Everywhere, Everything

ii. Diagon Alley

Tigerlily woke with a start, her father kneeling beside her and Tom standing nearby with a glass of water. She sat up and declined drinking it, looking up at the brick wall to make sure she had not imagined that.

She sighed in relief when she saw that the wall had, in fact, opened, and that the colorful stores were still there. Several people walking by peeked at her in concern, most of them wearing strange pointy hats and long cloaks.

"Sweet, smiling Jesus..." She muttered, letting her father assist her in getting up. "What is that?"

She held her hand out tentatively and waved it back and forth through the passageway to make sure it was truly there. It was. And so was everything on the other side of it. Her hand went to her mouth, shocked.

Tom smiled, "Diagon Alley! Here you'll find everything you need for Hogwarts. I suggest going to Gringotts Bank first, to change your money for wizard currency."

And after waving goodbye and wishing them luck, Tom was back inside the bar. Unable to wait a second longer, Stephen reached for his daughter's hand again and walked side by side with her through the narrow street that was known as Diagon Alley.

The pair gaped at the storefronts, which displayed all kinds of products — strangely shaped brooms, colorful bottles of unknown liquids and dried herbs, cages with owls of all sizes, bookstores, and even a small ice cream shop. Tigerlily was beside herself, her eyes going in every direction as she tried taking it all in.

After asking for directions, Stephen found that Gringotts Bank was the large, crooked building that stood over the rest of the stores at the end of the Alley. Despite its wonky structure, it radiated luxury even from the outside. Its countless windows and stained glass domed ceiling made it look like the real deal to Tigerlily.

Inside though, it was a different story. The floor was so perfectly polished that she could see her reflection in it, and the main hall was lined with tall marble pillars. In between them stood large desks, all dark and glossy — she could see her reflection in them, too. Above it all, a huge chandelier with what must've been thousands of crystals hung just over their heads.

What was even more shocking to Tigerlily and her father was the Bank's personnel. These were not people. They were...well, they weren't quite sure what they were.

Their pointy ears, wrinkled faces and sharp teeth were enough to intimidate anyone who stepped foot inside the Bank, and the way they glanced at Tigerlily and Stephen gave them the impression that they should not be there, or that perhaps they were doing something they ought not to do.

They stopped near the front desk where a small line had formed. As they waited for their turn, Tigerlily made eye contact with one of the creatures up on a smaller desk on her right hand side. She smiled and waved discreetly, but felt a bit ashamed when the gesture was not returned.

Once their turn was up, the creature at the front desk did not look up or acknowledge their presence at all, keeping its eyes on the papers it was stamping almost mechanically.

"Hello," Stephen said, probably louder than he needed to. He cleared his throat. "We'd like to change our money for...wizard currency...?" That last bit he said unsurely, frowning slightly as the words escaped his lips.

The creature hummed and reached forward to take the notes and coins being extended to him. He — assuming it was a he — took the money and after a moment returned a small pouch.

"Next." He called, in a voice that was somehow squeaky and rough at the same time.

Tigerlily and her father looked at each other, once again confused, but stepped away from the line and headed outside quickly. Once there, Stephen opened the pouch and found a bunch of coins in three different sizes and colors.