Later that morning, whilst Hermione was preparing her 'thank you' speech that she was going to deliver at her book launch, Ron and the twins got ready to leave for Diagon Alley.
Rose slipped into a navy and red checkered flannel blouse. She was wearing it over a plain white crop top. She tied her hair back into a high bun. Because of the unruly nature of her curly hair, a few stray fiery red strands came out of her bun and dangled down the sides of her face. Subsequently, Rose headed downstairs to the foyer, removed her pair of sneakers from the shoe rack, and put them on. Once she was fully ready, she walked over to the living room, where Ron and Hugo were already waiting for her by the large fireplace. The firebox opening was nearly as tall as Ron! "All ready?" Ron asked. Rose nodded, "I'm ready to go!" "About time!" Hugo muttered under his breath. He had been ready within minutes of Ron's announcement that they would be going to Diagon Alley to purchase their school supplies. That had been approximately half an hour ago. Ron - incognizant of Hugo's comment - picked up the small terracotta jar which stood on the stone mantlepiece. He removed the lid and handed the container over to Rose. "Remember -" he told her and Hugo, "you must speak very clearly. And be sure to get out at the right grate! We don't want you ending up at Knockturn Alley!" "We know, Dad! We've done this about a million times before!" Rose rolled her eyes in exasperation. She then scooped up a pinch of the glittering powder from the jar, stepped closer towards the fireplace and scattered the silvery powder into the flames. With a thunderous roar, the scarlet flames transformed into an emerald green. The fire rose high above the young girl, who stepped right into it. The flames licked her face, hands and legs; the floo powder had caused them to become completely harmless, and they felt like a warm breeze washing over her. Rose took a deep breath and shouted, "Diagon Alley!"
Suddenly, it felt as though she was being sucked down a giant drain. She was travelling at whirlwind speed, descending further and further downwards, spinning very, very fast. Rose kept her elbows tucked in (to avoid banging them on the passing fireplaces), and her eyes shut (to keep the soot out of them) - just as she had been taught, and soon it was all over. She suddenly stopped to a halt. She cautiously opened her eyes and came face-to-face with a pair of blazing amber orbs. The eyes with thin-slitted pupils belonged to a spotted silver tabby cat that was peering curiously at the witch who had just arrived in the fireplace at the Leaky Cauldron. Rose dusted herself off and emerged from the fireplace, looking around at her surroundings. Nothing much had changed since she had last visited Diagon Alley a few months ago, to stock up on household necessities. The interior of the pub was very dark and shabby. The stone walls were extremely grimy and were in desperate need of a good scrubbing down. The rickety wooden tables were in a dilapidated state and the bar counter had numerous stains from alcoholic beverages that had accumulated over time and were by now incapable of being removed. Immediately after Rose came out of the fireplace, the fire was rekindled and burned brighter than ever, crackling merrily. The dining area was packed as always, teeming with all sorts of individuals. A wizened old witch - who looked suspiciously like a hag -, with a woolen babushka head scarf draped around her head and tied under her chin, was rapidly devouring a plate of raw pig liver. A venerable-looking wizard was smoking a pipe and perusing that day's issue of the 'Daily Prophet'; a young man with golden brown hair was conversing with the barman; and a young witch, around eight years old, was sheepishly crawling from under one of the tables with an indignant-looking siamese cat in her arms.
Suddenly, without warning, the flames in the fireplace were extinguished once again, and a ginger-haired tween boy came tumbling through the firebox opening. He slammed into Rose, and the two came crashing down onto the tiled floor. Rose winced at the pain that she felt upon impact, and the dreadfully uncomfortable weight of her brother sprawled across her back. Hugo quickly scrambled to his feet post-haste. He looked on sheepishly as Rose stood up and dusted herself off. She turned to face him, anger and annoyance written all over her face. Hugo smiled at her ruefully, "Sorry, sis!" He apologized. Rose opened her mouth to chastise him when suddenly Ron appeared behind them. The twins spun round upon hearing the dull thud of his feet hitting the hearth. "Hey, kids! Ready to do some shopping?"
A few minutes later the trio was standing in front of an antiquated shop, whose exterior was slathered with mauve coloured paint in an attempt to conceal its decrepit state. A tarpaulin awning was stretched over the store's doorway, and right above it, painted in gold lettering, was the name of the shop: Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. The bell on the door clanged as Ron swung the door open and held it ajar for Hugo and Rose to enter, and then slipped into the building himself. The bell chimed melodiously as the door slammed shut. "Here for school robes, dearies?" The lady at the counter asked. Rose surmised that the squat witch dressed all in mauve was Madam Malkin. "Yes," the young girl replied. "Alright then! Let's get you fitted!" Madam Malkin walked out from behind the counter and beckoned over a young man with golden brown hair and bright blue eyes. Rose had an odd feeling that she had seen him somewhere else before... "Martin here will get you sorted," Madam Malkin declared; the young wizard nodded at the two children and their father, not quite meeting their eyes. "Please follow me," he said rather frigidly and led Rose and Hugo over to a pair of stools. Ron stayed behind by the shop counter, asking Madam Malkin about winter cloaks. The shop assistant gestured for Hugo and Rose to get up on the stools and they complied. He slipped a robe over each of their heads and began to pin them to the right length.
Martin was soon finished. He stepped aside to allow the children to step down from the stools. Once on the ground, Rose's view was temporarily obscured by the dark material of her robe as she lifted it over her head to remove it. When she regained her eyesight, she realised that Martin - who had been standing right next to her just a few seconds before - was gone. He had disappeared into thin air. Hugo had also noticed the shop assistant's sudden disappearance, and both twins looked around in bewilderment. The young wizard was nowhere to be seen. Slightly unsettled, the duo walked over to their father. "Great!" Ron remarked, giving the robes the once-over. "We'll need two more sets of each," he turned to Madam Malkin. "Of course," the elderly witch took the two robes from the wizard's outstretched hands, and withdrawing her wand from her robe's pocket, she cast a spell on the garments, causing each of the items to triple in amount. "There you are!" She said handing over the robes. "Six sets of plain black robes, two pairs of dragon hide gloves, and two black winter cloaks - that will be 121 Galleons, 13 Sickles and 10 Knuts!"
Shortly after, Rose and Hugo had already procured almost everything that they needed for their first year at Hogwarts. "Look! There's a pet shop across the street! " Hugo observed, pointing at a small store squashed between two larger buildings. "Then let's go and buy you some pets!" Ron said in reply.
The Magical Menagerie was teeming with all sorts of creatures; every inch of the wall was covered by cages that were packed tightly together to occupy almost the entirety of the store space. Inside it was very noisy and rather musty from the fetid odour emitted by the shop's occupants. Upon entering the store, Rose came face-to-face with a pair of bulging copper-coloured eyes that belonged to a creature that resembled an enormous tortoise with a jewel-encrusted shell. "A fire crab!" A cheerful voice clarified. Rose looked up to see a dark-skinned middle-aged woman. Mrs. Tuttle - the owner of the shop - had tight waist-length curls and clear pale brown eyes. "A protected species. They are rather dangerous, but I assure you - they make wonderful pets!" The witch smiled broadly, flaunting a set of pearly white teeth. "Thank you very much for the recommendation," Rose smiled politely. "But I'm looking for a pet that is slightly less...umm...remarkable." "Ah! You're looking for toads, owls, cats and such, huh?" Mrs. Tuttle deduced. "Come with me," she gestured for the girl to follow her as she made her way through the winding labyrinth between the innumerable cages that filled the shop. Following the shopkeeper, Rose looked back to see Ron and Hugo disappear into the sea of feathers and fur. "Rose!" Ron called after her. "We'll meet you at the counter in about twenty minutes, ok?" The young witch could just about discern her father's words over the cacophonous screeching, squawking, squealing and caterwauling of the animals in the shop. Rose and Mrs. Tuttle eventually arrived in the section of the store that housed typical household pets. These included toads, owls, ravens, rats, ferrets, cats, kneazles and puffskeins. "Here we are! The ravens are rather tetchy, mind you - so I wouldn't go sticking my finger into their cage if I were you!" Mrs. Tuttle informed Rose as a parting warning. The girl eyed the ebony black birds warily, and flinched back in fear as they started gnawing at the metal bars of their cage, squawking malevolently. Rose continued down the row of enclosures, and peered into each of them in turn. She passed a sizeable cage of squirming silvery grey rats that were eager to escape, a basket of puffskeins that were humming loudly, and several cats. One cat caught her attention in particular. It was a ginger and white norwegian forest mix, with kind sage green eyes. But suddenly two small hands whisked the cat away, and soon the little girl with light blonde pigtails disappeared into the distance, the cat nestled in her arms.
With a dejected sigh, Rose turned her gaze to the next animal. She met the bright yellow eyes of a gorgeous tawny brown great horned owl. The owl's eyes were the colour of the rubber ducks that her grandfather Arthur was so fascinated with. The bird ruffled her feathers and then took off into the air from the perch that she had been sitting on and landed on Rose's shoulder. The girl almost squealed with delight; she had found the perfect pet! She fondly caressed the owl's head, and the bird chirped gaily in response. "Now let's find you a cage - shall we?" Rose sweeped the store with her eyes, searching for bird cages. She finally descried a stack of cages lying on the left side of the shop counter. She made her way over to the pile and selected a spacious cage for her new pet - she wanted her owl to have plenty of space to move in; she didn't like the idea of animals being confined to a cramped, restricted living space.
Suddenly, Rose was startled by the sound of her brother's screams. Having previously placed the owl in her new cage - Rose took the cage into both of her arms and hurriedly ran in the direction of the cries. It turned out that the rat that Hugo and Ron had been looking at, had suddenly launched itself at Hugo's index finger and sunk its teeth into it. "Help!" Hugo wailed. "This nasty beast is killing me!" He frantically waved his hand back and forth with swivel-eyed panic, in an attempt to detach the rodent from the finger. Notwithstanding, the rat obstinately remained anchored to the limb, and clenched its teeth around the finger even more firmly. "Arghhh!" Hugo howled. "It's killing me! It's killing me!" At last, Ron managed to remove the ruffian from the hapless boy's finger, and Hugo exhaled in relief. "Maybe I won't die after all," He remarked breathlessly. "No, I don't think that you will!" Rose chuckled. She looked down at Hugo's mutilated finger; blood was dripping from the bite wound. "But perhaps you'll need a plaster," she grimaced. Mrs. Tuttle, who had espied the commotion, was just heading towards them with a gauze and a plaster. She opened her mouth to apologize for the animal's behaviour, when suddenly the rat that had previously bitten Hugo, transformed into Garfantell.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Harry Potter series - all credit for creating this amazing universe goes to J. K. Rowling.