that you two should be destined for these wands when their brother gave you those scars."
Alice gulped. Harry went pale.
Ollivander continued, "Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious how these things happened. The wand chooses the wizard or witch, remember…I think we must expect great things from you three…. After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things – terrible, yes, but great."
Alice shivered. Harry decided he didn't like Ollivander much – he was a bit scary. The old wandmaker then informed them of their wands types; Harry's wand was holly, eleven inches, with a phoenix and hippogriff feather core, Alice's was hazel, ten and a quarter inches, with phoenix feather and a dragon heartstring core. The twins paid Mr. Ollivander fourteen gold Galleons total for their wands, and Ollivander bowed them from the shop.
It was late afternoon but the twins – well, mostly Alice – convinced Hagrid to stop by the Muggle clothing shop where they picked up about two dozen outfits each. The Muggle clothes were much cheaper than their robes and other equipment, and even Harry was excited to have clothes that he liked and that fit them.
People stared even more on the Underground, laden as they were with all their funny-shaped packages, not to mention their pets. Harry sat with the snowy owl in his lap, still sleeping in her cage. Alice had her cat on her lap as well, but she got a lot less stares than her brother, even though her cat was mostly green.
At Paddington station, Hagrid bought them each a hamburger before their train arrived. The siblings kept looking around; everything looked so strange somehow.
"You three all right? Yer very quiet." Hagrid said.
They shared a look, not sure if they could explain. They'd just had the best birthday of their lives – and yet…
"Everyone thinks we're special," Alice said at last. "All those people in the Leaky Cauldron, Professor Quirrell, Madam Malkin, Mr. Ollivander…"
"But we don't know anything about magic at all!" said Harry. "How can they expect great things from us?"
"We're famous and we can't even remember what we're famous for." continued Alice, "We don't know what happened the night Vol-, I mean, the night our parents died."
Hagrid leaned forward across the table. Behind the wild beard and eye brows, he wore a very kind smile.
"Don' you worry, you two. You'll learn fast enough. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts, you'll do just fine. Just be yerself. I know it's hard. Yeh've been singled out, an' that's always hard. But yeh'll have a great time at Hogwarts – I did – still do, 'smatter of fact."
Hagrid helped them onto the train that would take them back to the Dursleys, then handed them each an envelope.
"Yer tickets for Hogwarts," He said. "First o' September – King's Cross – it's all on yer ticket. Any problems with the Dursleys, Harry, you send me a letter with yer owl, she'll know where to find me….see yeh soon."
The train pulled out of the station. Harry and Alice wanted to watch Hagrid until he was out of sight; they rose in their seats and pressed their noses against the windows, but when they blinked, Hagrid was gone.