Diagon Alley
You're breathing so hot
A lot of political nonsense in the air
You're making it hard
For the people who live in there
You're moving so fast
But, baby, you know not where
Wild Life, “Wings”
The date for going to Diagon Alley was chosen, they would go on August 16th. Lily couldn’t put off her excitement, magic was real. Of course she already knew that since the letter arrived, but it was such a different experience watching it for herself. Severus, who promised to make her company in the beginning, couldn't make it in the end. So it would only be her parents and McGonagall, but even that couldn’t make her shimmering eyes fade.
The first half an hour was spent trying and finally succeeding in trading muggle money for wizard money in Gringotts Bank. Fortunately McGonagall was there to help, Lily thought to herself. Her mom nearly passed away just by seeing the goblins for the first time. It was a relief Petunia decided not to come with them, Lily couldn’t imagine how the employees would react if her muggle sister just started shouting in fear when a magical creature decided to talk to her. Lily didn’t know much about all that magic-world-manners, but she doubted that it would make a good impression on anyone.
Leaving the bank was a relief. The streets were full of wizard families, even the clothes seemed different and it wasn’t difficult to put apart who was a part of the magical world since their very birth. A mixture of black robes dominated the streets, some of the wizards and witches even wore sharp pointed hats, Lily smiled, it looked as if she just appeared in some fantasy story, but it was her reality now. Lily wore a green dress with a flower pattern and a brown hairband to prevent her hair from falling in her eyes, a very normal look that wouldn’t catch any extra attention if they were just shopping on Charing Cross, but it did here.
“It is rare in your world to… come from a non magical family, is it?” asked Lily’s mom as if she read her daughter’s thoughts.
“Not the most common.” McGonagall agreed with a smile. “But don’t you worry, we will make sure Miss Evans does great, we take care of all of our students equally.” Checking the time on her pocket watch she added, “I’m afraid to say I will have to leave you for a brief moment. You have the list with all the supplies and shop names on it. Don't forget to look for a wand in Olivanders and a cauldron for your potion classes. I will meet you at six, right in front of Gringotts bank, in case there is something else we need to take care of.”
“Thank you professor.” Lily’s dad replied, rereading the list. From there they went on their own.
“First of all, you need a uniform,” said her mom, adjusting her glasses.
“Oh! I wanted to go for the potions equipment! It’s just in front and the bookstore looked so beautiful.”
“Como on Sarah”, her dad smiled. “I think we can handle the uniforms on our own, let her enjoy a bit of the magic.”
“You will be waiting for us in the bookstore young lady.”
“I owe you one,” Lily whispered, giving her dad a hug, he let her go with a head kiss.
“You can take the list, you’re mom memorised by now all the clothes items it has.” Sarah gave him an elbow and rapidly wrote down which robes were needed in her pocket notebook.
“Don’t go anywhere else” her mom warned, giving Lily a quick hug. “See you darling.”
Lily waited a second before pulling the door on the entry. The nameplate read “Potage’s Cauldron Shop”. One of her subjects would be Potions and she couldn’t wait to begin with it. She needed to buy her own cauldron and some other things from the list. Finally she pulled the door making a small bell on the entrance ring. There were few families inside, but mostly adult wizards, some of them turned around watching her go inside. Few faces showed surprise seeing her muggle clothes. Some of the wizard kids didn’t wear robes, but you could tell they weren’t muggle borns, just by looking at them.
“Is she a muggle mom?” some kid whispered from the back of the shop.
“Yes my dear.”
“Have no idea who thought it was clever to let them study with our children…” a woman said to her husband.
Unsure on where she could find her school supplies Lily went right to the shop attendant who gave her a quick, sour look and brought everything in silence. Lily kept smiling, trying to act in the nicest way possible. “Maybe these people weren’t used to muggles and thought of them badly because some of them hadn’t good manners.” the girl thought.
“Very nice cauldrons you have there,” Lily tried, “I even saw a golden one outside, it’s shining so pretty in the sun.”
“Look, just pay and leave.” the man said, lowering his voice. “You’re lucky I am even attending you, a lot of my frequent clients detest muggle borns.”
Lily had not expected that reaction, it was the first time an adult was so mean to her with no apparent reason for it. She could feel how some of the whispers went louder once she was leaving the “Potage’s Cauldron shop”. As if! Of course, who was she anyway? A little girl from a common family entering the world of magic like she was worth it. What could she offer? The kids in her school would probably be the same. All of them wiser and more talented than her, being surrounded by magic since their birth. She was good at her previous school just because both of her parents were teachers, they helped her with homework and captivated her love for reading and knowledge. What would she do without their help? Facing all of that changes alone. “You’re a witch, of course, yay…” she thought sarcastically while heading to the bookshop. Maybe all of that was an error and normal families weren’t supposed to have magic children. Who said she was a witch anyways? The Hogwarts director she didn’t even see? McGonagall? Maybe she was just a mistake. “I huesos it must be true if everyone seems to think so.” Lily thought angrily, most of all she was annoyed with herself, for being that naive and excited about something that probably isn’t even true, for thinking she was “someone special”. She wasn’t even sure now if she should buy the books, but the shop seemed so peaceful from the outside she decided to have a look. Maybe she would just look until her parents arrived, she always enjoyed being surrounded by books.
The bookshop somehow brought her the peace she needed. It was quiet and almost empty. The magic was still present of course. Some posters and pictures on the walls were moving and the worker was organizing a pile of books by levitating them with simple movements of his wand, putting them on the empty spaces of the highest shelf.
“Can I be of any help, Miss?” he asked, turning his eyes to Lily and the booklist in her hand.
“Hi sir, I was looking for this if it’s not a problem to ask.” the girl answered, handing shyly the list.
Giving it a quick look the man smiled.
“It is never too much of a trouble helping little ladies in their first year,” he smiled back. “It is your first year in Hogwarts Miss Evans, isn’t it?”
The little girl just nodded back, she felt so small, so shy, so muggle born again it was embarrassing. Trying to hide the redness on her face she looked up to where the tall shelves ended. They were covered all along in big volumes of manuscripts she was seeing now for the first time in her life.
“You will like Hogwarts very much.” the man said, interrupting her thoughts. “I studied there, so many years ago, but I have a lot of great memories that make me company till this day.” He nodded to one of the walls, there was a golden framed picture and when Lily got closer she could see a group of boys with blue uniforms, all of them smiling. One of them, a boy on the left side of the photo, carried a big book under his arm.
“That’s me.” he smiled as if reading her thoughts, “The one holding the book on the left, was carrying books everywhere I could.” he left a brief silence before going on, “You see, my mom was a muggle born and I was always so afraid I wouldn’t make a great wizard, that I would do worse because of that. Too many pure blood magicians have these prejudices and finally they make you believe them even though they aren’t true.” He sighted and with another gesture of his wand and some incantations the books from the list started appearing just before their eyes. He reunited all of the books in less than two minutes.
“I know it’s none of my business, there’s just so many dumb people like Rosiers…” noticing Lily’s surprised look he explained “The “Potages Cauldron Shop” owner.” he pointed at her bag with the name of the shop on it.
“They’re not worth it, believe me. You will do great at school just you see.”
“How would you know?” Lily’s curiosity always won its way out, even when she was feeling in her lowest.
“Oh! I can say by how you were looking at all the books, after all these years of working I identify a reader in a blink of an eye.” he smiled encouragingly.
“It’s the 70s, out there people are finally getting to learn how to accept others. Not everyone is like that of course and some ways of thinking will take more time to change than others, I’m afraid. But don’t be dragged away by what overs think of you Miss Evans and you will succeed in everything you put yourself to. I can see you will make a great witch some day.”
Those words meant so much to Lily. On the night of that day, just before going to sleep, she was remembering all the details and she made herself a promise. To work hard and to never give up. It didn’t matter from where she came, she would make a great witch, maybe someday the greatest if she worked really hard. That very night Lily started reading some of her school books. Mostly it was “History of magic”, she thought that if there was some general knowledge her classmates had, it would probably be History.