So when I heard the theme for this month, I did rather panic as I didn't know how to approach it. Then I just decided to see what I manage to come out with.
Now, of course, we all have walked through Diagon Alley. I realised that I had to basically flip my head and put on my 'Muggle head', and see the books from a different point of view (the Muggle one for those keeping track of my rambling).
I remember getting to finally read the Diagon Alley chapter from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and it was so exciting to read! Reading about the famous shopping alley for the first time had me buzzing. It certainly gave me a magical, warm, and fuzzy feeling that would never really be beaten by anything else.
That Diagon Alley has everything a witch or wizard would need for a magical education, and certainly the post educational world as well. Gringotts towers over the Alley and reading about it for the first time made me wonder just how much gold, silver, and bronze lay underneath the ground below the main building. Hagrid says that it goes deep under London, and when you think that the whole Wizarding World of Britain mainly keeps their gold at Gringotts, it's not hard to see why the highest security vaults are guarded by dragons.
Anyway, back to the Alley itself! I could just hear the chaos and busyness of the Alley in the written words. The sounds of young witches and wizards rushing around wanting to see the shops. The older, school-aged students finding their friends and exchanging news with them.
I close my eyes and pictured the scene, smiling softly. Oh yes, that Alley never fails to make me smile and I think it always will!
The first real incident that I can remember reading about was Draco and Harry's first meeting in Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and I didn't think much of Draco. (I should point out that this was when I believed that being in Slytherin was bad... well we can really see that that's changed now.) Harry doesn't really understand what is being said as he came from a Muggle background so, of course, wouldn't know what Draco was talking about. Then Hagrid arrives back with Harry's faithful friend Hedwig, and we know the rest of their history.
In Chamber of Secrets, Harry ends up in Knockturn Alley and that made me feel cold and dark. Knockturn Alley is more known for the Dark Arts, and is completely the opposite to Diagon Alley. I only get a brief glimpse of the Alley, but it makes me not really want to go there at all.
Of course, it's obvious there's going to another incident. Harry's life is full of them and it comes in the form of Arthur Weasley and Lucius Malfoy. A rift between the two families results in a brawl in the middle of Flourish and Blotts. I do feel sorry for the Weasleys though, because they've had to work hard for everything whereas the Malfoys have had everything handed to them on a golden plate.
Diagon Alley rarely changes throughout the first five books. It's really once Voldemort goes public after his return that things begin to change. Shops are deserted and shopkeepers are abducted by the Death Eaters. It makes me feel sad that the beloved and popular Alley is now basically a ghost town. It's like Knockturn Alley, but no shops are open and there is paper everywhere.
Snatchers lurk within the Alley and remove people they see as Muggleborns or blood traitors. It really made me sad and I hated reading about it because the Alley is so loved by everyone. The only splash of colour was from the Weasley Twins' new joke shop that they had opened. It was the brightest thing in the Alley, and a sign of hope that the war would eventually end. The shop was bustling and I guess people really needed a laugh so that was a relief that everyone had from what was going on. Dark times were engulfing the world and there were Fred and George Weasley with their joke shop.
I wonder where we would be without Diagon Alley and I stop thinking about that. It survived the Wars and is still thriving. It's a key part of the Wizarding World and it always will be. That is where I think I'll leave my book club rambles there.
Until next time,
Adele x