Chapter 6
Harry and Tom's night was very quiet. After Harry ate the dinner Dippy had prepared for him, he took another toothbrushing potion and then went to bed. Tom had offered to read and talk more about the book Harry took from the office of child welfare but Harry really needed the time to himself. He wasn't used to having so many people around him. Also, he had walked more today than probably the past 2 months combined. He was simply very tired and sure he would fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
Tom made sure to explain again that Harry was allowed to leave the room whenever and offered to keep the door open, which Harry appreciated.
After he left Harry in bed, Tom activated a monitoring spell in case Harry needed his help and then returned downstairs to the pub. His barmaid Helga hadn't been scheduled to work today, so Dippy was all alone. Even though it was a monday night, some folks wanted to start their work week off right and finish their night at the Leaky instead of home alone or with their families. Helga was scheduled to work tomorrow for which Tom was grateful. He wanted to take Harry out to Diagon Alley, show him around and get a few things he needed for however long he would stay with Tom.
Most of the usuals were downstairs by the time Tom arrived behind the bar. He let Dippy know he would man the bar and the elf seemed happy about it. Dinner time was usually very busy for the Leaky and the elf seemed to have his hands full trying to get the food served. One of his monday regulars was Hagrid, a gentle half giant. The half giant was very honest, sometimes too honest, and very earnest and Tom really liked him as customer. Tom knew Hagrid worked at Hogwarts and worked together closely with Dumbledore. Tom also knew that Hagrid had a tendency to babble when he had had one too many. Maybe he could use it to his advantage tonight and get some more information that could help them with Harry's case.
Right on time, at 7 p.m., Hagrid arrived at the Leaky, sitting down at the bar and ordering a double shot of firewhisky, his usual. And for a man his size, it wouldn't take that many more to make him tipsy. Plan in place, Tom kept supplying Hagrid with double shots of firewhiskies for the next hour before he started probing.
"So Hagrid, do you like working for Hogwarts?"
"Well, yes. I love it. I only got the job because Dumbledore helped me, you know. Real good lad, that Dumbledore. He never looked down on me. Made sure I was important to the school. Always trusted me, I was sent on some of the most important missions during the war, you see?" And there it was, babbling Hagrid, letting out more information than he should.
"Oh really? What kind of missions?"Tom tried to act only mildly interested while really he wanted Hagrid to get to the point.
"Oh, you see, he made me talk to the giants to convince them to join the Light Side, he did. Also there was this whole Potter situation, you know." Hagrid tipped his glass at Tom, who had just refilled it for the 6th time.
"Oh right. You would probably have good connections to the giants. But what Potter situation?"
"Oh, it was awful. James was such a great guy. and Lily was a brilliant witch, she was. The night they were murdered, I was called to their house. Dumbledore made sure Harry was safe. Made me keep him safe until he had a solution and deliver him to them. Harry was such a little guy. Poor thing. I think about him often." Hagrid started reminiscing about that night and Tom could see that there was genuine pain over the loss of his friends.
"Do you ever get to see him since you know where he lives?" Tom was antsy. Whatever Hagrid said now could possibly help them in their case.
"Oh, I wanted to. But Dumbledore, he was real concerned for Harry. He's living with his muggle family and look at me Tom, there's no way I can just walk there in broad daylight. But Dumbledore, he's made sure that someone from the order's visiting him each week. Dumbledore protects his people. Always has and always will, you see." Hagrid seemed sad that he hadn't been able to see Harry since the night he dropped him off and Tom could hardly believe it. Dumbledore was lying to Hagrid about having people over to check on Harry. Petunia's letter had said so and Harry's absolute lack of exposure to anything magical also told Tom that he hadn't interacted with anyone magical before either. Hagrid would be an important witness in their case and Tom filed the information away for the next day.
Tom kept Hagrid entertained for another 2 shots before the giant decided to get back to school but promised to be back soon. Athough mondays were busy, it was still a workday, so everything started winding down around 9 p.m. and Tom was able to get back upstairs and off to bed at 10 p.m. Dippy was done in the kitchen around the same time and came upstairs as well. They both checked in on Harry when they got upstairs but the boy was quietly sleeping in the bed, no sign of distress.
Tom didn't know what to expect from the first night and the next morning. Nevertheless, he decided to get some sleep while he could. His monitoring spell was on and he was a light sleeper anyway. Sleep found him eventually and his sleep wasn't disturbed the entire night. His alarm spell woke him around 6.30 a.m. and after going to the bathroom, he checked on Harry who was still sleeping soundly. The previous day had probably taken everything out of the little boy.
He took the time before the boy awoke to make a list of everything he would need to pick up in Diagon Alley today:
1. Toothbrushing potion for children
2. Get a haircut and maybe a hair taming potion
3. Look for more child friendly books
4. Have a look around and let Harry check everything out
That would be enough for their morning before their meeting with Lucretia. They would probably be able to pick up their own copy of the illustrated version of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them so Lucretia could take her department's copy back.
Dippy came out of his room and his first check as well was Harry's room, after which he came over to Tom.
"Good morning, Dippy. Good rest, I hope?"
"Yes, Master Tom. Mater Harry slept the whole night."
"He also hasn't woken me up. I think it is a good thing. In his old home, Harry was kept in a cupboard under the stairs. He wasn't allowed outside, only twice a day. I was a bit concerned that he was too afraid to leave the room."
The house elf gasped. He had never heard of children being treated that way. His old Master, Master Yaxley, was a very grave and sadistic master. And even his children were cherished and spoiled. His master had been imprisoned after the war and Dippy had chosen to break the bond between them. He was rehomed to Tom through a ministry initiative and so far, he liked his life with his new master much better than his old life. Much less blood to clean up as well. Dippy had always cherished looking after children in the family and he was looking forward to spoiling his new mini-master.
"I will take Harry to Diagon today after he wakes up. We need to get him a few things for his stay with us. And I think he would like getting more impressions of life with magic. We just need to wait for him to wake up now. Could you maybe get breakfast ready for us? I think porridge today would be good."
The elf nodded and disapparated downstairs. Tom really appreciated his elf Dippy. He had gotten him through a ministry initiative 3 years ago, right after the war. He needed more help with the pub and hotel than Helga, his barmaid could offer. Getting a consistent cook had been near impossible and it was expensive to train a new cook every couple of months. Getting a house elf had made a lot of economic sense as well. His elf was paid but elves didn't get a minimum wage. Dippy at first didn't even want payment at all but Tom had insisted. He earned 1 Galleon a day, whereas Helga earned 4. Overall, Tom's business was going well. He was trying to save up and get some rooms renovated soon but other than that he did not have many personal expenses. He was looking forward to spending a bit of his savings on Harry and showing him the many wonders of the wizarding world.
When Harry still hadn't woken up at 8 a.m., Tom peaked into his room. He was unsure if he should wake up the little boy, afraid he would scare him or make him think he did something wrong. He also wasn't sure is Harry needed the sleep. He decided to wait another 30 minutes and if Harry wasn't up by then, he would go ahead and wake him up.
Right before he wanted to walk over to Harry's room and wake the boy up, he heard Harry's little feet on the wooden floor of his bedroom. The child stood in the doorway and looked around. To Tom, it almost seemed like he was sneaking. He decided to not say anything and just see how Harry would handle the situation.
The boy looked around until his eyes landed on Tom. His eyes turned huge and the boy seemed to tense.
"Good morning, Harry. How did you sleep? Do you need to use the bathroom before breakfast?" Tom asked gently. Harry just nodded and hurried to the bathroom. Tom chuckled. He had never seen a child as adorable as Harry.
After Harry was done with his business, he returned to Tom and sat in the chair opposite of him. Tom quickly grabbed a bowl and filled it with some porridge. Dippy had also cut up some fruit, which Tom also added to the bowl. He got some bown sugar and sprinkled it on top.
"Do you like porridge? Dippy made it this morning for you. The fruit he cut up is apple, banana and some organes. If you don't like it, let me know. You don't have to eat it and we can get you something different," Tom explained while pushing the bowl towards Harry. He expected that Harry usually never got a choice of breakfast and was used to eating what was put in front of him.
"Ok. I never had that. I only get toast for breakfast," Harry admitted and picked up his spoon. It smelled amazing and the food Dippy had made for him yesterday has been delicious as well. He started to dig in and the first bite was amazing. It was warm and rich in his mounth with a hint of sweetness from the fruit and the bown sugar. Harry loved porridge. He made sure to let Tom know, who smiled at him.
"I'm glad. Would you like to know what we will do today?"
"Yes, please."
"We will go and walk around Diagon Alley. Diagon Alley is the magical shopping district in London. All the shops and people there have magic and they have everything we need to live. I thought we could go and have a look around. We will also need to pick up a few things for you, such as a toothbrushing potion for kids. I wanted to have a look at the bookstore and get you your own copy of that book from yesterday."
"Wow! Yes, please," Harry nodded enthusiastically. He knew Tom would show him around and take the time to explain anything Harry might have questions about. It took a gentle reminder from Tom that the shops wouldn't run away from them so there was no need for Harry to devour his breakfast without chewing.
After breakfast, Tom helped Harry to get ready. The change of clothes in Harry's bag was clean and would do until he got Harry more. They went downstairs and walked out the back. Harry observed as Tom pushed the bricks and was in awe as the door to Diagon Alley opened.
"Many wizards use my pub to get to Diagon Alley. It is also the entrance for all muggle-born wizards who come to Diagon Alley for the first time. I've helped a few of them open the gateway and almost all of them had that same facial expression as you do. It's fascinating," Tom chuckled. He offered Harry his hand and together they started walking through the streets of the shopping district. He pointed out some of the shops that weren't going to visit on the boy's first day in the wizarding world. There was a travel agency, the house elf agency as well as a specialty potions shop.
Tom pointed out the apothecary, this would be their first stop.
"We need to get you some children's toothbrushing potion. After that we should probably get you to the hair dresser. Come on."
The apothecary carried some ingredients for potions but mainly carried potions, salves and ointments at the ready for witches and wizards to purchase. Not a lot of people went through the time or effort to brew their own. Tom perused the ailes in the children's section and decided to get some potions for common ailments. Some pepper up, anti-nausea potion and the toothbrushing potion. They went to the cash register and Tom paid. Afterwards, they walked a few storefronts down the street to the hairdresser.
Harry's hair actually wasn't too bad, it was just a bit of a mop. He hoped that some Sleekeazy's would do the trick and make Harry's hair more manageable and presentable. Now that he thought about it, the potion had been invented by Harry's grandfather. Tom made a mental note to talk to Lucretia about Harry's inheritance. As far as he knew, Harry was the last descendant of the Potter family. Someone would have to handle his inheritance in trust until he became of age. Otherwise, the house of Potter might become desolate until then.
When they entered, a young witch called them over. She must've just recently finished Hogwarts, she was so young.
"How may I help you today?"
"Hello, I would like to have his hair cut and tidied a bit. Maybe some potions to make his hair more presentable," as Tom explained, he weaved his hand through Harry's hair, the boy leaned into his touch.
"Ok, no problem. Let's go ahead and take a seat on that chair over there, love. What's your name? My name is Rebecca. I will be working on your hair today. How old are you, love?" The young woman, Rebecca was gentle with Harry and her attitude seemed to put Harry at ease.
"M'name is Harry and I'm four!" Harry parked his little butt in the chair and looked at Rebecca through the mirror.
"Nice to meet you, Harry. And four. Wow, you are a big boy already. Well, love. Let me take a look at your hair and see what I can do for you."
For the next half hour, Rebecca took the time to look at Harry's hair and give it a bit of a trim. Harry watched her closely the entire time. The cut made the hair look much more tidy and less chaotic. She also gave instructions to Tom about how to use the hair potions. Afterwards, Tom paid for the haircut and a few vials of the necessary potions. Both Harry and Tom thanked Rebecca and left.
"Well, Harry. We do need to get you a few more clothes and I wanted to take you to the bookstore. Do you want to do that first or would you like to take a look around the Alley?"
"The bookstore first. Are there more books with moving pictures?" Harry looked up at Tom questioningly.
"I'm not sure, but it seems like we are about to find out. The bookstore is just over there. Let's go."
Inside the bookstore, Tom directed Harry over to the children's section. He didn't have any child appropriate books at home, so he wanted to purchase a few to keep Harry entertained. He nudged at Harry to explore.
"How about you look at the books here and I will start at the other side of the shelf and we meet in the middle?"
"Ok."
Both of them perused the book shelves. Tom was quite proud that Harry actually took out some books to look at them more closely. Tom mainly looked at the titles and if something seemed interesting, he took a closer look. Once they met in the middle of the shelf, Tom looked at Harry's selection. The boy had selected 3 books and showed them to Tom. All of them were about Dragons and the illustrations did indeed move. Tom had selected a few more classic books. He did select the "Tale of the Beedle the Bard" as well as a couple other adventure books. He held up the books to Harry and the boy looked at them critically but eventually nodded.
"Ok, let's find someone to help us. I wanted to get you your own copy of the book you borrowed from Lucretia yesterday. And I wanted to ask another thing. Do you want to wait here and already take a look at your books or come with me?"
"Come with you."
"Ok, I'll carry your books," Tom took the books from Harry and looked around for a saleswizard. He eventually found someone at the cash registry.
"Hello, fellas. Found everything alright?"
"Actually, I need help to find something."
"Oh ok, if you'll step to the side right here, I'll get you someone to help. Just a second." The saleswizard went to the room behind the cash register and returned with another saleswizard.
"Hello, how may I help you?"
"Hello, I was wondering if you had an illustrated version of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. We saw a copy of that yesterday and the illustrations were amazing. they were moving and interacting with us. We were able to borrow the book but I wanted to purchase our own copy," Tom explained.
"Oh yes, we have a couple versions of that book. The book was re-released with moving illustrations last year. We should still have some in stock, follow me."
The sales wizard moved through the store and led Tom and Harry to a sales display. Propped up was indeed the exact same book that Harry had borrowed from Lucretia.
"Is this it?"
"Yes, fantastic. Thank you so much. While I have you here, I was also wondering if you had any books for muggle-born witches and wizards to explain the wizarding world. Harry here was just introduced to the wizarding world recently and I wanted to give him a structured introduction," Tom explained and brushed his hand over Harry's shoulder and smiled at the young boy.
"Oh, how exciting for you. We do have a few books that are recommended reading for muggle-borns once they have received their Hogwarts letter. That would probably work for you. You could either read that to him or use it as a guide." The sales wizard led them to another sales display and pulled a few books out and handed them to Tom.
"Thank you, I'll take a look at these." He flipped through the books and found them satisfactory. He decided to get them all. Should Harry be interested in certain topics, they could always come back and find more in depth books.
Tom and Harry walked up to the register and Tom paid for the books. He was offered a bag with a weightless charm for 10 knuts which he accepted gladly. They still had a few stops in front of them and they had picked out quite a few books.
"Ok, Harry. Now there's only clothes left. But if you are getting tired, we can just have a look around and return home. Dippy or I can pick up clothes for you some other time." Harry had seemed quite tired already to Tom already. Tom had to remind himself that the child was only 4 and so far, they had walked around quite a bit and the boy had a lot of impressions to comprehend. As predicted, Harry took the offered solution.
"Just look around, please."
"Ok, I can explain what the stores are. If there's something you want to take a closer look at, let me know and we can go in."
And off they went, further up Diagon Alley. Tom pointed out the different stores but there was nothing really that peaked Harry's interest. At least not until they got to the Magical Menagerie. Harry became alert and almost pulled Tom over to the door. They entered and Harry was in awe. He was barely tall enough to look at the first shelf but he tried to take everything in.
The Magical Menagerie was seperated into different sections. There was a whole section for pet needs, such as food, enclosures, care guides and then there were two other sections. One section was for magical beasts and animals and the other was for non-magical animals. Tom offered to pick Harry up, so he could have a look at the enclosures on higher shelves and the boy accepted. They first walked through the non-magical section. Harry was able to recognize all animals and pointed them all out to Tom.
Afterwards, they went over to the section for magical beasts and animals. There were big, communal tanks for puffskeins. The little fluffballs coming to the front to inspect Harry. Further along the wall was a colony of bowtruckles. Tom was surprised the Menagerie carried them. He wasn't aware that they were still popular pets in Britain.
After the browtuckles, there was an enclosure for a little niffler. Tom himself had always adored the little beasts but knew he couldn't keep one. He just knew that it would escape and rob his guests blind. They moved on along the far side of the section. They arrived at the snake enclosures. Some of them, the sign said, were non-magical but were still useful for potion making. om noticed that Harry turned rigid in his arms.
"Oh Harry, are you afraid of snakes? You don't have to be afraid. The snakes are in the enclosures and can't get out," Tom said gently. He knew that a fear of snakes was pretty normal. Mind you, snakes would never be his favorite animals either.
"Noooo, 'm not afraid. But I didn't know magical snakes can talk."
"Wait what? What do you mean, the snakes speak. I haven't heard anything." Tom was flabbergasted.
"Yes, they talk. This snake complained that no one ever wants to buy him and just walks past. Why can't you hear him?" Harry was confused. The snake talked quite clearly and he actually tried not to giggle at the snake.
"No, Harry. I can't understand what the snake is saying. There is something called parseltongue. It's the language of snakes. Some wizards are naturally able to talk to and understand snakes. I've never met anyone who was able to do it. Do you wnat to talk to the snake?" While Harry's apparent parseltongue abilities concerned Tom, he didn't want give Harry a bad feeling about it. He knew that Voldemort had been a parselmouth and wizarding society had decided that parseltongue was a sign of darkness.
Before Tom could think more about it, he heard hissing noises coming from Harry. Taking a look at the snake, Tom saw the snake slither up to the glass and lift the upper third of his body upwards, trying to get closer to Harry.
"Hello, my name is Harry. Who are you?"
"You can talk to me! Never in my lifetime has someone actually talked to me! My name is Salomon. Are you going to buy me?"
"Nice to meet you, Salomon. I'm not sure if I can buy you. I will ask. Are you a dangerous snake?"
"Yes, please ask. I don't want to stay here any longer! My venom can kill many mice. I am never handled. There's a sign." Salomon bobbed his head to one side of the enclosure and Harry looked over. Since he was only 4, he couldn't read the sign. He turned to Tom and asked him to read the sign.
"His name is Salomon. He wants me to buy him. What does that sign say?" Harry pointed with his little finger to the sign.
"You amaze me, Harry. Simply talking to a snake and making friends with it. Now let me see. The sign says that the snake is a malaysian king cobra. Oh wow. Non-magical, but very, very dangerous because of his venom. He is supposed to get up to 17 feet in length. Weirdly enough, there's no ministry permits necessary to purchase him. That can't be right."
"Tom says you are a king cobra. How old are you? I'm 4."
"I am only 1 year old. I have been here for a while and I want to leave. Can you take me? I even promise to give you some of my venom for protection against enemies. I will protect you myself if you let me." Salomon started begging. Harry could understand why the snake wanted to leave so badly. He himself had been confined to his cupboard many times and had only been able to escape yesterday.
"I know what you mean, Salomon. My family kept me in a cupboard. I only left yesterday. Tom has taken me in. I will ask him."
Harry turned back to Tom and looked at him directly.
"Salomon is very sad because he is locked in the enclosure. I know how he feels, the cupboard was the same. He offered to protect me and give me his venom. Can you help him?"
Harry's look tugged at Tom's heartstrings. He wanted to do everything to make Harry happy but he wasn't sure that this was feasible.
"Listen, Harry. I would love to take the snake with us. But I don't know how to take care of snakes. And you have only stayed at my house for one night so far. We don't know yet how long you will stay with me and I don't know if your other potential guardian would be willing to take on a highly venomous king cobra. So right now, I will have to decline. But we can get one of the careguides and read up on snake care. We can also talk to Lucretia if this would be an animal I could purchase for you. Since you are able to talk to Salomon, I don't think he would be dangerous for you. We can come back tomorrow and you can talk to your friend again, ok?"
Harry deflated. He did not want to disappoint his new freind, especially since he could understand his feelings on being locked up so well. But what Tom said did make sense to Harry. Harry himself had no idea what a snake like Salomon would need to be happy and healthy. He eventually nodded and turned back to Salomon.
"Tom says that we have to learn more about snakes first. We will get a book on snake care today and I am allowed to visit you tomorrow. I will come back everyday until I can get you out of here, ok?"
Tom saw how the snake slumped down and seemed saddened, the more Harry talked to him and he felt bad. But Harry's safety was his first priority and he couldn't budge on this. No matter how much he wanted to.
He let Harry say goodbye to his friend before he took him to the front and picked up a snake care guide. It was abook with illustrations and Tom thought it would be good for Harry to see what would all be needed to take care of a tropical snake.
They paid for their book and left the store, Harry still thinking about his snake friend, Tom still thinking about the new revelations.
"Ok, I think that was an eventful morning. How about we get back to the Leaky and have lunch. It should be enough time for you to take a nap if you want. Lucretia wanted to visit us after lunch."
Harry agreed and together, they walked back to the Leaky to do exactly what Tom had suggested.