A Little Bit of Love and Laughter

I had not been anticipating Severus’s early morning arrival in late August, and when I answered the door, still groggy from having been asleep just moments before, he said only, “Five minutes.”

I rushed back to my bedroom to quickly change my clothes and make myself look at least presentable in Severus’s given time limit. As I hurried back to the doorway, Severus grabbed my arm, and I felt my body being forced violently in every direction.

“What was that?” I asked, finally regaining feeling in my left arm. I surveyed my surroundings and realized that we were no longer standing in the entryway of my quaint home but in a rather overcrowded shopping strip.

“Diagon Alley,” he announced.

My automatic response was a simple, “Whoa.” There were hugely tall buildings, one in particular that caught my eye. The aged engraving read Gringotts Banks, and it was the largest building of all.

“The first stop,” said Severus, pulling me in the direction of the bank.

We stepped inside and noticed an obvious drop in temperature. At the tall counters sat multitudes of grotesque creatures with wrinkly skin and sharp teeth and pointed ears.

“Yes?” the creature asked, not even looking up from its work.

“A withdrawal needs to be made from the vault of Rupert Prince,” Severus replied, holding out a shiny golden key.

The creature, still not looking up, pointed us to the left. Another creature called us over onto a moving platform and requested the key. The platform began to move, and I watched as the numbers gradually increased. 17, 53, 110, 394, 519. That was where we stopped.

“Vault five hundred and nineteen,” the creature announced, stepping off of the platform. He held out his hand toward Severus. “Key, please.”

After Severus passed over the key, the door opened, revealing a large pile of gold and silver coins. Severus climbed into the vault, pulled out a small change bag and began to fill it with the gold coins. As he and the creature stepped back on the platform, he handed me the bag and said, “This should be more than enough for everything.”

The sunlight was garish against my eyes, which had grown accustomed to the dark of Gringotts. Severus pushed me in the direction of another building.

“You’ll purchase your wand in there.”

“Do I just pick one out or...?” When I turned around, he was gone.

I entered the small building and coughed, as the dust had irritated my allergies. “Excuse me?”

A short, white haired men came to the counter from the back. “Yes, how may I help you?” He paused for a moment, then answered his own question. “Of course; you’re here for a wand! Yes, when you’re looking for a wand, Mr. Ollivander is most certainly the one to see. Lovely, just lovely.” A tape measure with silver markings floated out from the dusty drawer, and he asked, “Wand arm?”

I assumed that the wand arm was the dominant arm and answered, “Right.”

The man, Mr. Ollivander, I assumed, measured the length of my arm, as well as various other measurements, muttering a little, “Ah”, every now and then. He began to hum to himself and his returned to the back of the store, coming back moments later with a long black box. “Try this,” he said, handing the contents of the box, a light coloured wand, to me. “Mahogany and Phoenix feather. Ten inches.” As I stood with the thing in my hands, unsure of what exactly I was supposed to do with it, he prodded, “Go on, give it a wave.”

I did, and a light stream of colourful sparks flew from its tip. It felt warm in my hands.

“Interesting,” he said with a smile. “You know, there aren’t many people who manage to connect with the right wand on the first try. It often takes two or three, at least. The wand chooses the witch, my dear. That’s why people often have such difficulty with it. The last wizard I remember to have managed such a feat was none other than Oliver Prince. Magnificent wizard; went on to do great things at the Ministry. He had such great potential, but alas, was killed tragically at too young an age. I remember every wand I’ve ever sold, my dear; that wand especially because it had been so extraordinary.” He paused. “But enough about that. I’ll need your name and seven Galleons, please.”

I pulled out the change purse Severus had given me. Were Galleons the gold ones? I hesitantly took seven gold pieces from the bag and set them on the counter, answering, “Emily Prince.”

Upon hearing my name, Mr. Ollivander seemed to stop short. “Prince? As in sister of Oliver? Well, then, it’s not a shock that you accomplished the same feat as did he.” He paused, taking the coins and bowing at her. “Farewell, Miss Prince. I am certain that you, too, will go on to do great things.”

Severus was waiting impatiently outside the shop. “What took so long?” he demanded.

“Did you know that Oliver had found his wand on the first try? And I did too!”

“Lovely.” The reply was obviously meant to be sarcastic. I shouldn’t have expected Severus to be the least bit enthusiastic about something like that. “But we still have much to get done. I’ve picked up your necessary books and equipment. However, you still need to be fitted for robes.”

We entered Madam Malkin’s and were immediately greeted by a short, smiley woman.

“Good morning, dear,” she said, pulling me to the back of the show. “Hogwarts, I suspect.” I nodded and another magical tape measure came floating around. “This will only take a moment, dear. We’ll have your robes all ready in no time!” The woman flittered to the back and returned shortly thereafter with a pile of neatly folded robes. I paid for them and rushed back out, so as not to keep Severus waiting.

“The last item on the list,” he began, “is, in my opinion, quite unnecessary. However, for communication purposes, your mother has requested that you get an owl.”

We stopped into a pet store where a smaller barn owl caught my attention. The bird was similar to the one that had flown into my window that fateful morning. A few moments later, I was walking out with the bird, which I had decided to name Fishtick, though there was neither rhyme nor reason as to why.

“Finally done,” Severus said, drawing in a deep breath. He handed me a ticket. “The train will arrive at Platform Nine and Three Quarters. All you’ll need to do is simply run through the wall between Platforms Nine and Ten.” Before I could ask for him to repeat those directions, he was gone again.