Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the first two chapters. As this is my first fic, any and all feedback is appreciated. As for this chapter, it isn't as long as I would have liked, but it is mainly a review of Harry's first trip to Diagon Alley, with a few minor changes. Also, I tried my best on getting Hagrid's speech right, but I'm not sure how I did, even though I looked over Philosophers/Sorcerers Stone again to see how Rowling handled it. As a final note, I do not own Harry Potter, the characters, or the universe.
A few more notes:
This story is AU and basically throws out canon after OotP, with the exception of the Horcuxes, and the Deathly Hallows (the objects, not the book). Dumbledore is still alive (in the chapter 1 timeline). The Horcrux hunt still took place as described in DH, but in my world, the final battle did not take place for several more years (see chapter 1).
In this chapter, Harry's shopping trip in Diagon Alley will be briefly shown. I didn't want to dwell too much on the minute details here, especially since a good portion of it would have been repeating the writings of Rowling in different words. Anything not mentioned here went exactly the same as described in PS/SS.
I hope to have Chapter 4 up tomorrow with any luck.
Chapter 3
Welcome to Diagon Alley
As Harry opened his eyes again, a dizzy spell swept over him, causing him to trip and fall onto the ground.
"Yeh alrigh' there Harry?" boomed a voice next to him. Harry looked up into the face of his first friend, one who had fallen in the Final Battle.
"Fine, Hagrid. I just tripped is all," Harry replied. It was true. Now that he thought about it, he had tripped over his own feet-he was used to his adult body, not that of an eleven year old. Harry thought for now it would be best to act naturally and not arouse any suspicion. For good measure, he took a look at the parchment in his hands, which turned out to be his Hogwarts letter and supply list. "Can we find all this in London?"
"If yeh know where to go," Hagrid answered.
The two walked on for some time before coming to a run-down, ramshackle building with a small sign that said simply "The Leaky Cauldron." As they entered, Harry was greeted by several patrons, all eager to get a piece of his celebrity. Harry took it all in stride- he was well used to dealing with mobs of fans after years of experience. He kept a fake smile on his face until he saw the lone figure in the corner. "Ah, Professor! I didn' expect to see yeh here! Harry, this is Professor Quirrell, he'll be teachin' yeh Defense Against The Dark Arts this year."
Harry took the Professor's outstretched hand and greeted him coolly. "Professor," he greeted with a curt nod. Best not to act too suspicious, Harry thought, even if he does have an ugly snake face growing out of the back of his skull. They stood there for what seemed like an eternity, as Harry did not want to be the first to leave, lest he rouse the suspicions of the Professor. Fortunately, salvation for Harry came in the form of Hagrid.
"Sorry to chat 'n' run, Professor, but we got a busy day today. Come along Harry, lets get yer school things," Hagrid interjected, pulling Harry out of the pub through the rear exit. As they exited the building, they came face to face with a stone wall. Harry was confused, but after concentrating on the wall and his memories of it, he remembered what it was for and what it did, just in time for Hagrid to pull out his umbrella and tap a series of bricks. The wall began to move. Bricks rotated and changed position to form a passage into a street not unlike a muggle shopping district, but with a distinctly magical theme. "Harry, welcome to Diagon Alley," Hagrid announced, before beginning to walk down the street.
"Hagrid, how am I supposed to buy all of my school stuff. My aunt and uncle never allowed me to have any money. They said that money shouldn't be wasted on a freak like me, and that I would be lucky to live by the charity of someone," Harry asked innocently. This was the first thought that sprang to the forefront of Harry's mind, and it was true. Money was never something that graced the oversized pants pockets of Harry Potter.
"Why those filthy muggles, treatin' someone like Harry Potter like a slave. Why I'm of half a mind to go righ' back there and finish turnin' that cousin of yers into a pig, and then force yer aunt and uncle to roast 'im over a fire, apple and all," Hagrid muttered angrily. "Yer parents left you piles of gold. It's just over there, in Gringotts, the wizard bank. Yeh should have enough there to last yeh a good long while yet.
"Hagrid, don't worry about it. If it makes you feel any better, I won't got back to them any more this summer. After we're done here I'll see about renting a room back there at the Leaky Cauldron, and stay there for the rest of the summer. How does that sound Hagrid?" In truth, this situation played out perfectly, as Harry didn't want to go back to his relatives, as well as the fact that he needed to be near Diagon Alley in a few days, as his plan depended on it.
"That sounds fine Harry, but how did you know that the Leaky Cauldron rented rooms? I never said anything about it."
"Erm…" Not wanting to give anything away quite yet, Harry had to think quickly. "I saw some stairs leading up in the corner of the main room. I've heard that a lot of pubs in London have small rooms to rent above the bar, so I just assumed that it would be the same here."
"Alrigh' Harry, didn't mean to sound all suspicious or anything. Just remember that not everything in the wizarding world is going to be like the muggle world. It would be best if yeh kept that in mind. Ah! Here we are, Gringotts!" Hagrid and Harry passed by two nasty looking goblin guards on each side of he main entrance, before walking into a regal looking room that looked as if it hadn't been dusted in centuries. They walked up to the nearest counter and waited patiently for the goblin behind the counter to look up from his ledger.
"May I help you?" sneered the goblin in a less than sincere manner.
"Mister Harry Potter would like to make a withdrawal from his vault," Hagrid replied.
"Does he have his key," asked the goblin impatiently.
"No he doesn't, but I do…somewhere here. Just a minute…" Hagrid began to search through his many large pockets, pulling out a number of objects that were unfamiliar to Harry. Several minutes and a large pile of objects and lint later, Hagrid found the tiny key. "Ah, here it is! Did you have to make them so small?" Hagrid asked sarcastically, but the goblin ignored that last question. "I also need to pick up something for Professor Dumbledore from vault seven hundred and thirteen." This got the goblin's attention.
"Griphook!" he yelled, before a second goblin appeared from the doorway behind him. "Griphook will lead you to your vaults. Good day gentlemen," he added before turning away, indicating he was done with them.
After a long and harrowing cart ride, Hagrid and Harry found themselves in front of a large door. "The Potter Trust Vault," Griphook announced, before using Harry's key to unlock the vault door. Before Harry stood a mountain of gold coins, along with an assortment of silver and bronze coins mixed in. Griphook handed Harry a large sack, and Harry proceeded to fill it with a mixture of all three coins, but with extra emphasis on the gold Galleons. When he was finished filling, barely making a dent in the enormous pile, Griphook shrank the bag down to the size of a coin purse, and handed it back to Harry along with his key. They then made their way back to Hagrid, who had elected to wait in the cart.
Following a short visit to vault seven hundred and thirteen, during which Hagrid picked up a parcel that was already familiar to Harry, the two returned to Diagon Alley, to begin shopping for Harry's school supplies. Their first stop was Madam Malkin's, which was strangely empty. Harry had the odd feeling that something or someone was missing, but he dismissed the feeling without giving it any thought. It took about a half hour to fit Harry for his school robes, and after buying five sets, the pair again left, heading towards Flourish and Blotts book store to pick up textbooks. Hagrid left Harry at the door claiming that he had a couple of errands to run, and that Harry should buy his books and then head over to Ollivander's to pick out a wand.
Harry took advantage of the lack of supervision to browse through the store. In addition to grabbing his textbooks for his first year, Harry also chose to buy the books he could remember from his second and third year, with the exception of those by the fraud Gilderoy Lockhart. He also chose several other volumes, including Occlumency: Shielding your Mind from Attack, Spells for the Warrior: Surviving to See the Next Battle, and The Art of Potions. Harry felt that the last book was necessary this time around, as he did not want to pass up the chance to do well in Potions from the beginning. In addition, Harry found a blank book that he thought would be perfect for recording his memories and plans in. Finally, Harry grabbed a new, up to date version of Hogwarts, A History, for he knew that a certain young witch would have it memorized, and it would do well to have common ground for them to talk about. Harry brought his purchases to the front counter, and paid for them out of his coin purse. The clerk then proceeded to place the books in a bag and shrink the bag down, making it small enough to fit into Harry's pocket.
The next and final stop on Harry's list was Ollivander's wand shop. The last time he was here, it took over an hour to find the right wand. That was not an experience that Harry wanted to repeat, so he walked through the door much more confident than he did in his previous life. The shop appeared empty, until an old, frazzled face peeked around a shelf.
"Ah, Mister Potter. I was wondering when you would arrive. I remember your parents well, as I sold them their wands when they were entering Hogwarts. It was only a matter of time before you would come to visit me." Mr. Ollivander came close to Harry, and brushed his hair away from his forehead, eyeing Harry's scar. "I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did that. Very powerful, very powerful indeed," Mr. Ollivander said sadly.
"Sir, do you have any wands that are similar to that one? I was hoping to have a wand that was similar, as I feel that it would be a slap in the face to use such a wand for the light, rather than for evil." Harry asked politely.
"Well, the wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter. We do not have a say in what wands we want. However, it would not hurt to try, and I believe I have just the wand you are looking for," Ollivander said as he began to hunt through his shelves. "Here we are. Eleven inches, holly and phoenix feather. Ironically the feather is from the same phoenix as the one in the wand that gave you that scar." Mr. Ollivander pulled out a long box, opened it, and handed the wand to Harry. As soon as Harry gripped it, a display of red and gold sparks shot from the tip, and a warm feeling crept up Harry's arm.
"Hello again, old friend," Harry muttered to himself.
"Curious. Quite curious. It is odd Mr. Potter that you would be destined for this wand, when its brother, owned by You-Know-Who, gave you that scar. I think that we can expect great things from you Mr. Potter." Mr. Ollivander concluded. Harry paid the seven Galleon price for the wand, before departing the shop, nearly running into Hagrid on the way out.
"Oi! Harry, watch out!" Hagrid bellowed. Harry stumbled but caught himself, before looking up to see Hagrid holding a cage with a beautiful snowy white owl inside. "Happy Birthday Harry!" Hagrid said before handing the cage to Harry.
"And hello to you too, Hedwig," Harry said quietly to the bird, who hooted upon hearing her new name.
"Well, Harry, it's gettin' late, so we better head back to the Cauldron. I'm gonna wait with yeh while yeh get a room, and then I'll take off." Hagrid said as they began the walk back to the entrance to the Alley. They entered the Leaky Cauldron through the back entrance, and walked to the front desk to see Tom. Harry waited to be noticed before speaking.
"Excuse me sir," Harry began respectfully, "I would like a room from now until September first please."
Tom looked over the counter to see Harry, and responded with a toothy grin. "Alright, that'll be one galleon per night, for a total of thirty galleons." Harry counted out the exact change, and was rewarded with a key to his room. As Harry turned to go upstairs, Hagrid bid him farewell, warning him to be careful, and not to take any unnecessary risks. Hagrid then handed Harry his ticket for the Hogwarts Express, stating that he would see him when he arrived at school in a month.
With that, Harry went upstairs and unpacked his belongings, including all of his shrunken packages. Harry recalled, with much difficulty and concentration, that underage magic could not be detected within the Leaky Cauldron due to the wards around the building, so Harry used his new wand for the first time to unshrink his packages. Harry shuffled through his books to find the blank diary, and took it over to the desk in the corner of the room, which was already equipped with a quill and ink, and began to write.
Harry wrote all of his memories from his years in school, when the events happened, and how they played out. Each year was given a chapter, and a title relevant to the events of the year. When he was done, Harry looked at the small table of contents that he had created, and smiled as he saw the chapters written there.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Harry was proud of himself for these titles, as if a person opened this book, they would not know immediately that each chapter was really a telling of the future. Instead they would simply look like more pieces of fiction written about Harry's life. He closed the book and set it aside, then got ready for bed. Tomorrow he resolved to begin studying his first year texts for a refresher, as well as look over the extra books he had bought. Harry remembered that he still had two more days before a certain bushy-haired best friend of his paid a visit to Diagon Alley, and he wanted to be there when that happened.