Jack Smith and the Theory of Charms: Chapter 2: Diagon Alley: Part 3

"Name please," the goblin said in a bored voice when Jackson finally got his parents to the counter.

"Thomas Smith," Jackson's dad said.

"And your son?"

"Jackson."

"Will Jackson be opening an account with us, or will this just be an exchange?"

"Um, just an exchange, I guess."

"Very well," the goblin shifted his weight in his seat before saying, "Cash or check?"

Jackson looked at his dad, who already had his debit card in his hand. "Plastic?" his dad asked, holding up the card.

The goblin rolled his eyes before saying, "Credit and debit cards won't work in areas with so much magical energy. Magic tends to make any complicated muggle technology, particularly electronics and related things, stop working. We can only take cash or a written check. In fact, next time it might be a good idea for you to leave your cards, cell phones, and anything like them at home."

"I never carry checks," Jackson's dad said, looking uncertainly at his wife. "Dear, do you have your checkbook?"

Jackson's mom was staring at the goblin like she wanted to turn around and run.

"Mom... Mom... MOM!" Jackson shook her arm.

"What? What is it?" she asked, shaking herself and looking down at Jackson.

"Do you have your checkbook?"

"Oh, um, yes," she said, sounding relieved to have such a boring task as finding her checkbook. She opened her purse and rummaged through it until she found it. Handing it to her husband, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Jackson waited impatiently while his dad wrote the check. The goblin inspected the check then placed it in a teller. Then he began counting out gold, silver, and copper coins, placing them on a wooden board. Jackson felt his jaw drop as he watched the pile grow. When the goblin finished he pulled out a black cloth bag that shouldn't have been big enough to hold such a pile, but the goblin just dumped them into the bag, cinched it shut and handed it to Jackson.

"That's one hundred ninety three galleons, eight sickles, and twenty three knuts," the goblin said. Without any other explanation he looked at the family Jackson hadn't noticed get in line behind them and said, "Next."

Jack Smith and the Theory of Charms: Chapter 2: Diagon Alley: Part 2

Jackson thought Diagon Alley actually looked a lot like any other downtown shopping district. Of course the clothes on many of the people wouldn't fit in anywhere else. And then there was the storefront full of broomsticks that were clearly made for riding. And the posters with moving pictures, and the bookstore displaying books like "Magical Mayhem: The Life of Fred Weasley, by George Weasley".

And of course there was the storefront that drew his eye more than any other. The front window was empty but for a bright purple cushion that held a wand. Over the door there was beautiful, sparkling gold lettering that read "Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C." Jackson felt himself drawn toward the wand store as he remembered the bartender from the Leaky Cauldron tapping the brick wall and turning it into an archway. A wand... awesome, Jackson thought, excited at the prospect of getting his own wand by the end of the day.

"Excuse me," Jackson heard his dad's voice behind him. Turning around, he found his dad talking to a short man with a long white beard and wearing a green robe. "Can you direct us to Gringotts?"

The bearded man smiled and said, "Of course." He turned and pointed down the alley toward the largest building. It was a snowy white color with brass doors. "Watch out for the goblins. They can be a bit..." he searched for the right word before deciding on, "unsettling to muggles." He smiled at them before continuing on his way.

Oh yes, Jackson thought, We need to start at Gringotts to get some wizarding money.

A few moments later they reached the brass doors and saw their first goblin. He was shorter than Jackson and his eyes looked very clever on his ugly face. He gave them a not so friendly grin as they walked as far from him as they could to get into the door.

Once they were inside Jackson was amazed by the beauty of the marble hall. There were at least a hundred goblins sitting behind a long counter along one wall, and there were countless doors leading out of the hall with goblins leading people in and out of them. Luckily, there was a sign over the closest goblin at the counter that read "Muggle Currency Exchange". Jackson led his parents to the line behind that goblin.

The goblin was currently helping one family, and behind them was an older teenage boy with short reddish hair and blue eyes. When Jackson stepped up behind the boy he turned and looked at Jackson and his parents.

Seeing the expressions of wonder and fear on his parents' faces he smiled at Jackson and said, "First year, huh?" Jackson nodded, and the boy said, "Yeah, my parents stopped coming with me after my third year. I'm about to start my fifth year now. By the way, I'm Michael Rogers." He held his hand out to Jackson.

"Jackson Smith," he said as he shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Jackson," he said, moving up in line as the family in front of him moved up to talk to the goblin.

"Nice to meet you too," Jackson said. "So, you're parents never got used to magic?"

Michael shook his head, "No. Most of the time they just pretend I go to a regular school and that magic doesn't exist. They don't like me to talk about it with them."

"So, what do you talk about?"

"Well, I can talk about my friends, my teachers, any girls I go out with. I just have to be careful what I say with regards to what we do," Michael shrugged. "Like I can talk about us going to Hogsmeade, the town right next to school, but I can't talk about getting butterbeer there, or going to see the Shrieking Shack."

"Next," the goblin said in a deep, gravelly voice. Michael smiled encouragingly at Jackson before turning and walking up to the counter.

Jackson turned and looked at his parents. His dad was staring at the goblins, a curious smile on his face, but his mom looked terrified, clutching to Dad's arm like it was the only thing keeping her from being swept down a river.

"Mom, are you okay?"

She looked at him, and he saw her forcing her body to relax. Her eyes were still terrified, and Jackson could tell she was trying not to be afraid of him.

"Next," the goblin's deep voice behind him momentarily pulled Jackson's attention away from his mom. Jackson nodded to the goblin then reached back and grabbed his mom's hand to pull her to the counter. He didn't realize he was going to have to drag her though.

"Good luck," Michael said as he walked away. "See you at school."

"See you," Jackson replied, tugging harder on his mom's hand.

Jack Smith and the Theory of Charms: Chapter 2: Diagon Alley: Part 1

That Saturday Jackson's parents reluctantly took him downtown. They'd looked up the Leaky Cauldron online, but they couldn't find it on any website. His mom hadn't seen the owl and was suspicious that the two of them were playing a joke on her. Luckily she had some errands she wanted to do near where the instructions said to find the Leaky Cauldron, so she didn't take too much persuading.

So it was that Jackson found himself walking down the street with his parents looking for a pub for wizards. The instructions put it between two shops, and his mom had been to both of them. The whole way there she swore there was nothing between them.

"You see," she said as they rounded the corner to see the two shops. "There's Bailey's Books, and there's Johnson's Records," she said pointing to each in turn. "And there's nothing between them."

As Jackson looked however, he did see the front of a pub with a wooden sign hanging over it that looked like an old cauldron. Jackson smiled as he took his mom's hand as the letter had instructed and began walking toward it. "Just trust me, mom." He could hear her sigh behind him as she followed. "Dad, hold mom's hand."

"I'm holding it, Jackson."

When they reached the door, Jackson pushed it open and stepped inside, and stifled a laugh as he heard both his parents gasp, the pub suddenly appearing to their eyes as the letter had said it would.

The pub was old and in serious need of refurbishing, but Jackson was more interested in the people inside. Most of them, including the men, were wearing dress like things. They were usually in dark colors, and it looked similar to the kind of thing people wore to graduations. Robes, Jackson thought. So different from outside the pub.

The instructions in the letter said to show his letter to the bartender, and he would help them through the back entrance. Jackson walked over to the bar with the letter in his hand, but the bartender held up his hand toward him and said, "Muggleborn?" Jackson opened his mouth to reply, but the bartender, looking at Jackson's parents, smiled and said, "Of course you are. You're the fifth one today. Come on." He turned to his left and walked along the bar, waving them to follow. They soon reached a back door which led to a walled courtyard, empty except for a trash can and weeds growing through the cobblestones. The bartender pulled a ten inch stick from his jacket pocket and said, "Once you get your own wand you'll be able to do this on your own, but if you can't find the right brick you can come and ask me. But it's this one, right here." He pointed with the wand. "It's three above the top of the trash can, and two to the right. Then you just tap it three times with your wand." He did so, and the brick began to move, pushing into the wall. The bricks around it began moving as well, and an opening quickly formed, resolving itself into a massive archway. "There ya go. Welcome to Diagon Alley. You should be able to find everything you need inside, but you'll be wanting to start at Gringotts to exchange for some wizarding money."

Jackson thanked the bartender and dragged his parents behind him, both of whom were still gaping at the archway that had been a wall only moments before.