At Flourish and Blotts
Harry commented that life at the Burrow was different from that at Privet Drive, with the biggest different was not the talking mirror or ghoul in the attic, it was that everyone seemed to like him.
"Of course we like you. Now, if only you'd say some of those hilarious things you keep in your head, we'd like you even more," Fred grinned.
"That's how it should be when you're at home, or at a friend's house," Tonks sighed. "Your relatives are the abnormal ones."
"Yeah. Admittedly, to not get along with every family member is perfectly normal, nobody gets along with everybody," Bill said, "but, they hate you because they are small-minded, petty, bastards."
"William!" Molly scolded, looking pointedly at Ginny. Bill just shrugged. He knew his sister had heard far worse in Egypt, though he did feel slightly guilty about that.
Mrs. Weasley fussed over the state of his socks and tried to force him to eat fourth helpings at every meal.
Molly winced, knowing she was just making things worse. The poor boy needed moderate portions to build up his stomach, not the same sized meals as those her children would eat.
Mr. Weasley sat next to Harry at dinner and asked him all about muggles. He commented it was ingenious how muggles found ways of getting along without magic.
"Well, they've never known otherwise," Ted pointed out.
Once again, Harry found it odd that someone who worked with muggle artefacts and was so enthusiastic about all things muggle, knew so little about them. Mr. Weasley must have seen something on his face because he offered Harry a little wink that just made him more curious.
About a week after Harry arrived, Harry and Ron came down to breakfast causing Ginny to knock her porridge bowl to the floor.
Ginny turned bright red while the twins laughed uproariously. Molly scolded them for embarrassing their sister, which subdued them a little, but they were still grinning widely.
It is stated that Ginny was very prone to knocking things over whenever Harry entered a room.
There was some more snickering around the room.
"Don't make me tell them about your first crush, Fred," Bill threatened. It was now Fred's turn to go bright red. "There you go. If you don't want that story being told to people for them to laugh at, don't laugh at your sister for the same thing."
"Don't worry, Penny had no real idea you did that because you had a crush. She thought it was a regular prank," Charlie smirked at him. Fred turned even redder while George chuckled.
Harry pretended he hadn't noticed.
"At least someone has some decorum," Andromeda muttered.
Mrs Weasley handed out the Hogwarts letters, saying that Dumbledore already knows Harry is there.
"It's not actually Dumbledore that deals with the letters, is it?" Kingsley asked with a raised eyebrow.
"But there's no doubt Dumbledore keeps an eye on Potter," Mad-Eye stated.
"Yeah, because there's loads of point keeping an eye on Harry when he's going to wilfully ignore abuse going on," Sirius snarled.
Fred and George come in and are given their letters. The booklist consists of mostly books by Lockhart.
"Why on earth would they need those?" Andromeda wrinkled her nose. "They might as well be fantasy novels."
"Because Lockhart wanted to promote his own sales," Amelia scowled. "He was teaching that year, he set the books. And decided to make a load of money by forcing all the students at Hogwarts to buy his books."
"All of them?" Emmeline raised an eyebrow. "Surely he didn't assign the same books to all seven years?"
"Indeed he did," George confirmed.
"Well, that should have been the first hint he is not fit to be a teacher," Narcissa sniffed.
"I think almost everyone knew he wasn't fit to be a teacher. The problem was, there wasn't a single other applicant for the position," Minerva sighed.
"Well, set the students self-study. They would learn more than from that rubbish," Andromeda scoffed.
"We all did self-study anyway," Percy agreed.
Fred commented that Harry had been told to get all Lockhart's books too and said the new Defence teacher must be a fan, and was probably a witch.
"I wish it had been," Ron muttered.
"It couldn't have been any worse," Harry agreed.
Fred caught his mother's eye and busied himself with the marmalade. George commented that the shopping won't be cheap as Lockhart's books are really expensive.
"Really, someone should have stepped in and told him he was not allowed to assign all seven of his books," Amelia stated. "Aside from them being a lot of dung, no other subject requires more than one or two books. It was clearly a self-promotion and you, Albus, should have told him he could not set all of the books."
"I allow all of my staff to assign the books they deem necessary for their subject."
"And as the headmaster, you should overrule them when they are completely unreasonable," Kingsley put in.
"Why did you guys share books?" Hermione wondered. "None of the years have Defence at the same time, so you could have just shared a couple of sets of books."
"Would you want to share books with the twins? Or even Percy?" Ron asked. "Percy would hog them and demand them back all of the time and the twins would probably destroy them, especially once they actually saw how useless his books were." Hermione had to concede he had a point, but those three were old enough that they should have been able to think about the consequences on their family, as George obviously had, and actually share the books properly.
Mrs Weasley looked worried but said they would manage. She expected to pick up a lot of Ginny's things second hand. Harry asked if Ginny was starting Hogwarts that year.
"I thought you knew she was only a year younger than me?" Ron frowned.
"I think you did mention it, except," Harry glanced at Ginny slightly guiltily, "her behaviour made her seem younger." She grimaced and turned redder.
Ginny nodded and put her elbow in the butter dish.
There was some more muted sniggering from the twins and a couple of hidden smiles by some of the adults.
Only Harry saw this as Percy arrived then, wearing his prefect badge.
"You actually wore the prefect badge during summer?" Sirius scoffed in disgust. "Even Remy wasn't that bad."
"James actively tried hide his head boy badge, knowing the grief Sirius would give him for it," Remus chuckled.
"Except Monty spotted it before he could get away from the breakfast table. Bless him," Sirius smirked.
Percy greeted them and sat down before leaping up having sat on Errol, who Harry momentarily confused with a feather duster.
Everybody snickered, except the Weasleys who all rolled their eyes.
"How long have you had Errol now, Arthur?" Kingsley asked in amusement.
"Uh, um, must be twenty-five years now."
Charlie whistled. "That's a pretty long life, even for a magical owl. I didn't realise he was that old."
"Might be time to retire him, dear," Molly sighed. "He's had a good life."
Ron grabbed a letter saying he must have Hermione's answer. He tried to stand Errol on the perch but he fell off, so Ron lay him on the draining board calling him pathetic.
Arthur sighed sadly. He loved Errol and had had him from when he was a hatchling only just old enough to be sold. Errol had been the first thing he bought himself with his very first pay-check.
Hermione's letter stated she hoped Ron didn't do anything illegal to get Harry out as Harry would get into trouble too.
"So, you're not worried if I got into trouble?" Ron frowned.
"Well, you would have been the one to do something illegal. Harry didn't do anything but would have been in trouble purely for proximity," she pointed out.
"I'm more amused by the fact that she didn't protest to you doing anything illegal, just that it would get Harry in trouble," George grinned. "Our little stickler for the rules is growing up fast." Hermione blushed.
She asked Ron to let her know if Harry was alright and suggested he use a different owl as another delivery may finish Errol off. She continued she was busy with schoolwork to which Ron wondered how she could be as they were on holiday.
"The point of holiday assignments is to do them during the holidays," Minerva pointed out dryly. "Not on the train." Ron offered an innocent grin.
Hermione suggested they meet in Diagon Alley the following Wednesday. Mrs Weasley agreed that would work as she cleared the table. Then she asked what they would be doing today, and the boys planned to play Quidditch.
Draco opened his mouth to comment as it was read out that Ron's broom was outstripped by butterflies, but caught sight of Harry glaring at him. And then the expression on the twins' faces which were practically daring him to say something rude. He decided to save it for later.
They had asked Percy to join them but he declined. He stayed shut in his room most of the time. Fred wondered what he was up to, saying he wasn't himself as he had hardly gloated about his twelve O.W.L results that came the day before.
"Very impressive," Kingsley stated. Percy smiled, puffing his chest out a little at the praise.
Hermione frowned. How had Percy achieved twelve OWLs? She had had to use a time turner to attend all the lessons the previous year, had he done the same? If so, she wondered why Professor McGonagall hadn't told her so she could have asked him for some advice on how to deal with it. It would have been nice to have someone she could talk to about it.
"You actually took Divination?" Tonks wrinkled her nose.
"I took the exam. Not the subject," Percy told her. "I registered to take the Muggle Studies and Divination exams and simply did independent study for them both."
"You can do that? Why don't we get told that?" She demanded.
"I found out from Bill who did the same."
"Professor McGonagall offered me the option at the end of third year," Bill stated. Hermione turned her indignant gaze onto her head of house.
"Given your opinion on Divination, I did not believe you would wish to study the subject in any manner, Miss Granger," McGonagall admitted. "I will speak with you later if you wish to discuss the matter further." Hermione nodded.
George explained to Harry about the exams, saying Bill got twelve too and they might end up with another Head Boy in the family. He didn't think he could stand the shame.
Fred nodded in agreement while Percy glared at the twins.
George added he didn't know how their parents were going to pay for all the Hogwarts supplies with five sets of Lockhart books required, plus Ginny's equipment.
"We managed," Molly gave her son a faint smile. "We always do."
"I know," George sighed.
Harry felt awkward as he had been left a small fortune by his parents and he figured that the Dursleys dislike of anything magical wouldn't stretch to piles of gold.
"Of course not. They wouldn't care, as long as they got money," Sirius scowled.
"Well, Harry is smart enough not to have told them, so it's safe regardless," Remus reminded him gently. Sirius just grunted.
Mrs Weasley woke them the next Wednesday and they got ready to go to Diagon Alley. She took a flowerpot off the mantelpiece and stated they were running low. She said Harry should go first and offered him the flowerpot.
"I'm sorry dear, it simply didn't occur to me you wouldn't have used floo powder before," Molly apologised. No wonder the poor boy had looked so confused. "We should have sent you through with Arthur."
"Why? What happened?" Sirius demanded.
"I was fine. I just…took a detour," Harry muttered. Sirius raised an eyebrow.
"A detour? Using floo powder?"
"He didn't speak clearly enough. Ended up in Knockturn," Fred pouted.
"Knockturn?" Sirius yelped. "That's the worst place for any child to be, let alone for Harry Potter to end up!"
"Potter luck," Minerva muttered.
Harry stared at them all watching him. He asked what he was supposed to do and Ron suddenly spoke up, saying Harry had never travelled in that way before. Molly wondered how he had gotten to Diagon the year before.
"The muggle way. You know he lives with muggles, they wouldn't travel by floo powder even if they would ever bother to take him," Andromeda pointed out with a confused expression.
"Yes. I wasn't thinking," Molly admitted, going a little red.
Harry mentioned the Underground, prompting Mr. Weasley to ask about escapators before Mrs Weasley cut him off.
"I think you mean escalators," Tonks chuckled. Arthur grinned.
Fred said Harry would be alright and to watch them first. He took a pinch of the powder and used it, vanishing into green flames. Mrs Weasley gave him advice as George used the floo as well. Mr. Weasley told her to stop fussing and she wondered how they would explain to Harry's family if he got lost.
"They'd be annoyed you were bothering them with such news, and pleased Harry wouldn't be coming back," Bill summed up grimly.
"Sounds about right," Harry agreed with a nod.
Harry assured her they wouldn't mind, and his cousin would think it a great joke if Harry got lost up a chimney. Mrs Weasley told him to go after Arthur.
"No other comment on that?" Sirius demanded.
"I assumed he was simply trying to make light of the possibility," Molly explained with a glare in his direction. She hated that a criminal, innocent or otherwise he'd spent thirteen years in prison not raising seven children, was constantly criticizing the way she had looked after Harry. She might not have been perfect, but it had been a damn slight better than what Sirius had been doing.
They all offered him lots of advice that Harry tried to bear in mind.
"You'll overwhelm him, and he won't remember any of it," Ted said, shaking his head.
"It was a bit hard to remember it all," Harry admitted.
"Sorry, Harry. It was all a bit last minute. We should have asked you the night before if you'd travelled by floo powder before and given you time to process the advice." Arthur offered him an apologetic smile. Harry returned the smile easily.
While trying to use the floo, he inhaled some ash. Floo travel is described and eventually Harry emerged onto a cold, stone floor and broke his glasses.
"Just brilliant," Sirius groaned. "In Knockturn Alley and you can't even see properly."
"I was fine in the end. Nothing happened, just a bit of a scare being in a strange place," Harry assured him.
He got to his feet, looking through his broken glasses. He had no idea where he was, simply that nothing in the shop was likely to be on a Hogwarts school list. Some items are described.
"Sounds like Borgin and Burkes," Sirius groaned. "They are kind of like the dark arts items general store. My parents used to love that place," he added quickly, seeing some of the looks he was getting.
Draco's eyes widened as he turned to stare at Harry in astonishment. Harry caught the look and grinned at him.
Before he could leave, Harry spotted Draco Malfoy outside the shop with another person.
"Oh, that's not good. The other person is likely to be Lucius. If he catches you alone…in a shop like that…" Sirius trailed off looking horrified.
The Ministry people all perked up, eager to hear what Lucius Malfoy was up to in Knockturn Alley. They were a little concerned about Harry, but he had assured them he made it to Diagon ok, so assumed he hadn't been caught.
"Why on earth did your father take you to Knockturn Alley with him?" Narcissa demanded of her son. She had known he had planned on selling some more incriminating items, but not that he would be taking her twelve year old son on the trip. That was no place for him to be at that age.
"Said he had some urgent business to take care of while we were already out," Draco told her with a shrug. He'd thought the place was kind of cool, if rather creepy. His mother's eyes narrowed.
Harry dived into a nearby cabinet.
"Harry!" Several people yelped.
"That cabinet could do anything!" Moody scolded.
"Well, it was that or get caught by Mr. Malfoy," Harry pointed out.
"You didn't fully close the door, did you?" Kingsley asked.
"No."
"Good. If it was a vanishing cabinet or some such item, it only works if the door is fully closed," the auror informed him. Harry nodded, wondering what exactly a vanishing cabinet was.
Malfoy entered with his father. Mr. Malfoy told Draco not to touch anything.
Narcissa nodded.
Malfoy had just been reaching for the glass eye and said that he thought his father was going to buy him a present. Mr. Malfoy corrected he would buy him a racing broom.
"Not that it helped much," Fred snickered.
"Not against Harry, anyway," George agreed.
"Not even a whole team's worth of brooms could help them against our star seeker," Fred bragged.
Draco pouted and folded his arms across his chest grumpily. Then his cheeks turned pink as he recalled the next part of his conversation with his father and realised exactly what Harry had overheard. He turned to glare at the boy in question who smirked at him.
Malfoy sulked that he wasn't on the school team and complained about Harry getting special permission for his broom when he wasn't even that good.
"Not that good?" Charlie scoffed.
"Someone's jealous," chuckled Tonks.
"Either that or he has no idea about Quidditch, if he thinks Harry is no good. Two games and he caught the snitch after having his broom cursed and managed to set a record for quickest catch in Hogwarts history," Charlie stated, grinning at Harry.
"That's because my pup is a natural," Sirius bragged, wrapping an arm around Harry's shoulders and ruffling his hair. "Just like his father and godfather."
"I don't recall you being a natural in anything other than making a fool of yourself, Black," Severus drawled.
"He was rather overshadowed by James, but Sirius is talented on a broom," Remus spoke up mildly.
He continued that Harry only got the permission because he's famous for having a stupid scar on his forehead.
"Believe me, Draco, I'd happily give my scar and my fame to you if I could," Harry told him. "But I'd still be better than you at Quidditch," he added with a cheeky grin. It took all of Draco's willpower not to stick his tongue out. If his mother hadn't been there, he might have done regardless. It didn't help that he was also slightly distracted by how much that particular grin suited his former rival. He'd noticed Harry was finally wearing clothes that actually fit him now as well, and those also suited him rather well. The thought made Draco flush. He forced himself to focus on what had just been said.
"You can keep the scar thanks," he said with a grimace. Then grimaced some more at such a poor retort.
Malfoy kept going, saying that everyone thinks he's so smart, wonderful Potter with his scar and his broomstick. Mr. Malfoy cut him off saying he'd said this at least a dozen times already.
"You know, he kind of reminds me of Ginny, before Harry arrived that summer," Fred commented casually, but with a wicked grin on his face.
Ginny and Draco both pulled horrified faces at being compared to each other.
"Yeah. Always 'Harry this' and 'Harry that'," George agreed.
"One might think…ickle Draco…that you have a crush on our resident celebrity."
Draco spluttered in shock and embarrassed denial which only made the twins' grins even wider. "I do not have a crush on Pot…Potter!"
"That's enough, boys," Arthur told his sons.
Mr. Malfoy told him it is not prudent to appear less than fond of Harry Potter.
"I'm sure Draco is secretly very fond of Harry Potter," Fred put in. His father gave him a warning look but the look on young Malfoy's face was worth it.
Mr. Borgin arrived and, after pleasantries, asked how he could be of assistance, saying he had something just in today. Mr. Malfoy cut his off, stating he was not buying today but selling which didn't seem to please Borgin.
Amelia fished out a new piece of parchment, ready to note anything of use, though she doubted it would be given how old the information was. Still, it could be useful in the future, knowing where Malfoy bought and sold certain items.
Mr. Malfoy explained about the Ministry raids and how he had a few items at home that would embarrass him if the Ministry were to call.
Sirius clutched Harry more tightly. He could only imagine that Malfoy would have done if he'd caught Harry after hearing something like that.
"I'm sure he has more than a few items like that," Moody scoffed.
"They would also probably do more than merely embarrass him. Or they would if he couldn't just bribe the Minister," Arthur scowled.
Borgin asked if the Ministry would presume to visit him, and Malfoy replied that they hadn't yet as the Malfoy name still commanded some respect, but there are rumours about a new Muggle Protection Act which was no doubt the work of the fleabitten, Muggle loving fool, Weasley.
The Weasley children all yelled angrily at that, while Arthur just looked pained. The possibility that Malfoy had targeted his daughter, almost cost her her life, because of that Act, made him both furious and horrified.
Harry felt a hot surge of anger.
Arthur managed a smile in Harry's direction.
Malfoy continued that some of the poisons might make it appear before being cut off by Borgin who said he understood.
"Poisons?" Amelia wondered, glancing in Narcissa direction. She remained silent; face almost completely blank. She would give them no information that could be used against her family. While she had her concerns about Lucius, he was her husband, and she would not give up his secrets to these people. At the very least not without an agreement in place to protect both herself and Draco.
Draco interrupted, asking if he could have a withered hand.
"Why?" Harry asked, wrinkling his nose. "The thing looked awful."
"It looked cool," Draco shrugged.
Mr. Borgin scurried over and informed him about the Hand of Glory, saying he had fine taste. Mr. Malfoy stated he hoped his son amounted to more than a thief of plunderer.
A few people chuckled softly.
He continued that if his grades don't pick up, it may be all he is fit for.
Draco scowled and ducked his head.
Draco retorted that it wasn't his fault as the teacher's all have favourites, citing Hermione.
"Well, you're the favourite of at least one teacher," Harry pointed out, gesturing in Snape's direction.
"Besides, I work hard for my grades. If you chose to spend your time complaining instead of working, that's hardly my fault," Hermione said primly. Draco glared at her.
His father replied that he should be ashamed a girl of no wizard family beat him in every exam. Harry was pleased to see Draco both abashed and angry.
Draco turned his glare on Harry.
"Like you wouldn't be pleased the other way around," Harry pointed out with a roll of his eyes. Draco shrugged, admitting he had a point.
Borgin commented that wizard blood is counting for less everywhere.
"Well, given that wizard vs muggle blood has absolutely nothing to do with intelligence and work ethic, I really don't see his point," Tonks commented with a scowl.
Mr. Malfoy stated not with him and Borgin agreed, bowing deeply. They began to haggle as Draco explored the shop, coming closer and closer to Harry. He stopped to examine a few items, including a cursed opal necklace that had claimed the lives of nineteen muggles to date.
Several people threw the book disgusted looks.
Draco spotted the cabinet Harry was hiding in, but was called away by his father just before he could open it.
"Damn! I can't believe I was so close to catching you," Draco scowled.
"It's a good thing you didn't, given what Harry overheard your father talking about," Andromeda reminded her nephew.
Once they were gone, Borgin commented that, if the stories were true, Mr. Malfoy hadn't sold half of what was hidden in his manor.
Narcissa narrowed her eyes at the man's attitude.
"Of course he wouldn't sell every thing to the same person in one go. That would be a terrible idea," Kingsley mused. "Lucius is slippery, and not stupid enough to do that or our jobs would be a lot easier."
Once Mr. Borgin disappeared into the back room, Harry made his escape. He described the street outside and then set off trying to find a way out of the dingy alley.
Everyone was greatly concerned, even knowing Harry was clearly alright now. The wild swings in the boy's luck never ceased to amaze the adults. First, he ended up in Knockturn alley of all places by floo accident. But then, not only had he escaped being found by the Malfoy's by the skin of his teeth, but he had also apparently made it out of the alley safely. If he had been recognised while alone in Knockturn alley, well, it wouldn't have been good for the boy. Honestly, any child wandering alone in such a place was likely to meet an unfortunate end, not just death either.
A sign informed him which alley he was in, but the information was useless to Harry who had never heard of the place.
Sirius frowned. Considering his godson's abysmal luck, he wondered if he shouldn't take Harry to Knockturn Alley, under heavy disguise of course, just to make sure he knew his way around should something like this ever happen again. Maybe Cissa could do it. His cousin was well known enough not to be questioned in Knockturn, and nobody would bother her, not wishing to risk the wrath of Lucius.
Honestly, he would rather Harry never stepped foot there again, but it would be better for him to be prepared. Of course, next time he'd probably just end up somewhere worse.
Harry wondered what to do and was approached by an aged witch, holding a tray of possible human fingernail, asking if he was lost.
"They probably are fingernails," Tonks muttered in disgust.
"Used in dark potions," Bill agreed. "Seem some vile potion recipes scrawled on tomb walls."
Harry backed away, saying he was fine. Fortunately, Hagrid arrived and recognised Harry.
"I'm really glad Hagrid found him, but I wish he could be a little more discreet," Emmeline muttered.
"People wouldn't bother Hagrid in broad daylight, not even in Knockturn," Kingsley reassured her.
"Even for Harry Potter?" She queried.
"Even then. On his own, sure, but with Hagrid there I don't think they would consider it worth the risk of being caught."
Hagrid escorted Harry back to Diagon Alley, saying Harry didn't want people seeing him in Knockturn Alley. Harry protested it hadn't been deliberate and asked what Hagrid was down there for.
"That's a good question. Not the sort of place I would expect to find Hagrid," Charlie mused.
Hagrid said he was getting Flesh Eating Slug Repellent as they were ruining school cabbages. Harry told him he was with the Weasleys. While they looked for them, Hagrid asked about Harry not replying to his letters and was told about Dobby and the Dursleys.
"What exactly did you tell him about the Dursleys?" Remus wondered.
"Just that, even when Dobby stopped stealing my mail, they wouldn't let me send letters and locked Hedwig up."
Hagrid called them lousy muggles just as Hermione called to Harry. She ran down to meet them and they were soon joined by the Weasleys. Mr. Weasley was glad to see him ok, and Hagrid told them where he'd found Harry. The twins and Ron thought this was brilliant.
"Don't you two be getting any ideas," Molly glared at the twins.
"We wouldn't dream of it," they replied in unison. Honestly, they meant it. For now, at least. Having heard about Harry's experience, they had no desire to go down there alone until they were a little bit older.
Mrs Weasley arrived and began dusting Harry off while Mr. Weasley fixed his glasses. Hagrid left and Harry told Ron and Hermione about seeing Mr. Malfoy in Borgin and Burkes. Mr. Weasley overheard and asked if he was buying anything. Harry said he was selling and Mr. Weasley said he'd love to get Malfoy for something.
Narcissa couldn't stop a sneer forming on her face at those words. Her husband was far too intelligent to be caught out by Arthur Weasley of all people. She may need to make alliances with these people for the sake of her son, that didn't mean she had to like them.
Mrs Weasley told him to be careful, not to go biting off more than he could chew, and her husband indignantly asked if she thought he wasn't a match for Lucius Malfoy.
Narcissa, Draco and Severus all had to bite their tongues at that question. Arthur Weasley was not at all a match for Lucius Malfoy politically or in a magical sense. He was less magically powerful, an inferior duellist, and quite honestly, simply unwilling to stoop to the same levels as Lucius giving him a significant disadvantage.
He was then distracted by Hermione muggle parents. The group went into Gringotts and Harry felt awful when they reached the Weasley's vault.
Mr. and Mrs Weasley turned slightly pink while Bill and Charlie exchanged meaningful looks as they decided to try and send a bit more money home when they could.
The Ministry workers exchanged looks. They knew Arthur and his family weren't well off, but they wondered quite how they were so poor. Or how on earth they had afforded school supplies for five children with such a little amount of money, even second-hand.
Amelia honestly wondered how much Arthur actually got paid. He was a head of department after all, even if it was a small department. Besides, with four of his five children that still lived at home spending much of the year at Hogwarts, they should have been able to save up some money. Not to mention the amount of overtime he had done that summer. Something about it didn't add up, and she was determined to get to the bottom of it.
Harry felt worse when they reached his vault. He tried to block the contents from view as he randomly grabbed some money.
Harry deliberately kept his eyes away from Ron.
They went their separate ways when they got back outside. Mrs Weasley said they would meet outside Flourish and Blotts in an hour, and warned the twins not to step foot in Knockturn Alley.
"We knew better than that," George assured his mother. She eyed them dubiously, but eventually nodded seeing the honesty in his eyes.
The trio wandered up and down the alley, looking at the various shops. They saw the twins and Lee Jordan in Gambol and Japes and Percy in a tiny junk shop reading a book entitled Prefects Who Gained Power.
"Well, that sounds dull," Tonks commented.
"It wasn't actually," Percy snapped, cheeks red.
Ron sarcastically commented that it sounded fascinating. Percy told him to go away and as they left; Ron told the other two Percy wanted to be the Minister of Magic.
Mrs Weasley smiled. At least one of her children would get a respectable, safe job.
They headed to Flourish and Blotts at the allotted time only to find a sign outside announcing Gilderoy Lockhart was doing a book signing that day. Hermione was excited.
Hermione grimaced, not looking forward to reliving just how blind she had been in regard to the wizard who had tried to erase the memories of her best friends.
They squeezed inside and there was a long line right to the back of the shop where Lockhart was signing his books. They each grabbed a copy of the Standard Book of Spells Grade 2 and made their way to where the rest of the Weasleys were standing.
Mrs Weasley's cheeks turned pink as she heard about her own behaviour.
Lockhart came into view, sitting at a table and surrounded by large pictures of himself.
"His classroom was no better," Neville muttered grimly.
"His office was even worse," Ron added with a sneer.
"It was a painful year, even without the attacks," Filius murmured to himself, although Pomona heard and nodded in agreement.
Photographs were being taken and the man snarled at Ron to move out of the way as this was for the Daily Prophet. Ron muttered big deal.
"You deserved your foot being trodden on for drawing his attention," Harry told his best friend. Ron winced.
"Sorry mate. Didn't mean to."
"I know." Harry offered him a grin. "Doesn't mean I wasn't thinking about standing on your foot myself."
Lockhart heard him and looked up. He spotted the pair and recognised Harry, yelling out his name. The crowd parted, allowing him to dive forwards and drag Harry to the front.
"Get your hands off of him!" Sirius growled.
"Nothing you can do about it now, Padfoot," Remus reminded him, although he looked equally angry.
The crowd applauded and Lockhart shook Harry's hand for the photographer. He told Harry to smile as together they were worth the front page.
"Harry's worth the front page on his own. He doesn't need you for that," Fred scoffed.
"I don't want to be on the front page," Harry scowled.
"We know, Harrykins. It's the principle of the matter though."
"Harry is a minor. Lockhart should have gotten his guardian's permission before doing anything of the sort," Amelia frowned unhappily.
Harry tried to head back to the Weasleys, but Lockhart threw an arm around his shoulders.
"Oi!" Bill barked angrily.
"And of course, nobody noticed how uncomfortable Harry was and told Lockhart to sod off," Sirius growled in frustration.
"They probably thought he was loving it," Kingsley said dryly, glancing over in Snape's direction. Of course, the potion's master wasn't the only one who had assumed many wrong things about Harry Potter, he was just one of the worst and most vocal in his inaccurate assumptions.
Lockhart announced he would be giving Harry a free copy of his autobiography and that he would be taking up the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts.
Everyone who had been at Hogwarts that year grimaced heavily.
Harry was presented with Lockhart's entire works which he gave to Ginny, saying he would buy his own.
"That was very generous of you, Harry dear," Molly said gratefully.
"I really didn't want them." Harry shrugged awkwardly.
"I don't blame you. What a waste of money they were," Percy sniffed.
"We sold ours," George said with a grin. "Stupid prat signed all of our books, not just the autobiography, so we sold them to some fan outside."
"He'd sign anything if it stood still long enough," Fred snorted.
"Whether you wanted it signed or not," Harry added grumpily.
Draco arrived, saying he bet Harry loved that.
"Someone's jealous," Hermione said in a sing-song voice. Draco glowered at her.
"Yeah, but of Harry for the attention or Lockhart for getting to openly fawn all over Harry?" Fred asked with a smirk.
He continued that famous Harry Potter couldn't even go into a bookshop without making the front page. Ginny told him leave Harry alone as he didn't want all that.
"Good for you, Ginny," Bill smiled proudly at his sister for standing up for Harry.
Draco commented that Harry had gotten himself a girlfriend.
Ginny blushed.
Ron and Hermione came over, each clutching Lockhart books and Ron noticed Malfoy, looking at him disgustedly, before saying he must be surprised to see Harry there.
"Why would he be? He needs his school supplies just like everyone else," asked Charlie in surprise.
"Because Ron thinks baby Malfoy sent Dobby to stop Harry returning to Hogwarts," Tonks reminded him.
"Oh yeah."
Malfoy retorted he was more surprised to see Ron in a shop. He supposed his parents would go hungry for a month to pay for all those.
"Still stuck on the same old insults. Need to get something new," Bill said lightly, though his face was stern.
Ron turned red and started towards Malfoy. Harry and Hermione held him back. Mr. Weasley came over and suggested they go outside. Before they could, Mr. Malfoy arrived.
"Well, this could get interesting," Tonks muttered.
"It's the middle of a crowded bookstore in broad daylight. Nothing too interesting can happen," Ted pointed out.
Mr. Malfoy stated he hoped Arthur was being paid overtime for all the raids. He picked up Ginny's transfiguration book.
Arthur snarled. Everyone was taken aback by such an expression on the easy-going man's face.
He continued that obviously not. Then asked what the point of being a disgrace to the name of wizard was if they don't even pay him well for it. Arthur replied that they had very different ideas about what disgraces the name of wizard.
"Most definitely," Kingsley agreed. "Which is a good thing."
Mr. Malfoy commented on the Granger family, saying he had thought the Weasley family could sink no lower.
Hermione scowled.
"Better than the company Lucius keeps," Remus muttered.
Mr. Weasley threw himself at Malfoy Senior and they brawled, with encouragement from the twins, and Mrs Weasley yelled for her husband to stop.
"You actually attacked Lucius Malfoy in a bookstore?" Sirius asked Arthur in disbelief.
"Not my finest moment," Arthur admitted, though honestly, he wished he had done more than hit him.
"That's brilliant!"
"No. It's not. It's a bad idea. Lucius is not one to take humiliation like that lying down," Remus reminded his friend quietly. Sirius' grin dropped off his face.
Hagrid broke up the fight. Mr. Malfoy gave Ginny back her book, eyes glittering maliciously. He told her to take it as it was the best her father could give her.
Arthur suddenly felt very, very cold. Ginny had found the diary in her Transfiguration book. Had Lucius already been planning everything, or had it been a snap decision because of Arthur. Was what happened to his daughter, his fault? Had it happened because he had lost control of his temper? Logically he knew Lucius was the only one to blame, but the thought that Ginny had been the one targeted because of him made him feel sick.
"Arthur?" Molly was looking concerned at his side. He offered her a wan smile, not wanting to share his thoughts just yet.
"I'm fine, Mollywobbles," he told her softly, feeling only slightly guilty by diverting his wife's worry with her nickname.
Then he left. Hagrid told Arthur he should have ignored him.
Arthur fought to hide a wince at just how true that was. His foolishness could have cost Ginny her life. It had meant she spent her first year at Hogwarts terrified, and being possessed by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named through some magic not even the Headmaster seemed to understand for definite. Nothing Arthur did to make up for that would erase what happened to Ginny.
He continued that the whole family were rotten to the core and no Malfoy is worth listening to.
Draco sniffed in disgust and outrage at Hagrid's words. Narcissa simply pursed her lips and said nothing.
"Well, that's not true," Andromeda stated, with a quick glance at her sister and nephew. "Just because one Malfoy is a despicable excuse for a human being, does not mean they should all be tarred with the same brush."
"Do not trouble yourself, Andromeda," Narcissa told her firmly. They met each other's eyes consciously for the first time in many years and many things passed between the pair. Finally, Andromeda nodded.
They left the shop, the Grangers shaking with fright and Mrs Weasley with fury. She scolded her husband for brawling in public, wondering what Lockhart must have thought. Fred pointed out he was thrilled as it was publicity.
Several people snorted in disgust.
They headed to the Leaky Cauldron to use to the floo once more. Harry took off his glasses this time and decided it definitely wasn't his favourite way to travel.
"That's it. Well, that was an…eventful chapter," Emmeline commented.
"Indeed," Kingsley agreed.
"Let's have five minutes to stretch our legs and get some refreshments," Dumbledore suggested. They all agreed.
The Weasley children all immediately made their way to the kitchen. The Ministry group discussed everything they had learnt and what they might be able to do with the information.
Once everyone was back, with platefuls of snacks, Moody picked up the book once more.