Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, the characters and world belong to J.K. Rowling, I'm just adding my own twists.
Harry darted through the air, his Tinderblast pushed to the highest speeds. He weaved his way through the gardens, flying faster then possible yet still making the intricate turns. As he approached the final straight he leant over the handle, urging it to go faster. He flew past the flutterby tree they appointed as finish line and heard a loud cheer. Sirius stood there, grinning.
"Great job, that's your fastest time! Now it's Neville's turn."
Neville was barely recognizable as the timid boy Harry first met. Sirius and Harry had taught him to fly and over the years he had opened up, he was now Harry's best friends and a regular visitor to the estate.
He came flying around the corner on his Comet 260, an early birthday present from Sirius and Harry.
"Great job! Only a couple of seconds behind Harry, but with the speed he's pushing that broom to, I'm not surprised."
"Ok, you should go and get ready, we're meeting Jess in an hour at Diagon Alley."
The boys ran upstairs; Neville had stayed the night and had his robes ready. After a quick shower Harry dressed in dark green robes and dragon skin boots. He brushed his hair back and grabbed his charmed money pouch, made out of moleskin. It was a gift from Hagrid, but had required Sirius's charming to recognize him as the owner. He carried his Gringotts key and money in it.
He waited for Neville, who soon arrived in dark blue robes and boots. They met Sirius at the front door where he stood holding a tennis ball and Harry's Hogwarts letter.
"Alright, I've got the portkey and list, do you need anything else."
Both boys shook their heads and Sirius activated the portkey. Harry experienced the typical tug before a moment of dark. He opened his eyes a moment later, standing in the alley.
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Sirius lead them up to the bank where Harry's eyes past over the large marble building and its gold engraving. He smirked at the message inscribed on the door, Gringotts was well known for its dragons, they hardly needed a warning.
Once inside Sirius was recognised as Lord Black and they were lead straight to a teller.
"We wish to access our vaults, numbers 687, 711 and 693."
The goblin nodded and they gave their keys up for inspection.
"We don't have time for me to visit the deeper Black vault, so we're visiting the vault that belonged to my brother and I as children to pay for Hogwarts. Same as we're going to your fund vaults for Hogwarts. Neville you have access to your ancestral vault through your gran, but Harry needs to wait until he comes of age and inherits the House of Potter."
They nodded, Remus had been through this, but it was always good to have a touch up.
After introducing himself as Somblad the goblin led them through the busy bank, straight to a large black door, nodding to them he walked straight through it, with them following. Harry winced at the icy feeling of the transparent door. They climbed into a cart and set off.
The cart began to rattle along the track, coming up to a steep descent. Harry gripped the side of the cart as it tilted down. The track shuddered as the cart rolled along it, after the descent there was a blinding sequence of turns. Eventually the cart slowed down in front of a long corridor. They got out and walked down it.
The floor began to angle down and the hair grew more frigid.
They eventually came upon vault 687 and further down the hall 693.
Harry and Neville strode up to their doors, pricked their index finger with the key and swiped it down the door. The internal mechanism clicked and the door swung open.
Mountains of Galleons, Sickels and Knuts gleamed in the wavering torchlight. Harry slipped in, noticing-not for the first time-that there were no jewels or items, they would be found in the Potter ancestral vault. The only things up here were coins.
He filled his moneybag up with enough coins to last the year and stepped out. The door slid shut and he walked over to wait with Sirius. Neville's vault had about the same amount of gold as Harry's, although he had more sickles and fewer galleons.
They stepped out and the Somblad opened another door, leading down a deeper corridor. As Sirius stopped to enter his vault Harry looked down at the other vaults. Many of them had similar doors to his and Neville's but one jumped out at him.
The door was black with a wrought iron handle. It was much taller then the other vaults and the section of wall separating them was wider; leading Harry to believe that it was much bigger. Somblad noticed his interest and came over.
"That vault is specially protected, it requires a Gringotts Goblin to open. Otherwise you get stuck inside."
He laughed and began to walk back to the track. Harry found himself smiling. It was rather ironic; the thief would get what they wanted, only to be trapped for decades.
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They meandered through the street, the Alley was fairly quiet since it was Friday and they weren't meeting Jessica and her family for another hour.
They slowly made their way to Quality Quidditch Supplies, where Sirius held a conversation with the manager over the latest brooms, while Harry and Neville broused the different brooms and books.
Leaving the shop they stopped at Florean Fortescue's ice cream shop, where they feasted on frozen treats.
Finally Jess and the rest of her family appeared Gringotts door, holding bags of coins.
Jess had an older sister, Merianda, in Third Year, Slytherin, and a younger brother, Michael, and sister, Isabella. Michael was starting next year and Isabella when they were in fourth year.
Her parents, David and Jennifer Lowe took the younger children to one end of the Alley, which contained several toy and joke shops while Sirius lead Jess, Neville, Harry and Merianda to Flourish and Blotts, where they purchased their first year books and Merianda picked up her pre-ordered third year elective and core books.
Harry looked at the book list for the first time;
HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WHICHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
UNIFORM
First-year students will require:
sets of plain work robes (black)
plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)
Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.
COURSE BOOKS
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)
by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi
by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection
by Quentin Trimble
OTHER EQUIPMENT
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales
Students may also bring and owl OR a cat OR a toad.
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS
Glancing over the list Harry took the necessary books off the shelf and strode through the shop to buy some other books. He picked up another book on Hogwarts; Life in and around Hogwarts. Two defense books and another history book followed. Finally he grabbed another book on Magical Creatures and the Reserves around the world.
He left the shop with Neville to meet Jess and Sirius outside, Merianda had seen some friends and left with them, waiting impatiently. They crossed the street to Madam Malkins, the largest clothing shop in the Alley.
The door opened to a large room, filled with racks of robes. Along the walls different colors of fabric were piled and at the back a door lead to what Harry presumed to be the storeroom.
A shop assisstant came in as soon as the door opened, seeing three of them she doubled back and returned with extra help.
"Just up here dear," one of the said to Harry, leading him to a stool.
"What are you getting today?"
"I need three pairs of black robes, a charmed winter cloak, dragon hide goves and three pairs of normal robes, in grey, blue and green."
She nodded, probably used to Hogwarts students coming in.
"Can I also get a pair of fleece thin gloves and a self warming scarf?"
Smiling she stepped away to get the necessary materials. Returning, she tossed a simple robe over his head and began pinning it, making notes of a sheet of parchment. Less then ten minutes later she nodded.
"You're all done now, come back in about two hours and I'll have everything."
Neville and Jess were finished and the three left the shop together. They stopped at the apothecary, where Jess fumed at the unicorn horns and crup tails. Having become very fond of the unicorns at the estate and the Black family crups.
Having spent a fortune of extra potions ingredients they stopped at the equipment shop for new cauldrons, scales, glass phials and a telescope each. Harry also grabbed some extra phials and a potioneer set, including several different knives and a pestal.
"Ok, now to Eyelops, then Ollivanders." Sirius nodded to each shop in turn before leading the threesome over to the large, noisy barn.
Inside was dimly lit and covered in stacks of enclosures, owls, cats and some mournful looking birds created a cacophony of noise. Neville headed over to the owls and Jess to the cats. They'd been given money to purchase a pet each. Sirius layed a hand on Harry's arm.
"Just wait a moment, they're getting animals today but you should wait until Wednesday. We can come back to get equipment if there isn't enough then."
Confused, Harry nodded. Sirius was being very secretive lately, often disappearing out into the grounds for hours at a time.
Jess reappeared out of the gloom, clutching a squirming white fluffy kitten. It's legs had faint grey stripes and it's blue eyes were alive with mishief. Handing it over to Harry she disappeared again, in search of a carry case.
While she was gone Neville reappeared with an owl in a large coop. The owl was pitch black, with large orange eyes and wickedly sharp talons.
When Jess reappeared, having paid for the cat they left. Squinting in the brights sunlight Sirius lead them to a gloomy corner of the alley, where they found Ollivanders.
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The shop was dark and cluttered with wand boxes.
Ahead of them stood two other students, both trying wands. Harry watched as the wands let off loud sounds and caused havoc until one boy waved his and a shower of silver sparks flew out. He stepped back and caught Harry's eye.
He had chocolaty brown skin and black hair. His aristcratic face shape suggested that he was Italian, as did his dark eyes.
"Hey, I'm Sebastion Zabini and this is my cousin, Blaise. Hogwarts this year?"
"Yes, I'm Harry Potter, this is Neville Longbottom and Jessica Lowe."
Harry liked how the boy didn't instantly look for his scar, instead he studied his and his friends faces and grinned, as if he liked what he saw. At that moment the other boy shot green sparks out of his wand and turned, a sneer covering his face.
"Come on Sebastion, leave these three lessers and we should get our books."
Sebastion opened his mouth to reply but shoook his head and followed his cousin out the door.
"Zabini's, an Italian family. They'd be good allys."
Always thinking politically Sirius had analyzed the boys and liked what he saw in Sebastion, though suspected there was more to the boy then he showed.
Ollivander turned to their group and began handing wands to Neville and Jess. He called a shop assisstant from the back who reached for a tapemeasure and called Harry over.
"Ok, Hogwarts this year, so not done too much magic before. Average height, a little slim. Halfblood but very politically insured and Sirius Black as a godfather, my, you are a mix."
Harry took a step back, he tried not to flaunt his fame and normally wore disguises when venturing into Diagon Alley.
"How-"
"That's just me, I've always been able to tell things about humans, all my life. It's a disease, I can literally read people but in return it took my magic. I'm unique, probably because my great grandmother was a seer and the disease brought that out in me."
Shocked, Harry nodded. He'd heard of magical diseases that took a witch or wizards magic, just not one which granted this in return. Especially not ones which affected some people differently.
She noted some measurments on of a piece of parchment and reached up to grab a bunch of wands.
"These are ones I've made myself, my gift helps me handcraft wands. I also make personalised wands, people try normal wands and I discover which cores work best and create one, I often make multiple and which ever one works best is theres. People with those wands often need less theory work to cast spells."
Harry nodded, it seemed like an intelligent thing to do.
"How much extra does it cost?"
"Well, since I have to make up to twenty wands it costs twenty galleons. It's expensive but very much worth it."
Harry grinned, he much prefered actually doing magic to theory.
"I'll try some of these wands and make up my mind."
He smiled and passed him the first wand, he waved it and it let off a loud sound.
"No, that wand is very negative towards you."
She handed him another and it shattered one of the vases on the table.
"Oh dear, Ollivander was rather fond of that. Never mind."
Harry tried wand after wand, some let off loud bangs and screams, others shattered and broke items and for some nothing happened.
"Well, it seems there isn't many wands that suit you. The closest have been twelve inches, ebony wood and dragon heartstring and eleven inches, aspen and unicorn. All phoenix cores react fairly well, but the wood they're paired with doesn't.
You have a few choices, you could keep looking and hope to find something. Choose one that kind of worked or I could make one for you."
At that moment Sirius wandered over, overhearing the last sentence his eyes lit up.
"Actually Harry, having a custom wand could help. I have a feeling you'll have a bit of trouble at Hogwarts, what with being the Boy-Who-Lived and all."
Harry smiled and handed over twenty-five galleons, when she went to give some back he shook his head and gestured that she keep them.
"Given the ammount of trouble you've had I think you can keep those five."
She smiled.
"Your wands will be ready by next Friday, hope to see you then."
They left the shop, Harry slightly upset.
"How do wands chose the wizards Sirius?"
"No one really knows. It's about matching the magic, cores and personalities of wands. Don't be dishearted, a personalised wand would be more powerful and let you do magic with less theory. It will rely on your thoughts more then the words and how you wave it."
They met up with Neville and Jess, who had gone ahead to look at the prank shops.
Jess bounced up to Harry.
"What's your wand like? Mine's Unicorn Heartstring, twelve inches and flexible with Dogwood."
Knowing how much Jess loved the unicorns at Black estate Harry knew she'd be overjoyed with her core.
"And Neville has ten inches and sturdy, with Oak and Dragon Heartstring."
"We looked at so many wands, but none suited me so the shop assistant is handcrafting a custom made wand for me."
Jess pouted for a moment.
"Will it be more stronger then ours?"
"If yours matched properly then probably not, although his wand should respond better to his thoughts. So he won't need as much theory. It's very rare to meet someone who can do it and it's very expensive, but it pays off majorly. Dumbedore had a personalised wand, he was possibly one of the most recent wizards to get one made for him."
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Harry awoke early, his excitement reaching boiling point. It was his eleventh birthday, in just over a month he was going to Hogwarts and his friends were coming today. Yesterday had been Neville's birthday and they were having a joint party today.
He dressed quickly and combed his hair, his routines hadn't changed in four years. Downstairs Cascadia was waiting with his breakfast, aubery eggs and moondancer milk. Both were usually rare, but living on a reserve had it's benefits.
Harry smiled as the younger twins ran into the room and jumped on him. Aslan grinned and pulled him over to the side.
"Come on! Open your presents!" He said, shoving at box at Harry.
"Patience Aslan, we're waiting for my friends to come."
The boy pouted, clearly unable to wait. Giselle stepped forward and pulled him over shyly.
"Can you teach me more magic?"
Ever since he'd picked up his books he'd been practising wand movement with other objects, after being nagged for hours he releuctantly allowed Giselle and eventually Aslan to join in. Aslan often got bored quickly and snapped the twig in frustration or had a burst of accidental magic, resulting with several broken windows and Sirius marking out certain areas for them to practise in.
"Maybe tomorrow, everyone will be here soon."
At that moment Sirius slipped into the room and stepped over to Harry.
"Tonks, Andromedra and Ted are here."
Nodding Harry stepped out to the secondary parlour. Once all the guests arrived they would be going out to the ballroom, which Sirius had spent hours decorating.
As he dashed through the door he caught sight of his cousins bright pink hair. Tonks had just finished at Hogwarts and was starting auror training, a process Harry was incredibly interested in. Yelling out her name he raced over, before seeing his Aunts stern gaze. He instantly stopped and changed his posture to that of a pureblood heir. Bowing he welcomed her to his surrogate-fathers home and bid her a good day. As soon as she nodded he grinned and turned to Tonks. Jumping on his cousin she began to mimic him. She turned her hair black and eyes a vivid green. His sight had been cured years ago and he no longer wore glasses so she left them. She shrunk herself down a touch, but was unable to replicate the Lightening Scar. Sirius entered the room, his face lighting up, bad mood gone. He'd just received a letter from Lucius Malfoy-who was quickly gaining favor at the Ministry and Wizengamot-containing subtle insults and hints about his son meeting Harry.
Tonks caught Harry's eye and smirked before returning to her usual look. The room was silent for a moment before the arrival of Jess and her family. She ran in, screaming and jumped on Harry.
"Woah, Jess. You saw me two days ago, calm down."
"Yeah, but you weren't eleven two days ago!"
Jess had a habit of taking fairly ordinary events and blowing them out of proportion, which could be extremly problematic if the event was already negative.
Neville and his grandmother came in as she turned away to greet Sirius and the twins.
"Hey Harry. Happy Birthday!"
"You too!"
Neville greeted him, before turning to formally greet Sirius. Neville was Heir to the House of Longbottom and Sirius was Lord Black so etiquette demanded that Neville formally greet him. Madam Longbottom walked over to Andromedra and began talking about the Ministry.
Once the other families-mainly those that the Potter or Longbottom family had connections with-arrived Sirius lead them to the ball room. The door was large and had the Black Crest on it.
Cleared his throat for attention and gestured for harry to come forward.
"Welcome everyone, to Harrison James Potter and Neville Frank Longbottom's eleventh birthdays!"
He swung the door open and Harry gasped. The room was decorated in the Potter and Longbottom colours and had two large fountains in the center. One fountain shot out sprang in blue, sea green and silver. The sprang gathered above it and formed a large moving hologram of the Potter crest, the other was the same, except with the Longbottom colours and crest.
One corner of the room contained both of their presents. Harry had never been fully obsessed with presents-although every child loved them-he prefered meaningful and thought-out gifts, rather then mountains of items he would never use.
There was soft music playing and one side of the room was set aside with tables.
Neville, Jess and a couple of Neville and Harry's distant cousins began to dance to the music. After swapping partners several times Harry collapsed, exhausted, by the fountain. Sirius saw them finish and stood, calling for attention.
"Everyone, we are here today to honor the birthdays of Harrison Potter and Neville Longbottom! But we honour far more, today we honour their parents sacrifice.
Almost ten years ago my best friend and Harry's father fought Voldermort off, just to give his wife, Lily, a couple of minutes. He contacted me and requested that I take Harry and raise him. I accepted and have raised Harry as my son. He was my best friend and the father of my boy. Yes, I consider Harry my boy. He is James's son, but my boy. I would just like to take a moment to honor James and Lily and their son, Harry Potter; the Boy Who Lived!"
After a moment of silence Sirius spoke again.
"We are also here to honor Neville Longbottom and his parents. Alice and Frank Longbottom fought against Voldermort too, until they were attacked and tortured by the cruciatus curse. Could we please have a moment of silence for Neville and his parents."
After another, brief, moment of quiet Sirius spoke once more.
"But mostly we are here to celebrate these boys birthdays. There will be refreshments on the tables and after they have opened some of their presents we will have lunch. Thank you all for attending."
There was a polite applause, the adults headed over to the tables while the younger children followed Neville and Harry to the presents.
The first present Harry picked up was covered in silver and gold wrapping paper, the card was addressed to him from Tonks and her family. Opening it Harry examined the concealment and disguise kit, a basic version of what was issued to aurors.
The next wrapping paper was blue, with an animated quidditch game flying around the box. It was from Jess and the rest of her family. Carefully pulling the wrapper off as to preserve it, Harry found a dragon hide wand holester. By just flicking his wrist he could access his wand. Thanking her he began to open his other gifts. There was a box of assorted sweets from Neville. Remus had given him a telepathic slate set, telling him to keep in touch. The slates were connected, so Harry could talk to Remus and continue some basic tutoring. Many different books from distant family members, with a few giving him galleons or sickles to buy something himself. The most mysterious presents were definitely from Aslan, Giselle and Cascadia. The former had given him an animal carriage, enchanted so the inside could be bigger of smaller, depending on the animal and journey. Giselle had given him a range of pet toys, most of them were designed to run away or be shaken around. Finally, Cascadia had given him a silver chain with the Potter Crest on it on the other side of the crest was a small imprint.
"Press the imprint and Sirius or I will hear you, it's so you can keep in touch."
She mentioned before handing over the second part to the gift; a silver collar, once again with the Potter Crest hanging off it. Harry looked at the collar, toys and carrier, confused. He didn't have any animals of his own. The estate was filled with wild magical creatures and the Black family had a few owls, two crups and a large stable, filled with magical and normal species of horse.
Harry's confusion was solved when Sirius stepped over to him.
"Your present from me isn't in here. I thought it'd be too loud for her."
That cleared it up and bit and as the other guests left Harry's excitement grew. For years he had wanted an animal of his own and now-it would seem-he were finally getting one.
Ok, another chapter done. What do you think so far?
I had lots of fun writing this chapter with hints of Harry's new pet and Diagon Alley.
Andromedra is Sirius's cousin, so Tonks is Harry's second if we consider that Harry is practically adopted by Sirius.
Aslan is the Heir to Black, but Harry has a significant claim, and once he is of age he will be Regent until Aslan is seventeen.
I didn't want too much information on Neville's parents; whether they were alive or not. Partly because it's a private matter for Neville and partly because some of the families with connections to the Longbottom may use that against him.
Much thanks to my friend Abbey, for editing it
Please read and review!