A Broken Slytherin (Book 1)

The Hole in the Wall

y/n and her Grandma weaved their way through the London crowd. The black shoes that her Grandma wore, clip-clopped on the cobblestone path like a horse as they made their way to a small pub. As they neared it, the seemingly blank sign revealed a picture of a witch's cauldron and "The Leaky Cauldron" was inscribed on it in gold letters. y/n opened the door for her Grandma and followed her inside.

The room was dark yet cosy and witches and wizards of every sort were sitting around tables, sipping various drinks and chatting away. A table of old wizards was playing some sort of poker game, but the chips had been replaced with small seeds, no doubt magic seeds. y/n followed the old lady through the tables and chairs until they got to the bar where the innkeeper, Tom, was cleaning some glasses in the preparation of new patrons.

"Good afternoon Tom," y/n's Grandma said as she stopped in front of the bar, her face only barely visible due to her short frame.

Tom looked up and smiled warmly. "Ah afternoon Martha, how can I help ya?"

"My granddaughter y/n is on her way to Hogwarts tomorrow, we're out school shopping," Martha replied in her soft and aged voice

"Doesn't that throw ya back, well I'll be assuming ya need to get through the wall?" He replied, looking over to y/n and giving her a nod of acknowledgement. "Well I'm afraid I'm a bit busy at the moment, but ah, let's see... Professor Quirrell!" he called out to a man with a long sunken face and a purple turban. He turned around, nervous from the sudden attention. "Ya wouldn't mind letting these two lovely ladies through to the alley would ya?"

Quirrell turned to look at the pair and his eye's filled with fear once he spottered y/n, "o-o-of course" he managed to stutter out.

He awkwardly motioned for them to follow and they went through a back door, entering a small area full of beer bottles and crates. The Professor took out his wand and tapped the bricks in a specific pattern. Once he withdrew his wand, the bricks started to shift away from the centre. Soon a doorway had formed to reveal the wizarding shopping strip known as Diagon Alley.y/n quickly called a "thank you" over her shoulder to Quirrell as she ventured into the lane full of bustling shoppers, all rushing to tick off every item on the school list.

Their first stop was Gringotts obviously, they had to pay for all of this with something. They entered their vault number 432, and their faces shone gold from the reflection of the galleons, sickles, and knuts. y/n was from a wealthy pureblood family and had always been well off, and since her parents died all their life savings were given to her, leaving her with more than enough money to support her and her grandma until she could start providing for herself.

After picking up all her school books and little things like a cauldron and her robes, all that was left was a wand and pet to keep her company whilst at school. A bell rang announcing their presence to shop, the tintinnabulation echoing in y/n's ears. She was the only one in the shop, or so she thought. A man came rushing out from behind a shelf to greet her. He seemed overly excited, surely he got dozens of customers a day, what made her different? "Hello, hello! How are we today then?"

"Very well thank you!" y/n replied. "I'm school shopping!"

At this, the old man's eyes widened even more so. "So a first wand is it then? How exciting!" He said rushing back to the shelves lining the walls to collect a few wands of choice. "What's your name then, child?"

"y/n, y/f/n" she called out. The unseen bustling suddenly stopped.

"Nice to meet you y/n," he said flatly.

"The feeling's mutual sir" y/n called back. How odd.

Mr Ollivander emerged from the shelves carrying three long boxes and lay them on the front desk. He delicately opened the first to reveal a light wood wand with vines crawling up the handle end.