Chapter 7: The Alley
If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
I would like to thank my beta, Akisu, for his help in this chapter.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
28th July 1991, Privet Drive, Surrey
No matter what Petunia's relationship was with her sister, the way she treated him was wrong, and she had what she said coming.
It's not like it mattered now. Because this was the start of Harry's magical journey, and he couldn't wait for it to properly begin.
For the first time in a while, Harry thought that luck seemed to be on his side. Petunia was free to give him a rise to Diagon alley. She revealed the name of the alley after he asked where he was supposed to get his school things. Vernon had to go to work, and luckily Dudley was invited to spend the day with his friend Piers, leaving Petunia able to drive him to London.
It was funny how Petunia still remembered the road to the Alley decades after she had last been there. If that wasn't proof that she was still secretly envious of magic, nothing was. Still, the letter was very vague on how to get there, which means that it was sent either to people who already know, or a professor was supposed to personally come and explain it to Muggleborn. Things didn't look good for him so far, but he would reserve his judgement until later.
For the hundredth time that day, the young wizard took a look at the second piece of parchment that held the required school supplies needed.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Uniform:
First-year students will require:
1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)
Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags.
Set Books:
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble
Other Equipment:
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales
Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad.
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST-YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS.
Harry hoped with all his heart that his parents left him enough money to buy all these supplies, even then, Hogwarts was supposed to have funds for people that can't afford schools. From the looks of it, he was going to need to go to a bookstore, a clothes store, a wand store, a potions store, and whatever the place was where they could buy a telescope. Maybe he could go to a pet store if he has enough money.
But first, he needed to get to the alley. Time flew on, and before too long, Harry found himself being driven by his aunt in London. They arrived in mid-day in front of some dirty pub which had the name, 'The Leaky Cauldron'. Huh, so that's accurate from the book too?
Before he could leave, he looked up at his aunt and spoke up, "Thank you, Aunt Petunia."
His aunt released a sob, "tell me, Harry. Have I been this horrible to you?"
The young man shook his head, "You could have done worse, been worse, but you never tried. Are you surprised that I'm leaping at a chance in this new world?"
Petunia shook her head, "No, I suppose I'm not. Your mother would have been proud of you Harry."
Harry responded with an awkward, "Thank you." He didn't know what else to say. He knew nothing about Lily Potter. Even in the stories, she was barely mentioned outside of her being a redhead and having green eyes, there's very little known about her at all. Petunia never mentioned her, and Harry had learnt that in this life, he would need to rely only on himself to survive. The Dursleys had taught him that.
Petunia was practically sobbing when she spoke up, "Goodbye, Harry."
"Goodbye," he answered softly.
Harry left the car and entered the pub. It didn't look like much from the outside, and the inside wasn't any better. It wasn't particularly clean or lively. Although, that's probably because it was a pub, and it was noon on a weekday. Honestly, everyone looked shady.
Harry was intimidated, and there was no shame in admitting it. He was lost in a world that was new to him, and so, he chose to do the simple thing and ask a question. In his last life, Harry understood the value of asking the right questions. And so, he walked to the bartender and asked, "Excuse me, Sir?"
Immediately, the man brightened up, "I assume you're here to get your Hogwarts supply?"
Harry nodded, "I'm sorry, but Professor McGonagall told me that this was the entrance to the alley. Can you tell me the way?"
The bartender gave him a warm smile, "Oh, don't worry about it. I get it dozens of times in the summer. It's practically a tradition now. I'm Tom, the owner of the Leaky Cauldron."
Harry did his best to return the smile and followed the bartender as he motioned the back. With a practised motion, he tapped one of the bricks three times with his wand. Immediately, the wall started to morph into a large archway towards what seemed like a crowded street.
It was the first piece of magic Harry had ever seen that wasn't his own, and it was amazing. It was nice to have visual confirmation that none of this was in his head, that it wasn't some hopeful ideals that he made up in his head.
"Welcome," said Tom, "to Diagon Alley."
The man was visibly smiling at the awed look on his face, and Harry blushed in embarrassment, "Tom, can you tell me where the bank is? The professor told me to meet her there."
"Oh, that's no trouble. Gringotts is at the end of the road. Just keep walking straight and you'll see it. It's a big white building made of marble."
Harry thanked the bartender and started walking around the alley. From the looks of it, the currency was the same as the stories. The big gold coins were Galleons, the silver ones were Sickles, and the small bronze ones were Knuts.
Although he didn't have any money, Harry was still very curious as to what a magical shopping district looked like. It was surprisingly normal. Sure, the buildings just looked structurally wrong and were probably held up by magic, but the shops had windows demonstrating their products. There were salesmen all over the street advertising their shops and offers. There were floating advertisement pieces all over the street for one shop or another.
Harry looked down the street to find the shops that had his required supplies. He already found what was probably the potions store, the sign showed 'Cauldrons – All Sizes – Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver, Self-Stirring, and Collapsible', in the store called the 'Brewery'. He also found the pet store called 'Eeylops Owl Emporium'.
He passed by the broom store and so many others. It was fascinating, to find such marvels on display. It must look so common for the people living there.
Harry didn't take long until Harry found himself staring at the giant white building. Where the alley was chaotic and disorganized, the building stood imposing. It was far larger than any shop and Tom hadn't wrong when he said that Harry wouldn't miss it.
The young wizard tried to discreetly observe the Goblin guards as he walked up the stairs to the entrance of the bank. It was his first time seeing a Goblin and Harry had to admit that they were very intimidating. They were shorter than wizards, with pointy ears, even pointier teeth, and long fingers.
Harry did his best not to stare and instead chose to focus on the inscription engraved on the bank door:
Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn,
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.
Well, that's ominous. Harry had no plans on breaking into this bank, although it was funny how this was practically a written threat by the Goblins in the middle of a wizarding alley.
Harry did his best to repress a shudder as he entered the large hall. Hundreds of Goblins sat on high stools behind counters, either writing with their quills or examining gems or gold. There were no signs regarding where he should do, and none of the Goblins looked free. There wasn't even a line of wizards anywhere, which was curious. And so, Harry approached the nearest one, who happened to be examining a large ruby.
He stood waiting for a few minutes until the Goblin finished looking at the ruby, scribbled down a few details and looked down at him, "Yes?"
"Hello, I was told that my family had a vault here. They died when I was younger, and I was raised outside the magical world. I don't know what I'm supposed to do to access it."
"Did they leave you a key?" the goblin asked.
Harry shrugged, "Nothing, as far as I know. I was raised in the muggle world and just found out about it. I'm practically a Muggleborn."
"What did your professor tell you?"
"Nothing. No one came to tell me anything. I just got my Hogwarts letter and my aunt drove me to the alley, that's it."
The goblin asked, "And do you have a magical guardian?"
Harry shook his head, "I don't know what that is. I've only ever lived in the muggle world."
"So, you're a ward of the state. This is slightly complicated. Can you tell me your name, child?" The goblin asked.
"Harry Potter."
The goblin nodded and opened a book, "Ah, the Potters. They do have an account here. This is not my department, but I'll send you to the account management offices. They should help you."
The goblin then jumped down and motioned Harry to follow him. Choosing to follow the teller, they walked up to one of the stairs until they reached one of the offices. Harry couldn't read what was written on the plaque on it. And the Goblin teller knocked and walked in towards an older goblin wearing much distinguished clothing. They spoke in some weird language that sounded like a mixture of snorting and spitting than an actual language. But that was their culture and Harry wouldn't condemn it. It was just weird.
The young goblin then exited the room, leaving him with the older Goblin in the office, "Mr Potter, I assume."
Harry nodded, "Yes."
"My name is Bragkor, I am the goblin in charge of frozen accounts. Your case is quite peculiar, Mr Potter."
"How so?"
The Goblin grinned, "Well, even with the rise of orphans in the last decade because of the war with the dark lord, the ministry had done its best to redistribute them around across many families. It was a bid for peace, but you're the only one who had relatives only outside the magical world, while no magical family made a bid for your adoption. Since you were aware of the magical world and thus have no magical guardian, you are technically a ward of the ministry."
"So, I need to go to the ministry just to have access to my gold."
The Goblin's smile widened, "No, it seems that your parents named you their heir in the traditional way. It's a rather old-fashioned way to preserve an inheritance to their line by bringing their heir to Gringotts and naming him the heir by blood."
Bragkor then opened one of the folders and released a piece of parchment that had his name, Harry James Potter, on the top. He grabbed a dagger and pricked Harry's blood with it before he could even react. The moment a drop of blood touched the parchment, the paper glowed gold.
The Goblin gave him a bloodthirsty smile, "It seems like you are in fact, Harry Potter. That's good; now we can proceed."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.