Diagon Alley
August 5th 1998
Although no one at the burrow was prepared to return to Hogwarts, someone at Hogwarts was. Letters and book lists went out to all students first thing in the morning the day after the announcement in the papers. With Harry’s litter he was offered the post of Co-Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, with Ginny as his Co-captain. The pair discussed it as Harry didn't want to steal the role from Ginny.
Ron was offered the role of Prefect, but wanted to turn it down and enjoy a year Where his only extra responsibility was Quidditch (if he made the team). Hermione was offered the role of Head Girl but immediately returned a letter declining the offer as she believed the role would be best suited for someone who was at Hogwarts the previous year. In her letter, she recommended Neville Longbottom and Susan Bones; they both kept the DA running last year and they helped keep many of the younger students safe while the Carrows were there.
Mrs Weasley noticed the four children all had their Hogwarts letters. "Am I seeing that it's time for a trip to Diagon Alley?"
"Yep!" Ginny responded.
"I think there's something we need to take care of first before we can do our shopping." Hermione said, nervously looking at Harry and Ron.
The three said "Gringotts" at the same time.
"What's wrong with Gringotts? "
Harry, Ron and Hermione all looked at one another, none wanting to tell Mrs. Weasley the extent of their adventures, as she called them.
"The last time we were at Gringotts, we kind of broke in, Imperused a goblin, snuck into the Lestrange family vault, stole a horcrux, and stole their dragon…" Hermione said.
Molly looked at the trio as though she was seeing Hagrid's three headed dog for the first time. "I'm going to call Bill and Kingsley. I've really got nothing to say and I really have no clue how to help you with this one." She said as she headed to the floo.
Bill and Kingsley quickly came through looking appropriately stunned. "So you broke into Gringotts, lived to tell the story, managed to steal not only an artifact from the Lestrange Vault but a damn dragon?" Kingsley said, looking at the trio.
"That's about right…" Harry said. "We just want to make sure that we can go into Gringotts without getting killed."
Kingsley chuckled and Bill looked stunned. "Let me run over to Gringotts and see where things stand." Kingsley said before aparating away.
Bill finally came to and said, "I really don't know how the three of you survived that, let alone the last year as a whole. I'm going to floo Charlie, we need to make sure someone is on the lookout for that Dragon." Bill walked over to the floo and not even five minutes later they heard Charlie screech, "THERE WAS A DRAGON WHERE? I'm coming through."
Mrs Weasley walked back in the room as Charlie came through. " Charlie, sweetie, I didn't know you were coming."
"Lovely to see you too Mum. Excuse me but I need to figure out why I'm only hearing about this loose dragon now." Charlie said, dismissing his mother.
Ron finally decided to join the conversation. "We weren't trying to keep you out of the loop Charlie, this all happened the day before the Battle at Hogwarts, and following the Battle everything except what was at Hogwarts just faded away. "
"I can accept that, but I need to know everything about that dragon so I can find it and bring it to safety."
"I can help you there." Hermione exclaimed. "The dragon was an adult Ukrainian Iron Belly, light gray in color. It was chained in the lowest levels of the bank to guard the high security vaults. They had trained it to cower in fear at the sound of these Clapper devices they would use. We rode the dragon away from Gringotts, but it took him a moment to remember how to fly, as though it had been stuck down there since it was little."
Charlie looked as though he could kiss Hermione for all of the detail he had just given her. "Thank you for all of that. Hopefully we will be able to find this dragon and make sure it gets the help that it needs. I'm going to head back to the reserve and get a team assembled so we can start searching for this dragon."
Charlie said his goodbyes making sure to have some small talk with his mum before heading back through the floo. Bill, still stunned by not only the actions of the trio but the audacity as well, sat in silence as they all waited for Kingsly to return. Roughly 15 minutes after Charlie left Kingsly apparated back into the burrow.
"Well you three certainly left an impression on the Goblins…" Kingsley chuckled. "One of them wanted your heads for what you all have done. Thankfully, Ragnarok disagreed. He said the three of you had proven yourselves as heroes who are willing to stand up against wizard injustices and that is something the Goblins respect. All they ask is that you never publicly talk about what happened."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione all agreed profusely. "So we won't have any issues accessing our vaults?” Harry asked.
"None at all." Kingsley responded. " Also, Ragnarok wanted me to let you all know that it's illegal for wizards to store objects like horcruxes in their vaults. So if you had just told one of your account managers what you expected to find in the Lestrange vault they would have retrieved it and destroyed it.”
With that the trio collectively blushed and looked embarrassed. "Thank you for taking the time to get all of that settled Kingsley. We really appreciate it. The last thing we wanted to do was create another incident with the Goblin Nation." Hermione graciously thanked the minister before he left the burrow.
Molly began ushering the trio and Ginny towards the Floo so they could do their shopping. This would be the first leisurely outing for the trio since the end of the war. Any public trip before this had been at the behest of the ministry, as the three of them were the youngest Order of Merlin holders in history. Now it was time for them to brave the real world.
The group of five, led by Molly Weasley floo'd straight into the Leaky Cauldron. As the last of the golden trio came through, the patrons of the Leaky had gone silent, and were staring in their direction. Harry and Ron froze, hating the attention, but immediately broke out of it when they noticed Hermione taking the lead. The surprise leader dusted the soot off her clothes, took a deep breath, smiled and walked directly through the crowd which parted as she moved. The rest of the group followed Hermione's Iead and began to head out of the Leaky.
Ginny, who had known Hermione for the last seven years, was happy to follow her friend through the crowd, but she had questions… The Hermione she had known, went out of her way to stay out of the spotlight. She had hated when attention was on her in any manner other than being called on in class. When the Daily Prophet linked her to Harry and Viktor Krum in 4th year, Ginny thought Hermione was going to die from embarrassment. Now, Ginny was seeing her walk through a crowd of admirers as though she had been a celebrity her entire life, and she was confused to say the least.
Hermione maintained the lead as the group made their way through Diagon Alley to Gringotts Wizard Bank to get money for their shopping. Hermione was first in line to speak with a teller when she discreetly asked to speak with the Granger family account manager. Ginny, still confused by Hermione's confidence at the Leaky, heard what she said to the teller, and was further confused as she walked away with a senior account manager.
Ginny, Harry, Ron, and the Weasley matriarch finished with their business at the Bank ahead of Hermione. Molly was confused when she noticed Hermione come out of the Account and Estate Management wing of the Bank rather than the vault access area of the bank. Molly looked at Ginny with confusion all over her face. Ginny shrugged her shoulders and the pair didn't elaborate on the subject further.
"Where are we off to first my dears?" Molly asked.
Hermione, maintaining her place as leader, answered, "Other than the school supply list, I need to pick up a new wand. Mine doesn't feel the same after the past year. "
"Same here." Harry agreed. "I think without Voldemort in my head I may be fit for a different wand."
They all needed new robes, and for the first time Ron and Ginny didn't have to purchase theirs secondhand, so they were all off to Madame Malkins. The shop witch fitted all of them and noted their measurements were all significantly different than the last time they were fitted. Hermione felt a bit self conscious as she had lost quite a bit of weight and muscle during their time on the Horcrux hunt.
Ginny noticed more behavior that was uncharacteristic for Hermione. She usually hated shopping, but this time she was gladly going through the displays in the shop. When she did shop, she would just purchase off the rack and never venture near the luxury area of the store. This time, Hermione did the opposite, her school robes were made of luxury fabrics, and she bought everything else she needed from the luxury area of the store. The part which further confused Ginny was that Hermione was trying to keep all of her purchases private for some reason.
They made the necessary stops at the apothecary and stationary store to make sure everyone was stocked up on the appropriate goods for school. Harry, Ron, and Ginny requested a stop at Quality Quidditch Supplies. Hermione even joined them, as she didn't feel like venturing away from the group just yet. The three quidditch players walked out of the store with brand new brooms, and state of the art safety gear.
As they made their way back into the alley, it seemed to be getting busier. Hermione led the group through the thick crowd to Flourish and Blotts. Her only goal was to pick up her books, and get out before things got crazy. Ginny, Harry and Ron, who expected to spend at least an hour in their friend's favorite store, were dumbfounded when Hermione was ready to leave, with only her school books in hand, after 10 minutes.
Hermione made her way to Olivanders to get her new wand, with the rest of the group in tow.
"Ms. Granger, Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley. It's lovely to see you under a significantly less life threatening situation." The old wand maker greeted them. "Now what can I do for you all today?"
"I'd like to get a new wand," Hermione started. "Mine hasn't felt right since the final battle. It reminds me of a jacket that I've grown out of, like I can wear it, but it doesn't fit right.”
"Well that does happen Ms. Granger." The wandmaker reassured her. "Sometimes we go through things that change us, and our magic. After what you've experienced in the last year, I think it's safe to say that's exactly what is happening to you dear.”
Hermione released a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Well that is reassuring."
"Now, may I see your current wand please?" Hermione handed her wand over to Olivander and he began to analyze it.
"Ah, yes. Vine wood, 10 ¾ inches with dragon heartstring." He picked upa large magnifying glass and continued looking at her wand. "Ms. Granger, have you performed any dark magic with this wand?"
"No sir" she replied confused.
"Have you spent a lot of time around a dark artifact with this wand in your possession?"
"Yes sir.” She answered thinking about the Horcrux they all had to share wearing for months.
"That explains it then. Your wand has microcracks running down the shaft of the vinewood that would eventually expose the dragon heartstring core."
Hermione just stared at the wandmaker unsure how to respond, as he continued. "If anyone else with you over the last year also spent significant lime around dark artifacts, I'd recommend they also get their wands examined." Olivander said, looking at Harry and Ron.
The wandmaker disappeared for a few moments, then returned with a pill of wand boxes for her to try. The first two wands were absolute duds for Hermione. The third wand was a 12 inch vinewood wand, with a phoenix feather core. It was a beautiful wand with carvings and runes more intricate than her previous wand. The moment she picked up her new wand, she felt it immediately become one with her magic in a way that felt like home.
Harry went next, and Olivander couldn't help but laugh when Harry said "A confrontation like I had with Voldemort could probably be considered life and magic changing." Harry ended up matching with an 11 1/2 inch mahogany wand with a dragon heartstring core. Harry was glowing when Olivander shared that Harry's fathers wand was mahogany, and his mothers wand core was also Dragon heartstring. Since Ron was there he had Olivander check his wand as well but all was well.
With new wands in tow, and the trio on high alert about the increasing size of the crowd in the alley, they agreed on a final stop before heading out for the day. Harry wanted to stop by the Magical Menagerie to pick up a new owl. The loss of Hedwig hit him hard, but he knew with going back to Hogwarts it was time. He ended up picking a huge black and white Eurasian Eagle Owl with honey colored eyes. He named him Radagast after the wizard in The Lord of the Rings. Hermione appreciated the Tolkein reference. With their shopping complete the group made their way to the community apparition point, choosing to apparate home rather than deal with the crowds in the Leaky Cauldron.