Chapter 2

'Welcome Harry, to Diagon Alley!'

Harry supposed he should be excited, but all he could see was pile upon pile of new stuff that his supposed new school demanded he get, and no way to know which he did not actually need until he did some research.

'Hey Hagrid, is there a library here?'

The giant man looked at him curiously.

'Can't say there is 'arry'.

Well darn, he could only hope that the bookshop allowed him to read before he bought. Or…

'Hogwarts, does it have a library?'

'Course it does 'arry! Biggest library in all of Britain!'

'And…if for example I forgot to buy one of the books in the list…would I find it at the library?'

'Sure you will, Hogwarts has every book a student needs, right the way up to seventh year!'

Well that was some good news. Harry could check the books off his list immediately. The rest however…Sighing Harry followed his guardian up to a giant white building, his frustrated expression giving way to bewilderment at the funny looking creatures inside.

'Goblins 'arry. Clever as they come, Goblins, but not the most friendly of beasts, best staying close'.

Oh, alright then, so Goblins, nothing odd about that. Slightly odd that another race of creatures were responsible for wizard and witch's money, but who was he to argue.

'Vault six hundred and eighty seven. Key please'.

Wow…now that was a lot of money. Harry could only imagine what the school prices must be for him to have that much money in his trust vault. And apparantely this was indeed his trust vault, something about using it until being able to claim his family vault when he turned seventeen. Thinking about the family vault made Harry think about what, other than money, might be made available to him when he hit the right age. Groan! Well, he'll figure out that issue at a later date, right now he needed to figure out how to buy his school supplies without actually buying his school supplies. At least he didn't need the books any more.

'Might want to keep this a secret 'arry. Something for Dumbledore'.

Harry shrugged, he didn't really care about the small package. Just more baggage really, probably something expensive and entirely unneeded.

'Right then, let's get yer things!'

Three Sets of Plain Work Robes (Black)

One Plain Pointed Hat (Black) for day wear

One Pair of Protective Gloves (dragon hide or similar)

One Winter Cloak (Black, silver fastenings)

Wand

Cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

Set of glass or crystal phials

Telescope

Set of brass scales

Urgh! Did he really need all this stuff?! Besides the wand (which would be super cool to learn how to use) what did he need with the rest, surely they had those things at school? He knew they had all the equipment available in primary school, and read that it was the same for high school (in preparation for his move there before he got the Hogwarts letter), and couldn't he just use what he had in the way of clothing? He would need to ask real nicely at each shop to see what he really really needed and what didn't need to be bought at all.

What he also really wanted to do is see exactly what magic was capable of. Could he find a way of getting his clothes to grow with him, and repair them if they got damaged? Could he hunt down a spell to let him absorb information without needing to actually buy the books? Could he make a potion to correct his eyesight so that he can stop using those hideous glasses? Or…or even better than all that put together, could he learn a shrinking spell so he can keep his things on him at all times?!

'Hey Hagrid, is there a shrinking spell and de-shrinking spell?'

'Sure there is, there's lots a useful spells you'll learn. Jes don't be using magic out of school, that's not allowed until yer old enough'.

So, he could shrink his stuff, but until he was the right age, probably eighteen, he wasn't allowed to use magic unless at school? How was he supposed to do summer homework if he wasn't allowed to do magic out of school?! Unless he didn't get summer homework at Hogwarts, but then surely they'd want students to practice!

Harry could bet that kids who lived in the magical world used magic outside of school. In fact their parents probably let them use it. He made a note to find a way to bypass that rule, it wasn't fair, but more still it was stopping him from having his possessions on him at all times without the Dursleys knowing.

But anyway, back to his school list.

'Do I really need to buy a cauldron of my own?'

The shop keeper was getting frazzled, he'd never come across a person with Harry's personality before. They'd already been over the need to buy the lad's own ingredients (Harry had relented), and his own tools to make potions (the shop keeper had relented) and the phials (where they got into an argument over why crystal was better than glass and why the need for that many in the first place and surely there were phials at the school and did that mean the students could keep their potions and how stupid was it that they couldn't even keep what they make, and eventually Harry relented and bought exactly four glass phials since they could at least be reused once cleaned). The man knew though that if the lad didn't buy at least one cauldron, then he'd wind up on the bad side of the potions professor.

'It is best lad, the school does provide cauldrons, but students not used to potions do tend to melt their cauldrons at first, and it's best to have your own otherwise the school would need to stock hundreds of cauldrons every year'.

Note to self, learn potions properly so he didn't melt a cauldron. Nevertheless Harry wasn't deterred.

'So magic can't be used to repair things?'

'Oh you can repair a melted cauldron, but only a certain amount of times before you can't use it any more'.

Definitely need to learn how to properly make potions.

'I live in the muggle world, how am I supposed to keep a cauldron in my room?'

A little amusement showing, the shop keeper nipped to a shelf and picked up a standard size cauldron.

'It's not too big lad, easily fitted into a trunk'.

Alright so he couldn't really argue that. Harry sighed.

'Alright, but just one'.

Now smiling the man handed Harry the cauldron and rang up the purchases. The lad was certainly tight fisted, but he also seemed sensible and intelligent. The shop keeper had no doubt that the lad would learn potions back to front to avoid melting a single cauldron, just so he could continue to use the one he'd bought.

'Ye sure ye don't want to buy the rest 'arry? Yev got the money for it'.

'It's not about the money, it's about buying things that I don't really need. Now where's the shop for clothing, I do need these robes, though I can't understand why magical people can't just wear the same clothes as non magical, but I don't see why I need a hat. And as for a winter cloak, couldn't I just buy a warm jacket? Anyway I've yet to see someone wearing the hat the list is telling me to buy'.

'Well it's jis fer the opening n closing feast 'arry'.

'So we don't need it for classes, just for the first and last day school. I'm sure I can find someone to lend me their old hat for the special occasions. Also, I didn't want to buy books, but if I want to know potions, then I'll need to find a book for it. Just potions though, from what I've been seeing and hearing I can just use the library for the rest'.

And with that Harry was led to Madam Malkin's, and proceeded to dictate to the woman exactly what he wanted when she tried to give him the full list worth of clothes. The only thing he relented with was the gloves, after finding out some plants and potions ingredients irritate the skin really badly, or worse burn the skin and everything underneath away.

After that it was an hour in the book shop for the best potion book he could find. What he left with was big, but the shop keeper, who had been fielding questions for about thirty minutes of that hour and was getting flustered, assured him that in the huge volume was everything he could possibly need to prepare and make potions, including safety tips and why certain ingredients react with one another. It was actually a book master level potion makers used, a reference book easy to check while making several potions at once. The rest of the hour was spent skim reading several books that Harry felt would help him settle into the magical world

And now he was ready for his trunk, though why he didn't get it first was beyond Harry. For that matter, why couldn't he have got his wand first?

Anyway.

'You've got the standard trunk, the deluxe with twice the size, and the super deluxe with four times the size'.

'The standard please'.

'Are you sure? A customer such as yourself the deluxe trunk would be better for all your storage needs'.

'Standard, thank you'.

'Not sure a standard would fit everything you require Mr Potter'.

What was it with his name getting people excited?! The Boy-Who-Lived indeed!

'Standard' Harry monotoned.

The shop owner sighed, but lifted down a standard trunk and rang up the purchase. Harry then proceeded to neatly organise everything he'd bought into the trunk, happily noting that the possessions at the Dursleys would easily be able to fit as well.

'Perfect'.

This was his life, and if he could work out how to do magic outside of school, and master the shrinking spell, then he could literarily hold his life in his hand. He could buy a belt and strap his trunk to it. Or he could just pop it in his pocket and look up a spell that makes sure it stays in his pocket, saves a belt.

'Alright 'arry, let's get your wand! Off you pop to that shop over there, and I'll be right back, I've got something I need to get'.

Harry must have spent hours (well in his head it felt like hours) in that dingy little shop trying wand after wand. He supposed it made sense, you would need a wand that matched you otherwise your magic would come out wonky, but still he was eleven, he didn't have that kind of patience!

Finally he got a wand that worked for him, and endured a short lecture about his wand being the brother to Voldemort's. Hadn't he just heard that there were only a few kinds of cores and woods used for a wand? Surely having a brother wand wasn't that rare? Sure it was a bit creepy to have a brother to the one that killed his parents, but he was certain the old man was just trying to sound spooky and mysterious. Just before he left, Harry thought it best to buy a holster and a cleaning kit, better to have an extra item or two than to have a broken or poorly maintained wand (though he did sigh at the book that came with the kit).

Leaving the shop saw him face to face with a large white owl in a cage. Well she was impressive, but how in the world did Hagrid think she would survive at the Dursleys?! And that cage, she really didn't need it? He learned from Hagrid that magical owls were smarter than ordinary owls and could find their way anywhere just by following a magical signature. That and Harry knew enough about birds to know that a dinky cage like that would work far better for a canary than an owl. For a bird her size he'd probably need a cage the size Dudley's second bedroom. The poor owl looked so cramped in that tiny thing. He told this to Hagrid, letting the owl out her prison where she fluttered onto his shoulder with a happy hoot, and bringing the cage back to the shop to see if he could get a little money back. Hagrid was very nice to give him a gift, but he really didn't have to spend so much on something Harry wouldn't need. The giant man did insist that Harry keep the two galleons he got for the cage, since it was supposed to be part of the gift, and in place of it, Harry bought some owl treats. He'd learned enough woodwork skills (from numerous chores involving a hammer, saw and nails) that he could make a nice perch for her.

And thus Harry's life as a super cool wizard began.