To Be a Witch (Marauders Era)

Diagon Alley

Diagon Alley

            We stopped in front of this place called the Leaky Cauldron. It looked kinda shabby really, you would think some magical place would be a little more well kept, but what are you gona do. The strange thing I noticed was that the people walking by didn’t seem to be able to see it. They just looked from one store to the next. Huh, maybe there is something magic about it after all.

            We walk in and there’s only a few people sitting around, all of them dressed like the wizard that we met.

“Not a lot of people at this time, they’re mostly all working” Professor Bark informs us. “Over here”

            We followed him into a small, walled courtyard and he tapped a brick with a stick he was holding, which I suddenly realize, recalling the list of supplies, was his wand. An archway appeared and a cobbled street twisted and turned out of sight. I stood looking at the archway with a raised eyebrow. This was the first magic I have seen, and I guess that washed away any doubts I may have had up to that point.

“Welcome to Diagon Alley” Professor Bark said, smiling at the excited faces of my parents. He caught sight of my raised eyebrows and impressed expression and his smile got wider, as if knowing exactly what I was thinking.

As we walked down the road, I glanced at the stores lined on either side. Theses stores sold the oddest things, from cauldrons to beetle eyes to unicorn hair. I kept my face blank, hiding my excitement, but inside, It was literally a party. All these things are not only real, but I would get to use them. I would get to learn about them. This is going to be my world. This is great.

“First stop, the bank” Professor Bark said as we neared a snowy white building that towered over the other shops. The burnished bronze doors gleamed in the morning sun, and next to it stood this short little creature that was, sorry, but it was pretty ugly, not gona lie.

“Gringotts is run by goblins…” He went on to explain transactions and money things that I honestly could care less about, so I looked around, much more interested in what these goblins were doing. They were looking at stuff through eyeglasses, weighing things with scales, looking at rocks that looked very rare and expensive, and writing on parchment paper.

After a while of observing a goblin count gold coins, I heard my parents calling to me that it was time to go. I practically ran out the doors, extremely eager to get started.

First we went to Madam Malkins to get robes. She was a squat, smiling witch sophisticatedly dressed in what I presumed were the latest style of robes.

“Hogwarts, dear?” I nodded “over here please” And I followed her to a footstool where she slipped a rob over my head and started pinning things and taking measurements while saying “you are one of my first customers today, so this should take no time at all”

And it did not take very long. Soon, I was walking across the street with three new robes to a store where I would get the rest of my uniform. Professor Bark said that most people were dress shoes, but I could wear sneakers as long as they were solid black. Good, I thought, I never wear anything besides sneakers. I was used to being comfortable when it came to shoes.

Next we went to get my cauldron, so “we could carry my other things in it” Bark explained with a wink. We also got scales and a collapsible telescope there before visiting the apothecary where I got a supply of some basic potion ingredients. It smelled terrible in there, so I wasn’t at all upset when we had to leave, but as we were leaving, something caught my eye. Unicorn horns for sale. Wow. That’s really something.

Next was one of my personal favorites, Flourish and Blotts bookstore. I got all of the books on my list, and while my dad was waiting in line to pay for them, I looked around for anything interesting. One book in particular caught my eye. A Beginner’s Dueling Guide. Dueling? The possibility of a magical fight made me feel a bit nervous. Suddenly, I realized just how dangerous magic could be. I grabbed the book and slipped it under the other ones, and told my dad I wanted it for “background reading”.

Next door, I picked up a whole lot of parchment “for homework” as Bark put it, and also some quills and ink. Apparently, this is what wizards and witches use to write with. Yeah, it may look cooler, but it also looked like a lot of extra work. I think I may or may not stick with pens, just to save time. But not having quills would probably be a mistake, so I got them anyways.

Next stop, we went to the Magical Menagerie, a place filled with all sorts of animals, along with their calls, and unfortunately their smells.

“owls are very useful, since they carry mail in out world” Professor Bark explained. “but cats are good companions and popular with witches”

“get an owl” my dad said “I would like to keep in touch with you at that school, and you would never be able to take care of a cat”

Laughing, I silently agreed with that, and looked around. Many of the owls were very beautiful but one in particular caught my eye. Not extremely small, but on the smaller side, was a beautiful black owl with a white heart shaped face. It had amber eyes that almost hinted at green, and when I held my hand out to pet it, it nudged me softly. Soon, I was walking out with this owl, which I had yet to name, in a cage, along with some owl treats. She hooted at me softly and I smiled. We would be great friends.

Last but not least, we stood in front of Ollivanders :Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. Impressive. That’s a long time to make wands. A bell tinkles as I walked into the shop, which was relatively bare excluding one chair and rows and columns of boxes, assumedly containing wands. An old man appeared who had huge scrutinizing eyes can behind the counter.

“Good afternoon”

“Hello, I’m, ah, looking for a wand?” I say it like a question, as though uncertain as to whether or not I’m totally sure of this statement.

“Of course, of course, hold out your arm, yes, good” He took some measurements and left to go behind the counter to the thousands of boxes that lined the walls. “Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance. No two wands are the same, and you will never get such good results with another wizard’s wand.”

He came back with a box “try this, holly and dragon heartstring, ten inches. Give it a wave.”

I waved it, but before I could do much, he took it muttering “no.. no…”

This happened for another two wands until he came across one that was “Maple and unicorn hair, ten and a half inches, slightly bendy, very versatile” I had no idea what ‘versatile’ meant concerning wands, but I picked it up anyways, and instantly it felt warm in my hands. It almost felt alive, or like it was connected somehow to my arm. I waved it and gold sparks shot out the end and Ollivander let out an “Excellent, Excellent!”

I smiled and paid for the wand, and as he wrapped it and gave it to me, he said, “this wand is very versatile, it could be as strong, or a subtle, as the wizard desires. Use it carefully”

Use it carefully indeed.

After this long and exhausting shopping trip, Professor Bark reminded me that I was not allowed to use magic out of school, and told us how to find the platform before handing me my ticket. We parted ways, and finally started the drive home.

Over the course of the next few weeks, I skimmed every textbook and memorized all my potions ingredients. I made sure my clothes fit, and I took out my wand every few hours, just to make sure it was still there. I learned a lot from A History of Magic, even though, to be honest, I did not read it word for word and skipped a few of the seemingly more boring parts, if magic could be boring. I decided to name my owl Moonshine, because her white face kind of reminded me of the moon against the black of the rest of her body. I looked at the extra book I bought, the one on dueling, and I learned the basics, even practiced them. Without a wand, of course. The book stressed the importance of two particular spells, the protago, or the shielding spell, and the expelliarmus, or the disarming spell. It made sense, and I vowed to learn how to do a good shield charm as soon as possible. Some of the other more complicated spells were even more interesting. There was a spell that tripped your partner, one that pushed them back, one that stung them, one that made them go rigid, and many more. A lot of spells had multiple versions, each varying with strength. I quickly became obsessed with this book, much more than any of the other textbooks. Now, I just had to wait for September first.