Private Drive, Surrey, 1st July 1991, Durleys House 09:00 a.m.
Harry James Potter was getting ready, today he was beyond excited. He still felt like it was a dream. The Hogwarts Letter and the ticket to Hogwarts were the only things that confirmed it to be true. He, Harry Potter is a wizard. He has always knew that he was better than the others, but now he knew that he is a wizard and there is a whole community of people like him and it won't be long when he will be a part of that community, that world. It was fascinating.
But then he stopped, he remembered that the headmaster was wearing different dress. And he didn't knew anything about this world. He just knew that his parents were also wizards and they were killed. If he wants to be a part of that community, then he have to understand about how wizards and witches live, where they work and their festivals.
Deciding he thought, that first he'll see what his parents left for him after that he'll decide what to do. Right now, Harry was getting ready in his new T-shirt and Jeans, which he bought yesterday. He believed that first impression is very important, that's why when he yesterday saw the headmaster entering his home, he removed his glasses and wore the contact lens. After having his breakfast, he went with Vernon and Petunia to the street near Leaky Cauldron.
"Where is the Leaky Cauldron Petunia?" Harry asked as the car reached it's destination
"Here is a door for Leaky Cauldron, could you see it, master?" Harry nodded "Yes, now we shall enter it, but master please hold our hand as only magical people can see this door and without you entering the pub holding our hands, we won't be able to enter." Petunia informed Harry
Soon, they entered the Leaky Cauldron. Harry was excited, finally he was entering the world he belonged to. But he wasn't a fool, Professor Dumbledore told him that he was a hero of sorts. He had to hide his identity, he doesn't want any problems entering the wizarding world. That terrorist who killed his parents was powerful, there wasn't a doubt that he had people working for him and they may target him, that was the only reason that he took his aunt and uncle in the first place. He had used Petunia's make up to hide his scar.
He looked at the old bartender and recognized him as Tom, who will help him to reach Diagon Alley.
"Excuse me." Tom looked at the innocent looking boy, Tom smiled at him
"Good morning lad, how may I help you?"
"I want to have the access to Diagon Alley for purchasing the school products. Could please open the entrance for me?" Harry smiled innocently
Tom looked at Harry, then nodded 'may be a muggle-born', Tom concluded watching Harry's dress
"Sure lad, though you're a bit early, it is still 10:15, the shops open after 10:30." Tom smiled as he took the family towards the back of the pub where they stopped in front of the wall. "Now, pay attention to this sequence." Harry nodded and was stunned as a doorway appeared that lead to another street.
"Welcome to Diagon Alley"
After a thanks, Harry along with his aunt and uncle entered the street.
"Harry, that's Gringotts." Harry looked where Petunia pointed, they went near Gringotts and marveled watching the creatures in front of him.
He looked at the warning before entering the building
Enter, stranger, but take heed
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 there.
Harry walked smoothly across the bank and looked around to see the creatures working, he went towards a free tellar, "Excuse me, sir?" Harry waited as the creature stopped writing and looked at him with narrow eyes.
"Yes? How may I help you?", the creature asked
"Myself, Harry Potter. I was informed by Headmaster Dumbledore that here I will meet my family account manager. Could you please call him?" Harry had learned manners never hurt anyone, so there was nothing wrong in talking politely, though he didn't saw the surprise in the creature's face, when he used the word please.
"Of course, Griphook. Take this young man to Nipfang." Another creature came and he followed him.
Harry noticed that Petunia and Vernon were stopped by the creatures. He followed the Goblin (which he came to know when he heard a wizard talking about the Goblins being so mean)
A door opened and closed, as he entered
"Human, who are you?" A goblin entered the room. "Myself, Harry Potter, sir" The Goblin nodded and took a knife?, some papers and came near him
"Forward your palm, human. I need few drops of your blood on this parchment, to confirm your identity." Harry did and frowned as he felt the pain, before he could say anything, he saw that in a paper …. no parchment, his name occurred and then all his details.
"Welcome, Mr. Potter. I am your account manager, Nipfang. How may I help you?" The Goblin asked
"I was told that my parents left me money, I wanted to know about it."
"Please, sit Mr. Potter. I will be right back." The Goblin disappeared, and came with many files.
"Mr. Potter, we have been waiting you for years, though you never responded to our mails, we were informed by Headmaster Dumbledore about you living with Muggles and not having any knowledge of the wizarding world. This files belong to your family. Your father, Heir James Potter had opened a trust vault for you upon your birth. He deposited 1000 gaellons per year on your birthday. For now, your trust vault has 11000 gaellons. This money is added every year till you turn seventeen. After the death of your parents, Gringotts merged the money which was in your both parents vaults to the Potter family vault. As the last of your line, you can claim yourself the heir ring and the money in the Potter's family vault can only be claimed after your fourteenth birthday and the artifacts, books and other things can be claimed after your seventeenth birthday." The Goblin opened all the files and Harry read everything.
"How shall I differentiate between the wizarding currencies?" Harry asked confused at the mention of different currencies in the files.
"Wizarding money comes in three denominations: bronze Knuts, silver Sickles, and golden Galleons. There are 29 Knuts in one Sickle, and 17 Sickles make up a Galleon."
"Don't you provide cheques, or any alternative?" Harry frowned
"Wizarding money comes in coins only; there are no Galleon bills unlike Muggles who can use cheques also. As such, wizards have money pouches that they typically hang off their belts or under their robes rather than wallets." Nipfang informed Harry as he sighed.
"So, how much money, I can withdraw right now?" Harry asked
"5 gaellons per year except your fees and school supplies. The fees of your school is deducted from Hogwarts only, in two parts, the first half deducts at the start of the school year and the other half deducts after Yule which is also known as Christmas to Muggles." Nipfang told him after which Harry was introduced to the cart and after a ride, they reached Harry's vault 687. After opening the door with the key, Harry's eyes were filled with greed watching the mountain of coins. Harry took a large sum of money, after getting approved by signing on a parchment with blood quill and closed the pouch as he turned to go outside.
After coming outside, Harry decided to go for robes entering 'Madam Malkins' where he simply bought the Hogwarts robes, though instead of three robes, he bought six. Next, he went to Twilfitt and Tattings, where he bought a complete set of seven pairs of black and dark grey robes and a pair of dark blue. Then, he bought shirts and robes of different shades, after buying a complete wardrobe, Harry went to apothecary.
"Falles, the Slytherin potion kit." A raven haired women asked and Harry observed that the man gave him the kit from another counter. Harry went to him and asked the same when he saw the man named Falles, giving him a raise eyebrow.
"Lad, do you know what you are asking? You will be getting the one mention in the list." The shopkeeper shook his head and that's when Harry noticed that the Slytherin potion kit has the perfect weight required for the potions, whereas the potion kits he was giving to others had improper weight. Within 10 minutes showing double the amount of gaellons, Harry was the owner of the Slytherin potion kit.
Next he stopped at Flourish and Blotts. It was filled to the brim with books. Shelves upon shelves lined the walls, from ceiling to floor. The books were of all sizes and different varieties. In fact, there were so many books that various signs were posted throughout the shop, as a means of helping customers find what they needed. The front windows usually contained displays of gold-embossed spell books the size of paving slabs. where he first took all the school books, then he started his research. First, he bought all his school books after going through the list, then he went to the general section to bought other books and moved around the bookstore happily to learn about this new world. He bought 'Hogwarts : A History', 'Important events of the last century' and 'The rise and fall of Dark Arts'. Then he went to Pureblood section where he bought 'Pureblood Customs and Traditions', 'Etiquettes', then from different sections he bought different books except Divination and Care of Magical Creatures. Then his eyes went to few random books like Easy Spells to Fool Muggles, Curses and Counter-Curses, Quidditch Through the Ages, The Official Guide to the Quidditch World Cup, Book of Spells, The Invisible Book of Invisibility. He then moves towards the counter and paid '85 gaellons', while the shopkeeper had a wide eye when he saw the amount of books. After purchasing the books, he went to buy quills and parchments and bought a high stack of it, so he can practice to write properly in the remaining summer. Next he went to 'Bouts famous trunks'
"Hello lad, what type of trunk will you like to buy?"
"Could you provide me a trunk which can be open by me and not much heavy?"
"Of course, I will provide you. It will be a shame, if I can't. How many compartment do you want in your trunk?"
"I believe six compartments will be okay."
"Okay lad, come after an hour and pick up your trunk." Harry nodded and left from there.
Harry was looking at the shops when he saw a board 'Madam Primpernelle's Beautifying Potions'. Entering the shop, he looked at the different vials under different tags.
"Hello dear, Do you need something?" A brunette plump woman smiled at him.
"I was wondering if these potions could correct my eyesight?" Harry asked.
"Yes dear, why not? Anything else?" the woman smiled.
"Yes, I want my messy hair to be straightened" responded Harry as the woman picked up a vial and gestured Harry to a table.
"Lie down, and keep your eyes open. It'll take only 15 minutes and make sure not to blink your eyes during this time." Harry nodded as she poured the contents of the vial and flicked her wand, "Now keep it open for a minute and make sure that for one month not your eyes shall not have contact with too hot or too cold water." Then she proceeded to Harry's hair and pouring a few contents of different vials and after flick of wand, Harry's hair was straightened. Harry paid the woman and came outside.
"Now, what is left?" Harry looked over the school list. "Harry you need to buy your wand and an animal for your school list and the cauldrons are also missing." Petunia reminded him. "I believe you shall buy the cauldrons first and then go to get your trunk, then you could purchase your wand and any animal you wish." Petunia continued while Harry just nodded.
The next shop they visited was of cauldrons where he bought the cauldrons after inspecting them. Harry went over to the trunks' shop, to collect his trunk.
"Hello Sir, have you completed the trunk, I asked for?" the shopkeeper nodded "Yes lad, just finishing yours, put a feather weight charm and password protection charm on it, want anything else?" "Yes" and in a few minutes Harry had the shopkeeper added password spoken shrinking spell and other security measures. He then paid the amount to the shopkeeper and kept all the things he had bought inside the trunk and now after making sure that the password was activated, he shrunk the trunk and kept it in his pocket.
Now, the only thing that was remaining to purchase was the wand. Petunia had already informed him about having a tracking spell on the school wands which prevented to use the wand out of the school, so it was difficult for him to practice beforehand. Nevertheless, he went to the Ollivanders.
Harry entered the shop to find it was empty, when he yelped in surprise as Ollivander suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter." Harry narrowed his eyes. How could this man possibly knew him? It wasn't a question but a statement. "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work." Harry raised his eyebrows but shrugged it off.
"Mr. Potter, if you could tell me which is your wand hand." Harry looked confused but then understood "I am ambidextrous." "That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor after measuring. "Right then, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave."
Harry took the wand and waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once.
"Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try –" Harry tried but he had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander.
Harry tried. And tried. He had no idea what was happening. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, and he was started to getting worry. But it was another thing for Ollivander, the more wands Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.
"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere – I wonder, now - - yes, why not – unusual combination – holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple." But the result was same. Finally, he gave in and picked up the wand which he had hided in the deepest corner of the shop.
"Try this wand, Mr. Potter. Rarest of rarest wand. Not an usual combination. It has a dual core." Harry waved the wand and sparks flew in green and silver.
Ollivander cried, "Well, well, well… how curious… how very curious…
He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious… curious..
"Sorry," said Harry, "but what's curious?" Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare.
"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that in some cases, wands may have two cores, called a "dual core", though usually the second core is drastically less powerful than the first core. The use of a second core is often to make up for what the first core lacks. Some cores cannot be blended or paired with another. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when I thought you'll be destined for holly and phoenix feather, why, its brother gave you that scar."
Harry frowned.
"Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Black Walnut. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember…. I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter…. After all, it's very rare when a dual core wand chooses a wizard."
"Could you please tell me, what it's actually is? Ollivander nodded
"Black walnut is one of the rarest wood and it seeks a master of good instincts and powerful insight, but not the easiest to master. It has one pronounced quirk, which is that it is abnormally attuned to inner conflict, and loses power dramatically if its possessor practises any form of self-deception. While dragon wands are tended to be easiest to turn to the Dark Arts, though it would not incline that way of its own accord. It was also the most prone of the three cores to accidents, being somewhat temperamental. The implication is that the Basilisk horn core of your wand could "hear" the word and obey the command."
"Okay, so if I command something to the wand then it will obey?" Harry asked quiet unsure
"Only if spoken in parseltongue or shall I say the language one could speak with the snakes, Mr. Potter." Harry nodded satisfactory though he kept quiet, Headmaster Dumbledore's words ringing his mind
' Do not advertise it.'
"Thank you, Mr. Ollivander." Harry went outside the shop but he missed the fear which replaced the smile of Ollivander's face.
Private Drive, Surrey, 31st August 1991, Durleys House 09:50 a.m.
Harry was quiet excited. Finally, he was going to be the official member of the wizarding world. He had spent the rest of the summer learning his lessons and also the other books, he had bought. Harry understood that he was a half-blood, which was less acceptable in society but better than muggle-borns. Moreover, being the boy-who-lived had raised his status, if not him being the last member of the most ancient and noble house of Potter. After reading the 'Hogwarts: A History' he had decided that unlike his parents he will be sorted into either Ravenclaw or Slytherin, packing up his trunk for the umpteenth of times and checking it, Harry shrunk his trunk and walked downstairs. Yesterday, he again visited Diagon Alley and bought an eagle owl, he was tempted to buy a snake but didn't wanted any issue, apparently, speaking parseltongue was considered as a bad omen and trait of a 'dark wizard' except for Slytherins.
"Petunia, I am leaving. Tell Vernon to come downstairs, I don't want to be late." Harry ordered in his usual calm and cold voice. He was glad that he had learnt enough about the wizarding world to not get himself embarrassed.