Standard Disclaimer: I own nothing in regards to Harry Potter or Jujutsu Kaisen. All properties therein are those of their creators. I am only a writer working on my skills with worlds and characters that I love.
Chapter Two - School Shopping
Harry and Yuki decided to perform their shopping together this year, and to do so they'd met up with the Grangers outside the Leaky Cauldron. The blonde slayer had immediately formed an easy dialogue and friendship with the dentists and that left Harry and Hermione with plenty of time to catch up with each other.
"Wow, Hermione, you look great!" Harry exclaimed when he saw one of his best friends again.
"Thanks." Hermione blushed and nervously struck a pose she'd practiced in the mirror, raising one of her arms and flexing her developing bicep. She wasn't 'ripped' yet by any means as she was still young, but her muscles had definitely firmed up enough to be noticeable with all the work she'd been putting into the gym over the summer. Stephanie had almost become something of a personal trainer for her, and the woman had often praised her work ethic. Internally she was preening at the ecstatic attention her not-so-subtle crush was giving her. It felt nice to have all of her time and effort vindicated.
"So where to first?"
"Padma and her parents agreed to meet us at Fortescue's so let's go there first."
The group made their way into the alley and traipsed through the throng of people that always invaded the grounds that time of year to reach the famed ice cream parlor. True to their plans Padma was there, and she had brought Daphne with her. Both of the blonde's parents were currently in France handling business matters but had easily agreed to let her shop with her friends as long as they had chaperones.
Once greetings were expressed Harry found himself once more complimenting the others on their physical changes as well. Each seemed to have grown another inch and were noticeably more fit than they had been before. Had all of his friends decided to start working out at the same time? Harry might have been a bit suspicious if he wasn't so happy that they seemed to be sharing in his passion for physical exercise.
"Well, how about the book store as our first stop?" He grinned as he offered his arm.
"Eek!" Hermione squeed before latching onto his arm and rushing down the street practically dragging him in her wake while the others ran after them. Meanwhile the adults unanimously laughed at the sight and followed at a more sedate pace, chatting amicably about their summer and the things they'd gotten up to. The dentists found themselves more than a bit impressed at their associate's globe trotting ways and vowed, not for the first time, to set out on a big family vacation themselves once time permitted.
With the gathered crowds they thought they might not catch up to the kids, but they need not have worried, however, as there was a line out the door at the shop and their children were stuck waiting at the back of it. "Whatever could be causing this?" Dan wondered as he stepped up to them.
In answer Hermione pointed to a sign hanging proud over the front door. "I guess Gilderoy Lockheart is hosting a signing inside for his new book." She grumbled.
Harry was confused by that reaction. "An author is in your favorite bookstore signing his works and you aren't thrilled?"
The bushy haired girl shook her head. "Thanks to you I've been thinking a bit more about what I read. Asking questions, you know? And, well, I've read Lockheart's books and they don't make sense. He claims they are all true stories but the methods he claims to use to fight dark creatures have been debunked by pretty much every auror corps in the world. Also, many of the events he describes happen at the same time chronologically. He couldn't have been in that many places at once. Finally, he claims to be a recipient of the Order of Merlin: Second Class, but I can't find any newspapers citing his award ceremony. Ergo, with all of these facts in hand, he's a liar." She glowered at the window pane at the front of the store wherein they could all see a rather foppish looking man with horrible clothing sense and hair that would only make sense in an anime. "I hate people that lie in books."
It took an hour to make it inside and when they did the parents gave the children their year's shopping lists. Harry stared at his own copy with dumbfounded shock. "This makes no sense. I already bought all the books I'd need for Hogwarts including seven years of defense against the dark arts. How are there twenty new books for one class?" As he read the titles his gaze grew positively stormy in nature, "And why the fuck are they all written by Lockheart?"
"That is quite… pricey." Emma noted. The Grangers were well off, being owners of their own dental practice, but still, this would come out to at least four hundred pounds, and that was if one bought them all secondhand. That was absolutely insane for one year of school.
Luckily, Harry came to the rescue. "Alright, people, here's the plan." Grabbing everyone's attention with his words he said, "Let's each just grab a couple of the books, and we'll simply swap amongst ourselves. We already know that we're in the same classes again so it shouldn't be an issue as long as we sit together like last year."
"Excellent idea, Harry." Emma smiled at the young man and soon enough they were all gathering the bare minimum and getting in line to make their purchases. With luck they would have been in and out, but sadly it was not to be. For one moment, and one moment only, the bursting crowd of fans around the Lockhart table thinned and in that brief window the man's eyes latched onto the black haired youth with the lightning bolt scar on the other side of the room near the cash register like a magnet.
"Great, scot!" He declared, drawing the attention of everyone gathered to where he was looking. "Harry Potter, here to purchase my books, and not even saying hello? My word, young man, I almost missed you."
"Dammit." Harry groused. He just knew his fame was going to get him into trouble one of these days and here it was. Being rich and famous had its benefits he was sure but this downright sucked.
"Aw, poor Harry, center of attention again." Padma bumped his shoulder playfully.
"Perhaps we can still get out before he makes a big deal of this?" Daphne suggested. Though that idea seemed rather shorted as a sudden flash announced the arrival of the photographer for the Daily Prophet. And right on his tail came the man of the hour himself.
Not even stopping for proper introductions Gilderoy Lockhart rudely pushed through his friends, shoulder checked Dan Granger out of the way, and wrapped an arm around the shoulders of the boy who lived as the photographer came back for a second round. "Smile, Harry, together we make the front page."
Harry, however, was having none of it. In a flash he gripped the offending limb, pivoted his hips, and flipped the suddenly squealing man onto his back before twisting and popping his shoulder out of the socket. As Gilderoy screamed, the boy who lived stomped hard on his back and pointed right at the suddenly very nervous photographer as he declared, "I did not give permission for my picture to be taken. If even one shot of me is in tomorrow's edition of the Prophet then I am suing your ass for everything that you are worth; do you hear me?"
The mousey photographer nodded enthusiastically, even going so far as to pull his roll of film free and burn it before his eyes and then he ran out the door as fast as his legs would take him. In the end, when faced with actual consequences for their actions, all paparazzi were cowards.
Once he was gone Harry looked to the owner of the shop. "Call the aurors please. This man assaulted my friends, their parents, and laid hands on me against my will. I am pressing charges of assault and unwanted advances on a minor."
"T-There's hardly a need f-for that, H-Harry." Gilderoy whimpered beneath him. "H-How about letting me up for old times sake?"
"I've never even met you before, you greasy haired sack of shit." The younger wizard seethed. He could practically see the hair gel rolling off the bastard's head as he sweated beneath him.
From the crowd an indignant teenage girl declared, "That's a lie! Gilderoy wrote in Harpy's of Harrington that he personally taught you how to tie your shoes."
Harry's right eye twitched in a way that his friends interpreted as meaning he was literal seconds away from causing extreme violence. Looking back to the owner once more he declared, "I'll be adding libel, unlicensed use of my name, and fraud to the charges as well."
"Harry," Daphne placed a hand on his arm. "The aurors are on their way, but this could get ugly quick. This crowd literally worships Lockhart."
The boy finally tore his eyes away from the squirming mess beneath him and eyed the rather annoyed looking populace. "Can't they see he's full of shit?"
"Not likely." The pureblood responded. "Most of the public can easily be categorized as sheeple, and this maggot has kept them entertained for years." Privately she was very much enjoying this show. Lockhart to her represented the worst aspects of pureblood society. Unrestrained egotism and a false sense of superiority. He acted like the world was supposed to genuflect at his feet. "Leave Lockhart here and let's go meet the authorities outside. Each of us can attest to how he acted."
Harry snarled, but still acknowledged that she was probably right. Daphne always was the authority when it came to Wizarding Britain. So, with a final yank of his victim's bad arm, he and the others stepped outside.
They were just finishing their statement with the aurors that had come running a few minutes later when the Weasleys arrived and bustled inside, likely to do their own last minute shopping. The Malfoys must have been right on their heels, but so busy was the group providing details for their complaints that they didn't notice until Draco and an older platinum blonde that had to be his father exited the now rambunctious sounding building. A book signing, vicious assault, and a massive family of redheads was certainly enough to turn the tides of any normal establishment after all.
They must have been in a hurry though as all Draco had time to do was wave at them all before his dad pulled him along in his wake. If Harry didn't know better, he'd think the sight of aurors was making the man a bit nervous.
"Well, Mr. Potter," The lead auror, a straight laced looking woman with a monocle over her right eye said as she finished taking some notes on her notepad, "This is certainly quite the list of charges. As a scion of an Ancient and Noble house you have my word that Lockhart will be taken to the DMLE for questioning, but…" she looked both ways and leaned down so she was speaking only to him, "you should know that even with this many witnesses I can't promise anything."
"What?" Harry was floored, "How can that be?"
"You'll probably win on the libel and fraud charges as your lawyer has already won several cases against publishers that used your likeness in the past for their books. He's established a precedent. However…. Lockhart is too popular for his own good, the lying shit stain." Amelia Bones glowered at the glass of the bookstore where she could already see the man pontificating before the crowd with his arm thrown into a makeshift sling. Her first order had been to send in a healer so she knew he was perfectly fine by now and just playing up his circumstances for dramatics. This wasn't the first time someone had pressed charges against him, nor was it the first time she'd had to have this difficult conversation. "He's been brought up on charges like these before and somehow he's managed to walk away scott free on every occasion. I just don't want you to get your hopes up."
Before Harry could berate the woman for both her auror corps and government's clear ineptitude and corruption, Daphne once more stepped in to keep the foot out of his mouth. "Whatever you can do will definitely be appreciated, Director Bones." The title was emphasized to try and drive home to her male friend how important this woman truly was, but sadly, he only partially seemed to get the message.
Harry couldn't just leave things like this. He had to know, "What she said, but also one question if you'd be kind enough to answer it: Are you proud?"
"Excuse me?"
"Maybe I wasn't direct enough." Harry's tone made it clear exactly what he was thinking about his current situation. "Let me elaborate. Are you proud of what you are doing here? A man has committed a crime. You have witnesses, several in fact, attesting to the truth of said crime, and by your own words the perpetrator has a history of several similar crimes. Yet instead of jailing him you tell us, his victims, that he is only going to walk free. So, Director Bones, are you proud of this situation and how you are handling it?"
Amelia was stunned. No one had ever spoken to her like that before, let alone a twelve year old boy. "It's… it's just the way things are." She eventually said, and even to her ears those words sounded hollow. How could she explain to someone so young that she'd been fighting the corruption of the ministry for years and seen not a single inch of headway. How did she explain that all of her focus, by necessity, needed to remain on the bigger picture to try and somehow bring the truly evil amongst them down when they had all the power in their world; that she was constantly fighting a losing battle?
"But it's not the way it has to be." Harry stated exasperatedly. He'd been studying the wizard structure of government at Daphne and Padma's suggestion and the whole thing was ludicrous in his opinion. "You command the aurors, the only official military force in the government. Do you realize that you could literally just march your ranks into the wizengamot chambers, hold the members at wand point, and declare that this society had had enough and that you were removing them from power?"
Amelia gaped with shock at the words spoken by one so young. "That would be treason!"
"When rising up against tyranny it's called revolution according to the Yanks. Food for thought."
Without another word Harry took his leave.
"What the hell was that, Harry?" Yuki asked. Daphne, Padma, Hermione, and the others all wanted to know the answer as well so they bustled in closer to hear his response.
"Just me working something out in my head." Harry responded without looking back. "I just really realized how remarkably easy it would be to take over the magical world, and now I'm wondering if it's worth doing so or just leaving the country for good when I graduate from school."
The others had no response to that so they just followed in his wake as they completed the rest of their shopping. In contrast to the things that had just happened, the rest of their day went rather smoothly.