Mrs. Weasley woke them all early the next morning to head out to Diagon Alley. Brooklyn wondered how this family goes to that place, for the only entrance he knew was through the secret doorway in the Leaky Cauldron.

He would get his question answered as they all moved near the fireplace, and he raised his brow as Mrs. Weasley pulled out a flowerpot that seemed to have a strange type of powder in it.

The gargoyle leaned in near Harry. "Any ideas on what's happening?" He murmured out of earshot of the others.

Harry shrugged. "No clue, bro!"

"We're running low, Arthur. Ah, well. Guests first. Come on, Harry! Brooklyn, you will be next!" Mrs. Weasley said, offering the two of them the flowerpot.

Brooklyn just stood there, still clueless. And Harry looked the same.

"Uh, what are we doing?" He asked, feeling rather awkward about all this. Ron suddenly spoke up.

"Harry and Brooklyn have never traveled by Floo Powder before, Mum!"

Brooklyn blinked a few times, intrigued. Floo Powder?

"Well, then, why don't you go first Ron? Give them the idea of how to do it," She offered. Ron stepped forward, taking a handful of powder, and stepping into the fireplace.

He dropped the powder in, and instantly bright green flames erupted, making Brooklyn squint from the brightness. Now this was something that should be interesting!

"Diagon Alley!" Ron called, and he immediately disappeared, the green flames gone in a flash.

His mouth fell open in amazement. First brooms, then cars, and now fireplaces! What else do these magic humans travel by?

She smiled at them reassuringly. "You see? It's not too hard. Now who wants to go first?"

Harry moved forward, but Brooklyn stepped up, putting on a brave face. "I'll do it," he volunteered. Mrs. Weasley smiled. "That's the spirit! Just take your powder and move into the fireplace, speak very clearly and keep your arms and wings to your sides, so that you should come out of the Flourish and Blotts fireplace!"

Feeling weird, Brooklyn stepped into the fireplace, taking the powder. He looked back at them all, butterflies in his stomach. What if I come out of the wrong fireplace?

He took a breath and threw the powder into the fireplace, the green flames shooting up. He flinched, but it didn't burn his skin, rather feeling like a warm fan.

Shutting his eyes, Brooklyn spoke, trying not to inhale so much ash. "Diagon Alley!"

He felt a strange suction in the floor, feeling like he was being pulled down a drainpipe. Opening his eyes, he saw fireplaces blur past his vision, and he tried to catch glimpses of the rooms beyond, but all it did was make Brooklyn feel very nauseous and he shut his eyes again, trying his best to keep his wings folded as they kept hitting something hard.

When he felt like he was gonna throw up, wishing it for it to stop, he slid out of the fireplace onto the floor into a heap, coughing up ash as he struggled to stand, leaning against a pile of books, seeing Ron standing there smirking playfully at him.

"Hi! Nice to see you haven't come out the wrong end!" He joked. Brooklyn just glared, still coughing.

"Just shut it!" He huffed, now declaring fireplace travel to be the worst thing ever.

The rest of the Weasleys joined them a few minutes later, covered in ash like Brooklyn and Ron, but much better situated to this than Brooklyn was.

"Well done on your first Floo Powder travel!" Mrs. Weasley praised, hugging a still sore Brooklyn, who grimaced from his bruises.

"Yeah, just don't expect me to do it so often," he muttered, putting on a pretend smile.

But then he noticed that Harry wasn't here yet, people starting to come into the store.

"Where's Harry?" The gargoyle asked, worry and confusion in his voice, instantly forgetting the pain he was in. His device had suddenly started to flash, too.

She turned around, and her eyes grew wide with terror.

"Oh, Arthur! If he came out the wrong fireplace—!" She wailed. Mr. Weasley patted her back reassuringly.

Brooklyn then knew he had to find his brother, now or never.

"Listen, I'm going to look for Harry. I will find him, you have my word!" He proclaimed in determination. Mrs. Weasley had tears in her eyes as she nodded, looking up at him with respect.

He then strode out, the Weasley children wishing him luck as Brooklyn made his way through the streets, scanning around for any signs of Harry.

Where are you? The red gargoyle thought, sniffing the air as well in hopes of picking up Harry's scent, but nothing so far.

Tracking Harry led him all the way to the end of Diagon Alley, where his device flashed even more. Looking down at it, he then glanced up at a strange sign that read: Knockturn Alley.

Brooklyn tensed, looking down where the sign was, seeing it looking as though all things colorful from Diagon Alley, leaving the entrance in shadow and darkness.

He couldn't help but shudder, and he groaned as his device flashed even more when he moved closer.

Ugh, don't tell me he ended up there! Brooklyn realized in dread, readying himself for venturing in and drawing his wand, if anybody decided to attack him or Harry whenever he found him.

Just as he was about to step in, he heard familiar heavy footfalls, two shapes emerging from the shadows.

Brooklyn's eyes widened in surprise and relief, seeing his brother with Hagrid, covered in ash but alive!

"Harry!" He cried, rushing forward and embracing him. Harry hugged him back tightly.

Hagrid smiled at their reunion.

"Thank you, Hagrid," Brooklyn said, feeling relieved now that Harry was out of danger. "I hoped he wouldn't get far. But what were you doing down there? That place looked suspicious to me."

Hagrid looked a bit nervous, but he pulled out a can of strange liquid.

"Jus' buyin' a can o' Flesh Eatin' Slug Repellent. They've been ruinin' the school cabbages."

Brooklyn then nodded. "Everybody's been worried for you, Harry. They'll be happy to see you!" Harry smiled again.

The three of them continued on to find the Weasleys when another familiar face came along, Hermione Granger. Her hair bouncing as she grinned at the sight of them.

"Harry! Hagrid! Brooklyn!" She cried, hugging the bond brothers tightly.

"What happened to your glasses? Oh, it's so good to see you three again!"

Brooklyn smiled at her. "As we are too, Hermione! We traveled here by Floo Powder with the Weasleys, but Harry got lost and I had to find him."

She nodded in understanding. "Are you two coming into Gringotts?" She asked.

"Yeah, as soon as Brooklyn and Hagrid bring me back to the Weasleys," Harry answered. But then Brooklyn spotted the red head family coming, and he grinned.

"We don't have long to wait!" He exclaimed, seeing Fred, George, Percy, Ron, and Mr. Weasley, who looked pretty relieved to see them.

"Brooklyn! You found him! Molly's been so frantic for you both! She's coming now—."

Ron spoke up. "Where did he come out?" He asked Brooklyn in an excited voice. Brooklyn narrowed his eyes. "Knockturn Alley," he answered.

"Excellent!" The twins exclaimed at the same time.

The red gargoyle folded his arms, wondering why they approved. Hagrid told him about Knockturn Alley, housing dark magical artifacts and hiding pretty suspicious people in there. It sounded as bad as the Restricted Section at Hogwarts.

"We've never been allowed in!" Ron commented enviously.

Brooklyn saw Hagrid glare. "I shoul' ruddy think not!" He growled.

"Yeah, Ron. I was prepared to fight anybody who hurt my brother in there," He added. At least I didn't have to.

Mrs. Weasley came in at that moment with Ginny holding onto her hand, her eyes full of tears as she gave Harry a hug and tried to clean him off.

Just seeing this made Brooklyn feel just a little sad, missing his parents again. His mother used to make a big fuss over him whenever he went off on his own wanderings, trying to find excitement.

"Guess who I saw at Borgin and Burke's?" Harry asked, snapping Brooklyn out of his reminiscing.

"Who?" He demanded.

"Draco Malfoy and his father," Harry responded, making Brooklyn growl softly. How he hated the Malfoys. They've been nothing but trouble in his eyes ever since he met Draco.

"Did Lucius Malfoy buy anything?" Mr. Weasley asked in a sharp voice.

Harry shook his head. "No, he was selling—."

"So, he's worried. Oh, how I want to get old Lucius for something…" Mr. Weasley said in grim satisfaction. Brooklyn felt somewhat worried about how Mr. Weasley talked about this, hoping now they wouldn't run into Malfoy's father anytime soon.


They all eventually went to Gringotts after saying goodbye to Hagrid and got their savings to spend on school supplies. Hermione's Muggle parents were there, too, looking nervous of Brooklyn but Hermione assured them that he was friendly, and he shook hands with them, happy he got to meet Hermione's parents. Mr. Weasley was quite over excited about them being Muggles, much to Brooklyn's amusement.

Brooklyn tagged along with his friends as they did their school shopping for the rest of the day, happy to be together again.

An hour later, the foursome made their way back to Flourish and Blotts, a big billboard near the entrance with a large crowd trying to get in.

Brooklyn saw why as he read the billboard:

GILDEROY LOCKHART

will be signing copies of his autobiography

MAGICAL ME

Today 12:30 pm to 4:30 pm

Brooklyn mentally groaned. Oh great, just when I thought this day couldn't get any worse after Floo Powder, he thought, now wondering how full of himself this Lockhart seemed to be.

Hermione squealed.

"We can actually meet him!" She cried. "He's written almost the whole booklist!" She grabbed Harry and Brooklyn and pulled them towards the entrance.

"Do we really have to?" Brooklyn complained, wishing now more than ever to escape and get back to the Burrow. It was too late as they were now inside, crowded with witches around Mrs. Weasley's age holding their own books and jostling to the front, the bookstore manager trying to keep order.

They joined the Weasleys and the Grangers in the middle of the crowd, Brooklyn now hoping that this famous wizard won't be such a prat in fame.

"Oh, good! You're here! We should see him at any moment…" Mrs. Weasley gasped, seeing them there as she kept patting her hair. The red gargoyle grimaced, seeing that Mrs. Weasley must have a crush on this guy.

He came into view right there, seated at a table with giant photographs of himself next to him.

Brooklyn studied Gilderoy Lockhart, convinced that this was the most ridiculously styled human he had seen so far, wearing robes of forget me not blue and had blonde wavy hair topped with a pointed wizard's hat.

He suddenly felt pain on his tail as somebody stepped on it, yelping out as he pulled his tail in, glaring after the short photographer who didn't even apologize for stepping on his tail.

"Coming through! This is for the Daily Prophet! Growled the photographer. Ron glared at him, too.

"Big deal," he grumbled. "You okay, Brook?" Brooklyn nodded, now seeing that his tail had no damage.

The camera flashed two pictures of Lockhart before he seemed to heard Ron. He looked over to see Brooklyn, and Harry. He did a double take of excitement at the sight of them.

"It can't be Harry Potter and his Gargoyle guardian!" He cried out in excitement. Brooklyn's face flushed red, feeling all the eyes staring at the both of them as he tried to pull himself and Harry out of there, but too late as the photographer dragged them both to the front, right next to Lockhart.

This was probably the most embarrassing moment for Brooklyn ever as Lockhart had photos of both of them, declaring them for the front page of the Daily Prophet.

"Ladies and gentlemen, what an extraordinary moment this is! When young Harry stepped into Flourish and Blotts to purchase my autobiography, I was nothing but flattered!" He proclaimed. Brooklyn growled, though not loud enough to scare away the crowd. He didn't even want to stand next to you, doofus!

Lockhart continued. "That's why I present him my entire works free of charge, and a special announcement: I shall be teaching at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for the role of Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor! It will be such a honor to work alongside another who defends the innocent victims of the Dark Arts: Brooklyn! The new Guardian Gargoyle of Hogwarts!"

Lockhart put his arm around Brooklyn's shoulder, who tried his best to avoid everybody's eyes on him, face heating up. This guy was monologuing them in all the wrong ways! He had only just started his new position, and nobody needed to proclaim him as the ultimate hero when he hadn't done anything big yet!

He finally let them go after handing Harry the entire works of Lockhart. He staggered under their weight and Brooklyn helped him, glaring back at Lockhart who didn't seem to notice him mad.

Harry gave his books to Ginny, looking quite as red as he did. Brooklyn himself just wanted to hide until Lockhart and the crowd was gone.

The Weasley kids snickered at him and Brooklyn gave them a death glare. "Stop laughing, it was embarrassing," he hissed in frustration.

Then a familiar snide voice spoke. "Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?"

Oh no, Brooklyn thought, recognizing that voice, he turned to find himself face to face with their rival, Draco Malfoy, eyeing them with cold contempt.

"Famous Harry Potter, can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page!"

Growling, Brooklyn was about to speak, but he was surprised when Ginny did.

"Leave him alone! He didn't want all that!" Ginny snapped. The gargoyle smiled proudly at her for her bravery. He figured he somehow sparked something inside her from their talks.

"Aw, look, Potter! You got yourself a girlfriend," Sneered Malfoy, making Ginny blush red and she stood back. Brooklyn had enough.

"You're really being a painful brat, Malfoy!" He snarled, hands balling into fists, along with Hermione and Ron standing next to him and Harry and glaring, too.

Malfoy gave Brooklyn a mocking smile. "You don't want to attack me here, Monster Freak. You know what will happen!"

Brooklyn's eyes flashed white in anger, right as Mr. Weasley arrived.

"Children! What are you doing here! It's too crowded, let's go outside!"

"Well, well, well. Arthur Weasley."

Brooklyn immediately knew who it was, Draco's father. He eyed the man who had the same cold pale face and white blonde hair as his son.

Mr. Weasley nodded coldly to him. "Lucius."

Lucius then spotted Brooklyn, and his face put on a cold smile. Brooklyn just stood there, holding onto Harry's hand protectively.

"I had yet to make your acquaintance, Brooklyn, is that right?" He asked. Brooklyn nodded, still glaring.

"Such an honor, but I do hope that you aren't evicted from your precious position as Potter's caretaker anytime soon! It would be quite a shame if something bad happened to you."

Brooklyn growled even more. "Is that a threat, Mr. Malfoy?" He demanded, eyes glowing.

Lucius shook his head. "No, gargoyle, merely a concern. Just keep your eyes out this year."

Then Lucius picked up Ginny's second hand transfiguration book among all the glossy Lockhart ones, looking it over, his nose turned up in disgust.

"Obviously not. Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard, if they don't even pay you well for it?"

Mr. Weasley's face turned redder than Ginny's or Brooklyn's.

"We have a very different idea about what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy."

Not good, Brooklyn thought, his worry mounting as Malfoy continued.

"Clearly, the company you keep, Weasley. Muggles and Monsters. And I thought that your family could sink no lower—."

Brooklyn was startled, eyes wide as Mr. Weasley suddenly attacked Lucius, sending Ginny's cauldron flying, the two men falling into a bookshelf, knocking all the books off.

You're a Gargoyle, do something! His mind screamed above the yelling of Fred, Mrs. Weasley, and the bookstore manager.

He ran in, trying to pull Mr. Weasley away from Lucius. "Stop this at once!" He bellowed.

"Break it up, gents! Break it up!" Brooklyn was relieved as Hagrid came in to help. Brooklyn pulled Mr. Weasley away while Hagrid grabbed Lucius by his arm, dropping him to the floor.

Lucius stood up, looking a mess as he thrust Ginny's book at her, eyes glinting maliciously.

"Here, girl, take your book! If it's the best your father—" Snarling, Brooklyn grabbed Lucius by the collar of his robes, lifting him up and surprising everybody with his strength. He couldn't stand this slime of a man anymore!

"If you can't give respect to others, then keep your mouth shut and get out!" He roared, Lucius's face filled with sudden terror of him.

Brooklyn threw Lucius to the ground. He picked himself up, still looking scared, but glaring as well.

"Come, Draco." He huffed, glancing once more back at Brooklyn as he left, dragging his son with him who gave Brooklyn his own death glare and they both strode out of the shop.

"Brooklyn, that was awesome!" Harry complimented. He ducked his head a little.

"It was nothing, really."

"Bro, it was something alright!" Fred exclaimed, slapping Brooklyn on the back. "I had yet to see you in action and-and there are no words!"

Brooklyn ended up smiling. Even he had to admit that he was pretty awesome.

Hagrid was helping Mr. Weasley to his feet. "Yeh shoul' have ignored him, Arthur," he grumbled. "Rotten to the core, that whole family. Let's jus' get out o here."

As they all left, Brooklyn spotted something on the ground near Ginny's books as he helped her gather them, a small black book.

He picked it up, looking it over. It looked 50 years old, and yet still in good condition. Brooklyn turned to Ginny. "Hey, is this yours? I found it near your books," the gargoyle asked, showing it to Ginny, who looked confused.

"No, I don't recall buying that. Maybe it belongs here?"

Brooklyn shook his head. "I don't think so, there's no price tag." Suddenly he spotted a name on the cover:

Tom Marvolo Riddle

Hmm, curious, He wondered, staring at the name. Who was this Tom Riddle?

Brooklyn decided he would study it later at Hogwarts as he tucked the book under his arm and left with the Weasleys.

"A fine example to set for the children! Brawling in public! What Gilderoy Lockhart must have thought?" Mrs. Weasley snapped, as they walked over to the Leaky Cauldron.

"He was pleased," Fred said. Brooklyn rolled his eyes again. Of course he was. He just couldn't believe that he was gonna have to be seeing that stupid man's grin and put up with his obnoxious fame all year!

Oh well, maybe this book I found would be more interesting than that doofus of a human, Brooklyn decided, eyes drifting to the strange book he carried. He had no idea how right he was going to be.

They got ready to use Floo powder in the Leaky Cauldron to head back to the Burrow. Brooklyn's stomach churned as he took his share, tucked in his wings, and gripped his new book tight to himself so he wouldn't drop it.

Floo Powder definitely wasn't his favorite way to travel, that's for sure!