Turnstile Jumper 4
Previous chapters YSEMF021, YSEMF028, YSEMF035
Harry spread his arms and waited patiently for the woman to finish measuring him.
"First time going to Hogwarts?" a young red haired girl asked.
"Nah, this is my second run through," Harry replied, "had so much fun the first time I decided to do it again."
She laughed. "Yeah, stupid question," she admitted, "good come back though." She offered her hand. "Susan Bones."
Harry shook her hand, ignoring the seamstress accidentally poking him with a needle. "Harry Potter."
"Really?" she asked wide eyed, her eyes darting up to his forehead.
"Actually it's Kenny McCormick, but I decided to go by Harry Potter so I wouldn't confuse anyone."
Susan grinned. "You are quick."
"I tend to get asked the same questions a lot," Harry replied.
"Well, you are famous," she pointed out.
"In a weird way," Harry agreed.
"Weird?" she asked curiously, as they finished their fitting.
"Well, I'm famous for something I likely had nothing to do with. I only found out why people in robes were coming up to me in the street and shaking my hand last night."
"What?" she asked confused.
"I was raised in the muggle world, I didn't even know magic was real until I got my letter," Harry explained.
"Oh," Susan said. "I didn't know that. What makes you think you had nothing to do with it?"
"What's more likely, that I am special in some way or that my parents, who were top of their class in Hogwarts, had prepared something?" Harry asked.
"That does make more sense," Susan admitted.
"Ready to go?" a woman in a red robe asked Susan.
"Yeah," Susan replied before turning back to Harry. "It was nice meeting you."
"It was nice meeting you too," Harry replied. "See you at Hogwarts," he added as the two left.
"Your clothes should be ready in an hour," the seamstress said, "you can pick them up anywhere from eleven to eight when we close."
"Thanks," Harry said, grabbing his bag and quickly leaving before they could change their mind and stick more pins in him.
Hagrid met him outside with a pair of ice cream cones, passing one to Harry. "Thought you might like a snack."
"I'll never say no to ice cream," Harry agreed with a grin. One good thing about being Harry Potter was the food, he decided. As Kenny he'd grown up on the edge of starvation, relying on free school lunches for the majority of his diet and passing what little he got at home to his younger sister, while here he had already eaten more in a day than he usually got in a week as Kenny.
It took about a minute for the two to finish their ice cream as Harry scarffed his down and Hagrid's larger size made his just a light snack.
"Where to next?" Harry asked.
"We should probably hold off on getting your trunk till last," Hagrid said thoughtfully, "but an expanded bag to carry your purchases wouldn't be a bad idea, ya need a book bag for school anyway."
"And Re'em blood," Harry quietly reminded him.
Hagrid glanced around to make sure no one had overheard. "Yeah, and that. In fact… pretty sure she sells some good sized bags as well." He waved for Harry to follow and headed down the alley, the crowd parting before his bulk.
Harry perked up and hurried after him not wanting to get separated, thankful he was very hard to lose as Hagrid was eight and a half feet tall, towering over the crowd.
Just inside Knockturn Alley they ducked into an actual alley and went behind the shop, a dozen steps in they stopped at the back door of a brick building and Hagrid knocked on the door three times and waited for a few seconds before knocking twice more.
The door opened and an old black woman in a blue moo-moo wearing a plethora of jewelry including a silver tiara to hold back a massive amount of white hair, greeted Hagrid with a wide smile. "Hagrid," she said, stepping back and waving him inside, "I was wondering if I'd see you today."
"Nice to see you too," Hagrid said cheerfully as he ducked down slightly to enter. "Thought I might stop by and buy a bag for young Harry as well as… a little something to help with his stunted growth."
"Madame Tremere," she introduced herself holding out a hand palm down.
Harry recognized his cue and took her hand, bending down to brush his lips against her knuckles. "Harry Potter, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"A young man with manners," she said, "so rare these days."
Hagrid's stomach grumbled loudly and he looked embarrassed. "Um..."
"You know where it is," she said waving for the half giant to go. She turned to Harry. "So, what has caused you to seek out one such as I?"
"I need Re'em blood and a bag that can hold a lot of stuff, preferably without anyone being able to tell," Harry said, thinking about his Mysterion outfit, which he had in a bag by his side.
"Re'em's blood and a smuggler's bag," she said. "Not something I'd expect The Boy Who Lived to request."
"I'm a half starved orphan with malnutrition, everything you've heard about me is horseshit," Harry said honestly.
"Crude, but accurate," Madame Tremere decided after a moment's thought.
"Any suggestions for a boy who is walking into a warzone?" Harry asked.
"Pickled murlap," she replied. "Not the whole thing of course, but if you eat the sensory organ from its back, properly prepared, it'll protect against most low level curses."
"I'd like one of those as well then, thanks," Harry said.
"Are you sure? With just those three items we are looking at quite a sum," she advised him, "and I don't believe I'd describe Hogwarts as a warzone."
"For most people it's probably not," Harry agreed, "but since I'm going to be surrounded by the children of Death Eaters who blame me for not being kings, ruling all us peasants, I believe a little preparation is in order."
"I can see where that would be problematic," she conceded. "Very well, come up to the counter."
Harry followed her into the front of the shop which had a large variety of things for sale. He saw a pile of bags, an entire stack of paintings, display cases filled with jewelry, as well as a plethora of things he couldn't identify.
Madame Tremere returned with a jar filled with what looked like koosh balls floating in a green liquid, a dark leather bag with intricate celtic artwork done in red and green, and a small vial filled with liquid gold. "A hundred and sixteen galloens, seven sickles, and four knuts."
Harry nodded and counted out the proper amount knowing that without Hagrid's help it would probably have cost at least twice as much, if he could have found any at all. "What do I need to know?"
"Place a drop of your blood on the inside of the bag to attune it to you and activate its security features. You'll have two different spaces inside, one is your standard expanded space, the other is much larger and only the person keyed to the bag can open it. Choose which one you want when you open the bag."
"That's simple enough," Harry said as he examined the bag, it was basically a leather backpack with a wicked cool design that looked like roses done in celtic runes.
She opened the jar and handed Harry a pair of wooden tongs. "Just fish one out and swallow it, no need to chew."
Harry did as instructed surprised to find the rubber looking thing all but dissolved in his mouth, leaving the strong taste of pickle brine behind. "Tasted better than I thought," he admitted.
"Give it a minute to do its work before drinking the blood," Madame Tremere instructed while she put the jar away.
Harry waited but couldn't feel anything happening, though the taste of pickles was fading.
"Alright, it should have spread throughout your system by now," she said and gestured to the vial.
"Bottoms up," Harry said, pulling out the cork and tilting his head back. Despite the unique coloring it tasted like what it was, blood. He kept the vial upended over his mouth for several seconds to make sure he'd gotten it all before corking it and placing it on the counter.
"It's not an instant effect," she explained seeing he was waiting for something to happen, "you'll eat a lot more over the next week as it slowly takes effect."
"Makes sense," Harry said with a nod. "Have any portraits from Potters, Blacks, or Peverelles?" he asked waving towards the stack of paintings.
"I believe I may," Madame Tremere said, retrieving a ledger from beneath the counter and opening it up.
Harry wandered over to examine the paintings, finding them examining him in return as he looked them over. There were a number of paintings that held couples, and some that were done of fanciful creatures, as he knew mermaids did not look like these did in the Harry Potter universe.
The mermaid blew him a kiss and reached for the clasp on her clam shell bikini top...
"I have one Potter painting, subject unknown because the animation charms appear to have worn down and two Black portraits, one Edward Black and Phineas Black," she announced.
"How much for the paintings?" Harry asked.
"Two a galleon is standard," she replied, "they tend to pile up because no one wants them. I buy from bank sales and estate auctions, so most of it is from people who were cast out or the family died off, leaving no one to claim anything."
"Depending on how much space is in the bag, I might just help you clear out a section," Harry said. 'They may not be Jedi Holocrons, but they aren't far off.'
"Good thing I sold you the deluxe model then, isn't it?" Madame Tremere asked with a smile.
"Very good in this case," Harry agreed. "Now, how do I fit them in?"
"Got a specialized expansion on the openings," she explained, "even if it looks too big to fit, it will slide right in."
"How many do you have?" Harry asked as he tried to count the stack.
"Five hundred, give or take a few," she replied with a grin.
"Four a galleon for the lot?" Harry suggested.
"You really want to take all five hundred of them?" she asked in disbelief.
"If they'll fit," Harry agreed.
"Alright a hundred and a quarter for the lot of them," she said with a chuckle. "Start loading them up."
Ten minutes later
"Sorry about that," Hagrid apologized, "I keep forgetting not to mix beer and ice cream."
"That's alright, we found a way to keep ourselves occupied," Madame Tremere said as Harry stacked a few books on the counter before vanishing back into the rows of second hand goods.
Hagrid took a quick glance at the books Harry was buying and found they were all pretty innocuous. It wasn't that he didn't trust Madame Tremere, but this was Knockturn Alley.
"This should be everything," Harry said, setting another half a dozen books on the counter.
She looked over the books. "On the house," she said. "I think I've made enough money off you today."
Harry laughed. "And it was money well spent as far as I'm concerned." He opened the 'empty' bag and slid the books inside a couple at a time.
"Already drunk… your potion?" Hagrid asked, trying to be subtle, and failing badly.
Harry nodded. "Also picked up a trunk I liked," he said gesturing to an ebony trunk with brass fittings. "It's got a built in dresser, bookcase and room to house a midget."
"Pardon?"
"It's one of those older pureblood trunks, it has room to take a house elf for when you travel," she explained. "I charged him five galleons, since they are considered old fashioned these days."
"Better than a new one," Hagrid said, knowing they'd charge near ten for a new student trunk and they were barely charmed at all. "Ready to get yer wand?"
"And lunch," Harry said, somehow managing to fit the trunk into his bag.
"That'd be the… potion," Hagrid said cheerfully. "More horse?"
"I'll take any meat available," Harry replied, "as long as there's a lot of it."
"Right ye are," Hagrid said, tapping his brow with a polite nod to Madame Tremere. Normally he wouldn't bother, but she liked to see good manners.
Harry copied him. "Thanks again, I really appreciate it," he said as they departed out the back.
"Not sure how long it'll take to match a wand to yer," Hagrid admitted as they rejoined the shopping crowd, "so we best get lunch first."
"Sounds good to me," Harry agreed, he was used to being hungry, but there was no use suffering when you didn't need to.
One immensely large lunch later
"And this here is Ollivander's," Hagrid said as they approached the shop with a wand laying on a purple cushion in the window.
The bell rang as Hagrid opened the door and ushered the young boy inside.
"Mr. Potter," Ollivander greeted him from a corner of the room just out of sight of the door, making Harry jump even though he'd known the strange old man was going to do that.
"Mr. Ollivander," Harry replied, pretending he hadn't just been surprised. "I'm here for my wand, probably something in a phoenix feather." He really didn't want to spend all day searching for a wand when he already knew which one he was going to get.
"I'm afraid it's the wand that chooses the wizard Mr. Potter," Ollivander told him.
"Fine then an eleven inch holly wand with a phoenix feather is free to choose me," Harry replied. "Introduce us please."
Ollivander chuckled. "I do in fact have one like that, but I doubt it'll be that easy."
"Really?" Harry asked 'innocently'. "How about a little wager then?"
Typing by: fyrewolf5
TN: Been a while since this playground was touched, forgot how amusing it was.
