AdayintheAlley[Godit'ssocrowded]

Sia looked at the laces of her black sneakers as one end of the shoelace entered from one hole and crossed with the other end of the lace. She then looked to the side at her left elbow, which was resting on the arm of her chair. A shiny metal ball was weaving in and out between her fingers.

Slowly the speed of the ball was increasing with time. Whereas after tying themselves, the shoelaces were untying. And they would retie themselves in a more complicated way.

"Sis," a little head popped through the door and called out.

"Oh, Sam. Al's here?" Sia asked, looking up towards the door.

"Yup, we are all ready to go," Sm said, bobbing his head.

Sia got up from her chair as the laces tied themselves in a simple criss-cross design for the last lime. She caught the metal ball in her hand and put it in her jean pocket.

The two siblings went to the lounge, where everyone was standing near the fireplace.

Alpheus looked around as the other four stood with him.

"Okay, so I know all of you are old enough to take care of yourself. But right now, you are just little kids. It is my responsibility to bring you back safely and on time. So please don't make trouble. And if we do end up separated, we'll meet at Ollivander's," Al said to everyone.

All the four agreed to that by nodding or giving a thumbs up.

Al ensured that everyone understood him before he went ahead into the fireplace and told Karalyn to come last.

After five minutes, the five siblings were standing in the crowded Diagon Alley. They had a hectic day full of shopping and many other things ahead.

"I think we should go to Gringotts first," Stensen suggested.

"Yup. We should get the business done before going shopping," Kar nodded, agreeing.

And so the group made its way through the crowd to the tall, white marble building. They entered the infamous goblin run bank and made their way to the counter.

"Good morning," Alpheus took the lead and wished the goblin.

The goblin looked up from the desk.

Al continued, "We are here to take out some money from Alpheus Knight's, Karalyn White's, and Stensen White's account. We have the keys with us here."

He took out three golden keys from his pocket.

Their parents had set up an account for each of their children when they were just kids, though they do not have access to them until they turn eleven. It was so that the children could freely use the money for ordering anything efficiently when they would be at Hogwarts. It also helped them in learning the management of finances.

The goblin took the three keys and examined them closely. Then he got up from his seat to lead the five to one of the side doors.

It took the kids about fifteen minutes of a reckless and dangerous train ride to have three bags full of coins. They had spent another fifteen minutes going inside the vaults and filling up the bags.

After coming out from the comparatively dark tunnel, Alpheus looked at the goblin.

"We would like to meet with a goblin who could help us with investing in some muggle business," Alpheus spoke up.

The goblin looked Alpheus up and down before leading the five through another door. They reached a meeting room where he made them sit.

"Please wait here while I arrange for your meeting," the goblin said before he turned around and took his leave.

The group sat in silence for five minutes before another goblin entered the room.

He faltered a bit, seeing how there were only kids in the room. But years of experience had taught him not to judge a book by its cover.

"Hello, sirs and madams, what can I do for you?" He said, looking at the five kids before him.

"We would like to invest in the muggle share market," Alpheus said, going straight to the point.

The goblin looked at him with doubt and informed, "The muggle share market would require your guardian's documents."

Alpheus turned to Karalyn, who took out a file from her bag. Al had invested in the share market for many years before, so he was familiar with the rules.

The goblin inspected the documents and a letter with the guardian's signature. Then he started discussing the details of the investment.

[PS. I don't want to make this a business book. So I'm going to kind of skip such parts. Furthermore, I'm not knowledgeable about this subject.]

It took almost an hour for the group to finish all the formalities and return to the crowded Alley.

"So first we are going to-" Al started before Sia cut him off with an excited grin on her face.

"The bookstore."

"Go buy robes for Sten," Al finished with a hand on Sierra's head to ensure that she stays put.

Sia whined at that.

Kar looked at the funny scenario before her and suggested, "How about I'll take Sia and Sam to the book store. While you go with Sten to Madam Malkin's."

Sam interjected, "Um. I want to go to Malkin's as well. I don't want to go to a bookstore with these two. They become crazy."

Both the girls glared at Sam while both the boys nodded wisely, full of experience.

"Alright then, we'll meet you at Fortescue's in an hour. Then we'll go together to buy other supplies. And don't. At any cost, forget to buy the books for Hogwarts. Last time we had to go back to Flourish and Blotts," Al said.

"That was a one-time mistake," Kar groaned as she took hold of Sia's hand and started to make her way through the crowd of excited first years getting ready for their start at Hogwarts.

"Keep a check on the watch. Tell me when fifteen minutes are left for an hour so that we can buy the books from the list," Kar told Sia as the two entered Flourish and Blotts.

"Yup," Sia answered as the two went their separate ways.

Sierra walked to the column on transfiguration. She was now able to perform almost all the basic charms from the first two-year curriculum. She was working on improving her control on using those charms. That was not hard for her.

But what was hard was the transfiguration. Transfiguration was an intricate branch. Sia could perform small transfigurations quite smoothly, and she had completed all the ones taught in the first year. But the ones that were from the second year were proving to be a little challenging, as transforming without a wand took immense focus.

Sia started browsing through the books to look for something that could help her understand how the basics of transfiguration worked. She found the book after a bit of searching.

Then she went to the potions section to look for a book on basics. Her mother, who was a doctor, was adept at potion brewing. After a lot of bugging from Sia's side, she had finally agreed to teach her the basics.

After an hour, the girls finished their shopping and came out of the shop with half the money left. They made their way to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour to meet up with the rest of the group.

After having ice cream at the parlor, the five decided to buy supplies together.

As they came out of the Magical Menagerie, the group got pushed around and separated due to the crowd.

"Hah. Finally. That was messy," Sierra sighed as she finally managed to reach a relatively less crowded area near the apothecary.

She looked around at both sides, "Now, the wand shop is... in which direction? Hah, I'm lost. I've hardly ever come near the apothecary."

She looked around for a bit, trying to find any sign to show direction. But none. She finally decided to enter the shop and ask the shopkeeper.

The door chimed as Sia entered the shop full of things you would never even imagine in your dreams. There were jars with weird eyeballs, a bunch of hair in different colors, a box filled with what looked like tails, and many more.

She stared around, fascinated.

Sierra was woken from her daze when she heard a burst of laughter from behind her. She turned around to find a boy about twelve years old.

He pinched a small squishy bright ball between his fingers. He had flaming red hair and warm brown eyes.

Sia turned away from him and decided to get her job done instead. She went to the counter, but no one was present there.

She called out, "Excuse me, is someone here?"

But there was no reply from the room behind the counter. Instead, there was an answer from behind Sia.

"Are you looking for the shopkeeper? He went out with a customer a few minutes ago," the boy said, looking at Sia.

"Oh, do you know in which direction the Ollivander's wand shop is?" Sia asked after thinking for a while.

"Ollivander's is on the right side. I'm going to stop at Fortescue's, which is nearby. You want to join me?" the boy asked, looking at Sia.

"Hm, sure, if you don't mind," Sia said after considering her options.

If she waited for the shopkeeper, the others would get worried. So she decided to try going with the boy. She could stupefy him if something happened.

The two came out of the shop and started walking together on the cobbled road.