Chapter 4: At Flourish and Blotts

Draco's prediction came true: He was tossing garden gnomes by the end of the week. In fact, due to his highly competitive nature, he was winning several of the impromptu gnome-throwing games, and having lots of fun doing it. It seemed as though the muddier he got, the more determined he was to win. However, he still preferred cleanliness, and as soon as the game was over, he'd rush to the bathroom and come out practically shining not too long afterwards. Still, it was definitely progress.

Other than that development, the trio enjoyed their time at The Burrow. Their bridges with Ron were starting to be rebuilt, but Harry knew that their friendship with him would never be as strong as before, because they'd had numerous adventures which he had no knowledge of. They spent time properly getting to know Luna and her father, playing Quidditch with the Weasley kids (other than Percy, who was often hidden away in his room. Harry had heard him mumbling about someone, and when Harry asked Fred and George, they told him that they thought Percy was seeing someone), and going over prank ideas with Fred and George. It was a good thing that any small explosions in their room was ignored by the other members of the house, because otherwise their devious plans would have been outed.

Mrs Weasley fussed like crazy over Draco, demanding he eat fourth helpings at every meal when he could barely eat two. Harry suspected that rather than just one Weasley jumper for Christmas, it seemed likely that Draco would have several other items of knitted clothing as well, and it was looking very likely that Draco would enjoy being pampered like that. He'd been practically starved of love when Harry had first met him, with his mother the only provider, and becoming a Gryffindor, living with Harry and his godfathers, and finally being fussed over by Mrs Weasley, had allowed Draco to come out of his shell fully.

Monday morning arrived, bright and sunny, and the four boys tumbled downstairs to breakfast to find Mr Weasley, Mrs Weasley, and Ginny already sitting at the kitchen table. Harry noticed that as soon as Ginny saw Neville, her face became as red as her hair. She often became quite clumsy, prone to knocking things over, whenever Neville entered the room. Harry thought it was hilarious.

"Letters from school," said Mr Weasley, passing each of the present kids almost identical envelopes of yellowish parchment, addressed in green ink. "Dumbledore already knows you three are here—doesn't miss a trick, that man. You two've got them too," he added as the twins ambled in, still in their pyjamas.

Harry wondered how Dumbledore had found out. He knew Sirius and Remus wouldn't have told the old goat; neither of them trusted him after what they'd discovered on Harry's tenth birthday. Neville's Gran wouldn't have told him, since she was mostly ignored in the social game that was the Wizengamot until she spoke up. That left the Weasleys. Harry mused that other than Fred and George, none of them knew how manipulative the headmaster was, and so would probably have chatted away about the trio's whereabouts without realising that there was a possibility for exploitation on Dumbledore's behalf.

For a few minutes there was silence as they all read their letters. Harry's told him to catch the Hogwarts Express as usual from King's Cross station on September the first. There was also a list of the new books he'd need for the coming year:

Second-year students will require:

The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk

Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart

Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart

Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart

Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart

Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart

Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart

Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart

Fred, who had finished his own list, peered over at Harry's. "What's with all the Lockhart books? If there are seven books, shouldn't the new DADA professor just assign one book per year?"

"It is rather suspicious," said Draco. "Perhaps Lockhart really needs the money?"

"No, he's actually quite famous. Maybe the professor's a fan?" suggested Neville.

"Bet it's a witch," grumbled George.

Fred caught his mother's eye and said, "This lot won't come cheap, mum. Lockhart's books are really expensive."

"Well, we'll manage," she said, but she looked worried. "I expect we'll be able to pick up a lot of Ginny's things second-hand."

Percy, who had joined the group in the middle of the conversation, piped up. "What if we just get two copies of each of his books? I can share one set with Fred and George, and Ron can share the other set with Ginny. I mean, it's pointless to get the twins a set each, since they're in the same class, and at the most, we'll only have the class three times a week, and never at the same time."

Mrs Weasley blinked, then smiled. "That is a brilliant idea, Percy! Well then, now that that's all settled, shall we go today?"

They all agreed, but the decision was nullified when a letter from Hermione arrived.

Dear Harry, Draco, Neville, and everyone else at the Burrow,

I hope you're all having fun playing Quidditch, and I'm looking forward to Marauding around with you guys when we get back to Hogwarts!

I'm very busy with school work, of course—"Ah, good old Mione," sighed Draco. "Always looking for the next book to read."—and we're going to Diagon Alley this Wednesday. Why don't we meet up?

Let me know what's happening, love from,

Hermione

The trio and the twins couldn't wait to see Hermione again, so it was decided that they'd go that Wednesday. They used the owl Hermione had sent her letter with to discreetly send Gringotts Draco's reading of the diary, along with a note asking for an appointment to go over it.

oOoOo

Mrs Weasley woke them all early. After wolfing down several bacon sandwiches each, they pulled on their coats and got ready to Floo to Diagon Alley. However, before they could get anywhere, there was a knock on the door.

Frowning slightly, Mrs Weasley opened it to find Luna and her father, Xenophilius, or Phil, waiting patiently in matching mint green robes.

"Phil, what a nice surprise! I'm afraid we were just about to pop over to Diagon Alley, though," said Mrs Weasley.

"Ah yes," he said in his soft-spoken voice. "My little Moonbeam informed me that you were, and since it's also her first year, we were going to ask if we might tag along. We brought some Floo powder though, since she said you were running low."

Mrs Weasley seemed a bit flustered as to how Luna could have known all that, but Mr Weasley butted in and said, "Of course, Phil. The more, the merrier, I always say!"

"Thank you, Arthur."

They Flooed over one by one, and ended up in a huge group blocking the brick passage into Diagon. Mr Weasley tapped the bricks with his wand, and the archway appeared. "Right," Mrs Weasley said, "Gringotts first, yes?"

They rattled through the alley to the white building, and came across Hermione. "Hey! Guys, over here!"

They all looked up and saw her at the top of the flight of steps to Gringotts. She ran down to meet them, her bushy brown hair flying behind her.

"She's really pretty," Harry heard Fred whisper to George just before she sprang upon them, hugging tightly.

"Oh, it's wonderful to see you all again… are you all going into Gringotts?" she asked.

"No," said Draco. "Harry, Neville, and I all have Instant Retrieval pouches, so we were going to just wait outside."

"Oh, well, My parents and I just got out of there, so why don't you come with us?"

"I'd like to come too," piped Luna from somewhere behind the twins.

"Hello, Luna," said Hermione. "Have a nice summer?"

"Oh yes, I got to watch the Wubblet migration."

"Okay…" started Harry, "Anyway, um, yes. We'll go with you." He turned to Mr and Mrs Weasley, who were looking on in confusion. "How about we meet up again at Flourish and Blotts in an hour to buy our books?"

"All right, dears. Do be careful though, and take Phil with you," she acquiesced.

"But you're Muggles!" Mr Weasley blurted out delightedly. "We must have a drink! How about after Flourish and Blotts, then?"

Hermione's parents just nodded, a bit bemused, then shepherded the kids going with them towards Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour for a quick treat before their day of shopping. After purchasing a large strawberry and peanut-butter ice cream, Harry slurped at it happily as he and his friends wandered the alley. After getting quills and parchment at one store, Draco convinced them all to go next door into Quality Quidditch Supplies, where he and Harry bought new Quidditch gloves. When they got to Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop, they came across the twins and Lee Jordan, stocking up on Dr Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks. After joking around a bit, Neville decided to buy a set of biting teacups for his Gran. He thought she'd get a kick out of offering them to stuffy officials who sometimes visited on Ministry business.

Eventually, they headed to Flourish and Blotts, which, they discovered, was absolutely packed. The reason for this was proclaimed by a large banner stretched across the upper windows.

GILDEROY LOCKHART

will be signing copies of his autobiography

MAGICAL ME

today 12.30 – 4.30

The trio groaned simultaneously. "What?" asked Hermione. "Don't you think it's fascinating? I mean, he's written almost the whole book-list!"

"Mione," Harry said, "I'm sorry to say, but I've read three of the seven of his books on the list, and there are so many inconsistencies in it! It's ridiculous, he seems to think that all vampires can actually turn into bats, when that was actually a rumour started by other wizards when Dracula found out his animagus form was a fruit bat! And the Homorphus charm is a myth! I mean, don't you think that if it weren't, Moony would've used it by now?"

Hermione's expression became slightly downcast. "You-you mean that he could be… lying? About all the things that he's done?"

"Not everything," Draco soothed. "Just, some of it. Maybe he did most of it, but he just decided to add some stuff in to make himself look even more impressive."

"I know!" exclaimed Neville. "How about we just get two sets of his books? One for the two of us, and one for Draco and Harry? And we can go through all of them with a fine-tooth comb before term starts for any inconsistencies? That way, we'll know which stuff we need extra resources on for homework?"

That brightened her up immediately, and they squeezed inside once the Weasleys had caught up with them. A long queue wound right to the back of the shop, where Gilderoy Lockhart was signing his books. The kids grabbed the number of copies that they'd all agreed on and sneaked up the line to where Mr and Mrs Weasley, the Drs Granger, and Mr Lovegood were standing.

"Oh, there you are, good," said Mrs Weasley. She sounded breathless and kept patting her hair. "We'll be able to see him in a minute…"

He slowly came into view, seated at a table surrounded by pictures of himself, all winking and flashing too-white teeth. He wore bright blue robes which matched his eyes; his hat was set at a jaunty angle on his golden blonde hair.

A Daily Prophet photographer was clicking away madly, his camera emitting short bursts of purple smoke after every flash.

"Out of the way," he snarled at Luna, stepping on her foot and accidentally pushing her to the ground.

"Hey! Watch it!" growled Neville as he helped her up.

Lockhart heard him, and looked up. He saw Neville, then gasped when he saw Harry standing next to him. "It can't be Harry Potter?" he shouted out.

The crowd parted, whispering excitedly. "No," said Harry. "My name is Harry Potter-Black."

"Oh… um, well, it's still you, so…" he trailed off, then regained his enthusiasm and dived forward, seized Harry's arm and pulled him to the front. The crowd burst into applause as the photographer was clicking away madly. Harry looked for help from his friends, but instead found them guffawing and barely holding back full out laughter.

"Nice big smile, Harry," said Lockhart, through his teeth. "Together, you and I are worth the front page—oof!" Harry elbowed him in the gut and made his way back to the Weasley clan, then faced the downed man.

"If you ever," Harry spat, "touch me again, you'll be hearing from my lawyers. Furthermore," he turned to the photographer, "I forbid you from using my presence here in your newspaper."

Harry stormed into the recesses of the store, followed by Draco, and sat down on a small bench next to the Arcane Magic section. "That was brilliant, Harry," Draco said as he sat down next to him and rubbed soothing circles on his back. "You were brilliant."

Muffled, due to the distance and the amount of books between them, Harry and Draco heard Lockhart say, "Ladies and gentlemen, young Harry there has unknowingly aided me in finding a way to announce a little development I've been sitting on! He and his school fellows will, in fact, be getting me as their new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this September!"

The crowd cheered and clapped and Harry found himself wondering how gullible all those middle-aged ladies must be. Draco sneered. "I cannot believe that they would accept that as an excuse for his manhandling of you!"

"I can," said a voice from their left. They turned their heads to see a dark-skinned boy their age leaning casually against the edge of a bookshelf.

"Blaise!" exclaimed Draco. "I haven't seen you in ages!"

"Yes, well perhaps the reason for that is because you've left yourself no time to catch up with the friends you had before Potter-Black turned your head?" Blaise suggested snidely.

Draco sighed. "It wasn't like that, and you know it! If I'd gone near you or Theo after being disowned, then Pansy, Crabbe, or Goyle would've reported it to their parents, and with my father on the Board of Governors, he would have bribed them all to have me expelled, and any reputation I had left destroyed. I have friends in Gryffindor, real friends."

"Oh, so I'm not good enough for you, is that it? I—"

Draco growled and cut him off. "Yes, you are! If you can come up with a way to meet up with me without anyone else in Slytherin finding out, then by all means, tell me, but if you don't, then I have no idea what to do. The divides between Slytherin and Gryffindor are too big at the moment. I still want to be friends with you, Blaise. Please believe me."

Blaise gave him a searching look, then nodded. "I believe you."

Harry suddenly had an idea. "What if we permanently transfigured a rock into some sort of ring, and then charmed it to be invisible, and when one wearer wants to meet up with another, they rub it and the other person's ring heats up a bit? We could give one ring to each of the Recruits, and when our rings heat up, we could meet up in the RoR."

Draco had his head cocked to the side. "Why transfigure it from a rock?"

"Because then it's already been introduced to magic, so any additional charms are easier to permanently anchor. Oh! We could also add a charm that detects potions or poisons, so that if your food is pranked by someone else, you'd know!"

"I can see why Draco keeps you around, Potter-Black," said Blaise. He sighed. "I suppose this is the best idea we've got, so we may as well try it. One question: what's this RoR?"

oOoOo

After discussing the logistics of their plan, they made their way back to the front of the store, in time to see Mr Weasley socking Lord Malfoy in the jaw and knocking him backwards into a bookshelf. The three boys looked at each other and rushed to help Ginny, whose cauldron full of books had gone flying, and the books had come to rest amidst a large pile of heavy spellbooks which had fallen from the bookshelf due to the fight. Mrs Weasley was shrieking for them to stop, but when they did, it was due to the timely arrival of Hagrid. He pulled them off each other and demanded to know what was going on. Mr Weasley had a cut lip, and Lord Malfoy had been hit in the eye by an Encyclopedia of Toadstools. He was still holding Ginny's old transfiguration book, and so thrust it in her direction blindly, catching Blaise on the arm. "Here, girl—take your book—it's the best your father can give you—"

Pulling himself out of Hagrid's grip, he swept from the shop, leaving a mess of books in his wake. As Hagrid straightened Mr Weasley out a bit, the Weasley children, Harry, Hermione, Draco, Neville, and Blaise picked up some of the books on the floor and proceeded to stack them in a free corner.

It was a subdued group who headed back to the Floo at the Leaky Cauldron. They all said goodbye to Hermione, who left for the Muggle side of London, and Harry, Draco, and Neville Flooed back to Grimmauld after Mrs Weasley promised to send their belongings to them through the Floo by the end of the day.