The Champions

Once Harry returned to his tent, he was almost immediately bowled over by a very worried and very angry Hermione.

“Where were you, you idiot?! We were so worried about you! Like, what if you'd gotten attacked again?!” Hermione asked frantically, not really giving him time to explain. She then looked a little annoyed, turning to Ron, who had started walking over to the two of them. “Of course, Ron was all too dismissive of the danger you could have been in, but he doesn't count.”

Ron looked affronted by the statement. “Why are you getting on my case about that?! Harry’s perfectly fine, and he'd probably be able to run away easily, considering how many people there are here!”

Before Harry could interject, Hermione spoke up for him, saying something along the same lines of what he was thinking, but in a slightly different way.

“Do you really think Harry would run away at the potential expense of other people’s safety?!”

Harry nodded at that. “Yeah, she's right, I don't like putting other people in danger when I can help it.”

Ron rolled his eyes at that. “Oh, and what about when you drag us into your issues at the end of every year?”

Harry tensed up at that, but responded, getting louder, and a bit more angry with every word. “First year, I was scared, but I would have gone on my own, if you two really hadn't wanted to go. Second year, Hermione was out of commission because of the Basilisk, and you willingly came with me because it was your sister without me asking! And third year, I would have been willing to ignore Sirius, but he dragged you off because you had Pettigrew!”

Harry jumped to his feet at the end, marching up to Ron with an angry expression. “So DON’T act like I forced you two to join me during all of this.”

He sighed and walked back over to Hermione. “As for where I was, I was just looking around. Ended up finding the bookstore tent. They even had the sort of stuff you can only find in the restricted section. Might go somewhere else later, just look around”

Hermione’s body jerked at that. “You'll take me there after I get my money and a bag. Ron…”

Before she could even finish talking, Ron got annoyed. “No! I'm not going to a bookstore with you! I have to deal with that enough during the school year!”

Hermione shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

Before Hermione could go back to her room to get her book buying supplies, Harry called out to her. “Oh, by the way, Hermione!”

She tilted her head to the side as she turned back to him.

“Do you know where Cedric is?” Harry asked, wanting to ask the older boy about joining him for his little hang out with his new friends before getting dragged off to Hermione Heaven.

“Yeah, he's up in his room. I'll meet you outside the tent, and you can show me the way to the Book Tent!” Hermione exclaimed as she charged off to her room, bowling past Ron with no difficulty.

Seriously, where did she hide that strength?

Regardless, Harry jogged over to Cedric’s room, knocking on the door.

“Come in,” the Hufflepuff said from the other side of the door.

Harry opened the door and saw the very attractive older boy reading what looked to be a muggle book.

“So, what’re you reading?” Harry asked, figuring he should at least attempt some small talk.

“I'm reading some of the Canterbury Tales. Apparently, they’re required reading in muggle literature classes, and they are actually quite interesting!”

Harry chuckled. “Yeah, I haven't read them, but I remember older kids talking about them when I was away from the house.”

What he didn't say was that he'd been hearing them while hiding from his cousin, but he wasn't lying!

“Well then, what did you come to talk about, cause I figure you wouldn't be coming just to ask about books.”

Harry nodded. “I was going to hang out with some new friends I made, and thought I'd ask you to join me while I was doing so. After all, it's just a hang out to mess with our brooms and play a bit of Quidditch for a bit.”

This seemed to interest Cedric a bit more. “Well, I do need to work on the old girl, and I may as well make sure you aren't just going to get kidnapped.”

Harry chuckled. “No worries. Also, when we meet them, don't stare and don't treat them differently, okay?”

Cedric nodded, a bit amused by the way Harry was talking about it. “Don't worry, I won't treat them weirdly or differently. Seriously, you're acting like they're celebrities or something.”

Harry shrugged. “I mean, I never said they weren't.”

At this, Cedric’s eyes widened, his tone getting serious “Harry, just who did you meet?”

“Well, one of them was just a pretty girl that I met while she was getting crowded around by a bunch of people that just kept staring at her rather rudely, and the other is Viktor Krum.”

“I'm sorry, what did you say?”

“Pretty girl?”

“No, after that.”

“Oh, you mean the fact that one of the people I met is Viktor Krum? Yeah, he's nice. Very big. Admittedly, pretty handsome.” Harry said almost dismissively, trying to make it so it wasn't a big deal.

Cedric grabbed Harry by the shoulders, getting in close, making Harry blush at the close proximity(not the ship, at least at the moment. Harry is just shocked and bi). “You met Viktor Krum?!”

Harry nodded, trying to regain his ability to breathe normally. Did his breath smell bad? Fuck!

Cedric seemed to notice how close he was and stepped back. “Sorry about that. So, he doesn't wanna be treated like he's famous?”

Harry nods again, still trying to recover, panting a bit. “D-don't worry about it, and yeah, he seemed to be happy I treated him normally. Do you have a map of the campgrounds?”

Cedric nodded, pulling it out of his pocket. “Yeah. What, did you think they'd let me go without a way to find my way back?”

Harry was silent as he marked the location of the meet up.

“...Did they forget to give you a copy of the map?” Cedric asked a bit incredulously.

Harry was silent for a moment before moving on. “Anyways, the meet up is at that location at 1:00 P.M.”

Harry could already see the concern on Cedric’s features, but was saved as Hermione entered the room. “Harry, come on! I want as much time in the bookstore as possible!”

She then quickly started dragging him off with seemingly no effort.

…Was she using some form of wandless magic to make anything she wanted lighter? Like, seriously, he didn't remember her being this strong the year before. If she had been, then maybe Draco would have been able to join Ron in the hospital wing.

Regardless, he smiled a bit. “Thank you, Hermione.”

His friend nodded, chuckling under her breath. “No worries. I know you well enough by now to know to be on standby to get you out of conversations by now. and thanks for not inviting me to your little meetup. As much fun as it is to spend time with my first friend, I am not in the mood to deal with more Quidditch than I'll already need to deal with during this trip.”

She grinned at him as she set him down. “Now then, lead the way, oh mapless one.”

Harry chuckled lightheartedly as he gestured for her to follow him as he followed his original path through the campgrounds until they reached the shopping area, Harry smiling as he saw Hermione looking at all the interesting things. She seemed to be almost as excited about the food as she was about the books.

“Do you want me to get you some food?” Harry asked her gently.

Hermione seemed to be a bit annoyed. “I can pay for it myself!”

Well, at least she wasn't denying her hunger this time.

“I know, but that doesn't mean I'm unwilling to pay for your food. Besides, you aren't anywhere near as bad as Ron when it comes to eating,” Harry said, trying to lighten her mood a bit.

It seemed to work as Hermione couldn't help but chuckle. “Fine, but I'm paying for my books.”

Harry just nodded in response, and they headed over to one of the food vendors, looking over the menu to see what they could get. Seemed to be a multi-cultural food vendor.

Once they were ready to order, they stepped up and rang the bell. Suddenly, a noticeable cracking sound could be heard as a man showed up with a smile. “Hello there! Welcome to the Global Tour! What can we make you today?”

Harry placed his order first. “Yes, I'll have an order of garlic knots, and I'll be the one paying for her food as well.”

The man chuckled. “So, on a date, huh?”

Harry shook his head. “No, we're both just friends. That's all there is to it.”

Hermione nodded at that. “Yeah. Besides, if I wanted to get with someone, I'd simply confess.”

The vendor gave them a thumbs up in response before turning to ask Hermione for her order.

“I'll have a plate of lasagna, a bacon, egg and cheese croissant, a slice of nine layer chocolate cake with raspberry preserves, some beef stroganoff, two strawberry crepes, a thing of lemon pudding, and some cheese and crackers,” Hermione said with a smile.

Harry and the vendor looked at her in shock, but the vendor recovered faster. “W-well, will that be all?”

Hermione thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. “No, that should do.”

Harry shook his head good naturedly before turning to the man running to the stand. “Also, lemonade for both of us. Hermione, can you find us a place to sit?”

Hermione looked at Harry in a bit of confusion before shrugging and walking over to one of the benches with tables in front of them and sat down.

“Now then, I'll just sign the paper, and then we're good, right?” Harry asked.

The man raised an eyebrow as he passed Harry the slip of paper, Harry was actually a bit surprised to see how cheap it was, considering the amount of food being bought. “Yes, but why did you send her off when you were doing so?”

Harry shrugged. “Mostly so we could actually get a table. The only other reason was just cause I didn't want her to freak out at the price of all the food, in case it was expensive.”

The man nodded with a grin. “Well, it's been a pleasure doing business with you two!”

He then vanished with the same crack as before.

Harry quickly walked over to the table Hermione had picked, smiling over at her as he sat down. “So, you seem pretty hungry, especially for breakfast. Anything happen over the summer?”

Hermione sighed. “Eh, don't worry about it. I was just messing around a bit with no real instructions.”

That actually worried Harry a bit as he quickly checked over Hermione. Wouldn't want another cat girl situation, after all. “Are you okay?! What were you even messing around with?”

Hermione shifts a bit in her seat as Harry questions her. “I was just messing around with some potion ingredients. It's not like anything bad happened…”

Harry narrowed his eyes. “That implies something did happen.”

“Oh, but it's nothing bad. I just made myself stronger by accident, that's all,” she said with a shrug.

“You say that like you wouldn't worry if I said I'd been experimenting with spells I found in Voldemort’s personal library.”

“That's different! He’s a mad man, and known for being one of the cruelest dark lords in the last two centuries!”

“Ah, but that implies that there were others who were more cruel,” Harry replied with a smirk, thinking he'd won this little argument.

“Yeah, because a little over two hundred years ago, there was a dark lord that made one of the Unforgivables even more cruel. To the point that even that mad man was hesitant to use it. That was considered one of his nicer acts as a dark lord.”

“Oh…” Harry said, that bit of knowledge something Binns had left out of his lessons.

Then again, he tended to leave anything that didn't have to do with the Goblin Wars out of his lessons, so this really shouldn't have shocked him. The fact that it hadn't gotten into the lessons, not the horror of the idea of a curse too evil for ol’ Moldy Voldy.

Shaking off the horror at the idea of that sort of spell existing, Harry still gestured towards Hermione. “That doesn't change the fact that I'm allowed to worry about you.”

“Fair, but don't act like that'll stop me from trying to learn more things,” Hermione said, clearly not willing to budge.

Harry grinned. “I wouldn't expect you to. After all, who else will break into my dorm at night and drag me to the library?”

She grinned back at him, and the two of them fell into a companionable silence until their food arrived. Harry couldn't help but feel his mind blank as he saw both the size of the drinks and the portion sizes for all the food.

Hermione didn't even hesitate to dig in as Harry looked at the tent the establishment was serving out of, trying to figure out what…

…Of course this place was American. Where else would you find portion sizes for wild animals, and then actually expect normal humans to eat it all?

As he thought this, Harry heard Hermione moan in satisfaction, and upon turning felt his eyes bulge out of his skull. How in the hell was she almost done with her second order of food she'd gotten?!

Hermione had already finished the Bacon, egg and cheese croissant, and had started on the Stroganoff, already almost done with the decent sized order of it as she was shoveling it into her mouth.

Harry recovered quick enough, grinning as he did so with a chuckle as he took a bite of one of his garlic knots. “Guess I'll have my work cut out for me in making sure you eat well this year, won't I?”

She nodded, slamming down the plate, and Harry noticed runes on the plate glow as it was slammed into the table hard enough to shake it. This didn't stop Harry from feeling his heart race from the table almost flipping, with him having been launched a solid two feet into the air.

Harry panted, clutching his chest as he tried to recover his ability to breath.

“Sweet Merlin, Hermione! You almost gave me a heart attack!” Harry exclaimed, unintentionally mimicking McGonagall’s Scottish accent as he spoke.

Hermione chuckled. “S-sorry, Harry. Still trying to figure this out for my whole enhancement. It seems to respond to my emotions, so the more extreme my feelings, the greater my strength. Guess the food made me really happy, and I just suddenly slammed it down. Hey, it didn't break though!”

Harry managed to regain his ability to breathe before speaking. “Actually, I think it might have to do with the runes on the plate.”

Hermione tilted her head to the side before picking up the plate she'd just slammed down, checking over it. At first, she couldn't find anything, which frustrated her, which caused her grip to strengthen. Once more force started being applied, her eyes widened as she looked over the plate in excitement, making sure to maintain her grip strength for the most part, only occasionally altering her grip on it, if the differences in the glow of the runes and more of them showing up at points was anything to go off of.

“This is fascinating! Maybe I can try doing something like this as my Project for OWLs next year. Surprisingly complicated stuff involved in making it this way,” Hermione added at the end, her mind going a meter a millisecond as she considered how to manage some of it.

Harry just looked confused. “Would you mind explaining what makes it so complicated?”

Hermione sighs good-naturedly. “Well, the older a runic language is, the more powerful it is, but the more volatile it can get. That's why most people who do runes nowadays prefer using relatively young runic languages. This one has the arrays combining younger and older runic languages, with the older ones only showing up as more force is applied, reducing the risk of the runic array collapsing, with the younger arrays doubling as both a minor force negation, a support structure and a binding spell to keep the older runes from going haywire. And it seems to use at least three languages, so it had to be done twice over! Maybe there's more to it? I don't know!”

Hermione’s excitement was palpable as she explained, clearly enjoying the excuse to nerd out over something she found interesting. It was also something Harry found interesting, but he didn't really study runes in any meaningful way. It just wasn't his wheelhouse.

He would probably see about switching from Divination to a different elective though. Harry really wasn't in the mood to hear about how he was going to suffer a terrible fate, or die a gruesome death. It was just not on his bucket list for the year. Right up there with not wanting to see Dementors and double lessons with Snape.

Why was seeing Tom again not on the list? Because at least in that situation, he could get away with murder…

Again.

Seriously, how did nobody question the fact that he'd killed Quirrell?

Eh, he wasn't gonna look a gift horse in the mouth!

“Hermione, you can think about how to do something like that after you eat and get all your new books,” Harry placated when he noticed she forgot about her food.

Hermione blushed a bit as she realized she was ignoring her own meal, and quickly started eating, moaning all the while.

Harry chuckled and at a couple more garlic knots before handing the basket to Hermione, who was halfway through finishing her cheese and crackers, with that being the last thing she'd ordered. After a moment of insisting he was full, which he actually was, fuck the Dursley family, she finally accepted the rest of the food with a smile. And still, Harry was only a quarter of the way through his drink! What were these serving sizes?!

As Hermione finished the food, and seemed to actually be able to handle the amount of lemonade, she sighed in happiness. “Oh, this is great. Thanks, Harry. I really need this.”

Harry smiled at her. “Don't worry about it. You need the food after all, right?”

She nodded, and after taking a moment to rest, they got up and headed over to the bookstore.

Once they reached the book tent, Hermione seemed like a kid in a candy store as she saw the number of books she could choose from. Knowing his friend, Harry grabbed onto her shoulders.

“Okay, let's agree that you should limit yourself to nine books, at most. Alright?” Harry asked, knowing he wanted to keep her from going too crazy, since it was a store, not a library.

Hermione nodded excitedly before dashing in as Harry let go of her.

The owner chuckled as she walked over to him. “So, your friend seems to like this place.”

Harry nods. “Yeah. She's definitely the nerd between us.”

The woman nodded. “Yes, she reminds me of my wife. So very curious about everything. I'm curious to see what she buys. Will you be paying for her books?”

He shook his head this time. “No, she insisted on buying them herself. It was either I let her pay for this, or let her pay for her own food.”

The owner raised an eyebrow at that. “And would you not be saving her more if you had paid here?”

“Your prices are relatively cheap, and she ended up doing some experimenting over the summer, so she needs to eat a lot more than a normal person.”

Harry then decided to add a second bit. “I also limited her to nine books, since I know how much she can get.”

And so, Harry was about to go in and help his friend look for more books before he was tapped on the shoulder by the owner.

“That reminds me, I have three more books to give to you, since you still have your bag on you.”

That was the first time Harry had realized he was still holding onto all the things he'd gotten while shopping. That actually embarrassed Harry a bit, but he just held it off, curious what she would get him.

She then pulled three books from a bag she had on her.

Creature Craft: The Bounties of Beasts

Magic Beings, and How to Help Them

Black Rituals, and the Cycle of the Year

Harry chuckled. “Let me guess, can't really show me what's going on in these books?”

She grinned back. “Glad to see you understand. I can talk about it at least.”

“Okay, let's hear it,” Harry said, curious about what he'd be reading.

“Well, Creature Craft has more to do with the Soul Forging book. It's based on how to use materials from magical creatures for your creations. The one on Magic Beings is because you live here in Britain, if your accent is anything to go off of. Not much education about them here. And Black Rituals is just so you can honor Lady Magic on her holidays while remaining in practice with the other books I gave you,” the older lady told him, emphasizing her last statement so Harry would hopefully understand that she meant the books involving Black magic.

Lucky for her, Harry hadn't used up all his brain power that day, and was able to put it together, and nodded. He figured it'd be better to keep such things hidden while he could.

After Harry had signed the slip and put the books in his bag, the older woman patted him on the back. “Now then, go help your friend look around, okay?”

He chuckled and nodded, jogging over to find his friend. When he found her, she was already holding two massive books in her arms.

“Are you enjoying the selection here?” Harry asked his friend, tapping her on the shoulder. She spun around with a maddened grin on her face.

“So many books!” She said excitedly. “So much knowledge.”

Harry chuckled a little nervously. “Well, remember, you have to limit yourself. Besides, if you limit yourself, the owner will actually recommend and bring you other books that are similar to what you picked, or that might interest you.”

Harry could swear he heard her neck crack as she snapped her head up at him. “So, if I only get a few books, then I can be shown even better books?”

Harry nodded. “Yeah, that's about right. How about you get a few, and let her get the remaining number of books for you? That way you can get the best selection possible.”

Hermione nodded resolutely, her expression getting serious. “Two more, then I'll go ask.”

Harry chuckled and followed her along. Seemed she was already enjoying herself.

As they look around, Harry realizes to ask something. “Hermione, do you have a vault at Gringotts?”

She tilts her head to the side, now casually holding three massive tomes “Yeah, I figured I would put what allowance I got and whatnot in there when I got the chance and told the goblin that helped me do so to do whatever they wanted to get more money in there, as long as it was mostly legal. They seemed really happy about this.”

Harry let out a mock gasp. “Hermione Granger, willing to overlook someone bending the rules? Shocker of the century! I'm almost shocked the Daily Prophet hasn't broken down your door to get the full story yet!”

Hermione laughed at that, even letting out a little snort as she did so. “H-harry, please! You know I've overlooked plenty of rule breaking when it comes to you.”

He grinned right back at her. “Oh, and what examples can you think of right off the top of your head?”

She just gave him a deadpan look. “First year: breaking curfew, entering the forbidden wing and putting our Defense Professor in an early grave.”

Before Harry could form a rebuttal, she continued. “Second Year: breaking curfew, stealing from the Restricted Section, causing our Defense Professor to get Obliviated by his own spell, stealing from a teacher, breaking into another House's dorms and stealing hair from another student. I could probably keep going, but I still have to cover last year.”

Harry stopped her. “Okay, I'll admit to all of that except the Obliviate one. That was on him and he stole Ron’s wand, not mine. Also, I get it. Besides, I was joking.”

Hermione nodded. “I know. I was just playing along with the joke. But, as a final bit of info, the Time Turner. We both know that was against not just school rules, but Ministry rules as well.”

Harry just shrugged. “Well, the Ministry rules suck!”

Hermione sighed at this. “While you're not wrong, you don't need to be that vocal about it.”

Harry continued with his previous point. “Okay, that actually makes things easier. Just ask the woman for the receipt, or the slip, and she'll give you a slip of paper. Just sign it, and the goblins will just take the funds from your vault and send them over to the owner’s vault. Apparently, that's just something most shops here don't trust. Something about the Goblin Wars.”

Hermione nodded. “Okay, I can't say I'm shocked this is the first I'm hearing of this. I'll ask though, do you know if any of the shops in the main alley do that? Cause it would make my life a lot easier.”

Harry shook his head. “Not that I know of. At most, maybe Malkins would do so? Apparently, the shops down Knockturn do so, if memory serves.”

She raised an eyebrow at that. “And you know this, how?”

“Oh, I accidentally Floo’d over there, and I saw someone making a purchase, but they didn't pull out a bag of galleons. Just a quill. Didn't know what was going on with that until today.”

Hermione nodded, seeming to understand before taking in everything he'd said. “I'm sorry, you accidentally did what?!”

Harry held up his hands in surrender. “It's not like I had any choice in the matter! I just ended up accidentally mispronouncing Diagon Alley, and ended up there. Besides, you act like that's the worst thing that could have happened. I mean, I'm still alive, right?”

Hermione sighed. “Well, yeah, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't be worried about you. You're my first real friend.”

Harry nodded with a smile. “Well, You're also my best friend, so I’m allowed to worry over you as well.”

Hermione smirked back. “What, am I not your first friend?”

Harry shrugged. “Technically, that title goes to Ron, but I can't say he's my best friend, all things considered.”

Hermione spoke under her breath. “Not like he treats you like a friend should…”

Harry raised an eyebrow at that. “Well, now I'm curious. What do you mean by that?”

Hermione was silent for a second before responding. “No, it's not important.”

Harry grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. “No, I wanna hear what you have to say. You said you care about me, so tell me what has you worried.”

Hermione seemed to tear up a bit before responding. “He treats you more like a status symbol, damn it! He doesn't care about you as anything other than his ticket to a better life! Even Draco treats you with more respect than Ronald!”

Harry was so shocked by the outburst that his hands almost dropped from her shoulders. “W-wait, what do you mean by that?”

Hermione continued. “When you're not in favor with the rest of the house, Ronald will instantly shift away from you instead of staying by your side. He was hesitant to be near you after you were revealed to be a parselmouth. He also keeps you from acting like a proper student. He distracts you from doing any work, and doesn't like when people bring up that he does so, and that he should spend more time focusing on his school work than on keeping you from doing better on yours! He doesn't respect you or your boundaries. He says he doesn't like you giving him things since it feels like charity, but he's more than willing to steal your robes, your quills, your books and anything else he can get his hands on without you noticing! And if you do notice, he just says it's only natural for a friend to borrow things from another friend, but he never offers to let you borrow his things, and a ticely gets angry at the idea of letting others, including you, touch his things. At least Draco treats you as a rival consistently and tries to make your life hard through plotting that he respects you for whenever you plot back. At least he isn't as much of a hypocrite as Ronald is.”

Harry shook where he stood. She wasn't wrong. Ron wasn't one to stay by his side when things got rough. He wasn’t all that kind towards him, and seemed to see all people he didn't respect as beneath him. Draco would plot against him, but he was open about it, and at least was willing to respect when he also made a good plan against him. And, now that he thought about it, he didn't scheme against Malfoy as much as he wanted to because Ron preferred being headstrong about how they should deal with the “slimy little snake,” rather than going against him on the same field as he was.

He didn't know what to think about this. He would need time to consider this later. So, Harry did what he did best, and bottled it up. He could worry about that incoming mental breakdown later. Besides, he still had friends. He had Hermione, and Viktor and Fleur and Cedric! There were also the twins. Not to mention, Neville was also someone he could consider a friend. Not to mention, Dobby! He had plenty of friends, and he even had a rival who he would be dealing with in a much more snake-y way from them on.

Harry sighed, trying to ignore the shaking in his hands. “Alright. I get what you mean. Maybe you do happen to be my first real friend. Happy?”

Hermione looked at Harry sadly, pulling him into a one-armed hug, the other arm holding up the books she had found. “I'm sorry, but I don't like lying to friends. You tend to be rather forgiving of things and have a tendency to willfully forget, so I kind of needed to lay it out as brutally as I did, or you wouldn't have understood just how bad it was.”

Harry sighed, wiping a tear from his eye. “No, I understand. You're not wrong about any of that. Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. I'll consider it all later. For now, let's finish shopping.”

Hermione nodded, pulling them out of the hug so they could get back to finding books.

After a not insignificant amount of looking around and Harry telling Hermione that she didn't have to buy the whole bookstore, they managed to settle on two more, putting Hermione at five books, and four books to get from the owner. Harry was rather amazed by the level of strength she was showing, even with the knowledge it was from a failed experiment.

“Well, quite the heavy selection you have here,” the shopkeep said with a grunt as she picked up the books to look them over.

Elder and Younger Furthark: the Differences and How they Work Together

The Mystic Sands of Time

How to Combine Runic Languages in a Runic Chain

The Master’s Guide to Potion Making and Ingredient Gathering

Warding and Protections

The shopkeep chuckled. “Well then, I think I have a few books to recommend. Do you have any particular restrictions?”

Harry butted in before Hermione could say she wanted all of the books. “Only four.”

She nodded and went off, grabbing some books before either putting them back on the shelf or keeping them in her arms.

After a short while, she returned with four books. “Alright, these should be of interest to you, girl.”

First was one that looked short.

Lost Languages: the Runic Languages of the Old Times

The shopkeep opened the cover, showing a grouping of languages, in order of age. She then opened it further, showing that it was filled with notes on Elder Furthark. Before Hermione could protest though, she turned back to the opening with all the languages and flowed her magic into one of them: Hieroglyphics. She then opened the book again, letting the two see notes on the Egyptian Runic Language had replaced the ones on Elder Furthark. This amazed both Harry and Hermione as they looked at the book. The book was then closed and held out to Hermione. The bushy haired girl quickly grabbed it and added it to her pile.

The shopkeeper couldn't help but laugh as she pulled out the next book.

Rituals of the Cyclical Holidays, and the Gods they Celebrate

Hermione tilted her head to the side. “What sort of things can I learn from this?”

“Well, the Cyclical Holidays are meant to allow us to further our connection to magic, and through connections to other gods, we can more easily use other types of magics,” the lady said before turning to Harry. “And if you practice darker magics, it can allow you to purify your magic, making sure it doesn't do you harm.”

Harry quickly remembered the book she'd given him. It had been for different rituals. Guess that's why she'd given it to him.

Hermione added it to the pile, and the shopkeep decided to add something before offering more books. “Just make sure you're careful about it. Your Ministry doesn't like the Old Ways. They reject the nature of Magic itself to keep others in power. They reject the ones chosen by Mother Magic, and reject the ones born of her. Things mustn't be allowed to remain as they are.”

Hermione and Harry’s eyes widened as she spoke, her tone becoming dead serious. She then leaned back, smiling. “Of course, this could just be the ramblings of an old woman. Take my words as you wish to take them.”

Both teens looked at each other as Hermione spoke up. “A-alright, what’s the next book you wanna show me?”

She nodded and pulled out the next book.

True Account of all History

“Odd wording. Doesn't it mean True Accounts, as in plural?” Hermione asked.

“No, this was written by one who has seen and lived through all of human history. It's written by the creator of the time turner,” the older woman said. “He messed up while creating it, and accidentally made it so he can't die from old age, and sent himself back to the dawn of humanity.”

Hermione’s shock and amazement was palpable for a moment before she began to show doubt.

“And how do I know you're not just selling me rubbish and calling it gold?” Hermione questioned, clearly ready to go with a different book, if she needed to.

The old shopkeeper held up her hands. “No tricks, dearie. He made many copies. It's actually the regular history textbook in the more advanced courses in other schools of magic. Again, your Ministry is not the biggest fan of such things. It contains truths they do not wish for others to know.”

That last part piqued the bushy haired teen’s interest, so she added it to the pile. “Okay then. What's the last one? Also, do you have a shop I could visit some other time? I just wanna see if I can visit your shop some other time.”

The woman smiled while looking behind Harry and Hermione. The one she was looking at spoke up. “We live in Louisiana, if you must know. Our shop is just a little hole in the wall type of play. Caters to both magic folks and No-maj’s. It's in New Orleans. You'll be able to find it if you're lookin’.”

Both teens turned around fast enough to make an old mad flinch, seeing a lightly tanned woman wearing a flowy, sky blue sundress that was clearly magical in origin if the moving pattern of a snake slithering through a field of flowers was anything to go off of. She also wore a set of red leather rain boots. On her left ring finger was a beautiful golden ring with a finely cut purple sapphire as the centerpiece with small rubies around the purple gem. On top of her head, beneath a baseball cap, were wavy locks of dark red hair held up in a ponytail.

Harry saw the ring and quickly remembered that the woman had mentioned having a wife that was a parselmouth. He froze up for a second, and Hermione spoke up.

“Who are you?”

The new woman smiled at her. “The name’s Sarah. I'm Delilah’s wife and the other owner of this shop.”

Hermione nodded with a smile, not really questioning the relationship past the fact that it was her first time hearing of the shopkeeper being in a relationship, let alone having a wife. “I'll be sure to visit when I get the chance then. Thank you for telling me where to find it.”

Harry finally regained enough brainpower to actually ask something of his own. “So, are you really a parselmouth?”

The woman frowned for a moment as she took in Harry’s expression and mannerisms before answering in an odd way. “Does this answer your question?”

Harry heard it as just English, but based on the expression on Hermione’s face, she hadn't been speaking English. He responded without paying too much attention. “Yes. I was just curious, since I got some books on magic I could do with it earlier.”

Sarah’s eyes widened before she got noticeably excited. “Yay, another one! And to think I'd find one here of all places...”

She'd said the last part kind of under her breath, but Harry still heard it.

“What do you mean by that?” He asked, curious about her statement.

“Oh, I just mean that most parselmouths are born or live in areas with more snakes. It's why there are apparently a decent number in India and Australia. Not many snakes live here, after all, so I wasn't expecting to meet another parselmouth today, even with the whole, multiple countries showing up for this. Especially considering your country’s views on it. Just more proof they have no understanding of how anything works,” she said, kind of rambling a bit.

Delilah chuckled before walking over to the smaller woman and kissing her on the lips. “You were rambling again, darling.”

Sarah smirked up at her wife. “And who’s to say I wasn't just trying to get you to stop me like that?”

They both giggled at that as Delilah spoke again. “Then good job. Now, I need to show the girl one more book, and then we can go ahead and swap. You can watch over the store, and I can go relax for a bit.”

Sarah pouted, but complied, pulling away. Delilah went back behind the desk, not even slightly ashamed to be showing such affections in front of other people.

“So, here's the last book I grabbed for you,” she said before handing over the last book.

Elemental Magics

“I'm sure this one is self explanatory,” Delilah said with a raised eyebrow and a heaping pile of sarcasm.

Hermione nodded. “Yes, it's easy enough to understand. I'm shocked it's so thick though.”

Harry actually decided to speak up here. “Oh, that's because most elements have purposes in both combat, everyday life and even healing, if you're dedicated enough to researching how such magics work.”

Hermione stared at Harry in shock for a moment before grabbing Harry by the shoulders. “How do you know this?!”

Harry looked at Hermione, tensing up a bit when she grabbed him, but managing to remain mostly calm. “W-well, I've been in the Hospital Wing enough that I've seen Madam Pomfrey use elemental healings on me before. Flames that only burn away wounds, water that washes away sickness, s-stuff like that!”

Hermione noticed the fear in his eyes and posture and flinched, pulling away gently. “Sorry about that…”

Harry caught his breath as best he could before responding. “No, no, don't worry about it. You were just curious, and weren't really thinking.”

Hermione gave Harry a serious look. “No, Harry. I made a mistake. That's all there is to it. You don't have to justify my actions or anyone else’s, understand?”

Harry nodded, mostly so they could move on from the topic. He didn't really like thinking about these sorts of things.

Hermione nodded. “I'll be sure to keep you to that. Anyone treats you badly, I'll give them a piece of my mind, and a good ol’ knuckle sandwich!”

Harry couldn't help but chuckle, remembering Hermione punching Draco in the face the year before. He still nodded, not entirely trusting his words at the moment.

Delilah laughed a bit as she watched the scene in front of her. “Aww, adorable. Y'all are way too much like brother and sister. Honestly, how could someone think y'all are dating?”

Hermione groaned. “Exactly! Besides, he isn't quite my type.”

“Same here,” Harry said, neither really taking offense as they responded.

“So, do you want this one?” She said, holding up the book on elemental magic.

Hermione nodded, and the book was added to the pile.

After this, Hermione asked for the slip and, after looking at everything, signed the paper, making sure she told them she didn't need to buy a new bag before putting the books in her bottomless bag. Harry knew from experience that the bag didn't have a featherlight charm, so was still both confused at how the straps for it didn’t break, and how Hermione could hold it up like it did have one.

They both waved good-bye to the two shopkeepers before heading back to the Weasley Tent to drop off their stuff, and so Harry could get ready for his hang out. Both of them were rather happy with the time they spent together, and Harry was excited to go spend time with his new friends.

He just needed to hope he didn't make a fool of himself. Or, at the very least, that they wouldn't mind when he inevitably did.