Hey! An enormous thank you to Raose- don't worry, they'll cut his hair eventually!, Ditto2001, artful dodger, Fnxmoon, atari420, takari4ever7, charma1219, lady lightning- glad that you find it interesting!, fallen dragon, merlinhaliwell, calani- yes, my dear, here's some more!, Xirleb70- yes, there is nothing funnier than the trials and tribulations of one harry james potter, momma-dar- thank you for your continued support! You are great!, kateydidnt- thanks for pointing that out. It seems that I need to reread book 4!, and athenakitty- keep reading! Your questions WILL be answered!
Chapter 15, may I warn you, has Harry pretending to be a French transfer student from Beauxbatons, and faking a French accent, in an attempt to remain anonymous. So try not to get overly confused. Enjoy!
And now, on to chapter 15!
***~~~***
"Professor, are you okay?" asked Harry, noting Dumbledore's unusually pale face.
"What? Oh, yes, Harry, I'm fine. You need to get some new robes," he said absently.
"Yeah, I do. Professor?"
"Yes?"
"Why do you keep looking at me like that? Like I'm.. different? This isn't my fault, Professor. I- I don't know what's happening to me. And it's not at all what I expected, but, just.. it's still me, Professor. Isn't it?" Harry's voice pleaded.
Dumbledore's eyes and heart softened. Yes, he was still Harry. Harry Potter. He wasn't a threat, he was always good, and always kind. No matter how powerful he became. No matter how powerful.
"Yes, child. You will always be you. Even if your hair is very nearly as long as mine," he chuckled.
"Yeah, it's too long for my tastes. I'm cutting it when we get back to Hogwarts. IT grew again in the library, didn't it?"
Dumbledore nodded.
"I thought so," affirmed Harry. "Alright, I need new robes, and potion supplies. We've already gotten money, so that's out of the way. So, robes or potions first?"
Dumbledore smiled, and for the first time in the last few hours, his blue eyes twinkled again. "Let's get you some robes. Yours are slightly ridiculous."
Harry laughed and looked down to where his robes, which used to nearly touch the floor, were now almost up to his knees, exposing blue jeans that were much too short as well.
"Yes, these are pretty bad." He smiled broadly, but the smile immediately faltered. "God, I hope I don't see anyone I know," he whispered, as much to himself as it was to Dumbledore.
"Don't worry, child. There is still a lot of time before school starts up again, and owls don't go out with lists for another few weeks. I doubt that many students will be here."
Harry nodded as though he agreed with his headmaster, but the expression on his face told Albus otherwise.
"Come now, dear, it will be fine. Ah! Here we are!" Glad for the distraction, Dumbledore eagerly pushed his way into the store.
"Ah, Albus! It's so good to see you! Are you here for new robes?" asked Madame Malkin.
"No, thank you, but my friend here is. He just needs some black robes, preferably ankle length, for the next school term," Dumbledore said kindly, but forcefully, trying to make the witch see that he didn't want questions. However, she obviously didn't take the hint.
"Why, hello there! Are you new this year? What are you, a seventh year? My, you look even older than a seventh year! Where are you from?"
(A/N french accent time!) With a pained look at Dumbledore, he answered, with a very believable French accent, "Beauxbatons."
"Ah," started the witch, not even close to seeing through the ply, "Beauxbatons! It's a very nice place, is it not? I don't really know all that much about it. What's it like?"
Harry frowned and said, "All wizarding schools 'ave zer secrets, do zey not?"
Albus almost choked with the effort it took not to start laughing. Harry was doing a flawless impression of Fleur Delacour, the champion for Beauxbatons in the Triwizard Tournament the year before. Harry was obviously trying not to laugh as well, as his face turned an obnoxious shade of red and he started biting his lip.
"Yes, I suppose they do. How did you get to e at Hogwarts?" she asked, still taking in his measurements.
"More convenient," Harry said.
The witch frowned. "Your arm and height measurements don't quite match up. You're still going to grow, and soon, by the looks of it. I'll just put a hem on your robes so you can let it out when you do grow. You can manage that, can't you?"
"I'm sure I can," Harry said. "Can you tell me, 'ow much 'ore am I going to grow?" he asked, accenting much of his speech to sound convincing.
"Well, you're around 6 foot one.."
Harry nodded. It was something like that. He knew he had grown like crazy over the summer.
"I'm going to guess that you'll top out at around 6'5 or 6'6. Maybe a little bit more. You're going to be tall," the witch finished. (a/n: I know that I'm using the wrong measurements, but please excuse my Americanism!)
Harry wanted to gape at her in shock, but did his best to look unconcerned.
"My 'ader vas tall," he said, sounding bored. In fact, Severus was tall, but not that tall. He was 6'4, at best. Harry couldn't imagine being taller than him. He was huge and menacing to Harry. Harry would find it quite hysterical to claim superiority in height over his evil potions master.
He grinned wickedly until remembering that he wouldn't be taller than Severus. No, he would have to go back to being the short version of Harry Potter, easily the smallest boy in his class.
Suddenly, he felt somewhat bitter. Even though Snape's secret had been discovered, Harry couldn't be himself. Especially since Snape's secret had been discovered, he thought. God. The Slytherins were going to kill him. But until Voldemort was gone, Harry had to forgo his change in appearance.
Then a new thought struck him- when Dumbledore put an appearance charm on him before he went off to torment the Malfoys, would his new talents disappear?
He doubted it, since it was only supposed to change his outward appearance, but he would ask anyway.
When the witch finally left the room to write down the measurements, Harry turned to Dumbledore.
"Professor, when you place that appearance charm on me, it won't put a damper on my abilities, will it?" he asked in a whispered voice.
"No, it won't."
"Good. That would be a serious problem."
Dumbledore chuckled. "Yes, it would. And I love your accent, by the way. Very clever."
Harry smirked devilishly at him. "'Ank you, Professor," he said in a thick accent.
Madame Malkin came back into the room.
"Alright, you two. Your robes will be ready in an hour. You can come back then to get them. See you later!" she said, ushering them out the door.
***
Harry and Dumbledore walked in silence over to the potions supply store, where Harry bought the necessary ingredients. The teenager was lost in thought as he and Dumbledore walked to the middle of a not-very-crowded Diagon Alley. A bunch of wizards greeted Albus happily, and Harry only received a concerned look or to, much to his happiness. Nobody had recognized him, which made him infinitely sad and wordlessly happy at the same time. He was glad that he hadn't come across anyone he knew.
"Where to?" asked Dumbledore, making a point not to use his name in public. Both he and Harry knew that it was risky for him to appear as he was out in the open.
"The bookstore. I need to grab a few more books for an.. idea.. I have."
"Alright, let's go."
The two wizards walked toward the bookstore, and soon found themselves immersed in a group of flaming red hair.
Harry gasped.
"Professor!" squealed Ginny.
"Hello, Headmaster!" said Ron happily. It seemed like the entire Weasley clan was there. Harry could see Ginny, Ron, Fred, George, Percy, Charlie, Mr. And Mrs. Weasley.. everyone but Bill was there.
Everyone seemed to be talking to Dumbledore at once, all ignoring Harry except for Ron, who was staring at him curiously. Harry looked away immediately, and made sure that his long hair covered his scar.
He felt a slight blush creep over his cheeks. Here he was, in the middle of the closest family he'd ever had..
And he was a complete stranger.
