Diagon Alley

"What the fuck!" The sharp crack and the figure that suddenly appeared gave Harry such a fright that he stumbled back two steps and nearly fell.

"Oh, sorry, sorry, Mr. Potter! My deepest apologies. Did my sudden appearance startle you? Bad Calvi!" The little creature that had appeared apologized in a voice full of remorse, pounding his own head as he spoke.

The little creature had two large, batlike ears and a pair of bulging green eyes the size of tennis balls. His body was very thin, making his already large head look even bigger. He wore no clothes, just a sort of "sling" made from burlap or some other fabric. It looked ragged, but at least it was reasonably clean.

"Huh?" Harry had recovered from the fright and stared at the little creature in bewilderment. "You're... what are you? Hey, stop hitting yourself. I'm not that easily scared."

"Oh, great Mr. Potter, you are just as great, kind, and brave as the stories say!" The big-headed little creature obediently stopped hitting himself and spoke to Harry in a humble, respectful tone:

"I am a house-elf, and my name is Calvi. I serve the Leaky Cauldron."

Harry was getting somewhat used to everyone in the wizarding world apparently knowing him. Adding some sort of house-elf to the list hardly made a difference, so he merely nodded.

If Harry had still harbored the slightest doubt about the wizarding world before, the sight of this little creature dispelled it completely. No actor with an unusual appearance looked anything like this.

"All right, Calvi," Harry said, trying to communicate with him.

"I'm looking for Hagrid, the one staying here..." Harry held a hand above his head to indicate his height. "The very tall, big gentleman."

"Yes, great Mr. Potter." The house-elf Calvi sounded even more respectful as he bowed slightly. "Mr. Hagrid asked me to wait here for you and take you to him once you woke up. Would you like to go now? Mr. Hagrid is having breakfast."

"Breakfast..." Harry felt a little hungry, so he nodded. "Okay, take me to him."

Calvi led Harry around a staircase and into the Leaky Cauldron, which he had visited the day before.

Sure enough, Hagrid was there, eating at a small table. An old man stood nearby-the pub's owner. Harry vaguely remembered him introducing himself as Tom yesterday.

That reminded Harry of a certain cartoon starring two animals.

"It is a great honor to see you again, my dear Mr. Potter." Old Tom broke into a broad smile at the sight of Harry, his already small eyes narrowing until they disappeared altogether.

Fortunately, even a wizarding pub was fairly empty in the morning. Otherwise, Harry strongly suspected that old Tom's greeting alone would have set off another round of handshakes. Harry did not particularly mind shaking hands, but a crowd of strangely dressed old wizards, quite a few of whom carried unidentifiable odors, was another matter entirely.

"Harry, you're awake." Hagrid also gave Harry a broad smile, so broad that it was obvious even through his thick beard.

"Come and have some breakfast. I ordered yours."

Harry did not have much of an appetite, but he was genuinely hungry, so he sat down and ate some.

He had to admit that, shabby as the Leaky Cauldron was, its breakfast tasted quite good. It was several notches above Aunt Petunia's cooking, at least, despite her belief that she knew a fair bit about good food.

Of course, considering that they might have made breakfast with magic, Harry felt that this standard was perfectly reasonable.

Harry ate quickly, finishing his breakfast even before Hagrid-which had something to do with how much Hagrid was eating. Harry reckoned Hagrid had eaten enough for at least twenty people, though given his size, that was hardly excessive.

After breakfast, Hagrid led Harry through the pub and through a small door beside the bar, into a little courtyard enclosed by walls on all four sides.

The setting brought some particular associations to Harry's mind. The troublemakers at school liked to bully well-behaved students in places much like this. Harry generally did not take part in that sort of bullying, but Dudley certainly did.

Harry... occasionally watched, too, and even offered suggestions, such as not hitting anyone in the face, since that would get their parents called in...

Reining in his wandering thoughts, Harry looked around in puzzlement. Apart from a dustbin and some odds and ends, there was nothing here. He had no idea why Hagrid had brought him to a place like this.

He was about to ask when Hagrid pulled the red umbrella he had used to summon the Knight Bus out of his clothes and told Harry very seriously, "Harry, remember the order I do this in."

Harry: "???"

Before Harry could ask anything, Hagrid was already pointing the red umbrella at the brick wall behind the dustbin, muttering as he went:

"First, this brick that's a slightly different color, then count three up-then two across-right here. Tap it three times with your wand!" As he spoke, Hagrid tapped that brick three times with his umbrella.

The brick he had tapped quivered and began to move. A little hole appeared in the middle, growing larger and larger. Before long, a broad archway large enough for Hagrid to pass through stood before them, opening onto a winding cobbled street whose end was lost from sight.

"Welcome," said Hagrid. "Welcome to Diagon Alley."

Harry stood utterly dumbstruck. Hagrid laughed heartily and stepped through first. Harry hurried after him, unable to resist looking back. Behind him, the archway in the wall began to shrink and narrow, then vanished, leaving a solid wall once more.