14 Diagon Alley

It had been about a month since the dementor attack, and no other dark arts incidents had occurred. Despite this, new security measures had been put into place at the Ministry of Magic, including additional spells and trained magic sniffers near the main entrances and exits of the complex.

Today was a holiday, and Zach planned to spend some time in Diagon Alley, to stock up on a few things, and also to visit Uncle George's shop. He was waiting for Alfred to arrive at his house, so they could Portkey over together.

Zach found it easier to travel to places like this with a magical companion.

He was waiting at the outer gates of his home when, with a sparkly puff, Alfred apparated in front of him. He grinned at his best friend.

"Glad you finally made it."

Alfred gave a lopsided grin. "Me Dad wanted a little help around the house, so I had to finish chores before I could leave."

Zach clapped the young wizard on the back. "No worries, I reckoned something like that would happen on an off-day. Come inside and say hi to everybody."

Inside, Ginny had just finished cooking something on the stove.

"Come on in, boys!", she said as the tureen drifted to the table. "I just finished some beef and lamb stew."

Both of them hustled to one of the benches as Zach's mother began ladling the delicious-smelling contents into earthenware bowls.

"Thank you, Mrs. Potter." Alfred politely responded, earning him a smile. With a wave of her wand, a loaf of bread, still warm, landed on a plate in the middle of the table.

"Enjoy, you two. The rest of the gang won't be here for another hour. I assume you don't want to wait for them."

They both nodded vigorously, mouths stuffed like chipmunks. Ginny laughed and shook her head.

Once they were stuffed, she helped Zach on with his jacket, smoothing down the arms and buttoning up the front. Leaning in close, she whispered, "Here's some butterbeer money. Don't spend it on your uncle's jokes." With that, she slipped a few bills into his jacket pocket.

"Ready? Okay!" She stepped back before he could protest, and with a wave of her wand, the house disappeared and the two boys found themselves in front of a familiar store on Charing Cross Road.

"Your mum's magic is better than a Portkey", Alfred remarked, and Zach couldn't agree more. With the tip of his finger, he pushed the correct brick four times, and the Alley molded itself into view.

The Alley had been entirely rebuilt after the Battle of Hogwarts, and now sported additional passageways and shops. The Leaky Caldron had split into the original pub and inn, and a smaller, brighter version that specialized in a younger clientele, with butterbeer, gillywater, syrupy sodas, and baked sweets.

Zach looked at The Leaky Cup longingly for a moment, but had other things he wanted to purchase first.

Ever since his father successfully broke into Gringott's Wizarding Bank, the goblins had refused to resume business with him, even going so far as to remove his entire treasure from Vault 687 and breaking the key that opened that vault. So the Potters kept their treasure in an Undetectable Extension Charm bag stored in a secret place in their house.

Zach had his salary sent directly to Gringott's but rarely accessed it. In any case, he already had his allowance from his mother as well as the butterbeer money.

"Alfred, do you need to go by the bank?"

The wizard looks sheepish.

"Actually, yes. Why don't we meet by The Leaky Cup in about an hour? Hopefully, I'll be through the line by then."

Zach nodded. Window shopping was preferable to waiting in line with his friend, since the goblins at Gringotts were a surly lot in the best of times, and quickly soured whenever a Potter showed up.