Harry woke up the next morning with a strange feeling in his chest. On the one hand, what happened "yesterday" might have just been last night's dream. He certainly felt like he had trekked all around the island, but Jet Jaguar's workout regimen could have that effect sometimes. He dearly hoped his "dream" was reality; it had been a lot of fun.
He got his confirmation of a sort when he stepped outside the door to find all the village children leaning or sitting against his hut, looking at a spot not far away.
He asked the youngest, "Why are you all here?"
"We want to see if we can catch the giant popping up!"
Harry grinned broadly. Hagrid hadn't been a figment of his imagination after all.
Harry didn't have a watch or really any way to tell time besides using the sun and the shadows it cast, but if he did have one, he would know that Hagrid appeared with a pop just a few minutes later, causing a bunch of delighted children to scatter, jumping around and making popping noises as their elders shook their heads, but smiled nevertheless.
"Good mornin' Harry! Ready for your first trip to the Wizarding World?"
"Yes!… But where exactly are we going?"
"Ter Diagon Alley. Yeh can buy just about anythin' there, and everything on your school list o' course."
"Is this the part where I have to hold onto the shoe?"
"Not yet… lemme see here…" Hagrid spent several moments rummaging through different pockets, "Ah, here yeh go: you're first wizard robes and shoes. Can't have yeh goin' to London in just a loincloth now can we?"
"We can't?" Harry asked, with all the innocence of someone raised by a reclusive tribe in the tropics, not to mention kaiju who did not need any sort of clothing at all.
"Oh no. People will think it's indecent. More importantly, its just too cold for that."
Harry put on the shoes and robes. Thick and all black, they were stifling in the island heat.
"Now we use the Portkey. Grab it and hold on tight."
Harry did so, and when Hagrid tapped it with his umbrella he suddenly felt a pulling sensation around his navel, accompanied by the disconcerting feeling that he was spinning. Moments later, he almost stumbled as he found himself in a cool, foggy area. The Shobijin had told him about London and how it looked so different from Monster Island, but it was another thing to actually be there, with the sounds and smells of the city.
It took him a moment to recognize an obvious problem.
"Hagrid, you said magic is supposed to be a secret. Why did we appear in public?"
Indeed, it seemed there was a large cluster of tourists nearby, plenty of whom could have seen them or caught them on camera.
"Oh I know it looks like we are, but there are all kinds of special spells and charms on this area so nobody notices it when people Portkey in. Now come on, we don't got all day."
Harry followed Hagrid through the winding streets and alleys to a nondescript part of London that no one else seemed to be paying much attention to. Having grown up in a supportive environment that did not stifle imagination and thought, Harry was able to put the clues together and realize that there was more magic at work here.
"Here we are. The Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place."
From the outside, it appeared to be a pub. A rather shabby and grubby looking one, but a pub nonetheless. Hagrid opened the door and entered, and Harry slipped in behind him.
Everyone inside waved to Hagrid – he seemed to be popular here – but before anyone could say anything the bartender stopped cold, eyes locked on Harry.
"Bless me soul, Harry Potter… what an honor."
Harry suddenly experienced the strange and paradoxical phenomenon that was a deafening silence. And then suddenly in a blur of motion the crowd surged forward and started shaking his hand and praising him.
It was an unusual ten minutes. Hagrid had mentioned that he was famous and that Dumbledore had wanted him away from that kind of thing, but Harry had never imagined it would be like this. Still, the Shobijin had taught him some things about how to handle situations like this; he knew he needed to be polite, even though the kaiju in him wanted to roar, growl, and make everyone back away.
After meeting the stuttering Professor Quirrell and Daedalus Diggle came around for a second time, Hagrid realized that this was potentially a problem and gently but forcefully broke up the crowds, announcing that Harry still needed to get his things.
The day would only get stranger and more wondrous. Hagrid parted a brick wall and led Harry to Diagon Alley, where Harry drank in the sights, sounds, and smells as Hagrid led the way to Gringotts. The snow white building loomed over everything else in the alley. And Harry was too busy staring at all of the Goblins' activities to hear anything about vault seven hundred and thirteen.
He saw his family's wealth. He had no idea what things were worth – there'd been no need for currency of any kind on Monster Island – but he got the sense that this would be more than enough to buy his school supplies. Still, when Hagrid looked away Harry discretely grabbed a few handfuls more of gold coins.
Because of the fact that everything was a day later on Monster Island, Draco Malfoy had actually gotten all of his clothing yesterday, so Harry's visit to Madam Malkin's passed without incident. This little change got Harry out of the store a bit sooner, which gave him just enough time to purchase Curses and Countercurses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and Much, Much More) by Professor Vindictus Viridian when Hagrid wasn't looking. Hagrid might not think Harry was ready for any of those, but Godzilla would be proud that he was already thinking of other ways to fight his battles if necessary. He also purchased one other book, tucked into a corner of the shop where most people wouldn't see it. It was called, Surviving Snape for Hogwarts First Years: The Unofficial, Unapproved Guide to Enduring the Worst Professor Ever, and purported to be under a charm to look like a wizarding children's book to adults so that Dumbledore couldn't use his influence to get it out of the store. It also claimed to have been written by Hogwarts alumni from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. Harry bought it mostly on a whim; one professor couldn't be that bad could he?
Finally, Harry arrived at Ollivander's wand shop. Mr. Ollivander himself was a strange man. In a bizarre, clinical sort of way Harry felt closer to his parents after finding out what their wands were made of. As Harry tried different wands, Mr. Ollivander actually wound up having a very deep conversation with him about Monster Island, and he was particularly intrigued by Mothra and Manda, the two who claimed to be old enough to remember magic being common.
"I wonder, Mr. Potter, if I might ask you to get a scale or a hair from from them? If they are indeed ancient magical creatures, they would have remarkable properties as wand cores."
"I don't know Mr. Ollivander. I can ask them, but even though they're monsters they have minds of their own and might refuse."
"Of course, of course, I merely wondered. A great deal of wandlore was lost when we wizards had to hide ourselves, and I suppose I thought for a moment that these creatures resembled those of our myths, but back to the matter at hand… I wonder…"
The moment the stick touched his hand, Harry knew this was the one. Blue sparks and rings leapt from the tip as he waved it around.
"Holly, eleven inches, with a phoenix feather core. An unusual combination, quite supple, but very curious that that wand should choose you."
At Harry's questioning look, the wand maker elaborated, "The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter, but I remember every wand I've sold. The phoenix that gave its feather for your wand gave one other… and that wand's brother gave you that scar."
Harry occasionally saw his reflection in the still waters of the lakes on Monster Island, but he'd never paid much attention to his scar. It had never quite sunk in that he'd received it when his parents were murdered… but that did not change the fact that his wand was now his wand.
"I think we can expect great things from you Mr. Potter. You-know-who did great things as well. Terrible, but great…"
Harry took his leave, not sure whether he liked Mr. Ollivander or not, and thus not sure whether or not he would pass along his request to Mothra and Manda, but it left his mind when he found Hagrid standing outside with a beautiful snowy owl.
"Happy birthday Harry! Figured that since I got to start making up for all the birthdays I missed, and an owl is as good a start as any."
Shortly thereafter Hagrid gave him a train ticket for platform nine and three-quarters, telling him to be there on September first. Then Hagrid gave him the shoe Portkey back to Monster Island, telling him that he could use it to go back to London with.
It was a joyous Harry who returned to Monster Island and told all of his surrogate family about what had happened. Minilla listened with rapt attention, and Godzilla occasionally grunted and nodded. Mothra had seemed slightly uneasy when he mentioned his wand's "brother" and Godzilla had growled. Even Jet Jaguar had stopped signing for a moment.
"Yeah, Mr. Ollivander was really strange for a moment after that, it was enough for me to decide not to pass on that – oops."
In his excitement, Harry had almost blurted Ollivander's request, which he'd decided not to fulfill.
"Pass what on Harry?" his aunts prompted.
Well, there was no leaving it out of the story now.
Chuckling nervously, Harry explained, "We somehow got to talking about Monster Island before I got my wand, and both Mothra and Manda came up in conversation. He asked if I could get a scale or a hair from either or both of you just to see what properties they might have in a wand."
There was a pause in the discussion as everyone turned to Mothra to see what she would make of the request. Mothra made a complex trilling sound and gently flapped her magnificent wings, causing a pair of hairs to land in front of Harry.
The Shobijin translated for Harry, who could normally tell what kaiju meant, but Mothra had just used "words" Harry had never heard before.
"Mothra says that it has been many lifetimes since anyone last made such a request. She says that it is up to you and Manda if you wish to discuss it with him, but you may give these hairs to Mr. Ollivander. You should perhaps advise him though that wands made with these will not harm the innocent."
Harry nodded solemnly. He still wasn't sure if he thought of Mothra as a goddess or simply as a very wise kaiju, but he treated everything she said with utmost respect.
He coughed a said, "Hagrid told me I wasn't allowed to perform magic outside of school, but he also told me that I'm technically not on an island where that rule can be enforced, so who wants to see me do magic?"
Minilla made a number of excited noises, and Harry cast a bunch of easy, pretty spells well into the evening, only taking a break to learn a chilling charm when he realized that his poor, still nameless owl was suffering from the island's heat.
After that, he felt oddly tired and decided to simply go to sleep, this time not in his hut at all, but beside the red water lake, where he could see his father and brother snuggling up for the night.
Author's Note: We're finally approaching first year. Are you excited? I am! I have so many ideas for the Hogwarts years and I can finally use them because all the plot I needed to go through to get there is almost over. I'm so ludicrously happy that I'm going to use an emoticon! :D
Before I forget, I know that some of you are wondering about the Snape book that popped up in the story, and might be caught on the hows, whys, and whens. My explanation for that is chaos theory. Just as the butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil may cause a tornado in Kansas, Jet Jaguar taking Harry to Monster Island set off a unpredictable, inherently nonsensical sequence of events that resulted in a group of Hogwarts graduates getting together and deciding to create and charm a book warning (non-Slytherin) students about Snape.