Harry's first purchase (after clearing him to stay at the Cauldron for a month) was a magically powered laptop which he promptly loaded the Digimon game. His second was the access code to the special wireless internet that worked along with the radios in Hogwarts.
No chance in hell was he suffering without his internet!
The next thing he got was some accessories for his team. At least he had a way to keep from being without a 'pet'. He had a Kudamon on his second team, who could serve as the pet until he got one he liked.
He walked around Diagon with what many assumed was an odd scarf.
He was about to make a cursory glance into the bookstore when he noticed a girl with a white cat on her shoulder.
Most of the people there paid it no mind, after all, it was clearly a magical cat.
Harry, on the other hand, immediately went to say hello.
Harry grinned when he snuck up behind them and said loud enough for the girl to hear "Gatomon Digivolve to Angewomon!"
The girl spun around, her bushy hair nearly hitting him in the face. She saw the Kudamon on his shoulder and put the clues together.
"Username?" she asked.
"Let's just say that if you frequent the Castle server a lot you would recognize it in a heartbeat. My team, however, is Gabumon, Renamon and Guilmon."
"Sorcermon, Gatomon here, and Armadillomon."
"AthenaApprentice?" he guessed. She looked like the bookish type.
"How did you know?"
"There is only one female avatar that has those three, and seeing that bracelet on Gatomon's tail, which is a limited edition item reserved only for those who bought the rare starter set when it first came out, only gave me the clue I needed."
"I am AthenaApprentice. And you are?"
"I suppose letting you know my secondary account is safe enough. I am WingMaster."
The girl's eyes doubled in size.
"But you're a boy!"
"My cousin was 'kind' enough to let me use his first account when he made a mistake and created a girl. After he quit playing I took over and changed the name first chance I got. I kept it mostly for trading purposes."
"But why do you have a Kudamon around your neck if you have Renamon and the others?"
"I don't have a pet yet, and he attracts less attention. Besides, I'm not about to bring my Marineangemon out if I don't need to have so much power," said Harry sensibly.
She blinked.
"Good point. Bringing a Mega level out is a bit..."
"Are you going to introduce me or not?" asked her mother. She had been amused that her daughter had found a friend so fast because of that odd cat she brought home one morning.
She could live with the fact it could talk because it never shed on the carpet or made messes and was so polite.
"Forgive me for being so rude. My name is Harry Potter and this is Scythe."
"Hermione Granger, and this is Sabriel."
"Hello," said the Gatomon.
"Greetings," said Kudamon.
"Where are your folks?" asked Mrs. Granger.
"Dead, and my uncle would take it poorly if I showed up before the end of the school year. He's only putting up with this whole magic nonsense as long as he doesn't have to see it himself."
"So where are you staying then?"
"At the Cauldron. So long as I make it to the train, the teacher escorting me could care less if I stayed here."
"Now that won't do at all! You are coming to stay with us until the train," said Mrs. Granger upset. Leaving an eleven-year-old to fend for himself for a month!
"Yes ma'am," said Harry meekly.
Harry was glad to make a friend, even one as bookish as Hermione was. Because her parents knew about Digimon already (Hermione hadn't hesitated to introduce hers to her family) he was able to bring out Renamon and the others. Kudamon stayed around his neck, because this was actually the most interaction he had ever had with Harry.
Harry actually enjoyed staying with them, even if he did have to suffer Hermione's freak out when she found out what his actual username by accident.
"You're Child_Of_Loki?!" she nearly shrieked.
"Like I said, I changed the username as soon as I had the chance. But yes, I am the infamous Loki," said Harry calmly.
He was famous as the Digimon Champion in the PVP Arenas. His 'house' was one of the best in the server, and it had been featured numerous times on the forums.
If he could, he would live in the Digital World and vacation in the real one.
As for his username...well, Loki was the master of Lie and Deceit in Norse mythology, and considering his arrangement with Vernon, it suit him perfectly.
Considering his other nickname was the Prince of Lies and Silvertongue, it fit him a little too well.
"I don't believe it...Loki himself is in my house!" said Hermione in absolute glee. She was a fan of his, because he never used the Mega forms of his team in the Arena battles unless the challenger requested his best.
"Do you have a Digivice?" asked Harry.
She held up something that was bronze, gold, red and blue. It was mostly bronze and blue though. Unlike Harry, she hadn't bought a D-Tector from the stores in the Digital World.
The D-Tector worked like a small computer, only it had a few basic programs and that was it. It wouldn't let him on the Digimon servers, or allow him to battle in the arena. In fact, it was of little use in the game, which was why most Tamers didn't bother with it.
But Harry had gotten it for one reason: reliable communication. It was perfect for storing Digieggs safely and communicating with anyone that you happened to be friends with. It also had a Digimon detector, but it wasn't as good as the actual Digivice. The map wasn't that great either.
"Is that an actual D-Tector? I thought those things were antiques!" said Hermione incredulous.
"They also look remarkably like a low-level cell phone to the untrained eye. I got it for the texting capabilities mostly. Never got to use it though."
"I guess. I never bothered with it much, because I don't have any friends either on or off the site," admitted Hermione. It had come with the same pack she had bought to get Gatomon, but she had never taken it out of storage.
"Well to tell the truth, I don't have and friends offline either. How about we change that and put each other on our friend's list?" suggested Harry.
The look in Hermione's eyes at that suggestion made him glad he ran into her in the alley.
Hermione was surprised when she saw Harry in his outfit.
"What is that?"
"My regular outfit. Now that I don't have to worry about my family, we can finally go after that gate guardian so I don't have to worry about laundry," said Harry with a grin.
"What do you mean?"
"You didn't know? Your clothes are automatically replaced and returned to the best state once you go through the gates. According to Rena, if we defeat a special Guardian then we can take all our gear with us, including clothes."
"Really?"
"That's what I was told," said Harry with a shrug. He held out an arm to Hermione.
"Well my lady, shall we go battling together?"
Hermione giggled as she took his arm. It was nice to have a friend with her here.
As they walked into an arena, Hermione enjoyed the looks the other avatars shot her.
Her chat window was going nuts with rumors now.
"Are you really so popular?" she said in surprise.
"I'm the strongest at the arena, and the few times I took others with me into a dungeon, I usually take some gear and leave the fancier ones for my team."
"Function over form?" she guessed.
"Better believe it. The clothes I get are really neat and fit me, but the gear for my team has to not only work, but add to their stats enough that I'll keep it.
"Gatomon's tail ring came with the pack," she admitted.
"That's one of the few gears that come with pack that I would keep. You know how hard it is to find a Gatomon Tail Ring that isn't for show?"
Hermione giggled again. The infamous Loki was rather nice and funny. Not to mention the only person willing to associate with her without being forced.
"What do you say we go dungeon hopping later, so you can get some good gear?"
"Definitely! I can never make it past the third floor on those," she said.
"I'll grab a few dungeon buddies then!"
Harry didn't have friends in the normal sense. He had dungeon buddies, people who knew they could trust him to help out when things got rough in the dungeons. About the only communicating they did was coordination.
"Remember, my mother wants us back in time for dinner."
"That's what the alarm in the D-Tector is for."
What Harry hadn't told Hermione was that because the D-Tector was considered relatively low-tech, it would work around magic. All the other models had glitches that were near impossible to get rid of.
An hour later they were dungeon crawling, adding to the data that would give them new digimon later. The more they beat, the higher the data collected in their digivices. The Higher the level, the lower the collection rate. Hermione was very happy that she finally had a Datamon in her collection.
Once they left the Digital World (Hermione's mother allowed it, but only in short intervals, unlike Harry who was allowed to stay out of sight for two days at a time on weekends) they got washed and ate dinner. Harry could honestly say he liked spending time with the Grangers. He didn't have to hide his intelligence, or cover for his stupid cousin who didn't seem to get the fact that Harry was only doing it for himself.
He fully planned to see how Dudley reacted when he reached his majority and Harry couldn't cover for him anymore. The look on his face when he realized his 'freak' cousin had taken the blame in order to be left alone would be priceless.
"You have everything?" asked Mrs. Granger. Harry had woken up early and fixed his trunk so they could get there earlier. Hermione hadn't been far behind him. It took them five minutes to find the platform, mostly because the Digimon had an odd ability to see through magical illusions. An unexpected benefit for playing pet to their tamers.
(They actually HAD pets in the game. Hermione had Calumon while Harry had MarineAngemon.)
"Remember Harry, you can always visit us on Christmas with Hermione. You're the first real friend she's had in ages," said her mother.
"Mom!" said Hermione embarrassed.
"I'll take care of her ma'am," said Harry.
She glared at him.
"Let's head to the platform," sniffed Hermione.
"What was the number again?" said Mrs. Granger.
"Nine and three-quarters. Ridiculous if you ask me," said Harry.
"I think this is it," said Hermione.
She pushed into a pillar and it gave way. Her mother tried the same thing, but nothing happened.
"So that's how they hide it. A genetic lock for anyone who doesn't have the specific genome to use a wand... Fascinating."
"Yeah, fascinating," said Hermione. She wasn't really that interested.
"We'll see you soon, I hope Mrs. Granger."
"Have a fun school year kids!"
Gatomon and Kudamon were sound asleep when the other children started to come on the train. Because Harry had locked it almost immediately, none of the older years could kick them out of the compartment. Jamming it with a screw also helped, because they couldn't open it.
"Why did you have to jam it?"
"Because I happen to like this spot, and because of my apparent fame in this world I would enjoy some peace to read."
Hermione thought back to how careless children interrupted her reading time and nodded. Harry was about to go back to his book when he saw a downcast kid. He looked so lost that Harry opened the door and let him in.
"You can come sit with us. Just let me jam the door again," said Harry gently.
"I-I-I'm Neville..."
"Harry Potter. This is Hermione Granger," said Harry.
"H-H-Hello."
"Hey, what about us?!" said Gatomon.
"Sorry. This is Sabriel and Scythe. Don't mind them, they only woke up to see why I unlocked the door," grinned Harry.
"What are they?" asked Neville.
"We're Digimon, Digital Monsters!" said Gatomon.
"What are Digimon?"
"Hermione, my laptop please," said Harry grinning.
It was time to convert another to the cause. She rolled her eyes when she caught the look in his eye, having realized how obsessed he was over Digimon during the dungeon crawl. She put up with it because he was the only friend she'd made in years.
In less than an hour, Neville had become addicted to Digimon Online. He was now called MandrakeKing.
His team consisted entirely of Plant type Digimon like Lalamon and Palmon.
"Welcome to the fold Neville. Here, I'll give you my usernames so we can talk online," said Harry.
Neville's smile nearly lit up the compartment.
"But enough about that! Time to celebrate with sugar!"
"Oh no you don't Potter! You know what my parents do for a living!" said Hermione. Right up until Harry held up Hermione's secret addiction...blue raspberry candy.
"Gimme!" she squealed in delight.
Harry leans towards Neville conspiratorially "Hermione can't resist blue raspberry. Sabriel told me it's one of the few things other than a really rare book to stay on her good side."
Neville nodded in agreement. Harry unjammed the door (which took a moment because several people had tried to get in since he allowed Neville to join them) in time for the witch who sold magical candy to arrive.
"Anything off the trolly dears?"
"What would you recommend Nev?"
"Frogs, avoid the Every Flavored Beans and possibly some sugar quills," said Neville after a moment's thought.
"Load us up Ma'am," said Harry. Neville was surprised that Harry took his suggestions and even paid for the treats. Harry didn't bother to jam the door this time.
It took Neville exactly ten seconds to realize his pet toad Trevor was missing.
Harry looked at Hermione.
"Who does it say in Hogwarts: A History polices the students on the train?" asked Harry.
"Prefects. They have a car up front," she said, before going back to her sucker.
"Right. Hermione, you guard the compartment and if anyone bothers you have Sabriel scare them off. Scythe, you're with me," said Harry.
"Roger," said Kudamon.
Five minutes later they returned, with toad in hand. One of the red and gold prefects had summoned the errant amphibian for them, which meant they didn't have to go searching.
The boys briefly left the compartment long enough for Hermione to get changed before they got into their new clothes as well.
All too soon the train began to slow down into the station...
For those of you wondering why Draco didn't make an appearance, it was because of the jammed door. He got angry that he couldn't get in that he simply left, not realizing that the same person he was looking for was on the other side. And the Waddiwasi spell only clears out gum, not a piece of metal in the door track.