Maggie

Chapter 5 - Diagon Alley

Dizzy, nauseated, I span out into a dark room. It looked like a shabby pub. I stumbled slightly on the loose corner of an ash-strewn rug and was caught around the middle by James. He grinned at me, placing me upright on my feet again before stepping back.

"Made it alright then? My dad ended up in the wrong fireplace first time he tried so you're already doing better than him!"

I frowned. "Why didn't you tell me that before I tried?"

"I wanted to, but mum didn't want to worry you. Anyway, it doesn't matter now. You made it fine." He pointed at the fireplace with one arm, pulling me aside with his other. "And the others are coming now. Look." I turned around and, sure enough, the rest of my family were, one by one, spinning into the room behind me.

Once we had all made it into the little pub, and ginny had removed the ash and soot best she could with a lint roller, I followed my family out the back of the pub. There was nothing there except a small courtyard, framed on all sides with a high brick wall. I watched as Harry took out his wand and tapped a brick in the wall directly opposite the door. It melted away, bricks swinging out of sight until the wall had almost entirely vanished to reveal a packed street beyond.

My vision was hit with more colours than one could comprehend. There were people everywhere in cloaks and jackets of all shades. Shopfronts loomed over from either side as if a magnet was pulling them together at their roofs. The road was narrow, but it didn't feel claustrophobic at all. My eyes grew wide as tennis balls as I tried to take it all in. One shop had a teetering pile of cauldrons stacked precariously outside. Another had a huge sign above the door which read "Eeylops Owl Emporium" and below it hung cages of all shapes and sizes trapping owls of every colour. Some shops had small stands erected outside behind which stood wizards and witches calling into the crowd, trying to sell what looked like everything from feathery quills to sweets and cakes. In the window of "Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions", a teenager being fitted with a long black cloak was just visible behind two handsomely robes manikins in tall wizard hats. The next shop along was painted a vivid red and, in its window, I noticed a sleek looking broomstick. Many other shoppers had noticed it too. There was a small cluster of people gathered outside the shop, on the pavement. The Potters and the Dursleys shuffled past them. As I looked further up the street, a huge, pearly white building loomed crooked and higher than all the other shops. Carved into the front, above a set of bronze doors, was "Gringotts Bank". My uncle stopped in front of the building and turned to the rest of us.

"Not all of us need to go inside. How about I pop in to get some money, and the rest of you get some ice creams from Fortescue's?"

"No problem." Replied Ginny. "But you should take Dudley in with you. He'll need to change some muggle money at the bureau for Maggie's things."

Harry nodded in agreement. Dudley turned to me and said, "Wanna come, squirt?"

Silently, I shook my head. The day was hot and the temperature was climbing still higher. Ice cream sounded heavenly. I watched dad and harry walk into the building side by side, before turning around and following the rest of the group further up the busy street.

As we continued to stroll, an enormous, obnoxiously orange building came into view. It assaulted the eyes it was so bright, and its windows were filled with clashing purple and green posters and moving objects. I was so mesmerised, I slowed to a halt in front of it, trying to take it in, until a woman leaving the shop walked right into me.

"Ouch! Oh, I'm sorry I didn't see you there."

I glanced up at her and was about to utter an apology of my own when I heard Ginny call to her.