Books and Brooms

In the end, Harry simply paid the five galleons for the trunk and left. His next destination was Flourish and Blotts, a bookstore. There were already bundles of books, one for every year at Hogwarts. Harry picked up the first-year bundle and the introduction to the magical world bundle. He ignored the sneering looks he got when he bought the latter. It was a clear sign that he was new to the magical world.

He didn't care for it, Harry was an academic at heart, and he would not be ashamed of what he was and where he came from. Still, he would return to explore the books later.

What did make him pause was the fact that there was an entire section of children's books dedicated to the 'Adventures of Neville Longbottom'.

Browsing the books, Harry could say with absolute certainty that not a single thing could happen. Neville Longbottom was a child, and even Merlin as a child would not have been able to kill a dragon singlehandedly. What was interesting was the fact that Neville Longbottom was the boy who lived. It seems that Voldemort chose to attack Samhain in 1981. He killed Alice and Frank Longbottom and tried to kill young Neville, but to no avail. The boy was raised by his grandmother and was rarely seen in public. There were no mentions of Harry's parents in any of the articles.

Speaking of Voldemort, the stories really understated how close the Dark Lord was to invade magical Britain. The war had caused the death of over ten per cent of the entire wizarding population in Britain, and he was stopped by a magical fluke. If he hadn't attacked the Longbottoms, he would have won in a couple of years.

Harry's shoulders sagged in relief. He wasn't the chosen one, the child of the prophecy. He didn't have a dark lord gunning for him, he wouldn't have the life-threatening adventures from the stories. He would just learn magic and live his life without too much trouble.

Things were already starting well. A smiling Harry just put the books in his trunk and left the store. He then followed in by going to the potions shop and bought a cauldron, a set of crystal phials, and a set of brass scales. He wasn't required to buy any ingredients which made sense since he had no idea how to store them, nor how much damage they could cause.

He then managed to buy a telescope from one of the astronomy stores. It looked like an antique, but there were a lot of enchantments layered on top of it, making it superior to any muggle made telescope.

Finally, Harry only had to buy his clothes and his wand. He walked around the alley until he found Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Harry was welcomed by an old witch was smiled at him pleasantly, "Hogwarts, dear?"

Harry nodded, "Yes, Madam."

"Good. I have the basic templates ready. Wait there until I take your measurements. There's another young man being fitted right now."

Harry nodded, showing his understanding, and walked to the back of the shop. In there, a boy with a pale, pointed face, and a ludicrous amount of hair gel, was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes.

If that wasn't Draco Malfoy, Harry would eat his hat. The boy brightened when he saw Harry, "Hogwarts too?"

"Yes," Harry said.

"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."

Well, Maybe-Draco was obviously a spoilt brat that was trying to brag about his parents. Harry could see the seamstress repressing rolling her eyes at his behaviour.

Draco, then looked at Harry questioningly, "Do you have a broom of your own?"

"No, I don't," Harry replied.

"Do you play Quidditch?" the boy tried to ask again. Harry could see in his eyes that he was trying to make a friend but didn't know how to. Honestly, the boy chose the wrong person to try, since he barely has the social skills of a tin man.

Choosing to humour the boy, "Not really. I don't really like the sport."

The boy gasped in outrage as if Harry had insulted his entire family line, "How can you not like Quidditch? It's the best thing in the whole world!"

Harry shrugged, "Just don't understand the appeal, I suppose. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind flying, but I just don't like the sport."

Still looking outraged by my statement, the boy replied, "You're all mad, that's all I'll say about it. What about houses, where are you hoping to get to, really."

"My parents were both Gryffindors," Harry said, "but I don't really care where I end up, to be honest."

"Really? You don't care which house to go to? You'll spend seven years of your life with your housemates. It's a big commitment. My family was always in Slytherin so that's where I'll be going. Imagine being in Hufflepuff, I'd ask my father to transfer me to Durmstrung. He's friends with the headmaster there."

Harry snorted at the boy's attitude, "Hufflepuff is a perfectly good house. Loyalty and hard work are admirable qualities that are valued everywhere."

Before the boy could reply, the seamstress looked at the blonde and asked, "That's you done, my dear."

The boy turned and left the store while telling Harry that he would see him at Hogwarts. Harry sighed in exasperation and murmured to himself, "And I thought Dudley was spoilt."

Madam Malkin must have heard him because she snorted in laughter, "You'll see far more of his kind at Hogwarts."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Harry muttered back.

It didn't take long for the seamstress to take his measures. With a wave of her wand, Harry was accosted by flying tapes and measures, and in a couple of minutes later, the witch returned with his school uniform with her.

Harry was pleasantly surprised by the uniform. He expected it to be a black sheet with sleeves for him to wear. But no, there was a uniform with trousers, a shirt, a vest, and a black cloak that looked kinda cool when he walked while wearing it.

As for the hat, the seamstress had explained to him that it's the most traditional and only ever used during feasts or formal occasions. Even the winter cloak actually looked cool, made of very smooth fur that had warming charms on it.

In the end, Harry left the store happy with his purchase and put the uniforms in his trunk. With that done, he only had to get his wand and maybe even a pet. Magical animals were very smart in the stories, perhaps one of them would be a suitable companion.

But that was for later, Harry decided to first get his wand, which meant that had to go to Ollivanders.

.....

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