The Adventures of Laney Scamander: Lost In Time

Chapter 2-Roaches

The two girls made their way out of the Scamanders' eccentric looking home and down the cobblestone road. After 10 minutes of walking, the girls had arrived in town. Addison looked around. There were several shops that sold sweets, savory foods, and grilled cockroaches. There were a few more shops that sold shabby looking clothing, a "muggle wear" shop, a potions shop, a quidditch shop, a book shop, and an owl post.

"Wow, this place is brilliant! It sort of reminds me of Diagon Alley." Addison said. "A lot of wizard towns have a few shops that are in Diagon Alley. They usually tend to be a bit smaller though. Where do you want to go first?" asked Laney. "You know this place better than I do. You can lead, and I'll follow!" exclaimed Addison. Laney looked around. "Let's go to the muggle wear shop first." Laney said.

The two girls made their way to "Muggle Attire for All Occasions" and went inside. There were lines of clothing wracks, signs, and people. "I say we make a quick trip here, and go out. There's loads of people today." Laney said, going slightly inward. The girls scavenged around and ended up coming out with one green flower cardigan. "30 sickles! For a cardigan! That was ridiculous!" exclaimed Addison. Laney nodded. "I'm just glad we're out of there. We should go to the potions shop next. I need a few things for my workshop."

Just as the girls were on their way to the potions shop, they bumped into a tallish looking woman. "Oh, sorry about that." Laney apologized. The women gave the two girls a look of disgust. "Where are your parents?" she barked. "They're at home. They let us come here until lunch." Addison said. Olium peaked his head out of Laney's bag to see what all the ruckus was about. The rude lady happened to catch a glimpse of the Bowtruckle and took another look at Laney. "You must be the Scamander girl that got in trouble for having that suitcase full of dangerous beasts at school." she sneered. "Not surprised though, given your family's history. A bunch of ruthless trouble makers."

Laney gave the women a dirty look. "And who are you?" she asked. "Rita Skeeter, journalist for the Daily Prophet." said the woman. "Oh, you! Well, I know all about you of course. You've spreaded rumors and made false accusations since you've started your job! My grandfather has written all about you in the Quibbler, and my great grandfather says you wrote about him and made the accusation that he was a spy for Dumbledore in the late 1920s!" exclaimed Laney. A few people stopped to get a glimpse of the drama. "Nonsense child! You don't know what you're talking about!" Rita shouted. "I actually do know what I'm talking about, thank you very much. I know that Hermione Granger put you in a jar when you were in your ILLEGAL animagus form as a beetle, and you managed to escape somehow. I also know that you were spreading loads of rumors when the Triwizard Tournament took place from 1994 to 1995. How's that for knowing nothing about anything?"

Addison was laughing her head off at what was happening, and others gasped at what Laney was saying. "You better stop now, or I'll make you and your family's life a living hell!" muttered Rita. "As if you didn't already do that. I've read the articles you've published when my parents got married, and all the rumors you've put out concerning the Scamanders and Lovegoods. And, of course, you just HAD to put something nasty in the paper when my brothers were born, and something dirty for when I was born as well. It appears to me that you've already tried to make my family's life a living hell. Now, if you'll excuse us, me and my friend need to go find some materials for an upcoming potion that I'm making. Good day to you." said Laney. The small crowd of people cheered for her as she and Addison made their way to the potions shop.

"Wow, that was amazing! You totally schooled her!" Addison said, astonishedly. "Yeah, only problem is, she's going to write all about this in the paper, and I'll have myself in a deeper hole. I wonder how she found out about me getting suspended anyways." Laney wondered. "Didn't you say something about her being an illegal animagus? Maybe she was at Hogwarts in her beetle form." Addison suggested. "Nasty little bugger." Laney said, shaking her head. "Come on now, the shops this way!"

The girls entered the shop and immediately got hit with the strong smell of ginger roots. "I'm hoping to find Bubotuber Pus, Goldenrod, Dittany Leaves, and Hedgedog spikes." Laney said, glaring around. "Hedgedog spikes? What on earth is that?" Addison asked curiously. "It's spikes from a Hedgedog of course." explained Laney. "Hedgedogs are dog like creatures with spikes of a hedgehogs. Their blood and spikes can be very useful in certain potions. They're also very dangerous creatures, but fascinating nonetheless." "Sounds interesting!" exclaimed Addison. "Now let's go look for all the ingredients that you need."

The two girls roamed around the store, and by the end, they had spent 52 Galleons. "That was an expensive visit." Laney said as she looked in her now almost empty change purse. "At least now my ingredients will be stocked for a while." Addison nodded. "Well, it's nearly lunchtime. Do you want to visit one more shop before we go home?" Laney asked. "Sure! Can we go try out grilled cockroaches? I saw them earlier, and I must say I was intrigued!" Laney nodded. "Sure! I'm not a huge fan of them myself, but I could buy you some if you'd like."

Laney and Addison walked over to the stand that sold grilled cockroaches. The smell, in Laney's opinion, was absolutely atrocious. Addison seemed excited to try the grilled bugs though. "5 Sickles." said the burly worker. Laney pulled out five Sickles from her change pocket and handed them to the worker, who in return handed her two medium sized cockroaches.

"Here you are Addison." Laney said as she handed her friend the cockroaches. Addison picked one of the bugs up and bit into it. "You know, I really should have lowered my expectations, because these just aren't all that good." she said. "Yeah, they aren't the best tasting in my opinion either. I'll take them though, Olium might like them." said Laney. Addison gave the grilled cockroaches to Olium, and finally, the two girls set off to Laney's house.