Foreign Exchange
by
Mondo the Second
disclaimer... Although I wish I did, I do not own anything in the Harry Potter universe
note: This is an alternate to the books
The sun rose early over Privet Drive. The rays of sunlight crept through the bedroom window of house number four. A teenager with what looked like a case of permanent bedhead was awoken not by the sunlight, but by the sound of pecking at his window. He put on his glasses to see more clearly. A great horned owl was perched on his windowsill with a small roll of parchment strapped to it's leg. The new booklist has already arrived weeks ago, he thought. He got up, got dressed, and headed for the window before the tapping noise woke up his aunt, uncle, and cousin. He opened the window and the owl fluttered into the room. A snowy owl in a cage, Hedwig, gave an indignant hoot, as if to say, "How dare you let another owl into this room?" Harry took the parchment, gave the owl payment and it flew off. He unrolled the parchment and read it to himself:
Attention all Hogwarts Students:
This year we will have the honor of accepting a student from the prestigious Liberty Academy of Sorcery. His name is Vincent Scott. He will be part of a foreign exchange program between our on school and his. The student chosen to study in America in exchange is Draco Malfoy, of Slytherin House. I hope you will all be on your best behavior for our new guest, and treat him as you would your fellow students. You will have your first chance to meet Vincent on August 30th in Diagon Alley. He will be doing his shopping for the following year.
Signed,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
The first thing that Harry felt was shock and amazement. A whole year without Malfoy. It was like a year long Christmas present. He reread the letter. Vincent Scott. It would be nice to know someone from America, he thought. Find out about other cultures. Again, he thought, no Malfoy. He wondered how his friends Ron and Hermione were reacting to this news. His thoughts didn't last long, though. The sound of his uncle downstairs told him that it was time to get breakfast ready.
"Why isn't breakfast ready yet, boy?" shouted his uncle. Boy. In fifteen years of living with his only living relatives, they still called him, "Boy." He glanced at his calender and saw it read August 29th. At least tomorrow he would be away from the Dursley's house. He would do his shopping in the Alley and spend the night at the Leaky Cauldron. He went downstairs and started to prepare breakfast before his uncle became any angrier.
On the morning of the thirtieth, Harry got all of his school things ready and went downstairs. His uncle was going to drive him to London, though reluctantly. "Come on, Potter. I'm already doing you a favor driving down to the bloody place. I'd appreciate if you didn't keep me waiting," Uncle Vernon said, grouchily. "Sorry," Harry muttered.
As long as the drive was, it didn't bother Harry. The prospect of meeting someone from another country was distracting him from his Uncle's usual crabbiness. "So, your school is getting an American this year. Even your lot is going to the dogs, which isn't saying much," he jeered. Just ignore it, Harry said to himself. You'll be where you belong soon enough.
They arrived in London, a few blocks away from the Leaky Cauldron. Harry unloaded his things from the car. No sooner had he shut the trunk door, Uncle Vernon shouted, "Goodbye!" and drove off. He sighed, shook his head, and proceeded toward the magic tavern.
Muggles couldn't see the bar, or they chose not to. It looked rundown, so it blended with the rest of the buildings on the block. He walked in and was not surprised that Tom, the bartender, and all of the patrons were excited to see him. He had gotten used to this a few years ago, when he found out he had defeated the Dark Lord, Voldemort when he was an infant. He left his suitcase and Hedwig with the bartender and went through the back to open the archway to Diagon Alley.
After tapping the correct combination of bricks, the bricks moved and formed a great archway opened showing Harry a long street lined with shops selling all kinds of magical equipment. At the end of the street stood an enormous white building, Gringotts, the wizard bank. Harry breathed it all in. It's good to be home, he thought. He walked along the street, saying hello to people he knew from school. He wondered if his two best friends, Ron and Hermione, were there.
He was too busy paying attention to the shops and the people, he accidentally bumped into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry," he said apologetically. "Don't worry about it, dude," was the boy's reply. Dude? No one around here says dude. "I apologize for sounding forward," Harry started, "but are you Vincent, the exchange student from America?" The boy was about Harry's size, had wispy blonde hair, and had bright blue eyes. He wore jeans and a hole was beginning to form in the right knee and a shirt that read, "What is the speed of dark?". "Yeah, I am." He stuck out his hand. "The name's Vincent Scott. But back home, everyone calls me Vince." Harry shook his hand in return. "My name is Harry. Harry Potter." Vince's eyes grew wide. "THE Harry Potter?" he asked. "Holy shit, you're a legend, even in America!"
Harry couldn't help but feel flattered that he was known on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. "Thanks. How are you liking England?" he asked. Vince laughed. "I love it, but I can't understand what you guys over here are talking about half the time. You use different words than we do like crisps and lift." Harry smiled saying, "You'll get used to it." He seems like a really nice guy, thought Harry. "Do you think you could help me out?" asked Vince. Harry looked puzzled. "With what?" Vince turned a little red. "Well, I fell kinda silly for saying this but, the goblins are giving me a serious case of the jibblies. Could you help me get my money changed over so I can buy my supplies?" Harry chuckled a little. "Sure," he replied. "No problem."
The exited the bank, Vince with a look of relief on his face, and walked down to the shops. Vince got his robes for Hogwarts, his books, and his supplies. They walked back to the Leaky Cauldron. Harry noticed something was missing. "Where's your owl?" he asked. "I don't have one." Harry asked, "Oh, do you have a cat or a toad or a rat?" Vince shook his head. "Well what do you have?" asked Harry, having named all of the animals allowed at Hogwarts. "Because I'm an exchange student, I was allowed to bring my personal pet with me," Vince answered. They walked into Vincent's temporary room and his jaw dropped when he saw the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. It stood about three feet tall on its perch, had a brown body, bright yellow eyes, and a perfectly white head. Harry was staring face to face with a gorgeous bald eagle. "Pretty sweet, huh? His name is Audubon. I've had him since I started at Liberty." He clicked his beak and groomed his wings. "Can I pet him?" Harry asked nervously. Vince said, "Oh yeah. He's very friendly." Harry reached over slowly and stroked the top of Audubon's head.
Vince looked over at the clock and said, "It was great meeting you, but I'm really tired. Jetlag." Harry nodded. "That's alright. I'm pretty tired myself. Do you want to sit with me and my friends on the train tomorrow?" he asked. A smile spread across Vince's face. "Yeah, sure! That would be awesome!" They both said goodnight and went to their respective beds. This is going to be a good year, thought Harry.