SS Chapter 5 PT 1

Diagon Alley

Summary:

Harry awakens the morning after Hagrid brings him his letter with his eyes tight shut, thinking that it had all been a wonderful dream and that he’d wake up in his cupboard. To his relief, Hagrid laid asleep on the couch in the hut on the rock. Hagrid and Harry set off to London in search of Harry’s school things, and Harry has no clue where he would be able to find any of it. The pair of them gather a lot of attention, as Hagrid is nearly double the size of an average person, and they finally get to a “tiny , grubby-looking pub” called the Leaky Cauldron. 

Upon entering, Harry is engulfed in hugs and handshakes from the various witches and wizards that want to meet “The Boy Who Lived.” He meets Professor Quirrell, the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, who can’t help but twitch and stutter over every sentence. After several long minutes of greeting everyone, Hagrid finally got Harry to the courtyard behind the bar, and tapped on the brick wall. The bricks jumped out of the way and formed an archway that led into a crowded street full of shops and people and all sorts of magical trinkets. 

As they walked through the street, Harry saw broomsticks, cauldrons, owls, potions ingredients, and many more incredible items. Hagrid led Harry through the crowd to a large white building that read “Gringotts,” the wizard bank where Harry was to get his money for his supplies. Harry watched as there the multitude of Gringotts goblins were weighing jewels and filing inventory reports. In addition to getting Harry’s gold, Hagrid pulls out a sealed and tied envelope from Dumbledore that grants him access to something with an additional vault.

Harry was amazed at the size of Gringotts and as they traveled through the caverns, he couldn’t keep track of the route that they took to reach their destination. Upon entering his vault, he couldn’t believe the amount of gold that was left to him by his parents. After he filed his money bag, they traveled to vault 713 to pick up a rather small parcel that Hagrid immediately stuffed in a coat pocket. 

After leaving Gringotts, Harry begins to buy all of his school supplies, beginning with his robes, where he meets a pale boy with a bored attitude. His conversation with this boy made him not like him very much and he was happy to leave at his first chance. AS the day went on, Harry had all but 2 items: a pet and a wand. Hagrid bought Harry a stunning snowy owl for his birthday, and then they headed to get Harry’s wand.

Upon entering OIlivander’s wand shop, Harry could feel the magic in the air. Ollivander came to Harry and began to take measurements and allowed Harry to test several wands. Finally he brought a wand that allowed Harry to produce red and gold sparks, which made Ollivander think a little. He then shares with Harry that his wand core was given by the same phoenix that Voldemort’s wand has and that it is expected that he will be able to produce great magic with this wand. 

As Hagrid prepares Harry for his trip back to the Dursleys, he notices Harry is worried and he gives him reassurance that once he trains up a bit he will be a great wizard. He gives him his train ticket for the school train and explains that he will need to be at Kings Cross station on the 1st of September and to let him know if there are any problems with the Dursleys.

Initial Thoughts:

This is my favorite chapter of this book! It’s Harry’s first experience of the Wizarding world! He gets a taste of his fame, exposure to a wizard community, and receives his wand! This is a packed chapter, and this post is going to be a long one! I didn’t think it would happen this soon, but this will be a two part post! 

Hogwarts Supply List:

Enclosed with the acceptance letter, your Hogwarts letter envelope comes with a complete supply list that is broken up into 3 categories: Uniform, Books, and Other Equipment.

The uniform for first years includes three sets of plain, black work robes, one black pointed hat for day wear, one pair of protective dragon’s hide gloves, and a black winter cloak with silver fastenings. The uniform that we are introduced to in the books are changed slightly in the movie adaptations, where students also must have buttoned up collared shirts with a house tie and vest. 

The Book List- (Which many have authors based on puns)

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk (Go Shock- spells)

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling (Waffling= failing to make up your mind, so theory)

A Beginners’ Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch (Switch-Transfigure)

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore (Spores are what fungi grow from)

 Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger (Jiggers are used by bartenders to measure their pours)

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scammander (Newts are animals)

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self Protection by Quentin Trimble (Trimble is close to tremble, like when you tremble with fright)

Other equipment needed for first years include a wand, one size 2 pewter cauldron, 1 set of glass or crystal phials (for potions), a set of brass scales, and a pet.

The supplies necessary for the subsequent years change to fit the needs of each student, especially when a student enters their O.W.L. or N.E.W.T. level years. It is interesting that the supply list specifies the 3 distinct types of animals that can be brought to Hogwarts, while Ron is able to bring Scabbers, a rat, and Ginny eventually brings Arnold, a pygmy puff, which are not approved animals. More on this at a later time, as there is a theory that discusses this in depth that I want to explore further!

The Leaky Cauldron:

History Lesson! The Leaky Cauldron is a pub that was founded and created in the 1550’s by Daisy Dodderidge, in an attempt to create a passage between the muggle world and wizarding world. Its true address is 1 Diagon Alley and was created before the rest of the wizarding streets of Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley. Initially, the pub was visible to both wizards and muggles alike, but, after the introduction of the International Statute of Secrecy in 1692, the Leaky Cauldron was reserved as a wizard refuge site so that members of the wizarding world could congregate in larger groups without drawing suspicions towards themselves. 

Since 1692, the Leaky Cauldron has had multiple concealment charms and anti-muggle detection charms in order to keep muggles from accidentally accessing the wizarding world. Aside from the pub, the Leaky Cauldron also offers housing accommodations for the travelers and has even been a resting place for Harry, Ron, Hermione and the Weasley family in 1993. As was mentioned, the first landlord and baraid was Daisy Dodderidge, and it is unknown who succeeded her. We are not given any other landlord/owners until we are introduced to Tom in 1981. Tom became the barkeep, innkeeper, and landlord sometime around or before 1938 and had the pleasure of serving many witches and wizards in his time. He eventually retired, or passed, and the Leaky Cauldron came into the possession of Hannah Abbott (Longbottom) and Neville Longbottom. 

The Leaky Cauldron is an important part of the wizarding world and with its first appearance in the story, this chapter gives us a lot of information. As was mentioned above, there are high levels of concealment charms around the pub. As Harry and Hagrid approach the building, Harry is said to have almost missed it if Hagrid hadn’t pointed it out, due to its miniscule size compared to the other shops. But the muggle passersby couldn’t see the place at all. The concealment charm that is placed on the Leaky Cauldron causes muggles to immediately see the record shop that lay on the left side of the pub as they passed the bookshop from the right.

Witches and Wizards Harry Encounters:

Upon entering the Leaky Cauldron, Harry was set upon by a gang of witches and wizards who wanted to meet him and shake his hand. Aside from Tom, the barman, Harry meets Doris Crockford, Dedalus Diggle, and Professor QuirinusQuirrell, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

Doris Crockford was the first mentioned witch to greet Harry. Not much is known about her, as we only see her in this scene, but we are told that she has long white hair and that she was enthusiastic in her interaction with Harry, coming back repeatedly to speak with him and shake his hand. 

The second named wizard was none other than Dedalus Diggle, who may be in my top 10 favorite characters of the story, solely for his enthusiasm and his awesome name! Dedalus Diggle was a British born wizard who was a part of the Order of the Phoenix during both the First and Second Wizarding War against Voldemort. After the fall of Voldemort in 1981, Dedalus Diggle was ecstatic and could hardly contain himself and was responsible for sending a shower of shooting stars across the skys of Kent. From then, he was free to do whatever he pleased and frequented the Leaky Cauldron, where, in 1991, he introduced himself to Harry Potter. While he had bowed to him in public before that exchange, Harry and he had never been formally introduced. In 1995, upon the return of Voldemort, Dedalus Diggle rejoined the Order of the Phoenix, and was a part of the Advance Guard that accompanied Harry’s transport of 4 Privet Drive to 12 Grimmauld Place. 2 years later, Dedalus returned to 4 Privet Drive, along with Hestia Jones, to escort the Dursley’s to safety and get them into hiding, before Harry’s protection broke when he became of age.

Last but not least, we have Professor Quirinus Quirrell. We will get into Quirrell more throughout this book, but we will take a look at his years prior to 1991. Professor Quirrell was a young half-blood wizard who had been given the Defence Against the Dark Arts job at Hogwarts in the term that began in 1991. Quirrell attended Hogwarts, himself, in his youth and was sorted into Ravenclaw. During his time in school, he received top marks in his Muggle Studies and Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. level years. He took a fancy to the Dark Arts in his later school years, as he felt as though he was insignificant and was presumably bullied. He desired nothing more than to have his peers, and the wizarding community, see him as more than just  some inadequate wizard. After completing school it is unknown where he got his first job, but he came back to Hogwarts, initially, as the Muggle Studies teacher. In an effort to gain valuable experience for the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Quirrell took a sabbatical to gain some experience before taking up the job in 1991. He encountered many menacing beasts and dark wizards, but what he brought back to Hogwarts was far worse. 

Wrap It Up:

I could go on and on with this chapter but we have to find a stopping point!  Next week we will talk about chapter 5 again and we will cover the shops of Diagon Alley, Gringotts Bank and Wizard Currency, and, of course, Ollivander’s! I want to end with a question: Which book from the book list would you like to read? Leave your answer in the comments below!