Chapter 6

"Have we stepped back in time?" Harry asked as he looked on at the people in Diagon Alley. "Longer lives, slower changes" was his succinct answer. He'd received the greatest shock in his life till now at the Leaky Cauldron when the people fell head over toe to meet him. It was like they were meeting the Queen though how many of these people even knew that there was a Queen was something he didn't know. McGonagall had looked at the people with casual disgust and that had been enough for some of the less vocal of the lot. The more vocal ones had to be asked to step back and mind their own business. The years at the Dursleys had tonked his self-confidence, in a negative way and though it was a work in progress, it wasn't ready enough to handle the fanatics at Diagon Alley.

"This is how it'll be most of the times you step out Harry. Get used to it. I could have asked Tom the barkeep to be more discreet but I wanted to get you a taste of the fickle populace of magical Britain as early as possible. Remember that these same people who worship the road that you walk on today will turn out with their spears raised at the first opportunity. You aren't an average wizard Harry. Not in the eyes of these people. But also remember that you don't owe them anything. If you want to be a great wizard which I know you can be, then do it for yourself and for your parents." McGonagall was a genuine woman he felt. He didn't know if anyone else would have spoken to him this much and given him so much of knowledge if they were in McGonagall's place and he didn't want to find out.

"Now we are first going to Gringotts, the wizarding bank. Keep in mind that goblins are rude and prideful creatures. As you'll, no doubt learn in your first year of Hogwarts, goblins have rebelled against wizards many times. We've been very bad at dealing with them Harry and there is a lot of resentment for it. Allowing them to deal with our gold is like a compensation for our needless slights against them. It has been our huge numbers compared to the goblins that has been our advantage in all the previous rebellions. While dealing with goblins keep this background in mind, but never pity them. Keep your conversations short and to the point and don't be too rude or too submissive and you'll be fine."

They had reached a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold was a goblin guard. The goblin was about a head shorter than Harry. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside. Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:

Enter, stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed,

For those who take, but do not earn,

Must pay most dearly in their turn.

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there.

"Typical goblin flaunting Harry, they are just your normal bank but with magical guards instead of normal ones.", Minerva told him as she walked ahead of him. A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these.

They went to a free counter and Minerva spoke "Morning teller. We've come here to take some money from Harry Potter's vault."

"Morning ma'am. Do you have his key?"

"No, I don't think he's applied for one. Please get him a new key after your due verifications, of course. Take the money required from the account itself."

"Very well ma'am. Gruffbeard! Verification set here.", the goblin called out.

A goblin with a white beard stepped out from one of the rooms around the hall and came near their counter with a strange looking device. A muggle doctor would have immediately identified what it looked like - a glucometer. Don't blame the goblins for not staying out of touch with the muggle world like an average witch or wizard.

Gruffbeard spoke "Keep your finger on this needle wizard. Once it pricks you, put your blood drop on the strip of paper sticking out of the device." Harry did so. He wondered how it worked. Obviously it had to work on comparisons. It'd taken his blood from him, so it might have compared that blood with something else, probably something from his parents.

Looking at the gears spinning in the young wizard's head and the obvious curiosity on his face, the goblin spoke "Curious one aren't you? Wondering how it works?".

"Yes, Mr. Gruffbeard", Harry replied with a small grin. The machine seemed to have verified his identity. The goblin replied with a wider grin "Keep wondering, wizard. Not like you can find it out anyway" and the grin vanished from both their faces. "Now follow me and keep up", he trailed off as he led them to one of the other rooms that led out of the hall.

"Quite the rude one isn't he? Don't worry Harry. He's probably one of the tamer ones." McGonagall consoled him. But Harry had other plans. Gruffbeard had lead them into what looked like a trolley leading into some sort of tunnel. Once they boarded the trolley, he asked Gruffbeard "Were you born this ugly or did you grow up to be so? You must not be a high ranking goblin right?" that seemed to hit a nerve as the goblin gnarled at him and unsheathed his knife. Harry calmly added "Remember your position goblin and mine. What do you think will happen when the hero of the wizarding world dies at Gringotts. You might've had a just cause for your previous rebellions but this time you'll end up getting wiped out because one nameless and rankless wizard couldn't be bothered to observe civilities" and that seemed to have calmed the goblin immediately.

'Definitely takes more after Charlus, this one', Minerva thought with a grin on her face as she looked on at the conversation between Harry and the goblin.

They arrived at a small door with a single keyhole after an exciting journey of twists and turns. The goblin took out what looked to be a new key and opened the door. "Take what you want, Harry Potter. Lock the door after you are done and pocket your key. Take this pouch and fill your gold in it. It is charmed so that only you can take or put money into it. It costs you 8 galleons by the way". 'Upgrade from 'wizard' to my name is a good start', Harry thought as he entered the door and became star-struck at the amount of gold inside it. There was quite literally, a mountain of gold coins and Harry's first thought was to dive in. He shook himself off from his fantasies and turned to McGonagall. "How much should I take ma'am?" he asked her. "Take a hundred of those gold coins, Harry. We'll get some of them changed into silver and bronze for you" she replied.

One wild ride back to the hall and the conversions done, they exited the bank. "First lets get you a trunk and then some clothes and robes. James would never allowed you to be seen like this. He took great care in looking good. More than Lily did"

The trunk cost him 6 galleons and had three compartments and a 'featherlight' charm. They head off to Madam Malkin's where Harry bought his school robes along with a few sets of ordinary clothes. 30 galleons lighter they head off to Ollivander's to get him his wand.

Ollivander was a strange man. A bit theatrical but seemed to fit in with his image of wizards. He'd had to go over a few wands before finding his one. 11" long, made of holly and possessed a phoenix core and cost 7 galleons. It seemed that his connections to Voldemort wasn't over because his wand was the brother wand of Voldemort's. But having his wand made him feel so in touch with himself. It seemed to fit with whatever he'd learnt about magic till now because holding the wand made him connect to his magic and it was a wonderful feeling.

"Let's get you books Harry", Minerva said as she led him to 'Flourish and Blotts'. The bookstore was large and seemed to have a wide range of books. Minerva spoke again "Take a look at what catches your eye Harry. Don't worry about your school books, they are sold in sets at the entrance itself."

The books were arranged according to the genre they belonged to. He went to check out the transfiguration section first. It had a variety of books and Harry wasn't really sure what were at his level or if he needed any. He concluded that he'd first read his school books and later decide if he needed more. So he started looking around at the other sections when something strange caught his eye. In the children's books section, he saw his name on the books. 'Harry Potter and the duel with dragons' it was titled. He quickly flipped through the pages as he got more and more weirded out. He looked at the other books in the section. It seemed that almost all of the books with his name featured him either fighting someone or going on a grand adventure. He took one of those books in his hand and went in search oh Minerva when he heard her speaking to someone else. She motioned to him.

"Harry, meet one of your mother's friend and also rival during her school years, Isobel Greengrass. Her daughter is the same age as you. Her name is Daphne Greengrass. We'll talk about those books later."

Harry looked at the identical mother and daughter duo. The mother was a beautiful woman with blue eyes and blonde hair. The daughter was equally beautiful too. and had similar features. He said a quiet hello to the both of them and waited to see if McGonagall would tell him anything further.

Isobel spoke "You have my condolences for what happened to your family Mr. Potter. Lily and I understood each other at a deep level and were as much friends as we were rivals. Even in death she found out a way to one-up the wizarding world. You have her eyes, though you look like a mini James. I hope my daughter and you become good friends too"

"Thank you Mrs. Greengrass."

"Now Harry why don't you take Daphne here and show her what books caught your fancy while I speak a bit more with Isobel". Knowing he'd been dismissed he looked towards Daphne to see her waiting eyes. "Come Greengrass" he said as he led her into the bookstore's ancient runes section. He pointed to one of the books about an introduction to magical runes and asked her "Did you know we need to wait till our third year at Hogwarts to get started on these? As far as I understand, this is more like a language so doesn't it make sense to start as early as possible. Any way, what's your favourite branch of magic?"

"I like healing magic. I want to become a healer after Hogwarts. What house do you think you'll be in?"

"I don't really know much about Hogwarts houses except for the fact that my parents were Gryffindors. How many are there?"

"How do you not know about Hogwarts houses. I knew you couldn't have done all those things in those books written about you because you were also my age but everybody knows about the four houses of Hogwarts. Who did you grow up with?"

"I grew up with my relatives away from the wizarding world. I didn't even know about it till recently. Today is my first day visiting Magical Britain as such."

"You are like a muggleborn aren't you. You were born a half-blood but grew up a muggleborn" It sounded curious rather than accusing to Harry's ears.

"Yes I suppose I'm more of a muggleborn. Would you help me learn more about wizarding culture?"

"I'll see if I can find a few books about it. In the meantime, let me tell you more about the houses. There are four of them. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Gryffindor is for the brave, Ravenclaw for the intelligent, Hufflepuff for the loyal and Slytherin for the ambitious. I don't know how they sort you into them but I don't mind being sorted into any of them."

"How can you be only one of those. You could be brave and intelligent too. Would that make me a Ravendor or would it be Gryffinclaw?"

Daphne laughed, "Like I said, I don't know how they sort you into the houses but those are the only four that are there. I didn't find any books about wizarding culture but it was to be expected. You don't really find any books about muggle culture in the muggle world do you? Maybe some muggle born wrote a book some time or maybe he or she didn't. But there aren't any here." She'd picked up some books about curses and healing along their search and Harry too had been interested in the book about curses though healing not so much. He'd picked up a couple of books about runes and also one about intermediate and advanced magic theory.

They returned to the counter to find both the women still in a conversation who quickly quietened their conversation as soon as they got closer. McGonagall took the books in his hand and gave it a look. She gave an impressed grunt and asked the shopkeeper to get it packed. Isobel did the same with Daphne's books.

"Well it has been good to meet you Isobel. Keep writing to me. Come Harry we still need to get you your potions kit."

"It was nice to meet you Mrs. Greengrass and you too Daphne. We'll meet again at Hogwarts."

AN: That's all for the chapter. Longest chapter till now and I had fun writing it. Thank you for all the favs and reviews. Keep it up.