He's a Keeper

Chapter 5 - Diagon Alley Pt. 1

I awoke as the cold from the dying fire seeped into my body. I looked over to the couch where Oliver had fallen asleep. He was still there. I breathed a sigh of relief. This was real. I reached over to the basket that still contained some foods. I grabbed a muffin that was left at the bottom. 

"Mmh," I thought. "Chocolate chip."  Chocolate chip muffins were one of my favorite foods. They were "healthy" enough to be eaten for breakfast, but still sweet like dessert. I glanced over as Oliver turned in his blankets. 

"Morning," he said, his eyes still closed. "Toss me one," he opened his eyes and indicated the half eaten muffin in my hand. I reached into the basket to grab him one. He sat up as I tossed it to him. 

We sat in silence for a few moments before Oliver spoke. 

"We have to go see McGonagall before we leave for Diagon Alley." He said, breaking the silence. I still wondered how I was going to pay for all my books. I didn't have any wizard money. Perhaps the school had a fund for these occasions. 

Oliver went up to the Boy's dorm to change into fresh clothes. I turned to my trunk which I hadn't bothered moving from the common room area. I pulled out a pair of black jeans and a flannel. Without thinking about it, I walked to the Girl's dorm to change. I was three steps up before I realized the stairs wouldn't allow a boy up. The stairs didn't change into a ramp, and the more I thought about it I realized I had switched to female today. 

After changing I came back down the stairs, Oliver was waiting at the bottom. 

"Female today?" He asked. Though I figured walking down the stairs, not sliding down was a dead giveaway. 

"Yeah," I responded. He was dressed in a pair of jeans as well, with a Gryffindor Quidditch sweatshirt. Clearly the team had some spirit-wear fundraisers. I smiled thinking about that. 

"What are you smiling about?" he asked. "Are you just that happy to see me, I was gone a whole five minutes." He joked. 

"I'm just happy. New day, new life." I said. Deciding to play along with his joke I added, "And you're in this life, so of course I'm happy." He smiled and I noticed a red tinge to his cheeks. Was he blushing? As we entered the Great Hall I looked up at the ceiling. It was so much more magical in person. I was as though the ceiling opened unto the heavens. 

"Wood, Carter," a sharp voice broke though my observations. Professor McGonagall walked over to us from the staff table. "Grab a bite of breakfast before you go." She handed Wood a key explaining that it was to a sum of gold allotted for me at Gringotts. We sat down at the Gryffindor table and helped ourselves to some more breakfast. 

"At the start of the year, if you're not in Gryffindor I'd be disappointed seeing as how much time you're spending in our spaces." Oliver commented. 

"Yeah. There's actually a website that sorts you into houses." I said. "I was first a Ravenclaw, but I took the test several times, and got a different result each time."

After breakfast we went up to McGonagall's office, we would travel by Floo Powder to Diagon Alley. Oliver started to explain how to use Floo Powder, but I reminded him I already knew such things. We both arrived in Diagon Alley with no consequences. The sunlight shining in the streets was a bright contrast from the dimly lit office. 

The streets were packed with witches and wizards all hurrying to get their purchases. I followed Oliver out of the shop whose fireplace we had come out of. The other people in the street had a mixture of clothing. Some wore robes is bright colors, others an mismatched assortment of muggle clothes, while others still wore muggle clothes well (Like what Oliver and I were wearing/jeans and a t-shirt). I noticed that the people wearing muggle clothes well were younger, school-aged. 

We walked along the winding road sandwiched between shops packed to the brim with customers. I recognized some of the shops, like I had seen them before. "The series, right. Remember what you read"  I told myself. I tried to remember reading about the place we were in, but I couldn't. It's like a reading quiz. You read 10 pages, you know what they are about, but if your teacher asks you what the 402 word in the passage was, you couldn't remember. It's like that. I know the main points, but not the specifics. 

"There it is," Oliver's voice broke through my thought stream. "Gringotts"

I looked up and saw the enormous white marble building. It was breathtaking. I didn't notice as I almost walked into a group of people. Oliver steered me around them and we climbed the steps to the bank. The poem carved in the stone read: 

Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn,
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.

I knew that had an impact somewhere. What had happened? Or what will happen? It was all so confusing, and I barely had time to think before my eyes saw the inside of the building. We approached the desk of a free goblin. He peered at us through his square glasses. 

"McGonagall sent us to retrieve the allotted money for Miss Carter." Oliver said to the goblin. He was still peering at us when he sent for another employee to fetch a cart. 

"You have the key?" He asked suspiciously. Oliver pulled it out of his pocket and placed it in the goblin's outstretched hand. He studied it for several moments before handing it back. We were led over to a cart on rails at the end of the hall. There was another goblin waiting in the cart already. Oliver stepped in first and offered his arm to help me into the cart. I took it and the cart started moving just as my foot left the platform. The cart lurching forward caused my unsteady footing to slip. 

Luckily I fell forward into the cart, not backwards into the canyons below. I had fallen on top of Oliver when the cart moved. Though, luck was only part of it. Oliver's quick reflexes had allowed him to pull me into the cart, assuring that I didn't fall out. 

"Oh, sorry!" I exclaimed, trying to stand up. Oliver didn't release his grip on my arm. He pulled me back down as a stalactite zoomed past overhead, where a moment ago my head had been. 

"You've got to be more careful Blaze." He said playfully. Oliver let go of my arm and I moved off him, into the open seat. Meanwhile, minding the ceiling of the cavern should any more stalactites appear. "Perhaps we could go a bit slower!" Oliver yelled to the goblin over the sounds of the air rushing past the cart. 

"One speed," He replied. I cart was zipping around corners so fast I couldn't see anything in detail on the walls. Just as soon as I started to get used to the movement of the cart it slammed to a stop. I was closest to the walkway that lined the wall of vaults so I climbed out first. My vision blurred and swam in front of my eyes. There was a wall that I stumbled towards to steady myself. Oliver had little trouble getting out of the cart, he had likely done this several times. The goblin took the key from Oliver and opened Vault 135.

The vault door swung open to reveal mountains of coins. Gold galleons, silver sickles, and bronze knuts stood in stacks. Some spilled on the floor others stood neatly.

Oliver stepped forward saying, "You can take as much as you need. The fund is for any student who needs assistance."

I walked into the vault pulling a cloth bag out of my pocket. Professor McGonagall had given it to me at breakfast. I reached for a handful of galleons but before I could touch them, they moved. I jumped back, startled. The assortment of coins floated upwards and into the bag I was holding. The weight of the coins settled in the bag and I stepped out of the vault.

"Well, that was interesting." I said.

Oliver smiled, "I forgot they did that."