CHAPTER 2
Diagon Alley
Alex woke up early the next morning, He quickly took a shower and brushed his teeth as he could not contain his excitement any longer, he was most excited for the fact that he was going to be getting a new wand, no longer did he have to use the second-hand wand from knock turn alley to duel his father and sister, he was going to have his own wand. He ate his food and waited for the women to get ready, he decided to kill time by watching muggle news on the TV. His father was obsessed with muggle technology as he always wondered how they got on without magic. His obsession had resulted in him making numerous purchases of muggle things such as a TV, computer and two cars, a Ferrari Testarossa and a rolls Royce Silver Spur. The Rolls Royce had numerous charms and wards placed on it and could comfortably seat 15 people.
Today they were going to be using the Rolls Royce to go to Diagon Alley, they drove into London and arrived to the leaky Cauldron and parked outside they entered the bar greeting the barman Tom, before continuing into Diagon Alley, it wasn't Alex's first time here but the happiness and magic he felt every time he came to Diagon alley never seemed to go away. First on his list were his robes so they went to Madam Malkins Robes for All Occasions, His parents left him in the shop to continue shopping as the fitting process could take quite some time.
He waited his turn as two boys who seemed to be in his year were getting fitted for their robes. One had platinum blonde hair and carried himself as if everyone else was beneath him the other was a skinny boy who wore glasses and mostly kept quiet and let the blonde boy speak. "Hogwarts too?" Asked the blonde boy. "Yes" replied the skinny boy, "fathers next door buying my books and mothers up the street looking at wands," said the blonde boy. He had a bored drawling voice that Alex immediately took a disliking to. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms". I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and ill smuggle it in somehow" Every word that came out of the boy's mouth made Alex dislike him even more.
The conversation continued with the skinny boy only giving one-word answers, clearly the dislike for the blonde boy was universal. The blonde boy crossed the line when he insulted a large man standing outside which prompted the skinny boy to come to his defence. Before the argument could go any further Madam came back carrying the skinny boy's robes prompting him to leave. Now Alex was left with the pompous blonde boy who eyed him with a patronizing glare which Alex returned in equal measure. There was an awkward silence for a while before the blonde boy started to make small talk, he then introduced himself as Draco Malfoy, 'well that makes perfect sense.' Thought Alex as he now understood why the boy acted all snobbish.
"Steward, Alex Steward" replied Alex, the boy told Alex that he knew of his family and that his father also worked at the Ministry of Magic. Madam Malkin finished their robes and they left her store. Alex did not look back as he continued on to the wandmakers shop where his parents would most likely be waiting for him. He got there and found his parents about to leave to go buy his books. "Darling, we have already paid Mr olliviander for a new wand just go in and he will help you pick one" Said his mother as she took his robes and directed him into the shop.
"hello" said Alex looking for the owner." "Ah yes Mr Steward you have come at last for your first wand" said the owner, the statement was said in a rhetorical manner. "it feels like yesterday your mother was here herself buying her first wand, she preferred getting hers from me instead of whatever the Americans had to offer, Aspen and dragon heartstring, 11 inches, powerful wand perfect for transfiguration" Mr Olliviander moved closer to Alex "Hmmm, let me see" He pulled out his Tape measure and told Alex to hold out his arm, he began to measure him from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, knee to armpit and around his head.
After what seemed like forever with numerous wands reacting badly to his touch Alex finally found a wand that felt right to him. "Ah yes, Ebony and dragon heartstring 10 inches with a grey celestial handle, powerful wand for combative magic and Transfiguration, the wand chooses the wizard Mr Steward, and this wand in particular will be a perfect match for those who would hold fast to their beliefs, no matter what the external pressure, and would not be swayed from their purpose." Alex listened to the old man intently on his theories of wand lore. After they were done with the wand selection Alex asked Mr oliviander for a wand holster and was given one before leaving the shop.
Next, he headed to Wiseacre's wizarding Equipment in order to get a new trunk, the receptionist assisted in designing the trunk he wanted and told him to come back in an hour so Alex decided to go for a walk, he ended up getting lost and found himself in Knock turn alley, whilst trying to figure how to get back to Diagon alley a rough voice suddenly spoke, "well well, lost are we little bird?" The man's clothes were in tatters and Alex could tell his teeth were yellow from where he stood. The man started circling Alex and Alex made sure to keep him in his sights.
"Little birds like you come here and ever come out again, let me keep you safe little bird". Alex gave the man an incredulous look, 'Just my luck, I get stuck with the weird ones.' he thought to himself. He was about to tell the man that he wanted no trouble when the man suddenly lunged at him, luckily Alex was prepared and quickly pulled out his wand and shouted "Stupefy", the man quickly erected a Protego shield and returned fire shouting "diffindo, incendio, confringo," Alex rolled to the side avoiding the spells and then decided to switch it up by using non-verbal spells and increasing his casting speed,' expeliamus, ascendo, descendo, stupefy'.the spell chain resulted in the man being disarmed, thrown into the sky and slammed back down before being stunned.
Alex was still reeling from the recent duel when he heard another voice calling him," oi, wot yeh doin ere, this aint no place fer kids," it was the huge man that the skinny boy had defended earlier," Sorry I got lost and this man attacked me." The huge looked down at the stunned man and back to Alex with a look of confusion then asked," ow does a first year take down a grown man out to catch 'im? Alex smiled and replied just lucky, I guess. The huge man laughed before offering his hand, "Name's Hagrid by the way", Alex shook the man's hand replying "Steward, Alex Steward, nice to make your acquaintance, could you please show me the way back to Diagon Alley?" Hagrid smiled and said "well tha explains how ye managed to defeat tha idiot eh, yous a Steward, I know ye Parents, bloody good wizards they are." Hagrid led Alex back to Diagon Alley. When they returned, they ran into the Skinny boy who was now holding a snowy white Owl.
'That's a beautiful bird.' Thought Alex as Hagrid asked the boy if they were ready to return. Hagrid then introduced the two boys to each other, "wait you are Harry Potter?" Asked Alex, Harry nodded with a shy look as if he had a lot of people asking him that very question. "We used to play together when we were babies, or so my mom tells me, she was good friends with your parents." Harry beamed hearing this and asked "Your parents knew my parents?" Alex told harry how they had pictures of his parents and Harry's parents together, and promised to show him during the holiday.
Hagrid left with Harry whilst Alex met up with his family to collect his custom trunk. He told them about meeting Harry and Hagrid, his parents were disappointed that they could not meet their late friend's son but were happy to know that Hagrid was taking care of him. Alex did not mention the incidence that happened in Knockturn Alley for fear of getting scolded for going there alone. 'Well today was certainly and interesting day' Thought Alex as they loaded their goods into their car and drove home.