03 Diagon Alley

Occurs during Chapter 5 – Diagon Alley

 The following week you head into London by train with your parents in tow. Luckily you decided to leave early as there were delays with the trains and the one that you would have taken was cancelled.

You all decided that it was best to have lunch in London before meeting Professor McGonagall. Afterall who knows how long it will take to find all the strange things on the list. It’s not like you see cauldron shops every day, or at all come to think of it.

You change to the underground at Kings Cross station and head into the city. You arrive at Covent Garden for lunch which is not far from Charing Cross where you are to meet the professor.

After you have your fill, you head out.

Professor McGonagall said to your parents to meet between a certain book shop and record shop.

When you get there you see there is a grubby looking pub called The Leaky Cauldron. The odd thing is that your parents didn’t notice it at all until you pointed it out.

The door suddenly opens, and Professor McGonagall is there to greet you. Although still rather stern looking she gives you a smile if not a little brief. You are led through the bar and out the back of the pub where there is a brick wall and some dustbins.

Professor McGonagall then taps a brick three times with her wand. The brick then wiggles, and a small hole appears, the bricks then start sliding back to reveal a street you have never seen before despite being to London a number of times.

This is the first time you have seen real magic! Anyone looking back the other way would see the professor and three other people with shocked open mouths.

Professor McGonagall then turns around and says. “This is Diagon Alley. You will be able to find everything on your list here”.

You take a closer look and you see that everyone is wearing robes of some kind. The nearest shop has a stack of cauldrons outside the front. This is no ordinary street.

Professor McGonagall gives you another brief smile and says. “Our first stop will be Gringotts bank. We need to change your muggle money into our money”.

“Erm, what is Muggle money?” you ask.

Professor McGonagall says. “A Muggle is a common term for people without magic my dear. We have our own currency in the Wizarding World. Gold Galleons, Silver Sickles and Bronze Knuts (Don’t laugh dear). Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle”

As you walk through the street your senses are bombarded with the sounds of Witches and Wizards buying various items. Your sense of smell is overwhelmed by fantastic looking street food, you start to regret eating before coming. Many parents with children are getting ready for the new term. You wonder if any of them will be your classmates.

Gringotts is at the end of the street and it towers above the other shops. As you approach you start to look down from the sign and see the bronze doors behind a set of columns.

You freeze as you walk towards them and spot some sort of creature with a pointed beard who is a head shorter than you. They are wearing a scarlet and gold uniform. Your parents bump into you as they were still looking at the architecture.

Professor McGonagall turns around after hearing the commotion and says “Gringotts is run by Goblins, they are extremely greedy and protect their money and valuables at any cost. Ideal for banking”.

Your dad laughs saying “Just like bankers in our world!”. The professor simply says “indeed” as the Goblin bows when you pass.

You pass through a second set of silver doors with words engraved upon them:

Enter, stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed,

For those who take, but do not earn,

Must pay most dearly in their turn,

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there.

Your parents look at each other and your mum says “Sounds like they take their security seriously.”

Another pair of Goblins bow you through the door and into a vast marble hallway with over a hundred Goblins at long desks running the length of the room on either side. They were busy scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins on brass scales and examining precious stones through eyeglasses.

Professor McGonagall approaches the nearest free Goblin and they converse with each other. You are taking in the room while your parents exchange your Muggle Money for the wizarding kind. There are too many doors to count with Goblins escorting people in and out, one of these people just walking out of the hall is so huge they cannot be real. He must be at least eight foot tall and is accompanied by a boy about your age.

After a few minutes you have your Wizarding money and as you exit back on to the street Professor McGonagall asks whether you would like something to eat at Rosa Lee Teabag or Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor but as you have already eaten you give it a pass.

She then asks you to pull out the shopping list from the letter she gave you. It reads:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Uniform

First-year students will require:

1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)

2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils’ clothes should carry name tags

Set Books

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginner’s Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

Other Equipment

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST-YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN

BROOMSTICKS

Professor McGonagall says “We have eight shops to visit. We have Ollivanders for your wand and Flourish and Blotts for your books. As you have a good amount of money I would suggest Scribbulus Writing Instruments for your Quill as the school Quills are rather care worn. There is Potage’s Cauldron Shop, Wiseacre’s Wizarding Equipment for Scales and Brass telescopes. For your uniform I recommend Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions. We then have Slug & Jiggers Apothecary and Scribbulus Writing Instruments. Your parents have agreed that you may have a pet to keep you company.

You may choose in which order you would you like to visit them”

Question 1-8

Potage’s Cauldron Shop (3)

Slug & Jiggers Apothecary (4)

Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions (2)

Scribbulus Writing Instruments (5)

Ollivanders (1)

Eeylops Owl Emporium or Magical Menagerie (8)

Flourish and Blotts (6)

Wiseacre’s Wizarding Equipment (7)

Question 9

Which pet would you like?

Cat (6)

Owl (12)

Toad (0)

None (0)