~ Sorry for the week-long absence. Over the last week somethings happened that kept me from writing. To make it up I'll be giving you guys three chapters this week instead of my usual two. Hope you enjoy it.
"Welcome, to Diagon Alley."
— Rubeus Hagrid introducing Harry Potter to the alley
~ Void Emperor.
~
~ Corvus Black - POV ~
~ Charing Cross Road, London ~
The Leaky Cauldron was a popular wizarding pub and inn located in London. It was also the entrance to Diagon Alley and, indirectly, Knockturn Alley. To Muggles, the pub appears to be a broken-down old shop front on Charing Cross Road. The pub was built by Daisy Dodderidge, the first landlady, in the early 1500s "to serve as a gateway between the non-wizarding world and Diagon Alley." As a consequence, it was the oldest pub in London predating Charing Cross Road itself by centuries.
Located officially at 1 Diagon Alley, The Leaky Cauldron was nested between a Muggle bookshop and a record store. Inside the pub, it was dark and shabby, with a bar and a number of tables in the shadows of the corners. In stark contrast to the grubby downstairs of the pub, there were some unexpectedly pleasant rooms upstairs where passing wizards and witches could stay for the night. These rooms were reached by way of a handsome wooden staircase, and contained comfortable beds, highly polished oak furniture, a crackling fire which was always burning in the grate to welcome the visitor to their lodgings. A cellar was located beneath the ground floor, that held barrels containing the beverage supply for the establishment as well as a chest for holding reserve Floo Powder.
When I told Arcturus about receiving my Hogwarts acceptance letter earlier this morning, I also asked if I could get my school shopping done on the same day alone, or baring that, with Kreacher. Which he readily agreed to as long as I took Kreacher along with me. I obviously didn't have a problem with that as the house-elf was magically bonded to me and by extension House Black, so if I were to ask he would give me plenty of privacy and time alone to enjoy the wonders of Diagon Alley.
So as soon as I got ready I had Kreacher Apparate us a block away from the Leaky Cauldron and had him applie a Notice-Me-Not charm, a type of Disillusionment Charm, on us to hide ourselves from the Muggles. Which was helpful because I was dressed in a flowing dark wizards robes and Kreacher was dressed like, well Kreacher. I should ask Arcturus about getting Kreacher a butler uniform or something, the rags house-elves wear can get depressing to look at. We then walked the rest of the block to the entrance of the pub before Kreacher dropped the charm around us.
When we entered the pub, Tom, who was the landlord, innkeeper, and barman of the Leaky Cauldron, rightly assumed that we were headed for the entrance to Diagon Alley and just gave me a nod and smile as we went straight to the back of the pub. Passing through the pub leads to a small, walled courtyard with a dustbin. Diagon Alley could be accessed by tapping the correct brick in the wall behind the Leaky Cauldron (from the rubbish bin, three up and two across). The wall went in a small hole first but formed a large archway. Diagon Alley could also be accessed by Floo network and Apparition but I wanted to get the whole experience for my, technically, first time here.
In my opinion, it was totally worth it. Watching those bricks folding in on each other as they created an archway that revealed the whole of Diagon Alley was wonderful, magically, and the fulfillment of my previous life's childhood dreams.
Honestly; other than a few magic disciplines, knowledge, resources, and the few people that I wanted to recruit; there isn't much I can get from the wizarding world that I couldn't recreate myself with a bit of trail and error. But when you get the chance to travel to and live out one of your childhood fantasies, why wouldn't you do exactly that.
So here I am, watching bricks recede into each other and create an archway for Britain's primary shopping center for the wizarding community.
As I stepped through the archway into Diagon Alley proper, I took in all the sights and wonders of the place. Walking down the cobblestones I stared in wonder at the shops that I'd read about in the books, seen glimpses of in the films, or that I've visited at Universal Studios Potter World. There was the most recognizable shops like; Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, Eeylops Owl Emporium, Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment, Flourish and Blotts, and of course Ollivanders Wand Shop. And then there is all the shops that I'd never seen or read about like; Amanuensis Quills, a shop in Diagon Alley that sold quills that was next to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, Caput Mortuum, a shop that sold bones and preserved animal remains, or Twilfitt and Tattings Twilfitt and Tattings, a wizarding clothing shop; given that it was favoured by elitist pure-blood witch's like Narcissa Malfoy, it was probably an upmarket shop.
Luckily for me, since the school year hadn't ended yet, the Alley wasn't as crowded as it would come to be when Hogwarts was out for the summer or the weeks leading up to the new school year around August. So I was able to get all of my shopping done quickly enough to have some time to just wandering around and take in the sights of Diagon Alley.
The last shop that I planned to visit was of course Ollivanders Wand Shop. I made sure to finish up with everything else on the school shopping list before I finally got to acquiring my own Wand. Not that I actually need a wand to cast magic. With my magic abilities coming from different sources of the omniverse like Alucard and Amatsu-Mikaboshi, whose magical abilities didn't rely upon a foci, a wand was completely unnecessary for me. Yet, I was determined to procure one for myself. Not only because it was required for Hogwarts, but also to not totally stand out amongst my future schoolmates at first. Eventually I would stand out as I planned to be at the top of all my classes, both regular and elective classes, but I would firstly be just a regular, yet gifted first year student.
But before that I'll need a compatible wand so I'm not doing magic wandlessly and become an irregularity who is constantly gawked at.
~