"Stand back now boys." Moody pushed Harry and Ron into one corner and
pointed his wand at the obstinate door. He muttered something and Harry and
Ron stared in disbelief as the door they had spent an hour trying to bash
down slowly swung open. Moody peered in and when he withdrew his head he
was covered with cobwebs and dust. He sneezed and then smiled. "Good luck
boys." Then with a crack he disapparated and was gone.
"Ugh." Ron said. He was staring at the cobwebs that adorned the small doorway in front of him. "If we never needed this place before why do we suddenly need it now?" he asked. Harry shrugged as he batted the cobwebs away gingerly as he stepped through the door.
"They're probably just trying to keep us busy. I doubt they really need to have these places explored. It's weird though, this was the first one that was hard to open. All the others seemed rather normal if nasty. Maybe this one will have something interesting in it." He said. His tone was hopeful but he sincerely doubted that there could be anything worth looking for in this dump. He was poking around in his robe pocket and he took out a brightly glowing stone that immediately illuminated the room. It looked like a dilapidated guest room to Harry. Ron waded through the drifts of dust that layered the floor to get to the bed.
"Mum said that she would take us to Diagon Alley today." Ron said as he wrenched the barely recognizable quilt off of the bed and flung it to the floor. Harry stuffed it into the dumbwaiter and pulled out the duster they had brought along. The magical device immediately began zipping around, sucking up the drifts of dust that carpeted the room. Harry and Ron finished stripping the bedclothes off and looked around the room in surprise. Without all the dust it actually looked pretty good. "Huh." Ron sneezed at the dust that the duster was sending into the air and looked around. "It's better than those house elf quarters we cleaned, even if Dobby seemed to think they were wonderful." He said.
Harry nodded and pulled open one of the drawers of the dresser. "Hey look! There's clothes and stuff in here." he said. Ron came over and peered down at the drawer. "Looks like someone sure left the house in a hurry. Then again I would too if it was a choice between staying with Sirius' mad mum or leaving" He said.
"Ron! Harry! We're going to Diagon Alley, hurry up." Ginny yelled. The boys grinned at each other, the contents of the drawer forgotten. The boys scrambled into the dumbwaiter, ducking through the short doorway.
Harry slumped back against the wall while they waited for the slow descent down to the kitchen. They still hadn't been able to find out anything beyond what they had overheard the day he had arrived. It just seemed so unfair of the adults to keep them in the dark. And Fred and George weren't any better, they refused to tell them anything at all. "I can't see why they won't tell us anything. I bet we could be helping a lot more than just cleaning out all of these old rooms and things. I wish they'd just tell us what was going on. I bet I've done more to stop Voldemort than all of them put together! I've faced him alone four times now and every time I've come out on top!" Harry said. He was frustrated with the lack of information that was coming to him, he wanted to be able to do something, he wanted to get Bellatrix Lestrange for what she did to Sirius.
Ron looked at him out of the corner of his eye while he picked intently at his shoes. "Er, maybe they just don't want you-us to get hurt." He said. Harry shrugged and thoughts of the prophecy flitted through his mind. Maybe they really were only trying to protect him. But how was he supposed to learn enough to defeat Voldemort if he was never allowed to fight against him in any way at all. But those were his worries and he didn't want to burden Ron with them. He turned and smiled at his friend. "Yeah, you're probably right, it stinks though." Ron gave him a relieved smile and the dumbwaiter ground to a halt at the door to the kitchen.
"Boys, come on, you're making us late." Mrs. Weasley said. She was fussing with George's shirt and he rolled his eyes at Harry and Ron. "I'm coming along because we're in the middle of negotiations for opening a location in Diagon Alley. The one in Hogsmeade's been doing great business and we've got much more innovative products than Gambol & Japes." George said proudly.
"I'd still get my discount at the one in Hogsmeade though, right?" Ron asked. George nodded. "Yes little Ronnykins, you can still have your little discount. You too Harry." He said. Mrs. Weasley bustled back into the kitchen, dragging Ginny and Hermione along in her wake. "Er come along now, then. We don't have too much time." Mrs. Weasley bustled them all out the front door and into the waiting car. "Who's car is this?" Ron asked, looking around in appreciation. The inside of the car was much roomier than the outside just like it had been in Mr. Weasleys car. The car was lavishly outfitted with couches and chairs, a roaring fire, a cupboard of food.Harry looked all around before settling down on one of the couches with Ron.
He looked up towards to the front but there was no drivers seat and Mrs. Weasley had appropriated a chair for herself and was knitting what looked like the beginnings of a Weasley sweater. "Er, who's driving the car?" Harry asked nervously. Mrs. Weasley motioned absently towards the car and George leaned over to Harry to explain it. "It's an auto-drive. You just say where you want to go and it'll take you there. This one's practically an antique, they've been discontinued since floo powder was developed but the Floo network is so busy these days that it tosses you out at the wrong place pretty often and that would be rather awkward with all the books and things you've got to get." He said. Harry nodded and sat back to talk to Ron who was marveling over a set of wizards chess that had popped out of the air in front of him.
"I haven't gotten my letter yet though," Harry said, "I don't have my booklist or anything." Ron motioned towards his mother absently, "Snape brought them all to her at the beginning of the summer." He said. "Now look at these pieces, I've never seen such a nice set." Soon they were absorbed in a game of chess and the journey to Diagon Alley passed quickly.
* * * * *
"Oy, Ron! Harry! Over here!" Harry looked up to see Seamus shouting at him from where he sat with Dean in front of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. Harry and Ron went over to sit down with them after ordering ice creams for themselves. "You staying with Ron at the Burrow then?" Dean asked.
"Er. Kind of." Harry replied, unsure of just how much it was safe to tell his friends no matter how much he trusted them. Dean just shrugged it off with a smile. "I'm staying with Seamus, I figure my family could be in trouble if I stay there and I'm not about to tell them about You-Know-Who and everything." He said.
Harry nodded. If he didn't know that the Dursley's wouldn't mind him dying in the least he wouldn't want to tell them about Voldemort either. Of course, he hadn't told them much about Voldemort but that was for fear of being kicked out of the house, not bringing danger down on their heads.
"Well, well, if it isn't Potty and the Weasel with all their little friends." Malfoy sneered. Crabbe and Goyle stood behind him, grinding their meaty fists together and a nervous looking little man was wringing his hands next to Malfoy. "Master Malfoy, we really should be going now." He said quietly.
"Shut up Jarvis!" Malfoy snapped, not turning to look at the distraut little man. "You watch your back Potter, I'll get you for what you did to my family."
"I didn't do much to your family Malfoy. Just stuck your Death Eater dad into Azkaban and maybe sullied the family name a bit. But hey, you had all that coming anyway." Harry said.
Malfoy growled. "Well at least my dad got the whole job with your little godfather done and finished." He smiled. "Too bad about that murderer anyway, the Dark Lord could use another good Death Eater." Harry threw himself at Malfoy who leaped back in surprise. He tripped over Jarvis' foot and plummeted to the ground, Harry on top of him. "Get 'im off me!" Malfoy screeched. Crabbe and Goyle lumbered over to pry Harry off their leader but Ron threw himself at Crabbe and Dean and Seamus went for Goyle. Harry had just landed a good punch on Malfoy, who now had a nice black eye starting to come in when the air seemed to turn to stone, preventing any motion.
"Yes, you boys are violating Security Code One oh nine three. You will stop your quarrel and disperse peacefully. I repeat you will stop and disperse peacefully." Harry strained to see where the voice was coming from, but whoever was speaking was standing behind him and the air spell prevented him from craning his neck to see who it was. "You will now go about your business. Have a nice day in Diagon Alley." The air spell released with a pop and Malfoy glanced around suspiciously before he allowed Jarvis to drag him away. Harry looked around too until Seamus motioned to a tall building visible in the distance. "Diagon Alley Security House. They've been reinstalled because of Voldemort and all to monitor Diagon Alley twenty-four hours a day. There's some pretty complex spells set up to catch fights like ours but they've got people constantly watching for more serious things." Seamus explained. "My dad's an EMT." The others looked at him with confused expressions. "It means Emergency Magical Trooper, er, it's a bit like being an Auror." He said.
"Cool. Have you guys gotten your books and things yet?" Harry asked.
Dean nodded. "We got our ice cream last. Seamus' folks will be expecting us any minute now. They live here in the Alleys. See you at school!" the boys exchanged goodbyes and Ron and Harry left to go to Flourish and Blotts.
"Let's see. I've dropped Divination, Astronomy and History of Magic." Harry said. "I'm sort of thinking of dropping Herbology too since I want to be an Auror but I like the class well enough. I'm taking N.E.W.T. Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms and Transfiguration. And they said we were going to pick our advanced classes when we got back to school so I guess they'll give us our books then." Harry said.
Ron looked back down at his booklist. "Same here. Mum tried to stop me from dropping History of Magic but she knows how horrible I am at it and Dad hated Professor Binns so I got out of it." He reached over and grabbed two copies of The Standard Book of Spells: Grade Six and handed one to Harry.
"Er, we've just got to get Advanced Magical Drafts and Potions, and Advanced Transfiguration; Transfiguration for the N.E.W.T. Student." Harry said, glancing at his booklist.
"What's the book for Defense Against the Dark Arts then?" Ron asked. "Please say it's not Umbridge's evil book."
Harry shook his head. "It's called The Dark Arts: A Comprehensive Guide to Self-defense and Combat Training, manager says that they had to special order it since it's nearly out of print. I've already grabbed them." He handed the almost pocketsize book to Ron who stared at it incredulously. "You're saying that this is the book for N.E.W.T Defense? It's miniscule!" Harry shrugged and walked up to the counter to pay for his books. He was pleased to see that Ron's purse was still full even after he bought his books. Fred and George had been doing wonderfully and it had benefited the entire family.
"Let's stop off at Madame Malkins," Ron said, "Most of my robes are getting way too short for me and if I let Mum shop she buys the doofiest things ever."
Soon the boys emerged from Madame Malkins ladened with bags stuffed full of clothes. Harry had needed some everyday robes too and hadn't been able to resist buying himself some robes that could change into muggle clothes. It would be much simpler than needing to wear muggle clothes when he was just going somewhere like the Hogwarts Express.
The boys continued on until they were almost staggering under the weight of their bags. They stopped in Quality Quidditch Supplies, where Harry picked up and interesting looking book on hand crafting brooms and finally Ron persuaded Harry to go into one of the wizarding jewelry stores that littered Diagon Alley. "I need to get something for Ginny's birthday." He said.
Harry turned red, "When is her birthday? I'd hate to forget to get her something." Ron looked at him for a moment and then shrugged. "It's the day after we get to Hogwarts so we're throwing a little party for her tonight. I got her some little Hair Charmer she asked for." He said.
Harry looked at him quizzically. "If you already got her a present then why do we have to go in here?" he asked.
Ron just turned bright red and dashed into the store. Harry followed, a bemused expression on his face. As he entered the store he looked around at all the beautiful jewelry that lay in cases all around them. An elderly old man walked up to them. "So boys, what would you be looking for? Contraception Charms perhaps?" he asked, pointing to a case filled with various bracelets, necklaces and rings. When Harry figured out what the man meant he turned a near purple color. "Um..er..no thank you." He managed to stammer. The man winked at him conspiratorially as he walked away. Harry turned to the case behind him and looked at the rows and rows of beautiful gems. One necklace in particular caught his eye.
From a simple silver chain hung a gorgeously cut diamond in the shape of a strawberry. The diamond was in a white gold setting and two beautiful stones that Harry didn't recognize framed it. Harry's eyes turned to the card next to the necklace which read; this necklace dates back to the 1500's and holds powerful defense charms. The wearer will experience great luck in love. "Twenty four galleons." Harry murmured. He bought the necklace discreetly, hiding the price from Ron. Not until the two of them were standing inside the Leaky Cauldron sipping a butterbeer did he show Ron the necklace. "Ooh, that's a nice one. Ginny'll love it." Ron said.
"So what'd you get?" Harry asked, motioning to the bag Ron held.
"Oh look, there's Mum!" Ron exclaimed and he dragged Harry quickly out of the pub.
"Ugh." Ron said. He was staring at the cobwebs that adorned the small doorway in front of him. "If we never needed this place before why do we suddenly need it now?" he asked. Harry shrugged as he batted the cobwebs away gingerly as he stepped through the door.
"They're probably just trying to keep us busy. I doubt they really need to have these places explored. It's weird though, this was the first one that was hard to open. All the others seemed rather normal if nasty. Maybe this one will have something interesting in it." He said. His tone was hopeful but he sincerely doubted that there could be anything worth looking for in this dump. He was poking around in his robe pocket and he took out a brightly glowing stone that immediately illuminated the room. It looked like a dilapidated guest room to Harry. Ron waded through the drifts of dust that layered the floor to get to the bed.
"Mum said that she would take us to Diagon Alley today." Ron said as he wrenched the barely recognizable quilt off of the bed and flung it to the floor. Harry stuffed it into the dumbwaiter and pulled out the duster they had brought along. The magical device immediately began zipping around, sucking up the drifts of dust that carpeted the room. Harry and Ron finished stripping the bedclothes off and looked around the room in surprise. Without all the dust it actually looked pretty good. "Huh." Ron sneezed at the dust that the duster was sending into the air and looked around. "It's better than those house elf quarters we cleaned, even if Dobby seemed to think they were wonderful." He said.
Harry nodded and pulled open one of the drawers of the dresser. "Hey look! There's clothes and stuff in here." he said. Ron came over and peered down at the drawer. "Looks like someone sure left the house in a hurry. Then again I would too if it was a choice between staying with Sirius' mad mum or leaving" He said.
"Ron! Harry! We're going to Diagon Alley, hurry up." Ginny yelled. The boys grinned at each other, the contents of the drawer forgotten. The boys scrambled into the dumbwaiter, ducking through the short doorway.
Harry slumped back against the wall while they waited for the slow descent down to the kitchen. They still hadn't been able to find out anything beyond what they had overheard the day he had arrived. It just seemed so unfair of the adults to keep them in the dark. And Fred and George weren't any better, they refused to tell them anything at all. "I can't see why they won't tell us anything. I bet we could be helping a lot more than just cleaning out all of these old rooms and things. I wish they'd just tell us what was going on. I bet I've done more to stop Voldemort than all of them put together! I've faced him alone four times now and every time I've come out on top!" Harry said. He was frustrated with the lack of information that was coming to him, he wanted to be able to do something, he wanted to get Bellatrix Lestrange for what she did to Sirius.
Ron looked at him out of the corner of his eye while he picked intently at his shoes. "Er, maybe they just don't want you-us to get hurt." He said. Harry shrugged and thoughts of the prophecy flitted through his mind. Maybe they really were only trying to protect him. But how was he supposed to learn enough to defeat Voldemort if he was never allowed to fight against him in any way at all. But those were his worries and he didn't want to burden Ron with them. He turned and smiled at his friend. "Yeah, you're probably right, it stinks though." Ron gave him a relieved smile and the dumbwaiter ground to a halt at the door to the kitchen.
"Boys, come on, you're making us late." Mrs. Weasley said. She was fussing with George's shirt and he rolled his eyes at Harry and Ron. "I'm coming along because we're in the middle of negotiations for opening a location in Diagon Alley. The one in Hogsmeade's been doing great business and we've got much more innovative products than Gambol & Japes." George said proudly.
"I'd still get my discount at the one in Hogsmeade though, right?" Ron asked. George nodded. "Yes little Ronnykins, you can still have your little discount. You too Harry." He said. Mrs. Weasley bustled back into the kitchen, dragging Ginny and Hermione along in her wake. "Er come along now, then. We don't have too much time." Mrs. Weasley bustled them all out the front door and into the waiting car. "Who's car is this?" Ron asked, looking around in appreciation. The inside of the car was much roomier than the outside just like it had been in Mr. Weasleys car. The car was lavishly outfitted with couches and chairs, a roaring fire, a cupboard of food.Harry looked all around before settling down on one of the couches with Ron.
He looked up towards to the front but there was no drivers seat and Mrs. Weasley had appropriated a chair for herself and was knitting what looked like the beginnings of a Weasley sweater. "Er, who's driving the car?" Harry asked nervously. Mrs. Weasley motioned absently towards the car and George leaned over to Harry to explain it. "It's an auto-drive. You just say where you want to go and it'll take you there. This one's practically an antique, they've been discontinued since floo powder was developed but the Floo network is so busy these days that it tosses you out at the wrong place pretty often and that would be rather awkward with all the books and things you've got to get." He said. Harry nodded and sat back to talk to Ron who was marveling over a set of wizards chess that had popped out of the air in front of him.
"I haven't gotten my letter yet though," Harry said, "I don't have my booklist or anything." Ron motioned towards his mother absently, "Snape brought them all to her at the beginning of the summer." He said. "Now look at these pieces, I've never seen such a nice set." Soon they were absorbed in a game of chess and the journey to Diagon Alley passed quickly.
* * * * *
"Oy, Ron! Harry! Over here!" Harry looked up to see Seamus shouting at him from where he sat with Dean in front of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. Harry and Ron went over to sit down with them after ordering ice creams for themselves. "You staying with Ron at the Burrow then?" Dean asked.
"Er. Kind of." Harry replied, unsure of just how much it was safe to tell his friends no matter how much he trusted them. Dean just shrugged it off with a smile. "I'm staying with Seamus, I figure my family could be in trouble if I stay there and I'm not about to tell them about You-Know-Who and everything." He said.
Harry nodded. If he didn't know that the Dursley's wouldn't mind him dying in the least he wouldn't want to tell them about Voldemort either. Of course, he hadn't told them much about Voldemort but that was for fear of being kicked out of the house, not bringing danger down on their heads.
"Well, well, if it isn't Potty and the Weasel with all their little friends." Malfoy sneered. Crabbe and Goyle stood behind him, grinding their meaty fists together and a nervous looking little man was wringing his hands next to Malfoy. "Master Malfoy, we really should be going now." He said quietly.
"Shut up Jarvis!" Malfoy snapped, not turning to look at the distraut little man. "You watch your back Potter, I'll get you for what you did to my family."
"I didn't do much to your family Malfoy. Just stuck your Death Eater dad into Azkaban and maybe sullied the family name a bit. But hey, you had all that coming anyway." Harry said.
Malfoy growled. "Well at least my dad got the whole job with your little godfather done and finished." He smiled. "Too bad about that murderer anyway, the Dark Lord could use another good Death Eater." Harry threw himself at Malfoy who leaped back in surprise. He tripped over Jarvis' foot and plummeted to the ground, Harry on top of him. "Get 'im off me!" Malfoy screeched. Crabbe and Goyle lumbered over to pry Harry off their leader but Ron threw himself at Crabbe and Dean and Seamus went for Goyle. Harry had just landed a good punch on Malfoy, who now had a nice black eye starting to come in when the air seemed to turn to stone, preventing any motion.
"Yes, you boys are violating Security Code One oh nine three. You will stop your quarrel and disperse peacefully. I repeat you will stop and disperse peacefully." Harry strained to see where the voice was coming from, but whoever was speaking was standing behind him and the air spell prevented him from craning his neck to see who it was. "You will now go about your business. Have a nice day in Diagon Alley." The air spell released with a pop and Malfoy glanced around suspiciously before he allowed Jarvis to drag him away. Harry looked around too until Seamus motioned to a tall building visible in the distance. "Diagon Alley Security House. They've been reinstalled because of Voldemort and all to monitor Diagon Alley twenty-four hours a day. There's some pretty complex spells set up to catch fights like ours but they've got people constantly watching for more serious things." Seamus explained. "My dad's an EMT." The others looked at him with confused expressions. "It means Emergency Magical Trooper, er, it's a bit like being an Auror." He said.
"Cool. Have you guys gotten your books and things yet?" Harry asked.
Dean nodded. "We got our ice cream last. Seamus' folks will be expecting us any minute now. They live here in the Alleys. See you at school!" the boys exchanged goodbyes and Ron and Harry left to go to Flourish and Blotts.
"Let's see. I've dropped Divination, Astronomy and History of Magic." Harry said. "I'm sort of thinking of dropping Herbology too since I want to be an Auror but I like the class well enough. I'm taking N.E.W.T. Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms and Transfiguration. And they said we were going to pick our advanced classes when we got back to school so I guess they'll give us our books then." Harry said.
Ron looked back down at his booklist. "Same here. Mum tried to stop me from dropping History of Magic but she knows how horrible I am at it and Dad hated Professor Binns so I got out of it." He reached over and grabbed two copies of The Standard Book of Spells: Grade Six and handed one to Harry.
"Er, we've just got to get Advanced Magical Drafts and Potions, and Advanced Transfiguration; Transfiguration for the N.E.W.T. Student." Harry said, glancing at his booklist.
"What's the book for Defense Against the Dark Arts then?" Ron asked. "Please say it's not Umbridge's evil book."
Harry shook his head. "It's called The Dark Arts: A Comprehensive Guide to Self-defense and Combat Training, manager says that they had to special order it since it's nearly out of print. I've already grabbed them." He handed the almost pocketsize book to Ron who stared at it incredulously. "You're saying that this is the book for N.E.W.T Defense? It's miniscule!" Harry shrugged and walked up to the counter to pay for his books. He was pleased to see that Ron's purse was still full even after he bought his books. Fred and George had been doing wonderfully and it had benefited the entire family.
"Let's stop off at Madame Malkins," Ron said, "Most of my robes are getting way too short for me and if I let Mum shop she buys the doofiest things ever."
Soon the boys emerged from Madame Malkins ladened with bags stuffed full of clothes. Harry had needed some everyday robes too and hadn't been able to resist buying himself some robes that could change into muggle clothes. It would be much simpler than needing to wear muggle clothes when he was just going somewhere like the Hogwarts Express.
The boys continued on until they were almost staggering under the weight of their bags. They stopped in Quality Quidditch Supplies, where Harry picked up and interesting looking book on hand crafting brooms and finally Ron persuaded Harry to go into one of the wizarding jewelry stores that littered Diagon Alley. "I need to get something for Ginny's birthday." He said.
Harry turned red, "When is her birthday? I'd hate to forget to get her something." Ron looked at him for a moment and then shrugged. "It's the day after we get to Hogwarts so we're throwing a little party for her tonight. I got her some little Hair Charmer she asked for." He said.
Harry looked at him quizzically. "If you already got her a present then why do we have to go in here?" he asked.
Ron just turned bright red and dashed into the store. Harry followed, a bemused expression on his face. As he entered the store he looked around at all the beautiful jewelry that lay in cases all around them. An elderly old man walked up to them. "So boys, what would you be looking for? Contraception Charms perhaps?" he asked, pointing to a case filled with various bracelets, necklaces and rings. When Harry figured out what the man meant he turned a near purple color. "Um..er..no thank you." He managed to stammer. The man winked at him conspiratorially as he walked away. Harry turned to the case behind him and looked at the rows and rows of beautiful gems. One necklace in particular caught his eye.
From a simple silver chain hung a gorgeously cut diamond in the shape of a strawberry. The diamond was in a white gold setting and two beautiful stones that Harry didn't recognize framed it. Harry's eyes turned to the card next to the necklace which read; this necklace dates back to the 1500's and holds powerful defense charms. The wearer will experience great luck in love. "Twenty four galleons." Harry murmured. He bought the necklace discreetly, hiding the price from Ron. Not until the two of them were standing inside the Leaky Cauldron sipping a butterbeer did he show Ron the necklace. "Ooh, that's a nice one. Ginny'll love it." Ron said.
"So what'd you get?" Harry asked, motioning to the bag Ron held.
"Oh look, there's Mum!" Ron exclaimed and he dragged Harry quickly out of the pub.
