Chapter One; The Letter and Diagon Alley
"Dear Ms. J. Potter,"
Read a red-haired girl after she had torn open the envelope the letter had come in. On the ground beside her bed was a ripped envelope that read her name again and her address. On the windowsill sat perched a brown owl, who seemed accomplished on managing to bring the letter to her. The girl read and reread the letter before rushing down the stairs into the kitchen.
"Mum! Mum! Look what just arrived!" she shouted gleefully, waving around the letter towards the woman's face.
With a laugh and a lovely smile, the woman said, "Slow down so I can read it,"
Still bounding on the balls of her feet, the redhead stopped waving the letter around. The woman before her had stopped chopping the lettuce on the cutting board and took the letter in her hands, reading the same words the eleven-year-old girl had read a thousand times earlier. A broad grin danced along the small ginger's face as she watched the shock dance over her mother's. As the woman read, unbeknownst two both of them, the ginger's roots were slowly turning a bumblebee yellow.
"You're one too?" she asked, she had yet noticed the new colour.
"According to the letter!" the redhead responded, still bouncing on her feet.
"Honey, can you come here for a moment?" the woman called.
Out of the other room came a, "One second!" and a moment later out came a man with medium brown hair, and kind brown eyes. After giving his wife a quick kiss on the cheek and her handing him the letter, he was just as shocked as his wife.
"Oh my, how did we manage..." he asked surprised, with a lopsided smile. Making the ginger laughed as her father turned to her. "June, we are going to have to tell Hermoine."
At the thought of telling her sister, a wider smile passed over her lips. June's adoptive mother handed her back the letter, but before June could take it, the woman gasped. When June's hair would change in the past they would assume that she had dyed it since it had never happened in front of them, and June would just think she had forgotten about it. But now, she was starting at a bumblebee yellow-haired girl where a red-haired one had just been.
Her husband gaped at his adoptive daughter, shocked and confused about how her hair had changed as quickly as it did. June gazed at them confused, just as her hair fell slightly into her face. A gasp of shock escaped her as she stumbled back, just as confused as the others had been. After a few minutes had passed, the three still confused, decided that it had to be magic-related. Choosing to ask Hermoine to research it at school while they were writing her a letter back.
After about an hour of being in her room reading, since it was the weekend, and after the Hogwarts letter owl had left, there was a tap at her bedroom window, again. Peering over her book at the window, she saw a barn owl with a letter tied to its leg. June assumed that this owl was Hermoine sending her birthday wishes.
On her feet, within a moment she had rushed over to the window to open it and read what Hermoine had sent. Bringing it inside, she quickly untied the letter and read it. In the letter, Hermoine had wished her a 'Happy Birthday' along with telling her about how the school has been. She talked about how her friends, Harry and Ron, couldn't stay out of trouble and about her classes.
After reading the letter, she had noticed another one attached to the owl's leg, the other one was addressed to their parents, Wendell and Monica Granger. Returning downstairs, she gave their parents Hermoine's letter then took her seat at the dinner table to start writing her letter to tell Hermoine that she had gotten a letter from Hogwarts just as she had, and that next semester she would be joining her and her friends there. She also remembered to ask Hermoine to research about magical people being able to change there looks at will or accidentally without the use of a wand. Once June had finished her letter to Hermoine, Wendell and Monica added theirs.
The letter ended up being four pages long. Stuffing the four pages into an envelope and tied it to the owl which had delivered Hermoine's and then sent it on its way.
"You're a Metamorphmagus," Hermoine told her matter of factly, suddenly looking up from her book.
"I'm a what?" June asked as she hung from the empty park's monkey bars.
"They're extremely rare." she added, "I can't believe you're a Metamorphmagus,"
Over the almost two months that had past since the letter, June and the Grangers had gotten used to the girl's hair changing. June had learned how to somewhat control it, she knew how to stop it from changing colour in public, but it was hard to stop it early because it would usually start at her roots.
Jumping down from the bars, June walking over the tree Hermoine was sitting under and sat beside her. June peered over at the book, looking for the section the bushy-haired girl has found on the condition.
"You're telling me that I'm rare?" June asked, as the corner of her mouth tugging upwards.
"Basically,"
June started going on about how she was lucky to be her sister cause she's so special. She was joking of course, and Hermoine knew it. They were having fun and soon started enjoying the park activity. Once they arrived home, Hermoine took to writing a letter to Harry and Ron while June continued to read up on Metamorphmagi. Soon after Hermoine finished writing, June started to tease her about making friends with the boys and how she must fancy one of them. Regular sister things.
Over the next few days, Hermoine received a letter from Ron Weasley telling her they were going to rescue Harry from Dursleys, making her very worried and she sent a reply right away, after her reply she started to busy herself with her homework again.
Quickly it was Wednesday, and they were off to London. Going through a pub called the Leaky Cauldron then though what June assumed was a solid brick wall. As the wall fell away it revelled cobblestoned alley and shopping area. It was bright and colourful. There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments June 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, and globes of the moon. June had never seen a more beautiful street.
They first made their way to a snowy-white building which towered over the other little shops, Gringotts Wizarding Bank. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, it was short and fair-skinned with very long fingers and had a dome-shaped head. It was a goblin. There they converted Muggle money into the wizarding currency. There, they made a joined account of Hermoine and June, then took out a decent amount of money to do their shopping. The goblin was as tall as June. He had a swarthy, clever face, and had a pointed beard. He bowed as they walked inside, Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:
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.
A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins on brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. The Grangers and June made for the counter. There they converted Muggle money into the wizarding currency. There, they made a joined account of Hermoine and June, then took out a decent amount of money to do their shopping.
Next, they went to a narrow and shabby shop. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window. A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single spindly chair. June felt as though she had entered a strict library. June looked at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. For some reason, the back of his neck prickled. The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic.
"Good afternoon," said a soft voice, causing June to jump a little. An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop.
"Hello," June smiled, shyly.
The man peered expectingly at her, glancing from her hair to her eyes. He muttered something about "Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow," then walked over to her. Mr. Ollivander was close as he studied her again. With another once over, Ollivander spoke:
"Ah, Ms. Granger, nice to see you again ... vine wood, ten and a quarter inches long, dragon heartstring core? If I'm not mistaken," the man asked.
"Yes sir," she answered.
"Good wand, that one. Now, let me see." He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"
"Well, I'm left-handed -"
"Hold out your arm. That's it." He measured June's arm from her shoulder to her longest finger, then her wrist to elbow, shoulder to the floor, her knee to armpit and then around her head. As he measured, he started to tell her, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Ms?"
"Potter,"
After a questioning look and another once over her, he began speaking again, "Ms. Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers ad the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, Just as no two unicorns, dragons or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another's wand."
As Ollivander walked away to the shelves, taking down boxes, June suddenly realized that the tape measure, which was now measuring between her nostrils, was work itself on its own.
"That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Ms. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and unicorn hair. Eight inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it. Give it a wave."
June took the wand a gave it a simple wave, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of her hand almost at once.
"Maple and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Quite whippy. Try it out,"
She gave it a wave only for it to be snatched away again.
"No, no – here, ebony and phoenix feather, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."
June tried, and tried. She didn't know or understand what Mr. Ollivander was waiting for. The wand piled grew but was small. The more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.
"Hmm... a tricky customer, eh? No worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere. Here, try vine wood and unicorn hair, eleven inches, nice and flexible."
June took the wand in her hand and began to feel sudden warmth in her fingertips. With a swish through the dusty air and stream of red and silver sparks shot from the end of her wand like a firework, playing dancing spots of light on the wall. The Grangers from behind her clapped and Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good."
June paid seven gold Galleons for her wand and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his shop. The four made one other stop at Gringotts because they had misjudged how much money they were going to need. Standing at the top of the white flight of steps, just before they reentered, Hermione had suddenly called down to the street.
"Harry! Harry! Over here!"
She ran down to meet them, her bushy brown hair flying behind her. June chased after her, dying to meet one of her sister's closest friends. When the two stopped in front of them, Hermione spoke again.
"What happened to your glasses? Hello, Hagrid — Oh, its wonderful to see you two again — Are you coming into Gringotts, Harry?"
"As soon as I've found the Weasleys," said Harry.
"Yeh won't have long ter wait," said, who June assumed was Hagrid, with a grin.
June, Harry, and Hermione looked around: Sprinting up the crowded street were five other redheads.
"Harry," The older man panted. "We hoped you'd only gone one grate too far. . . ." He mopped his glistening bald patch. "Molly'sfrantic — she's coming now —"
"Where did you come out?" asked the ginger that seemed to be Harry and Hermione's age.
"Knockturn Alley," said Hagrid grimly.
"Excellent!" said two boys together, June was pretty sure they were twins.
"We've never been allowed in," said Ron enviously.
"I should ruddy well think not," growled Hagrid.
A woman and her daughter came galloping int view, her handbags swinging wildly in one hand, the ginger daughter clinging to the other.
"Oh, Harry — oh, my dear — you could have been anywhere —"
Gasping for breath she pulled a large clothes brush out of her bag and began sweeping off the soot Hagrid hadn't managed to beat away. The man who June assumed was Mr. Weasley, took Harry's glasses, gave them a tap of his wand, and returned them, good as new. June started at the man in awe, amazed that that was a simple thing in this world, while in the Muggle it would be a whole hassle.
"Well, gotta be off," said Hagrid, who was having his hand wrung by Mrs. Weasley:
"Knockturn Alley! If you hadn't found him, Hagrid!"
"See yer at Hogwarts!" And he strode away, head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the packed street.
"Guess who I saw in Borgin and Burkes?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione as they climbed the Gringotts steps. "Malfoy and his father."
"Did Lucius Malfoy buy anything?" said Mr. Weasley sharply behind them.
"No, he was selling —"
"So he's worried," said Mr. Weasley with grim satisfaction. "Oh, I'd love to get Lucius Malfoy for something. . . ."
"You be careful, Arthur," said Mrs. Weasley sharply as they were bowed into the bank by a goblin at the door. "That family's trouble. Don't go biting off more than you can chew —"
"So you don't think I'm a match for Lucius Malfoy?" said Mr.Weasley indignantly, but he was distracted almost at once by the sight of Hermione's parents, who were standing nervously at the counter that ran all along the great marble hall, waiting for Hermione to introduce them.
"But you're Muggles!" said Mr. Weasley delightedly. "We must have a drink! What's that you've got there? Oh, you're changingMuggle money. Molly, look!" He pointed excitedly at the ten-pound notes in Wendell Granger's hand.
"Meet you back here," Ron said to Hermione as the Weasleys and Harry were led off to their underground vaults by anotherGringotts goblin.
Back outside on the marble steps, they all separated. The oldest who was still in school, who she learned was Percy, muttered vaguely about needing a new quill. The twins, whose names were Fred and George, had spotted their friend from Hogwarts, Lee Jordan. Mrs. Weasley and her daughter, Ginny, were going to a secondhand robe shop. Mr. Weasley was insisting on taking the Grangers off to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink.
"We'll all meet at Flourish and Blotts in an hour to buy your schoolbooks," said Mrs. Weasley, setting off with Ginny. "And not one step down Knockturn Alley!" she shouted at the twins' retreating backs.
Once the four were alone, Hermione introduced the boys to her. June, Harry, Ron, and Hermione strolled off along the winding, cobbled street. The sound of the bags of gold, silver, and bronze jangling cheerfully in their pocket was clamouring to be spent. Harry, being generous, bought the four large strawberry-and-peanut-butter ice creams, which they slurped happily, as they wandered up the alley, examining the fascinating shop windows. Ron gazed longingly at a full set of Chudley Cannon robes in the windows of Quality Quidditch Supplies until Hermione dragged them off to buy ink and parchment next door. In Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop, they met Fred, George, and Lee Jordan, who were stocking up on Dr. Filibuster's FabulousWet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks, and in a tiny junk shop full of broken wands, lopsided brass scales, and old cloaks covered in potion stains. June joined them in buying the joke shop's items and received a bit of annoyance from Hermoine, who told her, "Just don't use them on me." They then found Percy, deeply immersed in a small and deeply boring book called Prefects Who Gained Power.
"A study of Hogwarts prefects and their later careers," Ron read aloud off the back cover. "That sounds fascinating. . . ."
"Go away," Percy snapped.
" 'Course, he's very ambitious, Percy, he's got it all planned out... He wants to be Minister of Magic . . ." Ron told them in an undertone as they left Percy to it.
An hour later, they headed for Flourish and Blotts. They were by no means the only ones making their way to the bookshop. As they approached it, they saw to their surprise a large crowd jostling outside the doors, trying to get in. The reason for this was proclaimed by a large banner stretched across the upper windows:
GILDEROY LOCKHART
will be signing copies of his autobiography
MAGICAL ME
today 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
"We can actually meet him!" Hermione squealed. "I mean, he's written almost the whole booklist!"
The crowd seemed to be made up mostly of witches around Mrs. Weasley's age. A harassed-looking wizard stood at the door, saying, "Calmly, please, ladies. . . Don't push, there . . . mind the books, now. . . "
June, Harry, Ron, and Hermione squeezed inside. A long line wound right to the back of the shop, where Gilderoy Lockhart was signing his books. They each grabbed a copy of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 and sneaked up the line to where the rest of the Weasleys were standing with Wendell and Monica Granger.
"Oh, there you are, good," said Mrs. Weasley. She sounded breathless and kept patting her hair. "We'll be able to see him in a minute. . ."
Gilderoy Lockhart came slowly into view, seated at a table surrounded by large pictures of his own face, all winking and flashing dazzlingly white teeth at the crowd. The real Lockhart was wearing robes of forget-me-not blue that exactly matched his eyes; his pointed wizard's hat was set at a jaunty angle on his wavy hair.
A short, irritable-looking man was dancing around taking photographs with a large black camera that emitted puffs of purple smoke with every blinding flash.
"Out of the way, there," he snarled at Ron, moving back to get a better shot. "This is for the Daily Prophet —"
"Big deal," said Ron, rubbing his foot where the photographer had stepped on it.
Gilderoy Lockhart heard him. He looked up. He saw Ron — and then he saw Harry. He stared. Then he leapt to his feet and positively shouted, "It can't be Harry Potter?"
The crowd parted, whispering excitedly. Lockhart dived forward, seized Harry's arm, and pulled him to the front. The crowd burst into applause. Harry's face turned red as Lockhart shook his hand for the photographer, who was clicking away madly, wafting thick smoke over the Weasleys.
Lockhart said something to Harry through his own gleaming teeth. The man finally let go of Harry's hand and he tried to slide back over to the Weasleys, but Lockhart threw an arm around his shoulders and clamped him tightly to his side.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he said loudly, waving for quiet. "What an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time!
"When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography — which I shall be happy to present him now, free of charge —" The crowd applauded again. "He had no idea," Lockhart continued, givingHarry a little shake that made his glasses slip to the end of his nose," that he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, Magical Me. He and his schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"
The crowd cheered and clapped and Harry was presented with the entire works of Gilderoy Lockhart. Staggeringslightly under their weight, he managed to make his way out of the limelight to the edge of the room, where Ginny was standing next to her new cauldron.
"You have these," June overheard Harry mumbled to her, tipping the books into the cauldron. "I'll buy my own —"
"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?" said a slender boy with sleek white-blond hair. he had a pale complexion and rather sharp, and pointed features. Harry straightened up and found himself face to face with the boy, who wore a sneer. "Famous Harry Potter, her sneered. "Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page."
"Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!" said Ginny glaring at the blonde boy, and received a slightly shocked expression from Harry.
"Yeah!" June added, annoyed. "You could clearly see on his face that he wasn't enjoying it!"
"Potter, you've got yourself some girlfriends!" drawled the rude boy. Ginny went scarlet while June rolled her eyes. Ron and Hermione fought their way over, both clutching stacks of Lockhart's books.
"Oh, it's you," said Ron, looking at the blonde as if he were something unpleasant on the sole of his shoe. "Bet you're surprised to seeHarry here, eh?"
"Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley," he retorted. "I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for all those."
Ron joined Ginny with the scarlet faces. He dropped his books into the cauldron, too, and started toward the pointy face boy, but Harry and Hermione grabbed the back of his jacket.
"Ron!" said Mr. Weasley, struggling over with Fred and George."What are you doing? It's too crowded in here, let's go outside."
"Well, well, well — Arthur Weasley."
An older man with the same pale pointed features, cold grey eyes and blond hair, stood with his hand on the rude boy's shoulder and sneered in the same way.
"Lucius," said Mr. Weasley, nodding coldly.
"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," said the man, who Mr. Weasley called Lucius. "All those raids . . . I hope they're paying you overtime?"
He reached into Ginny's cauldron and extracted, from amid the glossy Lockhart books, a very old, very battered copy of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration.
"Obviously not," Lucius said. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"
Mr. Weasley flushed darker than either Ron or Ginny.
"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy," he said.
"Clearly," said Mr. Malfoy, his pale eyes straying to Wendell and Monica Granger, who were watching apprehensively. "The company you keep, Weasley . . . and I thought your family could sink no lower —"
There was a thud of metal as Ginny's cauldron went flying. Mr.Weasley had thrown himself at Mr. Malfoy, knocking him backward into a bookshelf. Dozens of heavy spellbooks came thundering down on all their heads, there was a yell of, "Get him, Dad!" from Fred or George. Mrs. Weasley was shrieking, "No, Arthur, no!", and the crowd stampeded backward, knocking more shelves over.
"Gentlemen, please — please!" cried the assistant, and then, louder than all —
"Break it up, there, gents, break it up —"
Hagrid was wading toward them through the sea of books. In an instant, he had pulled Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy apart.Mr. Weasley had a cut lip and Mr. Malfoy had been hit in the eye by an Encyclopedia of Toadstools. He was still holding Ginny's oldTransfiguration book. He thrust it at her, his eyes glittering with malice.
"Here, girl — take your book — it's the best your father can give you —" Pulling himself out of Hagrid's grip he beckoned to his who June assumed was his son and swept from the shop.
"Yeh should've ignored him, Arthur," said Hagrid, almost lifting Mr. Weasley off his feet as he straightened his robes. "Rotten ter the core, the whole family, everyone knows that — no Malfoy's worth listenin' ter — bad blood, that's what it is — come on now — let's get outta here."
The assistant looked as though he wanted to stop them from leaving, but he barely came up to Hagrid's waist and seemed to think better of it. They hurried up the street, the Grangers shaking with fright and Mrs. Weasley beside herself with fury.
"A fine example to set for your children . . . brawling in public . . . what Gilderoy Lockhart must've thought —"
"He was pleased," said Fred. "Didn't you hear him as we were leaving? He was asking that bloke from the Daily Prophet if he'd be able to work the fight into his report — said it was all publicity —"
But it was a subdued group that headed back to the fireside in the Leaky Cauldron, where Harry, the Weasleys, and all their shopping would be travelling back to the Burrow using Floo powder. With a good-bye to the Weasleys and Harry as they were leaving the pub for the Muggle street on the other side, Mr. Weasley started to ask them how bus stops worked but stopped quickly at the look on Mrs. Weasley's face.