Diagon Alley.
Hermione linked her arm through Jerry's as they strolled through bustling Diagon Alley, enjoying the lazy afternoon. Each held a delicious ice cream they had just bought from Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, its cool sweetness a welcome respite from the summer heat.
The day after their letters from Hogwarts arrived, Jerry and Hermione received a letter from Harry inviting them to meet him at the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley.
But they did not go straight there. First, they visited the apothecary and carefully picked out the ingredients they needed for Potions Class. Then they stopped at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions: the trouser legs and sleeves of their uniforms were several inches too short, and they badly needed replacements.
Most importantly, Jerry and Hermione both needed new textbooks. In the coming school year, they would take two new subjects: Care of Magical Creatures and Divination.
Hermione peered through the bookshop window, her eyes widening in surprise. Usually, thick, gilt-lettered spellbooks sat neatly on the shelves. Now a huge iron cage stood on the shop floor.
Inside it, roughly a hundred copies of The Monster Book of Monsters wrestled furiously with one another. Pages flew everywhere as they thrashed about, leaving the cage in utter chaos.
The moment Jerry and Hermione entered Flourish and Blotts, the manager hurried over. "You're Hogwarts students, aren't you? Here for your new textbooks?"
"Yes," Jerry said with a nod. "I need—"
Before he could finish, the manager cut him off. "Out of the way."
He pushed them aside, deftly pulled on a pair of thick gloves, and snatched up a cane covered in bite marks. His expression turned grim as he strode toward the cage of Monster Books.
The books had deep blue-green covers with The Monster Book of Monsters