Due to guilt and seeing how many hits I got for this, I'm taking this story off hiatus as well. Prongs Returns is already off, if you want to check. I posted it up several days ago.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Even this story doesn't have a plot. I have only my own ideas.
Before he could start, the portrait hole opened yet again. In came Ginny, lugging a trunk.
"And what are you doing here?"
"Thanks so much for the warm welcome, Ron. What are you guys doing?"
"Nothing" said Fred, hiding the book behind his back.
"Yes you are, you just don't feel like telling me, do you. Fine. I don't care."
"Okay, if we tell you what we're doing, you tell us what you're doing here. You first."
"Okay, honestly, I got bored, so McGonagall said I could come. Happy?"
"Yep. I didn't know you missed us so much, sister dear." George said sweetly.
"Shut up."
Harry explained what they were doing, and what had happened so far in the book.
"Can I read it too?"
"Sure, why not?"
CHAPTER FIVE
DIAGON ALLEY
"This ought to be interesting."
"Our son is going to Diagon Alley!" said Lily excitedly. "I hope he'll like it as much as I did."
Harry woke early the next morning. Although he could tell it was daylight, he kept his eyes shut tight. "It was a dream," he told himself firmly. "I dreamt a giant called Hagrid came to tell me I was going to a school for wizards. When I open my eyes I'll be at home in my cupboard."
"No it wasn't."
"Shut up Ron, he knows it isn't."
"But he didn't then."
"But he does now."
"But he didn't then."
"But he does now."
"You two, shut it!" Ginny yelled. "Or, if that seems so hard, go snog in a broom closet, or something."
Both Hermione and Ron turned bright red.
"No you won't," said James. "You'll be under Hagrid's coat in that hut."
"Captain Obvious"
"Hey! That's my dad you're talking about!"
There was suddenly a loud tapping noise. "And there's Aunt Petunia knocking on the door," Harry thought, his heart sinking. But he still hadn't opened his eyes. It had been such a good dream.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
"All right," Harry mumbled, "I'm getting up."
He sat up and Hagrid's heavy coat fell off him.
The hut was full of sunlight, the storm was over, Hagrid himself was asleep on the collapsed sofa and there was an owl rapping its claw on the window, a newspaper held in its beak. Harry scrambled to his feet, so happy he felt as though a large balloon was swelling inside him.
"Awww," cooed Lily. James rolled his eyes and exchanged slightly disgusted looks with Sirius.
All Weasley boys were doing the same thing.
He went straight to the window and jerked it open. The owl swooped in and dropped the newspaper on top of Hagrid, who didn't wake up. The owl then fluttered to the floor and began to attack Hagrid's coat.
"Don't do that."
"You have to pay him," said Lily. The others looked at her and she explained, "I have the Daily Prophet delivered to me during the holidays."
"I think I like her. She's very eager to learn, and…"
"Mione, we are bidden from up above to stop your rant of doom before it starts." Fred and George said in unison, with solomn, booming, voices.
"Oh, shut up you two."
Harry tried to wave the owl out of the way, but it snapped its beak fiercely at him and carried on savaging the coat.
"Hagrid!" said Harry loudly. "There's an owl -"
"Pay him," Hagrid grunted into the sofa.
"What?"
"He wants payin' fer deliverin' the paper. Look in the pockets."
"Harry'll probably get lost," commented Remus. "Seeing as Hagrid's coat has like a hundred pockets."
"He's right."
"I wish we had a coat like that", said Fred dreamily.
After a few seconds, it became obvious that he wasn't going to move.
"Fred! Book! Now!"
"What? Oh, sorry."
Hagrid's coat seemed to be made of nothing but pockets - bunches of keys, slug pellets, balls of string, mint humbugs, teabags ... finally, Harry pulled out a handful of strange-looking coins.
"Give him five Knuts," said Hagrid sleepily.
"Knuts?"
"I forgot about the different money thing. Why can't we all have the same currencies? It would make everything so much easier." Ginny commented.
"The little bronze ones."
Harry counted five little bronze coins and the owl held out its leg so he could put the money into a small leather pouch tied to it. Then it flew out through the open window.
Hagrid yawned loudly, sat up and stretched. "Best be off, Harry, lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer stuff fer school."
"Finally! I thought it would never happen!"
Harry was turning over the wizard coins and looking at them. He had just thought of something which made him feel as though the happy balloon inside him had got a puncture.
"Um - Hagrid?"
"Mm?" said Hagrid, who was pulling on his huge boots.
"I haven't got any money - and you heard Uncle Vernon last night - he won't pay for me to go to learn magic."
"Don't worry, Harry," said James. "Lily and I will have left you some money."
"Yeah, well I didn't know that then."
"Don't worry about that," said Hagrid, standing up and scratching his head. "D'ye think year parents didn't leave yeh anything?"
"But if their house was destroyed -"
"They didn't keep their gold in the house, boy! Nah, first stop fer us is Gringotts. Wizards' bank Have a sausage, they're not bad cold - an' I wouldn' say no teh a bit o' yer birthday cake, neither.
"Wizards have banks?"
"Harry, you are really stupid sometimes." Ron commented.
"Look who's talking." Said Hermione and Ginny in unison.
"Uh, guys? Don't do that. It's quite scary." Harry said.
"Oh, sorry."
"Where do you think we keep our money?" demanded Sirius. "Buried in our backyards?"
"Just the one. Gringotts. Run by goblins."
Harry dropped the bit of sausage he was holding.
"Goblins?"
"Yeah - so yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it, I'll tell yeh that. Never mess with goblins, Harry. Gringotts is the safest place in the world fer anything yeh want ter keep safe - 'cept maybe Hogwarts. As a matter o' fact, gotta visit Gringotts anyway. Fer Dumbledore. Hogwarts business." Hagrid drew himself up proudly. "He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him. Fetchin' you - gettin' things from Gringotts - knows he can trust me, see."
"Got everythin'? Come on, then."
Harry followed Hagrid out on to the rock. The sky was quite clear now and the sea gleamed in the sunlight. The boat Uncle Vernon had hired was still there, with a lot of water in the bottom after the storm.
"How did you get here?" Harry asked, looking around for another boat.
"Flew," said Hagrid.
"Can Hagrid even fit on a broom?"
"Somehow, George, I doubt it."
"Well, then, how did he do it?"
"I didn't know Hagrid could fit on a broom," said James, looking a bit awed.
"Maybe he flew on something else," said Sirius.
"Or maybe, like Harry, he was able to fly without sitting on something," said James.
"Oh no"
"What?" Ginny asked, because she hadn't yet heard the "Flew/Apparated" fights yet.
"Wait. You'll see."
"Harry apparated," said Sirius.
"Flew."
"Appar-"
Remus threw a cushion from the couch at Sirius, then another one at James. "We don't need to hear you arguing again as to whether Harry flew or apparated. Now be quiet and let Peter continue reading."
"Flew?"
"Yeah - but we'll go back in this. Not s'pposed ter use magic now I've got yeh." They settled down in the boat, Harry still staring at Hagrid, trying to imagine him flying.
"So are we Harry. So are we."
"Seems a shame ter row, though," said Hagrid, giving Harry another of his sideways looks. "If I was ter - er - speed things up a bit, would yeh mind not mentionin' it at Hogwarts?"
"Of course not," said Harry, eager to see more magic. Hagrid pulled out the pink umbrella again, tapped it twice on the side of the boat and they sped off towards land.
"I think his wand bits are in that umbrella," said Peter.
"Yeah, I do too," said Sirius.
"We do too."
"Why would you be mad to try and rob Gringotts?" Harry asked.
"Spells - enchantments," said Hagrid, unfolding his newspaper as he spoke. "They say there are dragons guardin' the high security vaults. And then yeh gotta find yer way - Gringotts is hundreds of miles under London, see. Deep under the Underground. Yeh'd die of hunger tryin' ter get out, even if yeh did manage ter get yer hands on summat."
"That would be awful."
"Ron, we know it would be awful for you, you would think you were starving when you stuff yourself at meals."
Harry sat and thought about this while Hagrid read his newspaper, the Daily Prophet. Harry had learnt from Uncle Vernon that people like to be left alone while they did this, but it was very difficult, he'd never had so many questions in his life
"Ministry o' Magic messin' things up as usual," Hagrid muttered, turning the page.
"Very true. Very true, Hagrid." George muttered under his breath.
"There's a Ministry of Magic?" Harry asked, before he could stop himself.
"'Course," said Hagrid. "They wanted Dumbledore fer Minister, o' course, but he'd never leave Hogwarts, so old Cornelius Fudge got the job. Bungler if ever there was one. So he pelts Dumbledore with owls every morning, askin' fer advice."
"What happened to Millicent Bagnold?" asked James. "Did Voldemort kill her?' Peter flinched and James said, "Sorry, Wormtail."
"What? Is he scared to hear his master's name?" Harry asked. Hermione just looked at him reproachfully.
"Maybe she retired," suggested Remus. "It doesn't have to mean that Vol-sorry, Peter, You-Know-Who, killed her."
"But why give Fudge the job?" asked Sirius. "I thought he was a bit of an idiot. In my first year, a seventh year Gryffindor happened to mention to me that Fudge was in Hufflepuff five years above and kept forgetting the passwords to places."
"Sounds like Neville."
"Now that's a funny thought. Neville as Minister?!?!
"But what does a Ministry of Magic do?" "Well, their main job is to keep it from the Muggles that there's still witches an' wizards up an' down the country." "Why?" "Why? Blimey, Harry, everyone'd be wantin' magic solutions to their problems. Nah, we're best left alone."
"Yep, that's right!' exclaimed Sirius.
At this moment the boat bumped gently into the harbor wall. Hagrid folded up his newspaper and they clambered up the stone steps on to the street.
"Wait a minute, Peter," said Lily. "How are the Dursleys going to get back?"
"Who cares." Said Harry.
"Who cares," responded James.
"Woah. Wait. What?" Ginny said.
"But Petunia is my sister. And even though I hate her guts right now, she used to be really nice and liked to play with me."
"Maybe the old guy who let them use his hut will row the boat across to them," said Remus. Lily nodded and Peter resumed reading.
Passers-by stared a lot at Hagrid as they walked through the little town to the station. Harry couldn't blame them. Not only was Hagrid twice as tall as anyone else, he kept pointing at perfectly ordinary things like parking meters and saying loudly, "See that, Harry? Things these Muggles dream up, eh?"
"Wow, Hagrid. Way to be discrete."
"Hagrid," said Harry panting a bit as he ran to keep up, "did you say there are dragons at Gringotts?"
"Well, so they say," said Hagrid. "Crikey, I'd like a dragon."
"You'd like one?"
"Wanted one ever since I was a kid - here we go."
"I'd like a dragon, too," muttered Sirius. "So it could toast Snivellus."
"That sounds good. Wish Norbert did burn him up."
"Black!" exclaimed Lily. "That's not nice. He may be greasy and a bit of an annoying git, but you can't go around wishing a dragon would toast him."
"I was going to wish that a dragon would eat him, but then realized that Snivellus was too greasy and would give the dragon indigestion."
Lily shook her head in disgust and told Peter to continue reading.
They had reached the station. There was a train to London in five minutes' time. Hagrid, who didn't understand 'Muggle money', as he called it, gave the notes to Harry so he could buy their tickets.
People stared more than ever on the train. Hagrid took up two seats and sat knitting what looked like a canary-yellow circus tent.
"Umm. That sounds interesting."
They were all smiling.
"Still got yer letter, Harry?" he asked as he counted stitches. Harry took the parchment envelope out of his pocket.
"Good," said Hagrid. "There's a list of everything yeh need." Harry unfolded a second piece of paper he hadn't noticed the night before and read:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Uniform First-year students will require: 1. Three sets of plain work robes (black) 2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear 3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar) 4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings) Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags.
"What if we had gold fastenings instead? I wonder what they would do?"
"Hermione, why are you pointing out all this random stuff?'
"Looks like the uniform hasn't changed," commented Sirius.
Set Books All students should have a copy of each of the following: The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble
"How long did it take for you to memorize your schoolbooks by heart, Mione?" Harry asked with a snigger.
"Shut up. And don't call me Mione!"
"And the booklist is still basically the same," said Remus.
Other Equipment 1 wand 1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2) 1 set glass or crystal phials 1 telescope 1 set brass scales
"Equipment's the same as well," added James
Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad
"Hey. Why put so much emphasis on the or?"
"Dunno. Hey Ron. That means that you weren't even ssupposed to have Scabbers."
"Don't talk to me about Scabbers."
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST-YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS
"Darn! I was hoping that rules was changed or something!" exclaimed James.
"When was the last time Hogwarts changed a rule?" asked Remus.
"Back in 1659, the did. They changed curfew from 11 to 9. (A/N: I'm just guessing on what time it is) The Head Students complained that they had to go to bed really late because of patrolling."
"Only you would know that Hermione."
"Someday, I'm going to force you to read Hogwarts; a History."
James frowned in thought, then admitted, "Never."
"Can we buy all this in London?" Harry wondered aloud.
"If yeh know where to go," said Hagrid.
Harry had never been to London before. Although Hagrid seemed to know where he was going, he was obviously not too used to getting there in an ordinary way. He got stuck in the ticket barrier on the Underground and complained loudly that the seats were too small and the trains too slow.
"Wow."
Everyone burst out laughing.
"I don't know how the Muggles manage without magic," he said, as they climbed a broken-down escalator which led up to a bustling road lined with shops.
"You know, I don't know either."
"Ron, that's because your pureblood."
Hagrid was so huge that he parted the crowd easily; all Harry had to do was keep close behind him.
They passed book shops and music stores, hamburger bars and cinemas, but nowhere that looked as if it could sell you a magic wand.
"You have to go to Diagon Alley, Harry!" explained Lily.
"Oh great, now Lily's talking to the book too!" groaned Remus.
"Well, they don't know it, but I actually can hear them. So it all works out."
"You know, you're right about that one."
This was just an ordinary street full of ordinary people. Could there really be piles of wizard gold buried miles beneath them? Were there really shops that sold spell books and broomsticks?
"Of course there are!" exclaimed Lily and James at the same time.
Might this not all be some huge joke that the Dursleys had cooked up?
"Petunia wouldn't recognize a joke if it danced in front of her wrapped in turban," muttered Lily. The others gave her looks, then burst out laughing.
"Okay. Harry, that gave me a vivid image of Quirrell dancing around."
"Ron, stop giving me bad mental images."
"Us too." Fred and George said at the same time.
"What are you talking about?" Ginny had never met Quirrell, but she had heard the stories about him.
"Quirrell always wore a turban."
If Harry hadn't known that the Dursleys had no sense of humor, he might have thought so; yet somehow, even though everything Hagrid had told him so far was unbelievable, Harry couldn't help trusting him.
"This is it," said Hagrid, coming to a halt, "the Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place."
"Harry's at the Leaky Cauldron, James!" said Lily excitedly, grabbing James' hand. "I remember when Professor Flitwick took my family there after I got my Hogwarts letter!"
James had been quite startled when Lily grabbed his hand, but then he had been very happy, as he had wanted to hold hands with Lily for the longest time. He smiled and said, "That's nice, Lily."
"Aww" Hermione said. "Your parents are bonding, Harry." She had a very strange look on her face.
"Yeah. It's so cute." Ginny said, the same expression on her face.
"Is this girl behavior or something?" Harry asked, confused.
"Yep, we have to put up with it all the time" Fred said.
It was a tiny, grubby-looking pub. If Hagrid hadn't pointed it out, Harry wouldn't have noticed it was there. The people hurrying by didn't glance at it. Their eyes slid from the big book shop on one side to the record shop on the other as if they couldn't see the Leaky Cauldron at all. In fact, Harry had the most peculiar feeling that only he and Hagrid could see it.
Before he could mention this, Hagrid had steered him inside.
For a famous place, it was very dark and shabby. A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was talking to the old barman, who was quite bald and looked like a gummy walnut.
"Okay, that's a weird description of Tom."
Fred and George had looks of delight on their faces.
"What?"
"We can make a new sweet!" George, write it down!"
George conjured a piece of paper and a quill, and wrote on it.
"Looks like Tom's still barman, then!" said James. The others nodded in agreement.
The low buzz of chatter stopped when they walked in. Everyone seemed to know Hagrid; they waved and smiled at him, and the barman reached for a glass, saying, "The usual, Hagrid?"
"Can't, Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business," said Hagrid, clapping his great hand on Harry's shoulder and making Harry's knees buckle.
"That hurt."
"I'll bet."
"Good Lord," said the barman, peering at Harry, "is this - can this be -?"
"Uh oh. My first 'famous Harry Potter' experience." Harry buried his head in his hands.
"Am I ever going to get into this book?" Ron asked.
"Pretty soon. I met you on Platform 9 and 3 quarters, right? And that's pretty soon."
"Hey, what about us?"
"I think I actually met you two first, when you helped me with the trunk."
The Leaky Cauldron had suddenly gone completely still and silent. "Bless my soul," whispered the old barman. "Harry Potter ... what an honor."
He hurried out from behind the bar, rushed towards Harry and seized his hand, tears in his eyes. "Welcome back, Mr. Potter, welcome back."
"Dramatist.'
Harry didn't know what to say. Everyone was looking at him. The old woman with the pipe was puffing on it without realizing it had gone out. Hagrid was beaming.
"Awwww," cooed Lily. "How cute." James gave Lily a sickened look and rolled his eyes in disgust.
"Guess it is a girl thing, then."
Then there was a great scraping of chairs and, next moment, Harry found himself shaking hands with everyone in the Leaky Cauldron.
"Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter, can't believe I'm meeting you at last."
"So proud, Mr. Potter, I'm just so proud."
"Always wanted to shake your hand - I'm all of a flutter."
"Delighted, Mr. Potter, just can't tell you. Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle."
"I've seen you before!" said Harry, as Dedalus Diggle's top hat fell off in his excitement. "You bowed to me once in a shop."
"Wasn't Diggle the one that McGonagall said was probably responsible for the shooting stars?" asked Sirius.
Remus nodded.
"He remembers!" cried Dedalus Diggle, looking around at everyone. "Did you hear that? He remembers me!" Harry shook hands again and again - Doris Crockford kept coming back for more."
"That was annoying."
A pale young man made his way forward, very nervously. One of his eyes was twitching. "Professor Quirrell!" said Hagrid. "Harry, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts."
"Grrrrrr." Three identical growls rang out. Ginny surrupticiously moved away from Harry, who didn't notice.
"Quirrell?" asked Sirius. "Isn't he that Slytherin kid two years below us?"
"Yeah," answered James. "He's not too bad for a Slytherin. At least, he doesn't hang around Snape or his cronies."
"Well, Snape didn't like him."
"P-P-Potter," stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping Harry's hand, "c-can't t-tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you."
"What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?"
"D-Defence Against the D-D-Dark Arts," muttered Professor Quirrell, as though he'd rather not think about it. "N-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" he laughed nervously. "You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He looked terrified at the very thought.
"Idiot."
"I didn't know he became such a wimp!" said James. "He isn't like that now."
But the others wouldn't let Professor Quirrell keep Harry to himself. It took almost ten minutes to get away from them all. At last, Hagrid managed to make himself heard over the babble. "Must get on - lots ter buy. Come on, Harry."
Doris Crockford shook his hand one last time and Hagrid led them through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a dustbin and a few weeds.
Hagrid grinned at Harry. "Told yeh, didn't I? Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh - mind you, he's usually tremblin'."
"Is he always that nervous?"
"Oh, yeah, poor bloke. Brilliant mind.
"No he does not." Harry said, incredously.
He was fine while he was studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some first-hand experience... They say he met vampires in the Black Forest and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag - never been the same since. Scared of the students, scared of his own subject - now, where's me umbrella?"
Vampires? Hags? Harry's head was swimming.
Hagrid, meanwhile, was counting bricks in the wall above the dustbin. "Three up... two across..." he muttered. "Right, stand back, Harry."
He tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella.
The brick he had touched quivered - it wriggled - in the middle, a small hole appeared - it grew wider and wider - a second later they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway on to a cobbled street which twisted and turned out of sight.
"He's there, James," said Lily excitedly, grabbing James' hand again. James grinned and put his other hand over hers.
"Aww" said Ginny again, unconsiously placing her hand over Harry's, who looked surprised, and looked at the other Weasleys to see what their reaction was. Luckily, they didn't notice. (A/N: I'm a Harry/Ginny fan, I couldn't resist.)
"Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley."
He grinned at Harry's amazement. They stepped through the archway. Harry looked quickly over his shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall.
The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. Cauldrons - All Sizes - Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver - Self-Stirring - Collapsible said a sign hanging over them.
"Wish I had a self stirring cauldron." Ron muttered.
"Yeah, you'll be needin' one," said Hagrid, "but we gotta get yer money first."
"Straight ahead, Harry, to the big white building," explained Lily. The others smiled at her.
Harry wished he had about eight more eyes. He turned his head in every direction as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping. A plump woman outside an apothecary's was shaking her head as they passed, saying, "Dragon liver, seventeen sickles an ounce, they're mad..."
"But seventeen sickles is a galleon. Why not just say that?" Hermione pointed out.
"Maybe it sounds more professional, or something."
"Oh," said James, "that is expensive!"
"But wouldn't most people say one galleon rather than seventeen sickles?" asked Remus.
"Exactly."
"Maybe it's a typo," said Lily. "This Rowling person could have meant sixteen sickles."
A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium - Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown and Snowy.
"I've got a snowy owl," said Lily. "My parents got me a one for my birthday, three years ago." "That's nice," replied James.
"Cool. She had a snowy owl too?"
Several boys of about Harry's age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it. "Look," Harry heard one of them say, "the new Nimbus Two Thousand - fastest ever -"
"Wow!" exclaimed James. "I wish I could have one. I could play Quidditch better!"
"You already play well on your Nimbus One Thousand, James," said Remus.
"And I like Quidditch, but it isn't everything, James," said Lily. James and Sirius gave Lily shocked looks.
All the boys looked shocked too.
"She's another Hermione, she is."
"Quidditch is a wonderful sport!" said Sirius, waving his arms. "Without it, the wizarding world would be nothing! I wish I could have a Nimbus Two Thousand. Though I really don't need one for playing beater."
"You're a good beater," said Lily to pacify him.
"Thanks," answered Sirius. "I pretend that the faces of my family, except for my cousin Andromeda and Uncle Alphard, are on the bludgers. My mother and cousin Bellatrix are on the bludgers most often."
"We should have done that when we were Beaters on the team." George commented.
There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Harry had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon ...
"Gringotts," said Hagrid. They had reached a snowy-white building which towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was - "Yeah, that's a goblin," said Hagrid quietly as they walked up the white stone steps towards him.
"Goblins scare me." Ginny said.
The goblin was about a head shorter than Harry. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and, Harry noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside. Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:
"Skip the poem, Peter," said James. "I like it, but I don't want to hear it. I read it every time I go to Gringotts, anyway."
"But I wanted to hear it!" Hermione said.
"Cheer up, Herms." Ron said.
"Herms? Mione was better than that!"
"Okay. Now I can call you Mione." Ron looked quite pleased with himself.
"THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU CAN CALL ME MIONE!"
"Woah, woah, calm down."
Peter skipped the rhyme and continued reading after it.
"Like I said, yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it," said Hagrid.
A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins on brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. Hagrid and Harry made for the counter.
"Morning," said Hagrid to a free goblin. "We've come ter take some money outta Mr. Harry Potter's safe."
"You have his key, sir?"
"Got it here somewhere," said Hagrid and he started emptying his pockets onto the counter, scattering a handful of moldy dog-biscuits over the goblin's book of numbers. The goblin wrinkled his nose. Harry watched the goblin on their right weighing a pile of rubies as big as glowing coals.
"Wonder if they belonged to Gryffindor."
"Why do you think that?"
"Well, Gryfffindor's jewel was a ruby, so he must have had lots of them, right? The ones in the hourglass are his, I think."
"How do you know this stuff, Hermione?"
"I read."
"I know that. How do you remember it?"
"I have a photographic memory."
"Come again?" Ron said.
"It's when you see a think for a second and then you can remember the image perfectly after that."
"Well, that explains a lot."
"Got it," said Hagrid at last, holding up a golden key.
The goblin looked at it closely. "That seems to be in order."
"How can a key be out of order?"
"An' I've also got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore," said Hagrid importantly, throwing out his chest. "It's about the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen."
"This sounds interesting," said James. "Maybe the book title has something to do with it."
"Maybe," said Sirius and Remus.
The goblin read the letter carefully. "Very well," he said, handing it back to Hagrid, "I will have someone take you down to both vaults. Griphook!"
"Great!" said James, "Harry can see what this You-Know-What is!"
"Sorry. I don't do that. Yet."
Griphook was yet another goblin. Once Hagrid had crammed all the dog-biscuits back inside his pockets, he and Harry followed Griphook towards one of the doors leading off the hall.
"What's the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen?" Harry asked.
"Can't tell yeh that," said Hagrid mysteriously.
"Awwww," whined Sirius and James together.
"I can't believe Sirius was so immature."
"Well, he had plenty of time to grow up in Azkaban, didn't he?"
"I guess. When you put it that way."
"You sound childish," said Remus, disgusted.
"Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth ter tell yeh that."
Griphook held open the door for them. Harry, who had expected to see more marble, was surprised. They were in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. It sloped steeply downwards and there were little railway tracks on the floor. Griphook whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks towards them. They climbed in - Hagrid with some difficulty - and were off.
At first they just hurtled through a maze of twisting passages. Harry tried to remember, left, right, right, left, middle fork, right, left, but it was impossible. The rattling cart seemed to know its own way, because Griphook wasn't steering.
Harry's eyes stung as the cold air rushed past them, but he kept them wide open. Once, he thought he saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage and twisted around to see if it was a dragon, but was too late. They plunged even deeper, passing an underground lake where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor.
"I never know," Harry called to hagrid over the noise of the cart, "what's the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?"
"Stalagmites are found on the ground and stalactites on the ceiling," said Remus. "'G' for 'ground' and 'c' for 'ceiling'."
"I'll remember that."
The others blinked at him. "Were you a dictionary in a past life, Moony?" asked Sirius. "Or did you swallow an encyclopedia?"
"I would say Hermione reincarnation, but Moony came first."
"I read," said Remus simply. "Which is something you rarely do, Padfoot."
"Stalagmite's got an 'm' in it," said Hagrid. "An' don' ask me questions just now, I think I'm gonna be sick." He did look very green and when the cart stopped at last beside a small door in the passage wall, Hagrid got out and had to lean against the wall to stop his knees trembling.
"Awww," sighed Lily. "I think the Gringotts carts are fun" said James. "Sort of like the Muggle roller coasters.'
"I like them too!"
Griphook unlocked the door. A lot of green smoke came billowing out, and as it cleared, Harry gasped.
"Why green smoke?' asked James. "Red would be better. For Gryffindor, you know."
"Who knows?" said Remus.
"There's only two green things I'm interested in. Smoke isn't one of them."
"What is it? Lily's eyes?" asked Sirius teasingly. James turned red and told him to shut up.
Harry laughed. So did pretty much everyone else.
Inside were mounds of gold coins. Columns of silver. Heaps of little bronze Knuts. "All yours," smiled Hagrid.
"Harry! I didn't know you were loaded!" Ginny exclaimed.
Harry tuned red in the face, and sunk lower in his seat. "Not really. This Rowling is exaggerating."
"No, she isn't." said Ron, who had seen Harry's vault.
"Whatever."
"There! Harry has nothing to worry about. He has enough to pay for his supplies with some left over after he graduates," said James.
All Harry's - it was incredible. The Dursleys couldn't have known about this or they'd have had it from him faster than blinking. How often had they complained how much Harry cost them to keep?
James and Lily began glaring at the book again.
And all the time there had been a small fortune belonging to him, buried deep under London.
Hagrid helped Harry pile some of it into a bag.
"The gold ones are Galleons," he explained. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a sickle, it's easy enough. Right, that should be enough fer a couple o' terms, we'll keep the rest safe fer yeh." He turned to Griphook. "Vault seven hundred and thirteen, now, please, and can we go more slowly?"
"Awww," said Lily. James rolled his eyes in disgust.
"One speed only," said Griphook.
They were going even deeper now and gathering speed. The air became colder and colder as they hurtled round tight corners. They went rattling over an underground ravine and Harry leant over the side to try and see what was down at the dark bottom but Hagrid groaned and pulled him back by the scruff of his neck.
"Wow," exclaimed Sirius. "Your son 's not afraid!"
"Takes after me," said James proudly. "The only things I'm scared of are my friends and family dying and dememtors."
"Same here!"
Vault seven hundred and thirteen had no keyhole.
"Stand back," said Griphook importantly. He stroked the door gently with one of his long fingers and it simply melted away.
"I wish our bedroom door was like that. Then mom would never be able to find our products." George said.
"Cool," said the boys.
"If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there," said Griphook.
"How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Harry asked.
"About once every ten years," said Griphook, with a rather nasty grin.
Something really extraordinary had to be inside this top-security vault, Harry was sure, and he leant forward eagerly, expecting to see fabulous jewels at the very least - but at first he thought it was empty.
"Awwww!" whined Sirius and James. "He said 'he thought', you idiots! And stop that childish whining." said Remus. Sirius glared at Remus and James pouted.
Then he noticed a grubby little package wrapped up in brown paper lying on the floor. Hagrid picked it up and tucked it deep inside his coat. Harry longed to know what it was, but he knew better than to ask. "Come on, back in this infernal cart, and don't talk to me on the way back, it's best if I keep me mouth shut," said Hagrid.
"Maybe the package is the Philosopher's Stone from the title," said James.
"Their smarter than we were at 11."
"I thought the title was 'Diagon Alley'," said Peter.
"Book title, not chapter title, Peter," clarified Remus. Peter nodded and resumed reading.
One wild cart-ride later they stood blinking in the sunlight outside Gringotts. Harry didn't know where to run first now that he had a bag full of money.
He didn't have to know how many Galleons there were to a pound to know that he was holding more money than he'd had in his whole life - more money than even Dudley had ever had.
James and Sirius had satisfied smiles on their faces.
"Might as well get yer uniform," said Hagrid, nodding towards Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. "Listen, Harry, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? Hate them Gringotts carts." He did still look a bit sick, so Harry entered Madam Malkin's shop alone, feeling nervous.
"Oh. I forgot this part."
"What happens here?"
"You'll see."
Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve.
"Hogwarts dear?" she said, when Harry started to speak. "Got the lot here - another young man being fitted up just now, in fact."
"Maybe Harry will start making friends!" said Lily excitedly.
"Not yet."
In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes.
"Oh. Now I get it. The git."
"Reminds me of Malfoy," muttered Sirius. "My cousin Narcissa just got married to Lucius Malfoy."
Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him, slipped a long robe over his head and began to pin it to the right length.
"Hullo," said the boy, "Hogwarts too?"
"Yes," said Harry.
"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," said the boy. He had a bored, drawling voice.
"I hate that voice."
"So do we all, Harry, so do we all."
"It's the voice of Draco Malfoy, The Amazing Bouncing Ferret!"
Everyone laughed.
"Definitely sounds like Malfoy," said Sirius.
"I hope Harry doesn't decide to become friends with him." said James
"Don't worry. That's just about the last thing I'd ever do."
"Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first-years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."
Harry was strongly reminded of Dudley.
"But Dudley's nicer." Ginny said.
"Good, Harry won't be friends with him," said James, sounding satisfied.
"Have you got your own broom?" the boy went on. "No," said Harry. "Play Quidditch at all?" "No," said Harry again, wondering what on earth Quidditch could be.
"WHAT!" shouted James. "Harry doesn't know anything about Quidditch? I am going to somehow pass my talent on to him."
"Didn't need to do anything. He already had it."
Lily rolled her eyes and muttered, "Just like a man!"
"I do - Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"
"No," said Harry, feeling more stupid by the minute.
"Bet he'll be in Slytherin," said James. The other nodded in agreement, Sirius looking disgusted.
"Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been - imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"
"No. There's nothing wrong with Hufflepuff!" Ginny said.
"I'm glad Harry doesn't want to be this boy's friend," said Lily. "There's nothing wrong with Hufflepuff.
"Now Ginny's starting the line-repeating thing, this time with Lily!"
"Hermione's eyes widened and she giggled.
"What is it?"
"Isn't it obvious?" She said.
"Umm, no."
"Well, then I won't tell you then."
Dorcas Meadowes is there and we're good friends. I help her with Charms and she helps me with Herbology."
"Mmm," said Harry, wishing he could say something a bit more interesting. "I say, look at that man!" said the boy suddenly, nodding towards the front window. Hagrid was standing there, grinning at Harry and pointing at two large ice-creams to show he couldn't come in.
"Awwww!" cooed Lily, "Hagrid bought Harry an ice-cream! How sweet of him."
"That's Hagrid," said Harry, pleased to know something the boy didn't. "He works at Hogwarts."
"Oh," said the boy, "I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"
"He's ten times the man you'll ever be, Malfoy." Harry said, then added thoughtfully, "Figuratively, and literally."
The others looked angry. "Who do you think Hagrid is, you snobby, stuck-up boy?" demanded Lily. "A house-elf?"
"He probably does."
"He's the gamekeeper," said Harry. He was liking the boy less and less every second.
"Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of savage -
"HEY!" cried the boys in outrage.
"Hagrid's nice!" exclaimed Lily. "A bit careless, perhaps, but nice. Savage is going too far!"
lives in a hut in the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic and ends up setting fire to his bed."
"Shut up Malfoy," said Ron lazily.
They all looked angry, then Remus said, "Well, this kid does have a point."
"Just because it's true doesn't mean he has the right to say it!" said Lily hotly.
"Yeah!" agreed James.
"I think he's brilliant," said Harry coldly.
"Do you?" said the boy, with a slight sneer.
"Why is he with you? Where are your parents?" "They're dead," said Harry shortly.
He didn't feel much like going into the matter with this boy.
"Well, he is a bit of a creep," said Remus.
"That's an understatement," said James.
"Oh, sorry," said the other, not sounding sorry at all. "But they were our kind, weren't they?"
"What is that supposed to mean?" demanded James angrily. "Who cares about bloodlines?"
"They were a witch and wizard, if that's what you mean."
"Great answer, Harry!" said James, looking happy.
"I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname, anyway?"
"I bet if I had told him, his reaction would have been completely different."
Before Harry could answer, Madam Malkin said, "That's you done, my dear," and Harry, not sorry for an excuse to stop talking to the boy, hopped down from the footstool.
"Good," said James, sounding satisfied.
"Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," said the drawling boy.
"Not if you're put into stinking Slytherin!" muttered James.
Harry was rather quiet as he ate the ice-cream Hagrid had bought him (chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts).
"I remember that ice-cream. It was really good."
"Awww, that's nice of Hagrid," said Lily. "You already said that," said James.
"What's up?" said Hagrid.
"Nothing," Harry lied. They stopped to buy parchment and quills. Harry cheered up a bit when he found a bottle of ink that changed color as you wrote.
"Cool!"
When they had left the shop, he said, "Hagrid, what's Quidditch?"
"Blimey, Harry, I keep forgettin' how little yeh know - not knowin' about Quidditch!"
"Stop making him feel worse, Hagrid!" Ginny said.
"Don't make me feel worse," said Harry. He told Hagrid about the pale boy in Madam Malkin's. "-and he said people from Muggle families shouldn't even be allowed in -"
"Yer not from a Muggle family. If he'd known who yeh were - he's grown up knowin' yer name if his parents were wizardin' folk - you saw 'em in the Leaky Cauldron. Anyway, what does he know about it, some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line o' Muggles - look at yer mum!
Lily looked proud. "He thinks I'm one of the best!"
"You are," muttered James, turning red..
The girls giggled.
Look at what she had fer a sister!"
"So what is Quidditch?"
"Hurry up and tell him!" exclaimed James.
"It's only a game," said Lily. Sirius and James gave her looks as if she were crazy.
It's our sport, wizard sport. It's like - like football in the Muggle world - everyone follows Quidditch - played up in the air on broomsticks and there's four balls - sorta hard ter explain the rules."
"And what are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?"
"School houses. There are four. Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o' duffers, but -"
"I bet I'm in Hufflepuff," said Harry gloomily.
"No, you're the bravest and most selfless person I've ever met, Harry."
Harry turned red at Ginny's compliment. "Thanks."
Hermione tried to stifle her giggles.
"No, Harry, you'll be in Gryffindor, like your parents and the rest of the Marauders." said James.
"Better Hufflepuff than Slytherin," said Hagrid darkly. "There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one."
"What about Peter? He was in Gryffindor!"
"Good point."
"Vol - sorry - You-Know-Who was at Hogwarts?" "Years an' years ago," said Hagrid.
They bought Harry's school books in a shop called Flourish and Blotts where the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all. Even Dudley, who never read anything, would have been wild to get his hands on some of these.
Hagrid almost had to drag Harry away from Curses and Counter-Curses (Bewitch your Friends and Befuddle your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and much, much more) by Professor Vindictus Viridian.
"Wow," said Sirius, impressed, "Harry has good taste!"
"Thanks!"
"I was trying to find out how to curse Dudley."
"How good of you, to try and prank him."
"I'm not sayin' that's not a good idea, but yer not ter use magic in the Muggle world except in very special circumstances," said Hagrid. "An' anyway, yeh couldn' work any of them curses yet, yeh'll need a lot more study before yeh get ter that level."
Hagrid wouldn't let Harry buy a solid gold cauldron, either ("It says pewter on yer list"),
"Just like his father!" said Lily. "A total show off!" James smiled.
but they got a nice set of brass scales for weighing potion ingredients and a collapsible brass telescope. Then they visited the apothecary's, which was fascinating enough to make up for its horrible smell, a mixture of bad eggs and rotted cabbages.
"Eww."
Barrels of slimy stuff stood on the floor, jars of herbs, dried roots and bright powders lined the walls, bundles of feathers, strings of fangs and snarled claws hung from the ceiling. While Hagrid asked the man behind the counter for a supply of some basic potion ingredients for Harry, Harry himself examined silver unicorn horns at twenty-one Galleons each and minuscule, glittery black beetle eyes (five knuts a scoop).
Outside the apothecary's, Hagrid checked Harry's list again. "Just yer wand left - oh yeah, an' I still haven't got yeh a birthday present."
"Awww, isn't that sweet of Hagrid?" asked lily. James nodded, though he looked just a little disgusted.
Harry felt himself go red. "You don't have to -" "I know I don't have to. Tell yeh what, I'll get yer an animal. Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years ago, yeh'd be laughed at -an' I don' like cats, they make me sneeze. I'll get yer an owl. All the kids want owls, they're dead useful, carry yer post an' everythin'."
Twenty minutes later, they left Eeylops Owl Emporium, which had been dark and full of rustling and flickering, jewel-bright eyes. Harry now carried a large cage which held a beautiful snowy owl, fast asleep with her head under her wing. He couldn't stop stammering his thanks, sounding just like Professor Quirrell.
"Hey! Harry has the same kind of owl as I do!" exclaimed Lily excitedly.
"Don' mention it, said Hagrid gruffly. "Don' expect you've had a lotta presents from them Dursleys.
"That was my first real birthday present."
Everyone glared at the book.
James and Lily glared at the book again.
Just Ollivanders left now - only place fer wands, Ollivanders, and yeh gotta have the best wand."
A magic wand... this was what Harry had been really looking forward to.
The last shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.
"Has that wand ever moved?" asked Sirius. The others shrugged.
"Probably not. I think Ollivander had other things to do other than change the wands in the window."
"Hey, what if out of all the wands in the store, yours was the one in the window? Do you think Ollivander would remember it?" Fred wondered.
"Is it even a real wand?" Harry asked.
A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty for a single spindly chair which Hagrid sat on to wait. Harry felt strangely as though he'd entered a very strict library; he swallowed a lot of new questions which had just occurred to him and looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. For some reason, the back of his neck prickled. The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic.
"I wonder how he organizes the wand boxes." Hermione said.
"The room hasn't changed much, either," commented James.
"Good afternoon," said a soft voice. Harry jumped. Hagrid must have jumped, too, because there was a loud crunching noise and he got quickly off the spindly chair.
Ron sniggered.
An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop.
"Hello," said Harry awkwardly.
"Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter." It wasn't a question.
"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.
"How does he remember all these wands?" Ginny wondered.
"I can't believe he still remembers that!" exclaimed Lily. "Though he didn't mention my core. It's unicorn hair."
James smiled. "Fitting. The most beautiful animal in the world provides the wand ore for the most beautiful woman." Lily blushed.
The girls sighed. "That's so sweet."
Harry was smiling.
Nice wand for charm work."
"Well, Charms is my best subject," said Lily.
Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Harry. Harry wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy.
"Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration.
James pulled out his wand. "He got my right, too. Though he didn't mention the core, either. It's phoenix feather.
"Yey! I share the same core as him!"
"Hey Hermione!" Ron said suddenly. "I know everyones' cores here but you. What type is your wand?"
"Beechwood and dragon heartstring. It's nine inches."
And Transfiguration is my best subject." He turned a cushion into a large bag, then back again.
Well, I say your father favored it- it's really the wand that chooses the wizard , of course." My Ollivander had come so close that he and Harry were almost nose to nose. Harry could see himself reflected in those misty eyes.
"That must be freaky."
"And that's where..." Mr. Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harry's forehead with a long, white finger. "I'm sorry to say that I sold the wand that did it," he said softly.
"Thirteen and a half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands... Well, if I'd known what that wand was going out in the world to do..."
He shook his head and then, to Harry's relief, spotted Hagrid.
"Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again... Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?"'
"That's a long wand."
"Well, if he had it any shorter, you couldn't see it in his hand, could you?"
"What about Hagrid's wand core?" asked Sirius.
"Dragon heartstring," answered Lily. "I asked him once."
"It was, sir, yes," said Hagrid.
"Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?" said Mr. Ollivander, suddenly stern.
"Er - yes, they did, yes," said Hagrid, shuffling his feet. "I've still got the pieces, though," he added brightly.
"But you don't use them?" said Mr. Ollivander sharply.
"Oh, no, sir," said Hagrid quickly. Harry noticed he gripped his pink umbrella very tightly as he spoke.
"Sure you don't, yeah right." Harry said.
"Yeah right," muttered James sarcastically.
"Not again!"
"Hmmm," said Mr. Ollivander, giving Hagrid a piercing look. "Well, now - Mr. Potter. Let me see."
He pulled a long tape measure with silver marking out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?" "Er - well, I'm right-handed," said Harry.
"Hold out your arm. That's it." He measured Harry from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head.
"I never realized the point of all those measurements."
As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns or dragons or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."
"Never knew that," said Sirius.
"Well, you'll have to read more," said remus.
Harry suddenly realized that the tape measure, which was measuring between his nostrils, was doing this on its own. Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes.
"That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave."
"Hey, that's my wand!" Hermione exclaimed. "That's exactly what he said when he asked me to try it!"
"Weird."
Harry took the wand and (feeling foolish) waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander took it out of his hand almost at once.
"Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try -"
Harry tried - but he had hardly raised it when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander.
"No, no - here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."
Harry tried. And tried. He had no idea what Mr. Ollivander was waiting for. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.
"It took me forever to find my wand, too," said Sirius, remembering.
"You started complaining that your arm hurt," added James.
"My wand was, I think, the fifth try?" Ginny said.
"Lucky."
"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."
Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers.
"Finally!"
"He's found the right wand, then," said James. "That's what happened to me when I found my wand."
He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on the walls.
"I did that, too," said James, sounding impressed. "Harry really does take after me!"
"Well, you do look almost exactly like him."
Hermione was wondering of Harry took after him in his affection for redheads.
Hagrid whooped and clapped and Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. 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?"
Mr. Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare. "I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter.
"You don't say," said Sirius sarcastically.
Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather - just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother - why, its brother gave you that scar."
"That connection saved my life."
The others looked shocked and Peter dropped the book. Finally Peter picked it up again and continued reading.
Harry swallowed. "Yes, thirteen and a half inches. Yew. 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, He Who Must Not Be Named did great things - terrible, yes, but great."
"He sounds like a You-Know-Who supporter." George said.
"Just say the name!" Harry said, annoyed. "Call him Voldie if you want, or Tom, but quoting Dumbledore, fear of a name increases fear of the thing."
"Ooh, I like that! George, lets call him Voldie. Or Ickle-Voldikins"
They all shuddered again.
Harry shivered. He wasn't sure he liked Mr. Ollivander too much. He paid seven gold Galleons for his wand and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his shop.
The late-afternoon sun hung low in the sky as Harry and Hagrid made their way back down Diagon Alley, back through the wall, back through the Leaky Cauldron, now empty. Harry didn't speak at all as they walked down the road; he didn't even notice how much people were gawping at them on the Underground, laden as they were with all their funny-shaped packages, with the sleeping snowy owl on Harry's lap.
Up another escalator, out into Paddington station; Harry only realized where they were when Hagrid tapped him on the shoulder. "Got time fer a bite to eat before yer train leaves," he said.
"Aww, that's sweet," said Lily. smiling. "Buying Harry a meal before he has to return to the Dursleys."
He bought Harry a hamburger and they sat down on plastic seats to eat them.
Harry kept looking around. Everything looked so strange, somehow.
"I felt like that after I went to Diagon Alley," said Lily. "One minutes I'm buying my stuff for Hogwarts, next I'm back to acting like a Muggle."
"It is weird" said Hermione.
"You all right, Harry? Yer very quiet," said Hagrid.
Harry wasn't sure he could explain. He'd just had the best birthday of his life - and yet - he chewed his hamburger, trying to find the words.
"Everyone thinks I'm special," he said at last. "All those people in the Leaky Cauldron, Professor Quirrell, Mr. Ollivander ... but I don't know anything about magic at all. How can they expect great things?
"Well, you survived the Killing Curse!" exclaimed James. "That's why!"
I'm famous and I can't even remember what I'm famous for. I don't know what happened when Vol- sorry - I mean, the night my parents died."
The others were silent. A tear fell down Lily's cheek and Peter looked very sad.
"Why should he look sad? He's probably already-"
"Harry! Calm down!" Ron said.
Hagrid leant across the table. Behind the wild beard and eyebrows he wore a very kind smile.
"Don' you worry, Harry. You'll learn fast enough. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts, you'll be just fine. Just be yerself. I know it's hard. Yeh've been singled out, an' that's always hard. But yeh'll have a great time at Hogwarts - I did - still do, 'smatter of fact."
Hagrid helped Harry on to the train that would take him back to the Dursleys, then handed him an envelope.
"Yer ticket fer Hogwarts," he said. "First o' September - King's Cross - it's all on yer ticket. Any problems with the Dursleys, send me a letter with yer owl, she'll know where to find me... See yer soon, Harry."
The train pulled out of the station. Harry wanted to watch Hagrid until he was out of sight; he rose in his seat and pressed his nose against the window, but he blinked and Hagrid had gone.
"That's the end of the chapter," said Peter.
Sirius jumped up. "Let's all have some lunch, then continue reading." So everyone headed down to the Great Hall for lunch, discussing what they had read so far.
"Okay, who wants to read next?"
"I will" said George.
"Here ya go."