The Magical World Exposed
by Healer Pomfrey
All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.
Warnings: COMPLETELY AU! If you don't like this, just stop reading and write your own story more to your liking.
"Leave it to me," Professor O'Brien whispered to his wife, making Harry feel strangely reassured. "Good evening," he continued, when Petunia appeared in the doorframe. "We're your new neighbours and just want to speak with you for a moment if that's possible."
"Sure," Petunia replied, apparently wise enough to not say anything to Harry in front of the new neighbours. Seemingly grudgingly, she led the O'Briens into the living room, and only when Harry tried to follow them, hissed in a small voice, "Make dinner, freak."
"Excuse me, Mrs. Dursley, but we'd like your nephew to be present for our small conversation," the professor spoke up in a firm voice, gently pulling Harry with him and, once they were seated in the living room, continued, "Mrs. Dursley, we wanted to enquire about your nephew."
"Oh no, my nephew is very strange. I'm very sorry if he bothered you in any way," Petunia hurried to reply in what Harry recognised as a fake, friendly voice.
"On the contrary," Mrs. O'Brien threw in. "He's a very nice and gentle boy, and we don't mind that he is a wizard. In fact, Harry has been living with us during the last three weeks, and we'd like to have him as a member of our family."
"Who wants to have a freak?" Dudley roared from the sofa, where he was watching TV with his father.
"Harry's not a freak," David replied firmly, causing Harry to cast him a genuine smile.
'They're standing up for me,' he thought, feeling very much reassured and happy.
"Why would my nephew want to live with you?" Petunia asked, crisply.
"Maybe because we don't call him names and treat him much better than you must have done," Mr. O'Brien replied in a firm voice, glaring at the woman.
"Well Petunia, let's get rid of him while we can," Vernon roared, without standing up from his spot on the sofa.
"That's true," Petunia agreed.
"Very well then, we'll see to the formalities," Mrs. O'Brien spoke up, before she asked, "Mrs. Dursley, do you perhaps know anything about magical people in this time? Is there anyone whom we could contact to get some help or advice for the boy?"
"My sister was a witch," Petunia admitted, seemingly grudgingly. "She went to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where she met the boy's father, and a year after he was born, they managed to let themselves being murdered leaving us with that nuisance of a freak."
"There's a school for magic?" the professor blurted out with apparent interest. "How can we contact anyone?"
"The headmaster of the school placed Harry here," Petunia said, thoughtfully. "So he won't be of any help. Do you know the Inkpot in London? The bookshop?"
"Yes, we know that," Mrs. O'Brien confirmed, looking at Petunia with interest, while Harry's thoughts went haywire.
"You told me they died in a car crash," he threw in, giving his aunt a reproachful look.
However, his aunt completely ignored his outburst and explained, "If you leave the Inkpot to the right and turn right again, on the left hand side is the entrance to Diagon Alley, the magical shopping street. We can't see the entrance though, only freaks can."
The O'Briens profusely thanked Petunia for the information and left with Harry in tow, who quickly fetched his baby blanket from his cupboard, admitting that he did not have any other belongings.
HP
"Now you belong to us, Harry," Mrs. O'Brien said, seemingly contented, as soon as they were back at home, pulling the boy into a light hug.
"Thank you so much," Harry replied, smiling, enthusiastically.
"We only have to make it official," Mr. O'Brien added.
"I'll see to it tomorrow morning, right after taking the boys to school," his wife promised.
"Mum, Dad, can Harry call you Mum and Dad now?" David threw in, grinning in apparent expectation.
Harry could not help blushing and inwardly sighed in relief, when Mr. O'Brien replied in a gentle voice. "Harry, If you feel comfortable with it, you may call us Mum and Dad. Otherwise, you can call us Annette and Cillian."
"Thank you, sir," Harry replied, gratefully, before he asked, shyly, "Is David going to be in my class?"
Annette sighed. "Considering that we're living next to the Dursleys, probably yes," she said. "However, I'm going to speak with the teachers and ask them to put both of you into a different class from the Dursley boy. I can't promise anything though," she added, apparently having noticed Harry's delighted expression.
"Harry, since you're now living here on a permanent basis," Cillian addressed the boy, "you and David have to decide if you want to continue sharing your room or if you wish to have your own rooms." He gave the children a questioning look.
Harry looked up in shock. 'I'd like to remain together,' he thought, glancing at David, who nodded encouragingly. "Together please," he said in a small voice, "provided that it's all right with David."
"Of course, Harry. We're going to have much fun," his new brother promised, pulling him away into their room.
HP
To Harry's chagrin, he and David were indeed in the same class as Dudley. The headmistress said there was nothing that they could do about it, because the other classes were already completely full. Nevertheless, Harry was happy to have David with him, and his new brother remained firmly at his side.
'Dudley and his friends didn't dare ridicule me today,' Harry thought, happily, when he walked home together with David.
When they came home, Annette smiled, seemingly happy. "We're now officially your guardians," she told Harry, causing both boys to cheer.
"Mum, we need to introduce Harry to Hermione," David spoke up. "She'll be very happy if she gets to know him."
"Yes, I've already thought about that," his mother replied, "and I've phoned her mother. We're going to meet with the Grangers on Saturday morning to go to the magical shopping street together."
'I wonder what Hermione is like,' Harry thought in anticipation when he went to bed on Friday evening. 'I've never met any magical people before.'
On Saturday morning, both boys were much too excited to sleep, and from five o'clock in the morning onwards, they began to ask if they were allowed to take Trouble with them, what they should wear to go to the magical shopping street, and when they were finally going to leave.
"Trouble plus double trouble," Cillian whispered to his wife, before he turned around to sleep some more.
"Men," Annette whispered back, rolling her eyes, as she got up and made her way into the kitchen in order to distract the excited boys for a few hours.
HP
Finally, it was nine-o'clock, and the O'Briens took the bus to London. Harry was very excited. Never before had he been able to travel by bus. Whenever Petunia took Dudley to London, he had been left at home. He knew, however, that while Uncle Vernon never ever travelled in any other way than in his large car, Cillian used to go to work by bus, and the O'Briens had told him that one reason why they had moved to Little Whinging was that there was a direct bus connection to the university.
'This is too cool,' he thought, happily looking out of the window, feeling grateful towards David, who had offered the seat next to the window to him. Trouble was spread out on their laps and was equally staring out of the window, slightly waggling his tail with apparent pleasure.
HP
When they reached the Inkpot, of which Harry had already heard a lot, as it was the O'Briens' favourite bookshop, the Grangers were already waiting for them in front of the entrance.
Harry immediately liked them. The parents were of about the same age as the O'Briens or his relatives, and the girl had bushy brown hair and chocolate brown eyes that smiled at him.
"Hello Harry, I'm Hermione," the girl blurted out at his sight. "Is it true that you can do strange things too?"
Harry nodded, shyly, before he said in a small voice, "Hello Hermione. I'm happy to meet you."
Cillian quickly relayed to the Grangers what Harry's aunt had told them about the entrance to the magical shopping area. He led the small group around the corner as instructed, before he turned to Harry and Hermione.
"Can you see a door or some kind of entrance here on the left side?" he asked the children.
"Over there," Harry and Hermione replied, simultaneously.
"Very good," Cillian said, approvingly, before he asked Harry to open the door.
HP
Feeling unsure, however, instinctively knowing that the non-magical adults had to feel even more uncertain, Harry gratefully accepted Hermione's hand that slid itself into his own, left hand, and carefully walked ahead together with the girl. In surprise, he noticed that they did not find them in a shopping street but in some kind of restaurant or pub.
To his relief, Cillian took over and addressed the barkeeper. "Excuse me, sir, would it be possible to speak with you in private for a moment?" he asked in a firm voice.
The barkeeper let his eyes wander over the small group, and Harry had the impression as if the man's eyes lingered on him a little longer, almost as if he knew him. However, the man did not address him but merely led the group into a small side room, where he motioned them to take seats.
Cillian explained the reason for their visit, and the man, who introduced himself as Tom, remained pensive for a moment, before he replied, slowly.
"I'm afraid that I'm not the right person to help you. Therefore, I suggest that you head to Gringotts, the wizarding bank, and speak with the goblins. They'll tell you everything that you should know about the magical world, plus they're known for their secrecy."
"Excuse me, sir," Mr. Granger spoke up. "Why do we need secrecy?"
Tom turned to Harry. "You're Harry Potter, aren't you?"
"Yes sir," Harry replied in a small voice, wondering, 'Why does he know my name?'
Tom sighed. "The fact that Harry Potter is supposed to live with his Muggle relatives is well known all over the magical world, and the headmaster of Hogwarts, who is one of the most influential wizards at this time, won't like it that you took him away from there. Therefore, you will want some privacy," he explained, only to add, "This is also the reason why I believe that the goblins are much better able to assist you than any human wizard or witch, who would get in trouble with Professor Dumbledore."
"Excuse me, sir, Muggles?" David enquired, looking curiously at the wizard in front of them.
"Non-magical people," Tom replied, smiling. "Lina," he suddenly shouted, and the strangest creature that Harry had ever seen suddenly stood in front of the group.
"This is Lina, my house-elf," Tom introduced the creature that smiled and looked very nice in Harry's opinion.
"Master Tom, what can Lina does for you and yous guests?" Lina enquired, bowing deeply.
"Please take these two families to Gringotts and see to it that they're able to speak with one of the nicer goblins," Tom instructed her, only to add as an afterthought, "Try to get Buckbean to speak with them."
"Yes, Master Tom," Lina replied, obediently, and motioned the Grangers and O'Briens to follow her. "We goes out into Diagon Alley, the magical shopping centre," she informed the two families.
HP
After a few minutes' walk through the shopping street, during which their heads went from one side to the other and back in order to take in all the interesting looking show windows, they reached Gringotts. 'I love it,' Harry thought, as he followed the others into the bank, only to stare at the many strange creatures in shock. Most of the goblins looked outright intimidating, and he felt Hermione's grip on his hand intensify. 'That's why Tom emphasized that his elf should take us to a nice goblin,' he thought in understanding.
He listened with a combination of interest and anxiousness, when Lina spoke to one of the goblins and told him that Tom had suggested for the group to speak with Buckbean. 'I hope he's really nice and tells us how we can learn to do magic that always works,' Harry thought in anticipation, when one goblin suddenly approached the group and motioned them to follow him.
tbc...