The Next Day

The next day, Harry awoke, the details of the last day still etched in his mind. Suddenly, he was excited. He just remembered that today was the day they were going to get his school supplies!

Around 11:00 AM, Lily asked Harry to tell Hermione they were about to leave. When Hermione arrived, she asked how they were going to get there, and Lily replied, "Well, by floo powder!" When she saw the puzzled looks on Harry and Hermione's faces, she said, "Oh, you'll see." and they headed toward the fireplace. Lily told them to watch James. James stepped into the hearth, took something in his hands that Harry thought was ash, and threw them into the flames after saying, "LEAKY CAULDRON!" and there was a huge roar, and suddenly, he was gone. Hermione went next. "Now, remember to speak very, very clearly, and say 'Leaky Cauldron' and you will be there, James will be waiting there for you." Hermione took some of the ash-like powder and threw them into the flames, there was another roar and she vanished. Harry went next, repeating what Hermione had done. He stepped out of the hearth, trying to look for Hermione and James, and finally saw them sitting at a table, waiting for Harry and Lily. Harry went to sit down with them, and saw his mother step out of the green flames. "Come on dears, time to go."

Lily and James led the two of them to the back of the pub, where there was a brick wall. Harry wondered how this would help them get there, then reminded himself that they had basically teleported from his house to this pub. James tapped a brick with something that looked like a wand 3 times, and the bricks started to rearrange. Soon, a doorway stood before them, leading into a very busy street. Harry and Hermione looked around in awe as the different shops passed them. Harry saw many different ones: a cauldron shop with a sign that said: Cauldrons - All Sizes - Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver - Self-Stirring - Collapsible, to which James said, "You both need one, don't you? Check your lists." Harry saw that they needed a standard size 2 pewter cauldron. "Yeah, a standard size 2 pewter cauldron.. But.. won't all these things come costly..?" Harry asked to which both Lily and James smiled. "Come on, you'll see. Hermione, how many pounds do you have on you right now?" asked Lily. Hermione started counting, and replied "Fourteen pounds and seventy pence." to which both Lily and James shook their heads. "Well, that's ok, dear. We'll just buy you your school supplies," to which Hermione said, "Oh, no no.. I wouldn't want you to go through that trouble.." and James just said, "Oh, that's really not a problem. We'd be delighted to buy them for you!" but Hermione still didn't look convinced.

They walked up to a building made of white marble, that James said was the wizarding bank, Gringotts. At the door, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was a goblin. They entered, and heard a song playing around the lobby. It went like this:

Enter, stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed,

For those who take, but do not earn,

Must pay 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.

After hearing the song, Lily said, "You'd be mad to try and rob it. It's very highly protected, especially the vaults of ancient wizarding families, like ours." They went to a goblin that was at the very end of the lobby. There, they saw someone who was at least eleven feet tall. "Hagrid! What a pleasant surprise!" to which the tall man turned around. He looked ferocious, but when he saw Lily and James, his expression softened and turned into that of shock. Harry knew exactly why. Lily and James were supposed to be dead to the world, but here they were, standing in front of the man who Lily called 'Hagrid'. "Lily? James? Yer alive!?" he said considerably loudly. The head of every witch and wizard turned towards the four of them. Everyone then rushed towards them and started saying 'I thought you were dead!' or, 'God bless you, you're alive! Thank you for vanquishing He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!' and whatnot. Meanwhile, Hagrid was talking secretly to a goblin and holding a letter in his hand. After they managed to shoo away everyone (everyone's eyes still on them) they asked to visit their vault. The goblin told another goblin named Griphook to take them to their vault and Hagrid to his. Griphook took them to a rail cart, and the cart started moving.

They went on for what seemed like hours, until they reached a vault with the number 687 engraved on it. They slowed down to a halt. Griphook slid his finger down the vault's middle and the door opened. Suddenly, Harry realized why his parents said it wasn't a problem for them to pay for Hermione's stuff. It seemed like Hermione did too. There was a big pile of gold, silver, and bronze coins. James told them the gold ones were galleons, the silver ones were sickles, and the bronze ones were knuts. James went in, scooped up about 100 of each, and came out. He looked at their awe and laughed. "Oh, don't worry, there's about a thousand times more at Potter Manor. It's the safest place to keep anything after Hogwarts. After that, they got in the cart. Griphook took them to vault 713. This was Hagrid's stop. Griphook opened the vault and there was a single package in the vault. Lily and James seemed to know what it was. Because they looked at the package. Harry thought Hagrid had probably told them why he was here. They got in the cart, and the three of them talked like old friends, (But then again, they probably were) and when they got out, Hagrid split up with them. First off, Lily said they would buy their books. They went to Flourish and Blotts, where they bought two sets of all their school books. Next, they went to Madam Malkin's Robes. Hermione had stayed behind at Flourish and Blotts because she was fascinated by the different books. She basically used it as a library. Lily went to go get their cauldrons, and James and Hagrid looked sick from the cart ride, so they had gone to get something from the Leaky Cauldron. Harry entered, and saw that Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling woman dressed all in a mauve. "Hogwarts, dear?" she asked, as Harry opened his mouth to speak. "Got the lot here - another young man being fitted up just now, in fact."

Harry went to the back of the shop. He saw a boy with a pale, pointed face standing there on a footstool. A second witch was pinning up his robes. Madam Malkin took Harry to a stool next to the boy, slipped a long robe over his head, and began to pin it to the right length. "Hello," said the boy. "Hogwarts, too?"

"Yes." replied Harry.

"My father's next door buying me books and Mother's up the street looking at wands," the boy said. His voice sounded bored. "After all this, I'm going to drag them off to Quality Quidditch Supplies to buy me a new racing broom. I don't see why first years can't have their own brooms. I think I'll bully Father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."

Harry was reminded of his cousin, Dudley. He wondered if Dudley would also be going to Hogwarts.

"Have you got your own broom?" The boy went on.

"No.. I wish I did though. I agree with you, there's no reason why first years can't have their own brooms." Harry replied.

"Play Quidditch at all?" The boy asked.

"No, not really. If I did, though, I'd play Seeker. My father used to play on the Gryffindor Quidditch team as Seeker." Harry replied, being told about Quidditch by Lily and James.

"Do you know what house you'll be in? I think I'll be in Slytherin. My entire family has been." The boy said.

"I'll probably be in Gryffindor. Both my parents were. But you never know, do you?" Harry replied.

"Hey, look at that man!" he exclaimed suddenly. Harry literally jumped, startled. He was looking at the window, where James and Hagrid were waiting for him. The boy was pointing towards Hagrid. "That's Hagrid, and the other man's my father." Harry said.

"I've heard about him.. He works at Hogwarts, doesn't he? I've heard he's a sort of servant.." The boy said rudely.

"No, he's the gamekeeper." Harry replied.

"Well, I've heard he's a sort of savage. He lives in a hut on the school grounds and gets drunk every now and then. He tries to do magic, which ends in his bed getting set on fire." He said. Harry almost burst into laughter at the last part. He stopped himself because he reminded himself it'd be rude. He was starting to like the boy.. "What's your surname?" Harry asked. "Malfoy." the boy replied. But before Harry could reply, Malfoy's father came to get him, and he left. A few minutes later, Madam Malkin left Harry, and James came in to get him. "Hello, Harry. Who was that boy you were talking to?" James asked. "He said his name was Malfoy.." No sooner had he said those words, James had an angry look on his face. "Malfoy, you say..?" he asked curtly. Harry nodded, and James looked angry now. "The Malfoy family has been known to be one of the sacred 28." James saw the confused look on Harry's face as they approached Potage's cauldron shop. "I'll explain when we get home."

Lily exited the shop. Harry didn't see any cauldrons. "Mum, where are our cauldrons?" Harry asked. "Oh, here they are." She reached into her bag and pulled out 2 miniature cauldrons. why"But.. that isn't going to be big enough.." Harry said. "Oh, I've put a Shrinking Charm on it. I'll reverse it when you go to school." she said. Just then, Hermione caught up to them. "Finally! I've been looking for all of you for fifteen minutes!" she said breathlessly. "Oh, sorry, Hermione, dear. Come on, now. Time to get your wands!" James said. On the way, Lily and James had a little argument about getting Harry a broom. "Mum! Dad! It's fine! I don't need a broom! You said they have some at Hogwarts. I can just use one of those!" He said. James didn't look happy but agreed.

They entered Ollivanders, and Harry saw an old man at the counter. "Mr. Potter..? Lily and James? I thought you were-" but before he could finish, James intercepted, "I'm sorry, Mr. Ollivander, we're rather in a hurry right now. We're looking for wands for both of them. He gestured to Harry and Hermione. "Ah, yes.. Ms. Granger, come here, if you please.." Hermione stepped up to the counter. Mr. Ollivander went to the back of the shop and came back with a box. "What is your wand hand, Ms. Granger?" he asked, and Lily told Hermione to hold out her dominant hand. " He handed a wand to Hermione, but almost instantly took it back. He took the box and brought another one. This time, he didn't take the wand. "Remember. The wand chooses the wizard." and Hermione nodded, as though she understood. Next it was Harry's turn. He walked up to the counter and held out his dominant hand; his right one. Ollivander looked intrigued, but walked to the back of the shop and brought out a wand box. He measured his arms and body, and Harry realized the tape measure was doing this itself. Ollivander was taking boxes down from shelves. He brought one to the counter. "Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave."

Harry took the wand and, feeling his cheeks burning, waved the wand, but before he could, Mr. Ollivander took it away from him. "Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try-"

Harry tried, but he had hardly moved his hand when Mr. Ollivander took the wand from him. "No, no. Here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."

Harry tried. And tried. He had no idea what Ollivander was waiting for. James and Lily did, though. The pile of wands was getting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.

"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry.. Not to worry.. We'll find the perfect match here somewhere - I wonder, now - yes, why not - unusual combination - holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple.

Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers. He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light around the room.

"Oh, bravo!" said Ollivander while James, Lily, and Hagrid whooped and clapped (Hermione was in Flourish and Blotts.) After shopping, they returned home. Harry went to sleep, recounting all the memories they had today.