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He decided quickly that no matter what he decided to do he needed new clothes to blend in, the rags the Dursley's gave him stuck out like a sore thumb everywhere he went, and he wanted to know more about magic and the magical world, and find a way to send and receive letters with Spencer, before he decided. He was going to put it all out of his mind for a moment and finish his shopping and head home like a good little boy would if he was still in the dark about Dumbledore then write to Spencer for advice, read his books and try to find if there was a way to use magic to get himself to America and if there was a school he could go to there instead.
Tackling his non-magical shopping first he found a store not far from the Leaky Cauldron and bought jeans and T-shirts the same as he'd seen the other kids in his class wearing, then hurried back to Flourish and Blott's and brought more books about the wizarding world. This time asking the man at the desk for some help. Mr Blott also thought he was a muggleborn but not being a blood purist and impressed by the small boy's manners helped him out with several introductory books. "I know it seems a lot with all your textbooks as well but these will teach you the basics which most of the wizarding children will already know. And this book of etiquette will help you get along. It's easy to insult people without meaning to if you don't understand each other's ways. I have a muggleborn friend and he told me that the best trick to adjusting to the magical world is to stop thinking that witches and wizards belong to the same England as muggles do, they don't. Wizarding and Muggle Britain have been separated for centuries since before America was settled let alone declared independence, you need to treat it like a foreign country with foreign beliefs and customs and you'll get along a lot better if you try to learn those beliefs and follow those customs," he said, pleased that one student looked like he'd actually take his advice. He had tried for years to get some or all of these texts on the recommended list for muggle raised students but the board of governors had declined the need to make anything easier for muggleborns and few parents were willing to buy so many books that weren't on the booklist.
Harry nodded easily able to understand. He remembered how he and Spencer had had misunderstood each other several times because some of the same words had a different meaning in American than they had in British English and the way things were done in Vegas was very different to life in Surrey. "Thank you," he said.
"You're welcome lad. Don't take any of that pureblood nonsense seriously, some of the strongest wizards and witches I know have been halfbloods and muggleborns," Mr Blott told him.
"You wouldn't happen to know if it is possible to send an owl letter to California in America? Will it hurt my owl to fly so far?" Harry asked. "Or is there another way for me to send a letter from Hogwarts to my friend in California and for him to send me letters?"
"Well now, I don't know. I've never tried to send a letter or parcel that far. I think you ought to read this as well," Mr Blott said producing a thin booklet on the care for owls.
"Are there other school's for learning magic?" Harry asked.
"There are in other countries but Hogwarts is the best in the world. There's a school in Wales and another in Ireland and one here in London for students who haven't got the magical talent to get into Hogwarts but you've got your letter haven't you?" Mr Blott asked.
"Yes I've got a letter from Hogwarts and the booklist but I was asking about other countries. So all countries have a magical community and school?"
"Well there's two major schools in Europe and probably half a dozen hedge schools, there's three or more magical schools in North America and one in Egypt, there are sure to be others," Mr Blott said.
"Do you have a book comparing the different schools?" Harry asked. "And do you know how I might go about getting invited to one of those schools?"
"No Harry I don't. I would imagine you could write to the headmasters and headmistresses and ask to be enrolled but why would you want to?" Mr Blott asked surprised.
"I just want to know that I don't need to give up magic if I don't like Hogwarts," Harry quickly tried to explain.
"No worries about that then. Everyone loves Hogwarts, there's something really special about the feel of the place," Mr Blott reassured him.
"Thanks Sir, one more thing, something happened to me a couple of months ago and afterwards nobody could remember it. Is there a book on that sort of magic? Magic that can make people forget?" Harry asked.
"There's a spell called Obliviate but it's not something a student should be mucking about with, it's an Auror level spell," Mr Blott said sternly. "The ministry obliviators use it to hide magic from the muggles. I wouldn't worry about learning it, once you start using your wand you won't keep having bursts of accidental magic." That actually sounded ominous to Harry, could his wand prevent him from being able to access his powers without it? If so, then why would they encourage witches and wizards to use one? Part of Harry was now desperate to run and hide somewhere and make sure he could still use his powers to make lights and lock and unlock doors. He clamped down on his panic, now wasn't the time to worry about that, he needed more information.
Harry backpedalled a bit. "Oh, I don't want to make people forget things, that would be horrid. But is there a way of stopping someone from doing that to me? I don't want to forget," Harry deliberately made himself look as frightened as he could. If Dumbledore was his enemy then he needed to know whether someone was mucking about with his memories at school or if he tried to leave again.
Mr Blott frowned thoughtfully. "There's a branch of magic called occlumency. It's not dark, though the ministry frowns on the teaching of it and it takes years to master but if you like you could read about it," he said leading Harry into one of the dusty back rooms of the shop.
Harry grabbed both of the beginner's books available and added them to his pile, "I think I ought to stop now unless there's something else you think is important, or I won't be able to fit everything in my trunk," Harry said.
"Show me your trunk and I'll show you how to turn on the expansion charms and the featherweight charm on it for you too so you can carry it home. He took Harry out the back and unshrunk the trunk Harry got out of his pocket.
"This doesn't have expansion or weight reduction charms, and you will need them for all these books. Come with me lad and we'll exchange it for one that does," Mr Blott said realising that not all of the boy's current purchases would fit into the trunk without shrinking items so that he wouldn't have access to them until he arrived at school and asked an older student to unshrink them for him, let alone some of the other things he thought the boy should have. He reshrunk the trunk and shrunk the packages of books, then let his partner know he was leaving the bookstore for a bit before leading Harry towards the trunk store. "You still haven't told me your name lad?"
"Harry Potter, sir," Harry said quietly trying not to draw the attention of passers-by.
Mr Blott gave him a sharp look, finally recognising the bright green eyes that were so similar to another muggle raised student who'd taken his advice twenty years ago, "I knew your mother, well both your parents, but it was your mum that loved books. Right then, let's get this trunk sorted. Leave it to me."
-o0o-
"No exchanges or refunds!" Archibald Tygeral said impatiently as Mr Blott unshrunk the trunk, "he can either pay to have it customised or buy another trunk. I can't sell a used trunk."
"But I've never even put anything in it," Harry protested. Hagrid had brought the trunk at the end of the day and his purchases were all still shrunk in his pockets.
"Come then Mr Potter, if you need to buy a new trunk I'm sure you can get a better deal from Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment," Mr Blott said turning to walk out, winking at Harry. "Of course, they logo all their trunks with their business name which I think is a little crass but, given who you are they're sure to give you a hefty discount to have The-Boy-Who-Lived using a trunk with their logo on it."
"Wait a minute, he doesn't want one of them trunks. The-Boy-Who-Lived wants quality!" Archibald declared.
"And yet you had no qualms selling him this rubbish and refusing to exchange it for something better, it doesn't even have basic expansion charms and security he needs," Mr Blott said disapprovingly.
"I never," Archibald said affronted.
"I bought it here this afternoon Sir, when I came in with Hagrid," Harry said politely.
"So, we want to exchange this trunk with a better quality trunk with expansion charms, your best long lasting weight reduction charms and top of the line security," Mr Blott said firmly. "And after your mistreatment of the boy, we expect a hefty discount as compensation."
"I have this lovely 4 compartment trunk, that includes a library trunk in the first compartment, Drawers and hanging space in the second and stasis charms on the third for potion ingredients and equipment, in top condition, and space for miscellaneous items like a broomstick in the fourth."
"Can you get a trunk that has a room inside it," Harry asked wondering if it would be possible to mail himself to Spencer.
"No, you can't keep living things in the trunk the stasis charms make it airtight," Archibald replied, shaking his head at the stupidity.
"You'd want a magical tent for that sort of thing Harry, and space to put it up, you can keep furniture and things in a tent when it's folded up but you must never leave your owl inside it," Mr Blott said without thinking about why he probably shouldn't say such a thing to an eleven year old boy.
Harry grinned, but didn't ask about them, he could see that the trunk shop didn't have that sort of thing but there'd be plenty of time for exploring the other shops when he came home from Hogwarts at the end of the year, or when he left the Dursleys, whichever came first if he didn't have time today, since he couldn't use it to post himself to America either it wasn't a priority for the moment.
"He will want his initials on the top like all the other students have, and your strongest keyless locking wards attuned to his magical signature," Mr Blotts said firmly.
"Can you make it so that my Uncle can't throw it in the fire or take an axe to it?" Harry asked hopefully. "Better yet if he can't go near it at all."
"Of course, of course," Archibald said agreeably. "I'll put a muggle notice me not charm on it and he won't even notice it, unless you leave it in his way and he falls over it. That will only take a moment. "I'll need a drop of your blood young man."
"Why would you worry about your uncle destroying your trunk Harry?" Mr Blott asked suspiciously, he'd noticed that the boy looked a little too thin and smaller than most of the new first years but hadn't taken much notice. Some children just were smaller than others and Harry was also one of the youngest in his year level too. But this comment made him think there might be a more sinister reason he was small.
"My Uncle doesn't want me to go to Hogwarts," Harry said quickly. "He wants me to stay home and go to the local comprehensive. He's not a big fan of magic."
Blott accepted this for the moment, and watched carefully as Archibald used the blood to key the trunk to Harry and then vanished the remaining blood while the trunk maker added the initials in gold to the top of the trunk.
"You need to be careful what happens to your blood when you bleed Harry. There's a lot of dark blood magic that can be used against you if the wrong person gets hold of it," Mr Blott warned him.
"Thank you for the warning, thank you for fixing my trunk too," Harry said.
"If you don't mind some more advice Harry, you'll get better service in a lot of shops on the Alley if you're dressed like a wizard, some people who assume you're muggleborn will try to take advantage of your ignorance of our world and cheat you" Mr Blott said, glaring at the trunk maker.
Harry nodded thoughtfully. "The boy in Madam Malkin's said he didn't think wizards from muggle families belonged at Hogwarts," he said.
"He's wrong Mr Potter. Muggleborn witches and wizards are every bit as good at magic as those that can trace their families back hundreds of years and your mother was one of the best, but unfortunately that doesn't stop the bigots. And even those of us that don't believe in pureblood superiority like to see people making an effort to fit into our culture. Did you buy any clothes other than your uniform?"
"No, Hagrid would only let me buy the things on the list," Harry replied.
"Well the shops are closing, there's no way to fix that tonight but remember Harry, next time you come to the alley go and buy yourself some casual robes to wear shopping and on the weekends at Hogwarts. You'll fit in better, and ask for quality, you can afford it and people will expect the Potter heir to be well dressed," Mr Blott said.
"I will thank you Mr Blott. But I don't think I will get back to the Alley this summer," Harry replied.
"Send Madam Malkins and Gladrags your owl in the morning asking for their owl order service and they'll send you their catalogues. Madam Malkin will have kept your measurements on file," Mr Blott advised.
"Yes Sir. Do you have owl order?" Harry asked.
"I do, I'll have you sent a catalogue though you have more than enough books to be going on with. You should read all the introductory books and at least the first quarter of all your school books before you leave for school," Mr Blott replied. "Get on now, you need to get home before your family start to worry."
"They won't worry," Harry replied. "Good evening Sir."
"Good evening Mr Potter."
-o0o-
Harry left stopped in 'The Leaky Cauldron' and locked himself into the bathroom. Remembering what had happened when he tried to make the strongest light he could in the restaurant bathroom he started trying to make a reading light and slowly increasing the brightness until he had to cover his eyes with his other hand. He had no trouble with it, nor with unlocking the door which relieved him. so it wasn't owning a wand or bonding with it or whatever had happened in Ollivander's that caused him to be dependent on it. Perhaps it was learning to use his wand to do magic that stopped him from being able to do it without it, or maybe it was like when he used his magic on purpose everyday it was less likely to explode without warning but that wasn't really the answer because his power still got away from him at the zoo recently. Still he didn't want to take the chance, he wanted to be able to use his power whenever he needed it.
Sighing he left the bathroom to put his other plan in place. He asked Tom the barman if he sold meals to take away and packed his trunk with enough meals to last until at least September first even if the Dursleys locked him in his room for the entire month. He knew that he could no longer rely on Petunia to go behind Vernon's back after what happened during the early hours of the morning.
He left 'The Leaky Cauldron' and stopped at a café for dinner while considering his options. He could disappear. His trunk was in his pocket and while he couldn't live in it he could keep all his things safe and possibly go back to Diagon Alley in the morning and look for a magical tent. There wasn't anything at Privet Drive he really wanted other than a bit of money and the letters from Spencer, and if someone was keeping an eye on him in Little Whinging this would be the ideal place to disappear from. He could by a new train ticket to just about anywhere in the country and go. The thing was that Hogwarts sounded amazing. He wanted to go in spite of Hagrid's suspicious behaviour and the fact that it might have been the Hogwarts' headmaster who had messed with his memories to keep him at Privet Drive, and if he was going to Hogwarts then it might be better if he didn't go missing for the month before school started and then show up for the train. Better to let whoever was keeping an eye on him think that they still had Harry as ignorant and under their control as they wanted him.
Harry got himself back to the station without fuss and was able to catch the next train to Greater Whinging using the ticket Hagrid had purchased for him earlier. It was dark when he arrived but the last bus of the day to Little Whinging was about to board and it was only a few blocks from the bus stop to Privet Drive. An easy walk since his things were now all packed in his trunk shrunk in his pocket.
To say the Dursleys weren't pleased to see him sitting waiting for them on the back steps when they returned the next morning was putting it mildly but still frightened by the idea they might be being watched they allowed the boy to keep sleeping in Dudley's second bedroom and kept his chores to a minimum.
He hurried up to his bedroom tired out but excited to finish writing to his friend about all that had happened.
Dear Spencer,
I've found out what all the weird things that happen around me are? You'll have trouble believing this but I swear I'm telling the truth. It's called magic, I'm a wizard, and you were right, the Dursleys knew I am. I told you about the prank letters I was getting that upset Vernon and Petunia so much. Turns out they aren't a prank they were invitations to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and the school somehow knew I wasn't getting the letters, that's why they kept sending more. It's still bloody foolish if you ask me, if I didn't reply to the first dozen then what's another hundred going to do? Anyway they weren't being delivered by hand like I thought, they hadn't come through the regular post because wizards use owls to deliver mail, and they expected me to just know to send my acceptance letter back by owl without explaining how to do it.
Finally, they sent someone to talk to us. His name was Hagrid and he seemed really friendly most of the time though he looks a bit big and scary but he cursed Dudley and then when he said he couldn't fix it he didn't take them to the magical hospital or to someone cleverer with their magic than he is to have it fixed either. Hagrid behaved a bit oddly while we were shopping too, as if he was trying to stop me from learning too much about the wizarding world which is a bit stupid seeing as I'm going to go to school there. Apparently, there's a whole wizarding world in Britain, hidden from the regular world and my parents were a witch and wizard. I didn't believe him at first but he started a fire in the grate like I did in your hideout and an owl came and delivered the newspaper, the pictures move. I've sent you the front page as proof since I know you like to see things for yourself. I sent it separate to this letter in case someone stops magical stuff being sent through the post, so you'd still get my letter. Tell me if you got it when you write back so I'll know whether or not to send something else.
I don't know if there's a wizarding world in America too but I guess there probably is. The frustrating thing is that nobody in Diagon Alley seemed interested in anything that happens outside Britain and looked at me as if I was mad when I asked how wizards send letters to America since they use owls around England and I think America would be too far for them. Don't try to research this Spencer, I'm afraid that you could get in trouble and they'd wipe your memory. Magic is kept secret from the rest of the world and I'm not allowed to tell anyone about it. It's a law called the 'Statute of Secrecy.' Hagrid said that it's an international law all around the world. They said the only non-wizarding people I'm allowed to let find out about magic and being a wizard and going to Hogwarts are my Aunt and Uncle and Dudley because I live with them and they already would know about the accidental magic I've done as a kid, but I figured you already knew too, because you saw it happen when I was living in the hideout and I told you all about the freaky things my relatives blamed me for and I did live in your hideout while I was in America, so I'm not really breaking the law and anyway I'm not about to start lying to my best friend.
My relatives knew about magic, my mother had it too, they admitted it to Hagrid and the reason they were upset when they saw the first letter is that they've been trying to beat it out of me. I haven't done any accidental magic in front of them since I got back from Vegas, as you know, healing you taught me that I could control it a little even though I couldn't stop it when I'm upset and it gets harder to control if it builds up in me too much, so I've been using to it to make light and keep me warm at night and other stuff when I was sure they weren't around, it's getting easier and easier to do. They thought I'd stopped, that they'd succeeded in getting rid of it in me up until the incident with the snake enclosure glass at the zoo, which I'm becoming more and more sure that Vernon and Dudley don't remember. They don't want me in their home even more now that I'm going to Hogwarts. It turns out that my parents did leave me money and they were being paid to look after me, you were right my relatives have been lying to me about Mum and Dad. My father was a magical policeman and my Mum had an apprenticeship in a type of magic called Charms before she fell pregnant with me. They weren't in a car accident either, they were murdered. I don't know the whole story yet but they were murdered by a dark wizard who killed lots of people wizards and normal people too. He tried to kill me and something stopped him, nobody knows what and he hasn't been heard of since. Everyone was so afraid of him they wouldn't even say his name, they still won't. So wizards think it was something I did and I'm famous or something. A bit stupid if you ask me! What could a baby do against a dark wizard that sounds more like a super-villan than a normal person? No doubt his evil deeds and strength have been exaggerated, but I have no idea how I ended up in the story of his destruction just because he didn't kill me the night he killed my parents.
Hagrid took me to a place called Diagon Alley which is the magical shopping district in London to buy my school supplies, a magic wand, a cauldron and the most disgusting smelling ingredients for potions, parchment and quills, uniform robes that look a bit like a loose long black dress but at least I'll be dressed exactly the same as everyone else. But the best thing about Hogwarts is that it is a boarding school and my cousin Dudley didn't get an invitation, not that his parents would let him go anyway, so I won't have to see any of them for nine whole months if I can stay there over the holidays.
The worst thing about Hogwarts is that the headmaster is a man named Albus Dumbledore and the goblins told me that he is my magical guardian even though I've never met him. He's the one that arranged for the Dursleys to be paid to keep me so I assume he probably gave me to them in the first place. He also paid for the house to be warded, originally when I was left there and again when I was five and the last time the week after I tried to go to the police and was healed and made to forget, so he must have been involved in that somehow. The goblins told me that wards are not supposed to affect the magic levels of the people who live there but that they could be set up with a magical syphon which would do that. As we suspected it had to have been done deliberately and there was no reason for it other than making my powers weaker in the house and surrounding areas. My Hogwarts letter said that the headmaster is also the chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, whatever than means. I asked about these titles and they both sound like they should be full time jobs so if Albus Dumbledore has three full time jobs I can't be absolutely sure that he intended me to be abused or if he just didn't have time to notice, likewise my enemy could be one of the people that did the actual warding work and Dumbledore just trusted the wrong person. I don't want him to be my enemy, I want to go to Hogwarts and be safe. It all sound so amazing and I don't know what I should do. I know I should have thought about all this before I got on the train, it would be easier to disappear from London provided he doesn't have some magical way of finding me wherever I am. But I decided to put it out of my mind and finish my shopping. I'm going to need clothes to blend in and books to learn from even if I don't go to Hogwarts, in case I did decide to go back to the Dursleys and didn't get another chance to get away to visit Diagon Alley.
Hagrid said my Mum was the first magic user in her family, that happens sometimes but my Dad came from a long line of magic users which might be why none of his family or friends came to see me in the regular world. Hagrid used the term Muggle for the normal nonmagical world, he didn't seem to know much about it, he was fascinated by the tube and pound notes and a dozen other things. It seems like the witches and wizards mostly stick to magical enclaves, they even have their own money. And my parents had left money for me it just wasn't in pounds and the wizarding world doesn't seem to use electricity or telephones so the only way to get the money is to come to Gringotts Bank and speak to the Goblins, all far too abnormal for the Dursleys. At least it prevented them from stealing my money. Though maybe they would have tried if they knew how much money was in my vault.
I don't know whether it's normal for wizards but Hagrid is about three meters tall and solid. He looks like he could pick up a cow and carry it like I would a medium size dog, none of the other witches and wizards in Diagon Alley were that tall though, they were all about the same heights as normal people. He's got long hair and a wild bushy beard and us a bit unkempt with a big deep voice and broad west country accent and mice in his pockets. I think he looks about forty but mentally he doesn't seem to be much older than us and clearly almost worships the Headmaster. I don't think he normally shows new students around, or maybe he's just new at it. He doesn't exactly blend in in our world so he isn't a good choice for first contacts. I wonder why they sent him. Surely, they must have some normal looking teachers. In fact, I know they do, Hagrid introduced me to one of the other professors and he looked normal enough except for his clothing and nerves. But he acted like he was scared of everything so he wouldn't have been a good choice to introduce families to the wizarding world either. I don't think he'll be a very good teacher either with his stutter. I'm hoping that the rest of the teachers are better.
Anyway, I'm on the train back to the Dursleys and I'll post this on my way home. Yeah, I can hear you say it. Yes, Hagrid left an eleven year old alone in a London train station I'd never been to before to get myself back home, not even knowing if my relatives had returned from their trip away. I'm glad he did though. I was able to go back to Diagon Alley and learn a lot more before catching a later train. Hagrid was really insistent that I didn't buy anything not on the Hogwarts' book and equipment list and hurried me through so I didn't have the time to ask the questions I wanted.
I'm dreading going back to the Dursleys, Hagrid gave Dudley a pig's tail, a literal curly tail like a pig poking out the top of his trousers not what the girls call pigtails, and then he couldn't remove it. He said he would send someone to fix it and I thought he should do that straight away but he took me shopping without doing anything about it. I asked about it again when he bought my train ticket home and he kind of agreed he had to do something but they've spent the whole day trapped on that tiny island Vernon where took us to hide from the letters, Hagrid and I took their boat. I didn't want to but I don't know how Hagrid got to the island because he said he didn't have another way to get off it. They're going to be so furious with me, even though they heard me ask Hagrid to take the tail away and to send someone to help them.
I thought about running away, but I didn't think to ask the goblins if my family still owns a house or how to find a place to stay. And I should have told them about what happened last time I tried to leave the Dursleys and asked if there was a magical way to make sure I couldn't be found and caught. Not that I think they'd let an eleven year old live on his own. Still there's only a month to go before I leave for school, and I thought that if Dumbledore's at the school I shouldn't go there if he knows I've left the Dursleys and stopped him from being able to find me. I already did something that I think I might regret. When I spoke to the Goblin at Gringotts I told him enough that he had Dumbledore removed from being my magical guardian at least as far as the bank goes and all the payments to him and the Dursleys and other people I'd never heard of stopped. So he's going to find out about that at some stage, the account manager goblin told me that he won't know it was instigated by me, just that someone told them enough to have him removed for dereliction of duty, but I think he's going to suspect that I said something. I should have waited. Maybe I should get off the train and go back to Gringotts and ask the goblins not to do anything but I don't see why I should be giving my parents' money to these people.
I bought a heap of books, the bookshop owner was really helpful and he sold me some books on the culture and the history and a muggleborn's guide to fitting in. He was one of the few people who wasn't condescending to me but he said I'll be treated better by other shopkeepers and wizards if I look like a proper wizard. If the newspaper gets to you I'll send you some of these books when I finish reading them.
Your Friend
Harry
A/N: Thank you to all those who reviewed followed or favourited this story for your support.