Lucy Riddle and the Boy Who Lived

The Hairy Man and the Boy

Chapter Three

Lucy hopped out of bed early the next day, jumping up and down on her father, trying to wake him up as her mother was in the kitchen, cooking up a hearty breakfast. He finally woke up ("All right, all right, I'm up! Just get off me, you prat.").

Lucy zoomed down to her mum as she hummed a tune Lucy didn't try to decipher. She was glad to finally have a wand to practice spells with. All she's ever used was her hand, and most of the spells work, but never the correct way. When she was reading Sixth Year books and tried to perform a Patronus, she'd end up setting a fire in her bedroom. She nearly burned down the whole house and the aftermath wasn't pretty. But, at least she was able to perform the spell without saying it out loud . . . even if the outcome wasn't what she expected.

Lucy was familiar with a broom, but it was mostly with the Cleansweeps her parents kept in the garage. Her father tried to make attach the broomsticks to the car just last week, and ended up breaking the Cleansweeps in half but not before setting them on fire. Her mother was very disappointed with her husband and daughter and never allowed them near fires.

Her mum and dad were taking so long to finish their oatmeal that she flicked her wrist, hoping to speed things up, but ended up blasting their meal onto their faces and all over the kitchen walls. She slouched deeper in her seat as her mother's face turned an unnatural shade of red. Her father licked the oatmeal with his lips and wiped a finger down her mum's face, tasting it. She heard him whisper, "Hm, warm."

After an excruciatingly long lecture about setting off oatmeals and tasting substances on other people's faces, the Donavan family finally drove off to Diagon Alley. Lucy was so excited that she accidentally set off magical fireworks and nearly gave her family an early death. Luckily her father parked the car in a nearby parking lot and took cover. The fireworks eventually went away and the family headed off. Her mother charmed a glass out of thin air and it kept hitting Lucy's temple, annoying her and gratefully calmed her down.

"We should've used Floo powder," her mother muttered under her breath as they walked down a street that lead to the entrance to their destination. They walked passed an old water fountain casually, making sure no Muggle noticed them, and in front of them was a bar.

"Tom!" her father shouted.

Tom was the landlord to the inn close to the Leaky Cauldron, her mother explained while her father talked to man. Lucy didn't pay attention to much but dragged her mother, begging her to leave her father and take her to Diagon Alley.

"If only," Mum sighed dramatically as Lucy raised her eyebrows. Her mother added, "Just kidding, geez."

Lucy rolled her eyes but watched as her mother walked to a brick wall and tapped a single brick, creating an entrance to the most fabulous place she's ever been. Going school shopping for Muggle schools was nothing compared to this. There were so many wizards and witches in colorful cloaks and hats, being dragged by their children everywhere into every store they can set eyes on.

"Oh, honey! I see Narcissa over in that corner," Mum said, pointing to a familiar family friend with her son. "I'll let you explore on your own. Meet me in the Leaky Cauldron when you're done, yeah? But take this."

Lucy snatched the pouch full of Wizard money, thanked her, and headed off to the store she knew she was destined for: Zonko's Joke Shop. She could imagine all the beautiful jokes she could play with all the things here. There were so many things she could use . . . Lucy couldn't help but look at everything in the shop.

"Hey, young prankster girl, if you want — "

"— to find the best pranks, you'd want to follow my brother and I."