Diagon Alley
After having a small breakfast and paying an actual owl for delivering paper in Wizard money of Sickles, Knutts and Galleons, they found themselves in London among the sea of people. Hagrid stood out easily because of his height and build.
"This is it," said Hagrid, coming to a halt, "The Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place."
It was a tiny, grubby-looking pub. If Hagrid hadn't pointed it out, Hayley wouldn't have noticed it was there. The people hurrying by didn't glance at it.
She realised that only they could see the pub, and other people who had no magic of their own whatsoever, Muggles as Hagrid called them, couldn't see the place or had any idea it even existed here in the first place.
Harry followed the man inside and Hayley reluctantly did so as well.
Honestly... Is this really the time to have a drink? It's still morning.
Weren't they supposed to go to a wizarding bank called Gringotts to get their money for school supplies?
What if this is a big sick joke the Durselys came up with just to mess with them?
Her brother seemed to have accepted Hagrid's story of them being a wizard and a witch but she still had some doubts. Hagrid had also revealed the truth behind their parent's deaths. Apparently, they didn't die in a car accident at all like they were told by the Durselys. They were killed by a dark wizard known as Lord Voldemort. And Harry's scar was caused by a Killing Curse that had backfired and killed the wizard instead. No, he didn't die exactly. Hagrid had said the wizard had vanished.
She shuddered as she recalled Hagrid's story. Because of that feat, Harry was known among the wizarding folks as The-Boy-Who-Lived. That information soon proved to be true as they were swarmed by a small crowd of people dressed in odd cloths and long robes.
She was so focused on her thoughts that she didn't notice her surroundings. For a famous place, it was very dark and shabby.
Everyone wanted to get a better look at the famous Harry Potter. They all gawked at her brother, more particularly at his scar as they all pushed their hands forward so that Harry can shake them.
Harry looked embarrassed and astonished at the same time, but a bit bewildered as well. She grinned at his expression and couldn't help but admire the attention he gained as soon they stepped inside this new world.
"M-m-mister Harry P-P-Potter." A pale young man made his way forward, very nervously. One of his eyes was twitching, his lips trembling.
"Professor Quirrell!" said Hagrid. "Harry, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts."
"P-Potter," stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping Harry's hand, "c-can't t-tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you."
"What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?"
"D-Defense Against the D-D-Dark Arts," muttered Professor Quirrell, as though he'd rather not think about it. "N-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" He laughed nervously. "You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He looked terrified at the very thought.
Just then his eyes met Hayley's and something like cold dread washed over her body. There was something off about the man. He extended his hand towards her, "Y-you m-m-must be the twin s-sister."
She stiffly nodded, not shaking his hand and cautiously took a step back.
Quirrell made no note if he noticed that or not and smiled nervously, "P-pleasure to m-meet you as w-w-well Ms. P-P-Potter."
She heaved a sigh as the others didn't let Professor Quirrell keep Harry to himself. It took almost ten minutes to get away from them all. At last, Hagrid managed to make himself heard over the chatter.
"Must get on— lots to buy. Come on, Harry and Hayley." Hagrid led them through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a trash can and a few weeds.
Hagrid grinned at Harry. "Told you, didn't I? Told you you were famous. Even Professor Quirrell was trembling to meet you... Mind you, he's usually trembling."
"Is he always that nervous?" Harry asked.
"Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studying outta books but then he took a year off to get some firsthand experience... They say he met vampires in the Black Forest, and there was a nasty bit of trouble with a hag— never been the same since. Scared of the students, scared of his own subject now, where's my umbrella?"
Vampires? Hags? Dark Arts? Every second she spent in here, the doubts subsided and she was starting to believe this was real.
Hagrid muttered something to himself and started to tap on the brick wall with the point of his umbrella, urging them to step back.
He tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella. The brick he had touched quivered—it wriggled—in the middle, a small hole appeared—It grew wider and wider—a second later they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight.
"Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley."
He smiled at their amazement and they stepped through the archway. The twins looked quickly over their shoulders and saw the archway shrink instantly back into a solid wall. They both shared a look and grinned.
Oh this is going to be good.
They hurried after Hagrid, their eyes roaming around. The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop.
Cauldrons. All Sizes. Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver. Self-Stirring. Collapsible, said a sign hanging over them.
"Yeah, you'll be needing one," said Hagrid, "but we gotta get your money first."
Hayley wished she could stop the time in this very moment so that she can take everything in. She turned her head in every direction, her brother doing the same, as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping.
A plump woman outside an Apothecary was shaking her head as they passed, saying, "Dragon liver, seventeen Sickles an ounce, they're mad..."
A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium- Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy.
Several boys of about the twins' age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it.
"Look," she heard one of them say, "the new Nimbus Two Thousand-fastest ever—"
There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Hayley had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon...
"Gringotts," said Hagrid.
They had reached a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was—
"Yeah, that's a goblin," Hagrid said quietly as they walked up the white steps. The goblin was about a head shorter than them. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and very pointy fingers and feet.
He bowed to them and they walked inside, only to be greeted by another door. This time it was silver and words were engraved on it. It was a warning for thieves not to steal from them in a very poetic way.
Soon, they were ushered inside and along the long corridor, they saw hundreds of goblins working behind a long counter, scribbling and writing away on long rolls of parchments. Weighing coins and examining precious gems and stones.
They reached the counter and Hagrid cleared his throat. "Morning," he said to a free goblin. "We've come to take some money outta the Potters' safe."
"You have the key, Sir?"
"Got it here somewhere," said Hagrid, and he started emptying his pockets onto the counter, scattering a handful of moldy dog biscuits over the goblin's book of numbers. The goblin wrinkled his nose.
Harry turned to watch a goblin. She followed his line of sight and found a goblin on their right weighing a pile of rubies as big as glowing coals.
"Got it," said Hagrid at last, holding up a tiny golden key. The goblin looked at it closely.
"That seems to be in order."
"And I've also got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore," said Hagrid importantly, throwing out his chest. "It's about the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen."
The goblin read the letter carefully.
"Very well," he said, handing it back to Hagrid, "I will have someone take you down to both vaults."
"Griphook!"
Griphook was yet another goblin. Once Hagrid had crammed all the dog biscuits back inside his pockets, he and the twins followed Griphook toward one of the doors leading off the hall.
"What's the You-Know-What in the vault seven hundred and thirteen?" Harry asked. Hayley turned her head to listen carefully.
"Can't tell you that," said Hagrid mysteriously. "Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore has trusted me. More than my job's worth telling you that."
The goblin held the door open for them and to the twins surprise, clearly expecting another marbled room, were greeted by a narrow stone passageway. Hayley instantly tensed up and sharply inhaled.
Hagrid turned to her, "Everything alright, Hayley?"
She didn't answer him, instead she gripped Harry's arm, silently communicating with him. Harry wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and patted her gently.
The goblin—Griphook whistled and a cart came hurtling up the tracks that were built inside the narrow passage.
Harry turned to Hagrid, "She doesn't like narrow spaces."
Hagrid's eyes shone with an understanding and he nodded. Griphook looked impatiently at them, "She can stay here if she wants to."
His voice was sharp and rude, but she ignored him. If this was some other time she would have retorted with something snarky. Harry looked at her, his eyes clearly asking her what to do. She looked behind, at the goblins working, their faces not kind at all.
To wait here alone with them... No. She would rather be with Harry in that narrow hell than be here with these creatures she barely knew.
So she shook her head at her brother and he nodded. He helped her inside the cart then came to sit beside her. Hagrid, with some difficulty, was the last to climb in and they were off.
As the cart continued to hurtle through the twisted passage way, the tension in her shoulders eased and she actually enjoyed the ride. Her hand was still clutching Harry's arm as they came to a stop beside a small door.
Hagrid looked green and trembled as he got out of the cart, finding a wall to lean against as he gathered himself.
Griphook unlocked the door. A lot of green smoke came billowing out, and as it cleared, Harry gasped. Hayley was too gobsmacked to utter anything.
Inside were mounds of gold coins. Columns of silver. Heaps of little bronze Knuts.
"All yours," smiled Hagrid.
All theirs? It was incredible. The Dursleys couldn't have known about this or they'd have had it from them faster than blinking. How often had they complained about how much the twins cost them to keep? And all the time there had been a small fortune belonging to them, buried deep under London.
Hagrid helped Harry pile some of it into a bag, while she stood to the side, admiring all of the wealth they suddenly came upon.
"The gold ones are Galleons," he explained. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle, it's easy enough. Right, that should be enough for a couple of' terms, we'll keep the rest safe for you." He turned to Griphook. "Vault seven hundred and thirteen now, please, and can we go more slowly?"
"One speed only," said Griphook who sounded like one of those people who were extremely unsatisfied by their jobs.
They were going even deeper now and gathering speed. The air became colder and colder as they hurtled round tight corners. Her grip on Harry's arms tightened even more and he winced.
"Sorry," she said sheepishly. Harry gave her a smile, "Don't worry about it."
They went rattling over an underground ravine, and Harry leaned over the side to try to see what was down at the dark bottom, but Hagrid groaned and pulled him back by the scruff of his neck.
Vault seven hundred and thirteen had no keyhole. "Stand back," said Griphook importantly.
He stroked the door gently with one of his long fingers and it simply melted away.
"If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there," said Griphook.
"How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Harry asked.
"About once every ten years," said Griphook with a rather nasty grin. Hayley shuddered at that.
Something really extraordinary had to be inside this top security vault, she was sure, and Harry seemed to be thinking the same as he also leaned forward eagerly, expecting to see fabulous jewels at the very least— but at first she thought it was empty. Then she noticed a old little package wrapped up in brown paper lying on the floor. Hagrid picked it up and tucked it deep inside his coat.
The twins exchanged a look and decided not to ask more questions, for they knew Hagrid wouldn't tell them.
After yet another wild cart ride, they stood outside of the Gringotts and Hayley finally heaved a sigh of relief, relishing in the sunlight.
Harry bounced on the heels of his shoes, clearly wanting to spend some money now that they were in the possession of so much gold. It was mind-blowing to be honest.
"Just imagine the things we could get, new clothes, books, ice-cream and anything we want!" Harry said excitedly and she nodded her head with the same enthusiasm.
Hagrid steered them into the direction of a shop, the sign read: Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Guiding them there for their school robes, he excused himself so that he could recover himself from that cart ride.
The twins nervously entered the shop and saw a squat, smiling little witch dressed in all mauve. It must be Madam Malkin.
"Hogwarts, dear?" she said, when Harry started to speak. "Got the lot here— another young man being fitted up just now, in fact."
In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him, slipped a long robe over his head, and began to pin it to the right length. Hayley stood to the side, waiting for her turn.
"Hello," said the boy, looking over both of them, "Hogwarts, too?"
"Yes," they replied simultaneously.
"Twins?"
"Obviously." She said, giving him a sideway glance.
"My father's next door, buying my books and my mother's up the street looking at wands," said the boy. He had a bored, drawling voice.
"Then I'm going to drag them off to take at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully my father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."
She was strongly reminded of Dudley. Judging by the expression on Harry's face, he thought the same as well.
"Have you got your own broom?" the boy went on.
"No," said Harry.
"Play Quidditch at all?"
"No," Harry said again, his brows furrowed in confusion. What on earth is Quidditch?
"I do. Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"
"No," said Harry, feeling more stupid by the minute, his thoughts clearly written on his face. Hayley remained quiet, not finding anything to add to the conversation.
"Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been. Imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think l'd leave, wouldn't you?"
"Hmm," said Harry. He looked like he wanted the conversation to be over with. Another witch entered the room and placed a stool beside Harry, beckoning her to stand on it.
As the witch worked, she decided she didn't like the pale, pointy brat at all.