Belated Birthday Trip
Leaving Gringotts with a Gold Card and a pocket full of money, Harry looked around as he wondered where to go first.
A flash of light blinded him for a second and Harry looked around for the source. Near the entrance of Knockturn Alley, there was another cobblestone road that paralleled Diagon Alley; Harry had never noticed the street his first year here, but it was the muggle dressed man that caught his eye.
Yes, there were a few Muggle-borns —even himself— dressed in muggle clothing and walking around, but even in the muggle world, people tended to stare at anyone dressed the way the man was, and Harry followed him.
He glanced at the street sign, it said Ether Alley, and he strolled along the silent street looking at the shops, most of them were just opening. Immediately, Harry understood why the road was so quiet and the energy felt different; every shop owner he saw was dressed in muggle clothing.
Though the shops clearly had magickal merchandise, there was a distinct muggle ambience about the place. Some of the names of the stores might have something to do with that.
Hocus Pocus - variety store, The Time Warp - photo studio, The Holy Grail - elegant kitchen wares; Smoke n' Mirrors - for all your scrying needs, The Elder Scrolls...
The jingling of a doorbell caught his attention, and Harry spotted the man that had led him here entering a store. A laugh escaped him as he read the sign and wondered if this wasn't some sort of copyright violation. Then again, it's not as if the muggles even know about the magical world.
GoThAm — You Need It We Goth It.
Harry hurried over to the store for a quick look around inside before he began his shopping. The bell jingled when he opened the door and stepped inside; Harry stood gaping at the sea of goth paraphernalia.
"Brilliant."
"I'm glad you think so, mate."
The man that Harry had followed —who looked like he'd just graduated from Hogwarts— stood near a register with a cup of what smelled like coffee, grinning at the boy's awe. The man was tall, close to six feet, long dark-brown hair pulled into a ponytail, but a few locks framed his face. He was dressed in black with a white shirt, complete with multiple silver accessories and piercings on his face.
"Welcome to GoThAm, Ether Alley, and Mystic Alley, the prime marketing territory for… well, witches and wizards like us. Have a look around, see if there's anything you like. My name is Thorn, co-owner of GoThAm and I'll be here if you need anything."
"Thanks, Thorn," Harry replied and began to look around.
At first glance, there were a number of things Harry wanted to get, clothes, shoes and even some accessories; but what caught his eyes were a pair of the wickedest armguards he'd ever seen.
The bracers were black leather, with four adjustable buckles and rounded silver rivets; five spaced around the edge near the wrist, and another five at the angled end by the elbow. However, what drew Harry to it most of all was the figure of a dragon carved into the face of it.
He knew with his thin arms he'd look ridiculous, but, "Thorn, can I try this on?"
"Certainly."
Thorn helped him with the buckles, and just as Harry had thought, his arm was too thin to pull off the look. Until it shrunk to fit… better, but they still don't look right.
"I swear to Merlin, that I am going to find a gym and work out until my arms look as awesome as these."
Thorn chuckled at Harry's awed vow as he buckled the second gauntlet on the raven-haired boy's other arm.
"They look alright, mate, they'll just look more impressive when you bulk up a bit. Oh, and they're also wand holsters. See… this attachment here."
Harry raised his left hand, palm up, to get a closer look; and just on the outer edge of the actual buckles was a long thin sheath where he could store his wand, and it blended well in the design.
"Besides, mate, once you're wearing the right clothing, they'll bring out their awesomeness."
"Can you show me those clothes? And shoes too… and I'll need several that I can wear at Hogwarts. Oh, and call me Emerson."
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While Harry tried on or scrutinized different clothes and accessories, he asked Thorn about his comment that Ether and Mystic Alley was for 'us'.
"Well, I don't mean just goths but all of the muggle-borns who chose retail to make a good living. Not that we have much of a choice. We either make some great breakthrough in the wizarding world that opens doors for us or get a menial job somewhere and be some Pure-Blood's lackey. Or we can also personally further our magickal education, Charm some item we crafted, paint some magickal photos, create magickal clothing, or whatever skill we have and market them for a respectable profit."
Harry tried on a leather wristband that matched the design on his ring and —now that he thought about it— the cord for the pendant around his neck, and decided to put it with the rest of his purchases.
"Is it that difficult for muggle-borns to live it in the wizarding world?"
"It can be, but like I said, once you have a marketable skill, work to improve it." Thorn leaned on the wall next to the changing room as Harry tried on a pair of pants. "My best mates, Amar and Gordon and I, it's what we did. I permanently transfigured most of the merchandise using raw materials, the rest I had to purchase already made. Gordon is wicked brilliant at Charms, he did all the spells in the accessories, clothes and shoes. And Amar found a way to create magickal tattoos that can move around your body, and once it's activated it emits any magickal energy of your choice according to what you need. His studio is through that door."
"Oh cool, do you think he'd design a tattoo for me? Just yesterday I was thinking about getting one."
"I'll have to give you a parental agreement form, you get that signed, bring it back and no problem. Amar's work is new and unknown, but it's the best."
"I think my Aunt'll sign it if I ask her. So what other kinds of shops are around here? Would I be able to find school supplies?"
"Definitely…"
The conversation went back and forth, and Harry found that Thorn was intelligent and personable.
Over the next hour, after constantly looking at his appearance in the shop mirrors, Harry decided that it mightn't be that bad to reveal his differences to the rest of the Gryffindors. Most of them didn't care for him anyway and constantly called him a slimy snake. They thought Harry didn't know about the posters they made, but Colin Creevy had told him what Ron and the others had done.
Luckily, when Harry first saw the posters in the Common Room, there'd been no one else around; it was then that the young wizard finally realised that he could see through Glamour Charms.
Am I the Heir Of Slytherin? Who knows? And even if I am, it doesn't mean that I'm evil!
As Gryffindor as Harry could be, he was apparently too Slytherin for his housemates, Gryffindors who believed that all Slytherins were evil... which couldn't possibly be true.
Maybe it was time he stopped constantly trying to hide his scar from the rest of the school and world. Fussing about it wasn't going to make the bloody thing magically disappear.
After all, they'd been ecstatic when the Boy-Who-Lived ended up in their House. Let them natter and snarl when The-Boy-Who-Lived brandished his famous scar while they all thought of him as a Slimy Slytherin living among them.
Scar aside, for the moment, it was necessary that he looked like James until he found out who his father was, and what kind of backlash it would create if he revealed his true appearance before then. However, his personal style… it's about time he had one. His Potter image would need one too, however, Harry decided simple muggle clothing would work best. Hopefully, soon he wouldn't need the Glamour.
The boy brought his mind back to his shopping.
Harry chose five long and five short-sleeved shirts. Three black, one white and one dark-blue; seven jumpers, three of them sleeveless; all sporting snap buttons, zippers, straps, laces or chains. He got six pairs of black trousers —two each of denim, leather and cotton— with either buckles, hooks, straps, chains or grommets.
He'd chosen a formal robe that had its own pants and Harry felt a shiver of anticipation, as he was going to wear it at this year's Halloween Ball. Though it sort of reminded him slightly of an Asian dress for women he once saw on the telly —with a thin close-fitting neckband and sleeveless— it suited his true appearance well.
The robe was a dark-grey and black brocade, it had shoulder straps that ran the length between his neck and shoulder, each with a large silver button nearer the neck that was carved with intricate designs similar to the fabric. A row of hooks and eyes kept the front-centre of the robe closed to his waist, where it opened out, revealing plain black dress pants underneath, and stopped at his ankles. Across the chest, where the hooks and eyes were hidden, four black velvet straps —with the same buttons on both ends— were lined one above the other and spaced evenly, the last reaching his belly button.
It looked like a genuine blend of muggle and wizard wear, and he knew the Pure-Bloods and those who've been in the wizarding world a lot longer than he, might not approve of it. Furthermore, they scoffed at muggle clothing anyway, yet lots of Muggle-Borns and Half-Bloods still wore them. Harry believed he might have even seen the designs in one of Dudley's computer games and said as much to Thorn.
Thorn nodded and grinned, "Yeah, my friends and I are all muggle-born and thought it'd be cool to fashion some of those styles for game-obsessed magickals like us."
Liking the idea of muggle-like wizard wear, Harry bought a few others. One for formal occasions similar to the first; a couple for days or nights out, when he worked up the courage to wear it in public. The last three were all dark colours with a large hoodie, ankle-length, with a zipper that attached at the front from his waist and closed to his neck. They were also sleeveless and he thought that it was something casual he could wear on weekends at Hogwarts.
All of the clothing had Atmospheric Charms that would detect weather patterns and adjust so that his body maintained an ideal temperature. No bulky snow clothes were needed, and no sweating during hot weather while he was wearing all black. They would also grow and expand with him for the next three years; after that, he would have to purchase new clothing if he continued having growth spurts.
"If you'd like you can come back and have other charms added to those already there, or even renew the ones that have worn off if the clothes themselves aren't too worn out and you want to keep them," Thorn said as he took some of Harry's things to the register.
"I might come back to add more charms, but can I have someone else add it if I can't come back in a hurry or if I learn how to do it myself?"
"Sure, but make sure you test out your spells on something you don't want anymore cuz sometimes a badly cast charm can cancel out all the enchantments already there."
"Alright," Harry replied, smiling as he pulled off the boots he'd been trying on.
The shoes he'd chosen were one matte black dragonhide with reinforced boot tips, one plain pair of black leather combat boots as required for D.A.D.A —both pairs were mid-calf— and one shiny black ankle-high, pointed-toe leather, for his formal clothes.
Thorn cashed Harry's bundle of items and shrunk the purchases for him, so he was able to carry it.
"Darn, I forgot that I needed to get a new trunk first. Is there anywhere around here that I can buy one?"
"Sure, my dad's store, Spellbound, on Mystic Alley, he has trunks I think you'll dig."
"Well, I'll be back again next week, I still have to get my school things today, and since you said that the stores here stock most of the school supplies I need, I want to get familiar with their offers in case I need to go over to Diagon Alley. Thanks for all your help, Thorn."
"No problem, Em and I look forward to seeing you again. Make sure you get that form signed by a parent or guardian, or we won't be able to do the tattoo as you asked. Amar likes to keep us in line with rules and laws and all that legal stuff."
"I will. See ya, Thorn."
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Thorn had been right. Spellbound had awesome trunks. Not only that, they even stocked backpacks, big and small rune-covered cabinets, wooden jewellery boxes and more. All imbued with different charms. Harry even noticed a box that Keith —Thorn's dad— said maintained a chilly temperature to keep food or any other items cold. Harry decided to get one to place in the trunk.
Because of the Warding on the trunk he'd chosen, which prevented magickal detection, Harry had lied and told the man that he was getting the trunk for his 'father'. He wasn't sure if Keith would have refused to sell him if he'd said otherwise, but Harry hadn't wanted to take the chance, so he'd asked the man to show him trunks that his 'father' would appreciate as a gift.
It was a rectangular trunk —larger than his old one— with matte black leather covering, black bindings with silver rivets, three silver locking mechanisms and the edges were reinforced with silver fixtures.
"There are four compartments. The main compartment where your clothes or what have you, can go. The other three compartments are rooms, and you would need to tap your wand with a different word for each room. Say 'library', 'bedroom' or whatever type of room you want, or even just some random made-up word.
"This trunk, though, has one feature your father will surely enjoy. An outdoor room, complete with a sky, wind, night and day, trees and flowers; there's a setting for rain as well if you want, and there's even enough room to fly around. The Warding will let you know when you're getting too high."
"Wicked, I love magic! Can I have a look?"
Keith laughed and opened the trunk to usher Harry into the outdoor room, "Absolutely. Watch your step going down."
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Harry gaped around him as he explored Ether Alley. He'd bought himself a new bookbag and had it slung over his shoulders as it contained all his shrunken purchases.
As he strolled along the cobblestone alley, the young wizard didn't have to dodge street vendor stalls or crowds of other shoppers. Ether and Mystic Alley were neat, clean and he didn't get that harried feeling as if he had to rush to get to his destination before everything sold out.
After Keith had taken him into the trunk, Harry had decided to make one of the rooms into a small living and sleeping space. So, rather than doing his school shopping, he was heading to Pandora's Box for furnishings.
A slight breeze blew his hair across his face. Harry went to brush it back but stopped, then shifted the hair away from his eyes instead. He'd made the mistake of pushing his hair back in front of Keith, forgetting that his scar was still visible. However, the man promised not to give away his identity and even gave the young wizard a discount on his purchases, waving off Harry's protest.
He pushed open the door of Pandora's Box and was greeted by a couple. Behind the counter and the shop owners were shelves that held boxes displaying miniature furniture inside.
Harry would have panicked at the overwhelming choices, but the owners clearly had a system. They asked for the dimensions of the room, which Harry still remembered Keith giving him, and the size of the bed he wanted. Then he picked out the wood type and colour on display that he liked best. Soon Harry was looking at three miniature mahogany studio sets on a counter.
"You don't have to get an entire set," the witch said while her husband went to take care of another customer, "just choose the furniture you'd like, then make your own collection."
Harry nodded.
"I think I'd prefer that at the moment," he replied, then began choosing the pieces he wanted. The woman continued to chatter at him about designing the furniture and her husband building each piece.
Harry was really too busy with his task to pay much attention, but he nodded when she told him of other shops he should visit.
Finally, the young wizard had picked all the furniture he thought he might need. There was a bed, a wardrobe, a desk, a chair, a bookshelf, and a kitchen cupboard with an island-bar counter and two stool chairs.
"I think that's it," he said and decided to add a couch to the pile.
"Your mum is going to love her surprise," the witch said, remembering Harry's earlier lie, "Chione, dear, bring out one of the mahogany chests."
"Yes, Madam Rosewood."
Harry looked up to see a girl about his age standing to one side behind the woman. The girl smiled at him kindly before disappearing through a door behind the counter.
"The poor dear," Madam Rosewood began softly, "a squib, that one. Chione's parents threw her out when she didn't get her Hogwarts letter. My husband and I took her in, but she's still so stiff and proper. The poor dear."
Harry's face flushed in anger at the woman's careless bragging. He remained silent when Chione returned and began placing the miniature items into a carved wooden box. The girl didn't look up at him, and Harry knew she had heard every word Madam Rosewood just said about her to a stranger.
Pretending to be late meeting friends, Harry quickly purchased the set using galleons. Then he nodded good day to the ladies and Mr Rosewood on his way out.
Harry's next stop was at The Holy Grail to get a few appliances and knickknacks for the room. He didn't linger there too long, but he bought a few items, curious to see how they would work with just mechanical parts and magic.
Tired and hungry, Harry was ready to call it a day, but he was determined to visit a healer for his eyes. After a lengthy search of Ether Alley, Harry found one in a small office between a bookshop and an apothecary.
Unfortunately, after ten minutes of the healer aiming a really pointy wand at his eyes, Harry was given the news that there was nothing the healer could do for him.
"I'm sorry, Mr Prince, but the best I can do is renew the prescription for your glasses."
Harry sighed and nodded in disappointment.
"Sure, I might as well."
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The hired taxi cab was waiting at the assigned meeting place on the muggle side of The Leaky Cauldron when Harry arrived. He gratefully sank onto the soft seat, putting his book bag on the seat beside him. On his lap, he placed a paper bag containing his take-out of fish and chips.
"Good afternoon, Mr Prince. I hope your day out was a pleasant one."
Harry grinned tiredly at the driver.
"Hey, Ben. It was brilliant."
The ride to Privet Drive was quiet but comfortable. After coming to a stop in front of the house, Ben gave him a business card that he said Harry could tap with his wand whenever he needed magical transport. The young wizard thanked him and shoved the card in his pocket before making his way into the house.
Harry jogged up the stairs, and in his room, he placed his lunch on the bed. He took off his backpack, stripped off his clothes and went to take a warm shower.
Back in the bedroom, Harry towelled off. Having new clothes, he really didn't want to garb himself in Dudley's old things. However, Harry knew he had to wash everything first, so he pulled on the cleanest jumper and jeans from the small chest of drawers.
Before meeting Ben, Harry had visited the shops on Charing Cross for a few things he hadn't been able to find on Diagon Alley. He'd still needed simple vests, jumpers, underwear and trousers he could wear at the Dursleys and with his Potter Glamour. The boy had walked into a shop called Paul Smith, did an about-turn and headed for a variety store he'd passed a few stores previously.
He found the three plain plastic handle bags that held his new muggle clothes and took them and his wizard clothing downstairs to the washer-dryer.
Back upstairs, Harry took out his trunk, placed his hand on it, and spoke the magic words —those exempt from the 'no magic use outside of school' rules— that restored it to its original size.
He would still have to return to Diagon Alley to purchase his school things. For now, though, Harry removed everything from the old trunk and packed them neatly into the school compartment of his new one.
His watch beeped at two pm and deciding to take a break, Harry took his lunch to the kitchen and warmed it in the microwave. He poured himself a glass of water on ice then took everything into the living room. He turned on the telly, sank into the sofa and tucked into his fish and chips.
Sometime later, Harry was deep into cable reruns of a show called Alien Nation. Scattered around him on the couch and the floor were several empty candy wrappers from his food basket. He felt around for another chocolate bar, and when he got nothing but empty wrappers, he snapped out of his stupor.
Looking at his watch, the young wizard decided that he'd lazed around long enough. Harry cleaned up his mess, turned off the television and then made his way back to his trunk. There, he opened the room he was going to make into a livable space.
By sunset, Harry had moved every last one of his belongings into the trunk room he called a studio. He'd placed his shrunken furniture pieces exactly where he wanted them before removing the shrinking spell.
There was only some minor shifting he had to do, which he did, using his magic since he was in the safety of the trunk. Harry had placed his full-sized bed in the far-right corner of the room, using the enormous wardrobe as a barrier between the sleeping area and the kitchenette. Then he positioned a tall, foldable divider at the 'bedroom' entrance between the wall and the edge of the wardrobe.
On the wall between the kitchenette and the wardrobe, Harry placed a large frame. Once the frame was positioned neatly, an image of Privet Drive from a bird's eye view appeared within it.
He had the option of zooming in or seeing certain parts of a place from ground level or even observing the sky, but for now, the young wizard was content to leave it as it was.
The couch faced the stairs to the trunk opening; the stools, island bar and kitchenette behind it with a wide enough gap between them. His desk and bookshelf he'd placed in the front-right corner. The front-left and mid-right spaces were bare and ready for more furniture if he ever needed it, but Harry was happy with his new home.
Home...
An idea began to form in his mind as Harry looked around. It could work. If he could find a way to add a toilet and bath... yeah, find a safe place… no one would care if he le-
A loud, echoing screech startled Harry from his thoughts, and he recognised Hedwig's call. The boy hurried up the stairs and opened the trunk. Hedwig was on the floor beside it with a letter in her beak. Harry took the envelope then allowed her to climb onto his arm before stepping back down into the trunk.
Hedwig's new bird stand was between the sofa and the wall, and Harry encouraged her onto the perch. He petted her gently for a bit before leaving her to eat so he could inspect the letter.
It was from Hogwarts.
Dear Mr Potter,
Please expect my visit on Wednesday at seven am sharp. You will be leaving Privet Drive for the foreseeable future, so please be packed and ready to return with me to Hogwarts.
Professor Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry
Harry looked at his preening snowy owl.
"Wonder what they want now?"