Stacie Redmond and the Shrieking Shack

Chapter 2 - Diagon Alley

It's 12:00 when we reach London. "It says we need to go to the Leaky Cauldron to reach the stores, but there is no such place, is there?" I ask. My mother shakes her head in answer. "Then-- There it is!" I point at the building that has just materialized in front of us. "What do you mean? It's just an abandoned store," my brother says, bemused. "Don't you see it? Oh never mind, let's just go," I say, dragging the both of them through the front door.

It opens up to a small pub, and I walk briskly through it. The barman walks over to me and asks, "Are you here to get your school supplies for Hogwarts?" "Y-yeah," I stutter timidly. He smiles kindly, motioning for me to follow him to the back door.

He leads us out to a small dumpster with a brick wall. "My apologies for the stink, it helps when muggles accidentally walk in here. Just tap these bricks in this order," he says, rapping separate bricks in a clockwise pattern. A door forms from the area inside the bricks he hit and forming a straight line downward below the melted ones. The hole is large enough for a tall man to fit through easily.

"Thanks, Mr... What's your name?" "Feel free to call me Tom," the barman - Tom - tells me. "Thanks, Tom." I tell him. My mother, brother, and I all walk through the opening into a multitude of storefronts, each selling different magical items. "I need money, so we need to go to the wizard bank or something. I doubt that the witches and wizards here will accept our money," I say, wrinkling my nose. My mother seems to agree.

I walk over to the nearest witch and ask, "Can you tell us where the wizard bank is?" "Certainly! Gringotts is over that way," she gestures to the left, "and it's the large marble building. You can't miss it, and I'm certain you'll meet Hagrid on the way. He is quite tall, with an extremely messy beard. He will have your key to your vault." "Thank you!" I call out to her as I head left.

I see a large man with wild hair so tangled that it would put mine when I wake up to shame. Walking up to him, I tap his elbow and ask, "Sir? Are you Hagrid?" He turned around to face me. "Yeh need ter get into yer Gringotts vault, eh? Well, follow me. Mr. Lupin here is a firs' year, too. I'm sure yeh'll get along," he told me.

The inside of Gringotts Bank is incredible. The tellers are nothing like the ones we always went to to get our money. The creatures that work here have large, pointy ears and are quite short. "Goblins," Hagrid tells me, appearing to read my mind. "Yeh don't want ter treat 'em bad, see, because they can get quite upset when yeh insult 'em. Feisty creatures, goblins."

We walk up to an old-looking goblin. Hagrid clears his throat and speaks. "Griphook, pleasure ter see yeh. I have two soon-ter-be Hogwarts students. They need ter enter their vaults." Griphook answers with a voice that I'm not expecting. He sounds youthful but business-like, probably from working here for a while. "Of course. Their names?" "Remus Lupin an'..." He hesitates, and I realize that I never told him my name. "Stacie Redmond," I quip. "You have their keys, I presume?" Griphook asks Hagrid. "Yeah, somewhere."

He digs through the pockets in his animal-skin coat. Finally, he comes up with two large, brass keys. He sets them down on the counter. "Come," Griphook says, beckoning to us to follow.

We visit my vault first. Griphook places the key into the slot at the front of the door. I hear gears whirring behind the blackened metal door. Slowly, it swings open, revealing piles of gold, silver, and bronze. They glitter from a hidden light source that won't reveal itself. I stand there, staring in awe at the money until Remus nudges me forward. I walk inside, grabbing a large assortment of coins. Since I don't know the values, I grab plenty of everything.

The next and last vault belongs to Remus. The door opens similarly to mine, mechanical whirring in the background. I see a large amount of silver and bronze coins, along with several small piles of gold. He grabs more gold than other coins, and I assume that gold coins are either the most commonly used or the most valuable.