The Tangibility of Magic

Jolly Rancher

Chapter 5: Shopping with Cathy

A/N: There's a quote from a movie in this chapter. See if you can find it…

He took the spells of his aunt and uncle and walked upstairs to his room. He took of his clothes and climbed into his enlarged bed wearing only his boxers.
Harry woke the next morning with a yawn. He paused as he remembered last night's events. He shot off the bed and towards his desk to the runespoor. He found it in its cage, still sleeping. How long do these things sleep? It's been a day at least, from what the owner told me.

He decided to go eat breakfast first, since he had not eaten dinner the previous night. He grinned as he thought of the events that had happened. He threw on one of Dudley's old shirts and walked downstairs. He saw the Dursley's sitting down and eating. He sat down and said, "Good morning, all! How are you this fine morning? How are you feeling Dudders? I know that that pain curse has some rather severe side effects."

Dudley dropped the piece of sausage he was holding and whimpered again. Wow, I didn't think that he would start whimpering already! He must be really scared of me.

"Man, am I hungry!" said Harry as he dug into the food on the table. The Dursley's glowered at Harry, but could do nothing against him. "Well, I'm finished. I'll leave you to your food."

He walked upstairs, and into his room.

Harry looked at the time and saw that it was nine o' clock. I have a good three hours until I have to meet Cathy. I'll go practice some of those new curses in the trunk.

He enlarged his trunk and opened it up to the last compartment, the one made of all stone. He took his books and climbed in by the ladder attached to the trunk compartment.

Harry looked around the seventh compartment in satisfaction. It was the perfect dueling chamber. There were no obstacles to block his path, just empty space. He looked around, and realized that there was no place to put his books. Oh, silly me. I can just summon the table down here.

"Accio table!"

He smiled as the table came through the compartment door, which he had left open. His smilefaltered as he realized that he couldn't catch the table. Umm…crap. He jumped and rolled to the side and watched as the table flew through the space that he had just occupied, then crash into the stone wall. Harry winced as a large CRACK echoed throughout the stone chamber when the table broke into two.

Yeah, not the best idea you had Potter…

He shook his head and closed the compartment door with a wave of his wand. He didn't want his relatives getting upsetwith the noise that he was making. He then stared at the broken table thinking about how lucky he was to be blessed with good reflexes.

"Reparo!" With a wave of his wand he fixed the table. He placed his books on it, and opened the book that Sirius had given him. He flipped through the book, looking for some useful curses. Here's one.

The Abscidus Curse- This curse will rip a limb from its socket. It must be aimed at the joint, or it will not work correctly. Be warned, this curse is very painful. The incantation is Abscido.

Harry tried to do the curse, but his wand just gave a feeble spark and went out. He tried it again, with more force to his words, but to no avail. He cursed himself and thought, Why the hell can't I do this? Even if I am unpracticed, I should get more than a damn spark!

He thought about what Bellatrix had said at the Department of Mysteries, that to cast the Cruciatus Curse, one must feel great hate. Maybe that's what I'm missing, emotion.

Harry concentrated on his hatred for Voldemort and cast the curse again. To his great delight, a tiny jet of black light leapt out from his wand and hit the stone wall ahead of him. He knew it wasn't perfect, but it was a start. He spent the next thirty minutes perfecting the curse. The end result was very satisfying; a large jet of black that made a resounding CRACK when it hit the stone wall.

He grinned. Learning the Dark Arts was much harder than learning the Light Arts, but it was also that much more powerful. He couldn't wait to test this out on a Death Eater. Preferably Bellatrix. He smiled at the possibilities.

He spent the next two hours learning more curses. He only learned three more, but they were all dangerous and very powerful spells. All of them required that he feel an immense hate. That was the main difference between the Dark and Light Arts.

Harry wiped his brow, getting rid of all the perspiration that was there. I never thought that training could be so hard. Even training for the Tri-Wizard Tournament wasn't as grueling as this! Oh well, I have mastered some Dark Arts, and gained more knowledge on curses. Learning the Dark Arts is way more difficult to learn than the Light Arts. He thought to himself as he took a breather.

Harry glanced at his watch and saw that it was almost half past eleven. I better take a shower and go to The Point. Cathy will be waiting.

He climbed out of his trunk and heard a sudden scream. He whirled around, wand out, ready to duel. He relaxed when he saw Dudley gaping at him. He sighed and said, "What're you doing here Dudley?"

"T-t-t-…" Dudley stammered.

Harry rolled his eyes and said, "T-t-t-today junior!"

"Trunk! You just climbed out of the trunk! You're too big to fit inside that trunk!"

Harry lowered his wand and gave a chuckle. "I'm a wizard Dudley, your idea of space doesn't apply to me. It's kind of obvious when you think about it." Harry said. "But of course, you don't think that much, do you?"

Dudley glowered and said, "Where the fuck is my money, Potter? You're the only person that would take it."

Harry grinned and pulled out a wad of money from his back pocket. "Oh, you mean this money? I was hungry at lunchtime yesterday, since you had cleaned out the fridge. So I just took the liberty of taking some well-earned money."

Dudley glared at him and said, "Give it here! I need to go buy some…some...something!"

"Oh, you mean you want to buy some weed? Why didn't you just say so? No."

"It's not yours! I'll tell Mum and Dad!"

Harry snorted and said, "Since when do you care ifsomething belongs to you? This money is stolen, so I'm stealing stolen money…Call your parents Dudders, I'm not very scared of them anymore." He finished the last sentence in a whisper, while twirling his wand menacingly.

Dudley gulped, suddenly remembering that Harry could use magic. He just stood there, seemingly transfixed by Harry's wand. Harry grinned and got his towel. He stood in front of Dudley, waiting for him to move. "Dudley! Get the hell out of the way! I have a lunch date to get too, and I'm all sweaty."

That snapped Dudley out of his stupor. He gaped and asked, "You have a date? Yeah right! Who would go out with a scrawny kid like you?"

It was Harry's turn to glare. "Who the hell would go out with a person the size of a whale? Fucking fat ass."

Harry pushed past Dudley roughly and started towards the bathroom. He wanted to go to the Master bathroom again, but he knew that that was crossing the line. They didn't even let Dudley go in there!

He entered the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. I look much better than I did a few days ago. No more bags under my eyes. I guess actually getting a good night sleep helps with that, huh?

He caught a look of his scar and scowled. He brushed a bang in front of it too hide it from view. I hate this damn thing. He thought to himself.

Harry finished taking his bath and walked outside with steam billowing from behind him. He went to his room, and got dressed. He looked at the clothes he was wearing and thought, I seriously can't wait to get new clothes. This is just ridiculous.

He walked out his room and went downstairs, passing Dudley on the way. Dudley stared after him for a second before calling out, "What's her name?"

Harry looked at Dudley and said, "Cathy Fields…why the hell do you want to know?"

Dudley gasped and said, "There's no way you got a date with her! She's one of the most hottest girls in town!"

Harry winced as Dudley butchered English grammar. "She might just want to go out with guys that have an ounce of intelligence; ever thought of that?"

He walked outside and towards The Point, thinking about all the stuff that he could get with Cathy. After almost sixteen years of wearing Dudley's hand-me-down's, he could get cloths that fit. He hummed slightly as he walked.

He saw Cathy sitting outside on a bench. He frowned a bit and looked at his watch, which read twelve o' six. I'm not that late. I wonder what time Cathy got here. I hope she hasn't been waiting long.

Harry walked up to Cathy and said, "Hello Cathy. Sorry I'm late; I guess I spent too much time in the shower. Have you been waiting long?"

Cathy brushed Harry's apology away with a wave of her hand. "It's no problem Harry. I would rather you late, than have you smell."

Harry smiled and said, "Come on, let's go eat lunch. It's my treat."

"No, it's ok Harry! I have my own money. There's no need-"

Harry interrupted her by saying, "Don't worry Cathy. It's not really my money anyways. It's Dudley's. I figured that he deserved to get something taken away from him, since he always bully's little kids around."

Cathy still looked uncertain and said, "Won't he hurt you? I heard that he's very good in boxing."

Harry laughed and opened the door for Cathy. "Don't worry, he wouldn't be able to catch me."

Cathy snickered and said, "Yeah, I guess it would be kind of hard for him to run, what with all that fat."

She shook her head and continued, "He actually asked me out once, can you believe that?"

Harry gaped at he stood in line, and snickered. "He asked you out? So that was why he seemed so jealous of me!"

They took their orders and sat down to eat. "So how exactly did Dudley ask you out?" Harry said, trying to start a conversation.

Cathy looked up from her burger and said, "Hmm? Oh, well, he first came up to me after I got my glasses. I don't think he recognized me, which I find amazing, since he called me four-eyes almost every day when I went to school with him. He had the lamest pick-up line, I know he picked it up in a book somewhere."

Harry grinned and said, "Actually, he doesn't read that much. He probably got it from one of his friends. What'd he say?"

Cathy laughed and said, "Umm, let me remember the exact words."

Harry ate his sandwich, waiting for her to tell him. She snapped her fingers and said, "I remember now! His exact words were, 'I lost my teddy bear, will you sleep with me instead?' I just started laughing then and there."

Harry snorted and almost sprayed his soda through his nose. He started chortling and said, "The sad part is, he actually sleeps with a teddy bear!"

Cathy stared at Harry and started laughing. "I could never imagine Dursley with a teddy bear!" She said. "Maybe he was serious…"

They talked for a while as they finished their lunch. When they finished, they walked outside, and to the Underground, which would take them to London.

Harry paid for their tickets, over Cathy's protests. He thought that since she was going all the way to London, just to help him shop, she shouldn't have to pay her own way.

"So, what do you think we should get?" said Harry.

Cathy looked at him carefully and said, "The first thing I think we should get rid of are those ugly glasses. Those went out of fashion like fifty years ago."

She reached up and took away Harry's glasses. Harry squinted at her and asked, "Why did you take my glasses?"

"I wanted to see your eyes without these huge frames. They are really a quite beautiful emerald. I think you should get contacts. Those would let everyone see them."

Harry blushed when she said he had beautiful eyes. She handed the glasses back to Harry. "And you definitely need new clothes."

Harry put the glasses back on and grinned at her. They exchanged small talk as they went to London.

Harry and Cathy exited the Underground and walked into the great city of London. Harry was exited, he had gone to London before, of course, to get his school supplies, but he had never ventured into Muggle London. The Dursley's had gone many a time, but they had always left him with Mrs. Figg. He shivered; he was glad that those days were over.

"C'mon Harry, let's go to a glasses store first!" Cathy chirped happily.

Harry agreed and Cathy led him expertly through the maze that was London. "I'll take you to the same store that I went to for my contacts. It's not very far, and there's a fabulous clothing store right across the street from it!"

The door gave a chime as they entered. Do all stores have that chime now?

Cathy took his hand and started to look through the frames.

"Hello. My name is Sandra." Said an assistant. "Is there anything that I can help you with?"

Harry stayed silent while Cathy talked to the assistant. "Yes, please. We're looking for a frame for Harry. We would also like some contacts."

Sandra eyed Harry's face critically for a minute, and then said, "I think that he would look good in smaller frames. Those frames that he's wearing right now don't do him much justice."

She walked through the selection and lifted a frame up for them to see. It was a very small black frame. "Here, try this."

Harry put it on and squinted, but couldn't see very well. Cathy and Sandra could see perfectly though, and said that it looked very good on him. "I think that you should go with that one Harry." Said Cathy.

Harry agreed; he trusted Cathy's judgment on this.

"It will take about one hour for the glasses to be finished up. Do you have your prescription ready?"

Damn, I knew I forgot something. "No, sorry, I don't have it."

"That's alright, I just need your current glasses, and I should be able to figure out your prescription."

Harry nodded his acquiescence and handed her his glasses. She took them to the back and ten minutes later, she gave them back. "Alright, the lenses are being fixed to the frame. Would you like to get your contacts now?"

"Yes please. I was wondering if you have any of those new colored contacts?"

Sandra and Cathy looked at him incredulously. "What?" said Harry uneasily.

"Why would you want to cover those beautiful green eyes? They already look like they have color contacts in them!"

Harry shifted. He actually wanted the contacts to better disguise himself, but he couldn't tell Cathy or Sandra that. "I just want to have a change."

Sandra shook her head in resignation and led them to a desk. After they all sat down she said, "We have a multitude of colors which include: black, blue, hazel, green (which, obviously, you don't need), gray, and violet. They cost a little more than normal contacts, about a five-pound increase.

Harry smiled slightly at the last color, it reminded him of Tonks. He turned towards Cathy and asked, "Which colors do you think are good?"

Cathy thought for a minute and said, "I think the violet sounds so cool! So does the black, not many British people have that particular color. I think it would go well with your hair."

Harry nodded and said to Sandra, "I'll take one black and one violet."

"Would you like them to be hard, or to be soft?"

"Err, what's the difference?" asked Harry.

"Soft contacts are the disposable ones, they last for 2-3 weeks before you throw them away. Hard contacts last for at least a year, but if you lose one, you have to buy a separate pair. With disposable, losing a contact isn't a big deal, so that's why most people buy soft contacts."

Harry considered the facts. He did want the soft contacts, so he didn't want to worry about losing one, but on the other hand, he couldn't come back to the store to replace them.

"I'll take them hard."

Sandra got up and went into the storeroom. She got the contacts and gave them to Harry. "Try them on here, I'll show you the proper way to put them in."

Harry nodded and started to open up the violet pair. "Wait! Before you touch the contacts, always remember to wash your hands. The bathroom is behind you on the right."

Harry got up and washed his hands. After he went back, Sandra told him the procedure. Wash your hands, clean the lens with the solution in the palm of his hand, etc. He turned towards Cathy and said, "Well? How is it?"

Cathy grinned and said, "I love it! It looks kind of freaky, but a good kind of freaky, you know?"

Harry didn't know, but nodded his head nonetheless. He took a look at himself and liked what he saw. Good god! I really do look different. Now I just have to change my hairstyle, and no one will recognize me!

He paid Sandra the required amount for the glasses and contacts (ninety pounds). Cathy was extremely jealous of the fact that Harry had a credit card.

They went to a clothing store next. Cathy's eyes were dancing with excitement. She expertly dragged Harry through columns of cloths; this was her domain. Harry felt overwhelmed, as soon as Cathy had entered the store, she had told him that dark cloths would look the best on him, and threw him into a fitting room. She had come back with an armful of jeans, t-shirts, and collared shirts. She also had a few dress shirts as well. "You never know when you'll need them." She said when Harry asked about the dress shirts.

"I'll be right back with a few long sleeved shirts. And some jackets. I know it's hot now, but it'll get cold soon. And they're on sale! Thirty percent off!"

Harry sighed; he had been trying on cloths for more than an hour. But, oh well, he knew that he couldn't have done it without Cathy's help. He knew how to defeat a Lethifold, but couldn't get his head around fashion. Ah, well, that's what I have Cathy for. He had only known her for a day, but he could already tell that she would be a great friend. He didn't have to worry about being liked for his fame, because she was a muggle. And, she hated Dudley's guts. That was a definite plus. He decided to do her a favor for all the stuff that she was doing for him.

When Cathy came back he said, "Hey Cathy, did you see anything you liked here?"

Cathy dumped the clothes into his arms and looked at him with a confused expression on her face. "Yeah, of course I did, why do you ask?"

Harry grinned and said, "I think that you should get some clothes for yourself."

Cathy stared at him and started to vehemently refuse. "Harry! I don't need anything! And your clothes alone will cost a fortune!"

"It's OK Cathy! I got a lot of money from inheritance! Seriously, choose whatever you want."

Cathy continued to stare at him. She muttered, "You must be really mad."

She suddenly jumped up and threw her arms around his neck. Just as fast, she let go of him, and rushed off to find new clothes.

He did a fashion show for Cathy, in which she had various reactions. She, in turn, showed him her clothes. They finally picked out a complete wardrobe for Harry, and a few pairs of clothes for Cathy. When they went to the cashier's desk, the man looked at them like they were crazy. "You think you got enough clothes there?"

Cathy and Harry looked at each other and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry Harry. I guess I got a little carried away. This is probably way to expensive."

Harry waved her apology away. "It's no problem Cathy. AsI told you, I just inherited a lot of money, and I need to spend it on something.

Cathy looked uncertain and said, "If you're sure…"

They gave the clothes to the man, and the total came out to be about six hundred pounds. Harry's eyes grew round, but he decided that it made sense, considering the amount of clothes that Cathy had picked up for him. He gave the cashier his credit card and the man said, "Could I see your ID please?"

Harry handed him his ID and waited him to finish. "Thank you for your purchase, sir. We hope that you'll come back soon."

Harry and Cathy thanked him and walked outside. "Hey Harry, do you think that we could go to this hair dying place? My highlights are faded, and I need to renew them."

Harry nodded and said, "Yeah, sure! I might even get some highlights myself."

Cathy looked at him and laughed. "You really are going all out aren't you? I can barely recognize you with your contacts, and now you want to highlight your hair?"

Harry smiled at her and said, "Yeah, I just really want a change."

Cathy smiled back and shook her head. They walked a little ways toward the hair place, called Completely Sublime.

They walked into the store and saw that it wasn't very busy. There was only one person manning the store, a man with long red hair.

The man looked at them and smiled. "Hello, my name is Henry, what can I do for you kids?"

"We'd like to get our hair highlighted." Said Cathy.

"Sure, who'd like to go first?" asked Henry.

"I would," said Cathy. "I would like to get thin red highlights."

As Cathy got her hair highlighted, Harry thought about what he wanted to get. He thought that red looked nice, but didn't want to get the same thing as Cathy. He wanted something to stand out. Something that clashed with what he normally wore, something that would fit his new personality. He smiled; he had the perfect color in mind. Shades of black…

Cathy jumped down from the chair and stood in front of Harry. "So? What do you think Harry? Look nice?"

He smiled and said, "It looks really good Cathy."

She grinned at him. "So what are you gonna get?

"I was thinking about getting white highlights. I think that it would look great amidst my black hair."

"Yeah! That's a great idea! I think it'll look great."

So Harry told Henry what he wanted, and got it done. After he was finished, he looked at himself in the mirror. I look totally different. Now, I know no one will be able to recognize me. This is great! Harry truly did look different. With his violet eyes, and white-streaked hair, he looked nothing like his father. His eyes darkened as he thought of James. He still hadn't gotten over that Pensieve incident, where he saw his father and Sirius picking on Snape. Cathy started to talk to him, snapping him out of his morbid thoughts.

"Hmm? Sorry, I completely zoned out there."

Cathy shook her head exasperatedly and said, "I just said that you look completely different. Not a bad different either! It looks good on you.

Harry smiled and thanked her. He went with Henry and tried to pay for both of them, but Cathy wouldn't have it this time. She got her own wallet out and gave Henry the required fifteen pounds. Harry paid him the same amount as well.

They walked outside and decided to go to an ice cream shop for a snack. Harry got chocolate, while Cathy got rainbow sherbert. They talked about Harry's new look, and about how fat and obnoxious Dudley is. They finished up their ice cream and went to the glasses store.

Sandra looked up as the bell chimed and smiled. "Hello again. Wow, when you say you want a change, you really want a change, don't you?"

Harry and Sandra grinned at her. "Are my glasses ready?" asked Harry.

"Yes, they are. Wait here for a moment, I'll go in the back and get them for you." Sandra went to the back and got a box. She came back and gave it to Harry. "Here you go. Why don't you take your contacts out, and put these on. I need to tell you how to remove the lenses anyway."

Harry agreed and Sandra showed him how to take his lenses off. He put the glasses on and looked at himself in the mirror. These frames were much better than the last ones!

Cathy grinned and said, "Those glasses are perfect for you Harry."

They thanked Sandra once again and left to go to the London Underground. They were finished with shopping…finally.

A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the late update. I hope the length of this chapter makes up for it though. Twice as long as the last one! Now I gotta go sleep, its 12 AM and I have a pre-calculus test tomorrow. Later.

On Dec. 2, 2004, I learned that two great fics, Harry Potter and the Power of Time by RossWrock, and A Year Like None Other by Aspen In The Sunlight, have been deleted. Those two are my favorite fics, and I beg of you, the reader, to send an e-mail to complaining of this atrocity. They were deleted under false claims of 'explicit content not suited for the PG-13 rating'

P.S. Did anyone get the movie line?

Comments welcome. Flames as well.

Next Up: Back To Hogwarts We Go