Butterflies had been gathering in Kermit's stomach for days-- excited and anxious in such equal measure he really couldn't tell one from the other. He'd been up must of the night before fretting. Fussing over the slightly droopy sleeves of Scal's old robes. Kermit knew he was small, scrawny, it wasn't really surprising that his big sister was bigger when she was his age. Every scrap of clothing he'd ever worn needed taking in, and Mother never had any trouble, but his dreams had been filled with visions of walking into the castle drowning in robes three times too large and that nervous energy carried him into their day out.
At least, right up until he laid eyes on Diagon Alley.
Everywhere Kermit looked he found something new. So many shops they were stacked up on top of each other, leaning over the cobblestones like great stone birds in every color he could imagine. The scent of roasted nuts and pumpkin juice wafted from half a dozen street carts, and it was all he could do to keep a hold of Scallion's coat so he didn't become lost in the ever-shifting throng of people. High Street, until that moment, had been Kermit's only reference for what Diagon Alley could be like. It was a terrible reference. He pointed out a near endless stream of new and exciting things to Scallion while they walked. The morning went by in a blur, full of secondhand books Kermit could barely resist grabbing back out of the bag to read before they were finished.
"Um--" Kermit had just taken a breath to point out a particularly large bat flapping lazily over the crowd, and Scal's question derailed him. He grabbed the heavily crumpled parchment out of his pocket to peer again at the creased instructions included in his Hogwarts letter. "Yes, just the potions stuff. How are we going to carry a whole cauldron?" Kermit very carefully did not read the last line on the list. He had been skipping that line all day. An owl, a cat, or a toad-- he knew there wasn't any money for that sort of thing, but it didn't stop him wishing. Kermit always wanted a cat of his own.
At least, right up until he laid eyes on Diagon Alley.
Everywhere Kermit looked he found something new. So many shops they were stacked up on top of each other, leaning over the cobblestones like great stone birds in every color he could imagine. The scent of roasted nuts and pumpkin juice wafted from half a dozen street carts, and it was all he could do to keep a hold of Scallion's coat so he didn't become lost in the ever-shifting throng of people. High Street, until that moment, had been Kermit's only reference for what Diagon Alley could be like. It was a terrible reference. He pointed out a near endless stream of new and exciting things to Scallion while they walked. The morning went by in a blur, full of secondhand books Kermit could barely resist grabbing back out of the bag to read before they were finished.
"Um--" Kermit had just taken a breath to point out a particularly large bat flapping lazily over the crowd, and Scal's question derailed him. He grabbed the heavily crumpled parchment out of his pocket to peer again at the creased instructions included in his Hogwarts letter. "Yes, just the potions stuff. How are we going to carry a whole cauldron?" Kermit very carefully did not read the last line on the list. He had been skipping that line all day. An owl, a cat, or a toad-- he knew there wasn't any money for that sort of thing, but it didn't stop him wishing. Kermit always wanted a cat of his own.