11 Nov 2008 A/N: Hey everyone! I'm not dead yet, but with how much I've published in the past...what, 3 months?...I might as well be. I don't have any excuses, sorry. Anyways, here you go. :)
Chapter Six: Diagon Alley
"Harry Malfoy," Harry said to himself, sounding out his new name. It sounded...a little odd, but still good. 'Harry Potter' was so ordinary and boring. His biological parents who gave him the name were a thing of the past, and it made sense for him to have a new name for his new life.
Harry and Draco stepped into Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. The woman whom the store was named after glanced up at the door, gave a tight smile, and welcomed Lucius and his sons in.
"Welcome, Mr. Malfoy. How may I help you today?" she asked.
"Hogwarts' robes for my sons," Lucius replied. "Oh yes--a hat for each, and two pairs of your finest dragon-hide gloves."
Madam Malkin eyed Harrry dubiously before telling them to step up to the measuring stools.
"Would you like a set of dress robes as well? Or perhaps ordinary robes for traveling."
"Simple Hogwarts' robes will be fine," Lucius said, sounding bored. "Don't forget the silver-trim ones with the Slytherin emblem."
Madam Malkin pursed her lips, but nodded.
"Draco and..." Malkin trailed off, looking questioningly at Harry.
"Harry," Harry replied, giving her an innocent smile.
Malkin smiled back on reflex before realizing what she was doing.
"Step on to the stools then," Malkin ordered, pulling out a box of pins. She grabbed a sheet of black fabric and began pinning it into shape on Draco.
"Ow! Be careful, you idiot woman!" He complained, scowling.
"Hold still," Madam Malkin said, sounding frustrated.
Draco emmited random yelps as a now-annoyed Madam Malkin impatiently jabbed needles at his robes.
It was this irate woman who came over to Harry and began the same treatment. Harry grimaced lightly as tiny pricks prodded him.
Just then, the door to Madam Malkin's robe store opened and a magically alerted chime appeared and tinkled next to Madam Malkin.
A rather pudgy-looking boy of the same age as Harry and Draco walked in to the store, an air of superiority about him.
Draco, used to being the center of attention, visibly bristled, his expression of disinterested curiosity turning into a scowl.
"Who are you?" Draco asked, a tinge of disdain in his voice.
"Neville Longbottom," the slightly rotund boy said with a sneer. "You must be..." Neville looked up and down Draco, "a Malfoy.
Draco raised one eyebrow,.
"Platinum hair, stuck up appearance?" Neville smirked.
"Are you going to Hogwarts this fall?" Harry asked, changing the subject to stop Draco from leaping off his stool and mauling Neville.
"Of course. Hogwarts is the best wizarding school," Neville replied. "And who are you?"
"Harry," Harry replied with a small smile, "it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Neville smiled in return. "Of course it is. I'm the Boy-Who-Lived."
"More like the Boy-With-Too-Many-Hyphens," Draco whispered in Harry's ear.
Neville coughed.
"Harry, there are some people you simply shouldn't associate with. The Malfoys, for example," Neville said, looking pointedly at Draco. "You should be...my friend. And stay away from people like him." Neville smirked in Draco's direction.
Harry's amiable smile fell off his face and was quickly replaced with a blank, empty look.
"Draco is my brother," Harry said simply.
Neville stared at Harry a bit, then stared at Draco.
"Wh-what do you mean?" Neville asked, looking confused.
"What else could he mean? I didn't think there were hidden meanings in the phrase 'Draco is my brother'. You know, if I really had to analyze his statement, I would guess that Harry was my brother!" Draco said, holding back a snicker.
"Right..." Neville trailed off.
Harry and Draco nodded and smiled and Neville.
Neville backed away a bit.
"Neville!" a sharp voice called out, making Neville twitch. He looked around nervously.
A tall woman in sweeping deep red robes with graying hair in a tight bun stepped into the robe shop.
"Yes Gran," Neville replied, looking and sounding rather small.
"Here you are, I couldn't find you before. I recall telling you to stay close," Augusta Longbottom said, looking down at Neville with a scowl.
"Augusta!" Madam Malkin exclaimed upon spotting the Longbottom matriarch. "How nice to see you again!
Augusta smiled warmly at Madam Malkin.
"Yes. Hogwart's robes for Neville, if you don't mind."
Madam Malkin nodded.
"I'm afraid you'll have to wait for me to finish, but I'll do my best to hurry," Mdam Malkin replied.
Augusta raised her eyebrows.
"My grandson is the Boy-Who-Lived. I think that warrants a bit of special treatment, don't you?" Augusta asked, looking at Madam Malkin coolly.
"And my sons are Malfoys," Lucius said with a sneer, cutting into the conversation as he entered the store.
Augusta scowled at Lucius and received a smirk in return.
"All finished!" Madam Malkin said in an overly bright voice. "Neville, you may step up to the stool now."
Neville hopped on, looking impatient.
"Three simple black Hogwarts' robes, each outfitted with a House-morphing crest," Augusta Longbottom ordered. "I will be back in an hour. Behave, Neville." Augusta whirled around and left.
Madam Malkin handed Harry and Draco their personalized robes. (Harry's had 'HM' while Draco's had 'DM' under their Slytherin crests).
Neville, upon spotting the crest, raised his eyebrows and gave a small, derisive laugh.
"It's a good thing you both know that you belong in the worst house," Neville said, scoffing. "I bet you snakes are just waiting to come of age to join You-Know-Who."
"So what if we are?" countered Draco, smirking knowingly. "Innocent until proven guilty. And how could we possibly wish to join the monster who controlled father during the war?" Draco simpered, looking gleeful.
"Your father was a Death Eater, and we all know it!" replied Neville, scowling angrily. "The likes of him killed my parents."
Draco smiled thinly. "The Ministry's word is law, and they said my father is innocent. After all, he is a good, law-abiding citizen."
"Your father is one of the slimiest snakes of the lot. His little 'I was under the imperius' act was completely false, and we can all see clear through it."
Neville glared at Draco, and Draco glared back.
Harry's gaze bounced between to the angry and vengeful boys.
"Er, Neville, was it?" Harry began.
The angry gazes of Neville and Draco snapped to Harry, though Draco relaxed and seemed to calm a bit.
"You may think whatever you would like, but Lucius is completely innocent. It shows nothing good of your personality that you go around accusing innocent people of atrocious crimes--even worse, Lucius is a victim, and yet you say he is just like his attackers. Honestly, Lucius, a Death Eater? Everyone has seen his contributions to society, and no one can accuse him of wandering off into the wrong side of the law. Lucius is a wonderful person who shouldn't have to suffer your unbased accusations. You know," Harry said, tilting his head to the side and looking at Neville oddly, "I think you lot are jealous of us, and try to bring us down to your level with silly rumors."
Draco and Neville stared at Harry, in pride and indignation respectively.
"You know, that makes a rather lot of sense..." Draco began.
"How dare you! You should be envious of me!" Neville shouted.
Harry smirked at Neville and winked in a not particularly discreet way at Draco.
"Touchy and defensive, aren't you? You know, those are signs of insecurity..." trailed off Harry as he pushed Draco out of the store and quickly followed.
The last (amusing) sight they saw was Neville's angry stamping of his foot.
The two (still giggling) boys bumped into Lucius, who had been just about to fetch them.
"Oh," he remarked, glancing down and the two, "done, then? Hand me your robes," Lucius ordered.
He took the two very bloated bags and waved his wand over them, shrinking the purchases into two little pebbles. Lucius then placed the bag-shaped pebbles in a little wallet-like thing.
"Father, where are we going next?" asked Draco, pulling out his Hogwarts' letter.
Harry, peering at the letter over Draco's shoulder, pointed at the next thing on the to-bring list.
"Books next, I think."
Lucius dropped them off at Flourish and Blotts, telling them to make themselves busy for the next five hours.
"There are fifty galleons in each bag," Lucius said, handing Draco and Harry each a little pouch. That is what you have for the day--spend it however you would like. I will meet you here in exactly five hours."
Draco and Harry whispered excitedly as Lucius left, as they had never been given free reign to wander the streets before.
"Books first, then?" Harry said, opening the door to Flourish and Blotts and bowing mockingly. "Ladies first!" he said, nodding to Draco.
Draco rolled his eyes and pushed Harry into the store.
Looking around the store, Harry gasped. Flourish and Blotts was decorated for incoming Hogwarts' students, with the books reorganized into subject matters, and two massive bookshelves to the side for those not on school supply raids. Large banners fluttered above each cluster, with "First Year Books" being closest to the door. Stacked into amazing formations were all the books Harry and Draco were looking for.
After wandering about for a bit, and Harry still being awed by the displays of magic, the two found all the supplies in Flourish and Blotts that the needed and quickly paid. Finished, Harry and Draco stepped out into the bright, noontime sunlight and looked around.
"Ollivanders is closest," pointed out Draco as he looked at the wand store.
"In we go, then," replied Harry, leading the way.
The first thing the two noticed when they walked into the wand store was the old, dusty smell that overpowered everything else. The second thing they noticed was the presence of massive, long rows of shelves, each filled to the maximum with haphazardly placed boxes.
As their eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of Ollivander's Wand Store, Harry and Draco finally noticed the slightly creepy and extremely pale spindly figure watching them from behind a counter covered with neatly stacked wand boxes.
"Er...hello?" asked/said Harry, looking at the person warily.
"Hello," the man answered in a raspy, crinkly kind of voice. "You are here to find a wand," Mr. Ollivander stated, rather than asked. "But when you leave with a wand today, it will be because the wand chose you, not because you chose it."
Harry and Draco shared a glance.
"Draco," Mr. Ollivander said, pointing and staring at Draco, "come forth."
Startled, Draco walked forward to stand before the old wand maker.
"Pick a wand," Ollivander said, pulling out and opening five boxes, each containing a differently designed wand, onto his table.
Draco, after glancing at the wands, chose the ash-grey one, picked it up, and gave it a wave. The wand promptly gave two pitiful splutters and a puff of oily smoke.
"Try this," said Ollivander, handing Draco another wand.
Draco waved it in the air and was successfully rewarded as a silvery dragon flew from the tip of the wand and circled around the store.
"Good, good," Ollivanders said, nodding and wearing a satisfied expression. "Hawthorn and unicorn hair, 10 inches, reasonably springy." (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) "Box?"
Draco, staring at the wand (and holding it carefully, as if it might shatter at any moment) shook his head mutely.
"Harry," Mr. Ollivander said in his whispery voice.
Harry walked up to Ollivander uncertainly.
"Try this," Ollivander said, giving Harry a relatively short wand.
Harry waved it once, but nothing happened.
"This, then," Ollivander said, taking the wand in Harry's hand and replacng it wih another.
Harry tried waving the wand and was relieved when he had proof that he wasn't a squib--loud popping noises ensued and small fires started all around the rooming, dancing mockingly.
"Nope," Ollivander said, removing the wand from Harry's hand. Ollivander disappeared off into his many shelves, making rustling and reorganizing sounds. In the blink of an eye, Ollivander popped up in front of Harry and offered another box.
Harry picked up the wand slightly warily and waved it around. A whirlwind blasted it's way through the cramped store, flipping Ollivander's papers over and toppling several stacks of wand boxes.
"Definitely not," Ollivander said, frowning and snatching the wand away.
Harry sighed.
"Can I try this one?" he asked, pointing to a wand that caught his eye.
Ollivander glanced at it.
"Go ahead," he said, thinking that nothing would happen.
Harry had barely touched the wand when a burst of light came from the tip of the wand, lighting the room. A fiery phoenix shot out of the tip of the wand, soaring across the store before fading away.
Ollivander stared at Harry with a tinge of horror.
"Curious...very, very curious," he murmured, looking at the wand in Harry's hand."
"What's curious?" asked Draco, looking very curious himself.
Ollivander looked away briefly before turning to stare him in the eye.
"I remember every single wand I make and sell. Lucius Malfoy. Elm with a dragon heart string core, eleven inches. Rather inflexible," Ollivander paused, remnicsing. "Narcissa Black. Made of the silver fir with a core of unicorn hair, 10 inches." (A/N: I had to resort to creating a wand, as I couldn't find any information on this. Unicorn hair because it is the most feminine out of the three cores Ollivander uses, and Silver Fir as the wood because 'The wood of the Fir is beautiful and is often used in making musical instruments and in the interior of buildings' and I thought that fit Narcissa more than any of the other types of wood I read about) Ollivander turned his stare to Harry. "James Potter. Mahogany wood, phoenix feather core, 11 inches, pliable. Excellent for transfiguration, I might add. Lily Evans. Willow with a dragon heartstring core, 10 1/4", slightly swishy. A very nice wand for charm work." Ollivander stopped, breathing in a raspy breath.
"Your wand is holly wood and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple; an unusual combination," Ollivander paused again. "The phoenix who offered the tail feather that now resides within your wand gave one, and only one, other feather. That feather is inside the wand of the very much feared, though deceased, Dark Lord...." Ollivander fixed Harry with an unreadable stare. "You will do great things, Harry Malfoy. Great indeed..."
Harry and Draco stared at Ollivander with their mouths slightly open.
"That will be 10 Galleons, 3 Sickles and 5 Knuts," Mr. Ollivander said suddenly, holding out his hand. "Good luck at Hogwarts."
As Harry and Draco left, Ollivander turned to his fireplace and tossed in a small pinch of floo powder, calling out "Dumble-" before hesitating and magically putting out his fire. Ollivander tapped his long, spindly fingers on the countertop, thinking of the very curious incident with Harry Malfoy.
----
Harry and Draco each happily grasped a new wand, the magical qualities of the wood making their hands and arms tingle slightly.
"What do we have left?" Harry asked Draco, pulling out his Hogwarts' letter. He looked at it, crossing off certain items.
"I think it's just a cauldron, now," Draco said, his eyes shifting. "And the Quidditch store," he tacked on, whispering in a low voice.
Nodding, Harry wandered over to a store called "The Cauldron Shop" with its windows loudly proclaiming that it sold cauldrons of all types.
"Hey Draco, is that gold?" Harry asked, pointing to a shiny, golden-colored cauldron. A glinting plaque proudly proclaimed, "100% Pure Gold!"
Draco looked at Harry oddly.
"However shiny it might be, it'd be rather pitiful to have your cauldron melt in the middle of Potions class, wouldn't it?" Draco said, holding back a snicker. "Anyways, the list says pewter."
Harry sighed, and shrugged. "Too much to hope for, I suppose."
The boys went inside the store. It was a very organized one--the cauldrons were neatly organized by type into a magically expanded cabinet that stretched across two of the walls. Prices and types were labeled in easy-to-read handwriting over each of the cabinet doors. Draco went straight to the one labeled "Pewter, Size 2" and (laboriously) removed two of the cauldrons. Harry grabbed one and they gave two galleons to the man sitting with a bored expression behind a desk before leaving.
----
"I want a pet," Harry said to Draco after seeing the Magical Menagerie's animal-filled display window. A particularly eye-catching one was a large, black-and-green snake right at the front window.
Draco paused, his original momentum toward's Quality Quidditch Supplies halted and redirected.
"We're only supposed to bring toads, cats and owls to school," Draco said, looking uncertain (and disgusted by the animals). "Father can..fix...that, but are you sure...?"
Harry flashed a grin and charged into the store, prepared to ask for the snake at the window. Draco followed him in, though Draco seemed to actually notice the horrible smell--and the loud noisy din of the animals. Looking extremely out of place, Draco shifted from one foot to another, breathing through his mouth and looking pained.
Harry, on the other hand, had already located and targeted the shopkeeper.
"The green-and-black snake, please," he said, looking gleefully excited.
The shopkeeper looked at Harry dubiously.
"That's quite a costly pet, dear. It's dangerous to handle, as well. Perhaps I could speak to your parents...?"
Harry shook his head, sighing.
"They'll be fine. How much?" Harry asked, impatiently bouncing on his toes.
"Hrm. Twenty-seven galleons for you, then. Might you be interested in any care books? You know that you have to feed it--that one in particular likes rats. And yellow puffskeins, though I don't recommend you give those to him."
Harry grinned, nodding.
"The most basic care books, please, and I'm sure feeding won't be a problem."
Paying for the snake, Harry took ahold of the snake's large cage and lugged it out of the store.
"Look what I have!" Harry said to Draco, lifting up the disgruntled, spreviously-sleeping snake for Draco to see.
Draco gasped and looked a little green upon viewing the size of the snake.
"You know I like snakes and all...but that's a little..." Draco coughed nervously, his eyes not leaving the snake, "bigg. No, very big. That thing could eat me!"
Harry laughed at Draco and turned to look at the snake.
"Do you have a name?" Harry asked, smiling at the snake.
The snake reared its head in shock, black, beady eyes looking at Harry.
"How can you speak the tongue of the snakes, human?" he asked, his diamond-shaped head weaving from side to side.
"What do you mean, 'tongue of the snakes'? I'm speaking English," Harry replied, looking confused.
Harry was interrupted by Draco's startled gasp.
"How come you never told me?" Draco asked, looking hurt.
Harry frowned in confusion.
"Told you what?"
"That you're a parselmouth!" Draco exclaimed.
"Parcel-mouth? What's a parcel-mouth?" Harry asked, looking more and more confused.
"You can talk to snakes, dummy," Draco said, annoyed now. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Um...I can talk to snakes?"
Draco looked at Harry incredulously.
"Wait, you can't understand what the snake was saying?"
Draco stared at Harry a bit more.
Harry stared at Draco in return.
"Don't do that in front of people," Draco said, frowning at Harry and looking around a little nervously. "Parseltongue is considered Dark, because the Dark Lord can speak to snakes too."
Harry sighed.
"Why do the weird things always happen to me?" Harry said, frowning up in the sky helplessly.
"It's not a bad thing," Draco said, patting Harry on the back. "I'd like to speak to snakes. But yes, keep it a secret."
Harry sighed again.
"On a lighter note, your...snake-purchasing reminded me; I should purchase a pet today, too. I think I'm going to get an owl," Draco said, walking towards Eyelops Owl Emporium.
Harry followed Draco into a darkish, quiet room. Eerie hoots echoed through the store, and many, many pairs of glowing eyes blinked in the dark.
"I think I should get a snowy owl, don't you, Harry?" Draco whispered, not wanting to ruin the quiet serenity of the store. Quite a few other Hogwarts' students were in the store as well, looking at owls.
"Sure," Harry replied, looking for a suitable owl. "How about that one?" he asked, pointing to an almost all-white owl with a few scattered grayish flecks at her wingtips.
"Perfect," was Draco's quiet reply, as he informed the shopkeeper about his decision. "What should I name her?"
Harry stood in quiet thought for a while, thinking of possible names.
"How about Hedwig?"
Draco looked at Harry oddly.
"That's a rather odd name, don't you think?" Draco said, pursing his lips. "But I like it. Hedwig it is."
Draco received the snowy white owl in a cage and carried her out into the bright daylight.
"We have half an hour before Father returns to pick us up. Let's go to Quality Quidditch Supplies!" Draco said gleefully, his eyes glinting crazily.
Running towards the store, Draco pushed past the crowd of mostly-male Quidditch fans crowded around the window display. Harry, after painstakingly following (with a rather large amount of "excuse me"s) managed to make his way into the store as well.
"The Nimbus 2000," Draco said, pointing at a broom with wide eyes. "The newest model."
Harry looked at Draco and the broom dubiously.
"That's nice?" Harry said, wondering why the broom was so special. "It's...shiny...?"
Draco, ignoring Harry, turned to look at a broom catalogue.
"The Nimbus 2001 is coming out next year, and will probably be the same price as the 2000 is now," Harry pointed out, looking over Draco's shoulder. "We can't join the Quidditch team this year anyways, so why bother buying a broom?"
Draco sighed, shaking his head at Harry's hopelessness.
"It's a broom, Harry. The newest model! How could you not want it?"
Harry looked at Draco blankly.
"Pfft," Draco said with a sigh, turning away and grabbing a Deuxe Broom Repair and Care kit from a shelf and walking up to the counter to pay for it.
"I'm done. See anything interesting?" Draco asked Harry, who was looking at a book on charming brooms.
"No," Harry said, shaking his head. "Lucius should be about ready to pick us up, I think."
Draco nodded and the two, picking up their substantial purchases, left the store.