July 16th, 1938,
Sam is coming here again today. He will be taking us to Diagon Alley to help us buy our school things. This is quite exciting, I must say.
Tom is nervous about going, I can tell. He keeps pacing the main entranceway, waiting for Sam to arrive. I am nervous, too, but I find writing helps me calm my nerves. The other kids are becoming suspicious of us, wondering what we're up to, but Mme. Westyn made us promise not to say anything to them about our recently discovered abilities. She said she would 'take care of everything'.
--
Sam arrived at the orphanage at a quarter past ten that morning. He had just sprinted through the massive front lawn and was quite significantly out of breath when he reached the kids.
"I'm very sorry about being late, but I had to make a quick stop at the Ministry before coming here," he panted. "Are... Are you two ready to go then?" he gasped as he slowly regained his composure. Tom and Miriam nodded.
"Let's be on our way, then."
It was a hot and uncomfortable summer day. No sooner had they reached the middle of the lawn, they had already broken into perspiration.
"Wow, it sure is hot today," Miriam sighed, wiping the beads of sweat forming on her brow with the back of her hand. Up ahead Tom sauntered off, proud of the fact that soon they wouldn’t be living under Madame Westyn’s roof for nine whole glorious months. Luckily, relief from the head was nearby; sitting in the driveway was a large black car.
"We'll be traveling in this today," Sam announced.
He opened the back door and Miriam and Tom climbed into the backseat. Boy, was it was roomy! What was even more inviting was that it felt so good to be out of the agonizing heat.
Once he made sure they were comfortably seated in the back, Sam got in the drivers side and started the car. Tom and Miriam looked out the windows and watched the orphanage get smaller and smaller as they drove away.
"Where are we going?" Tom probed as Sam sped down the narrow, dirt road.
"To London," he replied cheerfully.
"But I thought we were heading to Diagon Alley?" Tom wondered aloud, fidgeting in his seat slightly.
"We are, but to get to Diagon Alley, we have to go through London," he answered. "You may not know this, but many things in the wizarding world are neatly hidden inside the Muggle world, unbeknownst to them."
"How do Muggles keep from finding these places, then?"
"It's quite simple really. Anti-Muggle charms and spells are used. If a Muggle gets too close to a wizard place, the spell will make the Muggle suddenly remember a doctor’s appointment he had, although he never had one with which to begin. They'll leave the place and eventually forget all about it. Even Hogwarts has charms on it. To an outsider it just looks like an old, abandoned and ramshackle castle, while inside it’s an altogether different story."
Tom remained quiet for a moment before asking, “How much longer is it to London?"
"Er, about two hours, give or take."
Bursting with anxiety, those two hours seemed like eternity to Tom and Miriam. When they finally reached the city, they sat up in their seats. This was the first time they had ever seen London up close and they wanted to get a good view of it. All the tall buildings, the sights, and the sounds “ it was simply amazing to them! For most of the trip through the city, their faces were glued to the windows.
"We'll be there before long," Sam noted, reading the impatience on each of the children’s faces. "Only if it weren't for this bloody traffic," he muttered darkly. Eventually he drove down a busy street and parked the car.
"Why are we stopping here?" a befuddled Miriam asked as the car had now stopped in front of a dilapidated building.
"You'll see," he replied simply. The three of them got out of the car and walked up to the boarded-up door.
Sam looked around over his shoulder, and upon seeing that nobody was paying any attention to him or the kids, he pulled out his wand and tapped it on the door. Slowly it began to creak open... Tom and Miriam stared at the door, each wondering what was on the other side of it.
"C'mon in, you two," he beamed, waving his hand at them. They slowly walked through the darkened doorway and into...
"Ouch! Tom, you klutz! You just stepped on my foot!" yelped Miriam.
"Hey! It’s not like I can see where I'm going!"
"Are you kids okay?" Sam asked.
"Fine," Miriam muttered.
Up ahead, a dim, yellowish light reflected off the walls beside them. They could barely see Sam as they continued moving along the dark corridor, the dim light slowly getting brighter as they went on. Eventually they could see the outline of Sam much more clearly. He walked through another doorway and into a large cavernous room.
"Welcome to The Leaky Cauldron!" he announced grandly. The children looked around in awe.
On that particular day, the place was brimming with people. In some spots, there was hardly any room for the people to move around.
"Wow," squeaked Tom. "By the looks of it, it seems like everyone else picked today to do their school shopping, as well," he noted, observing people walking by and carrying bags brimming with all sorts of things in their hands. Further in the Leaky Cauldron stood a man with grayish hair wiping out a glass mug behind the counter. The bartender looked up to see who had just entered the pub. A smile crept onto his face when he saw who it was.
"Hello Sam!" he exclaimed jovially.
"Why, hello, Xavier," he replied. Sam turned to face the children and said, "I'll be back in a bit, I promise. If you two want to go exploring, go ahead, but just don't go outside." With a quick pat on their backs, he headed over to see his friend, Xavier. Deciding to follow his advice, the two kids went about exploring this new and interesting place.
"I see the Ministry has you babysitting now," Xavier joked as Sam joined him at the counter.
"Very funny, Xavier," Sam replied with a grin on his face. "I'm just helping these kids get ready for Hogwarts. Say, do you remember a Marguerite Morreaux?” he whispered the last part, nodding his head back at Tom and Miriam.
“You mean those children,” Xavier questioned, nudging his head in Tom and Miriam's direction, "are related to her?" Sam nodded his head in agreement.
“I've heard through the grapevine that their mother was a descendant of one of the four Hogwarts founders. Salazar Slytherin, I believe."
"Marguerite? Really?" Xavier gasped. "I never would have imagined her to be related to Slytherin. Such a delightful and smart lady she was. Quite skilled at Legilimency, too," he sighed. "Don’t know what she ever saw in the retched Muggle. Heard rumors he wasn’t a very pleasant person."
Sam nodded again. “Naturally, I was completely shocked to hear that she had passed away, but I never knew she left behind two newborn children... until recently, of course." Xavier shook his head forlornly.
"I assume they’ve been living with their father, then?" he asked.
As Sam opened his mouth to speak, a loud crashing sound came from behind them. "Abby, how could you?" a woman exclaimed from across the room. Sam and Xavier whirled around and saw a teenage girl with bright red hair standing next to a broken jug on the floor.
"I'm so sorry. It just slipped out of my hands," the girl replied.
An older woman, with red hair, as well, pulled out her wand and pointed it at the broken jug. "Reparo." The broken shards flew into the air and placed themselves back together. A few tables down from where this took place, Miriam watched the fiasco with extreme amazement. She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the broken jug was whole again.
"Tom, isn't the wizarding world simply amazing?" she asked. After a few moments with no response, she grew worried. "Right, Tom?" She turned around and saw he wasn't there. "Tom?" she called out. Looking around, she spotted Tom on the other side of the pub. "There you are!" she exclaimed, running over to meet him. "I was talking to you, or at least I thought I was! I thought you were still with me."
"Sorry, Miriam, I just wanted to look at these posters here." He pointed to a bunch of 'Wanted: Dead or Alive' posters hanging haphazardly on the wall. “Besides,” he quipped, “I thought you were quite good at talking to yourself.”
Miriam slapped him upside the head. "Ha, ha, ha," she retorted sarcastically.
"Seriously, though, I just heard something really interesting while I was over here," Tom began, leaning closer to Miriam, his eyes aglow with excitement. "Apparently -"
"There you two are!" Sam exclaimed, suddenly appearing behind Miriam. "I best be going now, Xavier," he said facing his friend. "Got a busy day ahead of me."
After saying good-bye, he led the two kids out into a small, grassy courtyard behind the pub. Tom never got a chance to tell Miriam what he found so fascinating.
"Prepare to be amazed, young lad and lassie," Sam told them as he walked up to a large brick wall. He pulled his wand out and tapped on the bricks. Magically they began to shift around, eventually forming a brick archway. Just ahead, on the other side of the archway, was a small town where all sorts of witches and wizards were drifting about.
"Welcome to Diagon Alley," he announced. Tom and Miriam slowly walked under the stone archway and into the hustle and bustle of Diagon Alley. Tom and Miriam’s mouths were gaping open as they looked around at the different stores. There were so many places to go to, neither of them knew where to begin.
"Before we embark on our journey, we’ll need to stop and get some money," Sam stated. "So, our first stop today will be Gringott’s."
"What is Gringotts?" asked Miriam.
"Gringotts is a wizard’s bank. Unlike your Muggle banks, Gringotts is run entirely by goblins. No safer place to store your valuables as one would have to be really foolish to try and rob them. Goblins are very territorial when it comes to gold... they’ve been known to get extremely violent over it," Sam replied. Tom and Miriam exchanged apprehensive glances.
As Sam lead them through Diagon Alley, Miriam tried to imagine what Gringott’s would be like. She was uneasy about going, but a part of her was fascinated by the thought of meeting a goblin. She had never seen one before, except in books.
Once inside the bank, Miriam looked around, taking in the view. “Look at all the goblins,” she whispered in astonishment to Tom, whose eyes were just as wide as hers.
"I sure wouldn’t want to anger any of them,” he answered quietly, eyeing them intently as they walked by.
Up ahead at one of the counters, Sam was already in conversation with a goblin. “I would like to make a withdraw from the Riddle vault," he said, groping around inside his robe pocket, eventually pulling out something small and shiny. "I have the key for it right here." He placed it on the desk in front of the goblin.
“Follow me, please,” the goblin said in a monotonous voice.
Miriam looked over at Tom. "We have our own vault?!" she whispered, taken by surprise. Tom shrugged. He was speechless. The goblin stepped down from behind the desk and led them into a room barely lit by the lantern.
"Please board the trolley and keep your arms tucked inside." Sam boarded the train, but Miriam and Tom held back.
"We're supposed to go on that?" Tom demanded, pointing at the trolley.
"Yes," Sam declared. "This is how we get to your vault." Reluctantly, Tom got on board, followed by an uncertain Miriam. The last to get on was the goblin.
"Please stay seated while the trolley is moving."
The trolley slowly lurked along until... "Hold on for dear life, kids!" Sam ordered. The trolley had picked up speed and was sailing through the dark cave at an exceptionally fast pace.
"Wicked!" Tom exclaimed. He was obviously enjoying the ride, but Miriam on the other hand thought differently.
Please don't let me get sick, she begged. She slumped down in her seat, hoping the ride would be over with before long. Luckily for her, it ended almost instantly. Unfortunately, when the goblin pulled the lever to stop the trolley, Sam, Tom, and Miriam went tumbling forward in it.
"Here we are," the goblin announced. "Vault one hundred and fifty."
Sam got off the trolley first, followed by Tom. "That was an incredible ride!" exclaimed Tom. "Wasn't it, Miriam?" He turned around and saw Miriam slowly crawling out of the trolley.
"Don't even say it," she said briskly as she walked by him.
Tom just gave her a big, sly grin. "Moi?" he asked innocently. Fortunately, she had her back to him as she rolled her eyes and uttered a sigh.
"Here you go, sir," spoke the goblin. The goblin had opened the vault door and sitting inside was a mountainous heap of gold coins. The way the light from the goblin’s lantern reflected off of the gold made it even more beautiful to behold. As Tom and Miriam stared at it, their jaws nearly hit the floor. They had gold... piles and piles of it. For being unwanted orphans, they were very well off.
"Bet you guys didn't know you were that wealthy, huh?" Sam asked.
He took a small bag out from inside his gray robe and started filling it with the gold coins. "This should suit the purpose," he said once he filled the bag a good amount of the way up. Sam made his way back over to the trolley and sat down, Tom and Miriam closely following behind him.
The trolley sped up, but Miriam didn't flinch. Her mind was still preoccupied on the vault filled with gold. She was a very wealthy little girl... a wealthy orphaned little girl.
They eventually made their way back outside into the bright, but very hot, summer day. "We've got a lot of places to go to today,” Sam announced. “Are you two up for the trek?” The kids nodded.
For a great deal of the day, Sam, Tom, and Miriam ran around Diagon Alley purchasing the required things they needed for Hogwarts. As a special surprise for them, Sam had bought them each an owl as an "early birthday gift."
The last thing on the list they needed to buy was a wand.
"You'll need to go to Ollivander's for that," Sam told them. He took them over to Ollivander's shop and led them inside. “If you don't mind, I'll just be waiting outside," he told them. Sam left the shop, but stood next to a window so Tom and Miriam could still see him.
"Hello," a strange voice called out. They turned around and saw an older gentleman coming out from the back. He had dark grayish hair and large, gazing eyes. "How may I help you two?"
"We need to buy a wand," Miriam answered.
"Are you right handed or left?" he asked.
"Right." Both Tom and Miriam replied in unison.
The tape measure began to move magically as it measured Miriam and Tom's arm length. When it was done, it fell to a heap on the floor and the man headed into the back. He returned a few minutes later carrying a dozen or so boxes in his arms. He opened one of them and handed a dark colored wand to Miriam.
"This is fourteen and a quarter inches. It's made of rose wood and its core is from the mane of a unicorn," he said. Miriam took the wand from him and looked at it. "Give it a wave," he advised her. She flicked her wrist and a cold burst of air came through.
"Hmm, not that wand," he muttered to himself. He placed the wand back in it's box and handed her another one. "This one is a combination of cherry and maple wood. Thirteen and a quarter inches and with dragons’ heartstring for a core."
Miriam took this wand and gave it a wave. A large stack of books fell off a nearby counter. "Erm... not quite... try this one," he said. "It's red cedar and oak, twelve and a quarter inches. This one is made with a phoenix feather."
The moment her hand touched this one, a soft, warming sensation went through her body. A gentle breeze blew and gleaming white sparks shot out of the wand. "I believe this is the right one for you," he smiled at her. He took her wand and wrapped it up to protect it. When he finished, he turned to face Tom.
"This is fourteen inches, made of mahogany, with a unicorn hair for the center." Tom took the wand and gave it a wave, but nothing happened. "Try this one," he told him. "It's fifteen inches, made of ebony, and made with a phoenix talon core." Tom gave it a wave and a burst of energy shot through the store, knocking over some empty wand boxes.
"No, alright," Mr. Ollivander said. He went to put it away when he saw that he had another box that hadn’t been opened. No, he thought. Not that one, unless...
He handed Tom the other wand, and just like Miriam's, a warm sensation ran through him, but then suddenly turned icy cold as greenish colored sparks flew out. The man looked at Tom intently. "Interesting," he said. "That is a yew wand, thirteen and a half inches and made with a phoenix feather center."
"Like Miriam’s?" Tom asked.
"Yes... and no," he replied. "You both have a phoenix feather in your wands, but the phoenix feather in your sister's wand came from a different bird than what’s in yours."
The man took the yew wand and wrapped it up like he had done with Miriam's. Miriam gave the man the required amount of money to buy the wands. After they purchased them, Tom and Miriam went outside and met back up with Sam.
"Did everything go okay in there?" he asked. Tom and Miriam nodded.
"I got a red cedar and Tom got a yew wand," she replied.
"Yeah, and we’ve both got a phoenix feather core... whatever that’s for," Tom added.
"The phoenix feathers are your wands’ power source,” Sam explained. "You know, before we go I'd like to treat you guys to an ice cream sundae from Fortescue's over there. She makes the best ice cream sundaes around.” He guided them over to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor and ordered three of her famous ice cream sundaes.
~*~
"Thank you very much for the ice cream," Miriam said once they had finished eating a little while later.
"Yes, thanks," Tom added.
"You're both very welcome," he replied. "I kind of figured orphanage food probably doesn’t taste very good."
“No, it doesn’t. I imagine that cardboard would taste better than what Madame Westyn serves us,” Tom quipped. Miriam spit out the bit of ice cream she had in her mouth and laughed.
After Sam paid for the three sundaes, they left Diagon Alley and the exciting wizarding world behind. Tom and Miriam were soon back to their uninteresting, unexciting, and just generally unhappy lives at the orphanage. Neither one could wait to leave to go to Hogwarts. The thought of a Madame Westyn-free nine months was almost intoxicating.
Miriam glanced at Tom, and a devious smile slowly crept onto her face. Tom understood what she was thinking and returned the sly grin.
~*~
Over a month had passed and soon the big day had finally come for them to go to Hogwarts. Tom and Miriam waited with bated breath by the entryway windows, watching for that oh-so-familiar black car to come and take them away. Before they knew it, they saw him pulling up in front of the orphanage.
"How exactly do we get there?" Miriam probed as they drove through London.
"From Kings' Crossing. From there, you’ll board the train from platform nine and three-quarters," Sam replied.
"Nine and three-quarters?" Tom repeated incredulously. "There's no such thing as that!"
"You'll see when we get there," Sam replied with a smile.
He drove them to the station, then helped unload their suitcases from the car into separate trolleys. "Follow me," he instructed them. He led the children through the station until he came to a brick wall separating platforms nine and ten. Sam looked around and saw that no one was nearby.
"The trick," he began, "is to pass through this wall. It'll take you right into platform nine and three-quarters.” After that, he gave the children their trolleys. "If you're concerned about going through, you can always get a bit of a running start."
Miriam took a few steps backwards, making sure to give herself a good distance for running. "First, make sure nobody is around," Sam instructed. Miriam looked behind her and to both her sides; there was no one in sight. Taking a deep breath, she got a firm grip of the trolley and ran straight for the brick wall. A normal person who might have witnessed this would have wondered if this ten-year-old girl was completely mental for running into a solid brick wall.
Running through the wall felt like she was treading through water.When she emerged on the other side, she saw there were crowds of people around.
Pushing her trolley onward, she made her way through the multitude of people and eventually stopped in front of the massive train.The Hogwarts Express, she said aloud in her mind, reading the name plaque on the train. She took in all of the sites and sounds, watching as people breezed by her in differently colored robes.
C'mon, Tom, where are you? Suddenly a familiar voice called out her name. Tom was coming through the same way she had, pushing his own trolley. Following closely behind him was Sam.
"Now, children, I cannot follow you onto the train so we'll have to depart here," Sam said, with a hint of unhappiness in his voice. "Make sure you take your suitcases and owls on the train with you, but don't worry about taking them off. Someone will pick them up and make sure they're delivered right to you."
"Good-bye, Sam," Miriam squeaked.
"We'll miss you," Tom added.
"I'll miss you both, too," Sam replied. "It was nice meeting you, kids."
He gave each a brief hug and was off on his way. Together, Tom and Miriam wheeled their trolleys around to the front of the train. Picking up their suitcases and the cages that held their owls, they boarded the Hogwarts Express, ready to embark on the new and exciting part of their lives.