Disclaimer: It's JKR's, not mine. All of the characters, settings, and ideas from the books belong to JK Rowling. I have never, and will never profit from these writings. The only things that are mine are the parts of the plot differing from the books, any original characters, and the characterization of Hermione's parents.
Key: Sentences in italics with { } surrounding them indicates sign language. {Sort of like this}
AN: Well, I have now caught up with my posting on the other sites I use (ficwad and fanfiction.net). Unfortunately that means that updates will not come nearly as quickly. My average time between chapters is around two weeks, depending on what I have going on at college (during the weeks near exams I will not be able to work on the story nearly as much). Right now I'm about a week into writing the next chapter, so you shouldn't have to wait any more than ten days for me to post it. Thank you all for your excellent reviews.
Chapter 4: Shopping
Granger Residence, North London - Friday, 31 December, 1993
Harry looked around the room in which he had landed. It was a rather large room, larger than the one he had in the run-down apartment. There was a big couch along one wall as well as several reclining chairs scattered around the room. The walls were painted a peach color, and across from the couch was a large television sitting on a wooden stand. Most of the stand was hollow in the middle and contained shelves of videocassette tapes of various movies. On one side of the room there was a small fireplace. Several paintings hung from the walls, the windows had light colored drapery around them, and the room had a warm feeling to it.
{Would you like to eat some lunch?} Emma signed. She smiled at him when he nodded vigorously and she motioned for him to follow her as she left the room. Hestia, Hermione, and Blackie followed behind Harry as Emma led them into a large kitchen. {Please sit down at the table, Harry.} Emma signed to him.
He sat in the soft, comfortable chair at the table, as did Hestia, while Blackie curled up on the floor next to Harry's feet next to where he had placed his rucksack. Harry saw Emma and Hermione set down the basket that Emma had been carrying since leaving Hogwarts. They reached into it and pulled out a full set of plates and silverware, along with some food. It looked to be much more than the basket could hold, so he knew that it must have some sort of spell on it to allow that much inside.
Emma handed out plates to everyone. On the plates were ham sandwiches, chips, and a small pastry. It was one of the biggest meals Harry had ever seen. He looked around and saw everyone else begin to eat so he started to eat as well. His plate had two sandwiches which he wolfed down hungrily before eating most of the chips and the pastry. He looked around as he finished and was surprised to see he was the first one done. He took his remaining chips and fed them to Blackie.
He noticed all three women looking at him sadly. {When did you last have a meal, Harry?} Hermione signed.
{Blackie and I shared some ice cream for a treat today, that used up all of my money. I had half a tin of fruit yesterday.} He replied, shrugging.
{Well, you won't have to worry about food anymore. I'll make sure you get plenty here, and when we go to Hogwarts, you'll be able to get food whenever you want.} Emma signed to him.
The others were soon finished eating their lunch and stood up from the table. Emma turned to Hermione. "Hermione, why don't you show Harry around the house while I get the bed in the guestroom made for Harry to sleep in tonight."
"Alright mum," Hermione said. She turned to Harry. {Come on, Harry, I'm going to give you a tour of our house.}
She got up and Harry followed her out of the room with Blackie trotting alongside him. She led him down a hallway to a large entrance closed by two large oak doors. She turned the heavy brass knob of the door and pulled it open while allowing him to step inside the room.
When he looked inside he gasped aloud. It was a huge room, much larger than the room he had been living in. Two large windows looked out over the back lawn on one window. Every other section of the walls were covered by bookcases that nearly reached the vaulted ceiling of the room. Every bookcase was completely full, and there were even short book shelves beneath the windows. In the center of the room there were several reclining chairs as well as a wooden table.
He looked around in wonder at the room before looking over to Hermione who had moved beside him. {You have your own library here?} He asked in disbelief. Hermione nodded. {This is the family library. Most of this is my mum's that she has been collecting since she started high school. My mum and dad also have their own study a few doors down where they keep all of their work books and materials. I have my own bookshelves in my room with my own personal books. I'm sure you can tell we like reading in my family.} She signed with a grin on her face.
He smiled back at her. {I love to read too. Ever since I learned how, I've been reading every chance I get.} He signed, once again looking around at the hundreds and hundreds of books contained in the library.
{You can look around at the books if you'd like to, Harry.} Hermione signed to him.
They spent the next twenty minutes in the library, with Harry looking around at all of the books, and he and Hermione discussing some of them when he came upon one that he had already read.
When they were finished, Hermione led him around the rest of the house, making sure he knew where the loo was, and took him outside to show him their large yard. The large flower garden that took up a good portion of land near the back door was barren because of the winter, but Hermione told him that it was rather beautiful in the spring and summer.
Finally they went back into the house and Hermione took him upstairs to a bedroom at the end of the hall. {This will be where you sleep tonight, Harry.} She signed to him before pushing the door open.
The bedroom was rather large, with beige colored walls, two dressers against one wall, and a large bed against the other. A nightstand sat next to the bed with a lamp and an alarm clock.
Hermione watched Harry's eyes light up when he saw the room. He looked over to her. {I get to sleep here?} She nodded to him. He walked over to the bed and sat down on it, letting out a deep sigh when he felt how comfortable it was, especially compared to the cot that he had slept on the last few years.
He looked back up at Hermione who still stood in the doorway. {Can you tell me more about Hogwarts?} He asked her, and she smiled and sat on the bed next to him.
{Well, first of all, the students of the school are split up into four groups, called houses…}
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Emma Granger stepped away from the guest room door after having watched Hermione talking to Harry about Hogwarts. She had checked in on them several times over the past hour, and it seemed as if Harry had the same enthusiasm for learning new things as Hermione did.
Emma walked down to the kitchen where Hestia sat drinking some tea. Hestia looked up at her entrance. Emma sat down at the table next to her, smiling slightly. "Well, I think those two have hit it off rather well. I have a feeling they'll be great friends."
Hestia smiled back. "I hope so. Did you see all the books he had? I guess we'll have to wait and see which one of them likes to read more." Her expression dimmed as she remembered what she had been thinking about before Emma came in. She sighed and said, "I'll head back to Hogwarts in a while. I'm really not looking forward to telling Remus about Harry being deaf. I know him well enough to know that he'll blame himself for it, heck, even I feel guilty about it."
Emma nodded, looking down at her hands. "I know, he seems to try to take on blame for things that he has no control over." She looked back at Hestia. "At least stay for dinner before you leave, Hestia."
Hestia smiled gratefully. "Okay, I'll stay for dinner. I'll go talk to Minerva and Remus after we eat, and I'll stay at Hogwarts for the night. Tomorrow morning I have to be there for the Order meeting to tell them about Harry. We shouldn't be any later than ten o'clock. I'd like to come with you three when you go to Diagon Alley tomorrow, so could you wait for me?"
"Of course we'll wait. Well, I'd better get started on dinner." Emma said, getting up and walking over to turn on her oven.
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Emma passed her daughter's room and was surprised to see her in there, running a finger along the spines of her books that filled her large bookshelves.
"Honey? Where's Harry?" Hermione looked up, startled by her mother's voice.
"Oh, hi mum. Harry's back in his room. I'm finding a few books for him to read." She said, pointing to two books on her bed: Hogwarts, A History and Introduction to the Magical World: A Guidebook for Muggleborn Witches and Wizards. "I'm going to let him keep my first copy of Hogwarts, A History."
"That's very nice of you, honey. I just came up to tell you two that dinner is almost ready, so you should wash up and head for the kitchen. Get Harry for me, okay?"
"Alright, mum." Hermione said. "Is daddy coming home for dinner?"
Emma frowned. "No, I called him at the office but he said that since we weren't supposed to be here this weekend, he had planned a night out with some of his old university buddies to celebrate New Year's Eve."
Hermione pulled a third book off the shelf, Standard Book of Spells, Grade One. Emma's eyes widened. "Are you going to start teaching him magic already?"
Hermione smiled. "No, now I'm getting some of my First Year books to bring along so Harry can start learning once we get to school. I'll go get Harry now, and get the rest of the books later."
Emma nodded and left the room to finish setting the table. Hermione turned back to the books and set aside the textbook and then grabbed the other two and walked quickly out of the room and over to the guest room. Inside, she found Harry sitting in the same spot she had left him, except he was now petting his dog, Blackie, who had jumped up on the bed next to him. Blackie looked up when he heard her enter, causing Harry to look up as well, smiling slightly when he saw her come in, carrying two large books. She handed him the two books. {Here are the books I told you about, Harry. You can keep them, I have other copies.}
{Thanks, Hermione, but you don't have to give them to me.} Harry signed back.
{No, I want you to have them. Oh, my mum came up and said that it's almost time for dinner, so we should head downstairs.} Hermione signed to him.
{All right Hermione, whatever she made smells really good.} He signed before he set the books on the bed and followed her out of the room, Blackie walking right behind him.
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Dinner was the best meal Harry had ever eaten in his life. Emma had prepared salads, and had made a large Shepherd's pie. His favorite thing, however, was the delicious pumpkin pie that they ate after the main course. He found out from Hermione that it was one of her own favorite foods, and her mother made it for them every weekend that they came home from Hogwarts.
After dinner, Emma brought him to the loo near his room, and told him he could take a shower, and she would get Hestia to clean up his clothes with a spell before she left for the night.
She showed him how to work the shower controls and left to let him undress and set his clothes by the door. He stepped into the shower stall and turned the knob to the left, and let the hot water flow over his head. The closest he had ever come to taking a shower was in the summer when he stood outside in the rain, which was more than he ever got during his years with the Dursleys.
He had never felt such warm water, and because of that, he ended up staying in the shower for almost twenty minutes. Towards the end, as the water started to get cooler, he used the shampoo and body soap that Emma had given to him to wash himself.
He stepped out of the shower after drying off with large fluffy towel, and saw his now clean clothes sitting just inside the door. He slipped them on, welcoming the feeling of being totally clean for the first time he could remember.
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After Hestia used a cleaning charm on Harry's clothing, she said goodbye to Emma and Hermione, and took a Portkey out to Hogwarts to go inform Remus and Minerva about Harry. Emma had cooked some rice when she was cooking dinner, and she placed it in a bowl and gave it to Blackie to eat. She made a mental note to buy some dog food when they went to downtown London.
While Harry was showering, Emma and Hermione moved to the living room, bringing books with them to read while sitting next to each other on the couch. Emma sat down next to Hermione who was already reading the next few chapters for Transfiguration, probably for the third or fourth time.
"So, how are you getting along with Harry?" Emma asked as she sat down.
Hermione looked up from her book with a smile on her face. "Great. I really like him. He really likes reading and learning new things just like me, and he seems to like me too. I think we're going to be good friends. I can't wait to introduce him to Luna and Susan when we get back to school."
"That's great, sweetie. I think he really warmed up to you when he found out you knew sign language." Emma said.
"Yeah, I'm really glad that now he'll know at least two people that can use sign language, so he won't feel alone or out of place."
Emma nodded, looking down at her book. "Oh, tomorrow we're going to eat breakfast here and then wait for Hestia before we go to Diagon Alley. Could you get a list of books ready, so we know what we need to get Harry?"
Hermione grinned and pulled a folded piece of paper from the pocket of her jeans. "Already ahead of you, mum. I've got a list of all the books we've used since First year, and some books that I found useful to supplement the classes."
Emma gave her a mischievous smile and asked teasingly, "Ah, do you have his tutoring schedule all made out as well?"
"No, I only had enough time to just start it and…" Hermione stopped and blushed when she realised Emma was teasing her. "Mu-um. Very funny." She said in exasperation, rolling her eyes.
Emma chuckled and reached over to ruffle her daughter's already wild hair before she turned her attention back to her book. The two sat reading in a warm silence for ten more minutes. Just when Emma was starting to get worried about how long Harry had been in there, she heard the water turn off in the shower.
Several minutes later, Emma and Hermione looked up from their books when they heard Harry's footsteps reach the doorway of the living room. Emma saw her daughter's jaw drop, and nearly felt hers do the same. Harry looked almost completely different after his shower. Without all of the grime and dirt, his skin appeared much paler, but not quite as sickly as it had before. His hair, while still unruly, showed a natural shine rather than the dull color it had been. Overall, he looked a lot healthier now that he was clean even with the obvious malnourishment that was still visible.
{You look great, Harry}. Emma signed to him when he looked her way. {You're much more handsome when you're cleaned up} She signed, smiling when his cheeks turned red. {Why don't you get a book and join us here, Harry? It's sort of our family tradition on weekends to read together.}
"Okay, Mrs. Granger." Harry said, still looking embarrassed, before he went back to his room to grab a book. He came back carrying Hogwarts, A History. Emma moved over on the couch and patted the cushion in between her and Hermione. {You can sit here, Harry.}
He hesitated a moment and then sat down between them and opened the book. They all sat reading for the next few hours before Emma looked up from her book with a yawn. She glanced at the clock, and nudged Harry's shoulder. He looked up and she signed to him while speaking loud enough to get Hermione's attention. {I think I'm going to head off to bed. Don't stay up too late you two. Harry, if you need anything tonight, just wake up Hermione or me, okay?}
Harry nodded, and Hermione looked up from her book. {We won't stay up too much later, mum, I'm just going to finish this chapter and then I'll get to bed.}
Emma stood up and left the room to put her book away and get ready for bed. Several minutes later, Hermione closed her own book and stood up. {I'm going to bed now too, Harry, don't stay up too late, we have a lot of shopping to do tomorrow.}
Harry stayed in the room reading for a while longer, and closed the book. He found it to be a very interesting book, and he had already learned quite a bit about Hogwarts between what Hermione had explained to him and what he had read so far. He stood from the couch, patted Sirius, who had curled up by his feet, on the head, and walked toward his room with Sirius close behind.
When he got to the bed, he said goodnight to Sirius, and fell asleep almost immediately, thinking about the Granger's and how kind and helpful they were being to him, unaware of the New Year's Eve fireworks lighting up the skies throughout London, something that he normally stayed up to watch while on the streets.
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Granger Residence, North London - Saturday, 1 January, 1994
Harry woke up slowly from a slightly bad dream to the smell of something delicious cooking in the kitchen. He jerked awake and stumbled out of bed, still groggy, and rushed downstairs. "I-I'm sorry, Uncle Vernon, I slept in late and didn't get th'breakfast ready, I'll never do it again!" He blurted out, still half asleep and beginning to panic.
A hand touched his shoulder and he jerked back, raising his arm to cover his head. Then, a woman's face came into view, and even though he wasn't wearing his glasses, he recognised her. His mind began to clear up and process what was happening while he said, "M-Mrs. Granger?"
She nodded and he watched her lips move. He could make out that she asked him if he was all right, and he saw a worried expression on her face. He nodded and said shakily "Y-yeah, I think I was 'avin a bad dream an' then I smelled the f-food and thought…" He trailed off and watched her say that it was all right. Then she said something about a dress, and he was confused for a moment until he realised she was telling him he should get dressed. "Okay," he said more strongly, realizing everything was fine. He made his way up to the room and felt around for his glasses, slipped them on, and came face to face with Sirius' dog form's worried eyes.
He gave a slight smile to Sirius. "I'm alright, Sirius, just a bad dream." When he saw Sirius relax a little, he walked to the dresser and changed into his clothes. Emma had given him and old pair of shorts and a t-shirt to wear to bed, and he folded them and placed them on the dresser. "C'mon, Blackie, let's go get somethin' to eat."
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Downstairs, Emma looked worriedly over at Hermione, who was sitting at the table about to begin eating her breakfast, as Harry left the kitchen to get dressed. "I guess we were right that he would have trouble with the issue of his Uncle."
Hermione nodded, looking angry. "Did you hear what he said? His uncle was making him cook breakfast, and he was what, four or five when he was with them?"
Emma nodded wearily. "Yes, I suspect he made Harry do a lot of things like that, and it will take Harry a long time to get through all of the issues caused by his uncle. I think he'll need both of us to support him."
She was stopped from saying more when Harry came into the room, looking very embarrassed and rather tense. "Um, I'm sorry 'bout before…" He started to apologise, but Emma held up a hand. {You don't have anything to worry about, Harry, we understand, and you don't have to apologise for anything.} He looked from her to Hermione, who smiled encouragingly and nodded, and only then did he relax.
She picked up a plate that she had filled with two fried eggs, several rashers of bacon, and a few sausages, and put it on the table. {Go ahead, Harry, eat up.} She signed to him, setting a cup of tea alongside a cup of orange juice next to his plate.
He sat down, his embarrassment from before forgotten, and began to eat the breakfast Emma had made. He slipped a few bits of bacon to Blackie who had curled up near his chair. He finished well before Hermione, and looked at the two women. {Thank you for making me breakfast. It was really delicious.} He hesitated and then signed again. {I could have made some breakfast, Mrs. Granger; you didn't have to go to the trouble.}
Emma shook her head. {Nonsense, Harry, you are our guest here, and I wouldn't dream of making you cook our meals.} When it looked like Harry was about to protest she held up her hand. {You can help me make a meal next time if you would like.}
Harry smiled and nodded. He sat silently for few minutes, and, looking around the table, he saw a fourth place at the table was set, obviously for Hermione's father who he had not yet met. Hermione stopped eating for a moment and signed to him. {Happy New Year, Harry.}
He looked confused for a moment and then realised what day it was. {Oh, Happy New Year, Hermione. I forgot about it with everything that went on yesterday. I usually stay up and watch all the fireworks.}
Emma had finished eating and excused herself from the table. She walked out of the kitchen and up to her bedroom where her husband, Tom, was sleeping off a night of partying. She had woken up at nearly two in the morning when he finally got back. She shook his shoulder, and he slowly woke up. "What is it?" He asked blearily.
"Time to get up, Tom, your breakfast is waiting for you, and you said you had to get into work today to go over this year's budget, and make sure everyone has paid for all of their appointments from last year."
He groaned, rubbed his eyes, and slowly got up, his head pounding. "Alright, I'm up, I'm up." He said as he stood and began to get dressed.
"Tom," Emma said, "we have a guest this morning. Yesterday we finally located that one Harry Potter boy that I told you about, you know, the one who was abused and his relatives abandoned him?" He nodded, vaguely remembering she had told him something like that. "I decided to let him stay here for the night, and all of us will be going back to the school today, so he'll be downstairs when you come down."
Tom turned to her with an angry expression. "He's one of those damn wizards? You let him stay in our house, are you out of your mind?"
Emma took a step back, not expecting such an outburst, before her expression hardened. "In case you had forgotten, your daughter is one of those "damn wizards" as you call them, and you seem to let her stay in the house."
"You don't have to remind me about her. I don't think we should encourage her with all of that wizard junk any more than we already are by letting her go to that ridiculous school. I want that freak out of my house. The only wizard I'm gonna allow here is Hermione."
"Harry will only be here for today, Tom. I was not asking your permission, I was merely letting you know he was here. And might I remind you who paid for this house?" She said, reminding him none too gently that she paid for the house using her own money as well as a loan from her parents, when Tom had still been barely able to pay off his car that he had had for five years at the time. "Now, Harry is a guest here, and he and Hermione have become friends, so I expect you to treat him with respect."
Tom waved his arms in disgust. "Fine, as long as he's not here tonight. Just don't expect me to talk to him."
Emma turned on her heel and stormed out of the room, leaving Tom to finish dressing.
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Down at the table, Harry was looking at the headlines on the front page of The Times. The family got both The Times and The Daily Telegraph which was her father's favorite paper. Hermione had just finished her breakfast when she heard her parents yelling again. It was becoming a more and more common occurrence, and, she noticed, it almost always had to do with her or with wizards in general. She could only hear bits and pieces of the argument, but it was enough to know they were either arguing about her or about Harry staying the night, or maybe both. She felt tears come to her eyes when she heard her father, not for the first time, say something about "damn wizards", and the feeling worsened when she heard him call either Harry or her a "freak".
Ever since she had received her Hogwarts letter, her father had become less interested in her, and sometimes even seemed to ignore her if she talked about anything from school. When her mum had taken the Professor position at Hogwarts, the arguments between them had become more frequent and heated. She hated being the reason for their arguments, and had even considered not going to school the next year. When she had gained the friendship of Luna Lovegood and Susan Bones, she considered it less and less, and now with Harry, she knew there was no chance. She needed to help him at school, and she was really the first witch or wizard he had ever met, and abandoning him would probably make things caused by what had happened with his uncle worse.
She was jolted out of her thoughts by Harry's voice. "Hermione, are you alright?" He asked, sounding worried. She swiped at the tears that had just begun to come out of her eyes and looked at Harry, forcing a smile, knowing that he had not heard the argument. "Y-yeah, I'm fine, just had something in my eye." She said, before switching over to sign language. {Do you mind if I look at the paper with you?}
He shook his head, still looking a little worried, and she moved her chair over next to his and began to read one of the articles on the front page. Emma came in a few minutes later, having calmed down, but Hermione could see her face was still flushed from the argument. She smiled when she saw her reading the paper with Harry. She bustled about the kitchen, pouring a glass of tea for herself, before sitting at the table and borrowing the World News section.
Several minutes later, Tom entered the kitchen and grabbed his Daily Telegraph and sat down to eat. He pointedly ignored Harry and Hermione who sat across the table. Harry had looked up when Tom had come in, and was going to greet him and introduce himself, but he had totally ignored him, in fact he had not given a glance in Harry's direction.
Hermione saw Harry glance at her with a confused look and she cleared her throat and spoke up. "Good morning, daddy, I'd like you to meet Harry." He finally glanced over at them with a disapproving expression, and grunted something before turning back to the paper.
Hermione turned to Harry. {That's my dad, Harry, I think he had too much to drink last night so he's really grumpy this morning.} She signed, although she knew that his demeanor had to do with having another wizard in the house.
The rest of the breakfast, everyone read the paper in awkward silence. Tom finished eating and reading the paper and finally stood up. "I'm headed off to work now." He finally announced.
Emma responded with a tight nod and continued reading the paper, sipping her tea occasionally. Tom piled his dished next to the sink, and left the room to get his shoes on before he went outside, climbed into his car, and drove off to the dental practice.
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Order Meeting, Great Hall, Hogwarts - Saturday, 1 January, 1994
Hestia Jones sat down near the head of the large table that had been set up for the Order meeting. Glancing around she saw nearly every Order member in the room, with the notable exception of Severus Snape, who, she had learned from Minerva, was on some sort of "mission" for Dumbledore - presumably something that had to do with Voldemort. Minerva was sitting in the chair next to her, and Remus sat across from her, looking the happiest she had seen him since Lily and James were killed.
She remembered the previous night, talking privately to Remus and Minerva about everything that had happened with Harry. She believed it was the first time she had seen Remus cry since they found out about the abuse, except this time they were tears of relief. As she had predicted, Remus had immediately started blaming himself when he heard about Harry's living conditions and the fact that he was deaf. She and Minerva had eventually talked some sense into him, and got him to accept that it had been beyond his control. He reluctantly agreed, and then set off for the school library to learn as much as he could about deafness, particularly deafness in wizards, and how likely it would be that Harry could be treated by magic.
Hestia had given a limited report to Dumbledore, pretty much just saying that they had found Harry and that he was okay under the circumstances, and that he was staying with the Grangers for the night. He had seemed a little disappointed that she hadn't brought him back like he had asked, but didn't make any comment on it.
As the last member came into the room, an Auror with the Ministry, Dumbledore stood up, calling for silence. "I have some good news, and I won't waste your time by dodging around it. Yesterday, my instruments detected the use of magic by Harry Potter. I was able to locate it, and sent Miss Jones as well as Professor Emma Granger and her daughter Hermione to make contact with him."
The noise level of the room immediately grew as people spoke excitedly with fellow members, especially those who personally knew the Potters. Dumbledore waited until he had everyone's attention again before he spoke. "I would like to now turn over the floor to Hestia for a report on what happened."
Hestia stood up, casting a glance across the room, seeing several people including Molly Weasley and of course Hagrid, sitting with tears of relief in their eyes, or in Hagrid's case, tears soaking his beard. "Good morning everyone. I think I can safely say this is a very, very happy New Year's Day. I went yesterday to find Harry in downtown London. We found him living in an abandoned apartment building, and talked with him. He accepted that he was a wizard much easier than I expected, mainly because he had had some accidental magic happen to him, including what had happened an hour before we got there. I also found that he seems to have some practice in actually using magic consciously. He said that he found out several years ago that he could levitate things with enough concentration, and he has been practicing since then on it. He seemed very interested in magic, asking us to show him some spells."
Hestia paused, catching her breath and taking a sip from a goblet containing water that she had conjured before the meeting started. She continued explaining most of what had happened, seeing shock and sadness in most of the Order members' faces when she told them about Harry's deafness. She finally concluded by saying that Harry had stayed overnight with the Grangers, and that they were going to Diagon Alley today to get things for Harry.
Dumbledore stood again, obviously sobered by Hestia's recounting. "Thank you Hestia. I believe that that is all we will discuss today, unless anyone has something to bring up." When nobody spoke up, he dismissed the meeting, saying, "I think it would be best if we wait until tomorrow to say anything to the Ministry and even longer before anyone tells the papers."
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Granger Residence, North London - Saturday, 1 January, 1994
Hermione knocked quickly on Harry's door, before slapping herself on the forehead when she realised he wouldn't hear her. She opened the door slowly to see him standing with his back to the door, pulling a T-shirt over his head, his hair still wet from the shower he had just taken. She had seen her mum smile in amusement when Harry had asked if he could take another shower, which would apparently be the second he had ever taken. Hermione gasped, her hand flying to her mouth, when she saw that his back was covered with white and light brown scars, some looking very large and deep.
His back was quickly covered up with the shirt, and he turned around, jumping back when he saw her standing in the doorway. He shifted uncomfortably when he realised her look of shock was because she had seen the scars on his back.
{Er, hello, Harry, I was just coming to see if you had any questions about what you've read in the book I gave you.} She signed, not commenting on his back, knowing he would be uncomfortable speaking about it.
She saw she was right when he relaxed at her question. He sat down on the bed next to Blackie, who they had told Harry could sleep on the bed like he had been on Harry's cot the last week. {Yeah, I did have some questions. I don't think many people at the school know how to sign, so what will I do during classes to take notes since I'll have to pay attention to reading lips?}
Hermione sat down on the bed on the other side of Blackie, and answered. {Well, I recently got a quill called an Easy-Notes Quill, and I figured we could get one for you. It has a magic charm on it so that it writes out notes for you from the important points that the professor is talking about.}
{Wow, that sounds good. I guess you can do almost anything with magic if you want to. Anyway, I was browsing through that Introduction to Wizarding book you gave me, and I saw a section that mentioned me. I know Hestia said something about me being famous, but am I really as famous as they seem to act like?} He signed.
{Yes, Harry, I think that you are one of the most famous wizards in history, aside from some like Merlin, or the Four Founders of Hogwarts.}
{But why? Why am I so famous for something like surviving while my parents died?}
{It's because when you survived the killing curse, you destroyed the threat of Voldemort. He was one of the most terrible evil wizards that anyone can remember, and while I'm sure there were worse than him, it happened so recently that that is what stuck in their minds.} She paused and then asked a question she had wondered for a long time. {Harry, do you remember anything about what happened that night?}
Harry was silent for a moment, petting Blackie on the head before he answered. "No, not really. I've 'ad dreams of my parents that seemed very real, but the earliest thing I can remember without dreams, is a really bright green light fillin' my eyes. That's the only thing I can think of 'bout as being that night." He said quietly, looking down. "I-I'd rather not talk 'bout it if that's alright."
Hermione's eyes widened, feeling angry and disgusted with herself that she'd brought that up so carelessly just because it had been something she had wondered. She touched his hand to get his attention. "O-of course we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I'm so sorry for bringing that up, Harry. Oh, I'm such a horrible friend." She said, looking away.
"F-friend?" Harry asked softly. "We're … I mean… are we friends?"
Hermione looked back quickly. "Of course we're friends Harry, that is… unless… unless you don't want to be." Hermione said, beginning to feel the familiar self-doubt and inadequacy that she had once felt quite often, although it had begun to slowly fade after her friendship began with Luna and Susan.
"I do!" Harry exclaimed quickly. "I jus' didn't know if you'd want to be friends with me. Besides Blackie 'ere, I've only really 'ad one friend, and she was more like a big sister. Do you really want t'be friends with me?"
"Of course Harry, I really like you and want us to be friends. I… I really haven't had many friends either so I know how that feels. So… friends?" She asked with a smile, sticking out her hand.
"Friends." He said, shaking her hand firmly, a large grin on his face.
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Hestia Portkeyed to the Granger house shortly after nine o'clock after she had talked privately with some of the others at the meeting who had more questions, and they were all ready to go shopping within a half hour.
Emma had talked Harry into leaving Blackie behind while they shopped, but everyone else was now gathered around a Portkey that would take them to a warded alley that was the common Portkey point for those going to Diagon Alley. With a flash and pulling sensation, they were again transported by the Portkey, this time Emma, Hermione, and Harry tripped over Hestia, causing all four of them to fall to the ground upon landing in the alley.
After helping each other up and brushing themselves off, they exited the alley which had a compulsion charm on it to make most Muggles want to look away from it. When Emma had accepted the job, Professor Flitwick had cast a complex charm that allowed her to see things as if she were a wizard. He had invented the charm years before, and it required a special counter spell to remove it, one that only he and a few others knew, as a simple Finite Incantatem could not break the enchantments of the charm.
They walked down the street until they reached the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron. Harry stopped in his tracks, looking up at the sign. "No way." He said.
"What's wrong, Harry?" asked Hermione.
"This is where we're goin' to get t'Diagon Alley?" He asked her.
"Yes, Harry, it's pretty much the only way to get in, why?"
"I usually walk right past this Leaky Cauldron place ev'ry few weeks to go to the library down th'street. I've seen this place a bunch of times." Harry said, shaking his head in disbelief that he had been that close to the Wizarding world and hadn't even known it.
They entered the shabby-looking inn, and the first thing Harry was a bar on one side of a large room, with a large part of the room outside the bar set up as a dining area. Hestia said something in greeting to a bald, toothless man, who nodded in greeting to all of them. Harry saw several old women sitting at the bar, drinking from various glasses while one of them was smoking a long pipe. Sitting at one of the tables was a group of bearded wizards that seemed to be reading and discussing a magazine titled Transfiguration Today.
Hestia led them to a back door that opened to a small, walled courtyard that contained nothing except a dustbin and some weeds. She walked up to the wall, and tapped a specific brick three times with her wand. A small hole appeared in the middle of the brick, and it grew wider and wider until it formed a large archway onto a twisting and turning cobbled street.
As they walked down the street, Harry began to see shops on either side of the path. One of the first was a shop selling all sorts of cauldrons, with a stack of them sitting outside the shop. To the right there was a shop called The Apothecary that seemed to sell all sorts of ingredients for potions. A smell like that of bad eggs and rotten cabbage drifted through the doorway as they passed. Emma turned to him. {We're going to the wizard bank first.}
Harry nodded and kept looking around, taking in as much as he could, nearly overwhelmed by all of the sights and smells of the crowded alley. There was a store that sold supplies for something called Quidditch, a place that sold owls, and even an ice cream parlor. Finally he saw a tall, imposing building constructed of white marble. Carved into the marble in large letters were the words "Gringotts Bank".
A short, dark-skinned creature stood guard at the burnished bronze front doors, dressed in a scarlet and gold uniform. Hermione had told him that the bank was run by goblins, so he assumed that short man-like creature was one of them. They passed through the front door into an entrance chamber with a set of silver doors. Two more goblins stood guard here, and they opened the door to let them pass into the main hall. Inside was a long counter with hundreds of goblins, sitting on high stools, working hard at counting and weighing coins, writing in ledger books, and examining precious gems.
Hestia walked up to one of the goblins that was writing in a large ledger. "We'd like to get some assistance with procuring a replacement key. Could we speak in private with someone who could help us?" The goblin looked up briefly turned to another goblin, and made several hand gestures, which that goblin repeated to the next and so on. The movement caught Harry's attention and he watched as the gestures continued across the room. He nudged Hermione as a goblin came out of a side room and walked toward them. She looked over to him and he whispered to her, "Did you see that? They used sign language. All over the room they're signing to each other."
Hermione glanced around, paying attention to the goblins, and realised that Harry was right. Her rational mind kicked in, and she realised sign language would be a valuable skill to pass message along in crowded and noisy areas like the main hall of Gringotts. She nodded back to Harry and was about to say something, but at that moment, the goblin reached them. "This way, please." He said, leading them into the side room that he had just exited. He motioned for them to be seated in the small boardroom. "My name is Raghock, how may I be of assistance?"
"Mister Raghock, this young man is Harry Potter, and he needs to have a new key made for him to access his vault." Raghock's eyes widened when he heard Harry's name. "Very well, it is good to finally have you visit this bank, Mr. Potter. We must, however, verify your identity."
Harry nodded in acceptance, and then decided to confirm his suspicions by signing to Raghock. {How will you verify it, sir?} Raghock rocked back in his chair and a laugh escaped him. He smiled at Harry, showing no teeth. {Well, my boy, it has been quite a while since I've met such a young wizard who knows how to sign. As to your question, I will need a drop of your blood on this parchment to verify who you are.} Raghock signed back, passing over a yellowed parchment and a small knife.
{My friends Hermione and Emma here know sign language as well.} Harry signed.
Raghock looked over at the two appraisingly before nodding to them. {It is nice to know some wizards can learn such an archaic language.} He signed. {I believe the last wizard I met who learned sign language was Raistlin the Deaf, who died bout five years ago.}
Emma was the one who responded to his comment. {Well, in the Muggle world, deafness is much more common and much less treatable. My mother was deaf, and I learned to sign at the same time she did, and I taught my daughter to sign.}
Harry picked up the knife, pricked his thumb with it, and allowed a drop of blood to fall on the paper. The parchment began to glow with a bright white light, and when it faded, a family genealogy appeared on it with his own name in large bold letters.
Raghock looked the parchment over and then placed it into a small box which he tapped twice with his finger. When he opened the box up, a small, gold key had appeared, which he took out and handed to Harry. {Your trust account is in vault number 687. I will call one of my best assistants to take you to the vault.}
He left the room and came back a minute later with a goblin who had a bald head, pointed nose, and pointed ears who was introduced as Griphook. They were taken to a long stone corridor that slanted downward. Griphook got them to sit on a small cart, which he piloted down a set of narrow tracks. After a fast twisting ride, they reached a door numbered 687.
Harry gave his key to Griphook who turned it in the keyhole and pushed the large door open. Inside was a sight like nothing Harry had ever dreamed. There were stacks and stacks of hundreds and hundreds of gold coins, as well as stacks of other coins made of silver and bronze. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Hestia, Emma, and Hermione who had come in behind him also stopped and stared slack-jawed at the room.
Griphook, obviously sensing Harry had never been here before moved in front of him. "Mister Potter, these gold coins are called Galleons, each coin is worth about five pounds in Muggle money. The silver coins are called Sickles, and there are seventeen Sickles to every one galleon. The bronze coins are called Knuts, and there are twenty-three Knuts to every Sickle. You can take however much you like, you can use the pouches by the door to carry your money. The pouches have been charmed to be nearly weightless and hold five times their volume." Having explained it, Griphook left the vault and went to the cart to wait.
Harry ended up putting several fistfuls of the Galleons in one of the bags after asking Hestia bout how much everything would cost. He tied the pouch shut, and they walked back to the cart. After another wild ride, they thanked Griphook and soon were back in the alley. The first place they went was a store that sold trunks. Harry ended up buying a large trunk with wheels and a handle that had been charmed to be lightweight and to store nearly ten times its size.
The next thing they purchased was a cauldron, something that was apparently required for a class called Potions. After getting the cauldron they went to the Apothecary and bought all of the ingredients needed for First through Third-Year Potions. Their third stop was in a stationery shop to buy a bunch of parchment, several bottles of ink, an inkwell, and a set of eagle feather quills with some enchanted with the Easy Notes charm that Harry liked the appearance of.
They next went to a place called Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions to get some robes for him. Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch who wore mauve robes. She took measurements of Harry, and within a few minutes, she had several sets of black school robes as well as a winter cloak, a pointed hat, and a set of protective gloves. He paid for the clothing and they left the shop.
Their next stop was a large building next door that housed a bookstore called Flourish & Blotts. Harry's eyes lit up when he saw the bookstore, and the next two hours were spent in the bookstore, with Emma waiting most of the time outside for the three book lovers to finish their shopping. With Hermione's help, Harry purchased all of the textbooks that had been used between First year and the present year. She also got him to buy the textbooks for two of the elective classes that she thought he might like: Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. He agreed to look them over before deciding all of his classes.
Besides the textbooks, he got informational books about the Wizarding world and different traditions throughout it, as well as several fiction novels that were apparently popular in the Wizarding world. They eventually checked out and headed to a café for lunch, and then ate at the ice cream parlor owned by a wizard named Florean Fortescue, for their dessert.
After lunch, as they were walking toward the wand shop, they passed a store called Eeylops Owl Emporium. It seemed to Harry as if something was pulling him toward that shop, making him want to buy an owl. He had been fascinated with what Hermione had told him about owls, how they were used to deliver post and often could become familiars. "If I get an owl, can I take it to 'ogwarts along with Blackie?" He asked.
Hestia nodded. "I checked up on the official rules, and you can have an owl as your familiar and you can still take along a pet, so you could bring Blackie as well as an owl."
When Harry entered the shop, he saw rows upon rows of cages holding owls of nearly every shape, size, and color. Harry followed the pull to the back of the shop, passing the man he believed to be the owner of the store. The others followed behind him, and the owner came along as well, probably to ask if he could help them. The feeling led Harry to a large cage along the back wall. Inside the cage was one of the most beautiful creatures he had ever seen. It was a large snowy owl, with nearly all-white feathers sitting regally on its perch.
The store owner, who came up behind everyone, panicked when Harry reached out to the cage. "No, don't put your hands near the cage! She doesn't like…" The man trailed off when the owl looked intently at Harry's hand which he had stuck inside the cage, and then playfully butted his hand with her head and gently nibbled on his fingers. "Well I'll be!" The man exclaimed. "I've had that owl here for almost three years now, and she's always nipped and scratched at anyone who wanted to do anything other than give her food."
Harry turned around and noticed the shopkeeper. "This 'ere is the owl I want t'buy." He said.
"Oh, of course," the man said, appearing to be happy to be rid of the owl. He grabbed the handle of the cage and carried the owl over to his counter.
Harry quickly paid for the owl, and Emma grabbed the cage for him while he pulled along his trunk. {So, Harry, do you know what you are going to name her?} Hermione signed in question.
{I'm not sure yet, I'll have to think about it.} Harry signed in reply.
Their final stop in Diagon Alley was at Ollivander's to get Harry a wand. They entered the narrow, shabby looking shop, and what struck Harry first was that the walls were lined from floor to ceiling with what had to be thousands of small boxes. A short old man with eerie, moon-like eyes emerged from behind a stack of the boxes.
He smiled in greeting. "Ah, Miss Hermione Granger, Vine Wood, Dragon heartstring core, ten-and-a-half inches, if I remember correctly. Nice to see you again as well, Mrs. Granger. Miss Jones, I haven't seen you in here for years! I recall you have a willow wand, eleven-and-a-half inches, with a Hippogriff talon core."
He looked next to Harry. He studied him for several moments before saying, "Well now, you must be Harry Potter. I assume your scar is hidden by your hair, very good idea. I had hoped to meet you a few years ago, but it is very wonderful to see you alive and well. I remember your parents quite well. Your father had an eleven-inch mahogany wand, quite pliable and excellent for transfiguration. Your mother's wand was willow, ten-and-a-quarter inches, swishy and very good for charms work."
Harry was silent as yet another person told him how they had known his parents. Ollivander continued to speak. "Now, which hand is your wand hand?" He asked.
"Um, I can use both about the same. I guess my right 'and is a little better though." Harry replied.
Ollivander nodded and began to open up boxes and make Harry hold different wands to try to find a match. Nearly twenty minutes later they had gone through most of the boxes. "I wonder." Ollivander said to himself. He went over to a particular box and brought it back and allowed Harry to pick up the wand which Ollivander said was an 11 inch holly wand with a phoenix feather core. Something that sounded like a loud clap of thunder filled the room and a blinding set of sparks erupted from the wand, causing it to jerk back and nearly fly out of his hand.
Ollivander quickly grabbed it out of his hand, looking at Harry in amazement. "Oh my, I believe we found the correct wand, but it seems I must make some adjustments. You are the second person I will ever have had to do that for." He scuttled off to an unseen room and came back fifteen minutes later.
"I had to shorten this wand down to ten inches for you, my boy. Wand length has to do with the amount of concentration needed to focus your magic. The shorter the wand, the less concentration needed. That big flash showed me that you were overwhelming the wand's focusing core, so it needed to be reduced in size. Here, try it now."
Harry grabbed the wand, and this time a smaller amount of sparks flew from the wand. "Curious, how very curious." Ollivander muttered.
"What's curious, sir?" Harry asked.
"The phoenix feather core of your wand is very unique. The phoenix I obtained it from gave only one other feather and the wand that contained it gave you that scar you are hiding."
"R-really? The other feather is in that Vold'mort guy that killed my parents?" Harry asked.
Ollivander nodded. "I believe we can expect great things from you, Harry. Voldemort himself did many great things. Terrible, but great."
They left the store after Hestia asked Ollivander to sell Harry a wand holster that could be strapped to his arm. When a certain gesture was made with the user's hand, the wand would slide out and land directly in that hand.
Having finished shopping in Diagon Alley, they left via the Leaky Cauldron, and spend the next few hours in Muggle London with the exhausting task of trying on and buying a wardrobe of new clothes for Harry to wear.
A very worn out group Portkeyed back to the Granger's house at five o'clock, greeted by the wagging tail of Blackie. {Harry, we need to pack all of your things into your trunk. I figured we would go to Hogwarts tonight, and eat dinner and spend the night there.} Emma signed to him.
{All right.} Harry signed, looking excited to see more of the magical world. He quickly packed everything he had brought from the apartment, and was soon sitting in the living room, waiting for everyone else to get ready.
Hermione sat down across from him on one of the reclining chairs. {Have you decided on a name yet?} She asked.
Harry nodded. {I think I'll name her Hedwig. I found that name in a book about medieval saints a few months ago and I thought it was interesting.} He looked over to Hedwig who was sitting in her cage, watching him. "What d'you think of the name Hedwig, girl?" She looked as if she was thinking it over for a few minutes before she bobbed her head and gave a soft hoot of approval.
He and Hermione laughed at how human her action seemed. Harry's mind slowly turned to the coming trip to Hogwarts, imagining the things he had read about, and wondering what it would really be like as well as what he would say when he met the friend of his parents named Remus which the paper had talked about.
AN: Well, Harry has discovered his favorite dessert :D , now has his wand, and of course Hedwig (my favorite non-human character), and is getting ready to go to Hogwarts for the first time.
Next chapter: First impressions of Hogwarts, meeting Remus and Minerva, and possibly the first meeting of Harry and Dumbledore (if I get that far).
Please Review and let me know what you think. Every bit of feedback helps me improve my story/writing style.