Chapter 1
Tom took his letter from the hands of the so-called Professor who had just turned his bed into a sheep, and back again. “I’m sure I will be fine getting my supplies myself Professor, but thank you anyway.”
The man looked disappointed for whatever reason, but assented with a nod of his head. “Very well Tom, in that case I will see you at Hogwarts in September when you join us.” With that, he spun on his heel and walked out of Tom’s room, presumably to say his farewells to Mrs Cole.
Tom stared at the space where the man had stood for a minute, running the strange conversation through his mind, before standing up abruptly and heading out to find his way to the Leaky Cauldron.
He wound his way through the bustling alleys of London until he reached Charing Cross, and then made his way more methodically through the streets until he found the pub. It was sandwiched between a tailor shop and a bookshop, however most people appeared to pay it no notice, only seeing the shops on either side. Wondering what spell - for it must have been magic to make everyone ignore it - had been used to disguise the pub, Tom made his way inside and asked the bartender how to get to Diagon Alley.
The man led him out to the back of the pub, and showed him the pattern of bricks on the wall to open it up. “Pay close attention here lad, because I don’t like to do this anymore than I have to.” Tom nodded and committed the sequence to his memory, before thanking the bartender and stepping through into Wizarding Britain’s largest shopping district.
Everything was much brighter than on the other side of the pub, more vivid and lively. The clothes people were wearing were long and flowing, like the sort of robes fantasy wizards wore in the books Tom read at the public library. He thought that they looked comfortable, if impractical, and decided he preferred the more muted colours over the bright jewel tones some were wearing like the Professor who had told him what he could do was magic.
Remembering the instructions he had been given, Tom first made his way to the bank at the end of the road, Gringotts, and took the money he was entitled to from the Hogwarts scholarship vault, before setting off into the Alley proper to get his school equipment. Sure he journeyed down a few shady looking side streets to get better discounts on his supplies, but if he hadn’t he never would have found the Organization of Terrific Tomes for Enlightening Readers, or the OTTER, London’s only wixen library, and wouldn’t have gotten himself a holiday job tidying shelves. So all in all, going down the first dark alley was a pretty good decision.
Finally, the last item on his list was a wand, and after asking directions he made his way to what was apparently the only wand shop in Diagon Alley: Ollivanders. The shop was dim, and a sprightly-looking young man emerged from the shadows, his hair wisping around his head. “Good afternoon Mr Riddle, I presume you are here to find your wand?”
Tom nodded cautiously, “yes sir, I am.”
“Well wonderful then!” With that the man gestured with his own wand, sending a tape measure flying around Tom’s body as he retreated into the crowded shelves at the back of the shop and began grabbing boxes. “Now, to start off, how about this one?” He placed a wand in Tom’s hand, but grabbed it back almost immediately. “No, unicorn hair doesn’t suit you I don’t think. How about… this one. Aspen and dragon heartstring.” The man grabbed another and handed it to Tom, who gave it a wave and caused it to emit angry green sparks. “No, perhaps not.” He took it back and replaced it with another, which he also deemed unsuitable.
This pattern continued for about half an hour, until the wandmaker handed Tom a wand that just felt right. “Interesting, very interesting… This wand, Mr Riddle, was only made this morning. It contains a heartstring from a Hungarian Horntail, encased in a casing of varnished pine. I believe you will go on to do great things with this wand Mr Riddle, powerful things.” With that comment, the wandmaker rang up the price for his wand, and Tom paid and left, feeling more than a little bit spooked out.
He made his way back to the OTTER and sat in a quiet corner surrounded by charms books to organise his purchases. He had managed to stretch his allocated 100 galleons quite nicely and had 12 remaining, however instead of making some frivolous purchases, such as ice cream or a pet, Tom decided to put his remaining money into an extended, feather-light pouch he had purchased from the goblins at Gringotts for 1 galleon, which he then packed in his trunk.
Once everything was packed efficiently in his re-shrunken trunk, Tom moved over to a shelf stacked with introductory books for muggleborns in the wizarding world (‘muggle’ apparently being a word for non-magical humans) and picked up 5 or 6 that he thought looked particularly useful, as he could read the others another time.
Tom didn’t make his way back to the orphanage until well after sunset, and had his ears boxed by Mrs Cole for his tardiness. It was worth it though, soon he would be gone from the hell hole he lived in for all but 2 months of the year.