Harry took the finished wand from Ollivander, and smiled at the description he gave. The wand was a beautiful white colour, with no blemishes. The wand had a mesmerizing carving of a maple leaf on the hilt, and smaller leaves that appeared to be falling down. Harry thanked the man, payed, and started to leave, when he noticed the looks on the Malfoy Matriarch's face. Her expression showed a mixture of shock and awe, but Harry wasn't sure what it was about. Harry looked at Quirrell, who looked deeply troubled, with a hint of curiosity. Harry thought about asking but decided he didn't really care why they looked so shocked. Harry turned around and walked out, expecting them to follow after snapping out of their stupor. Harry was right of course, and they had all caught up to him by the time he had reached Flourish and Blotts. The group walked into the shop and picked up the required school books. Harry looked around to find anything that he thought was interesting and he found quite a few; Grindlewald and Nazis: A Comprehensive Overview, An In-depth Look Into Wizarding History, Fighting With Fallacy: Separating The Truth From the Myths, Calligraphy: A Beginners Guide, Delving Into Dreams: What Do They Mean And How to Prevent Them, and Ministry Functions. Harry was getting whatever interested him, because the Moon's may have been able to teach him about the true uses of magic, but they couldn't teach him everything. Most of the things he learned from them, he learned because he asked. They seemed to have the policy of ask and you shall receive but they wouldn't do more than asked.
Harry ignored the looks he got from Draco for grabbing so much, and walked over to the counter, and waited impatiently for the shop keep to ring up his books. The man looked and the books Harry had gotten, and chuckled a bit looking up to say, "Ravenclaw in the making, eh?"
Harry smiled a bit and replied, "Well, one can only hope."
Harry handed the money he was asked for to the teller, and took the bag of books. Harry turned and walked over to another bookshelf to browse a bit more while waiting for Draco to finish getting his own books. When Draco had finished and gotten Harry's attention they left and went to the apothecary a few blocks down the street. Harry contemplated getting a silver plated caldron instead of the pewter one the list said to, but Draco said not to because it could ruin the potions they were instructed to make in class. Harry sighed and got the pewter caldron, much to Professor Quirrell's amusement. Harry grabbed the first year potions kit that were on the shelf in front of the door, the owners of the shop most likely wanting to hurry the uneducated first years through. Draco grabbed Harry's wrist and pulled him around with him while gathering extra ingredients placing some in Harry's arms as well. Harry smiled a bit, amused at his friends antics. They dumped their findings so far on the counter, and turned to find the scales and phials. Harry wandered about and found the phials, calling Draco over to him and handing him a set of the crystal phials. Harry and Draco walked around a bit more and found the brass scales and taking both up to the counter. The woman at the counter looked bored, and slightly annoyed with them for taking so long. They hurried out of the shop and moved on to the Magical Menagerie stopping to grab their telescopes on the way.
They entered the shop to a sudden blast of noise, that was somehow surprising to Harry. Harry hadn't heard anything from outside the door, so wasn't expecting it to be as loud as it was. Draco looked over and saw Harry's confusion, "Silencing charm," Draco remarked "they probably got a mountain of noise complaints in the early days of the shop."
Harry nodded and started looking around, wanting to find something to take with him, perhaps even find a constant in his ever shifting life. No matter how loathe he was to admit it, he wasn't very happy with the constant changes, and wished he had time to settle into something before it shifted. He was getting tired of constantly agonizing over when the next change would occur, but he didn't think it would any time soon, so he wanted one thing that wouldn't change, even if he himself changed. Harry was pulled out of his thoughts by something pulling on the leg of his trousers, and looked down to see a black paw batting at a loose string. Harry crouched down to look into the cage at the little ball of black fluff, and saw bright blue eyes staring back at him. He smiled softly and wiggled his fingers into the cage to pat the kitten inside. Draco came up beside him, and gave a soft "Awe" when he saw the kitten.
Harry unlatched the cage, and caught the kitten by its scruff when it tried to dart past him. He gathered it into a more comfortable position and brought it to the teller. The teenager at the counter smiled at the ball in Harry's arms and said, "That's Jareth, he's a quarter Kneazel and three quarters Maine coon. He'll be huge when he's full grown! There's cat food over there by the mice, it's the kind he's been eating since we weened him so I'm certain he'll eat it."
Harry went to where the teen had said to go, grabbed the food as well as treats and toys. Harry gave the teen the eleven galleons they had asked for, then went to find the Malfoys and Quirrell again. When he found them waiting just outside of the store, he saw that Draco had gotten a beautiful Eagle Owl. Harry smiled at them, and turned to Quirrell who had gone to get Harry a trunk while waiting. Quirrell took Harry's things and placed them into the newly acquired trunk and shrinking it, leaving Harry with his coarse books. Quirrell nodded to the Malfoys and said, "Well we must be going now, Harry here has to get back soon."
Narcissa stepped forward and squeezed Harry's shoulder with a sad smile, "I'll be speaking with Lucius as soon as we arrive back at the Manor."
"Thank you Lady Malfoy, I look forward to seeing you again."
...
Harry spent the time between his Diagon Alley trip and September first reading all of his course books as well as caring for the tree. The tree was steadily looking healthier than when he first arrived in the orphanage. Harry had contemplated reading the extra books he got over break, but he wanted to save something to read on the trips on the train both to the school and back. By the time Quirrell arrived, Harry was restless and tired of being in the orphanage, he was tired of the way the other orphans acted. They all seemed so defeated and desolate, it made Harry antsy. Quirrell knocked and the door opened to show a relieved Harry and an amused Mrs. Desp. Harry waved to Mrs. Desp and walked out to Quirrell's side. Quirrell huffed out a laugh, following the impatient preteen to the alleyway and grabbed his shoulder, apparating to Kings Cross Station. Quirrell led him over to the brick divider between platforms nine and ten, and pointed at the wall saying "All you have to do is run at the wall there, and you'll be on the platform, I'll follow right after you to unshrink your things."
Harry nodded, although he looked a bit unsure. He squared his shoulders and ran at the wall at a dead sprint, cringing when he expected to run into a solid wall. He opened his eyes and looked around him when he realized he was no longer where he had been, he dropped his books in slight shock; then tried to play it off as though he had just set them down in order to look for Quirrell who had suddenly shown up behind him. Quirrell had a slight smirk on his face though, so Harry could tell he knew. Quirrell handed Harry his kitten, which he had taken with him as was allergic, and re-sized Harry's trunk. Harry opened his trunk and put his bag of books within. Quirrell waved his wand again and suddenly Harry's trunk was inside of an empty compartment. Harry nodded his head to Quirrell and bid him farewell while climbing onto the train.
Harry walked down the hall, looking into the compartments as he passed in search of the one containing his trunk. When he found it he slid open the door and settled into a seat, making sure Jareth was comfortable in his lap, and decided to spend his time people watching to see if he could find Draco. Harry watched as families arrived, growing uncomfortable with all of the heart felt goodbyes he witnessed, but tried to shake it off and not display it. Harry never saw Draco arrive, but he did see the Weasleys. Harry didn't think he would like them from how loud they all seemed, let alone because they were rumored to follow Dumbledore. Harry sighed, and stepped up on to the seat, after moving Jareth to the seat next to him, and started digging into his trunk for a book once again. This will be a long journey, Harry thought to himself, settling back into his seat with Ministry Functions.
...
(WC:1603)