AN: Hey guys! This is my first fanfic ever, so go easy on me please. And in any case, flames will be used to heat up my house this winter because I'm already freezing!
Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, I'd be rich. Sadly, I'm a poor college student with lots of debt. So don't sue me :)
As Harry followed the rest of the first years, he nervously glanced at the older students. He may not be the most observant fellow, but even he could recognize different House ties! Where had those even come from? Did Harry miss a part of his letter telling him to bring extra ties? And what about that scarf he had seen hanging out of one of the Weasley's trunks? Was he already about to get kicked out for not following the dress code!? Before he could get too worked up, Percy called all the kids to a halt outside of the Great Hall and in front of a seemingly random door.
"As some of you have no doubt already noticed, none of you have the proper House gear," Harry was gratified to see that several other students, including Ron, shifted nervously. Percy ignored the slight mumblings and quickly knocked on the door. It opened with a creak, and Percy waved all the children inside. Harry, near the end of the line, began to discretely look for an emergency exit just in case this was when they had to battle a troll. Instead, he was surprised to find himself inside of a well-lit room filled with the Gryffindor symbol. It was placed on numerous objects from ties to socks to belt buckles to collars!
A quiet chuckle was heard from behind him, and Harry yelped before turning around. A smiling older girl stood before him with a Ravenclaw tie, a Hufflepuff necklace, a Slytherin bracelet, and Gryffindor earrings. Harry could feel himself going cross-eyed trying to focus on one aspect of the girl while she was so close. He took a few steps back while she simply waved at everyone in the room.
"Welcome to Hogwarts Haven, the Gryffindor branch, home to all your House needs. This is where you can get all of your attire for the years to come. My name is Mary, and I'll be your helper for the evening," Mary smiled once again before pointing towards a corner that seemed to hold mostly clothing options. "The first thing you want to pick up is at least one Gryffindor tie and one scarf. Both of those are mandatory, but the rest of your points are free to spend on what you will!" One of Harry's fellow boys, Dean if he remembered correctly, raised his hand.
"What do you mean by points?"
"I'm so very glad you asked! You see, every year a student is given a certain number of points. The older you are, the more points you get. Since you guys are little firsties, you only get six points. Different items cost different amounts of points, and you don't get any extra. They don't roll over either, so don't try to save up all of your points for your last year at Hogwarts! Any other questions?" When no one responded, Mary clapped her hands and smiled. "Good! Now it's time for you guys to dig in!"
While most of the other Gryffindors scrambled to find the cool House stuff, Harry immediately went to the clothes and grabbed two ties and a scarf. It would be just his luck to misplace his tie, so he figured two would be better than one. He then wandered around, wondering if there was anything Hedwig would agree to wear. Harry stopped by the collars, two points each, but eventually concluded that Hedwig would probably murder him in his sleep if he put that on her. There was, however, a nice gold and red cage in the corner with a matching lion cover, but it cost ten points. Apparently that would have to wait. He eventually decided on a nice notebook with a roaring lion embossed on the cover. The pages were edged with a golden color while the cover itself was a dark red. It cost one point, so Harry tried to find something that was only two.
He passed bandanas, mirrors, jewelry, tattoos (Aunt Petunia would kill him! And they cost fifteen points…), and several shirts that made absolutely no sense (Why would someone want to Slytherin to someone's bed? And what did Gryffindor's sword have to do with anything?) before he found his perfect item. Hidden in a corner, behind some dusty banners, was the fluffiest blanket Harry had ever seen! It looked like it could circle him at least twice and was super thick. It was red with golden tassels and had little lions all around the edges. And best of all? It was only two points!
Before anyone else could steal his grand discovery, Harry grabbed the blanket and sprinted towards Mary. He shoved all of his stuff at her before pausing to catch his breath. Mary gave him a concerned look before noticing the blanket and grinning.
"Ahh! I see that you found one of our blankets. This is probably the last one of this design, too. The newer ones are more expensive and not as warm in my opinion. I assume you're ready to check out?" Harry, still too out of breath to say anything, simply nodded. Mary counted up his items before placing everything in a bag and shrinking it down. "In order to get this back to its original size, simply tap it with your wand when you get up to your dorm. And good find with that blanket!" Harry smiled, but before he could thank her, Percy's voice rang out again.
"All right, time's up! If you haven't already checked out, get in line to do so."
Harry patiently stood with the rest of his year while Ron finally finished checking out. Mary waved at everyone and yelled out the door,
"Thanks for coming! And see you next year!"
And if Harry kept that blanket until the day he passed on, nobody but him needed to know.