Pretty Shiny Cauldrons (Open)

Lily had been looking forward to this trip for days and days! And now it was finally here! Diagon Alley! Apparently this wonderful street filled with loads of odd shops and wizard stuff that she had never seen in her life. After hearing all about it from her father, this was it! She got to see all this stuff and get her school stuff for Hogwarts, which was even more amazing! She was literally bouncing up and down in her seat as her dad drove her and Kaleb there. In her excitement, she talked even more than usual, chatting amicably to her half brother despite knowing that she wouldn’t get much of a response.

When they arrived at a car park not too far from Diagon Alley, her parents walked them through the pub which supposedly acted as a passageway, gave them some wizard money, guided them in the direction of the cauldron shop and left to look around London together. Lily eagerly waved goodbye and grabbed Kaleb’s arm excitedly. “Kaaaaaleb!” she grinned. “Hurry up! Come on! Let’s go SHOPPING! Then we can go and get our wands!” For her, that was the most exciting prospect, getting the magic stick that would enable her to do cool spells and be a wizard policewoman in the future.

Still clutching his arm, she wandered towards Potage’s, as it was called, and opened the door for them to go in. She met the sight of hundreds of shiny cauldrons majestically gleaming. Yay, cauldrons!

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Why? That's all he wanted to know... Why was he thrown into this mysterious family that he didn't even want to be a part of? Sure he had always wanted a father and a sibling, but did she have to be an annoying half sister? Kaleb always wanted a brother. That would've been nice. Kaleb wondered if there was a spell that he could learn that could change this annoying little person into a quiet brother.

That would be perfect. He would study that, and if he found anything, he figured it would be a miracle. She was actually EXCITED about going to this stupid world, and to this stupid school that his dad went to. If it had nothing to do with getting his mother back, he didn't want any part of it is what he told him. But, to his dismay, they were forcing him. And since he wasn't of age, he had to go.

He only had to suck it up for seven years right? Or at least until he turned 17. That part wouldn't be to bad, if it weren't for the annoying pest that kept bouncing up and down in the car. She even managed to grab his arm a time or two out of excitement. Reluctantly, he pulled away rather forcefully.

They arrived at a place called Diagon Alley. He pretended not to be amused by it, but in reality, he had to admit that it was pretty cool. When they got into the establishment, the little pest grabbed his arm AGAIN, and wanted to go get their wands TOGETHER. What could be more annoying? Getting a stick? Or having HER dragging him along like a little puppy?

His father smiled and tried to make him enjoy the moment. But he wasn't going to. He wasn't going to one bit.

So, these cauldrons. Lily glanced down at the supply list she had in her hands. “So we need a cauldron, pewter, standard size two,” she said confidently, as though she actually understood what she had just read. Her face turned to a doubtful one. It was okay, there would probably be a shop assistant to ask or some labels to make things clear to them. They must get a lot of first years coming in for cauldrons so they had to be prepared!

Kaleb had managed to wriggle free, so she just beckoned him to follow her with a hand gesture. There was no queue at the counter, so she charged towards the shopkeeper. “Excuse me,” Lily said sweetly. “Do you know where the standard size two pewter cauldrons are?” The woman, looking a little amused, directed them towards a section nearby in the shop.

This was what they were looking for! “Come on Kaleb, pick a cauldron! This is important! If we don’t pick good cauldrons, we won’t make good potions! And then we’ll fail school, which would be terrible! Traumatic!” Big decision, this was.

After a couple of minutes of staring them down to see if they cracked under her gaze, she decided on a shiny pretty one at the front, which looked like most of the others but was somehow more special. Lily just imagined it with a little happy face, calling, ‘choose me because I am awesome’ to her. So she had to get it! She leaned forward to grab it, beaming excitedly.

Cauldrons. Bleh. Matthew couldn't think of anything less interesting than cauldrons. Why in the world would anyone dedicate an entire shop to one? They were boring. Round, but not meant to be thrown, and completely inflammable. Boring. Oh, but there were some over in the corner there that were sitting on top of flames! That was something at least. Matthew bounded over to the burners to stare at the fire while his family shopped around for stupid, boring cauldrons.

But even fire wasn't enough to keep Matthew busy for long. Sure, it was awesome, but this fire wasn't actually burning anything. It was just constant and not that exciting. It was much cooler to watch fire consume things and see how twigs and paper and stuff bent and shriveled and eventually disappeared when lit aflame. So he sighed dramatically and turned around to look for something else interesting. But their wasn't much.

But then a grin spread across his face. Just because cauldrons weren't meant to be thrown didn't mean that they couldn't be. So he went ahead and grabbed a nice, round one. He and Ollie could play catch while they were there! That would pass the time. "Catch Ollie!" Matthew exclaimed, turning and tossing the cauldron through the air toward his brother. But apparently Ollie wasn't paying attention, and was already leaving the spot that Matthew was aiming for. And so the cauldron continued arcing through the air, it's path aiming straight for a girl reaching for a cauldron across the room. That wasn't good. "Hey, you! Look out! Duck! Run! Get out of the way!" he called anxiously. He didn't really want to be responsible for killing someone with a cauldron.