Disclaimer: I'm afraid that none of this belongs to me...
Chapter 3
One thing I've never understood in human nature is prejudice. How can anybody know what kind of a person one is if they've never met? People see each other differently, so you can't believe what your peers tell you. Neither can you tell "who" the other is by their house or heritage. We are what we are raised to be.
I don't judge anything before I know it. That's one reason why I accepted the existence of magic so easily. I simply had no reason NOT to believe in it.
Same way I don't judge people. I consider myself as a victim of prejudice, and thus I'm willing to give others a change to tell, with their expressions and actions, what they truly are. Unfortunately, nearly anybody is happy to be "figured out". They prefer to keep their secrets and stay as mysteries.
Too bad I can't give them that privilege…
Harry woke up at five o'clock like he had done for the past 6 years. The first hours of the day were always filled with silence and peace. It was the perfect time to reanalyse the information and thoughts that the previous day had risen.
He seldom regretted his actions, but at the moment he couldn't help the feeling that he had been too challenging towards Snape. The dark man had paid too much interest on him, and that was definitely something he did not want. But the loathing way Snape had addressed him had forced Harry to leave his passive way of dealing with things and do something.
With a sight Harry dressed quietly and took out the letter he had been given the day before. In the envelope were his name and the address of the hotel written in green ink. It seemed that somebody had been keeping an eye on him for a while. The letter was heavy and when Harry opened it two pieces of paper fell off. He took the first one and started reading.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorv., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr. Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress
Harry stared at the letter for a few minutes. He reread it and slowly a smirk rose to his lips. Many unanswered questions were now answered and things he had considered as dilemmas were solved. Just like the one time, when a snake had told him to be careful with the lawn mover and watch his steps. He had blamed the sun, but now he knew better. The reason was so simple that he felt stupid not to have thought it before. He was a wizard.
Yesterday's happenings were also shown in a total new light. Problem called "professor Snape" didn't seem as hard to solve anymore. A total new point of view opened to Harry and he could only consider all the new possibilities he now possessed. But first he had to find out all the useful information about world he was going to step in.
Slowly Harry pulled out the second piece of paper. It was a list of all the things he was going to need in his new school: clothing, books, and other equipment. He scanned the list couple of times memorizing all the articles carefully. Then he only concealed his expressions, sat on his bed, and waited for Snape.
Exactly at eight o'clock Snape arrived to the Leaky Cauldron and found the boy stiffly sitting on his bed. This time his eyes were cast downwards, but no other changes were visible. As Snape stepped in Harry rose up and turned his emotionless face towards Snape as if waiting for orders.
"We are going to the Diagon Alley and get your supplies, I truly hope you haven't lost your list." Snape snorted and lead Harry out of the little room. They arrived to a small courtyard behind the Leaky Cauldron and stopped in front of an old dustbin. Snape took out his wand and, while keeping an eye on Harry, tapped to one of the bricks.
Slowly a hole started to appear to the wall bringing a busy cobbled street in view. To Snape's surprise the expression on Harry's face stayed exactly the same as it had been before. It seemed like he wan't even a bit amazed of the view to the Diagon Alley, although it was said to be one of the most breathtaking sights in the wizard world.
The two wizards walked steadily their way along the Diagon Alley towards Gringotts, but none of the busy shoppers seemed to notice that their very own Boy-Who-Lived was walking among them. It was partly because Harry's head was tilted slightly downwards and his messy hair was covering the famous scar and his striking eyes.
'At least the boy is not after gold and glory' Snape thought sarcastically as they arrived in front of the outstanding white bank.
True, Harry's eyes had been cast downwards, but he hadn't been admiring the cobblestone street (although it was beautiful). Instead he had been busy trying to look from the corners of his eyes to the left and right, memorizing the names of the shops. He was hoping a change to visit them later on all by himself.
The street was interesting, but he wasn't just scanning the buildings. Also the people seemed out of the ordinary. But they were all strange in the same way, and Harry knew he was the one standing out there. First thing he was going to do was to find clothes matching to the style of this new world. That way he could wander around unnoticed.
"This is Gringotts, the wizard bank. It is run by goblins, so I genuinely recommend you not to mess with them." Snape said as they stopped in front of the largest building. Then he pulled out a glittering key from his pocket and gave it to Harry. "This is the key to the vault your parents left for you when they… passed away. Take it and give it to one of the goblins sitting behind the counter. After you've gotten enough money come back and wait here. Do not move a sent from the spot you are standing right now. I have some things to do..." With that he was gone.
Harry took a quick glance to the direction he had vanished and after a few minutes walked through the bronze doors inside the Gringrotts. He faced another pair of doors, this time silver, with a short rhyme written on them.
Enter stranger, but take heed
Of what…
Suddenly a rush of power passed through his body. Harry took a step back and closed his eyes as the sensation grew stronger. It had felt like thousand miniature lightning bolts entering him through his eyes and spreading to his whole body. The electrical feeling circulated through his toes and fingers until returning to somewhere around his navel. Then, as soon as it had come, it was gone.
For some time Harry stood still and did not move until he felt his breathing ease and body relax. Harry kept his eyes closed as he passed the silver doors, but opened them as he entered the huge hall, full of people and goblins. Harry followed Snape's instructions and was soon sitting on a cart with a sulky goblin.
They took speedily off and were soon driving downwards through maze of tunnels. Harry's mind was still on the strange feeling he had felt at the silver doors, and he didn't even notice when the cart stopped. Mentally hitting his head Harry pushed the incident out of his mind and stood up.
The first thought that passed his brain when he saw the insides of his vault was 'enormous'. It was full of strange looking coins made of gold, silver, and bronze. Harry didn't have a clue what they were worth of, so he filled his back with the more valuable looking gold and silver pieces.
They drove pack to surface and Harry stepped out of the building back to his and Snape's meeting point. The professor was already waiting for him with an irritated face.
"You took too long, I will not tolerate laziness." Snape snapped as Harry arrived to his visual field. Harry kept his eyes on the street but didn't miss Snape's surprise. 'I suppose I did a miscalculating yesterday, they boy doesn't seem to be any danger' Snape thought as they stepped towards the shops. What he didn't see was the quickly disposed grin on Harry's lips.
After the fifth shop (Ollivanders: Makers of fine wands since 382 BC), Harry stood in his room at the Leaky Cauldron, all his school equipments ready and packed in his new trunk. He felt tired and exhausted. Nearly every shopkeeper had recognized him, Mr Ollivander being the worst. All of them had treated him like some rare showpiece and never noticing his unwillingness to talk with them.
Snape was stranding opposite Harry nearly smiling in relieve. Only couple of minutes and he wouldn't have to see the strange boy for another month.
The last 10 hours had been spent in total silence. Only thing the boy had asked had been about the valuation of the Knuts, Sickles, and Galleons. Even Snape wasn't that quiet.
"I talked to professor Dumbledore and he agreed that it's unnecessary to bring you back to you relatives. You can stay the last month at Leaky Cauldron, but you are not allowed to go to the muggle London. All information is on this ticket. Do not miss the train." Snape grunted, and after throwing the ticket to Harry, hurried away.
Harry let himself smirk a little. Everything was perfect. Now he had time to visit the bookshop, Flourish and Blotts, again. It gave him a change to get ready for the new school and prepare himself for the unwelcome surprises.
Harry had hated the last two days. He had been totally unable to control the happenings and even himself. "Time for the change" whispered Harry to the empty room and threw himself on the fluffy bed with a pleased smirk planted on his lips.
TBC (?)
Here we go again, the third chapter. I didn't like writing this that much, because I had to take some thing straight from the book; I don't think that you would have appreciated if I had created a total new Diagon Alley. Now first few things I forgot to mention in the first chapters:
A) Harry in my fic is not spectacled. It just didn't fit. Please, try to live with it.
B) English is not my first language, so there is and will be mistakes. I try my best to avoid them, but grammar has never been my strong point. I think I need a Beta reader…
Reviewers: you saved my day (ok, you saved my whole week :)). You are still allowed to review; it's great to know that at least some people are reading this. I'm starting to understand other authors and why the like reviews so much.It makes the writing easier when you've gotten some feedback and know that somebody is waiting for the next chapter :).
Thanks to: Lady DoxFire (I take the "creepy" as something positive )), SilverTrinity (I hope the mistakes don't distract too much… I will try to keep this on :)), tish tish, Goldgrin, Mistress of Sadikus, Dioletian (I appreciate it nonetheless )), momocolady, maybeso, Dhalias (I hope it's not torturing you too much ;)), emikae (thanks! I try to update regularly when I have time), Darak, arabia, Phire Phoenix (uhuh, I'll try to add more details, but I can't promise anything… sorry), HandsOff, Cole (this is not a BtVS crossover, I never thought the name could mean also that…), Shadowseeker, I live in darkness9, veronik, irgova, methoslover, kungzoune ( I will continue, if people continue reviewing )) , insanechildfanfic, and Rose C (I didn't get your review in time for this chapter, and I'm not going to write it totally again. I will see what I can do in the next one)
Sorry if I forgot someone. Ok, took me 2 days to update, do not expect me to keep this up all the time. I write always when I can, but I'm afraid that sometimes it will take (a lot) longer. And finally thanks to everybody else who read this although didn't review ).