The Umbra Occultist: Harry Potter
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Hi my beloved readers. This is a Harry Potter fic that I took the first chapter from another writer. The other writer doesn't log on often anymore so I haven't been able to reach him about it. I have, however, limited myself to the taking of only the first chapter since I don't want to be too much of a copycat. Toddles!
Please review so I'll know how you liked it.
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Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or other published works that this fic might have some similarities with. Give credit to where credit is due.
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Chapter 04: To Diagon Alley Once More
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Harry, Nico and Alex made their way out of the bank in their clothes despite knowing it would bring them attention from everyone. Thankfully Dinky knew the crest of the Di Angelo family and Kipsy knew the Potter's own like the back of his hand. Both boys had their family crest placed on their breasts before they even thought of exiting the building. The six quills had quickly finished writing the book in English and had even considered how they should word things.
Harry yawns widely happy that the three of them are officially family of sorts. Nico wasn't really related but they got along like brothers according to Griphook. Alex is now named as Harry's heir should he suddenly die and all and Nico is after him. Both boys made their will and Nico made his where all of his money would go to two camps while the 'junk' will go to the Hecate Cabin at Camp Halfblood. Harry pulls out the list for his shopping and read it again starting with the publisher's office.
Obscurus Books - Located at 18a Diagon Alley, Obscurus is a Wizarding book publisher. Its range of titles includes the popular Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. This is a very good publishing office. Their books are more well known and if you publish here it will become world famous.
Harry looks around the area they are in and is very happy to find the store right across from the bank. Walking over to the office he opens the door and steps inside. A woman is manning the desk and looks up before her eyes widen in surprise. She smiles kindly at them as she welcomes them, "Hello boys, is there anything that I can get for you?" Harry shakes his head before asking a question of his own.
"No madam. I came to try to publish a book on Meditation. I wanted to know if this office would publish my research on finding my magic core. I can show you a few examples of what I can do wandlessly if you wish." The lady raises an eyebrow skeptically before folding her hands together and staring at him for a moment.
Before she could comment Nico sighs dramatically before trying to pull Harry out. "Sorry Harry. It looks like they don't want to publish a book by the last of the Potter Family."Harry sighs as if sad and starts to turn before the lady jumps up and gives him a quickly reply.
"Of course we do, we just need proof that the book is authentic. Is there any way that we can have a legilimens come in to prove it?" Harry smiles brightly as he nods eagerly. The woman stands and motions for them to follow her to another room. Its walls are a creamy peach color and there is a round desk in the center with at least five chairs around it. In the corner of the room lay a snack table and both boys' stomachs growl loudly. Looking over the room some more they find a wooden filing cabinet with papers in them.
"Can we eat? We were so eager to get here this morning that we prettied up and forgot to eat." Nico says smartly. The woman nods and quickly walks over to the hidden door and pulls out two dinner plates with prepared food.
"This would be better. I always have lunch prepared for the entire week in a stasis spell to keep it warm and edible. I hope that the two of you enjoy it, I cooked it myself." Harry smiles to her as the sets the two plates in front of them. Harry nods to her as they look around the room. Thankfully there is a small blazer with a lit fire in the corner of the room. Walking over to the snack table to get something for offering Harry chooses his favorite, Chicken Salad. Though it was a casserole and he had ever had it like that he scoops a hefty portion onto a plate and gives a quick prayer as he approaches the fire.
Hades, I thank you for what you can do for me. I truly appreciate it. I... pray that you have a wonderful blessed day. Amen. Pouring the entire serving into the blazer the food vanishes before it could be consumed by the flames. Walking back over to the food he begins eating and is half way through the plate when he feels full. Setting the plate aside he turns as the door opens again.
A very perplexed man walks into the room and offers his hand. "Good Evening, Heir Potter. I must say that I never expected such an extravagant entry to the Wizarding World. Aileen told me that you have a book that you want published. Could you give me a few examples of what you can do and a small showing?" Harry smiles at him genuinely. Turning toward the center of the table where a few quills sat in a glass he points at them.
"Through my research I discovered that everything in existence has both a mind and a soul. By reaching my magic out to the souls of these quills and other objects I can ask them for information or to complete tasks. If I needed a letter written in Italian all I would need is a quill that has been used to write many Italian phrases over the years. Do you have a quill that you use in a particular language?" Harry looks at the manager who nods as he pulls out a blue quill. Placing it on the table he motions for Harry to show him.
Closing his eyes he reaches out to the quill and asks, Hello, could you write a phrase in another language then English? I would appreciate it very much. The quill sends him an affirmative and Harry opens his eyes to see it writing something onto the page that lay nearby. They it lay down next to the parchment and went still again. The man scoots the paper closer and he laughs.
"This is amazing! This is my favorite French phrase and it is written in my own handwriting! I must say that I am highly impressed, Heir Potter. What you have achieved is a great undertaking in history and it should be published. The contents of such a book would be priceless if it got out to the public yet here we are about to make copies of it. Let's discuss how many people on average you wish to have a copy of this book." Harry nods to him as he pulls a new sheet of parchment close. Picking up a quill he carefully begins writing.
"I know that out of the families in Britain that there are normally three family members to a family. Therefore I want at least two out of three people worldwide to be able to get a copy. This research is very valuable and has been checked for grammar by five different people but I made sure that they allowed me to correct all the problems. I want my work to stay my work. Besides that I want it to be affordable. I also want it to be where for every fifteen books sold that four more are given away for free. If need be have people enter to be drawn out of a hat to win them as prizes. If need be I'll do a meet and greet with fans to sign a few but the store for that should be Flourish and Blotts." Harry begins scribbling it all down before signing and giving the quill a mental plea for help. It jumps out of his hand and begins writing what he had said rather easily.
After it was done in much neater handwriting Harry continues. "Besides that I want to give credit to a few people such as my Patron God, Hades. That is all I need right now." Looking up at the man he sees a wide grin as he nods.
"If that is so I suggest making each book be only five galleons. That is rather cheap for such an astonishing way of using magic being discovered and it would put it at a good amount for the poorer people to buy. The purebloods will be willing to buy the book if only to figure out a little about you and so would many fans. I'll also put in a note saying that you use it to allow objects to use your magic as their own so you don't get into trouble with the law." Harry smiles at him as he nods to him. Handing him the manuscript to the man the three of the boys stand up to leave. Waving at him Harry allows both Nico and Alex to follow him out of the building with Dinky and Kipsy trailing behind them. Looking at the shopping list again harry pauses outside the door.
Rosa Lee Teabag - A teashop located in Diagon Alley. Tea is something that is very relaxing. Buy a few different types to see which ones you like and if you don't like the rest then I would donate them to a charity event or something. Many people would be very happy to have free packages of Rosa Lee teabags. The teabags, when bought for at home, are very expensive.
Harry looks next to Obscurus Books and find Rosa Lee just like he expected to. Walking over to and inside of the store he finds several people enjoying tea as they lounge around. Walking up to the counter Harry sees that they have the different tea bags displayed behind a glass panel. Looking at them he sees several that interest him.
A woman walks over until she is across from him while behind the counter. "Hello boys, is there any specific type of tea that you would like? I can give you samples." Harry looks up at her with a sincere smile.
"I am afraid to try them. First I would like to know who among the people here your regulars are. I believe their input would be helpful." The woman turns toward the corner of the tea shop and whistles sharply causing a man to walk over to them.
"Gary Newk! This young man wants you opinion on a few of the teas. Tell him the truth as you see it." She walks away to stop herself from eavesdropping. The man turns to look at Harry with distaste. He looks both Harry and Nico up and down. Both times that his eyes met the goblin ring he stiffens.
The man motions at the teas in one section of the display. "These are probably the best for kids. It keeps them mostly calm and helps with different things like nutrition. Besides that they are very good and sweet. If you would rather have things to just plainly relax and be happy these would do better. These three are high energy boosters. I doubt you need those. I find that all of them are very well blended when considering their uses and their tastes." Harry nods and smiles gratefully at the man who happily helped him.
"Thank you, do you know if there is any way to dilute the properties somewhat while retaining the flavor?" the man looks at him in surprise before shrugging at him. Putting his arms across his chest he pinches the bridge of his nose.
"I wouldn't really know. But I am sure that Sally, the owner, would be able to tell you. Maybe it is something as simple as adding more tea leaves and more water." Harry nods and waves at Sally to get her attention. She walks back over and smiles at them. Harry points out the relaxing and the children's teabags.
"I also would like the energy tea if you could add a few tealeaves and a little less of the other herbs. I think that will dilute the properties somewhat. Am I correct?" The lady smiles as she nods to him. Harry turns to the man who had helped him and points at the case in general. "Pick a few out; I'll pay since you helped me out." The man obeys him as he points at three particular teas, the energy drink teas. The woman picks out three of each and reaches under the counter before pulling out some herbs and beginning to make some new packets.
After a few minutes of grinding and mixing she pours it into three new teabags and seals their edges with magic. Handing them to Harry she gives him the running total. "That will be 90 Galleons." She gives him a smile as he hands her a sack full of galleons. It thankfully has the correct amount of change. The lady waves at them as they leave without the man. Pulling out the shopping list he looks at it again.
Scribbulus Writing Instruments - This is a shop that sells ink and presumably other stationary items such as quills and parchment. Buy a huge box of the regular parchment before buying a few two-way notebooks, a dozen or so three subject notebooks, a few quills of different types. And if you see any interesting Art books get them. Things like sketch books are highly valuable in Gringotts. Few people have paper to draw upon freely without wasting it in here.
Looking next door Harry walks over to it since it says that it is the Scribbulus shop. Opening the door the two for them step inside and look around. Seeing a whole wall dedicated to drawing he picks out five of each 'how to draw' book and them goes to the sketch books and begins getting as many as he could. Nico helps him grab a few dozen more before they walk over to the counter where two clerks are talking.
"Excuse me, we need help." The two of them look at the huge pile of books and help move them onto the counter. "We also need about a dozen two way notebooks, a crate of regular parchment, at least a thick pile of five different decorative parchments, and all of your sketch books in stock." The two clerks look at the already huge pile of sketch books before shrugging it off.
The male clerk smiles at the kindly, "We have art supplies if you would like them as well. Do you want all of them too?" Harry pauses before shrugging at him.
Nico speaks up for him, "Get one pack of each type of art supplies for each sketchbook we get. If you are too lazy to count then Harry can ask them to use his magic to pair up." The two clerks sigh in relief at the new option and Harry slaps himself. Picking up the art books he spreads his magic out and asks the art supplies to come along with the Sketchbooks while pairing up together. Instantly hundreds of objects fly over to the counter and things match up before art supplies fly back to their place.
Looking at the new heap on the counter Harry asks the supplies to sort themselves by type before separating into twenty of each per pile. The newly sorted piles begin shifting and about ten piles stay on the counter while about ten more get on the floor. Looking at the clerks he smiles at them. "I asked them to go into piles of twenty of each item. Thankfully this is going to be just about right for me. I'm getting these to give to charity. Can I ask for a copy of the order catalog that your boss orders these out of?" The two clerks turn their attention to some foot tapping behind Harry before Harry, Nico and Alex do the same.
A man with brilliant blonde hair in a ponytail at the base of his head gives the clerks a reprimanding frown. "What have I told you guys about summoning things from the back of the store?" Harry gives him a sheepish look as he clears his throat. The man looks at him with a faint perplexed look.
"That was me; I sent my magic into the objects of the store and asked these to come to me. I would also like a copy of your order catalog if at all possible. I plan on giving these to charity and I might have to have more later." The man's eyes brighten at the kind gesture before walking around and reaching under the desk. Six catalogs are taken out before the one on top is placed back under. The man gives the older catalogs to Harry with a wink.
"I love helping people out when I can. I'll sell everything that you are buying for the price the newest catalog gives for each item. It looks like there is twenty of each in each pile on this counter. Everything was about one galleon and you have five types of things in each pile. So twenty times five galleons would be a good price for one pile. But how many piles are there?" Harry turns to the piles and begins counting before he realized that one pile has his art books in it only though but there is five of about twelve books in that bigger pile.
"There are twenty five books." Nico says out loud. The others nod before Harry begins to calculate the price. Twenty times five is one hundred. One hundred times two is two hundred. And two hundred times twenty five is 25,000 galleons not including the drawing books. It is very expensive indeed.
"Tell you what, since it is for charity I'll sell it all for 12,000 gallons which is just under half of the total pricing. How does that sound?" Harry nods to him before Nico clears his throat. They look at Nico who is staring at the manager with a gaze full of respect.
"Sir, we appreciate the offer but the only reason we are buying the art supplies is not only for charity but most of them are going to the goblins. In Gringotts there are a few who like to create art but they cannot do so since it is hard for goblins to buy sketchbooks due to the increased price. We will pay the full price." The man sighs before nodding to them. He writes a note before giving it to Harry. Looking down at the price he is inwardly relieved. The new price is just 28,000 galleons. Thankfully it wasn't as high as it could be. Reaching into his magic money pouch he feels the huge sack fly into his hand and he pulls it out and hands it to the manager. He counts the money in there with his spell and nods happily. Pulling out a cloth bag he uses magic to enlarge the inside before shrinking the books and supplies.
Harry slaps himself. "I also need at least twenty two way notebook pairs and Nico can use about twenty for himself too. And a few quills, five packages of decorative parchment, and a whole crate of plain parchment." The man waves his hand summoning everything before scrutinizing the goods.
Looking at Harry with knowledge in his eyes he tells the two of them, "There is bargain going on today. It makes a set of Parchment, five inkpot and three quills be about 5 galleons, which is twenty percent of the full price. There are five of the parchment packets but if you wish we can count each two way as two of the bargains. You will get plenty of ink and quills though." Harry begins counting on his fingers. Forty of the two way, five of the decorative and he needed ten three subject notebooks. That would be fifty five times five. The price will be 275 galleons.
"Add ten three subject notebooks and it is 275." The man nods as he summons ten of them and begins putting them inside the sack as he shrinks them. Harry pulls out a sack for the right amount and the man quickly scans it. Happy that he tricked them into paying less he transfers the money into his box. The three of them walk out of the store and look at the shopping list together.
Second-Hand Bookshop - This is a shop that sells second-hand books. This shop also has a lesser sorting area. However, if you want the restricted books you are going to have to speak with the manager and prove that you are responsible enough not to miss use them. If you prove to him that you are responsible and such then he will be more willing to barter for the books. He loves rare books and if you offer to trade a few copies of your family books for the mistreated books he will happily oblige.
Harry grins at the thought of a challenge and walks over to the next store that is the second hand shop. Entering the door Harry turns to his two house elves who straighten at having his attention. "Dinky, Kipsy, I have a job for you two. I want you to look through here for books that you know are not in the potter library. It doesn't matter if they are rare as long as we don't yet have them." The two elves salute him before they begin looking over the titles rapidly flitting from place to place.
Looking around himself he sees the counter and walks over to it and smiles at the older man behind the counter. He has a partially bald head and looks about ready to topple over. "Sir, could I speak to the manager about buying from his 'restricted section' if possible?" The man looks down as him before pulling a cup with a string down from a shelf.
Speaking into the cup he says, "There is someone wanting a look at the bad books." Harry hears a murmuring from the cup as the man places it against his ear before he nods and speaks into it again. "Yes sir, I will tell them." He lets go of the cup causing it to fly back to its spot as he turns to the three of them.
"Manager Ricky says that he will be with you in a moment. Please feel free to browse if you wish to." Harry nods as he glances around. He sees a shelf full of miniature book shelves and briefly wonders about them.
"Are those shrunken bookshelves?" The man gives him a curt reply.
"Of course they are. We can't just have shelves to sell lying around the store. We can sell them to you if you have enough money." Harry shakes his head in a negative as a man walks into view from behind the last shelf they can see. He strides up to the two of them with a frown before offering his hand.
"Are you Manager Ricky?" Alex asks politely from where he hovers over Harry's shoulder.
Ricky smiles at him as he nods to him. "I am. I assume that the three of you are here for your father? What books is he hoping for?" Harry smiles at him as he begins leading them toward the back.
"I'm not really for sure. I was hoping to buy books for me. I'd like to become an Animagus or at least figure out how before I ask my parents. Besides that I need to buy a few potions books for study. I guess anything that is useful but simple is good too. Oh, and I have the innate Ability to travel through shadows so something on shadow magic might help me stop traveling to China at random. That was highly embarrassing when I did that. Thankfully I had some floo powder on me at the time or I would have been in deep trouble." The ma looks at him with a new light. Then he glances at Nico.
"What about you? What do you want to study?" Nico shrugs before telling him the truth.
"I can't read. I have something that is called Dyslexia which makes the letters move around a lot in my vision. But I can read Ancient Greek if you got a book in that language." The man frowns as he ponders it before shrugging at him. As they enter the back the two elves appear next to them with several books hovering in heaps follow the two around. "We want these books too. We are adding to our library and want it to be a bit wider on the subjects. Thankfully Dinky can read for me." He pats Dinky's head affectionately earning a bright blush from the tiny elf. Ricky nods to them as he smiles at Dinky.
"That makes sense. Is that all you are hoping for?" Harry shakes his head at him as the other two nods.
"I want a few books for Alex; he is a Deluxe Athena Edition of a shrunken head. He is like family and I always try to make him happy. I doubt that I could do anything he would study though, I'd be scared to. He knows a boatload of stuff that some people do not think about so he might have an idea for an experimental potion that I might want to avoid. No offense but I might bump into something and make it explode." Harry glances at Alex at the last second and Alex perks up considerably. Alex pauses to think before asking something.
"Could I get a few books on the language of Ancient Greek? James Here managed to make me a faux magic core and I can use it to levitate books to translate for Nico in my free time. But I would also like some books on Potions, Alchemy, cryptology, Herbology, Medical Magic, Battle Magic, and Divining." Harry whistles sharply at him. As he grins wider he sees that Alex is embarrassed at the attention that he gets.
Harry looks at the man but Nico beats him to the punch. "Add any books on subjects related to those Alex said. He might be able to use them for reference." The man nods knowing it would be wise to have reference books before Harry snaps his fingers.
"Can we get as many books on both the theory and the art of Ancient Runes and every other Rune you have a book about? But I need mostly Theory so I can understand the basics least I blow myself up. I am not suicidal in my opinion." Harry shudders lightly as he imagines himself blown up; it doesn't look pretty at all. Hearing a belly laugh from Ricky he looks at him to see a sincere grin.
"I suppose from the severe shudders the five of you made that you will be extra careful. I will provide you with the books if you can provide me with a few copies of books in your own library. Or a house elf could be payment. William up front is getting a little old and needs a little help. I'll make sure that any elf I get is treated properly in MY mind." Harry grins as he turns toward Dinky and kneels in front of him. Patting his head lovingly he sees that he is paying attention to him.
"Dinky, I remember that you said that you know a few free elves needing masters. Can you go get two of them and ask them if they can meet with us right now?" Dinky nods eagerly before he pops away silently. Harry turns to Ricky and smiles at him. Ricky motions for them to enter through a door behind him and they enter to find dozens of books in the room piling nearly to the ceiling. They are all sorted by language so Nico quickly strides over to those which are written in Ancient Greek and Greek in general.
Harry waits for Dinky as Alex floats around shakily. Touching Alex's head he pours a little magic into his core earning a grateful smile. Alex continues browsing through the books as Nico picks out a few books for himself. Harry hears three loud pops and turns around to find Dinky and two others who look hopeful.
Harry kneels next to them and motions for them to come closer. He pours some magic into them to strengthen them and they visibly change some. Both of them have healthier looking skin and brighter eyes. Harry motions toward Ricky. "This is Ricky. He needs some help and he wanted the two of you if you are willing to help him out here in the shop. It is up to you if you go or stay." Harry uses his soothing voice as he tells them since he wants them to feel welcome. Both of them walk over to Ricky and gently grasp his arm.
The three of them glow as they bond and Harry smiles at the two elves. They now look completely fine other than the old raggedy pillowcases. "Thank you, young man. I truly appreciate the fact that you were able to get these two new friends for me." Harry nods as he sees that Ricky already adores them.
"I'll call it even if we do a switch-a-roo of sorts. I don't like seeing my elves in rags and I doubt you do either. I'll buy yours Uniforms if you buy mine Uniforms." Ricky brightens some more as he nods. He pulls about a dozen galleons out Ricky hands them to the two elves.
"Go buy clothes that fit you a little loosely yet comfortably from Madam Malkin. These will go to the two elves of this young man's so don't put them on quite yet." The two elves nod eagerly before they pop away. Harry turns to the two behind him as Ricky speaks up again. "You could give them an allowance to help pay for the stuff they need like uniforms. That would make it come from their own money and they wouldn't be free that way.
Harry pauses as he nods to Ricky with a wide grin. Turning to his two elves he reaches into his sack and pulls out two bags with twenty galleons each. "This is your allowance for this month. I want you to spend at least five galleons on a uniform this time. Besides that you can buy anything you want. If you don't know what to buy get some potions books and I will allow you to brew potions during your free time. Okay?" The two of them nod and Harry allows them to vanish. Turning to Ricky he realizes that he caused a dilemma. The two elves belonging to Ricky pop back with a small outfit for each of them. They try to hand the change to Ricky.
"Sorry guys, we lied. That money is part of your monthly allowance. You can spend it on things that you like or things to do to get more money. Understand?" The two elves nod solemnly before they snap their fingers switching the uniform with their pillowcases. Looking each other over the two of slowly begins grinning widely before they both hug Ricky.
Harry spreads his magic out and asks all of the books on Potions, Alchemy, Battle Magic, Cryptology, Divining, Herbology, Potions, Medical Magic, and Shadow Magic to fly to him. About thirty books fly over to him and hover near him happily. Harry maneuvers through the room adding different books he sees as interesting to the pile and soon he alone has about forty books. Alex seems to notice that he got all the books detailing things that he wanted so he follows Harry around while waiting for Nico to finish.
"I am done. Let's go." Nico says from beside him. Harry helps pile the books together and looks at his elves. They instantly begin shrinking the books and fitting them into the bag. Harry grins as he exits the back and goes over to the counter to pay for the rest of the books from out front. It costs just about 30 galleons for everything. Walking out of the store he looks at the next destination on the shopping list.
Slug & Jiggers Apothecary - This is where students buy their potion ingredients for Hogwarts. If you want to learn to brew early this is the place to go to. Now here generally everything stinks badly. If you don't want to be looked down upon refrain from gagging or wrinkling your nose. Also, barter for more in packages at a lower price. If you think that you will have too many elves buy big bulk for them to brew potions during their free time.
Harry grins at the thought knowing it was part of something he plans. Walking over to the next shop he sees that it is the shop he is looking for. Walking inside he barely refrains from making a reaction. Nico just twitches from beside him and Alex hums in delight for some reason. Harry walks up to the counter and clears his throat. The man behind the desk starts as he looks around. He relaxes when he sees Harry before he grins at him. "What can I do for you?"
Harry looks at the man with respect in his eyes. "I wanted to buy out your stock for the day. How much would you want for everything you have in storage?" The man's eyes twinkle brightly at him as he gives him an evil grin. Looking around he ponders his answer before humming softly.
"I believe that I am willing to give them to you for the very low price of 10,000 galleons. That is just the things in the front here that is waiting on the shelves. I have to keep the stuff in the back but I can also show you to our rarer selection if you wish." Harry frowns as he looks around. Surely enough with everything being overstocked in the main room it would be about that price in total. Nodding to the shopkeeper he grins softly.
"Are you sure that you want that little for all this? Just because it is going to be used to help researchers discover a few new potions for Saint Mungo's doesn't mean that I don't have the money to pay for everything. I'd be happy to pay 20,000 instead." The man grins some before shaking his head at him. He glances behind harry at someone and grins widely.
"Is this kid your apprentice? He just asked to clear out my entire stock for the price of 70,000 galleons. He seems highly interested in learning to brew Potions, Professor Sev." Harry turns to face the man behind him who is quirking an eyebrow at him. Seeing this as an ample opportunity Harry smiles brightly remembering him being mentioned by his Mother in her journal.
"Sev? As in the Master Potioneer Severus Tobias Snape?" Harry's curiosity pops its head as the man sneers at him rudely.
"I am but I don't have time for worthless runts like you. I have to stock my potions cabinet for a demonstration class of the Veritaserum. Why do you ask?" Harry looks around cautiously before realizing that only the shopkeeper was there.
Taking a very deep breath Harry starts out slowly. "According to my parents' Diaries they both knew you. My mother adored you for the longest of time until my father caused the friendship that the two of you had to end. I truly want to apologize for what my father did to you. I plan on trying to find what he stole from everyone and returning it. I know that you won't believe me if I told you who they were so Just let me buy whatever you plan on getting." Harry hangs his head in obvious shame before the man hisses a name.
"Potter" Harry flinches visibly causing Nico to stride over to him. He gives Severus a Death Glare and the man slowly relaxes before he curtly nods. "Dumbledore told me that you are living in a very privileged house hold. I wish to know which one you live at and to visit you some time." Harry jerks his head up bewilderment on his face.
"I'm sorry but Dumbledore isn't my guardian anymore. I am about to schedule an appointment with the Ministry to start filing charges for abuse and neglect." Harry lifts the sleeve of his robes all the way to his shoulder revealing nasty scars riddling his upper arm. Snape's eyes scan his small frame before sighing deeply. He reaches into his pouch and pulls out a few dozen potions before placing them into a nearby crate and piling it full of more of the same potions.
"Take one of these with each meal to help recover from malnutrition. If you wish I can attempt to try to put up with you as a student. I will only be available on the weekends from about 5 o'clock on the evening of Friday to about 8 o'clock on Sunday night. I do hope that you at least are able to review the necessary Potions Prep required to learn the subject. I will need your floo address though." Harry looks around and finds both Dinky and Kipsy in their new uniforms nearby.
Motioning for the two of them to come closer he instructs Kipsy to do one thing. "Kipsy please tell Snape the floo address for Potter Manor." Kipsy frowns as he tilts his head.
"But Master Currently lives at Potter Estate. Does Master wish for him to know the address to the Estate?" Harry nods as he smiles brightly at Kipsy. Patting his head affectionately the elf turns to Snape as he translocates a sheet of parchment, an inkpot and a quill. Writing down a few words he hands the address to Snape and waves happily before Snape turns to the man behind the counter.
"Get what you need before he plunders my store. After that he gets everything including what you got for 20,000 galleons." Snape nods as he pulls out and waves his wand. Several potions ingredients fly into his pouch in a different pocket before they stop flying. Harry then uses his magic to make everything fly into a new cloth bag.
Once everything was in he reaches into his money pouch and pulls out a small bag and gives it to the shopkeeper. He waves his wand at the sack and grins at the large sum of money. Waving at the four of them and the two elves the man pulls out his wand as he opens the door behind the counter and flicks his wand. Several things begin flying onto the shelves. Harry exits the building with Snape, Nico, and Alex behind him. Looking down at his list he hums thoughtfully.
Sugarplum's Sweets Shop - A shop that sells confections. A confection is like a candy. I suggest buying a few candies of different types to try out. You look like you would like something with a bittersweet taste so ask the shopkeeper for such candies.
Harry shrugs before looking next door to find the shop again and walking over to it. Snape follows closely behind the three of them as they enter the shop. Nico's eyes light up in delight as he glances around at everything. Harry figures it has to do with the old styles of the candies. Walking up to the counter he watches as Nico begins rushing around with a clerk following him. He kept picking out candies and soon he had ten bags full of candy. Harry sweatdrops at the large amount of candy he is asking for.
"Shouldn't we go easy on the candy?" Harry asks reasonably. Nico turns to him and clutches his bags protectively while leveling him a menacing glare. Raising his hands he surrenders, "Okay, you can get the candy. But you will owe me since I am paying for them." Nico nods happily at him and with his candy in his arms. Harry walks over to the counter with Nico beside him and pays 29 galleons for everything. Walking out the shop with a slightly disturbed Snape, an excited Nico, and a wary Alex Harry looks at his list again.
The Daily Prophet's main office - This is presumably where the Daily Prophet newspapers are printed. If you really want to grate everybody's nerves give an interview about your life thus far. Tell them about the abuse and the entire world will give you anything you want if you behave correctly. But don't overdo the 'I am afraid of Dumbles' act or they will know the truth. In fact hire Rita Skeeter to do your interview if she has time. Make a contract with her and she will be less likely to write bad things about you without at least letting you prepare for the 'downfall' from grace.
Harry nods knowing that it would be wise to do such. Looking next door he sees the office and strides over to it. Walking inside causes the doorbell to ring and a woman is there glaring at a smaller girl who looks highly frightened of her and her menacing hatred. "Yo, I need to speak with Rita Skeeter?" The older woman slips into a facade and smiles sweetly at the group of them.
"I am Skeeter. I have a few appointments so it better be good." She sounds like a snob to Harry and Nico is instantly miffed by her actions and Snape just looks around depressed slightly.
"It is good; the heirs to both the Di Angelo and the Potter fortunes have come to speak with you." The woman looks at Harry and Nico closely before she gives them a predatory grin.
"This is most certainly worth holding a few people up. Let's go to my office now. I'll be happy to discuss the interviews within that room." Harry begins following her with Nico and Snape trailing behind him. Alex is now perched on his shoulder and comes along for the ride. Upon entering the office Harry notes that it is purely professional in its decoration and the like pieces. Sitting down across from Rita Skeeter as she pulls out a pen Harry asks it to wait before writing anything. It gives him an affirmative rather quickly.
"First of all I want a contract making you the Potter Columnist when it comes to Potter Related News. Start an article section called that if you wish. In return for making you my news specialist I want you to withhold from writing badly about me without either notifying me a month in advance or unless I give permission for such. Do we have a deal? I want an oath." Skeeter looks gleeful at the offer and extends her hand while looking pointedly at Snape.
Snape pulls out his wand and taps their clasped hands as Skeeter starts them off. "I, Rita Skeeter, swear upon my magic to write Potter Related News for Harry James Potter. I also swear to withhold from writing badly about Potter unless I warn him or have his permission to do so." A string of magic ties around their hands and Harry realizes that they are making unbreakable vows.
"I, Harry James Potter, swear to make Rita Skeeter the current leader of the Potter Reporters until the time that she wishes to retire. She is to approve all articles that are written by me among those who are the Potter Reporters who will be under her command as well as my own." Harry sees another string of magic wrap around their hands binding them to complete the tasks set by each other. Harry steps back and sits down on his side of the desk that she is sitting behind.
She looks at the quill as Harry tells it that it can write now. "Don't write that occurrence down." Rita orders the quill that nods eagerly as if agreeing with her. Turning to the two of them Rita looks Nico over as if studying him before turning back to Harry. "Let's start off with you, Mr. Potter."
/.-.-.-.-.\
Harry, Nico, Alex and Snape exited the building three hours later. Thankfully they have been able to control Rita's need to get too many juicy details but they had to pose together in a picture that she decided to take of the two of them. They are hungry though when they get out. Snape speaks up, "It would be best to visit the Leaky Cauldron for lunch." The other two who eat nod to him eagerly as they perk up and follow him.
Harry goes through the brick wall's opening and the three walk into the back way of the pub. A few people turn to look at the four of them but Harry goes over to a alcove and sits down with Snape across from him and Nico beside him. A few minutes later a waiter comes over to the three of them. The girl has dark brown eyes, an olive complexion, and wavy platinum blond hair worn long. She is a little short, somewhat thin, and is wearing some modest clothes. "What are you going to have today?"
She hands them a menu and the two boys look over it as Snape orders his own meal. "I'll have the vegetable soup with a grilled cheese sandwich and a glass of tea." The lady writes it down as Harry sees something that he really likes the sound of.
"I'll have the catfish dinner and a glass of milk." Harry looks at Nico who looks at the menu irritated before Harry remembers that he can't read. "They have a double cheeseburger?" Nico nods to him accepting the help. The lady writes their order as well. She then walks away from Snape's death glare.
Snape leans over the table and asks Nico, "Can you read?" Nico's skin flushes with embarrassment as he looks at him with a scowl.
"I have Dyslexia. To me the letters keep switching spots though I can read Italian some and Ancient Greek easily." Snape ponders the news before nodding curtly to him. Pulling out a sheet of parchment from inside his pouch he writes a few words and hands them to Harry.
"Use this spell to translate most things to Italian. I have some knowledge of the language and have used this spell to help me learn Italian. A simple 'Finite' will change the words back to their first language." Harry smiles brightly at Snape as he takes the paper.
Turning toward Nico Harry gives him an offer, "If you want we can tell the lady that the burger is to go and I'll pay for you to have something else. Besides I'm pretty sure that Dinky and Kipsy might like the burger if they are willing to try it." The two elves peer at Nico with hopeful puppy dog eyes as he smiles wearily at Harry. The interview had drained his energy highly.
"Very well, I'll ask the lady once she gets back." As soon as he said that the lady was beside them with their drinks and she smiles kindly at Nico waiting for him to speak. "Snape offered to translate the menu for me. Can we have the burger given to our house elves? I'd also like to see the menu again." The lady nods sweetly at him as she pulls out the menu and allows Snape to charm it. She hands it to Nico who looks over the menu carefully."I'll have the Fish Pie."
The lady writes his new order down and gives him his milk before walking back toward the bartender to give them the addition to their order. "I'll pay for everything, Potter, Angelo. I wouldn't want you to pay for my meal and you have already paid for my potions ingredients for me." Harry simply nods to him as he takes a sip of his milk. Nico glances around the room at the people obviously trying to spy on the six of them. The two elves didn't seem to notice for they were too busy glaring at a noble looking man striding over to them.
"Sev, who are these children? I've never seen them around here before." He looks both of them over from top to bottom as he slides into the seat beside Snape. Snape jabs him in the rib causing him to give him an annoyed glance.
"This boy over here is the lost Di Angelo heir and this is his best friend." The blond man looks Nico over carefully before he smirks at him.
"I didn't see it at first but he looks like Maria, is he her grandson?" Nico stiffens at the name before giving him a very scary death glare that made everyone nearby freeze as they look at him.
"Do not speak of her, she died before her time and I'm lucky that I was able to transport myself forward in time to avoid the lightning strike that killed her. Unfortunately my sister died as well that day but everything is fuzzy from the 1930's in my memories. I didn't even remember magic until I found Henry and he told me he thought I was a wizard. Thankfully he was able to get me out of that muggle orphanage." Everyone pauses to look at him in astonishment as Harry hugs him to calm his rage. He sighs as he straightens and lessens the death aura.
Nico pointedly begins ignoring the man as Snape glares at him. "Malfoy, you do not want to be on this kid's bad side. He knows Harry Potter and he can get him to march against you in the Wizengamot if he so wished." Malfoy as he is now named curtly nods before standing and walking over to his family and leaving quickly. Harry could have sworn that he seen a wet spot on his breeches but he wasn't for sure. A few of the nearby people shuffle away a little in their seats and go back to hushed whispers and speak about Nico rather quickly as if trying to guess who he was.
Second later the waiter comes back with their food and a burger cut directly in half for the two elves. They quickly take their food and quietly begin eating. Harry savors every bite until he realizes that the rest of their group is waiting for him of which he begins picking up his pace. Once he is done and the rest of them decide to leave they stand. Walking over towards the alley the two boys pause as they don't see Diagon anymore. Snape walks over to the brick wall and taps three stones causing the opening they walked through to appear. They step inside as Harry looks at his shopping list again.
Twilfitt and Tatting's - Twilfitt and Tatting's is a wizarding clothing shop located in Diagon Alley. Given that it is favored by elitist pure-blood witches it is an up market shop. Most of the other pureblood expect for you to go all out when meeting with them. They always try to impress each other and if you manage to impress them suitably then they will hassle you less.
Looking around they move down the street towards the shop while Snape leads the way. Harry reluctantly walks inside and the clerk quietly steps over to them meekly. "How can I help?" She gives them a weak smile as she inches away from Snape.
Before either of the two boys could speak Snape takes charge. "We need both of these boy measured and for them to have a full wardrobe created for them. They have recently began outgrowing their clothes and they also have worn some of their clothes down to being unacceptable. I want all of this sent to Spinner End where I will then send the boys their clothes. Understand?" The lady nods rather quickly as she motions for the two boys to follow after her. They soon arrive in front of a stool and are standing on top of it. The witches measure everything that they could think of before they shooed them out of the shop to continue their trip. Harry looks at the next thing on the shopping list.
Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment - A miscellaneous equipment shop. You are able to buy scales for measuring potions ingredients here. They also have a few more interesting things that you may need such as glass and crystal phials to store the potions for later.
Harry nods thinking that the Potter's Vault should have enough of the measuring stuff before deciding to get a few dozen sets of phials. Walking over to the shop they stride inside and Harry walks up to the wall displaying phials. Picking out the boxes with glass phials he begins piling them into Nico's arms to get as many as he could. Finally after having ten boxes in his own and Nico's arms they walk over to the counter.
The lady shrugs at the silly amount of Phials before she counts them and tells them the price. "That will be 60 galleons." Harry reaches into his vault pouch and pulls another sack out and hands it to her. She uses her magic to count the money and waves cheerfully at them as they exit the shop with the phials shrunken and plance in the cloth bag curtesy of Snape. Harry looks at the Shopping list again before frowning heavily. All of that could wait for another day, he is very tired.
Turning toward Snape Harry nods to him with respect, ""hat is all we have for today. If you don't mind we are on our way to our home to rest and to start our studies on ingredient preperations." Harry steps into Snape's shadow and both he and Nico are drawn into it before vanishing in Snape's eyes.
