To be Gray

Diagon Alley

Flashback
Amanda escorted Mr. Sherwood, Anastasia, and me to Diagon Alley for the first time when I was 8. It was a big deal for me because we were doing this on my birthday. I had been studying for the past year for this moment of being introduced into wizarding society.
"Rosetta, we shall be going to Gringotts first. We shall be setting up an account for you to begin your savings. The ones who run the bank are called goblins. Goblins are honorable, warrior-like creatures that deserve our respect and admiration. They have a wealth of information that could possibly be accessed for a fee and respectable behavior." Mr. Sherwood lectured as we walked into a large marble white stone building
The goblins were the tellers. They sat on podiums and were dealing with money we were in line for a teller that  was counting and validating gems. There was a man in front of us who was getting angrier and angrier.
"You stupid creature, I do not have all day to be standing here, waiting on you to finish whatever you are doing. You should be dealing with the wizards in your line first. We are obviously more important than you." He shouted at the goblin
He continued to berate the poor goblin who was merely doing his job. I didn't realize that what I had done next was accidental magic until later. The man suddenly wasn't screaming anymore. It was like someone had put him on mute. Once the man realized that himself he became even more irrational. He glared around and his eyes landed on Anastasia and myself. He began charging over until goblin guards came out of nowhere and dragged the man out of the bank. I became scared by the way the goblins were staring at me and hid myself in Mr. Sherwood's long coat. I was trying to be braver but it was hard to do that in an unfamiliar world with creatures you do not understand. One of the goblins came forward and spoke to Mr. Sherwood then guided us to a door that said Potter account manager. Another goblin called for them to enter. The two goblins spoke and began to glance at me. Nervously I stood beside Mr. Sherwood.
"Welcome Miss Potter, I assume you are here to get acquainted with your account?" The goblin asked seriously ignoring my sudden shyness
I looked to Mr. Sherwood who encouraged me to step forward
"Yes, sir." I stuttered before calming myself enough to sit in the chair
"I am your accountant Ripfang. This is your financial folder. It contains all the money you have spent, all the money that has been spent in your name, and any whom owe you any money." Ripfang said
He pulled out then handed me a file with all of my financial information. As I read I came across things I didn't understand.
"Mr. Ripfang, who is Albus Dumbledore?" I asked
Everyone in the room froze for different reasons.
"Excuse me, Rosetta, may I see your file?" Mr. Sherwood asked seeming a little tense
Once I gave Mr. Sherwood my file, he began to read through it. When he finished, Mr. Sherwood's face was emotionless.
"Amanda, take the girls to go do their shopping and get acquainted with Diagon Alley. I will deal with this, Rosetta. You see something you want you may have it, Rosetta, do not worry about the price." Mr. Sherwood said
Amanda showed us all around Diagon Alley. I liked how old it felt but I began to see how bigoted people could be. Amanda explained as we walked about the difference between muggles/mundane, squibs, muggleborns/first generations, half-bloods and pure-bloods. I noticed while we were in the bookstore that one family was charged more than another family simply because they were mundane and first generations. I  knew not to say anything yet so I just kept shopping. I got as many books as I could on pure-blood etiquette and the need to know for mundanes. Amanda had us leave Flourish and Blotts to go to a second hand bookshop on the edge of Knockturn Alley.
"Now girls the best way to find accurate information in Diagon Alley is to look in the second hand stores. This is mostly what people throw away and don't ever want to think about. Knockturn Alley is not that bad. The people there are not exactly nice but you wouldn't be either if you were constantly judged and persecuted simply for existing." Amanda said
We went into the second hand bookshop where there was an elderly lady sitting behind the counter reading a newspaper.
"Well hello dearie. My, my I normally get too many customers. They typically stick to the main parts of Diagon Alley. My name is Miss Nettle of Nettle Emporium. How can I help you lovelies?" she said
"Do you have books on how to act like a pureblood?" Anastasia asked
"Certainly dear. On the second shelf by the door." Miss Nettle replied
I thought about how I was being taught that knowledge is power so I began thinking what would I need to know now about wizarding Britain.
"Do you have anything on the history and politics of Wizarding Britain?" I asked
"Behind you on the left my dear." Miss Nettle hummed at me
We travelled the store and found many obscure books such as the Hogwarts charter, a first edition collection Hogwarts a History, and many books written in Parseltongue I learned later. We spent over an hour buying books before leaving to collect our other items. Everything was so old and out dated that I was not looking forward to having to shop at Diagon Alley again. When we met back with Mr. Sherwood he announced that he was my new magical guardian. Dumbledore had been found stealing from my vaults and had hidden my parents will which would be read to the public when I turned eleven. Mr. Sherwood took us to get icecream at  Florean Fortescue's. I tried icecream for the first time and loved every second of it.
Flashback End
Now we were going to collect my first year at Hogwarts supplies. I refused to go to Flourish and Blotts after seeing how they overcharged First Generation witches and wizards so I took all my business to Miss Nettle whom was happy to see us. She found the best edition of the first selection of books.
"They were given in about 20 years back by a couple of Ravenclaws and Slytherins. They had written notes through every page though." Miss Nettle said
"That is perfectly fine, Miss Nettle, that just means we get an extra help in the textbooks." I said before waving my hand and shrunk the books putting them in my pocket
"You've been studying. Well done, dearie." Miss Nettle praised
"Thank you but I have much further to go." I said quietly
We walked through Diagon Alley until we came to Madame Malkin's Dress Emporium. We ordered everything in Acromantula silk and dragon hide. We  planned to show that we belong to wealthy houses. We got entire wardrobes meant for wizarding Britain. Everything had our names sown into them which we ensured would be kept quiet. Madame Malkins was so excited she said they would be done in two hours and left to start right away. We went to Knockturn Alley to get our wands. The shop was small and dust covered but we made sure to keep our faces emotionless. The wand creation time was tedious. We had to pick the wood/metal, gem, wand core, and add a drop of our blood. Anastasia had a wizarding wand that was seven inches long, made from cherry wood with a phoenix feather core. The wood used to make this wand is one of the rarest in the wizarding world, and it is given to people with great potential. The core of this wand has been said to have the widest range of magic, which only solidifies that you are destined for greatness. My wand was a nine inches long, made from vine wood with a Thestral tail hair core. The wood used to create this wand is given to those who have great purpose and who are intelligent and selfless. The core is one of the most unstable substances to use; it takes a special kind of person to wield the wand. We were excited to have these  wands. We got a couple of wand holders and went to collect our clothes. The trip was long so we were grateful to see the car and to go home.