Slytherin's Heir

Chapter Ten ~ Diagon Alley

Diagon Alley was not at all what Percy was expecting. Percy had created a picture in his mind. Perhaps it would be like a small street, filled with small, average like vendors and stalls selling whatever the wizards required.

He was not anticipating this- this organised chaos. Because that's what it was. Everything was everywhere with buildings all different shapes and sizes down the cobblestone road. Dozens of people milled around, but each person knew exactly where to go, weaving around other groups to reach their destination.

But then again, these wizards were different from what he'd encountered, perhaps not the strangest, but Percy really ought to stop questioning them.

Percy turned and opened his mouth to say something to his mother, who once had woken up had insisted that she should take her son to Diagon Alley. But when he saw the look on her face, one of recognition and nostalgia, Percy shut his mouth and smiled to himself.

To her, this was home. The wizarding world was her world. It was where she had grown up. It was where she learnt a lot of what she knew today.

But Sally had been driven away from here by her own father, and Percy couldn't forgive that. But it was also because of her father that she was back.

Sally looked happy. She looked on in wonder at the changes as she recalled the times she had spent here and the memories she'd made. It was like opening your favourite book for the first time in years and remembering why.

So Percy stood on quietly, watching as his mother took in everything with a look of bewilderment on her face, as if she couldn't believe she was back. Finally, she snapped out of it.

"Come on," she said. "Our first stop ought to be Gringotts." And then she started off towards a building that did not look like it should still be standing. But hey, that's magic for you.

At the entrance were a couple of guards on duty and on the large bronze doors was an inscription that read;

'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.'

Alongside something in Latin, which Percy could pick up as 'Fortius Quo Fidelius', or in English; 'strength through loyalty'. Percy smiled. He liked that phrase.

Once inside, Sally lead him to one of the desks, where a small creature sat. Percy felt uncertain at first, but calmed once Sally talked to the creature with ease. She told the creature that they were here to get out money under the name 'Riddle'. The creature looked taken aback for a moment, but summoned over another to lead them away.

As the walked, Sally leaned closer to her son. "They are goblins, if you didn't know." Percy nodded his thanks.

When they got to the tunnels, Percy felt a little unsure. The underground world was still a foreign place, even though Hades was far more tolerant of him than a certain other family member.

Stepping into the carts made Percy feel like he was walking into a roller coaster ride. Which essentially, he was. The cart took off into the tunnels, headed for whichever vault number was theirs.

Percy was amazed at the amount of coins within. He spun to his mother. "Why didn't we use any of this at home?" Then perhaps their life with Smelly Gabe might have been different, or maybe it mightn't of happened in the first place. "Surely you can make a money exchange right?"