The next few days were torture for Harry. He kept glancing at the sky, as if an owl would suddenly swoop down and deliver him his key to unlock a new world, a place of so many impossible opportunities that he couldn't wait to seize.
The Dursleys had noticed this new excitement, with no amount of happiness. Harry had taken to avoiding his relatives at all costs, and spent all his time either at the library or in the park. He did his chores at twice the speed, something his Aunt noticed but couldn't quite scold. Harry read as much as he could that remaining week; he needed to prepare as much as he possibly could. His Powers (Magic, not silly 'powers' it's called magic) were acting up, turning lights on and off randomly, levitating books and messing with the weather and plants. Even the neighbourhood strays were effected by his presence, sidling up to him just to be petted.
The night before Harry's eleventh birthday, Harry approached his Aunt and Uncle after dinner. They glanced at him as he edged into the sitting room.
'What do you want, boy?' Vernon said in a growl, his eyes barley leaving the TV screen. Harry coughed slightly, and drew his back up straight.
'I just wanted to tell you I'll be leaving for a boarding school until next summer. I've been offered an unconditional place, after taking my 11 plus.' Harry decided to ignore the fact he didn't actually have money or a place to stay for the remaining month, or that he didn't actually know where to go from there on out – he couldn't handle sitting still any longer. Petunia looked sharply at him.
'Boarding school? What boarding school? When did you sit the 11 plus? Do we have to pay?' His Aunt didn't even pause for a breath in between questions, and Harry stared at her until she repeated them more slowly.
'Well, a letter came… to school. It's called Hog-hurm-place, I sat the test withing school and it's being funded by the government.' Harry tried to make his lies as believable as possible, but due to his lack of interaction with people he didn't know how to lie to people faces. In writing, sure he could lie like the best of them, but face to face? No can do.
Petunia narrowed her eyes further (How is that even possible? Aren't they just going to shrink into her head?) when Harry said 'Hoghurm Place'.
'Hoghurm place?' she sounded out, slowly. Harry prayed to whatever deity listening that she didn't question the name. 'Well, it's a strange offer but –'
'Paid for by the government! You don't even have to see me until next June!' Harry practically shouted at her in desperation. Both Vernon and Petunia glared at him, but Harry didn't falter. He just wanted to leave, damn it all. Eventually, Vernon turned back to the TV.
'Don't see why not.' He grunted. 'Not like he's of any use aounnd here.' Harry glowered at the man –I do everything around here, you miserable-
'I suppose,' Petunia interrupted Harry's internal tirade 'If you leave tonight, it wouldn't be so bad-'
'Thanks Aunt Petunia!' Harry said loudly, walking back to his cupboard. He didn't really have anything to pack, but he still pulled out his school backpack and stuffed his frayed sheets inside. If the school didn't offer any money for orphans, he might have to rough it. Harry really didn't want to, but he consoled himself with the fact his magic (Magic I have magic!) could keep him warm and relatively clean. He'd never tried to warm himself or clean himself, but he was confident he could handle the challenge. Harry moved into the kitchen quietly, as to not disturb his Aunt and Uncle. He grabbed a few tinned beans, a few slices of bread and some fruit. It went straight into his bag, which had been padde by his sheets and the few extra tops he was taking. Harry then snuck upstairs, thanking the stars Dudley had decided to stay at Piers that night. He went into Petunia and Vernon's room first, glancing around and swiping £50 in cash to pay for whatever fares that might come up. Harry figured it was a small price to pay to not see him for 11 months. He then went into Dudley's spare room, where all his broken or unused toys went. He rummaged around, and settled on taking an unused smartphone (I can't believe Dudders threw this away just because it was the wrong make) and a pair of walkie-talkies, thrown in the room because they 'weren't cool.' Harry scoffed as he pocketed the items, thinking he could make a fair bit of money out of them. He went back downstairs, pulled on his overcoat and left without another look.
He may have glanced back, once, but no-one oudl ever be able to prove it.
Harry made a stop at the library, as it opened late, and said quick goodbye to Mrs Priest, who teared up when he explained why.
'Oh, you clever duck, you' she muttered grabbing him and hugging him tight. Harry was a little bemused, both by the display of affection and the nickname (Duck? How long has she been calling me that for?). He promised to visit in the next year and set off for the train station. It was quite a walk away, but Harry was sure he could manage.
Harry arrived at Victoria Station an hour and a half later with a sigh. It had been quite an accomplishment to get there, considering he hadn't been to a train station before. Once getting into the relative heart of London, he wondered off into the still busy streets. He walked down the roads, finding his way to what seemed like the main shopping area. Looking around in wonder at the brightly lit shops and blocked roads. Harry felt both awe and disappointed. It was big and fancy and all, but seemed a little… underwhelimg. He wanted intrigue, excitement, not all the best bits shoved in his face. He turned down a dark alley (way to go Potter, this will be how you die I can see it now: Young boy found dead in alley, seemingly carrying all his possessions) when a something grabbed him from the shadows.
'Ar-aight there lad?' A learing face, cast in shadows, peered out to Harry, who blinked.
'I'm quite well, thanks. Do you know of any place I could sell a smart phone or walkie talkies?' Harry asked politely, unsure what else to do in this scenario. He felt a little like Alice after falling down the rabbit hole, a stranger in a land so close to home. The shadowed man grinned at him.
'Ya lookin for a pawn shop then? Ok then lad, I'll direct cha…' The man trailed off, peering at Harry again who simply looked back in curiosity. The man shook his head lsightly before giving directions to a nearby shop. Harry thanked him and headed off to the shop.
'Well, that was tedious.' Harry exclaimed exiting the shop. Despite being £35 richer, he felt a little cheated out of his money. 'I could have gotten £50 for the phone alone,' he muttered to himself angrily as he walked down the path. 'Bloomin cheapskates, ruining this economy…' Harry trailed off as he stopped in front of a pub on a corner. He glanced around. No one else seemed to have soticed it, and his magic felt like it was pulling him in. Harry looked around again, then shrugged. What harm could it do?
A lot, apparently, Harry thought as he stumbled out of (what seemed to be) a magical brothel, an awful lot. Harry coughed a few times as he straightened himself and looked around. He appeared to be in a dark alley, with a small light at the end. Harry grinned to himself. This was more like it.
As he moved closer, cautiously (I don't want another stranger to suddenly grab me fromt he shadows) he realised that a door was being illuminated. It turned out that it was a side entrance to an actual pub this time, one that was mostly empty despite it being 'pub hours'. Harry walked up to the counter, running a hand through his messy hair.
'Hullo,' he smiled at the crooked old bartender. 'Could you direct me to where I can get school supplies for Hogwarts?' the bartender stopped his cleaning and squited at Harry – then reeled back.
'Blimey! You're 'arry bleedin' Potter!' the man gasped, drawing the attention of the two other patrons. Harry blinked.
'Technically, I'm Harry James Potter; I don't plan on being injured any time soon. You would be?' Harry asked, drawing more bewildered looks. He sighed internally. He had been counting on more intelligent magical kind, but if everyone acted like this then he would be doing a lot f sighing, blinking and eye-rolling. Oh joy.
'I'm Tom, the bar man.' Tom said, quite redundantly, Harry thought. 'I run this place, The Leaky Cauldron, yeah? Ya want Diagon right?' he asked the impatient boy.
'I'm not sure what that is,' Harry answered testily. 'if you could just explain how to get Hogwarts supplies and inform me of places to stay, such as an inn, I would be grateful.' Let it not be said that Harry ever was impolite. Tom blinked (Ha! I'm not the only one who does that!) and grinned at Harry's grumpy expression.
'Aright lad, I'll tell ya. Diagon Alley is whatcha afta, an' ya should proll' head to Gringots first, right lad? An' if it's a inn ya after, come back 'ere when ya done. Hang on, I'll show ya how to get through to the alley first' Tom disappeared from the bar momentarily and beckoned Harry to follow him through a corridor. At the end was a brick wall. Harry, remembering a recent report on old men and young boys, shifted his weight and was about to come up with an excuse to leave when Tom pulled out a thin stick. 'Ok, watch carefully!' He said, before touching several bricks in a pattern. Harry's mouth fell open as the bricks started to moved of their own accord into an arch, and before him appeared a twisting, cobbled alley. Tom grinned again in the flickering light at the expression on Harry's face.
'Welcome to Diagon Alley.'
AN: 3 chapters in as many days, boy am I cranking it out here. Don't worry, I've got a hellava lot planned for this so I (hopefully) won't stop updating regularly for a while. Or until exams hit.
Side note: I've moved all events up a couple of years - Harry starts Hogwarts in 2004. What can I say, I like modern technology. Also, on Harry's character: He /is/ intelligent, but hasn't had a chance to interact with people that much. This is what we'll see more of, and less of him acting like a know-it-all.
Thanks to everyone who's favourited/followed, it means a lot to me! If you leave a review, I'm more inspired to write a new chapter! (who am I kidding I love writing anyway it just makes me happy)