𓏲 . THE BOY WHO LIVED . .៹♡
                                                    CHAPTER FOUR
                                      ─── THE DIAGON ALLEY

After spending a night at a hut to rest up, the half-giant got on his  motorcycle as the three young wizards got in a sidecar. "Are you ready?" Hargid asked as he started the engine. The Potter twins and Alistair nodded, and the vehicle took off with a loud hum. However, instead of riding down the road like any other motorcycle, it took off with a large whoosh and  the four  of them were off into the daylight. 

Charlus couldn't sleep the night before because the memories of the last day, good or bad, clouded his mind. He was grateful to be away from the Dursleys, but even though he wouldn't admit it to anyone, he was scared. He was afraid that he would be the worst in the class and of making friends.

The both things scared him,but he was also looking forward to this new world. He was pulled from his thoughts, as Hagrid gave him a little pat on the back to tell him to get up and follow. Charlus groggily got out of the sidecar and caught up with Harry and Alistair.

"Still got your letters,boys?" Hagrid asked the three young boys as he walked behind them. Charlus smiled a little mischievously as he ran his hand  through his hair. "I think mine is a little dented." he admitted to them.

Unlike his brother, Harry took the parchment envelope out of his pocket, it was perfectly fine and his twin sighed. "No problem,Charlus. You're in the same year, so you have the same list of materials." Hagrid explained him. " This list has everything you will need."

Charlus and Alistair moved closer to Harry , who at that moment unfolded a second piece of paper, which he hadn't noticed the night before. "First year's students will require three sets of plain work robes.. one wand?" Harry began to read aloud before he looked questioningly at Hagrid."Essential bit of equipment." He explained them.

Harry nodded understandingly and looked back down at the letter. "One pair of dragon hide gloves." "Dragon?" Charlus asked, his eyes shining with admiration. " Do they mean from a real dragon?" "Well they don't mean a penguin, do they?" Alistair replied with a short laugh.

 "Can I have a dragon?" Charlus then asked excitedly, he really liked the idea of ​​having a dragon. "I'd like a dragon too, I've  wanted one of those ever since I was a kid." Hagrid commented. But he soon looked at Charlus, who was eagerly awaiting his answer. "But I don't think so, Charlus, dragons are very dangerous, you know."

"Oh, what a shame." said Charlus with a fading smile,which made Alistair laugh briefly while Harry continued to look at list in his hand. "All students must be equipped with.. one standard sized 2 pewter cauldron.. and may bring, if they desire, either an owl, a cat or a toad." he continued to read off the items on the list.

"Are you sure we can find all this in London?" Harry then asked the giant. Hagrid gave him a quick nod. "Sure can. As long as you know where to go. " Alistair smiled at Hagrid's comment as he knew that four of them would soon be walking through Diagon Alley.   

As the four of them entered as tiny, grubby-looking pub, Charlus took a minute for his eyes to adjust to the darkness inside. A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe.    

A little man in a top hat was talking to the old barman, who was quite bald and looked like a gummy walnut. The low buzz of chatter stopped when they walked in. Everyone seemed to know Hagrid; they waved and smiled at him, and the barman reached for a glass, saying: "The usual, Hagrid?"                                                                                          

"Can't, Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business." said Hagrid, putting one arm over Charlus' shoulder and the other over Harry's, which made the twins' knees buckle. Charlus was surprised when the bartender had directed a comment towards Harry and himself.

"Good Lord." said the bartender, looking at the twins, his eyes went from one to the other and Charlus raised his eyebrow. "is this – can this be –!"

The Leaky Cauldron had suddenly gone completely still and'silent."Bless my soul." whispered the old barman.  "Harry and Charlus Potter ...what an honour."  And so, Tom came out from behind the counter, rushed over to the twins and grabbed one of their hands, with tears in his eyes. "Welcome back, Potters, welcome back."

Charlus and Harry didn't know how to act, much less react, suddenly everyone was looking at them, not with disgust, but with admiration. Everyone had eyes on them.  The old woman with the pipe was puffing on it without realising it had gone out.  Meanwhile, Alistair and Hagrid were beaming at the twins.

Then there was a great scraping of chairs and, next moment, Harry and Charlus  found himself shaking hands with everyone in the Leaky Cauldron. "Doris Crockford, Potters, can't believe I'm meeting you at last." " So proud, Potters, I'm just so proud." "Always wanted to shake your hand – I'm all of a flutter."  "Delighted, Potters, just can't tell you. Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle."

"I've seen you before!"  said Harry, as Dedalus Diggle's top hat fell off in his excitement. "You bowed to me once in a shop." " He remembers!' cried Dedalus Diggle, looking around at every-
one. "Did you hear that? He remembers me!"  Meanwhile, the older twin was still holding Doris Crockford's hand, squeezing it repeatedly and saying how happy she was to meet him.

Before the woman could say anything else, a pale boy approached very nervously and pushed her to the side, one of his eyes was twitching. Charlus could finally breathe when the woman walked away, leaving the older twin behind, as she said to everyone who had shaken Charlus Potter's hand.

"'Ello there Professor!" said Hagrid, "Harry,Charlus,Alistair this is Professor Quirrell. He will be yeh Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher." Professor Quirrell glances nervously between Harry, Charlus and Alistair before the black boy decided to break the tension. " Nice to meet you, Professor." "N-N-Nice to m-meet y-y-you too, Al-Alistair." stammered Quirrell before shifting his gaze to Harry and Charlus "P-P-Potters, c-can't t-tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you."

The crowd cut the interaction between the young boys and their professor short as they surrounded the potter twins both once again. It took quite a while for Hagrid to pull the boys away from the crowd and say, "Must get on, lots ter buy. Come on, boys."

Charlus took one last look at the crowd before he followed Hagrid, who grinned at him and Harry. "See, Harry,Charlus?You're famous." "But, why are we famous,Hagrid?" Charlus asked. "All those people back there, how is it that they know who we are?" Harry asked then.

"I'm not sure I'm exactly the right person to tell you that." Hagrid replied meekly as the four of them then reached a brick wall. They watched Hagrid tap on the bricks with his umbrella-wand. Alistair shifted his gaze and looked at Charlus and Harry's confused state. The black boy laughed as the door to Diagon Alley had opened widely. "Welcome to Diagon Alley."

Hagrid and the brown eyed boy grinned at Harry's amazement and Charlus' curiosity, as the potter twins stepped through the archway. The two of them of them followed Harry and Charlus, and Alistair could hear the entrance now closing behind him.

As the three boys followed Hagrid, they turned their heads in all directions as they walked along the streets. Hagrid and Alistair took turns showing Charlus and Harry where to buy what and where. The twins were fascinated by the stores, the crowds and even the things in the stores. "Uh Hagrid, how are we to pay for all this? We haven't any money." Harry asked then.

"Well, there's your money." Hagrid replied and pointed with his hand to a snowy-white building which towered over the other little shops. "Gringotts, the wizard bank. Aint no safer place, not one. Except perhaps Hogwarts."

The quartet entered the goblin bank quickly, and soon Harry and Charlus were giving Alistair a little nudge on the arm as they passed creatures sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large books, weighing coins on brass scales and looking at gems through spectacles. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and even more creatures leading people in and out.

As Alistair turned to face them, the younger potter spoke in a whisper,"Alistair, what exactly are these things?" Alistair looked to see what the boy with glasses was talking about and said, "Well they're goblins Harry,Charlus." he explained them. "Clever as they come goblins, but not the most friendly of beasts. "

As they reached the counter,Charlus overheard Hagrid tell Griphook that he,Alistair and Harry would like to make a withdrawal from their vaults. Then, he also overheard something about Albus Dumbledore and vault 713. Charlus didn't question Hagrid as to what was in the vault, but he did take a mental note of the vault number.

After they had collected enough money for their school supplies, Harry, Charlus,Alistair and Hagrid were once again among the crowd of Diagon Alley. The three young boys went from store to store with Hagrid following closely behind them, and bought the necessities for their first year at Hogwarts. The twins and Alistair then took it upon theirself to go finish up their shopping while while Hagrid had something else to do.

The final item that they were missing was their wands. So Charlus,Alistair and Harry confidently strode through the doors of Ollivander's. They were surprised as they seemed to be the only one within the store. Charlus admired the shelves of wands and took in the smell.

He was startled, as were the other two, when he heard a voice from behind the counter:  "I wondered when you would come wandering into my shop, Harry  Potter  and Charlus  Potter." The older man had then moved closer to the counter and looked at the twins with a big smile "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work."

The twins listened to the man attentively and curious. It was interesting to hear people talk about them. "Your father, on the other hand, favoured a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favoured it – it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."

The old man looked at each of the twins again before he turned his gaze to Alistair. "And Alistair Black." Charlus and Harry looked to Alistair in confusion. "You look like your father, but you have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday they were in here themself, buying their wand. Thirty-four inches, dragon heart fiber, unyielding. And nine inches, flexible, unicorn hair and apple."

Alistair held his breath at the mention of his parents, because no one around him really talked about them. He only knew from his adoptive parents that his mother had died in childbirth and that his father had supposedly been murdered by a Death Eater on Voldemort's orders.

 The older man then  pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?" "Um, well, I'm right-handed."  Harry said with a shrug, he was a little shrunken and his shoulders were tense.

 "I'm ambidextrous, but I use my right hand more." Charlus said and shrugged with his shoulders. "I'm left-handed." Alistair said at last. "Interesting, interesting. Well, let's start with Alistair, agree?" the old man asked the potter twins, who nodded in agreement and moved away a little, giving space to their friend.

Soon, the old man began to explain to Alistair about Ollivander wands. He explained that every Ollivander's wand had a core made of a powerful magical substance, he named some, such as unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers and the heartstrings of dragon. Mr. Ollivander also explained that there were no identical Ollivander wands, just as there were no heartstrings of dragon, unicorn hairs or phoenix tail feathers alike, these were rare things to happen.    

The man with the white hair had then went to the shelf to his right and pulled a box off the shelf. "I have a feeling that this is the perfect wand for you." The older man took the wand out of box and handed it to Alistair.                                    

 As the young boy grabbed it, he felt a sensation run through him. He gave the wand a wave and a bright light had appeared,making the twins get excited. "Bravo, Alistair!" Harry said excitedly and clapped his hands with Charlus.  

The old man gave the boy a large smile. "I thought that would be the one. The wood of your wand is Ash." He took a breath before continuing."The core of your wand is dragon heartstring. It is wonderful that his brother's wand was given to your father. "Then he gave Alistair the box in which he placed his  wand. 

"Now, let's move on to the youngest Potter." Harry took Alistair's place and took the first wand he was given. It was made of beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Harry made a movement with it, there was no result, so Mr. Ollivander took the wand away from him and then handed him another one. "Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try –"  

Again, Harry reached for the wand, but before he made any movement, it was snatched from Harry's hand and replaced with another. There were many attempts, like one with unicorn hair, which almost destroyed the shop and several other wands, which turned the bench in front of Harry into a pile full of wands.                                                                                                                            

The youngest Potter was nervous because he still hadn't found a wand."Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere"said Ollivander. " I wonder, now – yes, why not – unusual combination – holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple. "

As soon as Harry picked up the wand, he  felt a sudden warmth in his fingers. He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls.

Harry cheered up, he smiled widely and his gaze instinctively went to his twin brother and his friend, who were looking at him extremely happily. "Conngratulations, Harry! You found!" Charlus said excitedly and clapped his hands with Alistair.

"Curious, curious." Ollivander muttered while he put Harry's wand back into its box. "And now it's the other Potter's turn." Charlus took Harrys's place and took the first wand he was given. It was dragon hair, twenty-five inches. With a smooth movement, Charlus swung his wand, but there was no result, so his wand was replaced with another.

Just like Harry, Charlus had been a difficult customer. "Let's test this one, it's a powerful wand, very powerful." Ollivander told him before he handed the almost black wand to Charlus.  "Black yew and phoenix feather, fifteen inches."

 The wand was handed to Charlus, who at the exact moment he touched the wood, felt as if he had been covered in pure power. He moved the wand and a stream  of green and silver sparks came out of it, making his twin brother and his friend get excited, because just like they had done before, Charlus had also found a wand. "You did it, Charlus!" Alistair said excitedly and applauded alongside Harry.

"Interesting, interesting. You guys got some very interesting and similar wands." Ollivander said after cradled Charlus' wand and turned to the twins. " You know, I remember every wand I've ever sold. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your both of your wands, gave another feather – just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for these wands when their brother   gave you these scars." he explained and pointed with his hand to  Charlus and Harry's scar as Alistairs's eyes grew large.

Charlus made a face and Harry swallowed hard. "And who owned that wand?" Harry asked him very carefully. "We do not speak his name. The wand chooses the wizard, remember ... I think we must expect great things from you both,  ... After all, He Who Must Not Be Named did great things – terrible, yes, but great. "

The young boys didn't have any words, and before any of the three could say anything, Hagrid knocked on the window. Charlus,Harry and Alistair gave Mr. Ollivander a closed smile before they put the money on the counter for their wands and quickly left the store.

They met with Hagrid, who was holding three cages with an owl in each. In the first cage was a white snowy owl with black spots and amber eyes, in the second was a black owl with bright yellow eyes and in the last was a reddish-brown owl with white spots and orange eyes.

After the three boys each decided on an owl and stammered their thanks, the four of them headed back to  the now almost empty  pub for something to eat.  Harry and Charlus didn't speak at all as they ate dinner. They didn't even notice Alistair naming his owl Blacky next to them. 

It was only when Hagrid worriedly asked them if everything was okay, since they were quiet, that they were torn from their thoughts. "He killed our parents, didn't he?" Charlus asked him and pointed at their scars. "The one who gave us this."

 Hagrid and Alistair shared a look, and Alistair shrugged, unsure of what to say or do. The half-giant sighed. "First and understand this Harry,Charlus, cause it's very important. Not all wizards are good some of them go bad, a few years ago there was one wizard that went as bad as you can go and his name was V...his name was Vol..." Hagrid seemed to be struggling with the name.

"Why don't you write it down?" Harry suggested, eager to find out the wizard. Hagrid shook his head. "No, I can't spell it." He admitted and looked around before he leaned forward, now speaking in a hushed tone. "Alright, Voldemort." He whispered.

"Voldemort?" Charlus repeated in a normal volume and very calmly, receiving a frightening look from Alistair, who shivered in his place." Y-Yes.."He confirmed. "In any case, don't repeat that name when you are at Hogwarts, Charlus." Charlus nodded to him understandingly while Harry looked around, checking to see if anyone had heard his twin brother.

Hagrid sighed, speaking again to the twins: "It was dark times. Dark times. Voldemort started to gather some followers. Brought them over to the dark side. Anyone who stood up to him ended up dead. Your parents fought against them. But nobody lived once he decided to kill them. Nobody, not one. Except you two."

Something very painful was going on in Charlus and Harry's minds. When Hagrid finished the story, Charlus and Harry saw again the blinding flash of green light, more clearly than they  had ever remembered it before – and they remembered something else, for the first time in their life – a high, cold, cruel laugh. 

"Us?Voldemort tried to kill us? " Harry asked the giant in shock. Hagrid gave him a quick nod. "Yes, that ain't no ordinary scars on your forehead, Harry, Charlus. A mark like that only comes from being touched by a curse, an evil curse at that."

The three boys shared a look, and Charlus finally seemed to have found the courage to ask the questions he wanted. "But what happened to Vol- " He began to ask. "Sorry – I mean, You-Know-Who?"

 "Well, Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Nope, I reckon he's out there still.. too tired to carry on. But one things absolutely certain. Something about you two stumped him that night. That's why you're famous. That's why everybody knows your name. You're the boys who lived." Hagrid explained and looked at  Charlus and Harry with warmth and respect blazing in his eyes.

The three boys and Hagrid sat in silence once again before Alistair turned to the twins abruptly and asked,"Do you want to know about Hogwarts? The four houses, Quidditch..."

Harry and Charlus turned to the boy their age and nodded with shining eyes, they really wanted to know about Hogwarts. "Well." said Alistair, after thinking about the best place to start. "There's four houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. ...."

And for the next half an hour or so, Alistair,Charlus and Harry engaged in a lengthy conversation about the four houses and Quidditch to which Hagrid chimed in every couple minutes or so.

At the end of the day, both Charlus and Harry admitted that they had just had the best birthday of their lives and were even more excited to start their studies at Hogwarts.  

After the dinner, the four went to the train station, as it was time for Charlus and Harry to head back to their family. Hagrid helped them load their school supplies onto the train and then handed each of them an envelope. "Your tickets for Hogwarts." he said. "First of September, King's Cross, it's all on your tickets. Any problems with the Dursleys, send me a letter with your owls, they'll know where to find me. See you soon, Harry,Charlus."

Alistair gave Charlus and Harry a brief, friendly hug. "See you in a month, Harry,Charlus!" he said after he pulled away from his friends. "See you,Alistair! Bye!" Charlus and Harry replied with a smile before they stepped onto the train together.

As the doors closed behind them, Charlus and Harry both waved to Hargid and Alistair who waved back from the platform, and soon enough, after finding their seats, the train pulled out of the station. 

Harry and Charlus wanted to watch Hagrid and Alistair until they were out of sight; they rose in their seats and pressed their noses against the window, but they blinked and Hagrid and Alistair had gone.

━━ AUTHORS NOTE

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Until next time < 3