Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, nor do I own Nier. No joke here today, sorry.

Chapter Two: Diagonally (No Wiess, it's Diagon Alley.);

Number Four Privet Lane

Harry was pacing back and forth anxiously near the door, Grimoire Wiess stored in a bag on his back. They had come to this solution when Wiess demanded that he be allowed to accompany Harry when the representative from the school showed up, and Harry had adamantly refused to let anyone else find out about the magickal tome. The pacing boy glanced at the small table where the letter that they had received back was laying open, looking innocuous.

Dear Mr. Potter:

We have received your request for an escort to Diagon Alley to carry out your shopping for the requisite school supplies, and have selected one from our staff. One of the professors will arrive at the location of Number Four Privet Lane at ten thirty five in the morning three days from now. Please be ready to travel with him to your destination.

Sincerely, Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

A peek at the clock showed that it was ten thirty two. In Harry's mind, if the man was going to be late he could have at least sent word ahead saying so! He sighed – at least Aunt Petunia had been able to get the day off so she could see him off, something she hadn't been sure she would be able to do. She was currently coming down the stairs, a smile on her face.

"Harry, they said ten thirty five right?" The boy nodded. "Then the teacher will be here at exactly that time. They tend to be pretty punctual when it comes to appointments." She was the other reason that Wiess was in the bag. It wouldn't do for her to find out about him just yet. Though he loved his aunt and had brought Dudley had found out about the ancient tome, Petunia was still in the dark about what was going on, and both boys preferred that it stay that way.

Harry bit his lip and nodded. After all, she had more experience with the professors of Hogwarts than he did, so he couldn't really go arguing against her. The slightly nervous preteen resumed pacing back and forth in the small foyer, his agitated movements causing the knapsack on his back to bounce slightly. His aunt watched him pace back and forth, wondering where on earth this nervousness had come from. Half an hour ago he had been perfectly fine, but now it was if he was afraid of the person who was coming.

A knocking on the front door caused both people to blink and turn to the entrance. The odd thing about the knocking was that it was closer to Harry's height than to Petunia's – had a neighborhood child gotten lost or something similar? Harry looked to his aunt helplessly before shrugging and going to the door and opening it.

The sight he met startled the boy. Instead of a round-faced child, there was a wizened old man with an amused glint in his eyes, framed behind round glasses. A pointed green and blue plaid hat bent down over his face, sitting on top of white sparse white hair. The man truly was nearly Harry's height – at around four feet tall, not counting the hat, Harry was actually just a few shades taller than the man in front of him.

"Ah! Are you Mister Potter?" At the raven haired child's dumbfounded nod, the man clapped his hands. "Excellent, excellent! Mr. Potter, I am Professor Filius Flitwick, may I come in?" Harry continued to stare in shock at the shrunken man, until Petunia placed a hand on his shoulder and pulled him out of the way, and gestured for the man to come in. Now looking even more amused, Flitwick stepped across the threshold, and was led to the small living room.

"Professor, what is it you teach?" Harry was looking for confirmation that this man wasn't just trying to pull a fast one on them – he didn't notice the thoughtful look on his aunt's face. The Professor simply grinned and pulled a slender wooden rod from one sleeve, and pointed it at one of the small nutcrackers that was on the mantle, a leftover reminder of Christmas past. The sparking green eyes framed by black glasses shot open wide when the wooden figure's jaw suddenly snapped shut and his arms came up from his sides, saluting the three people in the room.

"I am the Professor of Charms and Enchanting at Hogwarts, and the Head of Ravenclaw House." Petunia let out a triumphant noise at the man's words.

"You're the one that Lily was always talking about! You were her favorite teacher back then… and…" She stared at him before nodding in satisfaction. "And you're the one who introduced my parents to magic when Lily got her letter. Harry, you're in good hands." Harry looked at his aunt in shock before turning to the small man. For some reason, there was a tugging feeling in his chest that he thought he had long since gotten past.

"Yes, yes indeed Miss Evans! Though I do say, you look quite different from when I last saw you. Now then, Mister Potter, it's time we be off to Diagon Alley." Flitwick thought he heard a muffled groan come from Harry's direction, but seeing no one else, he shrugged it off mentally though he did file it away for later consideration. "One of my colleagues is also picking up a young girl today, and maybe you can make a new acquaintance before the school year even starts!" To this, Harry snorted.

"No offense Professor, but I doubt it. I read too much for that." For some reason, his words made the small man's grin grow wider before he stood up from the stool he had sat on.

"You might find yourself surprised then Mister Potter. Nonetheless, we really should be off yes? Want to beat the rush of shoppers and all that." Harry nodded and hugged his aunt goodbye before following the Professor out of the room, only to blink in confusion when Flitwick headed to the back yard instead of the front door. Once the two were outside, the raven haired preteen looked at the wizened little man confusedly.

"Uhm, Professor, mind telling me why we are out here? While one of the owls might be able to carry you, I'm a bit too big for that…" His words drew an amused chuckle from the Professor.

"Mildly inquisitive and with a sense of humor, just like your mother. No, we aren't going to be picked up by owls, but we can't exactly have muggles seeing how we do leave. Now then Harry, take my arm – I am going to Side-Along Apparate you to a place called the Leaky Cauldron, from which we'll enter the Alley." Harry nodded and gripped the shorter male's arm tightly – this sounded slightly dangerous, and there was no way on earth he wanted to get lost in the middle of it. Flitwick chuckled again and gently pulled on Harry's arm to get him to release the deathgrip the boy had assumed, then closed his eyes and concentrated.

The first thing Harry felt was like he was approaching a tunnel on foot. A sense of tightness began pressing around his body, like he was being squeezed through a tube of toothpaste. The pressure increased across his entire being, making him think that his bones were getting close to breaking, or in danger of being turned to jelly. Then he lost the ability to see, the world around him going completely black, along with a sudden loss of all sensation, as if he had been dropped into a sensory-deprivation vat.

Then the world around him exploded back into color and life. The strange, nearly unbearable pressure flitted across his body again, but only for a moment. The strangest thing, or possibly what he should have expected, was that they were no longer in the back yard of Number Four Privet Lane. Instead they were in what looked to be a small waiting room in a musty building. Harry coughed slightly as the smoky atmosphere got to him, causing Flitwick to blink and look at him in concern before realizing what the problem was.

The man pulled his wand back out and twirled it around in a circle before jabbing it towards Harry's head. The boy's eyes widened as a thin film sprang up from his neck, a light pressure that he barely noticed, and curved around his head. He tilted his head and twisted his head around as much as he could, looking all around himself, then turned his gaze back to the man.

"Uhm, professor, why did you just put a fishbowl on my head?" His voice sounded slightly strange to him – not quite like it was bouncing off glass, but muted, like it was encountering cloth or something. Then he realized that he wasn't having any problem breathing and smiled. "Nevermind, I think I figured it out. It's some kind of spell that cancels out negative environmental affects right?" Flitwick's eyes glinted in amusement as the man nodded.

"Now that you've got that figured out Harry, it's time we get to Gringotts." The short man didn't catch the look of momentary confusion on Harry's face before he shrugged and gestured for the professor to lead the way. Flitwick pushed open the door that was in front of the duo, revealing that they were in what to Harry looked almost exactly like he had always imagined a pub would. "Welcome to the Leaky Tavern."

Harry had to walk carefully as he followed the much shorter man. Not because he lost track of him, though that did nearly happen twice when people leaned back on their seats, but to avoid jarring the bag with Wiess in it any more than he had to. He hitched the bag up on his shoulder slightly, and flinched when he felt the bag float up slightly. Inside, Wiess was floating up near the top of the bag and pulling it up with him, trying to get where he could talk to Harry if he needed to. Piercing green eyes flicked back and forth to see if anyone was staring at him, but so far, no one seemed to think a floating bag was odd.

"Tom, this is Harry. How bad is the line to get through the portal?" Harry blinked in startlement as he looked up. Flitwick was talking with the man standing behind the bar, who had to lean forward and look over to see the shorter man. The bartender shrugged slightly as he looked up from the professor towards the young boy.
"The line isn't bad, Minerva's been bringing in new students in the afternoon." He froze, his eyes locked on Harry. The boy shifted nervously under the bartender's gaze, wondering if he was going to comment on the bag that was either floating or lighter than it should be. When he spoke, Harry braced himself to run rather than have his secret outed.

"Bless my soul, is that-"

"Yes it is, and I will thank you not to draw the attention of this entire place. Harry here is just trying to get his supplies for his first year, he doesn't need this lot flocking around him like a pack of hungry jackals." Tom's mouth snapped shut at Flitwick's reprimand, leaving whatever he had been about to say unspoken. With a glare at the bartender, Flitwick placed one hand on Harry's shoulder and guided him out of the pub – out through the back door, something that made the boy's eyebrows rise in confusion.

They emerged from the smoky atmosphere of the pub into a muggy alley. Once they were clear of the smoke that had made Harry cough, Flitwick tapped the bubble that he had placed around the boy's head, causing it to vanish, giving the raven-haired preteen a lungful of damp air. The professor watched the boy for a moment to make sure that he was ok, then proceeded towards the back of the alley, where there was a solid brick wall.

Harry decided to take a chance with this professor. Apparently his aunt knew the man, at least somewhat, and from her reaction he wasn't a bad person. Aside from that, he needed to have at least one person outside of his family who knew of Weiss, and if this man would be walking with him for the foreseeable future, then there was a high chance that the ancient tome would accidentally reveal himself. Keeping that in mind, the green-eyed boy grabbed Flitwick's shoulder.

"Uhm, Professor is there something that you can do to make sure that no one is watching us? I have something I want to show you before we go anywhere else." The short man paused, his wand almost touching a brick on the wall, and turned back to look at Harry. There was a trace of worry in the man's gaze.

"Is everything all right Harry?" His voice was concerned. The man had visions of a bruised and battered boy, one who was going to show him that he had been abused. Understandably, he was confused when Harry slung the back pack from his shoulders and set it down on the ground, and opened it up. When the boy looked up at him, he started and cast a privacy charm that obscured them and their words. "Done. Now what is it?"

"Weiss, come on out. We have to trust at least one of them." Flitwick tilted his head confusedly. He was opening his mouth to say that his first name wasn't 'Weiss' when he nearly fell back in startlement. Out of the bag that Harry had opened up came a heavy book, bound in dark brown and silver from what Flitwick could see.

"I hope you know what you're doing Harry." This time, the Hogwarts Professor did jump. Of all the things he had been expecting, hearing that book speak was not on the list. When the object spun around in mid-air, the Professor was treated to the sight of a silver etched face standing out in relief on the front of the tome. It floated over towards him and the demi-goblin turned around in a circle to track it while it seemed to examine him.

"Professor Flitwick, this is Grimoire Weiss. Weiss, this is Professor Filius Flitwick, who teaches Charms and Enchanting at Hogwarts. Professor." The short man's gaze returned to the raven haired boy. "Weiss is a friend of mine, and I have known him for a long time now. I brought him out so you could meet him before we got anywhere there were people. There is something I need to do with Weiss' help, and I was hoping you would help me keep him a secret from the other students and Professors at Hogwarts. I may tell some other people, but I don't think it would be a good idea for most people to know about him." Flitwick frowned and held up his wand.

"Would you mind if I cast an examination charm on this book Harry? I need to know you haven't been enthralled by a black book."

"I take affront to that sir. I am older than your brand of magic's creator! Go ahead, cast your little charm on me. You won't understand the reading you get from it after all. There isn't a man or woman alive who would." Weiss' arrogant tone set the Professor's teeth on edge, but he cast the charm anyway. The aura that appeared to his eyes around the magickal tome seemed to shift and fade between three hues – a dark gray, light gray, and a red streaked with black. Flitwick frowned – the last one wasn't what normal black magic would appear as under this charm, and the other two colors were ones that he had never seen before.

"I see the confusion and disappointment on your face. I told you – I was ancient when Merlin lived, I saw the Fall of Atlantis. My magick is of a brand that your world has not seen since last I stirred. But worry yourself not. I have pledged myself to aiding the child." With that, Grimoire Weiss floated back over to Harry and settled down into the bag again with what sounded like an exasperated snort.

For several minutes Flitwick just stood there, turning over the new situation in his head. Eventually the tiny man put his wand away and sighed, shaking his head. He lifted one hand to break the barrier of the privacy charm that he had put up, but before he did he remembered that he had to answer Harry's question.

"I will help you keep it from the other Professor's on two conditions. One, tell the Headmaster. He has seen much and traveled far – he might have heard stories about your…friend there."

"And the second condition?"

"Try to get into my House Harry my boy. You are wickedly intelligent, and I don't want to see another genius get sorted into Gryffindor." There was a grin on Flitwick's face now. He had always regretted not trying harder to get Lily sorted into Ravenclaw, and figured he would start earlier with her son when he had the chance. With that he broke the barrier and headed over to the stone wall.

Harry followed the Professor, puzzled by that last statement. Why on earth did Flitwick want Harry to join his house? Was he offering to adopt Harry or something? The bespectacled boy rubbed the bridge of his nose in confusion, only to stop when Flitwick pulled his wand back out and glanced over his shoulder at the boy.

"Pay close attention to the order here Harry. You likely won't have a professor with you next time after all." He then proceeded to tap several of the bricks, seemingly at random though the bespectacled boy did notice that they were in a counter-clockwise spiral. After pressing seven bricks, the wand was stowed away and Flitwick stepped aside slightly, letting Harry see what was happening.

The boy's eyes widened as he watched the bricks that had been tapped began spinning in place, only to start a cascade of bricks that shifted and rotated in the same manner. Before the astonished boy's eyes the bricks in the unassuming wall rearranged to show an elegant arched doorway, through which could be seen a busy, busy street with people walking back and forth, under signs that made no sense to Harry.

For some reason the boy felt like he did that day when he was crawling through the tunnel. No – that wasn't quite right. It felt like when he was standing in front of the pedestal, reading the inscription that had changed his life. He took a deep breath and tensed himself.

"Once more through the Veil I go." His muttered words made Flitwick blink and look at him just as he stepped through the threshold. The goblin-descent Professor followed a few paces behind him and guided the young lad forward.
"Welcome then Harry, to Diagon Alley!" The tiny Professor waved his arm grandly, sweeping his hand in an arc to gesture to the entire Alley. He blinked several times when he heard a muffled voice coming from Harry's bag – and if he hadn't already known who was in there, he would have been most disturbed.

"Diagonally. Why must you people use these ridiculous puns?"

"Weiss, shut up, it's Diagon Alley." Harry hit the side of his bag with the heel of his hand, causing his shirt to lift up slightly. Flitwick's eyes widened when he saw what looked to be the hilt of a dagger strapped onto Harry's waist, though when the shirt dropped there was no sign it was there. He frowned, but before he could bring it up Harry spoke again, cutting him off and interrupting his thoughts.

"So Professor, how exactly am I going to pay for all of this? My aunt doesn't have the money to pay for all of these exotic supplies." The fiery green eyes turned to regard the Charms Professor, curiosity shining inside of them. Flitwick chuckled and shook his head and indicated that the boy should follow him as he started walking down the busy street.

"Harry, your father's family wasn't too badly off. And while you can't access the main vault yet, you do have a trust fund set up for your school work. So we're going to the bank that wizards and witches use to store the money and goods. I do warn you to be polite when talking to the bankers here – they can be a bit…touchy." The Professor grinned slightly, showing a bit of his teeth. He wasn't warning Harry about who it was that ran the bank, to find out just how the boy would react to seeing the Goblins.

The two of them moved down the street with Harry ducking his head and studying the cobblestones underneath his feet, keeping his head up just enough to see where the man who was acting as his guide was and where he was going. He wasn't doing this to memorize the pattern of the stones – but to keep people from seeing his scar. He had caught on that it was his scar that the barkeep in the Leaky Tavern had reacted to, and he wanted to prevent anyone else from reacting like that. For some reason, the raven-haired boy felt that if the professor hadn't stopped Tom from speaking, things would not have gone so smoothly for him.

Harry's ponderings were brought to a halt when the duo came to a stop. The glasses-wearing boy looked up slowly to see an imposing marble edifice – this was more than just a building! In front of massive wooden doors studded and barred with metal were twin pillars of white stone, with what looked to be dragons carved out of bronze gleaming on top of them. Above the doorway was a plaque of some silvery metal with letters etched into it in some spidery font. However, before the boy could read what was written there, Flitwick had climbed polished marble steps and was standing at the doorway, looking back at him expectantly.

With a slight blush Harry hurried up the stairs after the Professor, who simply laughed off the apology the younger wizard offered. He laid his hand on the door behind him and pushed on it, making Harry blink. There was no way this tiny man would be able to move a door that looked to be one hundred times his size, or more! Then to Harry's amazement a much smaller section of the impressive opened inwards in the shape of a door, one that was closer to the size of a normal doorway. It did seem to be a fair bit larger, but it had nothing on the size of the full doorway.

Flitwick watched in amusement as his ward entered Gringotts bank, so busy taking in the architecture and atmosphere of the place that he had yet to notice the being rushing back and forth around him, almost like bees or ants in a hive. It was only a matter of time before he did notice though, and his future Professor waited expectantly for that to happen.

Harry suddenly found his attention tore from studying the much darker interior of the building when he felt someone get extremely close to him. The young boy slipped backwards rapidly, startling Flitwick. The raven-haired lad looked at the person that he had almost run into, he hadn't even slowed down before rushing off.

He was shocked to see that it was a small creature that was about four feet tall. Gnarled green skin stretched over the body and ears which spiked out from the head by about half a foot. There was a hooked nose that stretched out nearly a foot from its face; and black, jagged nails that sank down several inches from the ends of its fingers. It was in a business suit that looked like a male version of what his aunt wore when she went off to work, though obviously it was shrunk down to match the being's size.

Harry stumbled over to where Flitwick was standing and stopped near the small professor, looking about him with wide eyes as he saw more and more of the small, evil looking people rushing about everywhere, all looking very intent on what they were doing. The young boy stood beside the man for a long moment, then turned his head towards the teacher.

"Professor Flitwick, who are these people?" The Charms Professor grinned widely – Harry hadn't called his kin 'monsters' or 'creatures', but automatically assigned them as people. That spoke well for what the Professor was considering doing. But for now he had a question to answer.

"These are Goblins Harry. In the wizarding world, they mostly run the bank system. They are very good at what they do. In all of the years that they have been entrusted with this task, nothing has ever been successfully stolen from the bank. Now come along, we need to get you some funds for your impending shopping spree. Oh and Harry – here." The diminutive instructor reached into one of his pockets and pulled a slender silver key with an embellished 'P' on it in an ornate script. He handed the key to the boy with a grin. "This is your Gringotts key my boy. Take care of it, as replacing it will require your blood."

The young boy blanched and tightened his hand around the key, swearing that there was no way he would lose it. He followed the Professor for several feet, only to nearly run over him when Flitwick stopped and stared off to one side, apparently startled by what he saw there. The boy turned to follow his guide's gaze and blinked in shock.

Whereas so far the people in the building were Harry's size or smaller – not counting the few adult wizards. So the sight of a man who was about three times as large as the Goblins or Harry truly threw the boy for a loop. He leaned over towards Flitwick and whispered in the small man's ear.

"Professor, is something wrong? Do you recognize that man or something?"

"Yes Harry, I actually do. That's Rubeus Hagrid, one of the staff at Hogwarts. He isn't a Professor though, he's the Groundskeeper there. And I am a little shocked to see him here, I didn't know he had any business-brace yourself Harry, he's coming over here and will probably want to talk to you." Harry looked up to see that Flitwick's words were true – the tremendous man that they had spotted was walking towards them.

"Blimey, is that little 'arry?" Harry blinked several times up at the large man. Isn't EVERYONE 'little'? I've never been jealous of someone's height before today…. The raven-haired boy shook his head vigorously to clear that thought.

"Er, yes, I am Harry…uhm, who are you and how do you know me?" The large man chuckled, the noise as large as he was. Flitwick shook his head slightly while listening to this – they were taking far longer than he had thought they would, and now with Hagrid here, they'd be taking even more time.

"I've known ye since ye were a babe 'arry! Carried ye-"

"Hagrid, Harry here will be attending Hogwarts in a few weeks, and I'll make sure that he comes down to visit you and you can talk with him then. But for now we're on a slight time schedule and need to get on with our business here. And I think you should too." The tiny man interrupted the much larger one, who chuckled ruefully and nodded.

"Right ye are Perfesser, wouldn't want to keep the great man waiting." The huge man nodded to the small man and clapped Harry on the shoulder, nearly sending the boy to the ground. Then with a slight wave to the two, he moved off towards the rear wall of the main chamber, where several Goblins were sitting behind large desks.

Flitwick led Harry towards a different desk than the one that Hagrid had gone to. He prompted the boy to step forward from behind him to stand closer to the desk. The Goblin sitting at this desk seemed to be staring at the Professor intently. The tiny man laid a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Not here on business for myself today. Young Harry needs to access his school vault." His voice was bland as he spoke, trying to transfer the Goblin clerk's attention to the boy who was his ward for the day. The clerk turned his gaze towards the glasses-wearing boy, who nodded slightly.

"And does this young man have his key?" The Goblin leaned forward and peered over his nose at Harry. The boy held up his hand holding the key towards the Goblin, who accepted it from him and studied it. After a moment the clerk nodded and rang a bell on his desk. A few moments later another Goblin appeared from a doorway near the desk and came forward, looking irritated.

"Griphook here will take you to your vault." The Goblin who had just arrived gestured brusquely for the duo to follow him as he led them off towards one side of the main chamber. The two kept silent – Flitwick because he knew what was going on, and Harry because he simply couldn't think of anything to say or ask at the moment that wouldn't slow them down. Eventually the Goblin guide showed them to a small platform next to a set of rails that resembled something Harry had seen on TV – a rollercoaster. Sitting on top of these rails was a cart that looked like it had been slapped together with only a few boards and nails.

"Climb in please." Griphook gestured to the cart. At a prompting nudge from Flitwick Harry clambered into the cart, wincing as it wobbled with his weight. Thankfully when the Professor and Griphook entered the cart the movement of the rickety contraption was much less. Harry clung to the front of the cart as the other two entered – with Flitwick just leaning against the side and Griphook standing near a lever in the cart.

The Goblin pushed forward on the lever, and the cart launched in the direction Harry was facing – rocketing away from the small platform fast enough to shove Harry's hair backwards in the wind. The two guides grinned at each other when after a few moments the young boy threw his hands up into the air with a scream of joy as they went around a wide turn. They were about halfway along the tracks when Harry suddenly dropped his hands – he had heard something in the depths below them roaring loudly.

For some reason that roar made Grimoire Weiss shiver in his bag – he had heard something similar to that roar a lifetime ago, but this was cleaner. He turned that over in his head until he heard Harry say something above him.

"Mr. Griphook, can this go faster?" The Goblin blinked – and nodded slowly. "Then please sir, can we go faster? This is awesome!"Griphook turned his gaze towards Flitwick, who shrugged and gestured back to him, indicating that it was up to the Gringotts employee if they went faster or not. The Goblin shrugged slightly and thrust the lever down even further. For a moment nothing happened – and then the cart shot forward even faster, breaking the sound barrier with a resounding boom. Harry was screaming with joy as he clung to the cart.

Too soon for Harry's liking the cart slowed to a stop, at another railway platform like the one that they climbed into the cart at. Harry stumbled out looking slightly dazed – and his hair was all blown backwards into spikes and waves. Flitwick stepped out to stand beside him and placed one hand on his shoulder to help him stand up straight. The two were soon passed by Griphook, who had somehow acquired a lantern in the three seconds they couldn't see him.

The Goblin led the way to a giant vault door that looked to Harry like it had been carved out of obsidian. The door was large enough to dwarf even the giant man that he had met in the foyer of the bank. Griphook headed to the door and paused to wait for Harry and Flitwick to catch up to him. When the two had, the bank employee turned to the young boy.

"Hold please." He held out the lantern. The raven-haired boy took it in one hand, looking slightly confused. Why on earth was he being asked to hold the lantern? Before he could voice his question, the Gringotts worker held out one gnarled hand.

"Key please." Harry bit back a frown as he shifted so that he could hold the lantern on his hip and balance it there with one hand. Then he began fishing around in his pocket, until he found the key. The glasses wearing human held the ornate key to the Goblin, who took it and spun around to the massive door. The green-skinned being moved to the center of the door and then four paces left, still close to the center due to the door's tremendous size, then traced one finger over the etchings on the vault door.

Suddenly he stopped and tapped one claw against what looked to Harry like any other part of the door. Then he swung open a tiny latch that melded into the door seamlessly, and inserted the key into a hole that had been covered by that latch. Griphook stepped back as the three listened to deep rumblings from within the door frame. A few minutes passed before the door creaked open by a few inches.

"Your vault sir. Lantern please." Harry handed the lamp back to the Goblin, then stumbled to the entrance to his vault. Flitwick stepped up behind him, chuckling softly. The man placed one hand on the boy's shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly before pushing him inside.

Harry's green eyes swept across the piles of coins that laid around, scattered as if something had charged through them. He frowned slightly – nothing should lay about like this. The raven-haired boy turned around so that he was facing the entrance and poked his head out.

"Uhm, Mr. Griphook, how much would it cost to have someone sort and stack all of this money? It's just….it doesn't look organized in here…" The Goblin frowned – the last time he had performed a check on the vault – when Harry's school letter had been verified as accepted – the vault had been in perfect order.

"If I might look inside Mr. Potter?" Harry nodded quickly and stepped back, allowing the Goblin to examine the interior. Griphook's teeth drew back in a snarl of rage – the stacks of coins that he had organized himself were strewn across the floor, and shoved into large mounds. If he didn't know better he'd say that one of the Dragons had somehow gotten inside the vault and tried to make it into a nest, but he knew that was impossible since the grand guardians were kept in much lower levels than this one. He turned his attention to the boy and bowed apologetically.

"I'm sorry for this Mr. Potter. The vault was organized but a mere two days ago, when your headmaster gave us the list of which school vaults would become active. I will find out who is responsible for this mess. For the meantime I am sorry to say that there is no fast way to stack the coins. I can however, tell you that all of the coins are the same and that there are approximately two thousand galleons in here." The boy nodded, not knowing how much a galleon was worth, and asked another question.

"Is it alright if I put some of the money in my bag sir?"

"Perfectly all right Mister Potter. We Goblins are charged with safeguarding your money, not telling you what to do with it." The boy frowned at that. A young boy was being allowed to do whatever he wanted with this kind of money? Unless galleons were worth only pence, he was pretty sure he had at least some kind of a substantial amount here. Then he saw Flitwick standing in the doorway and realized that the Professor was probably there to keep some kind of watch over his actions. That made him nod and relax a bit. Then he set his knapsack on the ground and opened it.

A glare at Wiess told the magical Grimoire to keep silent as Harry started counting coins into the bag. He kept in mind that there were supposed to be two thousand total in the vault, so he moved around picking up tens of the golden coins at a time, then going back to his bag and pouring them in. He did notice that every time he put money in, Grimoire Wiess made sure he was out of the way, then settled on top of them as Harry moved away. The young glasses-wearing boy only counted himself out two hundred of the coins – figuring that HAD to be enough for anything. When he looked up he saw Flitwick nodding from the entrance, as if satisfied that the boy had stopped at that amount.

Harry sealed his bag shut and picked it up onto his back again, then nodded to Griphook. The two of them left the vault as Flitwick stepped aside from the entrance, then the three of them headed to the cart. Along the way there came that unnatural roar again, though this time Griphook frowned in thought.

Need to have the Dragon handlers check their charges. Something sounds off with that one. The Goblin tucked that thought into the back of his mind and continued guiding the cart along the rails to the central station of the bank. When they arrived Flitwick was the first off, followed by Harry then Griphook. The cart rattled off down the tracks as the trio headed towards the entrance.

In the main portion of the bank, the lobby where they had been handed over to their guide, the two said their goodbyes to Griphook. As they left the bank the Goblin turned and headed for his manager's office, intent on finding out who had gotten into his client's vault.

Outside of the bank, Harry turned to Flitwick with a cheery expression on his face. The short Professor smiled slightly at the look on Harry's face and had a good idea what had caused it. On their way back on the cart, Griphook had tilted the cart up to full speed the entire way. He shook his head slightly.

"Alright Mr. Potter, now that we have your money we need to gather your supplies. You do have the list correct?" Harry nodded and reached around his back to one of the side pockets on that was on his knapsack. He pulled out the letter that Hogwarts had sent it and showed it to the man. Filius glanced over it and saw that all of the standard books and supplies were on the page, and nodded slightly to himself. He pulled out a quill and made some notations on the page then pushed it back to Harry.

"Those are some of the books that Ravenclaws usually end up buying once they have started in classes. They might help you even if you aren't placed into my House." The little man's eyes were sparkling with mischief. He fully expected that the intelligent and interactive young man would be happy to have the added books on the list, and would delve into them fully. He was proven right when the boy's eyes lit up and a grin split his cheeks.

Of course he was then startled when the boy suddenly vanished. The stunned and shocked Professor whirled around, trying to figure out what had happened to the boy. There had been no portkey activated, or apparation used, and there was no sign of disillusionment in use. What had happened to the bo- then he saw it. There was Harry's backpack, disappearing into Flourish and Blott's. The diminutive man threw his head back and laughed, not the squeaky laugh someone who expect from someone as tall as he, but actually a deeper laugh.

Somehow, Harry had run fast enough to disappear from Flitwick's gaze. The Hogwarts professor calmed down from his laughing and headed towards the bookstore – for some reason, he felt that he should have known where the young man was going to go. He headed towards the store, wondering if he would have trouble finding the hyperactive child in the shop.

He was more right than he knew. When Flitwick entered the bookstore, he was startled to find a colleague of his leaning against the wall with a bemused expression on her face. The severe bun in her hair gave her a harsher expression normally, so seeing the slight smile on her lips startled the short man. He walked over to her and shook her hand.

"Hello Minerva. Which child are you here for?" The smaller Professor had to ask – his coworker did not have a wide-eyed child by her side. The woman gave a short chuckle and pointed into the space between shelves.

"One of those two blurs is mine Filius. I don't know which." Flitwick blinked and looked in the direction that Minerva had pointed. Sure enough, there were two piles of books sitting on the ground, and two young children rushing back and forth between the various shelves, adding books to the pile. At first Filius couldn't tell the two apart either – both were moving too fast for children of their age – and then he realized that one was going to a stack of books that had a large backpack next to it. He chuckled as Minerva spoke again.

"I had enough trouble keeping track of her when we first came in here. Wee girl kept trying to run off and do what they're doing now. Then this boy with black hair came barreling in, dropped his bag on the ground, and started snatching books off the shelves, barely looking at his parchment. When she saw that, I simply couldn't hold Miss Granger at my side any more – she darted off and started doing the same. What on earth? That book isn't on the standard list!" This last was directed at Harry's pile of books – on the top was an introductory material to basic dueling. Flitwick chuckled again and held his colleague's arm when she tried going to pick it up.

"That's my ward for the day. I added a few things to his list, that's one of them. Oh look! Miss Gra-What did you say her name was.. ah, Miss Granger, she just picked up a copy for herself! I have a feeling she's going to end up in Ravenclaw as well. Sorry McGonagall dear lady!"

"Oh hush you. Oh dear. That's the last copy of that book in here and they both want it…"

Harry was having the time of his life. He was in a bookstore with books that he had never seen or heard of before on all kinds of subjects. He had a large surplus of money to buy with – and most of the standard items on his list had prices listed next to them, so he could set aside that money. Even with the additions that Flitwick made, and the other school supplies, Harry had barely spent half of the money that he had.

But now he had a problem. He was holding on to one end of the last book that Professor Flitwick had added onto his list. On the other end of the book was a young girl with bushy mahogany hair, and an incredibly determined look on her face. Neither child would let go of the book. Harry would pull it towards him causing the girl to slide towards him, then she would pull it back, causing him to scoot across the floor towards her. The glasses-wearing boy wasn't using all of his strength of course, he hadn't realized that he wasn't.

Then he did. The brown-haired girl only had time to blink when a triumphant grin appeared on the raven-haired boy's face, then she was flying towards him. The two went down in a heap on the ground, with Harry laying on a few of the books on the edges of the book piles, and the girl was on top of him, having landed solidly on one of his legs. For a moment the two laid there, slightly dazed. Then the girl was lifted to her feet by an older woman with her hair tied in a harsh bun. Harry blinked at this woman, confused, then saw his guiding professor standing nearby and laughing. The short man helped the boy to his feet and shook his head.

"Minerva, this is Harry. Who is your young one?" The girl, still recovering from the fall, didn't realize that she was being talked about.

"Harry?" McGonagall blinked slightly in shock – she had thought she would be the one sent to pick that boy up. She shook her head quickly – the scar confirmed who it was, though the wound was concealed by his hair rather well. "This is Hermione."

"Hello Miss Hermione! I'm Harry Potter, and no one has ever fought me for a book as well as you did!" Harry broke free of Filius' grasp and moved over in front of the girl. He looked down at the book in his hand, then up at the short professor.

"Sir, do I need this book right away?" The brown haired girl's eyes came back into focus just in time to see the short man wearing the pointy cap shake his head. Then she was startled to see the boy whom she had been playing tug of war over a book with holding it out towards her. Hermione looked down at it, slightly confused – he had won, so why wasn't he taking it?

"Here. I have others to read and get caught up on, and I can always come back another time to buy another copy of this book when they have one. Please, take it. Please?" She looked at the boy who was holding the book towards her, and took it with a small smile.

"Thank you. Uhm. My name is Hermione. Are you..are you going to Hogwarts?" She didn't know that she had already been introduced. She relaxed slightly at Harry's nod. The four people started collecting the books – Harry grabbing his backpack with Weiss inside, Hermione clutching the book to her chest, and the two teachers using minor charms to sort the books then levitation charms to pick the two stacks up. They headed towards the front of the store, with the conversation continuing.

"Oh that's great! Now I'll know someone going in. I was so afraid that I wouldn't know anyone on top of barely knowing anything. I'm sorry, see, both my parents are muggles, dentists actually, and though I did some strange things when I was younger I never really thought much about magic until the letter from Hogwarts showed up and even then I didn't believe it, not until Professor McGonagall showed up today and showed up and oh no I'm sorry I'm just babbling a mile a minute!" Hermione blushed and brought the book up to cover her face, barely peeking over the top at Harry, who as grinning widely.

"I don't mind. Uhm. Let's see. My parents were a witch and wizard but they died when I was really young. I was raised by my aunt, who is a mundane. I did know about magic before the Hogwarts letter showed up." At that point they reached the counter where they found out they had a problem.

The stipend that Hermione received as a first-generation witch was barely enough to cover her normal school supplies.

"I'm sorry Miss Granger, you can't get those other books. If I let you, you wouldn't have enough money left over to buy your other school supplies. Here sir, you'll have to sort these back onto their shelves." The young girl looked devastated as she was led out of the store, carrying the bag of her books that she was allotted money for. McGonagall looked upset that she had to do that – she would have preferred letting Hermione get her books, but with the budget they were on it simply wasn't possible.

Harry looked over at Flitwick, who looked back at him curiously. The young boy shifted nervously in front of the desk clerk, who was looking slightly irritated at the thought of having to reshelf the ten books that Hermione had to leave behind. The young black-haired boy stepped forward, with Filius setting the books up on the counter.

"Let me guess, I have to restack your extra books too? Fantastic, it's not like I don't have other things to do today, no of course not." The young man was more than a bit rude in Harry's eyes. The dark green orbs narrowed behind the glasses as the raven-haired child drew himself up to his full height.

"Not quite you prick. I'm buying all of these books as well as the ones she left behind. Then I'm going to talk to your manager about you working here." The clerk had frozen as the boy started speaking. His gaze was locked on Harry's forehead, where they child's hair had fallen to the side, revealing the scar on his forehead.

"H-Har-Harry P-p-p-p-Potter!" The clerk had turned stark white. He stared in shock at the new young wizard, who was looking at him confusedly. He hadn't introduced himself to the clerk, so had did the man know his name? Unfortunately before he could ask about that, Filius stepped forward and rapped the counter.

"Give my ward the price for all of his books sir, now." There was a cold hardness in the professor's voice – he had not liked the tone in the clerk's voice any more than Harry had. The clerk gave out a small 'eep' before hurriedly counting up the total for the books, and then read it to Harry. The boy nodded and swung his backpack around, making sure the clerk couldn't see inside. Then he started counting the gold coins out – it only cost him around seventy for all of the books, which left him with more than enough for the rest of his supplies.

"Now put those books in a separate bag from mine." The young man obeyed without saying a word, which did confuse Harry slightly, though he didn't show it. He then handed the two large bags to Harry, who took them and his change from the dumbfounded clerk with a nod. Then the glasses-wearing boy sprinted outside as fast as he could, in time to see Professor McGonagall walking into the wand shop. He took off towards it with Professor Flitwick walking behind him bemusedly.

The small bell on the shop door rang from just behind Minerva, making her blink and turn around. She saw the young man that her ward had met in the shop standing there out of breath behind her, holding a bag from the Flourish and Blott's store. She put one hand out to stop him.

"Hold here Mr. Potter, Miss Granger is testing her wands and does not need you gloating about the books." She took a step backwards from the anger that flashed in Harry's eyes as he straightened himself up.

"I wouldn't do that to someone, especially not over something as precious as knowledge. Here, when she gets done would you please give this to her? You don't have to tell her it's from me ok? Just say a concerned wealthy wizard wants to see knowledge spread out and not restricted just to those with coins." Harry handed her the bag of books and slipped back out of the door, leaving McGonagall standing there holding the surprisingly heavy bag with a stunned expression on her face. She had seen the type of mundane man that Vernon had been – she had no idea how a man like that could have possibly raised a boy like Harry was apparently. Then she remembered that when Harry had talked about his past, he had only mentioned his aunt, never his uncle – did that have something to do with it?

"Professor McGonagall, what's that?" Hermione's inquisitive voice from behind her brought the Scottish woman out of her thoughts as she turned around. For a moment she thought about what to say, but decided that Harry wanted to protect his actions for a reason.

"It seems that there was a wizard that we did not see in the shop. He did not like that you weren't allowed to buy the books, and did so himself, in order to give them to you." She was startled to see tears well up in Hermione's eyes as she held the bag out to the girl.

"Do…do you know who it was ma'am? I'..I'd like to thank him…" Hermione clutched the bag of books to her chest tightly, as if she was afraid to let it go. Minerva shook her head slowly. She was lucky that Hermione didn't realize that she'd know nearly every wizard except for any foreigners, or else the girl surely would have kept pressing.

Outside the wand shop, Harry was moving away quickly. Flitwick was standing next to a potions supply store, beckoning the boy towards him. As he strode over to the professor, Weiss chimed in.

"Why did you do that child? Already have a soft spot for the girl?" There was only a trace of sarcasm in the ancient tome's voice. Harry hesitated only slightly in his walk before shaking his head slowly.

"No, it's not that. I just..felt like I could understand how she felt right then. She was so happy to have those books, and then she looked like her entire world had been shattered when she found out she couldn't get them. I know how she felt right then, it's not like we've had a lot of money growing up, so I thought that…maybe I should give her what I couldn't have myself." Harry's voice was soft.

"That is surprisingly mature, even for you my child." Harry snorted at that but didn't respond – he didn't want to involve Flitwick in it. The diminutive professor smiled and clapped the boy on the shoulder, having to reach up slightly to do it properly.

"That was very well done Mr. Potter! You'll make a fine addition to any House, though I do so hope you end up in Ravenclaw." With that the pair continued on with the supply run, gathering the things that Harry needed from the potions shop.

And END! Holy batsauce I'm sorry this took so long to get done, it just wouldn't stop growing. Next chapter finishes off Diagon Alley with the Wand Shop, a trip to the pet store, and another visit to Gringotts. Sorry, not too much Nier involved in this chapter…but what was up with that dragon?

-GT OUT!-