Author's Note: Apologies for the delay in posting this chapter. It's longer and took longer to write. Do review and let me know your thoughts.

Chapter 5: Diagon Alley

Diagon Alley was incredible. Harry looked around, soaking everything in. The cobblestone pathway that they were standing on stretched on for thousands of feet in either direction. In the middle of the pathway was a separate lane marked with yellow vertical bars. Harry wondered what that was for. A moment later, he got his answer. A boy, perhaps fourteen years of age, zoomed past them on a skateboard. Harry was sure it was magic. The speed was incredible and kids using them were performing somersaults and leaping over obstacles like speed bumps without slowing down.

Forcing hi eyes away from the skateboarders on the middle line, Harry looked around. Behind him were a long of line of fireplaces. As he watched, a green fire appeared in one of them and a woman in long robes stepped out of the grate as the flames disappeared. She looked perfectly calm for a woman who had just stepped out of a fire as she hurried down the street.

Next to the fireplaces were benches and a long line of parked skateboards and a ticket stand. Harry was sorely tempted… maybe he could try it out after he retrieved his inheritance… Then he noticed a sign on the ticket stand saying: Minimum Age – 12. Disappointed, he turned away.

There were long rows of three storey buildings to either side of the road. Some were narrow, no more than twenty feet wide. But a large building diagonally opposite to Harry, built of gleaming white marble, was at least two hundred feet wide. Three steps, made of the same white marble led up to impressive bronze double doors. Glowing, 3-D magical letters hovering just above the doors proclaimed the establishment to be GRINGOTTS WARLOCK BANK.

To its left was a shop called Zabini Magical Equipment. Through the glass windows, Harry could see that the inside of the building was not three floors but a single one. Products had been stacked ceiling-high and spiral staircases allowed customers to inspect wares that were displayed higher up. Harry saw everything from telescopes to gardening tools.

To the right of Gringotts was Madam Malkin's Clothes for All Occasions. Opposite Gringotts were three shops, Flourish and Blotts Book Store, Mr. Kurt's Stationery and Ollivander's: Wandmakers since 600 BCE.

A loud gasp came from Michael. "Look", he cried, pointing with a trembling hand. Harry followed Michael's finger and looked through the gaps between the fireplaces. The pavement of the sidewalk ended abruptly twenty feet away from them. Past that was… Harry blinked twice. Then he rubbed his eyes under his spectacles and looked again. The sight before his eyes did not change. Past the pavement was empty sky.

Harry began walking towards the edge closely followed by the others. When he was almost at the edge, Dumbledore said, "That's far enough, Harry." Harry peered down over the side and saw a sight to top everything he'd seen so far. Spread out about a mile below him was a city.

"That's London!" exclaimed Hermione. "I recognize some of the buildings… We're in a street hovering in the sky!"

"Not a street, Hermione" corrected Dumbledore. "We are in a floating settlement called The Sky District, the capital of Magical Britain.

Face shining with excitement, Harry glanced at Dean who was grinning. "What happens if someone falls sir?" asked Dean.

"There is a magical net below that catches those who are unfortunate enough to make that blunder. But divers can only be retrieved by Ministry workers, a time-consuming process, so I suggest that you all step back."

They obeyed him, but reluctantly.

"We have much to do and little time to do it in." From his pocket, Dumbledore drew five bulky red velvet pouches. "Inside each of these pouches you will find warlock money." He pulled a golden coin out of one pouch, about the size of a bottle cap. It was stamped with a serial number and crossed wands. The other face was blank. "This is called a Galleon. A Galleon is divided into twenty silver Sickles and a Sickle is further divided into fifty bronze Knuts.

As part of a Hogwarts scholarship program, students from Muggle families who are joining our school are given gold needed to purchase their initial books, uniform and equipment. Inside each of these pouches, there are five hundred gold Galleons." Dumbledore handed a pouch to everyone but Harry.

"You must use the gold to purchase all necessities mentioned on your school lists—" he handed everyone including Harry a piece of parchment, "and you may do as you like with the rest of the gold. Whatever you do not spend now will become your pocket money for the rest of the year. It is possible to work for the school to earn more gold if you have a need for it. It is my duty to urge each of you to use the gold judiciously but in my long experience, a first taste of magical sweets, games and toys usually deprives youngsters such as yourselves of all sense." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled and some of the students smiled nervously.

Hermione raised her hand.

"Yes, Hermione?"

"Professor, if you don't think we'd spend the money properly, then why aren't you doing the buying for us?"

"Ah, an excellent question. And the answer is quite a practical one. Each of you is entering a world where your parents cannot join you and guide you. While Hogwarts teachers will always be there to help, it is best to learn independence with regard to some things such as doing your school shopping."

Hermione nodded her head to that. Michael raised his hand.

"Yes, Michael?" asked Dumbledore.

"Sir, is there a way to exchange Muggle money for warlock money?"

"Another excellent question. And yes, warlock gold can be exchanged for Muggle money through Gringotts bank" Dumbledore motioned with his head to the white marble building. "However, ten British Pounds must be exchanged to get one gold Galleon. To get your annual allowance in Galleons with Muggle money, you would have to exchange five thousand pounds. While five hundred Galleons isn't a lot of money in the warlock world, five thousand pounds is, to many Muggle families, a lot of money to be spending on school requirements. It is for this reason that you are given a scholarship."

He paused and then went on, "Now, Diagon Alley holds many wonders that I am sure you are all eager to discover. So, begin your shopping and make sure to get everything on your lists. Harry, Hagrid will take you to make a withdrawal from your Gringotts vault and also get a little something for me. Should any of you run into trouble, Hagrid will be right here, near the Floo Grates" he pointed to the fireplaces, "and you may seek assistance from him. - I have some work in the Ministry office. I will complete that and rejoin you for the purchase of your wands."

A firm quality had entered Dumbledore's voice near the end and they all nodded dutifully when he was finished speaking. Dumbledore handed Hagrid a letter, turned on the spot and vanished.

"All right yeh all, get started on yer shopping. Yeh see the nearest buildings? Madam Malkin supplies Hogwarts uniforms for everybody and yeh'll want ter get your equipment from Zabini's, they have all the best quality things… all the shops yeh'll need for your lists are right here. Now, yeh don' want ter be lugging around heavy parcels as yeh shop, so yeh can bring yer parcels ter me an' leave 'em with me while yeh continue shoppin'. Finish yer school list firs' and then have a look at what yeh want to. Be back here by one o'clock."

Hermione checked her watch. "It's ten past eleven now. We'd all better hurry up, hadn't we? I think I'll start with the booklist…" None of the others seemed to want to do that, even Michael. They all split off into different directions. Harry followed Hagrid towards Gringotts.

The entered through the bronze doors. Past that was an entry hall with a pair of silver double doors to the far end. And standing to either side of the silver doors were…

"Goblins" Hagrid said in a low whisper. "Run Gringotts, only bank o' the wizards. Dead clever, goblins and they can be right nasty too. Gringotts is the safest place to keep something valuable 'cept maybe Hogwarts."

Goblins were about five feet tall with bald heads and long noses. Theirs ears were large and pointed and parallel to the ground. They had long, extremely thin fingers with three joints in every finger. When Harry and Hagrid approached the goblins next to the doors, the pair opened them and bowed them through.

Harry stepped into a long, narrow hall with tiled flooring and walls. Both the floor and the wall tiles had intricate gold designs worked into them. No two tiles were the same. The tiles were so beautiful and so precious that Harry was almost afraid to step on them. When he tried rubbing at a small part of the design on one floor tile, nothing happened. Feeling better about walking on the tiles, Harry took another couple of steps.

"Come on, Harry" said Hagrid impatiently. He'd already taken a dozen giant strides and was beckoning to Harry from fifty feet away. Hagrid led them deeper into the hall. To either side of Harry were a row of counters with a goblin seated behind each counter. Harry saw one examining a pile of egg sized rubies and while another helped a teenage boy exchange Muggle money for gold Galleons.

Hagrid stopped at the first free counter and told the goblin behind it that they needed to visit two vaults. He produced a golden key from his pocket for Harry's vault and handed over the key and Dumbledore's letter to the goblin. The goblin examined the key only for a brief second but he took his time with the letter, reading it twice and then passing the letter through a device that looked like a scanner. "Both are authentic" he pronounced after a moment. "Griphook" he called and one of the Goblins waiting behind the counters approached. "Take them to vaults 6870 and 7777." Griphook bowed and said, "if you'll come this way."

Griphook led them to the far end of the hall where there were a series of doors leading into what looked like caves. As Harry neared them, he noticed cart rails set into the floor. They were not caves, they were tunnels. Griphook led them to door on the far right and whistled sharply. A few moments later, Harry heard a faint rattling sound and then a cart trundled up the tracks and came to a rest next to Griphook. They climbed into the cart. Griphook whistled and the cart started moving. Twenty feet later, they approached the first fork. Griphook whistled, a slightly different tune, and the cart went left. Harry tried to remember the turnings that they made but within a couple of minutes he lost track of them. The cart picked up speed even as the path grew more treacherous. Griphook barely finished one whistle when they approached another junction and he had to whistle again. Hagrid was gripping the sides of the cart and he looked rather green but Harry simply loved the cart ride. The way the wind whistled past them and the hairpin beds and turns were exhilarating. He was almost sorry when they came to a halt.

On the wall to their right was a metallic circular door with a number plate that said 6870. Griphook used Harry's golden key to open the vault. Harry heard a series of locks click and then Griphook stepped aside. The vault door swung open. Harry followed Hagrid into the vault which was big enough for Hagrid to stand up straight inside it. Hagrid pushed aside a curtain hiding the contents from view and stepped past. Harry followed. His eyes went as round as Galleons when he saw what waited for him inside. There were heaps and heaps of Galleons all over the room. To the far end, there were also mounds of silver Sickles and bronze Knuts but in much smaller numbers than the Gold Galleons.

"H - How—how much?" asked Harry. Hagrid pointed to a large dial set into the left wall. The needle was hovering between four and five but closer to five. "Nearly five million Galleons worth" Hagrid told Harry. A Galleon was ten pounds. Fifty million pounds… Harry was rich, insanely rich. For a few moments he couldn't say anything. "We'd better gather up a bag for you" Hagrid told Harry. "Dumbledore said ter take a couple thousand Galleons for now. We'll keep the rest safe for yeh." Hagrid pulled out a velvet money bag from a shelf set into the wall and began counting in the coins ten at a time. "Give us a hand will yeh?" Harry didn't see why they were bothering with counting. He wanted to grab fistfuls of Galleons and stuff them in but he did as Hagrid told him and counted them out in tens. "Couldn't we take a bit more?" he blurted out as they neared two thousand. Hagrid agreed When they'd added twenty-five hundred coins to the mid-sized pouch, they left. Harry could hardly believe how much he was holding in his hand. Griphook sealed the vault and then took them to their next destination.

Vault 7777 had an even larger door. It had no keyhole and Griphook opened the door by stroking the vault door. "If anyone but a Gringotts goblin did that, they'd be sucked inside and trapped" he told them with a nasty grin. Harry peered forward eagerly but the privacy curtain blocked the vault's contents from view. Hagrid disappeared behind the curtain and re-appeared carrying a small parcel in his hand. Harry could have held the parcel with one closed fist. Curiosity surged up inside Harry. "What's in it, Hagrid?" he asked eagerly.

"Can't tell yeh that, Harry. It's top secret."

"Oh" said Harry disappointed. He wanted to try asking again and was considering how to go about it when Hagrid steered him back into the cart. Harry couldn't make himself heard during the cart ride, what with the sound of air whipping past them and the loud rattle the cart made as it sped along, so he waited until they were back in the entrance hall. He got no chance to ask his questions though. Hagrid lengthened his pace so that Harry had to run just to keep up with him. When they were outside, Hagrid nodded towards the stores, a sign for Harry to begin with his shopping. Hagrid settled himself on a bench next to the skateboards.

His desire to spend the gold overcoming his curiosity about the package, Harry fished out the parchment paper Dumbledore had given him.

Hogwarts students will require:

Clothing:

· Three sets of uniforms

o Three white shirts (white buttons)

o Three grey full-length trousers (for boys) or three grey knee-length knife pleated skirts (for girls)

o One black and white striped necktie (imbued with colour change potion)

o One grey, thin knit, V-neck sweater (long sleeved)

o Three pairs of grey ankle-length socks (for boys) or three pairs of grey below-knee stockings (for girls)

o One black thick knit jumper (for boys) or cardigan (for girls)

o Three black robes (plain with the Hogwarts crest over the heart) with black edges (edges imbued with the colour change potion)

o One bulky black and white striped scarf (imbued with colour change potion)

· One plain pointed hat (black)

· One winter cloak (plain black, silver fastenings) with the Hogwarts Crest

· Casual clothing for evening and night wear as per the student's choice.

Note: All clothing must contain clear name tags.

Note: Post sorting into houses, colour-change potion imbued into uniforms will be used to make uniforms reflect house colours.

Books:

· The Standard Book of Spells Grades 1 by Miranda Goshawk

· The Standard Book of Spells Grades 2 by Miranda Goshawk

· Dark Forces: A Guide Volume 1 by Quentin Trimble

· Jinxes: A Guide Volume 1 by Quentin Trimble

· A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

· 500 Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

· Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

· 200 Magical Creatures; Life Cycle, Anatomy, Diet and Care and Uses by Silvanus Kettleburn

· Basics of Potion Making by Arsenius Jigger

· A History of Magic Volume 1 by Bathilda Bagshot

· A History of Magic Volume 2 by Bathilda Bagshot

· A History of Magic Volume 3 by Bathilda Bagshot

Equipment:

· One wand

· One cauldron (Pewter, Standard Size 2)

· One set of phials (Glass or Crystal)

· One set of potions making instruments (Brass)

· One Telescope

· One set of Herbology equipment (Basic Kit)

· One creature grooming kit (Basic Kit)

· One pair of protective gloves (Dragonhide or similar)

· One school trunk (extension charm, no more than 36 cu feet – 3x2x6)

After consulting it, he set off towards Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Madam Malkin turned out to be a pleasant faced woman with brown and grey eyes. She welcomed Harry with a smile and asked, "Hogwarts, dear? I get the whole lot here. I'm Madam Malkin" Harry nodded. Madam Malkin waved her wand and muttered something. A tape measure lying on the floor began to measure Harry of its own accord. Madam Malkin noted down the sizes as the tape measured. When it was finished, she caused neatly folded shirts, trousers and other articles to fly out of shelves with short waves of her wand. As she wrapped up everything in brown paper, Harry asked, "do you sell casual clothing, Madam Malkin? Jeans, t-shirts, stuff like that?" "Oh, yes dear. We have a wide range of warlock and Muggle clothing and also winter wear."

Harry browsed through the racks of clothing. He'd never once worn brand new clothes and with a bag full of gold, he went a little overboard. By the time he left Madam Malkin's shop, Madam Malkin was positively beaming at how much she'd sold in a brief half-hour and Harry was laden with seven large, bulging shopping bags, only one of which contained the uniform requirements.

Harry dropped of his parcels with Hagrid who raised an eyebrow at the size of the them but said nothing. There were already small clusters with parcels next to his legs left by Harry's classmates.

Harry went next to Zabini Magical Equipment. The ceiling, three floors above him, had giant spheres filled with glowing light hanging from it. Each sphere's light was a different colour, yet, somehow, they complemented each other and gave a more or less even lighting to the store. The shop had two score large pillars that extended from the ceiling to the floor. Shelves cut into the pillars displayed the wares of the store. Harry climbed the spiral staircases that wound around the pillars so shoppers could examine the wares. To come back down, there were giant ramps. Sitting on them and sliding down on cushions was great fun. Harry even saw a couple of adult warlocks whizzing down happily. There were also wooden bridges going between the staircases so that customers didn't have to climb all the way down to check out another pillar's products. Harry loved the design of the shop but time was slipping by. He handed his list to an assistant. Five minutes later, he'd paid for all his school equipment minus the wand and also a magical alarm clock. A cuckoo would fly out of it and coo in Harry's ear when it was time to wake up. He'd also wanted to purchase a radio that tuned into warlock stations but he wasn't sure the school would allow that.

The assistant put all of Harry's items in his brand-new school trunk, which, at the assistant's suggestion, he'd had monogrammed with his initials. The trunk was much larger on the inside than the outside. The shop assistant had explained to Harry that what was placed inside was actually being stored on another dimension. He'd spoken about portals opening up when the trunk was opened or shut and explained the importance of carefully arranging everything. Harry wasn't sure he'd fully understood how the trunk worked but the hundred and twenty Galleons he paid for it told him that whatever materials and magic had gone into making the trunk must be complex.

At Mr. Kurt's, Harry found colour-changing ink, self-spelling quills and ink erasers. He was also delighted by sugar quills whose end you could suck on while taking notes in class or writing a homework essay. Hermione was there in the shop too, ordering stationery, which she confessed to be her favorite thing to purchase. And indeed, she'd selected notepads, pocket diaries, planners, sketching pencils, drawing books, a bundle of colour parchment and much more. Hermione suggested to Harry that he buy three large bundles of parchment paper, self-cleaning quills and ink bottles in half a dozen colours for a detailed note taking system. Harry declined this offer and sensibly chose to buy one bundle of parchment with five hundred sheets in it, a couple of bottles of black ink and a box of the self-spelling variety of sugar quills.

Hermione had already been to Flourish and Blotts. So, not sorry to part from her company, Harry set off for the bookstore. The interior was a bit dusty and musty. Bookcases lined all the walls and formed neat ovals in the middle of the store. Stairs led to the upper floors. Harry checked a book index at the welcome desk and learnt that one hundred and thirty-two thousand different books were sold and that anywhere from a score to a thousand copies of each book were stocked. Harry gave his booklist to a store assistant and then browsed the shelves on the lower floor. He fell in love with Jinxes and How to Use Them which had detailed, moving, colour illustrations of all the jinxes being performed. Harry had learnt from Hermione's conversation with Dumbledore that he couldn't use magic on purpose in the Muggle world but it was fun to imagine using some of the Jinxes on Dudley. He handed a copy of the book to the store assistant to wrap up with the rest of his school list.

The grandfather clock in the bookstore showed that it was a quarter to one. Harry headed to where Hagrid was waiting for them, packed trunks sitting on the pavement next to him. Hermione was already there and so were Justin and Morag. Harry joined them. They chatted for a few minutes. Harry learned that Justin came from a family of farmers and that Morag's parents ran a clothing store in Edinburgh. He'd expected Hermione's father to be a wealthy businessman but Hermione told him that Mr. and Mrs. Granger were both dentists. Hermione's maternal grandparents had been wealthy and the Grangers had inherited that money. Harry did not say much about himself, mentioning only that his parents had been warlocks and that their deaths had resulted in him growing up with his Muggle relatives.

Once Dean and Michael had joined them as well, Hagrid said he'd take them to lunch at a café about half a mile north of Gringotts. He pointed his wand (which must have been a foot and a half in length) at the initialed trunks next to him and muttered something. Nothing happened. Hagrid tried again. This time the trunks rose up into the air. Hagrid muttered something else and the trunks fixed themselves at knee-height to Hagrid. When he walked, the trunks moved with him. "Very handy spell," he told them, "But a bit tricky to get right."

Harry tried to persuade Hagrid to get skateboards for them to go to the restaurant on, but Hermione said quite severely, "The sign says you have to be twelve and it doesn't at all look safe to me." Hagrid dashed Harry's hopes by adding, "Them boards won't let anyone lesser'n twelve stand on 'em. You'd get pushed off. And I'm too heavy for 'em." So, they walked.

Food in the warlock world was rather similar to the Muggle world. Many of the same dishes were made. But some seasonings, jams etc. were made from magical herbs and vegetables were different, larger in size and different in taste. Hagrid explained to them that you could not eat the meat of magical animals without suffering funny effects. Warlocks got some food products from magical animals like milk and eggs but a good part of their food came from the Muggle world.

Harry had his first ever large meal, enjoying every bite of it. The others chatted among themselves. Harry listened with one ear but most of his focus was on eating.

Dumbledore rejoined them half-way through lunch. When they were done and he'd paid, they left for Ollivander's.