Chapter 16

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The summer holidays did not turn out very well for Harry, something that wasn't a surprise for the young wizard, he already assumed it. Practically every day, every time he met his brother, he gave him an unpleasant and hurtful comment, luckily these no longer hurt him as much as they once did. He could almost say that the insults and mockery were getting old, but what never stopped hurting was his parents' reaction to the comments. Not only did they turn a deaf ear, but there were also times when they laughed at what his brother told him, as a mockery or insult.

It was for this reason that almost every moment of the day he could be found inside his room, studying his textbooks and doing his summer homework, or playing and pampering his kitten, which had become his only reliable company, since Remus, despite his wishes, could not be with him every day, although not for lack of trying. For this reason, Harry found that just a week later he had already finished all his assignments for the summer and since he was bored with nothing to do, he decided to redo his essays as many times as necessary until he found that he liked the result. Furthermore, he had decided that it would be best to review his textbooks, so that he could have a better concept of spells and incantations. The better he knew them, the more he could make a considerable improvement when performing them or perhaps he could even improve them to obtain a better result.

The few times Harry left his room it was for meals and to send owls to his friends. When it came to those who came from a magical family, there was no problem, because they only had to forward the corresponding owl with the answer, but when he wanted to write to Hermione he had it a little more complicated, because she didn't have any and therefore, he had to ask his parents so he could send her the letter. His parents didn't usually say anything, they just made a strange face, but Brian... well, let's just say that Brian considered it impossible for anyone to want to receive mail from his brother, much less for anyone to write to him, and for that reason, he kept making fun of him. It didn't hurt, but it was still annoying.

Another unpleasant aspect was listening to his brother boast about how well he was going to do next year at Hogwarts and also how surely he could not only equal Harry's feat but also surpass it. The curious thing, at least from Harry's point of view, was how he was going to do it if you took into account that he had never opened a book that wasn't about Quidditch, and it had to be admitted that he was good at it, it wasn't for nothing that he had many hopes and possibilities of joining his dream team. But if he only cared about sports, he couldn't do well in his studies, that was pure logic.

The only thing that was worth it was when they were going to Diagon Alley to look for school supplies for the next year. His parents had decided to go on July 31st, especially because since it was about the middle of summer, there would be much fewer people, and that way they would be able to shop much more comfortably. Of course, when they decided on the day they had not remembered that that day was their eldest son's birthday, but Remus, who had been told a couple of days earlier, did remember and signed up for the excursion.

There was also the fact that when the young magician mentioned it to his friends in his letters, they all reacted in the same way, deciding to go too and thus celebrate his birthday together. Needless to say, Harry decided to forget to mention it to his parents.

That thirty-first of July was one of the most anticipated by the boy, since unconsciously, his parents were giving him one of the best gifts they could, not because they were going to the Alley, but because of the possibility of spending almost the entire day with his friends and Remus. So, that morning he got up a little earlier than usual and decided very carefully what he would wear, when that was more Brian's behavior than his. Without being bothered by the annoying comments of his little brother, who tried as always to spoil his day, he ate breakfast happier than he had in weeks and was not bothered by the different comments that his father made in favor of his brother and against him. Why bother with them? He wasn't going to change his behavior.

Arriving at the Leaky Cauldron was quite different from what it had been with Remus the other times he had gone. At first, they didn't even worry about whether he followed them or not, none of them wanted to ensure his safe arrival. Then there was the fact that they weren't expecting him, looking at the fire with concern, for what? Brian had already arrived and was fine, and above all, Remus never gave him the look of obvious disgust that his parents gave him upon arrival.

"Well, we'd better keep going." James replied as soon as everyone was there. "We must first go to Gringotts to get enough money to buy the materials."

The trip to Gringotts was also quite different from the one he had taken with Remus, although mostly because his parents were ahead with Brian and he was left behind to follow them. There was also the main difference that his parents got a lot more money than Remus did, although Harry knew for sure that it would be to buy his brother all the best that money could buy, but what his parents seemed to have forgotten (or is it that maybe they had never known it) is that sometimes, the best was not the most expensive.

Once they left Gringotts, they went to meet Remus, who would be waiting for them at the Leaky Cauldron. Knowing the werewolf, he was probably already there. They found him sitting at the bar talking calmly with Tom, while he drank a butterbeer, and when he saw them, he smiled.

"James, Lily, Brian, Harry... How are you?"

"Good, Remus. Have you been waiting a long time?" James answered happily.

"Not long, about ten minutes."

"Okay… Let's go?"

"Yes, of course..." He said finishing the drink and getting up. "But first... Happy Birthday, Harry." The werewolf said, turning to the little boy and giving him a gift.

"Thank you very much, Uncle Remus!"

Before his parents' stunned faces, Harry picked up his gift and began to open it very slowly. He already knew it would be a book, but that didn't mean he wasn't excited. Once he removed the packing paper he found a book with beautiful leather covers and the title engraved in silver.

"Oh, Uncle Remus, it's beautiful!" The boy said, reading the title. 'Complicated Potions, for Masters of the Art' by Master Aurelius Reggius.

"I know how much you enjoy potions. Wait, I'll shrink it for you so it doesn't bother you."

Ignoring his family's expressions, Harry put the book in his pocket and standing next to the werewolf waited for his family to begin the shopping trip. It didn't take them long to react and without saying anything they began to go towards Diagon Alley again with a thoughtful expression.

Of course, the next part of the shopping was much more pleasant than the first, since now he had the werewolf to keep him company. The trip to Mrs. Malkin was quite quick, at least for Harry, who only had to buy another slightly larger robe, since he had grown during the year and they were now too short. On Brian's part, it was much longer, as he wanted robes of the best quality possible, despite the fact that the uniform had a standard fabric and not even families like the Malfoys tried to improve the fabric. The worst thing is that his parents, instead of trying to reason with him, encouraged the behavior of their youngest son, and it was poor Mrs. Malkin who had to explain to the boy that it was not possible to make him an acromantula silk tunic.

The visit to the bookstore was a little more fun for Harry, since despite his brother's protests, he was able to buy all the books he considered necessary. It was also quite funny to see the clerk's expression when he asked for the fourth-year books plus the Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes book. Obviously, he didn't expect to see a twelve-year-old kid ordering what a fourteen-year-old boy would order. Furthermore, his brother couldn't do anything to protest when his own parents told him that even if he wanted to, they still wouldn't buy him the books for other courses, after all, they had only received the list for the first year.

The next store they visited was the apothecary so that both boys could buy what they needed for their potions classes, although they obviously did not expect Harry to go around the store looking with a critical eye at the different ingredients, including those that of course were not part of the student team. Although his parents and brother seemed amazed by such behavior, this was not the case with the owner of the store, who looked at the boy with respect and even pride while he examined the ingredients like a true expert. Obviously not only had he dealt with the boy, but he knew him well enough to find such behavior completely normal. It was not surprising then that in his basket of ingredients, there were several (not to say many) that were not part of the usual team of students.

The next stop was the most anticipated and at the same time most feared, Ollivanders. There was so much that could be told by a magic wand... like what kind of character its user had, what areas of magic he would be best at, or his abilities. So, everyone waited for Ollivanders to come out to serve them with some apprehension, some nervous in case it said Harry's wand core, others nervous about knowing which one would be Brian's.

"Ahhh... yes, Brian Potter... I was waiting for you." Ollivanders said. "Yes, looking for your first wand, right? Yes, of course. Ahhh! And young Harry Potter... Sakura 19 centimeters and phoenix feather, correct?"

"Yes sir."

"Yes of course. Let's see if we can find a wand as suitable for this young man as yours, yes sir."

Ollivanders took Brian's measurements for his wand and began bringing out boxes of possible wands. If the man was expecting a challenge with the same characteristics as Harry's, he was obviously disappointed, since with the third wand, he met his own. A walnut wand with a heart of dragon heartstring, good for transfiguration.

After paying the twelve galleons it was worth, they left the store towards the animal store, since Brian wanted them to buy him an owl as a pet… from his point of view, it had to be the best one in the store.

While Brian was looking at all the owls and owls available, Harry decided to look at some trinkets for Night, maybe an enchanted rattle or a new toy. Finally, he decided on an enchanted mouse, which would move like a real one until the cat caught it or fifteen minutes passed without any attempt by the feline. The clerk had just charged Harry and given him a bag with the toy, when the rest of his family returned with Brian's new animal, a reddish-colored hooked owl that seemed quite presumptuous to Harry, but hey! It was Brian's owl, not his.

They were done shopping, at least for the year, and Harry knew that his parents planned to return home as quickly as possible. So, as they made their way to the Leaky Cauldron, Harry casually gave Remus a knowing look.

"Dad... I would like to stay in the Leaky Cauldron for a while."

"And what else?" The man said with disgust. "You know we want to return as soon as possible, this place is not safe."

"I'm not asking you to stay with me... just that you let me stay a while."

"And can we know why?"

"My friends... when I told them that I would come today to buy the material for the new course... they said that they would also come so they could see me... Since it is my birthday..."

His father was silent for a few moments, adopting an expression that was a cross between surprise and thoughtfulness. It seemed that that had not even crossed his mind and right now he found himself in a kind of dilemma, on the one hand, he wanted to return home as quickly as possible and he could not leave the boy there and on the other hand, it would really be very unpleasant because It's his part to not allow him to see his friends. Finally, after thinking for a few moments, he decided it was the right thing to do.

"Very well... we'll stay for a while."

"Thanks Dad!" Harry said happier than his parents had ever seen him.

"What! No way! I want to go home!" Brian exclaimed indignantly at the same time as his brother.

"Just for a while, Brian." His mother tried to calm him down. "After all, it's your brother's birthday."

"As if that had ever mattered," said the youngest Potter, to the shock of his parents.

Even though the boy's final comment was designed to achieve his goal, he actually felt very frustrated when he saw that despite his protests he was not going to achieve his goal. Instead, his parents had begun heading towards the pub, talking to each other with some concern, giving not-so-subtle glances at their eldest son.

The atmosphere in the pub was the same as usual, there seemed to be some kind of unwritten agreement, in which it was said that the tavern could not have fights and altercations of a political nature, so it was considered a neutral zone for everyone. When they entered, it seemed that no one wanted to pay attention to them, each one continued doing their things without even looking up to see who had entered. Of course, that wasn't entirely true, since as soon as they were inside the establishment, they heard someone call the eldest of the Potter brothers.

"Harry, here!"

Looking towards where the voice calling him had come from, Harry smiled as he concealed the fact that all his friends were already there, although it was quite strange to see Draco Malfoy sitting next to a Muggle-born student and two Weasleys. That surely earned shocked looks from the older Potters, who looked at the Slytherin like a freak.

"Hello!"

"Happy Birthday, Harry!" Everyone exclaimed as they dragged him to the table where there were a lot of gifts.

"Thank you... you shouldn't have..."

"Think nothing of it, Harry, it's the least we could do." Hermione laughed.

"Also, we asked Tom for a cream and chocolate cake." Athenea laughed. "Where has anyone seen a birthday without a cake?"

Laughing, the boys presented him with different gifts, ones like Hermione's (a book about healing) were waiting for him, others, like the one with the twins, were fantastic (a set of gloves and protectors for quidditch), and there were the incredibly expensive ones like Draco and Athenea's (a brooch for his platinum cloak and an incredibly powerful protective charm) there were others that were even laughable (a set of extra-long parchment and mood ink to change color depending on your mood) and then there were the unexpected ones like Neville and Jonathan (a set of potion ingredients, professional level and two oil paintings, one with a portrait of human Harry and the other with phoenix Harry)

"Oh, Jonathan, you shouldn't have...!"

"You like them? I spent a good part of the summer making them… I wanted to have them ready for today."

"They are magnificent. Thank you so much!"

"I'm glad you like it, that makes it worth the effort."

No one noticed (except Remus and Lily) how James disappeared from the pub after Harry started opening presents. Brian would have done it under normal circumstances, but he was too busy watching his brother get good gifts! Why did they have to give him gifts? What if it was his birthday? For someone as unimportant as his brother, they shouldn't have to bother getting them... Instead, they could get them for him, he surely deserved them much more.

It was because of that same distraction that everyone was abruptly surprised, when a new and large package appeared on the table, while they were enjoying the immense cake. It was a long, thin package, and from the look on the eyes of the twins who seemed to have guessed what it was, it had to be something incredible. Harry looked at the label and was amazed when he read: "To Harry, from Mum and Dad." Looking dumbfounded at his parents (James had already returned), he wondered what could have happened.

With the same slow and careful step, Harry began to unravel the wrapping paper, revealing a large box. Everyone was surprised to find a broom... and what a broom! It was a Nimbus 2001, the best broom on the market by far.

"Thank you," Harry said correctly to his parents, but not with the same enthusiasm as with the others. He knew his parents well enough to see that they had done it in a hurry, and because of Brian's comment, they were trying to make up for it. Years without celebrating his birthday with a great gift. They were trying to buy it.

[T/N: Too Faced b*tches!! At least Harry gets to enjoy his birthday for once. Loved the chapter, hope you guys do as well. If you did then leave me a lovely heartfelt message and if you didn't critic is always welcome. If you loved it or hated it you've read this far which means you must be hooked, why not drop some stones and, if you just can't wait for more, Join the P@treon or my Ko-fi, If you enjoyed this book, maybe you'll like my other book, check out A Gamer in Game of Thrones.]

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