Only The Good Die Young

Diagon Alley

The sun shone through the car windows as they passed under the hanging trees. Remus could barely control his happiness. He was outside, and he was on his way to Diagon alley with his parents. He was really on his way.

He had convinced his parents to let him go to Diagon Alley, where they could decide if they were going to let him go to Hogwarts. He had to behave well, they had told him. But Remus didn't think his behavior was what gave him away as a werewolf, only the wolfish form he took on the full moons. Nothing else. But they had given him the option of proving to them he was able to act like a normal child and if he did so, they would allow him to go to Hogwarts. His mother had covered up what she could of his scars with her makeup.

They parked the small car on Charing Cross Road and Remus stepped into the fresh air. He looked around. There were people. Everywhere. They were talking and laughing and smiling, and Remus felt happy just watching them.

A hand slid into his and he looked up to see his mother smiling down at him. "No, Mum," he said as he slipped his hand out of hers. "Normal eleven-year olds don't hold their mother's hand." She looked taken aback, but didn't say anything.

Remus followed his parents to a shop called The Leaky Cauldron. It looked very old and abandoned, but inside, it was a whole different world. There were men and women and children everywhere, tables set up across the room, and a man behind a counter holding a cheerful conversation with a customer. Remus wanted to talk to someone, anyone, but he was guided through a door in the back. There, he was greeted with a plain brick wall and some tall weeds.

"What's back here?" Remus asked.

His father didn't answer, but instead pulled out his wand and started tapping random bricks, or what seemed to be random. When he pulled his hand away, a noise erupted from the wall and it started moving.

"Welcome, son, to Diagon Alley," his father said with a smile.

Remus couldn't keep his mouth closed. This was better than he had imagined. People were crowded everywhere, stores covered the cobbled street, and at the end he could see Gringotts. The first store on his right was called Quality Quidditch Supplies, and all the little kids were huddled around a window. Remus stepped up behind them to see what they were looking at, and there he saw his first broomstick. It was beautiful.

Remus ran to the other side of the street, careful not to run into anybody, and looked in a window on that side. There were quills and rolls of parchment and ink bottles and every school supply ever. He ran to the store next door and through the window saw a very young woman holding up a pair of robes to a young boy. There were tape measures flying around and scissors snipping at the hems of the sleeves.

Someone tapped Remus's shoulder. He looked up and saw his mother smiling down at him. "Come on," she said. "We have to go to Gringotts to get some money." The prospect of entering the bank made him even more excited. He tried to stay calm to show he could behave, but the smile never left his face.

Gringotts was very chilly and silent. The tiled floor and concrete walls were all white and cream, and there was a white chandelier above him. On either side was a very long desk filled with goblins.

The three of them quietly walked up to the front and his father quietly asked to enter their vault. While they exchanged words and keys, his mother leaned down. "There is going to be a cart to take us to your father's vault, and it goes quite fast. If you don't want to go, you can wait out here with me, I never like to go."

"No, I want to go." Remus said bravely. His mother smiled at him then went to take a seat at a bench Remus hadn't seen before.

"Ready, Remus?" his father asked as a goblin came around the desk. Remus nodded and they followed the goblin into a stone tunnel where it was even colder.