A series of still images with narration below them:

The Dark Mark, green and hovering in the night sky.
"Many years ago the most evil and powerful dark wizard in history gathered an army of followers. Calling themselves Death Eaters, they freely used the Unforgivable Curses and killed mercilessly and indiscriminately."

Several Death Eaters firing curses at an offscreen enemy.
"Under Lord Voldemort's banner they began a campaign of terror and violence never before seen in Britain."

A bright green light shining from the windows of a house.
"Then, one night, Voldemort attempted to kill the Potter family. Harry's parents died protecting Harry. Because of that sacrifice Voldemort was destroyed, his dark power broken."

Harry, wrapped in a blanket inside a basket on a doorstep. Harry is sleeping, and a red lightning-shaped scar is visible on his forehead.
"With his parents dead, Harry was left with his relatives the Dursleys."

An eleven-year old Harry jumping to catch one of the many envelopes that fill the air. Uncle Vernon is in the background, turning an alarming shade of red.
"Then one day Harry received a letter to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Hagrid tapping the stones to Diagon Alley with his umbrella.
"Hagrid, the Keeper of the Keys at Hogwarts, took young Harry Potter to Diagon Alley to purchase a most unusual list of school supplies..."

The image fades to black.

Harry Potter came back to himself with a jolt. He was standing at the head of a long road, a wall at his back. People came and went, buying what they needed to from the stores lining the road. Some buildings were so crooked that they had to have been built with magic just to stay upright.

The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. "Cauldrons - All Sizes - Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver - Self-Stirring - Collapsible", said a sign hanging over them.

Harry stared in disbelief. He recognized this area. He was in Diagon Alley, but it was a Diagon Alley untouched by war. Gone was the oppressive silence, the nervous glances as people quickly darted from shop to shop. In its place was a livelihood that Harry hadn't seen for a long time. He stood there for a moment, just drawing everything in.

Hagrid placed his hand on Harry's shoulder, causing Harry to jump.

"Yeah, you'll be needin' a cauldron," he said, misunderstanding Harry's stares, "but you've gotta get yer money first."

Harry gaped. The last time he had seen Hagrid was after the Battle at Hogwarts. Now here Hagrid was, standing behind Harry and acting like he hadn't a care in the world.

Harry felt overwhelmed; it was as if he was being being pulled down a whitewater river, struggling just to stay above water.

"Hagrid," Harry said, "What is going on?"

"What do yeh mean?" Hagrid asked.

"What do I mean?" Harry laughed. "Twenty minutes ago, I was eighteen years old. I had just defeated Lord Voldemort in a one-on-one battle, and then everything goes... weird. I'm pulled into a nothingness that tells me that I need to start a new game, and then it narrates my life for me, and then I'm here! Again! Hagrid, this is not the first time I've been to Diagon Alley!"

Hagrid considered this.

"Well, it sounds like you had a bad dream," he said. "Why, one time I dreamt that I was flyin-"

"It wasn't a dream!" Harry yelled. "Look, I'll prove it. Snape is the potions master. He's hated me because of my father for years. Dumbledore is the headmaster, but he died in my sixth year at Hogwarts. Quirrell is the Defense against the Dark Arts instructor, but he won't make it past the end of the year because of the curse Riddle put on the position."

A thought struck Harry. "Say, where IS Quirrel, anyways? I need to give him a big hug as soon as I can..."

Hagrid laughed. "Sorry Harry, but you're mistaken about most of that. Dumbledore isn't the Headmaster, he's the History of Magic teacher. The headmaster is Professor Forsett. The Defense teacher this year is a woman named Nerissa Stoat, and I've never heard of anybody named Quirrell before."

Harry's jaw dropped open. He couldn't even begin to figure out what was going on. He had thought himself sent backwards in time somehow (but that still didn't explain the floating sensation or the mysterious text boxes), but this little revelation blew all of his rough ideas out of the water.

"Now," Hagrid continued, "The first place you'll need to go is Gringotts Bank. They'll have your money waiting for you."

Harry started to object, thought better of it, and started walking towards Gringotts. Harry still didn't understand what was going on, but the walk down Diagon Alley helped him gather his thoughts. He idly wondered if occlumency would have helped him gather his thoughts more efficiently. He had never been able to learn occlumency, but he still wondered.

Maybe that's why I couldn't learn it, Harry thought. My Brains score was too low.

After passing several stores, a whim caught him. He turned and walked into the nearest store, Quality Quidditch Supplies.

There were several broomsticks hovering in front of the window, slowly flying this way and that, gently rebounding at the limit of their tethers. Several people browsed inside the shop, and a bored cashier was standing behind the counter.

Harry approached the counter. "Excuse me,-" he said.

Harry immediately experienced a familiar floating sensation as a large blue screen appeared in front of him. Everything else in the room darkened and people froze mid-stride.

The following appeared on the screen in white text:

Quidditch Through the Ages 15 G
Bristle Polish 10 G
Wood Varnish 20 G
Broomstick Servicing Kit 50 G
Shooting Star -
Comet 260 100 G
Comet 290 250 G
Cleansweep Seven 200 G
Cleansweep Eleven 400 G
Nimbus 2000 500 G
Nimbus 2001 750 G
Firebolt 2500 G

Cancel

Harry stared at the screen. As nerve-wracking as it was to have your entire reality pulled out from underneath you, at least Harry was getting used to the interface.

"Uh, Nimbus 2000," he said.

Harry wasn't expecting what happened next. A three-dimensional depiction of a Nimbus 2000 quickly expanded from nothing in front of him. Fully expanded, it rotated in front of him.

At the bottom of the floating model was the text "The Nimbus 2000 costs 500 Gold. Would you like to buy it?"

"Um, no."

The model quickly shrunk to nothing, leaving just the blue menu in front of him. Harry turned to go, before realizing he couldn't actually move while the menu was in front of him.

"Cancel."

The screen disappeared, leaving Harry Potter standing in Quality Quidditch Supplies.

Everything was exactly as it had been before. The patrons were still browsing and the bored cashier was still standing at the counter.

Harry turned and left as quickly as he could.