CHAPTER X
The team was out practicing hard at six the next morning. Harry acted less obsessive than Oliver but in truth he was just as concerned with winning the cup. They spent about half an hour working with the new reserves and Ginny had a hard first workout. To the dismay and delight of Colin and Blake, she kept up with them the whole time without showing a sign of tiring. By the time practice was over, all three were thoroughly out of breath, each having tried to outdo the other. They all trudged wearily up the hill to the locker rooms at 7:30, to change out of their sweaty clothes in time for breakfast. When they entered the locker room, Harry showed Ginny and the reserves their new lockers, and proper changing rooms for the boys and the girls.
"Great practice today guys, I think we've got an awesome chance this year!" said Harry to everyone
There were shouts of "Here here!" and similar. When everyone was in their school uniforms, they went down to the great hall together. Ginny, Harry and Ron walked in together and sat down next to Hermione.
"Morning," Ginny said to her.
"Good morning you three, how was practice Ginny?" asked Hermione.
Ginny grinned.
"It was loads of fun. I scored on Ron again."
Ron's ears went pink and he grumbled something incomprehensible through a banana. Hermione chuckled and patted him on the back. They all served themselves breakfast and discussed more about the animagus transformations. Hermione had already been to discuss it with Dumbledore, who had embraced the idea. She had her Care of Magical Creatures textbook and several others stacked on the table in front of her, and was showing Ron and Ginny several pictures and ideas.
"Here this one, I think that's what I want to choose."
Ron, Harry and Ginny all leaned over.
The European Swift or Hawk sparrow is the only bird to rival the silverwinged merlin in flight speed. It is often mistaken with the swallow, as they are very alike in appearance. Swifts are very intelligent, and have the ability to subtly alter the patterns of their plumage to best camouflage with their surroundings, thus they were often used in times of war as spies of the air.
"It's perfect for you Hermione," said Ron approvingly, scooping cereal in his mouth.
"Oh look, post's here," said Ginny, looking up from Fantastic Beasts and
Where to Find Them.
Harry looked up as well as an unfamiliar tawny owl swooped through the window. He was well groomed and had a dignified posture to him. He politely held out Harry a sealed envelope and the stood eyeing the bacon rinds on Harry's plate with interest. Harry chuckled and handed them over. The owl gulped them down and swooped back out and away. Harry examined the envelope. It was crisp white parchment with his name addressed in blue ink in neat cursive handwriting. The return address said
Gringotts Bank
Diagon Alley
Wizard London, England
"Huh," said Harry.
Ron, Hermione, and Ginny looked over.
"What's up?" asked Ginny.
"I've got a letter from Gringotts," said Harry, tearing off the seal.
He removed and unfolded the first piece of parchment. Harry read it out loud to them.
Dear Mr. Potter,
It has been brought to our attention that you are now legally an adult wizard. As we were instructed, a sum of money and several possessions were transferred to your account upon you turning 17 and 1 month. Enclosed is a list of items and the exact sum of money that has been placed in the vault. You will have to state your full name and tap it with your own wand before it will unfold. This is to maintain client privacy.
Sincerely,
Dopplekirk Hobbins,
Gringotts Keymaster
Harry frowned thoughtfully.
"It must be some stuff of my parent's," he said to them.
"Sounds like you've come into an inheritance of some kind," said Hermione.
Harry nodded and removed the next sheet of parchment. Removing his wand from his belt he tapped the sheet twice and stated his name. Unfolding it, he looked at the list.
1 box of various personal papers and letters
1 box of various personal possessions and objects
2 engagement rings (together in one box)
1 Official Title to Godric's Hollow (restored/rebuilt)
1 Gryffindor family seal
Full monetary inheritance of Potter family (2,000,000 Galleons/year until such time as it runs out or in case of your death)
Harry stared momentarily at the list, and reread it several times.
"Wow," he said slowly.
"Wow, that's... that's a lot of money."
"Let me see Harry" said Ron reaching for the paper.
Hermione shot out a hand and batted away his hand.
"One doesn't simply pass around the contents of their bank vault Ron!" she told him reproachfully.
Harry shook his head, feeling slightly dazed.
"No, it's fine...you three can have a look. Just don't spout if off to the world," he told them.
He handed the parchment to Ron, who choked on his cereal before passing it to Hermione who squeaked, and then to Ginny who eyes widened considerably. She gave Harry back the paper.
"Wow Harry, that's... that's..."
"...A lot of money," finished Harry, folding it up and putting it back in the envelope. "Blimey, I had no idea my parents had that much."
"Harry that's almost certainly more than the Malfoys get per year," Hermione told him.
"Yea, the question is, what am I going to do with it all?" asked Harry.
***
Authors note: Salutifer means health bringing in Latin. Felis means cat but it comes from the word "thief". A marbled cat is a specific name for a type of cat the vaguely resembles an ocelot, except cooler. J
Saturday morning had everyone getting dressed early for a day in Hogsmead. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all planned to go down to Hogsmead early for breakfast. They would then head down to Dobble and Cook's apothecary to pick up supplies. Ron and Ginny had both spent the rest of the past week deciding on what they wanted to transform into. None of them would be attempting a polyanimagus transformation. Ginny had chosen the magical relative the marbled cat: Salutifer Felis, called the thief for short. She would look exactly the same as the marbled cat, but have the ability to heal magically and such quiet feet as to be able to steal almost anything. Ron had chosen a stormhound. It looked just like a snow wolf but had the ability to control certain aspects of the weather in its immediate vicinity. So if it were close enough to a particular prey it could make the air and the ground very cold around the animal to make it more vulnerable. Everyone agreed that it matched his appearance and character well, all the way down to the ice blue eyes. All of them together would make a formidable group.
Harry put on some jeans and threaded his belt through the loops. He opened his trunk and dug around for a shirt, but realized he had no clean ones.
"Damn," he muttered to himself. He jumped down the stairs of the boy's dormitory and wandered into the common room where Ron and Hermione were sitting talking to Parvarti and Lavender and Ginny.
Oh crap I'm not wearing a shirt, good one Harry he told himself.
"Ron?" he said in a low tone.
The girls and Ron looked up. Ginny blushed pink, and Lavender and Parvarti broke out in giggles and wouldn't stop staring. Harry rolled his eyes.
"Can I borrow a shirt mate?" he asked.
Ron grinned and laughed. He got up.
"Absolutely, out of clean ones are you?"
Harry followed back up the stairs, throwing a last glance at the girls.
"Yea," he said in amusement.
When they got up to the dormitory Ron dug through his trunk and handed Harry a white T-shirt.
"Here," he said. "It's a fairly big one of mine but I expect on you it'll fit perfect."
Harry grinned and flexed his bicep at Ron. Ron responded by punching his arm before heading back downstairs. Harry shrugged into the shirt and sat down on the bed to put on his boots. He laced them up and shrugged into his trench coat, not bothering with school robes seeing as how it was a weekend. He slid down the banister and landed with a thump at the bottom.
"Alright then," he said as he strolled into the common room. "Lets get going."
It was a short walk down to Hogsmead. The village was quiet, not many students had come down yet and the streets were only occupied by early morning shoppers and people casting restore and construction charms. Harry was surprised at how speedily the reconstruction after the attack had gone. The four of them entered the Three Broomsticks chose a table near the fireplace. The days had gotten chilly; everyone was wearing their cloaks. Harry heard the approach of Madam Rosmerta, her bright red heels clicking briskly along the wood floors. When she came up to their table she looked at Harry and her eyes widened considerably.
"Good grief Harry you've certainly grown," she stated bluntly.
Harry grinned and kissed her hand jokingly.
"A pleasure to see you again Rosmerta, may we order some breakfast?"
Madam Rosmerta pursed her lips and swatted at him, with a twinkle in her eye.
"What would you all like then?" she asked then other three.
In the end they all ordered scones and a pot of tea. As they ate their breakfast they discussed what they all wanted to do for the day. Everyone agreed that they should visit Dobble and Cook's first, they were all very excited and impatient to get started on the process. Once they had all finished eating, they left the Three Broomsticks and headed for the apothecary, it was about a ten minutes walk. Harry and Ron shoved and pushed at each other and jumped around as they walked and Ginny and Hermione stayed slightly behind, discussing something that they'd refused to talk about when they thought Ron and Harry were listening. Eventually they came to an old corner building. The windows were foggy with age and the emerald green paint was peeling but the "Dobble and Cooks Apothecary and Potions Supplies" in gold lettering above the door still gleamed brightly.
As they filed in through the old oak door, it jingled. They stepped into a comfortably lit room. There were all sorts commonly used ingredients in silver tins and boxes, with ladles and scoops in them and pockets of paper bags attached to the walls. On display were lots of shiny scales and measuring devices. A tiny woman emerged from the back room. She smiled up at them all.
"How can I help you youngsters?" she asked in a squeaky voice.
"We're all here for animagus potion supplies," said Harry.
The old woman beamed at them.
"Well how exciting, why don't you all just come to the back with me and I'll sort you out the proper ingredients."
They all followed her to a door behind the counter. She took a gold key from around her neck and unlocked it.
"I'm Mary Cook by the way, you can all call me Mary," she told them as she opened to door. They stepped inside to see a huge room with mahogany-paneled walls and hundreds of glossy wood shelves. It resembled a huge library, but in the place of books there were jars, containers, vials, bottles, trays and boxes full of dried plants, strangely colored liquids, finely sifted powders and various other things. Mary moved to a huge tome sitting on a stand, which she flipped it open.
"Now lets do this one at a time, how about we begin with this nice young lady..." she looked questioningly up at Hermione.
"Hermione," Hermione told the old lady.
"...Yes good, now Hermione, which animal have you decided on?"
"Well I thought I'd become a sparrow hawk, the magical species," said Hermione.
Mary nodded and began paging through the book.
"Sparrow hawk, sparrow hawk..." she muttered to herself.
"Ah, sparrow hawk...'see European swift' oh alright" and she began paging in the other direction.
"Ah here it is, sector 5, isle 37, section S, shelf Q4. Come with me you lot," she told them as she began to walk off down the room. Everyone followed with her and listened as she talked.
"You see, every person has a different combination of ingredients needed to become their specific animal. You have a basic animagus potion formula to which you add different ingredients depending on the appearance and behavioral patterns of the animal. A small piece of the animal, such as a nail or a hair is required of course. In addition, there is a spell you need to cast, but you'll have to research and learn that out of a book," she said rounding a bookshelf and walking down an isle. "Ah, here we are... section S, shelf Q4... no, no that's P, here Q...Q4. Good now take one of those baskets," she motioned to a stack sitting neatly on the floor a few shelves away. Hermione went and got one, and returned holding out the basket. Mary began to remove capped jars, vials, and bags off the shelf and put them in the basket. Lastly she pulled out a small glass bottle with a cork in it. Inside, was one gray-brown feather.
"Don't lose this, I'm running low and they're hard to obtain," she told Hermione. She then waved her wand over the contents of the basket and muttered a spell. In her hand appeared a roll of parchment.
"This is the procedure for the potion. The exact amounts come pre-measured in their packages. Understand?" she asked.
Hermione nodded, wide eyed at the large amount of ingredients.
Mary went through the same process for Ron and Ginny, before moving on to Harry. When she learned his idea she nodded.
"Interesting, I haven't seen one in year, very interesting. Now your process will be a little more complicated. You must correctly combine both sets of ingredients into one potion, and perform the correct spell to give you the ability to transform into either animal at will." She set off down the rows again, doing the same thing in two different places. Finally, they paid the proper sums (Harry insisted on helping Ron, Ginny and Hermione out because of his new inheritance and their limited pocket money) and their arms laden with bags, they left the apothecary. As they set off down the street discussing the interesting looking ingredients and headed back to the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer. As they passed the extension of Quality Quidditch Supplies: Beneficial Broomsticks, Brooms and Supplies for all Occasions, Harry had a sudden thought.
"Hey you guys go on ahead, I've got an errand to do real quick," he told them.
They waved at him and continued on their way. Harry transferred his packages to one hand and entered the quidditch store. He looked around at all the brooms on display. There were family brooms, travel brooms, racing brooms, and of course, Quidditch brooms. Harry looked at the Firebolt05 on display. He was almost positive that Malfoys father had bought the Slytherin team a new set of them because he'd spied Malfoy smirking and pointing at a picture of one in a magazine as he handed it around to the members of the quidditch team. Harry took a magazine from the holder and flipped through it. He stopped at a particular add. It read:
AND NOW IN STOCK FROM THE MAKERS OF THE FIREBOLT SERIES: THE THUNDERBOLT. PERFECT FOR THE SERIOUS QUIDDITCH PLAYER, THE THUNDERBOLT HAS ALL THE FIREBOLT CAPABILITIES AND MORE! Our new improved agility system gives previously un-thought-of sharp turning capabilities and an overall faster broom.
Product goes on sale to public December 1st.
Harry looked up smiling slightly. Lets have a little chat with the storeowner shall we? He asked himself. Harry went over to the counter and looked at the clerk.
"Hi, may I speak with the store owner please?" he asked the young woman in a charming voice. He flashed her a half-smile and swept his hair out of his eyes dashingly. She glanced at his scar and blushed.
"Well yes... yes of course," she said in an unnaturally high-pitched voice, and went to the back to retrieve the owner. He came in straightening his tie and smoothing his hair. He stepped up to Harry.
"What can a do for you Mr...?
"Potter," said Harry.
"Oh of course Mr. Potter," said the storeowner, smiling, almost smirking.
Harry smiled back and showed him the advertisement.
"It says here that you have them in stock..."
"That we do,"
"Excellent, Would it be possible for me to order some early?" asked Harry.
The owner was obviously not a stupid man.
"We do not usually give out products early. For what price?" he asked, stroking his mustache.
"I'll pay the full asking price of each individual broom."
The owner pretended to contemplate this, but Harry saw his eyes widen.
"That's more money that you would be planning to sell them for individually isn't it?" asked Harry.
The owner looked at him.
"Do you have quite a few you'd like to order?"
Harry thought for a moment. He could buy one for every main player on the team but should he really by one for every reserve as well? No, the reserves would have the permission to use them if they had to fill someone's position for a game.
"Just seven." replied Harry casually.
The storeowner stuck out his right hand and shook Harry's.
"Deal!" he said.
Harry grinned.
"Now come with me Mr. Potter, I will have you sign a form and they will be sent to your school tomorrow. Would there be anything else?"
Harry looked around the room. I wonder what Malfoy's expression will be when he sees what's happened he thought with an internal grin.
"Um yes I'd like 7 more Firebolt standards to be sent up as well, We could use some decent brooms for the reserves, he thought. I'll let the bank know how much money to send you in return. Sound good."
"A pleasure doing business with you Mr. Potter."
Harry winked at the clerk, picked up his bags, and left the store. He walked about five minutes before pushing open the door to the Three Broomsticks. Inside, he found Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, and sat down with them.
"What took you so long?" asked Ron, taking a sip of some butterbeer.
Harry waved to Rosmerta and motioned for a butterbeer for himself from where she was standing across the room. Harry shook his head at Ron and grinned. Now the entire team had a set of decent or better brooms. Ron looked at him curiously.
"What are you up to Harry?" he asked impatiently.
"Relax Ron, you'll see tomorrow," Harry replied.
He thanked Rosmerta when she brought him his drink and took a long sip. He sighed as the drink spread through his body, heating his cold fingers and toes.
"How are you guys feeling? Reckon we should head back up and get to work on these potions?" Harry asked them.
Everyone nodded and began to gather up their various packages.
"We'll have to do research first," said Hermione.
"Well yes of course, Hermione," said Ron.
She poked her tongue of him, but he just reached out and tickled her. She squealed and ran to the door clutching her bags, Ron in hot pursuit. Harry and Ginny exchanged a look and rolled their eyes.
"I wonder when either of them is going to get it?" asked Harry.
Ginny sighed heavily,
"Me too."
They both gathered up their own bags, and headed out the door in the same direction.