Harry had a restless stay at the inn his first night. Before he went to
bed, he gathered up all his wizard money from his trunk, relieved that he
had enough to pay Tom for a two-week stay, but was discouraged that there
would be very little left after that.
He went to bed with an eerie silence resonating in his head like a high- pitched ring. Rolling over onto his side, then to his back, and then flipping over his pillow, Harry felt too hot and too cold at the same time. He lingered in a half-awake state, unable to get comfortable.
His fitful sleep was interrupted by small noises echoing in the near-empty room. In Harry's mind, every creak of the old inn's wooden floorboards sounded like Uncle Vernon storming to Harry's bedroom, and every gurgle from the toilet in the next room turned into Dudley's loud burps and disgusting stomach noises.
Waking with a jolt to the noise of a slamming door, Harry sat up quickly and reached for his glasses. He relaxed a little, realizing it was probably just Tom getting ready for the day. Harry looked at the clock on the wall to his right. It was 5:00 in the morning. The sky was still dark outside the dusty window.
He yawned, feeling as though he hadn't fallen asleep at all during the night. He took off his glasses and fell lazily back down on his pillow.
With a harsh bump, Harry's head hit the headboard just above his pillow. He sat up again, both of his hands clasped on the top of his skull while he muttered a few choice words under his breath.
"Aren't you a bit young to be using such language?" the mirror coughed.
"Let's see what you say after an awful night's sleep" Harry spat, rubbing his head.
"Well, you might as well get up," said the mirror, ignoring Harry's foul mood, "no use extending the awful night even further."
Although Harry's sore body begged for sleep, he agreed with the mirror and reached for his glasses. Checking one last time to make sure the back of his head wasn't bleeding, Harry swung his legs over the side of the bed and got up. He got dressed and stuffed his pajamas into a small laundry bag. Harry sighed, staring at the pile of gold on top of his night table. He put his cupped left hand to the edge of the table, and swept the coins into it with his other hand.
Harry put the gold in his pocket and looked at the clock again. 5:30. He still had four and a half hours until Ron would be there, and since most of the Diagon Alley stores were either out of business or not opened for the day yet, Harry didn't know what to do with himself.
Eventually, after a couple of dull hours reading his Quidditch books and polishing his Firebolt, Harry made his way down the stairs and gave Tom the money for 2 weeks room and board. Tom's eyes lit up brighter than the galleons when Harry pulled them out of his pocket.
"So, you do have money!" said Tom, reaching for the gold. "Not to be rude, but I thought you might've been trying to have a free stay… I mean, who would stay here for two weeks when everything's closed?" Harry secretly and wholeheartedly agreed with Tom, but it wasn't like he had anywhere else to stay.
With empty pockets and drooping eyelids, Harry walked through The Leaky Cauldron's back door and opened up the brick wall.
Diagon Alley was a little bit more alive than it had been the previous night. Although the streets weren't crowded, it wasn't entirely desolate. A few shopkeepers who had just opened for the day were sweeping the steps outside their doors in a vain attempt to make the place look clean, a small group of young wizards were huddled around the Quidditch supply store.
Harry, curious to see if the young boys were pining over a new broomstick model, walked down the road toward them. As he got closer, he heard their disappointed voices.
"I'll bet it's just a remake," one of them sighed. "You can tell because it looks like the old Comet."
"What's a remake?" the smallest boy asked. He couldn't have been more than 5.
"They just took the old model, made it look better, and called it a different name," said another boy.
"Oh," said the small one, "well, even if it is, I just want to go in and look at it."
The whole handful of boys inaudibly agreed, and walked away. Harry, overcome with curiosity went to the window. A broomstick was on display, but he noticed that it, in fact, was a remake of the Comet series. Harry noticed that although the Quidditch store was open, nobody was milling around inside. He went to the door to get a better look at everything inside, but a large sign in blue print was hung at eye level. "No window shoppers. Buyers only."
Harry was discouraged to discover that most stores had the same sign or something similar to it on their doors. He used up his time just walking up and down the Alley, looking for someone he knew to talk to, but it was still too early for Hogwarts students to get their supplies. 'If they had enough money to even buy their supplies,' Harry thought.
Finally, 10:00 rolled around, and Harry went back to The Leaky Cauldron. Ron was already waiting for him at a table set for two.
"Harry!" Ron called and waved. For probably the first time that summer, Harry was genuinely happy. He smiled and sat down across from his best friend.
"Harry, I've been wanting to talk to you for ages but Pig got sick so I haven't been able to send you much."
"Oh," said Harry, who had noticed a definite decline in the amount of mail he'd received that summer. "What about Hermes?" Harry asked, thinking about the Weasley family's old owl, "is he sick too?"
Ron winced a little and looked down at his glass of water. "Well, he did get sick, but I reckon it was just too much for him. He died."
Harry frowned. Hermes, although old and frail, was always prepared for any delivery, no matter how far.
"Anyway," said Ron, "what are you doing at The Leaky Cauldron? How come you left home early?"
Harry, grateful that his bruised eye wasn't as noticeable as it had been the day before, said, "You've met the Dursleys, could you imagine staying there all summer?"
"No, I suppose not. But didn't Dumbledore tell you not to—"
"What about you?" Harry interrupted quickly. "How come you're staying at a muggle hotel?"
"Well, you've probably noticed the money problem in the wizarding world now that you're here," Ron said, "and there was a meeting for the entire ministry two days ago (my dad had to go) so the guy who runs the hotel, this nice old wizard, is letting my whole family stay there for free until school starts."
"Really? Wow!" Harry said, wishing he could stay somewhere for free. "Yeah, I just found out yesterday everything that's happened around here. I read the Daily Prophet, and they said that the ministry declared bankruptcy. Is it really true?"
Ron nodded, poking at his eggs with a fork. "Yeah, it's true."
Harry looked down at his untouched food. "Is your dad…" Harry hesitated as Ron shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Is your dad still working for them?"
Ron bit his upper lip, and then shook his head. He looked up and made eye contact with Harry. Ron's face was deathly serious and his voice cracked a little as he said, "Harry… we're totally broke. I don't know what we're going to do."
Harry pursed his lips uncomfortably with a total lack of encouraging words to help his desperate friend.
"If we don't get money soon, I'll…" Ron choked on his own words. "I'll have to quit going to Hogwarts and start working."
Harry's jaw dropped. "S-stop going to Hogwarts?!" Harry began to trip over his words too. "But… but you can't… what will… I mean… No! No you can't be serious!" Harry shook his head furiously, unable to believe it. "Ron, you can't! Tell me your joking!"
Just the look on Ron's face told Harry that he wasn't joking at all.
"Ron… you're joking…"
Ron slowly shook his head, and then buried his face in his hands.
He went to bed with an eerie silence resonating in his head like a high- pitched ring. Rolling over onto his side, then to his back, and then flipping over his pillow, Harry felt too hot and too cold at the same time. He lingered in a half-awake state, unable to get comfortable.
His fitful sleep was interrupted by small noises echoing in the near-empty room. In Harry's mind, every creak of the old inn's wooden floorboards sounded like Uncle Vernon storming to Harry's bedroom, and every gurgle from the toilet in the next room turned into Dudley's loud burps and disgusting stomach noises.
Waking with a jolt to the noise of a slamming door, Harry sat up quickly and reached for his glasses. He relaxed a little, realizing it was probably just Tom getting ready for the day. Harry looked at the clock on the wall to his right. It was 5:00 in the morning. The sky was still dark outside the dusty window.
He yawned, feeling as though he hadn't fallen asleep at all during the night. He took off his glasses and fell lazily back down on his pillow.
With a harsh bump, Harry's head hit the headboard just above his pillow. He sat up again, both of his hands clasped on the top of his skull while he muttered a few choice words under his breath.
"Aren't you a bit young to be using such language?" the mirror coughed.
"Let's see what you say after an awful night's sleep" Harry spat, rubbing his head.
"Well, you might as well get up," said the mirror, ignoring Harry's foul mood, "no use extending the awful night even further."
Although Harry's sore body begged for sleep, he agreed with the mirror and reached for his glasses. Checking one last time to make sure the back of his head wasn't bleeding, Harry swung his legs over the side of the bed and got up. He got dressed and stuffed his pajamas into a small laundry bag. Harry sighed, staring at the pile of gold on top of his night table. He put his cupped left hand to the edge of the table, and swept the coins into it with his other hand.
Harry put the gold in his pocket and looked at the clock again. 5:30. He still had four and a half hours until Ron would be there, and since most of the Diagon Alley stores were either out of business or not opened for the day yet, Harry didn't know what to do with himself.
Eventually, after a couple of dull hours reading his Quidditch books and polishing his Firebolt, Harry made his way down the stairs and gave Tom the money for 2 weeks room and board. Tom's eyes lit up brighter than the galleons when Harry pulled them out of his pocket.
"So, you do have money!" said Tom, reaching for the gold. "Not to be rude, but I thought you might've been trying to have a free stay… I mean, who would stay here for two weeks when everything's closed?" Harry secretly and wholeheartedly agreed with Tom, but it wasn't like he had anywhere else to stay.
With empty pockets and drooping eyelids, Harry walked through The Leaky Cauldron's back door and opened up the brick wall.
Diagon Alley was a little bit more alive than it had been the previous night. Although the streets weren't crowded, it wasn't entirely desolate. A few shopkeepers who had just opened for the day were sweeping the steps outside their doors in a vain attempt to make the place look clean, a small group of young wizards were huddled around the Quidditch supply store.
Harry, curious to see if the young boys were pining over a new broomstick model, walked down the road toward them. As he got closer, he heard their disappointed voices.
"I'll bet it's just a remake," one of them sighed. "You can tell because it looks like the old Comet."
"What's a remake?" the smallest boy asked. He couldn't have been more than 5.
"They just took the old model, made it look better, and called it a different name," said another boy.
"Oh," said the small one, "well, even if it is, I just want to go in and look at it."
The whole handful of boys inaudibly agreed, and walked away. Harry, overcome with curiosity went to the window. A broomstick was on display, but he noticed that it, in fact, was a remake of the Comet series. Harry noticed that although the Quidditch store was open, nobody was milling around inside. He went to the door to get a better look at everything inside, but a large sign in blue print was hung at eye level. "No window shoppers. Buyers only."
Harry was discouraged to discover that most stores had the same sign or something similar to it on their doors. He used up his time just walking up and down the Alley, looking for someone he knew to talk to, but it was still too early for Hogwarts students to get their supplies. 'If they had enough money to even buy their supplies,' Harry thought.
Finally, 10:00 rolled around, and Harry went back to The Leaky Cauldron. Ron was already waiting for him at a table set for two.
"Harry!" Ron called and waved. For probably the first time that summer, Harry was genuinely happy. He smiled and sat down across from his best friend.
"Harry, I've been wanting to talk to you for ages but Pig got sick so I haven't been able to send you much."
"Oh," said Harry, who had noticed a definite decline in the amount of mail he'd received that summer. "What about Hermes?" Harry asked, thinking about the Weasley family's old owl, "is he sick too?"
Ron winced a little and looked down at his glass of water. "Well, he did get sick, but I reckon it was just too much for him. He died."
Harry frowned. Hermes, although old and frail, was always prepared for any delivery, no matter how far.
"Anyway," said Ron, "what are you doing at The Leaky Cauldron? How come you left home early?"
Harry, grateful that his bruised eye wasn't as noticeable as it had been the day before, said, "You've met the Dursleys, could you imagine staying there all summer?"
"No, I suppose not. But didn't Dumbledore tell you not to—"
"What about you?" Harry interrupted quickly. "How come you're staying at a muggle hotel?"
"Well, you've probably noticed the money problem in the wizarding world now that you're here," Ron said, "and there was a meeting for the entire ministry two days ago (my dad had to go) so the guy who runs the hotel, this nice old wizard, is letting my whole family stay there for free until school starts."
"Really? Wow!" Harry said, wishing he could stay somewhere for free. "Yeah, I just found out yesterday everything that's happened around here. I read the Daily Prophet, and they said that the ministry declared bankruptcy. Is it really true?"
Ron nodded, poking at his eggs with a fork. "Yeah, it's true."
Harry looked down at his untouched food. "Is your dad…" Harry hesitated as Ron shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Is your dad still working for them?"
Ron bit his upper lip, and then shook his head. He looked up and made eye contact with Harry. Ron's face was deathly serious and his voice cracked a little as he said, "Harry… we're totally broke. I don't know what we're going to do."
Harry pursed his lips uncomfortably with a total lack of encouraging words to help his desperate friend.
"If we don't get money soon, I'll…" Ron choked on his own words. "I'll have to quit going to Hogwarts and start working."
Harry's jaw dropped. "S-stop going to Hogwarts?!" Harry began to trip over his words too. "But… but you can't… what will… I mean… No! No you can't be serious!" Harry shook his head furiously, unable to believe it. "Ron, you can't! Tell me your joking!"
Just the look on Ron's face told Harry that he wasn't joking at all.
"Ron… you're joking…"
Ron slowly shook his head, and then buried his face in his hands.