Harry, deciding not to push his luck headed home right away. He figured he should play around with his new purchases and see what else he needed to get. Since his glamour would last almost another two hours, Harry took the Knightbus back to Little Winging and waited for it to wear off at the park close to his house. The ride was just like he remembered it from last year expect that instead of beds, there were a variety of chairs sliding around.
Arriving at the park, Harry found a secluded section and enlarged his trunk. Putting his robes and cloak away, he reshrunk it. Walking around for over an hour, Harry felt the familiar sensation wash over him in a wave. Looking at his reflection on some play equipment and seeing he was back to his normal appearance, he headed home.
Stepping into the Dursleys home from the backdoor, the first thing Harry noticed was that it was quiet, too quiet. Walking to the kitchen table he saw a note. 'Gone to Majorca for two weeks. List of chores and food on table .' On the table there were ten bananas, six apples, six oranges, a loaf of bread, and one glass. There was also a lock on the pantry and the refrigerator. The list was long but not unusual for the Dursleys.
Letting out a sigh, Harry thought, 'Figures. Not enough food to last a week, forget two. At least I won't have to put up with them for two whole weeks. TWO WHOLE WEEKS DURSLEY FREE! Yah!' Heading up to his room to drop off his trunk, Harry saw that all the Dursleys bedrooms had locks on the doors too. "Figures."
Enlarging his trunk, Harry tried to open the third compartment but nothing happened. Harry tried several more time with ne effect until he realized that he had on the ring that changed his magical signature. Taking it off he tried again and he felt the prick on his finger and the lid opened to show a ladder leading down to a room that Harry couldn't see the end of. Climbing down Harry was amazed with the size of his new home away from home, and so far all he could see was the living room and an open kitchen. There were three doors leading off to one side of the room and one door next to the ladder. Harry assumed this led to the second compartment. There were empty bookshelves running along the other two walls, a couch with reading table, and a small dining table with three chairs. There was still a good amount of free space and if he pushed back the couch to the wall, there would be even more. Entering the kitchen he saw that there was a countertop between the sink and stove, a small shelf on the other side of the stove and a cupboard above all for dishes and utensils, all empty. On one side of the room there were two doors, opening them up Harry felt cold from one and nothing from the other. 'Must be the Icebox and pantry.' The door on the other side opened up to a bathroom that had a sink with mirror, a toilet, and a shower. "Cool."
Heading back into the living room Harry went to the first of three doors. Inside was a queen size, four poster bed and mattress, a night table, a chest of drawers, a wardrobe, a small desk and chair. The other door in the room led to another bathroom. It had a larger mirror and sink, a toilet, and a bathtub instead of a shower. A bathtub might be an understatement; it was the size of a ten person Jacuzzi. 'I am sooo using that tonight.
Checking out the other two rooms Harry found they are completely empty. 'I can use one as a training room but I'm not sure what to do with the other. No hurry. OK, let me put away what I bought and … I'll need to make a list of things I need. But first' Harry pulled out his wand and made sure the trunks lid was closed. "Winguardium Leviosa!" Harry shouted while levitating a chair. Cancelling the spell Harry hurriedly made his way out of the trunk. An hour of waiting in his room for an Owl from the Ministry, nothing arrived. "Yes!"
Emptying his old trunk into the new one, Harry reentered the 'Flat' again. Putting everything in its place, his old trunk at the end of his bed, Harry sat down with the trunks instruction manual, parchment, and pen and got to work. Two hours later he sat back with a long list and a greater understanding of his trunk and sore eyes. He now knew how to operate the stove, the sinks and baths, the lights, and how to add and remove others from accessing the trunk. His list of needed supplies was pretty extensive too, he needed pretty much everything. Plates, cups, utensils, pots, pans, cleaning supplies, food, bedsheets, toilet paper, towels… basically everything.
Harry decided to try the glamour neckless and set his new 'Look.' Pressing the rune on the bottom of the circular pendant and pushing some of his Magic. He went into the bathroom and saw a brown haired, brown eyed stranger looking back at him. "Neat." Turning the first 'ring' Harry sent more magic into the pendent and now a blond haired person was staring back. The second 'ring' changed his eye color, the third shanged his skin tone, and the fourth changed the octave of his voice. He settled on a brown haired, brown eyed, slightly tanned persona with a lower voice. 'Might as well be as forgettable as possible when using this.' Leaving the trunk Harry went back to the Dursley's kitchen and ate two bananas and an apple, realizing this was the first thing he ate all day. Picking up the rest of the food, he walked upstairs and into the bathroom. Getting a towel and some soap, he reentered his 'Flat' for a long bath and his first goodnight sleep at the Dursley's.
The next morning Harry awoke and decided that he needed to return back to Diagon Alley for supplies. Changing the color to black on his best set of Dudley's hand me downs, he pulled on his Acromantula silk cloak, the glamour neckless, the magic signature changing ring, his Mokeskin and money pouch, and both wand wrist holsters. Deciding to use his 'second' wand today and gathering both the needed item list and his cursebreaker supply list. He decided to shrink and carry his trunk with him. Walking back to the edge of the park he activated the glamour neckless and summoned the Knight bus.
Back in Diagon Alley, Harrys first stop was Gringotts to convert some galleons to muggle money. Not sure how to get money out of a regular bank with his new ID. He figured it would be easier this way. Heading back to the Leaky Cauldron and ordering a full English breakfast, Harry asked tom where he could find food and all the things he would need for his new Apartment.
"You can always purchase full meals and drinks from me or really any restaurant. There is also a store called Food for All for most uncooked and packaged food. For pots, pans, and really anything to do with decorating a home you should go to The Happy Homemaker. Otherwise just look around the Alley and see what you like." Said Tom.
"OK, I'll take three meals a day for a week and a case of Butterbeer. Can I pick it up when I finish shopping?"
"No problem. It will be packed up when you return."
"Thank you."
"No problem, Mr…"
"Underhill. Sam Underhill."
Right Mr Underhill. It will be ready when you are."
Back in the Alley Harrys next stop was The Happy Homemaker where he purchased a variety pots pans and dishes utensils and silverware,
Bedsheets, towels (Towels are self-cleaning and drying when put back on rack), cleaning supplies, a Wizard wireless, and a selection of soaps and shampoos. On his way to the food store Harry saw an Optometry shop called Spectacular Spectacles.
The door chime tinkled as Harry walked in, looking around Harry saw a quaint little shop with one wall covered with shelves with a great assortment of glasses on them. There were all the colors of the rainbow, and quite a few not found in nature. Wizard fashion doesn't do subtle, even in the eye wear. Along the other wall there were three desks with two chairs each and a mirror covering the entire back of the wall. Along the back wall there was a door with what looked like a muggle eye chart on it, and as Harry's eye traveled to it, it opened and a girl walked out. The girl couldn't be older than 19. She had dirty blond hair done up in tight curls and wore a light blue robe with a white trim. She smiled and introduced herself.
"Welcome to Spectacular Spectacles. I'm Carla. How can I help you today?"
"Hello Carla, my name is Sam Underhill. I am in desperate need of new glasses."
Carla walked over to Harry and noticing the state of his glasses said, "I can see that Mr. Underhill…"
"Just Sam." Harry interrupted
"Sam," Carla continued, "Was there a particular style you were looking for? Any particular enchantments?"
Harry thought for a moment, "Not sure on the style, I'll have to look around to see what you have. As for enchantments, what do you offer?"
"All of our glasses come with the basic package of auto sizing, auto correcting vision up to two prescription strengths, Everclear lenses that won't fog up or crack, and a mild sticking charm that will keep the glasses firmly in place on your face." Carla spoke like she was reading from a script, which Harry supposed she was. "There are other enchantments that can be added to most of our glasses, but they vary in price.
Harry, looking at the display cases replied, I would like to hear all the enchantments you have please. Money isn't really an issue."
Carla's eyes lit up at this, "Certainly Sam. We offer a wide variety of specialty enchantments. Our most popular is a Impervious enchantment that repels dirt, water… most everything that can affect the vision of the glasses. It also makes the glasses almost indestructible. There is also an advanced prescription enchantment that will change the prescription of the glasses up to seven times to keep up with your vision needs. There is also an anti-summoning enchantment. This only comes into effect when you are wearing the glasses. You can still summon them if they are somewhere else, like on your bedside table. A disillusionment enchantment, this makes the glasses invisible but you can still see through them, also only while wearing the glasses. We also can add an enchantment that will make the lenses darken in bright light and increase visibility in low light. They are both separate and can be turned off or on with a touch of tour wand, the other enchantments I mentioned before except the disillusionment are on all the time. Let's see.. Some of our frames also let you change their color. That's pretty much all we have to offer… Oh wait, there is also a zoom enhancement, this allows you to focus on a certain point and 'Zoom' in making it appear larger or closer by three or seven times. You can also turn this one on or off."
Still Smiling, Harry replied "Those all sound great. I'll take the lot, How much?"
Carla was beaming now, her smile was lighting up the whole shop. Harry figured there would probably be a big bonus for her coming from this sale. "The advanced prescription will cost five Galleons, The Impervious enchantment costs four Galleons. The anti-summoning costs two galleons and the disillusion enchantment costs twelve Galleons. The zoom costs… four galleons for three times zoom, five galleons for seven times zoom, and seven galleons for a combination of both. The Shading enchantment costs between two and ten galleons while the Low light enchantment costs between six and twenty galleons."
"Why the difference in price for the low light and shading enchantments?" Harry questioned, looking a little confused.
"It all depends on the strength you want the enchantments at. The Low light enchantment can be set at increasing the light in the room by abought double, to being able to see in a completely dark room like it is midday. Also as with the shading enchantment, it can be auto-adjusting. This way you won't lose your sight if you went from a dark room into a sunny one. The enchantments would automatically compensate. It's almost instantaneous. The opposite is true too. If you go from a bright room to a dark room you won't notice too much of a change and would still be able to see clearly." Carla replied with complete certainty
"OK, makes sense. I'll definitely take the best quality enchantments you got. What about the color change?"
Carla, still beaming said, "Normally it costs five sickles, but since you're getting all the other enchantments I'll throw it in for free."
"Cool, Thank Carla."
"No, thank you Sam." Carla, still with a bright smile on her face grabbed Harry by the arm and led him toward the back of the shop, "Unfortunately, If you want a single pair of glasses to hold all the enchantments you will need to pick out a pair with a metal frame. Not too unfortunate because I think those are the most stylish ones we have." She led Harry to the last display case on the wall, it was full of many stylish frames in gold, silver, bronze and a few that looked like a combination of all three. 'These are all made from Goblin gold, silver or bronze. It's the only materials that will hold all the enchantments, plus they don't tarnish. Here, try this one on."
After about twenty minutes of trying on and discarding about thirty pairs of glasses, Harry had it narrowed down to two choices. A slightly oval looking silver pair that had an intricate pattern of vines, Devils snare, carved down the sides, and a round Gold pair that had a snitch design with sides that looked like narrow silver wings. Surprisingly the silver pair were more expensive, thirteen galleons compared to the gold pair which were only ten.
"I can't decide… what do you think Carla?" Harry said, holding out both pairs of glasses.
"Let me see them again." Taking both sets from Harry, Carla led him over to the opposite wall with the mirrors and desks and had him try on the silver pair first. After Harry tried on the gold pair and still looked undecided that Carla spoke up again, "Well… they both look very good on you. The silver pair has a little more class, but the gold pair does look good on you and are a little more whimsical. I guess it's what you think fits you best."
Harry tried on both pairs again, "Your right… the gold pair is more fun. I don't know if I will be taken seriously enough if I get them though. Hmmm… tell you what, I'll get both."
Carla practically squeaked with excitement "B, both? Wow, that will be great. And you want all the enchantments on both pair also?"
"Of cource." Harry replied. "What do we do now? How do you get my right prescription, and how long will it take until the glasses are ready?
Harry was looking around the shop when Carla answered him, "Well first we check your prescription with these." Carla took a black pair of glasses with thick black frames. There were many runes all alongside the frames. "Put them on and stand here." Carla led Harry to a line on the floor about fifteen feet from the back door. "Now all you have to do is look at the sign on the door until the letters become clear. Tell me when everything is clear to you."
Harry concentrated on the sign and after about thirty seconds he could start to read it. At first only the first lines were clear, but about fifteen seconds later Harry could read every line on the sign. He was actually able to see it clearer than when he walked in the store. Harry thought to himself 'I definitely needed new glasses' "Ok, I can see clearly now."
Harry said aloud.
Carla removed the glasses and still smiling at Harry "Ok, now I bring your selections to the enchanter on staff. It normally takes about thirty minutes for each enchantment to be put on the glasses, but I'll see if I can get him to put a rush on it."
Harry added up all the enchantments and did a quick tally in his head. "So… about four hours for each pair?
"With the rush order it will probably be more like… three hours for each pair." Carla replied. "If you don't want to wait we can send them by owl or you can pick them up at a later date."
Harry looked at his watch, "I have a little more shopping to do in the alley so I definitely want one pair today. I'll have to pick up the second pair another day."
Carla nodded her head, "That will be fine. Ok so which one do you want first?"
Harry only took a moment to decide, "The gold one."
"Good choice." Carla went back to the table and picked the gold frames up, "I'll just take these back and get our enchanter started, than we can finish ringing you up."
As Carla turned to the back door, Harry cleared his throat. Sounding a little nervous Harry asked Carla, "Just a moment…I was told… that you offer other special enchantments for…certain people?"
Carla's smile faltered a little before she replied, "I'm sorry Sam, those enchantments can only be given to members of the DMLE or a registered cursebreaker." She genuinely sounded sorry.
Harry smiled at her, "That's ok than, I'm a licensed cursebreaker." Harry took out the ID that Gringotts provided him and handed it over to Carla.
After taking the paper and reading it, the smile returned to Carla's face, "Everything looks in order. I'll have to verify this but I don't foresee a problem. Impressive Sam. Well the special enchantments we can add are seeing through basic disillusionment charms, and basic ward detection charms. The disillusionment detection costs twenty galleons, and the ward detection costs eighteen. Both can be turned on or off at will."
'These are going to be expensive glasses,' Harry thought, 'What the hell, I can afford it.' "Add both charms to each pair please."
"Right away Sam. adding these two enchantments will probably add another hour to the wait time. Will that be a problem?" Carla questioned.
Carla seemed just a touch nervous. Harry figured that with a sale this big that she didn't want to disappoint the customer. "It shouldn't make too much of a difference, I have a lot of shopping to do."
"Well than Sam, Let me take these," Carla lifted her hand holding the gold pair of glasses, "And this," Lifting her other hand holding the parchment, "into the back and get it started."
Harry watched Carla walk into the back room through the door with the eye chart and then sat down at the desk nearest the back of the store. Five minutes later Carla walked out with the smile still on her face. Harry thought to himself, 'It seems that the cursebreaker license is working just fine, should make some of the other things I need to buy easier.'
"Here you are Sam." She said while handing Harry back the piece of parchment. Everything checked out great. Now let's ring you up." Carla reached into her robes and pulled out what looked like a bound notebook and an impressive eagle quill. She started writing down an itemized list of all the charms and price of the frames for each par that Harry was buying. It seemed like a pretty long list to Harry. After a minute she handed the notebook to Harry. "Can you check this and make sure that this is what you are ordering."
Harry looked at all the enchantments that were going into his new glasses, and doing a quick tally, nodded and handed the book back to Carla, "Everything looks in order."
"Your total comes to… two hundred thirty nine galleons."
Carla paused for a moment, and when she spoke again, Harry could detect the barest hint of nervousness in her voice. "Normally we require an advance payment of half the total price, with the remainder paid upon delivery…but I'm sure that it will be alright if you only leave a deposit of say, fifty galleons."
"Don't worry," Harry smiled at her and took his money pouch from his cloak, "I'll just pay the total now and avoid the hassle later." After a minute of counting out the two hundred thirty nine galleons, Harry asked, "So… The first pair should be done around," Looking at his watch and seeing it was 11 am, " a little after three? What time do you close in case I don't make it back right away?
"We normally close at seven," Carla replied while gently placing her hand on Harrys arm, "But I will stay open for you. If you could be back here by seven, I can let you stay while I close down the shop."
"Thanks for doing that for me." Harry spoke with affection in his voice.
"Not at all Sam. In all honesty, your sale just made my month. I don't mind staying a little late." Carla opened the notebook again and ripped out the page with the itemized list and handed it to Harry. Harry noticed that the page underneath the torn out one had an identical list on it.
"I'll be back before seven." Harry said as he turned to the door. Harry walked out of the shop back into Diagon Alley, turned left and went straight to Food for All.