Mother was sitting next to me with a somewhat amused expression on her face. Clearly in wizarding families like hers, going to Diagon Alley at this age shouldn't be that exciting. However it was my first real exposure to the wizarding world so what do you expect?! Underneath me I felt the train begin to slow down and immediately jumped up as though shocked by several hundred volts of electricity. Everyone else around me stared as though they had never seen an extremely excited 11 year old girl before.

When the train finally pulled up to our stop, my mother had to firmly grasp my hand to keep me from running ahead and drawing too much attention to myself. "Try to calm down, I know you're excited but you mustn't act suspicious or the muggles will know we're up to something," mother said in an attempt to restrain me from running across the street. "But mother we're not up to something, we're just going to Diagon Alley!" I said in a voice barely below a shout. "Sh! Keep your voice down! They'll get the impression you're not normal and when they start thinking that they'll begin to investigate. Think of what would happen if a muggle went snooping and found the entrance to Diagon Alley," my mother replied modestly. That finally stopped my excited spasms and I excersized some level of control over my emotions until we arrived at a small pub called the Leaky Cauldron. 

It wasn't until you looked closely that you could even see it at all next to the splendor of the surrounding muggle shops; in fact all of the muggles seemed to pass it by as if it wasn't even there. However despite my doubts my mother led me to the entrance and walked inside. It was a very dingy little place, although I suppose one could call it cozy once you get past the smell from the customers and the odd beverages lining the counter. A tiny old man came from behind the counter to shake our hands and said, "Welcome to the Leaky Cauldron Molly, nice to see you again! And this must be your daughter Jessica, she would be starting her first year at Hogwarts soon now wouldn't she?" he smiled enthusiastically as he shook our hands.

"Hello Tom we're just passing through, you know how it is the first time to Diagon Alley, can hardly contain the excitement," mother replied with a half smile in my direction. "Of course, enjoy your visit," Tom beamed at me behind a very toothy grin. I nervously quirked up the corners of my mouth in acknowledgement of his kindness, my introverted nature taking over as we stepped past and continued to a door in the back of the shop.

Once outside the door we were in a little patio area that led to a dead end and no apparent exit. "What're we doing here?" I asked tentatively. My mother didn't answer as she took out her wand and studied the brick of the back wall. She muttered something to herself then touched one of the bricks with the end of her wand, then hastily put it away as an opening began to form right before our eyes. Mouth open, eyes practically bulging out of their sockets, the whole of Diagon Alley was revealed for the first time.

Shops of various sizes lined the streets with vendors selling all sorts of goods on the edges of the streets. Masses of people went about their duties, purchasing items and carrying them around from place to place. Many children around my age and older passed with family and friends as they too went about getting their school supplies. I couldn't take in all of the sights and the first thing I wanted to do was go into the first one and work my way down them all, purchasing anything I could get my hands on. However my mother had a very different idea.

"We have to go to Gringotts first to get some money for you to spend, then we will get all of your supplies and then, and only then, will I let you choose a maximum of 3 shops to buy something at." "Okay okay!" I shouted. I didn't care as long as I was able to see everything before we left. We walked down the lane, my eyes bouncing back and forth taking in everything there was to see, before we made it to a tall, grand building of handsome marble. After passing the entrance way I got my very first look at goblins. They were kind of ugly looking, as their faces were sort of squashed and lopsided, but their ears were long and sort of made me wish I could pull them. As we walked down the threshold the goblins didn't even look up from their work, whether it be assisting customers or some other unknown task. We found a vacant goblin and asked to withdraw money from my very own vault. The goblin gave us a very nasty look before leaping from his seat and leading us to a door on the far wall. We entered and boarded a cart that took us a short distance to a fairly older section of the bank. The cart ride was fun and entertaining but both my mother and the goblin, Snidevard, didn't seem to think so. 

We reached the vault after a few minutes. I bounced slightly with anticipation as I waited for Snidevard to slip the key into the heavy metal door to reveal the treasures inside. When the door clicked and was swung open my jaw dropped to the floor. Inside were heaping mounds of coins, some small and some large, all glittering different colors. It looked so beautiful in the dim light, but I knew what I was looking at was what was considered a fairly wealthy amount, even in the wizarding world. How my mother had managed to come by this much money all by herself for me I didn't know; all I knew was I definitely had enough for 7 years worth of school supplies and equipment.

My mother grabbed one of the piles and scooped then into a bag. She then took out another smaller bag and put some more coins into it. "This is for you to use at Hogwarts ok. Don't use it all at once, save it for when you need it or towards the end of the year when you know you won't run out you can buy a little something," mother said sternly. I nodded my understanding and we turned to board the cart once more to return to the surface of Diagon Alley. Once there, I once more took in all the sights as I looked around trying to determine where in the hoard of shops I could begin my adventure.