Harrison "Strider" Firgen
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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Author's note: Harrison Firgen's previous life as Harry Potter was pretty much canon until Remus and Tonks survive the Final Battle. Harrison does not have the invisibility cloak.
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Chapter 4: Diagonal Alley- House Shopping
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Harry quietly fed the toddler on his lap in the corner of Tom's diner. To the side of Harrison's elbow, there were two stacks of folders for places for sale. One tower of paperwork was about the various magical homes and the other pillar contained information about both plottable and unplottable pieces of land plots. There were numerous folders, but no property had caught his eye so far. Taking a sip of a gillywater, Harrison turned the page. He had half a mind to simply buy a piece of land and build his own home. At least then he could ward it properly. Most so called 'magical' properties were only called such because it was in magical space rather than actually being magical. Harry sighed as he rejected yet another folder.
"What do you think Teddy?" Harrison murmured nearly inaudible.
"Ork! Ork!" Teddy cheered as more of Harrison's pork chop was cut into toddler sized pieces.
"Can you say pork, Teddy? Pa-ore-k. Pork." Harrison softly encouraged.
"Peorek. Pork!" Teddy grabbed the cube of meat off of Harrison's fork and fiddled it in his hands before happily chewing on it.
"That's right Teddy. Pork. And this is a fork. Can you say Fork?"
"Fork! Pork!"
"This is pork, and this is a fork."
"Wan' Pork!" Teddy yelled,
"Shh, yelling is not allowed. Remember to say please."
"Pease?"
Harry chuckled, "Okay, open up."
"Awww!" Teddy waited for the forkful to arrive inside his mouth this time. Harry took a napkin and wiped the toddler's face and hands clean.
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Eying the structures made out of atoms of bureaucracy, Harrison grimaced. It only served to remind him of his deceased friends in the second and third war of his first dimension. The only ones who knew the two of them individually in this new dimension were the Lovegoods. But sometimes, it was hard to even look at Luna when he remembered how the traps around Belletrix's final horcrux had killed her older counterpart. It was also hard to see Luna's family, growing by two, working and whole when he, save for Teddy, had no one left. Now that he had his (and Teddy's) records of existence put in order and verified by Gringotts, Harrison wanted to move into a place of his own. He wouldn't mind living close by to the Lovegoods; Harry just needed some space.
If Harrison was fortunate, he would find a home before the babies arrived in the world. In a matter of months (likely after the twins arrived), he would be taking his all of his OWLs and a couple NEWTs.
Harrison took a stab at his lettuce, slowly munching away as he opened the next file.
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Harrison grimaced as a strong odor distracted him from the real estate papers about a internally expanded tree house. Hitting Teddy's diaper with an anti-oder charm, Harrison swiftly decided to be done with house hunting for the day. He scooped the rejected pile into the bottom of a box, placing a paper to separate the rejects from the uninspected folders on the top of the pile that was magically compressed as soon as the lid was closed. He shrunk the box, pushed the nearly polished plate away and scooped the fussing toddler into his arms. Flicking his wrist, the box shrunk to be pocket size.
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After getting out of the mens room with a happier toddler, Harrison nodded to Tom as he left the Leaky Cauldron and tapped the correct bricks to enter Diagonal Alley. First stop was Gringotts.
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Harrison had already deposited a sizable portion of his fortune (money only) into a deeper buried vault. He had deposited the same amount with the dwarves in New Zealand and another portion with the Munchkins or little people of Holland. What Harrison currently needed from Gringotts was to set up a series of investments divided between the magical world and mundane world.
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Stepping out of a less well known candy shop, Harrison tucked away six chocolate frogs into an expandable pocket. Harrison passed by the Magical Menagerie, but paused in front of Eeylops Owl Emporium. Harrison swallowed hard, remembering his former familiar. But he didn't have more time to think about Hedwig when he realized Teddy had wandered off. Frantically, Harry scanned the crowd and gave an inaudible sigh of relief when he found Teddy in front of the Magical Menagerie. At least the street hadn't been packed as it would have been in the weeks before students returned to Hogwarts or Holidays.
"Teddy, don't run off on me. You should at least told me where you were going."
"But the birdies dad! Look at the birdies!"
Harrison sighed and scooped Teddy into his arms, "The birdies will be there later."
"But the birdies! Dad! Please?" The young metamorph begged with soulful green eyes. Harrison wasn't in the mood for dealing with a potential temper tantrum, so Harry reluctantly nodded.
"But only for a short time, you hear?"
"Yes Dad." Teddy clapped his hands in delight.
Closing the door to the street behind him, Harrison watched in amusement as Teddy immediately got as close to the birds as he could, which meant Teddy's little nose was pressed up flat in front of the glass display case.
"Is, is that a Snidget?" Harrison's voice was filled in awe as his eyes focused on zooming streak of golden light.
The store owner popped up out of nowhere, "Ah, yes. I have a license to display the Golden Snidgets. They are so rare as it is, but they are my pride and joy. They are not for sale, sorry."
"You have a license for-? But isn't there a reservation for Snidgets?"
The store owner nodded happily, "Oh, yes indeed! The Modesty Rabnott Snidget Reservation! I'm of the Clagg clan. This display is to serve as a reminder of the fundraiser for Snigets."
"Don't the birdies get bored?" Teddy asked in concern.
"They are switched out with other ones at the Sanctuary every so often." The manager assured the boy.
"Can I pet one?" Teddy pleaded.
The member of the Clagg clan wavered, "I'm sorry, but I'm no Seeker. If I was to open it, they'd all come out."
"I was a seeker, one of the best outside of a league." Harrison murmured, turning to face the store owner, "Is there a time you'd us prefer to come by to keep the outside door closed or something."
"I don't think it's a good idea." The manager sighed apologetically, "Both of us would get in trouble."
Harrison regretfully nodded, "Do you know of any books at least about Snidgets. Like what they eat, what to do if you find one injured, that sort of thing?"
"Certainly! I'm not Flourish and Blotts, but I do have a number of books about animal care." The manager of the Magical Menagerie brightened up, happy to help with something that wouldn't potentially get him in trouble."
"How are the populations of Snidgets doing at your Sanctuary?"
"Splendidly! It's difficult to keep track of them all, but it's amazing to watch the little balls of fluff be born and grow."
"What happens if they escape?"
"We've got plenty of protective wards, warders, guards and former seekers, but if they get past we try to get them back." Mr. Clagg eyed Harrison cautiously, "Visitors are allowed, but poachers are not. If you really wanted to see more of them- it's unlikely that you'd get to pet one, certain sanctuaries do allow it."
"I understand. You said wards, are they specialized wards tailored to Snidgets?"
"But of course. I can't tell you how, only that they are."
"Cool." Harrison smiled faintly as he watched Teddy find a kitten and snuggle it. For the son of a wolf, Teddy sure loved cats. And birds for that matter. It was in moments with Teddy like this that Harrison found his motivation to keep going through daily life. That was not to say he was relaxed. The Second (and Third) Wizarding wars, both of which were events that had not happened in this world yet, but had left their scars. Underneath his mask of 'the average wizard', Harrison was highly aware of each exit and personnel in the area.