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Chapter 5: 10th of August 1995, Part 2, Diagon Alley

Before leaving for Diagon Alley, I went back to the village under my Invisibility Cloak to make sure that nobody (read, Sirius) would come and try to find me any time soon.

I was starting to get a bit nervous. I had never disobeyed like that. It could be pretty risky for me. I really didn't want to disappoint them either. They were like my family, after all. I gave myself a chance to back out of this foolish plan if I saw any sign that they would come to check on me soon.

They looked like they were in a meeting. I didn't dare approach too much because Moody could see under the Cloak, but I could hear the shouts of indignation from where I stood. It surprised me because I had always thought that every decision taken in the village was unanimous.

From what I could hear, the opinions were pretty divided and the ones who were protesting were doing so pretty vehemently.

I wonder about what this meeting could be...I was starting to approach again when I suddenly spotted Neville sitting there in silence, looking miserable and conflicted, overwhelmed.

He's my age! Why am I not there with them! I should be there! They keep telling me that I'm their Chosen One, and then they exclude me from every decision! I bet they are talking about something that concerns me right now, and I'm standing there, looking at them, and I can't say anything. Screw this, I'm going!

I stormed away from the village for a second time today, this time determined to leave this place, to take a break from the constant anger and frustration of its inhabitants. I would go, and relax among normal people. I might even take off my Cloak if I felt enough at would serve Sirius and the rest of them right if I was to go and stroll around Diagon Alley in broad daylight without anything happening to me.

I looked down at my clothes. They weren't torn, but they still looked pretty shabby. I took out my wand and transfigured them into something that looked a bit more normal.

In theory, we could always transfigure our clothes to make them seem like they were princely, but it wouldn't last long enough to make it worth the effort. And it would be pretty tiring as well, because you have to keep feeding the flow of magic to maintain the transfiguration. Nobody is that shallow here to use his or her magic for something so useless.

With that done and the Cloak tightly wrapped around me, I took a deep breath, looked at the curtain of faint blue light that has protected me for the past ten years, and crossed it.

Outside of the wards, unsurprisingly, stood the rest of the woods.

Great, now, let's try long-distance apparition for the first time in my life!

Moody had taught me apparition about a year ago. On that respect, I was more advanced than my age group. They had to take a test and get a license to be allowed to apparate, I didn't. Ah, the perks of being a Rebel (not that they are that many of them).

I had never tried to apparate outside of our wards and without supervision, though. It was more a "in case of emergency, you will have this card up his sleeve, if you need it".

I felt a bit guilty to take advantage of what they had taught me to actively disobey them. But hey, I have the Marauder genes; I'm supposed to do stuff like that, no?

This inner conflict settled, I pivoted on my right foot and disappeared with a crack.

I landed on the dirty alleyway behind the Leaky Cauldron and hurriedly tapped the right stones to make the passageway open before anybody came to greet the new arrival.

When the stones closed behind me, I let out a sigh of relief. I looked around.

Diagon Alley was thriving. All the shops were open, the streets were crowded (but not enough that I would have trouble manoeuvring under my Cloak), and everybody looked happy. There was an air of prosperity floating around that delighted me. I sighed again, this time, of contentment. At last, no more drama.

I started to walk along the Alley, observing the people, the merchandise, listening to conversations. One in particular caught my attention.

"Yes, Ma'am! All the lavender used for my perfume comes directly from the Provence, in France!" said one seller at a cosmetic boutique.

"Really? Ah, not ten years ago our trade agreements with France wouldn't have allowed you to sell it for this cheap, that's for sure!" exclaimed an elegant blond woman.

"Well, Mrs. Parkinson, what can I say, our Lord and Minister Malfoy sure did a good job with the trade negotiations!"

I was shocked. I had never heard anything remotely positive about the Dark Lord's regime in all my life before now and, while I had had doubts that everything was as black and white as the Rebels had told me, to hear my suspicions so easily confirmed after not five minutes in the outside world made me wonder why I didn't get out of the village before now. Surely, my perception of the world can't be that screwed!

I continued my way until I saw a newsstand.

People there are going to discuss about what's happening, I thought.

And discussed, they did.

I was shocked (Again!) to hear about everything that was going on without my knowledge: education reforms, anti-corruption laws, systematisation of oaths of loyalty for Ministry workers, loans to make Wolfsbane accessible to all werewolves (I could certainly understand now why Remus had left the Rebels if that sort of laws were commonplace here) and loans and grants for new businesses, the construction of a massive magical public library in Edinburgh that would help rejuvenate its ancient magical marketplace... and it went on, and on, and on.

Not everything was positive though. My critical mind was always searching for downsides to every new regulation and law and, if innovation was always presented in a bad light in my village, for these newspapers, every change was a good one. No one so much as hinted that they might not be completely happy with the new order. To me, this was as shady as what's going on in my village.

They don't look oppressed though, not from what I can see in such a short time.

I left the newsstand, more confused than ever.

Lost in my thoughts, I hadn't noticed a box lying on the ground and I tripped over it, losing my balance and nearly falling down. I hopped around for a bit, swearing a bit and nearly colliding with a man, who looked around suspiciously with a hand on his purse. When I was stable again, I hurried over to the side of the Alley, leaning on a building to catch my breath and calm my racing heart.

I was adjusting the Cloak around me again, making sure that I was completely covered, when I saw the building in front of me. It was a gigantic joke shop with a massive WWW on its façade. In the windows were lots of animated toys and tools for pranks in flashy colours.

Unable to resist the lure of this shop, I approached cautiously. In the display, a fleshy-coloured ear caught my eye. It was, supposedly, a tool for spying. I thought of the meetings to which I couldn't attend in the village and felt a bit of my former anger return. I resolved to go check the merchandise inside the shop. Since it was summer, the doors were open to let the breeze enter. I took it as an invitation and stepped inside.

The minute I passed the porch, I saw a spell heading my way. My training kicked in and I crouched down just in time for the spell to pass above my head. I shuffled inside the shop and to the side of the entrance, trying to evaluate the situation. Am I being attacked? Was I spotted earlier when I tripped? Is this an ambush? A trap? Do they know it's me?

A pair of red-haired twins in expansive tailors came rushing to the door.

"Gred?" said the one on the left.

"Yes, Forge?

-Do you think we scared the customer away? I can't see anyone.

-That would be the first time someone just left without even shouting at us for trying to prank them..."

The one named Forge stepped outside the shop and looked at the crowd passing by. He said:

"Well, I don't see anybody with purple hair and giant ears walking outside so...

-They could have dodged it", interrupted his twin.

"Gred, they would have to be incredibly agile to dodge that...

-Do you think...

-That they were...

-In fact...

-Highly trained spies infiltrating our shop to make sure we don't say anything nasty against U-No-Poo?

-Highly trained spies sent by our competition infiltrating our shop to steal our ideas and sell them cheaper?

-Highly trained spies sent by the Rebels because they heard that we said nasty stuff about Moldy Pants and find us so awesome that they want to recruit us?"

The twins looked at each other for a few seconds and then burst out laughing.

"Moldy Pants! Where did you take that! It's brilliant, Gred!

-Not as much as U-No-Poo, Forge. That, brother of mine, was pure genius. Do you think we could sell a medicine against constipation and put that phrase on a giant poster?

-What's the worse they could do about it? In his last speech, the Dark Lord said that liberty of expression is a right and that there should be no censorship. If he makes us take it down, it would make him look bad."

They both simultaneously brought their hand up and started caressing the non-existent beard on their chin. They started snickering at the same time and said:

"Let's just fix that trap before the next customer arrives."

I exhaled slowly in relief and stood back up, looking around. After a quick tour of the shop, I concluded that the most useful gadget for me would be the Extendable Ears. They would allow me to listen to meetings when I, theoretically, would be out of range. And if I could take a bit of the invisible paint, nobody but Moody would be able to spot them...

I looked at the price. 2 Galleons. I thought of my emergency money tucked in the backpack. I didn't know how much there was, but my stomach churned uncomfortably at the idea of using all that money for my own selfish plans to spy on the meetings when I was supposed to use it for survival.

I crouched down, took my backpack off and opened it in front of the display. Rummaging around, I found the purse tapped to a corner at the bottom of the bag. I counted the money. 1 Galleon, two Sickles. It really wasn't much. How do they expect me to survive on my own with so few? I could barely stay more than a week at the seediest hotel, food included, with that.

I sighed. I shouldn't be that ungrateful, really. It's more than we can afford to spare at the camp. There are even some nights when we have to go to bed without a meal, and here I am, complaining that they didn't leave me enough to buy a tool to spy on them.

Ideally, I would just take the Ears, and leave the money to pay for them on the display. It wouldn't be stealing then. The twins would just find the money, check their inventory, realise that somebody took the Ears, but paid for them and they would be satisfied. Voilà, perfect.

Except that I didn't have the money.

I looked at the Ears longingly.

I could just put them in my backpack and leave and they'd probably never notice. Look at them, with their crocodile-skin suits or something. They have probably rolled in money all their lives. I would be like Robin Hood if I stole from them (It was one of Sirius' favourite muggle story to read me when I was young).

Except that Robin Hood didn't keep the money for himself... But anyway, it wouldn't be just for me, it's also for my Task. These two don't look like they love the Dark Lord's rule that much. They'd probably sponsor me if they knew who I was.

I looked towards the back of the shop. The twins had disappeared in the back and I could hear some stuff being moved around in there. I was alone.

Guilt washed over me. Should I? I felt like I was standing at the edge of a cliff, paralysed by my indecision. If I take them, I'm a thief. I can't say that my actions are morally irreprehensible anymore. I did something bad. I'll probably feel guilty for it for the rest of my life.

The Ears were just resting on the counter-top and I imagined them grinning at me, daring me to pick them up.

Gred and Forge probably have some anti-thief spell on everything here. They wouldn't risk leaving their shop unattended if they hadn't. Yes, that's it, I'm not going to take them; it's too risky.

I withdrew the hand that had traitorously edged towards the Ears while I was debating with myself.

Good, now, just get out of here.

I got up, taking my bag with me.

I was about to leave when suddenly, I heard some commotion in the Alley.

First, a sound like thunder resonated in the streets, then, shouts and the sound of glass being broken.

Above the terrified screams, I heard a man shouting:

"The Rebels! It's them! Somebody call the Aurors!"

I froze.

What? They are doing a raid here? But they never attack the general population usually! Just precise targets in the Dark Lord's administration. What's going on? Have they found out that I was gone and followed my trace to here?

At the corner of my eye, I could see the twins rushing in the Alley, leaving their shop empty.

In a flash, I made a spur of the moment decision and grabbed the Ears.

I need them. I'll repay the twins when I have the money, I promise.

I stuffed them in my bag and headed outside in the commotion.

Ouhhh, what's going to happen? Please write me a little line if you like the story, it would really make my day. :)

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