Even after spending the trip to Diagon Alley grilling Hagrid with questions about magic and wizard society, Harry was still unprepared for what awaited him in Diagon Alley. Gringotts had been thrilling, and while he'd tried to keep an open mind about goblins, they seemed only marginally less unpleasant than described by Tolkien. He did note that Gringotts was far more… ornate, than he would've expected of goblins. Hagrid had been kind enough to explain wizard currency to Harry and reassured him that his parents hadn't left him with nothing, but his mouth still hung open at the sight of the enormous pile of gleaming galleons.
With most of the shopping now done and a brief stop for lunch at the leaky cauldron, Harry was eagerly eyeing the storefront of Flourish and Blott's through the window, his mood only slightly dampened by Hagrid's explanation of his parent's fate. Hagrid had wanted to save Ollivander's for last, but Harry's reaction after first passing the store had left no uncertainty that the bookstore would be the star of the day.
After waiting far, far too long in Harry's opinion, he finally stepped into the shop with his Hogwarts list, elated as his eyes wandered over the tomes closest to the door. As Hagrid departed for some personal business elsewhere in the alley, Harry made his way through the bustling shop to the counter.
"Erm, excuse me?" he said as he brandished his list, "could you tell me where I might find these?"
The shopkeeper accepted his list and gave it a brief glance before responding.
"Ah, Hogwarts is it? First year?"
"Yes sir" Harry replied. He watched as the shopkeeper stepped away before returning with a prearranged stack of books, already tied together with ribbon, and set them on the counter before him.
"Excellent, always a joy to meet the new students each year. Will that be all for you?"
Harry looked around the shop, nervously, but the wizard before him seemed to notice the hunger in his gaze, grinning ever so slightly wider.
"Actually, sir, if it's alright, I'd like to browse a bit more, but I'm rather overwhelmed trying to decide where to start. Do you have any recommendations?"
The older man stepped out from behind the counter and guided Harry down a side row, the shelves towering overhead as they walked. "Now, these are a bit more general use books, but you'll want to stay in this area for now. The books further back tend to be a bit more advanced and specialized, and you don't want to bite off more than you can chew when you're first starting out. A bit of time at Hogwarts will give you an appreciation for which subjects you want to explore more as well. Now, I personally think that every witch and wizard would benefit from a copy of Common Household Charms" as he pulled a thin and rather plain book from the shelf, "and you can't go wrong with Practical Potions for the Working Wizard, though it may be a bit overwhelming now. Go on and have a look around, and just bring your selections up when you're ready."
Harry thanked him, and spent what felt like ages and still not long enough looking over the titles before he saw Hagrid in the window, and made his way back to the counter to pay, subtly placing a copy of Mischief and Magic for Young Warlocks between his other books as he remembered Dudley's tail with a smirk. The shopkeeper eyed his selection with a laugh, before tallying the cost and collecting Harry's galleons. Harry thanked him again as he collected his new books and accepted the shopkeep's well wishes with some confusion, unsure about his warning not to lose too many points this term.
Hagrid waited outside with a beautiful snowy owl, and after a nervous but joyful introduction, noticed Harry's additional purchases and chuckled.
"I had a feeling you'd be spending a bit more time in there. Just like your mum, although I can see your dad's had his influence as well. I think you'll appreciate this" he said as he pulled out a canvas satchel and handed it over for Harry's inspection. "It's a simple one, nothing fancy, but it's got a nice expansion charm to help you carry all your things. Strap's adjustable too, and it'll get bigger with you so no need to worry about growing out of it."
Harry wasn't sure what an expanding charm was, but understanding hit him as he reached in to feel the inside of the bag and his eyes went wide.
"It's bigger on the inside!" Harry immediately set about depositing his books inside with love and care as the realization hit him that these were the first of his books, not borrowed from elsewhere. "I- thank you Hagrid, it's amazing." Hagrid smiled and went a bit red and glassy eyed while Harry tried not to notice, and before long Hagrid was ushering them on their way.
Despite being relatively quiet and uneventful, the month of August seemed to stretch out for ages. Hagrid had warned Harry that he wasn't allowed to do magic outside of Hogwarts, foiling Harry's plans for Dudley, but the fear that Hagrid might return was palpable in the Dursley's treatment of Harry as he waited for September.
Despite his limitations on magic use, Harry still found his books productive. Actually using magic was a fair bit more technical than Hagrid had made it seem, and so while Harry couldn't cast the spells, he could practice the wand movements as he read. Being forced to help Aunt Petunia in the garden had given him a curiosity about the plants, and Harry saw a fair few plants in his herbology textbook that he remembered from a book on horticulture he'd read in the library some time ago. History of magic was even more eye-opening, if incredibly dense, but he took a fair bit of joy visiting the library one day to compare with the muggle account of history. Evidently the Renaissance had been rife with wizards only barely concealing the use of magic in their accomplishments, and modern chemistry originated with potioneers before they were discredited by muggles unable to replicate their work without magic.
As August drew to a close, Harry made a point to visit the library and inform Alice that he would be attending a boarding school in Scotland, and thanked her for everything she'd done for him the last year. Harry briefly looked around at the place that had been his haven from the Dursleys, and sincerely hoped that Hogwarts had a good library as he departed.