Lyall

The Potters And Diagon Alley: Part I

Exactly two months later, a loud and hasty knock rang through the house. Her parents answered the door this time. It was Hagrid, coming to pick Valerie up and drop her at Diagon Alley. She had been waiting eagerly for the past hour to get her wand and books. Unfortunately, her parents couldn't come, since they had important things to discuss with their Muggle doctor ("Doctor? Wha's that?"), so she had to take her camera to get pictures of Diagon Alley.

"Yeh ready?" Hagrid asked, looking around at me and grinning.

"Yup," she said, jumping to her feet.

"How're you guys going to London?" asked her mother.

"Oh, we're flyin'," said Hagrid, beaming. "an' we're makin' ourselves invisible!"

"Um - why do we need to be invisible?"

"So the Muggles don' spot us,"

"But isn't flying normal to Muggles?"

"It is?" Hagrid wondered aloud, amazed. "Flyin' by motorcycles is normal?"

"What?!"

Mr. Arma was looking so puzzled it was comical, but Mrs. Arma looked downright alarmed.

"We're going by motorcycle?"

"Yeah, those huge Bird-Things are goin' ter take too much time,"

Mr. Arma spoke, "Is - is it safe?"

"Yes, Dad, it's safe," Valerie answered. "Trust me,"

Even though Valerie felt just as alarmed as her parents at the prospect of riding a flying motorbike as her parents (especially with Hagrid), she was not going to pass up a chance to fly on the same motorbike on which Harry Potter once sat on and Sirius Black once owned, and if that meant telling her parents it was safe, then so be it.

Flying motorbikes? Heck yeah.

"How d'you know it's safe?" asked Mrs. Arma even more alarmed at Valerie's response. "Have you ridden it before?"

"No, but I've read about it," she replied. "I'm sure lots of people have sat in its sidecar and they all have their limbs intact, Mum,"

Hagrid nodded eagerly.

"Okay," she said, slowly and doubtfully, looking at Hagrid.

"Yeah, okay," Mr. Arma said. "Go ahead, Val,"

They both were looking skeptical. There was a pause.

"Mu-"

"Come on Valerie, we'll be late," said Hagrid, putting  a hand on her shoulder. As they walked off, Valerie looked back and waved at them. They waved back.

She clambered into the sidecar and plunked herself down. She had been in an extremely cheerful mood all morning at the thought of visiting-

She suddenly felt as though a bird had done its business right on her head. Her hand instinctively shot up to the top of her head where she felt, instead of a wet and sticky mess, a hard, wooden something. She grabbed hold of it and looked up to see the tip of a bright pink umbrella held by her. But her hand was disappearing. She felt a strange feeling, starting from her head down to her toes. She looked down to see nothing at all, just the leathery seat of the sidecar. She looked up at Hagrid, who was holding the other end of the umbrella and grinning down at her.

"Diss'lusionmen' Charm,"

"But why?"

"I'm goin' ter do it ter the whole thing," he replied. "We don' wan' nuther Ford Anglia now,"