CH 1
Harry Potter was lying on his bed, as he had done for the greater part of his first 2 days back at Privet Drive, thinking about the events of the year before.
He had gone from a deranged attention seeking boy to a lone voice of truth, but it had come with a heavy price. Sirius Black, his godfather, fell behind the veil at the Department of Mysteries while dueling with none other than his cousin Bellatrix Lestange.
That was the breaking point for him. The only person he could really think of as a sort of father figure was gone. Now he had no one that he would truly call family. The more he thought about it the more he became depressed and angry.
At times the anger seemed to consume him but he quickly pushed it back. It didn't do well to dwell on that, at least not for now. Right now he just needed to think. Unfortunately for him most of his thoughts were about the happenings at the Ministry of Magic last year, and his godfather.
When Harry had first returned to Privet Drive, he had blamed himself for his godfathers death but after spending a few days of undisturbed brooding he had decided that the fault lay not on him but on Serverus Snape, the Order of the Phoenix and most of all Albus Dumbledore, for it had been them who had failed to inform and prepare him for what was to come.
After all of this thinking Harry Potter had come to only one conclusion, he hated them, he hated them all and he would never listen to a thing they told him. They would only lead him into trouble and then when something went wrong they would immediately place the blame on him.
The rest of the wizarding world was the same, they loved him one minute then hated him the next, he was only a tool to them. The only person who didn't seem to treat Harry as if he were nothing more than a tool was Hermione, but he didn't know what to make of the things he thought about her and for the moment it was best not to think about her in the way that he was thinking. ] He would just end ruining there friendship if he continued with those thoughts and he couldn't afford that because she was now the only person that he would ever consider a true friend.
She was the only person to never turn her back on him, even Ron had at one point in time, so he valued her above all the other people he knew.
He knew he would need her help in the future and if more came of it then he would deal with that when it came, although he really hoped it did.He knew the wizarding world would throw all of their burdens on him.
Dumbledore had told him about the prophecy after his godfather had died, the coward had the audacity to throw it in his face with such convenient timing.
Then he throws him back into the Dursley house without a second thought. But the Dursleys thanks impart to Moody's threat on his Uncle Vernon had left Harry completely alone so far this summer. They had not so much as glanced at him for more then 3 seconds at a time.
He had caught his aunt Petunia looking at him in the most odd way several times when she thought he wasn't looking, at first he had mistaken it for disgust but upon further inspection he decided that it must have been sympathy.
He had no idea what it was for but he didn't care either way. He didn't want her sympathy or anyone else's for that matter. He knew they didn't mean it. They were just acting probably on Dumbledore's orders, he wouldn't put it past the old man, it seemed like something he would do.
Thinking of this only brought on the now always constant burst of anger towards the man, only rivaled by his hatred of Bellatrix and Tom Riddle. (He had decided never to call Tom by the name Voldemort anymore.) He was already planning on a way to escape this prison they wanted him to call home, he just needed time and a place to go.
Deciding he'd spent enough time sitting around he glanced at the clock. It was already 12:30. I can't waste anymore time, he thought to himself. Whether he liked it or not he was going to be the one who had to duel with Tom, and he'd be damned if he wasn't ready for their next encounter. So he began to read and reread every book he owned until he knew the spells by heart.
He lost himself in his work, but even that wasn't enough he knew that Tom would know more spells and charms then any fifth year book could provide and he was loosing faith in the light side of magic.
He had seen how Dumbledore almost got killed by Tom, had fawkes not intervened he wouldn't be here today. He had seen the true power of dark magic and he craved it. He knew that the light side couldn't win without using some dark magic.
He himself had felt a surge of power when he hit Bellatrix with the cruciatus curse, that was true power and that was what he would need. The only problem was how to attain it.
He had taken several books from the room of requirement before he left, and already had those memorized by heart. He knew he could defend dark magic but defense was useless when you were trying to kill the most evil Dark Lord in a century.
He knew what he had to do but he had no idea how he was going to pull it off. He needed to get to Knockturn Ally and buy as many books as his parents fund would allow him and still have enough for school. He didn't really think that money would be a problem.
He had gotten past the "oh I'm rich but I don't want to show it" phase. It didn't matter to him anymore, he knew Ron would get jealous but that was no reason to stop him from having what he wanted.
After all he might not live long enough to enjoy much of a life, so he had to make the best of it now. The fist thing he did was write to Gringotts to see how much he would be able to spend on books and what it cost him to go to Hogwarts every year.
He knew he couldn't do much without that knowledge so he sent Hedwig off with a quick note. Then he decided to get some much needed sleep. Glancing at the clock it was already 3:27 in the mourning. He had been staying up late a lot lately, but he didn't want to think about that now.
The next day Hedwig arrived with a note from Gringotts: Dear Mr. Potter In accordance to your request we have enclosed a summary of your assets as of July 2, 1997. Galleons-10,000,000 Sickles-563,282 knuts-23,420. The following figures have enclosed the amount of your full vault not just that of your trust fund. As of now you can only access your trust fund, but upon the completion of your 16th birthday you will be allowed to access all parts of your accounts as written in your parents last will and testament. Your trust fund currently holds Galleons-10,000 Sickles-1,342 Knuts-672.
We at Gringotts also understand that the late Sirius Black willed to you a large portion of his estates but those have yet to be disclosed as your magical guardian , Albus Dumbledore, has yet to sign the paperwork. If by the completion of your 16th birthday this has not been taken care of you will be allowed to do them on your own if you please.
As for your second request you have withdrawn an average of 300 galleons a year including the cost of attending Hogwarts and all other expenses. Good day Mr. Potter.
Griphook
Gringotts Bank Finance Branch
The ever constant anger returned upon reading the letter. Dumbledore had never mentioned his family fund and hadn't even bothered to take care of Sirius' last wishes. He would make sure to avoid the old man as much as possible this year, because if he didn't he was afraid of what he might try to do to him.
He knew it would be best to get the books he needed now but he needed to be able to disguise himself, for that he had the cloak. He would also need a way to get to London. He knew he couldn't just write to Dumbledore and ask for his Firebolt, the old man would know that he was up to something.
No he had to convince his aunt to take him, yes that's what he would do. Dudley and Vernon would be going to one of Dudley's boxing matches in two days he could ask her then. It was then that he noticed the other parchment that Hedwig had brought it was from the Order.
He didn't even bother to read it he had better things to do than waste his time reading their lies.
Two days went by rather quickly. Harry got up early so he could ask his aunt as soon as Dudley and Vernon left. After hearing the car pull out of the driveway he immediately went to find his aunt. He found her on sitting at the kitchen table.
"Aunt Petunia I need to get some things from London would it be possible for you to take me?" it was asked timidly so his aunt would think that she was his last hope. "I was going to go by there anyway I might as well take you along."
although she had said it with an edge to her voice he had the feeling that she didn't really need to go to London and just wanted to spend some time with him. As soon as the thought crossed his mind he tossed it out the window. She had never cared before so why should she start now?
The ride to London went by smoothly they didn't talk to each other but that was better than the alternative. He asked to be dropped off at the leaky cauldron. He entered the crowded pub and quickly made his way to the entrance of the ally. He didn't want to be spotted.
He threw on the cloak and quickly made his way to Gringotts. The trip down to his vault was uneventful, he grabbed a rather generous portion of galleons and made his way out of the bank and down Knockturn Ally.
It was as creepy as ever but luckily no one was there. He quickly made his was into Bogin and Berks. He had seen Lucius Malfoy sell some items to them 3 years before and figured that was a good place to start.
Borgin seemed surprised to see him. "Welcome Mr. Potter what brings you to my shop". It was as if he knew exactly what he wanted to buy. "I'm looking for some rather hard to find books you could say." he tried to be as vague as possible. "well then you've come to the right place", Borgin replied.
Borgin went to the back of the shop for a moment and then returned with a stack of books worthy of Hermione's piles before a big exam. "These are some of our beginner to master set," the stack held a wide variety of dark arts books. "Do you have anymore Mr. Borgin, some shall we say rare talent and ancient magic books."
"Oh yes give me a moment." He returned with a large collection of books, one immediately caught his eye: Ligimacy the art of truth by T. M. Riddle. "If you have anymore books of either nature I would like to purchase them all."
He seemed surprised by the request, he must have been expecting him to be looking for a certain book. He came back with several even larger stacks of books. There were 70 books in all, and each was about the size of dictionary. "That will be 600 galleons Mr. Potter are you sure this is what you want?"
"Of course" He put 6 bags of galleons on the counter, he had put them in sets of 100's, he threw in an extra 20 galleons. At Borgin's raised eyebrow he said "to insure that this stays private". Borgin didn't want to reject suck an offer, "Very well Mr. Potter. All of the books have a charm on them so that only the owner and whomever they choose to read it can view what the book has.
I will place a temporary shrinking charm on them that will finish in 4 hours time. Have a nice day Mr. Potter." After a quick nod of his head Harry grabbed the now miniature collection of books and placed them in his shirt pocket, threw on the cloak and made his way back to Diagon Ally.
He knew he would need somewhere to put his new books so he went in search of a shop that sold chest. He wanted to get one like Barty Crouch Jr. had used during his fourth year. He found a small shop at the corner of the ally. There were a variety of trunks, each came with certain special features.
He quickly decided on one that was designed for dueling and on the run living, it had a special charm that would make it unnoticeable to Moody's magical eye. It was perfect. He went to the clerk and asked for the price. "That'll be 200 galleons, it's one of our best models."
He didn't bother to ask questions and was glad that the clerk didn't recognize him, so he threw two pouches on the counter and left. He then made his way to Flourish and Blotts. He asked the girl at the counter for every book on higher level charms, transfiguration, jinxes and hexes, and any rarely known forms of magic.
She placed fifty books on the counter and looked at him as if she was annoyed. She didn't believe he would buy all of the books. He asked for the price, it turned out to be 400 galleons and paid it. She looked at him stunned but then quickly hid it one he asked for her help, they stacked all of the books in his trunk and then he left the shop.
His next stop was Olivander's, he needed a different wand if he ever wanted to deal with Tom. He walked into the shop and waited, after several minutes Mr. Olivander came in from the back. "Ah, Mr. Potter I knew I would see you again soon. What may I help you with today?"
"I'm looking for a wand that will suit me almost as good my regular wand in case the need for a different one should ever come up." "Yes, I thought that was what you would need, well then come lets start we might be a while."
He was right 20 minutes and every wand in the front of the store later and he still didn't have a suitable spare wand. "I know exactly what you need Mr. Potter but I didn't want to sell such an item to anyone, but seeing as I know what you will use it for I'll see if it suits you."
He came back with a mahogany 11 3/4 inch wand with a viper tooth and a chimera heart string. "I thought you could only have one magical core in a wand." "Normally yes but this is a special wand Mr. Potter it belonged to the late Grindelwald. Go on give it a swing."
Upon touching the wand a green glow surrounded him, power great amounts of power that's what he felt. "How much" he asked a little to quickly. "It'll be 25 galleons Mr. Potter and your word that you will tell no one of your purchase will suffice." He threw a money on the counter making sure to add 5 extra to please Mr. Olivander. He was about to leave the shop when a thought struck to him. "Mr. Olivander is there a way to mask magic from the ministry?"
"Why yes Mr. Potter let me see your wands." He set them on the table. Mr. Olivander grabbed his own wand and mumbled some words at the wands, they flashed a brilliant blue color and then went back to normal. "That takes off the tracking spell the ministry puts on them."
Harry grabbed another large handful of galleons and tossed then on the counter as a thank you gift and left the shop. He went back to Gringotts to redeposit the money he had taken out earlier. He still had 250 galleons in his bags.
When he got to the bank he quickly changed his mind. "Excuse me sir", he said to the goblin, "may I exchange this for muggle money"
"Very well, there's 250 galleons and an exchange rate of 3% for you Mr. Potter, don't tell anyone about that only top customers get such a good value, and your total comes out to 24,700 pounds. Have a nice day Mr. Potter."
He left to meet his aunt at the outside of the leaky cauldron. She was already there waiting for him. "Well it took you long enough boy I've been waiting 2 hours." "I thought you had something to do today?"
"It was done quickly" she said a little bit flushed. "Aunt Petunia my godfather left me some money to spend on clothes and other things that I might need would it be too much trouble to get something while we're here.
I'll make sure to buy you something nice too, please." "How much did he leave you?" "A lot but I could only get this much right now," he showed her about 700 pounds the rest he had hidden away in his trunk.
"There's a store around the corner hurry up." He went and bought about 30 shirts and 20 jeans and 10 shorts, he also bought some boxers and new socks. For his Aunt he bought a lovely dress and a blouse. When she saw them she was immediately grateful. They drove back to Privet Drive feeling better than when they had left.
All that immediately change when they reached Privet Drive. Harry had a feeling that someone would be there so he threw the cloak over his trunk, his aunt almost screamed when it happened but didn't ask any questions.
He grabbed the bags of cloths he had bought and made his way into the house. Upon entering he saw a furious Tonks and Lupin. This only served to make him angry.
"What are you doing here," he spat although he did look appraisingly at Tonks who was wearing muggle cloths that fit her shape nicely. She blushed when she noticed his gaze.
"What did you think you were doing, you didn't even write to us to tell us where you were." He was saved from answering by his aunt "I believe I am allowed to take my nephew to London to buy him clothes, and he didn't tell you because he didn't know we were going until this morning."
With that she walked right past them as if they weren't even there, he felt a swell of pride towards his aunt. "If that's all you wanted to know can you leave me alone now, it's not bad enough you follow me every where now you're setting up a post here." They had the decency to seem embarrassed at that.
"You have the Order worried about you, you haven't written in 4 days" As if the Order really gave a damn he thought. "Tell them I'm fine and to leave me alone." With just a hint of conviction in his voice. "Alright, I'm also supposed to tell you that were supposed to come get you the day before your birthday."
"I'm not going back to that place." Harry made sure to say it in a tone that left no question about his decision. "I'm perfectly fine here and as your precious Dumbledore likes to point out I'm safe here."
"Albus figured you'd be resentful. He said to tell you that if you go that he will have one of the members of the Order teach you to become an animagus."
The old man thought that would solve everything. His hatred for him increased ten folds. "I don't need his help. Tell him I'm perfectly happy here." Upon hearing this Petunia looked at him as if he had grown two heads.
"You sure?" When Harry nodded his head determinately Lupin said "Alright they still want you to write though. Hermione and the Ginny are driving us insane asking to get you."
Ginny and Hermione wanted to see him? The thought made him feel a little bit better, but he quickly pushed it aside he had learned that emotions only cloud your judgment and made you weak, although he did wonder why Ron didn't ask about him.
"Tell them not to worry about me" it was said more forcefully then he intended it to but he had to make it clear that he didn't want anything to do with them. "Are you sure, we all thought you would be happy to get out of here."
Harry glared at him, "you thought wrong now leave." Tonks seemed surprised that he would just kick them out like that, without even a decent explanation for his actions.
They left looking at him as if they'd never seen him before. When he was sure they weren't around anymore he went and got his trunk and hauled it up to his room. He thanked his aunt for helping him out and then got out the books so he could see which one he wanted to read first.
They all seemed interesting but he settled on Ligimacy the art of Truth and Occlumancy: beginner to Master. He stacked all of the books in the trunk in the section he had deemed his library and practice room, then began to work.
Harry Potter was lying on his bed, as he had done for the greater part of his first 2 days back at Privet Drive, thinking about the events of the year before.
He had gone from a deranged attention seeking boy to a lone voice of truth, but it had come with a heavy price. Sirius Black, his godfather, fell behind the veil at the Department of Mysteries while dueling with none other than his cousin Bellatrix Lestange.
That was the breaking point for him. The only person he could really think of as a sort of father figure was gone. Now he had no one that he would truly call family. The more he thought about it the more he became depressed and angry.
At times the anger seemed to consume him but he quickly pushed it back. It didn't do well to dwell on that, at least not for now. Right now he just needed to think. Unfortunately for him most of his thoughts were about the happenings at the Ministry of Magic last year, and his godfather.
When Harry had first returned to Privet Drive, he had blamed himself for his godfathers death but after spending a few days of undisturbed brooding he had decided that the fault lay not on him but on Serverus Snape, the Order of the Phoenix and most of all Albus Dumbledore, for it had been them who had failed to inform and prepare him for what was to come.
After all of this thinking Harry Potter had come to only one conclusion, he hated them, he hated them all and he would never listen to a thing they told him. They would only lead him into trouble and then when something went wrong they would immediately place the blame on him.
The rest of the wizarding world was the same, they loved him one minute then hated him the next, he was only a tool to them. The only person who didn't seem to treat Harry as if he were nothing more than a tool was Hermione, but he didn't know what to make of the things he thought about her and for the moment it was best not to think about her in the way that he was thinking. ] He would just end ruining there friendship if he continued with those thoughts and he couldn't afford that because she was now the only person that he would ever consider a true friend.
She was the only person to never turn her back on him, even Ron had at one point in time, so he valued her above all the other people he knew.
He knew he would need her help in the future and if more came of it then he would deal with that when it came, although he really hoped it did.He knew the wizarding world would throw all of their burdens on him.
Dumbledore had told him about the prophecy after his godfather had died, the coward had the audacity to throw it in his face with such convenient timing.
Then he throws him back into the Dursley house without a second thought. But the Dursleys thanks impart to Moody's threat on his Uncle Vernon had left Harry completely alone so far this summer. They had not so much as glanced at him for more then 3 seconds at a time.
He had caught his aunt Petunia looking at him in the most odd way several times when she thought he wasn't looking, at first he had mistaken it for disgust but upon further inspection he decided that it must have been sympathy.
He had no idea what it was for but he didn't care either way. He didn't want her sympathy or anyone else's for that matter. He knew they didn't mean it. They were just acting probably on Dumbledore's orders, he wouldn't put it past the old man, it seemed like something he would do.
Thinking of this only brought on the now always constant burst of anger towards the man, only rivaled by his hatred of Bellatrix and Tom Riddle. (He had decided never to call Tom by the name Voldemort anymore.) He was already planning on a way to escape this prison they wanted him to call home, he just needed time and a place to go.
Deciding he'd spent enough time sitting around he glanced at the clock. It was already 12:30. I can't waste anymore time, he thought to himself. Whether he liked it or not he was going to be the one who had to duel with Tom, and he'd be damned if he wasn't ready for their next encounter. So he began to read and reread every book he owned until he knew the spells by heart.
He lost himself in his work, but even that wasn't enough he knew that Tom would know more spells and charms then any fifth year book could provide and he was loosing faith in the light side of magic.
He had seen how Dumbledore almost got killed by Tom, had fawkes not intervened he wouldn't be here today. He had seen the true power of dark magic and he craved it. He knew that the light side couldn't win without using some dark magic.
He himself had felt a surge of power when he hit Bellatrix with the cruciatus curse, that was true power and that was what he would need. The only problem was how to attain it.
He had taken several books from the room of requirement before he left, and already had those memorized by heart. He knew he could defend dark magic but defense was useless when you were trying to kill the most evil Dark Lord in a century.
He knew what he had to do but he had no idea how he was going to pull it off. He needed to get to Knockturn Ally and buy as many books as his parents fund would allow him and still have enough for school. He didn't really think that money would be a problem.
He had gotten past the "oh I'm rich but I don't want to show it" phase. It didn't matter to him anymore, he knew Ron would get jealous but that was no reason to stop him from having what he wanted.
After all he might not live long enough to enjoy much of a life, so he had to make the best of it now. The fist thing he did was write to Gringotts to see how much he would be able to spend on books and what it cost him to go to Hogwarts every year.
He knew he couldn't do much without that knowledge so he sent Hedwig off with a quick note. Then he decided to get some much needed sleep. Glancing at the clock it was already 3:27 in the mourning. He had been staying up late a lot lately, but he didn't want to think about that now.
The next day Hedwig arrived with a note from Gringotts: Dear Mr. Potter In accordance to your request we have enclosed a summary of your assets as of July 2, 1997. Galleons-10,000,000 Sickles-563,282 knuts-23,420. The following figures have enclosed the amount of your full vault not just that of your trust fund. As of now you can only access your trust fund, but upon the completion of your 16th birthday you will be allowed to access all parts of your accounts as written in your parents last will and testament. Your trust fund currently holds Galleons-10,000 Sickles-1,342 Knuts-672.
We at Gringotts also understand that the late Sirius Black willed to you a large portion of his estates but those have yet to be disclosed as your magical guardian , Albus Dumbledore, has yet to sign the paperwork. If by the completion of your 16th birthday this has not been taken care of you will be allowed to do them on your own if you please.
As for your second request you have withdrawn an average of 300 galleons a year including the cost of attending Hogwarts and all other expenses. Good day Mr. Potter.
Griphook
Gringotts Bank Finance Branch
The ever constant anger returned upon reading the letter. Dumbledore had never mentioned his family fund and hadn't even bothered to take care of Sirius' last wishes. He would make sure to avoid the old man as much as possible this year, because if he didn't he was afraid of what he might try to do to him.
He knew it would be best to get the books he needed now but he needed to be able to disguise himself, for that he had the cloak. He would also need a way to get to London. He knew he couldn't just write to Dumbledore and ask for his Firebolt, the old man would know that he was up to something.
No he had to convince his aunt to take him, yes that's what he would do. Dudley and Vernon would be going to one of Dudley's boxing matches in two days he could ask her then. It was then that he noticed the other parchment that Hedwig had brought it was from the Order.
He didn't even bother to read it he had better things to do than waste his time reading their lies.
Two days went by rather quickly. Harry got up early so he could ask his aunt as soon as Dudley and Vernon left. After hearing the car pull out of the driveway he immediately went to find his aunt. He found her on sitting at the kitchen table.
"Aunt Petunia I need to get some things from London would it be possible for you to take me?" it was asked timidly so his aunt would think that she was his last hope. "I was going to go by there anyway I might as well take you along."
although she had said it with an edge to her voice he had the feeling that she didn't really need to go to London and just wanted to spend some time with him. As soon as the thought crossed his mind he tossed it out the window. She had never cared before so why should she start now?
The ride to London went by smoothly they didn't talk to each other but that was better than the alternative. He asked to be dropped off at the leaky cauldron. He entered the crowded pub and quickly made his way to the entrance of the ally. He didn't want to be spotted.
He threw on the cloak and quickly made his way to Gringotts. The trip down to his vault was uneventful, he grabbed a rather generous portion of galleons and made his way out of the bank and down Knockturn Ally.
It was as creepy as ever but luckily no one was there. He quickly made his was into Bogin and Berks. He had seen Lucius Malfoy sell some items to them 3 years before and figured that was a good place to start.
Borgin seemed surprised to see him. "Welcome Mr. Potter what brings you to my shop". It was as if he knew exactly what he wanted to buy. "I'm looking for some rather hard to find books you could say." he tried to be as vague as possible. "well then you've come to the right place", Borgin replied.
Borgin went to the back of the shop for a moment and then returned with a stack of books worthy of Hermione's piles before a big exam. "These are some of our beginner to master set," the stack held a wide variety of dark arts books. "Do you have anymore Mr. Borgin, some shall we say rare talent and ancient magic books."
"Oh yes give me a moment." He returned with a large collection of books, one immediately caught his eye: Ligimacy the art of truth by T. M. Riddle. "If you have anymore books of either nature I would like to purchase them all."
He seemed surprised by the request, he must have been expecting him to be looking for a certain book. He came back with several even larger stacks of books. There were 70 books in all, and each was about the size of dictionary. "That will be 600 galleons Mr. Potter are you sure this is what you want?"
"Of course" He put 6 bags of galleons on the counter, he had put them in sets of 100's, he threw in an extra 20 galleons. At Borgin's raised eyebrow he said "to insure that this stays private". Borgin didn't want to reject suck an offer, "Very well Mr. Potter. All of the books have a charm on them so that only the owner and whomever they choose to read it can view what the book has.
I will place a temporary shrinking charm on them that will finish in 4 hours time. Have a nice day Mr. Potter." After a quick nod of his head Harry grabbed the now miniature collection of books and placed them in his shirt pocket, threw on the cloak and made his way back to Diagon Ally.
He knew he would need somewhere to put his new books so he went in search of a shop that sold chest. He wanted to get one like Barty Crouch Jr. had used during his fourth year. He found a small shop at the corner of the ally. There were a variety of trunks, each came with certain special features.
He quickly decided on one that was designed for dueling and on the run living, it had a special charm that would make it unnoticeable to Moody's magical eye. It was perfect. He went to the clerk and asked for the price. "That'll be 200 galleons, it's one of our best models."
He didn't bother to ask questions and was glad that the clerk didn't recognize him, so he threw two pouches on the counter and left. He then made his way to Flourish and Blotts. He asked the girl at the counter for every book on higher level charms, transfiguration, jinxes and hexes, and any rarely known forms of magic.
She placed fifty books on the counter and looked at him as if she was annoyed. She didn't believe he would buy all of the books. He asked for the price, it turned out to be 400 galleons and paid it. She looked at him stunned but then quickly hid it one he asked for her help, they stacked all of the books in his trunk and then he left the shop.
His next stop was Olivander's, he needed a different wand if he ever wanted to deal with Tom. He walked into the shop and waited, after several minutes Mr. Olivander came in from the back. "Ah, Mr. Potter I knew I would see you again soon. What may I help you with today?"
"I'm looking for a wand that will suit me almost as good my regular wand in case the need for a different one should ever come up." "Yes, I thought that was what you would need, well then come lets start we might be a while."
He was right 20 minutes and every wand in the front of the store later and he still didn't have a suitable spare wand. "I know exactly what you need Mr. Potter but I didn't want to sell such an item to anyone, but seeing as I know what you will use it for I'll see if it suits you."
He came back with a mahogany 11 3/4 inch wand with a viper tooth and a chimera heart string. "I thought you could only have one magical core in a wand." "Normally yes but this is a special wand Mr. Potter it belonged to the late Grindelwald. Go on give it a swing."
Upon touching the wand a green glow surrounded him, power great amounts of power that's what he felt. "How much" he asked a little to quickly. "It'll be 25 galleons Mr. Potter and your word that you will tell no one of your purchase will suffice." He threw a money on the counter making sure to add 5 extra to please Mr. Olivander. He was about to leave the shop when a thought struck to him. "Mr. Olivander is there a way to mask magic from the ministry?"
"Why yes Mr. Potter let me see your wands." He set them on the table. Mr. Olivander grabbed his own wand and mumbled some words at the wands, they flashed a brilliant blue color and then went back to normal. "That takes off the tracking spell the ministry puts on them."
Harry grabbed another large handful of galleons and tossed then on the counter as a thank you gift and left the shop. He went back to Gringotts to redeposit the money he had taken out earlier. He still had 250 galleons in his bags.
When he got to the bank he quickly changed his mind. "Excuse me sir", he said to the goblin, "may I exchange this for muggle money"
"Very well, there's 250 galleons and an exchange rate of 3% for you Mr. Potter, don't tell anyone about that only top customers get such a good value, and your total comes out to 24,700 pounds. Have a nice day Mr. Potter."
He left to meet his aunt at the outside of the leaky cauldron. She was already there waiting for him. "Well it took you long enough boy I've been waiting 2 hours." "I thought you had something to do today?"
"It was done quickly" she said a little bit flushed. "Aunt Petunia my godfather left me some money to spend on clothes and other things that I might need would it be too much trouble to get something while we're here.
I'll make sure to buy you something nice too, please." "How much did he leave you?" "A lot but I could only get this much right now," he showed her about 700 pounds the rest he had hidden away in his trunk.
"There's a store around the corner hurry up." He went and bought about 30 shirts and 20 jeans and 10 shorts, he also bought some boxers and new socks. For his Aunt he bought a lovely dress and a blouse. When she saw them she was immediately grateful. They drove back to Privet Drive feeling better than when they had left.
All that immediately change when they reached Privet Drive. Harry had a feeling that someone would be there so he threw the cloak over his trunk, his aunt almost screamed when it happened but didn't ask any questions.
He grabbed the bags of cloths he had bought and made his way into the house. Upon entering he saw a furious Tonks and Lupin. This only served to make him angry.
"What are you doing here," he spat although he did look appraisingly at Tonks who was wearing muggle cloths that fit her shape nicely. She blushed when she noticed his gaze.
"What did you think you were doing, you didn't even write to us to tell us where you were." He was saved from answering by his aunt "I believe I am allowed to take my nephew to London to buy him clothes, and he didn't tell you because he didn't know we were going until this morning."
With that she walked right past them as if they weren't even there, he felt a swell of pride towards his aunt. "If that's all you wanted to know can you leave me alone now, it's not bad enough you follow me every where now you're setting up a post here." They had the decency to seem embarrassed at that.
"You have the Order worried about you, you haven't written in 4 days" As if the Order really gave a damn he thought. "Tell them I'm fine and to leave me alone." With just a hint of conviction in his voice. "Alright, I'm also supposed to tell you that were supposed to come get you the day before your birthday."
"I'm not going back to that place." Harry made sure to say it in a tone that left no question about his decision. "I'm perfectly fine here and as your precious Dumbledore likes to point out I'm safe here."
"Albus figured you'd be resentful. He said to tell you that if you go that he will have one of the members of the Order teach you to become an animagus."
The old man thought that would solve everything. His hatred for him increased ten folds. "I don't need his help. Tell him I'm perfectly happy here." Upon hearing this Petunia looked at him as if he had grown two heads.
"You sure?" When Harry nodded his head determinately Lupin said "Alright they still want you to write though. Hermione and the Ginny are driving us insane asking to get you."
Ginny and Hermione wanted to see him? The thought made him feel a little bit better, but he quickly pushed it aside he had learned that emotions only cloud your judgment and made you weak, although he did wonder why Ron didn't ask about him.
"Tell them not to worry about me" it was said more forcefully then he intended it to but he had to make it clear that he didn't want anything to do with them. "Are you sure, we all thought you would be happy to get out of here."
Harry glared at him, "you thought wrong now leave." Tonks seemed surprised that he would just kick them out like that, without even a decent explanation for his actions.
They left looking at him as if they'd never seen him before. When he was sure they weren't around anymore he went and got his trunk and hauled it up to his room. He thanked his aunt for helping him out and then got out the books so he could see which one he wanted to read first.
They all seemed interesting but he settled on Ligimacy the art of Truth and Occlumancy: beginner to Master. He stacked all of the books in the trunk in the section he had deemed his library and practice room, then began to work.