Chapter 5
Head spinning and stomach churning, (Harry was not sure if it was hunger or the noxious combination of smells in Mr. Jigger’s shop) they made their way around the corner to an area off Diagon.
“Carkitt Market,” Miss Ana informed him after glancing at his face. “More shops for everyday than Diagon which mostly caters to the back-to-school crowd this time of year. We might stop in there before school starts if your wand starts giving you fits,” she added, nodding in the direction of a purple fronted shop Wands by Gregorovitch.
Still looking around, Harry settled down at the corner table. After three taps of Miss Ana’s dark wand on the wooden menu standing in the center of the table, lunch popped up startling his focus.
Slowly making their way through their Ploughman’s Lunch of crusty bread, sliced cheese and meats with fruit and pickled onions, Harry tried to eat, nibbling at his small portion, and nursing his butterbeer. But after spending the summer with the Dursleys, his stomach wasn’t up for too much, especially since he’d already forced down breakfast.
Miss Ana didn’t say anything. Pulling out his letter from her pocket, she wrinkled her nose at his book list.
“Harry,” she began slowly, “what do you want to do after school? Have you given it any thought?”
Harry’s head popped up from staring down at his current nemesis, the remains of half a sandwich, and just shrugged. “Dunno, feels like everyone expects me to be an Auror, you know…” he trailed off as Miss Ana’s eyebrow crept up her face. God, she can look like Snape, that is disturbing, he thought in horror. Maybe it’s a Slytherin thing that they teach in the common room?
“Harry.” She sighed. Not a good sign, then. “Harry, do you want to be a policeman? Hunt down criminals and dark wizards or dark creatures because that’s what an Auror is.”
“Oh. No. I don’t want to do that. First and Second year were enough of chasing after Dark Wizards for me. Um…why?” Harry was stunned. Everyone thought that he needed to be an Auror, that his future was decided because he didn’t die as a toddler? No thank you.
“Alright, well, generally speaking, the electives that you’ve chosen won’t do much for you unless you’re already a Seer or want to spend your career with Magical Creatures.”
“Oh. No one really explained what they were? I mean, they might have but I spent a lot of time at the end of last term in hospital. So, yeah, I didn’t know what to choose so Ron said to just put down what he did. Said they were easy and you only need NEWTs in the core classes to be an Auror so he picked those two because they are easy … to skive… not that I would. And not that they are going to be easy.” Harry tried to back track but was unsuccessful if the look on Miss Ana’s face was anything to go by.
Pinching the bridge of her nose – really, she did a lot of things like Snape, how did he never notice that over the summer? – Miss Ana let out a long breath through her nose. “So much wrong with that explanation, love. So much. All right. For all the wrong reasons, your friend is correct. Those electives will not do you much good, but I will not speak to the ease of them. And if you do not want to be an Auror, you will need at least one of the other electives, preferably both to give you more options later. So.”
Harry hated that look, Mrs. Weasley had that look. Whenever “So” was followed by that look last summer, a motherly order was about to come down like a sword on everything the Twins had cooked up for the afternoon.
“So,” she continued, looking over the list of books once more, “we will get you the books for Arithmancy and Runes, and any supplemental materials that I think will help you with those classes that are not on the list for Third Years. Read them over before school starts and if you want to switch electives, you will know what you are getting into. And if you want to keep the electives you already have selected, I will tutor you through letters so that you can self-study those.”
With that academic death sentence now hanging over his head, Miss Ana conjured a stiff beeswax cloth and tucked the fruit left on Harry’s plate into it, counted out the coins for lunch and set them in the bowl on the table next to the menu and swept away from the table, shopping basket firmly hooked on her elbow.
Harry scrambled after her.
Flourish and Blotts’ was packed. But after the madhouse of Lockhart’s book signing the summer before, Harry thought it could almost pass for a reasonable number of people shopping for their books. Handing Harry his list, Miss Ana left him in front of the Hogwarts display to grab the assigned books while she went to get the other books she had mentioned over lunch.
Third-year students will require:
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 3 by Miranda Goshawk
Intermediate Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
The Essential Defence Against the Dark Arts by Arsenius Jigger
Unfogging the Future by Cassandra Vablatsky –Divination
The Monster Book of Monsters, by Edwardus Lima– Care of Magical Creatures
Numerology , by L. Wakefield and Grammatica, by M. Carneiro – Arithmancy
Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles by Wilhelm Wigworth – Muggle Studies
Spellman’s Syllabary, Rosana Amorim Edition – Study of Ancient Runes
Harry grabbed all the books on the list except for the Monster Book. Hagrid had already sent him a copy for his birthday, and it was currently tied shut with his belt, inside his bookbag, in his trunk with as many books on top of it as possible. Watching the store clerk, armed with dragonhide gloves and a knobby walking stick try to get copies out of the cage in the window made him seriously consider Miss Ana’s opinion about the class. And wonder if his current precautions were enough since he hadn’t opened his trunk yet today.
“Looking forward term, Potter? Which electives are you starting?” A deep voice startles Harry from grabbing the Fourth-Year core texts.
“Wha – er, um. Sorry. Montague, right?” Montague nodded. “Um… Dunno really. Right now, I'm signed up for Divination and Care, but Miss Ana thinks that Divination and Care aren't…well… she thinks that Ancient Runes and Arithmancy are better options. I dunno. No one really explained what they are when we were choosing.”
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Watching Potter bumble through that is oddly adorable. Which was a strange thought for Graham. Potter is a walking magnet for trouble and an excellent – freakishly good – seeker… but adorable. Graham must need his head checked. And the huge green eyes blinking owlishly behind those awful glasses just make it worse.
Watching the boy flounder, so different from how he is at school, Graham makes a decision.
“Your Miss Ana is it?” the younger boy nods at him cautiously, darting a glance down the aisle where the woman he was with disappeared. “She isn't wrong, Potter. Unless you're a Seer or want to be a magizoologist or work on one of the reserves, those classes aren't really going to do you much good. Plus, the Care professor was set to retire at the end of last term, no idea who is replacing them. And the less said about Trelawny the better, really. Runes and Arithmancy both have good teachers – Babbling is odd but knows her stuff. No one really talked to you about this?”
“Well, no. I mean, McGonagall might've when I was in the hospital wing at the end of the year. I just picked what Ron did…” Harry trailed off. Why did he keep having to explain his elective choices?
“Potter, you can change your classes. You have 2 weeks at the start of the year to change your electives. Just let McGonagall know and she can get your schedule switched.”
“Oh. Thanks.”
“Sure. See you on the train, Potter.” Montague grabbed his own stack of books and off deeper into the store.
Seeing Miss Ana with an intimidating stack of books watching the exchange from the growing queue to the counter, Harry headed her way.
Taking the basket from him, she added what she had gathered for Runes and Arithmancy to it. “We have a bit of a wait. I will stay here, you go wander and see if there are any others that you want.”
Wandering the stacks, Harry grabbed a few things that looked interesting, including a few potions reference books, Book of Spells by Miranda Goshawk, fourth year Charms and Transfiguration books and an Owl-Order Catalogue before rejoining Miss Ana at the front of the queue.
Books paid for, they headed to the Leaky to settle the tab for his room and collect his things.