The Potter Timeline
Chapter 49 - A Day in Diagon
Hermione stood on the opposite corner of the long table which sat center of the pub, her parents standing behind her. The thirteen-year-old wore a light sweater, beige with thin brown stripes, and a pair of blue jeans. She seemed a bit taller, and her face was tan, no doubt from being in the sun. But what really stood out was her hair. The fluffiness was still there, but the girl had cut it short, down to her shoulders. And Harry couldn't help but be mesmerized by those pretty brown eyes which gleamed as she gazed back at him. His heart skipped, seeing his pretty girlfriend before him.
Without hesitation, he moved briskly around the table toward her. Hermione closed the gap equally fast and the pair embraced, Hermione wrapping him in a near death grip. Harry chuckled. But then he was surprised at the pleasing, gentle scent of perfume she wore - perhaps just for him. Both this and the warmth of her embrace made Harry glow inside. Denizens in the pub were no doubt staring at this spectacle in amazement as whispers broke out around them. But Harry didn't care. He was elated to be with his best friend once more.
The two finally stepped back from one another. Hermione took his hands in hers and gazed at him with equal elation.
"Hi", Harry said with a huge smile.
"Hi", the girl replied, rubbing his hands affectionately.
"Welcome back," he told her.
"Thanks! It's good to be back," she replied.
For several moments, the pair just stared at one another, not exactly sure how to act.
"Hello there, Harry!" Hermione's mother said cheerfully as she and her husband approached.
"Yes, hello, Harry," Mr. Granger added.
Hermione released Harry's hands and moved to the side between him and her parents, pushing a swath of hair behind her ear.
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Granger. Nice to see you again," Harry said, "Hermione told me all about your trip to Italy. Sounds like it was fantastic."
"Oh yes! We'd been planning it for several years but never had time until now," Mrs. Granger said with a glance at her husband.
"We'd been wanting Hermione to experience another country besides France, our usual holiday destination," Mr. Granger added.
Harry smiled at Hermione.
"I see. She's becoming quite the world traveler, then," he said, "I confess I'm a bit jealous as I've never been anywhere except here and Hogwarts."
The girl chuckled while affectionately grasping the sleeve of his pullover.
"Hello, Hermione!" the great voice of Hagrid boomed at them from behind.
"Hagrid!" Hermione responded, turning to face the wizard who had stepped up to the four holding a large silver goblet of MacDougall's Mean Mead.
"Welcome back! I trus' you an' yer parents had a grand ol' time on the continent?" he asked.
"Thanks! Yes, we did. Italy was...fascinating, to say the least," she uttered.
"Nice teh yeh again, Mr. an' Mrs. Granger," Hagrid said with a nod at the couple.
"And you, Hagrid!" Hermione's mother replied.
"Seems like only yesterday we were drinkin' eggnog together up at the ol' castle," Hagrid added.
"Indeed it does," Mr. Granger replied pleasantly, then looked at Harry, "and how has it been spending the summer at Hogwarts, Harry?"
"It's been great! I've learned a lot, and having the castle almost to myself has been amazing."
"An' he's been a great help teh ol' Hagrid too," the caretaker threw in while placing a huge hand on Harry's shoulder, "goin' on rounds with me, helpin' fix things here an' there, and takin' Fang fer a walk 'round the grounds when I was real busy."
"By the way, Hagrid's going to be teaching this year!" Harry told Hermione eagerly.
"Really? Wow!" she exclaimed at the big man, "what will you be teaching?"
Hagrid stood up straight, looking slightly embarrassed.
"Care o' Magical Creatures," he said, "Dumbledore was kind enough teh offer me the post after Professor Kettleburn retired. I just hope I do you all proud, it bein' me first class and all."
"We're sure you'll do great, Hagrid," Hermione told him, "with all your experience, you'll be a natural."
"Definitely," Harry added.
"I appreciate that, you two," Hagrid said a bit red-faced.
Mrs. Granger looked at her watch.
"Well, dear, I think we should be off. The department store should be open by now."
"Of course," Mr. Granger replied, then looked at Hermione, "you'll be alright, sweetheart? While your mother and I do some shopping in London?"
The thirteen-year-old rolled her eyes, seeming embarrassed by the question.
"Yes, dad. I'll be fine. Harry and I have plenty to do, buying our school things."
Harry turned to Hagrid.
"Are we riding back with you on the bike later?" he asked, wondering how he and Hermione could possibly scrunch up together inside the little side car.
"Oh no, Harry. Dumbledore only tasked me with bringin' yeh here, an' once I finish me drink, I need teh scoot on back. He's got some classroom improvements fer me teh undertake, apparently. So, you an' Hermione'll have teh make yer own way back teh Hogwarts."
"How, exactly?" Hermione asked.
"Well, the Inter-City Wizard Express leaves from Platform 9 3/4. That'll get yeh back to Hogsmeade, though a mite late."
"I thought only the Hogwarts Express used that platform," Harry replied.
"The Hogwarts Express uses it fer six days a year, Harry. The rest o' the time it's used by ordinary wizardin' folk on a special train that can take yeh to just about anywhere in Britain. It's charmed teh make wizards an' witches invisible teh muggles at their stations, and has a sign sayin' 'Not in Service' so no muggles try teh get on board. Lots of Ministry folk, who ain't too fond of the Floo Network, use it teh commute teh London fer work."
The teens nodded. Hagrid continued.
"But, if yeh want teh get back to Hogwarts even quicker, there's the Knight Bus."
"The...Knight Bus," Harry said.
"Yep. All yeh have teh do is stand on the kerb outside the pub here an' hold out yer wand. A great purple bus'll show up an' can take yeh back teh Hogsmeade fer a fee."
Hagrid then leaned in toward the two, as though he didn't want anyone else to hear him.
"But, I have teh warn yeh. The driver of the bus, Ernie, is a bit mad, if yeh ask me. He has the bus jump from one place teh the next in no seeming order. Yeh might be in London one minute, then suddenly in Wales fer some strange reason. No one really knows what goes through that head o' his."
Harry and Hermione chuckled, Hagrid straightened back up.
"But, he'll get yeh there in the end."
"Okay, thanks," Harry responded.
The Grangers turned to Hermione.
"We can pick the two of you up here at say, three o'clock, and take you to King's Cross, if you'd like," Hermione's dad suggested.
The teens looked at each other and Harry nodded.
"Sounds great, dad," Hermione answered, "we'll be here."
"Alright, sweetheart," Mrs. Granger told the pair with a hand on each of their shoulders, "see you both at three, then."
"Good seeing you again, Hagrid," Mr. Granger said to the half-giant with a smile.
"An' you too," Hagrid replied cheerily.
The Grangers exited the pub into the muggle section of London. Hagrid glanced at the old clock ticking away on the mantelpiece above the fireplace, then turned back to the teenagers.
"Well then, I think I'll finish me mead at the bar. Tom wanted to hear more about me new teachin' position. So, I'll see the two of yeh back at the castle."
"Alright, Hagrid," Harry replied.
The wizard walked away. Harry turned to Hermione.
"Well. Let's head to Gringotts to get some money. Afterwards, I'd...like to treat you to lunch. Then we can get our school things."
Hermione gave Harry a shy grin, like he'd asked her on a first date.
"Okay," she replied.
Harry smiled back and the pair went into the backyard of the pub.
"I'll let you do the honors," the boy told her.
Hermione pulled her wand and tapped the third brick on the left, above the rubbish bin. The archway appeared and the two entered Diagon Alley.
The old wizarding street was as busy as ever. A constant flow of magical folk moved along its diagonally-sloped, cobblestone thoroughfare, entering and exiting the alley's myriad of stores. Parcel delivery owls flew up and down the alley, swerving among each other and between plumes of smoke rising from smokestacks over a multitude of shops. Harry and Hermione walked in the direction of the Gringotts' edifice which loomed at the end of Diagon with its crooked tower and misshapen columns.
The two were silent at first, occasionally staring at each other and smiling shyly, still not certain how their new understanding, as boyfriend and girlfriend, was to go. But after a few moments, Harry reached over and took Hermione's hand. The girl beamed and affectionately squeezed his hand back. Both blushed. But then, the stigma seemed broken and the pair fell back into their normal, easy rapport.
"You've sprouted again," Hermione told him with a grin, "and your voice is a bit deeper."
Harry nodded.
"Perhaps because it's the first summer I've been able to eat three square meals a day."
Hermione laughed. Harry looked at her, amazed by the girl's more grown up appearance, and still bedazzled by her prettiness.
"You've sprouted too," he said, "and your hair looks nice."
"Thanks," she responded, "like I told you in my letters, Italy was really hot. I needed to do what I could to keep cool. It's easier to manage like this anyway."
The two fell silent momentarily as they weaved in and out of crowds of moving briskly along the alley.
"By the way, Harry. Just so you know, my parents and I got here a little early and already visited Gringotts."
Harry looked at her in surprise.
"Really?"
Hermione nodded.
"I needed a few galleons so I could buy someone a birthday present," she said with a grin.
Harry grinned back.
"I see."
Hermione continued.
"My parents exchanged enough for that and my school things, but gave me a little extra to buy something for my birthday too. I thought about getting a pet, as I haven't got one. Maybe an owl, like Hedwig, would be nice."
Hearing this, Harry had an idea.
"Well, I'll tell you what. You keep the extra money your parents gave you and I'll buy the owl, for your birthday present, since it's not too far off from mine. Deal?"
Hermione's eyes softened at the boy and she smiled.
"Deal. Thank you, Harry," she said softly, squeezing his hand gently again. He smiled.
"Besides, when you see the list of books for term, you may need the extra money just to cover them," he said.
Hermione stopped and Harry followed suit.
"Really?" the girl asked wide-eyed with eager interest, "you brought the list McGonagall said she'd give us, right? Can I see it?"
Harry laughed.
"I was wondering when you were going to ask," he said with amusement. The girl smirked.
Harry let go of her hand and reached into his pocket, retrieving the parchment and handing it to her. Hermione held it with both hands, reading over it like it was the most important document in the world. Her jaw dropped.
"Wow!" she uttered.
"I know. I had the same reaction when I first saw it," Harry said.
Hermione pushed another swath of hair behind her ear as she gazed intently at the list.
"So, we're to choose two electives this time, making seven classes total," she said.
"Yep."
Hermione nodded, then looked at him with squinty eyes.
"Harry, did she mention something to you about taking extra classes this term? She mentioned it briefly in her letter to me."
He nodded.
"She did. In fact, she said you and I could take all the electives if we wanted to."
"What? All of them?" Hermione uttered in astonishment. Harry nodded.
"Yep."
"But...how is that possible? There are ten classes altogether! There aren't enough class periods in a single day!"
"That's what I said. But McGonagall told me that if we did wish to take the extra classes, they have some way for us to do so, though she wouldn't tell me what it was."
Hermione gazed over the list once more and nodded, biting her lip at the same time.
"Okay," she said while the pair resumed their trek to Gringotts, "we'll have to determine which ones to take, then."
"Right. Let me get some money and we'll discuss it over lunch," Harry finished.
The two arrived before the enormous wizarding bank, with its twisted facade of gleaming white granite. They walked up the steps toward the bronze entrance doors and the goblin standing beside them, wearing the Gringotts uniform, a maroon tuxedo with gold lapels and cuffs, bowed as he opened one door for them. They entered and were greeted by two more goblins who both opened the silver doors leading into the bank's enormous atrium.
After Harry withdrew enough galleons, sickles, and knuts to last his entire third year, he and Hermione headed back into the alley. Harry was amused as Hermione, unable to help herself, kept glancing over the class list like a kid in a candy store.
"They would all be good, Harry...except divination, perhaps. That sounds rather woolly to me..."
He chuckled. Passing several store fronts, they came across the darkened entrance to Knockturn Alley. Remembering what Hagrid told him the previous year about that shady section of Diagon, Harry briefly gazed into it, noticing the Borgin & Burkes store sign in the distance. But in that brief moment, he found a pair of eyes staring back at him.
They were barely visible under the dark shade of a store canopy on the opposite side from Borgins, but lower to the ground than Harry would expect. His face scrunched up, wondering who or what was looking at him so intently. He stopped and Hermione stopped after.
No sooner had they done so than the eyes blinked and the thing spun around, bolting further into Knockturn out of sight, but revealing itself in the process.
It was a large, wolf-like dog with shaggy black hair.
"Harry, what is it?" Hermione asked while lowering the parchment and gazing into the alley herself.
"Nothing. Just a...dog of some sort," he said. He then turned to her.
"So, what would you like for lunch? I've never eaten at any of the restaurants in Diagon, just The Leaky Cauldron. It might be nice to try something different."
Hermione squinted in thought.
"Agreed. How about...The Crescent Moon Café? My parents and I passed it earlier. They serve French food, I believe."
"Sounds good. And maybe after, we can get some ice cream at Fortescue's."
But Hermione's face soured at this, to Harry's surprise.
"I would normally say 'yes' to that, Harry. But my parents and I ate so much gelato during our holiday in Italy, because of the heat, that I'm a little...put off by ice cream at the moment."
Harry smiled.
"I see. Well, maybe we can find something good at Ziggly's then."
The girl threw him a warm gaze.
"Definitely," she replied.
She wrapped her arm around his and the pair headed off to the café.
~HP~
They sat at an outside table under an umbrella, enjoying their lunch and discussing what classes they wanted to take while wizard-watching along Diagon's alley. They each had a ham, cheese, and mushroom galette with a small salad. Added to this was a cold glass of tart, Breton apple cider. When the charming French witch who ran the Crescent Moon, Madame Claudine de Bainville, a former charms professor at Beauxbatons Academy, found out Harry and Hermione were attending Hogwarts, she gave them each a free crème brûlée.
"But, Hermione," Harry said while cracking the crusty brown top of his dessert with a spoon, "why do you want to take Muggle Studies? We're both from the muggle world. We already know loads about it."
Hermione finished swallowing her first spoonful.
"Because, Harry, it might be fascinating to see how wizards and witches view muggles. No doubt they have a lot of misconceptions about them. And maybe it will help us better understand why so many in the magical world look down on muggles or even hate them."
Harry thought about this as he took his first bite of the dessert, which was quite delicious. He nodded.
"You're right. At the very least, the class should be a breeze for us compared to some of the others."
"Exactly," Hermione added, "and will enhance our Hogwarts diploma. Besides, remember what your older self said about learning as much as you can?"
Harry smirked.
"Yes. Though I doubt he had in mind me taking ten classes per term in order to do so."
Hermione chuckled.
"Well, we agreed to nix divination, so it will only be nine this term," she said.
Harry breathed out.
"Alright. We'll let Professor McGonagall know once we get back. I'm still curious how in the world we'll be able to take all these classes, though."
"So am I," Hermione said.
Harry looked at the arithmancy and runes classes on the parchment once more. He then glanced around briefly before leaning toward Hermione.
"Once we get a private compartment on the train, I'll tell you what happened Saturday concerning a certain...artifact," he spoke quietly.
Hermione's eyes went wide.
"Okay," she said with a nod.
The pair continued with their desserts silently for several moments until Harry remembered something else.
"By the way, what was the important thing you wanted to tell me?"
Hermione stopped eating and glanced around herself. She then leaned toward him.
"When my parents and I were in Italy, I...think we were being followed."
Now Harry stopped eating.
"Followed?"
"Yes."
"By whom?"
"I don't know," she answered, "The first time I saw him was at our hotel in Rome. He passed us in the lobby twice and looked pointedly at me both times. Then, one day, we were eating at a restaurant near the coliseum. I happened to look over and saw him at an adjacent café, staring back. At first I thought all this was just a coincidence. But when we were in Venice later, I was startled to see the same man walking along a sidewalk while my parents and I were taking a canal tour in a gondola. He looked directly at me like before."
Harry's face scrunched up.
"What did he look like?"
"He wore a smart jacket and slacks, like he was...wealthy or on a business trip of some sort. His hair was brown and slicked back. And his face was rather...squarish. Like a big brute of some kind. Its hard to describe, exactly."
"Do you think he was a wizard or a muggle?"
"I couldn't tell. But the fact that he happened to be in the same place at the same time we were makes me think he was a wizard."
This seemed a bizarre and disturbing development. Hermione continued.
"I got a photograph of him. I used my dad's camera and pretended to take a picture of San Marco Plaza. He's clearly there off to one side. I can show it to you when we get on the train."
The pair were silent momentarily, then the girl's face scrunched up in thought.
"But maybe it was just a coincidence, Harry. Maybe I'm just being paranoid. Perhaps the poor man was on holiday himself and was simply visiting the same places we were. There were a lot of tourists, after all."
"Perhaps so,"Harry replied.
They finished their dessert, Harry paid for lunch, and the pair headed out to buy their supplies.
"Thank you for lunch, Harry. That was really good," Hermione said with soft eyes as she wrapped her arm around his again.
Harry smiled back.
"You're welcome. It was good. I'm glad I had a savvy world traveler nearby to recommend it."
Hermione laughed.
They headed back to The Leaky Cauldron where Hermione had stored her trunk. From it she retrieved the magically expandable satchel Harry bought her the previous Christmas. As they would both be buying eight new textbooks and would carry up to ten of them during their first term, the satchel was perfect as it could hold at least a dozen books and more. Once they left the pub, they proceeded to the Diagon branch of Dinwoody's Magical Thrift as Harry was now searching for a similar satchel. The shopkeeper happened to have an old black one that once belonged to a former teacher at Hogwarts. After Harry purchased it, their first order of business was, of course, Flourish & Blotts.
"You need...two of them?" the bookstore manager said to the teens with a look of fright.
"Yes, sir," Harry replied.
"Oh dear!" the man now stated with a deep frown, his shoulders slumping.
"Follow me," he said in exasperation.
Harry and Hermione exchanged puzzled looks, wondering why it seemed horrifying to the man to provide them with two copies of The Monster Book of Monsters. But in the next moment, they found out why.
They followed him through a narrow aisle of book shelves into the shop's anterior storeroom. Snarling and growling sounds accompanied by crunching and ripping noises came from the back-end of the space. The wizard lead Harry and Hermione to the noises' source and a strange sight. Inside a huge cage were a multitude of large leather books that had beady eyes and an actual mouth full of sharp teeth on their fore edge. The books were snapping and growling at one another, pieces of parchment falling from the cage like confetti. The entire cage rattled with these wild creature-like books inside it.
"They came in just yesterday and are already giving me trouble!" the disgruntled manager complained while reaching over to grab a pair of thick leather gloves and a cane.
Harry and Hermione now noticed the bandages on the poor man's hands. They both gawked at one another. The wizard put the gloves on and opened the top of the cage. One book growled at the man and attempted to leap out at him. He smacked it with the cane. The book howled and whimpered as it fell to the bottom below the other books. The manager then carefully grabbed one by its spine and dropped it on the floor, reaching back to grab another one the same way.
When the enormous textbook landed with a thud, it snarled at Harry and Hermione, flapping its way across the floor in their direction as though trying to attack them. But before it could reach one of Hermione's trainers, she stomped on its cover to hold it down. The book's multiple eyes bulged and a tongue fell out of its mouth like a squashed bug. Hermione looked at Harry in puzzlement. He laughed at this, and the girl smirked while shaking her head.
The man dropped another on the floor in similar fashion and quickly shut the cage. This book now scuttled along the floor at Harry, but he stomped on its cover the same way Hermione did.
"When I find out what idiot professor ordered these textbooks for his classes, I'm lodging a formal complaint with Headmaster Dumbledore! And whoever created these odious things should be sent to Azkaban!" the manager uttered angrily while removing the gloves.
Harry grimaced.
"Do you have anything to bind the books with?" he asked.
The wizard placed his hands on his waist and glared at him.
"This is a respectable bookstore, young man! I don't stock belts or ropes to bind up ridiculous books capable of biting one's fingers off! You'll just have to handle them the best you can, I'm afraid."
But this seemed to give Hermione an idea. She pulled out her wand and stepped back from the Monster Book. It immediately began snarling and chomping, trying to bite her foot again.
"Incarcerous!" she uttered.
Several ropes spewed from the end of the wand and wrapped around the book tightly, shutting its mouth and causing the thing to let out a brief yelp before going silent and still. She beamed at Harry.
"Brilliant, Hermione!" he uttered with a smile and used the same spell on his book.
The manager stared at the bound books wide-eyed. He seemed incredibly relieved.
"Why I hadn't thought of that, young miss! An excellent idea!"
He walked up to them as they both grabbed their book off the floor.
"Now then, what else do you need for term?" the man asked.
Harry and Hermione left Flourish & Blotts with their satchels full of books, though the satchels themselves seemed near feather-light.
"Leave it to Hagrid to require a book for his class that acts like a dangerous magical creature," Harry said while shaking his head.
Hermione laughed.
After stashing their satchels in Hermione's trunk at the Cauldron, they headed back into the Alley. Their next order of business was new robes from Madam Malkin's. Both of them had outgrown their second-year robes and Harry's was quite tattered from his ordeal in the Chamber of Secrets. But as they moved along the street toward the clothing store, something caught Harry's eye and his jaw dropped.
"Hang on a minute!" he uttered, rushing to the store front of Quality Quidditch Supplies. Hermione followed him to see what he was staring at.
There, in the front window was the most amazing thing Harry had ever seen: a brand new, incredibly beautiful broom. The pair read the description card beneath it.
The Firebolt
This state-of-the-art racing broom sports a stream-lined, superfine handle of ash, treated with a diamond-hard polish and hand-numbered with its own registration number. Each individually selected birch twig in the broomtail has been honed to aerodynamic perfection, giving the Firebolt unsurpassable balance and pinpoint precision. The Firebolt has an acceleration of 240 kilometers an hour in ten seconds and incorporates an unbreakable Braking Charm. Price on request.
"Wow!" Harry uttered in astonishment, "this would run rings around any of the other brooms at Hogwarts!"
"No doubt," Hermione said with a scrunched-up face, "and most likely costs a fortune."
Harry grimaced.
"Yeah, no doubt," he replied. As Harry seemed mesmerized by the thing, Hermione took his hand. He looked at her.
"Well? Are you going to buy one?" she asked with a grin. Harry stared at the broom once more and breathed out.
"It's tempting. But I'm still fond of my Nimbus and not ready to empty my vault at Gringotts just for a broom."
Hermione chuckled again while squeezing his hand.
"Maybe some day, though," he said dreamily.
As they turned to head to Malkin's, something else caught Harry's eye and he glanced across the street. There, in a small alley in between Potage's Cauldron Shop and Gambol & Japes Joke Store, those same two eyes stared back at him. In the shadow of the buildings on either side of the alley, he could just make out the silhouette of a dog.
"What is it?" Hermione asked while following his gaze.
They both watched as the dog now bolted down the alley and disappeared.
"Did you see that?" Harry asked.
"You mean that dog?" she asked.
"Yes. It looked like the same one staring at us in Knockturn Alley earlier," Harry said, "that's odd."
Still puzzled, they moved on.
After buying a new set of robes, it was time to find Hermione a pet. A look in Eeylops Owl Emporium lasted only briefly, however, as the few owls for sale there were ultra-expensive. The two got the impression those owls had been especially pure-bred for wealthier wizarding citizens. After passing several more shops, they found Magical Menagerie and entered.
The interior both smelled and sounded like a small zoo. Chirping, screeching, hissing, and barking came from every corner of the establishment which was covered from floor to ceiling with different-sized cages filled with scrawny owls, bloated toads, greasy-looking rats, hyperactive puppies, and an assortment of lizards, tarantulas, and even a few snakes. The teens wandered among the aisles, looking over the odd assortment of creatures for sale, some of which peered back at them in fright or excitement. And several of them seemed to exhibit strange magical qualities: changing the color of their skin or fur, morphing into an inanimate object and then back again, and some even disappeared briefly before reappearing on the other side of their cage.
"Can I help you?" a middle-aged witch with jet black hair tied in a bun said to them as she came around the corner.
"I'm looking to buy an owl," Hermione informed her.
"The owl section is just over here," she said, turning and disappearing around the corner again. The two followed and stopped as the shopkeeper was gazing over a long aisle full of so many owls of different sizes, shapes, and colors, it would seem to take an hour just to examine all of them.
"Any kind in particular, young lady?" the woman asked.
"Um...not really. I guess we'll just...browse then," Hermione answered.
"Very well. If you find one that piques your interest, let me know, and I'll open the cage for you."
"Thank you," the thirteen-year-old responded while staring at all the cages with a scrunched expression.
Harry was equally floored by the number of birds for sale. But just as he peered into a cage with a small grey owl who angrily peered back, Harry was startled when something brushed against his legs. He glanced down to find a fluffy, ginger-haired cat leaning against his calves while staring up at him.
"Hello there!" he said in surprise.
Hermione turned and looked down at the cat with equal surprise. The creature now gazed up at her with its pudgy, squashed-looking face. It then meowed and moved to brush against her own legs.
"Hi there!" she uttered to the cat with a pleasant smile, pushing a bit of hair behind her ear while kneeling down to pet the thing.
"Crookshanks! Not again!" the shopkeeper complained with a deep frown while dropping her hands in frustration.
"Crookshanks?" Hermione asked the woman while petting the feline who now purred contentedly.
"Yes. He's one of our oldest pets here. Right smart, that one is, and no matter what I do to try and stop him, he always manages to find some way out of his cage! I'm convinced he has a sixth sense of some kind, if you know what I mean."
Hermione, still petting Crookshanks, gazed at him with doe eyes.
"He's adorable!" she uttered and glanced up at Harry.
Harry chuckled looking at the bowlegged thing which then gazed up at him with its squashed face, as though it knew it was being talked about.
"No one seems to want the poor thing," the shopkeeper went on, "so, if you'd prefer him to an owl, I'll give you a discount just to get him off my hands."
Hermione brightened up.
"I'll take him!" she uttered while beaming at Harry. Harry smiled back then looked at the witch.
"How much for...Crookshanks, ma'am?"
"That'll be three galleons, young man."
Harry reached into his money bag, produced the galleons, and handed them to her. The pair then left Magical Menagerie with Hermione holding a travel cage containing her new pet. Crookshanks seemed quite pleased by this as he continued purring while gazing at all the new sights around him on Diagon.
They had one final stop for the day before meeting Hermione's parents back at The Leaky Cauldron. After spending nearly half an hour inside Ziggly's Sweets and Treats, they each exited with a big bag full of all kinds of candies. But as they headed in the direction of the wizarding pub, there was a commotion up ahead. A large group of wizards and witches were huddled around a blond-haired witch wearing scarlet robes. She held a copy of The Daily Prophet in her hands and was reading portions of an article to the crowd around her.
"According to this, Black is still on the loose," she mentioned wide-eyed, "and the Ministry is urging all citizens to be on the lookout for him as he's considered extremely dangerous."
"Does it state where he was last seen?" an elderly wizard asked with a look of fright.
"No. It's not certain exactly how he's getting about, either."
"Well, this is the first time anyone's escaped Azkaban! That's on a remote island, mind you!" another witch joined in.
"Oh yes!" a smallish wizard threw in, "anyone able to escape from that hellish place could probably go anywhere they please without being seen! He could be anywhere!"
Harry and Hermione exchanged puzzled glances before stepping closer to the crowd. When they did, they both saw the front page of the newspaper. A large moving photograph of a man sat dead center. He had long, shaggy black hair, an equally black and mottled beard, and had a gaunt, ghost-like face with bare, yellowish teeth. The eyes of the man looked enraged as he turned his head back and forth, laughing maniacally, it seemed. Above this frightening picture hung the article's title and when Harry saw it, it struck him with utter astonishment. He couldn't believe his eyes.
SIRIUS BLACK STILL AT LARGE
"Harry, that's the man we heard about in the car on the way here!" Hermione told him, "but I had no idea they were referring to a wizard. The Ministry must have informed the muggle government about him too. He must be really dangerous for them to resort to that desperate measure."
But Harry simply stood there, slack-jawed and wide-eyed, staring at the crazed lunatic in the photo, who seemed to glare back at him specifically.
"Harry, what is it?" Hermione asked with a furrowed brow, turning to face him better.
"Sirius Black," he muttered while still gazing at the paper.
"What about him?" she asked.
Harry swallowed hard and looked at her.
"He's my...godfather."