Chapter 5: Diagon Alley

Alexander could barely manage to take in everything he was seeing. He had suddenly found himself in the middle of a busy market square. Buildings of all shapes and sizes seemed to burst from the enameled concrete and stone pavilion. Some were rather large and obtuse and made with a fine red brick layer while another seemed to have its proportions all wrong. Everything about them seemed different and magical.

On one end of the street he spotted a group of children burst out of a shop and a brilliant display of light erupted from the chimney on top of the building and scattered into the sky like fireworks while another man sat on the edge of an alley with a beautiful medley playing on his violin. It wasn't until they walked past him that Alexander noticed that the violin was playing itself (quite well) and the man was asleep against the wall.

The town appeared quite active and Alexander noticed that he saw a lot of children running into the shops with their parents and running out with all sorts of strange items. He could only assume that these were other students from Hogwarts getting prepared for the new semester.

"You look positively in awe, my boy. I keep forgetting you've hardly seen true magic. Well, I can tell you one thing, Diagon Alley is nothing compared to Hogwarts, Let's be quick about it now, we only have a few hours left before we have to get you on your train. Do you still have your acceptance letter, and I hope that you do?" Ivan asked.

Alexander reached into his suitcase and pulled out the acceptance letter and handed it to Ivan.

"Well, we've got some ways to go, it would appear. Let's start off by getting some books for you, how does that sounds?" Ivan asked.

"We can't get a wand first? I can't wait to try my first spell!" blurted an excited Alexander.

"Patience, Mr. West. We will get you your wand, but I hardly think that you need try any sort of spell right here in the square. Let's run and get the necessaries and then we can grab some lunch. After that, we'll stop by Olivanders and grab you a wand," said Ivan.

The bookstore was first on their tour of stops and it was not like one Alexander had ever seen. The woman at the desk was waving her wand around, looking quite bored, and books were flying off the shelf on their own and landing the cauldrons and bags of the children in front of her.

The list of books he needed for the semester was even more exciting to him. He checked the list given to him in the acceptance letter:

1. The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 by Miranda Goshawk

2. A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

3. A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

4. One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

5. Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

6. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

7. From Vampires to Dark Ones: A guide of self-protection by Lina Amari

8. Flying as an Art by Harry Potter

"You've got some good stuff in there," said Ivan, "glad to see Harry's finally published that book of his."

"Is Harry Potter that man you and Dad went to school with?" asked Alexander.

Ivan smiled, "That is he is. Though, I imagine he's keeping quite busy these days. I haven't seen him in years. Come along, no point in sticking around the bookstore if you've got your books."

Over the next hour they managed to grab his cauldron, which he was glad to throw his books into, his robes, a very nice brass telescope, and a few other assorted things that he would need over the next few months. As they had gone along Ivan had stopped and chatted with quite a few wizards and witches. Alexander had no idea his uncle was so popular around here. He hardly had to go a few dozen yards before running into someone that he absolutely had to talk to. Alexander didn't mind, he enjoyed listening to the conversations because they were just more information about the world of magic that he was able to understand.

Lastly, they stopped for a bite to eat at a shop called Rodney's Exotic Eatery. There was a plethora of strange smells and people wandering about in the store but Ivan claimed that there was no better spot to eat in all of Diagon Alley and he had already named a few that he couldn't stand. He ordered them both a plate of a strange soup that Alexander couldn't pronounce. He was hesitant to eat it at first because it had a ghastly green coloring and a smell of freshly cut grass but he found it to be quite delicious. He asked what the meat was on the inside and Ivan simply told him he didn't want to know.

As they were making their way out of the restaurant, a voice yelled out across the square.

"Ivan? There he is, darling! I told you he'd be here!"

The voice belonged to a woman that looked to be about his father's age. She had platinum blonde hair was wearing a less than modest pinstripe skirt and a long, dark fur coat. Her voice was loud and shrill and Alexander thought that he saw a cringe come across Ivan's face. Another man followed behind her who Alexander could only assume was her husband. He was tall with dark hair and a neatly trimmed beard and he was holding the hands of two children, a boy and a girl, that looked to be Alexanders age.

"Ah yes! Mr. and Mrs. Foster. Lovely to see you, of course," Ivan said with a forced smile.

"It's Edna, dear," she said, "you don't need such formalities with us."

"It's been a long time Ivan," her husband said, shaking Ivan's hand.

"It's good to see you Arnold," Ivan replied.

Edna turned her attention to Alexander.

"Who's this handsome young man? Surely you haven't been hiding a son from us all these years?" asked Edna with a curt laugh.

"I'm Alexander West, miss. I'm his nephew. It's my first year!" Alexander said proudly.

Edna and Arnold exchanged a worried look.

"You're Percy's boy?" Arnold murmured, "I haven't seen him since- "

"The past is the past," Ivan interrupted, "and I'm watching out for the boy here. Percival simply dropped him off."

"Yes, Arnold dear, it's been a very long time and the hatchet has been sufficiently buried. Besides- "

Edna grabbed her two children from behind Arnold and shoved them up in front of Ivan.

"It's the twins first year too! They can hardly wait! They've been beside themselves all summer," she said.

"I've already got my wand," the boy said proudly.

He had dark hair like his father but had inherited his mother's blue eyes and freckles. He looked quite sure of himself.

"I think I'm getting mine soon, right Ivan?" asked Alexander.

"It'll be our last stop," Ivan responded.

"Ivan," whispered Arnold, "I have to know. It's been the talk around the office for the last few months…Does the tree still burn? Has Grindelwald really cursed Hogwarts?"

Ivan turned quickly to Alexander, "Why don't you run along for now while we grownups do a bit of talking. You can run in that pet store, if you'd like."

"But-" Alexander started.

"Children, go with Alexander and show him the shop. Pick anything out, it's really quite alright," Edna said sharply.

Alexander didn't like the look of worry that Ivan wore on his face but he knew better than to refuse. Besides, the idea of going into a magical pet store was exciting.

"Come along Alexander, I'm getting a snake!" said the boy.

As the children turned to walk away from their parents, Alexander saw Ivan and he seemed to be furious. He had his finger pointed right at Arnolds face and his hand was on his wand.

"I'm Sebastian, by the way," the boy said, "and this is my twin sister, Eliza. She doesn't talk much so don't be offended if she ignores you."

Eliza had her hands in the pockets of her robe and true to Sebastian's word didn't say anything. Much like Sebastian, she had the sharp features of her father but she had her mother's long blonde hair.

"It's nice to meet you," Alexander said.

Sebastian smiled, "You too! Your uncle is crazy! My father tells the wildest stories."

"Sebastian!" shouted Eliza, "That's not very nice."

"Well it's true. He's a strange bird, that's what mother says. They like him, though and so do I. I can't wait to take transfiguration with him," Sebastian said.

"He's a teacher?" asked Alexander.

"How did you not know that? He's head of Gryffindor House, for goodness sakes!" exclaimed Sebastian.

"I'm sorry," Alexander said, "up until a few weeks ago I didn't even know magic existed, let alone that I had an uncle that taught it."

Sebastian seemed shocked.

"Well, you've got a lot of catching up to do. The first thing you should know is that when we get to Hogwarts, you're going to be sorted into one of the four houses. Eliza and I are going to be sorted into Slytherin," Sebastian said confidently.

"How do you know that?" asked Alexander.

"Because it's the best one and everyone one of my family has always been sorted into Slytherin. After that there's Ravenclaw, they're the book nerds but they're not so bad mainly. Gryffindor is your uncles house and they're a right bunch of goody two shoes, at least that's what my dad always told me. No offense to your uncle," Sebastian said.

"Sebastian!" shouted Eliza.

"What? It's true. But dead last is Hufflepuff. That's not a house you want to get sorted into, from what I hear they're a bunch of nobodies," Sebastian said.

"Well maybe I'll get sorted into Slytherin with you guys!" Alexander said, hopefully.

Alexander was confused by all this. He had never heard of a school that separated their children like that. At the very least, he hoped he got sorted into Slytherin because Sebastian and Eliza were the only kids that he knew here.

He followed them into the pet shop and was amazed once again. There were dozens of owls and exotic birds flying around the top of the room and ducking in and out of the ceiling beams. The room was littered with dozens of cages filled with all sorts of strange animals. A few cats had gotten loose and were running across the store and a group of children were chasing them. The collective noise of all of them was hard to bear at first but Alexander couldn't help but get caught up in the excitement.

"This is insane!" muttered Alexander.

"Help me find a snake. I'd like a python, if they have it," Sebastian said, "but I'd take anything, really."

Sebastian and Alexander pushed their way past the excited children and started peeking in the cages. Sebastian seemed pickier than he had suggested because every snake that he picked up he eventually set back down.

"I've got to find the best one," he said.

Eliza had found a beautiful white owl that was eating some treats out of her hand. She seemed enamored with it already and was scratching the feathers on its head. Alexander saw a few snakes sitting atop their rocks in the cages and decided that snakes really weren't for him. He didn't even know if he wanted a pet at all. Learning magic and handling his classes seemed like a lot of responsibility by itself.

"What do you mean we can't purchase him?" a voice spoke from behind him.

"Sorry, Ollie. We can only afford the one you've got," an older voice said.

Alexander turned around and saw a small dark skinned boy at the checkout counter with his parents. He was holding a regal looking grey kitten very close to his chest and he had tears in his eyes.

"But they're brothers. We can't separate them like that. It's cruel and unusual," Ollie said.

Alexander saw sitting on the counter in a small basket was a very frail looking orange kitten. He was mewling wildly at the site of his grey brother being taken from him and it was apparently breaking Ollie's heart.

Alexander had no idea why he did this, but in that moment he decided to step in.

"I'll adopt the brother," he said.

Ollie and his parents turned their attention to him.

"You will?" Ollie asked.

"Yeah, like you said. It would be cruel and unusual," Alexander said with a smile.

Ollie wiped the tears from his eyes and offered his hand to Alexander,

"I'm Ollie, Ollie Burrows. This is my Mom and Dad, they're muggles," Ollie said.

"I'm Alexander West. It's nice to meet you, my mom's a muggle too, but this is my first time at Diagon Alley. It's pretty interesting!" he replied.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you. All of this is a bit jarring for us too," Mrs. Burrows said.

"But when we found out that little Ollie was a wizard, we were so proud of him. I'm sure your mother feels the same way," Mr. Burrows said.

"Yes, I'm sure," Alexander said.

He didn't want to tell them that she didn't know, especially with the way Sebastian and Eliza's parents reacted when they found out who his father was.

He walked over to the counter and handed his money to the shop keeper. The kitten stared at him for a moment, sizing him up. He was very frail, must have been the runt of the litter.

"What are you going to name him?" asked Ollie.

"He looks a bit like a Lancelot doesn't he? Like the knight," asked Alexander, picking new pet up.

"I guess so. I named mine Milton, after my granddad. He doesn't look like him at all, though," Ollie pondered.

As Alexander picked up Lancelot, he started purring immediately. The two kittens seemed to know that they were going to be going to the same school and at least weren't going to be separated.

Sebastian and Eliza had made their way up to the counter, while Eliza had her own perched gracefully on her shoulder and Sebastian had sleek pitch black owl resting on his.

"Eliza said that they wouldn't let me take a snake into Hogwarts anymore. Something about when my parents went to school there. Anyway, no snakes allowed, which is a shame because I had already found the best one," Sebastian said sadly and motioned across the room where a giant python was curled up inside a glass cage.

While Ollie introduced himself to the twins, Alexander noticed that Arnold, their father, had made his way into the shop. He looked absolutely distraught and was wringing his leather clothes through his fingers.

"Sebastian, Eliza, come along," he said, "you too, Alexander."

"Alexander's coming with us?" Eliza asked.

"Yes, darling," Arthur said, "his uncle had to run to the school for an emergency and asked us to take him to the train on our way."

"Can my friend Ollie come along as well?" asked Alexander.

"Or at the very least could we follow you? I'm afraid we don't know the way to train," Mr. Burrows said.

Arnold stared at him with some contempt before simply answering,

"Fine, but we aren't taking any muggle cars, that's for damn sure."v