Unexpected Encounters
Harry was walking up to the Macmillan’s castle again. It had only been three days since his first call up, so he had to be impressed by how quickly they managed to get the situation resolved and get him into Hogwarts. So, he was headed up now to deal with all of the last logistics. Because he had received his OWL results so late in the summer, the Hogwarts express was set to leave in three days so he assumed that he would likely be going to Diagon Alley to get his supplies today as well.
He passed through the outer walls and had to wonder if they ever closed the outer gate. The courtyard was empty this time and he loitered within it, questioning what to do. The decision was quickly made up for him when the doors to the keep swung open and Mathew exited.
“Harry, how are we?”
“What could I be but good.”
“Too true, too true.” Mathew clapped him on the back and gestured in. “Come on, I’m taking you to Diagon and then you’re meeting with the Lord. We’ll just Floo from inside.”
They entered the entrance hall from before, swerving immediately to the side through a large door into what Harry recognized as a Floo room. “Normally we would just do the shopping in Edinburgh, but I figured you’d want to get a new wand.” Mathew stuck his hands into his robe pockets for a second, pulling out a small bag and an envelope. He passed them to Harry, “Shopping list and some gold, you can keep any extras after you get your supplies.”
“If you’re just going to give it to me, why are you even coming to Diagon?” Harry cringed; he seemed to be picking up a bad habit of asking questions before thinking about how they sounded. He wondered if he was just more relaxed when he wasn’t a celebrity or if being 16 again had something to do with it.
Mathew didn’t seem to take offence though, “I’m supposed to make sure you don’t spend all of it on a broomstick.” Yeah, that made sense, no one in their right mind would give a kid any decent sum of money without some form of oversight.
The chipper older boy gestured to the fire, “Well then off we go!” The two of them ducked into the massive hearth, spinning through the green flames they popped out in Diagon Alley, Harry managing to stick the Floo exit this time and praising magic and all posable gods above for that feat.
He pulled out the envelope, scanning down the list. It was all very self-explanatory, practically the same list he had received before his sixth year, just with alternate book choices. “Anywhere you want to start.” Mathew cast a tempus, “We’ve got a bit of time, but we have to be back before three.”
Harry put the list back in the envelope, there was only one place he would ever consider starting. “I need a wand; I would rather shave a horntail’s balls than use this stick again.” Maybe that was an exaggeration, but he hated the feeling of being bellow his best. He had lived years of his life in constant danger and the idea that he was beneath his potential for a fixable reason irked him to no end.
They dove into the alley, making their way through the crowds. The crowds were massive today, the usual traffic was added to by the families that had put off their shopping or were picking up some final items before Hogwarts. The sign for Ollivander’s was just as cracked and peeling as it had been the first time he entered. Harry pushed open the door and entered, the interior dusty and dim as always. The sound of a bell tinkled softly deep in the aisles of wands.
From the depths of the store emerged Ollivander, looking younger than Harry had ever seen him, but just as alien, his thin features still angular and his silvery eyes still unnerving. “Good morning,” he peered at Mathew, “Walnut and unicorn hair, good to see you again.” He turned his gaze to Harry. “I do not believe I have seen you before.” He flicked his wand and a bevy of tapes swarmed Harry.
“Well Mr?” Ollivander stopped pushing through wand boxes for a moment to look up at Harry.
“Harry Allen.”
“Is this your first wand Mr. Allen?” He pulled out a dark wooden one and handed to Harry. “Give it a wave.”
Harry flicked his wrist and Ollivander immediately snatched it from him. Muttering “Not even close.” He walked further back into the aisle.
“Ah, no this is not my first wand, I have an old handed down wand.” Ollivander shot upright at that, “Unacceptable! Wands cannot just be given down the wand has to choose the wizard.” He scampered over and gave Harry another wand before taking it back before he even had a chance to do anything. It went on like that for a progressively growing series of wands until Harry saw a familiar wand clasped between the wandmakers fingers.
Harry took it from him and waved it, a cascade of multicolored sparks shooting from the tip of the wand. The familiar warmth spread through his body and for the first time since he entered the past, he felt complete. “Ah, one of my finer creations, holly and phoenix feather, 11 inches. I hope it will serve you well.”
He stared at the wand, emotions swirling through him. Elated at gaining his wand back, but at the same time the bond felt a bit like a punch in the gut. It was still Voldemort’s brother wand, was this bonding some sort of cosmic arrow pointing to impending conflict. Would he have to again be the one to put his life on the line against the mad man. He dismissed the thought, there was no point dwelling on what the future might hold if it had no impact on his current actions. The way he thought about it, either he would have to face him or he wouldn’t. It served him no purpose to worry about it now when the man hadn’t even started attacking anything.
“Thank you, Mr. Ollivander.”
They exited the shop and Mathew turned to him. “Well, how does it feel. I know how incredible it was when I got my own wand, instead of the pieces of shite my pa or uncle had.”
Harry smiled back at him. “It feels better than I ever expected.” He pulled the list out. “How about you grab the potions ingredients and a cauldron, and I’ll go get fitted for robes. We can meet up at the bookstore.”
A few moments later he pushed into Madam Malkin’s. The woman at the desk, one of Malkin’s assistants he assumed waved him towards the small sitting area. “Just sit down, I’ll be right with you in a moment.”
Honestly it amazed him how similar everything was now from when he went to Hogwarts. A whole 25 years of difference and yet nothing seemed to have changed much. In the span of his life the muggle world had swung completely and yet the basics in the wizarding world seemed to have stayed completely the same.
The door burst open, and four boys spilled in. Harry’s brain stopped and his heart lurched for a second as he instantly recognized the new rowdy crowd. He had to struggle keep himself in his seat and keep his face from contorting into any sort of expression. His father he had never met, his godfather taken from him too soon, the defense teacher and friend who was like an uncle or some equivalent to him all together, all alive again.
He then noticed the fourth, shorter person and had to struggle to keep himself in his seat again to stop himself from killing the damn rat. James shushed the rest of the group, and they quieted down quickly. They moved over towards Harry, and he had to stop himself from bolting out of his seat to hug them like a complete psycho. He also had to reflect on the fact that he was pretty sure he was now older than his own father. They stopped in front of him and Sirius spoke up.
“Did you happen to see two evil looking witches and a boy that looks like me but less handsome.” James socked him in the shoulder but then looked back at Harry. He shrugged, “Can’t say I have but I just got here.”
Clearly Sirius was trying to avoid his family. The four of them clearly thought that was good enough and plopped down next to him, bursting into chatter about what Harry could only assume were prank locations. Harry couldn’t help but listen in, reveling in being back in the prescience of loved ones lost or never really known.
A few moments later two girls exited from the back and Sirius and James shot up out of their chair. “Hey Emma.”
“Hey Mary.”
“How was your summer.”
The two girls glanced at each other and exited without responding. “We’ll see you back at Hogwarts!” Sirius turned to James, “I’m telling you she’s just playing hard to get.”
Harry didn’t think the old woman could look any more exasperated. “Come in now.” James and Sirius were already standing up and moved towards the curtain to the back but were stopped. “Not you two together.” She jabbed her finger at Harry “You come on.” He stood up and followed his own father into the fitting room.
He absentmindedly noticed that the woman fitting him now was the Madam Malkin he remembers, so the older woman was likely her mother. Harry put on the blank robe she handed him and stood on the small platform as she started sticking pins in. “Hogwarts, right?”
James piped up. “You’re going to Hogwarts? I haven’t seen you before.”
He joined the conversation with his unknowing father, “Yeah, I’m starting this year, 6th year.”
“I’m James Potter, I’m in 4th year, what’s your name? Do you know what house you’re going to be in?”
Harry shrugged, he actually hadn’t thought about it, “I’m Harry, I can’t say I’ve thought much about it, what can you tell me about them?”
“Well I’m in Gryffindor which is obviously the best house, it is for the brave and honestly it just has all the best people, we have this awesome tower for our dorm, basically you should hope to be in Gryffindor.”
That opinion tracked based on everything Harry had heard, he was guessing some strong Slytherin bashing was about to come out.
“Then there is Slytherin, lot of real cunts.” He yelped as Madam Malkin stuck him very hard with a pin. “A lot of really annoying people.” He paused for a second as if expecting to be stabbed again for the sentiment, but it seemed she just objected to the word. “There are some good people, but they had this pack mentality and always come after Gryffindors. Also, they live in the dungeons which is nasty and they play so close to the edge of the rules in Quidditch.”
On talking about Quidditch he lit up for a second. “Also, Gryffindor is the best at Quidditch, we won the house cup last year when I was a reserve, but I’ll definitely be on the team this year and we are going to repeat.”
He switched to talking about Hufflepuff and Harry momentarily zoned out. That actually wasn’t as scathing of a review of Slytherin as he expected. But he guessed before the war broke out Slytherin wasn’t actually evil, probably just a bit entitled and racist. He was guessing that they were probably a bit better about hiding that racism before an extremely powerful asshole started telling them they were totally right.
“But yeah, Gryffindor is the best, Hufflepuffs are useless, Ravenclaw are nerds, and Slytherin are dicks.” Harry nodded. “So what’s your Quidditch position, I play chaser.”
If you had asked Harry before he got sent back what he would give to speak with his parents, he probably would have said anything. So, keeping that in mind, he felt a little guilty over how he was feeling now. Meeting Sirius and Lupin again was almost overwhelming. He wasn’t saying he felt nothing about meeting his father, but if he was being honest, it felt more like meeting one of your friend’s friends. Someone you had heard a lot of stories about but didn’t really have a connection to. He was also having a hard time seeing the enthusiastic boy as his father and he guessed he wasn’t really. Not yet at least, that maturity and development hadn’t happened yet.
Harry’s fitting was done a few minutes later and he extracted himself from the shop, saying goodbye to James. He navigated his way to Flourish and Blotts and forced his way inside through the crowded doorway. He spotted Mathew against the wall off to one side and pushed his way through the crowd towards him. Mathew tapped a trunk propped up next to him. “You were taking a while, so I grabbed this for you.”
Now that was incredibly convenient. Harry had completely forgotten about a trunk and the bundle of robes he was carrying, while shrunken down was still inconvenient. “Thanks.” He opened it up and tossed the packet into the expanded depths. He pulled out the bag of money, “Do I owe you anything for it?”
Mathew waved him off. “There was some money left over after the ingredients. Anything extra we can call a gift. One boy who made it out to another.”
“Thank you.” Harry didn’t know what else to say. He felt dishonest, he hadn’t done anything but steal this boy’s body, but even still he felt touched by the gesture. He would have to get Mathew something in return.
He pushed through the crowded aisles trying to gather the books he needed and ended up stuck down at the end of a dead-end aisle. At least he could grab his runes book from here. He grabbed it and was about to turn around before he heard a voice behind him. “Could you grab another 6th year copy?” another voice chirped in as well. “And the 4th year version as well.”
Harry pulled down the books and turned around. Black hair and violet eyes, dark night the Burrow burning behind, curses sizzling through the air. Screams and explosions. He dropped the books and was ready to whip out his wand in an instant but managed at the last second to stop his hand.
He bent down to pick up the books, using the angle of his body to conceal his face as he calmed himself down, quickly bringing himself back under control. “Sorry about that, my hand slipped.” He stood back up with the books, taking in the scene in front of him with more composure. He was right, it was Bellatrix, looking far younger, healthier, and more sane than he had ever seen her. Harry handed her the 6th year runes book and looking behind her saw a very similar and yet infinitely more welcome face. That had to be Andromeda. He passed her the 4th year copy. “Thank you.”
The two girls turned around and started trying to make their way out of the aisle but like Harry they were hemmed in by the pack of people at the end of the narrow section. They started talking again, clearly picking back up where they had stopped, and Harry noticed that behind them was a short younger boy. That had to be regulus, he looked quite a bit like Sirius and he knew from years of living at Grimmauld place there wasn’t any other boys in the Black family.
Bellatrix was talking and he had to listen in, what was the murdering psycho like when she was a teenager. “Reg you don’t have to worry about the sorting, you will get put in the right house for you.” Now that sounded nothing like he would expect out of her. “Of course, if it’s the wrong house you should ask your brother about what found its way into his bed his first year. Or any of his other years.” That was more appropriate.
Harry let them get away from him, their backs retreating further into the crowd before he flicked his wand into his hand and let himself relax, breathing heavily. He latched onto the feeling of warmth his wand spread through him. He was in control, he was more powerful, more skilled than he had ever been during the first war.
It took a few minutes for him to get his breathing back under control and when he did, he pushed his wand back into the holster. He liked this holster, he had made it in the two weeks he waited for his OWLs and had enjoyed doing it, maybe he should make more of his own things, it felt rewarding to actually build and contribute something. He shouldered his way through the crowd, picking up the final couple of books and quickly paying before making his way back to Mathew.
“Got everything I need, lets head out.” Mathew looked him up and down, “You, okay? You look a little pale.” Harry brushed off his concern, but he couldn’t help glancing out of the corner of his eye at where he saw the black sisters talking to a girl he didn’t recognize. He was a trained soldier he wasn’t going to let a possible threat out of his sight. He came back to Mathew to see the man’s staring to the side, following where his gaze had flicked. “She looks like trouble.” He said with a smirk. Harry shook his head, “I’m sure she is. Let’s get out of here.”
A few quick stops later and they found themselves spinning back through the flames towards the Macmillan’s castle. Checking the time they hurried through the fortress, making it to Lord Macmillan’s office just a few minutes before three. He entered and shook the old man’s hand, thanking him again for the opportunity.
“It’s no issue my boy.” Harry honestly had no idea what this meeting was supposed to be for. What more was left to be said. He checked his watch, “Well, time for you to get going.” He gestured towards the fireplace, “Address is Hogwarts headmasters office.”
Wait, why was he going to Hogwarts now. He hadn’t prepared for meeting Dumbledore yet. He stilled his quickly spiraling thoughts. It had been a long couple of hours of meetings, and he just had to get through this one last one. He didn’t think Dumbledore would ever use legitimacy on a student, but he knew the man had some talent with the act so he carefully built up his shields, better safe than sorry. It wouldn’t stop him if he wanted to get in, but at least it would let him know.
He stepped out into the headmaster’s office, the room exactly the same as he remembered it. The dozens of whirring instruments and over cluttered surfaces. The man himself sat behind the broad desk. “Ah, good afternoon Mr. Allen.”
There was 20 some years between now and Dumbledore’s death, but Harry thought he looked at least 30-35 years younger. The stress of the first war must have aged him. There were still some streaks of darker grey through his white mane of hair and his skin seemed tighter, eyes less tired. He sprung up to shake his hand, much fuller of energy and life than the version of him Harry knew. Years and loss had taken more than their fair share out of him.
“It’s good to meet you, you seem like a promising young man.”
“Thank you, sir.”
He gave Harry a grandfatherly smile. “It’s always good to have new people at Hogwarts. Now, normal this is done in front of the whole school when pupils arrive as first years. But, given that you are transferring we will get it done now.” He reached next to him and from behind a tall stack of books pulled out the sorting hat. “Hogwarts has four houses Mr. Allen,”
Dumbledore started talking about the virtues of the different houses and Harry had to take a second to think on what house he wanted to be in. Slytherin was clearly out of the question, after how close he was to cursing Bellatrix this morning it would take a monumental effort to keep him from committing war crimes on his first day. He could just go back to Gryffindor, that wouldn’t be that bad. But if he got put in Gryffindor it would make it much harder for him to not get involved in the coming war. Also, he wasn’t sure he wanted to have to share a dorm with other teenagers again. He made up his mind, Ravenclaw, individual rooms, not too many questions asked, it just worked out.
Dumbledore finished his speech. “Do you have any questions for me?” Harry shook his head, and the headmaster passed the hat to him. Harry placed it on his head, this time it sat there properly, not falling down over his eyes.
Welcome Mr. Allen or Mr. Potter.
I want to go to Ravenclaw.
Patience please, let me look first.
Ravenclaw.
You may not see it, but you have even more ambition now than the last time I saw you, don’t you want to show that you can be someone without being the boy who lived, be someone special without have special handed to you. Slytherin would serve you well.
That struck at Harry more than he would like to admit but he wasn’t giving up the plan. I said what I said, Ravenclaw please.
Really, not Gryffindor, your courage is as strong as ever.
Just get it over with, Ravenclaw.
You have not an ounce of Ravenclaw within you, you have no desire to learn for the joy of learning, you do not value intellect above all else. I am not an object one bosses around; I take preferences into account; I do not take whims and flights of fancy. You’ve already tried one, how about another.
No, please don’t.
“Better be Slytherin.”