As usual, Phoebe grabs my hand as we enter the shop.
Flourish and Blotts, one of the more frustrating places in Diagon, much like the divination shop. While they do lack some of the more specialized titles, overall they have the best selection and are quite good at finding what you are looking for if they do not have it.
On the downside? Their organization is terrible.
There are vague sections where books are placed based on topic, and displays near the front for new or promoted books, but beyond that? Nothing. They are not ordered by title, author, or anything else, you have to find each individual book by hand or eye, which is incredibly frustrating. It doesn't help that the shelves are all different shapes and sizes, with rows ending at random, the aisles different widths and lengths...
A bookstore, being a bastion of knowledge, makes me love it, but everything else makes me hate it. The conflicting impulses often give me problems here, hence Phobe's assistance.
We get our Hogwarts books fairly quickly, the clerks make sure to keep those easily accessible at least, but after that, it is time to find Iris a few for her personal collection.
"I, you don't really need to do that..." she tries to insist.
"It is a good idea," even Ted agrees. "There are some references that are actually quite helpful for those new to the magical world that I remember, let's see if we can dig them up."
He names a few titles for everyone to look for, and we start off. I remind Iris that she should grab anything else that looks interesting.
"You have a small library space in your trunk, you wouldn't want it to go to waste would you?" I guilt her.
...
...
"Umm, Coeus, are you ok," Iris asks me several minutes later.
"Of course, why wouldn't I be?"
"Your uh, eye is twitching. Actually, you are just twitching a bit in general..."
...
Phoebe explains my problems with Flourish and Blotts.
"Oh. Umm, well, didn't you say you are like, really rich? Couldn't you like, buy them and make them fix it I guess?"
I stop in my tracks.
I...I had never considered that. What else am I going to use all that money for? And it is a very successful business...
"YES!" I grab Iris and pull her in for a hug.
"Thank you!" I tell her, kissing her cheek before I run off to find Andy.
It takes a short time of navigating the mazelike shop before I find her and Ted.
"Oh? What's got you so worked up you ran off without your other half?" she asks.
"Andy, I want to buy Flourish and Blotts!"
"I...what? I thought you rather...disliked the place? You have been rather vocal about it in fact." she replies.
"Exactly. We were talking to Iris, and she mentioned I could just buy it, and then make them fix it! It's perfect."
"...Ok, you do realize there is a lot more to owning a business than that right?"
I shrug.
"I don't care about the rest of it really. Honestly, I don't even really care about the money, I just want them to organize the place. If I have to I will go to Grandfather and get him to browbeat them into doing things properly."
As expected, she grimaces at the mention of grandfather, who she still doesn't really get along with.
I feel bad about using him against her like that, but...I really want this.
"I...not right now ok? We have to deal with Iris's situation for the moment, but after it is dealt with, we can look into it."
I hesitate, then nod.
Yes, that is more important. This place will keep. For now.
I make my way back through the infuriating shelves (soon, I promise them, soon) until I find the girls, Iris having found a couple of books while I was gone.
She looks at me questioningly.
"Later. We are going to get you sorted out first, but eventually, I will have his place under my thumb," I state with determination.
She stares at me.
"You uh...sound like a bad guy when you say that. Like a villain."
I shrug.
"Don't care, as long as I win. Anyhow, which books have we got so far?"
Hmmm.
She and Phoebe each found one of the books we are looking for. Combined with the one I saw Ted carrying, we should be set. Besides that Iris picked up You and your Owl, a book on taking care of owls and Phoebe grabbed her two books on potions? Hmm, this won't do, we need more magic!
Leading them to a different section I pick out two more books. One on basic jinxes, and another with some useful personal and household charms. Both should be quite useful if I remember correctly.
There, it's not much but it's a start, and my headache is growing worse by the moment. I actually don't want to buy her too many books or she will never know what to read next, and Hogwarts has a great library. Now we just need to find everyone again. Which means adventuring back into this infernal maze...
I would try to use my Sight to find them but the last time I tried that...well, it didn't end well for anyone.
-
Eventually, we regroup and make our way to the front, collect the actual booklists, and make our purchases.
Dora throws another book on the counter afterward, buying it with her own money.
"Here you go squirt," she says, handing it to Iris. "This one is from me. Everyone likes dragons right?"
I check it out over her shoulder, looks pretty cool. Iris opens her mouth a couple of times but eventually settles for nodding.
I load all the books into my trunk, and we collect her owl's cage on the way out of the shop, having left her by the entrance. No way could we have navigated the narrow shelves carrying that.
"Potion ingredients then?" Iris asks.
"Last thing on the list," Andy agrees.
We head towards Slug and Jiggers.
"Tell you what, I will wait out here with your owl, so you don't have to go knocking around carrying her in there, ok?" Ted offers.
"Oh! Umm, I don't want to be a bother, I can manage..." Iris responds.
"It's fine," Ted says. "I prefer the fresh air anyway, and I am sure she will as well."
She hesitates a moment longer. "Ok then," she eventually agrees. "If you are sure. I will try to be fast."
He laughs. "No, no, don't rush on my account. That will just lead to my daughter breaking things."
Dora glares, but can't deny it. There have been too many incidents.
We enter the smelly but decently organized shop.
Gathering the required ingredients is uninteresting, but when I head over to the premade potions to stock up for Iris's trunk Dora catches sight of the inside of my trunk and boggles.
"Coeus, what the bloody hell!"
"Nymphadora, language!" Andy scolds her.
"Mom! He has an infirmary in his trunk! Like I knew he kept potions in there but I had no idea he had that many!"
"Well duh, I never know what is going to be needed, or how much. I want to be prepared."
"Prepared? Prepared for what, a war?"
I shrug. "If necessary."
She stares at me.
I wave down the clerk and point at the premade potions.
"I want them," I say.
"Err, I'm sorry young man, which are you wanting?"
"Them. The potions."
His brow furrows. "I...yes sir. Which potions do you want."
I sigh. How hard is this to understand?
I reach into my pouch and start pulling out stacks of galleons, placing them on the counter as I speak.
"All of them. I want all of the potions."
Iris is the bloody Girl-Who-Lived. Even if she is the sensible sort, I fear she is going to need them.
The clerk's eyes widen as the pile of gold grows.
I raise my eyebrow.
"Well? Ring me up."
I hear a crash behind me and sigh.
"I'll pay for whatever that was too."
Of course that starts an argument with Andy.
-
We do eventually leave the store, but it was not quickly, not like Iris had been hoping for. Dora had managed to break several vials and combine them into something new, causing a very, very nasty black rash to start spreading on her skin that she couldn't get rid of.
The owner had to be called up to brew up something specific to counter it. Fortunately, it was finished fairly quick, at least as far as brewing a potion went, but...well, an apothecary is never a place one wants to spend a lot of time in. I bought all of the extra counter agent he brewed up, however, so it wasn't a total loss.
Andy looks rather more tired than she started the day as she leads us back towards the trunk shop, Enchanted Spaces.
"Ah, you're back!" the man exclaims as we enter. "Good timing, I am all finished here."
Andy just nods as I drag Iris forward to examine it.
Everything looks good as he shows her how to work it and demonstrates all the features.
I pull out my own trunk and start transferring all her stuff over.
Her eyes are wide as she watches me move load after load from one to another.
Dora and Phoebe have their arms wrapped around her shoulders, while Ted and Andy sit on a bench in the corner, talking quietly.
"Whew" I saw, standing up and wiping sweat off my brow. "That took longer than expected. But, you are all set now, and have everything in one spot. And those Dursley bastards won't be able to touch any of it," I promise her.
I tap the trunk, shrinking it, and had it back to her, something I am able to do since she had Phobes and me keyed into it.
She reaches out and takes it, a look of awe on her face.
...
And bursts into tears.
Not tears of happiness either. I am, like, ninety-five percent sure.
She just stands there, arm still extended, clutching the chest in one hand, eyes clenched shut, sobbing.
I do the only thing I know how to do in this situation and hug her. Once I join in, Phoebe and Dora wrap their other arms around us, turning it into a true group hug.
Of course, now I can't really get a proper look at her anymore, blast.
Also wow, I just realized I have been hugging her a lot...This is weird, normally I am not the touchy-feely type, other than with Phoebe, and maybe Dora. I suppose it is just because she really needs it? But why does she...oh.
Oh, so that is probably somehow related to why she is crying now? Ok, let's see if I can work this out without looking.
She never had...anything, so I gave her lots of things, and now she is crying.
No, not quite following it here.
"Are you..." she whispers, causing me to pull my head back a bit, to look at her. "Are you, all of you...real?" she asks. "This...I'm just...I'm just dreaming...aren't I...just going to wake up...back in the cupboard...with Dudley jumping on the stairs..."
Ok. No need for sight.
Also, don't be angry. Don't be angry. Don't be angry. Ok, good.
"-are as real as can be squirt, we are right here with you. Just pull out your wand, just feel it, and you'll know," says Dora as I refocus.
Iris hesitates. We loosen the hug enough for her to reach her free hand into her robes and grasp her wand. I can feel her relax, tension leaving her as she connects with her magic.
"It's...real then?" she asks.
We all nod.
"But...why? Why are you all...so...nice?"
I shrug. "Why not? We met you, we liked you, you are our friend now. And we look out for our friends."
"Friends..." she whispers.
"...Iris, have you never had a friend before either?" I ask.
Her silence answers the question as Dora swears under her breath.
Screw accident, I am asking grandfather to make sure it is as painful and embarrassing as possible.
"I...I met a snake once, he was my friend for a couple of days...before Uncle Vernon saw me talking to him and killed him..."
...
"Wait, you are a Parselmouth?"
"A what?"
"You can talk to snakes? Understand them and they can understand you?"
"Umm...yes? Is that...not normal?" she asks quietly, withdrawing.
I hesitate a moment.
"For Slytherins it is amazing. It is a trait made famous by the house's founder, Salazar Slytherin," I tell her. "That said, it is a very rare ability, mostly associated with dark wizards nowadays in Britain. The most recent known Parselmouth was, well, Voldemort."
Her eyes widen. "So...I..." She closes her mouth and thinks. "What does that mean?" She asks.
I shrug. "Honestly, nothing really. You are you. People jump to conclusions over stupid things all the time. If you want to show it off you will get major points with Slytherins and a lot of the pureblood families, but some of the idiots will think you are 'dark'. I guess you can try to hide it if you want but...well, why would you hide your own talent?"
She hesitates. "I'll think about it?"
"It's your life," I tell her, shrugging again.
I also realize we are still in a group hug.
"Feeling better?"
She realizes it now too and flushes crimson.
"Umm...a bit," she admits, before fidgeting
I frown. "Are you ok?"
...
"I...kind of...need to...umm..."
What?
She looks around the store.
Oh!
I let her go and step back. Right, it has been a long trip, hasn't it?
The owner points to a room in the back, and off she goes, leaving the rest of us up front.