Harry was at first annoyed at Linden for abandoning him to the stares, but as soon as focused on the rest of the patrons, he forgot his irritation. The patrons had all stopped what they were doing and were looking in his direction. The fact that so many people were staring at him made him uncomfortable. His discomfort then skyrocketed when he truly looked at their expressions. The expressions made everything worse. Some of their eyes seemed to be filling with tears and many were smiling with happiness.

Harry didn't understand. How could so many people be so happy to see him when they had never met him? Harry knew that Cosme told him that he was considered a savior, but seeing it was completely different.

The barman finally reached their group and reached for Harry's hand, "Welcome back, Mr. Potter, welcome back."

The man's actions seemed to be a spark that drove everyone to move. The sounds of chairs dragging across the floor filled the room. There were half a dozen people in the room, but the sight still scared Harry into taking a step back.

Thankfully, Harry's step snapped Cosme into action. He pulled Harry behind him and held up his hands to the room. He felt like slapping his forehead. Cosme had been showing Harry off to various French people with no repercussion in France so he hadn't thought about how fanatic the British were about Harry Potter. For crying out loud! His scar was nearly covered by his hair and why would they even think about Harry Potter being in the alley before he was 11 years of age?

Cosme tried to mitigate the damage with reason, "Yes, this is indeed Harry Potter. I am sure I do not need to remind you kind folks that he is only nine years old. I would appreciate it if you let us have a peaceful day of shopping."

Unfortunately, his presence just raised more questions. An older woman who had been smoking in the back suddenly stepped up, "And who exactly are you to be telling us what to do? Harry Potter is a hero and I don't think there is anything wrong with our actions. I just wanted to shake the lad's hand."

A few of the other patrons were nodding as if in agreement.

Jimmy spoke up, "C'mon guys. Even if he's a hero, he's also a kid. Plus, Cosme is his guardian so he's just trying to protect him."

Cosme didn't want to spread that fact around, but now that it was out he intended to use his guardianship as a shield for Harry.

Another rather portly man spoke up, "Mr. Acajor is Mr. Potter's guardian? A French man?"

There was a rise in discontent murmurs, but Harry nipped them in the bud, "Cosme is an amazing guardian! And he's done more for me than any other adult in my life!"

The impassioned declaration eased the discontent even though many still murmured with irritation. All of them stepped back and let the group of three be in peace. Cosme turned to Harry and hugged him, "We would have handled it without your help but I am glad to hear that I have been able to be here for you."

Harry blushed but hugged Cosme back. The hug was so genuine that Jimmy felt compelled to look away and let the two have their moment. Jimmy was glad that the two of them were on the same page especially since Cosme had pulled him aside the other day to ask Jimmy what he thought of Cosme adopting Harry.

Cosme pulled back from the hug and Harry finally had a chance to look for his traitorous bird.

"Linden?"

At the sound of his name, the bird peeked out from a rafter in the ceiling. It looked around and once it saw that no one was staring at Harry it flapped down to Harry's shoulder.

"You're not a chicken so I don't know why you are acting like one?"

Linden chirped in offense, but then bashfully tucked his head under his wing. Harry sighed and then decided that he couldn't hold it against the bird since he would have flown away if he could.

Cosme smiled, "It is a safe guess that Linden does not like crowds."

The three of them collected themselves and they walked out of the bar and into a small courtyard area.

Cosme sighed in relief once they were apart from the crowd, "I probably should have remembered how crazy British people are. I apologize Harry."

Jimmy scoffed, "If you are to blame then so am I since I am the one who called out his name. Sometimes I second guess moving here from America."

Harry laughed but nodded at Jimmy's words, "It wasn't your fault, but I definitely don't think I want to do that again."

Pulling out his wand, Cosme cast a spell at Harry and nodded as if confirming that Harry wouldn't have to go through that again. Now that the three had made peace, Harry had a chance to look around and he was a bit disappointed to see that this was the entrance to Diagon Alley. It was dingy with a trash can and weeds sticking out of the stones.

Jimmy smiled at Harry's disappointment, "Oh Cosme! Will you let me do it? Please!"

Cosme nodded and waved for him to go right ahead.

Jimmy pulled out this wand and with a dramatic flourish, he tapped three times against the wall. He stepped back and eagerly awaited Harry's reaction. Harry's eyebrows rose at the sight of the brick shaking and then the entire wall seemed to transform into an archway that now led into a stone paved road.

Harry's mouth dropped open at the sight of Diagon Alley.

"Aha! Now that is what I was waiting for! Many things are better in the US, but the British do have a spectacular entrance."

The three of them stepped into the alley and the noise of the alley must have disturbed Silas who peaked out of Harry's shirt where he had been curled up.

"Now thisss isss a magical alley."

Harry was about to reply but then thought about what Cosme had told him a week ago. Parselmouths were not welcomed in Britain and after the scene in the Leaky Cauldron, he did not want to draw more attention to himself.

The sound of stone grinding on stone had Harry turning around and seeing the archway shrink and then transform back into a solid wall. The rest of the alley was full of fanciful sights. There were owls swooping in the sky and various wares sitting in the streets. There were a few people in the streets, but it was only semi-full.

The sight of the owls swooping around was odd, but it caught the attention of one of the group members more than the others. Linden no longer had his head tucked under his wing and instead perked up.

While Harry and Linden were staring in awe, Jimmy decided to add his two cents, "It's a good thing that you didn't come a few weeks ago because then we would have been stuck with the Hogwarts crowd and the alleyway is so packed that you can't even see across the alleyway."

Diagon Alley curved so he could only see a few stores before the bend obscured the rest of the path. As if sensing his curiosity, Linden took flight down the alley and disappeared from sight. Since there were so many other birds flapping around no one in the alley looked up to see the strange sight of a wooden bird flapping around. Harry thought about calling out for Linden, but he hesitated. Linden was just like the owls, a bird for delivering mail. Letting him do his own thing was probably best.

Harry instead kept looking around the alley and its odd sights. The store to the left was full of cauldrons and the one on the right had strange vials filled with even stranger things. Harry thought that he might have seen a jar of eyeballs.

"Oui, there is no way that I would have made this trip if there was still the Hogwarts crowd. What store should we go to first? Perhaps Flourish Blott's or maybe your shop?" Cosme started walking through the alley so Harry went with him.

Harry was currently distracted by a store that was labeled 'Quality Quidditch Supplies'. There was a broom that looked like it came from a children's story. However, the handle was polished so well that it glinted in the light. There were three rather small children all gazing into the store window and Harry himself felt compelled to get closer.

"I would much rather go to my shop than Flourish Blott's?" Jimmy tried to think of what he was like at Harry's age. "That would be nice to show off a little also what kid wants to go to a bookstore when there are stores that sell magical brooms and owls!"

Cosme laughed, "Maybe you would not have, but Harry is not exactly like you at that age. Plus, I thought that you liked bookstores?"

"Well, yeah, but I like them a lot more now as an adult than I did as a kid."

The two of them were so wrapped up in their conversation that they missed the fact that they left Harry behind. They had just walked past Eeylops Owl Emporium, where Harry was lingering. Inside the store, a beautiful snowy owl was making direct eye contact with Harry through the window. That was odd enough on its own, but the expression on Harry's face indicated that the owl was not alone in its appreciation of the other.

Jimmy was the first to react with, "Guess it's a good thing that I already went over familiars."

Harry blinked and then looked away from the owl, "Cosme….can I have an owl? I know I have the other animals, but this is different. I'll work extra hard and do everything for her myself."

Before Harry worked himself into a frenzy, Jimmy put his hand on his mouth, "Harry, do you remember my lesson? Y'know what I said about splitting up people and their familiars."

Trying to think when you were on the verge of panic was not the easiest, but Harry managed to remember that having a familiar was an unbreakable bond. They couldn't be split up and even talking about it is a major taboo in wizarding society. Harry nodded and Jimmy finally moved his hand.

"Merci, Jimmy. And yes, you can have an owl, especially such a beautiful one."

Even though it was doubtful the owl could hear them through the glass, the owl still seemed to flare out its wings on cue. The three of them chuckled at the sight of the bird and any lingering stress disappeared from Harry's frame.

They walked into the store. It was dark and eerie. The darkness seemed to heighten all of their other senses and so they all felt hyperaware of the sounds of fluttering wings and the clack of beaks and claws against the metal cages. The only sight that they could see were bright jewel-like eyes.

"I do not like it here. I feel like…prey." Silas said this from inside Harry's shirt as if in protest and didn't peek his head out.

Unfortunately for Silas, as soon as he spoke up, he alerted the owls to his presence and the owls closest to them started fluttering about in their cages.

"Uh, can we hurry up? I don't think Silas likes it here at all." Harry was looking closely at all of the birds and the ways that their eyes seemed to glow.

"Perhaps Jimmy can buy the owl, while the both of us go to the bank. Then all four of us will meet up after."

Jimmy agreed with Cosme's plan so they split up.

Harry and Cosme rushed past a few other busy-looking businesses, but this time Harry had no chance to take in their magical sights. Instead, his eyes were on a building up ahead. Cosme had his hand on Harry's shoulder and was leading him towards an odd pale building. It had bold bronze doors and strange creatures standing guard in front of the doors on either side. The sight gave Harry pause, but Cosme's hand kept him going forward and up the stairs.

Curious, Silas peeked his head out. He was no longer content to just absorb Harry's body heat, he wanted to look around.

They reached the stairs and then Harry was met with a new sight. It gave Harry his first sight of a goblin. The goblin was rather short and stood a bit below his eye level. They were mean-looking creatures with long pointed noses and large ears that were even longer than their noses. The two features seemed to dominate their faces, but Harry's eyes lingered on another detail. Their uniforms were some of the nicest uniforms that Harry had ever seen. They were a brilliant red with delicate-looking golden clasps and buttons. Strange though they looked, they dressed rather human-like.

The two of them kept walking and as they walked past the guards bowed at Harry. Harry wasn't sure what to do so both Harry and Silas gave them a little bow back and then rushed to catch up with Cosme. Since Harry was trying to catch up, he missed the surprise on the goblin's face. Some of the surprise was his actions, but it was all the wooden snake that they could get a peek of.

Past the bronze doors was another set of doors, this time they were silver. Harry took the time to admire the huge size of the doors and then his eyes caught sight of an engraving on the doors.

Enter, stranger, but take head

Of what awaits the sin of greed,

For those who take, but do not earn,

Must pay most dearly in their turn.

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure here.

Harry was sure that it was unintentional but the engraving actually soothed Harry. This was a bank so it was obviously a good thing that they would punish thieves so thoroughly. It also changed Harry's opinion of the goblins, just a bit though. They were warriors who believed in punishing thieves, but they were also apparently poets. It was such a well-done poem that it made people so fearful that they overlooked that it was poetry that frightened them, to begin with.

They finally got past the silver doors and entered a large marble hall. The hall was huge with hundreds of goblins and people walking in and out of halls and various doors. The goblins were sitting behind tall counters which added to their intimidation.

Cosme let Harry linger on some of the sights and a few goblins glanced at Harry. Harry tried to smile at some of the goblins and he was encouraged when a few nodded at Harry in acknowledgment. The two of them reached a counter that was about midway through the hall. The goblin wasn't working on anything else, so they approached.

"Good afternoon, my name is Cosme Acajor. I need to update my account and I would like to request an inheritance test for my apprentice here."

The goblin looked closely at both of them and then called for another goblin in a strange language that Harry didn't recognize. Another goblin from a nearby desk nodded and approached the group.

The new goblin dressed much like the others and just said, "Follow me." He then turned around.

Cosme didn't seem bothered by the series of events so Harry followed. They were then led down one of the many halls. The office that they were led to was decorated in a very similar way to the main hall and Harry was distracted by a few of the decorations scattered throughout the office.

A goblin walked in but made no move to greet them. He sat down, flipped through a few pages, and then finally looked at them.

"Lord Acajor, I was told you need to update your account details?"

Harry was surprised by how quickly they got to business but sat quietly.

Cosme nodded, "Oui, but I would rather we do the inheritance test on my apprentice, Harry Potter, first."

The goblin looked at Harry and then sat back in his chair. Harry was unnerved by the look and couldn't hope to decipher what it meant.

The goblin must have found what he was looking for since he stood and said, "Excuse me for just a moment."

For the first time that day, Cosme looked unconformable, and as soon as the doors closed behind the goblin he turned to Harry and explained, "This is highly unusual. It seems that something is going on that I do not know about."

Before Cosme could say anymore, two goblins stepped in. One stood off to the side while the other sat right back at the desk, "This is Griphook, he will be assisting with the inheritance test for your apprentice."

The new goblin, Griphook, put a parchment on the desk space closest to them and pulled out a small knife. The knife had a large ornate handle that was red with gold decorations. The red was a deep color and reminded Harry of a bit of blood, which suited the knife rather well. He explained, "Place the blade against your index finger and wait for a stinging sensation. Once that is done, place the blade on the parchment."

With no further explanation, Griphook handed the small knife to Harry. Harry looked to Cosme for reassurances and once they were given, Harry followed directions. After placing the blade against his finger, the handle of the blade seemed to be a bit darker, but other than that there were no visual indications that anything had happened. Harry looked at his finger, preparing for the sight of blood, but instead, he was in awe to see that there was no open wound from the blade at all. He leaned forward to place the blade on the parchment.

Any extra brightness in the handle seemed to seem and bleed onto the page. Then slowly as if written out by hand, words began to form on the page. It was swirling and ornate, and soon Harry could begin to make out some of the words. There were many 'Potter' on the page.

Once it was complete, the first goblin, whom Harry just realized that he didn't know what their name was, leaned forward and grabbed the parchment. Griphook approached the other goblin and together the two of them were talking about something on the page.

Harry looked over to Cosme who was shifting a bit uneasily in his seat. The other two finished their talk and then turned back to them.

"You said that you were seeking to update your account details. Was that intending to add your apprentice as your heir?" It was the first goblin that spoke.

Cosme nodded, "Yes, is there an issue? We do have a master-apprentice bond already in place." He had pulled up his sleeve to show the thin pale lines of the bond.

Griphook walked over and after looking at them, he nodded back to the first goblin and said, "Good. I have a feeling that you are going to need that. The inheritance test revealed that Henry James Potter's magical guardian used to be Albus Dumbledore. This itself is not concerning, but a few weeks ago he came in insisting on accessing the Potter vaults. He was quite clear that he believed himself to be still his guardian and intended to come back with Ministry support."

Cosme's eyebrows rose. He had thought that it would be easier to deal with the adoption in England because of the Potter vaults being here, but he hadn't realized that he would also gain such useful information. Cosme set aside his thoughts to deal with later, and said, "Yes, I do see how it is good that I already have the bond. Is there anything else that I need to be aware of before I can make H-Henry my heir?"

"No, you just need to sign here." The first goblin slid a paper to Cosme.

"Wait? Did you say my name is Henry?" Harry's eyes were blown wide and his eyebrows practically touched his hairline. "Harry isn't my name?"

The goblins just nodded and so Cosme put his hand on his shoulder, "I realize that this may be shocking, but perhaps we can talk about this more when we get back home later."

Harry nodded and he vaguely felt warm at the fact that he had a home, but he was too shocked by his name to think too much on it.

Cosme signed the line, "May I also have a copy of the inheritance test, I have a feeling that there are some things that I should know on there."

Griphook tapped the parchment and handed Cosme the copy. The other goblin scribbled some things and then handed a new parchment to Cosme, "This states that the bond is acknowledged by magic and that you are the official magical guardian of Heir Potter. Is there anything else that I can help with?"

Cosme collected the papers and tucked them into a pocket. He bowed slightly and said, "No, thank you. May your gold prosper and your enemies fail against your blade."

The goblin bowed back with a very toothy grin, "Good day, Lord Acajor and Heir Acajor."

Cosme and Harry left the office and went to exit the bank. Cosme put aside his thoughts about the meeting and decided to redirect Harry, "Instead of checking out Jimmy's shop, we should grab him and then get ice cream. I have been thinking of Fortescue's all day and I do not think I want to wait any longer."

Harry's smile was a bit weak, but he made the effort. They walked up to Jimmy's shop and Harry took a moment to admire his sign. 'Wonderful Wands' was written in gold on a blue background which Harry thought suited Jimmy rather well. They walked into the shop and Harry couldn't help but mentally compare it to Cosme's shop. Though the differences felt far greater than their similarities.

After stepping through the doorway, a bell rang and Jimmy walked in from the back of the shop. Jimmy had a big smile on his face, but whatever he saw on Cosme's face dimmed it a bit. As if sensing what Cosme was going to ask, Jimmy suggested, "Why don't you look around my shop, Harry, and Cosme and I will make sure that we are on the same page. Sounds good?"

Harry nodded and looked throughout the shop. He wandered off to the back wall which was covered in hundreds of small drawers each with its small label. Hearing that they were in a quiet space, Silas slithered out of Harry's sleeve and tried to wiggle himself onto the floor.

"Thisss ssspace sssmells like a foresst. Very nice."

He stepped closer and read the labels. It seems that each drawer had a wand which gave Harry a new understanding of why the shop had a different layout. There were shelves on two of the walls, but they were built in unlike Cosme's. The entire shop was done in earthly tones with a few smatterings of blue throughout the shop. There was a counter centered in the shop with a cash till and a large book, but not much else.

Harry could hear the two of them murmuring on the opposite side of the shop. He figured that they were talking about him and what happened in the bank. It seems that Jimmy was also surprised by the day's events.

Jimmy and Cosme walked over to him and Harry figured that it was time to get ice cream so he grabbed Silas from the floor, who only said, "I demand snake rights! I want the right to not get scooped up off of the floor like a forgotten sock."

Harry stroked the back of his head a couple of times to soothe him and tucked him into his shirt again.

"Yes! It's ice cream time!" Jimmy punched a fist into the air. "I would kill for some vanilla ice cream. I know that it isn't very popular, but too many people don't appreciate its simple beauty."

"Now let us not be too hasty. It is late enough in the day that it is proper to invite Garrick along as well. He is probably just finishing up." Cosme interjected.

Jimmy looked at his wristwatch and let out a sigh, "Yeah, I suppose you're right."

Moving on from his disappointment, Jimmy continued to extol the virtues of vanilla ice cream as they walked over to Ollivander's wand shop. It was in the opposite direction from Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. Harry was always surprised by how much passion Jimmy could have over what seemed so simple.

They arrived at the wand shop and there was no doubt in Harry's mind that this shop was the oldest of the free. It certainly looked like it. They approached the door when Garrick stepped out of the store.

When Garrick saw their shock at his perfect timing, he grinned and said, "I know more that goes on this alley than anyone else. Don't look so surprised."

Cosme shook his head at Garrick's theatrics and Jimmy just rolled his eyes. Garrick stepped in line with the other and they all went to the Fortescue's. The Ice Cream Parlour was a bright yellow color with large windows and an ice cream cone decorating the top of it. There were a few tables and chairs outside but they opted to sit inside to get the full experience. Jimmy immediately ordered himself three scoops of vanilla and Cosme ordered himself a chocolate with caramel drizzle. Garrick lingered with Harry who took much longer and eyed each of the ice cream on display.

There were so many varieties! Some were familiar like chocolate and mint, but others were strange like rasping raspberry and chocolate turtle (with real turtles). Harry, in the end, ordered something in the middle. He chose strawberry with peanut butter. A bit unusual, but not too strange. Garrick was then the last to order and chose his favorite Sherbert.

They sat at a table and they ate their ice cream. It was silent, but not uncomfortable. Harry had a feeling they were all just thinking about what had happened that day and were trying to process it.

One thing that kept circling in Harry's mind was who was Dumbledore and why Cosme seemed to think that it made sense that this stranger was once his guardian. The universe was ever merciful and decided to answer Harry's decision directly since shortly after he thought it there was an elderly man who approached their group of four. Harry was the first to notice him and his first thought was that the man looked rather odd. He was wearing bright red robes with stars that seemed to move as Harry looked at them.

Harry looked away not trying to be rude, but the elderly man said, "Oh my, it seems Garrick that there is a lot that I am missing or rather there is a lot that you are keeping from me."

Garrick quickly replied to Dumbledore's accusation with, "On the contrary, Dumbledore, I don't believe that I have kept anything from you that concerns you."

And that answered Harry's question of who the old man was. However, there was a sense of hostility in the air that Harry was confused by. The tension made Harry uncomfortable so he decided to not say anything to draw attention to himself.

Dumbledore stroked his beard, "Well that's rather interesting because I believe that this young boy is my charge and so his whereabouts greatly concern me."

Garrick let out a laugh and crossed his legs. The movement was pretty casual but Cosme was sure that it was to hide his right wrist from Dumbledore's sight. If Dumbledore didn't know who Harry was apprenticed to, it would slow him down later.

"If you were truly his guardian then surely you would have been aware that he hasn't been living with his blood relatives for weeks and has been adopted as is allowed by the apprentice-master bond."

That gave Dumbledore pause, but strangely didn't seem to bother him, "Oh? Young Harry is an apprentice wand-maker?"

"Yes, in fact, he is perhaps the most skilled apprentice that I have ever seen." Garrick was trying to brag and crush Dumbledore's claim to Harry however, he was discouraged when this news just brought a bright glimmer to his eyes.

The twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes made Harry shift nervously.

Dumbledore turned directly to Harry for the first time in this conversation, "Congratulations, my dear boy. This is quite an achievement. Though Garrick I must ask how did you find out that he had the potential for wand making?"

Garrick smirked, "I'm afraid that that information is a wand-maker secret, but let's just say my claim is backed by magick."

Stroking his beard some more, Dumbledore peered at Cosme and Jimmy with curiosity. Dumbledore might not be able to get the information from Garrick, but maybe he could get it from the other two.

The tension in the air was nervewracking and Harry's discomfort was noticed by Silas who tucked his head out of Harry's shirt. The sight of Silas was like adding gasoline to an open flame.

Silas, unknowing of the tension that he brought, said, "Sssomething isss disssturbing the peace here. I don't like it."

Dumbledore's eyes narrowed at the sight of Silas. Harry thought about tucking Silas back into his shirt or even responding to Silas' question, but he froze and instead did nothing.

It was like a switch flipped at the sight of the snake. When Dumbledore approached the group, the tension was between Dumbledore and Garrick, but now all of the wandmakers were pushed to the defense of Harry. Dumbledore noticed their strong protective energy and opted to redirect his energy after all they all had the same goal: protecting Harry.

Jimmy opened his mouth to say something but stopped when Cosme gripped his wrist forcefully under the table. Whatever Jimmy was going to say was not the right thing in this situation. Fortunately, the action brought Dumbledore's attention to Jimmy and away from Harry and the snake.

"I'm sorry young man. I don't believe I know who you are." Dumbledore reached out a hand to shake.

Cosme let go of his wrist so Jimmy thought it was safe to shake it, "Good afternoon, Jimmy Kiddell owner of Wonderful Wands."

"Ah, I have heard many things about your shop. Three wandmakers all in the same room, most unusual. Well, I suppose everything is in order, though Garrick," Dumbledore peered over his glasses, "you should expect a letter from me soon."

Dumbledore left the store, and as he turned away all four of them missed the relieved look on his face. Perhaps Harry being a wand-maker was the key to his problem all along.

Back in the shop Jimmy looked to the other two wand-makers, "That man gives me the willies. And he's the headmaster of a school?"

Garrick and Cosme relaxed now that Dumbledore was out of sight.

"Not here. Let's talk at your shop, Cosme? I have a feeling that your trip to the bank brought about more revelations than I expected."

They had nearly finished their ice creams so they stood and left as a group. Though they didn't leave through the Leaky Cauldron, they were far too worried that the four of them leaving together would be far too conspicuous. Instead, two of them apparated and Garrick took Harry through the floo. It was probably best to keep appearances about Harry being Garrick's apprentice.

It was only once they were all gathered in the sitting room that they took a breath.