Date: 23 August 2025

Mentions: None

Outfit: x

Word count: 1745

The time had finally come – thousands of wizards and witches, young and old, all kinds of people, flooded the streets of Diagon Alley for some pre-Hogwarts shopping. The cobbled streets of the shopping district filled with families of students soon to attend Hogwarts, who rushed into shops, buying items while prices were still at their lowest, grabbing what they needed and hurrying to the next shop. It was only about ten in the morning, and some shops had already sold out, leaving people panicking because they had not arrived in time to buy what they needed.

Dominica found it all so pathetic. These people really did not know how to plan, did they? She had already received all her required school supplies in the post – a colleague of her father had sent them over, so she did not need to bother running from shop to shop frantically, just to buy a quill or a stack of parchment. Of course, she had been lucky to receive them so easily by post, but last-minute shopping had never tempted her, and she knew she would never be caught in such a situation as all these people.

That day, she decided to visit the streets of Diagon Alley. It was convenient, as her father, his wife, and her little sister had been staying at the Leaky Cauldron for some time because of some business her father had, and they had thought it was a good opportunity to spend some time together. Spend some time together, yeah, right. Her stepmother and her daughter had been walking around Muggle London, her father was busy with work, and she was left to find activities on her own. She had already spent the previous day reading in her Leaky Cauldron bedroom, but since the sun was hidden behind clouds today, she decided it would not hurt to spend some time outside. And, of course, have some fun watching other people run around sweating, hoarding piles of books and robes in their arms.

After walking for about an hour or two in the streets, she felt her head begin to ache, which meant the sun was starting to shine through the clouds that had kept it hidden so well. Dominica grew frustrated at the persistent pain and decided to hide away for a while, until the sun disappeared again, or at least until her headache subsided. She made her way to one of her favourite places in the world – Flourish and Blotts bookshop. Of course, it was not as pleasant at this time of year, with people crowding its shelves in search of the required books for Hogwarts.

But the girl knew a place, and so upon entering the shop, she confidently made her way through the crowds towards it. She gradually climbed upstairs to the smaller area of the bookshop, where all the classic books were displayed. Just as she expected, the second floor was much quieter and more reserved. She saw a couple of old-looking wizards sitting on couches scattered around the room, who seemed to be engrossed in the books in their hands. Dominica did not mind them and proceeded with her business.

She began wandering around the bookshelves, occasionally stopping to pull a book from the shelf, flipping through it carefully, then slipping it back. She could do this for hours. The energy of the place, the scent of wood mingling with fresh parchment, made her head spin with ecstasy. She had been coming here since she could walk and knew this place like the back of her hand. Yet the first floor never interested her much. It was dedicated to popular literature, new writers, wordbooks, and wizard biographies. Those temporary books never interested her, and to be completely honest, she judged the people who read them. She saw reading as a way to take something from the book, to learn from it, and perhaps even to further create or interpret the author’s story. She did not find herself able to do that with contemporary literature, and she considered reading it an empty waste of time.

So she would always spend time on the second floor, where the real classics were displayed. Here you could find all the desirable and valuable works to read: insightful spellbooks that did not conform to conventional thinking and challenged the common theories of the day, history books about the true history of magic – history not taught at Hogwarts – which questioned the reliability of the information given in basic education. Here you could also find fictional books that explored the intricate wonders of the human psyche, and ones that made you feel as if you had lived an entirely different life through their stories. It was Dominica’s safe place, the place where she could escape the real world and immerse herself in the endless gatherings of literary geniuses.

She reached the end of the bookshelves, turning into a corner. Before she could turn away, a book caught her eye. It was a rather small book, about the size of a table clock. Its spine was a bright, warm yellow, with elegant black ornaments on the top and bottom corners. It caught the eleven-year-old’s attention because it seemed out of place. From experience, she knew that the books on the second floor were always arranged very neatly, thanks to the readers who frequented this section of the bookstore and their unwavering respect for the books they read. But this book was not fully pushed into the shelf and had been placed slightly askew.

She took it as a sign that she was meant to find this book, so she took it from the shelf, carefully placing it onto her right palm, which fit perfectly because of how small the book was. She opened it and began flipping through the pages. Suddenly, when she reached approximately the middle of the book, something slipped out and fell. It was a piece of parchment with something written on its surface. With great curiosity, the girl leaned down and picked up the fallen piece of paper. On it, in vibrant purple ink, were engraved the mysterious lines:

‘Where morning meets noon,

What supply does not ask,

Behind walls dread in dendritic I wait,

Come meet me fast,
Muckamuck.’

Dominica lifted her eyes, her brows furrowed in thought as she stared into the distance. Where morning meets noon… what supply does not ask… behind walls dread in dendritic I wait… come meet me fast… Muckamuck… She repeated the words in her mind, as if trying to push them into the deepest parts of her brain, hoping they would surface with the answer she most needed at the moment: what does it mean?

She did not leave the piece of parchment alone, nor did she slip it back into the book or throw it away. She did not avert her eyes from it, nor did she stop her mind from trying to solve its mystery. What had fallen into her grasp was now hers; she was certain of it. And this piece of paper was exactly what she needed: a mystery, a piece of knowledge, entertainment. She would not let it go.

She decided to take it one step at a time. The first sentence: Where morning meets noon… It had been quite obvious, and she was rather disappointed in herself for not understanding its hidden meaning at first glance. She glanced down at her Lethifold leather watch that she was wearing, which neared one o’clock in the afternoon. She was right. The quote had clearly referred to the time between twelve and one o’clock. Perfect, she was right on time.

She moved on to the next line, mentally remembering the first one. The next line read: what supply does not ask? Supply… She thought of refilling. Perhaps it was a shop that never needed new items, a shop that was always full of supplies. Or perhaps it referenced the infamous supply shopping for Hogwarts that every family with a school-aged child undertook. Although she could not think of a shop that was never short of supplies – in fact, she did not believe there was one – since, while living in the Leaky Cauldron for the past few days, she had seen wizards on brooms arriving with huge quantities of wands, books, and all kinds of other items for the Diagon Alley shops. So, the only option left was the school shopping one – a place not on the supply list? She was not entirely satisfied with her guess, but it will have to do it for now.

Behind walls dread in dendritic I wait… Dread in dendritic… A building perhaps associated with plants… Dogweed and Deathcap? That must be it; it was the only place Dominica knew of that sold exclusively plants. Besides, it would be a perfect location for a secret meeting, given its position off the main thoroughfare and its lack of flashy storefronts.

Come meet me fast, Muckamuck… It had to be a finishing line and perhaps the codename of the writer, she decided.

She had solved the riddle quite quickly as an eleven-year-old, so she was rather dissatisfied with whoever had written it, since it seemed to be secret. If she ever met Muckamuck, whoever that might be, she would teach them the correct way to code messages and hide them from prying eyes. But for now, she was busy with yet another endless pursuit of knowledge and mystery – an adventure that had quite literally fallen at her feet. Her wristwatch was approaching one o’clock, so she had to move quickly to reach Dogweed and Deathcap and be in place when the mysterious meeting began.

As quietly as she could, trying not to disturb the other customers, she ran down the stairs of the bookstore and pushed her way determinedly through the crowds still gathering in line for books. She received a few yelps and unhappy complaints as she made her way through, but she did not stop; at that moment, she could not – she had business. When she ran outside, the sun hit her face, a bright sunbeam like a trap, a snare that had been waiting for her. She did not flinch. She kept to the shadows of the buildings in Diagon Alley and headed for the plant shop.

Finally, her grey days found a ray of moonlight, a mysterious and intriguing ray; at that moment, striding down the Diagon Alley streets, she was anything but bored.