Diagon Alley
Max sat with Albus, Violet, the twins, Ruby and Lily outside Fortescue's ice-cream parlor. He was happily licking his cherry and chocolate ice-cream and holding his wand. Albus had also purchased his wand when Ollivander had finished with Max and they had then made their way to Gringotts and then made their purchases for school. They were waiting for their parents to return from the apothecary the Potter-Snape's owned before they went to the Weasley's joke shop Max had heard so much about.
Max's wand suddenly glowed in his hand. He looked up to see a boy about his age, with impossibly blue eyes and jet black hair. The boy stared at him, his gaze calculating and cold, he sneered when he noticed him looking back.
"What do you want Tosku?" said one of the twins with a scowl.
The boy, who apparently was called Tosku, sneered at the twin who had spoken and looked back at Max.
"Who's your new mudblood friend Albus?" he said, curling his lip in distaste.
"Shut your filthy mouth Tosku!" said both twins at once, leaping up and drawing their wands.
"Temper, temper." smirked Tosku. "A common trait in the Potter and Snape bloodlines I hear."
"So is kicking the arse of dark wizards." growled one of the twins.
"So piss off before you get hurt." snarled the other.
"Is there a problem Aspen?" asked a pug-faced woman, walking up behind him.
"No Mother," said Tosku, flashing Max another sneer, "just trying to be friendly."
"I wouldn't bother Aspen, dear." said the woman, with a disdainful look at the children. "The Potter's have nasty tempers, and it appears their choice of associates has still not improved." her eyes lingered on Max. "Come Aspen, let us seek out more appropriate company for our status."
She led Tosku away just as their parents returned. Harriet and Evan glared at her as she passed but no words were exchanged.
"Who was that?" asked Dudley.
"That was Pansy Parkinson, well Tosku now." said Harriet, with a frown, "and her son Aspen. She was in my year at school. Let's just say we never got on. She married a foreign wizard called Luftar Tosku, from a pureblood family in Bulgaria or somewhere. She was a spiteful cow at school, but there were all sorts of rumours about the new husband."
"Was he one of those Death Eaters you were talking about?" asked Dianne, looking worried.
"No link has ever been proven," said Evan, "but he was most likely sympathetic towards them. The pureblood line is less fashionable these days, but there are still those who follow it, if only in private."
"Everything alright kids?" Harriet asked.
They all nodded, none of them mentioned the strange name Aspen had called Max, so Max kept quiet too, planning to ask Albus later what it meant.
""Alright," Evan said, "I guess that means we have to go to that infernal joke shop before we leave?"
The children all cheered and Evan rolled his eyes theatrically as they headed up the street together.
"Don't pull that face," laughed Harriet, "you know you secretly love it in there."
"They have some useful items," Evan said, his expression carefully blank, "but most of it is puerile nonsense."
"That's why you laughed so much you got hiccups when you gave Ron the Gender-swap Ginger-snap last Christmas is it?" asked Harriet with a smirk.
"I don't recall that at all." said Evan, but he couldn't repress the smile at the memory of it.
"Aunt Ginny still giggles when you mention it." Ruby said with a grin.
They turned a corner and Max spotted the joke shop immediately. The shopfront was brightly lit and eye-watering colours and patterns swirled, posters advertising different products covered the windows. The sign above the shop proudly proclaimed 'The Famous, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes'.
The shop was heaving with adults and children and the twins soon disappeared with some friends from school. Max and his family followed Harriet to the back room, staring in amazement at the wondrous items on the shelves. In the back room a tall red-haired man stood, sorting through boxes, at a wooden bench.
"New products Ron?" said Harriet, and the tall man turned with a grin.
"Harriet, Evan," he said fondly, "and Al and the two little princesses. I take it the Slythertwins are off looking for mayhem, or making their own?"
"They've agreed to stay out of trouble this year," Harriet said, "we were shopping for Al and Max's school supplies."
"Max?" said Ron. "Oh yeah, your cousin's kid." he spotted Dudley, who was unsuccessfully trying to blend in with the wall. His face lit with an evil grin, "Hey Dudley, fancy a sweet?"
"No!" yelped Dudley turning pale.
"Ron!" snapped Harriet, cuffing him round the head. "Don't start. I just came back here to give you a message for Hermione. Can you tell her that Gardunk was intimidating Dudley and his family in the Leaky Cauldron today. I know she was dealing with the recent goblin unrest, but it may not be connected."
"I'll pass it on," nodded Ron, "nice wand kid." he said to Max, "just been to Ollivanders?" Max nodded.
"You will love Hogwarts," smiled Ron, "I really miss it sometimes. Just try to stay out of trouble. Well, as much as possible, there's no such thing as a quiet life in Hogwarts."
"Not for most of the Gryffindors anyway." smirked Evan.
"We better go find the twins," said Harriet, hugging Ron goodbye, "see you all for lunch at the weekend."
"Wouldn't miss it." Ron grinned.
They left the back room and Max was allowed to explore the shop and make some purchases. They found the twins empty handed and looking unconvincingly innocent outside the shop.
"No pranks boys?" asked Evan, suspiciously.
"No Dad," said one, "we promised we would stay out of trouble this year."
"We have no reason to buy pranks if we want to stay out of trouble." said the other.
If Max concentrated he could see a blueish outline tied around the back of one twin's shoulders, it looked to contain some packages. He assumed they had magically concealed their purchases in some way, but he was not about to give away their secret. He kept a carefully blank face as Harriet frowned at the twins, not believing their story in the slightest.
They walked together back towards the Leaky Cauldron. As they turned the corner they saw a small group of cloaked figures standing in a huddle in the mouth of an alleyway. Harriet reached one hand into her robe as the group edged away from the alley. They were hooded and their faces were covered, despite the warmth of the day. Two of the group ducked back down the alleyway and one crossed the street to another alleyway, surreptitiously glancing at Harriet as they did so. Evan's eyes flickered over the street, noting threats and escape routes. The group had spread out now, almost surrounding them, and Evan and Harriet drew their wands.
"Looks like trouble," Evan muttered, "two behind, one to the left and one ahead and to the right."
"I'll take the rear," Harriet nodded, herding the Dursley's and children towards the pub, "kids, stay together."
Other shoppers were now noticing the trouble brewing and were starting to move away hurriedly. The Dursley's looked terrified. Max was staring at his wand in his hand. It was pulsing with purple energy. A jet of red light flew towards them from the wand tip of one of the hooded men. Evan deflected it with a flick of his wand and then shot a spell of his own at the attacker. Two more jets of light flew towards them from behind and Harriet swiped her wand and the spells rebounded on the casters, causing them to dodge. Spells began to fly from multiple angles and the Dursley's and the children scrambled towards the pub, with other shoppers pushing and shoving in their hurry to escape.
"Call Magical Law Enforcement!" shouted Evan, as the crowd swept the children towards safety.
Evan and Harriet ducked and dodged and fired off hexes in what seemed to be an effortless display. The attackers threw curses thick and fast but they couldn't penetrate their defences. Max stopped to watch as the crowd flowed past him. There was a haze of colour building up around the battle and he could taste the magic in the air. The haze was dark and smoke-like around the hooded men and silver around Harriet and Evan in the centre. He watched in fascination as multi-coloured threads wove through the mist. His wand was glowing purple in his hand, sparks crackling up his body again. He stared in amazement at the wand until there was a tug at his elbow. Albus had come back for him.
"Max," he shouted, shaking him, "it's not safe, you have to move." Max looked into Albus's eyes and Albus gaped at him. "Your eyes are purple-"
There was a flash and a crack and a spell, rebounding off a window near Harriet, flew straight at them. The jet of green light was going to hit them and they had no time to dodge. Max threw himself on top of Albus and closed his eyes, ready for the pain.
Time seemed to slow. He could hear someone screaming and he could see a green glow through his closed eyelids. He felt a pulsing through his entire body, the wand was quivering in his hand. He held his breath as he felt the energy building inside him. There was a surge of energy down his right arm and purple light replaced the green through his eyelids. It grew brighter, until it hurt his eyes, and then turned white. There was a rushing sensation and a great blast of pressure and then time rushed back, bringing with it the sound of shattering glass.
He opened his eyes to see Harriet and Evan standing, unharmed if slightly ruffled, in the midst of a circle of destruction. Every shop window in the street was shattered. There were overturned baskets and stalls, papers and glass littered the street. The four hooded men lay motionless on the ground around them, wands in their hands but unmoving. Max lay over Albus, shielding his friends body with his. His wand was still grasped in his hand but the glow and the vibration had stopped. He looked at Evan and Harriet. They both stared at him with their mouths open, looks of utter astonishment on their faces.