Shopping with Harry

"Now Harry before we go get anything on this list we are making one small stop ok?" He nods his head. I take him by the hand and lead him to the trunk shop heading to the register "Is my order close to being done yet?"

The man looks at me then smiles "You are Alexander Prince?" I nod "Yes we got done with your orders a day early since we didn't have any other custom jobs." He then leads us to a side room and brings in two trunks. I feel the word trunks is demeaning for them since honestly they look like treasure chest you would see in a pirate movie. "We added a custom modification charm on them at no extra cost that allows you to change how you want them to look on the outside."

I say my thanks then I lead Harry to one of the chest "Happy Birthday Harry" I then gesture to the chest engraved with H.J.P. on it.

"Happy birthday..." He trails off eyeing the trunk "T-this is for me?" I nod and ruffle his messy bird nest of hair

"Yep. Had it customized to be the best money can buy. You can store an entire house in this trunk"

He is dazed but also slightly panicked "What but this must have cost alot. I c-can't accept this!"

I raise a brow "Harry your big brother is not lacking money. My mother is the CEO of Viper Technologies so I have plenty of money even in the mundane world let alone the wizard world"

Still a bit dazed "Viper Tech? Isn't that the company Uncle Vernon is always complaining about... I I'm sorry I uh" he began to panic and i pat his head

"No worries Harry. Though if he got a defective product he could return it for a new one or his money back" Harry's eyes get a bit shifty which has me a bit confused "It was about a defective product right? It happens from time to time so it is nothing to be worried... Harry look at me. You can tell me the truth"

Harry mumbles a bit

"What was that?"

Harry meets my gaze, well mostly as his eyes trail a bit to the left "H-he says a woman should be at home and letting a man be in charge instead..." I pause for a few seconds

"Harry" Harry gulps and looks up at me, seriously he is too small for his age, or maybe I am just big. "Just for that comment alone I can say I don't like your uncle" Harry gets this abandoned look in his eyes "Just your uncle Harry. You are still my little brother" that seems to brighten him up a bit.

That is another thing wrong with Harry. He trusted me and became attached to easy. Normally one should be skeptical about one claiming to be their brother but Harry is latching onto it like a life line. Just what kind of life has he been living that would cause such a reaction.

"I will take care of all your finances today. You can use your money to buy any treats or something you want" Harry shakes his head but I hold up a hand "It's your birthday Harry. Just let me take care of it, after all, my little brother deserves the best. Actually that is my moms motto 'If you are going to get something get the best' Though she also says the best isn't always what cost more" I rub my chin at that then shrug "Anyway we need to touch the lock on the chest. It will prick us and take a drop of blood. This will bound them to us so no one else can use the chest without our permission" He nods and follows my instructions. He doesn't wince or make any change of expression when the chest takes his blood. The trunks launch out a chain that wraps on our individual wrist and then shrink rapidly turning into a wristband with a small chest shaped trinket "Well that's convenient"

"How about we go to Madam Malkins for our robes" So I lead my brother to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.

"Hogwarts, dear?" a woman said to us when we came in. Both of us nod "Got the lot here. Another young man being fitted up just now, in fact." In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him and me on a stool next to Harry then slipped a long robe over our heads and began to pin it to the right length.

"Hello, Hogwarts too?" Asked the boy

"Yes" said Harry being closer to the other.

"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands" said the boy. He had a bored, drawling voice. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first-years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow." Harry's face scrunched up a little but then quickly went back to normal.

As they are talking, I am only halfheartedly listening in, I decide to talk to Madam Malkin about the fabrics and features. The best fabric seems to be acromantula silk as it is very comfortable and has a bit of spell resistance. Then there are a few extra features such as self ironing and self repair. I tell the Madam I would like mine and my brothers robes to be made of such silk along with the two extra features. I also pull out an outfit from my bottomless bag, I haven't stored anything in the trunk yet, and ask if she can make me something that looks like these as well only with dragon hide on the outside and acromantula silk on the inner lining. She nods and me and her come to an agreement on the cost.

"-I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been. Imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" Oh the boy is talking about houses now

"Mm" said Harry but he seemed uncomfortable

"You know the loyalty you show in your family and Slytherin is a very Hufflepuff trait." I decide to take a small jab at the boy. His face scrunched up like he just bit into a lemon.

"Look at that man!" said the boy obviously trying to change the subject as he pointed out the front window. Hagrid was standing there grinning at Harry. Hm I wonder why he isn't in the Leaky Cauldron

"That's Hagrid" said Harry who seemed pleased to know something the boy didn't. "He works at Hogwarts."

The boy got a real snobbish look on his face as he said "Oh I heard of him. He's like a servant, isn't he?" I can only shake my head. It's obvious this boy is very spoiled. I began to tune out the boy as I don't want my brain cells to die off from listening to his pompousness. Luckily his robes get finished shortly and he leaves.

Harry looks very uncomfortable so I reach over and pat his shoulder. Envy even hops over my arm and rubs his fluffy puffskein body against Harry's cheek causing him to smile "Alex what is this uh thing anyway" Good job Envy

"Well that is my Familiar it's name is Envy."

Harry rubs his finger on Envy's head causing Envy to coo "What is Envy?" I think this is the first time I have seen a genuine smile on Harry's face

"Well currently he is a puffskein." Harry caught the key word

"Currently?" I nod

"Envy is from an extinct race called Amalgi, they take the phrase 'you are what you eat' to life." Harry's face seems to be thoughtful at that "No he didn't eat an actual puffskein to gain this form. He just ate some of the fur off a puffskein" that seems to relieve him a bit.

"All done now dearies" Madam Malkin is finally finished. We store our new robes in our trunks "I should have your custom order done tomorrow dear. Give me your name and I'll owl them to you" So I give her my name and we head out.

Hagrid is standing there with a cage. In the cage is a beautiful snowy owl. "Thought I would get ye a gift. Happy Birthday Harry" He then hands the cage to Harry who positively radiates happiness at receiving the owl.

"Thank you Hagrid. She is beautiful" The owl puffed up it's chest and tilted it's beak upwards.

"She likes that you called her beautiful Harry, though how did you know she was a she?"

Harry shrugged "She just looks like a she"

The owl hoots "Well excuse me for not seeing the obvious" She hoots again "Hey that is uncalled for!" Harry and Hagrid both look at me skeptically "What? She just called me a fool for not seeing she is clearly female"

It was Hagrid that spoke "You can understand her?"

I nod "Well yea. I can talk to pretty much any animal as it's part of my bloodline" Hagrid nods his head. I guess he knows that bloodlines come with all sorts of abilities.

Envy hops back onto my shoulder and began to morph until there was a very regal looking barn owl on my shoulder. The wings and back of Envy held dark, almost black feathers, with whiteish specks making it look like a starry robe. The chest plumes were a golden wheat color that came to just below Envys neck. Envy's large eyes were a bright silver color looking challenging towards the snowy owl in the cage. She, as envy decided to be a female owl this time, hoots. "Yes Envy you are very beautiful as an owl" I scratch just at her neck. The snow owl hoots then turns away and I roll my eyes.

"What did she say?" Harry asked

"She said she is prettier than Envy in a huffy voice" Harry giggles.

"Hey Harry. Why did Hagrid have to personally get you, no offense Hagrid" He shakes his head showing he took no offense.

Harry looks away "my um Uncle wouldn't let me have my letters... he didn't want me to go to Hogwarts until Hagrid took me away... they might be angry" He says the last part so low I almost missed it.

"Well there is still one month left. If you don't want to return to your uncles you can come stay with me and my mom for a month." Harry looks excited then shrinks back a little

"I don't want to be a bother..."

I shake my head careful not to bump my head against Envy "No bother at all Harry. I just want to get to know my little brother is all" I then lean over to his ear like telling a secret "Plus I just had the house warded so we can practice magic inside the house without fear of the Trace" It is clear he doesn't know what the Trace is but he is very excited about using magic.

Harry is happier during the rest of our shopping. We got ice cream at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, I got chocolate chip mint and Harry got chocolate fudge. Then we went to the book store Flourish and Blotts to get his school books. I also filled up a bit of my Library compartment in my trunk by buying at least one copy of any book in the shop. At the apothecary I had him get the same amount of stuff Snape told me to get, I also purchased a Black Iron Cauldron with the pewter one. I want to see if Snape will allow Harry to use the Black Iron one like myself. I stopped by Eeylops Owl Emporium to pick up an barn owl for mail. I had to keep convincing Envy that I was not replacing her. I assured her I only got an owl for mail so that she wouldn't need to deliver my packages so she could stay by my side instead. That calmed her down.

Things got a little odd at Olivanders though. That old man kinda creeps me out. Harry went through a few wands, just like I did only he didn't set anything on fire. Finally his a wand causes some light phenomenon to happen and I look up just to make sure there isn't some cherub with a spotlight hovering over Harry. The news that he has the brother wand to Voldemorts seems to upset him a bit after all Dork Lord Moldy Shorts did kill our father and Harry's mom. "I think we got everything Harry. How about we head home" He nods a bit absently. I head into the Leaky Cauldron "We will see you at Hogwarts ok Hagrid." He nods and says his goodbyes. "Hey Tom can I use your floo?" I pass him a few sickles

"Sure Alex." said the toothless barkeep.

I take Harry over "Ok Harry now you see this powder. Just take a pinch of this. Step into the fireplace and say Uncrowned Manor then throw the dust at your feet." Yes the goblins hooked a fireplace in my home to the Floo network. I go first to demonstrate, but I stumble out the fireplace which I guess is normal seeing as Harry stumbles, then falls, out seconds later.