The air flew past Harry and Griphook as they barreled down into the depths of the earth. They flew past landing after landing, with no signs of slowing down or levelling off. After speaking to Sharpfang and purchasing the key insurance, Harry and Griphook had moved through the doors at the end of the main hall and met up with another goblin at the cart tracks. The goblin had handed a small golden key to Harry, along with a leather pouch, allowed them to get seated in the cart, then gave Harry a feral grin as he yanked a lever on the nearby wall. The rails they were on dropped to almost vertical, and sent them down into the vaults.
After several minutes, Harry and Griphook came to a screeching halt. They stepped out of the cart, and it immediately zoomed away down the tracks.
"Vault 687, Potter trust vault. Key, please," Griphook said as they walked towards the massive metal door. Harry passed the key to the goblin without a word, and watched Griphook step to the door, turn the key in the lock, and pull the door open. "Here you are. Take all the time you need," Griphook said, though his tone said the opposite.
"Thank you," Harry replied as he walked into the vault. The entire vault had piles of gold coins stacked up over six feet tall, with smaller stacks of silver and bronze coins at the base. "What is the conversion rate for Galleons?" he called out to Griphook.
"One Galleon is worth £25. There are 17 Sickles per Galleon, and 29 Knuts per Sickle," Griphook replied.
Grabbing the pouch he had been given, Harry began collecting Galleons and dropping them into the small bag. He noticed something odd after the first handful, though: the bag had gotten no heavier. In fact, it didn't show the bulge he would have expected from the coins within, either. He flipped the bag over, and the coins poured out into his palm. Apparently, the pouch did not get heavier as things were put in, and it also had more room inside than it appeared. Shrugging, and vowing to learn about this kind of magic when he had more time, he started filling the bag with handfuls of Galleons.
Deciding he had enough, he sealed the pouch and attached it to his belt. Turning, he glanced about the vault one more time, and walked to the exit. Griphook nodded, apparently pleased with his expediency, and pulled a lever hidden on the wall behind the door. Seconds later, another cart had zoomed into place just off the platform. The goblin sealed the doors, handed the key to Harry, and the pair sat down in the cart.
Upon exiting the bank, Harry knew his first stop would have to be a bookstore, so he could find out more about the world he was now inhabiting. It would not be wise to explore the world without knowing anything about it, even if he was absolutely fascinated by everything he could see. It appeared that the bookstore in Diagon Alley was called Flourish and Blotts. Harry made his way there and immediately went to the history section. His priority was recent history, as well as general information regarding customs and general life in the wizarding world.
His final selection of books included Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century, Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy, Hogwarts, A History, and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century, with an assortment of other books regarding law and culture in the wizarding world. He then decided he had enough to get by at the moment, and resolved to return to the Leaky Cauldron.
Harry removed his clothing from his rucksack and began placing it in the dresser in his room. Unpacking was well worth the effort, since he would be staying here for over a month. He had opted for the cheaper option of a bedroom and restroom to himself for two galleons per night, rather than the more expensive suite: there was no reason to waste money, even if he had more than enough. Placing his final shirt in the top drawer, he then moved to his recent purchases: the books. He had a lot to work through. Exploration of the alley could wait until tomorrow. It would be a perfect birthday present to himself.
Harry's eyes snapped open. Something was… different. He reached to his bedside table, and was barely able to make out the time on the clock: 11:50 p.m. He placed the clock back on the table and stared up at the ceiling. He could not shake the feeling, though. Harry began to focus, and soon he was able to sense his magic inside his body. He could feel his magic flowing through him, but it felt strained. No, that wasn't the right word… it was agitated. It was restless, flowing first to one arm, then the other, then up to his head. The usual smooth flow from core to body and back was disturbed, but he still could not find out why.
As the minutes ticked by, his magic became even more petulant, crackling under his skin in a manner akin to lightning. Harry was getting nervous. Nothing like this had ever happened before. Ever since discovering his power, Harry had kept his magic under complete control, never allowing it to do anything beyond his wishes. Now, even while actively attempting to reign it in, he was still unable to calm it down.
As soon as midnight struck, Harry's entire body began glowing with a dull green light. A film of energy appeared on his skin, growing in intensity by the second. Then, thin lines began to spread across the film, appearing almost like cracks expanding on a glass sheet. The intensity grew again, now blindingly bright, forcing Harry to close his eyes. Finally, with one more pulse of light, the film visibly shattered, rushing outwards incredibly quickly, enveloping the entire room in a soft green light. Then, just as fast, it slammed back into Harry with incredible force, knocking him out in the process.
The next morning, Harry awakened slowly. He groaned as he stretched, muscles aching as though he had run a marathon the previous day. He slowly sat up on the edge of his bed and rolled his shoulders, hearing his joints pop as he did so. Suddenly, as he remembered what had happened last night, he sat ramrod straight and began inspecting his magic. It felt mostly back to normal, but something still wasn't right.
He saw it. Something that had never happened before, something he had tried hundreds of times and inevitably met with failure. His magic was extending past his skin. Up until this point, he had never been able to move his magic outside of his body, as if it was stuck behind an invisible barrier. After much trial and error, he had simply assumed that a wizard's magic could only leave their body with a special conduit, like the wands his aunt had grudgingly described to him years ago. Now, he could clearly see that this was not the case.
Closing his eyes and focusing, he imagined a small flame floating above his palm, and directed his magic to make it reality. When he felt his magic begin to drain, he opened his eyes and nearly shouted with glee: a small, flickering ball of fire was floating above his palm. Grinning, he began to direct it all over his body, bouncing it to his shoulder, then to his knee, and then to his other palm. Excitement growing, he sent it flying towards the far wall to test his control.
The ball of fire never made it. After moving about a foot away from him, the flame sputtered and died. He felt his magic snap back into him almost painfully at the same instant. In confusion, Harry tried it again, moving the fire more slowly this time, and met with the same result, though with a less painful backlash. It seemed his magic did not perform well after leaving his body.
While slightly concerned, Harry decided not to worry too much about it. He still knew practically nothing about magic, and it seemed likely that this was, in fact, a normal occurrence. He moved to the dresser and picked up the list of required school supplies that had come with his Hogwarts acceptance letter. Now seemed as good a time as any to begin purchasing his supplies, and he could use this opportunity to explore the alley and learn more about his new world.
He already knew where his first stop would be. Wizards needed wands to perform complex magic, and so he needed to purchase one. He had seen a wand shop called Ollivander's the previous day, but he would check with Tom first to see if there were any other options: it had looked fairly beaten down. He grabbed his empty rucksack and moved towards the door of his room.