Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone: Chapter 5 - Diagon Alley
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Chapter 5
Diagon Alley
Harry wakes up early the next morning. He tells himself that everything is just a dream. There is no giant named Hagrid. There is no school for wizards. I am still in my room under the stairs, he thinks. But it is such a good dream that he keeps his eyes closed.
But he finally sits up and opens his eyes. To his surprise, he is not in his little room under the stairs - he is in the old, broken-down house on the rock in the middle of the ocean! And there, on a sofa in front of him, is a sleeping giant. It is Hagrid! Harry cannot believe it. He is so happy, he feels like he will explode. Hagrid opens his eyes, yawns with a huge open mouth, and stretches.
“Good morning, Harry! I hope you slept well,” says Hagrid. He looks up at the sun coming through the window and says, “It’s time to go, Harry. We have lots to do today. We have to get to London to buy all your things for school!” Harry suddenly feels sad again. “Hagrid?” he says, “I don’t have any money to pay for anything. You heard Uncle Vernon. He won’t pay for the school.”
“Don’t you worry, Harry,” says Hagrid as he stands up. “Your parents left you something at Gringotts. It’s a bank for wizards.”
“Wizards have banks?”
“Just the one. Gringotts. It’s operated by goblins.”
“Goblins?” Harry asks. He can’t believe his own ears.
“That’s right. It’s the safest place in the world to keep your important things. I have to visit Gringotts anyway - for Dumbledore,” Hagrid explains. “Do you have all your things? Good. Let’s go, then.” Outside on the rock the sky is clear. The storm is gone. But the little boat is there, waiting for them. “Harry,” says Hagrid, “I’m not supposed to use magic outside of Hogwarts, but we can go a lot faster in the boat…with some magic”
“I won’t say anything, Hagrid!” says Harry. He is excited to see some more magic. Hagrid takes out his pink umbrella and taps the side of the boat twice. The boat speeds away back to land.
They leave the boat and finally arrive at the train station in the little town. Luckily, there is a train leaving in five minutes for London. On the train, Hagrid asks, “Harry? Do you still have your letter?”
Harry takes the letter out of his pocket and shows it to Hagrid.
“Good! It has a list of everything we need to buy for you.” Harry looks at the paper. There is a long list of things he needs to buy, including things for his uniform: three sets of plain black robes, a pointed hat, some gloves made of dragon skin, and a winter cloak.
Then there is a list of books about spells, and the history of magic, a beginner’s guide to transfiguration, a book on herbs and fungi, a book on potions, one about beasts and where to find them, then there is a book on the dark forces. The list also includes a wand, a cauldron, a telescope and a set of scales and a set of glass cups.
Harry reads out loud from the paper: “Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad, but no broomstick! Can we buy all this in London, Hagrid?” “If you know where to go!” answers Hagrid. Soon they arrive at the London train station. They walk for some time down the narrow streets until they arrive at a small, dirty-looking bar. “This is it,” Hagrid says, “the Leaky Cauldron. It’s a famous place.”
Harry and Hagrid enter. It is dark and dirty. There are a few people sitting at the bar and sitting at tables, and they all stop and stare when they see Harry. “Good Lord,” says the bartender, looking closely at Harry, “is that – can it be? Well I cannot believe it, it is! Harry Potter, what an honor!” The bartender, who is a little old bald man, comes quickly towards Harry and shakes his hand. There are tears in his eyes. “Welcome back, Mr. Potter, welcome back.”
Everyone is looking at Harry, then they all get up and come say hello. A young man with a very pale face comes towards Harry. “Professor Quirrell!” says Hagrid. “Harry, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts.”
“Mr. P-P-Potter,” stammers Professor Quirrell, “I am s-so happy to finally m-m-meet you!”
“What kind of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?” asks Harry.
“D-Defense Against the D-D-Dark Arts,” he answers. He seems scared to even talk about it. “Of course you w-w-will not need it, right, P-P-Potter?”
“All right, all right, everyone, we must go.” says Hagrid. “We still have lots to do. Come on, Harry.”
As they leave, Hagrid looks at Harry and says, “see, Harry? I told you you’re famous!” They soon arrive at a small courtyard. There is nothing there but a stone wall. “Now, where’s my umbrella?” Hagrid asks himself. “Oh, here we go…three stones up, two stones across…” He taps the wall with his umbrella and suddenly the stones begin to move and shift.
In front of Harry a large archway appears out of nowhere! There is an old stone street that twists this way and that, then disappears into the distance. “Welcome to Diagon Alley,” says Hagrid. Harry is filled with amazement. They walk through the arch and then Harry looks behind him - the opening they have just walked through begins to close! Almost instantly the hole disappears, and there is only the solid stone wall.
The sun is shining as they walk down the street. Harry cannot believe his eyes! There are shops and stores of all different kinds, selling every kind of magic item imaginable. There is even a store that sells several kinds of owls! There are broomstick shops, and cauldron vendors, robe makers and potion sellers.
“Here we are, Harry. Gringotts,” says Hagrid. They are standing in front of a large white building. Next to the large doors, wearing a red and gold uniform is – “Yeah, that’s a goblin, Harry,” says Hagrid. The goblin is much shorter than Harry. He has an intelligent, dark face with a pointed beard, and long fingers and feet. He bows as they walk inside the building.
They are in a vast hall made of marble. There are about a hundred more goblins in the room. They are sitting on high chairs behind a long counter. They are writing in books, weighing coins and examining precious stones using special eyeglasses.
The hall is full of doors, too many to count. The goblins are taking people in and out of the many doors. “Good morning,” says Hagrid, when they approach the counter. “We’ve come to take out some money from Mr. Harry Potter’s safe.” “Do you have his key, Sir?” asks one of the goblins “It’s here somewhere,” says Hagrid, as he searches his many pockets in his huge coat. “I found it!” Hagrid says. He holds up a tiny golden key.
“That looks like the correct key,” says the goblin. “And I have a letter from Professor Dumbledore, too,” says Hagrid. “It’s about the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen.” The goblin reads the letter carefully. “Very well,” he says, “someone will take you to both vaults. Griphook!”
Another goblin arrives and leads them through one of the many doors. They follow a dark passage to a railway. They get into a little cart and move quickly down the tracks. They speed through a labyrinth of tunnels! Finally, they arrive at a small door in the passage wall. Griphook unlocks the door with the key and they enter through a cloud of green smoke.
“It’s all yours, Harry,” says Hagrid. Harry cannot believe his eyes. The room is full of piles of gold coins and silver coins and bronze coins! Hagrid helps Harry fill a bag with some of the coins. “The gold ones are Galleons, the silver ones are Sickles, and the bronze ones are Knuts. This should be enough for a year at Hogwarts! Right, Griphook, to vault seven hundred and thirteen, please.”
They move deeper and deeper into the tunnels on the cart. The air gets colder and colder. Vault seven hundred and thirteen has no hole for a key. Griphook walks up to the door and touches it with a long finger - the door vanishes! Harry looks in. The room looks empty. But Hagrid moves past him and enters the room. He picks up a small package that is on the floor. Harry desperately wants to know what it is. “Let’s go!” says Hagrid. “Back to the surface. We have things to buy, Harry!”
After a wild cart ride, they arrive back on the surface, in the bright sunlight. Harry realizes he now has more money than he has ever had in his entire life! He does not know what to do with it. “Why don’t you go and buy your uniform, Harry?” says Hagrid. “I have some things to take care of. Madam Malkin’s shop has everything you need. Off you go!” And with that, Hagrid pushes Harry towards Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions.
Madam Malkin is a small, round, smiling witch dressed in purple robes. “Are you here for Hogwarts, dear?” she asks Harry when he enters the shop. “Come over here and stand, dear. Let’s get your robes.” Madam Malkin places a long black robe over his head and begins to put little pins in to find the correct length.
There are other boys in the shop who are also getting their robes altered. Harry overhears them talking about things he does not understand - Hufflepuff and Slytherin, broomsticks and Quidditch. Harry begins to feel sad again. He really has no understanding at all about what is happening to him.
As Madam Malkin places the last pin, Hagrid enters the shop and waits in the waiting area. Harry hears the boys talk badly about Hagrid, calling him a servant and a savage. The boys remind Harry of Dudley. They are cruel and mean. “All set, dear! Your robe for all occasions is ready!” Harry thanks Madam Malkin and leaves the shop with Hagrid.
Harry is quiet as they walk down the street, and Hagrid asks, “Harry, what’s wrong?” “Nothing,” Harry lies. “Hagrid,” he continues, “what’s Quidditch?” “Blimey, Harry, I keep forgetting how little you know about us and our world. Quidditch is our sport. It’s a wizard sport. It’s like football in the Muggle world - everyone follows Quidditch. You play it up in the air with broomsticks and four balls - it’s hard to explain the rules.”
“And what are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?” asks Harry. “They are the houses at Hogwarts school. There are four houses. Everyone says the students at Hufflepuff are a lot of dummies but…” “I’ll probably be in Hufflepuff,” says Harry unhappily. “It’s better to be in Hufflepuff than in Slytherin,” says Hagrid. “Only the bad witches and wizards come from Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one.”
“Vol-, sorry - You-Know-Who went to Hogwarts?” asks Harry. “Many years ago,” answers Hagrid, and he says no more about the subject. They continue their shopping down Diagon Alley. They buy books of all kinds, and paper and ink - the ink changes color as you write! They buy a cauldron and a set of scales for weighing potions, and a beautiful telescope.
They visit the Apothecary to buy basic potions, and Harry examines a silver unicorn horn that costs twenty-one Galleons! They stop at an Owl Emporium to buy an owl for Harry - toads and cats are out of fashion, explains Hagrid. All the new wizards and witches want owls for their animals! Harry walks out of the store with a large cage and a beautiful snow-white owl.
“Just one more stop, Harry.” says Hagrid. “We’ll go to Ollivanders for your wand - the best wands for the best wizards.” Harry can’t wait. That is what he really wants - a magic wand! As they enter the dark store, Harry notices thousands of narrow boxes in high piles - from the floor to the ceiling. For some reason, Harry feels anxious. The hair on his neck is standing up. The store seems to be filled with secret magic.
“Good afternoon,” says a soft voice. An old man is standing there. His eyes are bright in the dark shop. “Hello,” says Harry, embarrassed. “I thought I would see you here someday soon, Harry Potter. You have your mother’s eyes. It seems like only yesterday that she came to my shop to buy her first wand.
I remember every wand I have ever sold. Your mother’s wand was made of willow, but your father preferred a mahogany wand, for a little more power. But it is the wand that chooses the wizard, of course.” Mr. Ollivander is very close to Harry as he speaks. His nose is almost touching Harry’s.
He touches the scar on Harry’s forehead with a long finger. “I’m sorry to say that it was I who sold the wand that did that,” he says softly. “It was made of yew wood. Very powerful, and in the wrong hands. If I had known what that wand was going to do…”
He looks at Hagrid for a moment, “Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again. Your wand was made of oak, wasn’t it? It was a good wand until they broke it when you were expelled.” He looks at Hagrid with a severe face. Hagrid looks embarrassed now. “Well, now, Mr. Potter. Let me see.”
Harry tries many different wands. But each wand he waves in the air, Mr. Ollivander takes away quickly. He tries wands made of wood, and unicorn horns, dragon hearts and phoenix tails. “You are a difficult customer, Mr. Potter. But do not worry, we will find you a perfect match here somewhere…yes, here. Try this one.”
“It is made of holly and phoenix feathers.” Harry takes the wand. He feels a strange warm sensation in his fingers. He raises it above his head and waves it through the air. Red and gold sparks shoot from the end like fireworks. Hagrid jumps up and down, and Mr. Ollivander claps his hands with happiness. “Oh, bravo!” he yells. “Yes, indeed, oh, very good.”
“Well, well, well…how very curious…” He puts the wand back in its box and wraps it in brown paper. “Yes, very curious indeed…” he continues saying. “All wands are different, Mr. Potter, but this wand has a brother…its brother gave you that scar. Very curious how these things happen. I think we can expect great things from you, Mr. Potter. After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things – terrible things, yes, but great things.”
Harry feels scared. He is not sure if he likes Mr. Ollivander very much. But he pays the seven gold Galleons for his wand and leaves the shop. They make their way back down Diagon Alley, through the arch in the stone wall, all the way back to the train station. Harry has a ticket back home to the Dursleys.
Before the train leaves, he says to Hagrid, “Everyone thinks I’m special. All those people in the bar, Professor Quirrell, Mr. Ollivander. But I don’t know anything about magic. How can I do great things if I don’t know anything, or even why I’m famous?”
“Don’t worry, Harry,” says Hagrid. “You’ll learn fast enough. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts. You’ll be just fine. Just be yourself. I know it’s hard. You’re famous, after all. But you’ll have a great time at Hogwarts. Here’s your train ticket for Hogwarts, by the way.” He hands Harry the ticket. “If you have any problems with the Dursleys, you send me a letter with your owl. She’ll know where to find me. See you soon, Harry.”
The train begins to leave the station. Harry wants to watch Hagrid until he can’t see him anymore. He stands up and puts his nose against the window, but he blinks for an instant, and Hagrid is gone.
