Disclaimer: I wish I owned Harry Potter, I like money. Sadly, I wasn't born until the 21st century.
A/N: I think I'll be updating a lot and often. Possibly every day to every other day. I'm going to try and keep each chapter around the 5,000-word mark, and I like to make sure they're properly edited and I've written a bit ahead before posting so I know that I've cut it off at the right spot. The reviews really help!
Chapter 3: Bookshelves and Elves
"Hi. I'm Harry Potter. You?" I asked. She was a girl wearing a green jumper and a khaki skirt, obviously muggle. She was about 4'9", the average for a girl of almost 12. I was just a couple inches taller with my metamorphically boosted height of 4'11".
"Hermione. Hermione Granger. A pleasure to meet you," she said, extending her hand. I took it and shook hers.
"Pleasure to meet you, too. Are you muggleborn? I'm muggle raised but a halfblood. My parents died in the war and I was left with my muggle family," I asked, even though it was obvious she wasn't wearing any robes and I had the foreknowledge of who she was from the books.
"Yes. I am," she said excitedly. "I'm sorry about your parents. Learning about the war from Professor McGonagall when she visited us a couple weeks ago was horrific, I'm going to read more in a few of the extra books I'm picking up today," she added nicely, holding up Rise and Fall of The Dark Arts.
"The amount of magical creatures is just absolutely fascinating. Just look!" I said, pointing to the copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them I had plucked from the shelf.
"Wow!" She said, looking through the table of contents. "I can't wait to read everything! These past two weeks of waiting have been brutal. Finding out I was a witch was both the most exciting and most painful thing because I was cut off from learning about it for two whole weeks! I must have read the pamphlet Professor McGonagall gave us a few dozen times."
"Me too! I'm so excited! I just found out I was a wizard today! I'm taking every single class except divination," I said. "It's going to be a packed schedule."
"I wanted to, but my parents said nobody would be. Would you be willing to tell them that so they'll let me take everything?"
"Of course," I said. "Marcus is too," I said, calling over Marcus from a few feet away.
"We can all be in Ravenclaw together!" I said. I knew I would be, and I thought if I spent enough effort on it I could probably groom Hermione to want to choose Ravenclaw too.
"Hello! Marcus Fenwick-Hitchin," Marcus said.
"Hermione Granger. It's a pleasure to meet you," she said.
"Yeah, my mother took almost everything when she went to Hogwarts and she was completely fine. She did say it was pretty stressful when it got around to OWL examinations."
Hermione called out to her parents, who were looking at books for muggle parents raising magical children. I hadn't noticed them before. "Mum! Dad! Come over here and meet these boys," Hermione called out to them.
They walked over, stacking books together in their hands. As they walked they chuckled and said, "Hermione. It's going to take more than one trip to the alley to carry all of your stuff!" They were carrying many of Hermione's school supplies. It seemed like this must not have been their first stop, with potions ingredients in their hands, a telescope, and a set of scales.
Mrs. Granger set some books down and Mr. Granger set down a beginner's potion set and then Mrs. Granger said, "Nice to meet you. Emma Granger, Hermione's Mother."
Mr. Granger then outstretched his hand, "Daniel Granger. Nice to meet you."
I outstretched my hand to meet his and said, "Harry Potter. Enchanté."
"Parlez vous le Français?" Hermione asked.
"Sorry, no," I said. "You do?"
"Yes, we vacation in France every summer," she replied, "So… Mom and Dad, Harry and Marcus were telling me that they were actually taking 40 course hours per week, every course except Divination. You know I'd like to too, and if they're doing it, and Marcus's mother did, there's no reason why I can't, and since they're doing it it'll mean I even have people to study with!"
At that moment Madeline came over and chimed in, "It takes some work, yes, but it can be done. I'm Marcus's mother. Madeline Fenwick-Hitchin."
"Daniel Granger," he nodded.
"Emma Granger, nice to meet you."
"Yes, well, Hermione we think that might be fine then. We'll go ahead and get one of every book I guess and then we can send another letter letting them know what we have decided. There's a post office on this street," Mrs. Granger said. "That's going to be so much to carry!" Mr. Granger chuckled with a raw smile.
"Maybe I can send you some owls to talk about Hogwarts this summer. Marcus and I just both purchased owls," I said.
"Where are they?" she asked.
I then let bag down onto the ground, unzipped it, and then pulled out Hedwig's large cage.
"Wow! I didn't know Magic could do that! Mom can I please get one!? Look at all this stuff we are carrying! We could have it all in one bag." On that excitable note from Hermione, I placed Hedwig's cage back into the bag.
"We purchased our bags and trunks from Bobbins' just down the alley towards Gringotts," I told them. At that moment, an owl that I didn't recognize flew through the doors of Flourish and Blotts and came to me, dropping a letter into my hands and flying off. Peeling open the letter, it read:
Dear Harry,
I have contacted Remus and he has gotten back into touch with me. He will meet us at Gringotts at 3 pm today.
See you then,
Andromeda Tonks
Wow. I was going to get to meet him in just a few short hours. Madeline and the Grangers were small talking about extendable space charms while I read this letter but once I finished they asked me, "What was that?"
"Just a letter about my parent's friend Remus. Also, since we're all in the alley today, I would like to invite all of you to dinner tonight. Mrs. Fenwick-Hitchin do you know of any good restaurants in the alley?"
Then the Grangers said, "Oh no. We couldn't possibly when we've just met. Thank you, though."
I replied, "I insist. Hermione is going to be in our year at school and I'm sure we'll be friends. Plus, we all need to talk about Hogwarts and I'm sure Mrs. Fenwick can tell us plenty."
"Well…" Mrs. Fenwick-Hitchin said, "The Leaky Cauldron is nice if you get a private room."
"Well, that settles it. I'll see you guys there. Let's say 5?" I asked, confirming our newfound dinner plans.
"Alright, we'll be there," the Grangers said.
"Awesome," Marcus replied. "I wish I could stay here all day!" Hermione said.
Taking my books to the counter to purchase while chatting with Marcus and Hermione, I realized we could be good friends. Even though I wasn't eleven, Harry was, and I guess I still related to these "kids". My brain chemistry was like theirs... even though I had a few more years of memories. After purchasing all my books, I showed Hermione my trunk, taking it out of my backpack and opening the second compartment, and loaded the books onto the shelves. That really sold her on needing a trunk that stored books like mine.
Then, we all parted ways. Hermione and Marcus both had different things left to complete on their lists and therefore different shops they needed to visit and I wasn't ready to do much of my school shopping yet, so I decided to find if I could employ a house elf. I thought it could be incredibly useful to employ one because I'd ensure it wasn't being treated badly and because Dobby had saved Harry's life with elf apparition, so an elf could be very useful. I took Marcus's owl cage out of my bag and handed it back to them so they could continue their shopping and then we went on our separate ways.
This took a bit further of a walk because the house elf placement agency was not in Diagon Alley, but rather in Carkitt Market. Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley were shaped like a big uppercase Y. Diagon Alley continued on after a slight curve at the Gringotts Intersection. Knockturn Alley took up one branch of the Y. Diagon Alley actually stretches on further than Knockturn and ends up looping back around to meet Knockturn. Then there is also a street perpendicular to Diagon Alley, Carkitt Market. It starts off with some shops but ends up mostly residential. Apparently, a healthy fraction of the Wizarding World lived here in the "Wizarding District" of London.
The shop "House Elf Placement Agency" was the third after the intersection. It was a lavender color, accentuated with mint green. Walking in, a bell dinged and a plush carpet was beneath my feet. "Hello young man, are you lost?" a witch with black hair asked me.
"No. In fact, I'm looking for a house elf." Then she saw my scar, which I had metamorphed to be apparent.
"Why. Mr. Potter. It is an honor to meet you. Of course, we can find you a house elf. What sort of work are you looking for? Garden caretaker? Cook? Butler? Personal Assistant? All-around housekeeper?"
"I'd like to meet the elves because personality is important to me, but likely a housekeeper also with some personal assistance and cooking," I responded.
"We likely have a few elves to place to fit that bill. Are you willing to consider a freed elf?" She asked.
"Most definitely," I said.
"Really? Most don't. Well, that'll get some of them quite excited. They don't get called down here very often. Just be warned." She said.
"How many wizards are in Britain? How many have elves?" I asked.
"Well, we never do any sort of formal count. However, the ministry publishes the number of roughly sixty thousand. As far as house elves, most households have them except for the poorest families. There are about 20,000 households with house elves in private employ and then Hogwarts, of course, maintains a large population themselves. Some households have one elf, some have two, some have even more." She responded factually.
"How does the whole system work? Bonding to an elf? Do they actually want to be enslaved?" I asked.
"House elves have the distinct problem of not generating very much magic. They can survive for a while without being bonded to a wizard, but only an elf that's bonded to a wizard is going to be able to be magically happy. Being bonded to a wizard somehow helps their process of generating magic. They also take an immense pleasure in serving a family, unless they're being abused. Free elves often die after a few months of being free unless they manage to find new homes. Most elves are freed if they make a large mistake, but actually aren't bad elves." She explained.
"Ah. Thanks for that." I told her.
"I'll bring out the three elves I think would suit you most. They're all freed elves." She said while perusing a large book on a pedestal in the shop. It looked like a list of names. Then she called out, "Twinka! Pobby! Bindi!"
After a few moments, three elves popped into existence in the room. They were all wearing rags and bobbing up and down excitedly at being called.
The first elf looked like an adult, and like a female elf. The woman running the shop dashed over and said, "This is Twinka, Mr. Potter. She was with a family that intended to breed her but she was unable to carry children so they freed her. She's been free for about four months now. She served as one of their five elves. Her duties were cooking and cleaning."
Then she slid over to the old male elf next to her, "This is Pobby. He was freed because he took the blame for an accident in the kitchens that his grandson started. He realized he'd only have another 10 years left to live as opposed to his grandson's 200 and decided to lie to his masters. He was a personal butler and cook for that family. He was freed 5 months ago."
"And lastly we have Bindi", she said, "Bindi is a very young female elf, quite cute. Bindi was put to work alone too early, as most elves aren't allowed to serve alone until the age of 5. She was put out at the age of 3 and had the dear misfortune of splinching her owner during elf apparition which caused her to be freed by her master. She's been freed for 2 months now and has been receiving training from our more experienced elves. She so far has not had any splinching accidents and has a full life ahead of her, and future breeding potential."
I then asked her. "How do house elves having children work? And when do they have them? How many do they have?" But then I thought. "No, wait. Actually, don't answer that. Twinka how about you answer the first question, Pobby the second, and Bindi the third."
Twinka excitedly jumped and then said, "Well. Usuallys a master wills request a pair of his elves havesies children, or he will find anothersis master with an elf to pairs his elf with. Sometimes, with a goodsies master, an elf can request to be with a certain other elf, but most times our master will picks our partner for us."
Pobby, a bit more subtle, clapped his hands together and then spoke, "While elves are capable of having children as young as five, most masters wait until 10 to begin any young elf making. Most elves will stop having children by age one hundred and fifty."
"How old do elves live to be?" I asked Pobby back. He didn't speak much like Twinka, he spoke with a refined elegance and dignity, but he also looked just a bit sad, like he thought no one would want an elf at his age.
"Well, it depends on the magical strength of their master, just like a wizards lifespan depends on their own magical strength. Elves live twice as long as the witch or wizard they are bonded to," Pobby explained.
"How long do wizards live? What if an elf changes masters and the new master is more or less powerful? How do you find out how powerful you are?" I asked him again, giving Pobby lots of attention because I liked the regal air about him.
"Wizards live an average of 100 years but have been known to live to just above 200 for the most powerful wizards. Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel are an exception to the rule with magical help from the Philosopher's Stone. The scale of wizarding magical power is measured with a mean of 100. Most wizards fall somewhere centrally around 100, and then it's like a bell curve deviating out from there, some wizards stronger and more powerful and some weaker. The most powerful wizards ever known reached just over 200 on the scale and the weakest wizards could have barely any magic. The scale operates like this because they directly correlate to years of life. Someone with an above average magical power, over 100 on the scale, will live to be that age in years if not killed in some accident way before then. If a wizard has a very low magical power, they will lose the ability to do magic at that age. So, if a wizard lost their magic at age 8 they'd be a squib at that age and would die a natural muggle death at the regular life expectancy for muggles. It is the magic that wizards have that keep them alive after the time a normal muggle would die. If an elf has lived to be like my age, 190, then bonding with a wizard with below average magical power would be a death sentence. However, bonding with a wizard with high magical power could give me decades. There is a spell that wizards can perform to tell you your magical power, but as an elf, we can also inherently sense it because, well, it is our lifeline. If you were wondering how powerful you are, I'd love to tell you." He replied. I nodded at him and leaned my ear down to his mouth so that it remained private and he whispered, "You are most powerful sir. Most powerful indeed. 196. You'll live to be quite old, sir. Don't share this, but you're likely the most powerful of your generation. It is an honor to be in your presence, Mr. Harry Potter, sir."
On that note, I had my questions answered and I knew that Pobby was going to be the elf for me. If I could gift a very nice, well-informed, and well-mannered elf another 200 years of life then I was going to. Pobby had answered Bindi's question for me, and the shop lady hadn't talked prices yet so I needed to haggle her down. I thanked Pobby and then sidestepped over to Bindi, to come up with a question to ask her to give her a fair shot. "What do house elves do when they get time to themselves?" I asked.
"Wheeze be visiting family, playing games. Sir," she said, shortly and unconfidently. I nodded my thanks to her.
I then walked over to the pedestal where the black haired lady had moved. "Never caught your name."
"Andrea Hopkirk. A pleasure to meet you. Did any of those elves work for you?"
"Maybe. How much?" I asked.
"Well, they aren't technically free elves. Free elves have no attachments at all. We have allowed these few elves to bond to this shop here, and so they are actually bonded elves, but they just serve no master. So, they obviously aren't free of charge. We also train them and house them and feed them while they wait for placement. Additionally, although an elf is freed, the old master is entitled to half of the purchase price if the elf is ever resold. Twinka would be 600 Galleons (which was $30,000), Pobby would be 300 Galleons (which was $15,000), Bindi would be 1,200 Galleons, (which was $60,000). I think for a wizard as young as you, investing in an elf like Bindi could be a great choice" she said with the sickening smile of a saleswoman.
"Could I get a 15% discount on Pobby if I pay right now?" I asked.
"5%." She countered, suddenly with a game face on, not expecting that choice of elf or bargaining offer.
"10% or I can wait until a day you aren't working here," I said.
"Wow, little Potter knows how to play. How'd you know we work on commission? Done."
"I didn't. I just guessed," then I winked at her, pulling out the 270 galleons for Pobby's purchase. This was my biggest purchase yet and made quite a dent in the money I had taken out of Gringotts. I knew, however, the purchase of a house elf would make things a lot easier for me here, and I'd be helping him anyway.
Once she had collected my money and locked it away in a moleskin safe, we walked back over to the elves to break the news.
"Twinka, Bindi, you are dismissed. Pobby. Please clear out your things and pop back here to complete the elf bonding ritual," the lady said. I could see tears of joy in Pobby's eyes before he popped away and Twinka and Bindi seemed dejected, but like they were used to this outcome.
It only took a couple of moments for Pobby to pop back into place, carrying a small rucksack of items. He placed it on the ground and held out his hands to me. "Um, I have no idea what to do," I said.
"Take out your wand and place it on his hands and then I will tell you what to say," Mrs. Hopkirk said.
I did as instructed, brandishing my wand and placing the point on his hands.
"With this wand, I bond these hands to serve me and mine for all of time. I promise to you my house and magic for you to ensure their well being," I recited with her. When I said the final word, swirls of gold appeared around me and Pobby, and suddenly he started to change his appearance, he no longer looked as old as he was, he looked middle-aged. That was interesting. He then jumped up and twisted around in a full 360 and came up to me and hugged me.
"You must be quite the powerful lad to have a wand that size and restore that much of his youth. He looks like a different elf. Good purchase on your part. Make sure to come back to us for any household or business needs," Andrea Hopkirk said to me pleasantly and with a smile.
I had seen plenty of other people walking with their elves during my morning here in the Alley, so having Pobby with me wouldn't be out of place at all. I told Pobby to walk by my side and we went back out into the Alley.
While walking along the street towards the Leaky Cauldron (not for dinner but to get rooms for the night) I asked Pobby, "Who did you serve before?"
"Well, sir. My family wouldn't have let me go if they weren't having a dinner party at the time and the other families hadn't demanded something be done. I served the Selwyn family."
"I'm trying to get a room for the night. The only place I know of is the Leaky Cauldron and is where I'm currently heading. Do you know anywhere better?" I asked Pobby.
"Why, yes. The best hotel in the Wizarding district is the "Excalibur" hotel at the forked intersection of Diagon Alley opposite of Gringotts. It's right up here. It's named after King Arthur's sword," Pobby replied.
I actually did remember seeing this hotel when walking about before. It looked fancy.
It was a golden building, four stories high. The front doors were open into a nice sized lounge on the ground floor with a concierge desk. I guessed there had to be at least a couple hotels for a British wizarding population of 60,000. Hmm. That made me wonder how many wizards were in the entire world. I was always disappointed Harry never traveled. There was a huge floo fireplace in the front lounge, too. I walked up to the desk and a man in red robes greeted me, "Hello, young man. What can I do for you?" It only took him a fraction of a second to see the scar and then say, "Harry Potter! Can I get a photo with you?" he asked like a crazed fan.
I looked above him, and there were a dozen frames of him with various different wizarding celebrities. I recognized Dumbledore, but for everyone else, I had to rely on the inscriptions.
"Sure. If I can get a suite for a few nights," I replied.
He ducked underneath the desk and started fishing around for something and said, "That shouldn't be a problem" and popped up with a camera. He handed it to Pobby and asked him to take it and then stuck out his hand to mine and shook it rapidly introducing himself as, "Halston Winweather. Honor to meet you, sir."
I only got into a smiling pose for half a second before Pobby took the picture. Halston walked over quickly to snatch the camera and go behind the desk. Then he asked, "What kind of room can I get you?"
I then asked, "What do you have?" He handed me a card with information.
"I'll have a two bedroom suite with the full living, dining, and kitchen on the fourth floor that you call the Junior Suite. It's available this week for 14 galleons a night?" I asked, reading off the card what I thought would suit me most.
"Of course. I'll get the key for you right now." He reached behind him to fetch my golden key from the wall of keys while I fetched my 14 galleons for him. Behind him, I noticed the time on his clock. 2:55 pm! I needed to get to Gringotts! I took the key from him and thanked him while exiting the place. Thankfully, Gringotts was just across the crowded street. The areas around Gringotts were very very busy. Walking along the cobblestone street, I held Pobby's hand to keep us attached. Back through the silver doors of Gringotts, I spotted Andromeda at the end of the long hall. She waved to me and motioned her hand into a side meeting room which I followed after her into. It was a marbled room like before but with multiple armchairs this time. Wow. Remus was inside. Remus looked a lot better than the movies made him out to be. He really was only 31 years old. Looking closer, his robes weren't tarnished or beaten up, but they were definitely not of the highest quality. He had a nice face and was still looking quite good despite the whole "being a werewolf" and "being thirty-one" thing he had going on.
Walking up to him, I went straight for the hug, and he did too. "Remus!" I said. "I'm so glad you came," I said, swaddling my little head into his robes while Pobby patiently waited to be introduced himself. I tore myself away. "Sorry. This is Pobby, my elf. I just got him. Pobby this is Remus Lupin, a friend of my late parents and this is Andromeda Tonks, cousin of my Godfather who is in prison." Pobby bowed his head to them, and they said, "Nice to meet you Pobby."
"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Harry, too. I must say this is all surprising. Andromeda tells me you said your years with your muggle relatives haven't been great? I'm not sure me taking care of you is a good idea, I must admit. I'm just… well, it's just… well, they must love you and want you back."
"Remus. I lived in a cupboard under the stairs. That was my bedroom. All the while my cousin had two bedrooms to himself. I was hit in the head with a frying pan, starved as a punishment, and made to work like a house elf every day. Don't try to tell me what's best for me when you know nothing of my circumstances. As much as I need someone to look after me, I've looked after myself all these years."
They looked heartbroken. Remus started tearing up and Andromeda came up to me, wrapped me in her arms, hugged me, and started sobbing. Thankfully, we were in this private side room.
"Harry. Harry, I had no idea. I would never have let Dumbledore place you there if I had known. Of course, you can stay with me, I'm just afraid I don't have the resources to take care of you if Sirius isn't capable of doing so himself."
"I'll take care of it," I said. "Plus, I think you're selling Sirius short. He could be alright." I said, slightly teary at all of their emotions.
They were still sobbing and holding me, obviously feeling for the abused child persona that I was projecting which actually was true of Harry and his memories. He would just never have had the bravery to say something about it, being too scared of the Dursleys, despite being a Gryffindor. Being brave for other people and being brave for yourself are two very different qualities, I thought.
Andromeda, gathering herself together mentally and physically, said, "Well, the good news is that I've got an emergency Wizengamot meeting scheduled for his trial tomorrow at 1 pm. They're moving him now from Azkaban to a ministry holding cell."
"That's great!" I said, unwrapping myself into the group hug. "Remus, I booked a room at the Excalibur for tonight so we'll have somewhere to stay. Once Sirius is freed we can stay in his house if he has one? Or? Where do you live?"
"I rent a cottage. We can talk about it later, but for tonight I can stay with you at the Hotel. Pretty fancy, Harry. Seems like you're spending quite a bit of money. That's not always a good idea."
"Well. Pobby was a bargain at 270 galleons." I said.
Andromeda then said, "Very much so. That's still quite an exorbitant amount of money though. Why do you need a house elf?"
"You never know when you could use some help," I said. "Also, Remus, we're having dinner with Madeline Fenwick-Hitchin and her son Marcus who I've met and a muggle-born family, the Grangers. Just letting you know. The Leaky Cauldron, at five."
"Thanks, kid. It's been years since I've seen Madeline. She kind of disappeared after Benji... well. Wow, you really were busy today, kid."
"You'll find I'm mature beyond my years," I said.
"Isn't that the truth." They both said, chuckling. Little did they know, I thought, and chuckled too.
A/N: Reviews welcome! Thanks for reading.