Adjusting To New Surroundings

After another while of speaking with the goblins, Harry exits the bank with a small list of names folded in his pocket and his black leather wallet with a direct link to his trust vault. A notably smaller vault compared to the family vaults that his parents made for him to use during his time at Hogwarts, but it still had enough money that Harry wouldn't manage to empty it at all. There was so much; what was he meant to buy with this much money? A small country? He is relieved that he has access to his own money now but also has a shallow hole of sadness in his chest that his parents are not there to share this moment with him.

He's still processing the fact that he has three parents, and a question is running through his mind: Where was—is his father, Regulus Black? The goblin magic couldn't answer the question, but Gornuk had said that Regulus was most likely alive; maybe he was hiding somewhere. Harry can wrack his brain about it later, back in his room at Snape's house.

(Where he could then, most likely, end up bawling his eyes out because he might have someone who can love him. Someone who is a part of his family. Just someone.)

Snape strides alongside him as they begin their shopping for Harry's school supplies. He scans the list in his hands, muttering just under his breath, and swiftly leads Harry towards a shop called Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment.

A bell rings as they open the door. Snape directs Harry towards the back section of the shop, passing shelves of glass balls, maps, binoculars, and a wide variety of other bits and bobs, and through a wooden doorway into a room of trunks.

There are trunks of all sizes: big, small, medium, huge, long, short, thin, and wide. Harry stares wide-eyed at them all. Snape looks them all over with his eyes narrowed before selecting one and pointing his stick—Harry still hasn't asked what the big deal is with the sticks—and the trunk he pointed at vanishes from its spot.

"Where'd you send it?" he asked, tilting his head up at Snape.

The man raises an eyebrow at him. "The front of the shop: the counter. If you wish for me to be specific." He turns on his heels and nods towards the door they had entered through, saying, "We'd best continue with shopping. We can stop to get lunch in a short while; we spent longer in the bank than I anticipated."

Harry nods, trailing after Snape as they collect a telescope, a set of glass phials, and a set of brass scales from the shop. Harry then pays for everything at the counter without noticing Snape glaring over his shoulder at the staff member, and they place everything inside the trunk once paid for. Snape vanishes the trunk the moment the straps are tied, and the two of them exit the shop, leaving the man behind the counter shaking in his pants. Harry remains blissfully oblivious to the man's cowering.

Peering in the colour-filled shop windows, Harry quietly wanders after Snape, people still parting the way for them like they've got some sort of deadly disease. While Harry still thinks it's a bit rude, it is quite convenient, plus no one has even noticed him with Snape.

The next place they go is called Potage's Cauldron Shop. Snape allows Harry to enter first, holding the door open with his foot. The place is flooded with weirdly shaped buckets and bowls. Cauldrons maybe? That's what the sign outside said, at least.

Each shelf is labelled: iron, silver, gold, stone, copper, brass, and finally pewter. Snape grabs a pewter cauldron for Harry, seeing that he's much too short to reach the high shelf that they were stored on. They bring it up to the counter, gain a judgemental—rude, what's her problem—look from the young-ish-looking lady behind the counter, and pay. Snape, once again, vanishes the cauldron before they move on.

"Are you hungry?" Snape shifts his gaze down to Harry, who has moved to walk beside him. They move through the crowded street, avoiding people easily.

Harry's stomach decides to rumble loudly in response to the question. The tips of his ears turn red. "Yes, can we get something to eat now, Professor?" 

Nodding, Snape parts the river of people, and they enter a small oak wood door with black hinges.

The scent of food makes Harry's stomach growl angrily, and he scrambles after Snape to a table tucked away in a secluded section near the large fireplace of the restaurant, the Leaky Cauldron.

A man wearing black trousers and a crisp white shirt flicks his wooden stick in their direction, and menus, glasses, and cutlery neatly arrange themselves on the table. Snape taps his wooden stick at different things on the menus, and they shoot off the table and into the waiting hands of the man standing behind the bar.

oOo 

After eating lunch, Snape guides Harry through shop after shop. Harry buys books, robes, and all sorts of unusual items that he's never seen before, let alone what they're meant for. The pair pause once they leave Madam Malkin's robe shop. Harry grumbles quietly under his breath about the woman's scarily accurate estimates on his measurements. That lady was a force to be reckoned with. A shiver runs down his spine as he recalls how the woman eyed him up and down, seemingly able to see right through him.

Snape glances over at him. "What type of pet would you like?"

Coming back to himself, Harry tilts his head up at the man. "A pet? I'm not sure; I've never had one before." He shrugs his shoulders but stops halfway through the motion and snaps his head up at Snape. "Am I allowed a snake?"

Snape nods slowly, his eyes flicking from shop to shop before deciding on one and gently taking Harry's hand to lead him on. Harry barely notices the soft touch. The sign over the door read Magical Menagerie.

Harry stumbles inside, directly behind Snape, and his ears are flooded with hisses, growls, and all other sorts of animal sounds. People's voices bound off the walls too, though, as Harry looks around the shop, there only seem to be three other people there with them. Maybe it's a spell to make the store seem busier than it actually is?

The shop owner stooped behind the counter with an old, tattered book in front of them. A few steps away from them, there was a frail-looking, grey-haired woman poking her wrinkled finger through the cage bars of a black cat and a man feeding a feathered creature that Harry didn't recognise near the back of the shop.

The shop owner merely flicks their hazy brown eyes up lazily at them as they pass the counter and immediately returns to their book. Harry tries to catch what the book is called, but Snape leads him off and into a separate, smaller room at the back of the store before he gets the chance. Snape drops Harry's hand, the limb reaching back and deliberately pushing Harry further into the room.

"Go on," Snape says, nodding in the direction of the wall and wide table covered in enclosures. "I'll grab the items necessary to care for your snake while you find it. Call for me if you need any help."

With that all said and done, Snape nudges Harry one last time in the snakes' direction before walking over to the other end of the room. Harry takes a deep breath and carefully scans the room, his eyes landing on the various snakes slithering inside their habitats. "Woah...."

There are snakes as dark as the night sky, their scales glistening in the low light of the room. While there are others ranging from dull browns to breathtaking shades of vibrant green. Some snakes have intricate patterns on their scales, while a few are smooth and glossy.

Harry's heart races as his eyes dart from one snake to the next. However, as he inspects a small glass enclosure, he notices a snake with its eyes fixed on him in its enclosure, tucked away from the rest of the reptiles.

He steps away from the other reptiles and wanders over to the one in the corner. The snake's beauty is both mesmerising and intimidating, causing Harry to take a step closer in awe. The snake's scales shimmer in the dim light, reflecting a rainbow of colours even though they're only greyish brown to the naked eye. Harry can't help but wonder what secrets lie behind those piercing olive-green eyes.

As he watches, the snake slowly slithers towards him, its movements graceful yet calculated, leaving Harry both captivated and slightly unnerved.

"New sspeaker? Ssscent is new to the tongue." The snake hisses unsurely, its forked tongue flicking in and out as it tries to communicate.

"Hello, do you have a name? Mine is Harry. Your scales are lovely." Harry hissed out tenderly to the snake. His eyes catch the sign on the top of the enclosure: 

Reading the sign, Harry wonders aloud. "Huh, you're a girl. Do you have a name?"

"No name. Have no masster." The snake continues to flick its tongue, its eyes fixed on Harry. "Are you my new one, young ssspeaker?"

"I think I'd like to be. Can I give you a name now?" Harry brings his right hand up to his chin, tapping it while contemplating a name. "Medusa? No. You don't look like a Medusa. Uh, what about Iris?" That name gets an unimpressed hiss. "Alright then, you're not a fan of Iris or Greek mythology, got it. Oh! What about Jinx?"

"Jinx. Yesss, that name isss satisfactory." Jinx coils up and raises her head slightly, as if acknowledging Harry's choice. Jinx's eyes glimmer with a hint of approval, and she begins to slither closer to Harry, showing signs of trust and acceptance.

Footsteps approach from the opposite side of the room, and Harry stands up straight. It's Snape. A grin spreads across Harry's face as the man stops beside him. 

"Have you decided on one yet? I've already sent off the rest of what's needed to care for reptiles." He raises an eyebrow at the young boy, questioningly.

"I have! This is Jinx; she's a boomslang snake." Harry gestures to Jinx, curled up inside her enclosure.

"Very well. I'll inform the caretakers to prepare a suitable transportation habitat for Jinx. Boomslang snakes can be quite tricky to handle, so make sure you follow the proper protocols when interacting with them. Their skin also happens to be needed for certain potions." Snape's tone is stern, but there's a hint of approval in his voice. 

Harry nods eagerly, already buzzing with excitement.