Chapter 2

What do I say about this... well, for lack of a better way of saying, this is the stereotypical "Harry Gets His Money and Stuff" chapter. But there's information here that will come in handy in later chapters, as well as things that you'll never see used again. As for my opinion on this chapter, it's not the best. I've never liked going about doing shopping scenes, but this had to be done. There were things that I had to place here that will expanded on later.

Oh, and about that blatant 'mistake' in the first chappie about 'cannon/canon.' It's sad, but the joke about how 'canon' got blown away by the proverbial 12-pounder just wouldn't fit where I was hoping.

Now, onward!

Harry Potter-Adkins, Southern Bred Hospitality

by: Trey Miller

Chapter 2

To anyone sensitive to the sound of magic, they would have heard the whistling buzz as the portkey approached the end of its journey. They would have then heard the deep and thick hum of a very powerful person 'riding' the portkey. And then they would have heard a melodious warble of someone who defied all definition.

Fortunately for young Harry Potter, no mage capable of hearing the sound of magic was around the Mall at Peachtree Center when they appeared there. They stood in a little alcove between the Brooks Brothers apparel store and an art store, and Albus watched amused as the Adkins family looked around in shock.

Finally Jessica found her voice, "We're in the mall."

Albus' eyes twinkled in merriment, "What? You were expecting a little corner store or something of the sort?"

Jason, Harry, and the their father answered together, "Yes!"

Albus laughed, "We're in America. Things are far more advanced here than in England." He looked around and shook his head as a group of teenagers walked by, "Well, maybe advanced is too strong a word."

Harry snorted, "This coming from the dude dressed for a rap video."

Albus merely chuckled and motioned for them to exit. "We're going to need to make our way downstairs to the Bank of America. From there, we can access the funds set aside by the Potter's to cover Harry's schooling and whatnot." He walked out of the alcove and headed for the escalator.

Harry and Jason grinned at each other and then took off for the escalator also, while their parents just groaned and calmly followed.

What occurred then was classic comedy. Two kids running down the up escalator, keeping pace with an old man in a mind-numbingly-colored suit with a grin on his face, followed by two adults who didn't want to claim any knowledge of the three.

Soon enough, Albus and the others made it to the bank. Albus glanced at the others, "Now, follow me, and no matter what you see, just remember, with magic, all things are possible."

Harry grinned, "Been there,-"

Jason followed, "Done that,-"

Their mother came in next, "Got the complementary tee-shirt,-"

"And it's all thanks to our son, Harry," finished their father.

Harry grinned, "Honestly, Mr. Dumbledore, I doubt there's much more you can show us that... will... shock... us." His jaw dropped.

They had entered and stepped toward a lone teller near the water fountain when they felt a ripple (what was later explained to them as the feeling of crossing a ward-line) and then the Bank of America had seemingly expanded.

They now stood in front of a pair of glass doors with gold filigree covering most of the actual door. Albus pushed it open and bowed, acting like a door man as the family entered. He grinned at them as he walked over to one of the tellers who was most assuredly not an Georgia native.

He wasn't even a native to the human race. Then again, the goblin may have been an Georgia native, reasoned the Adkins clan as a whole.

"Welcome to Gringotts, sirs and ma'am. How can I be of service to you today?" asked the goblin. Harry eyed the brass nameplate which told his name as 'Redjaw.'

"Ah, yes, young Harry Potter would like to withdraw funds from his vault."

Harry stepped forward, "Actually, it's Harry Adkins. I know I've got the Potter stuck on the end, but I never use it."

Redjaw nodded, "I see. Very well, Mr. Adkins, we're going to need to see some form of identification from your parents as well as any Gringotts keys you may have."

Albus frowned, "His ancestry vault won't be accessible until he becomes of age. Do you need his key for that?"

"To provide better service for our customers here, we need to document all accounts so that we can send them monthly statements." Redjaw arched an eyebrow, "Besides which point, young Mr. Adkins has parents which can allow him access to his ancestry vault at any time."

Albus shook his head and sighed, "I've been around over one hundred years and yet the things I shouldn't forget are the things that slip my mind most often." He pulled out a small satchel and turned to Harry, "Within this bag, there are your two keys as well as a couple items your parents wished for you to have about now."

Harry eyed the small, wallet-sized bag, but it was Jason who beat him to the punch, "What in the world could be that small?"

Andrew chuckled "It's a magical thing, son."

"Gah, brain overload!"

Harry grinned and pulled out his keys after sticking his arm, up to his elbow into the small satchel. "Here you go, Mr. Redjaw."

"My pleasure, Mr. Adkins."

Needless to say, ten minutes later, the family and their tour guide walked out of the Bank of America with slightly shocked looks on all faces.

Redjaw had definitely enjoyed himself. Well, if the snort, laugh, and then very toothy grin toward the family were anything to go by. He'd said, "You don't mind if I call you Harry, do you? (Harry said he didn't) Good, let me give you the amount listed within your ancestry vault first. Your ancestry vault has a grand total liquid asset worth of 379,021 galleons, 12 sickles, 16 knuts. At the current exchange rate, your liquid assets come out to be three million, eight-hundred-sixteen thousand, seven-hundred-forty-eight dollars, and ninety one cents ($3,816,748.91). Your trust fund currently has within it 10,312 galleons, 5 sickles, 19 knuts. Which comes out to be one hundred three grand and some change."

Suddenly, the middle class family that they were, found themselves to be far richer than then could have expected. His parents weren't exactly certain what was going to happen, but finding out that their son had almost four million dollars to his name was certainly going to change something. Jason was wondering if Harry would let him get a few things that might help his chances with getting a girlfriend.

Harry was just wondering what he was going to do with so much money.

Albus chuckled merrily, "Right then! The reason we are here is to find young Harry a focus. There's a maker right next to the book store, which is convenient, because we can also purchase a few books for you all to read on Harry's gift."

He lead the still stunned group down to a small store called 'the Meditation Station,' where they once again felt the ripple of a ward-line, and into the small store. Behind the desk was a young man hunkered over a sketch book and a little girl, who couldn't be more than eight sitting on the counter.

The little girl looked at them and smiled widely, showing that she'd lost her two front teeth, and waved, "Hi!"

The young man looked up and blinked owlishly, "Oh, sorry! How you weren't waiting long."

"Not long at all, young man," Albus said with a chuckle, "The muses gift us with creativity whenever they please, and it is up to us to react accordingly."

"Yeah! That's about how I feel. Anyway, I'm Scott and this is my niece Tiffany. Is there anything in particular that I can help you find today?"

Albus looked at Harry encouragingly and the young boy stepped forward. "Well, I need a magical focus of some kind."

Scott nodded thoughtfully, "Starting to learn focused magic then, eh? Hmm, shouldn't be too hard to find you a focus that will grow with you." He turned and set Tiffany on the floor before he grinned, "Best not be touching anything right this moment."

Jason and their mom jerked their hands back as Scott clapped a one-two-one-three-two tempo and then stomped his foot once. There was a ripple as the entire store changed. Where there had been obviously fake magical items and wicca supplies were now actual magic items.

"Now, seeing as how this is your first magical focus, we could always start you out with a wand, which is what is normally done. But with that said, this store makes foci- which means we make more than just wands. We've got staffs, staves, batons, knives and swords, rods, whips, even the odd shield, ring, or rubber duckie," said Scott, which earned a round of laughter from everyone.

Harry walked around, browsing through the different foci until he reached an area that piqued his curiosity. There were two sets of shelves that faced each other, and even though he was standing right in front of them, his eyes kept slipping over them, even when he attempted to focus on what was on those shelves. That's when he saw the little plaque that read "Adult foci users only- Age Ward Protected."

He didn't have to be a rocket scientist to realize what that meant, so he walked off, blushing a bright cherry red.

His parents, who were following him saw him stare at one isle for almost a minute before he grew red and walked off, and they stepped over to investigate. They, read the sign and looked down the isle, having the same luck as Harry had, until they stepped through.

Andrew had to drag his wife from the isle before she got any crazy ideas.

Jason and Scott were busy talking together, as Scott was only a year older than the elder Adkins boy. "Yeah, I'm actually a freshman at the Westlake High School under the Magic Program there."

Jason frowned, "Okay, I'm not the magic guy in the family, but even I've figured out that you can't go around showing that stuff off. How do y'all hide it?"

"Oh, that was the easy part." Scott laughed, "Do you remember a test back in second grade that they did for 'class placement?'" Scott mimed the quotations and Jason nodded after a moment of thought. "Well, that test was to see if you had any magical abilities. From there, we were placed in a class with other magic users and classified as gifted students. Then in sixth grade, we began taking a magical elective course, and our Gifted Studies program became an AMP class."

"Amp class?"

Scott shook his head, "No, A.M.P. class, Advanced Magical Placement. Since the schools can't get away with having magic students being the only students in AP, we had to have our own separate AP classes. That those classes are magical courses that are used to teach us all of the important things and nothing that isn't important is what makes them special."

Jason nodded in understanding, "So that's why Harry was placed in the gifted program back home."

"More than likely, yeah."

Harry had made his way over to the sword display and was looking at one such weapon that had drawn his attention, and tugged at his magic some. It was... odd.

Scott walked over, Jason with him joking about younger siblings. "Ah, I see what you like. That is what my grandpa called a shotgun-sword. It's been inscribed with an arithmatic formula, not to mention a boat-load of runes to do everything from give it nearly infinite ammo to making it unbreakable, and everything else. It makes a good focus, but it's got this bad habit of shooting buckshot instead of spells."

"And I'm not about to let you have that thing for quite a while if ever, young man!" Harry turned around sheepishly as his mother approached. "Find something else."

Harry grinned and hastened off toward the other place his magic was reacting around, which left the others standing there watching him. Scott chuckled, "I had a Japanese man come in here about a week ago and look at it. He said it inspired him." The other looked at his strangely and he shrugged, "Don't ask. Those guys over there are crazier than we are some times."

Harry looked down at the open case before him. Rings. Everything from plain bands to stuff that looked like the rock on the band weighed more than a pickup, and was probably worth more, too. But which one was calling to him?

He closed his eyes and let his focus drift to the box. There, before his minds eye, was a mass of glowing spots, some bigger than others. He raised his hand over the box and snapped his fingers, letting out a small pulse of magic.

Albus whirled around, about to shout a warning. Scott jerked in front of the others, slapping both hands on the floor, and with a flash of light, the white gold wall of magic that was commonly called "Heavens Gates" sprung into place between Harry and everyone else.

From within the collection of rings two flashes of light jerked out, throwing other rings all over the place as they slapped into Harry's palm. As soon as his hand closed around them, the magic washed out from him, vibrating everything and startling everyone.

And then it was over.

Albus peered over his half-moon glasses at the young man looking at the two rings in his hand. Letting his senses go, he felt the magic around him and nodded, all that had occurred was Harry finding not one, but a pair of foci that were almost perfect for him. "Well, Harry, you certainly seem to know how to liven up the party."

"It's a talent that Jase and I have."

Scott stood, panting lightly from exerting himself with a higher class shield. "Incredible..." He walked over to Harry and looked at the two rings. "Simply astonishing, rather."

His mother finally found her voice, "What- what was that?"

Albus turned to her and smiled, "That, Mrs. Adkins, was your son finding not one, but two, foci which fit him almost perfectly."

"This isn't going to happen when he gets that British wand, is it?" asked his father.

"If it does, Britain is finally getting it's head out from where it's been since way back when," said Scott, still looking at the rings. "Well, this is rather interesting. These rings are made of solid gold covered by black silicon of a higher quality than that which is found in computer chips. They each carry a single phoenix tear and a single drop of asp venom."

Jason frowned, "So what's the interesting part?"

Scott looked at him and grinned, "These aren't supposed to be out on the floor. Dad never has used this idea before, so he considered them experimental. I think that was more because he couldn't actually use them, truth be told."

Harry looked down at the dull black rings, "So what fingers do I put them on?"

"I would advise either the index or middle on each hand," said Albus. Scott nodded in agreement. With that said, Harry slipped them on, one on each middle finger.

Almost fifteen minutes later, Harry walked out of the store, $150 cheaper, but with two ring foci, a bottomless satchel, a pair of long distance communication screens, a pair of linked two-way boxes, and Scott's phone number in case they needed any more help.

Albus proceeded to portkey everyone back to the Adkins' home in Dothan where plans were made for the next day. After receiving assurances by Albus that he would return in the morning and take Harry, Jason, and their mother to gather the remainder of Harry's purchases before Harry left for England, Albus apparated away, leaving the Adkins family to relax for the evening.