The Leaky Cauldron Part 1
Lunch was a particularly loud affair as everyone talked excitably about Harry blowing up his aunt. Harry struggled to reign in his irritation as he listened to them all discuss it at length as if it had been an awesome prank or some strange movie they'd seen at the cinema. Sometimes, it felt like they just forgot it was his life they were gossiping about. His appetite gone, Harry left the dining room without saying a word and made his way to the main chamber. He lay down on the sofa he usually shared with his younger self and Sirius and frowned up at the ceiling.
"This must be quite unpleasant for you," a voice said, startling him.
He immediately went to sit up but his new grandfather gestured for him not to bother getting up. He floated a small plate of sandwiches over to him and instructed him to eat something.
Harry wanted to argue but didn't have the energy for that, so he did as instructed.
"I can honestly say that I would loathe to be in your position," Arcturus continued as he settled into the arm chair closest to Harry. "No privacy at all. But to have people make light of what must have been a very traumatic experience, I can only imagine how it aggrieves you."
Harry had a mouthful of food so he didn't feel obliged to answer. It seemed at least that Arcturus didn't require a response anyway as he continued. "I know Mother Magic has informed you that it is necessary, but I imagine that proves little consolation."
"It wasn't that long ago that they were saying my death was necessary," Harry muttered around a mouthful of sandwiches.
"Indeed," Arcturus nodded. His eyes narrowed slightly at Harry's manners but he didn't comment on them. "People can be very fickle. But hindsight is a very powerful tool, and unlike most, we have the potential to implement it. We can make sure these things never happen to you again."
Harry nodded. It was a nice idea. Even if he didn't really believe it. With his luck, he'd just find himself in even greater trouble when they returned to the new timeline. It wasn't long before the others returned to the chamber, expecting to hear another chapter, one that would no doubt just embarrass Harry further.
Sirius wrapped an arm around Harry as he sat beside him. "You all right, pup?"
"Yeah," Harry muttered.
"No. You're not," Sirius said with a softness that made Harry's frustration ease minutely. "But you will be, I promise."
Before Harry even had time to catch his breath and prepare himself for it, the next chapter had started.
It took Harry several days to get used to his strange new freedom.
"It was amazing," Harry said quietly.
"I bet. No Dursleys." Young Harry sounded almost gleeful.
Never before had he been able to get up... stray back into the Muggle world.
"Why would he want to go to the Muggle world?" Draco asked Theo who shrugged.
Harry laughed. "I wouldn't. I was too excited to actually spend time in the magical world."
Harry ate breakfast each morning... raw liver from behind a thick woolen balaclava.
Kingsley muttered to himself about security risks but no one paid him any particular attention.
After breakfast... eating under the brightly colored umbrellas outside cafes,
"Didn't you feel lonely?" Mrs Weasley asked.
"Er... Not really. I'm pretty used to being alone," Harry said and felt like he wanted to scream when he noticed the pitying looks.
where his fellow diners... discussing the case of Sirius Black
"Who knew I was so interesting," Sirius joked.
("Personally, I won't let any of the children... occasional help from Florean Fortescue himself,
"I miss him," Harry admitted. "He was always so nice to me."
There was another flash of light and Florean Fortescue was standing in the centre of the chamber. "Well, this is a little odd, isn't it?" he said by way of greeting.
Several people groaned as this meant that they had to stop reading while Mr Fortescue was brought up to date. He took the information in his stride before bowing down to Harry like many of the others had when they found out he was Mother Magic's chosen child. He then conjured himself a comfortable looking armchair and took a seat.
Young Ron grinned. "Excuse me, Mr Fortescue."
"Yes, young man?" He smiled goodnaturedly at the child.
"Will you make ice cream for us while you're here?"
Mrs Weasley huffed, opening her mouth to tell the boy off.
"Of course!" Mr Fortescue grinned. "I never go anywhere without my book of recipes. If you're very lucky, I might even let you trial some of the new ideas I've come up with."
who, apart from knowing... gave Harry free sundaes every half an hour.
"Must have liked you," Mr Fortescue said. "I don't do that for just anyone. You must have paid particular attention to my ramblings about the witch burnings, to get free sundaes."
"You really helped me with my homework that year, sir," Harry said. "Thank you."
"You're very welcome, Mr Potter." The older man smiled down at him.
Once Harry had refilled his money bag... he had to exercise a lot of self-control not to spend the whole lot at once.
"You should have spent it," Sirius said. "You have more than enough. And its not like those muggles were buying you anything."
He had to keep reminding himself... ask the Dursleys for money for spellbooks,
"That would never happen," Sirius laughed. "There's no way you could spend all the money in your trust vault."
"I wouldn't be so sure," Albus said with a grin, glancing at the nearest of the two versions of his younger brother, who had in fact, spent all the money in their trust vault one summer. Their mother had been furious.
to stop himself from buying a handsome set of solid gold Gobstones... moving model of the galaxy in a large glass ball,
Sirius made a mental note for future present ideas.
which would have meant he never had to take another Astronomy lesson.
"You'd still have had to attend the class," Minerva said with a roll of her eyes.
But the thing that tested Harry's resolution... the most magnificent broom he had ever seen in his life.
"The firebolt," both Ron and Draco said together, eagerly sitting forward.
"Just come out... who was swinging off his father's arm.
"Fastest broom in the world?" Sirius asked. "Tell me you bought it!"
Harry simply smiled.
"Irish International Side's... "And they're favorites for the World Cup!"
"You have to get one," Sirius said, almost bouncing in his seat.
A large witch in front of Harry moved... TREATED WITH A DIAMOND-HARD POLISH
"Damn, that will be pricey," Sirius said. "How much did you say was in your trust vault? Probably not enough." He seemed to visibly deflate.
AND HAND-NUMBERED WITH ITS OWN REGISTRATION NUMBER... UNSURPASSABLE BALANCE AND PINPOINT PRECISION.
"Father wouldn't let me have one," Draco muttered.
"I'd just gotten you a Nimbus two thousand and one," Lucius said with a shake of his head.
THE FIREBOLT HAS AN ACCELERATION OF 150 MILES AN HOUR IN TEN SECONDS
"Bloody hell, that's fast," young Charlie said with a whistle.
AND INCORPORATES AN UNBREAKABLE BRAKING CHARM. PRICE ON REQUEST.
"Definitely too expensive for your trust vault," Sirius muttered with a sigh. Never mind, he'd buy one for Harry. In fact, he'd invest in the company and see if he could get one a little sooner. Three years was far too long to wait for a broom that good.
Price on request... when he had a very good broom already?
"Very sensible, Heir Potter," Lucius congratulated the young man. It wasn't often a thirteen year old showed that much restraint.
Harry didn't ask for the price,... just to look at the Firebolt.
"I don't blame you," Draco said.
There were, however, things that Harry needed to buy... Care of Magical Creatures and Divination.
"Boring," young Ron groaned. He thought Harry should have purchased the broomstick, regardless of how expensive it was.
Harry got a surprise... snapping aggressively.
"Why are they stocking those?" young Lucius asked.
Harry pulled his booklist out of his pocket... Hagrid wanted help with some terrifying new pet.
Hagrid laughed at that.
As Harry entered Flourish and Blotts... "Get out of the way," said the manager impatiently, brushing Harry aside.
"That's rude," Lucius said tersely.
He drew on a pair of very thick gloves... the door of the Monster Books' cage.
"He didn't even bother to check that you were taking Care?" Bill asked in confusion.
"No." Harry shrugged.
"Hang on,"... "Thank heavens for that. I've been bitten five times already this morning --"
Several people found this funny. Hagrid looked slightly abashed.
A loud ripping noise rent the air... cost a fortune, and we never found them.
"Well, it was rather foolish on his part to stock invisible books," Lucius said.
Well... "I need Unfogging the Future by Cassandra Vablatsky."
"Useless book," Bode huffed.
"Ah, starting Divination, are you?"... Broken Balls: When Fortunes Turn Foul.
"All useless," Bode muttered.
"Here you are,"... palmistry, crystal balls, bird entrails."
"Bird entrails?" young Hermione asked, looking disgusted.
"Pointless," Bode said. "While divination is a form of ritualistic magic, the rituals that most magicals try to use to predict the future are utterly foolish."
But Harry wasn't listening... "You'll start seeing death omens everywhere. It's enough to frighten anyone to death."
"True enough," Bode said with a nod.
But Harry continued to stare... a black dog large as a bear, with gleaming eyes. It looked oddly familiar...
"It's a grim," Sirius said with a smirk. "James used to say my animagus was a grim. Not sure how possible it is to have a magical creature for an animagus form though."
"It's not," Minerva said.
The manager pressed Unfogging the Future into Harry's hands... I need Intermediate Transfiguration and The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Three."
Draco sighed. Shopping for his own books was boring enough without having to witness Potter's shopping too.
Harry emerged from Flourish and Blotts... hardly noticing where he was going and bumping into several people.
"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Moody shouted. He couldn't help but think Shacklebolt was right. The boy was in serious danger, even if Sirius Black wasn't out to get him.
He tramped up the stairs to his room... "It can't have been a death omen," he told his reflection defiantly.
Sirius looked torn between entertainment that someone had thought him a death omen and horror that the person in question was his godson.
"I was panicking when I saw that thing in Magnolia Crescent... tried to make his hair lie flat.
"There's no fixing that hair," Sirius grinned.
"You're fighting a losing battle there, dear," said his mirror in a wheezy voice.
"Is she talking about his hair or the death omen?" Blaise asked with a raised eyebrow.
As the days slipped by... where they too were ogling the Firebolt;
Seamus and Dean grinned at him. It was a shame they hadn't spent more than a few minutes together that day.
he also ran into the real Neville Longbottom... being told off by his very formidable-looking grandmother.
Augusta sighed at that. Was she too strict with her grandson?
Harry hoped she never found out that he'd pretended to be Neville while on the run from the Ministry of Magic.
Augusta actually laughed at that. "While I must admit I'd have rather you used someone else's name, I'm not especially offended."
Harry woke on the last day of the holidays... "Harry! HARRY!"
"Oh, no," Kingsley muttered. The boy had been lucky so far. Too lucky.
They were there.. "I got all my school stuff last week," Harry explained.
"Did you really think he'd be getting his school stuff on the last day?" Sirius asked in confusion. If one of his friends was staying in the alley, he would not have looked for him in the places they'd get their school stuff.
"Dunno," Ron said.
"We still had to get our stuff," Hermione said.
"So, what you mean is, you weren't really looking for him at all. Just glancing about while you went about your business," Sirius said with a roll of his eyes. He wasn't convinced he liked his godson's friends.
"And how come you knew I'm staying at the Leaky Cauldron?"... the whole story of what had happened to Aunt Marge.
"He should not have known the whole story," Amelia huffed. Apparently her colleagues had no concept of the word discretion.
"Did you really blow up your aunt, Harry?" said Hermione in a very serious voice.
Sirius sighed. He could just imagine how the young girl would tell him off.
"I didn't mean to,"... "I just - lost control."
"Perfectly understandable," Amelia said. "Magical children with higher core capacity often have bursts of accidental magic later in adolescences."
"It's not funny, Ron,"... "Honestly, I'm amazed Harry wasn't expelled."
"It kind of was," Ron said unapologetically.
"If Mr Potter was expelled for that, he could have sued Hogwarts, the ministry and well..." Amelia paused. "To be honest, Mr Potter could sue the ministry and Hogwarts for quite a lot in these books."
"So am I,"... "Your dad doesn't know why Fudge let me off, does he?"
"You weren't let off," Lucius said. "There were no grounds to expel you and certainly no legal reason to arrest you. This is why Hogwarts needs a Magical Law class. These children don't even understand the decree for the reasonable restriction for underage sorcery."
"Probably 'cause it's you, isn't it?"... "Famous Harry Potter and all that.
Sirius growled.
I'd hate to see what the Ministry'd do to me... "Mum and Dad dropped me off this morning with all my Hogwarts things."
Sirius frowned at this. So, the other two had been communicating but hadn't even written to Harry to let him know when he might expect to see them. They'd just assumed he'd be there.
"Excellent!"... Fourteen inches, willow, containing one unicorn tail-hair.
"Finally," muttered the younger Ollivander.
And we've got all our books - "... for Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, the Study of Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies - "
"Why would you take Muggle Studies?" young Draco asked in confusion.
"What are you doing Muggle Studies for?"... You already know all about Muggles!"
"EXACTLY!! Young Draco said with a nod.
"But it'll be fascinating... Hermione ignored them.
Several of the gryffindors smirked at that.
"I've still got ten Galleons,"... "How about a nice book? said Ron innocently.
Hermione glared at Ron.
"No, I don't think so,"... All I've got is Scabbers."
Sirius and Remus growled.
He pulled his pet rat out of his pocket... "I don't think Egypt agreed with him."
"Yeah, that's what it was," Sirius muttered.
Scabbers was looking thinner... and Hermione can get her owl."
"Oh, I can't wait to get an owl!" young Hermione said eagerly.