LOCATION | Diagon Alley DATE | 9th August 2024 INTERACTING | ——

“ September Song ” 00:32⠀ ── ◉ ────── ⠀03:23

x | OUTFIT #e63b7a | DIALOGUE @Jade O'Reilly | MENTIONING

The warm August air spread through the Alley and clung to the walls, the sun standing at its highest position of the day and burning down on the wizards and witches shopping in Diagon Alley. It was midday and Jun had already spent most of the day on her legs, visiting Gringotts first thing in the morning - to avoid any later crowding as her Mother had said.

Now they had their bags full of school supplies, a brand new wand and the clothes the letter had asked for. Only thing left to buy was books and a cauldron. Jun would have preferred to buy the books first but her Mother had declined, knowing the young girl would spend longer in Flourish and Blotts than she would in any other shop.

They had just treated themselves with a break and ice cream, stopping right before the shop Jun had been waiting for all day. „Futate ni wakarete, ōnabe o kaishū shite kara mukae ni ikō ka?Do you think we can split up and I‘ll come get you once I‘ve retrieved your cauldron?“ her Mother asked as they fell into a stop right at the door of Flourish and Blotts. Reina‘s face expressed concern and the want to not leave her child alone, while also finally wanting to go home.

„Mochiron, daijōbu daOf course, I’ll be fine.“ A reassuring smile sat on Jun‘s lips, her eyes projecting the calmness she knew her Mother needed for her to leave. „You won’t be far and I‘ll stay in the shop, don’t worry.“ Trying again, Reina finally agreed and pressed a quick kiss on her daughters head before disappearing into the crowds.

Satisfied, Jun turned as well and stepped into the book shop. A small smile spread on her lips as she was welcomed by books mounting to the very top of the store, underneath the ceilings, and the warmth previously bothering her was quickly forgotten. She glanced down at her list and started making her way deeper into the shop, dodging people with books in their arms from now and then.

code by charisse

Jade stood next to a building, squinting down at her shopping list in the sunlight. She had made it to the alley only an hour before, and had spent most of that time anxiously waiting in line at the wizard bank. I think the name was Gringotts… It had been rather overwhelming. Jade had no idea how things worked around here, and it had taken her an embarrassingly long time to exchange her money for wizard currency - old-fashioned gold and silver coins called sickles. Or did the different types of coins have different names? Jade couldn’t remember.

Either way, it meant Jade had barely gotten started on the list of everything she needed for Hogwarts. Who knew wizard school shopping could be this stressful? She still didn’t quite understand everything on her list - there were very mystical requirements, like a wand and a cauldron; and it seemed she also needed to buy a uniform… I need something easy to get started with, Jade thought, scanning the list. That could work… It appeared Jade needed to purchase textbooks. Hopefully that experience would be relatively normal.

It says here I need to go to ‘Flourish and Blotts”, Jade thought. Which is… She looked around the nearby shops, and spotted the one she wanted. Across the street, apparently. Jade took a deep breath to calm her nerves, then walked over and pushed open the door to the shop. It looked… like a regular bookshop. Books were everywhere, on the shelves, but also piled on tables and the ground, stacked all the way to the ceiling. It reminded Jade of some of the more eccentric bookstores she had seen back home. She could see other people, mostly families with kids around her age, moving through the store.

Shopping list in her hand, Jade nervously made her way through the bookstore, doing her best to avoid the crowded areas. She felt self-conscious, looking cluelessly for the right textbooks with so many people around… When she reached a more empty section of the store, she let out a sigh of relief. However, that feeling was quickly replaced by dread when Jade realized she didn’t know where the textbooks were.

Looking around anxiously, Jade eventually spotted another girl who looked to be around her age. Maybe… maybe I could ask her? She took another breath, then hesitantly walked over. “Um… excuse me?” she asked. “Are you looking for textbooks too, by any chance?”

Reducio

Mentioning: @Jun Mayumi Mochizuki
Word Count: 408/200
Dialogue: #407e58

LOCATION | Diagon Alley DATE | 9th August 2024 INTERACTING | ——

“ September Song ” 00:32⠀ ── ◉ ────── ⠀03:23

x | OUTFIT #e63b7a | DIALOGUE @Jade O'Reilly | MENTIONING

Jun flipped open another page, revealing the calming draught. She was a few pages into Magical Drafts and Potions written by Arsenius Jigger. Her fingers traced over the letters and the image of a filled cauldron, reading the effects of the calming draught. She had went through several shelves by now and had stopped at least six times to read into a book. One that had been specifically interesting was The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection. She would like this subject, surely. They all seemed interesting but some even more than others.

Closing the book and putting it on her stack, Jun picked up the tower of books she had picked out and started walking to find the last book she needed. A History of Magic hadn’t jumped into her gaze just yet, but she had already been past what she figured was somewhat a history section in the store. Though she wasn’t entirely convinced there was a system at all. She rounded a corner, the tower of books in her arms wavering dangerously until she caught sight of what she needed.

Setting down her stack carefully on the floor, Jun reached for the book and stood on her tippy toes to reach it while not pulling any other books with her. A small smile settled on her lips as she achieved victory and could go back to standing normally. She let her hand trail over the cover before flipping it open and being met by a random goblin rebellion. Hmm, interesting. They’d surely be covering this at Hogwarts too. Jun was flipping through the pages, when a voice suddenly broke through to her. Her eyes snapped up from the pages and met a girl.

She had shoulder length hair and green eyes, looking around the same age as Jun. And she was asking her for help. Jun said nothing for a few moments, that felt like eternity, before she realized that she had to react. „Hello,“ a polite smile spread across her lips, „Yes, well in fact I‘ve found them by now,“ she said and pointed to the stack by her feet, reaching over the height of her knees. Maybe she had gone a bit overboard with finding new reading material. „Do you need help, possibly?“

Why exactly had she just asked that? She knew her Mother would be here soon and usher her to leave. Yet, the girl looked nice and Jun barely ever saw anyone other than their staff and her mother. Actually, she never saw anyone else unless they went somewhere. Which wasn’t often and even then, Jun didn’t really talk to anyone. „It takes a little to find them, I could help you, if you wanted me too?“ Was this a good idea? Jun wasn’t sure, but making acquaintances with someone that wasn’t at least thrice her age, would surely be good. Right? Especially if they maybe saw each other in Hogwarts. Jun just had to push her anti social self and be a normal eleven year old girl. There was no way the other girl would find out what she was, only from looking for books. „I am Jun,“ she then said, sticking out her hand to the girl rather than bowing, like her brain told her to.

^{Note: So so sorry for the long wait! This has been sitting in my drafts!}

code by charisse

| Mentioning: @Jun Mayumi Mochizuki | Date: August 9th 2024 |
| Dialogue: #407e58 | Word Count: 359 |

“Hello,” the other girl said, smiling politely. “Yes, well in fact I’ve found them by now.” Jade looked where the girl was pointing, to see a great tower of books. Surely those aren’t all for school, she thought. Jade did her best to look at the titles without appearing too weird about it. She couldn’t make out all of them, but she was pretty sure there were some books there that weren’t on the school supply list. Maybe she likes to read too, Jade thought, hopefully. This interaction wouldn’t be too bad if both of them liked books, right? It would be something to make conversation about. If she made conversation. I should try to make friends, Jade thought. Since I’m not going to know anyone at school.

“It takes a little to find them, I could help you, if you wanted me too?” The other girl offered. Jade let out a little sigh of relief under her breath - searching around the bookstore all by herself had seemed way too intimidating, and having someone to show her where all the books where would be great.

“Oh, um, yes please!” Jade said softly, only sounding a little nervous. “That would be great, thank you.” She smiled, in an attempt to appear friendly.

“I am Jun,” the girl said, offering her hand for a handshake. Jade shook her hand, then introduced herself. “I’m Jade. It’s uh, nice to meet you.” She wasn’t sure why the other girl wanted to shake hands - Jade didn’t often do that with other kids. It was more of a thing between adults, or when she was meeting someone important. Maybe magic people do things differently, she thought. I guess I’ll have to figure that out.

Jade fell into awkward silence for a moment, trying to come up with something to say. I could… ask about her books, maybe? Since she seems to have a lot of them? Yes, that seemed like a good idea. Good way to make conversation. “So… um, are all these books the ones for school? Or are some of them - not?” Gah, that sounds really awkward…. I hope she doesn’t notice.

Note: So sorry for the long wait! I got hit with a stressful period of life and was without writing inspiration for a while.