knowledge is power

two

"hagrid, is it just me, but is the leaky cauldron only visible to magical people?" harry asked, upon approaching the dark, dingy pub in london.

"nope, me too," lylora added before hagrid even had a chance to answer, "no-one is even giving it a second glance." harry and lyra both smiled triumphantly while hagrid only chuckled.

"if ye two are done bickerin' enough 'bout muggle 'ondon, i say let's head inside, shall we?" hagrid asked with a bemused expression. ever since getting off the subway, lyra and harry had talked about their own views of muggle london; while harry was never allowed out of the house, he thought it was amazing, but lyra on the other hand, thought nothing of it as she always visited with her "parents" to watch broadway shows.

"come on, ye two. we need to meet lyra's paren's and they'll take ya two ter tha mansion."

the three walked into the dark pub and were greeted by loud voices and distinctive clinking of beverage glasses.

"hey! hagrid! the usual, i presume?" the old barman shouted.

"nah, tom, on a special hogwar's trip t'day. helpin' young 'arry and lylora buy their books an' everythin'." hagrid replied cheerfully, clapping his giant hands onto harry and lylora's shoulders.

"bless merlin's beard, it's harry potter!" at tom's words, the whole pub went quiet and everyone was murmuring, "harry potter?"

merely seconds later, just about everyone in the pub had lined up to shake harry's hand. While the crowd had enveloped harry, lylora, and a man dressed clad in purple stood aside.

"hello," lylora said politely, "I'm lylora prince." 

"ah-" by now, both hagrid and harry had strolled over to where lylora was standing with the man. "quirinus! how nice to see you here! lyra, harry, this is professor quirrell, he will be your defence against the dark arts professor."

"hh- hi, i'm harry potter," harry said quickly and stuck his hand out. professor quirrell shook his hand wearily and eyed lyra.

"n-nice to meet y-y-you, mr. p-potter, miss prince." professor quirrell said, "i w-will be on m-my way th-then, i-i have t-to p-pick up a book o-on v-vampires, m-myself." he added quickly with a shudder as though the mere thought terrified him.

"well, we'll be on our way too," hagrid said. "see yer back at 'ogwarts."

the trio made their way to the back of the pub and hagrid opened the door to reveal a brick wall. hagrid pulled out a spotted pink umbrella and tapped the third brick from the left.

"yer better stan' back now," hagrid warned the cousins. as if on cue, the brick wall split in the middle and rearranged itself so a big gap was made in the middle. both harry and lyra's eyes lit up at the filled bustling, packed alley.

"welcome, 'arry, lyra, to diagon alley!" hagrid said proudly. "we'll go to gringott's fer yer money first and then we'll go get everythin' on yer lists. then i'll hand yer over to lyra's parents fer lunch." hagrid explained as the three walked off to the wizarding bank.

one blood test, four exhilarating mine cart rides, and a dig through respective family vaults later, hagrid, lyra, and harry walked happily out of the wizarding bank.

"where do we go next, hagrid?" pyra asked, pouring over the long list of school supplies, unsure of where they should go first.

"let's get yer robes, get that all out of the way," hagrid said smoothly as though he had planned everything out. "-then we can get yer books, potions ingredients, pets, and wands. lastly, we'll meet yer parents, lyra."