Chapter Four: Out of Grimmauld Place
*5:11 AM, Saturday July 30th; Number Twelve Grimmauld Place*
Harry roll over in his bed having the most wonderful dream about Hermione. He tossed and turned for the good part of an hour before waking up to a loud crash from the hallway. Slowly he got up and wandered towards the door. Peeking into the hallway he noticed that Ginny had run into the long table set against the wall, and she started limping off to her room.
Back in bed, Harry closed his eyes determined to get back to the dream he had left not too long ago. As he drifted off he could hear grunts coming from Ron's bed, and a creak in the floor every once in a while. Finally, his mind left him as he fell into a peaceful sleep.
*9:23 AM, Saturday July 30th; Number Twelve Grimmauld Place*
Harry woke up to a large mound of ginger fur up his nose, and in his eyes. The tuft of fur got off of his face and he realized that it was Crookshanks, Hermione's cat. He rubbed his eyes and put on his glasses. He glanced over in Ron's direction, to see his bed empty.
I suppose he's already eating. Harry went out the door and headed down the stairs and into the kitchen. Everyone but the twins were down there eating a gracious breakfast Mrs. Weasley had made them. He went over and plopped himself into the seat in between Ron and Hermione.
After breakfast, everyone showered and dressed ready to head off to Diagon Alley for school supplies, and mainly just to leave the house for a few precious hours. "Now," Mrs. Weasley started, "If you all behave nicely I just might take you to Hogsmeade. I need to check in on Fred and George to make sure they have everything in order to re-open the shop."
"Wicked! I've wanted to tour the shop ever since they left school." Ron said excitedly. They were near the front door when a startling sound erupted near them. With a loud crack, Kreacher appeared before them. Damn. I forgot that thing was still here. Harry thought of Sirius and how much he hated the house elf.
"Bloody hell! You almost gave us heart attacks!" Ron yelled angrily. "The tall ugly one speaks to Kreacher like he cares. No, they are all blood traitors…………yes……………if mistress lived Kreacher wouldn't have to look at the horrible Mudblood and her filthy friends." Hermione had already gotten used to Kreacher calling her the M word, but she still kept insisting that he was a bit off of his rocker and didn't know what he was really saying.
Kreacher hobbled to the door and held it open for them to go. Outside they were greeted by an old, large friend. "Oy, Hagrid!" Ron exclaimed as they looked out of the doorway. "'Ello Ron, Harry, `Ermione. How was yer summer?" he asked. "It's been wonderful. It's great to see you again Hagrid." Harry replied.
"Why are you here Hagrid?" Hermione asked curiously. "Well, I'm `ere to escort you lot ter Diagon Alley. I need ter buy some stuff meself while we're there." Hagrid explained. "Let's get going. We have a lot to buy and not a lot of time." Mrs. Weasley said as she pushed them all out the door.
As they all filed onto the porch of the house, they all thought of the same question, but it came out of Harry's mouth first. "How exactly are we to get there Hagrid?" he asked. "The Knight Bus o'course! Dumbledore added a charm er two ter make sure that the bus is safe fer us." Just then Hagrid pulled out his umbrella and lit the end. A few seconds later, a giant triple-decker bus appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
"Welcome to the Knight Bus. I'm your conductor Jason Addlebee." A tall boy, about 19 or so stepped onto the sidewalk. "What happened to Stan?" Ginny asked. "Oh, he found a new job in Diagon Alley. Something about Broomsticks, anyways, welcome to the Knight Bus!" Jason stepped aside to allow everyone to get into the bus.
They all entered and wandered towards the back. The bus was now covered in squishy armchairs, because it was daytime. All of them found a chair and sat down. Mrs. Weasley was next to Ginny, Harry and Hermione sat next to each other while Ron sat across. "Where to?" asked Jason.
"Diagon Alley, as fast as possible." Mrs. Weasley said. "Diagon Alley it is then." He turned around and went to the front of the bus. All of a sudden the bus sprang to life and set off. "Hagrid, don't we have to pay to ride on this?" Harry said, remembering that he had paid 11 sickles to go to London in his third year.
"Yes, but Dumbledore a'ready paid fer us." Hagrid said with a smile. "Oh, okay then." Harry turned to Ron and they started to play a game of Gobstones. A half-an-hour passed and the bus stopped. "The Leaky Couldron, London!" Yelled the driver. "All righ' you lot. Off o' the bus, and inter the pub." Hagrid said hurriedly.
Mrs. Weasley led all of them to the back of the pub and into the back alleyway. Hagrid once again took out his umbrella and tapped the bricks. The wall started shifting, until a doorway appeared. With Hagrid in front and Mrs. Weasley behind, all of them shuffled until they were all the way into the Alley. "Righ'. I have ter get some Doxy spray, so I'll meet up with ye at the front of Florean's ice cream shop in a bit." Hagrid wandered off.
"We're going to Gringott's to pick up some money for the supplies." Mrs. Weasley told them. As they headed towards the bank, Harry and Ron spotted a new model broom in the Quality Quidditch Supplies store. "What model is that?" Harry asked. "Oh, that? It's a Dragonwing. That's the newest model. Much slower than your Firebolt though, Harry. It was in an add in the Prophet. I would love one, but they're pretty expensive."
They stopped at the front doors of the huge bank. "Name." said a guard. "Mrs. Molly Weasley, and guests." she stated. He stepped aside and let them enter the first pair of doors. At the second they were stopped yet again. " Wands please." Another guard said. They all handed over their wands, and watched the goblin test them.
After the security checks, they finally stepped into the bank itself. They all followed Mrs. Weasley as she walked up to a familiar looking goblin. "Hello. I would like to make a withdrawal, and so would Mr. Harry Potter as well." Mrs. Weasley told the creature. "Do you have your keys?" Mrs. Weasley handed him Harry's, and her keys.
The goblin led them to the cart and they all filed in one at a time. Off they went into the dim-lit tunnels until they stopped in front of the Weasley's vault first. "Vault 368." The goblin announced. Mrs. Weasley got out first and followed the creature to the door. It unlocked the door and Mrs. Weasley went inside. A few seconds later she left the vault and shut the door.
The cart started moving again, deeper into the depths of the underground. Again, they stopped in front of a vault, but this was Harry's. "Vault 687." The goblin announced. Harry got out first, and everyone followed suit. The goblin unlocked the vault and the large door swung open revealing piles upon piles of gold, silver, and bronze coins.
"Bloody hell, Harry……" Ron said with his mouth hanging open. Harry walked forward and scooped up a handful of each coin. As they walked out, Harry turned to Hermione, Ron, and Ginny. "You can all have ten galleons. My treat." Mrs. Weasley opened her mouth to object, but Harry cut her off. " I insist Mrs. Weasley. You can take 100, for food and things of that sort."
She smiled at him and hesitantly walked forward and started counting out 100 galleons. After everyone had their money, they re-entered the cart and left Gringott's. "Thank you very much, Harry!" yelled Ginny. She gave him a quick hug, and so did Hermione. Mrs. Weasley hugged him for a long time. "Thank you very much Harry dear. " a tear was going down her cheek. "You deserve it. Thank you for being my family."
Mrs. Weasley wiped her face, and turned so she was facing the four of them. "Alright, now that that is in order, Ginny and I are going to Flourish and Blotts to purchase all of your school books. You can wander, but don't you dare stray to Knockturn Alley. Meet us in front of Fred and George's shop in two hours, and we will head to Hogsmeade."
She grabbed Ginny by the shoulders and headed to the book shop. "Where to first?" Ron asked. " Quality Quidditch Supplies." Harry said quickly. "I need more broom handle polish." He lied. Harry had a massive amount of Broom Handle Polish already. He had other plans in mind.
Harry led them into the shop, and almost immediately Ron ran over to the window display of the Dragonwing. Hermione followed Harry to the cashier. "Welcome to Quality Quidditch Supplies. My name is Onto DeLongri. Can I help you in any way?" the man asked. "Yes, I would like to buy a Dragonwing, how much do they cost?" Harry asked him.
"The Dragonwing costs 34 galleons, 12 sickles, and 7 knuts." Harry rummaged through his money until he gathered the right amount and handed it to Onto. "Alright, would you like it gift wrapped?" he asked Harry. "Yes, please." Onto started to wrap a broom in simple brown paper. After he was finished, he handed it to Harry, telling him to have fun with it.
Harry left the shop with the broom in hand. Hermione followed him, but Ron was still inside gaping at the display window. Hermione went back in and pulled Ron away and out of the door with great force. When they were both outside, Ron noticed that Harry was carrying a broom-shaped package. "What's that Harry?" he asked.
"It's for you mate." Harry handed the parcel over to Ron, and he quickly tore it open. "The gift wrap was pretty useless, huh?" Harry said to Hermione. "WOW! This is GREAT! You're the BEST HARRY!" Ron yelled when he realized that he was holding a Dragonwing. "Your very welcome Ron. Let's go to the twin's shop now." Harry led them down the alleyway, while Ron was yelling how wonderful Harry was, and how he couldn't wait to ride his present.
All three of them stopped in front of he shop, and waited for Mrs. Weasley, Ginny to show. Hermione had spotted a new quill in a display, and went over to buy one. "Harry, mate. You need to tell her today, or she'll find out from me tomorrow, mark my words." Ron said. "I know, I know. I'll tell her at Hogsmeade, I promise." Just then Hermione walked back up to them with a new quill in hand.
Ten minutes later, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley walked up next to them with a rather large pile of books in their hands. As they entered the shop, they heard two very familiar red-heads in the backround. "George, get more Skiving Snackboxes from the back room!" Fred yelled. "Right!" George yelled in reply. Ginny ran up to her brother and gave him a large hug, that almost made him topple over in surprise.
"Well, hello all!" Fred said happily. Ginny released her brother, smiling. "How's it going, you two?" Harry asked. "Wonderful, mate. Thanks to you this place has been extremely busy with students and some adults even." George replied. He came out from the back room and received a large hug from Ginny. "It's great to see all of you!" For the next few hours, they talked and caught up with everyone.
"Well, we'd better be off boys." Mrs. Weasley said. She gave each of them a peck on the cheek and a hug. "Best of luck. You both be very careful with yourselves." She said as she released them. Fred and George gave Ginny a long hug, and Hermione a quick one. They shook Ron and Harry's hands before they departed. "Now, to Hogsmeade!" Ginny yelled excitedly.
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