My Tale {Book One in the Hermione Granger Series}

Chapter Four

OH.MY.GOSH! I thought, I'm getting my school stuff today! I jumped out of bed, and do all of the things I usually do in the mornings. And then, my Mum and I were on the way!

"We have to goto London" my Mum said before she started driving. She then asked me how my friends took the news, and I said "Great - although I didn't tell them about Magic". We then drove the rest of the way in silence - I was reading.

We.arrived in London, and got out of the car. Mum was looking for.something, but I didn't know what. After about 15minutes, Mum said "There" and pointed to an inn. "Can you see it?" she asked me.

"The Leaky Cauldron?" I asked after reading the sign.

"Yes. Come on."

We then walked inside and it looked grubby, but comfortable. I am glad we aren't staying here - the bartender looks creepy. We then walked out of the other wide, and Mum asked a witch who was behind her to tap the required bricks. She then told me to show the witch my letter, and I did. The witch then tapped the bricks with a piece of wood, and I gasped. The bricks were moving! "Welcome to Diagon Alley" Mum said. The inside was even more magical than the bricks. Mum told me to closely follow her, and I did so, looking at all of the shops around me. I saw a huge crowd around a broomstick in a display case, owls and other pets, BOOKS, as well as many other things - most of which I don't know the name of. Mum kept walking until we reached an enormous white building. Mum said " This is Gringotts. It is the wizard bank, and is run by goblins". We then walked through a set of doors, and then beside the next set, there was an inscription:

Enter, stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed

For those who take, but do not earn,

Must pay most dearly in their turn.

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there.

It basically means, do not steal what isn't yours, I thought as we walked through the second set of doors. And then I gasped. Goblins,

hundreds of them, walking around. Mum and I went to a counter, where we exchanged our money for wizard money. Each galleon cost $16, each sickle cost $1, and each knut cost 3c. Mum exchanged enough money to get 30 galleons and an assortment of sickles and knuts. We then left to buy everything on my list.

The first shop we went to was Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. "Hogwarts, dear?" asked Madam Malkin.

"Yes" my Mum replied. I then got my robes fitted and after we bought them, we get my required books from Flourish & Blotts, as well as other books for me to read. We got my telescope from Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment, potion ingredients from Slug and Jiggers Apothecary, and cauldron from Potage's Cauldron Shop. Lastly, we walked into Ollivanders. "Good afternoon" Mr Ollivander said.

"Afternoon" Mum and I replied.

"Which is your wand arm?" he asked me. I'm right handed, I thought.

"My right", I responded. Then a tape measure started measuring the length of my arm of its own accord.

"Thats enough" Mr Ollivander said- probably to the tape measure, as it stopped measuring after he said this. He then handed me a wand, and said "Try this", before snatching it out of my hand. On the seventh wand, a bunch of flowers appeared in Mum's arms. "Thats the wand for you, Miss Granger. Don't forget, the wand chooses the witch". Mum paid him seven galleons and as we left, I read the box. It said:

Cherry and Mahogany Wand, 11 inches, unicorn hair core, slightly flexible but nevertheless strong.

After I got my wand, we bought an icecream from Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour and then went home.

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Dedicated to battie1221