Year Two Supplies (II)

"That's em'" We turn to see what Hagrid is looking at. Percy, Ron, Fred, George, and Mr. Weasley are all running to us through the crowd.

"Harry!" Mr. Weasley says panting. "Soren you found him, Molly's frantic, she is heading over now."

"Where did you come out?" Ron asks.

"Knockturn Alley," Hagrid says grimly.

"Excellent!" said Fred and George together.

"We've never been allowed in," said Ron enviously.

"I should ruddy well think not," growled Hagrid.

I roll my eyes as I see Mrs. Weasly trudging through the crowd holding a bag in one hand and Ginny's hand in the other. I can see even from this distance that Ginny has a deep red blush on her face as she is pulled through the crowd.

"Oh Harry dear, you could have been anywhere." She grabs Harry making sure he is alright. Noticing some soot she takes out a brush and cleans him off.

Harry pulls out the gift I got him and repairs his glasses. "Well I'll be off," Hagrid said as he backed away. "I'll be seein yer' at Hogwarts." He walks away as the three of us wave goodbye.

As we begin to walk into Gringotts Harry speaks in a loud whisper as he pulls Ron and me close. "Guess who I saw at Borgin and Burkes?" We are staying quiet until he answers himself. "Malfoy and his Father." My brows raise in surprise.

Although Borgin and Burkes is a legitimate shop they are known for having some things on the darker side of magic. Some of the things there are borderline illegal to own but it has a solid market so the Ministry doesn't often crackdown on it. Things that make the government money often aren't illegal.

Mr. Weasley's ears perk up "Did Lucius Malfoy buy anything?"

"No, he was selling..." Harry says quietly.

"So he's worried," said Mr. Weasley with grim satisfaction. "Oh, I'd love to get Lucius Malfoy for something…"

"My extended family all seem to be extremely shady huh?" I ask Mr. Weasley.

Mr. Weasley's expression goes hard "Well he was a Death Eater who only escaped persecution with the power of money. He deserves to be behind bars."

Mrs. Weasley grabs his arm "Be careful Arthur, that's not your job. Don't go biting off more than you can chew."

Mr. Weasley smiles and is about to reply but he notices people in front of us, the Granger's. "Ah, Doctor Granger. Great to see you again."

Her parents seem a bit shy at how forward Arthur is but still greet him kindly. "Great to see you again Arthur." Mr. Granger says with a wry smile.

"Now that we are here again you can finally tell me. What is a doctor, and why does it replace your first name?" He says with a genuine interest.

I roll my eyes as we walk past and get in line to pull money out for Harry and Mrs. Weasley. I don't know what I expected from the Weasley vault but I certainly expected more from a pure-blood family. When the vault opens my jaw almost drops but I manage to not react since it would be rude. I truly didn't expect them to be so poor.

Inside the vault were a single Galleon and a small pile of Sickles, 58 according to the Goblin. I expected there to be more since the vault number was 687, only one spot away from mine. But I guess they only got this vault by being a pureblood family.

After she swept all the coins into the bag she got up with a smile. "Let's move on." When we get to Harry's vault I could see he becomes visibly uncomfortable. I can understand his thoughts well, if we had gone to my vault after… that… I would feel bad as well.

Inside Harry's vault was a giant pile of gold only a few times more than mine which confused me. The Potter household should have mountains, why does their personal vault have so little? They should be comparable to the Black Family vault if not more since they were a business family.

I guess I have no way to know or find out. After Harry grabs a handful or two we hurry up and get out, I don't want him to get too uncomfortable.

Back outside on the marble steps, we all begin to separate. Percy mutters vaguely about needing a new quill. Fred and George had spotted their friend from Hogwarts, someone that I've never met before. Mrs. Weasley and Ginny are going to a secondhand robe shop.

Mr. Weasley began insisting on taking the Grangers off to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink their first drink of magical alcohol. I'm sure they were beginning to get annoyed at his pushiness, despite coming from a good place it still is pretty rude.

"We'll all meet at Flourish and Blotts in an hour to buy your school books," said Mrs. Weasley, setting off with Ginny who is blushing again. "And not one step down Knockturn Alley!" she shouted at the twins' retreating backs. They smirk as the twins run off with their friend.

Since we have all day we decide to stop for food first. The first stall we find is a kabobs vendor. They were all extremely good and we ate them while strolling down the street. I still don't know what type of meat they are even after finishing the two I got.

Ron gazed longingly at all the quidditch shops we passed, his eyes lingering at the robes and brooms especially. But first, we stopped at the joke shop. Sure enough, we met Fred and George with their friend there. Upon seeing me they run up to me with wide smiles, obviously planning something.

"Lord Soren!" Fred yells in a 'royal' manner as they approach. "How about you fund our jokes for the year," George says in a joking manner as he elbows my shoulder. While the other twin puts his arm around me.

At the suggestion, I get a wide smile "That gives me an idea, how about I give you missions to take on. Upon finishing them you will be monetarily compensated."

Ron's eyes go wide "You can't be serious, they-" He is cut off by Fred grabbing him and covering his mouth.

"Go on," Fred says as he secures Ron.

Harry and I laugh while Hermione looks annoyed. "I'll give you each 2 Sickles now, if you can get the new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher to eat a fart bean I'll give you each 10 more. You guys could make a salary with the missions I give you."

Their eyes are full of greed with wide grins on their faces. "Am I included in this?" Their friend chimes in.

I look at him oddly, "I don't know you so no."

He holds out his hand "I'm Lee Jordan, nice to meet you."

I shake his hand "Soren Black, it's a pleasure."

"Now am I included." He raises a brow.

A toothy grin grows on my face "No."