Chapter Five
The large and beautiful circular room was now empty, there were no noises except for a number of curious silver instruments that stood on spindle-legged tables, whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke. An enormous, claw footed desk sat facing the large wooden door. A roaring fire danced in the fireplace, the main source of light in the room.
Soon voices could be heard outside and three people walked in, one looking very agitated. "Albus, he should be removed immediately. He is in danger while staying there, did you not see the cut he had over his left eye. And remember his `accident' a few months back. It was quite obvious he was running away from something or more likely someone!" McGonagall said, wringing her hands.
"Minerva, I have seen precisely what you have seen, but it is my belief, that Harry faces more danger in Lord Voldemort, than he does with his relatives." When McGonagall tried to argue, he continued in a more commanding tone. "Harry will stay the remainder of his holiday in Diagon Alley. After the school year he will return to Little Whinging, but maybe he will not return to the Dursley's, who knows." Dumbledore once again had that knowing smile on his face, which told Snape and McGonagall that he knew more about the situation then they did.
Professor McGonagall sighed in defeat. "I'm just worried. When I used to watch him during the summer, he always looked as if he had given up hope."
Dumbledore adorned a kind smile. "Well then, hopefully we can return his hope." McGonagall chuckled at his choice of words. Snape just gave him an uninterested look, his sallow skin illuminated by the flames of the fire.
"Severus, a word if you please," Dumbledore said quietly. McGonagall wished them goodnight and returned to her quarters, secretly grateful not to be in the office while they spoke, she had sneaky suspicion what it was about.
Dumbledore seated himself behind his desk. "I ask only one thing of you this year, do not hold Harry's father against him. It would do no good." Snape looked at him, an unreadable expression on his face. Then he nodded and quietly left the room.
Dumbledore remained writing in his office until there was a burst of flame on his desk and a beautiful bird appeared. It had a wonderful red and gold plumage and was very handsome. It dropped a letter on Dumbledore's desk and then went to its perch.
Dumbledore picked up the letter and read it carefully. A thoughtful expression on his face, he said, "My, my Nicholas. It has been a long time"
Harry woke the next morning, after only a few hours sleep. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes then ran upstairs to have quick shower before he left the Dursleys. He was surprised to find that the Dursley's were not yet up from there sleep, but then after giving it more thought he realized that there was probably some magic at play.
Harry found his best pair of clothes, which really were worn down as they had once belonged to Dudley. It was a very baggy red shirt and a faded pair of jeans. It seemed only a few minutes later that there was a huge knock on the front door. Harry wondered whether some of the paint had been scraped off.
He opened the door cautiously and his jaw dropped. Standing in front of him was a giant of a man. He was twice the size of a normal man, and at least five times as wide. Harry thought he looked wild- long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of dustbin lids and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins.
Harry would have been terrified had he not seen the man eyes. They were glinting like black beetles under all the hair, yet now they were crinkled in a smile. Harry quickly closed his mouth as he thought he must look very rude. "Hullo, Harry. My name's Hagrid." He held out his hand and shook Harry's whole arm. "Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby. God, yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mum's eyes."
Harry would have gone and packed all his things together but as he didn't have anything he just left. As they were walking down Privet Drive Harry asked Hagrid where they were going. "Up t' London, get all yer school supplies." Harry then thought of something that made him stop dead in his tracks. "But Hagrid I don't have any money!' Hagrid laughed sympathetically. "Yer don think yer parents left you anything. They left you money but its in a bank called Gringotts."
"Really, I didn't know wizards had banks." Harry said. He was very interested in the matter of wizards. Hagrid told Harry all about Hogwarts and told him things concerning the wizarding community. Harry wondered how the wizards remained among what Hagrid called Muggles for so long. They talked like this until they arrived in London. Harry had never been in London before. Although Hagrid seemed to know his way around, he was obviously not used to getting there in the 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.
They walked through the streets of London fairly quickly due to Hagrid's size which parted the crowd easily. They passed book shops, music shops, hamburger bars and cinemas, but nowhere looked as if they could sell a magic wand. Then after a few more minutes, Hagrid stopped outside a tiny, grubby-looking pub. "Ah, here we are, The Leaky Cauldron, bes' mead in Britain, s'far as I'm concerned. Tis a famous place." Hagrid said as he ushered Harry in
For a famous place, it was very dark and shabby. There was a strong smell of ancient rotting wood mixed in with alcohol. Harry turned his attention to the people who were currently in the pub. A few old women sat in the corner drinking tiny glasses of ruby colored sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A few wizards sat in the corner playing what Harry supposed was poker, but every now and again the deck of cards would start screaming. There was a loud chattering going on when they had entered the pub, but as they made their way through the crowd of people standing at the bar, Harry realized the babbling became less noisy. By the time they reached the back door of the pub there was dead silence. Hagrid turned around to look at the silent customers and Harry followed his gaze.
The Leaky Cauldron had gone completely still. Harry heard the scraping of a chair which resounded in the silence. An elderly wizard with a top hat bent down and stared at Harry with wonder in his eyes. "Bless my soul, it's Harry Potter."
All of a sudden, there was a great increase in the level of noise as people made their way forward to see Harry, who found himself shaking hands with nearly everyone in the pub.
"Welcome back, Mr. Potter, welcome back. Wait till I tell Cedric, he won't believe me."
"Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter, can't believe I'm meeting you at last."
"So proud, Mr. Potter, I'm just so proud."
This continued for a few minutes until Hagrid made himself heard over the crowd and announced that he and Harry had business to attend to.
They made their way out into a tiny courtyard, Harry's mind still on what had happened. He couldn't believe it. In all his life he had only spoke to a few people, and now he was in a world where everyone wanted to see and speak to him. The strangest thing was that it was the same world; also Harry wasn't sure how much he liked it. All those people thought he was famous, a legend, that he was some sort of hero, but he couldn't even remember anything of that night ten years ago.
Hagrid was meanwhile tapping the opposite wall of the courtyard. A small hole appeared and grew wider and seconds later, they were facing a tall archway. Hagrid walked through as if nothing spectacular had happened, while Harry sported a look of amazement. Harry could almost feel the magic from Diagon Alley. Shop signs jutted out dangerously on to the long winding path which led to a snowy white building. On either side of the path were shops selling robes, potion ingredients, animals and spell books. People were bustling by with varying colored robes, making Harry feel as if the whole street was actually moving.
As they approached the golden doors of Gringotts, Harry realized that there were two goblins standing on either side of the entrance. Hagrid seeing the expression on Harry's face whispered "Don't worry Harry. If you don't mess with them they won' do ye no harm. But I don't wish to spend too long in here, so we bes' get goin."
They entered a vast marble hall. There were designs on the floor of the hall and also on the roof. Counters surrounded them; goblins were scribbling in ledgers, weighing coins on brass scales or examining precious stones through eye glasses. When they approached the counter Hagrid seemed to be a bit agitated and in a hurry. He became flustered when the goblin ignored them and continued trying to count in his head as he read the calculations off a long roll. "245 plus 674……. plus 1,236… plus 832." He paused for a second. Harry who was also getting a bit impatient decided to speed up the dealings. "2987." The goblin looked shocked. He peered at Harry for a moment before reading out more numbers. "876…663…753…1,943." He looked up at Harry expectantly. "4226." Harry replied. The goblin read out more numbers and about ten minutes later, after Harry had answered more questions which included division and minor algebra, the goblin decided to start the dealings. Harry looked at Hagrid who winked encouragingly at him and gave him a huge smile. He looked very pleased.
Harry was made to sign some forms as he was now in charge of the vault. He found it hard to concentrate considering the goblin serving them kept staring at him. A few minutes later, Hagrid, Harry and a goblin named Griphook were hurtling through passages under the ground until they stopped quite abruptly at a vault. Harry climbed out eagerly; he wanted to find out how much money there was in the vault. It wasn't the fact that he wanted to spent the inheritance; it was just the fact that the money had once belonged to his parents and this was all he had left from them.
Harry nearly collapsed when the vault door opened. There were mounds of gold coins, columns of silver coins and heaps of bronze coins. Harry began to pile some of the money into a bag, while Hagrid told him the names of the coins and how much they were worth.
When they had clambered back into the cart, Harry was surprised to find they weren't going back to the exit. When he asked Hagrid this, he replied "Sorry `arry, jus' some Hogwarts business. More'n my jobs worth ter tell the that."
Hagrid got back out of the cart at the next stop. He quickly opened the vault door with Griphook's assistance and took something out, which he then placed in his pocket.
When they made there way back into the marble hall Harry turned to see Hagrid who still looked very pleased about something. "What?" Harry asked questioningly. "Where'd ye learn to add up so fast, eh? That was summit else, that was. You even had that goblin stumped."
Harry was about to answer that he didn't think it was that special, just that he was always good with numbers, when there was a shout behind them and the sound of running footsteps echoed in the hall. Harry turned to see a man making his way towards him. "Great Scott, you're alright."
Harry didn't have the faintest idea who this man was. He was dressed in a pair of jeans and wore a brown faded leather jacket, so Harry had to guess he was a muggle. "Er, sorry, but do I know you?' he asked in what he hoped was a polite way. `You wouldn't remember me, I was there the day you had your accident. I tried to contact you but the hospital didn't have any information on you. But my god it's good to see you're doing well. My wife and daughter are probably in a bookshop, they were there also, the day you had the accident. My daughter was more worried than I was."
Harry found himself startled by this news. "Well, em, thank you for helping me. I think the doctor mentioned you while I was in hospital. So, are you a wizard?"
"No, no. My daughter is a witch though. She was ever so excited when she received her letter. My wife and I were tempted to sedate her!" he joked. "Well I best be off, my wife will scold me if I don't go now, considering I have the money. Hope I see you again. Goodbye."
"Bye." Said Harry as he watched the man leave. "Wow, small world, eh, Hagrid."
They made their way out to the sunlit streets, the sunlight dazzling there eyes as they spent so much time underground. They first went to a shop where Harry bought his cauldron and also some potion ingredients. After visiting another few shops picking up various needed things, they made their way to a book shop called Flourish & Blotts. The shop was packed with shelves containing books of all sorts. Hagrid had brought a list of all the books Harry needed. Harry had great fun looking through the different books and even bought a book that wasn't on the list. He thought it might help him in his studies. It was called More Magical Methods by Nixdork Spellarama. It was basically some background on some spells and also magical methods. There were a few chapters devoted to wand control.
After they had finished at the bookstore Hagrid told Harry that he should get his wand next. "I'm goin to go get your birthday present while you get yer wand." Harry felt himself go red with embarrassment. He'd never received a birthday present, and he didn't even know Hagrid that long. "Please, y…you don't h…have to." Harry stammered. Hagrid smiled sympathetically and put his arm around Harry's shoulders and shook him, which nearly sent Harry flying considering Hagrid's size. "I know, I'll get you yer animal. An owl! They're dead useful, and great pets." He walked off before Harry could argue.
Harry made his own way to the shop Hagrid had told him to go. Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C hung over the narrow and shabby building. As Harry entered, he had the feeling that there was magic everywhere. Like magic had replaced the air. He shut the door silently and the noises from outside immediately ceased. "Good afternoon."
Harry didn't know how he knew, but for some reason he had anticipated the voice he had heard. He put it down to the fact that there was so much magic surrounding him. A man stepped out from behind the shelves. He was old and his wide, pale eyes were shining in the gloom of the shop. "Ah, I wondered when I'd be seeing you. Harry Potter."
Mr. Ollivander began stepping closer to Harry and took out a tape measure and began to take Harry's measurements. He then walked over to the shelves and began lifting off boxes of wands for Harry to try. The first wand Harry tried produced red and green sparks. Ollivander gazed at it thoughtfully. "Hmm, does it feel right?" he asked, not really expecting an answer. "No, it doesn't." Harry replied, again he didn't know how he knew. He tried more wands each with the same effect. Mr. Ollivander seemed very excited and yet thoughtful. He decided he would take the measurement again. He went to retrieve the tape measure which he had left on his small mahogany desk. When he turned back around, he watched amazed as Harry walked straight over to one of the shelves and removed a box from the stack.
Harry gazed down at the box, and slowly removed the wine-colored cover. He took the wand in his hand and lifted it out of the box. Suddenly, it felt as if the shop had begun to shake. Boxes fell off shelves and a glass vase of flowers toppled off Mr. Ollivanders desk and smashed on to the ground. Then it stopped and all that could be heard was the very quiet rambling of the shoppers outside. "This one." Harry said.
A few minutes later Harry left the shop with his new wand in his pocket. Mr.Ollivander had been completely shocked at Harry's choice. Most curious he had said when he examined the wand. He then told Harry that the same phoenix whose tail feather resides in Harry's wand gave another feather-just one other. "It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother-why, it's brother gave you that scar." He had said. Harry was dumb-founded. He left the shop a bit shaken and also in a state of shock.
Mr. Ollivander repaired his shop, he laughed at the amount of times Harry had apologized. He then went straight to the back of the shop and searched through a book shelf until he came across a black leather-bound one. He rifled through the pages and finally found the one he was looking for. He nearly dropped the book when he read what he needed to. That the last wizard or witch who had ever had such a reaction to their wand as Harry had was Merlin.
Harry found Hagrid in the Leaky Cauldron. Hagrid seemed a bit embarrassed to be found drinking in a pub, when he was supposed to helping Harry, but Harry just laughed it off saying that when he was old enough, Hagrid could buy him a drink as compensation. Hagrid chuckled, he was glad to see Harry had come a bit more out of his shell since that morning. "Here ye go, Harry. Happy Birthday," he said, handing him over a cage. The cage was large and held a beautiful snowy owl, fast asleep with her head under her wing. Harry couldn't stop stammering his thanks. Hagrid then booked a room for Harry to stay in for the remainder of his holidays and organized dinner.
As they ate dinner together, Harry voiced some of his worries from earlier on. "Everyone thinks I'm special, they all expect so much. But I don't know anything about magic at all. I mean, I suppose I can try and do some research before I go to Hogwarts but everyone expects these great things. I mean they think I'm famous because I defeated Vol- sorry You-Know-Who, but I don't even remember that night, I mean I can't even remember my parents." Harry sighed in frustration. He let his knife and fork fall to the plate as he wasn't in the mood to eat anymore. He then felt stupid for sharing his feelings with Hagrid, after all they weren't Hagrid problems. "Sorry Hagrid." Hagrid leant across the table wearing a very kind smile. "Don't worry, you'll learn quick enough, if yer anythin like yer parents, which I can already see yer are. I know its hard, you've been singled out and that's always hard. But you'll have a great time at Hogwarts-I did-still do s'matter of fact."
After dinner Hagrid said goodbye to Harry while Harry thanked him for the wonderful birthday. As Harry lay on his very comfortable four-poster bed, he wondered what lay in his future. He had to admit that he was nervous, but then again anything that was in the future couldn't be worse than his past, could it?
End Chapter
Well there's another chapter. Hope you like it. Thanks for reading it. I'm off to bed I'm absolutely knackered, anyway thanks again, and don't forget to review, please! Also I wanted to ask whether I should make this darker than Philosopher's Stone. I was leaning towards yes, what do you think?
Take care, all,
Radagast
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