Harry awoke the next morning to a sharp rapping upon the door. He quickly mumbled, "M'Coming," and stumbled out of the bed. When he stood up and saw the unfamiliar room the previous nights events came flooding into his brain. Harry looked around seeing the room almost for the first time, as he hadn't examined it the night before. The bed was a shabby double covered by a timeworn quilt. To anyone else it would have seemed horrible but to Harry it was amazing. His bed at the Dursleys had been a cot when he was in the cupboard and it had been a twin bed Dudley broke by jumping on it.

The smell of freshly cooked pancakes with copious amounts of syrup slowly met Harry's nose and he was reminded of how hungry he was. He quickly ran his fingers through his hair in an attempt to look cleaner and walked into the kitchen. When he walked in he saw Snape sitting at a worn wooden table eating a plate of steaming pancakes covered in copious amounts of butter and syrup. To Harry's great delight a plate of equally steaming pancakes was sitting across the table. Harry sat down and while he was putting butter on his pancakes he asked attempting to sound casual but instead sounding hopeful, "So… it wasn't a dream then was it?" He began pouring syrup on his pancakes; he too preferred to drown his pancakes in syrup.

Snape finished chewing the bite he had just taken and said, "No Mr. Potter it was not if it was I don't think I would appreciate a strange boy being in my house eating my food." Harry laughed so hard he choked on the bite of food he had just unceremoniously shoved into his mouth. "Yes well don't kill yourself eating. When you are done take a shower and then we will head to London to buy your supplies. There is a list of everything you need in the envelope along with your acceptance letter." Harry pulled out the envelope from his pants pocket and took out a sheet of paper he hadn't seen before. It read:

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Uniform

Three sets of plain work robes (black)

One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils' cloths should carry name tags

Course Books

All students should have a copy 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 Beginners' 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)

1set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad

Harry simply stared at the list. Where on earth were they supposed to find all of these things? Harry looked up at Snape. He didn't seem worried so, Harry decided, so neither will I. After all Harry thought he took me away from the Dursleys and is showing me all these wonderful things I should trust him. Snape who had sat down and began to read the morning paper had no idea about the thoughts going through young Harry's mind.

Harry quickly finished eating and showering. He was quite eager to begin getting his school things. He near ran into the living room where Snape was reading a huge book in his excitement to get his things.

What Harry didn't know was that while he was showering Snape was deep in thought. The things he had seen in Harry's mind were terrible. He had been treated horribly his whole life and was at his most moldable at this very moment. He knew nothing of the wizarding world other than the few things Snape had told him. Snape was for once in his life at a loss for what to do. He could simply leave the child of his most hated enemy to his own devices, to discover the wonders of this world on his own. If he did that Snape would be able to hate him and treat him just the way he had planned. On the other hand the things Snape had seen in Harry's mind reminded him so much of his own childhood. Snape, at a loss for what to do did what he always did at these times; he put the ball in the other player's court. He decided to allow Harry to choose through his actions. If Harry sought out his guidance he would give it, however if as soon as school began he snuffed out their correspondence Snape was determined to treat him with an unlimited amount of venom.

He had barely made this decision when Harry came bounding into the room. He looked up from his book that he had only been half reading and asked, "I take this to mean that you are ready?" Harry nodded exuberantly.

Snape started walking down the hall and into the kitchen. Harry followed him out into the backyard. He decided this would be as good a time as any to ask, "Sir, where are we going to be getting these things?" He said this pointing to the supplies list.

Snape smirked his knowing smirk, "London." Harry was slightly confused but he remembered his personal promise to trust Snape and simply nodded. Snape held out his arm for Harry to grab and Harry felt that terrible sensation of Apparition once again.

As Harry was patting down his body to make sure he didn't leave anything behind he regained his hearing just as he got to his ears and almost at once he wished he didn't. They were behind a dumpster in a dirty alleyway off a very busy London street. It was a stark contrast with the oppressive silence of Spinner's End. When they walked out of the alley the noise was even louder and Harry was having a hard time keeping up with Snape, as one of his long strides was three of Harry's small steps. After a short while Snape stopped and pointed, "That is the Leaky Cauldron it is our destination." At first Harry couldn't tell where he was pointing but after a short moment it became obvious. It was a shabby building that seemed to meld in with all the other buildings. They walked toward it and just as they were about to enter Snape turned toward Harry, "Be prepared," he said neither kindly or unkindly, "every person in that bar has heard your name and will recognize you by your scar, if you wish to not be known then try to cover it somehow." Harry gulped and quickly pressed his bangs over his forehead, not wanting to have his first moment in this wonderful world also be his first moment dealing with fame. He figured if muggle paparazzi can be bad how terrible can magical he shuddered at this thought and pressed his bangs more firmly over his scar. Snape smirked as he walked into the bar, Harry in toe.

Harry had to stifle a gasp when he walked in; it was full to the brim with strange looking individuals. A nice old man with a toothless grin and a hairless head was chatting animatedly with all the people at the bar. A woman who didn't look quite human was drinking something that didn't look exactly edible. The kindly barman waved at Snape and said, "Why hello there Severus showing around a new Hogwarts student then?" He smiled warmly at Harry.

"Why yes Tom I am so we haven't time to stay and chat." He nodded politely to all who looked in his direction and continued walking through the crowd.

Harry followed quickly and quietly when Tom whispered to him, "Don't let him get to you one bit. He may be a bit of a grouch at first but he's just putting up a front or else he wouldn't be taking lil'uns such as yourself around." With that he winked at Harry and went back to cleaning glasses as he chatted with bar patrons.

Snape continued out the door as Tom talked to Harry and soon Harry was out back with him. When Harry joined him Snape said, "Now watch carefully as this is how you are going to get in each time." Snape pulled out his wand and tapped a brick three times. The brick Snape tapped started to move then the bricks surrounding it began to move, then the bricks those bricks were touching, so on and so forth the bricks had moved enough to form a giant arch big enough for a bus with the words Diagon Alley spelled out at the top in crooked letters.

When they walked in Harry was awestruck, first the wall rearranging itself and now this. It was a bustling lane full of vendors selling their wares, people buying them and families chatting with each other. Harry was trying to look every direction, listen to every conversation, stay inconspicuous, and still keep up with Snape. It was proving to be a difficult task. Harry's eyes however were glued to a marvelous white building when he first saw it. It was at the very end of the Alley and gleamed with sunlight. Harry couldn't help but ask, "What is that place?"

"That place is Gringotts. It is the wizards bank and our first stop." Harry nodded completely awestruck by the structures beauty. "Oh and mind you don't stare," Snape added, "at the employees of Gringotts, it's run completely by goblins and they are quite proud." Harry gulped and continued to look with awe at the marvelous structure. When they got closer Harry's awe simply increased. He knew he shouldn't stare but it was… well even the word beautiful couldn't describe it. It seemed to be cut from a single stone of amazing beauty and strength. At a gentle nudge in the side by Snape's elbow as they approached the door Harry reigned in his awe. He gulped when he saw the goblin guarding the door that bowed them in. It had very long fingers, which Harry could tell were quite strong and would have no trouble wrapping around his neck. Snape walked briskly up to an empty counter and before the goblin could say anything pulled out a small key and stated, "Mr. Potter would like to make a withdrawal."

The goblin, who seemed pleased with Snape's no-nonsense attitude, snapped his fingers. A smaller goblin appeared and Harry somehow got the distinct impression that this goblin was female. How he got this impression he could not tell as all the goblin's bodies looked identical to Harry. The goblin at the counter spoke, "This is Gringshpida she will attend to you and your business."

The small goblin known as Gringshpida beckoned them onward saying, "This way sirs!" in a way that seemed to be about as bubbly any cheerful as goblins get. She led them off toward a door and held it open for them to enter.

The passage that the door led into reminded Harry of a mix between a mineshaft and a dungeon. Gringshpida whistled and summoned what looked like a mine cart. Harry got into it after seeing Snape do so. Even though Harry had seen it rocketing down the tracks to get to them Harry wasn't prepared for this. Harry's eyes popped open when they took off at amazingly high speeds. He could barely contain a whoop of enjoyment as the cart rocketed down the shafts making hairpin turns and going ever deeper into the ground. It was exactly the way Harry would imagine a roller coaster to be. When the cart stopped Harry was still smiling like a mad man and could barely contain a giggle of enjoyment. He was so immersed in the adrenalin-influenced afterglow that he didn't even notice the vault door open. When he did finally turn and look his jaw dropped. There were piles of gold and silver, and heaps of bronze. Harry stood frozen staring at it. Snape gave him a slight push and said, "Go on we haven't all day to stare at your trust fund." Harry walked in towards it holding a bag the goblin had given him. He had to resist an urge to dive in and roll around on all the gold. When Harry just stood there staring at the contents Snape said, "The little bronze ones are Knuts, twenty-nine of those make one of the silver ones which are called Sickles. Seventeen Sickles make up one Galleon, which is what those big gold ones are. Harry nodded dumbstruck and grabbed a couple handfuls from each pile. When he looked over at Snape he nodded silently signaling to Harry that he had gotten enough.

Harry started walking back but then hit by sudden inspiration grabbed five extra Galleons. Then he asked, " Gringshpida, does Gringotts do money exchanges?"

"Yes sir," she replied, "both from muggle money to ours and from ours back to muggle money. For a small fee of course."

At Snape's look Harry replied, "Well it wouldn't hurt to have a bit of money for myself in the muggle world, might come in handy ya know." Snape nodded realizing that Harry obviously had no idea how much money he was carrying. When they reached ground level again Harry walked over to and empty counter and placed five Galleons on the counter and said, "I would like to exchange these for muggle pounds, please." The goblin looked at the coins on the counter took them, counted out some bills and coins and handed them to Harry. Harry in turn counted the money. After he counted them his eyes went wide. "There must be some mistake I think you might have given me to much."

He handed the bills back to the goblin who recounted them and to Harry's surprise said, "Yes there is a mistake but I did not overpay you I underpaid you. I gave you a one-pound coin when I meant to hand you a two-pound coin." Harry nearly passed out and asked what the exchange rate between Galleons and pounds was. The goblin replied quite calmly "One Galleon equals five muggle pounds." Harry nearly fell over thinking of how much money he had. He quickly thanked the goblin and walked out his eyes wide and a chuckling Snape following behind him.

When they got outside Harry was stammering at Snape who was obviously enjoying Harry's shock. He stopped laughing and calmly said, "Shall we purchase your school things now?" Harry simply nodded his eyes still quite wide as he felt the weight of his money pouch in his pocket. He realized that he had more money in his pocket that Dudley had ever had in his life. "Okay then,' continued Snape, quite indifferent to Harry's shock, "we should start at the top of the list and work our way down to keep from missing anything."

With that he led Harry over to a shop called Madam Malkin's. At the door he motioned for Harry to go in alone saying he had some personal business he needed to attend to and could do so while Harry was getting fit for his robes. When Harry walked in feeling quite small and exposed he seriously hoped no one would recognize him. Before Harry could say a word a nice witch behind the counter asked him if he was coming for his Hogwarts robes. Harry nodded a yes and she said, "This way, dear, we have a nice family back here getting new robes for their son."

When he walked into the back He saw what she was talking about. It was a huge family of redheads. A tall boy was having new robes fit onto him and he was looking very pleased with himself. A pair of twins who were looking out the window suddenly turned on Harry. "We saw who you came with," started one twin. The other continued, " Yeah tough luck on your part to get stuck with Snarkey Snape." The one who spoke first elbowed the other, "Hey Fred, what house do you think he will get put in?" The one called Fred answered, "Hmm I dono George, if he is here with Snape he must be a muggleborn which means he cant get put in Slytheryn." Harry was about to say that he wasn't muggleborn but George continued before he had that chance, "Well he seems far to quiet for Gryffindor so probably Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff." Harry couldn't make neither head nor tail of this whole conversation so he simply kept his mouth shut. He understood about half of it and he really didn't think they were quite fair to Snape. Yeah he did have a bit of a biting personality but it wasn't really all that bad. Luckily though the lady doing the tall boy's robes finished so the family left. Not long after that the young woman attending to his robes finished.

After he finished making his purchases Harry didn't have long to wait for Snape to come back after finishing his business. When he got there Harry decided to brave asking a question, "Sir what are The Houses? Two boys in Madam Malkin's were-"

"There are four houses," Snape interrupted, " Slytheryn, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. Gryffindor is full of morons who don't think anything through more than what the immediate results will be, that is if they think at all. Ravenclaw is full of intellectuals who would rather sit around discussing a situation, the pros, cons and so forth, than actually getting up and doing anything. Hufflepuffs are the type of people who are loyal to a fault; they will do anything for a friend without caring a wit about themselves. Lastly there is Slytheryn, my house. Slytheryns do whatever is in their best interest or whatever will help them in the long run. They are the perfect mix of a chess player and a politician thinking five steps ahead of the game while being perfectly willing to break a connection the second it seems to no longer be profitable."

Harry nodded. He didn't think he really fit into any of the houses. He didn't want to be known for rushing into things headfirst. Though he hated to admit it is exactly what he did by going with Snape when he had very little information. Hufflepuff sounded awfully like the way Dudley's friends acted, doing exactly what Dudley said without a moments thought. He also didn't much care for sitting around discussing without doing anything. Slytheryn sounded like a group of people who caused wheels to turn within wheels, which while Harry didn't exactly like, was fairly good at spotting considering the amount of time he had saw Dudley manipulating his Aunt, Uncle, and everyone else around him.

They had been walking through Harry's contemplation of the houses and had just arrived at a bookstore. It was called Flourish and Blott's and when they walked in Snape walked away, obviously having his own books to buy. Harry was quickly grabbing all the books on his list. He was grabbing the last book on the list, which he had to go on tiptoe to grab when he heard his gold jingle. Harry looked around and realized just how little he knew about the world he had landed in. He thought about how ignorant he felt when those twins were talking. He also thought about the fact that he had money to burn. So he did what he had always wanted to do, he splurged. Of course years of living with the Dursleys having little to no spending money made him more than a little frugal. So he bought three books that had caught his eye when he was scanning the shop for his schoolbooks. He bought Once a Muggle, Now a Wizard: a muggleborn's guide to the wizarding world by Arjouh Kiddin. He picked up 101 Easy Charms to Make your Life Easier by Pazy Lants without a second glance. The second he saw it he knew he had to buy Curses and Counter-curses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and Much, Much, More) by Professor Vindictus Viridian.

As they left the store Snape looked at Harry's purchases and nodded his approval at Harry's extra books. Harry didn't know that the Kiddin book Snape himself owned a copy of to give to muggleborn students who got sorted into his house and didn't want to be harassed for ignorance. What the two twins who were talking at Harry in Madam Malikin's didn't know was that quite a few muggleborns are placed into Slytheryn as they have quite a lot of desire to prove that they are just as good as any other witch or wizard and the power system in Slytheryn house was quite similar to the way popularity worked in muggle schools so they had very little difficulty falling right into place.

Next on the list was a wand. This prospect seriously excited Harry as it was what he had wanted ever since Snape had shown him his on the boat. The shop, Harry saw, that they were headed to was called Olivander's. It was a small dusty shop. When they walked in Harry felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up as he looked around uncomfortably. He was looking in the direction of Snape when he suddenly heard, "Mr. Potter. I thought I would be seeing you soon." Harry jumped out of his skin at the sound of the voice. He even saw Snape look slightly startled though Snape composed himself so quickly that if he hadn't been looking in his direction Harry wouldn't have seen it. "Severus Snape how nice it is to see you." Harry barely suppressed a chuckle, as it was obvious that Snape did not return the sentiment. Harry honestly couldn't blame him Mr. Olivander was creepy, especially his eyes. "Twelve inches, redwood, and a dragon heartstring quite ridged if I remember correctly." He said this as if there wasn't any chance that he was mistaken. "Do you take care of it properly?" Snape simply nodded in response. After Snape nodded Mr. Olivander suddenly turned his attention to Harry. "Oh how much you resemble your father. I remember quite well selling him his wand, eleven inches, pliable, mahogany wood excellent for transfiguration." Mr. Olivander moved closer to Harry and he began to regret his mirth as Snape was quite obviously enjoying Harry's discomfort. Mr. Olivander was now looking strait into Harry's eyes, "Even though you look much like your father you have your mother's beautiful green eyes. I also had the privilege to sell Lilly her very first wand. A willow wand favored her; ten and a quarter inch long, quite swishy and very nice for charms work." After this he moved even closer still, Harry had to refrain from taking a step back. "I am sorry to say I sold the wand which did that," as he said the word that Mr. Olivander placed a spindly finger on Harry's scar. Snape immediately stopped laughing and leaned in almost imperceptibly with barely noticeable interest. "A very powerful wand especially in the wrong hands. Yew thirteen and a half inches… If only I had known what it was going out into the world to do…" Mr. Olivander sharply stood up. "Well hold out your wand arm." Harry held out his right arm and a long tape measure began to measure all over him. While he was doing that Mr. Olivander was in the back perusing the shelves. While he did this he spoke, "Every Olivander wand is unique. They have two main components the magical core, which focuses the magic of the individual and the wood that makes up the wand. Olivander's uses unicorn hairs, phoenix feathers, and dragon heartstrings. As every magical being and every individual tree is completely individual so is the wand. You will never get as good results with a wand which chose another wizard." Mr. Olivander emerged from the back room and handed Harry a wand, "Beachwood and dragon heartstring. Give it a wave." Harry felt quite foolish as he did what Mr. Olivander instructed. Just as he had done as told he felt the wand snatched out of his hand almost instantly.

Mr. Olivander handed him another, "Oak and unicorn hair, Try." Harry did and yet again nothing happened.

"Mahogany and phoenix feather." Nothing again.

"Apple and dragon heartstring." No response.

It continued on like this for quite some time Mr. Olivander would hand him a wand, Harry would barely move it and Mr. Olivander would snatch it back. The thing that seemed odd to Harry was that Mr. Olivander seemed to get happier the longer it went on. Harry had tried over one hundred wands and was feeling quite discouraged. This must have shown on his face as Mr. Olivander said, "Not to worry Mr. Potter, the wand chooses the wizard after all and you will be life long partners no need to rush perfection," he said this right before handing Harry another wand. "Holly and phoenix feather." Harry took the wand and felt amazing warmth in his fingers accompanied by a feeling of untapped power through his whole body. The only way Harry felt he could describe the power he felt was that it was like the force that keeps two magnets of the same pole apart. It was simply amazing. He waved the wand and a mixture of gold and silver sparks came out of the tip. Mr. Olivander yelled "Bravo!" and looked quite impressed while Snape clapped his hands absently. After Mr. Olivander finished cheering he started muttering to himself. Harry only caught a bit of it "How very curious…" when Mr. Olivander walked near him to take the wand for pricing.

Harry couldn't help himself, "Excuse me sir, but what's curious?"

Mr. Olivander suddenly became quite serious and gave Harry a hard stare. "I can remember every single wand I have ever sold and it is curious that the phoenix whose tail gave the feather in your wand gave another feather. It just so happens that that feather is in the wand that gave you your scar."

Harry's face paled and Snape's eyes were wide as saucers. Mr. Olivander smiled and said, "The wand chooses the wizard Mr. Potter it is no coincidence you were given this wand. I think we can expect great things of you."

When the left the wand shop the air between Harry and Snape was quite tense though Harry wasn't quite sure why. He looked at his list and a question fell out of his mouth before he had a chance to stop it. "Sir you said you teach potions correct?" Snape nodded and then Harry continued, "What difference does the material of the cauldron make?"

Snape's reply was in a slightly condescending tone that one often hears when asking a basic question of someone who has mastered the subject. "Well more porous materials such as iron will absorb some of the essence of the previous potions ingredients. While it is more resilient to potions that would otherwise melt the bottom right out of the cauldron you can only use it ever for one particular potion before you need to clean it with very strong cleaning charms and even then you must be careful. More precious materials such as gold while easier to clean and less likely to absorb previous potions melt at a much lower point and can only be used for potions made at lower temperatures." Harry nodded it made perfect sense especially the bit about the iron. One time Harry had cleaned a skillet improperly and breakfast was ruined, as it tasted of soap, he got a week in the cupboard for that mistake. When they reached the apothecary Snape agreed to help him pick out potion ingredients.

As they walked out Harry laid eyes upon the biggest man Harry had ever seen and he was walking toward them. He smiled a smile proportionate to his massive body that reached far into his eyes. "Professor!" he called, "an Harry too! I had hoped to run into you today."

Snape nodded, "Nice to see you too Hagrid."

Hagrid smiled and looked at Harry. "I woulda picked ya up m'self but I had other important Hogwarts business to attend to today." He patted his breast pocket dutifully and Snape rolled his eyes. Harry smiled he enjoyed this giant man's easygoing personality. "An before I forget a happy birthday to ya." Harry turned slightly red and said a quiet thank you. As he said this Hagrid was rummaging through his jacket and pulled out a box that he handed to Harry. Harry opened it as Hagrid said, "Baked it m'self hope you like it." It was a birthday cake.

Harry felt a lump in his thought, "Hagrid thank you, you shouldn't have." It was Harry's first ever birthday cake and he had got it from someone he had never even met.

"Nonsense," replied Hagrid, "and if you have time we should go and buy you a birthday present." Harry began to protest at this saying Hagrid couldn't that he didn't have to. Hagrid simply waved it off as nothing. "It's the least I could do for ya, especially after not picking you up like I had hoped to. Perhaps Professer Snape here could help us choose."

"An owl perhaps," Snape said lazily as if he were trying to appear aloof, " I am sure he doesn't already have one and he will need one to write to all his adoring fans." At those words all the people who had grouped around them when they realized that the Harry Hagrid was talking to was THE Harry Potter suddenly scattered and began to turn away hastily.

"A wonderful idea Professor." With that they headed to Eeylop's Owl Emporium where they went to buy Harry an owl. There was a bit of a hold up as there were two owls that caught Harry's attention a beautiful snowy white female and a male as dark as the night. They both seemed to favor Harry equally so he left it up to Hagrid and Snape to choose. Hagrid came out a few minutes later holding the snowy white owl in a cage and a slightly sulky looking Snape trailing behind. He had apparently been routing for the black owl. Harry was continually saying thank you and Hagrid continued to wave it off looking slightly embarrassed by all of Harry's gratitude. The walked back toward the arch and when they reached it Hagrid said his goodbyes, "Allrigh' then Harry I'll be seein ya when you get to Hogwarts." With that he nodded to Snape, waved to Harry and walked off.

Snape Apparated them to the end of Privet Drive and handed Harry a small envelope. "This has your train ticket to get to Hogwarts. If there is any reason you can not make it to the train station on time send your owl to the school and we will work the matter out."

Harry nodded and said, "If worse comes to worse I will call a taxi. I am pretty sure I have enough for a ride to…" He opened the envelope and looked at the station name, " Kings Cross Station." Snape nodded and Apparated away leaving Harry at the end of the street with quite an unusual assortment of things. So Harry knowing how his Aunt would shriek if anyone saw him hurried back to number four.