Diagon Alley
They called her names that Eve couldn’t possibly think she was. ‘Satan’s child’ they called her. Eve did not think she was Satan’s child. She had no idea what she even did that made everyone in the world think she was some horrible human-being. All she had done was cry in front of Laura, but maybe crying wasn’t allowed at this camp, she thought.
She had been in solitary confinement for thirteen days now; she had been keeping count on the walls with a pencil she packed in her suitcase. They put her in a lone cabin with an ensuite located on the far side of the campgrounds. She hadn’t been outside or socialized in thirteen days.
They gave her a meal three times a day: once before the sun had risen, once in the mid-afternoon, and once after sunset. Nobody talked to her during these meal deliveries, they just put the food on the floor then scurried away as if she were Satan himself.
Whilst getting lost in her thoughts, which she had done a lot those thirteen days, Eve thought she hallucinated a knock on the door. But to her surprise, there was a second knock. Nobody ever knocked, they just walked in. And she was given dinner no more than an hour ago. Maybe it was her family finally deciding to take her home and release her from this torture.
“Um, come in.” Eve spoke quietly. It was the first time she had spoken in five days. Five days ago Eve decided to stop praying to God. She came to the realization that she had been stuck in the cabin for more than a week and obviously God didn’t want to help her.
A tall, elderly looking lady walked into the cabin and closed the door behind her. “Hello, dear. What a… place you’re staying in.” She looked around at Eve’s living quarters which consisted of just a single bed and a lamp.
“Who are you? Am I going home to my family?” Eve questioned suspiciously. Maybe it was a nun coming to excuse her sins with twenty Hail Mary’s. No, this lady was dressed in a green cloak of some sorts. She wasn’t in proper nun attire.
“Well, I guess in a way you are.” The lady continued, “I’m Professor McGonagall. You must be Eve Thomas, I’m pleased to meet you.” She smiled sweetly at Eve, attempting to gain her trust.
“Professor? Am I being taken to a boarding school?” Eve jumped up from where she was laying on her bed.
“Of the sorts. Do you know what you are, Eve?” Professor McGonagall took a seat at the end of Eve’s creaky bed.
Eve raised an eyebrow. She knew what she was. She’s a girl. A human. What type of question was that?
“Eve, you’re a witch.”
“If that’s a joke, it’s not very funny,” Eve muttered, “They have already been calling me names. I am not a witch.”
“I don’t mean to be offensive, dear. Have you ever done something you couldn’t explain? Done something that seemed like magic?”
Eve thought as hard as she could in her malnourished state. Yes, the suitcase from two weeks ago whilst being dropped off at camp. She nodded at the professor sitting in front of her.
“Can you trust me? Starting September first, you’re going to be attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.” McGonagall stated, “Would you like to come with me to get your supplies?” She offered out a hand to Eve.
Eve nodded and took her hand. She didn’t care where the lady was taking her, anywhere would be better than this torturous camp.
She stood up next to the lady, still holding her hand. Instead of being walked out of the cabin, she felt enormous pressure everywhere on her body; it felt like she was being pulled and pushed in every direction.
Suddenly Eve was no longer in the cabin, she was on the ground somewhere she’d never been before. McGonagall looked down at Eve, who had fallen down from the pressure of apparting. She helped the young girl up and then said, “This is Diagon Alley.”
“What is it?” Eve looked around in astonishment, she had never seen anything like it. The street had many old buildings, some stores were filled with brooms, which she thought were cleaning stores, and some had black robes in the window.
“This is where you’ll be getting all your supplies. Dumbledore, your Headmaster, has set up a fund for you. We should get your wand first.”
“Wand?”
“Yes, Eve. You’re a witch, you need a wand.”
Eve nodded, then followed the older witch to the wand store, wherever that was.
Eve had only known her for less than thirty minutes, but she had trusted her nonetheless.
The two witches walked into Ollivander’s and he appeared at the front of the store right away.
“Ah, hello Professor McGonagoll. Who do you have with you today?” The short man said with a smile.
“I’m Eve Thomas, sir.” Eve murmured. She was nervous to be meeting so many new people in one day after being isolated for two weeks, it was overwhelming.
“We’re here to get her first wand. She’s starting Hogwarts in two weeks.” McGonagall stated proudly.
The man turned around, grabbed a box behind him, and took the wand out for Eve. “Hold it and give it a swish.”
Eve grabbed the wand tightly, and swished it towards a shelf. All the shelves fell to the ground, meaning it wasn’t a match.
They tried three more wands until finally, the last one was a match. Eve felt it glow inside of her as she held onto it, it felt warm, it felt safe.
“Dogwood with a dragon heartstring core. 13 ¼ and supple flexibility. Works well with charms and dark arts.” Ollivander remarked as he put it back in the box for her to carry.
The two witches continued their shopping for the next two hours, Eve was even able to obtain an owl. She named her ‘Mary’ after her mum, who she had missed so much. She wondered if she would ever be able to see her mum again. She longed for a motherly hug and her warmness. Every night for the past two weeks she had wanted to crawl into her mum’s bed for a snuggle, like she did when she was a toddler.
“Excuse me, Professor. Where will I be staying until school starts?” Eve asked as they went to the exit of Diagon Alley. She was preparing herself for the feeling of apparition.
“You’ll be staying with me until September 1st.” The Professor answered and grabbed her hand to apparate again.
After Eve got over the unpleasant feeling of apparition, she looked at the house in front of her. It was simple, but bigger than her home.
Eve felt safe already.