Adventures of Harriet Potter

Diagon Alley

Harriet woke early the next morning. Although she could tell it was daylight, she kept her eyes shut tight.

"It was a dream," she told herself firmly. "I dreamed a giant called Hagrid came to tell me I was going to a school for witches. When I open my eyes I'll be at home in my cupboard." There was suddenly a loud tapping noise. And there's Aunt Petunia knocking on the door, Harriet thought, her heart sinking. But she still didn't open her eyes. It had been such a good dream.

Tap. Tap. Tap. "All right," Harriet mumbled, not wanting Uncle Vernon to punish her for her female body so early in the morning "I'm getting up."

She sat up and Hagrid's heavy, slightly itchy, coat fell off her. The hut was full of sunlight, the storm was over, Hagrid himself was asleep on the collapsed sofa, and there was an owl rapping its claw on the window, a newspaper held in its beak.

Harriet scrambled to her feet, so happy she felt as though a large balloon was swelling inside of her. She went straight to the window and jerked it open. The owl swooped in and dropped the newspaper on top of Hagrid, who didn't wake up. The owl then fluttered onto the floor and began to attack Hagrid's coat.

"Don't do that." Harriet tried to wave the owl out of the way, but it snapped its beak fiercely at her and carried on savaging the coat.

"Hagrid!" said Harriet loudly. "There's an owl —"

"Pay him," Hagrid grunted into the sofa. "What?" Harriet asked, only briefly wondering if the Dursleys were awake. "He wants payin' fer deliverin' the paper. Look in the pockets."

Hagrid's coat seemed to be made of nothing but pockets — bunches of keys, slug pellets, balls of string, peppermint humbugs, teabags . . . finally, Harriet pulled out a handful of strange-looking coins. "Give him five Knuts," said Hagrid sleepily. "Knuts?" Harriet said, confused by the coins. "The little bronze ones." Hagrid clarified.

Harriet counted out five little bronze coins, and the owl held out his leg so Harriet could put the money into a small leather pouch tied to it. Then he flew off through the open window.

Hagrid yawned loudly, sat up, and stretched.

"Best be off, Harriet, lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer stuff fer school." Hagrid said loading his stuff back into his coat pockets.

Harriet was turning over the wizard coins and looking at them. She had just thought of something that made her feel as though the happy balloon inside of her had got a puncture.

"Um — Hagrid?" Harriet said timidly. "Mm?" said Hagrid, who was pulling on his huge boots. "I haven't got any money — and you heard Uncle Vernon last night . . . he won't pay for me to go and learn magic." She said with a pointed glare at the door she was certain the Dursleys were cowering behind.

"Don't worry about that," said Hagrid, standing up and scratching his head. "D'yeh think yer parents didn't leave yeh anything?"

"But if their house was destroyed —" Harriet began. "They didn' keep their gold in the house, girl! Nah, first stop fer us is Gringotts. Wizards' bank. Have a sausage, they're not bad cold — an' I wouldn' say no teh a bit o' yer birthday cake, neither."

"Wizards and witches have banks?" Harriet said incredulously. "Just the one. Gringotts. Run by goblins." Hagrid said.

Harriet dropped the bit of sausage she was holding. "Goblins?" She said, her mind felt overwhelmed by the complexity of the world she'd just stepped into in the last twenty four hours.

"Yeah — so yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it, I'll tell yeh that. Never mess with goblins, Harriet. Gringotts is the safest place in the world fer anything yeh want ter keep safe —'cept maybe Hogwarts. As a matter o' fact, I gotta visit Gringotts anyway. Fer Dumbledore. Hogwarts business." Hagrid drew himself up proudly. "He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him. Fetchin' you — gettin' things from Gringotts — knows he can trust me, see." He was positively beaming at this point.