Hogwarts is my Home

Chapter 19: Diagon Alley (CS CH4)

Less than a week later, seven Hogwarts letters arrived- one for each of us. 

I was eager to see what new books we'd need this year, but promptly groaned when I looked at the list. 

"What?" George asked.

"Did you see the list? Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart, Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart, Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart, Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart, Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy, Wandering with Werewolves by who?... Gilderoy Lockhart, and finally Year with the Yeti by, you guessed it, Gilderoy Lockhart."

"Not a fan?" Harry asked, having no idea who the man was.

"Mum is," Ron said. "She fancies him!"

"I do not!" she wailed as her face went red. "I only have eyes for your father.

Many skeptical noises and motions came from around me.

 "New DADA teacher must be a witch," Fred suspected. "Lockhart's books are expensive, Mum. This lot won't come cheap."

"We'll manage," she assured her sons.

"Morning," Percy grumbled as he stomped into the room and snatched his letter off the table. He sat down and immediately leapt up as a screeching sound startled. 

Ron rushed over and scooped up the family owl from the chair and set him upright in the nearest window. "Oh, good- Errol has Hermione's letter." He opened it and scanned it. "She's mostly just busy with school work- what else is new? She would like to meet us to get school stuff on Wednesday the 10th."

"Hope nobody's planned ahead yet. We're going to Diagon Alley."

On the morning of Wednesday August 10, we quickly got ready so the nine of us could head off to the shops. I thought we would be taking the car, so I was very confused when Molly gathered us all in front of the fireplace and took a flower pot that seemed to be filled with green dust off the mantelpiece.

"Right. Here we are. Harry, you go first, dear."

Everyone eyed him before Ron said what I assume everyone was wondering.

"But Harry's never travelled by Floo Powder before, Mum. Neither has An, I don't think." He craned his neck to look at me standing next to the twins. I quickly shook my head.

"Well, you can go first, Ron, to show them how it's done. Then George, Toni, Fred, Harry, Arthur, Ginny, Percy, and lastly myself."

"Isn't there a different way we could travel?" I asked hesitantly. "Last time I walked in fire, I died 10 minutes later."

"It's easy," Ron assured, walking forward and taking a handful from the pot. "You just step inside the fireplace, throw the powder down into the grate, and say where you wanna go." He demonstrated everything he just said. "Diagon Alley!" He erupted into green flames and was gone in a second and nobody seemed to care.

"George, you next," Molly said while pointing at Fred. 

The twins rolled their eyes to each other as George did exactly the same as Ron and too disappeared.

Now it was my turn. "Are you sure about this, Molly?" I asked nervously.

"Positive. You'll do great."

I followed the examples of the two Weasleys before me. "Diagon Alley!" A moment later I stood in the fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron with Ron and George pulling me out of it. 

"Brilliantly done, T! Got messy, but that's all," he complimented while brushing away the ash and flattening my hair. 

"Don't think Harry'll be too happy to see you touching his girl, brother." Fred had arrived.