Chapter 6: Shopping Day

Walking through this place is a bit annoying, there are many people and children running around, I did not believe that there could be so many people in one place, according to the stories Diagon Alley after the great disaster remained closed and not a soul was seen, the streets once crowded remained practically empty, but that will not happen again, this time everything will change and this place will not be lost as many others did in the future.

Diagon Alley... the truth is more beautiful and entertaining from this perspective, children running all over the streets from market to market, trying to buy the best magical materials in advance, before people with more resources buy them and leave only the leftovers, Particularly during the days or weeks before classes start at Hogwarts, the place is full of witches and wizards. 

Even Alphonse thought of that and that's why we arrived a few weeks before the start of classes, the alley is mostly cobblestone, inside the alley there are a variety of restaurants, pet stores, herbalist stores that a Prik, potions, candy, everything you can imagine, even flying brooms, it's definitely the most magical place in the magical world, the perfect place to find the items on the academy's supply list.

It is a place totally hidden from the Muggle world, hidden under their noses. It is even bigger than he thought, its streets seem to have no end, largely because of the number of people who go through it, its commercial establishments are of various levels, and there is even security guarding and protecting both shoppers and establishments of any conflict that may arise. 

However I feel how Alphonse doesn't let his guard down for a second, his eyes are attentive to any movement of the people around us, I guess it's understandable since this would be the first time he's surrounded by so many people. 

"There are many popular stories about this alley"- Alphonse says as he takes my hand- " among those there has always been the doubt of which is the oldest building in this place, some speculate that it has always been over Gringotts or the Ollivanders wands building, there is also the doubt of how many are the spells cast to hide this place from the muggle world, some rumors say more than 300 spells, as there are some that only say it's no more than 100." 

"Quite interesting Alphonse, you know a lot about this place."

"That's right my lord, this was my favorite place as a child, I used to come here on vacations with my sister to enjoy the magic, even here was where I met your mother, a girl who stood out among all the crowd with her long white hair that stood out from the tower of magic books she carried in her arms."- Alphonse explains while imitating the situation by making a funny walk. 

"You're right, she was a very intellectual woman, but wait white color, my mother?"

"That's right my lord, believe it or not s, he had her hair that color, and after a while she decided to change it, in our time her hair color was a cause of discrimination against her, they said it was a bad omen for the school...well, here we are."

Her eyes reflect complete disgust towards her memories of where my mother was discriminated against,

"We will start by buying the pewter cauldron number 2, 1 set of glass or crystal glasses, 1 telescope, and 1 brass scales, which are the first items that are on the list of Hogwarts, then we will go for the uniform Three simple robes of work, A black pointed hat for everyday use, although you may not even use it, A pair of protective gloves, very important to avoid any burns or accidents with your wand, A winter cloak for the season, then we will go for the books and finally the most important and exciting, your wand"- says Alphonse while pointing at each place with the tip of his finger. 

Although everything Alphonse is mandatory to buy, I also need to make some purchases on my own, stones and metals that will help me develop an object that was perfected in the future, something that allows channeling magic and concentrating in the same way that wands do... but for that I would need two cauldrons plus one of copper and brass. Similarly, we also need to buy spoons to stir the materials. And all the rest of the preparation equipment such as knives, grinders, mortars, and mortar gloves. 

Ah! We also need potion bottles and ingredients of different shapes and shades. And finally, we need potion-grade protective gloves and safety goggles.

The big question is where will I hide all these materials from Alphonse if he is always with me... the only way would be to get a magic bag with ample storage, but asking for one would already be weird for Alphonse.

The materials I need don't seem to be all available in this place either, but I remember well that my teacher used to tell me about hidden places where they make sales of dangerous and dark materials, materials which I need, my teacher used to tell me stories of this place just like alphonse does now, but she was more specific with the dark places of diagon alley, places where she always used to say that unlike the commercial and full of life area where the best of the place were the honest merchants, in the shadows there were only swindlers, thieves and dealers. 

Shadow merchants are always ready to offer you the best compounds and illegal materials of magic, only if they think you are worthy of these gadgets, and that you will not jeopardize their integrity with the safety of the place. 

Although in these places there must be security allied with them for their illegal works. Now then, comes the hardest part... As I am a child it might be complicated to escape from Alphonse, although I can use spells that can boost my speed in a way it is still not perfect magic due to my current amount of magic...but along with this maybe...no, Alphonse still doesn't let his guard down.....

I only have one way out, hopefully, it will work. 

"Alphonse, can I take a ride just for a moment?" 

Alphonse's eyes widen with surprise- "My lord it is dangerous, you don't know the place, you could get lost, besides we don't know who might be waiting to do any harm, I don't want to take the risk my lord, you better stay with me".

"Relax, I grabbed a map of the alley a few places back, I'm not going to get lost, I just want to see a little more of this place, of the place where my mother grew up." 

"..."- Alphonse's silence is indicative that he is thinking about it. 

"Ok my lord but with my conditions, let's see give me a moment"- Alphonse takes me back to the place where I took the map and takes one in the same way- " if we are going to do this I need you to be very careful, I know you can defend yourself but there are incredible and problematic mages in these places". "if we are going to do this I need you to be very careful, I know you can defend yourself by yourself but there are incredible and troublesome wizards in these places" he pricks his finger and drops a drop of his blood on both maps and then puts the tip of the wand on both maps to repeat three times the word " first point" and also saying some words which I didn't understand, when doing this, the blood disappeared and two points appeared on each map. 

One representing blue and the other red, the red one representing Alphonse and the blue one representing me, incredible, I don't know how he did it but I have never seen this kind of magic before.

"How did you do that Alphonse?" 

" a little trick your mother taught me by copying one of the best mischief relics at Hogwarts, the marauder's map, this is just a cheap trick, it only serves to locate us, it will help us to know where each other is at"

"Great sounds perfect to me"

"Also have some money in case you like something, take good care of it," Alphonse tells me as he hands me some shiny galleons in a cloth bag. 

"Okay, see you in a bit Alphonse."

"Be careful!" shouts Alphonse in the background as I get lost in the crowd. 

I have to confess I didn't think he would let go of me so easily but I guess it's because of the nostalgia of the place when I was a kid, of when he would run around this place alone going into every retail store, something he suddenly wants me to live. 

Well... Now I just need to look for that secret market, but first I need to camouflage my identity a bit before entering a place like this, the best thing would be to get a mask and a cape, luckily here you can find that and more. 

author's note: remember to visit my website if you want to support my work. there you will find advanced chapters.- I WILL BE ABSENT THIS WEEKEND, SO I WILL UPLOAD THE CHAPTERS OF THESE DAYS, IN MY SITE WED ON MONDAY I WILL UPLOAD THE MISSING CHAPTERS, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, I HOPE YOU LIKE IT AND THAT YOU CONTINUE TO SUPPORT ME. patreon.com/SlipperyRaccoon