James awoke on a bed in a dark room, no light was coming from anywhere but he could feel at least five pillows behind his head. He went to move the blanket and found some sort of sheet covering him as well. After removing the thin sheet, he got up and tried to feel around for a light switch. A loud pop was heard, followed by a snap, then lights came on and James saw a little creature standing in the room.
"AHHH!" James screamed.
"Please master, don't be scared, I was just turning on the lights for you" the small creature responded over James' scream and soon the door burst open and a lady stood in the doorway.
"Kreature what's going on here!?" The lady talked to the creature like its boss. The lady had red hair, green eyes that looked exactly like Harry and his, and was holding a stick in her hand.
"Nothing Mistress Potter, I was just turning on the lights" the creature then disappeared out of thin air with a loud pop, stirring the dust on the floor. James and the adult stared at each other in silence for a couple of minutes before anyone broke the silence.
"Uhm, Harry's already downstairs eating breakfast, feel free to join us" The lady then turned to walk back down the stairs but James spoke up before she could leave. "Where are we and who are you?". The lady stopped in place and turned to face James, "Well, I'm your mother, Lily's my name if you prefer that for the time being but your Godfather Sirius and I went to retrieve you both from your… captor". "You mean Vernon," James said back. "Yes, he's… not going to hurt anyone anymore. I know this is alot to drop on you but I want you to know that you're safe here, with me that is" Lily then turned to walk back down the steps, each step creaking as Lily's foot landed on the next.
James now took in the room he was standing in, posters hang on the wall showing men on broomsticks throwing around balls in the air, wallpaper that looked like it needed replacing ten years ago, cobwebs in every corner, and a tall dresser with aged wood filled with moisture, you could almost see the mold form. The bed he had been laying on was the only well kept item in the room. The sheets were emerald green and covered in small printed snakes. James decided to head down the steps and see what's for breakfast. Taking a step outside the bedroom instantly transported James to another world. Jars with tiny heads in them lined the staircase in both directions. Up the steps seemed to be some more rooms but it was dark and James didn't feel like exploring. Once down the steps, James instantly tripped over a giant foot that sat in the hallway. "Ouch" James hopped down the hallway on one foot while keeping the stubbed one off the ground and saw Harry sitting down at a table, past an open doorway, eating some eggs.
"James! Come try these eggs!" Harry spoke with a mouthful of food and looked like he had taken a shower. James sat down at the table and took in the connected kitchen and dining room. A plate of eggs and bacon came floating over to James, landing perfectly in front of him. Standing in the kitchen was Sirius, patiently waiting for his coffee machine to brew his coffee.
"You would think that after all these years we could have a spell for this but nope, the fastest way to brew coffee is with this infernal device!" Sirius kicked the cabinets below the counter and walked over to the table then sat down in a chair, pulling out a paper and beginning to read it.
James started to eat his breakfast, when the eggs registered in his taste buds, they almost exploded. Fluffy, soft, and more importantly delicious, never in James' life had he eaten anything this good, it could almost make him cry. After finishing his plate, James and Harry sat quietly at the table waiting for someone to talk to them. Soon Lily came into the room and sat down near both the boys, putting her hands on the table with her fingers interlaced between each other.
"I can assume that you both have questions and yes, I will answer them, but there are a couple of things we need to discuss first" Lily sat more straightly in her chair and placed her wand onto the table. "The biggest thing to talk about is that your both wizards" Harry and James looked at each other, while something was unusual about the current circumstance, they didn't notice the paintings around them all staring directly at them.
"I'm sorry you said wizards, like magic wands and fighting dragons stuff?" Harry was the first one of the boys to speak.
"Well wands yes, but most stuff you might think wizards do, they don't do, mostly. Anyways, every wizarding child gets an education at Hogwarts and term starts at the beginning of September. I wouldn't feel right about holding you guys out of school for the year and since I've started my new job there, I can see us spending plenty of time together there for the year" Lily then pulled out a photograph that showed a younger version of Lily and a man that looked exactly like James and Harry, except for the eyes, and they were standing in front of a castle. "This photo is of Hogwarts and of your father and I when we were at Hogwarts for our seventh year". James and Harry took their turns looking at the photograph and taking in the moving picture of their parents.
"Some of the best years of my life happened behind those castle walls. The stories they could tell about your father and I's pranks" Sirius put down the paper and joined in the conversation, adding in his two bits about Hogwarts. "I can't believe it's been eleven years since we were in school, time flies when you're old". A ding was heard signaling that the coffee was done.
"I would hardly say that our late twenties is old Sirius" Lily said, getting up and grabbing herself and Sirius a cup of coffee. Placing down the cup of coffee in front of Sirius, Lily went back to her seat but before she could sit down Harry asked a question, "Could you show us some magic?".
Lily stood behind her chair looking at the boys for a solid minute before looking around the room and spotting a turntable. She walked over and pulled out a crate filled with records, she began flipping through the records til she pulled out one and placed it on the turntable, then walked back over to the table. "Hold on to your seats" Lily then flicked her wand up and the needle fell down onto the record causing music to erupt from the speakers. All the chairs surrounding the table started to dance along to the music.
"Hey! Wow!" Sirius was bouncing around in his seat, his fresh cup of coffee spilling onto the floor with each bounce. "I just got this cup!" Both James and Harry were laughing while their chairs danced around the table. The song 'Shake, Rattle and Roll' was currently playing and the chairs would mimic the movements of the song during the chorus. Sirius then pulled his wand out and flicked it over at Lily, who then started to dance around the table like a chicken.
The cavalcade of dancing went on for a few minutes till the record ended, filling the once song filled room with static. The chairs returned to their appropriate spots and Lily stopped acting like a chicken.
"That was amazing!" Harry said, now getting off his chair and moving towards Lily. "That's only just a little bit of magic, wait til Hogwarts" Lily picked up Harry, making a grunting noise while doing so from his size, and gave him a big hug then turned towards James with arms open.
After cleaning up the plates from breakfast, Lily went to her room to prepare for the day and Sirius took the boys into the nearby Living room.
The walls were sporting torn wallpaper, a pale green was what little color you could see, a dimly lit fireplace illuminated the room and sitting in a rocking chair, slowly moving to the pops and cracks of the flames, was a man. Long emerald green robes cover the man and his hair was long and unkempt, matching Sirius in hair color. Sirius sat down on a nearby couch and signaled the boys to take a seat.
"Exciting times are in store for you both at Hogwarts" Sirius spoke while continuing to read his paper and not make eye contact with the boys. "What kind of things are we gonna learn at Hogwarts?" James asked. "Didn't you read your letter, it should've given you a hint at what you'll learn" Sirius put down his paper and pulled out his wand then flicked it over at the boys. From the pockets of both Harry and James came two letters that landed right into each boy's hands.
Both the boys opened their letters, which were addressed to them in emerald green ink and sealed with a red wax stamp of a crest, and the letter read,
'Dear Mr Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Magical studies.
The start of term is the beginning of September and listed below are the following supplies needed for your first year of school.
Uniform: Three sets of plain black robes
One Pointed Hat (Black)
Dragon hide gloves along with protective eye wear (Protective charm level 3)
One winter cloak (Black)
Books: The Standard Book of Spells Grade 1 by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Transfiguration: Introduction to the Art of change by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Potion's, Draft's, and Magical Cures by Argus Pollywobble
Fantastic Beast and Where to Find them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Arts and Me by Quirinus Quirrell
Additional Items: One Pewter grade cauldon along with flask set
One Wand
May bring any creature from the Magical Menagerie (In Diagon Alley)
May bring backpacks or satchels with expansion charms
One trunk for wardrobe
REMINDER, FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED BROOMS
We look forward to seeing you at the start of term and hope you have a great time until then.
Sincerely,
The Hogwarts Staff
After reading the letter through multiple times James put the letter down and looked back at Sirius. "What's Diagon Alley?" At that Sirius barked out a laugh, "What's Diagon Alley? Why it's only the place where most every witch and wizard shop for school supplies". The look on the boy's faces were of complete perplexity as Sirius rambled on about shopping for the coolest robes or the newest broom design.
"Our Grandfather would take us shopping every year and always got us an ice cream cone from Fortescue's before we ended the day" Sirius then pulled out a small pouch and grabbed two golden coins from inside with an engraving of some magical creature on the front. "Why don't you boy's take these, as a gift from your Uncle" Sirius then handed each boy a gold coin then sat back down.
"You're not bribing them to not tell me any secrets you've told them, are you?" Lily said appearing in the doorway now changed out of her sleep clothes and into a pale green dress with darker green robes resting across her shoulders. "Nonsense, they're much too young to bribe yet" Sirius laughed then the man that was rocking in the rocking chair stopped his rocking and turned to take in the room. The man's eyes passed right by Sirius and Lily's, landing directly on Harry and James. James stared back into the man's gray eyes and noticed a slight tear form on the side but was quickly squashed as the man turned to look at Sirius then started to sign some message with his hands.
"Not now Regulus, they need to get going," Sirius said, responding back to the man. "Yes, we've got quite the busy day for us, if you boys are ready, we can get going" The boys stood up and started to head out towards the door. Lily stood in their way and gave them a questioning look, "Where are you going? Did you leave something in the rooms you've slept in?". Both the boy's looked back at their mother with another questioning look, "Isn't the front door this way?" Harry said. "Front door?!" Lily laughed while walking further into the living, stopping by the fireplace, and pulled out a small brown pouch.
As soon as the dust hit the flames, a green puff of smoke emitted from the flames, then the bright orange flames changed to a vibrant green. With a tap of Lily's wand on the side of the mantle, the fireplace expanded from the size of a bread box to the size of a wardrobe, then Lily stepped inside the green flames. "We'll leave through here, come on" Both the boys entered the flames and each took one of their mother's hands. "Tell Sirius bye" Both the boy's waved at Sirius, "Diagon Alley" Lily shouted then the flames swarmed around them. All the boys could see was the green flames forming a tunnel around them, the smell of ash filled their noses, the heat caused them to sweat but the wind blew it away before it could run down their faces.
Soon the gust of wind blowing around them came down in a forceful wave and they were pulled out into a tavern. The smell of ash was quickly replaced with the smell of stew, some sort of beer, and somehow dust but not a speck of it could be seen. Most of the patrons of the tavern were minding their own business, whether they were eating food or chatting with somebody at the bar, but some people glared over to see who entered through the fireplace. "Hey Albert, isn't that Lily Potter" A man with a thick mustache in the corner of the tavern turned his friend Albert towards the fireplace on the opposite side of the establishment. "Yeah, it is" Albert turned back to finish his brew then thought about heading home, instead of going out shopping with his friend Tannor.
"I thought her boys vanished along with… you know who" Tannor whispered the last part to his friend, who then turned back again to look at Lily Potter, who was currently brushing off the ash of two boys that resembled their hero father. Albert turned back to his friend "That can't be, you think we'd read about it in the paper before seeing it, must be new Hogwarts students". Soon though, word began to whisper through the tavern, known as the Leaky Cauldron, unnoticed by the Potter's until a nearby Bartender spoke. "Hey Lily! Who ya got with you?" The man's thick British accent cut through the whispering crowd, bringing it to a dead silence, as the crowd awaited Lily's answer.
Lily was hoping to go unnoticed by the usual crowd, hoping for a chance to slip by and have a regular day with her boys, blending in among the crowd and save all this nonsense til September. "Well Tom, I was-" "That's them isn't it!" A man interrupted Lily, "They survived didn't they". "Well if you would all listen to-" Once again she was interrupted by a nearby lady who stood up and bent down, trembling, in front of Harry and James, who were sporting discomforting looks. "Thank you for what you did" The lady started to cry and was pulled away by a nearby man "It's alright miss" the man took the lady back to her seat. Lily started to move behind her boys and put her hands on both their shoulders, then started to move back towards the exit.
"Well since you've all figured things out for yourselves, we'll just get on our way shopping" Lily then opened the door and pulled the boys out. Before the door closed, both the boys could see that the entirety of the Leaky Cauldron patronage was staring directly at them as they left the building. "Let's hope that's the last of that" Lily then turned around to face a brick wall and then pulled out her wand. "Can we just do magic anywhere?" Harry said while watching Lily start to tap the bricks, "Uhm, No. We have laws about that and when it comes to younger witches and wizards, like yourselves, there's a magical trace that's placed upon you until you're seventeen to make sure you don't do magic outside Hogwarts" Lily then turned back towards the wall but paused once again. "Before we go shopping, do you both have any questions about magic?" Both the boys stared at each other for a second, slightly smirking at each other, then turned back to their mother.
"What knowledge of movies do you have?" Harry said a little joyfully to their mother. "Good question, I happen to know a good bit about Muggle movies, but that reminds me of an important thing. Some people tend to treat other people called Muggles harshly, because they believe their blood makes their magic more pure" Both the boys looked at their mother with dumbfounded expressions painted on their faces. "To put it more firmly, wizards are racist and it doesn't end with blood either. I trust that you both know the difference between right and wrong, and will avoid the wrong kind of people" James scoffed at that, "We may have been orphans for ten years but we can survive kids our age, hell, we can stand kids twice our age". Lily laughed a little, "Good, because if I see you both in detention, it won't be pretty" Both boys faked a laugh at the seemingly fake threat.
Lily then turned back to the brick wall and tapped the bricks in some sort of order. Soon the bricks began to fold in on themselves and move aside to reveal a packed, filled alley with wizards and witches walking side by side with Giants and fairies. The alley was lined with multiple shops on each side, people walking in and out with bags labeled with shop logos on the sides. Both Harry and James' jaws couldn't reach the ground but they hung open as far as they could. "I believe I had the same look on my face when I first saw the Alley. Ah, to be young again. Now! I believe Sirius gave you both some money for some ice cream, how about we do that first" The Potters entered the Alley to begin their magical shopping journey but more importantly to enjoy a nice ice cream cone.