The Unknown: A Harry Potter Story

Chapter 2: A Shopping Trip

It was around noon when Jason and Grandpa Richard arrived at Charing Cross Road in London. As the two of them walked down the street, they approached a rundown building nozzled in between a bookshop and a record store. When they approached the entrance to the building, the black sign hanging above the door slowly faded, revealing a picture of a stylized bronze cauldron with several leaks in it and etched onto the side of the cauldron were the words "Leaky Cauldron." The Leaky Cauldron Pub and Inn appeared less rundown on the inside as opposed to the outside, but that was hard to determine from the dim lighting. All that could be seen were several wooden tables, an old bar, and stairs leading up to the guest rooms. Passing through the door into the pub, Jason began to smile. He always enjoyed passing through the Leaky Cauldron on his many previous trips to Diagon Alley due to the wide assortment of people and the hospitality of the pub's owner, Tom.

Looking around, Jason and Grandpa Richard both felt that the usual relaxed and subdued atmosphere of the pub had been replaced with one of excitement. Instead of staying to themselves, as the customers of the Leaky Cauldron usually did, the room was abuzz as people moved between tables, chatting fervently. After a quick scan of the room, they noticed Tom standing behind the bar and quickly approached the old, bald man.

"Hey Tom," Grandpa Richard began, "what's with all the noise in here today?"

"You'll never believe it" Tom excitedly replied, "If I hadn't seen it myself then even I wouldn't believe it, So this morning I was-"

"What happened?" Grandpa Richard cut Tom off before he had the chance to begin one of his lengthy tangents.

"Harry Potter! Harry Potter just passed through here on his way to Diagon Alley!"

" Well, seeing him is pretty exciting, but I wouldn't say it's unbelievable." Grandpa Richard stated casually, "I mean he is old enough to start attending Hogwarts, so of course, he'd be coming here to get to Diagon Alley." Tom's smile slowly disappeared from his face, leaving him staring blankly at Grandpa Richard.

"You always did have a way of killing all the excitement in a room," Tom stated while staring Grandpa Richard dead in the eyes. For a moment, the tension between the two of them was palpable before two lifelong friends burst into laughter. "So, what are you doing here?" Tom questioned his old friend as he turned to start drying some freshly washed mugs.

"Well, I'm taking my grandson to do his Hogwarts shopping," Grandpa Richard responded, leaving Tom to take a quick look around the room before he noticed Jason standing right next to Richard.

"I'm sorry Jason, I didn't notice you there," Tom said, turning his attention to Jason "It looks like I have another celebrity in the bar today."

"Please, I'm not a celebrity," Jason said, trying to cover the annoyance in his voice at being called a celebrity.

"Of course, you are. Your parents are both famous quidditch stars, and from what I hear, your team took the top spot in the country in the junior quidditch leagues. If you're not a celebrity, then I'm not a bartender."

"I'm sorry, Tom, but we should get into Diagon Alley and start shopping," Grandpa Richard interrupted, knowing that Jason was probably getting aggravated with the topic of conversation, "I'll see you later."

The two of them said goodbye to Tom and then headed out the pub's backdoor and into a small stone courtyard filled with empty barrels with a brick wall opposite the door from the pub. Grandpa Richard quickly approached the brick wall and slid his wand out from its hiding place in the waistband of his shorts. Examining the wall, Grandpa Richard tapped his wand against a brick three times, causing the bricks in the wall to move out of the way and thus reveal the entrance to Diagon Alley.