A soft groan reverberated throughout the room, as Harry Potter began to stir. Bleary eyes opened, curiously taking in the cluttered room; covered with broomsticks of varying sizes, a poster of Mark Genlay (the Seeker for the British National Team), a pile of muggle school books and a few empty chocolate frog boxes. Rubbing his temples in an attempt to soothe his aching head, Harry began rebuilding his occlumency shields.
It wasn't Harry's fault that he struggled to learn occlumency when he was 15. In fact, he couldn't even properly maintain his shield until Voldemort was finally killed – a little less than two years ago. Although, being an angst-ridden, 15 year old hormonally charged orphan probably helped as much as having Snape as a teacher. Slowly, Harry's shields built up to a passable level, and his headache from the merging of combined memories of over 40 years began to fade. He stretched, pushing the covers off his hippogriff feathered mattress, grabbed a few clothes and a robe and headed into the hallway. Stumbling into the bathroom, he looked at his reflection, cursing the Dursleys once again for stunting his growth.
He was a taller and slightly more tanned 11 year old, with the same unruly black hair and bright green eyes. Perhaps the most noticeable change was the lack of scar and glasses. He supposed eating properly had something to do with his eyesight, and rummaging through his memories he pitied Neville Longbottom's unfortunate situation.
Jumping into the shower, he thought back to what happened and how to go from there. Harry knew the most important thing would be to make sure no-one – not even his family – ever found out about his history. The consequences would be horrible. That got him thinking to what happened to the 'Harry Potter' of this dimension. Given he had all of the memories, and a much more optimistic personality Harry assumed the two souls had merged together – although the personality change might have been from Fawkes experiment.
Harry knew he was stuck – even if he could find and make the crystal ball behave in the same way that it got him here, he was now Harry Potter of both dimensions, and all that it entailed. A surge of protectiveness swept through him, and he was determined to make the most of the situation he now found himself in. He would save those he could. He would protect his family, and he would certainly have fun causing shaking up the wizarding community.
He jumped out of the shower, putting on his plain black robe and padded downstairs to the kitchen, hoping he hadn't woken his sisters so early in the morning. Sitting in the kitchen warming his hands with a mug of tea Harry mused over some of his more recent memories he was sure that today a family trip was planned for Diagon Alley. He chuckled when he reviewed his memories of waiting for his letter to arrive, practically bouncing around the house checking the windows every few minutes.
Today though, was the start of his new life. It seemed that Lord Voldemort was slightly less insane and more paranoid and hadn't attacked quite so many people. It would explain why his family were still alive – even the senior Potters. Lord Voldemort was still called 'you-know-who' and still one of the most feared wizards in history, but he had chosen Neville to mark. Several house elves were killed protecting Neville, ironically while his parents were 'discussing' the problems with Voldemort at an Order Meeting. A quick retelling by a witnessing portrait and Neville became the 'Boy-Who-Lived'. Unfortunately, Harry recalled a memory of a Ministry Ball, it seemed Neville had also an arrogant snob who was at the top of the world without a clue of how he got there.
"Harry?" A sleepy voice questioned from the doorway.
The brief yelp made the taller replica of Harry smile before Harry turned towards his father.
"Morning Dad! I didn't mean to wake you up but I was just so excited about getting my wand today!" Harry knew, of course, that a wand was just a wand. He briefly wondered whether he would be chosen by his old phoenix core wand before deciding he didn't really care – although it was probably better if he didn't. Still, it was a known fact that Harry did not like getting up in the mornings, as his sisters could attest to so he had to present a reasonable excuse.
Nodding in agreement, James stumbled over to the sink and made himself a cup of coffee, mumbling something about sleeping draughts and ear plugs while Harry began cooking some toast.
"Do you know what you want to get today in the alley Harry? Your mother and I both thought it would be nice if you had an owl of your own so you can write to us – especially your sisters." James queried between bites of toast.
The opportunity to meet and own Hedwig again threw Harry for a loop, fondly remembering his most faithful companion before almost jumping for joy at the thought she could be alive here.
"I wouldn't mind an owl Dad, and I promise I'll write to you guys while I'm gone." Despite the many times he may have flown into glass windows, Harry Potter was not an idiot. He knew his sisters would be devastated if he ignored them throughout the year, and his mother would be furious. Shaking his head clear of thoughts of what they might do if he didn't write often enough – perhaps explain their displeasure via Howler - Harry briefly wondered if the Potters were related to the Weasleys when Eliza and Ashley ran into the kitchen, undoubtedly having smelt the toast cooking and deciding food was more important than sleep.
By the time the Potters were ready to leave, it was already past 11am. Harry was the last to leave the floo network, his parents had each taken one of his sisters with them. Unfortunately, it seemed that floo travel was just as awkward and embarrassing as it always has been. Harry scrambled to his feet before anyone he knew saw him, while brushing soot of him and hiding behind his father – who was talking to Tom the barkeep.
"Well Harry – where would you like to go first? We have to stop off at Gringotts first, and no – you can't go to Zonko's James." Lily said, adding the last part with a sharp glare at James as he opened his mouth.
"I think we should look at pets first Mum, that way if I buy an owl I can send it home so we don't have to carry it anywhere." Lily hummed in agreement, and they set off towards the towering marble building.
They moved passed the gilded door and across the hall to a free teller, who looked like he would rather swallow hot coals than offer any helpful assistance, and his father asked to be taken down to the vault. A snort was the only reply before the goblin screeched out a familiar name, and Griphook scurried over to escort the family down.
"Hi Griphook, my names Harry." Harry said, maintaining an expression of curious naivety while holding out his hand to shake. Ignoring the odd looks from his parents, Harry put his arm down when he saw the goblin snarl at him, beckoning his family to follow him down to the vaults. Clearly, Harry thought, his supervisors must have told him to be excruciatingly polite (for a Goblin) when he first visited in his old dimension to score favour with the 'Boy-Who-Lived'. He wouldn't give up though; he knew any information from inside Gringotts would be worth gold, so to speak.
The vault door opened with a hiss, and Harry was pleasantly surprised to see that the family fortune was several times larger than he was used to, and several artefacts and paintings hanging off the side of the vault. Given that it was already rather late in the day, Harry didn't get much of a chance to explore before his parents dragged him back to the cart and they once again set off to the surface, Lily with a decidedly green tinge. They exited the bank after a curt 'Good Day' from the goblin before heading for the Owl Emporium.
"Hey Harry, look at this one! It's so cute!" Harry turned to see Ashley pointing out a young grey chick, about the size of his snidget form, asleep with its head folded underneath its' wing. Admittedly, it was cute. He doubted there would be another owl like Hedwig though, so he kept looking while his younger sisters cooed and awed over the baby chicks.
Twenty minutes later, Harry was happy. A brilliant snowy owl resting on his shoulder, amber eyes alert and feathers preened. The shopkeeper was happy to make a sale, five galleons for the snowy owl, cage, accessories and six months supply of food and owl treats. Harry thought Hedwig was being spoilt when his sisters demanded he buy nothing the best for her, especially given her satisfying hoot and proud stance.
"James, I think we need to split up so we're not here all day. I'll take Harry to get his books for this year, and you can take the girls for ice cream." Lily bribed, trusting James would look after the excited girls- or the girls look after the excited James. She wasn't sure sometimes. As expected, James didn't really have a chance to protest as two bouncing girls dragged him off down the alley, skipping delightedly at the thought of ice cream.
"Now Harry, do you have your booklist?" Harry nodded in reply, as Lily stopped patting her cloak pockets.
"Good, let's go then." As the two of them moved towards the bookstore, Hedwig flying above them, and spending a summer's day with his family, Harry couldn't help but think perhaps divination isn't such a bad thing after all.
Stacks of books filled the store, although fortunately none of them wear eating each other. Yet. Harry hoisted up a basket from near the door as he saw his mother quickly re-read the booklist.
"Hey Mum, could you grab the main books I'll need for this year while I find some extra study material to read? Nothing wrong with reading ahead, you know." Harry commented casually.
Lily smiled. "Oh, of course. I won't buy them until you show me what they are though. Don't forget Harry I was a bit of a bookworm when I was at Hogwarts – try to make a lot of friends and don't bury your head in books all year, okay?" Harry took that to mean he couldn't go off on some crusade and buy all uber-rare super powered books that would give him special powers to smite his enemies with. Instead, he settled for 'A beginners guide to self focus' (Atus Magney), 'Codes and Guidelines of Duelling' (Dark Force Defence League) and 'Basic roots and commonalities of Latin' (Michelle Giovva). The last would be particularly helpful for first years...it's Wing-garrrrr-Ron, make the gar nice a long...
"Hm, according to this list, I've got everything else I need back at home Mum. All I need is my new wand, telescope and a pewter cauldron." Harry said, mentally praying that Snape wasn't as much of a bastard in this dimension, given that his mother was still alive.
After meeting up with his sisters and his father in the Leaky Cauldron for lunch, Harry packed with his new telescope and cauldron, the bloated group headed towards Ollivander's. Opening the door, the tinkling of a bell echoed throughout the shop. It wasn't long before the old man hobbled out to the front counter.
"Ah, the Potters. 10 inch Willow with Unicorn for you Mrs Potter, and ah – Auror Potter, you never got your wand from me did you?" Harry's face contorted in surprise as he heard that. Clearly there were more differences than he though.
"No Mr Ollivander, I was fortunate enough to be chosen by a family wand. Never saw the need to change it," James said, squirming uncomfortably at the look Lily spared him. James had actually 'borrowed' the wand to set up pranks from one of the trunks in the Potter vault when he was 10 years old.
"Humph. Let me get you measure up then young lad, which is your wand hand?" Mr Ollivander asked, his voice muffled as he stuck his head behind another stack of wands.
"Right, sir," twitching as the tape measure began measuring his eyebrow length.
Half an hour later, Eliza and Ashley were playing tic-tac-toe in the dust and his father was looking longingly at his watch every few minutes while his mother sat on a rickety chair reading his new copy of 'Hogwarts: a History'.
"Here, try this. 11 inches – phoenix feather core. Moderately flexible, good quality Holly."
Harry grabbed his old wand, only for the box of papers he was pointing at burst into flames. Before he could apologise, Mr Ollivander had already snatched it back, smothered the flames and picked up another few boxes. Fortunately, it only took another dozen wands before brilliant yellow and blue sparks flew around the shop. He saw his sisters watching curiously, and heard his father clapping saying 'excellent'. Whether that was just because he finally had a wand or not Harry didn't know.
"Ah, extremely short wand. 8 inches, mahogany with dragon tears as the core. Should be a good all 'round wand, perhaps not so much for ward-work though," said a satisfied Ollivander. "It'll be 6 galleons for the wand thank you, and you get a bottle of polish with that too."
Harry grasped his wand, and stashed it in his jeans pocket – confidant Mad-eye-Moody wouldn't jump out around the corner at him – and picked up the small jar of polish as his father paid for the wand, before heading out with his family to spend the rest of the afternoon wandering the alley, catching up on all of the latest news. Apparently his 'godfather' Sirius couldn't take the day off work, and Remus was still recovering from the recent full moon. Sirius bought a small flat in Hogsmeade and Remus inherited a small cottage near Dover– but both spend a lot of their free time at Potter Manor.
Of course, since James was an only child and the family don't talk about Lily's sister, Sirius and Remus became uncles to Harry and his sisters. James Potter was a senior auror – who was rarely involved in any field work. Sirius chose to become a hit-wizard to stay in the field, rather than a logistical position as a senior auror, while Remus struggled to find work without his lycanthropy being exposed. Remus was similar to the Weasleys, given their pride and extreme reluctance to accept charity. To repay the cost of wolfsbane, Remus would often tutor Harry and his sisters in basic muggle subjects when Lily didn't have time.