What's in a Gift?

Brandt had been planning on taking the children shopping, but a raven swooped down on him with a small scroll tied to its leg as they were leaving.

Turning to the children, he said, "Arcturus is going to be meeting us in an hour at the place where we are staying. We can make one stop to shop on the way, so if there is somewhere you want to go, just point it out as we walk."

They continued heading down Tangent Alley, away from Gringotts. There were mostly restaurants with a few isolated shops selling things that they didn't recognize or that looked very expensive. As they appeared to be entering a more residential district with large homes, Lyra pointed to a photography shop. Harry agreed that it would be a fun place to check out.

The inside of the shop was surrounded by pictures in frames of people, happy and smiling, waving to the other patrons of the shop or participating in quidditch & dueling matches. Along the tops of the counters, there were cameras of many different sizes along with accessories.

"Are we shopping for the two of you or a friend?" Brandt asked the two of them.

"Maybe for Colin," Harry said. "He wanted to get a magical camera."

"That's a bit expensive for a holiday present," Brandt told him. "Maybe a nice picture frame."

The salesman approached them at that moment, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

Brandt answered for Harry, "Do you have a selection of muggle-worthy picture frames?"

"Right over here," the man directed them to a wall that featured many frames, with both moving and still pictures in them. "All these frames have a switch on the back which will freeze a wizard photo in place for when muggles are around. It can also be deactivated to have them move again."

Harry smiled and pulled Lyra over to explain it to her. He turned to the man, "Do you have any made with cherrywood?" Harry asked, remembering Colin's statement about his wand and the frames in his house the day they met.

"Yes, we do," the salesman smiled as he pulled out his wand and cast a quick spell which caused a few of the frames to glow for a moment.

Harry and Lyra examined a few of the frames before deciding on one that would change to fit different-sized photos. They paid eight knuts extra to get it wrapped in magic wrapping paper which would vanish after being ripped off. Brandt also purchased a dozen rolls of film for himself before they headed out.

Near the end of the street, they arrived at a slender three-story building made of light-colored wood. As they approached it, it appeared to be sandwiched between two other houses. However, when they stood in front of it, it seemed to push the other houses to the side, giving it a small garden on either side.

Brandt approached the door, grasped the handle, and performed a complex knocking pattern on the door frame. When he completed the knock, a silver key fell out of the mail slot onto the mat. He performed the knock again to receive a second key. He passed one key to Harry and then another to Lyra.

"These keys will last one month before they vanish. This is Elmswood Lodge, which is also the name for the floo connection. Repeat the name back to me." The children repeated it twice. "Lyra, go ahead and open the house."

With slight apprehension, Lyra unlocked the door with her key and led them into the house. Near the entrance, there was a small sitting room with a large fireplace. Over the mantle, there was a sign with "Elmswood Lodge" written on it. Brandt led them down the hall to a larger sitting room. Arcturus and Augustus were already there, sitting in high-backed chairs facing the hallway.

Arcturus did not look well.

He normally sat up straight and carried his cane more as a status symbol than a crutch. Today he was slumped over and leaning on it with a large amount of his weight. His hair normally had a few stripes of grey but was now almost entirely white and there were deep circles under his eyes. Some of his skin seemed to be cracked and almost falling off.

His appearance showed in the shocked eyes of Harry and Lyra.

"Do not concern yourself with how I appear," he told them, in a hoarse voice. "I will be back to my normal self in a few days."

His voice was dry and cracked, like his skin, like Whispers when he woke up in the morning and hadn't had something to drink. The children just stayed silent in their worry.

"I just wanted to speak with you briefly before the party and you depart again for your home," he paused for a moment to take a deep breath. He reached into his coat and pulled out his silver flask, draining the last few drops from it, then took another deep breath which seemed to give him a bit more strength and he sat up taller.

"How did the registry go, Brandt?" he asked.

"We ran into a bit of a problem with Amos Diggory."

Arcturus choked a bit and coughed. "Diggory? You met with Diggory?"

"Yes, I persuaded the secretary to have us meet with the department head to process our papers and we were led to the only honest member of the British Ministry."

Arcturus coughed more, as he chuckled, "How'd that go?"

"Well, the attempt to file the papers without a certified bond and backdating almost ended in a call to law enforcement. Though, after a plea from Mr. Potter for a favor, Diggory agreed based on how much debt Harry has gathered from the defeat of the Dark Lord."

"That would do it," Arcturus nodded, then turned to Harry. "Do not attempt to cash in on that debt from anyone else for a long time. It will appear petty and you probably had nothing to do with what actually happened that night."

"Yes, sir," Harry nodded.

"A few more things. When you return to your home, I've asked Brandt to accompany you to gauge how your situation is there. I want to make sure that you are both well taken care of. I have also been informed of the dangers of the island. Please make sure to take care of Brandt, he has been told to follow your precautions. If he has any questions about the island, please answer them."

Lyra looked to Brandt who nodded back to them. Whispers took that moment to climb down from Brandt's shoulders and lie down on one of the couches.

"Lyra, for the party on Monday night, I have asked your cousin, Nymphadora Tonks, to help you prepare for the evening and to accompany you. You can trust her to watch out for you. If you have any problems with her, you can either inform me or Alastor Moody depending on who you feel would be appropriate in the situation."

That made Harry feel a bit better about Lyra's cousin, Alastor would certainly help them if they had a problem and it wouldn't be pleasant for her.

"Harry, while you are at the party, do not give your advice or weigh in on political issues. If someone asks you about expanding the merfolk reservations; simply tell them that you don't know enough to form an opinion on the matter. This applies to any question, not that specifically. If anyone pushes you, just tell them that you are a first-year Hogwarts student and need a greater education first. If you do not heed this advice, the newspaper will be printing about your endorsement of various political factions the following morning."

Harry didn't fully comprehend what that meant but he understood enough to know he didn't want to be in the newspapers.

"Stay close to your friends from Slytherin, they will help you conduct yourselves with the proper decorum." Seeing that they both understood, he called out, "Opal!"

A house elf with stringy brown hair popped into the room, dressed the same way Darby had been back at Black Manor.

"This is Opal, she takes care of Elmswood Lodge, if you need anything please call for her." Turning to Opal, "Please prepare a late supper for our guests, the children will need tea in the study now." The elf nodded and popped away. "I will take my leave now, Brandt will take care of you. I will not see you again until the new year." He reached out an arm to Augustus who helped him to his feet and walked him slowly out of the house.

When he had gone, Lyra turned to Brandt, "What was wrong with him? Is that why he was dying in the hospital?"

Brandt shook his head, "No, but it is why he's dying now. I will not answer any further questions on the matter. Please join me in the study now."

He led them both down the hall to a room with two desks set up next to each other. Both desks had a stack of paper on them and a cup of hot tea.

"For the rest of the evening, please write down a list of all of your friends and what you think they would like for presents. It will help to organize our shopping for tomorrow. Many of your classmates should also receive a gift, but it can be something simple, like candy. Think of the people you spend the most time with or the people you would like to get to know better. You can compare notes if you would like, I will send Opal to call you for dinner in a few hours."

Harry and Lyra ended up sitting at the same desk as they went through their list of friends. It was a long process but they had good ideas for most of the people they knew. After that, Harry put a new piece of parchment between them and wrote down all the names of the Hidden that had them as well as a list of all those who didn't. These were a lot easier to shop for as they knew every detail of their lives and what they would like the best.

After the sun had gone down for a few hours, Opal came for them and summoned them to dinner. They were served a hearty soup and chicken salad for dinner, Brandt was quiet the whole time as he was looking through notes in a journal for the entire meal. After dinner, Opal led the children to their bedroom and they retired for the night.

During breakfast in the morning, Brandt looked through their lists and scribbled down all the places they would need to visit for the day.

"I'm hoping we will be able to accomplish everything in less than ten stops," Brandt sighed deeply, "As Lyra will need more preparation tomorrow, we will focus on the stores she needs to visit first with the possibility of continuing with you tomorrow, Harry. The first stop of the day is Gringotts to retrieve funds for your shopping."

When they had finished with some delightful omelets that Opal made for them, they hurried to the bank. Brandt pushed them to take the lead in speaking to the chief teller.

Standing in front of the imposing desk with the small goblin at the top, Harry asked, "Excuse me, we need a trip to the vaults of Harry Potter and Lyra Black."

"And do you children have your keys?" the goblin asked as he barely looked up from his desk glaring at them over his spectacles. Harry dug his out of his pouch and took Lyra's from her as she took hers out as well.

"You may wait at the bench behind me for a cart-goblin," the teller instructed them.

There were a lot of goblins running all over, it seemed to be a very busy day, so, with Whispers sitting on Brandt's shoulders, the four of them sat down on the bench and waited.

They had been waiting for nearly ten minutes when a familiar Goblin ran by them and Harry called out to him, "Mr. Spinaltap!" The goblin skidded to a halt.

"Yes, wizard?" he asked curiously.

"I'm sorry if you don't remember us, you helped us to our vault over the summer? Are you free to help now?"

Spinaltap gave Harry a large grin but did not show his teeth. He held up one finger and walked over to a nearby desk, placing all the papers he had been carrying with him on it and speaking to the goblin seated there in a crackling voice before laughing and returning to Harry. The goblin at the desk looked furious.

"Follow me," Spinaltap instructed. He led them into a room with an empty cart track before the large wooden door leading to the vaults and pulled a large lever on the wall.

"Thank you for getting me out of that assignment, Mr. Potter. I had been busy all morning dealing with a problem that arose when one of the henges we use for rituals was crushed by a dwarf. The Potter and Black accounts are top priorities, so I was able to dump my assignment on another goblin."

Everything that the goblin had just said sounded like gibberish, except their accounts being a priority. Harry looked to Brandt for clarification but the man just shook his head. At that moment the wooden door opened and an empty minecart rolled in. They all climbed in and Lyra held onto Whispers tight as the cart rolled forward and down into the vaults.

For some reason both trips to the vaults were much smoother than their first time, there were no bumps, sharp turns, or corkscrews. On the way out, Harry thanked Spinaltap for the smooth ride.

"I'm sure that I don't know what you're talking about," Spinaltap replied without looking at him.

"I'll be sure to ask for you next time," Harry told him. Spinaltap just gave him a nod and a grunt.

Their first stop after the bank was the bookstore. There were several books they wanted to get for themselves. Harry picked up indexes of potion ingredients from South-East Asia, now that he knew where they were they wouldn't have to experiment with everything to find out their properties. He also picked up a book on elemental magic and defensive spells. Lyra picked up books on concealment and fire spells as well as magic to help braid her hair when she was alone.

While looking for new children's books for Whispers, Harry came across his own books, there was a series of seven, just as he was told starting with Harry Potter and the Immortal Warlocks.

He called over Brandt, "Where did these books come from?"

"I've been wondering that since shortly after I heard about where you came from. I always assumed they were authorized by your guardians but I highly doubt that your Aunt and Uncle or The Giver had anything to do with them."

"The Giver is just our tutor, he's not really family," Lyra said as she stepped out from a bookcase.

"All the same," Brandt said, "I'll have our solicitor look into it."

"We should get a set for Auror Jameson," Lyra said. "You can sign it, Harry, as you did for Tracey's mom."

"For Tristan too," Harry added. "He said he read them to his little sister."

They added two complete collections to their books. At the checkout, the clerk sprained something on her neck doing a double-take at Harry Potter buying the Harry Potter adventure books.

The next stop was the sweets store where they bought an exceedingly large amount of candy for everyone who wasn't getting a personalized gift. When they were done there, Brandt called for Opal to take the books and candy back to the Lodge.

Brandt steered them to a store that sold women's clothing and followed Lyra as she walked around looking for more presents. Whispers was also admiring all the clothes around the store leaving Harry to sit on a couch near the entrance and wait. After ten minutes he found Brandt and asked if he could go exploring.

Brandt reached into his pocket and pulled out a small vial. He quickly scribbled some runes on the glass and then duplicated it. "Take this," he instructed Harry, "if you get into any trouble, break it and I'll come quickly. Stay within five minutes of this shop."

Harry nodded and put the vial into his pocket. After leaving the shop, he walked to the next store which sold musical instruments. He wandered around for a bit and plucked some of the strings and tapped on the drums. After he had been there for a few minutes, the clerk came over to ask him to leave, though when he saw who it was who had been playing with the instruments he just stared in shock at Harry until he got uncomfortable and left on his own.

The next store he arrived at had the smell of burning incense wafting out the front door and he wandered inside. There were small wooden boxes filled with tiny cones of incense that could be purchased. Harry gathered together five that he liked and purchased ten of each along with a carved wooden box with a sliding lid to store them in. The walls and ceiling of the store were covered with colorful tapestries with a multitude of patterns and pictures.

Harry was admiring them when he realized that they would be a perfect gift for the Slytherin girls. He asked the clerk to take down tapestries depicting a stained glass window, a map of the night sky, a snowy mountain range with colored lights in the sky, and what he was told was a Celtic knot in the center with other designs around it. After paying for them, he called for Opal to take his purchases back.

As he exited the store, he arrived at another street branching off from Diagon Alley. It looked a bit dark, and after the first couple of shops, it curved off in a direction that couldn't be seen from the main strip. He looked at the shops he could see and one seemed to be a bit of an odds-and-ends shop, so he ventured over to that one.

The sign over the door read - The King's Armory

The inside seemed to have a multitude of everything. He saw jewelry, weapons, boxes lined with gemstones, musical instruments, clothing, and much much more. There should definitely be something interesting here.

He browsed through the store occasionally inspecting various trinkets until he heard a sweet-sounding voice behind him, "May I help you, dear?"

Harry turned around to find him face to face with a woman dressed in all black, who was also wearing a blindfold over her eyes. Her hair was a deep green, almost black, and shimmered in the low light of the shop. Harry stared at her for a moment before deciding this wasn't even close to the strangest thing he'd seen, even in the past week.

"I'm searching for a few presents, difficult people to shop for," Harry told the blind woman.

"Tell me about your friends, I'm sure we can find something to suit them," she said, her voice echoing like the sound of a bell.

Harry couldn't fully decide on what he wanted to get for Blaise, Hannah, and Greg, so he started with the Slytherins. "The first one, I was introduced to as the most cunning and annoying Slytherin ever. He seems to always be hiding something but his intentions seem to be positive, or at least positive towards me."

The woman waved her fingers in the air like she was pulling on the small strings of a puppet. Her fingernails were painted black, but when she moved them, they sparkled in the light. Slowly, she stopped moving them as the pinky on her left hand pointed towards a shelf behind Harry. She slipped past Harry, without touching him, and pointed right at a small black box off a shelf.

Harry took the box and opened it to find a pair of silver cufflinks that had a small cylinder on the outside. On both ends of the cylinder, there was a small, green, stone. It looked very dignified. The woman made a twisting motion with her fingers and Harry twisted one of the cufflinks to find that it had a seamless lid that would be impossible to detect if you didn't know it was there.

Now, that was neat. Harry picked up the other and inspected it, opening the cap on that one as well. Inside, there was a small space about the size of the tip of his pinky finger.

"This is perfect! How much is it?" he asked.

"Tell me about your other friends, and I'll give you a price for everything."

That sounded a bit strange, but he thought nothing bad could happen, and he could always say 'no' later. "My second friend, she was my second magical friend. I didn't know she was at the time but she taught me about unicorns, so I thought to get her some kind of hairpin with a unicorn on it."

The woman again started to wave her fingers around the shop eventually pointing her right middle finger towards another corner of the shop. She then seemed to move like she was being pushed by an unseen force to the place she had pointed with Harry following after. Harry removed a white case from the shelf and turned back to her. There wasn't a hairpin inside, but a clasp for a cloak made of some kind of tarnished gold metal with two unicorns facing each other and connected by a short chain. He stared at it, it looked old but it had an interesting quality to it. He could always polish it a bit.

"And your last friend?" she asked with a look that Harry felt would have been deep into her eyes if she had them.

"His family is sworn to protect my sister, I want to make him feel like he is more than just a shield. That he can be smart and strong."

The strange woman was silent for a while, she did not even wave her fingers in the air. Then she turned her head away from Harry, looking towards the ceiling, and said, "What you speak of is a lot for a child to be concerned with. It is obvious that these things are a part of who you are, and also who you wish him to be as well. While you have a sister, maybe what both you and your friend need is a brother. Find something that the two of you can do together to increase your bond. That is the best gift you can give him."

Harry didn't know what to say, at first he only wanted to break Greg away from Draco's hold, but the boy had a lot of potential as well. He didn't think that Greg would be a brother to him the way Lyra was his sister or even like Whispers, though they could spend more time together now that they weren't going to be sharing any classes. The woman was now facing him and would be looking right at him if she didn't have the blindfold on.

Suddenly, the woman's elbow jerked upwards, like it was being pulled by a string and her fingers began to twitch on that arm until her index finger pointed straight for a large chest. Moving like the wind, she floated over towards it and pointed. The box was on a higher shelf, but she made no attempt to retrieve it. Seeing a small ladder, Harry used it to climb up and open the box. Inside there were two sets of oversized gloves, one in red, the other in blue. He pulled them out and took them down.

Harry asked, "What are they?"

"These are muggle boxing gloves, used for fighting sports. They have been enchanted to fit whoever wears them and help people training to fight by softening the blows slightly. If your friend learns to fight, he won't need to be a shield. I believe young boys also enjoy friendly duels between friends."

This sounded like a bad idea to fight with your friends. Though he was learning how to duel with magic, and maybe if he knew how to punch, he wouldn't need to stab people. Muggle dueling couldn't be as bad as magic dueling, right? He held the gloves and examined them, then looked up and the woman had vanished. He frantically looked around and squinted in the low light to see if he could detect anyone disillusioned, but there was no one.

Cautiously, he picked up the other two gifts that had been picked out and walked to the front of the store. No one was at the desk, so he rang the bell that was there. After two minutes, a woman came out of the door behind the counter in a brown apron and yellow dress. However, she also seemed to have the same green-black hair that the woman with the blindfold had. Harry just stared at the woman, trying to figure out if this was the same one. There was no other similarity, and this one could see with her bright brown eyes.

The woman picked up on his uneasiness immediately and asked, "My sister helped you with your gifts, didn't she?" Harry was unsure but nodded. "She occasionally does that, even if she never speaks to me. It drives me nuts. Well, let's see what she picked out for you."

The woman examined the items and looked back to Harry, "These aren't for you? They're presents?" Harry nodded again. "I'm so sorry about my sister, she always had a keen eye for just the right thing to get for people or as gifts. We thought she was a seer, though if she was, she should have seen what was coming for herself... Well, your total is seventeen Galleons."

Harry snapped back to the moment, hearing the price. It sounded more than a bit high but these were some of the more important presents he needed to buy. He was still a bit unnerved about the whole situation.

"I'm sorry again for my sister," the woman apologized. "Let me knock the price down to 15."

That sounded a little better but still high. Harry really felt like he wanted to get back to the others, so he pulled out one of his silver containers and tapped out fifteen galleons onto the counter.

"Thank you," he managed to say, "and thank your sister too." He gathered everything together and rushed out of the shop.

Once he was outside, Harry oriented himself to avoid going down the creepy alley and returned to the shop where Lyra was. As he entered, he saw Lyra in the back of the shop trying on a long blue coat with a hood and fluffy white fur trimming the edges. Brandt was sitting on a couch nearby holding a glass of champagne. Harry watched as he covertly pulled a small vial of a calming potion from his pocket and added a few drops to his drink before taking a sip. Harry looked around and saw Whispers being helped by another sales girl with some hats that looked like the kind Dougal would wear, he couldn't tell if the girl was amused or annoyed with helping an animal try on hats.

Brandt noticed Harry just as he was about to sit down on the couch and asked, "So, how'd you do in the last hour?"

It had been an hour? Well, he did get a lot of his shopping done.

"I managed to pick out presents for Daphne, Tracey, Hannah, Blaise, and Greg. I also got some incense for myself, it smelled nice. Has Lyra found her presents?"

"That actually didn't take too long," Brandt nodded and tapped a stack of boxes down by his feet. "She picked out some very nice gloves for all the girls she knows, different patterns for each one. Then for the last forty minutes, she's been shopping for herself. She got a few pairs of warm boots for the snow, and now she's trying to pick out a coat to match her dress for the party. Do you know what she's wearing?"

Harry shook his head, "I went to see Professor Snape while she was picking out her outfit. Lavender and Parvati had pulled out almost the whole wardrobe before I left, so I have no idea what they chose, other than they convinced her not to wear something orange."

"Well, that's good, at least. Whispers started looking at hats like Dougal wears but hasn't found anything he likes. The assistant was having fun giving him their weirdest hats at first but now she looks a bit annoyed."

"This is it!" Lyra called out. She spun around to show them the blue and white coat she was wearing. She hugged it close to her body, snuggling her face into the hood.

The shop manager smiled, "Your ward has excellent taste. The base layer is wool from a blue Aurora Sheep, while the white trim is from a juvenile Yeti."

Harry remembered Yeti from one of Lockhart's books. They reminded him of the Hidden but stronger and more fluffy. Then he thought of how they must have obtained the fur.

"I don't think we can get it," Harry told the manager and her smile vanished. Lyra was a bit confused at her brother's harsh reaction.

Brandt picked up on the mood immediately and asked, "How was the fur obtained?"

Lyra realized what Harry had been thinking too and started to take off the coat as the assistant who had been helping Whispers came over quickly and said, "The fur comes from students at Khumbu. They set up abrasive gateways in the mountain passes and the fur comes off as the Yeti walk through and then it gets collected later."

Lyra and Harry didn't understand, so Brandt explained, "Khumbu is another magical school, high in the mountains where the Yeti live." He turned back to the assistant, "How do you know it was from a juvenile though?"

"The texture," she responded immediately. Then pulled a larger coat off a rack and passed it to Lyra. "This is made from an adult, you can feel that the white fur is more coarse than the trim on your coat?" Lyra compared the two different coats and nodded. "It's nearly impossible to capture a Yeti, so the only way to collect their fur is through this method. Now and then, someone tries to capture or kill a Yeti but they never succeed. It's preferable when the students at Khumbu catch them because the Yeti don't return the poachers to the Aurors."

"They shouldn't," Harry nearly growled. "I wouldn't."

Lyra picked up the coat again and examined it, "So, can we get it?"

Brandt nodded and stood up to take the coat from Lyra. He brought their other purchases up to the counter and the manager handed a small note to Brandt with the price. His eyes bulged at the price and he began to cough, violently.

"It is Yeti fur," the manager explained. "Not nearly as expensive as demiguise hair, but close."

Brandt caught his breath and took another look. Then he turned to Harry with a calculating stare, then returned to the shop manager, "Are you qualified to work with demiguise hair?"

"I am but the supply and price are not worth it to keep any kind of supply on hand. No one purchases it outside of law enforcement and criminals." She turned to give a calculated look at Whispers, "Do you have any hair you would be willing to part with?"

"One moment," Brandt replied and motioned for Harry, Lyra, and Whispers to join him on the couch. The two children and the Hidden gathered around Brandt as he cast a few privacy charms. The manager and her assistant began whispering to each other.

"Harry, Lyra, do either of you have any demiguise hair with you?"

Lyra nodded and pulled a woven piece from her pouch about two feet long. Harry saw the manager's eyes lock onto it and light up.

"Lyra, I know you don't fully understand the cost of things yet but that coat costs approximately 100 custom-made wands or 600 pairs of the gloves you are getting for your friends." Both Harry and Lyra gasped at the cost and stared at the blue and white coat on the table. "You're already supplying some of the Demiguise hair to the Filipino Ministry, you could make a similar deal in this country."

Lyra wasn't sure so she had a quick conversation with Harry in their sign language. Brandt was picking up bits and pieces of it and got something about potions, something to do with help, and hair. When they were done, Lyra asked, "How much do they want?"

"Stay here," Brandt told them and walked outside of the privacy bubble. He cast a spell towards them that allowed them to hear what he was saying and passed them the two-foot piece of braided demiguise hair.

"What kind of valuation would you put on this? Bear in mind that this could be a long-standing relationship."

The manager passed the hair to the assistant who began examining it with a magnifying glass. The manager pulled out a ledger of some kind and started looking through it. Different pages of the ledger had various types of hair in clear containers attached to the parchment. The two spoke in whispers that Harry and Lyra couldn't hear for a few minutes before turning back to Brandt.

"We would be willing to trade fifteen feet of the hair, braided at this density to offset the price of the coat and gloves you are purchasing today," The manager stated. "If you have access to more, we would need to conduct future negotiations as well as know the region the hair is from as well as the ages of the creatures it comes from."

Brandt's face tightened in thought, then responded, "We will need to retrieve the additional hair for the purchase. I will leave a time-locked chest with the payment for the clothes and return tomorrow at 10 a.m. with our solicitor to close the deal. Agreed?"

The manager picked up the braided hair and ran her fingers over it before passing it back to Brandt, "Agreed."

The assistant boxed up the coat while Brandt conjured a large chest and began to fill it with cylinders of galleons from his pouch. Harry and Lyra gawked at the number he was putting in. They didn't know how many were there in the end, but it was A LOT. When he was done, he closed the lid and cast a spell on it, which made the wood of the chest darken in color. When he was done with that spell, he looked at his pocket watch, made some calculations in his head, and cast another spell that put a purple shield around the box.

He picked up the purchases and led Harry, Lyra, and Whispers out of the store. Once they were out, he called for Opal to take their purchases, Harry also passed the ones he had made to the happy elf to take back to the Lodge.

Brandt took them a few shops down to the ice cream parlor, Florean Fortescue's. They had been there a few times over the summer for snacks. They also had small sandwiches for lunch which is what they ordered now. Once they had their food, Brandt put up privacy and aversion charms so they could speak and not have people looking at Harry so much.

Once they were eating, Brandt asked them, "I know you both understood about the Yeti fur, but did you understand what I was trying to do with the braided hair of the demiguise?"

Lyra nodded, "It's how we got Nestor's people to help the island. We gave them some rope we use to make hammocks and they protect the island."

"Wait," Brandt said with a look of shock, "you use demiguise hair, to make hammocks?"

"And the fishing line," Harry added. "Nestor said that it's very expensive so we give it to his people and they can protect the island from poachers."

"How much do you give them?" he asked.

"Before we left the island, we gave them a length of twenty feet and another length of fifty feet," Lyra responded. "They had asked for another length of fifty feet in the spring." Fifty feet at the density they had shown him could make at least four adult-sized invisibility cloaks.

The children were sitting on a goldmine and didn't even know it, "Do you have the fifteen feet the shop asked for?"

"Back in my trunk," Harry didn't even stop to think before he confirmed it. Brandt figured they had a lot more than just fifteen feet.

"Are you willing to part with it for Lyra's coat? Are you willing to provide more to sell to this shop?"

Lyra really wanted the coat, so there was no question they would part with that much.

"Yes to the first," Harry said, sharing a smile with Lyra. "For the second, I don't think we need another coat for Lyra but people keep telling me I need to make money, so this seems like a good place to do it. Nestor said that twenty feet could feed a family for many years."

"Right now, your schooling is already paid for but afterward, you'll need money for other things in your life. You never know when you'll need to have some, so it's always good to have as much as you can."

"Like collecting food for the heavy rains?" Lyra asked.

Harry nodded his head as Brandt said, "It sounds like that would be a fair comparison."

Both Harry and Lyra knew the importance of saving for a rainy day, so if money was like food, then they should do this. They exchanged a quick nod.

"Can I go with you to the meeting while Lyra meets with Tonks?" Harry asked.

Brandt agreed and they finished their lunches. He looked over at Whispers who was picking apart a sandwich and smiled to himself, this would be good for him.

Most of the afternoon went by quickly. They visited a salon where the hairdresser reacted to Lyra's hair the way the manager of the clothing store reacted to the demiguise hair. Then the man had the exact opposite reaction when looking at the mess that sat on top of Harry's head. The man was a bit disappointed when they said they were just shopping for hair supplies. Harry purchased small hair curlers for Cynthia (the Hidden), and hair clips and ties for Weaver.

Next was a stop at a luggage shop. Ever since they got their trunks, Harry and Lyra knew they needed to get one for The Giver. The one he had now was old and beat up, and wasn't magical at all. Brandt guided them to a boutique shop that had more than the regular models of luggage. Just as they entered, Whispers vanished on Brandt's shoulders.

A large man with a bald head and a fu-Manchu mustache greeted them, "Good to see you, Brandt! And you brought along Mr. Potter and Miss Black today."

Brandt told Harry and Lyra, "I come here regularly for specialty trunks to hold various animals and ingredients. May I introduce you to Ualan Dubhach." To the large man, "Ulan, this is Harry James Potter and Lyra Cassiopeia Black."

The large man's hands felt like thick leather as he clasped each of the children's hands. "Call me Ulan or Mr. Dubs, everyone does. Now, how may I help you today?"

Harry told him, "We're looking for a trunk with a lot of space, it's for an old man who collects a lot of stuff and needs a place to put it all."

"You'd be surprised how often I get that request, may I ask this man's identity?"

"It's for our tutor," Lyra supplied.

Ualan glanced at Brandt who shook his head and said, "Not me, for Harry and Lyra's tutor before Hogwarts."

Harry and Lyra shared a quick look of startled expressions which they both knew meant, 'We forgot a present for Brandt!'

Ualan's bushy eyebrows rose quite a bit, "Then it must be a grand gesture, let me dig out some special items and see what you like." He left them by the counter and went into a back room.

Harry pulled Lyra over into a corner and pulled out a silencing feather, then summoned his staff from his pouch to activate it.

"What are we going to get Brandt?" they both said at the same time.

"I don't know," Harry said, "what does he like?"

"I don't know either, runes? Though he said that he just does the basics."

"Something for his mustache? He's always changing it."

"He really liked looking at the demiguise hair," Lyra commented. "Whispers can weave him a bracelet."

Harry nodded, that sounded like a good idea, and it could be done without him noticing. "You can get Whispers to do it tomorrow while we're at the meeting."

Lyra nodded back, and Harry deactivated the feather magic.

Brandt had been watching them the whole time and simply raised an eyebrow when they broke the bubble.

Right after, Ualan came back out of the backroom balancing three trunks in his arms. He came out from around the counter and put them near a stand.

"I've got three models that I think would work well for what you're thinking about." He placed a trunk with red leather and brass corners on the show stand. He opened it and displayed the features as he spoke, "This one is pretty standard, it has four compartments, though each one is about twice as large as the trunk. The contents won't shift around if you drop it off a cliff, nor will it incur any damage."

He moved that one to the side and placed the next one on the stand, this one was green with silver corners. The lid was split into four places. "On this model, it has four sections that can be opened at the same time." When he opened all of them, there were small dividers between each one with the lid open. Reaching down into the first section, he pulled up a wardrobe that went over his head, the next section had a bookcase, the third section held a dresser, and the fourth section had a ladder that went down inside, "The last section has a small room at the bottom, big enough for a small bed."

He closed up all the lids and brought out the last trunk which was black with gold corners. "This one has stackable sections that can be pulled outwards." He reached into the main section and pulled out a shelf on a hinge that rested on one side of the box. The further he pulled it away, the more shelves followed it with more sections. Then he did the same thing with a set of shelves on the other side of the box. After he folded everything back into the box and shut the lid, he said, "It also has a pull-out drawer on the side." Sure enough, on the side, there was a drawer that could be pulled out. "So what do you think?"

Harry and Lyra chatted among themselves for a few minutes before turning back and Lyra told him, "We liked bits of each, can we combine them?" Ualan nodded. "We like the black one the most for color, the green one for the compartments, and the safety of dropping off a cliff from the red. Also if we could switch the shelves of the black one into the compartment for the wardrobe in the green."

Harry had another idea, "Can you also remove the locks? Our tutor would prefer latches."

Ualan seemed to think about all of it with his hands before saying, "Removing the locks would be fine but I won't be able to have it ready until the 23rd of the month."

Harry and Lyra's faces fell since they would be leaving on the 21st.

Brandt didn't even notice and simply said, "I will have a post-portkey provided to you for transport. It will arrive before you finish. What is the total?"

Both children gasped as the total came out to be more than everything they had spent today, except for Lyra's coat. Though this was for their tutor, and he had taught them about magic. Harry and Lyra split the cost between them from the gold they had taken from their vaults.

Just out of curiosity, their next stop was a junk shop. A lot of stuff there was junk, but there were various nicknacks they found; a glass mug that was always cold, a brimmed cap that said #1 Dad on it for Chief, a staff that glowed when you squeezed it, a few slightly expanded backpacks, and some random sets of cups and bowls that The Giver could use for potions.

There was also a small section where the owner was making miniature figurines and painting them with a tiny brush. There were some already completed, sitting on a shelf that occasionally waved or changed poses. Lyra bought one that was already made of a dragon that would look around and roar and occasionally spit sparks. Harry asked the lady who was making it if she could do a mouse wearing a green tunic holding a sword and a shield with the letter M on it. She commented on the specificity but told him it could be done by the following afternoon. Brandt mentioned that he would send Opal to pick it up.

Next to the junk shop was a camping supply store. They made this stop as quickly as possible and picked up a set of shovels, a pair of oversized sunglasses that were unbreakable and repelled minor hexes, and a small cloth bag containing chalk for climbing that never ran out.

The last stop of the day was a toy store, and the moment they were inside the shop, Harry, Lyra, and Whispers started to play with everything. Neither of them had a childhood of their own but got to see another child in their family enjoying themselves and having fun without them. So with the opportunity before them, they both started to play with everything they could find. At first, Brandt was a bit shocked that both children were playing with toys meant for babies and toddlers but it didn't take him long to realize that they were experiencing all of this for the first time.

The shop didn't have any other customers, so he handed a stack of silver coins to the clerk and said, "I need you to close early. I promise a large sale from us but I am also counting on your discretion. Understood?"

The clerk looked at the money and realized that Harry Potter was in his shop playing with a stuffed frog, among other things. While this might fetch a good price as a scoop for a story, it wasn't worth the ire of Lord Black, who was known to be supporting The Boy-Who-Lived at the moment. So he just quietly drew the blinds on the front of the store and flipped the sign on the front door as he locked it. Brandt pulled out a flask and two cups and they shared a drink in silence as the two children and a demiguise played with anything they could find for the rest of the evening, completely forgetting anything else around them.

Dream Castings:

Ualan Dubhach: Christopher Robin Sabat - He's actually a voice actor, though I think he would do a good job for this role himself. He's done a lot of the official English dubs for a ton of anime, including almost all of the DBZ characters, Major Armstrong from Fullmetal Alchemist, Zoro from One Piece, Vaccine Man from One Punch Man, and All-Might from My Hero Academia.

The King's Armory Clerk: Cate Blanchett