"That place gives me the collywobbles, " said Hagrid, leaning against one of the pillars outside the Golden Door. "You mind if I nip into the Cauldron for a bit of a pick me up?"

I told him I didn't, that I had my list of things to get, and that I could take care of it.

He told me that on the list I was allowed an Owl, and that he would get that for me, as a birthday present. He said he knew animals better than most. So he would pick the very best. We decided to meet outside Eyelops Owl Emporium in an hour.

I felt a bit strung out as well, and spotted Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour and decided to buy myself an ice cream and pause for a moment to take it all in. I sat down at an open table on the terrace and set the suitcase, account report, and bag of money on the table. Florean, the proprietor came out and asked what I wanted.

"Vanilla Ice cream, " I said.

"Syrups? We have the regular Cherry, Chocolate, Butterscotch as well as Bertie Botts Every Flavor Syrup, s'like the beans, only in syrup form, " Florean rattled off mindlessly.

"Just vanilla, " I repeated.

"Suit yerself."

He hurried off and returned with a dish containing 3 monstrous balls of vanilla ice cream. At that moment he must have looked more closely at my face, as his eyes widened and he rushed off back to the shop. A few moments later his head poked out from around the corner, followed by a pleasant looking woman, and a frizzy haired teenage girl who must have been his daughter. As soon as they saw me looking, they jerked their heads back inside, and I started to eat my ice cream, sneaking looks back in their direction to see if they were still looking at me, but they weren't.

After finishing my ice cream I got up to leave and Florean appeared beside me.

"I hope you enjoyed yourself Mr. Potter, " he said. I almost asked how he knew my name, but decided there wasn't much point. I wasn't sure I would ever get used to being known by people. Deep inside, I felt ashamed of my fame. I had always wanted to be famous, but for something I had actually done, or at least intended to do. Being famous for not dying when your parents, two people you love most in the world, or should at least, seemed shameful. Like yet another handout. I hate handouts.

"Yes, it was the best ice cream I've ever had, " I said honestly, "how much do I owe you?"

"Oh no, no, no. That won't do at all. Harry Potter doesn't pay at my shop. You-know-who...was not kind to my family. No, Harry Potter will never pay at this shop, your money is no good here, but you are welcome anytime, day or night."

The way he had mentioned Voldemort made me think better of arguing with him. I thanked him profusely and left. He was a kind man, and over the years became a good friend. It is terrible what happened later. I keep in touch with his daughter Ariadne though, she's become quite the ice cream patroness in her own right, and is still the only person in the wizarding world who can make a decent vanilla ice cream.

As I stood up, I realized that I was becoming increasingly weighed down by my acquisitions. I spotted a shop called Madame Malkin's Robes for all Occasions and stopped in to get what was on my list, and hoped to find a shoulder bag. The shop was spacious and neat, everything hung up on racks and rows with little signs handwritten with little bats, or pumpkins to dot the 'i's and 'j's. I looked around for a moment until I came across a large display of various bags. They were marked by weird sizes, starting at 0.5m3 to 1.5m3. I picked up one marked 1.5m3 and looked inside, the bottom was strangely far away. It was big enough to almost fit me entirely, and the suitcase, despite that from the outside it looked barely larger than your average school bag. I looked at the outside design, it was covered in green and black dragons coiling around each other and they seemed to be moving, to be alive. There was a large flap that connected to it by a silver buckle. I watched the design for a moment and then decided I liked it enough. I put my suitcase and account report in the bag and carried it with me. I took out the list and read it over:

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:

Three sets of plain work robes (black)

One plain pointed hat(black) for day wear

One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Since I hadn't brought a change of clothes, I looked around first for jeans. I found something similar, they looked and felt like them, but they didn't come in many normal colors. The only ones that weren't bright red, or pink, or lime green were black. Wizards like brightly colored clothing, and many of them have no sense of color combination. I decided to go with one black and one red, these were two colors I could at least imagine wearing in the muggle world as well, without drawing too much attention. The belt loops on the pants were about twice as wide as normal, and so were all of the belts. I became utterly fascinated by a thick leather belt with a wide silver buckle that featured a strange creature with the head and wings of an eagle, the fore legs of a lion and the body of a horse, I decided I liked it, I also picked up several tunics, which is a kind of old style shirt, because Madame Malkin didn't have any T-Shirts, in fact everything within the shop seemed to have come right out of the 16th or 17th century.

I looked down at my shoes, and decided that I should get a new pair, and maybe some winter boots as well. I picked a dark brown leather pair of boots that went almost up to my knees, and a wintery pair in black with a lining of what looked like rabbit fur.

Carrying my stuff over my arm, I walked up to a squat jovial looking witch in amethyst silken robes and asked for assistance.

"Hogwarts dear?" she asked, "I've got the lot here, another boy's being fitted now, you can join him." She gestured absent mindedly towards the back.

I went to the back of the shop, where a young boy with a pale face and platinum blond hair was standing on a stool, while another witch in bright green and purple robes was measuring, pinning, and cutting black robes to fit him. She gestured to the stool beside him, and I stood on it.

"Hogwarts as well?" said the boy.

"Yes, " I said.

"My father is next door buying my books with mother, then we'll be going to Ollivander's for a wand. After that, I plan to drag them off to look at racing brooms, " he said in a drawling voice. "I don't see why first years can't have their own brooms, I think I'll smuggle it in somehow. Have you got your own broom?" "

"No." I said. Noting that maybe I should get one as well. Though, I wasn't sure it would fit in the bag I had gotten.

"Play Quidditch?" He asked.

"No." I said. Beginning to realize how truly behind I was on the wizarding world, I didn't know anything about these things, it was like he was speaking a different language.

"Know what house you'll be in yet?" He asked.

"No, I like Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. They sound the best." I said, finally glad to talk about something I knew.

"Well, no one really knows where they will end up, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been. Ravenclaw is also good. Gryffindor's are a bit too puffed up if you ask me. And Hufflepuff are just low class," He said.

There was a slight pause as the witch took off the robes she was fitting to them and waved her wand, they folded neatly and landed on a pile of the rest of his robes on a low table.

"I'm Draco Malfoy," the boy said, extending his hand.

"Harry Potter, " I extended mine and he smiled, shaking it.

His parents showed up moments later to collect him, and he introduced us. His father was curt but polite, Lucious Malfoy, and his mother, Narcissa, was rather aloof but kindly. She had startling grey streaks in her hair, and a beautiful fairy like quality. I have to admit I rather fancied her after our first meeting. She seemed to care a lot for Draco, checking over his robes, straightening his hair. They waved goodbye and left for Ollivander's but I remained to be fitted for my robes, and then I asked her about the tunics and pants, which she hemmed and sized after a few moments with fast wand work. I was rather impressed with it all, as Aunt Petunia didn't even know how to sew, or if she did she couldn't be bothered. I was always going about in second hand pants from Dudley who was much taller than me, and so the pant legs bunched up under my heels and always developed holes and ragged bits. I gathered up my things and took them to the counter where the witch behind a large lock box asked "Coin or Quill?"

I decided to try the Quill, and she handed me the tally. Not cheap, about 41 galleons and 2 silver sickles, but I signed, and my signature momentarily glowed a bright green on the bill. The witch smiled and handed me a piece of paper where small script letters were appearing in random sequence. After a moment I realized it was a receipt, and I put it in my pocket. Things in the wizarding world are a bit expensive, but then again they have no concept of planned obsolescence and all things are built to last. With only moderate care the average robe lasts 10 or 20 years, and with magic they can be repaired almost indefinitely, if you are good at that sort of thing. Mantuamancy is practically its own branch of magic and is difficult to do right.

I headed towards Eyelop's where I met Hagrid, he was proudly holding up a large bird cage with the most beautiful snowy white owl.

"Happy Birthday 'arry!" Hagrid exclaimed and presented the owl. It was the best birthday present I had ever received. I stuck my finger into the cage and the owl nibbled it gently.

"Now, she's a proud owl, comes from real good stock mind." Hagrid said, "did yeh get yer robes and all?"

"Yes, " I said, "and this bag to carry stuff."

"Oh dear, that'll not be big enough, you'll need a trunk for sure. No better place than Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment fer tha', " Hagrid said.

"Hagrid, what's Quidditch?" I asked.

"Cripes 'arry, I forget how much yeh can' even know. It's our sport. Like Muggle football I guess, or Rugby even. Well, Wizards play Rugby too, just no' as much." He added.

"So they kick around a ball?" I asked.

"Not really, it's played on brooms, flyin' in the air. And there are 3 types of balls, and different players do differen' things with 'em." Hagrid added, a bit at a loss to explain the basics. The more he talked, the more complicated it sounded. With seekers sneaking after snitches and chasers pursuing quaffles and beaters batting bludgers, and six goal posts with rings.

We went to Wiseacre's and purchased a large trunk with a pull handle and wheels. The label on it said 9 cubic meters of space. When I opened it, and looked inside it was larger than my cupboard at the Dursleys.

"How do they do this?" I asked Hagrid.

"A charm of somekind. I never finished me schooling, I think it's called Dimensionem Alternis or summat like that. Powerful magical charm."

"Is that like the letters? When I received mine there was more in the envelope than should have been able to fit, " I asked?

"No, shrinking spell, just makes stuff smaller, all wizard envelopes and packages do it. Easier on the owls, " He said.

I also purchased a small telescope with 200x magnification, nigh vision, infrared, and even the ability to detect magic, which showed up as fumes of different colored smoke and sparks.

I also got, from my list:

OTHER EQUIPMENT

Glass or Crystals Phials (On Hagrid's encouragement I bought twice as much as needed.)

Brass scales set (advanced with micro measurements)

From there we went to the Potage's Cauldron Shop where I bought a set of cauldrons in a small box, another shrinking spell I surmised as the cauldrons tripled in size as you removed them. There was a Pewter, Copper, Iron, Silver, and Gold. The whole set cost a small fortune and Hagrid tried to dissuade me, but I felt a strange pull to them. They were so iconic to magic, the witches cauldron. From there we went on to Slug and Jigger's Apothecary, where I purchased a basic set of potion ingredients. I didn't know what more to buy, but decided I would read up on the subject and come back for more if I wanted to experiment.

From there we went to Flourish and Blotts' to buy my school books, I took out my list:

COURSE BOOKS

The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emetic Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phillida Spore

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

Luckily they had all the books for Hogwarts as a boxed set. I wandered around the store for a moment and picked up several other books. Hogwarts, a history and Sites of Historical Sorcery, a used copy of The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, and DIY Magic for the Home Tinkerer which seemed to list spells and techniques for DIY projects and tinkering with magic items to make them better or stronger. I figured it would be the perfect complement to my existing hobby of tinkering with electronics. I also picked up a copy of Wizard Idioms for Idiots by Majorie N. Paramour, and A Dictionary of Magical Terms by the Mugwump Linguistic Society. I felt these two things would be essential, otherwise I should spend half my time asking dumb questions that could be answered by a basic dictionary.

It was getting late, so we went back to the leaky cauldron for dinner. When we were finished Hagrid asked me if I would be able to get back on the train, as he was late for a meeting with Dumbledore. I said yes, it wouldn't be a problem, so he left and I sat there.

I reached into my bag and pulled out my Gringotts account statement. I opened it up and there was written the total.

34,511 Galleons, 11, 410 Sickles and 700 Knuts.

I had never had so much money in my life. It was over £150,000. I looked at the next page, the last entries were from 10 years ago. Except for my latest withdrawal. The next to the last two, for 10,000 Galleons a piece. Life Insurance payment.

It was all there in black and white, the value of my parents' life. I would have paid more to have them back, to meet them. I was angry and sad at the same time. Part of me didn't want the money. I would have given it all back. Then I remembered the note attached to the briefcase, I had been too distracted to read it, too busy. But now in this quiet corner of the Leaky Cauldron, I took the letter out and flipped it over and over. I opened it carefully, took out the letter, and read.

Dear Harry,

If you are reading this letter, then it means things did not turn out the way we hoped. We know it will be a small comfort to you, an 11 year old boy, alone, facing his first journey into a new world of magic and mystery. We have worked hard to provide for you in our absence, and your father and I have left to you our most prized possessions in the case to which this letter is attached. In it, we have put our school diaries, a Potter family tradition to help the next generation with the knowledge gained from the past, which we hope you will read, and get to know us. They are unedited, with all our hopes and dreams and thoughts and even mistakes. We hope you will also take the time to write your own for the sake and education of our grandchildren, which we hope there will be many!

We know you will have a fabulous time at Hogwarts, and we hope that Albus Dumbledore is still headmaster there. We want you to listen to him, he is wise and a great friend, and we have asked him to look out for you. We hope that you mind your godfather Sirius, and we are sure that he has loved you like his own son.

Your father and I want to remind you to be brave and strong, and we wish for you to have a charmed life.

Please remember always that we love you, and will always love you, and will be smiling down on you from heaven, and protecting you in any way we can.

All our love,
Mom and Dad

I felt sad at the letter. When you grow up never knowing your real parents, it's not like losing them when you are older, you are kind of numb to it. But reading this letter, it was like losing them now, today. I forced back the tears that were swelling up and tried to focus on being as detached as I could. I picked a random question to think about; Who is Sirius? I guessed that they had expected I would be staying with him, and not my Aunt and Uncle.

I put the case aside as Tom the bartender came over. "How was it Harry?" he asked. "I loved it," I said, "how much?"

"Don't you worry, Hagrid's taken care of it. Anything else?" he asked.

As a matter of fact, there was. I knew I was too behind in the wizarding world to be out of it for even a minute, I had less than a month before term started and there would be no possibility to get any respite from the Dursleys back on Privet Drive.

So I asked Tom if he would rent me a room for the rest of the month, and what the cost would be. He looked at me quizzically for a minute then shrugged. The weekly rate was 6 Galleons. It was settled. He showed me to a small shabby room with a little plush bed, couch and writing desk. I stacked my things up in the corner took the case with me to the couch, set it on the coffee table and flipped the buckles.