GREEN AND SILVER » discontinued

four

HERMIONE AND PROFESSOR FLEMING walked out of her office and Hermione realised she wasn't sure if her parents knew. "Do they...?" Professor Fleming nodded in reply and Hermione turned to my parents and smiled. "Oh, mummy, daddy, please let me go to Hogwarts! I know I'll fit in there"

"Of course you're going, we know you've had some trouble at school, and we hope this will fix it" Hermione smiled even wider and hugged them as tightly as humanly possible "Oh, thank you!"

Professor Fleming let them have their family moment for about a minute and then cleared her throat "Hermione, we should be going to get your books now. I'm sorry Mr and Mrs Granger, but I think it would be best if I was the one to take Hermione to Diagon Alley, it may be a bit much for you at this point" They looked upset, and were about to protest when Hermione smiled at them, convincing them to let her go with Professor Fleming. "Oh, alright. But we're definitely coming with you next year. How much money will you need to buy this equipment?" Hermione's father said, peering at the letter.

"Around 300 in muggle currency will do it" Professor Fleming replied. He reached into his back pocket, extracted his wallet and handed me around 300 pounds. Hermione felt so powerful with that much money.

"Thank you, daddy!" Hermione said, hugging him one last time before Professor Fleming took her into her office again "Ok, we'll be using a magical transportation method, called floo powder. Normally you travel one at a time, but because you've never been to Diagon Alley, and younger children are likely to mispronounce it and end up in the wrong grate, we'll be going together" Hermione nodded "So how exactly does this 'floo powder work?

"Well, we get a handful of this powder" she explained, showing Hermione a small pot filled with greyish, dust like powder. "And once you've said your destination, you throw the powder into the fireplace, which transports you to the place you've said you want to go" Hermione nodded again, trying to wrap her head around the concept.

They stepped into the large fireplace in the corner of Professor Fleming's office. It was wide enough to contain both of them, but they needed to bend down to avoid hitting their heads on the roof of the fireplace. They each grabbed a handful of the powder and after Professor Fleming had shouted "Diagon Alley", they threw the powder into the fireplace, and, to Hermione's surprise, were engulfed in green flames reaching up to at least my neck. Suddenly, they were swirling around and around, and she saw colours flashing all around, making her feel sick. They finally stopped spinning and Hermione stumbled out of the fireplace and looked around.

They seemed to be in some sort of dingy bar. It was dirty and filled with witches and wizards talking quietly, sometimes seemingly to themselves, other times to other people, or even to inanimate objects! Professor Fleming quickly hurried Hermione out of the bar, appearing to be unsurprisingly disgusted by the hygiene level of that place. Hermione's thoughts of the bar were quickly banished and replaced with the sights of Diagon Alley. There were signs everywhere advertising for things she didn't even know existed. Things like unicorn hair and horns, self-stirring cauldrons, beetle eyes and much more. What would the use of beetle eyes, and unicorn hair and horns even be? Hermione thought to herself

Countless witches and wizards were walking around in pairs or groups, chatting to their friends. Hermione caught snippets of conversation, mostly about things that she didn't understand, and when it was about something she understood, it was out of context. It made Hermione frustrated to be out of the loop. They were all laden down with bags, some bulging, some very empty. It was extremely interesting to just people watch the bustling street, but Professor Fleming seemed uninterested in the street and tapped her on the shoulder "Should we keep going?" Hermione nodded, figuring she could keep looking around as they were walking. They began walking again, with Professor Fleming sometimes steering Hermione out of the way of people.

They arrived at a large, white building, with the heading 'Gringotts' on it. "What is this?" Hermione asked curiously. "This is Gringotts, it's the wizard bank"

"Every wizard has all their money in one bank? Isn't that a little unreliable"

"Gringotts is very safe, I assure you" Hermione walked up the steps and noticed a plaque on the wall that read:

Enter, stranger but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed

For those who take, but do not earn,

Must pay most dearly in their turn.

So if you seek beneath our floor

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there

Hermione shivered. She definitely wouldn't be stealing from Gringotts anytime soon, hopefully ever. Professor Fleming smiled at her and asked "should we go and get your money now?" Hermione smiled and stepped into the big, white building that pretty much determined her future.