Harry Potter and the New Start: Diagon Alley
Hey there guys! Thanks you for the reviews that you sent my way on the last chapter. This is the long awaited trip to Diagon Alley, well, not really long awaited. This is really a two-part trip, and you'll see why in a bit. Okay, enjoy!
-------------------------------Emerald's Palace
Boo the house elf prided herself for not getting flustered easily. Maybe in the past, but not in the last four years or so. Not with masters like Sirius Black and Harry Potter. She loved them both dearly, no doubts there. But they were so...different. And so energetic. They were fairly good at remembering to clean up their messes, and they hardly ever made orders.
But on mornings like these, she was really ready to scream.
"Master Harry...sits still. Please, Master, Boo is liking to get this on you!" She pleaded with the excited five year old. Usually Harry listened to her, and to Master Black, but she was certain that they were both too off the wall to listen to anything.
She was currently trying to get on a pair of jean overalls to go over Harry's orange shirt. The little boy had fought valiantly against the shirt, as he hadn't worn one in months and complained that it was annoying him. He squirmed, but in the end Boo had one.
"You ready Harry?" Sirius called from down the hallway. His head popped in the room and survived the house elf's plight. "Here, Boo, I'll take over from here."
Boo wasn't one to give up her duty, but she had other things to do. Gratefully handing the child over to his godfather, Boo disappeared with a snap of her long thin fingers.
"You know, Emeralds, it's not nice to make Boo wring her hands like that." Sirius casually commented as he snapped the overalls on. He wasn't accusing, since he had caused the same reaction from at least twenty of the house elves in their employment. Sirius's black hair fell back into his eyes, as he didn't have it back like he normally did. He was planning on making it short for their trip, and didn't see the point of tying it back for all of an hour of wakefulness before they headed out.
Harry half-heartedly tugged at the strap holding the overalls up, "Am I wearing robes?" He asked. To Sirius's amusement, he paid his godfather's earlier comment no mind. Yep, Harry was a Marauder at heart.
"No, you don't have to." Sirius assured the little boy as he gently yanked his hand away from the strap. "But you have to wear these clothes."
The face that Harry made – crinkling his whole face with this tongue slightly out – was a pretty good indicator of Harry's feelings on overalls. But he didn't comment. As far as Harry was concerned, it was a small price to pay.
Picking his godson up, Sirius and Harry headed downstairs. "So, we agreed on blonde, yes?"
"Yep, blondes." Harry agreed. They had talked at length about the glamour charms that Sirius would be placing on them. An agreement had been reached, along with their cover story.
Sirius set Harry down on the coffee table of the sitting room. Drawing out his wand, Sirius muttered a few words and Harry instantly felt a ticklish feeling fall over his face. After a second, the feeling was gone as quickly as it came, "So?"
Giggling slightly, Sirius conjured up a mirror. "See for yourself."
Harry grabbed the mirror with childlike enthusiasm. Gasping at the reflection in the mirror, Harry could hardly recognize himself.
The blonde hair fell into his eyes, slightly longer than his normal hair was. His hair wasn't white, but a golden color. His eyes, formerly a bright green were now dark brown – as different as they could get without going black. In addition to the color change, his eyes went from a rounded shape to something more oval. His cheekbones were higher up on his face and slightly more pronounced. His lips were thinner than normal, but not drastically so. And, most importantly, his lightning bolt scar was gone.
"Wow." Harry breathed as he continued to take in his new image. Above him, Sirius pointed his wand at himself and said some spells.
"How do I look?" Sirius asked. Harry looked up to see his godfather, who would now be posing as his father.
The hair was the same as Harry's but short. Almost a buzz-cut. Something, which was so un-Sirius like, that Harry couldn't tear his eyes away for a few seconds. Sirius's eyes were the same brown as Harry's. Though, his nose was longer and his ears were shorter. The eye shape was different than what they'd changed Harry's to. His eyes actually looked more along the lines to what Harry's had looked like before the glamours.
"Diff'rent. Really, really different." Harry exclaimed in awe.
Sirius laughed and pulled the mirror away. He examined himself as he spoke. "That is the point, Harry." Sirius snickered, "I'm meant to be immensely handsome in all forms." He sighed, as though this were a hardship for him.
"Sure, Siri." Harry said indulgently, giggling at the stupidity of the statement all the same.
Looking away from the mirror, Sirius sent his godson a pointed look. Of course, this only sent Harry into full-blown laughs.
-------------------------------Outside the Leaky Cauldron
"All right, baby, what's the story?" Sirius asked, kneeling down in front of his godson. Their blonde hair was getting tousled in the wind. The Leaky Cauldron was right in front of them, being ignored by the muggles entirely. But the two wizards saw it, and they knew that this was it.
Harry smiled, "You're my daddy, and your name is Orion Jameson. My name is Evan Jameson. I'm five and I love quidditch. My mommy left a long time ago and I don't remember her." He replied obediently. Sirius had gone over this many times with Harry. He knew it by heart, as if it were the truth.
"Perfect." Sirius nodded his approval. He had originally thought that their names might ring a few bells. But few people knew his middle name. And somehow, he thought that having their names be so obvious that it would be that much harder to trace.
Sirius stood up, holding his hand out for Harry who gratefully took it. They walked into the Leaky Cauldron and Sirius wasn't surprised to see that it was absolutely the same. The old men in the corner were practically the same, though Sirius knew that they were different. The witches and the wizards were still the same as the last time he'd been there. How was it that everything could be so the same, yet so different at the same time?
They'd decided not to linger in the old bar. Sirius kept a firm hold on Harry's hand as they moved through the bar, outside to the back. Pulling out the replacement wand, Sirius tapped the correct brick and smiled down at Harry. "Ready?"
"Ready." Harry agreed as the bricks pulled aside to reveal the archway. Harry hadn't ever seen that many people or things. It was as if the archway didn't just lead to a hidden magical street, but a whole new world.
After giving Harry a second to gather his bearings, Sirius gently tugged the little boy through. Harry's eyes darted left and right, as did Sirius's. One taking in all the sights for the first time, the other reliving them.
Sirius could practically see a younger version of himself running around with James. It was as though he were watching a movie. The only things that hindered the visions were the presence of a few new shops.
The stores had changed since the last time Sirius had been there, but not the principal of the alleyway. It was the people that had changed the most. No more quickly going about your business, fearing the person ahead of you or to your side. These people here weren't death eaters. That time of fear was long passed, and the street had returned to how it was in Sirius's childhood. A place where people met up, children running along the pathways and couples strolling hand in hand. It was a happy world again, and Sirius felt a pang in his heart knowing that he didn't belong anymore.
"Si-Daddy, does it always look like this? Are there al'ays so many people?" Harry asked, only momentarily slipping. His voice dripped with the awe that the street was inspiring in him.
Sirius looked down at Harry. The little boy's now brown eyes were wide with childlike admiration for this place. The world that he'd been born into, but had been taken from. "Always, Evan."
Harry didn't hear him though, he was too busy taking in all the sights. The amount of people around him was slightly uncomfortable, but the feeling of Sirius's hand in his was enough. The sights of shops with owls in the windows and robes being displayed were the objects of his attention right now. He let Sirius lead them down the street, never taking his eyes of the witches haggling over dragon's liver prices.
The first order of business was Gringotts. Sirius needed to make a withdrawal, and had the key to do it. Luckily, goblins didn't much care who you were or where you were taking money from – so long as you had the key. They did not answer to the Ministry of Magic, and would therefore not mention to them that some man and his son had come to take money from the Black family vault. Sirius was the sole heir to the Black fortune – and he did mean fortune – and was also the only one with a key.
The pair reached their destination relatively quickly. Sirius pulled Harry past before he could read the warning on the building, as it would no doubt frighten him a bit. Whatever protests Harry had from not getting a proper look at the building died in his mouth at the sight of the inside.
Harry's mouth dropped open as he observed the inside of the bank. Goblins, creatures that he'd only heard about, were running around. Some where leading people through the bank, others were counting out gold on massive scales. There was even a group of goblins inspecting massive diamonds, emeralds and rubies. "Are we supposed to be here, Daddy?"
The wonder in Harry's voice caused Sirius to break out into a wide grin. "Yes, we are. We have to get some money out of my vault." Sirius whispered on Harry's level. "Remember, don't say anything about the Blacks being related to me, all right Evan?"
Nodding seriously, Harry made a motion of pulling a key across his lips. Sirius ruffled his blonde hair and took his hand again. He pulled Harry towards the nearest open counter, where another goblin was writing something in a large book. "Excuse me."
"Yes?" The goblin hissed a bit, leaning out over his book to get a good look at Harry and Sirius. The intimidation worked on Harry, and he shrank back just a bit into Sirius's robes.
Sirius himself, however, was undaunted. "We'd like to make a withdrawal, please." He said as politely as he could to something that was scaring his godson. For good measure he let a bit of the Azkaban darkness, which really never left someone's eyes, flash. The goblin nodded, and pulled back.
"Which vault?" The goblin spoke to only Sirius now.
"The Black Family vault." Sirius replied dutifully. Harry gripped his godfather's hand tightly, expecting the goblin to narrow his eyes in suspicion and race off to find aurors.
Instead, the goblin did not change expressions. "Key?"
Fishing the item in question out of his pocket, Sirius laid it down onto the counter without a word. The goblin picked it up to inspect it and after a few seconds nodded. "I'm Griphook, I'll be taking you down to the vault now."
The Goblin – who Harry now knew to be Griphook – walked around the counter and waved his hand impatiently for Sirius and Harry to follow, which they did. Harry gave a tug on Sirius's robes to indicate that he wanted to be picked up. Sirius made no qualms about it and picked Harry up. Once safe in his godfather's arms, Harry leaned over. "Why isn't he mentioning about the only Black bein' a escaped person?"
"The goblins don't care as long as you have a key." Sirius replied equally as quiet.
Still a little worried, Harry tried to look calm. The odd group made their way to a cart, where Griphook set down a lantern that Harry hadn't seen him grab. "Get in, please." He instructed.
Sirius sat them down with Harry firmly in his lap. Harry brightened a little bit, a ride in a cart to a vault with money in it sounded exciting enough. The cart started and Griphook didn't appear to be steering. This worried Harry, but Griphook and Sirius didn't seem to mind.
The cold air whizzed past them as they went deeper and deeper into the bank's underground. Harry tried to take in all the sights he could, but things were moving too fast. After around five minutes – though it felt to Harry like only one moment – the cart stopped.
Griphook took the lantern and got out. "Key, please."
Sirius handed over the key and Griphook turned it in a small keyhole. A series of locks and gears turned. The door melted once the last gear had turned. Behind it stood another door. This door had only an indentation on it, no complicated keys or gears were on it. The indentation was in the shape of a large B. Griphook slid his long index finger along the B of the door. Then, turning to Sirius, he nodded.
Sirius let go of Harry's hand and walked to the door. Kneeling slightly, so he would be level with the door, he traced his own finger along the letter.
Within a second of Sirius completing the last turn of the initial, the door swung open. Harry eagerly looked forward. He'd never been in a bank vault before, and for one to have so many rules about it, there had to be something good inside.
It was empty.
Seeing the look of disappointment on Harry's face, Sirius nodded to Griphook and pulled Harry inside. Once the door was safely closed, Sirius kneeled down again by Harry. "This is just like a hallway kind of. There are two doors, see?" Sirius pointed to each.
Harry nodded, and watched as Sirius pointed to the door on the left. "This door has the money in it, among a few other things." Then he pointed to the door on the right. "That door has other things. Some of the things in that room, Harry, are dark magic. Evil things that could hurt you. You need to swear to me right now that you will never go in that room without me. Not until I say you're old enough. There are things in there that I don't want you playing with, things that no one should play with."
"I swear." Harry replied solemnly. He wondered what could be so dangerous that Sirius would make him promise to never go inside.
Sirius didn't give him much of a chance to speculate, though. He picked up his godson and opened the door on the left, knowing that it would hold the boys interest.
He was right.
"Oh." Harry breathed, his mouth hanging open yet again. The room was so big that Harry wasn't sure he could see the end from where he was. The ceilings were high and vaulted, and almost packed to the top with towers of galleons. Smaller piles, but still taller than Harry, of knuts and snickles interspersed the gold. Little jewelry boxes lined a short section of the wall that the door was located on.
Sirius closed the door behind them and set Harry down on the floor. The immediate area around the door being the only place where there was any floor visible. Harry had a vision of Sirius having to hike over gold to get to the back of the room.
"The Blacks are the richest wizarding family. The oldest is the Potters. We come in second for oldest and the Potter family comes in second for richest. I think that the Dumbledores are the third oldest. Then the Ravenclaws. The Hufflepuffs died out a while ago – don't know about the Slytherin or the Gryffindor families. The Ravenclaws are followed by the Longbottoms, then the Crouches, the Weasleys and then the Malfoys." Sirius explained. The names held some meaning to Harry, but some of them not so much. "After the Potters the third richest family is the Dumbledores again, I think. The Crouches are up there, as are the Longbottoms. Ravenclaws beat out the Malfoys, and the Bones family."
Harry wasn't quite sure what all that meant, or what significance it had. How Sirius could remember things like that was beyond him. As if sensing the confusion coming from Harry, Sirius added, "My mum made me learn all that."
Deciding not to comment, Harry just watched as Sirius piled some gold into a bag.
------------------------------Outside Gringotts
"All right, baby, what do you want to do first?" Sirius asked with a grin, then throwing his arms out wide. Harry giggled at the theatrics.
"Could we go to the joke shop?" he asked shyly, a little overcome by the sheer size of the place.
Sirius, however, was not paying attention to Harry's shyness. He was too busy pretending to wipe tears from his eyes. "You don't know how long I've been waiting for you to ask me that!" he sniffed.
Harry giggled, "Daddy! Stop that!"
Sobering up, but still grinning, Sirius righted himself and grabbed Harry's hand. "Come, my dear Marauder!"
They navigated their way through the twists and turns made by the people. Harry once again tried to take in everything he saw, but found it too hard. Instead he caught names of stores. The Owl Emporium looked fun, as did the Quidditch supply store. That one was what they would do next. Somehow, Harry wasn't really concerned that Sirius would want to go.
"Ahh, here we go. One of the greatest places on earth, a testament to all that is good and pure in the world. A prankster's paradise. Zonko's." Sirius said with a flourish. Harry looked up at the building.
"So that's where you 'n Da-Uncle James got all your prank-y stuff?" Harry asked, already knowing the answer. He beamed at the excited expression on Sirius's face, and knew instantly just how much Sirius had missed the wizarding world. He'd never let on, but he did.
Nodding, Sirius held the door open for Harry. "Yep, that's right."
The sheer amount of things and pranking paraphernalia that lined the walls and tables in the room was mind-boggling. Sirius dove right in, inspecting both time honored favorites and items that had been created recently.
Harry slowly made his way down the shelves, determined not to miss a thing. Products like hair color changing shampoo appeared to be well loved. Other's, such as quills that wrote out insults, but couldn't be seen by the writer – thereby creating a big problem when the unfortunate writer handed in the work – seemed to be for the more daring and weren't as under stocked.
"Evan?" Sirius called from another part of the room.
"Yeah, Daddy?" Harry called back, as they were the only two people in the room. Besides, the owner appeared amused.
Sirius yelled back gleefully. "Pick out whatever you want, and quite a lot of it. Bring your stuff up to the counter and tell the man that I'll pay for the total. Take your stuff in a bag and don't show me. Then I'll go up. I expect creative pranks, young man."
The owner looked amused, surprised and quite pleased at the prospect of such a sale. Harry grinned happily and grabbed for a few items he'd seen.
------------------------------Forty-Five Minutes Later
Harry and Sirius practically dragged their bags from the store, leaving behind more empty spaces on the shelf than there were when they came in, not to mention a ecstatic owner.
Harry's bag was too heavy for him to lift, which was a good indicator to how much he'd purchased. His cheeks had practically burned with embarrassment when the cashier had read back to him how much Harry's personal total was. Sirius hadn't seemed to mind, which was all Harry really cared about.
He'd chosen many different items. The hair color changing shampoo had been selected. Along with a fake wand that would shoot slime out the opposite end when used, a powder to put on one's clothes to make a person itch, and nose lengthening cream that could be applied when the victim was sleeping. And that was just the first few things. Considering all the ideas Harry had, he was almost fearful of what an experienced prankster like Sirius had cooked up.
"Thirty nine galleons, Evan? Really, you've blown away my expectations." Sirius stated with pride. Sirius didn't seem to mind in the slightest that Harry had spent so much, but considering the amount of gold in his vault, it was to be expected. Sirius grabbed for Harry's bag and muttered word, shrinking the bag into a pocket-sized pouch. Harry pocketed the little bag and smiled gratefully.
"Thanks, Daddy." He added. "Where're we going next?"
Sighing, Sirius took a long look around the streets. "Any ideas?" He asked, when nothing in the immediate area caught his eye.
"The Quidditch Supply store!" Harry yelled, causing the group of elderly witches next to them to turn and look. But once they saw the energetic little boy their disapproving looks melted away.
Seeing the impeding cheek pinching disaster, Sirius scooped Harry up and sent a handsome grin in the women's directions. "No more being cute or we won't get out of here alive."
"I can't help it!" Harry cried out indigently.
Conceding to Harry's point, Sirius nodded. "Well, I should have known that." He said, giving Harry a kiss on the cheek. A group of twenty-something women smiled and made a breathy chorus of "Aww!"
"Hey, none a' that!" Harry whispered Sirius's ear as his godfather nearly changed courses. Sirius winked at the women and walked back towards the shop.
"And to think I was a ladies man." Sirius reminisced wistfully. "You've reformed me, brat." He added playfully as Harry rolled his eyes.
The two stopped in front of the store in question and stared in awe at the broom in the display. This time, it wasn't just Harry with his mouth down to his feet, Sirius's mouth was completely flapping in the breeze also.
The shopkeeper noted their amazed expressions at the broom. "That's the Nimbus Five-Hundred. Newest model they've come out with, fastest too."
"It's beautiful." Sirius said, as though he were looking at the meaning of life. Which, for Harry, it seemed to be. He'd never ridden a broom before, just a toy that didn't allow him above five-feet. But looking at this broom, he desperately wanted to.
Laughing, the shopkeeper appeared to have heard this before. "Yes, she is." Continuing on, he listed statistics that made Sirius and Harry want to cry. Once he finished up, Sirius had the strength to look away.
"We'll take two."
------------------------------Elsewhere in Diagon Alley
He hardly ever came to Diagon Alley. He didn't need much, and the memories were almost unbearable a lot of the time. Besides, he wasn't exactly what one would call rich.
The wind blew into his face, causing his hair to blow into his eyes. Only a strong wind could cause such a reaction though, as he didn't wear his hair long. He impatiently pushed it aside as he made his way to the apothecary. His potion supplies really did need replenishing.
Taking a deep breath of the afternoon air, he continued towards the shop. The wind was blowing all sorts of scents in his face, but only the ones closest to him were really discernable. Of course, his sense of smell wasn't something he minded at all.
For Remus Lupin, the impeccable sense of smell was actually a silver lining to the fact that he was a werewolf.
Okay, first order of business. Yes, I am aware that Zonko's is not in Diagon Alley. It's Gangole and Japes, but the thing is, I can't exactly remember the first name of that or the spelling of either. So I thought I'd use Zonko's instead, so I hope you all don't mind.
I went through the last chapter's reviews and found some recurring questions, so I'll answer those now, okay?
Why can't Peter just go to the Weasley's?
AU, guys. Things will happen with time. Peter hasn't had the opportunity yet. Maybe, eventually he'll end up there, but I'm not telling. That would be addressed towards the way end of the story. So you'll have to wait!
Is Remus going to find Harry?
All right, I really can't answer that. I know that a lot of you really want Remus and Sirius to raise Harry. I know that, you've all done a good job of telling me. You'll all, again, find that out later. But no, Remus isn't going to be hiring anyone to find him, which I can tell you.
Is it a good thing that the search has been called off?
Yes.
Have you read Order of the Phoenix, 'Cause Arabella is a squib.
Yes, I have read the cursed book. And yes, I know that Arabella is said to be a squib there, but I'm doing this my way. In my world, she's not. I hope no one minds that it's not exactly correct a-la cannon. It's small enough that I didn't really think anyone would mind, especially since I've seen all sorts of stories that have different takes on Arabella.
How could Remus not know that it wasn't Sirius!?
People, you can't yell at me for following that particular cannon part! In the books, Remus did believe that it was Sirius, for thirteen years! I can't help that. All your points are valid, and I know that. Follow the flow, guys, that's all I can say.
Does Harry age again soon?
Nope.
When is Harry going to Hogwarts?
Based on the last question, he's not. This story does not go to Hogwarts age. In sequels (should there be any) he may, but this story does not go that far. I'm really sorry to everyone who wants him to! I've noticed that people have mentioned that for a while now, so I thought it needed to be cleared up. Again, really sorry!
When is Harry going to Muggle School?
He's not. We're just going to assume that Sirius and the house elves teach him.
When are we getting some action!? You're going too far into fluffyness!
I agree completely! Next chapter, everyone, action will be there. I'm sure that you can imagine...
Okay, there, I think that was it. Other than the normal things where you all ask what happens next. If I missed your question, then give it another go. If I still don't respond, chances are that it's nothing that I can really explain out and all that can answer it is time. I'll try my best though! And I hope that helped. Excuse the long author's note.
Stars Enchantress