The Philosophers Stone - Harry Potter Male Reader Insert

4: Diagon Alley

Y/N skimmed through his letter for the billionth time.

He quickly turned over in his bed to face the clock, it was currently two thirty in the morning.

Y/N couldn't sleep. Not after a meeting like that.

He was quite surprised when he found himself not quite so shocked about the news. He had always known he was different after all. He had always known he was special.

What he really felt at this current moment was a bit of disappointment. According to the letter, the term started at September 1st, which meant that he still had the whole rest of his primary school year to finish before he could attend. That was ages away.

Before the strange Wizard Dumbledore had left, he had told Y/N about a place in London called Diagon Alley, and given him a letter with instructions on how to get there.

Y/N wasn't the only person Dumbledore left in a shocked state however. Before he left he also informed Annie of Y/N's 'gift'. Like him, she was sceptical at first, but after a quick show of magic she was left as dumbfounded as Y/N.

After the wizard had left, Annie had remained true to her word and surprised Y/N with three birthday presents and a large chocolate cake. Both of them being in a small state of shock however, Y/N didn't question the ruckus as he normally would, and Annie didn't bother to explain to the other children his sudden change in attitude.

Y/N still was unable to determine one thing though.

Were his parents also Wizards?

Dumbledore hadn't mentioned that. He was supposed to meet him in Diagon Alley tomorrow, that seemed to be a good time to ask him.

Deciding that getting any sleep in this condition was humanly impossible, Y/N threw off his covers and marched out of his room.

His pace changed from a confident march to a quiet tiptoe however, as he had to refrain from making too much noise in the hallway or the others would wake.

Reaching the stairs to the roof, he ran up each step two at a time and reached the top in seconds. He opened the door and stepped out onto the roof of the orphanage.

The edges of the roof were protected with iron railings to refrain from accidents obviously. Looking at out into the night sky, he lazily leaned on them.

It was funny how London's night sky never had any stars. And yet, the shimmering moonlight was still beautiful.

"Big Brother?"

Y/N whirled his head around at the sound of the familiar voice. Sure enough, Ellie stood there in her pink nightie, rubbing her bright green eyes sleepily.

"What are you doing awake?" Y/N asked sharply and softly at the same time. "Did I wake you up?"

Ellie nodded and walked closer to Y/N wrapping her small arms around him. Y/N, familiar with this unspoken request, lifted her up and set her on his shoulders, giving her a piggyback ride.

"Y/N?" Ellie called out his name uncertainly, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck.

"Yeah?"

"You haven't been acting yourself today."

Y/N chuckled at how sharp Ellie could be at times.

"Ellie... how would you feel if I went to boarding school?" he asked in a whisper.

"What's boarding school?"

"Its like normal school but you stay there overnight, every day except the holidays. Boarding school sort of becomes your second home."

He felt Ellie's hands tighten against his neck.

"I won't see you?... Only in the holidays?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.

"That's alright isn't it? You'll still have all of our other siblings to keep you company, and I'll write to you every day if you want."

"But I don't want you to go."

"But Ellie... I really want to."

There was an awkward pause.

"You want to go? You don't want to see me anymore?" her voice sounded like she was ready to cry.

"Of course I still want to see you Ellie, but I also want to go to this school, it has certain... subjects that I'd really like to learn."

Ellie stayed silent. She sniffled a little though.

"Look," he continued. "You've obviously noticed how lonely I am here in the orphanage. Its just not for me. This school will have people like me attending there. It could be a chance for me to finally make some friends."

That was a lie. True, there would be people like him there, but Y/N wasn't a people person. He had no intention of making friends in Hogwarts. He would remain a loner.

Ellie had stopped sniffling. "Well if you really want to go, I won't stop you big brother. But I'll miss you a lot!"

Y/N put her down and gave her a hug. "Don't worry sis, I'm not going anytime soon. You'll still have me around for eight months."

Ellie cheered up immediately.

"C'mon, lets go back to bed." He told her.

She took his hand as he led them both back downstairs to their rooms. When they stopped walking outside her room she gave him another hug.

"Goodnight Y/N." she said sleepily.

"Night sis."

Y/N walked back into his room after that and shut the door behind him.

Ugh. He thought. Eight months before I can go to Hogwarts. On the bright side, it means I can get a lot of studying done.

Rolling over so he faced the wall, he let sleep overtake him at last.

* * *

Y/N stepped into the Leaky Cauldron buzzing with curiosity.

"Hello there." Said the barman. "Name's Tom. Here for a drink or just passing through?"

"Er... I'm a little young for a drink, but could you show me the way to the barrier that leads to Diagon Alley? Professor Dumbledore told me it would be in a place called the Leaky Cauldron."

"Muggle-born are you? Right this way."

Tom lead him to a supposedly normal brick wall.

"Just tap your wand on this brick here." he said. Pointing to one of the bricks.

"Er... I haven't got a wand yet."

"Oh right sorry."

The barman pulled out his own wand and tapped the brick three times - It wiggled - in the middle, a small hole appeared - it grew wider and wider - a second later they were facing a large archway.

"Welcome." said Tom. "To Diagon Alley."

As Y/N stepped through the archway, his eyes nearly fell out of his head in amazement. He turned his head around every direction as he walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping.

"Hello Y/N. Fortunate to see you had no trouble getting here."

Y/N grinned at the sound of the familiar friendly voice. He turned around and gave a wide smile to Albus Dumbledore's twinkling blue eyes.