Chapter 4 has arrived! I thank those of you that have already reviewed and I shall try to follow your advice!
4
IN WHICH our heroes break into a bank.
Once Hagrid the Giant had removed the pig's snout from Maria Lee's face, they set off to London.
"You must be joking," scoffed Maria Lee. "We CAN'T find all this in London! It's impossible!"
"Nothin's impossible," replied Hagrid. "S'long's yeh got magic." Hagrid looked worriedly at his pink, flowered umbrella.
"And what's up with that umbrella of yours?" Maria Lee demanded suspiciously. "It seems to work like a wand."
Hagrid's face wouldn't have been redder if it was a tomato.
Robert pondered on this. Maybe Hagrid wasn't allowed to do magic, so he did something that channeled all his wand power into his umbrella and was then practicing magic in secret. But why would that be? Hagrid seemed like a pretty nice guy.
"Here we are!" announced Hagrid. "Colt Avenue."
"I don't see any wands..." said Maria Lee impatiently.
"Wait fer it, wait fer it..."
Suddenly, a shop appeared out of nowhere, right in front of the trio. A sign next to it announced that it was called The Leaky Cauldron. "Ah, 'ere we are!" laughed Hagrid.
"This is a pub, not a wand shop," noted Robert. "Are you positive this is the right place?"
"I knew it! You were bluffing!" laughed Maria Lee. "There's no such thing as magic!"
"Do yeh wan' that swine nose again?" threatened Hagrid in a low voice. He brandished his umbrella threateningly.
Maria Lee quickly turned quiet. Even she had SOME sense. Besides, she HAD given Robert one awesome birthday gift, so she was all right...plus, those blue eyes of hers shimmered like the sea and blended perfectly with her jacket, and those lovely fingernails...
"In 'ere, kids," instructed Hagrid, cutting off Robert's train of thought. The three of them stepped inside the Leaky Cauldron.
It was your typical bar, with those wheely chairs that are also sometimes at diners. Robert sat in one and started spinning around. Hey, even eleven-year-olds can act like children every once in a while! He looked around while spinning and noticed that there were plenty of people everywhere, dressed in strange clothing. The barman looked old and crippled, and had a strange toothless grin like everything was going to be fine, even though death could creep up to his door at any moment. Robert wondered if that was the correct idiom, but then shook off the thought. The last thing he wanted to think about right now was literary devices.
Hagrid grabbed Robert's arm and dragged him and Maria Lee to a wall in the back of the pub. He took out his umbrella and tapped five of the bricks. Ronald tried to memorize this, in case it was a code all wizards were expected to know. The top left brick, the one 2 down and 5 to the left...Suddenly, the wall vanished, revealing a whole different place than Colt Avenue.
The streets were filled with people dressed in the same strange clothes as the people in the pub were wearing, robes with colors on the sleeves. Some wore green, others red, and a few of them wore purple. Robert assumed purple robes were fancy and rare, for one in a hundred of the people wore them. And the shops! The alley was filled to the brim with strangely-named buildings like Ollivander's, Makers of Fine Wands, Flourish and Blotts Booksellers, The Great Owl Emporium...the possibilities were endless. Even Maria Lee was in awe, though she tried to hide it.
"What IS this place?" Robert asked Hagrid.
"Diagon Alley, " Hagrid replied almost instantly. "Best place to go for buyin' school supplies. Unless yeh're a Muggle, o' course." He chuckled at the thought of it. "Imagine! A Muggle walkin' down Diagon Alley!"
"You keep saying that word. What's this 'Muggie' thing all about?" persisted Robert.
"Muggle," corrected Hagrid. "Non-magic folk."
They walked along through the streets until they arrived at a place called Gringotts Wizarding Bank.
"Here's where yeh'll get yer money out of yer vault," announced Hagrid.
"But we don't have wizarding money!" protested Robert. "We're just kids! And I'm sure our parents don't, either!"
"Yer parents DO!" laughed Hagrid. "Not Maria Lee's though. They're Muggles."
"Wouldn't that mean I'm a Muggle?" asked Maria Lee. She then covered her mouth and pretended not to care. Obviously, she still didn't want to show that she believed Hagrid.
"Nah," laughed Hagrid. "Not at all. Plenty o' wizards have Muggle families!"
He opened the door to Gringotts and they walked inside. Robert gasped. The place was run by goblins—literally. Tiny little beasts with green skin, wearing wide-rimmed glasses and sitting at desks, filling out forms. He could tell they were goblins because lamps seemed to go crazy around them, flickering on and off repeatedly. If that wasn't the case, then he'd think they were imps or aliens. Studious imps or aliens, of course, but nonetheless...
He tore his eyes away from them to see that there was a mine shaft right next to them. Maybe it led to the vaults! He patted the mine cart to see how sturdy it was. He sometimes threw up going on roller coaster rides, so he was a bit nervous. Maria Lee tried patting it too. Hagrid was busy talking to one of the goblins. Suddenly, the mine cart jerked back, toppling Robert and Maria Lee into it and sending them down into the mines!
Unfortunately for Robert, it was just like a roller coaster ride.
Twists and turns, ups and downs, even a few loop-de-loops! The only difference was that there weren't seat belts, so they had to hold on tight as if their lives depended on it.
Their lives did depend on it.
Finally, it came to a stop. But then a thought came to Robert. They wouldn't be able to go anywhere! They couldn't walk up loop-de-loops, and they were utterly lost! "HAGRID!" Maria Lee screeched. "I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THIS!" As if it was Hagrid's fault, Robert thought bitterly. The fault was his.
To make matters worse, a huge, dark shadow suddenly loomed over them. Something had heard the echo. And it was coming to get them...
This, I think was one of my more suspenseful chapters! I hope I explained things in detail. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE review! Thank you, anonymous Robert Jameson, my only reviewer so far...without you, I'm not sure if I'd want to continue the story!