AN: Some of Ollivander's speech is taken from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
Minerva McGonagall was tallying acceptance letters for the coming year; though Hogwarts was compulsory, families who were expecting to leave the Isles often applied to other magical schools rather than continue to send their children to Britain. Frowning, Minerva double checked her numbers before giving a sad sigh; there were only 62 first-year students coming in that year, which was significantly smaller than other years. While there were only 80 second years, all other years were over a hundred each, with the seventh year having the largest cohort at 215 - one thousand students spread over seven years made for large class sizes. In past years students would be separated by year and house for classes (i.e. Gryffindors fourth years would have potions by themselves, etc.) and even by gender if needed, excepting for NEWT level and elective courses, which would see two houses together if there were few enough students. However, since there were so few first years, she may as well schedule two houses for each class - the part-time staff may enjoy a freer schedule than usual in the coming years.
Minerva was not only the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts but also the Head of Gryffindor House and Head of the Transfiguration department. For her last role, she wrote the lesson plans for all years and personally taught as many of the classes as she could. Due to a packed schedule, however, she usually ended up taking the theory lessons and leaving the practical lessons to Junior Professor Charles Smith, who also helped her with developing tests and assignments and then marking them. Most other full-time professors did the same and had their own junior staff (two for potions as it had the smallest class capacity for safety reasons), with the exception of Sybil Trelawney (Divination professor), who tended to get few students and so often combined years, and Silvanus Kettleburn (Care of Magical Creatures) who used Rubeus Hagrid (also Keeper of the Keys) as an unofficial assistant. There were also the prefects and Head boy and girl, who could be used to mark lower year assignments and oversee detentions if they were needed to.
Other part-time staff included seminar professors who came at various times during the year to give weekend courses on topics such as healing, art, and law. Usually, these were professionals who could be convinced to volunteer their time to Hogwarts so the seminar options often changed from year to year.
Minerva was halfway through updating the course schedules when Albus Dumbledore walked into her office, a tray of tea floating behind him. "Ready to start the betting pool?" Hogwarts' senior staff had a tradition of betting on where various new students ended up as well as what courses the sixth years would choose.
"Sorry Albus, but I'll need a few more minutes to finish up my work. We have even fewer students coming in this year, which requires more adjustments than usual." Minerva apologized as she continued working.
"No worries, my dear, so long as I'm not doing the work!" Albus said cheerfully to Minerva's amused glare. Honestly, sometimes the man acted more like an overgrown child than a venerated elder of 110. Even now, he reached into his pocket only to take out a sweet of some sort and pop it into his mouth!
Soon enough the other Heads of houses arrived: Filius for Ravenclaw, Pomona for Hufflepuff, and Severus for Slytherin. Ready to start betting, a list of incoming students was copied and shared around and each Head put tick marks next students they believed would be sorted into their house. This would help them to start memorizing names and connecting them to other students such as siblings and cousins. Dumbledore, supposedly impartial, would keep the four lists as well as the money until after the students were sorted. They would meet again afterward to determine who had the most accurate list. Similarly, lists of new sixth years were passed around and each professor would place a mark next to students they believed would make it into their courses. Dumbledore, who routinely gave seminars on alchemy if there were slots open, put marks next students he believed would attend his seminar. This list would be kept by the sorting hat, and the winner would have the honor of hosting the hat in their office. More often than not, Dumbledore would win this pot as most students showed up to at least his introductory seminar, so the hat rarely had the opportunity to go anywhere else.
Some first years were quickly ticked off - Zachary Smith was a Hufflepuff descendent while Draco Malfoy had been groomed for Slytherin from infancy. Others were not as easy, especially the muggleborns, though Snape was happy to discount them from his own list. Other names were hotly debated due to being known to the professors - McGonagall had the advantage of having already met the muggleborns but she had to answer honestly when asked about their personalities.
"Ms. Granger was very interested in gaining knowledge, but she was also quite taken with gaining a reputation for excellence."
"Mr. Finch-Fletchley was friendly and cheerful, and came from a well to do background."
Harry Potter's name drew a particularly large reaction from everyone.
"I've seen him play with the other children - very friendly and he made sure everyone had a fair turn. I think he will do excellent in Hufflepuff." Pomona said strongly as she puffed her chest and looked down her small nose at the others.
"I've seen him, too, and he seemed a very curious boy, always asking why and seeking answers. Ravenclaw is the house for him." Filius argued while firmly ticking Harry's name on the list.
"A daring boy, Gryffindor is where he'll be." Minerva also ticked his name.
"You lot can have him, I have no need for a conceited celebrity making trouble in my house." Severus did not place a mark next to Harry's name. He received disgruntled looks for his effort, but he just sneered back.
"Well, I haven't met him yet -" Dumbledore started to say before being interrupted.
"And who's fault is that? You know exactly where he is - exactly where you dropped him off ten years ago!" Minerva said heatedly; she still hadn't forgiven Albus for leaving Harry with the Dursleys.
"My dear, from all accounts he is doing well, and you know I cannot go see him without drawing the attention of the Ministry down on him." Albus rebuked gently.
"It's thanks to someone else taking a hand in things that he is doing well, no thanks to those normal-obsessed caricatures!" Minerva was not backing down, and Filius and Pomona both nodded along to what she was saying.
"Yes, yes, and thankful I am, too. You must remember the wards, Minerva, all of you. They will protect Harry from harm, and by growing up away from the infamy of his parents' deaths, he at least has a semblance of a normal childhood." Albus argued back.
Minerva continued to grumble under her breath, but she did not continue the argument. Harry was happy and well adjusted, and things turned out well in the end, so there really was no need to make a big issue of things.
The group quickly went back to their betting, leading to more cheerful discussion.
Harry (in disguise) and Neville were escorted by their guardians to Diagon Alley on August 5th - a weekday would be less crowded and most of the Hogwarts shopping rush was over with. There would be another closer to September 1st and a trickle of shopping students in the meantime, but a majority did their shopping the two weeks after receiving the Hogwarts' letters.
Their first stop was Ollivander who confirmed the importance of having the wand choose the wizard. He also inspected Frank Longbottom's wand and declared it too loyal to its previous owner to bond to Neville, which was disappointing for both Longbottoms. Neville tried several wands before showing results with thirteen-inch cherry wood and unicorn hair wand.
Harry took longer, significantly longer. Long enough that Neville and his grandmother decided to go out for ice cream to wait for Harry. Eventually he found his wand, which was 11" holly with a phoenix feather core.
While Ollivander's exposition on wands carried by other people was… something, his interest in Harry's scar was beyond the pale.
"And that's where…" He got very close to Harry, which caused the boy to shuffle back in discomfort. Ollivander ignored this and continued closer, reaching out to touch his forehead. "I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he said softly. "Thirteen and a half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands ... Well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do…"
"You would have sold it anyway," Jackie said shortly, coming forward to pull Harry away. Harry's scar was now only a barely discernible pale pink line, but he still was very aware of it and hated having attention brought to it. Jackie knew this, so she continued, hoping to draw Ollivander's attention to her. "As the only accredited wand maker in Great Britain, you do not have the right to refuse service to underage children based on what they may or may not do in the future. To do so would be both unethical and illegal."
Contrary to her expectation, Ollivander laughed - a surprisingly deep sound. "Right you are! I often walk around the Alley, seeing my wands being used by all kinds of people, and though I am sorry to see them so ill-used and abused by some, I can never bring myself to regret putting hopes and dreams into the hands of children. It is not my place to judge their future endeavors, only to give them the tool to achieve their potential." With that, he went back to trying to match Harry to a wand.
Eventually (once his shop had been thoroughly destroyed to Harry's chagrin) Ollivander turned a thoughtful look to Harry. "I wonder, now – yes, why not – unusual combination – holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."
Harry took a hold of the pale wand and immediately felt something - a warmth both in the wand and in his chest, but not really his chest, more his center… Harry just knew that this was it, and it seemed that Ollivander did, too. A quick swish and undeniable proof was given, fiery sparks bursting from the tip of the wand.
Ollivander smiled and with a quick wave of his own wand put his shop back to rights."Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well... I did not for the connection to be there, but then again, it may not be." Ollivander thought out loud as he packaged the wand for Harry.
Harry's interest was caught by this. "Excuse me, but what do you mean by 'connection'?"
Ollivander glanced at Jackie before looking at Harry. "I remember when You-Know-Who came for a wand. Pale skinned, dark hair and eyes, and hungry - for acceptance, for freedom, for acknowledgment. I knew he would be great, but I would never have guessed he would turn so dark. Raised in a muggle orphanage, he was, and happy to have made it to the Magical World." He gave a heavy sigh and shook his head before continuing. "The phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand gave another feather – just one other. I used it to make his wand."
Harry startled at hearing the last and shot a panicked look at the packaged wand now in his hand.
Ollivander shook his head again before placing a gentle hand on Harry's shoulder (he had to reach over the counter). "The wand chooses the wizard, but it is the wizard's intent that shapes the magic. Holly wood often chooses those who have tempers in need of calming, who are protective by nature and have committed themselves to a spiritual quest. Phoenix feather wands have a great range of magic and are both powerful and picky. This feather, in particular, comes from Fawkes, a phoenix who makes his home at Hogwarts; you may even have the chance to meet him. This is a good wand, Mr. Potter, suited to someone whose earliest action protected the Wizarding World."
For the first time in their short acquaintance, Ollivander's words worked to soothe Harry, causing him to bring the wand box back towards his body. It was a good wand because he was going to be a good wizard, not some dark monstrosity like Voldie.
Jackie was also soothed - she did not want Harry to distrust his wand as they could lead to him not being able to utilize it fully. She quickly paid for the wand (it was her birthday gift to Harry this year) before saying goodbye to Ollivander and leaving his shop.
It was already noon, and Harry still needed to see his trust vault in order to determine what he needed to purchase new. After meeting up with Augusta and Neville, it was decided that the latter two would continue their shopping while Harry and Jackie would visit Gringotts. They would all meet back at the manor for dinner as the two groups may not finish at the same time.
Before then, they decided to all have lunch at a nearby bakery, where they all had a light lunch of tea and sandwiches. Jackie also bought a few extra to go as she expected her and Harry's day to be longer and wanted to have snacks on hand just in case.
"I'm here to access my vault, please." This was the first time that Harry had personally done business in Gringotts since usually, Jackie acted on his behalf. However, Jackie had passed to him her limited knowledge of how goblins preferred to do business (polite and to the point) and he had asked Professor Flitwick for further information, so Harry was only slightly nervous. Having Jackie there also helped to bolster his confidence and he was looking forward to their infamous cart rides.
"Name and key, please." The goblin held out his hand.
"Here it is, and Hadrian Potter." Harry hoped that by not saying his shortened name he could avoid the attention of anyone eavesdropping for it.
The goblin inspected the key, declared it valid, and had another goblin come to escort Harry and Jackie to vault 687. The ride was as fun as Harry dreamed, and it was a pink-cheeked boy (and a pale Jackie) who stood by as the vault door was unlocked.
It seemed that when the goblins had retrieved Harry's assets, they had gone to the bother of organizing them somewhat. The left side of the vault had literal hills of gold, silver, and copper coins; a counter to the side said there were near five million coins, but since it didn't differentiate between galleons, sickles, and knuts, Harry couldn't be sure how much exactly was in his vault.
The right side (which was only about a quarter of the room as the hills of coins took up most of the vault) had stacks of carefully labeled trunks in various sizes. Among the labels of 'Living room furniture' and 'kitchenware' were also Lily's and James' school trunks and several trunks worth of books. There was also a trunk labeled 'other' that Harry thought would be interesting since knickknacks had their own well-labeled trunk.
"Thank you, Griphook. We will be here for a while if you don't mind." Harry said to the goblin next to him who only nodded and sat a convenient shelf near the entrance of the vault. Apparently, he planned on waiting for them to finish. Shrugging, Harry made his way to his parents' school trunks.
"You have your list, Harry?" Jackie asked as she followed him.
"Yep." Harry absently took out his Hogwarts letter and passed it to Jackie to hold.
Looking through his parents' trunks, he found most of his textbook list (excepting the Defence books), his mother's old notes, his mother's school diaries, and a list of jokes his father thought were funny. While his mother's equipment had not weathered the time well, his father's had been of better quality and he was able to recycle them for his own use. This included the telescope, a handful of crystal potion vials, and brass scales.
In the trunk labeled 'Pictures' he not only found several photo albums but also paintings of his ancestors (sadly their animation was very limited so they could only hold simple conversations). He ended up only taking his own baby album as it had pictures of his parents holding him, but the others he left for when he set up his own house and had the room to display them properly.
Before leaving the vault, Harry insisted on looking into the 'other' trunk. It ended up being full of inventions from previous generations of Potters, a preserved layer of his parents' wedding cake, and, among other things, a silvery piece of clothing and Jackie immediately identified as an invisibility cloak.
"I need this! It's great!" Harry laughed as he round around the vault, invisible to the other occupants.
"Harry, you're not taking this with you," Jackie said sternly.
"But whyyyy?!" Harry positively whined while clutching the cloak to himself.
"Because giving an eleven-year-old the power of invisibility is only asking for trouble. Also, that is more than an ordinary invisibility cloak. If anything happens to it, or it gets stolen, then you'll probably never get it back."
"How about, I won't take it to Hogwarts, but can I play with it now? We'll put it back before going back to the Dursleys."
The goblin chose to speak up at that point. "Once an item is removed from the vault, it may not be put back."
"Aww man!" Harry took off the cloak and put it back in the trunk with a morose air… he really wanted it, but Jackie was right. He knew that Piers Polkiss had a habit of stealing things from other children, and he also knew that magic didn't mean there wasn't a similarly minded student running around Hogwarts. In any case, there was an invisibility charm he could use (after learning) if he needed it. Best to leave the cloak behind, protected by Gringotts.
"Come on Harry, you can use your father's trunk too. It's still in good condition, you only need to take it to the luggage store to have the charms redone." So saying, Jackie began to move what was in James' old trunk to Lily's and organizing what they had chosen to take with them into James' trunk. She also had Harry count out 50 galleons into a money pouch - this would be used to purchase Harry's other things with extra given to Harry as an allowance. With Harry's help, everything only took a few minutes and soon they were on their way out of Gringotts.
At the luggage store, Harry not only paid to have the trunk fixed up, but he also bought a school bag which was charmed with limited expansion capabilities and a weak featherlight (it would weigh about half of what it should).
Afterward, Harry and Jackie went around Diagon Alley gathering everything else Harry needed, namely his uniform, cauldron, Defence book, recommended potions' ingredients for first years, and a set of crystal phials (he would use the extras as backups).
Their final destination was Eeylops Owl Emporium where Harry planned to purchase an owl for himself. The store was small and dark, with owls in cages hanging everywhere. When the shopkeeper came to greet them she spoke very softly, as if trying to soothe a child. "We a variety of owls, many of them perfectly suited to Hogwarts students as they can carry packages long distance."
Harry was scarcely paying attention to her as he had already caught sight of a beautiful snowy owl who was staring back at him. Jackie, having noticed his distraction (and wanting this day to be over) quickly pointed to the snowy owl. "How about that one?"
"Oh, yes, a very good choice. Very intelligent she is, and rare. 15 galleons, and an extra five for a cage, stand, and enough feed for a month. She can hunt for her own dinner at Hogwarts."
"15 galleons!?" Jackie's own brown owl, Jimmy, had been purchased for half that and he was a quality owl!
"Rare, as I said, and has more magical affinity than most other owls."
"I'll take her!" Harry said firmly even as he was already taking down her cage. He sent a grin at Jackie as he let the owl gently nibble his fingers. "See, she already likes me!" Harry had been waiting a long time to get a pet. Petunia was allergic to cats, and Harry had met Trevor. Owls were allowed at Hogwarts, served an important function, and he was sure Neville would let her stay at the manor if Vernon proved a problem.
As Harry paid for the snowy owl and her accessories with his allowance Jackie decided to go along with it. She did seem to be fond of Harry, and an owl was a great pet for a young wizard. Due to having so both the owl cage and Harry's trunk with them, Jackie decided to floo to the Longbottom manor rather than apparate. Using the Leaky's fireplace, Harry, Jackie, and the yet unnamed owl made it just in time for dinner.
AN: Wizarding Currency and Pricing
It is often pointed out that Wizarding economy as explained by Rowling makes little sense, and for that reason I am going to outline my rules for the economy. The rules I am presenting will be based on 2016 money, so when I say £1, I am talking about the purchasing power that £1 has in 2016 (approximately equal to the purchasing power of £0.31 in 1982). The purchasing power of wizarding currency does not change because the goblins keep it constant. As such, it is only the exchange rate of muggle to wizarding currency that changes over time. Also, some muggle prices that I can't find from the time period (i.e. baby food in 1980's) I'm estimating as 25% of modern prices (as inflation has been an approximately 307% increase in price levels over the past 40 years in UK).
Canon economic rules I am keeping:
1 galleon = 17 sickles = 493 knuts.
1 galleon = £3 in 1982 = £4.93 in 1991 = £10.30 in 2016.
Rules I am making up:
Average daily wage = 10 galleons = £103 in 2016 - this is lower than what muggles make, but the wizarding world is slightly cheaper due to magic powering their production process.
Basically, the price level is on average a third lower than in the muggle economy. The difference is much greater in some sectors (example: housing and non-magical food), while in other sectors there is very little difference (example: vehicles and other transportation methods).
A galleon has a small seed of gold in the very middle of it that is valued £9-11 in 2016, depending on how the gold market is doing. That means that selling a galleon in the muggle world is not profitable. However, due to gold not being reproducible by magic (except the Philosopher's stone), it means that galleons can't be forged without the forgery being caught via a simple spell that checks for gold. Similarly, sickles and knuts hold tiny amounts of gold, equal to their respective values.
Cost of school supplies:
In the UK in recent years, parents spend approximately £250 outfitting their kids for school not including uniforms. This is about 16 galleons when you take the 33% decrease in price level into account. UK school uniforms are approximately £96 in 2014. Again, with the 33% decrease in price levels, this rounds to 9 galleons.
Both UK estimates are from the article "Cost of kitting out kids for school hits £240 per child – totalling £2.5bn" by Rebecca Smithers posted on The Guardian website on Aug 28, 2014.
Wands cost an additional 7 galleons, totalling to 32 galleons if you buy everything new.
Harry's net worth in August, 1991:
Two townhouses = £170,000 = 34,483 galleons
Farming Estate = ?lots?, with 800 galleon annual income
Gringott's vault = ?lots?
Other (heirlooms, books, clothing) = ?lots?
Harry's accessible income 1991:
Monthly rent income = £400 = 81 galleons
Interest from savings account = £150 = £12.5 monthly = 2.5 galleons
Annual income from Gringott's = 400 galleons = 33.3 galleons monthly = £164.3