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Harry Potter sat back and reflected on his life on the eve of his 11th birthday. He would get his Hogwarts letter tomorrow. Hermione had gotten hers last September and Dudley had gotten his last month. Harry could hardly wait. It was almost time. It was really happening. They were going to Hogwarts.
Harry and Neville were having a joint birthday party today on Neville's birthday. Last year, they'd had the party on Harry's birthday, so it was only fair. They tried to take turns so they could all share the day with their friends together.
Harry got up and jumped in the shower. He was going to be amongst his wizarding friends today, so he chose a black robe with the outline of a green dragon on it. Harry was obsessed with dragons at the moment. He'd been begging Sirius to take them to the dragon reserve to see some live dragons but it just hadn't happened yet. Harry doubted there'd be time now before school.
He sighed and put on his best shirt, leaving his robes slightly undone. The thick gold chain from his locket could be seen. So could two gold rings, one for each hand, and the gold chain of a finely made pocket watch. The pocket watch was his birthday present from his father, given to him the night before along with a long lecture about being a man now that he was 11 years old.
"Harry, come in my study, please," said Vernon, going into his study and sitting down in his chair. Ten years had gone by in a long, drawn out, flash. It was a strange oxymoron that Vernon had lived.
Harry came in and took a seat, "What papa?" Vernon smiled. His boys only called him papa when they were alone anymore. Their fancy friends at school and that they'd met through Sirius all called their parents mother and father. Mother. His boys had grown up with Betsy as a mother figure but their true mothers had died tragically young. His darling Petunia. She was the best mother a boy could ask for. She would have loved them both equally and with abandon. Vernon just knew it. She was all that was good in his life but he could admit that it had been so long. He might see the benefit of having a new woman in his life permanently. He sighed at the thought that he hadn't met any such woman at this point yet, despite his proliferate dating. Such is life, he reckoned.
"I wanted to give you one of your presents, so you can wear it to your party tomorrow, if you want to," Vernon said. He carefully handed over the familiar velvet box. Harry had quite the collection of gold jewelry and accessories. Vernon had just discovered the silver sickle and that he could easily have many more fantastic items made from that metal. Filantius had already begun crafting.
Harry opened the box and saw a delicately crafted pocket watch on a fine gold chain that was easily a meter long. The pocket watch was made of layers of gold that created a woodland scene with a giant stag, the symbol of the Potter family on one side and the Potter and Dursley family crests on the other. Harry oohed and aahed over the finely made gift. On the inside was an inscription. "To my son, Harry, on his 11th birthday. Seize the Day." A different stone represented each hour and a large diamond acted as the lynch pin for the hour, minute, and second hands."
"Oh, papa. It's beautiful!" Harry said. It was very similar to the watch Dudley had received for his birthday last month, except Dudley's had the scene of a bear in a stream.
"You'll be eleven years old tomorrow, Harry. You'll be a man. In four short years, you'll be a lord. In just a few short weeks, you'll be going off to the Loch Beannach School and you'll be on your own for the first time," Vernon said, his mustache twitching as he paused and looked for the right words he wanted to use. "People will be looking at you like you're famous. They'll be watching what you say and what you do. Your grades and sports careers will be under scrutiny and some people will be jealous of the special treatment you get, as is your due as a Dursley and a lord. Ignore them. They're beneath you. While you must remember that hard work and gumption are the only way to get ahead in this world, you must also remember the hierarchy of our world. Always be kind and polite to your betters and always remind those beneath you of their place, if you need to." Vernon said, giving Harry a very serious look.
Harry nodded his head. Harry tended to treat everyone with kindness and compassion. It was one of his best qualities. Yet, if he needed to, Harry could snap back with a scathing verbal reprimand or even a bone breaking kick or hit, from his martial arts training.
"I know, papa. I won't be a namby pamby who can't stand up for himself. I also won't be silly and trust authority too much. I remember, butter them up but never turn your back. That's what you taught us," Harry said, grinning.
Vernon laughed. "That's my boy. I've got some gifts for you and Dudley to take for your Headmaster and your Head of House. I'll give them to you next week." Vernon was quite proud of these gifts. The headmaster had a gorgeous golden beard clip with the school's crest on it. Vernon thought it was questionable for a man of such authority to have a beard long enough to need a clip but Sirius had insisted it would be the best gift for the old geezer. He had a fancy gold clock for the Head of House for each boy. He hoped they'd be in the same house, and if they were, he suggested that the boys give the extra clock to their Deputy Headmaster, instead. That should butter them all up nicely. He was serious about not trusting authority too much. The dunderheads were hardly the best suited for the job, generally. Usually, they were just the most well connected.
"Thanks, papa. I'm sure they'll be proud to own a Dursley & Sons product. They are, after all, the highest quality gold and now silver items available on the market," Harry said, buttering up his father a little, too.
Vernon puffed up. His discovery of these sickle whosie-whatsits were taking the business in a whole new direction. Vernon grinned at his rising profit margins. He was planning to open a second shop in Leicester Square to serve the tourists. With the boys gone to boarding school, he'd have even more time to devote to his business. He was thinking of promoting his store manager to general manager and hiring a new manager for each store. It was a good wager. Vernon could feel it.
Harry smiled at the memory of his father's boasting after his compliments. Including silver jewelry really was a stroke of genius. Some people didn't like gold, after all.
Harry checked the draping of his pocket watch chain and went downstairs to meet Sirius and Dudley. Their father was at work today, so they didn't need to worry about being seen in what their father would surely call ridiculous getups.
The three wizards took off for Neville's house to meet up with all of their magical friends. Harry's mundane birthday party would be next weekend, when their father had time to attend, as well.
They arrived at Neville's house by apparition, something Harry still hadn't gotten used to, even though Dudley could take it like a champ now. He laughed at Harry's dizziness and queasiness. Neville met them at the door.
"Harry! Dudley! Come on in! Everyone should start arriving soon. Do you want to go see the cake?" Neville asked, excited to have his favorite blueberry and cream cheese cake, shaped like a giant blueberry with a giant chocolate cake worm poking out of it. Harry and Dudley were suitably impressed with treats on the table while Sirius put the gifts over on the gift table.
The other children started to arrive, as did several other adults. The party was just getting started.
Daphne, who had become a good friend to Harry and Hermione in particular, was the first to arrive along with her sister Astoria. Tracy Davis and Blaise Zabini arrived together. Astoria's little friends Tara Davis, Tracy's little sister, and Riccardo Zabini, Blaise's little brother, were there, too.
The big kids were all sitting together, talking about Hogwarts.
"Will you be able to come with us shopping on Saturday?" Harry asked.
"Sure," said Daphne. "Mum said Astoria and I could come along. She's coming, too, of course. She said it wouldn't be proper to let just Sirius and Remus escort us around without a female chaperone, as well."
"Betsy is coming, too," said Hermione, defensively. She wasn't doing anything improper shopping with the two boys and their uncles. Not with Betsy present, too.
"I didn't mean you were doing anything wrong, Hermione. I just meant my mum won't let me come unless she comes, too," shrugged Daphne.
"You're still coming to stay the weekend, right, Blaise?" asked Dudley. The two boys were best friends. Had been since their first meeting at two years old, just like Harry and Neville had been. Hermione and Daphne were Harry's best friends, and best friends with each other, too. Just like Daphne and Tracy were best friends. It was wonderful to have such a close-knit little group entering Hogwarts together.
"Yup. My grandpa says my mum will be busy but that I can come and shop with you all. Are we staying at Potter House?" Blaise asked.
"Yup. It's either there or Padfoot's Place," Harry said. Sirius had cleared out his family home and completely remodeled the place. It was now a clean, bright, and airy place that Sirius and Remus lived in together.
"Padfoot's wouldn't be a bad place to stay," said Hermione. "His home is lovely and very magical. It's much different than our homes, Harry," said Hermione. She moved closer to the boy who had asked her to be his girlfriend just two days before. The amount of blushing, stammering, and ignoring each other that happened afterwards was epic, but also adorable. Sirius had laughed all afternoon.
"It is," agreed Harry. "But it's not home." He found himself wanting to stay home more and more now that the leaving date for Hogwarts was impending.
"Did you get your letter yet?" asked Tracy.
"No, not yet. I expect it'll be waiting for me when I get home. We left pretty early this morning. Dudley's came in the afternoon," said Harry. Everyone agreed. Everyone except for Daphne, whose birthday was August 31, had already received their letters. All their letters had arrived in the afternoon, too.
"Alright, you sorry sacks. Let's come over to the present table. We're going to open a few presents and then play some games until it's time to have cake!" The kids all cheered at Sirius' words.
He handed out a present each to Neville, Harry, and Dudley. Dudley looked shocked.
"It's not my birthday!" Dudley said, staring at the present in wonder. "Why do I get a present?"
"Because if I'd given it to you on your birthday, it would have ruined the surprise for these two. Now, open them up!" The kids ripped into the packages. Dudley and Harry gave squeals of glee when they saw the sleek new brooms that they held in their hands.
"A Nimbus 2000!" yelled Dudley.
"Let's ride them! Please?" yelled Harry.
Neville didn't look so thrilled.
"What's wrong, Neville?" asked Remus, gently.
"I'm, I'm afraid," Neville mumbled.
"Of your broom?" Remus asked. Neville shook his head. "Of heights?" Remus guessed. Neville nodded.
"Oh, Neville, brooms are perfectly safe if you know how to ride them. Will you let me teach you? So, you know you're safe?" Remus offered. Neville looked unsure. Sirius barked out a laugh.
"Unless you're talking about the Hogwarts flying class brooms. They're a hazard," Sirius said. Hermione looked surprised.
"You mean the school equipment is unsafe?" she asked.
"Yeah. They've been around since we were in school and they weren't in good shape then," Sirius said. Harry got a crafty look on his face.
"Sounds like a good gift for the school. As our first-year gift," said Harry. Dudley immediately cottoned on. He started grinning. Hermione looked contemplative.
"I could donate to that cause, too," said Hermione. "How many brooms would we need?" she asked Sirius. He shrugged.
"Probably 50 or 60 to be safe. There's usually something like 100 students per year and they usually break it up into roughly half. There's always more Hufflepuffs than anything and fewer Ravenclaws than anything," answered Sirius.
"So that would be around 20 brooms each?" Hermione said.
"Hey! We'll want in on the action, too!" said Blaise. "If you're buttering up the school, we all want in on it."
"So, make that around 10 brooms each and we'll plan to buy 60. I know my parents would support the effort. They're for everyone, after all," said Tracy. Everyone agreed and the plan was set. Harry and Dudley told the other students about the clocks their father had prepared for their Heads of House.
"They sound beautiful," said Daphne, appreciatively. "Let me take them home for a week. I'll have daddy enchant them to be magically useful."
"Let me see the clock arms. I'll have my grandfather add gemstones to each clock arm," said Blaise.
"I'm not sure if my Gran would go for donating brooms or anything like that," said Neville, disappointedly. "I can grow some nice flowers. We can include them with the gifts," Neville winced.
"That sounds like a great idea, Neville," said Sirius. He knew good and well that Augusta Longbottom was a penny pincher. She didn't believe in buying anything new. She believed in reusing antiques until they turned to dust. "I'll pay for the sixth bit of brooms. In fact, I'll throw in 30 brooms myself, that way they've got a few replacements, too. Maybe a few brooms for kids to borrow so they can fly for fun!" Sirius was getting excited about it. He and James had loved playing quidditch and now their own little sprouts were on their way to play.
All the kids and adults thought it was a great idea. Sirius promised to send out the letters requesting price quotes for 80 brooms, probably Cleansweep 19's. They were a good broom for beginners but were still fun at faster speeds. They were also reliable and hard to break. Sirius felt it was their best bet.
The rest of the party went smoothly. Sirius had instructed all the children to bring brooms to ride. Even Hermione had ordered her own Cleansweep 19, as it was said to be the most sturdy and stable broom on the market. It practically flew itself, which was a wonderful thing in Hermione's opinion. She agreed with Neville, flying was for the birds.
Harry and Dudley headed home with Sirius, who graciously shrunk their brooms and told them to put them somewhere safe until next weekend, when they should be moved to their trunks. Yes, first years weren't allowed to have their brooms for flying during the first year at Hogwarts but no one said they couldn't have one in their trunk or at least no one would know, if they were smart about it.
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