Chapter 2: The End of Summer

Harry had gone to Diagon Alley many times, but each time he visited, he was thrown off by some strange new thing here or the sheer strangeness of this place.

Diagon Alley was magical.

The place had buildings in shapes that should not exist, animals that looked like demons, witches that smelt like manure and wizards that seemed to be fathers of hags. It might seem to be the horrible version of Knockturn Alley, but strangely, it was the best thing Harry had ever seen in his life.

Hagrid had introduced him to many jubilant shopkeepers and joyful regulars of Leaky Cauldron, as well as Tom the Barkeeper, on his first visit. It was strange to be famous back then and be greeted by them so cheerfully.

Perhaps that tainted his view or the fact that this was the first magical place he had been to, but Harry didn't care, he loved this place.

When Harry gasped at seeing the Alley, James smirked and said, "I had been like you were when I first came here, years ago!"

Harry said, "Shut up, James. Diagon Alley is just too awesome to not admire."

James nodded and said softly, "It really is, I love it here. No rules, no scolding, only fun, and sometimes ice cream and brooms too."

"Yeah."

Fleamont looked at the children and then said, "C'mon, kiddies, we are going to Gringotts! No wizard has a safe by his bed, does he?"

Harry asked, "That might be safe though, right?"

Fleamont shrugged and answered, "Yeah, but why bother? Diagon Alley has everything and we can simply get the gold from a safer place here which is right nearby, without any problems except for snarling Goblins!"

Fleamont was an overly emotional fellow. He was excited by the smallest things and turned moody over the shortest of mistakes, he wore his emotions like a sword and shield over his face, and was almost always busy creating potions. He had told Harry to call him 'Uncle Fleamont' but Harry had started calling him 'Monty', which everyone had been okay with.

Euphemia said, "Fleamont, I will get the gold with the kids and you wait here. The Goblins already hate you for throwing a dung bomb the last time we came here."

Euphemia was a stern woman, who turned to putty every time James pulled out his wide eyes and pout. She was very overprotective and was generally found in the library, reading magazines about Charms, Household Spells or Enchantments.

Fleamont whined, "But Euphemia, I want to see their reactions to my prank! James said that they would have loved it."

James' eyes widened and he said quickly, "I did not say that! Dad is lying."

James did say that but now, he was lying to save his face in front of his mother.

Euphemia sighed and rolled her eyes, she said, "I sometimes wonder how James loves his little pranks so much but then I look at you. Tone them down at Hogwarts, James. And, Harry, you keep an eye on him."

Harry and James said in sync, "As you say, ma'am."

Euphemia rolled her eyes and walked to Gringotts with Harry and James, Fleamont having gone to pout somewhere else. Of course, that man would likely be gawking over brooms by the time they came back, but that's only true if Harry had come to understand the man correctly.

Harry didn't read the familiar poem on Gringotts' doors as they entered, he was too familiar with it to bother rereading it.

"I need to access my vault."

The scowling old Goblin looked at her over his glasses and asked, "And do you have your key, witch?"

Euphemia nodded and the scowling creature sighed in disappointment before saying, "Wait a minute, witch, Bograt will come and take you to your vault."

Euphemia nodded and the three waited for Bograt to come.
_

James crashed into the old man as he was looking at the brooms and not seeing his path, Harry helped him up and said, "Sorry."

The old man chuckled and said, "No problems, children, it happens. I know how interesting brooms can be, you know!"

Harry nodded and the old man said, "I am Jakub Skeeter, nice to meet you, boys."

Harry saw the man carefully as he mentioned his name. He had a thin face with curly blonde hair that was greying due to age. Harry remembered the 'enchantingly nasty' Rita Skeeter from his recent memories when she slandered him.

She was the person he hated the most.

Harry smiled as convincingly as he could and introduced himself, "It is nice to meet you too, Mister Skeeter, I am Harry Potter and this is my cousin, James."

Jakub looked through his huge round glasses and gave a huge smile. James looked back at him through his thin frames and exclaimed, "Your glasses are thick. They look so old."

Skeeter chuckled and said dramatically, "They are, young man. I have had them for years and I would gladly keep them till I die!"

"Dad, are you talking to random people again?" A young voice said and then muttered loudly, "I have told you so many times not to do that . . ."

The old man protested weakly, "Come on, Margarita! I had accidentally crashed into these young men and they were so polite that they apologised to me! Such courtesy, I remember when it was more common, you know, in those old days when I was a boy!"

A young woman in her late teens entered Harry's vision and he felt a sudden hate break through his heart as he saw the silky blonde hair and the beautiful pouty lips. Harry took a deep breath, the woman hadn't done anything yet.

James asked, "Are you his daughter?"

Merlin, dad, no need to blurt out every single word on your mind.

The woman nodded and said, "I am Margie Skeeter!"

James tilted his head and questioned, "But he called you Margarita!"

Jakub smirked and Margie scowled, she said, "He would have named me Margherita if he could have, you know. I hate the name Margarita with passion, call me Margie or Rita."

'Margie Skeeter, that is less hateful,' Harry thought as he decided to call her that.

It was an odd parallel between Nymphadora Tonks and Rita Skeeter but Harry decided to ignore it, he would deal with this revelation later.

Harry and James went towards Euphemia and Fleamont.
_

Anthony ducked away as he saw his father and honorary aunt enter the room, no need to make them aware of his presence now. Not when they look so angry.

His father cursed, "That son of a bitch! How - how could he say that?! To your face too!"

His honorary aunt sat down on a comfy couch and said, "He can say whatever he wants, Howard, and he is right too. Steve was an important soldier on our side and if there were more like him in the War, more people would have been alive. Right now, more than two million people have been killed on both sides in the Vietnam War. And don't you remember the many Captain America that had been around till the '60s?"

Anthony's father grunted in acknowledgement and said, "I didn't like them too, remember? I was okay with them until they started riding upon Steve's identity."

Peggy Carter sighed and nodded, she said, "Look, Howard, you can make a fuss for all you want but Steve was a soldier that every war needs, and that is why the military has started tests on super soldier serum. Sometimes, we have to choose between ourselves and the world."

Howard grunted an acknowledgement and said, "I really wish I could get some booze but I am too old for that shit. Damn it."

Anthony watched his father stand up and say, "Tony, go to your bedroom, it's past your bedtime."

After watching his father almost lose it, Tony decided it was safe to just leave without asking why Aunt Peggy did not seem surprised that he was there or how his father even knew he was there.

As Tony walked away, he started thinking of ways to be better than the legend that is Captain America.
_

Nicholas Flamel cursed as he saw his left hand, or at least what remained of it. He had just woken up in the Kamar Taj. He looked around to see if anyone was there and immediately met eyes with Yao and Penerelle.

Yao sounded tired as she spoke, "You really should stay still sometimes, Nicholas."

Nicholas tried to form a counterargument when Penerelle said, "Nicholas, perhaps we should return to France for a few decades of peace, at least until the new millennium starts."

Nicholas looked at her and his mouth seemed to speak on its own, "I am not going back to the region that killed my family." And suddenly, Nicholas' thoughts turned to his precious grandson, Louis, and how he was brutally murdered in the town square in the late sixteenth century by a pompous muggle noble.

Penerelle's thoughts seemed to end in the same place and she agreed. She had never met his grandson as she was his second wife after his first wife was killed and Nicholas had not been in France for a few decades by then. When he met her in the Flanders region ages ago, he was blown away by the way she used runes in her daily life.

Yao said, "If not France, then stay here. You can teach the young sorcerers some discipline and history. Surely, Kamar Taj is not a bad place to stay now."

While it was spoken to Nicholas, Penerelle answered, "Thank you, Yao, but we do not wish for ourselves to be identified by anyone after years of anonymity. We have enjoyed our peace and perhaps, we will settle in some French-speaking part of the world."

Nicholas' eyes sparkled suddenly as he asked his wife, "What about Madagascar? We have never been there and it has loads of mysterious magic hidden in plain sight!"

Penerelle scoffed and said, "I have been there as a child and I have never seen locals so unwilling to trust outsiders even now. The locals were so attached to their aura of mystery when I had visited."

Nicholas asked curiously, "Don't you wish to know if they have changed now?"

Penerelle answered, "Obviously not. Wixen are too stubborn to change so fundamentally in a few hundred years. We may know muggles in a region have changed but the wixen? They could have changed without a big baddie."

Nicholas sighed again before another option popped up in his head. He asked, "What about Canada? We never visited it despite being pretty close."

Penerelle said, "Perhaps when I feel like exploring again. How do you feel about Belgium? I haven't visited home for a few years."

Nicholas thought for a moment before sighing. He nodded in agreement, he wanted to visit his and Penerelle's old house as well. He wanted to think on some of his old notes too, now that he thought about it.

Yao smiled and said, "Brilliant. Now, please get out of here, you two, I am quite a busybody as you may know due to knowing me for more than a few centuries."

Nicholas and Penerelle nodded before disappearing and suddenly, Yao sighed. She asked herself when will Nicholas be needing her help medically again. Hopefully, before her desired day to die.
_

Harry turned back towards his 'uncle' and 'aunt' before turning back to James. He sighed silently and then stood up from his comfortable seat to say goodbye to his family.

Finally, he was going to Hogwarts.