7 Chapter 7: The dispute at Flourish & Blotts (Edited)

Since the making of the new robes took time, Mrs. Weasley agreed to let Ivan and Ginny go first to buy the other items on the school supply list, and then meet together at Flourish & Blotts.

Of course, it was mainly Ivan who was buying things.

Ginny had a lot of things to inherit from her brothers, and since Percy Weasley was head of house this year and would be getting his twelve O.W.L.S certificates, Mrs. Weasley had bought him new school supplies and gave his old stuff to Ginny.

Ginny had a blush on her face, as if she was looking at Harry, and thanked Ivan, saying, "Ivan, thank you, this is the best Christmas present I've ever received."

Ivan reflected on what would happen this year to Ginny and said, "Don't be silly, it was just an excuse to get Mrs. Weasley to agree, I'll give you something else for Christmas. I think I'll give you a red diary."

Ginny said cheerfully, "Well that's not a bad idea, I'll give you a black one."

Ivan thought it would be perfect if the diary had Tom Riddle's autograph on it, but he still said, "That's what I need!"

They walked down the cobblestone streets, and the stores caught Ivan's eye, the money in his pocket sounding cheerful, clamoring to be spent.

But after browsing through several magical stores, looking at the prices, Ivan became sad. Compared to what he wanted to buy, the money in his pocket was too little.

But for a Hogwarts student, Ivan definitely had a colossal sum of money, but there were so many things he wanted to buy that weren't on the school's list of items, that the money wasn't enough for him.

Mumbled Ivan under his breath, "Looks like I need to find a way to make money!"

Although Ivan could get more money from his parents, they wouldn't give him much money in his first year, especially if he wanted to buy a lot of things that a student shouldn't have.

He had an excellent idea of how to make money, but he had to wait until he went to Hogwarts to make it happen.

Then, with Ginny in tow, Ivan bought a cauldron, a glass potions kit, a telescope, and a brass scale. At Slug & Jiggers Apothecary the two bought a standard dose of herbs used for first grade potions class. They also bought a Magic Quill, ink and parchment.

As they passed a magical creature store, neither of them went inside.

Ivan thought he wasn't ready to buy a pet because his mother is allergic to birds and while other pets are somewhat helpful, they also have to be taken care of in turn, so it's too much trouble.

However, he compiled a list of almost every store in Diagon Alley. He may have to buy additional stuff from here while attending Hogwarts.

Ivan knew exactly what he would be facing in the next few years, but he couldn't learn slowly from textbooks, especially since he is a year younger than Harry.

It was horrible to think of him being abandoned at Hogwarts and suffering under Death Eaters while the trio ran around in seventh year.

Ivan and Ginny chatted happily along the way, and the two soon became good friends.

At Gambol and Japes' Magical Joke Shop, they met Fred, George and Lee Jordan, who bought a large quantity of "Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous No Heat Fireworks."

Percy was browsing a store full of tattered wands, old scales and stained cloaks, reading a boring book, titled: "Gaining the Power of a Leader".

Without disturbing Percy, they passed the Florean Fortescue ice cream shop, Ivan bought himself and Ginny two large chocolate and lemon ice creams, and waited until they saw Harry, Hermione and Ron coming out of Knockturn Alley with pale faces.

Behind them was Hagrid, who was shouting in reprimand to the three of them, "Don't you know that Knockturn Alley is no place for you to run around in? and don't let me see you in there again!"

Ginny came over with a worried expression and said, "You went to Knockturn Alley, you know Mum won't let us go there."

Ron waved his hand, with an impatient look on his face and said, "Go away Ginny!"

Harry said, "Wait Ron!"

Harry looked at Ivan and hesitated before explaining, "We saw Draco, he went to Borgin & Burkes with his father, it's a store that specializes in dark magic products."

Apparently not wanting his sister to know about these things, Ron raised his voice, "Harry!"

Ivan asked curiously, ignoring Ron's overreaction, "Oh, and what did you find out?"

Hermione looked at Ivan and said, "Nothing, we watched them through the window of for half a day until they left and didn't see them buy anything."

Hermione turned and looked at Hagrid and asked, "Hagrid, we were following Malfoy, but what were you doing in Knockturn Alley?

Hagrid said, "I was looking for carnivorous slug repellent to get rid of them at school."

Hagrid looked at Ivan and said quietly, "You should be Ivan Mason. Thanks for helping Harry get out of those damn Muggles', if I knew...."

Before Hagrid finished speaking, he saw Mrs. Weasley walk hurriedly with the freshly made robes, and behind her was Mr. Weasley, and Hermione and Ivan's parents.

When Mrs. Weasley saw them, she knew they had gone down Knockturn Alley.

"You went down Knockturn Alley, thank you, Hagrid, for spotting them!"

Hagrid was embarrassed that his hand was grabbed by Mrs. Weasley, "Well, I'm off."

Hagrid said to the children, "See you at Hogwarts."

When Hagrid disappeared from sight, Mrs. Weasley had turned around and scolded Harry, Ron and Hermione, while Mr. Weasley was interested in what Harry said. "Looks like he was going to sell something but chickened out at the last minute."

Mr. Weasley said solemnly, but with a hint of satisfaction, "I really want to get evidence from Lucius Malfoy."

Mrs. Weasley said with concern, "Be careful, Arthur!"

Then Mrs. Weasley warned him, "The Malfoy family must not be offended, don't bite off more than you can chew."

Mr. Weasley said indignantly, "You think I can't fight Malfoy?"

But soon his attention was drawn to a large crowd outside the door of Flourish & Blotts.

Most of them were the same age as Mrs. Weasley, all huddled at the door, trying to get in, and through the cracks in the crowd, they all saw Gilderoy Lockhart dressed in blue, sitting in the middle of the store, signing books.

All around him, there were large pictures of him everywhere, and every face in the pictures was winking at the crowd while showing bright white teeth.

While Lockhart was a jerk when it came to magic, Ivan had to admit that he was a successful writer, if he didn't steal other people's experiences.

What happened next went without saying, Harry was, as expected, spotted by Lockhart and then dragged into a photo op with Lockhart as he announced that he would be teaching at Hogwarts. By the time everyone came to their senses, Mr. Weasley and Lucius Malfoy were fighting, while Lockhart was at his side excited and not interfering, before the two were separated by the sudden appearance of Hagrid.

"Take your book, little one, it's the best thing your father can give you!"

Lucius Malfoy broke away from Hagrid's arm, motioned for Draco to follow him and stormed out of the tent.

Said Hagrid worriedly, "You shouldn't associate with him, Arthur."

Hagrid reached out and tried to fix Mr. Weasley's robe, but almost lifted it completely when he did so, so he went on to say with some embarrassment, "The man is bad, his whole family is, everyone knows it. The Malfoy family isn't worth listening to."

Everyone's attention was focused on Mr. Weasley, as Ivan looked at Ginny's cauldron which contained a torn copy of "A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration" and if all goes as it should, there should be a black diary in it as well.

After Lucius Malfoy left, the clerk at Flourish & Blotts bookstore seemed to want to stop them as well, but after looking at Hagrid's oversized body and Ivan's next order, he very quickly put the matter of the fight to the back of his mind.

Ron watched as Ivan went through the list of books in his hand, which included all the books in stock at Flourish & Blotts bookstore, a total of probably over eight thousand books and said in shock, "Ivan, what are you doing? trying to buy the entire bookstore?"

Since Ivan didn't have enough money to buy all the books at once, he had to buy the books he needed the most and then buy the others a little at a time, so he said, "That wouldn't be possible, I'm not that rich, I'm picking out what I need."

Ron said in amazement, "Oh, that's a lot!"

Ivan said, "Learning more is not a bad thing, Ron!"

Ron, seeing Ivan pick up an advanced potions book Libatius Borage said, "Dude, you sound just like Hermione."

He had heard that it is an N.E.W.T. level textbook used in Potions class, students who achieved an "Outstanding" or an "Exceeds Expectations" in their ordinary Potions Level, advance to N.E.W.T. and have the opportunity to study advanced potions and by extension this book.

Hermione looked at Ivan's list and was happy to add some magical books to her list as well, saying, "I think Ivan is right, and it never hurts to learn more!"

Hermione said, "Ivan, I think we should go through the list in a minute to avoid duplicates."

Ivan said, "Of course, Hermione!"

Ron said in amazement, "Harry, you're both crazy!"

Harry said, "You're right, Ron!"

Harry hesitated for a moment before picking up "Compendium of Common Curses and their Counter-Curses" that he wanted to buy last year, but Hagrid wouldn't let him buy it, saying, "However, learning more is necessary, especially when dealing with someone like Malfoy, isn't it?"