Anna Black, The Girl Who Lived, Book 1 (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

5: Diagon Alley

EDITED

Anna, Harry, and Hagrid were walking through Diagon Alley. The kids were mesmerized by everything they saw. From enchanted chomping books to animals of all sorts, the streets and stores were filled with magic. And all of it was hidden behind a tall brick wall.

Despite the oddity of it all, they felt at home.

They hadn't gone to buy anything yet, having just arrived. A realization hit the kids.

"Erm, Hagrid," Harry started sheepishly, "how are we supposed to get our school stuff? We haven't any money."

"We'll draw money from yer accounts, that's why we're headin' to Gringotts," the giant explained, but realized the kids didn't know what Gringotts was. "It's the wizardin' bank up ahead. One of the safes' places in the whole magical world, I reckon."

The group headed up the street to the tall, white, lopsided marble building. It had big golden letters spelling out the name.

When inside, the children's eyes widened. It was a large high-ceilinged, long room with a glossy floor and desks lining the walls. Behind them sat small creatures with large ears, small teeth, and beady black eyes that coldly watched them. Instinctively, Anna grabbed Harry's arm. She wasn't sure why, but she always felt safe with him.

"Goblins, not the friendlies' creatures. Try not to get on their bad side," muttered Hagrid before they approached the main desk.

The goblin behind it sneered, asking, "Do Miss Black and Mr. Potter have their keys?"

"Yes, they sure do." Hagrid pulled out a large ring of keys from his moleskin coat and searched to find two rusty ones. He also pulled out a slip of paper and handed it to the creature. "This is from Dumbledore abou' the you-know-what in vault you-know-which." When the goblin lazily raised a nonexistent eyebrow at Hagrid, who was too over-the-top with mysteriousness, he said, "For the love of...it's in Vault 713."

"Oh, okay. Follow me," ordered the goblin. He led the trio to a small black mine cart. It was set on black rails in a cave tunnel. They got in, Harry sitting next to Anna in the back and Hagrid riding shotgun with the goblin.

"I suggest you hold on tight." And with that, they were off. The cart shot forward.

"WOOHOO! THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!" screamed Anna, putting her hands up and giggling. Harry just laughed at his hyper friend.

Finally, the cart came to a stop and they got out, slightly disoriented when stepping onto the stone ground. "Here we are, vaults 686 and 687," stated the goblin. Hagrid raised an eyebrow.

"Wait I thought his vault was 711?" the giant questioned, not wanting to say Sirius' name in the children's presence in fear of raising questions.

"Ah, a mysterious one you are, Rubeus. But you are correct, it is. You see, the Blacks and Potters wanted to set their children's vaults up side by side in case something was to...happen," the goblin explained coldly. Hagrid gave a curt nod and turned to the confused children.

"Go in yer vaults and fill these," he handed them each a big brown money pouch, "with coins. I suggest puttin' galleons - the gold ones - in. They're the highest in value. Anna, yers is the one on the left, and Harry, the right."

The two gave each other a look before diverging off into their separate vaults. When Anna entered hers, her jaw dropped.

Big piles of gold, silver, and bronze coins took up a considerable amount of the large room. There had to be at least a million. In the middle of the room stood a small wooden table with a single box and letter. She slowly walked over to it and picked up the folded paper, her hands shaking. She flattened it and saw the hurried scribbling of words. It read,