Harry Potter and the Green Snake of Slytherin

2.

Crossing Alleys

Today was the last day before the beginning of the new school year at Hogwarts.

Harry, who had turned fifteen years old on July 31^st, was taking the train to London, his first Muggle-train journey actually. It was quite different from the old, cosy, black and maroon train that had been taking him over the past four years to the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Here no-one was wearing anything looking like a wizard robe; no aged Lady would be pushing her trolley through the wagons to sell Chocolate Frogs or Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. No steam would be coming out of the chimneys either. Still, he was really eager to meet his friends Ron and Hermione in less than an hour from now.

As always, staying at the Dursleys' for two months had been a nightmare and he was pleased that the Summer Holidays were almost over. He had left his bedroom early that morning after Hedwig had brought him an interesting piece of mail: his two closest classmates from Gryffindor wanted to go with him buy some 5th-year-wizard supplies in Diagon Alley.

***

The usual meeting place for young and old wizards prior to a trip to Diagon Alley was a picturesque pub called the Leaky Cauldron, which one could easily mistake for a... normal pub... from the outside. Ron and Hermione had arrived a bit earlier and were sitting at a wooden table, drinking Pumpkin juice and arguing about the use of books in one's practical magical experience.

"Hey Harry!" Ron shouted, as he saw the black-haired boy with the famous scar enter the pub.

Harry ordered some Pumpkin juice too, and then the three of them walked towards the backyard, where the pub's secret doorway to Diagon Alley was located. Two shops in the lane seemed to be a source of great tumult; the first one looked like a huge newspaper kiosk. Everyone wanted to buy a copy of the new daily paper "The Wizard Times". It had been rumoured that the Daily Prophet would have to face strong competition and there it was, printed in smaller, magical fonts. People had had enough of Rita Skeeter's voyeurism and sensational tidbits. Chief editorialist Thomas Quill was there in person, explaining that his paper would deal with the facts "just the facts".

Harry bought his copy of the "Wizard Times" too, and they began to read the news; "More unexplained Muggle deaths" was the cover title. Since the recent rise of Voldemort, Muggles and Muggle-born Wizards had been suffering the most mysterious and painful deaths around the country. Every day, more and more Death Eaters were joining the Dark Lord, hoping he would reward them with great powers.

"Not a bad paper. Scary, but well written! I hope Skeeter loses her job", said Hermione. Ron and Harry nodded silently.

"Quality Quidditch Supplies" was the other shop where mostly young wizards kept buzzing around like flies. The three Gryffindors recognized Lee Jordan amidst the crowd, who was desperately gasping in front of the new Thunderstorm XP broomstick. It was even outstanding the Firebolt that Sirius Black had offered to Harry last year, supposedly the best broom ever. Craftsman of the new broom William Dohrs had summed it all: it was "easier, faster, and stronger". Amen.

Talking to Lee would not be a good idea because he would come up with the detailed feature sheet of the broom. It was rather time to go to Gringott's to withdraw a few Galleons to buy some stuff for the upcoming school year. Unfortunately, Draco Malfoy was there, and Lucius Malfoy, his father, was there too. That was too many Malfoys at a time, so they decided to stay behind, trying not to be seen.

Harry heard Draco say "This will be our welcoming present for her, I'm sure she'll like it".

Malfoy and his father left Gringott's, heading towards Knockturn Alley, which was known as the place for Dark Arts supplies of all kind.

Harry, Ron and Hermione emptied half their pockets at Flourish and Bott's, where they had to buy the 5th year books ("Advanced Transfiguration" by Charles Changeall, "The Subtle Art of Potion Making" by Severus Snape, "Powerful Counter-Curses Explained" by Bertram Backlash, and a few others including the "Comprehensive List of Quidditch Moves" that was not exactly part of the programme).

After coming across Neville Longbottom, who had been offered by his grandmother an Unmeltable Cauldron at 3C's (Calderon's Cauldrons Craftsmanship), they walked towards Ollivander's to get Ron's broken wand repaired.

Ollivander was the best wand maker ever. His shop was ingeniously located at the crossing of Diagon and Knockturn Alleys, so that all wizards, white and dark, would find there the wand of their dreams. Oh, there had been attempts to open competitive shops, but none of them had been lasting more than one single, pitiful month.

They were about to enter the shop, when Harry stopped his friends: Malfoy and his father were coming back from Knockturn Alley, followed by a young girl who was carrying big, heavy totes from Borgin & Burkes and a paper-covered thing that seemed to be a small cage. The girl was taking her time, looking bemused at the shops around her, talking sometimes to Draco Malfoy, sometimes to his father. Harry, Ron and Hermione were watching them, still a few feet away. The Malfoys entered Ollivander's but the girl stayed outside for a moment.

Apparently, she was looking in Harry's direction. Harry could not precisely tell whether she was looking at him or through him, but he looked back. Although she was still too far away for him to notice all the details, he was definitely bluffed by her cool attitude, her long, black, well-combed hair and her limpid-green eyes. Everything in that girl seemed to be thought out and peaceful. Quite Malfoy's opposite, actually.

Speaking of the devil, Draco Malfoy came out of the shop and told her "Come in, I think we found the right one for you!" She followed him inside in a fluid fashion, as if she were hovering a few inches above the ground.

Harry was still looking at her, when he felt something hard punching his ribs.

"Ouch!" he shouted.

That something was Hermione, who had been trying to bring him back to reality, calling his name several times with no success whatsoever.

"Hey Harry, are you alright?" she asked.

"Hmm... Yeah" he answered, still looking in the girl's direction.

Hermione followed his eyes and she finally understood what had been fascinating him for the past five minutes.

"Are you staring like that at...HER?" she said, perfectly knowing the answer Harry blushed, unable to say anything.

Then he turned to Ron and asked him, whispering "Who's that girl with the Malfoys who just entered Ollivander's?"

Ron shook his head, puzzled, "No idea, never seen her before"

"She was previously with them in Knockturn Alley, why don't we find out?" said Harry. Hermione had heard what they were saying and interrupted them "you should stay out of Malfoy's business anyway. Knockturn Alley is known to -"

But before she could finish her sentence, Ron and Harry left her behind, and hid themselves behind Ollivander's door. They heard Draco Malfoy say:

"An exquisite wand you have here, Avara. I hope you accomplish great things with it".

The raven-black haired girl answered in a deep, crystal-clear voice "Thanks, Draco. I'm going to ask Mr Ollivander a few more questions about it. Why don't you go to the Quidditch shop with your father, I'll be right back".

Harry's mind was now full of diffuse thoughts "Aha.'Avara'. Never heard that first name before. Sounds nice. Is she's Malfoy's girlfriend? No, no, no. She can't be"

Draco Malfoy just came out of the wand shop and noticed the three Gryffindors "Ha! Potter, you've had a hell of a luck last year at the Triwizard Tournament. I hope you don't feel guilty for Cedric Dig..."

"SHUT UP, MALFOY", Hermione, Ron and Harry shouted together.

"Oh we'll have plenty of time to discuss it tomorrow. Don't draw such a face, Potter! You're still alive after all", he smirked with his drawling voice.

A few minutes later, the girl called Avara went out of the shop with what looked like a wand case and a very ancient spell book. She stopped a few seconds in front of Potter, smiled at him, and headed for the Quidditch shop.

Still puzzled about her, Harry felt totally useless when Ron asked him for advice for a new wand. The old one was so damaged that it was impossible to repair. Hermione and Mr. Ollivander were of greater help, and Ron finally bought an eight-inch, oak wand, filled with the heart string of a Norwegian dragon.

Hermione really felt like lecturing Harry "But really, where do you think you are! Harry, you are acting like an eight year old boy" but Harry did not pay attention.

***

The three of them walked out of Diagon Alley. Ron's elder brother Bill Weasley had been waiting for them inside the pub.

"This way, please, Ladies and Gentlemen" he said, showing them the way to his London flat, were they would be having dinner and spending the night until next day. This was convenient for all of them, as they would be close enough to the station to take the Hogwarts Express at 11 o'clock on platform 9 ¾.

In the meantime, Avara would be spending a delightful evening at the Malfoy's House, asking Draco too many questions about Hogwarts.