Chapter 10: Hogwarts Preparation
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I would like to thank my beta, Akisu, for his help in this chapter.
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1st September 1991, Diagon Alley
Harry let out a smile and nodded. He paid the seven Galleons for his wand and left pondering. He didn't care too much about it because he had his wand now. He could feel it thrum in his hand and couldn't be happier for it. Because Harry Potter was a wizard, and he was certain that he would surpass all who came before him.
Harry woke up in his room in the Leaky cauldron, excited for what would have been his first year at magic school. He simply had to get to the Hogwarts Express in King's Cross in a couple of hours and he would be off to Hogwarts.
After getting his wand, Harry made his way to a potion shop and bought a complete set of ageing potions, and some adult clothes from a secondhand shop – he pretended it was a gift for his elder brother. He took a sip of his ageing potion, reading the label very carefully, and was able to rent a room in the Leaky Cauldron without too many questions, where he left his trunk and all his shopping.
The young wizard had decided to read the introduction manuals for Muggleborns before continuing his shopping and exploration of the alley. He thought it was better to at least know enough about the magical world to pretend like he belonged than be treated like an outsider for asking dumb questions.
He was proven right, of course, when he realized how much things could have gone wrong when he bought his potions. The young Potter was lucky that ageing potions were not that restricted since adolescent wizards tended to use them to sneak into pubs to drink alcohol. Their use was technically restricted, but no one followed them because minors would end up brewing it themselves, which can seriously hurt them.
So, these potions were standardized and were often bought in bulk. They were perfected so there wouldn't be any side effects, but things could have gone wrong. Each potion master almost always has a twist on a potion. Sometimes, they can trade in their efficiency for partial use, sometimes you would need to drink the entire dose for them to work. It was very delicate, and Harry could have hurt himself if he tried to use certain types of potions, thinking them harmless.
As for the government, according to the books, it was surprisingly modern. Apparently, there was no such thing as Lords and Ladies in modern magical Britain, and whoever does that was often mocked. Sure, a few wizards were ennobled after remarkable service and given lands, but that was before the statute of secrecy, where the two worlds were almost entirely separated. The Muggle Kings and Queens have no words for what happens in magical Britain, and the wizarding nobility gave up their lands and titles for the sake of peace. In exchange, every former noble was given a seat in the Wizengamot to their family. However, if after a generation no one claimed a seat, the ministry would take it and a representative would be elected every seven years.
Even now, from the 49 total seats, only 22 were inherited ones. 13 were given to the heads of the most important departments in the ministry, one was given to the minister and his undersecretary, and finally the rest were elected by the population. Harry didn't see any mentions of the Potter family, so he assumed that they were ennobled, to begin with.
However, while there weren't any houses and so on, there was still a certain prestige in being from an old family. These families tend to have rules of their own, many secrets and magic. The books didn't specify how they worked but did mention something about 'Family Magic' which they only asked as a warning not to ask about them, as it can be considered to be very impolite and could easily be considered a slight. Harry would research on the matter in Hogwarts which should have the biggest library in the country.
Speaking of Hogwarts, it had a somewhat ambiguous title. There were no tuition fees to encourage Muggleborns to enter, and so it was paid almost entirely by the ministry, which increased the taxes. Apparently, this was decided after the Statute of secrecy was set up to stop any Muggleborn from accidentally revealing the magical world.
Not that the statute wasn't powerful. Muggles just one day decide that magic wasn't real. There was no explanation on how the statute was created, only that it worked like a notice-me-not charm towards muggles. It wasn't that powerful, but it was very wide and strong enough to stop accidental magic from being noticed. Nevertheless, the strength of the Statute had some downsides, which as the severity of the punishments for breaking it. If a wizard or witch uses magic in front of a muggle and is being noticed they could be arrested and fined heavily, but if their intentions were malicious in nature, and they wanted to purposefully break the statute, then they could even be executed. It was a harsh law, but it was still a reality. Magic was strong, absurdly so, but revealing its existence to muggles will only lead to war and death.
With his reading done and enough understanding of the wizarding world, Harry chose to explore the castle. He had forgotten to buy his writing supplies the last time and so he bought a lot of parchment, and various binders to keep things together. It turns out that wizards like using antiquated things because they weren't as processed, which means that they could be more easily enchanted. Parchment could hold spells, like making writing neat or correcting mistakes, and quills could actually write on their own if they could be enchanted. The less modified an item was, the more layers of spells it could handle, which is why no one ever bothers to enchant transfigured or transmuted elements, because they are very liable to fail. Magic remembers, after all.
Harry simply bought a few self-inking quills, and he was ready for the year. However, he chose to pass by Eeylops Owl Emporium and get himself an owl. To be perfectly honest, Harry was a dog person so he wouldn't get a cat on principle, and he definitely had no interest in buying a toad. An owl was far more practical and useful, which is why he went there.
The store was absurdly dark because owls were nocturnal in nature, but in the end, Harry exited with a nice snowy owl that he named Hedwig. Oh, he tried other names, but she seemed to prefer that one. Perhaps it was fate, but the owl was very intelligent, and Harry often found himself talking to her as if she could understand him. He really needed a friend, didn't he? It's not that he didn't like Hedwig, it just wasn't the same as talking with someone who can, well, talk. Still, Hedwig was beautiful and intelligent, and he quickly grew to love her. He rarely ever put her in the cage, and he even saved her a piece of bacon every day for breakfast.
As for Harry, he chose to spoil himself somewhat. He bought himself an entire wardrobe of clothes, not wanting to wear the secondhand ones that the Dursleys had given him. He didn't buy it all at once, of course, instead, he would visit a clothing store every few days and pick out one or two outfits. He didn't want to make a scene by making an absurdly large purchase for a child. Even then, Harry didn't leave Diagon Alley to buy his clothes, choosing to stick with wizarding fashion to not stand out too much – not that it was too different from the muggle ones.
Harry spent his days exploring the Alley, seeing what the wizarding world had to offer. It was surprising that Fortescue Ice-Cream Parlour ended up being his most fruitful one. Well, the food was delicious, of course, but Florean Fortescue was by far a wealth of information on the current state of magical Britain. He had welcomed the young wizard with open arms, who had confessed to having been raised in the muggle world.
Well, it turned out that the shop owner was actually a history buff and knew quite a bit about magical families. Apparently, the Potter family wasn't all that old, barely eight centuries old, and had started from a famous potions master that had invented many remedies. They mostly took to themselves and didn't involve themselves in politics, choosing to sell their potions. That was, until Charlus Potter, Harry's grandfather, had chosen to join the army to fight against Grindelwald. He was quite the commander until he and his wife died from Dragon Pox a few years before Harry himself was born. Harry's father, James Potter, had been an Auror in the ministry and had made quite the name for himself before his death. Sadly, Florean had no stories about him or his mother, but it was better than nothing.
Outside of this, Harry did spend a lot of time in the library, skimming the books. As expected, there were no books on wizarding traditions. In the same way, there aren't step by step guides to act like an English muggle. Since there weren't any huge red flags in the Muggleborn introduction books, they should not be very difficult to learn.
The past summer was the best Harry had ever had, and the young wizard was looking forward to learning magic. Oh, he had read all of his schoolbooks but chose not to buy any more, as to not waste money considering there's a large library waiting for him at Hogwarts. Although, the young Potter did not attempt to cast any magic, in case of an accident.
Yeah, Harry discovered that the Trace was active the moment a wizard or witch got their wands, but the reason why they are only triggered in the muggle world was that magical parents were expected to take care of their children at home, and so could reverse any magical accident that might occur. Muggleborns did not have such luxury which was why casting magic was prohibited. A magical accident in a muggle neighbourhood could be very serious, after all.
Harry simply chose to not cast any magic because he was a beginner and could seriously cause an accident. Don't get him wrong, the moment he enters Hogwarts, he would cast magic like a loon, but until then, he would stay away from dangerous magic.
Alas, this was not the time to wallow back. Harry had to get to the Hogwarts Express. And so, he walked out of his room after putting Hedwig in her cage, went to the Leaky Cauldron's fireplace, bought a pinch of floo powder for a sickle and bellowed out, "King's Cross Station!" and disappeared in a green flame.
The young wizard appeared in a designated floo station in King's Cross and walked towards platform number nine, and slowly walked through the hidden entrance between it and platform number ten. He was then met with a large red and gold train that had the words 'Hogwarts Express' written on it.
Realizing that he was over an hour early, Harry simply chose to enter the train and wait in a compartment, which he decided to lock with his wandless magic, his introvertive nature winning out slightly. Plus, he didn't really want to make friends with people in different houses than the ones he would end up in, considering the rumoured animosity between Gryffindor and Slytherin, it was better to not be invested in a friendship that could turn sour very quickly.
And so, the young wizard released his lovely owl, which stood on the seat next to him, and pulled up a fiction book that he had bought from Flourish and Blotts. He was curious as to how magical literature held up against the classics, and it was funny how a fiction novel ended up teaching him more about the everyday wizarding world than all of the Muggleborn introduction books combined. Still, Harry felt he was ready to officially enter the magical world, and he immersed himself in the book about the adventures of a young curse breaker in an old Egyptian ruin.
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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.