The next thing Harry knew, he was standing in his old bedroom at number four Privet drive. He was eleven years old again.
He heard Dudley watching television and Aunt Petunia bustling around the kitchen. He could smell breakfast cooking.
Almost in a trance, Harry went down into the kitchen and upon glancing at the calendar, saw that it was August 31, he had one day until he boarded the train to Hogwarts.
Not wanting to waste any time he hurried back to his room. He packed everything up.
"And just where do you think you're going?" Uncle Vernon sneered at him when Harry emerged from his room with all his school things in tow.
"Anywhere but here" He muttered and left before he could hear a reply.
Once he was up the street a ways, pulled out his wand to summon the knight bus.
"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this morning. Where can we take you?"
"Diagon Alley in London."
He rented a room at the Leaky Cauldron for one night, and got settled in. Then it was time to go shopping.
He left the inn and wandered down Diagon Alley til he came to Gringotts where he refilled his money bag from his vault, wishing he could access his other ones and silently cursing Dumbledore for keeping his keys (like everything else it seemed) from him.
He'd already done his regular school shopping with Hagrid, but now it was time to do a little shopping for himself. Harry found a shop that sold muggle clothing (presumably for when witches or wizards needed to disguise themselves in the non magical world) and went inside. He decided he was not going spend any more time wearing Dudley's hand me downs.
After buying an assortment of plain colored shirts and pairs of jeans that fit him, Harry was directed by the sales witch working there (who had seen his poorly taped together broken glasses) to a place that sold spectacles.
Naturally all the glasses were magical in some way or other, the most expensive pair being able to do everything that Moody's glass eye could. Harry found the temptation to buy such a pair too much to resist. He could already think of so many uses for such an item. He placed the order, for such an expensive custom made enchanted pair of glasses would take a month before it would be ready. The shopkeeper promised to mail them to him since he would be at Hogwarts by then.
When he was done with his shopping trip he had found many other items to buy. The first was a harvesting kit, which contained set of knives and scalpels, some cleaning potions and materials which could generate sanitized glass containers to prevent anything getting contaminated, the containers being nearly indestructible too.
Second was a large trunk like the one Barty Crouch Jr. had kept Moody. It was even bigger on the inside than that one, in fact it had three small rooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a bedroom. Harry planned to use this while staying at the Dursleys, that way he would never have to interact with them but the blood protection would still remain intact.
Next he bought a magical black hooded cloak that changed your voice, kept your face magically hidden and your build non-distinct, perfect for hiding who you were. After putting his other finds safely away in his room at the inn, he then donned this very cloak.
It was then time for Harry to attempt his riskier shopping trip. Venturing into Knockturn alley.
Harry was more than a little nervous to explore what was basically the wizarding equivalent of the black market but he was hoping to find some things worth buying here to aid in all that he had to do now that he'd been given a second chance.
First he looked at a stall selling potions and rare ingredients. He briefly considered buying a ready made polyjuice potion that only needed a hair or nail of the person to be added to it before using. And alarmingly the seller also offered hair and nails of various high up ministry workers to purchase and use with the potion (priced so high not even Lucius Malfoy could afford it). But then upon learning the potion would need to be used immediately to work, decided against it.
Harry browsed several other stalls with contents so disturbing he didn't want to think about it but was sure it'd end up in his nightmares eventually.
After that he happened upon a shop that sold various secondhand items, (how they'd been acquired was likely in the most unethical of methods), including a pensieve which Harry immediately purchased. Dumbledore had mentioned to him once how rare they were and he could think of a few ways he could make use of having one for himself. He also purchased a time turner (fresh off the neck of an Unspeakable was the advertisement).
Finally he bought the vanishing cabinet in Borgin and Bukes, thinking that if he could fix the other one like Malfoy had done in sixth year, he could have a quick way of traveling undetected from one place to another.
Harry came across many dark and cursed objects while shopping here, but unfortunately found nothing that he thought could be of any use to him. Still he felt that overall the day had been spent well and as the sun went down, he returned to his room at the inn for a good night's rest.
He was glad to have some time to himself now, something he needed after everything that had happened. Going back in time, being eleven years old again, having future knowledge, learning about all the people who had manipulated him and where his true destiny lie, it was a lot to take in. He needed time to process.
He spent the rest of the day settling in, enjoying being on his own away from the Dursleys for now and better yet not on the run anymore. No Voldemort to worry about, for the moment anyway.
As far as Harry was concerned, Voldemort wasn't much of a threat. No, the bigger problem was Dumbledore. What could he even do about the headmaster? He was twice as powerful and worse, was beloved by all rather than feared. And having seen the lengths he'd gone to to manipulate Harry, he didn't doubt that stepping out of line could cause Dumbledore to take even more drastic measures than he'd done in his previous life.
It would be years before Harry could become emancipated and assume his lordship title which would help him gain more control but until then he'd have to be careful. Maybe if he could keep on Fudge's good side the minister might let him do this earlier than was custom.
And then there was the problem of Ron and the Weasleys. He didn't think he'd ever feel comfortable in Molly's presence again after what she'd done. Sure she hadn't technically done it yet but still, knowing what she would be more than willing to do if he didn't get together with Ginny at some point, it made him furious. Her colluding with Dumbledore to ensure he met her and the rest of the Weasley family, in the hopes that he would befriend Ron was just as bad. And that had already happened.
He didn't know what to do about Ron. He didn't question his friendship but being best mates with Ron meant being involved with his family. Would it be better to distance himself from him? Not even become friends at all?
It was incredibly disheartening to know everyone around him (except Hermione of course and thank goodness for that at least) couldn't be trusted. Harry decided sitting around with only his thoughts to keep him company wasn't helping as much as he thought it would. So he turned in for the night and went sleep but not without tossing and turning for a while.
A/N: Thanks so much for the constructive criticism (which is really the only criticism I can bear so please continue to be gentle with me) and all the kind reviews! This chapter is kind of short as you can see but I wanted to get the obligatory shopping trip trope out of the way first thing. I haven't decided what I'm doing about Ron yet. I don't hate him or want to bash him (though I do think he needs to grow up and learn to be a better friend). I'd rather focus my bashing on the many adults who screwed Harry over. So I might have Harry eventually become friends with Ron but definitely not very close friends. The golden trio will be Harry, Neville, and Hermione. With Luna joining the group in second year. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, the next will be up soon!