A Year in the Life of a Hogwarts Student - Task 2 Diagon Alley

Continuing on in the saga of the year in the life of a Hogwarts Student, the second task we were given was our trip to Diagon Alley.

Here is the prompt we were given.

I remember the day my mother took me shopping ahead of my first year at Hogwarts. Of course I had visited Diagon Alley before but I had been impatient to go to Hogwarts for such a long time... finally the school year was looming ahead.

It's now time for you, future students to make the trip to buy school supplies.

Pick one of the prompts below

Prompts

• You go to Ollivander to buy your wand. Write about how the wand chooses you and what it means to you. You may use your Pottermore wand if you have one.

• Describe an unexpected meeting with a known HP character on the street. You may use characters that are dead by the end of DH.

• To find the perfect pet you visit Eeylops Owl Emporium & Magical Menagerie.

Requirements

• Number of words: between 500-1050
• Entries should be anonymous, so don't use any identifying elements in your story.

And here is my entry. I'm continuing the story of the girl from the first entry -the Letter.

Prompt – to find the perfect pet, visit Eeylops Owl Emporium & Magical Menagerie

Words 500-1050

I was still in shock about everything Mom told me about Dad. He was a wizard. And that made me a witch!  Mom told me to reply back to the school that yes I would be attending Hogwarts. I wrote the letter and sent it with the owl that appeared to take it back to the school.

“Kaylee,” Mom announced over supper one night. “We have to go to London. This list of items you need, there’s no way we can find that here. Besides I know it’s what your father would want for you.”

“London,” I exclaimed. “You mean I actually get to go to England?!” I was excited. The furthest from our home I’d ever been was my grandparents’ house in Seattle. Of course, that wasn’t too far as we lived in a small town in Oregon.

I spent the rest of the week packing things to take with me to school. We’d decided to make a vacation of the trip. We’d go to London a couple of weeks before I had to leave for school and be tourists. Then we’d try to find this place, Diagon Alley, where I needed to buy my supplies. Mom was hoping that there would be someone around who could help us.

Our first few days in London were a whirlwind of activities. We visited Buckingham Palace, Dickens House, and all of the other tourist attractions. Of course Mom turned it into an educational trip for me by making sure that I visited the homes of some classic authors as well as a couple of museums. I was fascinated. This was a whole new experience for me.

The day to get my supplies finally arrived. I was set to board the Hogwarts Express in 3 days. So we knew it was time to figure out how I was going to get my supplies. There was a sweet old woman at the hotel we were staying at who gave us directions to this pub called the Leaky Cauldron. She told us that Muggles couldn’t see it. I immediately was concerned that Mom wouldn’t be able to come with me, but the lady reassured me that as my parent, my mother would be able to see it as well.

The Leaky Cauldron wasn’t like any other pub we’d seen so far in London. It was dark. And inside, all sorts of strange people were talking and laughing.

“Excuse us,” Mom said as she went up to the bar. “We’re trying to get to Diagon Alley to get the school supplies my daughter needs. Do you think you can help us?”

The old barman looked at my mother and then looked at me. He studied us for several minutes and then said, “The entrance is through that door over there. But if this is her first time, you’ll need to use your wand to tap the bricks.”

“Oh my,” Mom said with a worried expression. “Kaylee doesn’t have a wand. And I’m not magical. My late husband was a wizard though. I’m not sure how we’ll be able to tap the bricks.”

“Hey,” the barman called to a gentleman heading towards the door. “They’re doing ‘ogwarts shopping and need into the Alley. Let’em come with you.”

The gentleman nodded and Mom and I followed him into a room of bricks. The man pulled out a stick and tapped lightly on the bricks and we watched in awe as a doorway opened.

“Wow,” I muttered as I gripped tight to Mom’s hand. It was a little scary to suddenly be away from all that I was familiar with.

“Thank you sir,” Mom told the man and he grunted in response.

“Now, let’s see,” she continued looking over the list of items on my school list. “Robes, books, cauldron, potion ingredients, wand. I know! Let’s start over there!”

I followed her hand in the direction she waved. A sign caught my eye – Eeylops Owl Emporium and Magical Menagerie.

Mom knew me so well. I loved animals of all kinds. I’m sure was remembering how I approached the owl that brought my letter to me and was afraid of it. She always said I’d grow to be a veterinarian or something like that.

“All right sweetheart, you go on in there and look for a pet. Remember you’re allowed a cat, a rat, a toad, or an owl. Find the animal you like the best and wait for me there. I will go over to that bank over there because I’m pretty sure that the dollars we exchanged at the airport for pounds won’t be good here,” she told me. I was already moving towards the shop.

There were animals everywhere! I was thrilled to be around them. Mom hadn’t really let me have a pet of my own at home, but we still had animals around. I wandered around the shop contemplating my decision as to which pet I’d like. I didn’t care for toads. And rats scared my mom. An owl would be practical. Because then I could use it to write to Mom. But for some reason, I didn’t want an owl. I didn’t want to be practical.

Almost of their of violation, my feet carried me to the corner where the cats were. Small ones. Big ones. Striped ones. Cats with funny colors. Some with tails. Others without.  In a matter of minutes I was on the floor and had several of them in my arms.

“Have you found one then,” the salesclerk asked me after about 45 minutes.

I looked up from the orange calico in my lap and smiled when I said, “Yes. This one.”

“What a great choice,” the woman said as she put the others back in their boxes. “Cats can be a great companion for a Hogwarts student.”

I followed the woman to the front of the store and found my mother waiting for me.

“A cat,” she said with a smile. “And a cute one too. What are you going to call it?”

“Truffle,” I said as my new kitty snuggled up to my neck purring loudly. “She looks like a caramel truffle.”

Mom laughed, paid the woman for the cat, the basket, and food. We then headed back out into Diagon Alley to continue my shopping.

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So there we go. Entry two. I'm having so much fun with this series of tasks. When I think about it, I'll post my third entry. Since on the Harry Potter site, we're up to entry 8.


Please feel free to leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers!

A Year in the Life of a Hogwarts Student - The Letter

Ok, so on the Harry Potter site I'm a member of, we are currently going through a challenge called "The Year in the Life of a Hogwarts Student." Which means I get to go to Hogwarts! Of course, someday I'll go visit the theme park in Florida, but for now, I'm going to share my entries. The way this will work will be I tell you the prompt we were given and then my entry. These are supposed to be anonymous, so for my friends who follow my blog here and are also members of the site, remember you know nothing. ;)

The first task was call the Letter. Here's the prompt we were given.

You have received a letter from Hogwarts. The first challenge you face is to write a story about what your reaction would be. Are you surprised, because as a Muggleborn you have no clue what´s happening? Excited because your whole family has already been at Hogwarts?
Tell us if you are a Muggleborn like Hermione or a member of a magical family like Ron. That’s the only requirement. Oh and no visits to Diagon Alley as of yet please

Requirements

• Number of words: between 850-1050

• Entries should be anonymous, so don't use any identifying elements in your story.

 And here is my entry.

Dear Diary,

Summer. My time to sleep in. At least usually. That so was not the case this morning. What happened? Well, it was like this…

I’d stayed up entirely too late last night reading and so I was tired. I sure wasn’t expecting to be woken up by Mom shrieking. Yes SHRIEKING!  Needless to say, I bolted out of bed and ran down the stairs. Mom was in the corner of the kitchen, near the stove, just pointing at some thing. I looked in the direction she was pointing and there flying around the open window was an OWL. I stood in the doorway for a second and watched it. Anytime it flew near Mom, she screeched and the owl was so startled it flew into the wall opposite of her. I stifled a chuckle while wondering why a nocturnal creature like an owl was in my kitchen in the morning.

“Do something,” Mom begged as it came in her direction again. This time, I noticed something attached to its leg.

“Alright,” I said as I shook myself fully awake and walked into the kitchen. Owls don’t really bug me. Intrigue me yes, but scare me – no. Now if it had been a snake on the other hand, I’d not go within 10 feet of it!

The owl noticed me as I walked into the kitchen. It flew over towards me and held out its leg. I looked at it in confusion. What did it want me to do?

“Poor guy,” I murmured to it as I reached out to untie what I could now tell was some sort of document. “Is this hurting you? There you go. Does that feel better?” I promise the owl looked at me like I was insane as I took untied the document. Once it was free, it flew straight out the open window.

“Well what is it,” Mom asked once it was gone.

“It’s some sort of document,” I replied turning it over in my hands. Then I noticed it. My name written on it in bold letters. Complete with my address and the words “kitchen doorway.”

“I think it’s a letter. It’s addressed to me,” I told her as I looked up.

“That’s a strange way to send a letter,” Mom replied as she placed a platter of chocolate chip pancakes on the table in front of my place.

“Yes, it is,” I agreed while absentmindedly drowning the pancakes in butter. I opened the letter and started to read it out loud.

“Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy… some person and a bunch of what looks like titles…We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy.

What? Mom, it’s telling me that I’ve been asked to go to a school for witchcraft. I don’t understand.”

I looked up at Mom in confusion. “I thought that magic only existed in the books I read and in fairy tales. How is this possible?”

Mom was silent for a few minutes before she looked up. “I’ve never told you about your father. He died long before you were born. In fact, we’d only been married just a short time, a few months really, when he died.”

“Ok,” I said, trying to understand. “What does Dad have to do with why I’ve been accepted into a school of witchcraft?”

“I’ll try to explain what I know,” she replied gently. “I met your father during my last year of college. I was with one of my girlfriends at a club. She dared me to go over and talk to the man at the bar with the t-shirt that had some strange rock band’s name on it. I’d noticed him when he entered the club as there was something about him that stood out, even from across the room. I accepted her dare. He was very charming. And I loved his accent. So I asked him if he was here in the States on vacation or as a student. He told me that it was a bit of both. A vacation before enrolling as an exchange student at the same college I was attending. We talked for hours that night. When it was time to leave, he asked me when he’d see me again. I gave him the name of my dorm and told him he could find me there the next day. I got home from my classes the next day and found a bouquet of roses waiting for me. With a note asking me to join him for dinner. I accepted, and that was the start of a whirlwind romance. Within six weeks we were engaged. He knew everything about me. All I knew about him, other than the fact that I loved him to distraction, was that he was British and his name was Kyle. At times, he’d mention something regarding “the Ministry” or “Muggles.” One evening, a few days before he died, he looked at me in all seriousness, and asked me ‘Do you believe in magic?’ I told him that if it’s magic that caused us to meet, then yes I did. He smiled at my response, and we were interrupted by a knock on the door. Kyle went to answer it, and after a hurried conversation, he came back to me. I’d only caught snatches of the rushed conversation. I’d heard things like “Attack. Aurors. Portkey. Immediately.” Kyle told me he had to go. An emergency. And that’d he be home just as soon as he could. He kissed me and then he left. A few days later, I received a letter telling me that my husband had died in an accident.

I haven’t thought of that night really in years. Not until you opened your letter.”

“So what are you telling me, Mom,” I asked.

“I’m saying that magic is real. And your father was a wizard. I know that now. I also know that had he lived, he’d have told us himself. Then neither of us would have been so shocked when that, that owl arrived. So evidently you’re a witch. And that’s why you received the letter.”

A witch! Diary! I could hardly believe it. The father I’d never known was a wizard and magic was real!

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So welcome to my fun world. I plan on sharing the entries as I do them. Well at least after the scoring of them is done. This contest is totally just for fun.