Destined for Darkness (A Draco Malfoy Fic)

The Leaky Cauldron, That's in London

I've always dreamt of visiting London. Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Piccadilly Circus, Tower of London. I didn't care if I was going to be the most cliche American tourist. I wanted to see it all. But I never would've imagined that on my first trip to one of the fashion capitals of the world that I would be shopping...for school supplies.

After months of arguing with my parents and trying to make them see that it was literally the worst idea imaginable, my mom and dad still believed it was the safest option and made the final decision that I would transfer from Ilvermorny. But, unfortunately, seeing as Ilvermorny is the only wizarding school in North America, that means I had to move across continents. And while I always wanted to study abroad, the current circumstances diminish any excitement I should be experiencing.

Due to safety reasons and their work, my parents couldn't travel with me to England. So we said our goodbyes at the NoMaj airport--this barbaric mode of transportation was chosen over a Portkey to lessen the chances of me being tracked magically--and almost ten excruciating hours later, I landed in London.

When I arrived, a gentleman from the British Ministry of Magic's Department of International Magical Cooperation picked me up from Heathrow. I use the term "gentleman" loosely because I could clearly tell that he felt that being my chauffeur was miles beneath him. Ginger asshole.

He drove me in silence as I gawked through the car window at the beautiful sights of nighttime London. He dropped me at a bar of all places, called the Leaky Cauldron, which I soon thankfully found out was also an Inn. It was no Four Seasons, but it had its own sort of rustic charm.

My parents didn't like the idea of me being in London by myself for long, so I arrived only a couple of days before school was to start. The Department of International Magical Cooperation had assured them that I would be safe and looked after during my stay.

By the grace of Merlin, the age of sixteen is considered much more independent in Great Britain than in the States, so no one felt the need to accompany me during my outings. They only requested that I didn't venture out into the Muggle streets--which is apparently their term for non-magical people.

A list of all the supplies I would need was waiting for me in my room at the Inn, along with my luggage when I arrived. It was pretty extensive, seeing as I would be entering my sixth year, so I decided to get a jump on it first thing the next morning.

After the somewhat creepy yet polite innkeeper, Tom, led me into the alley behind the Leaky Cauldron, he tapped a few bricks on the wall, which caused it to open up, revealing a cobblestone street lined with shops. He told me it was called Diagon Alley, and I would easily be able to check all the items off my list here.

And so here I am, alone, in a country I've never been in, shopping for school supplies to attend a school I know nothing about and will know a total of zero people upon my arrival. Fantastic. Or rather, as the Brits say, brilliant.

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The Alley was somewhat busy, parents and children bustling around gathering last-minute school supplies just like I was. 

I quickly realized that most of my list must be the same as the students that would be attending school for their first year because as I entered Potage's Cauldron Shop, I was met with an overwhelmingly excited buzz of about twenty eleven-year-olds apparently also looking to purchase a 'standard size 2 pewter cauldron'.

My favorite shop by far was Flourish and Blotts. I could've stayed in there for hours perusing the shelves. For the time being and for the sake of crowd control, the shop had organized its shelves by school year. All the textbooks I would need for sixth year were grouped together, allowing me the chance to find a few novels I could read to fill my downtime at school. The four I grabbed might last me until Christmas.