FINDING DIAGON ALLEY solo

Setting: A busy street in London, noisy and traffic filled, though why that is would be anyone's guess giving it's the middle of the holidays. (Charring Cross Road, opposite The Leaky Cauldron)
Word Count: 584

Puck had never been to London before. They’d been to other parts of England, their mother had taken them to Bath for Jane Austen’s house, but they’d never gone into the city before. Their first impression was the noise, unfiltered and busy, the city was alive with it, writhing beneath the pavement and steel and glass. There were no trees, and cars pushed down little streets, horns sounding and people hurrying and Puck felt small, out of place, contained.

They took a breath and squeezed their mothers hand, looking up to the sky, blue and open, expansive. The letter had said to come to Charing Cross road and find ‘The Leaky Cauldron’, whatever that was. Puck looked towards their mother, when the letter had gotten to this point she’d breathed in sharply, and looked almost far away…

’That’s where I met your father. I’d thought it funny at the time, ‘cause he appeared out of nowhere, and was stumbling as if he’d just come out of a bar, but the only place anywhere near was this run-down old building on the corner, and no cars had been past at all.

…But maybe there was something else, that she was only just missing, that could tell them where to go, because certainly neither of them knew what a ‘Leaky Cauldron’ might be, save from a literal one, and neither of them thought even wizards would be quite so obvious.

“Well, there you go, ‘swat I said, ain’t nothin’ here but that old place,” As she said it, Puck’s mother jabbed her thumb towards a building across the road, but what Puck saw there couldn’t have been further from her earlier description. It was a quaint-looking place, windows lit, and fairy-lights strung above the door and into what looked to be a lively little pub, the sign swinging above the door denoting it…

“The Leaky Cauldron!”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Puck’s mother looked slightly perplexed at their exclamation, looking between her child and the ramshackle, definitely abandoned shopfront across the road. And then suddenly they were moving, Puck pulling her through the stand-still traffic, exclaiming excitedly that they didn’t know what she was on about, that it looked like a perfectly nice place, and would solve them having to find a place to stay. As they drew closer she felt uneasy, like she was someplace she really shouldn't be, but before she could protest, Puck had drawn them both through the door and then… Suddenly it was a well-lit, chattering little pub, patrons laughing and talking to the barkeep, drinking together, just like any other she’d been to in her life except— well except for the fact it hadn’t been there five seconds ago. But that was magic wasn’t it, hidden in plain sight.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Puck’s eyes danced around the pub, which seemed to extend beyond its outward appearance, taking in the light, the soft chattering and little clatterings as they walked in towards the bar. The man working there gave them some greeting, and looked knowingly at Puck, striking up a conversation with their mother while they stood back, preferring to drink in the happenings, greedy with the new-ness of it, eyeing each and every person for some hint of magic.

Then their mother was pulling them along, following after the barkeep out to a small courtyard and a grey brick wall. The man pulled out a thin stick, intricately carved and tapped it against a few of the bricks, carefully selected, then before their eyes, the wall melted away…