A/N: Harry Potter books and characters belong to JKR. I take no credit for any repeated quote or event from the original source.
Chapter 3
Harry stretched his arms as they exited gringots, completely exhausted from all the management and dealings he had had to go through simply to have some idea of what being a lord would demand from him. Of course, it didn't help that he was going to be lord of more than one ancient and noble family that even now held an important role in magical Britannia.
As he let out a long sigh he looked at his right he thought of how much more complicated his life had become in the last week. His usual carefree lifestyle surrounding his dedication to learning magic had by far been the most enjoyable part of his life. That being said, meeting Aurora and Mary had definitely been worth it. People that had actually known his parent's, actual proof that they were real.
They had even explained some basics part of how the magical society worked. From what little he knew so far, his main problem was Albus Dumbledore, followed by the problems his fame would bring. If money had been taken from his vault then he would be assumed that he had placed him at the Dursley's simple to keep him from any knowledge of magic, which would have mad him a hindrance for Dumbledore to take his money. However, there had been no attempted transits, which was why the whole situation felt so much more complicated to what he would have wished for.
He had always been good at seeing people for what they were, one of the more useful skills he had developed by living with the Dursleys. For example, Aurora and Mary were helping him because they generally cared about him both as they best friends son and as his own person.
''Aurora? Mary? I was wondering if we could go into the muggle world and start the shopping there?'' He asked.
''Of course we can! Did you think of a place you would like to go?'' Mary asked excitedly while Aurora looked at him curiously as to why he would want to go.
''There should be a shopping mall about a minute from the Leaky Cauldron'' Harry explained remembering the conversation he had with the goblins.
As they walked out of the Leaky Cauldron they walked passed the road that led them to the nearby shopping mall, however, the goblins had failed to inform him of how big it was. He had already been in shopping malls before, not as big as the one he was in now, but definitely bigger than the usual store. Aurora looked completely overwhelmed when they entered the mall while Mary seemed like she was having the time of her life.
''Harry?'' Aurora asked as she closely followed Mary, not licking how huge the crowd was.
''Yes?'' He answered looking at the map he picked up at the reception.
''Where are we going?'' She asked nervously, disliking the huge crowd of people wearing strange clothes that she was in.
''To the hairdressers'' He explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. To which Aurora raise her eyebrow in confusion, but kept quite realizing that Mary was amused at her confusion.
They reached a small establishment on the second floor, with equipment that Aurora was unsure what it was used for. As she followed the two of them into the room she couldn't help but notice how much fun the boy was having. Taking a deep breath as she watched him talk to Mary about something as she nodded in complet agreement.
''I can have an appointment in ten minutes so will be waiting until then.'' Harry explained as they sat down in the chairs next to the window.
''Mary?'' She asked as he read a magazine with Mary that she really hoped wasn't Witch weekly. To which Harry hummed in response. ''What are we doing here?'' She asked making her look up into confusion until realization hit her that she hadn't explained himself and ha practically dragged her here.
''You remember when you told me that my hair was well known among the magical world?'' Harry started explaining.
''Yes?'' She affirmed not understanding how a haircut would help him.
''Well I thought that if I changed it then it would cause us fewer problems when we went into Diagon Ally'' He explained.
''Muggles can do that?'' She asked in astonishment to the revelation.
''Yes. I don't really want to change it, but this way it isn't permanent, so I thought it would be the best way to deal with it.'' He explained as she heard Mary huff with an ''Of course we can.''
''And what color will you be choosing?'' Mary asked enjoying every moment of it.
''I'm not sure, I'm going to choose a natural hair color to not pull attention towards myself.''
''Your father had black hair, maybe something similar to black?'' She offered her opinion. Harry hummed in response as he moved the magazine pages to black hair while he considered the option.
''How about natural black?'' He asked showing her the color.
''That could work.'' She agreed as they both spoke about the different possible hair colours. Yes, I have no idea what is going on. Was all that Aurora could really think. After some few minutes one of the men in uniform came up and talked with them, telling them that there was a place free.
Some few minutes later Harry walked back into the room after paying the man. Had she not been with him some few minutes before she wouldn't have believed that the hair color was in fact fake. She could appreciate why he had changed his hair color, even if she thought that Lilly's hair color still suited him better. Shed heard some of the nonsense people invented about him, some even claiming that he was second coming of Merlin. Hopefully, they would be able to sort out an easier solution than this.
''Can we buy some new clothes?'' He asked slightly embarrassed.
Aurora realized that the clothes he was wearing were the same ones he had been wearing the last time they meet. She cursed herself for completely forgetting the fact that he was wearing second-hand clothes.
Mary seemed to agree with her, but was far too happy that she had her own 'dress-up doll' to work with to show it.
'' Of course we are, follow suit, we going to buy you a hole wordrobe's worth.'' Mary said far too enthusiastically for Auroras own good.
She wondered if it was a normal trait that most boys had to get excited at buying clothes, but she was almost immediately reminded that this was probably the first time the idea of getting clothes that would be his own, not to mention that fitted him would occur.
She almost gasped when Harry tried out his first clothes, there were some few scars on both of his hands that she faintly recognized, but seeing him in clothes that fitted him made her realize how small he actually was. He really didn't look his age. She immediately hid her reaction when she realized how nervous and tense he was, refusing to look at anywhere other than the ground. He had put an immeasurable amount of trust in them to reveal his scars individually, though the goblins had probably informed him of her knowing she knew by first-hand experience that people, particularly children would put a lot of effort into hiding them.
''They look good on you, how about we try the blue one as well.'' Mary happily complimented him which immediately made him look up.
It seemed to have been the right thing to say, seeing how he now that he had a small smile on his face instead of that lingering worry that he had carried some few minutes ago. After hours of shopping, -or hell-,
both Mary and Harry seemed to have satisfied they wardrobe worth of clothes that they had had to magically storage in her pockets to be able to move around. She mentally noted that his clothes were almost entirely long sleeved and trousers something to discuss with Marey later.
''Is there anything you want to buy while we here?'' Aurora asked as they exited the last clothes shop, though she strongly believed it had been worth it, she was grateful that it was finally over.
''Eye contacts, food and home supplies and some few books...if its alright with you?''He stated ending the sentence somewhat nervously.
''Of course, I'm alright with it Harry, you don't have to worry'' Mary answered hoping that she would be able to get him to build up as much confidence as possible.
With that being said it was almost like a pattern. The simplest of compliments would cheer him up, but he would immediately look down before going back to a more neutrul feeling. Though she was grateful that he wasn't straight out depressed, she couldn't help but feel that the need to not show emotions most of the time was something that could become a problem if it wasn't solved soon.
''Haven't you got enough yet?'' She asked somewhat worryingly when Harry started getting a fairly tall pile of books that would probably take days if not weeks to read.
Mary on the other hand simply shared a nostalgic glance with Aurora. -Definitely Lily's son, sorry James, I really don't think any of your genes worked.-
After some few seconds of what seemed to be the most important decision in his life, he answered with a reluctant ''I suppose so'' that seemed to have just won the debate.
Buying supplies had been a surprisingly short experience, that being said she wasn't sure how she felt about Harry knowing far too much about each food that an eight-year-old should need to know. The thought of him having experience in cooking would mean that he already had years of experience with him, something that didn't sit well with either of the two Witches.
Eventually, Aurora managed to persuade the duo to enter Diagon Ally as she let out a deep breath. How the muggles could live in such an overcrowded location was beyond her, and seeing how easy Mary had navigated through it she could safely assume that was the norm. Looking at the sheer amount of clothes, books that they had bought, she momentarily debated a thought that crossed her mind.
''Harry, would you be interested in buying a trunk?'' She asked him.
''A trunk? What would I need it for?'' He responded perplexed.
''Apart from carrying everything that we have on us, you could use it for when you when to Hogwarts,'' Mary explained to him while he looked at her in confusion.
It dawned on Aurora that he probably wasn't aware that she meant a magical trunk. ''They have magical compartments that can be charmed to be expanded or regulated to not be influenced by the outside of the trunk'' She explained as he nodded in understanding.
''That will be useful, do you know how much they would cost.'' He asked curiously.
''They range gratefully so I couldn't say for sure, but somewhere between 30 to 50 gallons would be reasonable.''
''Okay'' He agreed as Mary led them to a somewhat bizarre shaped building.
''
''Good to see you Mr. Melvin, business going well?'' Mary greeted cheerfully a middle-aged man.
In response, he simply shrugged as he put the parchment down. ''Always the best in summer, so no complaints from me. Whos the cute lass with you? A little early for Hogwarts no?'' He asked as Harry sighed. He was already used to people confusing that particular fact due to his size and appearance.
''He is the son of a friend of mine since he enjoys going around a trunk would seem useful.'' She said as his eyes slightly bulged.
''My apologies Sir, any ideas on what type of trunk you would want?'' He asked immediately trying to change the subject.
''No, if you could some the main types I could decide then?'' Harry answered pensively to which he nodded in approval.
''Good idea. We have the simple feather light charmed with minimal security for 8 galleons. Then we have the feather-light charm with a small bookshelf for the first compartment, a small wardrobe for the second, and a slightly expanded area for the third which has a medium security for 20 gallons.'' He said showing them the first to trunks.
He then moved to the other side of the shop as he showed them some slightly bigger trunks.''The more expensive ones are more useful.'' He explained as he saw Harry's look of confusion.''This one has feather light charm, a three bookcase compartment, a medium sized wardrobe, an ingredient storage compartment and two medium expanded compartments for 57 gallons, the security is pretty high, so I massively doubt that anyone that hasn't taken charms Arimathy and ancient ruins for they O.W.L.s would be able to deny it.''
''Is there anything similar but with a much larger library?'' Harry asked looking curiously at the one he had just shown him.
''Indeed there is, quite the Ravenclaw you brought me here Mary.'' He replied making Harry slightly blush. He started laughing as he realized the glare Mary was sending him for even considering he wouldn't be in her house.''No worried Mary.'' He said still chuckling.''I'm sure there some lion somewhere in him.'' He stated amused.
''We have this one with the same security and charms. It has 2 compartments with six bookcases each, three expandable storage areas and a medium sized storage for 64 gallons.'' He said wich immediately picked his interest.
''I'll take that one.'' He responded almost initially making Mr. Melvin smile.
''Aye, give me a minute then.'' He said as he went to the back of the shop, moments later returning with the same type of trunk as Harry place the 64 gallons on the table.
''Thanks for the business.'' He said as they both left the store.
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If she had thought that the muggle shopping was going to be the death of her then Aurora had been surley mistaken, getting Harry out of the magical bookstore had been close to impossible, and she felt a sudden amount of pity for Minerva when she had had to take Lily shopping for the first time.
That being said, one look at Harry's cheerful expression was enough to make her feal that it had been worth it.
For someone his age, Harry was incredibly intelligent and creative, maybe it wasn't surprising seeing who his parents were, but she could help but feel that it was partly due to him having to grow up much to fast. After having bought him a trunk he had insisted to buy books about magic at Flourish and Bloots. Thus her main worry about Harry becoming a Ravenclaw. Filius was a brilliant teacher, but it was quite well known that Ravenclaw often had bullying inside of the house and if Harry did end up in there she was clueless as to how he would react to bullying.
She looked up at the now darkening sky through the Leaky Cauldrons window, having just finished her meal. Harry had hardly been able to eat anything before his body couldn't cope with any more food. Seeing him looking ashamed made her want to head to Private Drive this instance and use one or two well-deserved hexes on the Dursleys.
With that being said, she questions if they had really spent that long going from one shop to another? Then again, they had spent hours at the Shopping mall before buying at Diagon Ally. Harry now had clothes that fitted him and complimented his black hair and brown eyes, which had greatly raised Aurora's opinion on muggles with the creation of such a possibility. Not to mention with his fringe covering his scar, no one that wasn't close to Lily would recognize him as Harry James Potter, and even those that did know her would be hard pressed to recognize him without carefully inspecting him.
She had been pleasantly surprised that he had inherited his mothers work ethic that had developed to become even greater than what Lilys had been when she had first attended Hogwarts. -With any luck, I may even get him interested in Astronomy-She mused to herself as she started listening to the conversation between the duo.
''At what age would I start attending Hogwarts?'' Harry asked.
''You should receive your letter on your eleventh birthday, so the first of September in three years. Is there any reason you interested in it?'' Mary asked curiously.
''When we were in Gringotts I was talking to my vault manager.''Harry started somewhat nervously.''We both agreed that Dumbuldore had taken a little to much interest in my life.'' He trailed off looking at her in a way that she assumed was asking for her approval.
''As much as I respect Albus I'm afraid that I have to agree with you. I assume you've thought of something to protect yourself from this interest?'' Aurora asked slightly saddened that she would ever have to do something behind Britain's hero's back.
''There are two ideas we could come up with. The first one is the possibility of attending another school, which would most likely be Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. The other option would be to attend Hogwarts under another name until I reach the age of 17.''
''That could work.''She answered somewhat sadden of how much he would have to hide to live a somewhat normal life.''Have you already changed your name?''
''We've already decided on my first to names, but they looking for an appropriate surname while I decided if I want to go through with this or not.'' He explained to which Aurora nodded in understanding.
''What name are you going with?'' She asked somewhat curious.
''I wanted to follow my family's tradition without announcing who I am. My mothers family had the tradition of using flower-related names. And as for my second name I thought I'd try to use an opposite of the Black tradition, while the Blacks were named after a star's, I thought I would choose a name of a moon. For now, my surname will be Potter, but I'll change it on the first second of my eleventh birthday.'' He explained with a combination of both nervousness and slight excitement. Something told her that the idea of changing his name had been something that had passed through his head before today.
''So there would be a letter addressed to Harry Potter and one addressed to your other name, thus creating a decoy.''She said impressed with how much they were covering their tracks.
''Ren Calypso Potter-Black'' He stated quietly. ''Ren is an Asian name for a water lily, even if someone did realize it being a flower they would assume its just an uncommon name that originated from somewhere from there. Calypso is the name of a moon that was discovered the day I was born, so I doubt anyone would even know it existed, as for Potter-Black, I'll use a different surname between my eleventh and seventeenth birthday, once after that, I should be safe to use my other name.'' He explained as Mary started laughing.
''Calypso? As in Greek religion?'' She asked between giggles.
''Lily went through a phase when she was obsessed with the Greeks'' Aurora explained as Mary started laughing loudly.
''And Your father almost had a heart attack when we told him that the gods she kept talking about were people she had crushes on'' Aurora added as they both started laughing, quickly followed by the amused boy.
''I think we've got everything I need'' Harry said changing the subject after hearing some few other stories of his parents.
''There is something else that I want to get for you.'' She told him as Tom receive the money from their dinner.
''It actually is something that you will be needing.''
''Needing?''
''Indeed. If I remember correctly We've missed seven birthday and Christmas presents.'' She told him, proud of how much those words made his eyes sparkle.
She was impressed with how Harry didn't pester her to get her to tell him what she would be giving him, apparently the fact that someone would surprise him was more than enough for him. He looked at her curiously as they entered Eeylops Owl Emporium, looking at the many different owls in the room.
''In the magical world, we use owls to communicate with each other.'' She explained as Harry's eyes widened in surprise.''You can choose whichever you like the most.''She told him as he whispered a quiet thank you that she almost missed before quickly heading towards one of the walls of the room looking at the different owls.
He wasn't really sure what type of owl he should be looking for, he didn't even know if there was an owl he liked in particular. In all honesty, there were quite some few that scared him, staring at him with their wide eyes. He spent a lot of minutes looking at the many different owls that were inside of the many cages that were tightly packed with each other.
A quiet but harmonious hoot pulled his attention as he looked from which direction the sound came from. At the top corner laid a small cage with a beautiful pure white owl with amber colored eyes, directly looking into his eyes. She was much smaller than most, probably had just been born some few weeks ago, which explained some of the feathers that were bigger than the actual owl. She held herself in a way that greatly reminded him of how a queen would stand in her throne, further emphasized by the way the other Owls treated her.
For some reason, her piercing gaze was different from the others owl. It was kind, almost reassuring. He slowly walked down and gently pulled down the cage not wanting to scare her, though his instincts were telling him that she already trusted him. He looked straight into her eyes, practically playing eye staring competition before it hit him.'How did he know it was a she?.
''Well I never'' A voice said behind Harry snapping him out of his thoughts.''Sorry kiddo, didn't mean to scare ya'' A middle age women apologized as Mary started walking towards them.''Just that I've had her for almost a week and she was vicious to anyone that even came close to her, even attacked the four people that tried to have her.'' She explained gaining a hoot from the owl which greatly reminded him of a 'Don't care' reaction.
''Do you want to come with me?'' He asked the owl softly, surprising both women as the snowy owl looked at him for some few long seconds before giving a satisfied hoot.''Ill have her'' Harry told the lady who eyed him curiously.
''Kay, that will be 4 gallons, mainly because something tells me she won't want to go with anyone else, ill add another galleon for the cage if you want.'' She offered wich earned her another hoot from the snowy owl that sounded a lot as if she had just been greatly offended.
''Ill pass on the cage'' He said after a second of looking at the owl.''Is there any food I can buy?''
''Of course'' She said before bringing a sack of owl treats.''That will be 5 knuts.''
Harry thanked her as he gently let the owl out of the cage, who immediately flap her wings and landed on his head making the other two people in the room laugh.
''Do you like it up there?'' He asked her, receiving a satisfied hoot as response as he followed Aurora outside of the shop, walking carefully to make sure the owl on his head was comfortable.
''Professor Sinastria, Mary, what a surprise seeing you here!'' A large man with an accent said as they exited the shop.
''Hagrid'' Aurora greeted courtly, thought Hagrid paid it no mind.
''Long time no see!'' Mary said much more cheerfully than Aurora.
''That it is, ain't it? Suprised to see you the two of you here during November tho, whos the young lass?''He asked looking at Harry before his eyes landed on Harry's head, admiring the beautiful owl that was staring at him.
''This is Ren'' Mary said after giving Harry a significant look.''He's the son of an old friend'' She explained emphasizing the 'he' and 'son' parts.
''Quite the beautiful owl you have on you head Ren, just got her?'' He said after a moment of awkwardness.
''Yes, sir'' Harry immediately replied as the owl gave an approving hoot.
''No need for sir.'' Hagrid waved off. ''Though I've never seen any owl similar to the one on your head. I'd love to see more owls like that one in the forbidden forest.''
''Hagrid is Hogwarts gatekeeper, he cares for most of the magical creatures that surround the school.''
''So he takes care of magical beings?'' Harry asked curiously, a small sparkle in his eyes as he looked at Hagrid.
''I do, even started raising a small Cerberus, though still haven't come up with a name for the little one, actually just came from buying food for him as well as some second-hand dragonhide gloves''
''Dragonhide gloves?'' Harry asked curiously.
''Dragonhide indeed, from a Swedish Short-Snout, found it for a great discount as well.''
''I've never heard of a Swedish Short-Snout'' Harry said curiosuly, making Aurora mentally groan while Hagrid gleamed at Harry.
''There hundred of types of Dragons out there, not even I know all of them. Blimey, I'd love a dragon.''
''You not allowed to raise one?'' Harry asked in confusion.
''Unfortornally not'' Hagrid said sadly while Aurora thought quite the opposite. ''The ministry consider them dangerous. Sadly they are both fascinating but misunderstood beasts, Ren. Fascinating but misunderstood.'' The snowy owl that had remained silent hooted wanting the conversation to go back to her, making the four of the chuckle at her antics.
''As I was saying, quite the beautiful owl. Did you buy it as a present Profesor?''He asked curiously.
''Late Birthday present actually'' She answered honestly.
''Oh, and when is your birthday?'' He asked curiously, to which Aurora and Mary slightly paled.
''It was the 21st of August'' She replied the first date on the summer holidays she could think of.
''I'll have to make you're a cake if ti was that far back, how old are you, Ren?''
''Just reached eight'' He answered.
''Three more years till Hogwarts then, bet you're excited. That being said I'll have to get going now, need to attend to the Cerberus, for that matter need to name for the little one. Well, ill be seeing you around Professor, Ren.'' He said as we walked towards the Leaky Cauldron.
''He was really nice'' Harry whispered almost as if he was surprised that someone had offered to make him a cake.
''That's Hagrid for you, one of the kindest souls in Hogwarts you'll find.'' Mary agreed before realizing how late it had gotten. ''We'll apparate you back home before it gets too late.'' She said as she stretched out her hand for him to hold, apparating the two of them on what she supposed was Godric's Hollow.
''Thank you for everything Aurora, Mary !'' Harry said shyly.
''There's no need to thank me, Harry. Ill come and visit you tomorrow, try to take care of yourself until then, Merlin knows you father loved finding trouble.''
''Yes mam'' Harry said cheerfully as he started walking towards the house, suddenly disappearing in what both Mary and Aurora assumed was the fidelius charm as she apparated towards Hogwarts, satisfied with everything she'd done in the day.
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After two hours of unpacking and storing food, Ren finally managed to sit down to catch a breath, for once in clothes that were actually comfy to wear. He heard his snowy owl's melodic hoot in satisfaction at the small place on the window sill right next to his couch that he a had prepared for her, making him smile at how fast she had gotten to like her place.
''I guess we have to choose your name now?'' He asked making her stretch her wings and fly towards him, landing softly on his head.
''We should look through history books to see if you like any of the names there.'' He explained as they started going through every book in the library as they picked out any history or storybooks that they could find.
''How to develop an Occlumency Fortress, that would be useful with the Occlumency books they gave me at Gringotts...''He trailed off before being pecked both affectionately and in somewhat annoyance by his owl. ''Sorry'' He apologized as he put the book down.
After some few more minutes of looking they both started researching for possible names, many of which she was greatly offended were even up for consideration.
''How about Alaska?'' Harry said after about an hour of researching, to which she had decided to just stare at him in disappointment. ''Apparently not, Eira? Bianca? Holly?'' He said while she simply stared at him.
''Hedwig?'' He said starting to fill stressed, but to his surprise, she hooted in satisfaction. ''Do you like your name Hedwig?'' He asked her, causing her to fly towards him, at which point he started to pet her. ''I guess Hedwig it is.'' He told her while she hooted in agreement.
Deciding that his books could wait he talked to Hedwig for hours through the night. She may not have been able to talk back to him, but she was excellent at listening to the things that he didn't want anyone to know about, hotting every few sentences as he stroked her wings. Neither of them was aware of the significant bond that had just been born on that bright night.
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A/N:First and foremost I wanted to say thank you to all the people that have taken their time to read this fanfiction. So yeah...thanks!
Now that that's out of the way I feel like I should start giving some explanations, starting with the name change. If Harry hated his fame so much why didn't he just change his appearance and change his name? It never made sense to me, so since this Harry has his mother work ethic and intelligence not to mentions both Mary's and Aurora's guidance I thought I could put that in.
Another reason I changed Harry's name is that this was much more symbolic for the fanfic. Ren means water Lily, which was obvious as to why seeing how he looks more like her. Calypso is one of Saturn moons, but I also chose this as his second name since Calypso was cursed to always be alone on her island with the only company being the animals. Once he attends Hogwarts he would make some few but close friends of each house, with each holding a lot of influence.
I've always loved Hedwig, so she is a much more important character in this fanfic than what she was in the original books.
Lastly, I've been debating whether to allow Sirius and Cedric to die, I honestly don't like character deaths so that is still something I'm debating about.
Once again thanks for reading and I'll see you in the next chapter, Ciao!
