This disclaimer applied to this chapter and all of the chapters that may follow: This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Harry Potter world, which is trademarked by J. K. Rowling. I claim no ownership over the characters, or places found within this story. Harry Potter and the associated people, places, spells, and objects were all created by the brilliant J.K. Rowling. This story, and all of my future stories, will deviate from cannon by a fairly large margin. I create this solely for my own entertainment, and make no profit from these stories. If it weren't for the fantastic works of Mrs. J.K Rowling, I would not have this wonderful sandbox to play in!
Chapter One: The Butterfly Effect
The grin that adorned Harry's face could not be broken, despite being back at Number 4. He was a wizard! A real, living, breathing, spell casting, broom flying wizard! He could not wait to go to Hogwarts in a month's time. Not only would he get to learn magic, he would get to escape his hateful relatives. He had been locked in the smallest bedroom as soon as he returned from his trip, and he was at a loss for what to do.
The room was filled with Dudley's broken and smashed toys, along with all of the other belongings that Dudley had no use for. This was to be his new room, and Harry thought it was much better than his cupboard despite the mess. He planned to go through the mess later and find anything salvageable to keep for himself. In the meantime he decided to sort his trunk.
During his trip to Diagon Alley, his purchases had been thrown into his truck with very little thought put towards organization. As he opened the lid he could not help but groan. His pewter cauldron had broken a bottle of ink, and the dark ink now covered the bottom of his trunk. Harry grabbed a ripped shirt out of the pile of junk on the floor and laid it out on the rickety desk after tearing it more to cover the whole desk. For once Harry was glad that his cousin was so large. His trunk was quickly emptied onto the ripped shirt.
His robes were miraculously unharmed by the ink, despite having been right next to his cauldron. On closer examination of his trunk he noticed the ink was only now seeping into the spot that his robes had previously occupied. Harry concluded that the robes had a spell on them to keep them clean. He was dismayed to learn that the ink had destroyed several of his schoolbooks, and the bottom of his trunk was stained. The ink had also seeped into the liner of his trunk, and stained anything that touched it.
Harry sorted his books into two piles: the books that needed to be replaced, and the books that had been unharmed by the ink. " A History of Magic", "Magical Drafts and Potions", and "The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self Protection" had been destroyed by the ink. As he moved "The Standard Book of Spells (Grade one) into the pile of unharmed books, a small pamphlet fell out.
Flourish and Blotts Owl Order Service (OOS)
Your order delivered by owl in three days or less!*
Dear customer,
This pamphlet updates at 12:00pm each night to reflect the new books in stock, as well as the prices and the number of the books in store. Every book that is sold at Flourish and Blotts can be found in this pamphlet under the main categories:
Dark Arts and Their Defense
Transfiguration
Potions
History
Charms and Enchantments
Ancient Runes and Arithmancy
Herbology
The World Abroad
Nonfiction
Miscellaneous Other
To access the list of books simply tap the category that the book would be under with your wand. Underage customers should be made aware that this will not count as magic despite the use of your wand, and therefore you will not be breaking the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery. To order a book, tap the title of the book with your wand. It will show up on the last page of this pamphlet. Once you have your full order completed please place a drop of your blood into the square at the bottom of the page, and then press your wand to it. This will validate who you are, backed up by your magical signature. Then to authorize your purchase simply touch the box with your Gringotts key. Your order will appear in our book via a protean charm on the paper. Any questions can be written on this paper and sent to us in the same manner. Your purchases will be sent to your place of residence using our fastest screech owls within three days.
Awaiting your order,
Edmund Blott IV
Co-owner of Flourish and Blotts
** All rare orders can take up to a month. An owl will be sent to you about any orders that will exceed this time frame. Orders made during the Christmas season or during the three weeks leading up to September first can take up to a week to be ordered. Sorry for this inconvenience.
Harry was shocked at the brilliance of the wizarding world. It was so convenient! He immediately went through the brochure tapping the books he needed, as well the book on jinxes that he had wanted to buy on his trip. He may not be able to do them yet, but it would be a good idea to learn them, despite what Hagrid said. He also ordered a copy of Hogwarts: A History, in an attempt to learn more about his new school. It occurred to Harry that there may be a way to fix his existing books instead of buying a new set, so on the back page he also included a note.
Dear Flourish and Blotts,
On my return home from my first trip to Diagon Alley I opened my trunk only to find that one of my bottles of ink had smashed, ruining several of my new textbooks ("A History of Magic", "Magical Drafts and Potions", and "The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self Protection"). I was wondering if there was a way I could pay to get them magically fixed. However, if this is impossible, please go through with my order of the new set of these books. I hope I have not offended you with my ignorance, but I have grown up away from the magical world, and I am therefore unfamiliar with how the magical world works. If there are any books that you feel would be beneficial in regards to my education, as well as getting to know the rules of this new world, I would appreciate your suggestions. I was also wondering if other businesses in the Alley had similar ordering systems, as my trunk was also ruined when my inkpot broke. Although, I doubt that a trunk could be delivered my owl, I still believe such pamphlets would be beneficial.
Sincerely,
Harry Potter
Harry used one of his potion knives to prick his finger, allowing a drop of blood to drop onto the indicated spot, before tapping it with his wand and Gringotts key. The blood seeped into the parchment before giving off a flash of light, indicating the order had went though. It would be a while before Harry really understood the far-reaching consequences of his actions, no matter how small of an action it was.
Allard Jackson had been working at Flourish and Blotts for many years. He primarily worked in the back room processing orders, however on the busy days he worked in the main room. He had been working at the front counter when Harry Potter had entered the shop that day. The boy had been curious, looking at all the books in awe. Allard noticed that Hagrid accompanied the boy. Hagrid seemed to be making him stick to the book list, to the boy's visible disappointment. When the two came up to the desk to pay for their purchases, Allard had slipped an Owl Order Catalogue in the pages of the boy's copy of "The Standard Book of Spells (Grade One)." At least now the boy could purchase the books that interested him. Allard knew that the boy had the money to buy all the books he desired. Allard's father had been a close friend of Harry's grandfather, and Allard had been to the Potter Manor a few dozen times as a child. The Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter was rumored to have been around since before the time of the founders. Over the years the Potters had gained a controlling interest in many businesses in the wizarding world, as well as started many of their own. The result was a large fortune that made the Malfoy family look middle classed, although very few people knew of the Potter riches, thinking them to be part of the lower portion of the upper class pureblood families.
Allard had just finished putting together an owl order of quidditch books for Arkie Alderton, when Stefan Flourish called out in surprise.
"The Boy Who Lived, Allard! We have an order from the Boy Who Lived! To think he was in the shop just today, and already we have an order from him!" The man paused in his exclamations as he read the letter. A frown marred the normally jovial man's face. The man practically ran to the desk in his haste to reply.
It had just turned dark a few hours before, and Harry's eyes were drooping closed despite his determination to read his book. Hedwig had gone hunting as soon as the sun set, and he was waiting for his beautiful owl's return before going to sleep. A screech jerked his attention away from his book. Four owls sat in front of him carrying a large package between them. Harry grinned. He loved magic.
Harry hurried across his small room towards the screech owls, and relieved them of their package. He grabbed four owl treats from their bag on his rickety desk, and offered one to each of the owls. He could have sworn that they bobbed their heads in thanks before flying out to rest in the tree outside.
Harry ripped open the package only to drop into his unstable desk chair in shock. In front of him was a hundred books that were shrunk down and seemingly lightened for the owls benefit. On top was a piece of parchment containing a note.
Dear Mr. Potter ,
It is a great travesty that one of the most famous people in the magical portion of the United Kingdom has been kept away from his heritage. I, as well as my colleague, Edmund Blott, feel that allowing you to enter Hogwarts ignorant (through no fault of your own) of the world that you are entering would be detrimental to your experience there. Therefore we have sent along many books that we believe will help your integration into the wizarding world.
We would also like to invite you to stay in Diagon Alley at the Leaky Cauldron, so we can help educate you on the new world you are entering, and show you things that cannot be found in books. However we realize you are going to be away from your caretakers for most of the year once you start Hogwarts, and that they might not want to let you go so soon. Therefore we have sent along a portkey. A portkey is a magical transportation device that will allow you to quickly and conveniently travel over long distances. This portkey will bring you to Diagon Alley at the designated Portkey Arrival Point. You can use this at your leisure, to either spend the day here, or spend the rest of the summer here. It will of course, be on us. It is up to yourself and your guardians. I recommend that you read the first few chapters of some of your books (especially those on culture) so that we can better answer your questions.
I realize that having never met us, you might be weary about accepting our invitation. Therefore " I, Stefan Ignatius Flourish, do hereby swear on my life and magic, sealed in truth by my blood, that I do not have any ill intentions towards Harry James Potter." If you open the book "Magical Oaths and Promises" to chapter eight, you will realize that I am unable to lie under this oath, and if I had any harmful intentions towards you, my magic would kill me in order to fulfill my oath. These are normally said in person, and are accompanied by a flash of light that indicates that magic has acted on the oath. Since you cannot see this in a letter, oaths must be written in blood to validate the claim.
In a show of good faith, I would like to let you in on a little known secret. Your use of magic cannot be traced before your first time entering Hogwarts. I hope this piece of information leads to a productive summer Mr. Potter, whether or not you intend to revisit the alley.
Hoping to see you soon,
Stefan Flourish
P.S. To activate the portkey, simply touch it (and anything you plan to bring with you) and say the activation word: "Knowledge."