Sweets
“…and until Hagrid told me, I didn’t know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort –” Ron suddenly gasped. “What?”
“You said You-Know-Who’s name!” Ron practically shouted, both looking shocked and sounding impressed. “I’d have thought you, of all people –”
Unintentionally Harry cut him off. “I’m not trying to be brave or anything, saying the name,” Harry proclaimed trying to explain. “I just never knew you shouldn’t.”
He internally sighed. “See what I mean? I’ve got loads to learn… I bet.” He added on letting his worries leave his mouth. “I bet I’m the worst in the class.”
“You won’t be. There’s loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough.” He reassured Harry.
Whilst they had been chatting, getting to know another, the steam train had travelled out of London. Currently the train was galloping through farming fields full of furry cattle cows and woolly sheep. They had spent time relaxing too, a comfortable silence between them, beating the awkward tense environment they first entered with. Many fields and lanes flickered past through the windows.
Harry and Ron seemed to be doing their own things, Ron looked like he was thinking while patting his bountiful big fat rat, Scabbers and Harry was just happy to be free of the Dursley’s while looking out the window at the many things zipping past. He was trying to have a good look at the clouds, taking in the shapes they all differently took. He was liking Ron, the boy sitting next to him. He’d never had a friend before.
Nearing half past twelve there was a great clattering of commotion out in the corridors of the train. Soon than later a woman slid open the sliding carriage door. She was wearing a smile on her face. “Anything off the cart, dears?”
Harry rushed to his feet, practically leaping out of his skin. He hadn’t gotten to eat any breakfast today. Ron, seeing Harry’s reaction mutter something about sandwiches whilst his ears burned bright pink. Harry on the other hand went out into the corridor after the woman with the refreshments cart, eager to say what kind of foods she’d have out there.
Living with the Dursley’s mean he never had proper meals or snacks, only the bare minimum to keep him fed and Dudley’s scraps. Never had any money either for special treats, like the candy his cousin would eat on the daily basis. Except that was all changing. He was free of them and his pocket were overflowing with gold, his vault down at Gringotts too. Gringotts was a bank down in Diagon Alley, the burly man, Hagrid took him too.
He found out that there was a fortune left to him and him only in wizarding money. He was filthy rich, and he had all the money to buy whatever he wanted. That currently being sweets. Harry could feel his pockets rattling together with anticipation. Mars bars, that would be a good snack to have, he’d love to take as many as he could carry of those caramel, nougat, chocolate bars.
Though, this woman didn’t have any of those, actually, she didn’t have anything Harry could recognise. What she did have was wizarding treats, a whole lot of them. He had no idea what any of them tasted like, but he wanted to try them all. Every one of them, all of them, had peculiar names, but they were catchy and cool. Wizards knew how to sell things, and they sell good.
Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans, that came in a colourful packaged box. Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum, sold in a packet of blue with each one individually wrapped inside. Chocolate Frogs were stored in gold and blue pentagons. Pumpkin Pasties looked savory and lightly powdered. Cauldron Cakes had a colour scheme of warm and cool colours on the packaging. Liquorice Wands were fully black and looked more like a unicorn’s horn than a wand.
There were many other strange sweets Harry couldn’t put a name too. He’d never seen anything like these treats. Harry was practically drooling at the lot of them, starving and hungry. He also didn’t want to miss out, who knows the next time he’d get the chance to taste them again. Deciding he got everything the cart had to offer. Buying absolutely everything he laid eyes upon that he could see.
Ron stared completely wide eyed as he saw Harry bought everything out, dumping all of what was his in front of Ron. “Hungry, are you?”
“Starving.” Harry choked back a pleasurable moan as he took a large bite of a pumpkin pasty. He could have sworn he’s never tasted something this good, all his life.
Ron had proceeded to ignore Harry, taking out a lumpy packaging, unwrapping it. About four cold or room temperature warm sandwiches were inside. Pulling them apart, he muttered distastefully. “She always forgets I don’t like corned beef.”
Harry saw the displeasure on his face and held up a pasty. “Swap you for one of these.” Although they both knew neither one would rather the sandwiches. “Go on–”
“You don’t want this, it’s all dry.” Ron quickly made an excuse. “She hasn’t got much time. You know, with the five of us.”
Yet Harry still insisted. “Go on, have a pasty.” He wanted to share; it wasn’t about the sandwiches, though that could be a lie. It didn’t look the most appetising of the lot.
The sandwiches were long forgotten as neither of them really wanted those. They dug through Harry’s bought treats.
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The pale boy and his two beefy friends made their way out to the trolley cart woman. They had run out of the snack that they had bought earlier from her. He would have loved a pumpkin pasty or chocolate frog or a liquorice wand. But the trolly lady had none of those, in fact the trolly lady didn’t have anything, since Harry Potter was in town, and he bought all the sweets.
“Can you think of someone more selfish? Harry Pottah.” He sneered. Yes, they certainly could. “How dare he!” He started to mock. “Thinks he’s so rich with his scar and his– his– hair!” Though it was hard to do so, since he had no idea what the boy looked like.
His two friends gave a side glance to another, not that neither of them would say it out loud, but it sounded like their friend was only describing himself.