Diagon Alley

A burst of colour and a cacophony of noises burst into my ears. Colourful buildings of different shapes and sizes came into view, witch's and wizards walked around rushing to do their own thing in interesting attires of varying colours and sizes. As I looked around while following behind Professor McGonagall I noticed shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments I had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles it was all there. Almost anything I could think of would be found here or in knockturn alley.

Professor McGonagall and I walked towards a more densely populated area where an imposing snow-white multistoried marble building located partway down Diagon Alley, near its intersection with Knockturn Alley, that towers over the neighbouring shops. It is the place where British witches and wizards store their money and other valuables, in heavily-guarded vaults miles below ground. Along the way though, I found kids similar in age to myself coming in and out of shops carrying different things, It was all fascinating stuff. Such a vibrant place full of life was much more pleasant than the muggle world. Not that there weren't places like this, there was, such as NYC and Tokyo and I would make an effort to visit them but this magical place was, for now, a lovely sight to behold.

Soon we arrived at the entrance of the Gringotts bank where I would need to exchange the money Luke and Diana had given me for Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts. Well, that was what Professor McGonagall informed me of anyway.

A set of white stairs led up to a set of burnished bronze doors that blocked people from seeing the inside of Gringotts. Through these doors, was a vast marble hall with long counters stretching along its length with doors leading off to the vault passageways with around a hundred goblins sitting at them. As we walked in we made our way over to the nearest vacant counter where a small Golbin sat high on his chair. Maybe they're doing this to compensate for being tiny? I asked myself before hearing the hoarse voice of the Goblin. "what may I help you with?" he asked as he stretched over and peered down at me.

"May I convert pounds into Galleons please?" I asked courteously. I really didnt want to piss off these midgets. " You sure can, hand over the money," he said with a greedy look. Do they love gold so much? look how fast his character changed, tch. I hand him the bills that were bound together by rubber bands. The goblin hurriedly took the money, counted it then disappeared from view. Soon he came back with a small pouch that held 100 Galleons in it. It pretty much cost 500 pounds. I wondered how much my family had in the bank. After all, It was protected by a Hungarian horntail and was even deeper than the Lestrange families. Drak told me about it, he said that our family bank is so secret that only the head of the bank will know where it is. He also said if someone who isn't a dragon wielder tries to get in, the vault will not let them in and incinerate the space instead.

I was shocked stiff by the brutality of my family but I can also understand it. There must be an enormous amount of wealth gathered through the generations and to make sure no one stole it such precautions were needed. As he handed me the pouch and told me how much it was traded for I once again looked at the bag in confusion. since when could a tiny bag like this hold so much money? or was it that galleons were small? I questioned myself. On our way out Professor McGonagall saw my confused face and chuckled before telling me about what it actually was. "Mr Knight, you see this is a bag that has an expansion charm, they are very common," she said with a smile. "Ohhhh!" I exclaimed in realisation. So it's like that endless bag that Hermione had in the movies.

Thinking about Hermione I wondered what she was up to. Who am I kidding, she's probably reading some book somewhere. As I walked out of Gringotts with Professor McGonagall, we made our way to the different shops. I didn't really like the whole Massive trunk you have to lug around like an idiot all day. I don't Understand why the buy it when you can simply get a small bag with an expansion charm. But I soon got my answer. It was because they cost a fortune. Especially the ones that took up little space but had a lot of room inside. I was forced to buy that stupid trunk. But I promised myself to get that expensive Item at some point when I can access the family vault. I did however buy a cheaper one that could fit all my books and other school utensils I bought. It was a small backpack that looked flat and light to carry around. Perfect for walking around the school with.

After that, we went to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions where I needed to get some clothing made. I bought the Uniform in grey since it was mandatory as well as a raincoat, sets of ordinary robes, dragon hide gloves and small other things. Madam Malkin mumbled something before ushering me on top of a stool where she took all kinds of measurements from leg length to arm length to neck circumference, everything really. After about an hour she was done and I had everything packed and stored in my backpack for now.

We went to get my wand next and naturally, there was no better option than Ollivanders. professor McGonagall decided to go to walk around and wait for me to get my wand before going to get my pet.