Chapter 3

Harry was feeling rather smug about his lot in life. He's had a shit time of it up until now, but he thought things were definitely starting to look up. Here he is, sitting on his own bed, in his own bedroom, reading a book about a magical community that he will soon become a part of. Harry let a pleased smirk break out onto his face as he heard yet another item hit the wall in the bedroom across from his. Dudley was not pleased about Harry getting his toy room as his new bedroom that was for sure, but it seems his aunt and uncle are rather fearful of what might happen if the wizards find out how they have been treating him, and so have given him this as a bribe and to make sure they don't find out about his cupboard. Personally, Harry doesn't think they would care all that much since they have left him to his own devices up until this point, but he's smart enough not to point that out.

Although Harry couldn't be more excited about his first foray into the magical world, which is happening the next day, the past five days had been a roller coaster of phases of excited wonder and no small amount of frustration. He has read the book Professor McGonagall gave him numerous times and he finds it rather lacking. It gives a little information on Hogwarts itself, some on the different magical branches, a little on the British magical places, and three pages of what is essentially a dictionary of some common magical phrases and items he is likely to come across in his first days in the magical world. Each chapter seems to hold only the bare basics and creates more questions than it answers.

He made sure to heed to McGonagalls' advice and read the pure-blood hereditary affinities chapter carefully, though calling it a chapter is pushing it considering it is only a few paragraphs long. What Harry essentially took from it was that some pure-blood family lines carry a specific magical affinity, the firstborn of any wizard or witch who carries that trait will also have the affinity. Since Harry was told to read that chapter carefully specifically, he guesses that the Potter family had an affinity and that his dad carried it so as his firstborn so does Harry. What that affinity is though he hasn't the foggiest, in fact, he doesn't really know what a magical affinity even is or means, since the book doesn't bother to explain or provide examples. Hence the periods of frustration. Harry hoped that McGonagall would provide more insights tomorrow, but he is not going to count on it and plans on getting his hand on the information himself, the book mentioned that the bookstore in Diagon Alley is one of the best stoked in Britain.

Harry wished he could talk to someone about everything, even if only to vent, but he knows from the book that blabbing about the magical world to people without magic (muggles Harry reminds himself) is a big no-no. There seems to be leniency only for parents and siblings but everyone else is supposed to be kept in the dark. He only really has Elliot and the boys anyway, and he can imagine how they would react if he started sprouting stories of magic.

Harry settled down to bed at seven that night in the hopes of falling asleep so that the morning would come quicker. He ended up spending hours lying there day-dreaming about the possibilities of the next day, and when he finally did fall asleep, it was with a small smile on his face.

Harry practically bounced out of bed the next morning. He went about his usual morning routine with an excited grin and more enthusiasm than he has ever remembered having. He thinks he may have even walked down the stairs with an actual pep in his step. Not even the Dursleys extra glares and pointed remarks had any effect on his mood, even when they forced him to remake breakfast even though he knew for a fact that the first lot was perfectly fine. They could be as petty as they wanted, it doesn't change the fact that he is going to a magical shopping street today, to buy magical things, for his magical school, that he will be going to for a magical Dursley free time. From September onwards he would only have to see the Dursleys for six weeks of the year. It took everything within Harry not to give them the finger and shout 'Up yours suckers!', but he liked to think he was more mature than that. Besides, he's still stuck with them for another few weeks after today and he would like to avoid as much trouble as he can, he can imagine that they are already feeling cantankerous enough after giving him the spare bedroom. Best not to push it. He will just have to limit himself to only mentally sticking his finger up to them. Stupid evil twits that they are.

If anyone asked Harry, he would say he spent the last half hour before McGonagall was due to arrive, calmly sitting in his room reading. In actuality he stood by the front door, his body almost vibrating in exhilaration with an almost manic gleam in his eyes. It wasn't until he roughly pulled the front door open before the first knock was even finished sounding out, that Harry had the thought that he should have played it a little cooler. Oh well. McGonagall was wearing an almost identical outfit to when he last saw her, and she looked just as imposing and strange as he remembered. He gave her a gleeful smile due to his excitement and shot out of the house before she had the chance to say anything. He wasn't really paying attention to where he was going and smacked into someone who must have been standing just behind McGonagall.

"Shit!" Harry had hit whoever it was with a fair bit of force and they both went down to the ground, though luckily for Harry he landed on top of them so only suffered from a jab in the stomach from an errant elbow. Not so lucky for the other guy though.

"Ow! Get off!" Well, not a guy apparently, but a girl.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Harry quickly scrambled off of her and belatedly noted that there were two others with McGonagall.

"Are you ok Miss Granger?" McGonagall offered a hand to help the girl he had smooshed to the ground up, and Harry realized, a little sheepishly, that he probably should have done that.

"Yes, I'm fine thank you, just a little bruised" The girl, Miss. Granger apparently, shot him a glare that said 'no thanks to you'. She looked to be his age, had big frizzy hair and big front teeth that Harry's eyes seemed to be inadvertently drawn to.

"Right, Mr. Potter, the girl you just charged into is Hermione Granger, and this," At that she pointed to the boy who up until this point had been standing to the side with an amused look on his face. "...is Justin Finch-Fletchley, they will be your year mates and are joining us on our trip today" Justin was dressed in rather expensive looking clothes, was relatively tall for his age, had mud brown hair, and squinty eyes.

"umm, nice to meet you both" Great first impression he must have made. He gave them both a sheepish smile and got a nod from Justin and a less angry look from Hermione in reply. McGonagall, rather annoyingly in Harry's opinion, clapped her hands together once to get all of their attention.

"No time to dawdle, we need to catch the next train into London, Do you have your letter, Mr. Potter?" He dug out his letter from his pocket and held it up in reply. "Good, I have your key for your Gringotts vault and we will make a stop there first" Money. Harry was so excited about today he hadn't put a thought to how he was going to pay for all of the things he needed to buy, or in fact about where he would even get the wizarding money he had read about.

"My vault?" McGonagall had already started leading them down the street, so she turned back to look at him.

"Sorry Mr. Potter, yes, your parents left you all their possessions of course," she shot a look at the other two who were also listening avidly to this. "I will ask one of the goblins to explain this further to you when you go to make a withdrawal" Harry nodded absently in reply, mind busy running through this new information. He had hoped to buy a few extra things as well as the required items on the Hogwarts list, especially books, and now he worried he would have to be frugal. Harry could kick himself for not thinking about this before now, what a bloody idiot, all this time thinking about going shopping and not one bloody thought was spent on how he was going to be buy anything with the meagre fifteen odd pounds he had to his name. Hopefully, his parents had left him a fair bit, since he figured he would have to be buying new items every year. The group continued on down the street.

"If you have a vault, does that mean you parents were wizards?" Harry looked up at Justin who was eyeing his clothes disdainfully. Harry really hoped he had enough money for at least a partial new wardrobe.

"Ye, both of them were wizards."

"Were?" This came from Hermione who had picked up her pace a little so that she was walking beside Justin and himself. Harry thought that it was a rather rude question, and judging by Justin's faint wince he thought so too.

"yes… their dead" At least she looked a little sheepish now.

"You grew up with uh... muggles then?" Justin had obviously read the terms in that blasted book too then.

"Ye, my aunt and uncle" Harry couldn't help the little sneer that came across his face when mentioning them.

"Ah, so your parents were Muggle-borns," Hermione said this as if it was some feat that she had figured it out. Harry found himself grateful that McGonagall hadn't gone into detail about his parents' vault after all as these two seem too nosy for comfort, he wasn't used to people being interested in him like this and he found that he didn't really like it.

"My mum was, my dad was a pure-blood" Hermione's eyes widened at his.

"Oh! Do Potters have an affinity then? If so, what is it? Are you a first-born?" Hermione fired the questions rapidly and rather over-enthusiastically in Harry's opinion. At least Justin looked a little annoyed with Hermione too judging by the frown he sent her way, but he also seemed interested in Harry's answer. Not that Harry had much of one to give.

"uh...I think so" We had reached the train station by this point so McGonagall stopped, turned around and cleared her throat.

"The Potters' do, in fact, have a family line affinity that Potter does now carry. He will learn more of this in time, now, come along." Well at least Harry knows for sure he has an affinity now. Whatever that bloody is.

Luckily, talk on the train turned away from Harry and they all started speculating about Diagon Alley and Hogwarts. Unluckily, Harry's first experience of his year mates had proven to be a bit of a letdown. Harry tried to be open-minded, but by the end of the train ride, he had the opinion that they were both shitheads. Just different kinds of shitheads. Hermione was a know-it-all who didn't like to think of anyone else knowing more than her, and she also talked about everything she bloody well knows none-fucking stop, Justin and he had to fight to get a word in edgewise. Justin was a snob, from what Harry could glean his parents were rather well off and he liked to tell people this. Harry figured he wouldn't be too bad if it wasn't for the down the nose looks he kept giving Harry because of what he was wearing, but Harry was sick of being on the receiving end of them. He was aware that he was dressed like a hobo thank you very much, he needn't be reminded by that pillock.

After getting off the train they only had to walk for a short while before McGonagall led them into a rather dingy looking pub called the Leaky Cauldron. As the first proper wizarding place Harry had seen, it left a lot be desired. Dim lighting, a lot of dark wood, and the Tudor style made it feel rather oppressive. After looking a little longer though, Harry changed his mind. It was the little things. Like how in the far corner there were three glasses seemingly floating their own way to behind the bar as a rather bored looking woman waved her wand behind them, and how a rag seemed to be moving and rubbing a table clean by itself. It was also how he witnessed a man pointing his wand at the dying fire at the far end of the pub making the fire roar heartily once more. It was these things that made Harry decide that the pub was amazing after all. That in fact, the tall ceilings and Tudor aesthetic made it look like something from a medieval film, which was epic. After taking a good second look, he also decided that the dim lighting and dark wood he initially didn't like, gave the room a welcoming and warm feel. Harry grinned in happiness and turned to his two companions. Justin didn't seem all that impressed judging by his expression. Hermione, however, was looking around in fascination which warmed Harry's opinion of her a little. They didn't have too long to absorb the place before McGonagall was herding them out the back with a nod to the man behind the bar. They ended up in a small outdoor area that was littered with old used bottles and rubbish.

"Right then, we have a lot to do today, so we won't be spending more time in each shop than necessary, perhaps you can have your guardians bring you for another visit at a later date" Fat chance in Harry's case. "As it is we may need to split responsibilities a little to make sure we get everything done" With that said, McGonagall turned to face a brick wall of the back lot. Harry shared confused glances with Justin and Hermione, wondering what the hell she was up to. She then pulled out her wand from somewhere in her robes and tapped a sequence onto the bricks. In reaction, the bricks started moving and sliding until a neat archway appeared which McGonagall quickly herded the three of us through who by that point were all gaping and wide-eyed. Diagon Alley was a thousand times better than what Harry had imagined. It was narrow, busy, colorful and strange, but above all of that, it was magical. His eyes darted every which way and Harry found himself bouncing on the tips of his toes in excitement. It smelled weirdly spicy or herbaly considering it is essentially an alley, Harry rather liked the scent. Each shop seemed a different shape, size and color to the next and the things in their windows seemed so peculiar to him, even more so when he thought about how soon those things would be the norm. Most people walked around in robes like McGonagall, and some were performing magic with a casual air. Harry loved it.

It seemed like it was only seconds, but was probably closer to minutes, when they came to the end of the north-west part of the alley and Harry found himself in front of a narrow, long, lopsided, and grand looking building.

"In we go" Shepperderd again by McGonagall, the four of them made their way inside. Marble walls, floors and columns, huge shining chandeliers, and gold accents made the room scream opulence. Harry would no doubt have been mesmerised by it if it weren't for the fact that his eyes were too busy being glued to the goblins roaming and working around the room. Harry had read about the goblins, the introduction book sort of warns the reader of the magical creatures that they were likely to come across, but Harry still found himself almost frozen in shock at the strange looking things. That was until he felt a hard jab to his side.

"You shouldn't stare, it's rude" Getting a rude lesson from little-miss-talk-your-ear-off was a bit ironic, and Harry may have taken an exception to it if it weren't for the fact that she was right. Humans probably looked just as strange to goblins as goblins look to humans right?

"You know, my father works in a bank like this" Harry seriously doubts that Justin's father's bank is anywhere near similar to this. Harry had the strong urge to hit him upside the head. They made their way to one of the tellers. Who was a goblin. Harry was still struggling with getting his mind around that.

"Good morning, I have a student here who would like to make a withdrawal from his vault," McGonogall dug through a pocket and produced a gold ornate looking key and gave it to the goblin. "The name is Mr. Harry James Potter, currently the only holder of the Potter family-line affinity" And will be the only bloody one for many years thank you, since he would have to have a kid for there to be another. "He has only recently been introduced to the wizarding world and I would ask he be appraised on the contents of his vault." The goblin looked over at Harry with quite frankly scary looking black eyes before calling out behind him for another goblin.

"Griphook will see to this" Turns out that goblins are rather squeaky. McGonagall turned to Harry.

"Right Harry, you go along with Griphook, while I take Justin and Hermione to get their potion supplies and telescope, ill get yours for you too and you can pay me back later, this way we will save some time" In truth Harry was a little wary about going alone, but suspected that McGonagall was attempting to give him some privacy and he wasn't about to look like a baby and ask her to stay with him.

"Ok" The three turned to exit the bank while Harry turned to follow Griphook. The goblin. Still weird.

Harry enjoyed the cart ride down to the vaults tremendously, his hair was no doubt a wild nest but he thought it was well worth it. Griphook turned to look at Harry with the air of someone who would rather be doing something else.

"Mr. Potter, this is the vault that was left to you by your parents, it includes the Potter family fortune and any money both your parents made and saved before they died. The exact amount in the vault is two point five million galleons, three hundred and four Sickles and sixty-two Knuts, if you want to exchange some galleons into sickles and knuts you can do so on the main floor of the bank." That sounded like a lot.

"umm, what is that in... muggle money?"

"The current exchange is five pounds a Galleon, meaning you have over twelve and a half million pounds. You can exchange money to muggle money, or vise versa on the main floor." Harry suspected his mouth was doing that god awful gaping again. It was starting to become a habit. "As you are under age, any big withdrawals will have to be approved either by a guardian or a goblin committee and has to be proved to be a good investment" Harry is mother fucking rich! "The way wizarding money works is twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle and seven Sickles to a Galleon." Oh, the possibilities! To think he was saving a few quid to pay for some trousers only a few weeks ago! Wait a second.

"Could my muggle guardians take money out then?" There is no way in hell that the Dursleys are getting their grubby hands on his money.

"Usually they would if they wished, but since you have a magical guardian listed they do not have the right"

"I have a magical guardian?"

"Sirius Black is listed as your guardian, and as he was made so through the traditional practices, he still remains so, despite his current...status" Harry narrowed his eyes at the goblin a little.

"Status?"

"He is in Azkaban," Griphook said this as if it should mean something to Harry.

"Azkaban..." Griphook let out a gusty sigh.

"Wizard prison, Mr. Potter, now if you will just move to the side so I can open your vault, you can withdraw your money and I can finally be on my way, Goblins are busy creatures you know"

Harry didn't have nearly as much fun on the ride back from the vaults as he did on the way there, his mind was too preoccupied to take as much notice. He had withdrawn the maximum amount that he could without that special permission and knew that was probably a major overkill, but since he didn't know when he would next get the chance to visit there he decided he would get all that he could. When he got outside the bank and met up with McGonagall and the others, he didn't know what face he was making, but it must have been notable as Justin took one look at him and his eyebrows shot up his forehead.

"Good news then?" He had just found out he was god-damned loaded, so yes, Harry had just gotten very good news. In reply Harry simply nodded his head, not wanting to brag...Ok, maybe he did want to brag a little and Justin wouldn't be able to judge considering he has done enough of that throughout the morning himself. He refrained however and felt rather proud of himself for it.

It was after McGonagall had handed him the items promised and he had given the money he owed back to her that he caught sight of his reflection in a shop window and let out a small yelp. To say his hair looked wild was an understatement. He looked like he had an afro! A messy afro! No wonder Hermione and Justin had been sending him those amused glances, they could have bloody told him. McGonagall cleared her throat in what Harry suspiciously thought of as a disguise for her own amusement and said something that made him forget about his hair altogether.

"Time to get your wands I think" This day was just awesome.

Harry left Ollivanders with no small amount of relief and in the possession of a holly wand with a phoenix feather. Hermione and Justin, who got their wands before Harry, took about fifteen minutes combined to get theirs, Harry took over twice that long and must have gone through a big percentage of the wands in store before finding the right one, and there was a whole lot of wands in that store that's for sure. Harry had started to panic and think that maybe he wasn't magical after all when Ollivander final handed him the holly wand. The moment he held it, his whole being felt like it was lit up from within. Harry didn't think he would ever forget that feeling, the first time he felt the magic within himself.

"We need to hurry now if we want to get all of you measured for your robes in time for them to be ready today, while their being made we can get your books and if we hurry, we may have some time for you to visit sugarplum's sweetshop...oh! Do any of you want a pet?" Harry would really rather like a pet actually, but he's not sure he could get away with it with the Dursleys. An owl is tempting, now that he feels like he's gotten over his moment of fear of them anyway. That brown one was pretty smart...and he could send letters to...people if he got one. They are awfully cool looking. Harry wasn't a huge fan of cats thanks to Miss. Figg's damn right obsession with the arrogant sods and he doesn't see why anybody would want a toad. An owl is practical damn it! He wanted one.

"I'd like to get an owl Professor" Bugger it, he can tell the Dursleys that it's a requirement or something.

"Very well, you can go do that, while Mr. Finch-Fletchley and Miss Granger go to the sweetshop. Now, robes..."

Harry was very much on the fence about this whole robe thing, as he was getting fitted and saw himself in one for the first time he could not decide whether he looked dashing or like a pillock. The way the robe moves as he does also felt a little like what he imagined a dress would feel like. Not that he imagines himself in dresses of course. He guesses that it's just one of many things he will have to get used to. The trip to the bookshop was frustratingly quick. Before McGonagall was calling them to leave, Harry had only enough time to pick up the needed books for his courses and two extra. The extra books he chose were made for introducing muggle-borns into magical society and they were significantly thicker than the one he had at home, but still not as thick as Harry imagines they need to be to give him all the answers he's looking for. There were aisles in that shop that he didn't even get to go down!

Harry was still scowling over his too quick visit, as he strolled through Eeylop owls Emporium. He wondered if he could sneak back before re-meeting McGonagall and the others. First though, owl. How does one pick an owl? Are some better than others? Harry decided that there was only one way to find out and so went up to the counter where an older woman was reading.

"Excuse me miss, could you help me? I want to buy an owl," 'obviously Harry', he thought to himself." and was wondering which ones are the best ones?"

"That would depend on what your going to be using it for, and of course your budget"

"well...I'll be using it for...sending letters," Harry thought this was rather obvious. The woman looked up from her book and pierced him with her blue eyes.

"Yes..." she said this as if Harry was being particularly slow, "but, long distance? Domestic use? Commercial? How often would you be sending letters?" Harry thought the woman was being a bit daft, commercial? Does Harry look like he will be buying an owl for business? He's eleven for christ sake. Harry doesn't really know what he would use the owl for but it won't be for that.

"Ummm… I want a fast owl? And ummm... The budget doesn't really matter" The woman's brows shot up at this.

"I just got a Great Horned Owl in stock a few days ago, fastest owls in the world they are, but the price reflects that at twenty Galleons" Sounds good to Harry.

"Can I see it?" The woman got up and moved somewhere out of view, so Harry looked around and picked up some owl treats and nuts in the hope of maybe bribing the owl to like him. He looked up when he heard the woman come back. The owl was mottled gray-brown with a white patch on its throat, had rather large yellow eyes, and as according to its name, it had long earlike tufts that stuck up on its head like horns. It looked epic.

"I'll take it."

After a brief lesson on how to care for his owl, Harry left the shop feeling giddy. Which seems to be his normal state for the day. Harry stood outside the store and reached into the cage to stroke his brand new owl. It was so soft!

"Hey there girl, aren't you just a beauty mmmm, what can we name you then?"

"That's a pretty cool looking owl, my father just got me an eagle owl for when I start Hogwarts in a few weeks" Harry looked up from his owl and spotted a boy around his age with white blond hair, a rather pointy face and posh looking robes.

"oh? I don't know anything about owls really, I just asked if they had a fast one and the woman said this beauty was one of the fastest breeds of owls in the world" The boy took my reply as an invitation to come for a chat apparently, as he crossed from where he was standing outside Flourish and Blotts and came to stand beside him to take a closer look at the owl.

"My owl looks similar to yours actually, except mine has darker coloring," He stood up straight then as if suddenly remembering his manners. "I'm Draco Malfoy, and you are…?"

"Oh!, I'm Harry. Harry Potter"

"Potter! So they have finally brought you into the magical world have they!" What? "My father says it's a disgrace that you have not been brought up with the traditions. I bet your glad to be here now, at least they can't stop your affinity lessons, Da- My father was one of the people to make that a law you know" Draco seemed rather proud of his father.

"I'm not sure I follow" Draco looked at him rather pityingly then which Harry didn't appreciate.

"No, I guess you wouldn't would you? It's ridiculous, I can't imagine growing up without magic. It's the muggle-borns that are messing the community up you know, looking down on our traditions when they should be learning them themselves!" Good lord! What is this lunatic going on about? "Well, I will answer any questions you may have, as someone from a prominent pure-blood family, and as someone who holds the families affinity, I'm well versed in wizard society" Harry doesn't understand some of what this boy just ranted about, and he thinks that Draco is bit entitled and a daddies-boy, but Harry does have some questions.

"What is an affinity exactly?" Draco's eyes widen comically.

"You don't know what-Merlin's balls!" Harry couldn't help but share his outrage a little. I mean why did he have to go eleven years without knowing he was a wizard anyway, seems unfair to him. "A wizard or witch with an affinity is particularly gifted in a certain area of magic" He stops and looks at Harry to see if he's following, which he is since he's not dim just un-informed. There is a difference. Harry nods at him to continue "for instance, my family-line has the affinity for mind magic, and so any spells under that-"

"mind magic?" Harry blurts out. Draco looks a little put out by the interruption.

"yes…like memory charms, Occlumency, Legilmency..." Is he still speaking English? "any spells that effect the mind essentially" Right, mind magic, duh.

"What's my affinity then?"

"You don't know!" Is he going to get that outraged every-time Harry confirms that he does not know something? "The Potters affinity is offensive magic, its why your dad was such a hero in the war, I've heard he was formidable in battle." Huh. Cool. Harry rather liked the idea of becoming formidable.

"Offensive magic seems rather vague..."

"Ah, well I don't know how it works exactly, that will only be taught to you, just like how my mind magic affinity details will only be taught to me. Your affinity teacher will have access to your families information" Draco then looked back across to flourish and blotts, Harry followed his gaze and spots a tall regal looking man with the same blond hair that Draco has.

"Listen, Harry, I have to go" He glances back down at my owl briefly "you should write to me if you have any more questions"

"Ye, ok thanks" Harry gave him a grin since he did help him after all.

"Bye Harry!" He turns back to wave at me, which Harry thought was a rather charmingly childish thing to do considering the regal front Draco seemed to put up. Harry waved back, he's got no hope of looking regal, especially with the way his hair was looking today.

"Well come on then owl, better go meet McGonagall and them"