02 || Diagon Alley

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"No, Miss Daniels" Professor McGonagall assessed me over her glasses, eyes thin and small but somewhat kind despite the strict expression. "I shall need to talk to your parents about how terms work, if you would get yourself ready to leave while we talk that would be much appreciated.

My eyes widen.

Where am I going?

But I decide not to ask and rush back up to my room.

I pull a brush through my hair while swapping my jogging bottoms for some jeans.

Pulling on some shoes, I hop back downstairs again, nearly toppling over at the bottom but managing to catch the banister just in time.

Mum, Dad and Professor McGonagall were now standing in front of the door.

"Where are we going?" I asked, curiously glancing between my parents and the Professor.

"Diagon Alley" McGonagall replied.

I shrugged, despite not knowing where or what the hell that is.

The door was now being held open for me and I stepped outside.

"So, how are we getting there?" I asked, "Car?"

"You ask a lot of questions," Professor sniffed, "But no, you just need to take my arm"

That's funny, considering I wasn't asking nearly as many questions as I should be but I clutched her arm anyway.

And then I was being squashed from all directions, my lungs failed to breathe and my eyes watered.

I landed on the floor of a dark alleyway, gasping for breath.

McGonagall stood behind me waiting for me to recover.

At least I didn't throw up, I thought, pulling myself of the floor and dusting my jeans off.

Professor McGonagall guided me through a pub and out the back into a small walled courtyard. Then she pulled out a thin stick, which I could only assume was her wand. She tapped the wall three times and stood back.

Astonishingly, the brick wriggled and then a small hole appeared which grew larger and larger until it was big enough to step through.

Through the archway, I could make out a bright, bustling street littered with shops,people milling about and rushing, with brown paper parcels stacked up in their arms.

"This is Diagon Alley?" I said stepping through the archway, eyes wide and a smile plastered on my face.

She paid me no attention and was looking around the crowded alley.

"First of all, we'll be going to Gringotts bank so we can set you up an account." The professor signalled for me to follow and set off down the road towards a magnificent building situated at the end of the lane.

Not wanting to get left behind, I quickly ran to catch up. Hurrying behind the professor i looked about in wonder at the shops. They were unusual, selling owls, cauldrons, wands and nothing even remotely normal. Then I caught site of where we were heading and my eyes widened dramatically.

In front of us stood a grand white building, it towered over all the other shops and had pillars that loomed scarily over us.

On our way in we passed a goblin. Yes, a goblin. At least, that's what the professor told me .

Inside loads more goblins sat on high stools at tall desks, scribbling away with quills or weighing coins with large brass scales. I stared at the mesmerised.

"It is impolite to stare." Professor McGonagall reprimanded me, looking down at me disapprovingly as we waited for the goblin whose desk we were stood at to finish what he was doing.

We ended up having to set up an entire new gringotts account in which a starting balance was assigned to me. I was also able to convert some money that my parents had given to me into this weird wizard money called galleons, sickles and knuts. The conversion thing was hard to figure out but I ended up with enough money to buy everything I needed and then I would convert some of my birthday money before going to school, just in case.

The first shop we went to was Ollivanders as the professor decided I should get my wand first.

Professor McGonagall waited for me outside as I stepped cautiously into the shop. It was dark and cramped, with few candles lighting up the desk area. Thin boxes were strewn everywhere and large, wobbly shelves took up the entire back area of the shop.

I could hear mutterings coming from behind one of the shelves but whoever it was gave no indication they knew I was there.

I rang the bell sitting neatly on the desk.

"Ah-" A head full of grey wiry hair poked out, "And what would your name be?"

"Oh.. um.. Cassandra Daniels," I replied, smiling slightly as he fumbled his way over to the desk. "Cassie, for short."

He examined me over his glasses.

"And what would your wand arm be?"

"Well, I am right handed, if that's what you mean?" I frowned, confused.

"Hold out your arm. Good good." He pulled out a large tape measure, except it seemed to float on its own.

He measured me from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and then around my head.

"Yes, yes - perfect," he mumbled heading to the shelves in the back. "Now, every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance. we use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same and you will never get the same results using a wand that doesn't belong to you."

He returned with a box and set it on the counter.

"Right, now this one is simple oak wood and unicorn hair. It's slightly flexible and is 10 inches." He said, taking the wand out of the box carefully and handing it over to me, "Give it a small wave."

I twirled it around but it was snatched straight out of my hands.

"hmm..no, not quite right." he said shuffling back over to she shelves. "Now we need to find one that fits you nicely, but not to worry."

He came back with another box, it was slightly bigger and he pushed the last wand to the side to make room.

"Now this one is Alder wood with a phoenix core, 12 ¾" and slightly springy flexibility. In fact, i have quite high hopes about this one, give it a wave." He handed it to me gently and I stared at it fascinated.

When I waved it this time, I felt powerful and strong and a dozen silver butterflies flew out of my wand. The wand itself was dark in colour and had a silver snake wrapped around the handle part.

I grinned at Mr Ollivander and he chuckled boxing the wand back up for me.

I got my robes from Madam Malkin's where she tailored my robes to my body, although I had to get plain ones which I thought was a waste because I would only really wear plain robes for a day.

Then we headed into Flourish and Blotts, a bookstore where I bought all my school books and a couple of others which I thoughts were interesting.

Finally, after getting everything else I needed on my school list, Professor McGonagall took me to choose an animal.

Stepping into Magical Menagerie, I was overwhelmed by the animals, there were cats, toads, owls and even a few rats. Immediately, my eyes were drawn to a black kitten with green eyes.

"He's gorgeous. Can I have him?" I didn't really know whether I was asking the cat, professor McGonagall or the shop keeper but it didn't really matter.

The kitten nuzzled my leg, which I took as a yes, and both Mcgonagall agreed to let me take him.

After paying, Professor Mcgonagall took me home and was able to show my parents all the new things I had brought.

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A/N - Hey guys, welcome to chapter 2. I hope you're enjoying my book. It will pick up and hopefully be more interesting as I introduce more characters and we get further into the story.

Lots of love - Izzy x

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