Chapter Three – The Scyther
For the first time since Sirius died, he didn't have any nightmares. In fact he didn't have any dreams at all, just a peaceful nights sleep, which he thoroughly enjoyed.
He was awoken early by Mrs. Weasley. "Come on Harry, dear" she said, shaking him gently. "I want to get to the shops before it gets too busy today." Harry nodded and sat up as he tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes while Mrs. Weasley made her way over to wake up Ron. He felt amazingly refreshed after his deep sleep and it took him a few moments to realise why he was so happy; then it came to him. Hermione. He grinned as he remembered the events of the day before and started to dress quickly as did Ron after Mrs. Weasley had left.
"Look Ron, mate" said Harry. "Are you really O.K. with me and Hermione?" "Yeah" he said. "I just want things to change, that's all" "They wont. I promise." "So. She a good kisser then?" he asked with a cheeky grin on his face "Shut up!" Said Harry throwing a pillow at Ron's face, laughing.
After a few minutes ferocious pillow fighting they headed downstairs to breakfast. Hermione, Ginny, Luna and Neville were already there. Harry kissed Hermione on the cheek and sat down next to her. Ron rolled his eyes.
"How are we getting to Diagon Alley?" asked Harry, tucking into his bacon and eggs. "Floo powder" said Ginny. Harry groaned, "I hat floo powder," he said. "It makes me feel sick. When are we leaving?" "Now" said Mr s. Weasley, striding into the kitchen " Hurry up you lot," she said, "Go and get your booklists. The Order members are waiting in the living room" "Order members?" asked Harry as he wolfed down his last piece of bacon. "As if they are going to let you wonder about Diagon Alley alone," said Ron. Harry chuckled "I suppose"
Five minutes later, after collecting their booklists, the six of them plus Moony, Tonks, Mad-Eye and Mrs. Weasley were all standing in the living room, where the teenagers had received there news yesterday, in front of the fire. "O.K." said Mrs. Weasley, taking charge. " Ron, Harry and Hermione, You three will be going with Remus and Tonks. Ginny, Luna and Neville, you are with me and Mad-Eye" she said. Everybody nodded. "We'll all go to Gringotts first and meet up at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes at two o' clock. Be there on time or I'll be worried sick" everybody nodded. "Constant Vigilance" Mad – Eye grunted his favourite saying. Moony, sensing an extremely boring lecture coming volunteered. "I'll go first" he said, striding forward. He took a pinch of white floo powder from the flowerpot next to the fireplace, threw it in stepped forward and said loudly and clearly "Diagon Alley!" In a whoosh of green flames he was gone. "You next Harry" said Mrs. Weasley. He stepped forward and took some powder; there was a small flutter on nervousness in his stomach. He didn't exactly have the best record with floo powder, remembering the time he ended up in Knockturn Alley. He threw the powder in the fire and stepped forward, enjoying the tickling sensation around his ankles, and, learning from past experiences, said clearly "Diagon Alley!" Suddenly he felt himself swirling through the floo network, he could see into lots of people's living rooms as he twirled. He tucked in his elbows to stop them hitting painfully off the walls. He was finding it hard to breathe because of the soot and was just wishing he hadn't had that last piece of bacon at breakfast time when he fell out of the fireplace at the bookshop, Flourish and Blotts. He quickly stood up brushing himself clean, as he knew someone else would be coming through any second. It was Hermione. He helped her up and stood with Moony waiting for everybody else to arrive.
When everybody was there and they had cleaned themselves up a bit they made their way to Gringotts, wizard's bank. The Alley was full and bustling with people school shopping and they had to push their way through the crowded street towards the bank. The pushed open the huge oak front doors and found themselves in the cool gleaming marble hall. "Right" said Mrs. Weasley "Hermione, Neville and Luna, you all have your money already?" she asked. They nodded. "You three wait here with Mad Eye and Tonks then. Ron and Ginny, you can stay too, if you want, I'll get the money." "I'm staying," said Ginny, "I hate those carts" "I'll come." said Ron enthusiastically. "O.K."" said Mrs. Weasley. "Remus, Harry, Ron and I will go. The rest of you stay here. No wondering off!"
Five minutes later they found themselves and a goblin called Griphook, who Harry has met in first year, in a small wooden cart speeding down miles under London. They twisted and turned for a long time, he tried to remember the way as he always did; left right left fork, middle fork but he was soon wishing he had just given Mrs. Weasley his key and stayed with the others when they came to an abrupt halt outside the Weasley's vault. Mrs. Weasley and Griphook stood out of the cart. "Key please" said the goblin. Mrs. Weasley handed it to him, but she nearly fainted when the door was open. The Weasley's had never had more so much as two galleons two rub together and now there were mounds and mounds of gold coins. "Is the right vault?" asked Mrs. Weasley holding hr hand over her chest like she was going to faint.. Griphook nodded. "Bloody hell!" exclaimed Ron, jumping out of the cart to join them. "But – Why-How?" asked Mrs. Weasley. Not daring to believe it. Harry laughed. "Sirius" he said. He was extremely proud of his godfather. The Weasleys were one of the nicest families in the world, but one of the poorest too. They deserved the money. "How much is there?" asked Mrs. Weasley. "Five thousand and one galleons approximately" said Griphook "Oh my God!" cried Mrs. Weasley "That Wonderful, wonderful man! I wish I could thank him!" Ron was still staring at the gold open mouthed. "Mum!" he cried suddenly. "Can we have new things this year?!". She nodded, glad she could finally give her children something they deserved." Yes!" he cried. Mrs. Weasley filled her moneybag with galleons, something she had never been able to do before in her life, and the three of them got back in the cart. Both the Weasleys were still in shock. One wild cart ride later and they were outside Harry's vault. This time, when the vault door was opened, it was Harry's turn to be surprised. Now, Harry's vault had never ever been close to being empty but there was at least double the amount he remembered, if not more. Harry laughed "Sirius you git" he said. "How much is there?" he asked Griphook, curiously. "Mr. Harry James Potter has approximately six and a half million galleons." Said Griphook. "He is the third richest wizard in Britain." "Wow!" breathed Harry softly. "Bloody hell!" exclaimed Ron again. Mrs. Weasley and Moony were lost for words. They just stared with their mouths open at Harry and the largest amount of gold they had ever seen. Harry filled his moneybag with galleons sickles and knuts and jumped back in the cart along with Griphook. "Er.. I'd appreciate it if nobody said anything about that" he said "I don't need more attention" he said. Ron laughed "Of course Harry dear" said Mrs. Weasley, Moony still in shock nodded.
After another wild cart ride they were back in the gleaming marble hall. Ron was running towards Ginny yelling "Guess what! Guess what!" "What?" she asked "Sirius left us some money!" "Wicked!" said Ginny "How much?" "Five thousand galleons!" said Ron, barely being able to contain his excitement. "WHAT!!?" "Come along kids" said Mrs. Weasley ushering them towards the door. "What about Harry?" asked Ginny "Oh don't worry about Harry" said Ron "He's Got –" started Ron but Harry cut across him "Ron, Remember our agreement" he said in a warning tone. "Oh yeah. Sorry." He said still grinning, "What was your agreement?" Hermione whispered in his ear. Harry grinned "Not to tell anybody how much money I have" he said "How much money do you have?" she asked curiously. "Six and a half million galleons" he said. "WHAT!?!" she cried as they stepped into the summer sunshine of Diagon Alley. "Right" said Mrs. Weasley "We'll split into our groups and meet at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes at two. Have a good day!" "So where do you guys wanna go?" asked Tonks. "It's probably best to get your school stuff first before it gets even busier." said Moony. "Madame Malkin's For robes?" suggested Hermione. There was a general murmur of agreement and they headed towards the shop. Ron was really excited considering they were only going for robes. "But then again" thought Harry "Ron had never had new robes before. They had always belonged to someone else first." They gladly stepped into the cool shade of "Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions." "Hogwarts dears?" asked a plump friendly witch. They nodded. "Step up there while I fit you" she said pointing to three round black podiums. As they were being fitted, Hermione, who was standing next to Harry, asked "Were you serious? About your money?" Harry nodded. "Yeah" he said "But please don't tell anybody, I get enough attention as it is and already get called enough names without adding "Third richest wizard in Britain" to the list." Hermione laughed. "Anything for you" "That's you dears" said the friendly witch five minutes later. Hey paid for their robes and stepped out back into the glaring sunshine of Diagon Alley. "Where do you guys want to go now?" asked Moony. "Why don't we go and pick up our books?" suggested Ron. "I know they'll be heavy but Flourish and Blotts will only get busier." They agreed and set off up to the bookshop. This time it was Hermione's turn to be excited. "O.K." said Moony as they stepped into the already heaving shop. "Everybody is to stay together. Nobody is to wonder off alone" he said. They nodded. All understanding that a busy shop is n easy place to disappear in and not be noticed. They set off to find their books but it was hard because Hermione kept stopping every few steps to look at a book. They were all taking the same subjects except Hermione was taking Arithmancy, not Herbology and Ron, who had only got an E in potions had been forced to take History of Magic by Mrs. Weasley, something that he was not happy about. "No more Snape!" Ron had cried. "No more Binns!" said Harry in retort. After they had all picked up their schoolbook, which took a long time because the shop was so busy, they picked up a few books on Animagi, Occlumency and Soul Magic. It was near impossible to drag Hermione out of the shop. In the end both Harry and Ron had to grab a hand each and physically drag her out of the shop while Moony and Tonks dealt with the transaction. This put Hermione in a bad mood. "So that all your schools stuff then?" asked Moony as he joined them in the street. "NO!" cried Hermione "We need to go to the Apothecary for our N.E.W.T potions kits!" "O.K." said Tonks "Let's go!" "Ha ha ha ! Potions!" Said Ron "ha ha ha ! Snape" "Oh shut up Ron!" said Hermione irritably "What are you going to do when you leave school? You can't be an auror now!" "I'm going to play quidditch!" said Ron proudly "Or go into the Ministry." Hermione rolled her eyes. They reached the Apothecary and went into the small shop. Moony went over to the counter. "Two N.E.W.T level potions kits please." He said to the assistant behind the desk. Harry shoved some money into Moony's hand and dragged Ron aside. "Listen" he said in an urgent whisper. "When we get out of here just agree with me and say you need to go too." Ron was confused but knew better than to ask, He nodded instead and received a wink from Harry. "What are you two up to?" asked Moony suspiciously as he handed Harry his package. "Nothing" they said in unison. Moony raised his eyebrows in disbelief but said nothing as they stepped out the shop. "Where to now?" asked Tonks. "You've got all your school stuff" "Er can we go to Eyelop's Owl Emporium?" asked Harry. "I need to get some treats for Hedwig" he said stepping gently on Ron's toes, who caught on immediately. "Yeah I need to get some for Pig too." he said. "Sure." Said Moony and they started off up the street. Ron gave Harry a "What the hell was all that about?" look. Harry gave him a "You'll see" wink in return.
They entered the hop and Harry sighed I relief as Hermione went to look at the owls at the back of the shop. He quickly walked straight over to the counter. "Have you got any snowy owls?" he asked in an urgent whisper. The shopkeeper nodded. "Great!" said Harry. "Could you please have one delivered to Hermione Granger, Gryffindor common room , Hogwarts on the nineteenth of September with this note?" he said, handing the bewildered shopkeeper an envelope. "Sure" he smiled. "Thanks. Oh and two bags of owl treats as well" "That will be twenty galleons and four sickles please." said the man. Harry quickly counted it out and handed over the money. He received two bags of owl treats in return. He stuffed one of the bags into Ron's hands and got two sickles. "Nice one Harry! Exclaimed Ron "She'll love that!" "I hope she does." Said Harry worriedly. "You two done?" asked Tonks, wiggling her eyebrows at Harry. Harry blushed "Yeah" he said as Hermione and Moony joined them and they left the noisy shop. "Where to - ?" started Moony, but Ron cut across him "Quality Quidditch Supplies!" ""Yeah!" agreed Harry enthusiastically. "Typical" laughed Hermione, rolling her eyes, but she was the only one who didn't want to go. "O.K." said Moony and they set up the even busier street to the Quidditch shop. "Hey I wonder why there's a big crowd outside the shop?" asked Harry as they got near. "Oh I heard there was a new broom out today but I don't know if it's any good or not." Said Moony. They joined the back of the crowd at the window and two young sandy haired boys in front of them talking enthusiastically about the broom. "The Scyther!" exclaimed the first one. "it's faster than a Firebolt!" cried the second. "It's not affected by the wind and it keeps the rider dry!" "No matter what the temperature it will always make the rider feel comfortable!" "Wow!" breathed Harry, "Let's go take a closer look!" he said dragging the non -too- reluctant others inside. Harry gasped when he saw the broom. It was the most beautiful broom he had ever seen. It was more beautiful than his Firebolt, which was saying something. The wood was a dark reddish brown colour. It was absolutely stunning. His mouth dropped open as he saw the price tag. Ten thousand galleons. His mind flickered back to the six and a half million galleons sitting in his vault under London and a light bulb flickered on in his head.
Now, Harry being extremely famous always attracted attention, and this occasion was no different. "Ah Mr. Potter!" cried a tall black haired shopkeeper coming towards them, "My Name's Tom." He continued "Have you come to look at our newest model, The Scyther?" he asked "Well actually Tom," said Harry "I was thinking more along the lines of actually buying one" he said with a grin on his face. The whole group, including Tom gasped at this news. "Harry you-you can't!" exclaimed Hermione aghast. "Leave him alone Hermione!" exclaimed Ron "He can do what he wants!" Harry turned to face Hermione and took both of her hands in his. "Hermione" he said "You know how much money I have in my vault, I'll have this back in interest by the time I leave school. You know Sirius, he'd want me to have some fun. Anyway, you never know when a really fast broom will get you away from Voldemort." He said with a wicked grin on his face. "Harry Potter you are just making excuses for something you really don't need!" said Hermione. "So what if I am?" asked Harry "I reckon I might need something to take my mind off "Everything" and I have the house. I will always have somewhere to live." "He did have a point" Hermione thought. Harry took Hermione's silence as consent and turned back to the shell shocked Tom. "Yes Tom" he said. "I'd like to buy it" "Blimey" said Tom, "I've only had on order for seven from the Irish National Team. You have the money, Mr. Potter?" he asked. "Well naturally, I don't carry ten thousand galleons about in my pocket, tends to rattle a bit, but it's in my vault at Gringotts!" said Harry. "Oh marvellous, marvellous!" beamed Tom. "Come over here Mr. Potter and we'll sort it all out!" said Tom, practically dancing towards the counter at the slightly quieter end of the shop. "Right MR. Potter" he said, bending down and taking something out a drawer. I t was a quill and a piece of piece of parchment. "All you have to do," he continued. "is right the name of the shop, the product, the price and sign your name and that fantastic broom is yours!" Harry grinned and took the special quill and parchment from Tom. He wrote "Quality Quidditch Supplies; Scyther; the thousand galleons and was about to sign his name when somebody stopped him. He turned round it find that it was Moony. "Are you sure you want to do this, Harry?" he asked quietly. "Yes" said Harry, defiantly. Moony smiled. "You are truly your father's son, Harry. It would be just like him to blow a fortune on a broom." He said. Harry nodded and signed his name. After a few short moments, the parchment went blank. "Oh bravo Mr. Potter!" cried Tom. "That means that the transaction was successful! I will just go and get your broomstick, Mr. Potter!" he said, disappearing into a backroom. "Nice one mate!" said Ron clapping him on the back. "Good decision!" Harry laughed.
A few minutes later, Tom re-emerged carrying a long thin packet, wrapped in brown paper. He handed it to Harry. It was extremely light, much lighter than his Firebolt. "Have a good day, Mr. Potter!" cried Tom as they turned and left the shop. A few people gaping at Harry along the way.
"We should head up to Weasley's Whizard Wheezes now" said Tonks, checking her watch. They walked up the street and nobody, except Hermione, could take their eyes off the long thin package that Harry was carrying. "For Gods's sake!" said Hermione "It's only a broom! You can't even see it, it's wrapped up!" "Only a broom! ONLY A BROOM!" cried Ron loudly, annoyed that Hermione couldn't see the beauty of it. "Hermione, this is a Scyther! A SCYTHER! How dare you call it just a broom, as if it was any old one!" Hermione laughed. "Chill Ron!" she said. "It's a very expensive piece of wood!" Harry smiled as they got into one of their trademark arguments. It made life seem normal for a while. Eventually they arrived at Fred and George's shop ad they wet inside.
Harry was actually quite surprised. He didn't know what to expect but this was amazing. There were rows and rows and rows of practical jokes. Even Muggle whoopee cushions, which Fred and George seemed to find hilarious as they were showing them to a group of young children. They looked up and smiled broadly as they saw them.
"Hey! Ron! Harry! Hermione! How are -?" started Fred but he cut off and his eyes widened as he saw the package Harry was holding. "Harry" he said "Did you – Did you buy a new broomstick?" "Yup!" said Harry proudly. He grinned. "But-but you have a Firebolt!" said George "So that must be a –a-!" "It is!" cut in Ron. "It's a Scyther!" "Wow!" Fred and George breathed together. Just then Harry noticed their name badges. Fred's said "Feorge" and George's said "Gred". Harry laughed. "Nice badges!" he said, trying to divert attention away from himself. Fred and George recovered. "Oh!" said George "Thanks! Now we'll never forget our names again. Somebody tried to tell us our names were Fred and George, but we know what we're called, they were just trying to make us look stupid." he said with a cheeky grin on his face. Harry laughed. "So how's business?" he asked. George grinned. "Fantastic!" he said "Absolutely booming!" cut in George. "And it's all thanks to you!" Harry blushed. "it is not!" he said, glad that the others with Mrs. Weasley hadn't arrived yet. "I didn't do anything. You did it all and it's amazing!" he said looking around. "Thanks!" said Fred "But we wouldn't even have been able to set up if it wasn't for you. No shifting the blame!" he said jokingly. "Yeah!" said George. "We're even thinking about opening a shop in Hogsmeade later in the year if we can get premises! It'll all be from the profits from this place!" "Cool!" said Harry. "We'd be able to see you on Hogsmeade weekends!" "Yeah! That would be cool!" said Ron. "Listen" said George. "We'd better get back to our customers before the little brats nick anything!" he said with a wicked grin on his face. "Oh charming!" said Hermione "It's nice to know you have such a positive attitude towards the people of the world!" "Whatever" the twins said together. "Take whatever you want for free." said George. Harry nodded, knowing full well he would pay for everything. "O.K." said Ron "We'll see you later." The twins left them just as the other group arrived. "Everything go O.K." asked Mrs. Weasley. They nodded. "Wow Harry!" cried Ginny. "Did you buy a Scyther!" Harry nodded. "You really didn't need that Harry dear." said Mrs. Weasley, but she didn't look too bothered. "Well everybody meet at the fireplace in fifteen minutes after you've had a look around" she said. Ron, Harry and Hermione set off around the shop. It was amazing. There was everything for every type of practical jokers. There were Skiving Snackboxes galore on which Harry stacked up on. "For potions" he said. "Honestly Harry" said Hermione. "N.E.W.T. potions will be hard enough and it'll be even worse if you miss half of the classes.!" "Well I'd rather miss the classes than get expelled for blowing up Snivellus!" Ron snorted. "That's not a bad idea!" he said. Hermione rolled her eyes. Ron leaned in closer and whispered in Harry's ear. "You could use soul magic and torture him and he wouldn't be able to say it was you because Dumbledore will have ordered him not to say anything!" "Except Dumbledore would make me go to his office. I don't think he's mind that much though" Ron shrugged. "Oh well. The idea was fun while it lasted" They continued to wonder around the shop and filled their pockets with Dungbombs, indoor fireworks and itching powder. "For Malfoy" said Ron. Harry laughed.
They met the others back at the fireplace and Mrs. Weasley checked to make sure that everybody was there and that they had everything. Harry slipped a few Galleons under the counter for the things that everybody had bought when nobody was looking. Moony went first again, followed by Harry. The trip re-enforced Harry's loathing of Floo powder. Harry thought he was going to be sick. He felt dizzy and nearly walked into Moony when he stood up. "Wow a!" said Moony grabbing his shoulder to stop him falling.
The others came through and then Ron dragged Harry through to the kitchen and made him unwrap his broom immdiately. It looked even more beautiful now that he owned it. "I can't believe you bought that!" exclaimed Ron "Neither can I! I can't wait a month to ride it!" he moaned. "I want to ride it now!" he said stamping his feet jokingly like a child. Ron laughed. "Don't be a bay Harry!" he said The boys sat all afternoon admiring the broomstick from every angle and discussing all its additional features. "We are sooooo going to win the cup this year!" said Ron. "This broom is amazing! There's no way any other seeker is going to catch up on you or get away from you on that. Not even Malfoy, although he's a crap seeker anyway!" "Yeah" said Harry laughing. The only way he's catch the snitch is if it jumped into his hand!" "Even the he'd have to realise what it was!" said Ron. Harry laughed. It felt good to be talking about stuff normal teenagers would do and not the pressure that Harry was under to save the world. He just wanted a family and a normal life but he realised that it was never going to happen, he would just have to get on with things. For Hermione. Even if he couldn't be with her. He was going to make the world a safe place for her to live.
Dinner by Mrs. Weasley was absolutely fantastic, as always. Harry was sitting between Ron and Hermione, the two most important people in the world to him. He was thoroughly enjoying his steak and kidney pie when suddenly Ron spat part of his out, "Ron!" exclaimed Hermione "That's disgusting!" "Sorry" he said quickly, not really caring. "Harry, what are you going to do with your Firebolt?" Harry smiled, he had been expecting Ron to ask this hours ago. He was actually quite pleased that Ron had not asked straight away. It just proved what a great guy he was. "Oh" said Harry, in a high voice. "I was going to give it to my best mate, under a few conditions" he said. Ron's mouth dropped open. He knew what Harry meant. "Your best mate would be interested in hearing your conditions." Harry turned serious. "Look, mate" he said. "Sirius gave the broom, so it means a lot to me and I don't want to give it away for ever, but it's one of the best brooms in the world and it's not doing any good locked up in my trunk is it?" Ron shook his head. "All that I ask is that you take good care of it and, one day, I get it back. It's up to you when, I don't know, when you get a new one I suppose. So do you want it?" "You serious?" he asked, not daring to believe.. Harry nodded. "Yeah!" he said. "Thanks! I promise I'll take good care of it! You're the best!" "I know I am and you had better" said Harry laughing "or I will kick your ass into the next millennium!" he said laughing. "Hey! You couldn't if you tried! I have height advantage!" "And I have the advantage of not being a prick!" he retorted gaining a friendly punch in the shoulder and an "Oi!" from Ron. "Seriously, though, thanks." Said Ron. Harry nodded.
They finished their dinner joking and laughing about past memories at Hogwarts. Harry and Ron found the one when Hermione accidentally turned herself into a cat when they were illegally using Polyjuice potion extremely funny, they of course didn't actually say the word "polyjuice" in front of the adults because that would have got them into deep trouble with Mrs. Weasley and Moony,( not to mention Dumbledore) as they were the only adults left. They told the others that they would explain later. The laughter of the memory when the fake Mad – Eye Moody turned Draco Malfoy into a ferret and bounced off the ground also brought tears of laughter to their eyes. "I remember it as if it was yesterday!" said Ron "I made sure to memorise every exact detail!" After dinner, Harry and Ron again examined the Scyther from every angle possible again and began to talk about quidditch tactics for the upcoming season. Harry was actually pretty nervous about that. He was the Captain, so all the responsibility lay on Harry's shoulders. He didn't want to disappoint McGonagall after the trust she gave him and the way she stuck up for him last year. They sat up well into the night until Mrs. Weasley forced them to go to bed. "You can't be tired for the start of you training tomorrow." She said. "I don't know exactly what Dumbledore is doing with you but it wont help you to be utterly exhausted." Reluctantly the boys agreed and they dragged themselves up to bed. They slowly climbed the stairs and went into their bedroom. Harry didn't realise how tired he was until he collapsed onto hid bed. He managed to sit himself back up and get changed into his pyjamas. He collapsed back down, set goodnight to Ron and turned of the light. He lay back on his bed and tried to sleep. His mind was buzzing about his Scyther. He couldn't actually believe that he's spent that much money on the spur of the moment. He decided that it was Sirius' influence and fell asleep and dreamt that he was riding the fastest broom in the world with Hermione in his lap and the wind in his face, with Draco Malfoy trying his best to keep up but nowhere near managing it.
For the first time since Sirius died, he didn't have any nightmares. In fact he didn't have any dreams at all, just a peaceful nights sleep, which he thoroughly enjoyed.
He was awoken early by Mrs. Weasley. "Come on Harry, dear" she said, shaking him gently. "I want to get to the shops before it gets too busy today." Harry nodded and sat up as he tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes while Mrs. Weasley made her way over to wake up Ron. He felt amazingly refreshed after his deep sleep and it took him a few moments to realise why he was so happy; then it came to him. Hermione. He grinned as he remembered the events of the day before and started to dress quickly as did Ron after Mrs. Weasley had left.
"Look Ron, mate" said Harry. "Are you really O.K. with me and Hermione?" "Yeah" he said. "I just want things to change, that's all" "They wont. I promise." "So. She a good kisser then?" he asked with a cheeky grin on his face "Shut up!" Said Harry throwing a pillow at Ron's face, laughing.
After a few minutes ferocious pillow fighting they headed downstairs to breakfast. Hermione, Ginny, Luna and Neville were already there. Harry kissed Hermione on the cheek and sat down next to her. Ron rolled his eyes.
"How are we getting to Diagon Alley?" asked Harry, tucking into his bacon and eggs. "Floo powder" said Ginny. Harry groaned, "I hat floo powder," he said. "It makes me feel sick. When are we leaving?" "Now" said Mr s. Weasley, striding into the kitchen " Hurry up you lot," she said, "Go and get your booklists. The Order members are waiting in the living room" "Order members?" asked Harry as he wolfed down his last piece of bacon. "As if they are going to let you wonder about Diagon Alley alone," said Ron. Harry chuckled "I suppose"
Five minutes later, after collecting their booklists, the six of them plus Moony, Tonks, Mad-Eye and Mrs. Weasley were all standing in the living room, where the teenagers had received there news yesterday, in front of the fire. "O.K." said Mrs. Weasley, taking charge. " Ron, Harry and Hermione, You three will be going with Remus and Tonks. Ginny, Luna and Neville, you are with me and Mad-Eye" she said. Everybody nodded. "We'll all go to Gringotts first and meet up at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes at two o' clock. Be there on time or I'll be worried sick" everybody nodded. "Constant Vigilance" Mad – Eye grunted his favourite saying. Moony, sensing an extremely boring lecture coming volunteered. "I'll go first" he said, striding forward. He took a pinch of white floo powder from the flowerpot next to the fireplace, threw it in stepped forward and said loudly and clearly "Diagon Alley!" In a whoosh of green flames he was gone. "You next Harry" said Mrs. Weasley. He stepped forward and took some powder; there was a small flutter on nervousness in his stomach. He didn't exactly have the best record with floo powder, remembering the time he ended up in Knockturn Alley. He threw the powder in the fire and stepped forward, enjoying the tickling sensation around his ankles, and, learning from past experiences, said clearly "Diagon Alley!" Suddenly he felt himself swirling through the floo network, he could see into lots of people's living rooms as he twirled. He tucked in his elbows to stop them hitting painfully off the walls. He was finding it hard to breathe because of the soot and was just wishing he hadn't had that last piece of bacon at breakfast time when he fell out of the fireplace at the bookshop, Flourish and Blotts. He quickly stood up brushing himself clean, as he knew someone else would be coming through any second. It was Hermione. He helped her up and stood with Moony waiting for everybody else to arrive.
When everybody was there and they had cleaned themselves up a bit they made their way to Gringotts, wizard's bank. The Alley was full and bustling with people school shopping and they had to push their way through the crowded street towards the bank. The pushed open the huge oak front doors and found themselves in the cool gleaming marble hall. "Right" said Mrs. Weasley "Hermione, Neville and Luna, you all have your money already?" she asked. They nodded. "You three wait here with Mad Eye and Tonks then. Ron and Ginny, you can stay too, if you want, I'll get the money." "I'm staying," said Ginny, "I hate those carts" "I'll come." said Ron enthusiastically. "O.K."" said Mrs. Weasley. "Remus, Harry, Ron and I will go. The rest of you stay here. No wondering off!"
Five minutes later they found themselves and a goblin called Griphook, who Harry has met in first year, in a small wooden cart speeding down miles under London. They twisted and turned for a long time, he tried to remember the way as he always did; left right left fork, middle fork but he was soon wishing he had just given Mrs. Weasley his key and stayed with the others when they came to an abrupt halt outside the Weasley's vault. Mrs. Weasley and Griphook stood out of the cart. "Key please" said the goblin. Mrs. Weasley handed it to him, but she nearly fainted when the door was open. The Weasley's had never had more so much as two galleons two rub together and now there were mounds and mounds of gold coins. "Is the right vault?" asked Mrs. Weasley holding hr hand over her chest like she was going to faint.. Griphook nodded. "Bloody hell!" exclaimed Ron, jumping out of the cart to join them. "But – Why-How?" asked Mrs. Weasley. Not daring to believe it. Harry laughed. "Sirius" he said. He was extremely proud of his godfather. The Weasleys were one of the nicest families in the world, but one of the poorest too. They deserved the money. "How much is there?" asked Mrs. Weasley. "Five thousand and one galleons approximately" said Griphook "Oh my God!" cried Mrs. Weasley "That Wonderful, wonderful man! I wish I could thank him!" Ron was still staring at the gold open mouthed. "Mum!" he cried suddenly. "Can we have new things this year?!". She nodded, glad she could finally give her children something they deserved." Yes!" he cried. Mrs. Weasley filled her moneybag with galleons, something she had never been able to do before in her life, and the three of them got back in the cart. Both the Weasleys were still in shock. One wild cart ride later and they were outside Harry's vault. This time, when the vault door was opened, it was Harry's turn to be surprised. Now, Harry's vault had never ever been close to being empty but there was at least double the amount he remembered, if not more. Harry laughed "Sirius you git" he said. "How much is there?" he asked Griphook, curiously. "Mr. Harry James Potter has approximately six and a half million galleons." Said Griphook. "He is the third richest wizard in Britain." "Wow!" breathed Harry softly. "Bloody hell!" exclaimed Ron again. Mrs. Weasley and Moony were lost for words. They just stared with their mouths open at Harry and the largest amount of gold they had ever seen. Harry filled his moneybag with galleons sickles and knuts and jumped back in the cart along with Griphook. "Er.. I'd appreciate it if nobody said anything about that" he said "I don't need more attention" he said. Ron laughed "Of course Harry dear" said Mrs. Weasley, Moony still in shock nodded.
After another wild cart ride they were back in the gleaming marble hall. Ron was running towards Ginny yelling "Guess what! Guess what!" "What?" she asked "Sirius left us some money!" "Wicked!" said Ginny "How much?" "Five thousand galleons!" said Ron, barely being able to contain his excitement. "WHAT!!?" "Come along kids" said Mrs. Weasley ushering them towards the door. "What about Harry?" asked Ginny "Oh don't worry about Harry" said Ron "He's Got –" started Ron but Harry cut across him "Ron, Remember our agreement" he said in a warning tone. "Oh yeah. Sorry." He said still grinning, "What was your agreement?" Hermione whispered in his ear. Harry grinned "Not to tell anybody how much money I have" he said "How much money do you have?" she asked curiously. "Six and a half million galleons" he said. "WHAT!?!" she cried as they stepped into the summer sunshine of Diagon Alley. "Right" said Mrs. Weasley "We'll split into our groups and meet at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes at two. Have a good day!" "So where do you guys wanna go?" asked Tonks. "It's probably best to get your school stuff first before it gets even busier." said Moony. "Madame Malkin's For robes?" suggested Hermione. There was a general murmur of agreement and they headed towards the shop. Ron was really excited considering they were only going for robes. "But then again" thought Harry "Ron had never had new robes before. They had always belonged to someone else first." They gladly stepped into the cool shade of "Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions." "Hogwarts dears?" asked a plump friendly witch. They nodded. "Step up there while I fit you" she said pointing to three round black podiums. As they were being fitted, Hermione, who was standing next to Harry, asked "Were you serious? About your money?" Harry nodded. "Yeah" he said "But please don't tell anybody, I get enough attention as it is and already get called enough names without adding "Third richest wizard in Britain" to the list." Hermione laughed. "Anything for you" "That's you dears" said the friendly witch five minutes later. Hey paid for their robes and stepped out back into the glaring sunshine of Diagon Alley. "Where do you guys want to go now?" asked Moony. "Why don't we go and pick up our books?" suggested Ron. "I know they'll be heavy but Flourish and Blotts will only get busier." They agreed and set off up to the bookshop. This time it was Hermione's turn to be excited. "O.K." said Moony as they stepped into the already heaving shop. "Everybody is to stay together. Nobody is to wonder off alone" he said. They nodded. All understanding that a busy shop is n easy place to disappear in and not be noticed. They set off to find their books but it was hard because Hermione kept stopping every few steps to look at a book. They were all taking the same subjects except Hermione was taking Arithmancy, not Herbology and Ron, who had only got an E in potions had been forced to take History of Magic by Mrs. Weasley, something that he was not happy about. "No more Snape!" Ron had cried. "No more Binns!" said Harry in retort. After they had all picked up their schoolbook, which took a long time because the shop was so busy, they picked up a few books on Animagi, Occlumency and Soul Magic. It was near impossible to drag Hermione out of the shop. In the end both Harry and Ron had to grab a hand each and physically drag her out of the shop while Moony and Tonks dealt with the transaction. This put Hermione in a bad mood. "So that all your schools stuff then?" asked Moony as he joined them in the street. "NO!" cried Hermione "We need to go to the Apothecary for our N.E.W.T potions kits!" "O.K." said Tonks "Let's go!" "Ha ha ha ! Potions!" Said Ron "ha ha ha ! Snape" "Oh shut up Ron!" said Hermione irritably "What are you going to do when you leave school? You can't be an auror now!" "I'm going to play quidditch!" said Ron proudly "Or go into the Ministry." Hermione rolled her eyes. They reached the Apothecary and went into the small shop. Moony went over to the counter. "Two N.E.W.T level potions kits please." He said to the assistant behind the desk. Harry shoved some money into Moony's hand and dragged Ron aside. "Listen" he said in an urgent whisper. "When we get out of here just agree with me and say you need to go too." Ron was confused but knew better than to ask, He nodded instead and received a wink from Harry. "What are you two up to?" asked Moony suspiciously as he handed Harry his package. "Nothing" they said in unison. Moony raised his eyebrows in disbelief but said nothing as they stepped out the shop. "Where to now?" asked Tonks. "You've got all your school stuff" "Er can we go to Eyelop's Owl Emporium?" asked Harry. "I need to get some treats for Hedwig" he said stepping gently on Ron's toes, who caught on immediately. "Yeah I need to get some for Pig too." he said. "Sure." Said Moony and they started off up the street. Ron gave Harry a "What the hell was all that about?" look. Harry gave him a "You'll see" wink in return.
They entered the hop and Harry sighed I relief as Hermione went to look at the owls at the back of the shop. He quickly walked straight over to the counter. "Have you got any snowy owls?" he asked in an urgent whisper. The shopkeeper nodded. "Great!" said Harry. "Could you please have one delivered to Hermione Granger, Gryffindor common room , Hogwarts on the nineteenth of September with this note?" he said, handing the bewildered shopkeeper an envelope. "Sure" he smiled. "Thanks. Oh and two bags of owl treats as well" "That will be twenty galleons and four sickles please." said the man. Harry quickly counted it out and handed over the money. He received two bags of owl treats in return. He stuffed one of the bags into Ron's hands and got two sickles. "Nice one Harry! Exclaimed Ron "She'll love that!" "I hope she does." Said Harry worriedly. "You two done?" asked Tonks, wiggling her eyebrows at Harry. Harry blushed "Yeah" he said as Hermione and Moony joined them and they left the noisy shop. "Where to - ?" started Moony, but Ron cut across him "Quality Quidditch Supplies!" ""Yeah!" agreed Harry enthusiastically. "Typical" laughed Hermione, rolling her eyes, but she was the only one who didn't want to go. "O.K." said Moony and they set up the even busier street to the Quidditch shop. "Hey I wonder why there's a big crowd outside the shop?" asked Harry as they got near. "Oh I heard there was a new broom out today but I don't know if it's any good or not." Said Moony. They joined the back of the crowd at the window and two young sandy haired boys in front of them talking enthusiastically about the broom. "The Scyther!" exclaimed the first one. "it's faster than a Firebolt!" cried the second. "It's not affected by the wind and it keeps the rider dry!" "No matter what the temperature it will always make the rider feel comfortable!" "Wow!" breathed Harry, "Let's go take a closer look!" he said dragging the non -too- reluctant others inside. Harry gasped when he saw the broom. It was the most beautiful broom he had ever seen. It was more beautiful than his Firebolt, which was saying something. The wood was a dark reddish brown colour. It was absolutely stunning. His mouth dropped open as he saw the price tag. Ten thousand galleons. His mind flickered back to the six and a half million galleons sitting in his vault under London and a light bulb flickered on in his head.
Now, Harry being extremely famous always attracted attention, and this occasion was no different. "Ah Mr. Potter!" cried a tall black haired shopkeeper coming towards them, "My Name's Tom." He continued "Have you come to look at our newest model, The Scyther?" he asked "Well actually Tom," said Harry "I was thinking more along the lines of actually buying one" he said with a grin on his face. The whole group, including Tom gasped at this news. "Harry you-you can't!" exclaimed Hermione aghast. "Leave him alone Hermione!" exclaimed Ron "He can do what he wants!" Harry turned to face Hermione and took both of her hands in his. "Hermione" he said "You know how much money I have in my vault, I'll have this back in interest by the time I leave school. You know Sirius, he'd want me to have some fun. Anyway, you never know when a really fast broom will get you away from Voldemort." He said with a wicked grin on his face. "Harry Potter you are just making excuses for something you really don't need!" said Hermione. "So what if I am?" asked Harry "I reckon I might need something to take my mind off "Everything" and I have the house. I will always have somewhere to live." "He did have a point" Hermione thought. Harry took Hermione's silence as consent and turned back to the shell shocked Tom. "Yes Tom" he said. "I'd like to buy it" "Blimey" said Tom, "I've only had on order for seven from the Irish National Team. You have the money, Mr. Potter?" he asked. "Well naturally, I don't carry ten thousand galleons about in my pocket, tends to rattle a bit, but it's in my vault at Gringotts!" said Harry. "Oh marvellous, marvellous!" beamed Tom. "Come over here Mr. Potter and we'll sort it all out!" said Tom, practically dancing towards the counter at the slightly quieter end of the shop. "Right MR. Potter" he said, bending down and taking something out a drawer. I t was a quill and a piece of piece of parchment. "All you have to do," he continued. "is right the name of the shop, the product, the price and sign your name and that fantastic broom is yours!" Harry grinned and took the special quill and parchment from Tom. He wrote "Quality Quidditch Supplies; Scyther; the thousand galleons and was about to sign his name when somebody stopped him. He turned round it find that it was Moony. "Are you sure you want to do this, Harry?" he asked quietly. "Yes" said Harry, defiantly. Moony smiled. "You are truly your father's son, Harry. It would be just like him to blow a fortune on a broom." He said. Harry nodded and signed his name. After a few short moments, the parchment went blank. "Oh bravo Mr. Potter!" cried Tom. "That means that the transaction was successful! I will just go and get your broomstick, Mr. Potter!" he said, disappearing into a backroom. "Nice one mate!" said Ron clapping him on the back. "Good decision!" Harry laughed.
A few minutes later, Tom re-emerged carrying a long thin packet, wrapped in brown paper. He handed it to Harry. It was extremely light, much lighter than his Firebolt. "Have a good day, Mr. Potter!" cried Tom as they turned and left the shop. A few people gaping at Harry along the way.
"We should head up to Weasley's Whizard Wheezes now" said Tonks, checking her watch. They walked up the street and nobody, except Hermione, could take their eyes off the long thin package that Harry was carrying. "For Gods's sake!" said Hermione "It's only a broom! You can't even see it, it's wrapped up!" "Only a broom! ONLY A BROOM!" cried Ron loudly, annoyed that Hermione couldn't see the beauty of it. "Hermione, this is a Scyther! A SCYTHER! How dare you call it just a broom, as if it was any old one!" Hermione laughed. "Chill Ron!" she said. "It's a very expensive piece of wood!" Harry smiled as they got into one of their trademark arguments. It made life seem normal for a while. Eventually they arrived at Fred and George's shop ad they wet inside.
Harry was actually quite surprised. He didn't know what to expect but this was amazing. There were rows and rows and rows of practical jokes. Even Muggle whoopee cushions, which Fred and George seemed to find hilarious as they were showing them to a group of young children. They looked up and smiled broadly as they saw them.
"Hey! Ron! Harry! Hermione! How are -?" started Fred but he cut off and his eyes widened as he saw the package Harry was holding. "Harry" he said "Did you – Did you buy a new broomstick?" "Yup!" said Harry proudly. He grinned. "But-but you have a Firebolt!" said George "So that must be a –a-!" "It is!" cut in Ron. "It's a Scyther!" "Wow!" Fred and George breathed together. Just then Harry noticed their name badges. Fred's said "Feorge" and George's said "Gred". Harry laughed. "Nice badges!" he said, trying to divert attention away from himself. Fred and George recovered. "Oh!" said George "Thanks! Now we'll never forget our names again. Somebody tried to tell us our names were Fred and George, but we know what we're called, they were just trying to make us look stupid." he said with a cheeky grin on his face. Harry laughed. "So how's business?" he asked. George grinned. "Fantastic!" he said "Absolutely booming!" cut in George. "And it's all thanks to you!" Harry blushed. "it is not!" he said, glad that the others with Mrs. Weasley hadn't arrived yet. "I didn't do anything. You did it all and it's amazing!" he said looking around. "Thanks!" said Fred "But we wouldn't even have been able to set up if it wasn't for you. No shifting the blame!" he said jokingly. "Yeah!" said George. "We're even thinking about opening a shop in Hogsmeade later in the year if we can get premises! It'll all be from the profits from this place!" "Cool!" said Harry. "We'd be able to see you on Hogsmeade weekends!" "Yeah! That would be cool!" said Ron. "Listen" said George. "We'd better get back to our customers before the little brats nick anything!" he said with a wicked grin on his face. "Oh charming!" said Hermione "It's nice to know you have such a positive attitude towards the people of the world!" "Whatever" the twins said together. "Take whatever you want for free." said George. Harry nodded, knowing full well he would pay for everything. "O.K." said Ron "We'll see you later." The twins left them just as the other group arrived. "Everything go O.K." asked Mrs. Weasley. They nodded. "Wow Harry!" cried Ginny. "Did you buy a Scyther!" Harry nodded. "You really didn't need that Harry dear." said Mrs. Weasley, but she didn't look too bothered. "Well everybody meet at the fireplace in fifteen minutes after you've had a look around" she said. Ron, Harry and Hermione set off around the shop. It was amazing. There was everything for every type of practical jokers. There were Skiving Snackboxes galore on which Harry stacked up on. "For potions" he said. "Honestly Harry" said Hermione. "N.E.W.T. potions will be hard enough and it'll be even worse if you miss half of the classes.!" "Well I'd rather miss the classes than get expelled for blowing up Snivellus!" Ron snorted. "That's not a bad idea!" he said. Hermione rolled her eyes. Ron leaned in closer and whispered in Harry's ear. "You could use soul magic and torture him and he wouldn't be able to say it was you because Dumbledore will have ordered him not to say anything!" "Except Dumbledore would make me go to his office. I don't think he's mind that much though" Ron shrugged. "Oh well. The idea was fun while it lasted" They continued to wonder around the shop and filled their pockets with Dungbombs, indoor fireworks and itching powder. "For Malfoy" said Ron. Harry laughed.
They met the others back at the fireplace and Mrs. Weasley checked to make sure that everybody was there and that they had everything. Harry slipped a few Galleons under the counter for the things that everybody had bought when nobody was looking. Moony went first again, followed by Harry. The trip re-enforced Harry's loathing of Floo powder. Harry thought he was going to be sick. He felt dizzy and nearly walked into Moony when he stood up. "Wow a!" said Moony grabbing his shoulder to stop him falling.
The others came through and then Ron dragged Harry through to the kitchen and made him unwrap his broom immdiately. It looked even more beautiful now that he owned it. "I can't believe you bought that!" exclaimed Ron "Neither can I! I can't wait a month to ride it!" he moaned. "I want to ride it now!" he said stamping his feet jokingly like a child. Ron laughed. "Don't be a bay Harry!" he said The boys sat all afternoon admiring the broomstick from every angle and discussing all its additional features. "We are sooooo going to win the cup this year!" said Ron. "This broom is amazing! There's no way any other seeker is going to catch up on you or get away from you on that. Not even Malfoy, although he's a crap seeker anyway!" "Yeah" said Harry laughing. The only way he's catch the snitch is if it jumped into his hand!" "Even the he'd have to realise what it was!" said Ron. Harry laughed. It felt good to be talking about stuff normal teenagers would do and not the pressure that Harry was under to save the world. He just wanted a family and a normal life but he realised that it was never going to happen, he would just have to get on with things. For Hermione. Even if he couldn't be with her. He was going to make the world a safe place for her to live.
Dinner by Mrs. Weasley was absolutely fantastic, as always. Harry was sitting between Ron and Hermione, the two most important people in the world to him. He was thoroughly enjoying his steak and kidney pie when suddenly Ron spat part of his out, "Ron!" exclaimed Hermione "That's disgusting!" "Sorry" he said quickly, not really caring. "Harry, what are you going to do with your Firebolt?" Harry smiled, he had been expecting Ron to ask this hours ago. He was actually quite pleased that Ron had not asked straight away. It just proved what a great guy he was. "Oh" said Harry, in a high voice. "I was going to give it to my best mate, under a few conditions" he said. Ron's mouth dropped open. He knew what Harry meant. "Your best mate would be interested in hearing your conditions." Harry turned serious. "Look, mate" he said. "Sirius gave the broom, so it means a lot to me and I don't want to give it away for ever, but it's one of the best brooms in the world and it's not doing any good locked up in my trunk is it?" Ron shook his head. "All that I ask is that you take good care of it and, one day, I get it back. It's up to you when, I don't know, when you get a new one I suppose. So do you want it?" "You serious?" he asked, not daring to believe.. Harry nodded. "Yeah!" he said. "Thanks! I promise I'll take good care of it! You're the best!" "I know I am and you had better" said Harry laughing "or I will kick your ass into the next millennium!" he said laughing. "Hey! You couldn't if you tried! I have height advantage!" "And I have the advantage of not being a prick!" he retorted gaining a friendly punch in the shoulder and an "Oi!" from Ron. "Seriously, though, thanks." Said Ron. Harry nodded.
They finished their dinner joking and laughing about past memories at Hogwarts. Harry and Ron found the one when Hermione accidentally turned herself into a cat when they were illegally using Polyjuice potion extremely funny, they of course didn't actually say the word "polyjuice" in front of the adults because that would have got them into deep trouble with Mrs. Weasley and Moony,( not to mention Dumbledore) as they were the only adults left. They told the others that they would explain later. The laughter of the memory when the fake Mad – Eye Moody turned Draco Malfoy into a ferret and bounced off the ground also brought tears of laughter to their eyes. "I remember it as if it was yesterday!" said Ron "I made sure to memorise every exact detail!" After dinner, Harry and Ron again examined the Scyther from every angle possible again and began to talk about quidditch tactics for the upcoming season. Harry was actually pretty nervous about that. He was the Captain, so all the responsibility lay on Harry's shoulders. He didn't want to disappoint McGonagall after the trust she gave him and the way she stuck up for him last year. They sat up well into the night until Mrs. Weasley forced them to go to bed. "You can't be tired for the start of you training tomorrow." She said. "I don't know exactly what Dumbledore is doing with you but it wont help you to be utterly exhausted." Reluctantly the boys agreed and they dragged themselves up to bed. They slowly climbed the stairs and went into their bedroom. Harry didn't realise how tired he was until he collapsed onto hid bed. He managed to sit himself back up and get changed into his pyjamas. He collapsed back down, set goodnight to Ron and turned of the light. He lay back on his bed and tried to sleep. His mind was buzzing about his Scyther. He couldn't actually believe that he's spent that much money on the spur of the moment. He decided that it was Sirius' influence and fell asleep and dreamt that he was riding the fastest broom in the world with Hermione in his lap and the wind in his face, with Draco Malfoy trying his best to keep up but nowhere near managing it.