Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures - Chapter 4: Going to Diagon Alley

In this way, Harry Potter moved to Evan’s house.

Compared with the Dursleys, it was a paradise, and the Masons quickly accepted the fact that their son had become a wizard, as if it were no different.

Besides, they were also very kind to Harry.

Every meal, Mrs. Mason prepared Harry’s favorite dishes and served him many times. Here he could finish his summer homework without any qualm. In his spare time, he could play new video games with Evan or tell him about Hogwarts.

Harry loved the feeling that he could talk about the wizarding world with people at will, without worrying about them staring at his scar foolishly.

In fact, Evan also liked Harry very much.

Over the past week, he had been flipping through his first year’s books of magic, and with Harry’s introduction, he had a general impression of each course.

It could be seen that Harry had a deep prejudice against the Potions class and the Potions class teacher Professor Snape, but he had a high talent in the Defence Against the Dark Arts class.

Besides, Evan also listened to Harry introduce Hogwarts Castle to him, the secret passages and ghosts, the banquet in the Great Hall, the Gryffindor Common Room, the four-poster beds in the dormitory, and the  Keeper of Keys and Grounds Hagrid, his friends Ron and Hermione, and Quidditch, the most popular sport in the wizarding world.

“Evan, you must come to Gryffindor, the best House in Hogwarts. Dumbledore was sorted from there.” A week later, at breakfast, Harry summed up with Evan. 

« Well, after listening to you, I also feel that Slytherin is awful, not to mention my parents are Muggles, and I should not be sorted into that House.” Evan paused, “but I am not sure. I might not be able to enter Gryffindor, you know, it’s not all up to me. Maybe I will be assigned to Hufflepuff.”

“Don’t worry; the new wizards are all about the same level. Besides Hermione, I have never seen anyone learn faster than you.”

Harry was totally right. Just after Evan heard that the Potions Professor Snape was used to embarrassing students in class, it took him a week to memorize almost half of the book “Magical Drafts and Potions”.

This was simply unbelievable. This book was the only textbook prescribed for Potions in the O.W.L.s (Ordinary Wizarding Level Examinations). Now when Harry wrote his Potions homework, from time to time he stopped to ask Evan for his opinion.

Just as Harry was about to say something, two owls flew into Evan’s balcony one after the other. Hedwig was behind, and the one in front was an owl with pretty brown feathers that had never been seen before.

“If my mother saw them, she would faint with fear.” Evan laughed and joked.

“I hope Mrs. Mason will not see them.” Through this period of contact, Harry knew that Mrs. Mason had extremely strong bird phobia, and he even had to let Hedwig stay at his friend Ron’s house.

“Evan, please take care of Hedwig for me.”

Harry turned to look at the other brown owl. “This is the school owl, which brings the list of books needed for the second year.”

Evan fed Hedwig something, and then he went over to look at the list together with Harry. The parchment read: 

                SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS WILL REQUIRE:

The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk

Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart

Gadding with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart

Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart

Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart

Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart

Wandering with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart

Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart

“These are the books needed for Defence Against the Dark Arts class, and as required on the first-year books list, I dare say that the new teacher must be a fan of Lockhart.”

“I hope it’s a reliable guy. These books look like novels, not magic books.”

Harry remembered Quirrell, and the adventure of last year, when Voldemort’s face was sticking out of the back of his head. Fortunately he finally stopped his plot. It was said that the Defence Against the Dark Arts class had been cursed by Voldemort, and no one could persist for a year.

“Let’s think of something happy and see what’s in the letter brought by Hedwig.”

“It’s Ron’s reply!”

Harry’s face finally showed a smile. “He and Hermione will go to Diagon Alley next Wednesday to buy books, and ask if we can meet there that day.”

“I have no objection.” Evan couldn’t wait to see the streets of Diagon Alley. He saw that Harry was a little hesitating, looking strange, “What else did he say in his letter?”

“Ron asked me if I was going to stay at his house for a while.” Harry was somewhat embarrassed, apparently concerned about Evan family’s feelings, “and the letter said, if you would like to go too…”

“Really, that’s really great. I have long wanted to go to a wizard’s house and take a look.” Evan waved. “Don’t worry about my mother, I’ll convince her.”

The following Wednesday came fast. Harry and Evan were woken up early by Mrs. Mason. They packed their bags, and after a quick breakfast, Mr. Mason drove them to the Leaky Cauldron pub.

“Here it is!” said Harry, pointing to a dirty, narrow bar. “This is the Leaky Cauldron pub, the entrance to Diagon Alley.”

“I never thought that there would be such a place in this city. It was like a building from the last century.” Mrs. Mason sighed, and as Harry pointed out, she seemed to notice the little pub sandwiched between a big bookshop and a record store.

“Mom, the Leaky Cauldron is a very famous place. It’s protected by Unplottability and the Muggle-Repelling Charm. It can’t be marked on the map. If the Muggle doesn’t know the address, it can’t be seen…” Evan tried to recall what he saw in the book “Magical Theory”.

“Well, my dear young wizard, I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to stand on the street and talk about a dirty bar.” Mr. Mason stopped Evan and went on, pushing him and Harry to the store. 

For a famous place, it was really very dark and shabby.

With the dim candlelight, Evan saw a few strange dresses, like an old medieval looking witch sitting in a corner drinking a small glass of sherry. Sitting at the edge of the bar was a sneaky looking man with bandages, in front of him a little dish of raw liver. 

“Welcome, Mr. Potter!” The bartender, a powerful old man with a camel back, appeared quietly in front of several people.

“Hello there!”

Not only the Masons, but Harry was, in fact, more reserved. When he came here last year, Hagrid led him in.

Soon, they found themselves a family out of tune with this.

“Harry, Harry!”

Hermione Granger rushed to meet them from the other side of the bar. Not far behind her, the Grangers stood with an unnatural look.

“Harry, I heard that you would come today, so I’ve been waiting here early. Thank goodness, you look good. Ron said that you were discovered by the Ministry of Magic using Transfiguration. I was really worried. I hope they are not doing anything to you.”

“Thank you, Hermione, I’m fine!” Harry smiled and pointed to Evan next to him. “This is Evan Mason, a new first-year. Thanks to his help this summer, I escaped from the Dursleys. Evan, this is Hermione Granger. I told you about her some time ago.”

Looking at the girl with thick, bushy brown hair in front of him, Evan knew that she was the brain of the golden trio, the veritable Miss Know-It-All.

“Nice to meet you, Miss Granger!” Evan stretched out his right hand. “I heard from Harry that you were first in the final exam. That’s really great.”

“It was nothing but a little cleverness from being a bookworm!” Hermione blushed a little, shook hands with Evan, and continued, “You can call me Hermione, of course. Can I call you Evan afterwards?”

“No problem, Hermione. In fact, I looked over Harry’s books for a while, and I’ve got a lot of questions I’d like to ask you.”

Harry listened with a headache as the conversation shifted to books, but luckily it didn’t last long before Ron arrived to save him.

As the green fire flashed, the Weasleys came out of the fireplace.