Chapter 2: Diagon Alley
"Hello" – Normal Speech
'Hello' – Normal Thought
"Hello" – Non-Human Speech
'Hello' – Non-Human Thought
DISCLAIMER: Unfortunately, I do not own the rights to the Harry Potter or Naruto franchises. Nor do I own the rights to Hogwarts Mystery. Wish I did though.
The boys woke up early the next morning, ate breakfast, and set off into the London streets to buy their supplies. As they walked through the London streets, the three boys could barely contain their excitement. It was even harder for Naruto and Joshua, as they were gawking at tall buildings and skyscrapers. Naruto and Joshua find themselves thinking, 'Man, this place is pretty interesting. I think I might like it here.'
The four finally arrive at a pub, which Hagrid calls The Leaky Cauldron. What was interesting was that even though the street was quite filled with people, nobody seemed to notice the 'famous pub' as Hagrid dubbed it. As soon as they entered the pub, it got very quiet as everyone began to look at the four. What confused Joshua and Naruto was that of the four of them, Harry seemed to draw the most attention. The barman suddenly cried out, "My word, is it Harry Potter?!" This seemed to break the silence completely as everyone began greeting Harry as if he some sort of hero. After all the greetings and introductions, Hagrid brought the three outside to a space only showing a wall.
"Really? An empty room?" Naruto said blankly. Hagrid smirked and said "Looks can be deceivin'" as he tapped on the bricks with his umbrella. Soon the bricks open, forming an archway, which much to the shock and excitement of the three young boys reveals a location with many shops and people in the streets. "Awesome!" They exclaimed. "Welcome, boys, to Diagon Alley."
The four began walking through Diagon Alley, and as they walked around their eyes began filling with even more wonder and excitement than before as they saw unique shops and people around. "Man, this place is amazing right?!" Naruto said excitedly. Harry and Joshua, agreeing with what Naruto said, replied simultaneously, "I know right? There are so many things we can do. But here's the thing, how are we going to pay for all this, we don't have the money" Harry proceeded to pull out his letter showing the required school supplies. Hagrid chuckled to the three and said, "To answer your question, we need to go to Gringotts to get your money. "Gringotts?" Naruto asked. "Gringotts, the wizarding bank, ain't no safer place, not one…well except for Hogwarts of course" Hagrid states as he points to a bank of the same name. "Now don't worry about the payments," Hagrid said to Naruto, "Dumbledore gave me access to his vault" as Hagrid pulled out a key from his pocket. He turned to Joshua and quickly whispered, "Seeing as you're now part of the Forest family, you now have access to the family vault" Joshua smiled and told Hagrid to give Aaron his thanks.
Naruto, getting rather excited, tells them, "Come on then, what are we waiting for? Off to the bank" he runs to the bank, with Harry and Joshua running to keep up with him. "N-Now hold on you three…wait for me!" Hagrid yelled as he chased the three.
As they entered the bank, the boys were quite surprised to find that instead of wizards, rather interesting creatures worked there. "Uh, Hagrid… what are they exactly?" The three boys asked simultaneously before looking at each other and laughing. Harry asks between fits of laughter, "Is this going to keep happening?" To which the other two replied "I don't know" Hagrid then answered their previous question, "They're goblins, while clever as they come, they aren't the friendliest of creatures… best stay close" Hagrid warned, as they walked up to a desk with a goblin writing in a record book with a feather. "Ahem-" Hagrid said, as he got the goblin's attention. "Mr. Harry Potter and Mr. Joshua Forest would like to make withdrawals from their respective accounts, while Mr. Uzumaki here will be borrowing a bit from Professor Dumbledore.," Hagrid said to the goblin. The goblin observed the young wizards and asked, "Do they have their keys?" Hagrid managed to pull out three keys and a few letters from his pocket. However, one of the letters appears to be stamped and has the words 'top secret', and Hagrid mentions to the goblin "It's about you-know-what in vault seven-thirteen" surprising the goblin, "Very well, follow me then" The goblin said to the four.
The three boys, Hagrid, and a goblin named Griphook rode the cart into the vaults and made four stops on their trip, with the first being Harry's vault. When they made the first stop, Hagrid grumbled about how the carts at Gringotts made him nauseous. As the vault opened, the three young wizards were surprised by just how much gold, silver, and bronze coins, along with many types of jewels lay in Harry's vault. "Didn't think your parents would leave you with nothin' now did ya?" Hagrid said to Harry. Naruto felt a little bit jealous of Harry, since even though they both lost their parents as a baby, at least Harry got to know who his parents were and had stuff left for him, whereas Naruto never got to know his parents as whenever he asks the people back home in Konoha, they would either ignore him, give him cryptic answers, or even flat out say that his parents never loved him and discarded the boy like trash.
They made their second stop at the Forest family vault. While not as much lay in this vault… actually it was quite a sizable amount, nearly one and a half times as much as Harry's vault. Money as well as many scrolls and journals of the family's illustrious history and legacy. Hagrid continued to go on about how the Forest family was the stuff of legend and had quite a good reputation in the wizarding world. Joshua picked up the money necessary for his supplies and the journey continued.
Now the third stop was at Dumbledore's vault, almost flowing with gold. Despite it not being Naruto's own vault, he got a decent amount required to buy his school supplies. Naruto thought to himself, 'Note to self: I have got to open up an account for myself as soon as possible and start saving.'
The last stop was Vault seven-thirteen. "Stay back," Griphook warned as he ran a long finger down the door. The door melted away as Griphook explained his warning, "If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried doing that, they'd be sucked right into the vault with no escape," "How often do you check the vaults to see if anyone is inside?" Harry asked. "About once every ten years," Griphook replied with a sadistic grin. As the door opened the three boys were expecting gold beyond measure or countless jewels, so it came as a surprise and piqued their curiosity all that was inside was a small package wrapped in brown paper. Before they could even open their mouths to inquire about the package, Hagrid picked it up and made the three swear never to mention it before shoving it deep into his overcoat. The three nodded, but that interaction only increased their curiosity as to what was inside the package. Soon the four exited the bank, ready to go collect their supplies. "Before you boys run off, d'ya mind if I head to The Leaky Cauldron for a pick-me-up?" Hagrid asked, "These carts in the bank don't really agree with me. You boys get yer supplies, and I'll meet you all later." The boys agreed though Joshua and Naruto asked if they could shop alone. Hagrid agreed and the boys set off, promising to meet up back at The Leaky Cauldron before dark.
With Harry
Harry had just gotten almost all of his supplies such as robes, and books, and was on his way to get his supplies for potions when he bumped into Hagrid once again. Hagrid helps Harry buy the equipment needed. Now to the final item on his checklist, a wand. "I still need… a wand," Harry said. "A wand, eh? Well then, head on over to Ollivanders! They make the best ones. Why don't you head in yourself? I'd like te try an' find summin'" Hagrid said to Harry. So, Harry heads over to Ollivander's Wand Shop to get his wand and as he enters the shop he's greeted by the owner, Garrick Ollivander. Soon they begin the testing process, but let's say that it was rather tricky.
"No! No! Definitely Not!" the owner of the shop stated as he went back to the room to find some other wands for Harry to try. Harry, seeing the mishap, puts down the wand cautiously on the counter.
Soon Ollivander brought out a few more wands for Harry to try and even then, nothing seemed to work, and a pile of wands seemed to inch slightly higher. Soon he pulls one more from the shelf and asks himself aloud "Can it be that they are linked in that sense? I wonder-" Ollivander then brings the wand to Harry for him to try.
"Eleven inches… Holly… Phoenix Feather Core-" Ollivander said as he described the wand. Harry tries the wand and suddenly he feels a rush of warmth flow through him, which indicates that it works. "Curious… very curious…" he said. "Sorry but, what's curious?" Harry asked.
"I remember every wand I've ever sold Mr. Potter… and it just so happens, that the Phoenix whose feather resides in your wand gave another feather… just one, it is curious that you should be destined for this wand… when its brother gave you that scar" Ollivander stated as he pointed at Harry's scar on his forehead.
Harry was shocked and asked who, but it seemed that Ollivander wasn't so keen on talking about who that person was but he did explain that he was the one who sold it "Yew, phoenix core, thirteen-and-a-half inches. If only I knew what that wand was going out into the world to do." Ollivander then tells Harry that the wand chooses the wizard, and it is expected that Harry will do great things much like he-who-must-not-be-named. Harry purchased his wand and got out of the store only to find Hagrid holding a cage with a white snowy owl. "Hey Harry, happy birthday!" Harry smiled, stammering his thanks, and left with Hagrid.
With Naruto
Naruto walked the streets of Diagon Alley looking for what he needed to find. He noticed a bunch of kids examining some broomstick at a shop, with the broomstick being called the Nimbus 2000. As he walked through the streets, he's noticed by a bunch of girls claiming how adorable he is with the whiskers and all that. At first, Naruto was surprised by how they weren't calling him a freak, but hey it's better than nothing.
Naruto arrives at the shop known as "Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions", and as he enters to get his robes, he's surprised by how many students there are waiting to get their clothing. Naruto is soon greeted by an elderly woman in the shop, and the elderly woman asks, "Can I help you with something?" Naruto states that he is here to buy three robes, and luckily the elder woman notices and asks that he's a first-year student, to which Naruto nods. She helps him with getting his measurements and soon enough he buys his robes and leaves the shop.
After the boy got all his required robes, he also got a trunk as well to help him to get his supplies. Soon the boy got all the equipment required such as a cauldron, some vials, telescopes, and scales. Now all he needs are the books and most importantly a wand; He also might consider getting a pet if he wants to.
Naruto enters a shop called "Flourish and Blotts" to pick up his textbooks. He goes up to the counter and an employee asks what he's there for, to which Naruto shows his letter. The employee nods and gets the boy's textbooks. Naruto pays for the books and leaves the shop to get two more things, a pet, and a wand. He finds a pet shop close by called "Magical Menagerie" and so Naruto entered. "Amazing," Naruto said excitedly, as he looked around the shop to see all kinds of animals from cats, dogs, snakes, spiders, etc. It seems that some of the animals like him, while the others despise him, namely snakes so to speak. However, there was one animal that actually came or rather flew up to him. A large jet-black crow flew up to him. Naruto observed the crow, and what he noticed was that the crow's eyes were blood red and appeared to have the design of a four-point pinwheel. The crow observes Naruto, and to Naruto's shock it asks, "Are you the child of prophecy?" Naruto was shocked at first thinking that it was the crow speaking or something, but he simply thought it was his mind playing tricks with him, as the crow cawed and remained by Naruto's side. "Well, I'll be damned… it seems the crow likes you," said the owner. " Huh?" Naruto asked. The owner explained, "Well, this crow was in this shop for two years and nobody picked him up. Guess everyone was scared of him, but in reality, the crow is friendly if you take time getting to know him." "Interesting," Naruto said impressed, "Well I guess you're by my side then, but it seems that you need a name," Naruto said to the crow. The crow looks at Naruto and caws softly. "How about I call you Kage (Shadow)?" The crow looks at Naruto and bobs its head in agreement. Naruto smiled and proceeded to pay for his pet.
Naruto and Kage leave the pet shop, now all Naruto needs is a wand. "Alright, I finally need a wand, so where can I find one?" Naruto asks. Soon enough he finds Ollivander's Wand Shop "Ollivander's huh? Well ok then, let's go," said Naruto, and so the boy and his pet crow entered the shop.
As the two walked into the shop, they noticed that the place was quite a mess. "Ah hello, there young man, don't mind the mess. Just had some young ones like you trying out wands here," said an old man. Naruto nods and says "Hi, I'm here to get my first wand please?" "Alright then, what is your name?" the old man asked. "Naruto Uzumaki," responded the boy. "Hmmm. never heard of you. Tell me, are your parent's muggles? Naruto, unsure how to answer that, says "I don't know really… I'm an orphan." Ollivander nods, "I see… well since you are here, might as well get your first wand" Ollivander responded and started finding some wands for Naruto to try.
A pile of wands soon filled the shop as Naruto seemed to prove trickier than Harry. Ollivander was not discouraged as his smile seemed to widen with each passing wand. Ollivander decided to try out one more wand and he hoped that it could work. 'Maybe this is the one,' thought Ollivander as he pulled out the wand from the box. The wand was black, its handle wrapped in white leather, and had one cyan gem on the bottom of the handle.
"Thirteen inches… ebony wood… phoenix feather and thestral hair," Ollivander said as he handed the wand to Naruto. Naruto took the wand and he felt warmth surging within him. "Interesting… most interesting," Ollivander said. Naruto looks to Ollivander, and the man clarifies "Just like Mr. Potter, the wand chooses the wizard, so it is expected that you will do great things as well." Naruto was confused and asked what he meant to which Ollivander replied "Only time will tell, young man" Naruto paid for his wand and left.
With Joshua
Joshua set off towards "Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions" When he entered, he was propped up on a stool by the aforementioned Madam Malkin, who slipped a robe on him and began to pin it to his size.
"Hogwarts too?" Said a voice next to him. Joshua turned his head to see a boy with slicked-back blond hair staring back at him. "Yes. First-year?" "Yes," the boy replied evidently bored with being in the shop. "Dad buying all my supplies, and Mum is busy looking at wands. I really think it's a shame first-years aren't allowed their own broomsticks, but I think I'll be able to bully father into getting me one. Who knows maybe I'll be able to smuggle it in. Do you know what house you'll be in?" "No," Joshua replied. Though he did get some background from Aaron about the school the night before, he was quite uncertain where he would end up. "Well, fair enough," The blond replied. "Most people don't really know until they get there. I think I'll be in Slytherin House. If that isn't so I think I might leave, wouldn't you?" "I don't know for sure. My whole family is chock-full of Ravenclaw history. That being said, they did tell me not to get my hopes up, as I am quite different from them." Joshua responded. "Well as long as it's not Hufflepuff," The blond says with a look of slight disgust. "What's wrong with Hufflepuff? A close friend of my family is from there," said Joshua, who was beginning to like the blond less and less. The blond continued going on about how he felt Hogwarts should only be accessible to the wizarding families and told Joshua that if he came from a magical line, he seemed to be fine in his book. "Before I forget, what is your surname?" Asked the blond. Before Joshua could respond, Madam Malkin finished with his robes. Joshua paid, then left to get the rest.
He then proceeded to collect the rest of his supplies, now all that was left was his wand. He found Ollivander's Wand Shop and walked inside. Ollivander, noticing him walk in says "Hello. Don't mind the mess" before flicking his wand. Immediately all the wands flew back into their boxes and onto their shelves. "Name?" Ollivander asks. "Joshua Forest" "Hm… I was unaware Jonathan and Samantha had another son" Ollivander comments, looking rather intrigued. "Actually," Josh replies, "I'm adopted," "Oh. Very well," Ollivander apologized as he began to find a wand for Joshua.
Many wands later, shelves had been emptied and cases were cleared, but they still hadn't found a wand. Yet Ollivander's smile hadn't dimmed, on the contrary, it got wider and wider with each wand. Soon he arrived at a case that was almost thick with dust. 'Can it be? Has this wand waited for him all this time?' Ollivander asked himself. He then brought it to Joshua. "Twelve inches… Sycamore… Phoenix feather and dragon heartstring…" he said as he took out the wand. The wand was completely black, and the only way to tell where to hold the wand was a golden notch that jutted out of the wand where the handle began. It also had a gold diamond shape at the bottom of the handle. Ollivander gave Joshua the wand. The effect was instant, warmth began to surge through Joshua like a dam that had burst. The wand, it seemed, was rejoicing at finally finding its match after what seemed so long. "Well, it seems the wand has finally chosen its rightful master, but I'm curious what made it want to wait for you. Especially after all these years," Ollivander explained that the wand had a history nearly as long as the shop, which was impressive given that the shop was founded in 382 BCE. He continued on, saying that many great wizards had attempted to use the wand, but with little to almost no success. Joshua paid for his wand, satisfied that he had gotten everything, and left for The Leaky Cauldron to meet up with the others.
A/N: Well, everyone now has their supplies. For those who noticed, I wanted to have Joshua meet Malfoy before they get to Hogwarts. I wanted to give Joshua a reason to dislike Malfoy at the beginning of the story. I plan on basing Malfoy off a mix of books and movies, as well as giving him a bit more character development further on. Plans involve him being quite the a-hole at the start, then slowly making him a bit more tolerable as time goes on. Well, that's it for now. The next chapter is the journey to Hogwarts, so stay tuned. MoBi out!