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.
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