Emily Potter and the Cursed Vaults

Chapter 3: Diagon Alley

The rest of the breakfast went smoothly, aside from when Ginny appeared at the bottom of the stairs only to run away again when she saw Harry's face. Towards the end, when everyone was packing up, they heard a muffled thud from the window above the sink. Molly rushed to open it, gasping when she found a ruffled-looking owl waiting for her.

'It's Errol with the Hogwarts letters!' she exclaimed, tugging on a bundle of letters that was attached to the bird's leg. Emily watched in amazement. Had an owl like that delivered her letter? She presumed so, considering the number of owls that flew to the house to deliver Harry's, but she never saw an owl drop off the mail for hers.

'Dear me, they keep adding more to these equipment lists!' she said as she read one of the letters. 'There's only one place we're going to find all this stuff,' she paused for dramatic effect. 'Diagon Alley.' The boys whooped and Ginny squealed with excitement.

'How will we get there?' Harry asked.

'Floo powder, probably.' Molly said thoughtfully. 'It's the quickest and we have a few extra people this time.' she nodded at the Potters. Harry raised an eyebrow at Ron while Mrs Weasley wasn't looking, and they quickly engaged in a quiet conversation that Emily could just not hear.

Mrs Weasley led everyone to the fireplace and picked up a tin cup full of white powder. Ginny turned to Emily, beaming widely as Percy Weasley (the oldest of the Weasley boys who was still living at home) grabbed a handful of the powder and stepped into the fireplace. He dropped it at his feet and said loudly:

'Diagon Alley.'

Emily gasped and her hand flew to her face as he disappeared in a blaze of green fire. Ginny squeezed her hand as Mrs Weasley gave them a brief reminder of how to use floo powder. Fred went next, and then George stepped into the fireplace.

'Oh Harry dear, I think it's best you go next, and then Emily of course,' Mrs Weasley instructed as George went up in green flames. Harry tentatively stepped into the fireplace and Mrs Weasley held the powder out to him. She nodded as he took a handful and held it above the coals at his feet.

'Alrighty now, be sure to be very clear about where you want to go. Ready?' she smiled and stepped back. Harry nodded. 'Ok, 3...2...1,'

'Diagonally!' Harry half-muttered. He dropped the powder into the fire and was promptly swallowed by the flames. Mr Weasley shook his head, a look of worry and disappointment on his face.

'What'd he say, dear?' Mrs Weasley worriedly turned to her husband.

'Diagonally,' he sighed. Ginny's face went from happy to concerned as she, Mr and Mrs Weasley, and Ron stared into the fireplace where Harry had just been, shaking their heads. Emily assumed Harry had done something wrong, and was then determined to do it absolutely perfectly when it was her turn. It didn't, however, occur to her to be worried about Harry. She grabbed a handful of floo powder from the tin which was now resting on the mantle. She stepped into the fire and steadied herself, her heart beating fast.

'Are you sure you're ready?' Mrs Weasley asked, taking a step towards Emily.

'I'll be fine.' Emily shrugged and let go of the powder.

'Diagon Alley!' she shouted. And she felt a rush of adrenaline as she was whipped through the air. She felt like she was on a rollercoaster but faster. She was twisted and turned and spun in circles and she laughed the whole way. It was still all so new to her, being a witch, but she quickly decided this was her favourite part. However, it was over even faster than it started, and suddenly she was standing in the middle of a narrow street that was bustling with witches and wizards galore. She stared around, eyes wide, taking in every shop in sight. She saw wand shops and candy stores and quidditch stores (she knew pretty much everything there was to know about quidditch, Harry wouldn't shut up about it).

Her eyes landed on a small bar called the Leaky Cauldron, outside of which stood Fred, George, and Percy. They waved her over and she ran across the street, her heart bursting with excitement. They smiled at her, but all of their eyes were preoccupied. They were looking for something; they glanced at Emily as though she might know where it was, but she just stood there watching them, completely oblivious to the elephant in the room. (Or maybe the elephant that was nowhere to be seen). Finally, she realised what they were looking for and immediately her excitement was replaced by panic.

'Where's Harry?'

The rest of the Weasleys arrived eventually, but still, no one had seen Harry. They walked up and down the street searching, but he was nowhere to be found. Eventually, they decided he must have bumped into someone from school and gone to do his shopping with them, so they gave up and began some shopping of their own. They bought cauldrons and robes and headed into "Flourish and Botts" for school books. Ginny and Emily needed wands, but they decided to leave that until last because there was a long line out of Olivanders that morning. However, they realised, to their dismay, that Flourish and Botts wasn't any better.