Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any related characters.
Chapter 1: Books and Broom Thieves.
James Potter was in a dark, dense forest. The trees covered the moon and the stars. In the distance he heard a wolf howl. James shivered. It was extremely cold. He could see his breath in the air.
He began to walk forward. James really had no idea were he was going but something was telling him to move. Soon he came upon a clearing. In the center was a lone figure staring at the moon. He had the bare head and torso of a man, but from his waist down were the legs of a horse. James walked up and stood next to the centaur.
"Look at the stars, James," said the centaur. James was not at all surprised that he knew his name. He stared skyward through a gap in the trees. All he saw were a couple stars and the full moon. The centaur spoke again "Look next to the moon, where the constellation Lion Magicus resides. Do you know what that means James?"
James continued to look for the constellation and shook his head. "It means that a great power is rising." The centaur looked down at him, his brown eyes dark and foreboding. "When the Moon becomes the Lion's eye, Fear shall steal the night. Secrets shall reign and spirits lie, and a Black shall be dead by morning's light. Remember this James."
He stared at the centaur. Suddenly his vision swam and he heard a loud rapping noise. A voice that sounded strangely like his mother shouted, "James, dear, time to get up. He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling of his room. It was all a dream.
James sat up and rubbed his eyes and then looked around his room. His walls were covered in posters of Quidditch teams and players and his bedside table was buried in a mountain of chocolate frog cards. At the foot of his bed lay a trunk full of clothes and a few books. He still had to get the rest of his Hogwarts school supplies. That's what he planned to do today.
He dressed quickly and came down stairs to the dining room. James sat down at the long Mahogany table next to his father. Nicholas Potter was reading the Daily Prophet like usual. The door opened and their house elf, Darian, came in carrying three trays. He set one in front of James, one in front of Mr. Potter, and set the last nest to James' father.
Just then the door opened again and Samantha Potter strolled in. Her short curly, blonde hair was perfect as usual and her violet robe trailed in behind her. She said "thank you" to Darian as she passed her and sat down.
After breakfast, James got dressed and came to stand by the fire. Soon, his mother and father joined him. Mr. Potter reached up to the mantle and grabbed a handful of silver powder. This was Floo powder and James had used it many times before. Mr. Potter threw the powder into the fireplace and shouted "Diagon Alley!" A green flame erupted and Mr. Potter stepped into it, followed by Mrs. Potter and James.
They arrived at The Leaky Cauldron fireplace. The pub was packed as usual and the Potters found it difficult to reach the back of the pub. They walked into a closed in patio. Mr. Potter walked up to the far wall, took out his wand and tapped the bricks in a certain order. As soon as the last brick was tapped, the wall began to wiggle and move before opening up and revealing a long winding street. This was Diagon Alley.
Mrs. Potter pulled out James' school list and checked it. She then wandered into the shop on their immediate left, followed James and his father.
The shop was full of things for every potion possible. Unicorn horns dangled from the ceiling and salamander eyes filled up a barrel. Vials of every shape and size lined the walls and cauldrons were stacked in huge piles. James' parents went to get his things while he wandered between the rows of unusual items.
When they left the shop James had a pewter cauldron, a set of glass vials, and basic potion ingredients. They then visited Flourish and Blotts. Upon entering they found it extremely crowded. At the back of the shop was a desk with a sign saying Hogwarts Books and a line stretching from their full of students and their parents. James' mother grabbed a parcel containing first year books and got in line.
It took all of half an hour to get to the front of the line. They were met by a nice looking witch who took a look at the parcel and asked for five Galleons. Mr. Potter paid the money and turned to leave. Just then they were met by a tall man with blonde hair. His eyes were a piercing blue and he had a long nose. With him was a boy of James' age who looked remarkably like his father.
"Well, look who it is, Nick Potter," Said the man. The boy looked at James and smirked.
"Hello, Andreason Malfoy. What brings you here?" Mr. Potter said with a hint of scorn to the tall blonde headed man whose name appeared to be Andreason.
"Oh just buying Lucius' school things. He will be attending school with James." James winced at the sound of his name. He didn't much like these people. The boy Lucius turned to him and stretched out his hand.
"Lucius Malfoy, at your service," said the boy. James just stared at Lucius' hand. "Not one for manners, are you."
Lucius turned and pulled out his wand. "Cherry, 14 inches, with dragon heatstring. Just got it. One of the best you could buy," To James, this boy was starting to sound incredibly obnoxious and conceited. He grabbed his dad's arm and pulled him towards the door. They were followed closely by Mrs. Potter.
Out in the Alley they walked farther down the street. Kames turned to his father and asked "Did you know them dad?"
"Unfortunately, I work with Mr. Malfoy at the Ministry. He and his family are a bunch of scum." said Mr. Potter with a scowl.
They had come to an old decrepit store with the words Ollivanders printed in peeling gold paint. James hesitantly walked toward the old store with his parents.
The inside was covered in shelves holding hundreds of long, thin boxes. In the center of the room was a wooden desk. On it were heaps of paper, a lamp, and weird little baubles. At the desk sat an old man who stood up at once when the Potters entered.
"Well, well, I was wondering when James Potter was going to arrive," The man looked down at him closely. James backed up a little. "Now, please stick out your wand arm for me." James did and as soon as he did a tape measure flew out of nowhere and began measuring his fingers, wrist, middle finger to elbow, elbow to mid shoulder, shoulder to shoulder, head, and length of nose. Soon, James was entangled in the tape measure. It suddenly whizzed away and Mr. Ollivander took a box down from the shelves.
"Now try this, willow, 8 inches, unicorn hair," he said and handed James a wand. Everyone looked at him and, unsure of what to do, flicked it. Immediately, a couple boxes flew off the shelves and spilled all over the floor. Mr. Ollivander snatched the wand out of his hand and handed him a new one.
"Chestnut, 15 inches, with dragon heartstring," said the old man. James gave it a flick and one of the baubles on the desk blew to pieces. Mr. Ollivander took that one too, and went in search of a new one. He soon came back with a new one.
"Here you go, maple, 11 inches, phoenix feather, perfect for transfiguration," James took the wand and, wincing, gave it a flick. Instead of blowing something up a strange thing occurred. Warmth spread up his arm and golden sparks flew out of the end of the wand and danced on the floor. A smile spread across James' face.
"Knew it. Knew that was the one for you, my boy," Mr. Ollivander seemed a little too excited. He handed James the wand and asked for eleven galleons. The Potters paid and left.
Outside, James toyed with his wand, excited about what he could do with it. He couldn't wait to use a jinx or a hex. Maybe he would be able to learn one tonight.
Mr. Potter led them to the pet store, saying something about a way to contact them at school. James was able to pick out an owl. He picked out a gray and white one he named Hermes. He admired it greatly as they finished their shopping.
The Potters were soon finished with their shopping and were making their way to the Leaky Cauldron when a loud explosion erupted behind them. All three turned around to see something zoom over their heads. It looked faintly like someone riding a broom.
Two more brooms flew above with laughing riders. James looked up to the sky and saw that three men were soaring away on brooms, nice ones at that. They were wearing dark cloaks that covered their faces and had their wands out.
James suddenly realized that a man was shouting somewhere nearby. He looked around and saw a plump wizard running towards them. James recognized him as Jason Jameson, owner of the Quidditch shop in Diagon Alley.
Around ten more perfect condition brooms soared over their heads, following the flying wizards. They were bewitched and, apparently, stolen. This angered Jason even more and he lifted his wand and he shouted "Accio brooms!" The spell seemed to have no effect on the brooms as they continued to drift towards the horizon.
"What was that all about?" James asked.
Mr. Potter shrugged and said "I have no idea."
Later that night Mr. Potter and James were in the drawing room, with their wands out. "One more time James," Mr. Potter was saying. They were practicing jinxes. James hadn't managed to perform a single one.
James raised his wand and shouted "Projellium!" A pink light shot out of the end of his wand and flew towards Mr. Potter. He was caught by surprise as the light hit him in the chest. It was as if all the bones had been removed from his legs. Mr. Potters legs gave out from under him and he fell n his face.
"Nice Jelly Leg Jinx," said Mr. Potter as he performed the counter jinx. His legs returned to normal and he stood up. James smiled and helped his father. They heard a knock at the door. The house elf, Darian, walked in.
"The Misses says Master James needs to go to sleep," said the house elf. James groaned and put his wand away.
"G'night, Dad," James said and walked up to his room. Inside he flopped down on his bed fully clothed. He couldn't believe it. Tomorrow he was Hogwarts-bound.
A/N: Hope you liked it. Please review!