𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐑

the one with diagonally

"In my dreams, I always
find my way back
here."

•

IT IS DIAGON ALLEY. There were witches and wizards everywhere. It was a different vibe. You could feel it. My mind that had simply refused to believe that this was real up until this time, slowly recoiled and came to terms with the fact that it was indeed real, and magic was indeed real, and I wasn't a psychic or some psychological anomaly.

"Well now, get back to reality already," Hagrid smiled as he waited patiently for me to adjust to the surroundings.

A wide grin stretched on my face as I inhaled the faint smell of old parchment, wood polish and strange perfumes. This was real.

I wished I had about eight more eyes. I turned my head in every direction as we 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 we passed, saying, "Dragon liver, sixteen 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 my age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it. "Look," I heard one of them say, "the Firebolt- fastest ever -" There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments I 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. . .

"But Hagrid. I don't have wizard money," I said realising I have Australian money. I tried doing a mental calculation to convert money and I felt faint.

"That's what Gringotts is for, Skylar," Hagrid said.

"Yeah but I don't have an account there," I said. Hagrid looked at me incredulously.

"Pureblood, Skylar, you're pureblood royalty. You have an inheritance," he said.

"Oh," I said. I was rich. Wow. "But necessarily didn't think they'd be real," I said literally running through the alleyway with Hagrid. That giant's one step equals my three steps. So it's kinda hard.

"Actually you know Harry. He's got a similar history like you. And he didn't know a thing," Hagrid said. "But you're aware a little more."

A lot more, Hagrid. I'm aware of a lot more, just you wait.

"I know. But I read Ha-" I started but quickly cut off. Do Wizarding people know about the series? No, they can't. If they did. . . I don't know, a lot of it didn't make sense.

"Read what?" Hagrid asked

"Just stuffs here and there," I quickly covered it up. "Muggles always want evidence for magic to exist, you know. And I like to read."

Thankfully he didn't prompt any more, and I was glad because i was running out of lies.

"Here we are," Hagrid said

We 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," said Hagrid quietly as we walked up the white stone steps toward him. The goblin was about two heads shorter than me. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and, I noticed, very long fingers and feet- exactly the description from the books. He bowed as we walked inside. Now we were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them: