Posted: 10 October, 2009
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story that is recognisable from the Harry Potter books, movies, etc. Everything else however (eg. story plot, original characters, etc.) stems from my own imagination and belongs to me. No copyright infringement is intended and I am not profiting financially from this story in any way.
Chapter 6 - The Christmas Holidays
Monday, 9 December, 1991
"Those wishing to leave for the Christmas holidays must come forward and sign this list. Those who do not sign will be expected to remain at Hogwarts," McGonagall stated, standing at the front of the Gryffindor Common Room beside a conjured table.
Sitting together on a couch near the deputy headmistress, listening to the announcement, Harry and Neville found themselves near the front of the line as they jumped up and stepped forward. When they reached the table, Neville signed his name. Harry then reached to do the same, much to the surprise of his friend, as well as the teacher supervising.
"You're not staying?" Neville said in shock.
"I must confess myself surprised also Mr Potter," McGonagall added in an undertone. "From what Hagrid has said, I believed relations were … strained, with your Muggle relatives."
"Oh, they are professor," Harry freely admitted, signing his name, "but I want to do some present shopping this Christmas, and since first years aren't allowed to leave the castle, I decided to go home instead."
"I see."
The boys then stepped aside for the next person to access the list.
"I don't know whether to be happy you're not stuck here alone for Christmas, or worried that you're going back to your relatives," Neville admitted.
"It'll be fine. I'll just avoid them as much as I can, and spend most of my time out in the park or something," Harry reassured him. "Now come on, let's go to our classroom and practice Occlumency some more."
..ooOOoo..
Monday, 23 December, 1991
The ride back to London on the Hogwarts Express was spent productively by the two boys. Neville worked on his mental shields whilst Harry, using Legilimency, tested their strength. Neville was really coming along well, showing surprising dedication for an eleven year old boy learning a difficult and time consuming skill. Harry credited this to the fact that Neville was completely repulsed at the idea of Snape messing about in his head.
Snape himself was another sign of Neville's progress. Though he mostly avoided the Potion Master's eyes where possible, the few times they made contact Snape showed an increasing frustration. The man clearly knew what they were doing, and was displeased with how well Neville's shields were coming along. Another six months to a year at most and his mind would be secure, and Harry could come clean.
As the Express pulled into King's Cross, the boys pulled down their trunks and stepped off the train.
"There's my Gran," Neville said, pointing to a stuffed vulture hat, visible above the crowd. "She'd like to meet you, if that's alright?"
"Sure," Harry said, and they made their way over to the woman.
"Gran," Neville greeted, "this is my friend, Harry Potter. Harry, this is my grandmother, Augusta Longbottom."
"Nice to meet you Mrs Longbottom."
The elderly woman inspected him from head to toe, before sniffing. Neville shifted from foot to foot, and Harry got the impression that she was withholding judgement upon him for the moment. Personally he blamed the baggy hand-me-downs he was wearing. They didn't make the best impression. He resolved to do some clothes shopping these holidays.
"And you Mr Potter," she finally responded. "Neville says good things about you." Then she looked to her grandson. "Say goodbye to your friend Neville, we must be going. We have guests in an hour."
"Yes Gran. I'll see you after the holidays Harry. Don't let your relatives get you down."
"You too," Harry said.
He was being purposefully vague as to whether he referred to the 'see you after the holidays' or the 'don't let your relatives get you down'. From the way Neville blinked and shot a quick look at his grandmother before nodding, he thought the other boy caught his meaning.
"And don't forget to study," he added, referring secretly to Occlumency.
"I will," Neville said. "Bye"
"Bye."
And then they were gone, leaving Harry alone amongst the crowd. Turning towards the barrier entrance he pushed through the throng, finally exiting platform nine and three quarters to emerge in the Muggle section of Kings Cross. Making his way out onto the road, he discretely raised his wand to summon the Knight Bus, secure in his knowledge that the Muggle Repelling spells would prevent its detection, even in this crowded place.
The bus soon appeared and Harry boarded, gave his destination, "Diagon Alley, please," paid, and took a seat. A bumpy five minutes later, the vehicle came to a stop at Charing Cross Road and Harry hopped out. The bus then careened off without him with a loud *BANG*.
Donning his winter cloak, Harry raised his hood and entered the hidden pub, the Leaky Cauldron. To his relief, the cloak managed to hide his identity long enough for him to escape into the little courtyard behind the pub. Knowing he likely had little time before someone passed through, he raised his wand and cast a Glamour Charm to disguise himself.
A topic Harry had given great thought to over the past few weeks was underage magic detection. The Trace, a charm to monitor magic done by young witches and wizards, was placed on first year Hogwarts students as they waited in the antechamber to the Great Hall, prior to sorting. The charms were laid so discretely that the children did not even know they were being cast.
Technically, the Trace wasn't removed till a witch or wizard reached the magical age of majority at seventeen, at which time it broke of its own accord. Harry's theory was that since his mind and magic were retained from his future self prior to the shift, the Trace never took hold of him back on September first. After all, if the charm relied merely on the body's physical age, it could easily be broken with a temporary aging potion.
Of course on the chance that his theory was incorrect, he was safe at the moment because he was in a magical area. It was not possible for the Trace to differentiate between magic cast by him and that cast by other magic folk who were nearby, so it did not record or report when he was in such areas. In addition to Diagon Alley, this also included such locations as Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, the Ministry, St Mungo's, Platform 9¾, and registered magical residences.
Knowing he'd best hurry along before someone appeared and wondered why he was loitering about in the courtyard, Harry – disguised now with blonde hair and brown eyes – tapped out the pattern on the brick wall. The bricks shifted and rearranged, presenting the entrance to Diagon Alley.
He stepped out into street, letting himself be swept along by the crowd of witches and wizards out doing Christmas shopping. As he approached a little side alley, he stepped out of the crowd and slipped into the space between two stores. Immediately he cast a Notice-Me-Not Charm at the alley entrance.
Assured now that he would not be disturbed, he prepared to test out his theory. Withdrawing his wand he cast a spell upon himself. It was an advanced one, which was used to detect spells anchored to a living being. It returned its results and Harry's feelings were an odd mixture of satisfied and exasperated. Satisfied because, as he had expected, the Trace had no hold on him. Exasperated because of the fact that he was host to a tracking charm.
He wasn't surprised at the discovery. No doubt it was Dumbledore's doing. The man had a tendency to worry about him when he left the 'safety' of Hogwarts. Though he had no intention of remaining there all holiday, he would drop by Privet Drive soon and transfer the spell to Dudley. Then, before returning to school, he would drop by again and transfer it back. It was already heading towards evening. So long as he spent no more than an hour here before heading to Little Whinging, Dumbledore shouldn't be suspicious. He'd just think Harry was doing some Christmas shopping.
Reassured now that he had a plan, he dispelled the Notice-Me-Not Charm and slipped back into the crowds. As it was getting late, he would only make one stop. The rest of his shopping needs could wait till tomorrow.
Stepping into Madame Malkin's two minutes later, he was immediately greeted by the cheerful witch for whom the store was named. She was more than happy to hear that he needed a whole wizard's wardrobe. She was also quite willing to assist him in the picking and choosing, which was fortunate since fashion was decidedly not one of his areas of expertise.
Telling Malkin he would be back tomorrow to pick up his order, Harry retraced his earlier route, until he exited the Leaky Cauldron into the Muggle world. He took the Knight Bus to Privet Drive and, under the shield of a Disillusionment Charm, sneaked into the house and transferred his tracking charm to Dudley. That done, he Apparated to a Muggle hotel he knew of, Confunded the receptionist into letting him pay for a room for the rest of the holidays, despite his obvious youth, and bedded down for the night.
..ooOOoo..
Tuesday, 24 December, 1991
The next day Harry Glamoured his appearance once more and ventured again to Diagon Alley. It being the day before Christmas, the street was packed with last minute shoppers, and so he had to push through the crowd. He made his way down the alley, browsing at various stores until he'd found a suitable Christmas gift for his best friend.
Present shopping completed (Hagrid's present had been pre-arranged some time ago) he had only three more stops to go. Ducking into that same side street that he'd used the previous day, he changed his Glamour. No longer did he appear as a child, but rather as a fierce looking, if short, older man.
Raising the hood of his cloak he slipped once more into the crowd and allowed it to carry him to the entrance to Knockturn Alley, where he split off and down the darkened street. Twenty minutes later he emerged from Knockturn, a flagon of a certain illegal potion he was in need of tucked away in his pocket.
He headed then toward the owl office. There he hired an owl to send off a letter that he had carefully penned earlier that morning at his hotel. Once the plain looking barn owl had winged away, he exited the store.
For the third time in two days, the little side alley was used to swap Glamours, this time back to the brown eyed blonde boy. Then he made his way to the last stop of the day: Madame Malkin's, to retrieve his order from yesterday. Once that was done, he left Diagon Alley in favour of spending the day exploring the Muggle world.
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