Chapter 5: Diagon Alley

Molly took the book from Harry.

"This chapter is called Diagon Alley" she said before starting.

"Not a dream mate" Ron whispered to his friend."

"What did you think it was?" Fred asked.

"A pigeon?" George added.

"The little bronze ones" Bill explained.

"Whatever could have made the happy balloon pop?" Fred asked.

"Yeah?" George added "You're going to Hogwarts."

"It's not like you knew about Filch, Mrs. Norris, and a few other nightmare inducing…um…phenomenons we can name but dare not" Fred added after catching a glimpse at the sneering Potions' master.

"Honestly Harry?" Hermione gasped. "Where'd you think they kept their money? In piggy-banks?"

"Piggy-banks?" the pure-bloods asked.

"It's a muggle device used to store loose change. The traditional shape is in the shape of a pig, but I have one in the shape of a cat."

"Amazing" Arthur said "How…"

Molly started back up having her question answered and that was good enough for her.

"Birthday cake for breakfast? Lucky!" Ron said.

"Harry. You're acting like a parrot." Ginny teased.

Harry playfully stuck his tongue out at her causing Sirius and Remus to share a smile. Despite Harry's childhood, the teen still knew how to have fun.

They made metal notes to do something for the Weasleys and Hermione for helping out Harry in this way.

"That is true" Dumbledore confirmed. "With Hagrid I can always count on the task being completed."

"Though kept secret is another story" McGonagall added.

"How?!" everyone but Dumbledore asked. Even the teachers were shocked.

"The best way I can describe it is like the muggle story of Peter Pan" Dumbledore said.

"OH!" Hermione and Harry exclaimed in understanding.

"I thought you weren't allowed near anything magical?" Hermione teased Harry.

"One year Dudley and I had separate classes and during a rainy recess, the teacher played that movie." Harry explained.

"We'll explain later" Hermione promised Ron.

"Don't encourage him!" Hermione yelled at Harry.

"C'mon Hermione. Don't tell me you didn't jump at any chance to see whoever told you that you were a witch perform some magic."

"I DID have to use ten different spells before I managed to convince her" McGonagall confirmed.

Charlie gave his older brother a glare as if just DARING that to be true.

Everyone growled at the mention of the paper.

"What else is new?" Sirius sighed.

"You're as bad as a four year old" Remus told Harry before adding after a pause. "Or Sirius on a sugar rush."

"OI!" Sirius exclaimed indignantly.

Charlie, Ron, Hermione, and Harry all shared a knowing smirk. Harry made a mental note to ask about Norbert once the dragon was introduced. But for now, he didn't want to deal with Mrs. Weasley chewing them out mid-chapter.

Snape gave McGonagall a look.

"I'm not a parent" she told him as if that was a loophole.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"You'll understand later" Harry said wondering if his godfather knew just how long he had been on the team.

"Don't say it" Tonks said to Moody who had opened his mouth to say something about trusting strangers.

Harry groaned and buried his face in his hands. It was the start of the everlasting nightmare that was his fame.

The Order members (minus Snape) chuckled at this. Snape meanwhile was watching Harry go as red as Lily's dark red hair.

There was no way that blush could have been staged no matter how Snape looked at it.

"Foul, evil git" Harry muttered to where only Ron could hear him.

"Faker" Ron whispered back.

Molly paused and silently read that quote again.

"I think that might have been me" she said. "I remember going to Diagon Alley at the end of July to get some potions supply and the Dragon liver had gone up."

"Small world" Harry mused.

"The first time really was magical" Hermione reminisced.

"HAGRID!" McGonagall exclaimed exasperated knowing full well that between Lily's blood and James' blood, Harry's interest would be peaked.

"And yet we still had some first year detectives" McGonagall said giving the trio a stern look.

Harry just shrugged innocently.

"It BETTER not have been a dragon" Charlie told his older brother.

"Why not?" Harry asked.

"Dragons deserve to be able to fly. In the bank, they'd be too cooped up."

Ron and Sirius slapped their hands over Hermione's and Remus' mouths to prevent them from answering.

"Just need James back and we have the two generations of trouble-makers" Flitwick whispered to McGonagall who nodded fondly.

Harry sighed as he looked at the floor to avoid any eye contact with the Weasleys. He always felt bad when he was reminded that he had more money than them, yet they needed it more than him. And they wouldn't accept any from him. He had to bribe the twins to take the winnings after all.

"If only that way of thinking stayed" McGonagall sighed.

"He left you there?" Molly gasped.

"I was okay…considering the circumstances" Harry said before adding the after thought as he recalled what he had done to pass the time.

"Your first friend?" Tonks asked.

Everyone who knew just who Harry had met there (Ron and Hermione) laughed. HARD.

Snape, recognizing the speech, rose his eyebrow. No wonder his godson had been so keen to tattle on Potter.

"Not YET anyways" Harry whispered to Ron as the twins exclaimed in mock horrification how Harry Potter not knowing about Quidditch was comparable to Voldemort taking over Hogwarts.

"EXCUSE ME?!" Tonks, one of the resident Hufflepuffs, exclaimed, hair turning an orangey-red with rage. Even Professor Sprout clinched her fists. She was going to show Draco Malfoy this upcoming year that Hufflepuffs are NOT to be taken lightly.

"That was nice of him" Remus mused as Molly nodded in agreement.

Harry and Ron shared a secret low-five. After all, this conversation had been ONE of the reasons Harry hadn't taken Malfoy's offer on the train.

Snape clinched his fists knowing that his godson was talking about 'Lily's' sort.

"I wish you would have told him. I would LOVE to hear his reaction" Ron said.

"James' favorite" Sirius and Remus said to each other as they remembered.

"Really?" Harry asked loving to hear the trivial things about his parents as it made him feel closer to them.

Remus nodded.

"Almost forgot about that" Sirius whispered almost dreading to think about what other trivial things he had forgotten in Azkaban about his brother in all but blood.

"At least Hagrid remembered" Remus assured his friend. "Probably thought Harry had the same taste in ice cream."

Molly, sensing the guilt coming from Sirius that was usually from Harry, decided to start reading again.

"No it's not!" Ron, Fred, George, Charlie, and Sirius chorused.

"WHAT?!" Tonks exclaimed angrily.

"He just said that 'everyone' says" Sprout said. "I personally don't believe that Hagrid feels that way, but he's explaining the stereotypes. Such as how Ravenclaws are known for being brainy, Gryffindors for being reckless, and Slytherins for being evil, stuck-up snobs."

Everyone, including Dumbledore, resisted laughter at the death glare Snape was sending her.

"Not ALL Slytherins are evil" Snape said.

Sirius was tempted to say 'Name one,' but thought better as he recalled that had it not been for his parents' influences, Regulus would have turned out pretty decent as far as Slytherins went.

Not to mention that Lily had been friends with Snape before Hogwarts so there had to be a pretty decent guy (Sirius mentally gagged at that) buried DEEP, deep down inside the Potion's master.

Of course, he would never say those out loud.

Snape gave Harry a raised-eyebrow look.

"So THAT'S where you got her" Sirius mused.

"She's the best" Harry said smiling fondly. "The shopkeeper said that nobody really wanted her. Said she was too flashy. She was so beautiful and I had never seen a snowy owl up close before and I had done a report on them at school a year before. When I reached out to touch her, the shopkeeper said that she had a bad habit of biting people as well as being too flashy. I whispered to Hedwig that both of us stand out but aren't really wanted and she let me stroke her feathers. I then opened the cage sensing she needed to stretch her wings and she flew right to my shoulder and nipped my ear affectionately the way she usually does. At that moment, I knew she was the one. Especially since the shopkeeper's jaw was on the ground in shock. She said the only logical explanation is that Hedwig knew I was coming since she got to the shop and was waiting for me."

"I guess in that case the owl chose the wizard" Tonks joked.

Harry chuckled but then frowned at the reminder of the special circumstance with his wand. Another secret he didn't want out was coming out.

"You sensed that?" Snape found himself asking.

Harry nodded before noticing all the adults looking at him in awe "What?"

The adults looked at each other as if scared to answer.

Hermione sighed and took the plunge.

"Harry. It takes a VERY powerful wizard to sense that type of magic" she explained.

Just as expected, Harry groaned.

"She was talented at charms" Flitwick reminisced "And Potions if memory serves me correctly."

Harry rose an eyebrow at Snape wondering if the teacher hadn't been such a git to him these past four years, would he be just as good in Potions?

The younger crowd nodded.

"Of course not!" Fred gasped.

"He wouldn't DREAM of it!" George added jokingly.

That earned a few eye rolls.

Ron nodded as he gripped his own wand as he compared how well this one worked for him compared to Charlie's old one.

"Nope" Harry said.

"He does enjoy tricky customers" Dumbledore chuckled.

Harry pulled his wand out and looked it over as he recalled the first time he had held it. Now he felt incomplete without his wand and wondered how he had gone through 11 years without it.

"What's curious?" Moody voiced everyone's question.

"The ONLY thing I don't like about this" Harry sighed as he held up his wand pointing it to the ceiling. "Despite the fact it recently saved my life."

There was a VERY uncomfortable silence.

"Was he complimenting Voldemort, or was that just me misinterpreting?" Sirius asked nervously.

"I believe he was just complimenting the magical skill" Dumbledore assured Sirius.

"It seemed like that to me too" Hermione assured him.

"Wait!" Sirius realized. "He didn't tell you how to get on the platform!"

"But you know he gets on" Remus assured his friend.

"Who's next?" Molly asked.

"I'll read next" Bill said.