Title: The Way The World Works (mxm) [A Harry Potter fanfic]
Summary: Nine year old Harry Potter discovers the wizard world on a fluke and decides he loves it. He creates a new identity and become someone else entirely. At eleven Harry recieves his Hogwarts letter, but it wont stop him from being him. And it helps that he's a metamorphangus and a little more devious then people think. When the times comes, they wont even know what hit them.
Pairing: Don't know yet but it will be male/male.
Rating: T (it may change)
Warning: There will be Dumbledore, Ron, Weasley, Hermione, Gryffindor and generally light side bashing!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything else you may recognize!
Ch 2 - Knockturn Alley
It took a week for Harry to return to the Leaky Cauldron, thanks to his lovely aunt finding an unusual amount of chores for him to do. But for him time flew by so fast he barely noticed it. He was incredibly anxious. He couldn't wait to go back and by a bunch of books and other stuff you needed when you wanted to be a warlock. Or whatever they called themselfs.
When he came back night had just fallen and he had barely managed to escape without getting caught, but he concidered that to be fun. To make a fool out of Vernon, even if the only one who knew it was him it was still fun.
So a week later he stood outside of the Leaky Cauldron, wondering why no-one else seemed to see it. It didn't make any sence, though he supposed neither did magic. But that was totally different. But it could very well be magic and if it was so then he wanted to learn how he could do the same thing. It would be incredibly cool and maybe he would finally have some alone time.
Harry walked in looking the same as he did the week before, only without the hood as he didn't really care for it and it was one of those rare times that his aunt washed something and he wasn't going to complain. It gave him time he otherwise wouldn't have and he was going to use it wisely. Which was why he had taken the train to London again, only this time he had actually payed for it.
Harry walked to the bar-keep that was sweeping the bar and said:
"Can you open the gate to the alley for me please?" The bar-keep, whos name he still didn't know looked up at him and looked him over before nodding his head and made that sign with his head that meant "follow me".
He followed the bar-keep to the back where he had been the first time and watched as the man took out a stick and pointed it at the stones in a way that was clearly integrated in his brain.
"What's your name?" Harry spurted out before he could stop himself.
The bar-keep laughed slightly before replaying. "Tom, what's yours?"
He ducked his head slightly and said: "Rowan." And the Harry walked through the opening tio the other side, the gate closing behind him.
As it was earlier then the last time he had been there, there was a lot more people there, walking around and buying things. However he could barely see anyone over the age of ten and thanked god he had enough sense too make himself look older. He saw a family of red-heads, but their color was a lot lighter then his. He decided that he didn't like that color very much as it was border-lining on both orange and pink. When he saw a shop with books in the window, he immediatly entered there, feeling a thrill shoot through him.
It weren't that many people inside and he could see books covering the walls. It was heaven!
Harry took one of the baskets that was standing next to the door and started walking through the shop, picking up books as he went. It was books on all kinds of things, from history to runes to sports and he didn't really care. He took anything that sounded interesting. But when he came to the shelf for potions, he was in paradise. He took pratically one of every book there was, thankful for the fact that the basket was so big, even if it didn't seem like it. By the time he was finished he had to have had over a hundred books and he didn't really care. He took some book on a place called Hogwarts too, though he wasn't really sure what that was.
The man at the checkout had eyes comically big by the time he had managed to figure out which books Harry was buying and he couldn't help but snicker a little at the face he was making. He looked like a child at christmas morning, or how he would imagine one would look as he had never really had one.
"That will be 157 galleons, sir." The man had thin hair and brown eyes with a long nose and thin lips. His eyes were filled with glee.
Harry brought out the bag he had brought with him and started piling money on the desk, while counting them. He wasn't going to give that man a penny more then the books cost. The man had the same look in his eyes that Vernon did when he got money. Greedy bastard.
It wasn't until he was finished that he realized he had no way of carrying his things. His solution was simple. "I'll give you one more if I can keep the basket." The man eagerly hell out his hand and Harry let a lone galleon fall down in it and walked away. He walked out the shop with a smile on his face that, had anyone seen it, they would have worried for his sanity. But as it was no did and Harry walked out of the alley happily smiling for the treasures he had baught. It was definitely worth it.
—
The next day Harry is up at six a clock waiting for someone to unlock the door to the cupboard while reading one of the books he had gotten. It was a book on potions, one that explained while certain ingrediens couldn't be in the same potion because then the whole thing would explode and such. It was a lot more interesting then he thought it would be. He may not know what some of the things in it were which were why he had a book on herbology open next to him and an notebook where he was taking notes to know which were which and how they looked like. For him it was fun, for someone else it would have been hell on earth. But Harry wasn't someone else.
"Boy! Get out here and cook breakfest!" Aunt Petunias voice sounded through the door as she unlocked it and Harry carefully hid the books in the corner.
Harry sighed. "I'm coming Aunt Petunia."
He walked into the kitchen and started the stove to make bacon to the whales that would soon be up. He cooked it without so much as looking at it, going after the smell to know when they were ready and done. Then he put the table and everything else they would eat. Ones he was finished Petunia came in again and shooed him out to make the garden. Harry did it in silence as he waited to be yelled at to come in again to make lunch.
Ones lunch was ready he had five minutes in the bathroom to finish up and brush his teeth before he had to go back in the cupboard again. He had gotten a few vegetables that Dudley hadn't wanted for lunch today and even if it wasn't much, it was better then nothing.
When he was in the cupboard again he took out the books he had gotten and continued reading them, making notes here and there while ignoring his cousin that was running up and down in the stairs. It really didn't bother him anymore and it could only be good for Dudley so what the heck, beside he really didn't feel like getting yelled at at the moment. He was to busy reading.
By the time dinner came around he had finished the book and started on another about the history about the wizarding world. It was fascinating, but not nearly as much fun as potions. But he wanted to learn everything there was about the wizarding world and history was a big part about that. And the more he read the angrier he got. They were stuck! They were repeating the same thing over and over again and yet they never saw it! They didn't see the error in their ways and he was nine and even he knew what DNA was! It was revolting. They were stuck in the past and repeated the sam mistakes again and again and every time someone didn't fit in they were instantly labeled as evil. It was sick!
So Harry continued to read, occasinally scoffing as something he had thought were illegal were done and as he read about aurors he couldn't help but be disgusted. The things these people did were horrible and if you weren't like them then you didn't have a chance.
Eventually Harry gave up and opened up the law book he had baught and reading through it. And he hated it. IT basically declared the pure-bloods gods and creatures to be less the scum at their feet. Vampyres, werewolfs, goblins, they had no rights to do anything. The goblins could only enter ministry ground if they officially summoned and that usually meant they were sentenced to death. Werewolfs were concidered animals and had no rights to do more then sit on their arses and look pretty and hoping maybe someone will take pity on them and give them some money.
Needless to say, Harry was pissed.
By the time he went to sleep he was so mad he was prepared to kick someone in the balls the next time he saw a wizard. And he really didn't see why everyone was so scared about this Voldemort guy, he had at least some ideals that could work. And through everything he had read he had only ever read about how muggles were great people who deserved respect and should be protected. It made him laugh at how naïve they were when it came to this world. Muggles weren't as innocent as these people wanted to think they were, in fact if they would go to war it would he the witch trials all over again, and while some would survive it somehow, they managed to forget to think about the children that would be caught in the middle of it. A good shot could shoot a wand out of someones hands with a hundred feets distance and not get a scratch.
They were stupid, pure and simple.
And Harry wanted to hit their heads in.
He dreamt about magic that night and how it would feel like to be a real wizard. One that actually knew what he was talking about. About unicorns and centaurs and werewolfs.
About happiness.
When morning came the next day Harry spent it the same way he did every other day. He made breakfest and went to school. There he was careful not to do better then Dudley in any way. When he got home he got an banana from Petunia and went to sit in the cupboard again. In the cupboard he continued reading the books he had gotten, not really checking the cover before. So when he came to a book on ancient runes he was ready to pass out. He went through the entire basket looking for the other books on runes since he regretfully couldn't understand what they were talking about in the one he had started to read. He found one that was for beginners and eagerly started reading it.
Four and a half hours later, Harry had finally finished reading the book on runes and whether he knew it or not it would be a start to a wonderful life.
Harry made dinner again and was awarded with a full meal for ones in a while and then made the dishes while humming low under his breath. Before he went to bed he read another one of the books on runes the one that was apperently a school book for first years or something. He didn't really care, all that mattered was that when he understood what it read it was amazing.
And he loved it.
The next month was the same. He went up in the morning, did his chores, went to school went home and did more chores before going to his cupboard and reading whatever sounded the most interesting and then making dinner. If he was lucky he got to eat more then some small scrapes. He got two beatings from his uncle and five from his cousin and his friends, but it didn't really bother him anymore. He found the books on how to heal broken bones and fixed it himself, after trying on the pillow first of course. He also learned that wands have tracking devices that would go off if he did magic during the summer. Every magic he did now was counting as accidental magic and was okay. As long as the muggle, which he had learned was humans without magic, didn't see anything weird.
—
It was a friday in late october that he finally managed to sneak out again to go to what he learned was called Diagon Alley and Gringotts, he needed more money.
He left around nine a clock after he had fixed his looks to what he usually looked like when he went there. While he was standing in front of the Dursleys house wondering how long he could be gone, a giant three floored bus suddenly stopped in front on him. The doors opened and a man thrust his head out and looked at Harry with squinting eyes at him before saying:
"Well come one then, we don't have all day. Get on."
Harry, though numb, stepped on and almost immediatly after he had sit down on one of the strange beds and given the man that introduced himself as Stan a galleon and told him where to go, the bus started again. And Harry honestly feared for his life. It went so fast it was a miracle that they didn't hit something and died a horrible death by being squashed alive.
By the time they stopped, Harry was ready to throw up and he walked off and almost kissed the ground. He was just that grateful. He walked into the Leaky Cauldron with a sigh as he observed the way the people in their acted. They seemed...happy almost. Happier then before at least and while Harry wondered why he really didn't have the energy to care right now. He was busy trying to regain his breathing after that death trap that he would most likely ride in again.
He pushed his way through the crowds towards the bar while trying to not get trampled to death. It took him five minutes to only get from the door to the bar and his mood was not improving. He wanted to leave. He didn't like crowds, they made him dizzy and angry. By the time he made it to the bar he had a scowl on his face that he quickly turned into a smile when the bar-keep whos name started on T walked up to him.
"What's with the crowd?" He asked while trying to not appear to hostile. He really needed a wand.
"It's Halloween and the eight anniversary since You-Know-Whos death." Tom was smiling and looked generally happy and all Harry wanted to do was hit him on his nose. Didn't anyone wonder where he was? Did they really trust Dumbledore so much that they followed him blindly? It made him sick all over again and he who had just recovered from the crazy bus and Stan.
Harry smiled at him. "That's great! Do you think you can open the gate to Diagon Alley for me?"
Tom nodded and Harry followed him back to the small alley where the gate was and waited impatiently for him to open it while cursing himself for not getting a wand the last time he was here. It sucked having to ask for help each time he wanted to get in.
The gate opened and Tom went back inside, thinking of the odd character that with the powerful aura, while Harry went inside Diagon Alley. Inside people were walking around in robes again and he could hear laughter and if it wasn't for the fact that he had read nearly all of the books, the ones he understood that is, then he wouldn't have had any idea of what they were celebrating. It was hilarious really, how gullible these people were.
Harry quickly made his way to Gringotts and was happy to say that they were goblin and he wasn't an idiot. Apperently they were also incredibly hostile, though he didn't understand where the book got that concidering how wizards treated them. He would be hostile too. Inside it was far less people and Harry let out an audible sigh when he realized this. He really wasn't a people person. He stepped up to the closest desk and was about to ask for Griphook when he realized that it was him sitting there. At least Griphook sounded like a male name.
He smiled. "Hello Griphook, is there something that connects directly to my vault that I can use instead of going here every time my money runs out?"
Griphook stared at him and Harry blinked, unsure about what to do now. Perhaps it really wasn't Griphook standing there and he was now going to be hanged for saying the wrong name! But no, was Griphook was thinking was things that not even the most well respected wizard would be offered. He was thinking of teaching the boy Gobbledegook. No wizard had known it since Godric's time and the boy was an descended of Godric so according to goblin law it should be possible. If the boy wanted to of course. He was incredibly bright for a human nine year old. However that might have to do with the vampyre part of him.
Harry was still staring up at Griphook when the goblin started to sneer and snarl and Harry feared for his life a second time that night when the goblin walked down from behind the desk. Griphook started walking down the maze of a corridor Harry let himself be led mostly because he had no idea where they were going and when they stopped Harry was on his way to become dizzy. They entered an office that looked like the one from the first time he had been there and he walked in.
In the middle of the room behind the desk another goblin that he recognised sat, Snarktooth snarled at them for interrupting him without asking and was about to yell at them when he realized who the human were. It was young Mr Potter who was being manipulated mercilessly. He sighed and allowed them to enter before sitting down behind his desk ones more and waiting for an explanation.
Griphook sneered and said. "The boy wishes for a pouch connected to his vault and to him only."
"Very well Mr Potter we will need your blood again." Snarktooth said and fought the urge to snarl at them. He really wasn't in a good mood. Of sure, Voldemort was evil, but he had been good for business and that was something all goblins valued in a wizard above all. And the way they spoke to them but that they didn't know.
Harry stretched his arm out again and watched as blood feel onto the pouch that was suddenly just their. Al though now he knew it was magic it was still amazing. The blood disappeared in it and Harry felt a shiver curse through him and watched amazed as the pouch sealed itself shut. And then he was given it and they were shooed away.
They walked in silence back and Harry took this time to look at his new pouch and experimentally sticking his hand into it while thinking of a galleon. When he pulled his hand out again there was a galleon resting in it and Harry was officially amazed. He concidered putting it back in the bag when he remembered something about fees in the book he read about goblins, they didn't do anything for free.
He nodded to himself and called out. "Griphook!"
Griphook turned around and was suddenly staring at a galleon in front of his face. He followed the arm holding it until he came to look at Mr Potters face.
Harry was getting impatient, he had things to do dammit! "Here, as a fee." And he thrust the golden galleon into Griphooks unexpteced hands and as he now recognised where he was he walked off. And he didn't look back. If he had he would have seen the look of complete and utter bewilderment on Griphooks face and he would have wondered why the heck he was looking so weird. Instead he opted for walking out of the bank and doing what he was here to do. Shopping.
He started with buying a magically expanded trunk that all he had to do was say the right word and it would shrink and another word and it would grow big again. It was keyed to his magical signature so only he could open it and it had three compartments. After that he went to Madame Malkin's and got robes and shirts and pants. He had a hard time not to laugh at the robes and at the end selected only two, one regular and one dress-robe, though he couldn't see the difference. Both was a dark green but the dress-robe had silver in it too while the other only had black. He quite liked them actually, if he looked pass the dress part.
When he was finished he walked around just trying to understand where certain shops was. Eventually he found himself completely lost with no recollection of where the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron was. Harry looked around and noticed for the first time that it looked different where he was. Gloomier somehow. And then it hit him. This was probably Knockturn Alley! The place where they sold some rather, not so legal things. And also a place where he could get a wand and no-one would know.
With that thought in mind Harry walked faster while looking into all the shops that he could without being to obvious. Finally he came upon one that seemed like a good choice, if not the only one. He was starting to like this Ministry less and less. He opened the wooden door and and a bell sounded. A man came out from behind another door and stepped up behind the dark wooden counter.
Harry carefully walked up to the counter and tried not to recoil when he smelt whatever was behind the door the man had just walked through. "I need a wand." He said straight to the point.
The man suddenly smiled and started bending down behind the counter and took up some stuff that Harry guessed was whatever you made wands of. To him it looked like different kinds of wood.
"Raise your hand and sweep it over this and we'll see what wood you need." The mans voice was scratchy but Harry did as he said, wondering when to stop when he suddenly felt something different. Something warm. It was pleasent actually and Harry picked the wood up discovering it was a dark brown. So dark it could almost be mistaken for black.
The man took it and smiled. "Ash. Good choice." Then he put it down and with a wave of his wand the other woods went away and in there place stood bowls of something. Harry raised his arm again and started sweeping again, before suddenly stopping when he felt something similar to the feeling the wood gave him only stronger. He picked it up, but continued when he felt another pull. When he knew what he was looking for it wasn't so hard.
"This." He said and picked up another bowl.
The man smiled again. "Very good. Basilik venom and unicorn blood willingly given." Harry stared in surprise as the man took out a measuring tape and started taking his measurements. When the man was finished he stepped back and Harry found himself relaxing again. The man really was creepy.
The man nodded and spoke to himself a few moments before saying: "Your wand will be ready in a week. Your name?"
Harry was inwardly sweating as he said: "Rowan Arawn." He started sweating even more when the man frowned.
"That is you name?"
Harry nodded. "Rowan Balor Arawn."
The man suddenly smiled again. "Then I will put you down as Balor, see you in a week. You will pay then." And Harry was abruptly thrown out of the shop.
He wandered off slightly worried and concerned for his own safety. What was wrong with the name Rowan? He quite liked it. He hadn't read anything about some important person with that name so what was wrong with it? It was a wonderful name according to him! He quite liked it.
Or was that something you did in the wizarding world? Calling people by their middle names? He really needed to ready those books on wizard customs. On the way back to where he though Diagon Alley was he passed another book-store and this one clearly had other books then the one before. It was called Flourish something.
Harry walked in and walked straight for the books ignoring the other two people who were there, both with light blond hair. They were clearly father and son. Harry picking up books after books and when he came to one on reading minds he bought everyone there was on the matter. When he was finished he had over two dozen books and his arms were screaming at him to let them go.
He walked up to the counter and put them down with a bang. The old man whom he guessed worked here smiled at him and started counting how much it would cost. Meanwhile Harry watched the older of the two blonds as they looked around the shop. The younger one had to be his age and looked to be quite rich. Too bad he could expose who he really was, he thought, now that would be a bang.
He blinked as a voice cut through his haze. "43 galleons." Harry absentmindedly pulled it out from the pouch and took the books that he had just payed for. He put them in the bag that was slung over his shoulder that was magically expanded so he could keep as many books in it as he wanted. It was a good buy that he bought together with the trunk.
He walked out of the shop unaware of the looks that followed him. Looks filled with awe. Tehy could feel the allure and if it weren't for the fact that they were interested in womans they would have literally drooled and it didn't exactly help that he radiated pure power.
Yeah they were gobsmacked.
When Harry came home again after yet another trip with the Death Trap he was so tired he could hardly keep his eyes open. And he still didn't have his wand! And so he crawled into the cupboard, ones again looking the way the world thought Harry Potter looked and he fell asleep as soon as he had locked the door again.
—
A/N: Another chapter! Wooo! Thank you for all the rewievs and follows and favs! It means a lot to me.
I hope you liked it.
I haven't decided if he should be in Gryffindor or Slytherin yet but right now I'm leaning more towards Slytherin.
-FantasyDeath