AN: And we're onto more! As mentioned before, all these characters are OCs (except the ones like Hermione who are cameos from the original, obviously). Lemme know what you think!
2 - Diagon Alley
Asher's Dad, mom and brother packed into their car the next morning. Asher looked back at his house, and smiled. It was going to be one of the last times he sees that house all year. His dad honked the horn at him, so he climbed into the back of their Honda Odyssey.
The family drove down the street, and across the city, to a worn down pub on the side of the road. Asher's dad told everyone to leave the vehicle, so they did. "This is the place." Asher's dad gestured toward the pub. A rusted old sign hung from the side that read The Leaky Cauldron. It looked like they were the only ones that could see it, because every single person on the streets was walking right past it, like it didn't exist.
Asher eyed a man staring out the window at him; he was old looking, with a short beard, and weary eyes. His gaze followed Asher all the way to the door, where he turned, and left Asher alone. Asher returned to the side of his father and the four of them walked into the pub.
There were no lights, and everyone in the room looked at them when they entered. There were poorly washed women, scary men, and a few moving objects; brooms and buckets. The staring didn't last long, and the strangers turned and continued what they were doing. Asher's dad walked up to a hunchbacked man behind the counter dead ahead. He tapped the man on the shoulder, and he turned around to reveal an even uglier face. The man recognized him and smiled.
He turned from the counter, and lead the entire family to a rotting door in the back of the pub. "Alright, thanks Tom." Asher's dad gestured the hunchbacked man away, and the family exited through the door; into a small area. It was a dead end, and there was nothing but a brick wall in front of them. Asher's dad walked up to the wall, and pulled out his wand.
He placed the tip of his wand on the wall, and the bricks instantly began parting; moving away from the center, creating an opening into a large, bustling street. It was full of people in cloaks, and lots of children. Everyone was carrying large handfuls of supplies from the stores lining both sides of the street.
"Dad, where are we?" Asher's younger brother Griffin asked, with a tone of curiosity. "This, is Diagon Alley." There were shops on both sides of the street, and a large. Stone building at the middle of the street, though the rest turned off and was hidden by buildings. "Come on, I'll show you all around. See the big building down there?"
He gestured toward the large stone building at the middle of the street. "Yeah." Asher responded. "That's where we go first. It's the wizard bank, Gringotts." The family strolled down Diagon Alley, avoiding running children and quick-paced walkers, and under the stone mantle at the front of the bank.
The bank was filled with little things. "Dad, what are those?" His dad laughed a bit, being stared down by the tiny munchkins. "Those are goblins. They're smart, but not quite so friendly." The goblins staring at him frowned, and continued working. "Gringotts was almost destroyed when Harry tried to destroy a piece of Voldemort that was stored here. He told me it was a hassle." Asher nodded, learning a bit more about Harry as the week went on.
Asher's family walked up to a short, cross-looking goblin, which looked down on them with angry eyes. Asher's dad held up a key, with a bronze handle that shimmered in the faint light coming from the entrance. The goblin hopped from his stool, and gestured the family toward the corridors behind the desk.
Asher's dad motioned at Griffin and Asher's mom to stay back, so they waited at the entrance of the corridors. The goblin, Griphook, lead Asher and his dad down the dark stone corridors and up to a large cart on what appeared to be a railroad track.
"Come on now, into the trolley." The little goblin spoke with a harsh voice, which startled Asher a bit. The cart, once everyone was on it, began moving its way down the railway, and stopped at a large door, a few minutes later. "Here we are."
Griphook held out his hand, and Asher's dad handed him the key. The goblin opened the vault, revealing a decent amount of gold, silver and bronze coins. "Well, this is what we've got!" Asher's dad motioned toward the piles of money inside the vault.
"Whoa." Asher was stunned. Where did his dad get all this money? Asher's dad pulled out a backpack, and began filing it with coins of various values. "This, is how we pay for your things. I'll give you a fair bit when we send you off, but for now, this is all we should need." He had put a few gold coins, and quite a bit of bronze ones, into the backpack, and motioned at Asher to leave the vault. Griphook closed the vault behind them, and the three of them rode back up to the main room on the cart.
Re-uniting with their family, Asher and his dad left the building. Asher's dad pulled out the list of things Asher would need, and looked at it. "I think we should start with the books. We're going to need to go to Flourish and Blotts.
The four family members made their way back up three stores, and into a large store on their left. It was packed with people, young and old, and every shelf was filled with different clothing. A whole section was singled out for Hogwarts textbooks. The family made their way over to it, but were stopped by a woman, who looked a little younger than Asher's mom, but not by much.
"Oliver?" Asher's dad turned around, and waved at the woman, who walked over to meet up with the family. "Oh my god, it is you!" Asher's dad and the witch hugged. "It's been so long! How is your kid?" The witch smiled, "She's fine. Ron is with her at home right now, I came in to buy some books for some light reading." It didn't look like light reading, because she was carrying three large textbooks.
The witch looked at Asher, Griffin and Asher's mom. "Oh! You three much be Asher, Griffin and Lisa! My name's Hermione. Nice to meet you." Asher shook hands with the witch, who also hugged Asher's mom. "You're dad and I were both in Gryffindor when we went to Hogwarts. He was the Quidditch captain, for three years."
Asher's dad blushed. "Oh stop, Hermione you're embarrassing me." The two of them laughed, and the witch looked back at Asher and Griffin. "So, Asher. Excited to be going to Hogwarts?" Asher nodded, and Hermione laughed a bit. "Griffin, how many more years for you?" Griffin smiled, and responded. "Two."
Asher's dad patted Griffin on the head, "Well, we're pretty sure you're good. We might need to get a new house, here in the wizarding world." Hermione looked over at Asher's dad. "So, you don't live here anymore?" Asher's dad shook his head. "Nope, we've been in the muggle world for about eight years. I don't know why we went, but we did. I hate the jobs there."
"So what are you going to do?" Hermione looked at Asher's dad curiously. "Well, I called McGonagall yesterday, and she offered me a job at Hogwarts. I just need to get back at her on which position I want." Hermione hugged him again. "That's great! Got any ideas?" Asher's dad shook his head again.
"Absolutely none. I was thinking Flying Instructor, because Madam Hooch is retiring, or Transfiguration. They already had someone for Defence Against the Dark Arts, so that wasn't an option." Hermione nodded. "Flying Instructor would be good for you." She smiled. "Oh no, look at the time! I'd better pay for these, Ron and Rose probably need me back at home!" Hermione left the family, and they continued shopping.
"Asher, I think we've got them all here," Asher's dad was carrying a large pile of books that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Asher mumbled to himself; "I love magic." The family paid for the books, using some of the money from the bank vault. They then made their way over to Madam Maulkin's Robes for All Occasions.
"Oliver Wood." Asher's dad turned around, and smiled. He was looking eye to eye with another one of his old friends. "George Weasley." A ginger man walked over to the family this time. "Oh, let's retreat into here," George led the family into Madam Maulkin's, where a woman grabbed Asher to measure for robe sizes.
"Go on Asher, it'll be alright." Asher's dad gestured for him to go with the woman. Much to his dislike, Asher left with the woman, and George talked with the rest of the family.
Asher couldn't hear the conversation between his dad and George, as he was in another room with Madam Maulkin. "So, first year at Hogwarts?" Asher, still dis-obedient, nodded and she laughed. "It's okay. You'll see them lots." Asher was released from Madam Maulkin's tape measure and she left to grab some robes. Asher sat down on the wooden bench waiting for her to return.
"Here you go, I made these yesterday." Madam Maulkin handed Asher some robes, and Asher returned to his family, gesturing at his dad to pay Madam Maulkin for the robes. Asher was disappointed because George was gone already, but Asher's dad paid Madam Maulkin and the four of them left the shop.
"Oliver, I'll take Asher to get his wand, you take Griffin and get the other supplies, okay?" Asher's mom grabbed Asher's arm, and Asher's dad nodded. The four of them split up, Asher and his mom, Lisa heading toward Ollivander's Wand shop.
Asher's mom pushed open the door, and the two of them walked in. The shop was relatively empty, but a boy, looking in his mid-teens swung in on a ladder. "Hello! How may I help you?" Asher and his mom walked over to the counter, and asked for a wand. "It's his first year." Asher's mom smiled deeply, and the boy stepped off the ladder.
"Well, I think my uncle mentioned something about new arrivals, imported of course, getting here yesterday. I'll go get him, just a moment please." The boy ran off into the back of the shop, and Asher and his mom were left standing alone at the front.
A few seconds later, an elderly man walked into the room, and smiled when he saw Asher's mom. "Ah, Lisa. I remember you're wand. Ten inches, vine with a unicorn hair core, correct?" Asher's mom laughed a bit. "Well, I guess you do remember."
"Let's see, a wand for your son? Maybe a wand like yours?" The man grabbed a box off of a large pile of other boxes, opened it, and held it out to Asher. Asher grabbed the wand on the inside, and stood with it. "Well, give it a wave!"
Asher waved the wand, and a shelf fell, knocking boxes of wands all over the floor of the shop. "Okay, maybe not. Perhaps, similar to your father?" He reached out to grab another wand. Asher waved this one, and a flower pot sitting on the man's desk shattered, dropping soil, and a plant onto the floor. "Nope, I guess not."
The man returned with another wand, and handed it to Asher. "I believe, this will work." Asher waved the wand, a warm breeze came in from every opening in the building. "Ah, there we are!" Asher looked down at the wand. It was red, with a jet black handle, looking almost like a stair post. "What's it made of?"
"Ah, let's see." The man looked at the wand one more. "Ash, manticore tail spike. Eleven inches. I believe it is one of the wands recovered from Gregorovich after his demise." Asher looked down at the wand. It fit perfectly in his hand, and he liked the way it looked. "It's been painted of course, Gregorovich was known for doing that to wands sometimes. Ash, of course, isn't red."
It didn't matter to Asher, his wand was cool. He liked it, and pocketed it. Asher's mom walked him up to the entrance of the Leaky Cauldron, where Asher's dad and Griffin had just finished buying his things. His dad was only carrying a small bag, with what looked like a large, 'A' on it. His dad handed the bag to Asher.
"There you go! It's got everything in it. I used an undetectable extension charm. It is carrying all your things, so don't lose it. Oh, and I got an owl, it'll be sent to your Hogwarts dormitory; just make sure you send me a letter with your house mentioned through one of the school owls." Asher smiled, he was going to like Hogwarts.
The family walked back into the Leaky Cauldron together, laughing about how great a year it was going to be. Asher still remembered his wand; ash with manticore tail spike. What the heck was a manticore? Did it matter? Of course not, Asher was a wizard.