It was getting late and Harry wanted something to eat. His earlier luck had run out - none of the shops were willing to give him anything for free, and none of them accepted Muggle money either. He was also getting tired from lugging around his new books. After stopping several times to rest, Harry arrived at the end of the Diagon Alley entrance road. Here it split into two, and between the two forks was the largest building in Diagon Alley Harry had seen. He stopped to admire the obviously gold-plated furnishings and wondered what sort of wizards were this rich. Harry squinted to make out the name of the building. It was a word he'd never seen before, Gringotts. Harry decided to ask someone what this place was.

"Sir, what is that?"

"Gringotts? The premier wizarding bank, of course."

A bank could be useful, thought Harry. There was the obvious problem that he didn't have any wizarding money, but still, Harry hoped, he might be able to finagle his away into some.

The inside of the bank was even more opulent than the outside. The ceiling was at least several stories high, with marble statues and precious gems everywhere Harry looked. He was even more interested in the bank tellers. They were short, stout, and had pointed ears and crooked noses. It was obvious they weren't human, so Harry hoped they still spoke English. Fortunately they did.

"Excuse me?" asked Harry to one of the bank tellers.

"Yes? How may I be of service today?"

When Harry didn't respond for a while, the creature gave him a wicked smile, showing his crooked teeth.

"I'm guessing you've never seen a goblin before, aye?"

"Oh yes, I was just thinking about what I want to do" responded Harry nervously.

"No matter, let's start with the easy stuff first. Name?"

Harry decided to use the same name that he had told Ollivander.

"Harry Dudley."

"Let's see, let's see, you must be new. No mention of you in our records. Would you like to open an account?"

"Uh, yeah. I want to open an account."

The goblin smiled his toothy smile again.

"Excellent. Gringotts always welcomes new customers. Let's start the paperwork."

The goblin made Harry sign a bunch of forms. Some of them were simple, just needing his name, but others required some of Harry's blood. Luckily the process was painless, but Harry had no clue what any of the forms were for. After the forms were signed, the golbin pulled out one final document.

"You are Muggle-born?"

"Yes."

"The Ministry of Magic has set up a small fund specifically for Muggleborns. Twenty-five galleons will be inserted into your account."

"What's a galleon?"

"Ah, let me explain better. English wizards have three types of coins: Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts. Galleons are worth more than Sickles, which are worth more than Knuts. For comparison, a few Sickles is enough to get you a meal at a nice restaurant."

At the mention of currency, Harry remembered the several hundred pounds sitting in his pocket.

"Wait, can I use Muggle money?"

"Unfortunately, no. You can't convert Muggle money to wizarding money. If you could, all the Muggle-borns would be rich!"

Well that sucks, thought Harry. Now all I have is the twenty-five gallons? Galleons? What did he call it?

"Ahem."

"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about some stuff."

"No worries, Mr. Dudley. Would you like the Galleons now or in your account?"

"Now."

"Alright, here is your money."

The goblin slid over a pile of large, golden coins.

"Twenty-five galleons. Use them wisely."

Harry pocketed the money and thanked the goblin. He took a last look at the luxurious bank and then left the building.

After getting a bite to eat, Harry found a bench to sit down. Wizard food was great - the fish and chips were way better than Petunia's version, and the drinks whizzed, popped, and had different flavors while you were drinking them! Magic was awesome. He really was getting tired though. Harry wished he knew how to levitate his bag of books, because he probably couldn't carry them around much longer.

Even at this time of day Diagon Alley was busy. There were still groups of people walking around, and the night sky made the magical lights glow even brighter. Should he sleep outside again tonight? Probably not, he thought, considering how defenseless he would be. Did wizards have hotels? Harry knew Muggle hotels were expensive from Vernon's temper tantrums, so maybe something else? Eventually Harry gave up looking and asked someone.

"Sir, where can I find a place to stay tonight?"

"Lost your parents? The Leaky Cauldron is your best bet, I think. It's also close to the entrance of Diagon Alley, so your parents will have an easier time finding you."

With this advice in mind, Harry headed off in search of the Leaky Cauldron.

It took Harry quite a while to find the place. The Leaky Cauldron looked like a rickety old shop from the outside, so Harry had serious doubts about going in. However, his arms were basically limp noodles at this point, and he didn't think he could heft the books around any longer. Using the last bit of his strength to sling his bags through the door, Harry stumbled across the threshold. He lost his balance and tripped, landing face-first on the floor. The man at the counter jumped up in alarm, raced to the door, and helped Harry back to his feet.

"I'm so sorry, we just cleaned the floor. My name is Tom, welcome to the Leaky Cauldron! I don't believe we've ever met, you are?"

"Harry. Harry Dudley."

"Well, Mr. Dudley. Are you looking for accommodations this fine evening? You seem a tad young to be wandering around on your own."

"Uh, what does that mean?"

"Accommodations? It means somewhere to stay. Mind you, I don't have many rooms left, but there are a few smaller ones on the top floor you could have."

"That would be great! How much does the room cost?"

"3 sickles per night."

"What if - what if I want to stay more than 1 night?"

At this, Tom gave him an odd look.

"Won't your parents be worried? I know that you're probably a smart lad who can look after himself, but still..."

Shoot, he's on to me! thought Harry. He was too tired to think straight, so he blurted the first thing that came to mind.

"My parents are dead."

Everyone in the room went silent and stared at Harry.

Well, technically I'm not lying, thought Harry ruefully.

"Dea - Dead? My dear boy, what happened?"

"Oh, they've been dead for a while. But I only just found out."

Tom gave him a hug.

"Well, Harry, clearly you've been through a lot. Don't worry about the room. You can have it for free tonight, we'll work something out tomorrow."

Someone else in the room stood up.

"Now wait just a second, he could be lying."

The guy was wearing red robes which several badges attached to them.

"Ah, Auror Davies, its fine. He's just a boy."

"No, Tom, I insist. I don't want these street scum scamming you out of your hard earned money."

Tom looked guiltily at Harry.

"Sorry, Harry. Davies here works for the Ministry. We have to listen to what he says."

Tom stepped away while Davies moved closer.

"Now, boy, this will only take a second. I'm going to give you something to drink and then ask you some questions."

Davies took a cup of ginger ale off the counter and added a few drops of mysterious liquid to it. He handed the mixture to Harry.

"Drink, boy."

Someone came and snatched the cup from Harry's hand.

"Are you out of your mind? Using Veritaserum on a boy? Even if he is lying, three drops of Veritaserum costs more than his room ever would!"

"Rogers! I'm in charge here, not you."

"You aren't listening. The Auror department is already short on Veritaserum as it is. Don't waste it on something this silly."

Harry listened intently to the argument. The other Auror had said 'even if he is lying'. Did that mean that the Auror's drink was a lie detector? Harry hadn't told any lies yet, but if they asked who his parents were, Harry would be forced to lie, which would then get him in trouble. Best not to risk it.

Luckily it seemed like Rogers was winning the argument. Harry watched as Davies quickly pocketed his mystery liquid and stormed out the door, followed by Rogers.

Tom shook his head quizzically.

"Sometimes I don't understand people. Aurors never used to be like that back in the day. Don't tell anyone this, but once You-Know-Who was defeated, the Ministry has been so uptight about everything. Ah, I shouldn't say that. They know what they're doing. What was I going to say? Right, your room. Follow me."

Tom picked up Harry's stuff and went upstairs.

When Tom reached the room, he pulled out a keychain with three keys on it.

"Three keys. The first one is an ordinary Muggle key. Push it in, turn, voila. The second one is enchanted to this particular room. Push the key in, wait for the light, open. The third one is enchanted to you."

Harry watched as Tom muttered something while pointing his wand at him and the door.

"Good, now only you can use the third key. Here, try it."

Harry pushed the third key into its slot. He felt a brief warmth, and then the heavy wooden door swung open.

The room was nicer than Harry could ever have hoped. It was at least as big Dudley's bedroom at the Dursleys, if not bigger. There was a comfortable looking bed, a dresser, a table, as well as a walk-in closet.

"Wow, this is great! Thank you so much!"

"Not a problem, my boy. Rest up now, we can talk more tomorrow. If you need anything, just yell into the fireplace. There's always someone in the kitchen, so if you're ever hungry or thirsty go down there and we'll whip something up. Any questions?"

"Nope."

"Good night then, Harry."

Tom closed the door behind him. Harry threw his stuff into the drawer, hopped into bed, and fell asleep.

He was awoken by a loud knocking on his door. Harry could make out Tom's muffled voice: "Breakfast downstairs!"

Harry quickly made himself presentable and then headed downstairs. He emerged into a full house of people. Every table was packed, people were bustling around, and more noticeably all kinds of magic was going on. Not wanting to cause any trouble, he squeezed in next to a couple normal-looking wizards. They turned to acknowledge him.

"Morning kid. Didn't know Tom employed child labor these days."

The other wizard guffawed.

From the counter, Tom piped up.

"Oi! I heard that!"

"With your old ears? Color me surprised."

Tom ambled over to their table.

"Nice to see you two again. It's been a while - how'd the hunt go? Oh and Harry, meet Frank and Eddie, bounty hunters extraordinaire," said Tom, lowering his voice.

"We found the guy. Let's just say he's been... neutralized."

Harry's eyes widened.

Seeing this, Eddie chuckled.

"Don't worry, kid. We didn't kill him, but he won't be threatening anyone any time soon. Enough about us though. Where did you some from? You're the youngest kid I've seen here this early in the morning."

Harry told him how recently he had found out about his parents' deaths, and how Tom was kind of enough to take him in. When he finished, both bounty hunters were shaking their heads.

"Damn kid, that sucks. Keep your head up. You'll be fine, and you still got your whole life ahead of you."

Harry felt a bit guilty, since he actually didn't feel too bad at all. But he went along with it anyways.

"Yeah, I bet my parents would have said the same thing."

"That's the spirit."

Tom spoke up again.

"Say, Ed, just thought of something. What do you suggest young Harry here do? He could go back to his parents' place, but understandably he might not want to. I'm not sure I can set up a permanent place here, and whats more I don't think that's legal.

"Yeah, you're right. Since you don't have guardianship of him, you can't put him anywhere permanently. And even if you did have guardianship, you'd have to do all sorts of parenting things, which frankly you're probably too busy for."

Ed scratched his chin in thought.

"How old are you, Harry?"

"Eight, but I'll be nine soon."

"I think Harry here is old enough to start an apprenticeship. That would solve his living situation, as well as giving him something to do during the day. Once he's old enough for Hogwarts or some other school, just send him there."

"I like that plan. Harry, what do you think? I know a lot of the regulars at my inn, I'll ask around for any opportunities."

"That sounds great! Is there anything I need to do?"

"I don't think so. You just rest up and eat a lot. You're pretty skinny for your age, and I don't want you getting sick on me."

Harry thought he was dreaming. Someone telling him to rest up and eat a lot? Vernon would never in a thousand years say that.

"All right then, thanks again for everything. After I eat I'll be in my room if you need me."

With that, Harry tucked into his meal. It was delicious. Harry had never eaten a full English before, but every Sunday Petunia would make one for Vernon, so Harry knew what it looked like. Bacon, eggs, tomatoes, beans, black pudding, toast, and coffee - everything was great. Harry couldn't finish all of it, but he did his best and ate until he was bursting. As he was about to go back to his room, he caught sight of the newspaper stand. Curious, he took one, looked at the front page, and saw the headline "Godric's Hollow still unsolved: Criminal at large!".

"Sad, isn't it?"

Harry swung around and came face to face with another red-robed Auror. He tried to remain as nonchalant as possible, praying that nothing would happen.

"Yeah, it is. I hope when I grow up I can stop these sorts of things from happening."

The Auror smiled.

"Good on you, kid. I can already see you'll be a great wizard one day. Whats your name?"

"Harry."

"Nice to meet you, Harry. I'm Vincent, and I work as a detective for the Auror department at the Ministry. We're patrolling Diagon Alley in hopes that whoever did that," said Vincent, pointing at the newspaper, "will show up. You haven't seen anything suspicious, have you?"

"No, everything's been normal."

"All right. You seem like a smart kid, so if you see anything let an Auror know."

"Yeah, I'll do that."

Satisfied, the Auror strode off and went to question someone else. Harry took a few minutes to collect himself. That was too close, he thought. With the incident last night and now this, it seemed that Aurors were all over the place. Better lay low until this settles down, Harry decided. Trying not to attract any more attention, Harry weaved through the tables and made his way back upstairs.

Ensconced safely in his room, Harry finally had a chance to take a look at his books. The first one was entitled "A Complete History of Wizarding England". It was a very thick book, and when Harry opened it up to several random pages he saw there were no pictures at all, only words. Well, he thought, this is going to be harder than I expected. The other two books were skinnier, and were more along the lines of what Dudley had in his room. Both books were by the same author. The first one of these was an illustrated dictionary of various items unique to the wizarding world, for example the moving pictures Harry had seen. Harry flipped through the book - it seemed interesting and he would take a closer look later. The last book was also an illustrated dictionary, except of spells instead of objects. Harry was skimming through the book when he remembered Ollivander had given him a wand - he could actually try the spells himself!

Barely able to contain his excitement, Harry took out the wand and gripped it tightly. He flipped back to the first page in the book. The spell on that page was "Lumos", and apparently it was supposed to make light come out of the wand. The book didn't give any instructions about how to cast the spell, so Harry was on his own. He cleared his throat. Pointing his wand at the ceiling, Harry yelled "Lumos!"

He waited a few seconds, and when nothing happened, he tried again.

"Lumos!"

Again, nothing.

"Maybe I'm saying it wrong, how about lu-MOS!"

Harry tried every pronunciation of 'lumos' that he could think of, and still no light came out of his wand. Frustrated, Harry flopped onto the bed and closed his eyes.

Why isn't this working? he thought. I should be able to do such a simple spell.

After wallowing some more, Harry had a flash of insight. Ollivander told me that I could see magic. Maybe I can see the magic that makes the light and figure out why it isn't working! Then Harry remembered that the Godric's Hollow disaster happened the first time he saw his aura, so he ought to avoid doing it. But that doesn't make sense, he thought. If it was my aura that caused the explosion, how come it only happened that one time? How come I haven't blown up Diagon Alley yet? How am I even still alive? No, he decided, it must have been that other green light that made it happen. So... it's not really my fault then!

This thought gave Harry some relief. Moving back to the task at hand, Harry concentrated on his own aura. After a few seconds, he once again saw the amorphous, dark green shape. Now came the tricky part. Harry had never tried to do something else while seeing auras at the same time, so this was going to be hard. He tried to maintain focus on his aura while saying "lumos!" at the same time, but when he did this, he could never finish the word before his aura faded away. Harry concentrated as hard as he could, but he still couldn't do it. There was some hope though - at least Harry could practice his concentration, he could get better at it. But for now, Harry resigned himself to not being able to use his wand.

Or, perhaps, it might be that the wand simply didn't fit him. Ollivander had said that he needed to make his own wand, but that was way beyond his current abilities.

Harry was at a loss of what to do. He could try the concentration exercise again, but his brain still hurt from the earlier attempt. Truthfully, Harry was itching to explore more of Diagon Alley, but Tom had told him to rest up, and Harry knew his adventures in the wizarding world were the opposite of rest. There was only one thing to do then. Harry reopened the thick magical history book to the first page and started reading.