AN:

I am totally sorry about the long wait. i have no excuses other than for a bit Rose couldnt log into her google account for a while and then I lost the flashdrive. Rose is also addicted to a game now so she is taking a lot of her time on that plus she also now has a job sooo yeah lol. but ill try to get onto her about continuing to write. now please enjoy the newest chapter...the first one in 6 years. have fun with it everyone!

Chapter 5: Vampires and Goblins and Hags, OH MY!

Severus shook Harry awake at around six the next morning. "Sorry for getting you up so early, but there is a bit of work we need to do, or rather, I need to do before you leave." Harry peered up at him blearily, then said, "'Kay, just give me a few minutes to shower and dress." "Not a problem. Breakfast will be ready in ten minutes, so make it a quick shower." Severus then left the room and shut the door.

Harry sat up and grabbed his glasses and put them on, then went to the dresser and grabbed a pair of artfully torn black denims and a black t-shirt with the band Def Leppard on it. He was still wondering about that Leo that he was always hearing about as he walked to the bathroom to take his shower.

Ten minutes later, Harry was washed, dressed, and finally awake when he walked into the kitchen for breakfast. Severus looked up from where he was dishing up the food and said, "On time, as usual, for breakfast.", then he smiled. Hagrid was already sitting at the table, reading the newspaper while drinking tea. Harry decided to sit quietly and leave him to his reading, remembering that his uncle liked it quiet as he was reading his paper.

Severus set a heaping plate of eggs, bacon and toast In front of Harry. "Today's a busy day for you, so make sure you eat it all." he said as he was setting an equally heaping plate in front of Hagrid. Hagrid set his paper down and started to tuck into his food. "Nothin' interestin' in the paper today. Just the usual blither-blather about the usual things. Donations for St. Mungos is up, and so-and-so is gettin' married. I only get the paper just in case something big happens."

Severus sat down with his plate of food, then looked at Harry. "I suppose you're wondering why I got you up so early, knowing that the stores won't be opening for a few hours." Harry nodded as he was munching on his bacon. "Well, I sent an owl to my friend, Minerva McGonagall last week, asking her to help me disguise you for this trip into London. She should be here in about a half-hour."

Hagrid looked up at Severus and said, "Disguise him? Won't everyone recognise his name?" Severus then remembered, he hadn't had that talk with Hagrid yet. "Hagrid, from now on, in public, call Harry 'Mr. Evans' in public. It is how he will be addressed in school, anyway, so he needs to get used to that name instead of Potter." Hagrid then looked at Harry. Harry nodded to let him know that he agreed with Severus. "Okay," Hagrid replied, "but only in public."

A couple minutes after the table was cleared and the dishes washed, there was a knock at the door. Severus peeked out the window, and upon seeing Minerva, he opened the door. "Thank you for helping with this. I know the basics of transformation, and am able to do a decent job, but you being the best, I decided that I needed your help." Minerva McGonagall nodded and smiled. "No need to butter me up, Severus. I agree that he needs to be disguised to go into the city. Now, let's see him. I have not had the chance to see Harry since he was a wee bairn."

Severus stepped to the side and let her see Harry. "Oh! I see he likes a similar style to Leo!", she chuckled. "Yes, he definitely needs to have some changes made to his appearance. He looks too much like James did at that age. Let's see….hmmm. How about red hair, blue eyes, some freckles, and I think I'll also add some curl to his hair as well, and make it a bit longer….say to his shoulders? What do you think, Severus?"

Severus shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know...I think that I better see what he looks like after, to know if it will be enough. All I know is that because he is getting measured for his school uniform today, we can't change his height or weight at all." Minerva nodded and turned back to Harry. "What I'm going to do to you won't hurt a bit. I'm just going to tweak your looks a bit so that you don't look like your father or mother. May I proceed, Harry?"

Harry looked at her and saw that even with the tight bun in the back of her head and the stiff way that she carried herself, that she was actually a very kind woman. "Alright, I'm ready, Professor McGonagall." "I see that Severus has been teaching you a little bit, but please call me Minerva when we aren't at school for now. Well, here goes nothing!"

First she pointed her wand at Harry's hair. It grew until it went to just below his shoulders and had loose curls. Then, she pointed again, and his hair turned a bright red. "Okay, now, Harry, I need you to keep your eyes open for just a minute or two. Don't worry, I won't be poking your eyes out with my wand." Harry nodded, then stood as still as he could without blinking.

Minerva pointed her wand towards his eyes. First his eyebrows turned the same fiery red as his hair. Then his eyes turned blue, and the shape of his sockets changed just a bit. Finally, she pointed the wand at his cheeks, and freckles appeared all across his nose and cheeks. "What do you think, Severus? Is that enough for you?" Severus took a good look at Harry. "I don't know. Harry, go look in the mirror and you tell me. Does that look like you?"

Harry walked over to the mirror and almost jumped around, looking for the other kid that had to be standing in front of him. "Will I go back to looking like me? Is this permanent?", he asked. The adults started laughing at the questions that Harry had just asked, but they all stopped when they realized that Harry thought they were making fun of him. "OH, no. That's not permanent! Unless you want it to be? Don't worry, Severus knows how to reverse these spells. You will look like yourself after you get home tonight."

Hagrid then looked at Harry. "Ready ter get goin', then?" Harry looked at Hagrid, then at Severus. "How are we getting there, anyway? I haven't seen any trams or heard any trains since I been here this week." Hagrid then pointed at the fireplace. "We are goin' ter use flue powder ter get there. It's the safest form of transport at the moment. I canna exactly use the motorcycle at the moment, can I? Too many muggles about!"

Harry looked doubtfully at the fireplace for so long that Severus took pity on him. "It won't burn you! You see that jar on the mantle? That's what is called flue powder. You take a pinch of it and throw it in the fireplace. When the flames change color, you step into them and speaking very clearly, you name the location that you want to go. A few seconds later, you are there. Just remember to hold your arms close to your body, and maybe take your glasses off before you leave."

As Hagrid went to step into the fireplace, Severus remembered that he needed to hand something to him. "Hagrid, before you go, you're going to need these legal documents so that Harry can access his vault. And, also, here's a letter explaining why you're calling him Evans instead of Potter. You still have the key to his vault, right?" Hagrid took the papers and put them in one of his many pockets. Then he patted another pocket which made a sound like there were more than a few keys in his pocket. "I have his key right here with all my other keys." "Okay, well then, off with you. You may as well go first so that Harry is protected when he gets there." Severus replied.

Hagrid then reached into the jar on the mantle, then tossed the powder onto the flames. The flames turned green, and Hagrid put his hand in the fire to show Harry that it wouldn't burn him. Hagrid then stepped into the fireplace, which seemed to grow to fit his enormous size. "The Leaky Cauldron", Hagrid said, then disappeared up the flue with a whoosh.

Severus turned to Harry and said,"Alright, now your turn. Just remember to enunciate, and next thing you know, Hagrid will be catching you as you get there. Oh, and don't be surprised to see me later this afternoon. I'll meet you at The Leaky Cauldron for an early dinner or late tea before we come home." "'Kay, Uncle Severus, see you later then." Harry replied as he was reaching up to get some of the powder.

Harry then tossed the powder onto the flames, like he had seen Hagrid just do. When the flames turned green, he put his hand in the fireplace, and found that the flames felt barely warm and sort of tickled him. He then stood back up, stepped into the fireplace, took off his glasses and made sure his arms were plastered to his sides. He said, "The Leaky Cauldron", then suddenly felt himself flying upward really fast. At first, he tried to close his eyes because he was getting dizzy from the speed, but then worried that he might miss his stop. When he opened his eyes again, he saw the blurry images of strange people's sitting rooms.

Next thing Harry knew, he felt like he was falling forward as he came to a sudden stop. The only things that kept him from falling were Hagrid's hands, as they grabbed him and stopped his forward momentum. "Whoa, there!" Hagrid said as he made sure that Harry was alright. Harry put his glasses back on and looked around the place where he had ended up.

The Leaky Cauldron appeared to be a very busy, but very well kept inn. There was a balding middle aged man cleaning off the top of the bar, and about twenty or so patrons sitting at either the small tables or on the barstools at the bar. The man looked up and asked Hagrid, "The usual today, Hagrid?" Hagrid just shook his head and replied,"No' today, Tom. We've gotta lot of things ter buy fer Mr. Evans here. First year of school, ya know."

A few of the patrons looked up at Hagrid, then looked at Harry. A few of them seemed friendly, and just nodded at them. A couple actually approached Harry, though. "Doris Crockford's me name and if ya need any help, jest send me a note, and I can help ya with your homework. Me specialty is potions, jest so ya know." a grey haired lady said as she reached out to shake Harry's hand. Harry politely shook her hand and told her, "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Crockford."

When Doris walked away feeling satisfied that this youngster was at least polite, a man wearing a purple suit and top hat walked up to him, and whispered very quietly as he shook his hand, "Dedalus Diggle's the name, Mr. Potter," he said with a wink. Harry was taken aback that he was recognised, and quietly said," It's Mr. Evans, please. How did you know…" Dedalus then replied just as quietly, "How did I know who you are? Hagrid would only be here with you if he was protecting someone important, for one. For two, well, I know Severus, and he asked me to help keep an eye out. Mums the word, though, Mr. Evans." Harry nodded his reply, then said in a normal voice, "Nice to meet you, too, Mr. Diggle.", then turned to follow Hagrid toward the bar where there was a youngish man in a purple turban sitting.

"Ah, Professor Quirrell, I didn't realize that you were goin' ter be here today!" Hagrid exclaimed loudly. "Meet Professor Quirrell, Mr. Evans. He's goin' ter be yer Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year!. This is Mr. Evans' firs' year at Hogwart, ya know!" "P-p-pleased t-t-to m-meet you M-m-mr. E-e-vans. G-g-g-great s-s-subject, D-defense A-a-against the D-dark A-a-arts, eh?" Professor Quirrell stuttered as he shook Harry's hand. Harry just agreed with him, then asked Hagrid if it was time to go. Hagrid looked at Harry and nodded, saying "Follow me.", then went out the back exit of the inn.

When they got out back, Hagrid told Harry, "Professor Quirrell was a firs' rate wizard when he graduated, but he decided to explore the world for a little while before he came back to teach. It was while he was in the Black Forest that he ran into some trouble with werewolves. Plus there was also the incident with the hags. Well, anyways, he came back here afraid o' his own shadow, he did. I suspect that he will still be a good teacher.."

After a short walk down an alley, they got to a brick wall blocking an alley. While Hagrid was getting out his pink flowered umbrella, Harry thought about what Hagrid had just told him. "Werewolves and hags are real?" Harry wondered to himself with a shudder. Then, Harry decided to pay more attention to what Hagrid was doing. Hagrid was standing next to the wall, counting the bricks. "Let's see, it's three up, two across…." Hagrid mumbled to himself, then he nodded. He put his umbrella on a brick and tapped it three times. The bricks on the wall separated and formed an arch big enough for Hagrid to walk through without having to stoop down.

As the two of them walked through, Harry started staring at what he saw. Behind the wall was a long street with lots of different shops advertising their different wares. There were stacks of different kinds of cauldrons in front of one shop. There were silver ones, brass ones, copper ones and even gold ones.

Another shop was advertising buy one get one free for quills. There were specials on parchment and potion ingredients. There was a store with different types of telescopes displayed as well as a globe showing the positions of the stars. They also passed a clothing store and the last one they passed had a big sign in the window: Eeylops Owl Emporium: We Have Tawnys, Barn, Screech and even Snowy Owls Here!

The store before that one had a big group of young boys standing in front of it, staring at the broom displayed in the window. The sign above it said: Just in! The Nimbus 2000! It's the Broom That's All the Rage! Get One While They are Still Here! Hagrid chuckled, "Sorry, but firs' years are not allowed a broom. Might as well save your money and get one next year. Ah! There 'tis. Gringotts bank. No safer place to be, exceptin' Hogwarts, that is!"

Harry looked up, and saw a towering building at the end of the street. It was a huge white building with a set of bronze doors that even dwarfed Hagrid. In front of the doors, was that a…? "Yes, That's a goblin. No' the most friendly of creatures, goblins, but they are great with things like money and whatnot."

The goblin was about a head shorter than Harry. It had a swarthy, clever face with a pointed beard. Harry also noticed that it had long fingers and feet. The goblin bowed to them as they went through the doors. On the other side was another set of doors, this time, silver. Etched into the doors was a poem which said:

Enter, Stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed,

For those who take, but do not earn,

Must pay most dearly in their turn.

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there.

"Like I said, you'd be mad ter rob them, " Hagrid told Harry. The two goblins on either side of the silver doors bowed to them, then Harry and Hagrid went through the silver doors.

On the other side of the doors was a vast marble hall. A hundred more goblins sat on high stools at the counters looking through ledgers, counting piles of gold, silver and brass coins, or weighing piles of gems. Harry saw one who was weighing rubies the size of big glowing coals.

Hagrid walked over to one counter and waited. When the goblin didn't look up, he cleared his throat to get the goblin's attention. The goblin put down his quill and closed the ledger he was working on and looked up at Hagrid. "May I help you?" the goblin questioned him. "Yes, " Hagrid said, "Mr. Evans here needs to make a withdrawal." The goblin looked down at Harry. "Does Mr. Evans have a key?, he inquired. "Yes, I have it here, as well as the legal documents he needs to go with it." Hagrid answered.

Hagrid then started emptying one of his pockets on the goblin's desk. He pulled out a few white mice, some moldy looking dog biscuits (which the goblin looked at with disgust) and finally said, "Ah, here 'tis." Hagrid then pulled out a small silver key and handed it to the goblin as well as the two letters that Severus had handed him earlier. The goblin looked at the documents, looked at Harry, then said, "Very well, then."

Hagrid then pulled out another letter. "This is a letter from Professor Dumbledore." The goblin looked at the letter, then put it to the side. "Griphook!", the goblin shouted, "You are to take these two persons to their vaults." Another goblin then approached them, and bowed. "If you'll follow me, then." The goblin then led them to one of the many doors on the sides of the room.

Griphook held the door open for them. Harry, who had expected more marble, was surprised. They were in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. It sloped steeply downward and there were little railway tracks on the floor. Griphook whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. They climbed in-Hagrid with some difficulty-and were off.

At first they just hurtled through a maze of passages. Harry tried to remember, left, right, right, left, middle fork, right, left, but it was impossible. The rattling cart seemed to know its own way, because Griphook wasn't steering.

Harry's eyes stung as the cold air rushed past them, but he kept them wide open. Once, he thought he saw a burst of fire at the end of a passageway and twisted around to see if it was a dragon, but too late-they plunged even deeper, passing an underground lake where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor.

"I never know," Harry called to Hagrid over the noise of the cart, "what's the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?"

"Stalagmite's got an 'm' in it," said Hagrid. "An' don' ask me questions jus' now, I think I'm going to be sick."

He did look very green, and when the cart stopped at last beside a small door in the passage wall, Hagrid got out and had to lean against the wall to stop his knees from trembling.

Griphook unlocked the door. A lot of green smoke came billowing out, and as it cleared, Harry gasped. Inside were mounds of gold, silver and bronze coins.

"All yours," smiled Hagrid.

Harry smiled at the thought that he had money that his aunt and uncle knew nothing about, then got to work trying to figure out how much he would need for the next year. Hagrid went into the vault and started explaining to Harry what each coin was, and the values. They scooped up a couple handfuls of the big golden coins ("galleons", Hagrid told him), and a handful of the silver coins (sickles) and another handful of the small bronze coins (knuts). "Jest remember, Harry, seventeen sickles to galleon, and twenty-nine bronze knuts to a sickle," Hagrid explained to him as they scooped up the coins and put them in a small bag.

As they were getting ready to leave the vault, Harry saw something shiny between the stacks of sickles and knuts. He reached down to pick it up, and found it to be a silver ring. It was shaped like a serpent, with a big emerald in its mouth. Harry decided to try it on, and found that it sized itself to his left middle finger.

Hagrid looked over at Harry to see what he was doing, and gasped, "That's Slytherin's ring, that is! I knew Lily had that ring after she graduated from school, but it was never found in the house that she died in!" Harry looked at it with awe. This was the ring that his mom wore before her death, then. He decided to keep the ring on to remember his mum with.

They then left the vault, which the goblin closed behind them, and climbed back onto the cart. The cart then took off at a fast speed again taking them even deeper into the winding caverns that was the Gringotts vaults. Just as it looked like Hagrid was indeed going to be sick, they came to another sudden stop. "Vault 713," the goblin said, as he got out of the cart again. "Wait here a second, please", he said, as he walked up to the vault. Then, he ran his finger down the door that was there, causing the door to glow in a brilliant blue color. The vault creaked open, revealing a nearly empty vault.

The goblin looked at Harry and said, "With our high security vaults, only a goblin who works at gringotts can get in. Any thieves who try will be stuck there until we come to check on the vault." Harry then asked him, "So how often do you check on the vaults?" The goblin gave him an evil grin, "About every ten years or so." Harry shuddered in horror, and decided then and there that he would never try to get into one of the vaults without a goblin's help.

Hagrid then reached into the vault and quickly scooped up what looked like the only item in the vault. It looked to be a small bundle of cloth wrapped around something. As Hagrid was putting the item into his pocket and climbing back into the cart with Harry, he mumbled, "Bes' not ter mention this.", then steeled himself for the fast ride back up to the bank.

After they left the bank behind, the money that was in Harry's pocket seemed to weigh a whole lot more than it did before. Hagrid then steered Harry towards a shop that read, "Madame Malkins Wizarding Clothes", and said, "Best ter start with your school robes and cloaks. Do you mind if I go to the Leaky Cauldron real quick for a nip to settle me stomach?" Harry shook his head no, and entered the shop.

In there, he found a small woman bustling about. She stopped and asked him, "First year at Hogwarts, I take it?" Harry nodded his head yes, then allowed her to lead him to another room, where there was another boy being helped.

The other boy was about Harry's age, had blonde hair, and a pointy chin. He had a rather bored look of disdain on his face. "Is it your first year at Hogwarts, too?", the boy asked Harry. Harry just nodded his head yes, as the woman started measuring him for his robe size. "So do you know what house you're going to be getting sorted into? For me, I'm going to be in Slytherin. Everyone in our family gets sorted into that house." Harry just shrugged his shoulders non-committedly, then looked out the window.

Just as he was looking out the window, a boy, who looked about Harry's age ran up and looked around. The boy looked to be wearing a bathing robe with a huge bow (which appeared to be made out of rope) tied in the back. His hair was dark, almost black, and stuck up in the back like a duck's tail feathers would look. He looked asian, and seemed to be panting. The boy then looked around, took a huge breath, then yelled out, "Orochimaru!, Where did you go? You promised me that you would teach me, not take me shopping in a strange area!" Then, the boy took off running again.

The blonde headed boy looked at Harry and asked, "Friend of yours?", then smirked. That boy shouldn't have been allowed. He obviously doesn't have any magic blood in his line. My father was saying just the other day that only those from pure bloodlines should be allowed into our society." The lady who was working on pinning up the blonde boy's robes then stood up and said to him, "That's you done, off you go."

Just as the lady was finishing up pinning up Harry's robes, there was a tap on the window. Harry looked up, then grinned. There was Hagrid standing outside the window with two drippy ice cream cones, and waving at him. "Alright, we're done with you now. We'll send these to you before school starts, Mr. Evans." Harry thanked the lady, then left the store.

For the next couple hours, Harry and Hagrid walked up and down the narrow street, buying the items on his list. Harry wanted the gold cauldron, but Hagrid pointed out that the instructions were for a brass one for school. Harry did end up with a folding telescope for astronomy class, and a few fancy feathers for writing with. They stopped for a few seconds and looked at Harry's list again finally.

There were only two items left on the list. Hagrid looked at Harry and told him, "I know what we need ter get next. I still owe you birthday presents fer the las' ten years!" Hagrid then led Harry into Eyeclops Owlery, where Hagrid had to argue Harry into letting him buy him an owl. Half an hour later, they walked back out of the store with Hagrid lugging all of Harry's purchases, while Harry proudly carried a shiny new cage, which was holding his new white owl, which he promptly named Hedwig.

"All that's left to get now is your wand, Harry." Hagrid said, " And I know the place ter get yer one." Hagrid then led Harry to an old, dilapidated looking shop. The shop had written above the door in big letters "Ollivanders, Makers of fine wands est. 382 bc." "This is the only place ter go fer a wand, Harry.", Hagrid told him as he led Harry into the shop.

A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single spindly chair that Hagrid sat on to wait. Harry felt strangely as though he had entered a very strict library as he looked at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic.

"Good Afternoon," said a soft voice. Harry jumped. An old man was standing before him, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop. "I've been wondering when I'd be seeing you, Mr. Evans", the old man said with a wink at Harry. It was if he knew that Evans wasn't Harry's true last name.

"Let's get your measurements first while i get a feel for the wand that will choose you, shall we?" then introduced himself to Harry, and had him stand with his writing hand out, took out a measure tape and started measuring Harry. First he measured Harry from finger to shoulder, then elbow to wrist, all the while talking to Harry about what he had been doing that day. "Hmmm….I think I know which one to start with first…." Mr. Olivander muttered as he walked away, leaving the tape measure to its work. (It was now measuring the space between Harry's nostrils.)

"Oh, go ahead and stop measuring." said, as he was walking back out with a long thin box in his hand. The tape measure fell to the floor. "Here, Mr. Evans, give this one a whirl, shall we?" He handed a long, shiny wand to Harry. As soon as he handed it to Harry, he took it back. "Nope, that one won't do at all., let's try a different one." He came back a couple minutes later with another one. "No, that one won't do at all either."

After about 20 minutes, and 20 wands later, Mr. Olivander suddenly got an interesting look on his face, and said, "I wonder…." then he walked away, returning a couple seconds later with yet another long thin box. "This wand is made from a Japanese Sakura tree branch that Newt Scamander brought to me to make a wand from. It's 15 inches long, and willowy. Great for charms and curses. It has a thunderbird feather for its core. Why not give this one a try?" He handed the wand to Harry, who immediately felt a tingling in his hand, causing his eyes to open wide with surprise.

"Curious, very curious…" Mr. Olivander said. "Why is that curious, sir?" Harry asked. "The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Evans, and that particular wand is a one of a kind. What is most curious is why Dumbledore would want me to give you a different wand than this one, when it seems to like you a lot! I'm going to be keeping an eye on you, that's for sure!" Mr. Olivander then took the wand from Harry's hand, put it back in its box and wrapped it for him. After paying for his wand and excusing himself from Mr. Olivander's presence, he turned back to Hagrid and said, "Anywhere else we need to go?"

Hagrid looked at the time, and said, "We mi' have enough time fer a quick cuppa tea before your guardian shows up for dinner. Let us head fer the Leaky Cauldron, shall we?" Harry nodded his head, and they exited the shop and headed back to the entrance to Diagon Alley.