Seeing Double

Diagon Alley

The Knight Bus set off, leaving Addi's stomach back at the street. It swerved around the roads, yet somehow avoided everything in the vicinity: everything seemed to jump out of the way of the bus. Molly Weasley had just begun to speak when there was a small pop and suddenly they were in a new setting. She had started to catch the eye of Mrs. Weasley, who explained that they would be there in no time; this was how the bus worked. She then went on to explain where they were going: Diagon Alley— the hidden storefront of the Wizarding world. Molly told her about Hogwarts, King's Cross Station (more specifically Platform 9 and 3/4), and anything Addison could have had questions about. Within five minutes, they had reached the outside of a small pub with the nameplate "The Leaky Cauldron." The Weasleys and Addi filed off the bus and walked into the run-down pub. There was a man behing the bar polishing a mug. The bar saw a large range of people: in a corner there was a woman in long, neon green robes; a man was holding a large, moving box with sparks flying around it. A hunched person was riding a broomstick (miraculously flying a few feet off the ground), ignoring the protests of a man in staff robes.

"Hullo, Molly, kids. Off to Diagon Alley, I presume?"

'Yes, Tom, and you're looking well." After this short exchange, The herd of people walked past Tom the barman and through a door around the side of the bar. Molly walked through a short alley purposefully, as if she'd done it a thousand times before. Addison was confused, though she knew that she ought to get used to it, when Molly walked up to the brick wall at the end of the alley and started counting bricks. She rapped one with her wand (Molly had shown it to Addison as she explained a bit about wizards; Addi couldn't wait to get hers) and Addison looked on in amazement as the bricks seemed to fold in on each other, creating a doorway into a large street lined with shops. Addison gasped and the Weasleys smiled to themselves at her reaction. She couldn't see everything fast enough. It was the most amazing thing she had ever seen: A variety of vendors lined the streets, advertising everything from pickled toads and beetle eyes to the latest update of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. At the very end of the street towered a grand white building with columns and gold letters labeling it as Gringotts. Molly saw her staring and informed her that Gringotts was the Wizarding bank and it would be their first stop. Addison fell into step beside Fred and George as the group made their way to the structure.

"What do you think of the world we call Wizards?" (Addi was almost sure) Fred asked, smirking.

"Well, what can I say? It's remarkable!" Addison responded shyly.

"We know." chorused the twins in perfect time. They decided to start telling her just how notorious they were for being tricksters. Addison mostly just smiled along at their tales of practical jokes, simultaneously taking in all of the street she could.

Just as the twins finished a tale of how they put Hair-Removal Concotion in Filch the caretaker's evening tea, the large group arrived at the bank. It was even larger up close: Addison could see the once intricate engravings on the pillars and the overall perfection of every magial brushstroke to the building. Mrs. Weasley smiled at her, and everyone formed a single file line. Addison was between Fred and George. She could see, a few feet in front of her, Mrs. Weasley stopping in front of two men with long rod-like sticks.

"Probity-Probes." George whispered.

"Detect any sort of magical concealment, they will!" Fred explained, with an odd sort of relish in his voice. The que of gingers moved up until Addison was next. The two men poked at her with the rods, and, seemingly detecting nothing, let her pass into the expansive lobby of the bank. Before Addison could look around, however, there was a screechy sound from behind her. The entire room seemed to surge towards Addison, and for a split second she was filled with anxiety. What could she have done? Before she could become completely paralyzed with fear, however, she realized it must have been the Probity-Probes in the entrance. She turned around and saw the guards holding Fred Weasley by his collar. Mrs. Weasley rushed to her son.

"We found this, ma'am!" The gaurds thrusted a small burlap bag into the hands of Mrs. Weasley. "Fake Galleons, ma'am!" Mrs. Weasley, her face utterly livid, moved in to speak quietly with the gaurds. After a short time, the crowd around the offender and his mother thinned and both walked briskly towards the rest of the family. As they came closer, it became clear that Fred was being heavily lectured, whilst also being dragged by his ear across the lobby. Ginny Weasley, who was standing beside Addi, stifled a laugh as she informed Addison quietly that this was the sort of thing that happened a lot with the twins. Mrs. Weasley finished her lecture and walked past the family, making them jump and rush to follow her. From a few feet behind her, Addison heard George:

"Mate, you didn't tell me you were going to do that! I could have helped, you know. Was an awfully weak prank, if you ask me." Ginny giggled. Mrs. Weasley marched up to a desk and began conversing with a strange creature; it had an odd, wrinkled face and a cross look about it. Ginny informed her that this was a goblin.

"They're very protective of this place, and they hate wizards. Don't cross one of these." Mrs. Weasley Handed him a small metal key, which the goblin examined closely before stepping from behind his post. Only when he was on the marble floor did Addison realize that he was only about three and a half feet tall. He waddled to a door at the side of the bank, the Weasleys and Addi following him. Through the door was a dark hallway, almost like a cavern. The goblin raised his hand and a metal cart rushed on the tracks towards them. Mrs Weasley climbed in after the goblin and the rest of the children followed suit. A mere second after Bill had entered the cart, it began to race down the tracks. there were curves aplenty, and when Addi looked over the side there was an abyss far below. Fortunately they came to an abrupt halt soon. Everyone stepped out. The goblin took Mrs. Weasley's key and put it into a small lock on the large door. It split in half and revealed a chamber slightly smaller than an average classroom. In it were a modest collection of metal coins. Addison watched Mrs. Weasley scoop the lot into a small pouch. She shuffled everyone out of the hall and into the cart. Addison assumed they'd be going back up; however, they continued going downwards. They had only passed a few doors when they came to a stop at a new vault.

"Vault 617," the goblin announced, "Melanie Green."