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March 28, 1995
"Hogsmeade feels smaller the more we go to it, no?" Alice asked as the trio walked through the centre of the village, a small crowd of people moving to and from the various buildings therein.
"You've gotten used to it," Harry answered with a look and gesture around. "I could have sworn I told you before, but there's really not all that much here. Once you've made the trip a couple of times, you just know where everything is and how limited your options really are. It's pretty rough, honestly."
Lucretia scoffed. "Rough would imply the village has a poor reputation or quality of products. Hogsmeade has neither despite its small size — it's rather fitting for such a small magical community. You may not know this, but the village itself was nearly twice as large as it currently is only one hundred years ago before a couple of wars ruined the population."
"War is no fun to discuss, we wanted to shop for products and your Godfather, yes, Harry?" Alice asked as she quickly moved the conversation along, an aversion for violence or at the very least, the discussion of those wars very obviously making itself known. "Oh, pardon, you are wanting us to keep the discussion of it minimal. The others, they know of who the godfather for you is?"
Harry cocked his head before he gave a slow nod at the question, his eyes on a group of older witches and wizards who made their way past them whilst looking at the younger group the whole time. "Anybody who cares to find out can do so easily enough and there's more than just a few of the Professors here that know about Sirius' position in my family."
"Hear that, fishy? You'll have to keep that mouth of yours closed unless you want to get your little prize into some trouble," Lucretia said with a jab of her finger in the other girl's side, one that was very quickly given back in retaliation and nearly devolved into a war between the two had it not been for Harry's presence in the middle.
Silence fell on the group for a few seconds at that point and slowly, very slowly due to many a pause for Alice and her love of exploration as well as perusing of products that were visible in the windows, they found their way into the first of three shops they'd planned to visit. This one was meant almost exclusively for witches; there were potions used for their monthly issues, ones for headaches and other ailments, cosmetics… there were even potions meant for mothers or those wanting to become one.
It was a wicked shop for witches, he surmised. That was good and all for his company, Alice went so far as to coo at a few of the more modern — for the wizarding world — clothing choices, but that didn't make him feel any better. He stepped out of the shop with a word to Lucretia whilst their other friend was distracted. Harry was content to wait for them and whilst he did just that, he would watch the people of Hogsmeade go about their daily lives.
There was a family that caught his eye in the time that he waited for the two girls, they were the first people he watched whilst trying to make it seem like he wasn't watching them. It was a mother and father with their three children, all of whom were too young to go to Hogwarts. Their clothing or rather the state of it made it known that they weren't particularly wealthy, the lack of bags or other purchases added credit to his assessment. Still, they stopped at an ice cream shop despite the cold and the mother reached for her purse as the kids bounced in excitement.
Harry stopped watching them when he heard a voice get raised, one that was especially arrogant-sounding and familiar; Malfoy Senior with three other men, all of whom looked like they weren't the sort that Harry cared to have around for company. One of them was Crabbe-like in weight and another was Goyle-like in height with a pudgy build, he figured they were the fathers to the two goons of Malfoy Junior. Something had them heated as Malfoy Senior moved around, gesturing with his nose in the air and sleeves flapping in the breeze.
Something dropped.
When Harry thought he saw such a thing happen, his words reinforcing it and his eyes making him focus, he realised he was right. There was a small pouch on the snow-covered ground, one that looked like it could fit in the palm of somebody's hand and at the same time, one that looked ornate beyond belief for something that wouldn't be missed by its owner. Harry cast a glance around, saw that nobody was minding him any attention and pleased with that, he made a split-second decision.
Harry summoned the pouch to himself and, with one more glance around given, peered into the pouch with an eagerness he seldom had. He hoped it was something helpful, something that would betray the Malfoys and their intentions… but it was nothing of the sort. Inside, all he saw were Galleons upon Galleons with an obvious expansion charm to hold more than the external view would suggest. All in all, he figured there had to be hundreds, maybe even five hundred.
That could be really helpful, Harry thought, the idea only somewhat bitter considering the money had come from the Malfoys and not somebody who would do anything good with that amount of Galleons on their person. Then again…
Without meaning to, Harry's eyes went back to the family that he had seen. The children were now happily sat on a bench, squished between their parents and eating their ice cream while that very same couple seemed content despite the obvious stress in their expressions. Just as he'd done before, Harry made a split-second decision; he changed the outer appearance of the pouch, took a few Galleons so the amount was different and then he carefully sent it their way.
It took a lot of precise movement on his part, but eventually and without either of the couple noticing, he slid it into the woman's satchel. They had obviously been going through a tough time and whilst he could have used it, they needed it more than he had and far more than Malfoy had.
When the girls came back out, their purchases in their hands and their voices saying they were ready for shop number two of three, Harry thought about what he had just done. He had stolen from one person and given to another. Perhaps he should feel dirty or bad about the former part of his actions whilst they were shopping, but he didn't.
In fact, he felt great, like he'd accomplished something.
Just as the first shop had gone, the second took a good deal of time but the two girls still came out fairly quickly, their new items in their bags that would soon be pawned off to him. Normally, he would have made a joking remark or teased the two older girls, but he was still riding his earlier high. It was a mixture of adrenaline and happiness, the former due to the crime he had just committed — something he hadn't really thought all that much about — and the latter because of how good it could feel when he broke the rules.
"You two are bad examples," Harry finally said during a lull in their conversation, mirth and playfulness in his tone despite a tinge of truth also being in the picture.
Lucretia scoffed and gestured between herself and Alice. "Us? How could either of us be bad examples on you, mighty chosen one?"
Harry narrowed his eyes at the older girl, but he wasn't given the chance to speak before Alice did. "We do what is best for you and help you to see the same, it is not bad, but necessary for your growth," she looked more closely at him after she said that first sentence. "Tell us, did you do something you think you should not have? I did not think to put up any wards, but you did not peep on our changing, no?"
With his eyes wide at the suggestion, he put his hands up and shook his head as rapidly as he could. "No, no, nothing of the sort, that's mad."
"What'd you do then?" Lucretia asked as she leaned in close, smirking and doing her best to hide the comedy of the moment lest the seriousness of Alice's tone was lost.
Harry swallowed, looked about and then in a whisper, spoke. "Malfoy's dad dropped something, I gave it to somebody else that could use it more than he could — I shouldn't have, but it felt right even though I don't think it's something I would've done a few months ago."
Alice looked over to Lucretia, her brows furrowed at the name 'Malfoy' and in response, Lucretia started giggling. It was behaviour that was very out of the ordinary for her and the sounds she produced while doing so were so girlish, so pretty, he had to pinch himself to see if he was truly awake. When he discovered that he was and that this wasn't a dream, he stopped walking and looked at Alice for any form of assistance.
"The Malfoys are a family not known to me, I am from the mountains of Switzerland," she said, her expression confused as she looked back over to Lucretia whilst still speaking to him. "Describe who they are and why you feel it was the right course of action? I would not want you to do what you have if it was in poor taste, but it does not seem to be."
Harry sighed, took in a breath an—
"The Malfoys are twats, completely and utterly," Lucretia said suddenly, her face angelic-looking from her laughter and a smile still set widely on her face as she fought to contain said laughter. "They're some of the most arrogant, treasonous, disrespectful people that you'll ever meet. Some level of arrogance should it be able to be backed up is fine, you and I are proof of that even if you disagree and obviously, some of their other traits aren't appalling in the correct dose, but the Malfoys take everything too far. Harry was justified in doing what he did."
Alice nodded for a few seconds, looked back at him and then she leaned forward to plant a big, wet kiss on his forehead. "You did good, Harry," she took ahold of his hand and smiled as brightly as Lucretia did, the latter girl taking up his other hand to mimic her friend. "We will go for lunch and then to your friend to visit. It will be quick, we promise, but it would do good to have you treated to something."
"You're not just doing it because of what I did, right?" Harry asked, genuinely curious if they were encouraging him to steal more from the Malfoys and the others that were like them, or if this was them deciding something randomly after what he'd just done.
"No," Alice said. "We are strict with you and take up much of your time, but you need the chance to rest and enjoy time with us beyond learning. Of course, we will teach you more spells, darker ones despite the wishes of your friends, but it is good for you to learn as much as you can."
Lucretia nodded and patted him on the shoulder. "We promised we'd see you through the tournament and truthfully, while we've accomplished that so far, we'd be remiss if we didn't try to set you up for your future too. I'm sure you don't want us to stop teaching you spells that're particularly helpful, do you?"
Harry shook his head as he saw Lucius Malfoy moving quickly through the crowd ahead of him, a look of urgency on his face that Harry hadn't seen before. When he saw that and registered it for all of a few seconds, he felt Lucretia's hand pull his face towards hers. They made eye contact, a smirk on her face as she looked back to where Malfoy was.
"No, I want to learn everything that I can from both of you. Everything," Harry said in answer, his mind made up.