Like A Flower Blooming

Chapter 5

I woke up in the morning in a soft bed in a room. I tried to remember what had happened the last night and then it all came back. Hagrid- the Dursleys- I was a witch! 

My suitcase and stuff was in the room and I pulled out jeans and a blouse. I braided my hair and pinned my bangs so they didn’t show the scar. Was it the reason they’d come looking for me? A scar from a car crash? I thought suddenly. I wasn’t exactly sure. 

Downstairs, Hagrid was laughing with some man at the bar. 

“ Ah. There you are. Get her a breakfast menu. She needs to get fattened up,” said Hagrid, beaming at me.

I sat down and a menu zoomed towards me. Without thinking, I caught it easily and pulled it in front of me. 

“ She’s got good reflexes. How are you on a broom?” asked the bartender.

“ Um.... I’ve never been on one,” I answered.

“ She was raised by Muggles,” answered Hagrid.

“ What are Muggles?” I asked.

“ Non-magic folk. Now what do you want to eat? My treat. Then we get you your gold,” said Hagrid. 

After breakfast, Hagrid took me out to the back and took out his umbrella.

“ Uh... Where are we going?” I asked.

“ Diagon Alley,” said Hagrid like it was obvious.

I kept my mouth shut and he started tapping the bricks in an order. Then they started moving! My mouth fell open as they moved away to reveal a huge alley full of people and odd shops and a huge marble building at the end.

“ Welcome to Diagon Alley,” said Hagrid proudly.

My mouth stayed open as we walked past snowy owls in cages, weird flowers, and people in weird clothing.

“ That’s Gringotts,” said Hagrid, pointing at the marble building. “ It’s the wizards’ bank and where we’re headed first.” 

“ Um... Hagrid. I’m pretty sure I don’t have money for all of this. Or a bank account,” I said, eyeing the building as we walked closer.

“ No. But your parents did. And all their gold is in there,” said Hagrid. I decided to go with it. Gringotts was huge. We went to one of the goblins at the desks and Hagrid spoke for me.

“ Arianna Potter would like to make a withdrawal,” Hagrid said quietly.

“ Key,” said the goblin after looking at me.

“ Here,” said Hagrid, producing a tiny golden key out of one of his many pockets. 

The ride in the cart was long and dark. We stopped first at my vault. The goblin put the key in a hidden keyhole and the door slowly opened. My mouth dropped open. A huge pile of gold, silver and bronze lay in the middle of the room.

Hagrid explained to me about Knuts, Sickles and Gallons as I pooled as much as I could into a pouch. We made one stop before going up. Inside a grubby, cold vault, Hagrid picked up a tiny package.

“ What was that?” I asked him when we were in daylight. He pretended to be deaf.

“ Alright. You have your school supply list, right? You can make it back to the Leaky Cauldron, fine. If you need help, ask one of the shop assistants,” he said. 

“ Ok,” I said, looking at my list and back up. Hagrid was gone.