into the unknown : cedric, draco, fred

chapter three

I woke up early in the morning after a terrible night of sleep. My new bed was uncomfortable, despite a high-quality mattress and lots of pillows. I guess it was just unfamiliar.

After a big yawn, I got out of bed and made myself some breakfast. At this point, my mom came bustling into the kitchen, looking very business-like.

"Taylor!" she cried, her eyes raking disapprovingly over my disheveled image. "We're going to Diagon Alley in 20 minutes. Are you ready?"

I groaned. "Obviously not, Mom. I just woke up. Give me 15."

After I got ready, I stood with my mom in the middle of our living room, ready to do some side-along apparition to a pub called the Leaky Cauldron which is apparently the entrance to Diagon Alley.

"Three, two, one," my mom said, as I squeezed my eyes shut. After a painfully long sensation of being squished into a tube, we emerged on a busy London street with a loud pop! Directly across the street from us was a pub with a dilapidated exterior, a swinging sign hanging from the door reading "The Leaky Cauldron."

We crossed the street and opened the door, stepping into a warm and roomy expanse. A toothless barman hurried over to us.

"Madame Styles!" he cried. "How are you? Can I help you with anything?"

My mom chuckled merrily. "Hello, Tom. We're fine, thank you, just passing through. Taylor here needs to pick up some school supplies for this year."

Tom turned to look at me. "Are you attending Hogwarts this year, Mademoiselle?"

I smiled politely. "Yeah, I am. I'm pretty nervous, but I've heard good things."

Tom smiled at us again warmly. "You'll love it," he told me, before bustling off to help another customer.

My mom led me across the pub to a worn brick wall. Once there, she began to bizarrely tap random bricks with her wand. To my surprise, although it probably shouldn't have been surprising given that I've been around magic all my life, the bricks dissolved until a hole formed in the wall, giving way to a bustling street.

We crawled out into the sun, and I can't lie, I was beginning to get excited. The streets were filled with witches and wizards in colorful robes, all conversing cheerily to each other. I could hear owls hooting from windows, the clatter of pockets filled with Galleons, and children murmuring in awe about a racing broom on display. Of course, I would have joined them had I not received a Firebolt for my birthday a few months ago.

I grinned at my mom. "Hey Taylor," she said, "Why don't we split up? I can grab your books from Flourish and Blotts and you can go to Madame Malkins and get fitted for robes."

"Sure!" I agreed, giving her my booklist. My mom took it and wandered off in some direction. It took me about ten seconds until I realized that I had never been to Diagon Alley and had absolutely no idea where to go. I wandered aimlessly for a few minutes before I decided to ask for directions. I was by Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlor when I noticed a kind-looking woman joined by a number of children with flaming red hair, one boy with messy dark hair and glasses, and a girl with bushy brown hair. I walked over to them.

When I was in proximity, I asked tentatively, "Um, excuse me?"

They all looked up at me.

I swallowed. "Um, I've never been here before, and I was just wondering if you could give me directions to Madame Malkin's Robe Shop?"

The woman smiled at me kindly. "Of course, dear. It's just down the road on the right side of the street. Are you new Hogwarts?"

"Sort of," I answered. "I'm transferring from Beauxbatons, and I'm going to be starting my fourth year."

She gasped and clapped her hands. "That's wonderful!" she exclaimed. "Ron, Hermione, and Harry here are also fourth years. Ron is my son, and I'm Molly Weasley dear."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Weasley," I said, smiling, before I turned to the three others she had referenced, eating ice cream. I figured that the ginger had to be Ron, so Hermione was the girl and Harry was the dark haired boy.

"Hi!" Hermione said energetically. "I'm Hermione. What's your name? What is Beauxbatons like? I've always wanted to-"

"Shut it, Hermione," Ron mumbled. "You don't want to scare her."

I laughed.  "It's nice to meet you guys. I'm Taylor." My gaze drifted to the dark-haired boy, Harry, and my heart jumped when I saw the tip of a scar poking out from under his bangs. It had to be Harry Potter. Figuring I had nothing to lose by making conversation, I asked, "So, I've heard a little bit about the houses, but not that much. What houses are you guys?"

Harry answered me. "We're all Gryffindors," he said. "It's the best house. I hope you're in it!" Ron nodded enthusiastically at his words. I laughed.

"You should sit with us on the Hogwarts Express on the first," Hermione said to me, grinning. "I'd love to hear more about Beauxbatons!"

At her words, my heart swelled. Thank god I wouldn't have to sit by myself or have to awkwardly search for a compartment. "Thanks, guys!" I said. "That would be great. I should probably get running, though. Got to get those new robes!"

They each smiled at me. "Bye Taylor!" Ron said. "See ya!" came from Harry.

I thanked Mrs. Weasley again, but before I could go, she said "Hold on. Ginny, don't you need new robes too? Why don't you go with Taylor?"

I noticed she was referencing another red-headed child, this one a girl. She grinned at me. "Hey! Sure, let's go. I'm Ginny," she said.

"Hey! I'm Taylor," I responded.

We started down the road. "So, what brings you to Hogwarts?" she asked. "We don't get that many new students who are in the middle years."

"Well," I began, "My dad worked for the French ministry, and for whatever reason, they transferred him here."

Casual conversation took us to Madame Malkins. Ginny was super nice. We went in and got fitted for robes, and walked out holding tall stacks of robes. So tall, in fact, that I didn't even notice that I was about to walk into-

Bump.

I had walked into someone very tall and very solid, and had dropped my robes in the process. I saw a head of tousled brown hair crouch down beside me to help me pick them back up. 

"I'm so sorry about that!" I said.

"No worries," he answered.

I looked up into his smiling face and my heart quite literally skipped a beat. Time seemed to stop as I stared at his ridiculously handsome face, but as quickly as it had stopped, the moment was over, leaving me feeling like I had been electrocuted. He handed me my robes.

"Thank you so much!" I said to him.

"No problem," he answered. He flashed me a grin and then his broad shoulders were lost in the crowd. I whipped my head around to look at Ginny, who was laughing. "Who was that?" I asked her.

In between small fits of laughter, she managed to muster, "That's Cedric Diggory, a sixth-year Hufflepuff. And you look like you just fell in love with him."

I could feel myself blushing and quickly changed the subject. I walked around with Ginny and was even joined by Harry, Ron, and Hermione at one point, before I ran back into my mom and knew it was time to go. I waved to them, and they waved back.

That night, I thought about my potential new friends and that bizarre moment with Cedric. As I smiled softly to myself, I began to think... Maybe this new place won't be so bad after all.