Chapter Forty-Seven

Once the boys had finally settled down (and Sirius' and Remus' hair changed back. Sirius wouldn't leave the house otherwise) they got ready for the day.

Harry bounced excitedly on his toes, "are we going yet?" he asked.

Remus ruffled his hair, "not yet. Augusta and Neville are leaving first, then we'll Portkey into the Leaky Cauldron, then head through the Alley to Gringotts for our appointment with Sharpclaw, then we'll all meet up in the Alley."

Sirius grinned, "got your statements?"

Harry nodded, holding up a sheaf of parchment.

"Good," said Remus, "now remember, there are no disguises today."

Harry made a face, "I know, I know, EVERYBODY will be staring at me."

Sirius nodded, "you are not to move away from us."

Harry made a horrible face, "I know. I won't, I promise."

"Good," said Sirius, "we'll try to keep people from crowding you. Just don't let go of either my hand or Remus'"

Harry nodded, "and if we get separated, go to Gran or Nana or Aunt B, I promise."

"Then let's get going," said Remus, "hands on the portkey everyone!"

They all grabbed hold of the rope that was the portkey. A few seconds later the rope glowed blue and they were gone.

….

When the disorientation from the portkey subsided, Harry looked around to find himself in a small, somewhat dingy looking pub. He linked hands with Sirius and Remus before they headed toward the back. An old man waved at Sirius from behind the bar.

Sirius waved back, "hi Tom!"

Tom smiled, "how are you doing?"

"All right, how are you?" Sirius replied.

Tom was just about to reply when he spied the boy holding on to Sirius' hand, "is this young Harry?"

Remus squeezed Harry's hand, "yes. Just heading to get his supplies."

Tom smiled, "all right then. Good luck at Hogwarts young man."

Harry nodded, "thank you Mr. Tom."

Tom smiled again and turned back to wiping down the bar. Remus and Sirius each squeezed Harry's hands, then turned back towards the exit. Once they noticed the people around them, they paused.

Everything had stopped.

People had stopped in the middle of whatever they had been doing and were staring avidly at Harry

They crowded around, each wanting to talk to Harry, to shake his hand. Harry backed nervously into Sirius and Remus, he hated crowds.

"All right, all right," said Sirius, "enough!"

The people continued to crowd around. In the confusion, Harry was separated from Remus and Sirius. He gave a sharp, nervous yelp as the crowd moved him away from his family.

There was a sharp, loud bang that made everyone stop and turn toward the noise.

Tom was standing there, a towel on his shoulder, wand in his hand, and the fiercest expression anyone had ever seen on his face.

"Enough!" he shouted into the silence, "'e's a kid, not a toy to be pulled about! If anyone doesn't it, they can clear out! I'd rather lose customers by the bucketful than watch a kid get the crap scared out of 'im by a bunch of idiots!"

Sirius, who had once again grabbed Harry's hand, nodded at Tom, "well said! And thanks!"

Harry smiled at Tom as they moved to the Alley's entrance.

Once they were in the Alley they headed straight for Gringotts. Harry noticed, much to his annoyance, that people everywhere were stopping to stare at him.

Remus patted his shoulder, "it's alright Harry. That's why we warned you."

Harry shuddered lightly, "that crowd was insane."

Sirius nodded, "that was a bit much."

Harry gave him a look, "a bit? I thought they were going to tear me apart with the way they were pulling at me. Like everyone wanted a piece of me."

Remus nodded and squeezed his shoulder, "it'll better, Cub. This is only your first 'official' visit to the magical world."

Harry sighed, "I hope so."

….

Sharpclaw smiled as the family left his office. He'd gone over the statements with Harry, and he was learning very well. He'd even given Sharpclaw a new investment idea, telling of how one of his friends loved computers and how they were becoming more common in the Muggle world. When they had discussed investments, Harry had asked about the possibility of investing in computer companies.

Sharpclaw grinned, working with young Lord Potter would be very interesting. Very profitable, but very interesting.

…..

Once they were back in the Alley, the staring continued, much to Harry's annoyance. By the time the family made it to Fortescue's, Harry became so annoyed that he started making horrible faces at anyone he caught staring at his scar. This produced mixed reactions. Some people laughed at the funny faces, while some frowned at him.

"At least they all stop staring," said Harry.

They arrived at the outside tables of the ice cream parlor, there they found Augusta and Neville.

"Augusta!" greeted Sirius as if they hadn't seen each other in ages, "and this must be Neville. How are you?"

Augusta smiled, "hello Sirius. Yes this is my grandson Neville."

Neville waved shyly from the seat next to his grandmother, "hi."

Sirius smiled at him, "hello Neville. This is my godson Harry."

Harry smiled at Neville, "hi."

"We were just starting Harry's school shopping," said Remus.

Augusta grinned, "that was our plan also. Care to join us?"

Sirius grinned back, "we'd love to."

They all say at the table and enjoyed their ice cream, then headed for the shops.

They want to the trunk store, where Neville got a standard trunk, (Harry had already decided to use 'home' as his school trunk) then to Madam Makin's and the Apothecary. It wasn't until they got to Flourish and Blotts that they stayed for longer than a few minutes. With a pat to Harry's shoulder, Sirius said, "go nuts."

Remus smiled, "we'll get your schoolbooks."

Harry grinned, "thanks!"

Harry darted into the shelves, with Neville close behind. He ignored the stacks of school texts and instead grabbed a selection of books on all subjects, particularly Herbology and Potions. There were also books on Defense and History. He was going through the books in this section, adding a few more books to his already towering pile, when he felt a large jolt and hit the floor. Books scattered everywhere.

"ow!" said Harry, at the same time, he heard an unfamiliar voice next to him also say "ow!"

He looked around, there on the floor beside him was a girl. She had bushy brown hair and slightly overlarge front teeth. A pile of books equal to Harry's was scattered around her, mixing with Harry's own.

"I'm sorry!" both said at once.

Harry got up, smiled, and offered her a hand up, "hi, I'm Harry."

She took his hand and stood up, "I'm Hermione Granger. Are you a first year too?"

Harry started to pick up the books, "yeah, I was picking up some extra reading."

Hermione smiled, "same here! I love books!"

"Me too! I love to read." Harry said.

Harry introduced Neville, and the three chatted happily as they gathered and organized the widely spread pile.

Minerva introduced Drs Dan and Emma Granger to the group, Emma and Remus were soon deep in conversation about magical and Muggle medicine.

The now enlarged group finished the rest of the children's shopping together, chatting and getting to know each other. By the time they reached the Magical Menagerie the three first years were on the way to being friends.