After they had finished eating, Jenna and Denver set out to explore the shops of Diagon Alley a bit more thoroughly. They asked employees from the stores that didnt sell books if anyone had turned in a lost book, but though they had found some journals and random dropped school books, they otherwise turned up nothing. Every time they were turned away without the book, Jenna couldnt help but get perkier and more excited. Denver, however, seemed to get more irritated the more eager and bouncy Jenna got.
Finally, they reached Flourish and Blotts book store. Jenna opened the door for Denver, bowing to him with a wave of her hand. "After you, good sir." She was feeling very happy, because she was certain that little black book wasnt anywhere nearby. While every kid loves the idea of going to Diagon Alley, it was Hogwarts that the fandom really longed for. Plus, if the book had been close by, wouldnt it have teleported into her possession the way it had back at school? Sure, she wasnt exactly 100% sure that was what happened, but she was fairly certain magic had to have brought the book to her from the library.
Jenna headed off to inspect spell books under the pretense of looking for the book while Denver set off to ask a worker about the book directly. Certainly they would have noticed if a strange book were suddenly in their inventory. Jenna skimmed a few books, pulling 'The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1' from one of the shelves to start reading. She desperately wanted to pull her wand out to practice the mending charm in the book, but kept her urges under control, as she wasnt certain she wouldnt mess up and have it backfire somehow.
Still, she did her best to try memorizing what she could from the book, namely wand movements and spell pronunciation. She didnt like having to skim over the witches and wizards who had created the spells, but she also didnt think Denver would want to spend even more money on her by buying wizarding school books.
She put the book back, looking down the row of grade 1 books to find that where were all seven years. Biting her lip, she wondered just how much the set of them would go for. Having always loved books in general, the very idea of owning the full set of real spell books made Jenna's heart flutter in her chest. Just being in this world was a dream come true, and not being able to actually enjoy it and doing everything she had always dreamed of...it hurt.
"Trying to learn something?"
She must have been day dreaming, because Jenna jumped when she heard Denver speaking from beside her. She glanced at him, then nervously pushed her glasses up her nose. "I-I was just hoping to...well." She gestured toward the books sadly. "I mean...I have a wand, so..."
"It would be a shame not to learn how to use it?" Denver finished for her, his expression one of understanding.
"Yea. I dont want to possibly make a mistake with it, and I thought, if I learned some spells, I mean, more then the books talked about, and the details and incantations and- Well...maybe I could be of some help."
"And since you're essentially trapped here until we find your book, that does make sense." Denver sighed, giving her a wry smile. "You wouldnt know this, but as a trained jumper of the fifth level, it is my responsibility to take care of younger students. Your situation is...unusual, from my understanding. But since I'm the one who was pulled to you, that makes you my under classmate of a sort."
Jenna smiled towards Denver, amused at how similar she found his talk of 'jumping' to that of a school. Was he like his worlds version of a Prefect or Headboy? The idea amused her greatly.
Denver looked towards the shelves of books, then smiled. "I suppose we could buy a set of books for you-" His sentence was cut off as Jenna flung herself at him, hugging him so tightly, he felt like his spine was going to pop. "O-okay, okay, enough of that now."
Jenna shook her head, holding onto him for a moment more. When she finally let him go, both of their faces were bright red from embarrassment. But Jenna didnt let that stop her. She quickly gathered the 7 books, holding them like a stack of the most precious of items. "Thank you so much Denver! I'll pay you back somehow, I swear it!"
Denver cleared his throat, waving away her words as he tried to ignore how hot his cheeks felt. "Dont even mention it. Like I said, you're my under class man in a sense. It's my duty to help you out. And it's not like I dont have adequate funds. The last time I was here was on a mission for my professor, so it's really his money we are spending."
"Wont he be mad?" Jenna asked, her mood sobering a bit.
Denver smirked at her in a conspiratorial sort of way. "Nah. He sent me in with more money then I needed. With a bit of...smart investing, I managed to make a good stock pile of my own funds incase I ever came back in." He winked, then started for the check out.
"Wait, you can do that?!" Jenna gasped, chasing after him with her arms clutching the books close to her chest.