A New Companion

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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