Disclaimer: see previous chapter
A/N: Sorry I took so long but as I have said I had end of year exams but I finished those a while ago and then I was feeling lazy. Very lazy. Very, very lazy.
To make the story go along in response to a comment, James and Lily went out to respond to a Death Eater raid (that Voldemort planned to distract them). It was an emergency so they could not contact anyone to look after Anthony and Harry.
It was Harry's birthday today, just turning eight on the 16th of August, right in the middle of the year and once again, the Potter's simply ignored Harry, fawning over Anthony instead who had just performed his first bout of accidental magic. He was flying on his toy broom, hovering just a metre above the ground when he suddenly sped up and crashed into the wall of the house. James who had been watching quietly, cried out and quickly rushed over to Anthony until he realised that he had bounced off the wall like a ball ( should he be fat?). James, after quickly checking that Anthony was actually unharmed, smothered him in proud hugs, quickly bringing him into the house to tell his wife. Harry, and after performing accidental magic many times was left standing as he watching in disbelief at the UNFAIRNESS of his life. And on his birthday, he was being ignored over something that when he did, received no recognition what-so-ever. Sirius came by and after James had told him what had happened, he too congratulated Anthony. He then saw Harry looking on dejectedly. Sirius quickly walked over to him and gave him a crushing hug.
"Happy birthday Harry! How are you today?" Harry's face brightened considerably when he heard his godfather/uncle's voice
"Thanks Sirius and I'm fine... I guess."
He motioned Harry to move away from his family and gestured towards the front door.
"I didn't bring you a gift" and when Harry's face fell he added quickly "but I do have something planned and I think you'll like it better than any gift I could give you."
"Really? What is it? Are we going somewhere?" Harry asked excitedly. He suddenly got suspicious. "It's not one of your dates with some lady is it?"
Sirius laughed heartily as he opened the door.
"No it's not. It's something much better."
"Can't you tell me?"
"Well, if I do then it wouldn't be a surprise would it? All gifts have to be a surprise, and wrapped too. Think of this as the wrapping Harry."
"Fine then, but at least tell me where we are going"
Sirius grabbed Harry's hand. "Somewhere near Diagon Alley," he said and Apparated away.
Once Harry's world stopped spinning, he realised that indeed he was near Diagon Alley but not anywhere he recognised. This place was darker, dirtier and had a sinister feel to it. Dark shapes and figures flitted in and out between side alleys and stores. He could see a small part of Diagon Alley visible behind him. Harry realised this must be a branch-off from Diagon Alley, a darker place for more 'illegitimate' business.
"This is Knockturn Alley. Don't ever go here without me Harry," Sirius said. "It's a dangerous place for anyone who doesn't know how to defend themselves."
"Then why are we here?"
"It's only for a short while and I'm a known figure around here. No one wants to mess with me." Harry followed Sirius closely, fearfully looking around the dark and dingy place that was so alike yet so different to Diagon Alley. Harry nearly bumped into Sirius when he stopped suddenly. Looking past him to see what was the problem, he saw a man with his wand drawn and pointed towards Sirius.
"Drop yer wands an' gimme all yer gold and anyfing of value" he said menacingly, quite clearly very drunk, "or yer brain's gonna learn how ta' fly!"
Sirius gently pushed Harry behind him while he slowly reached into his pocket, pulling out a small sack of galleons and tossing it at the man's feet. The drunken man quickly stooped to pick up the money but that distraction was enough for Sirius to whip out his wand and blast the drunken man into a nearby wall, cracking his head painfully before slumping to the ground.
"He's obviously new here or too drunk to think or he would have thought twice about trying to mug me." Sirius said in contempt. Harry looked with wide eyes at the man Sirius had just blast.
"Did you… kill him?" Harry asked fearfully. Sirius responded by chuckled. "No, I simply knocked him out. That'll put him out of action for a while and stopped him from mugging people less able to defend themselves, although what they would be doing in Knockturn Alley would be beyond me." Sirius mused to himself.
Sirius walked towards the fallen man, stopping momentarily to pick up his sack of galleons. He turned him over onto his back and squatted beside him.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked curiously.
"Seeing if he's mugged anyone else. A few more galleons wouldn't hurt anyone." Sirius replied whilst searching the man's pockets.
"Except him" Harry said, gesturing to the man lying down."
"Except him." Sirius repeated. A few moments of silence before Harry frowned slightly.
"Sirius, you have an entire vault stacked with mountains and mountains of gold, how can you be so picky about how much this man has?"
Sirius stopped rummaging through the man's pockets and turned to face Harry with a serious expression. "Well, if you think that way, you might end up poor one day. Every galleon counts. When you have lots of money, you think everything is cheap when they are not, thus wasting money. Eventually you'll run out of money with that kind of mindset."
Harry processed this for a few seconds before he also squatted and began to help Sirius find any loose galleons.
After finding a healthy amount of money on the man, Sirius and Harry resumed their mysterious trek through the narrow winding streets of Knockturn Alley.
"Sirius, you still haven't told me where we are going." Harry said after a while of walking.
"I know," came the short reply.
"Come on Sirius, why can't you tell me where we're going?"
"We're nearly there and trust me, this present will be so much more awesome if it is a surprise."
Two minutes later, Sirius and Harry stopped in front of an old shabby store, the sign unreadable due to the amount of letters that have already fallen off. What was left read
'W LD W ST RN W N S'
"This is it," Sirius said a bit unnecessarily before walking right in. A little bell tinkered when they walked in, alerting whoever manned the store that someone entered. The store was dark and musty, with a gathering film of dust along the windows and tabletops. A small counter took up the left side of the room whilst the right seemed to stretch forever, lined with stacks upon stacks of (Mrs Tweede's Home-Made Chicken Pies) long thin boxes. A door behind the counter led what was presumable a workshop.
"Welcome to Wild Western Wands, where exotic wands are docked, stocked and unlocked for you." came a very bored voice. Harry jumped at the sudden sound and quickly spun to face a very old man behind the counter, surprised at how he didn't notice him when he first looked around. It took a while for Harry to register what the man had been talking about.
"A wand?" Harry looked at Sirius with wide-eyed wonder, "for me?" he asked.
Sirius ignored his question and spoke to the old man at the counter.
"Hello Mr Albury. I'd like to make a purchase for a wand that chooses my godson."
Mr Albury's eyes widened as he recognised just who had entered his store.
"Sirius? Sirius Black?"
"The very same."
"Sweet Merlin, it's really you! It's been too long!" he exclaimed as he shuffled from behind the counter and pulled Sirius into a hug. "And who is this?" he said, looking at Harry, who was watching the exchange between him and Sirius with a surprised look on his face.
"This is Harry Potter, my godson, who also needs a wand." Sirius reminded him gently.
"Ah yes, of course, of course… Potter did you say? I never knew they had another son besides Anthony."
"Not many do," Sirius responded darkly.
"Which is your wand arm Harry?" Mr Albury asked kindly.
"I'm ambidextrous but I favour my right side." Harry said shyly. Mr Albury nodded processing and thinking about which wands might suit the young boy.
"I'll get some wands I think might be compatible with the child." he said to Sirius, moving into the aisles where all the boxes are.
"Sirius, how do you know that guy?"
"Simon Albury is a great man. After I ran away from my mother, James' parents took me in until I graduated from Hogwarts. After that, I didn't want to impose on them for too long so I set out to find a place on my own. Simon took me in exchange for a bit of work around his shop. He knew quite a lot of wandlore and wanted to start his own business his financial situation, however, was not favourable and he only managed to buy this place. Before we renovated the place, it was a ragged, unliveable place."
Harry gestured to the store. "Then how come it's still so dirty if you renovated it?"
"After Simon and I were through, the store looked presentable and if I do say so myself, quite appealing. But I haven't seen him in years and I suppose he let it become what it is now."
"Well of course I did. Do you really expect an old man like me clean an entire store on his own?" Mr Albury said, coming in laden with more of the long, thin boxes which Harry presumed contained wands. "Besides, even when you were here, you weren't much help anyway."
Sirius just looked insulted.
Ignoring him, Mr Albury turned to Harry, "Try this, ash and dragon heartstring. Welsh Green to be precise. Ten and three quarters inches, pliable."
Harry waved the wand once before Mr Albury snatched it from him.
"How about this? Six inches, willow with a phoenix feather, supple."
Harry tried this wand too and yet again it was taken.
"Yew and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, rather firm."
Harry waved the wand but Mr Albury took this one as well. Harry was beginning to wonder how many wands he would have to go through and long it would take to find the one right for him.
"Ah, this one is rather unique. After all we do stock exotic wands. Bamboo directly imported from a forest in China, fourteen inches with a core I cannot identify. I think I might be a magical version of a panda. Well? Try it."
Harry took the wand and flourished it and Mr Albury once again took it back, just like the rest. Mr Albury gave and took wand after wand and Harry was beginning to think that there wasn't a single wand for him in this store.
"Another exotic one. Australian, eucalyptus with the intestine lining of a magical dingo, nine and a quarter inches."
Harry waved the wand with a lot less enthusiasm as the first few. As he expected, it was taken from him quickly enough. The pile of wands he went through rivalled that of what his brother got for his birthday and Christmas combined.
After spending a good two hours in the store, trying every wand Mr Albury had in his considerable stock, including some very unique wands, Sirius and Harry walked out. Harry felt crushed, if he couldn't find a wand that 'chose' him as Sirius said, he wouldn't be able to do magic. Sirius, for his part, couldn't believe that not a single wand in Mr Albury's store had chosen Harry. The only explanation Sirius could think of is that Harry is a Squib, which is most definitely incorrect as he himself had been on the receiving end of Harry's accidental magic, usually turning his hair a different colour or rapid growth of a beard that could rival Dumbledore's. Nothing malicious but they were still incidents of magic. Of course on the extreme rare chance that those particular wands were not compatible with his godson was possible but it was so unlikely on the point of impossible.
Sirius looked at Harry as they walked out of Knockturn Alley and into Diagon Alley. His head was down and his posture enforced that Harry was feeling great sadness.
"Don't worry Harry," Sirius said cheerfully, trying to lift Harry's spirit. "Mr Albury's wands are all quite unusual. I'm sure that Ollivanders has a wand with your name written on it."
Harry looked up at Sirius, hoping to any and every deity he could think of that he would find his wand at Ollivanders.
"Do you really think so?"
"Well, not literally a wand with your name on it but I'm sure you'll find a wand that chooses you."
"I hope so." Harry said quietly.
A/N: I left it there for a little cliff-hanger, although it's not much. I hope you liked the chapter and I apologise once again for the long update. I hope, stressing hope, to update within a few weeks but don't expect it. I may not update for a few weeks/months but I will not abandon it without saying so. Thanks for the reviews and please review more and favourite and follow. Thank you.