Things Not Seen

Chapter 8

Jacob had reluctantly agreed to ask for directions and a few minutes later we were standing in front of the Leaky Cauldron. "What does it look like Dad?" "Well...it's very um...run down looking." I giggled. "It's probably to deter um...what did Professor Darme call humans?" "Muggles." "Oh right! So it probably looks all run down so no muggles will want to enter it." Jacob ruffled my hair. "Well ya sure figured that one out fast." A gravelly voice said with a dry chuckle. I jerked up my head and looked towards the voice. "Are you the owner of the Leaky Cauldron?" Jacob asked. There was a moment of silence so I assumed that the man had either nodded or shook his head. I heard footsteps coming closer. The voice sounded much closer when it spoke, I could tell that the man was right in front of me. "An what's your name?" He asked me, I could smell alcohol faintly on his breath. "I'm Vale." I said looking in the direction of his voice. "Oh well that's a pretty name." "What's your name?" The man let out another raspy laugh. "Phillip." The man said. I smiled. "Nice to meet you Phillip." Phillip didn't respond, I scratched the back of my head awkwardly wondering why Phillip was staying silent. "I hate to be rude...but uh are ya..are ya...?" "Yeah I'm blind." I said with a small smile. "Oh ok...I'm sorry to ask.." "It's alright I tried to pat him on the shoulder, but ended up patting him on the wrist instead. We both laughed. "So the...professor that visited our house told us that we had to come see you to go to Diagon Alley and get school supplies for her." Jacob said. I nodded. "Well that's right, come on in." Jacob put his hand on my shoulder and guided me into the Leaky Cauldron. I wrinkled my nose at the strong smell of alcohol. "Is this a tavern?" I asked Phillip covering my nose with my hand. "Why yes it is, you got a good nose there Vale." I grinned. I could tell that we had gone outside because the air had become relatively cooler. We walked a few feet and I sensed something in front of me. I reached out my hand and felt smooth brick. "Jus push in this brick and look at your list, the rest should explain its self." Phillip said before I heard receding footsteps. I put my hands in the pockets of my jacket. "Ready?" Jacob asked me. I nodded, excited to shop in the wizard town. I heard Jacob push in the brick and felt his other hand grip my shoulder tightly.