Chapter 1
20141031
"It seemed so easy when I read others'" whispered the wannabe writer. "In fact, it's hard to find some inspiration without being cliché." At that, he closed his laptop and got up to fill himself a glass of orange juice before heading off to bed. People often told him that drinking orange juice before going to sleep was stupid, that it was too full of sugar and that it prevented sleep. He shrugged at that and took a sip of his juice. Why should he care? This never prevented him to sleep before. He finished his glass, put it on his table and got to bed. "I'll try again tomorrow after work, I couldn't possibly be less inspired than tonight." He never noticed the intricate pattern of runes drawn under his bed.
And that night, despite his habits, it took him long to sleep. He dreamt about the world of Harry Potter, in a way far more real than he ever had. His own world seemed dull and distant in comparison. This was not his phone alarm that woke him up the next morning but the strong and angry voice of someone ready to burn up. "Fucking neighbours, always pissing everyone off." That's at the sound of his voice that he noticed something was wrong. Something was really wrong. Before he could have anymore time to think about this, his eyes hurt from the sudden light diving into his room. And then a plump hand grabbed him and roughly pulled him out of his bed. Or that's what he thought. His 'chamber' and 'bed' were actually a dusty cupboard under the stairs and an old and shabby mattress. In front of him was a gigantic, obese man whose large moustache would make any 20th century dictator proud. "IT'S NEARLY HALF PAST SEVEN AND THE BREAKFAST ISN'T READY YET, YOU'RE IN FOR A ROUGH TIME BOY!"
19901101
Harry was back in his cupboard after making breakfast and enduring a much too long list of threats from Vernon Dursley. But wait, his name wasn't Harry of course. For 21 years he'd been called Dan, at least as far as he could remember. And yet, here he was, in Harry Potter's body. How could this be possible? He wasn't dreaming and pinching himself hadn't been necessary for him to realize that. It had begun with the rude awakening of being pulled from his 'bed' and yelled at by the mastodon that was Dursley Senior. At first he thought that the man was somehow a giant but then he realised where he was.
How could this be possible?! Changing from the perspective of a 21 year-old man to the one of a 10 or 11 year-old boy was very disconcerting.
And how odd to have to pretend that everything was normal and to cook for the Dursleys.
The Dursleys! Shit! He didn't have to be a genius to realise what troubles he'd be in if he didn't play along with the Dursleys. Even being sure that he, himself, wasn't Harry Potter. He could be beaten to a pulp by this aggressive idiotic man that was Vernon Dursley in no time. No, he couldn't do anything they could consider weird. If this family was the same as the one he had read about so many times in J. K. Rowling's books, being weird at 4 Privet Drive was a one-way ticket to hell.
So there he was, in his cupboard. How could anyone in any real world inflict this to an innocent child? The Dursleys were really obtuse people who were just stupidly denying the facts which bothered them. Again, that was something quite recurrent in The Harry Potter universe. The wizarding world seemed to be full of people just burying their heads in the sand. But there was plenty of time to get to know the people of this world if he remained stuck here. After all, that could be the adventure of a lifetime. Supposing everything from the books he'd read again and again since he was a child was true.
At this point, this was the most important thing for him to verify. Was everything written by J. K. Rowling facts or was he in some kind of alternate universe only similar to it? And in any case, was he in some sort of illusion? In an alternate universe? Or was he in the same universe he lived in until today as a young man called Dan? This at least could be easily confirmed he thought, he'd just have to check in a phone book if his family existed. If not, then he couldn't be in the same universe. That was certainly undeniable.
After hours locked in 'his' cupboard, Dan, — or Harry — should he get used to calling himself and being called Harry, now? had finally been allowed to get out: to mow the grass. Yay. He hated doing it to help at home when he was a teenager and he surely hated it more in the early 90's with the outdated — for him, at least — lawn-mower of Vernon Dursley. That was something else to check, he hadn't been able to do so for the moment: when exactly did he arrive? It was beginning to be quite a lot of things to investigate and he wondered if he should write them down. If so, he guessed he would have to be careful about what he wrote. He souldn't write down anything that would allow someone to know too much about the future of this world (again, assuming that all J. K. Rowling's writings are facts).
After finishing mowing the grass, Dan shyly asked if he could go somewhere outside the home, careful not to cross any of his adult relatives. He was rewarded with a grunt from Petunia he assumed was permission to do so. He quickly left 'home' to go somewhere in Little Whinging and find the information he needed. The fact that Little Whinging and Privet Drive — he had seen the street sign —, were supposed to be a fictional place should be proof enough that he was in an alternate universe. But he just had to be sure. After half an hour wandering in Little Whinging, he managed to find a public library and went inside.
First news: today was 1 November 1990.
Wow. That meant he would have to wait almost an entire year to go to Hogwarts, an entire year enduring the Dursleys. Bad news. He had to find a way to be in peace, free of this horrible family's hindrance. He wasn't going to spend his time doing chores.
Second news: Dan found a phone book and to his surprise, was able to find his parents address and phone number. What did that mean? How could this be? What should he do with that? Should he even interact with his family? Or should he just avoid them in order not to provoke a paradox or something? But more importantly for the moment, Dan was pretty sure he would not be able to get back to Privet Drive before lunch. Again, bad news.
Anew, Dan was locked in Harry's cupboard. He expected that. That didn't change the fact that he was hungry. Vernon Dursley had obviously yelled at him for being late and deprived him of food. That gave him time to think about what to do next. He was not in an alternate universe. That meant magic had always existed in our world and it was kept hidden from muggles.
That's insane! Muggle scientific progress had been phenomenal throughout the 20th century, and even more in the 21th century. Muggle scientists were capable of finding thousands of animal species every year in every part of the Earth. Capable of making tonnes of iron fly to transport people overseas. Capable of sending probes and men into space. And yet, a whole magical world with wizards and witches, magical species such as dragons and unicorns was hidden from them and remained that way. Even with the rise of the Internet and global technology allowing anyone to share information in no time with anybody. In the heat of the moment, Dan could only think of two possibilities for this big secret to remain that way.
The first one: The wizards were able to Obliviate anyone to keep the statute of secrecy. This seemed very unlikely to Dan. Even if the wizards weren't the slouches described by JKR, they couldn't possibly control the Internet or all the existing phone networks. Maybe they could put wards or stuff like that obfuscating all wizard sensitive information, but it shouldn't be that simple.
That left the second possibility he could think of: there was some kind of world wide secret conspiracy, like the Illuminati or the New World Order coordinated by wizards and important muggles which somehow managed to keep the secret. This theory was either frightening or laughable with how cliché it appeared and Dan wasn't sure if he should cry or laugh.
For the moment however the biggest problem for him was the Dursleys. Nevertheless, an idea began to form in his mind. He had ten months to kill before going to Hogwarts and the best he could do was to read as much as he can about magic and magical society. What if he didn't have any powers? Yes he was in Harry Potter's body but if the powers were linked to the soul and not the body he was screwed. In any case, the next step was clear for him: he must take a trip to Diagon Alley.
The rest of Dan's first day at Privet Drive was rather uneventful. After spending the afternoon in his cupboard, he was allowed to eat with the Dursleys who splendidly ignored him. He wasn't offered a second helping of food obviously, whereas Dudley was stuffing himself. God, what a disgusting little pig. And he really looked like it. A pig. How his parents couldn't see it and be sure to raise the most perfect little boy in the world, that was beyond Dan. After dinner, guess what? Dan got to spend some time in his cupboard again! Imagine living that way for 10 years, that was enough to drive anyone mad. No wonder Harry Potter hated the Dursleys. Surprisingly, Dan fell asleep quite fast. One could say this was due to the fact he now lived in a 10 year-old body.
He awoke before dawn the following morning. There was therefore plenty of time for him to get up and cook breakfast for the Dursleys so he decided to lay in bed a little more. It was then that it stuck him. He was still there. Despite the appeal wizarding Britain may have, Dan held hope that the previous day may have been some kind of dream, or that he would just awake back in his body, back to normal. But no, there he was, away from his family, his friends, his habits and his way of life. Dan was not really an emotional person and thus it was for the first time in many years that he silently cried in despair. Yeah, magic was certainly great but he had apparently lost all he had. He was condemned to be very lonely in the times to come...
Breakfast with the Dursleys went without a hitch and soon Dan was ordered to do chores again. This time he had been tasked to water the flowers of the front of the house. He did it quickly so that he wouldn't look suspicious in case he was beeing watched and then assuring he was not seen, left the Dursley's home. He'd be back tonight but if all went accordingly to his plan, this chore would be the last one he ever did for the Dursleys.
The fastest way he could get to Diagon Alley would be to try to hail the Knight Bus. It seemed pretty simple in the books. He just had to raise his wand arm and... There it was. Wow. He hadn't believe it would be so simple. The tall triple-decker purple bus arrived in front of him nearly instantaneously. And then he realized his mistake - he didn't have any money with him yet. Well, he was stuck there anyway so why not try something. At that moment, Stanley Shunpike, the Knight Bus' conductor spoke to him.
"You comin' in or what? 'Can't stay here all day starin' at this purple beauty. Some of us got work to do!" Dan smiled sheepishly in response and decided to try.
"Good morning. I don't have any money with me yet. I intend to go to the Leaky Cauldron and withdraw some when I get to Diagon Alley. Can I just have a tab or something?" That launched Stan in a big roar of laughter.
"That's the first time one so young asked me to put his trip on a tab, and without any shame that is! Whatcha doin' here alone anyway, don't yeh have parents or someone else lookin' for yeh?" Not wanting to blow his identity and have everyone speaking of Harry Potter, Dan decided to give up and leave without further ado.
"Forget it, I'll make it there some other way," Dan responded, pretenting to sulk.
"Now, don't get so easily offended," told Stanley, "I'll tell yeh what, since it's your first ride, I'll make this one free for yeh, alright?"
"Wow, thanks!" responded Dan joyfully. He made sure to pretend he was an innocent little kid.
"Get in! To the Leaky Cauldron Ern!"
The well-known Leaky Cauldron, entrance to Diagon Alley. There he was, entering one of the sites he had read about so many times. The pub looked a lot like its interpretation in the movies and was as dark and shabby as he imagined it. There was some customers there and Dan looked for the back of the Leaky Cauldron, eager to visit Diagon Alley. He didn't forget that he couldn't open the passage to the famous alley, not having a wand with him. Therefore, he tried not to attract too much attention on himself and went to the back to wait for someone passing by to open the passage. He only had to wait a few minutes before one of the customers he had seen earlier made his way to the brick wall and after a quick nod to this strange boy waiting alone, opened the way to Diagon Alley. After all, strange things were common for wizards and they didn't question it.
Dan was finally in Diagon Alley. He was not really impressed with the street itself, it was nice, the old-looking buildings reminded him of the old neighbourhoods of Europe capital cities and it felt warm and pleasant to walk down this street. Still, it was not grand or anything and appeared more of the familial shopping area where magical people would meet and enjoy their time together. Dan began to make his way to Gringotts. This was the tallest building in the street and contrary to the rest of Diagon Alley, this building in particular could be described as impressive. Dan's plan concerning the Dursleys was simple. He planned on withdrawing some Galleons and convert it in Muggle money. Then, he could discuss with the Dursleys and try to live at their house renting Dudley's second bedroom. That way, he'd be in peace, not doing chores and eating by himself in his room and could spend the remaining months to his departure to Hogwarts reading and studying magic and wizarding culture. Most importantly, by staying at the Dursleys instead of running away, he could continue considering their house 'home' and the blood wards would stay in place. Who knows? Maybe he wouldn't be proficient as a wizard and the blood wards would protect him for a while when he'd need it. They were an asset he'd be stupid to throw away.
Dan got in Gringotts resolute to fix his Dursley problem. He came to the first free counter and spoke to the teller who was there.
"Hello sir, I would like to access my vault." extra respect could only do good considering he didn't have his vault key. He hoped he would be allowed to get access to his vault anyway, with a blood oath or some goblin back-up procedure. The goblin looked up from his notes seemingly taken aback by the word "sir". Wizards and goblins usually didn't waste time on nicety and it this youngster being polite was an odd sight for the goblin.
"Yes?" slowly asked the goblin repressing a snarl.
"I would like to access my vault sir, my name is Harry Potter." The goblin had regained his composure and his face remained blank this time.
"And has Mr Harry Potter got his key?"
"That's the problem, sir. I don't have it with me." answered Dan with a sheepish smile.
"Then I'm afraid I cannot agree to your request Mr Potter. We cannot allow a minor wizard without key or his tutor with him to access his vault, even the Boy-Who-Lived."
"Isn't there a way to prove my identity and access my vault anyway, a blood check or something?" asked Dan now wearing a sad look on his face.
"I don't think you understood me Mr Potter. If you don't have your key or your tutor with you, currently Mr Albus Perceval Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, you are not in any way allowed to access your vault. I suggest you contact your tutor in this matter. Good day Mr Potter." At that the goblin resumed whatever paperwork he was doing, clearly not expecting the boy to disagree with him. Dan knew better than to do that and made his way out of Gringotts thinking about what he could do know. His plan had failed miserably, he hadn't anticipated well and it was now clear he had been too naïve. He would have to be more careful in the future, there would be things to come with a lot more at risk than being rejected from accessing his vault.
Dan spent the rest of his morning visiting Diagon Alley and was amazed by the shops and their merchandise. There were a lot more shops than what he would have been able to list two days ago. Many of them were selling magical equipment such as cauldrons and potion materials, quills, brooms and Quidditch gear and of course books, robes and pet shops. There was also a teashop, an ice cream parlour and several restaurants. Dan took the time to visit all of them, amazed by all the tiny details of what this magical society was made of and promised himself to come back soon to explore more of it. He especially was surprised to see a lot enchanted everyday items such as autonomous carpet sweepers or self-lit books charmed to turn their pages automatically when the reader's gaze reaches the corner. Dan made a mental note of purchasing some 'self-lit' and 'automated-page-turning' features for his future books.
He needed to come back to Privet Drive now but hadn't got anything to buy his way back, be it muggle or wizarding money. He decided to cheat a little with the system and went to Potage's Cauldron Shop, a shop which, as the name suggests, sells cauldrons. He visited it earlier and noticed its fireplace in a nook of the place. As expected, he found a little pot full of Floo powder. He didn't take the time to be noticed and he threw some in the fireplace, announcing "Arabella Figg's home".
Arabella Figg was living a quiet and simple life. She tried her best to do something worthwhile during the Wizarding War and helped the Order of the Phoenix as best as she could with her meagre skills and her lack of magical power. In fact, she didn't have any and her status of Squib didn't allow her to fit in the Britain Wizarding Society. She hadn't had a lot going on since the fall of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and lived her life as a Muggle when she wasn't going to Diagon Alley to buy food to her Kneazles, her magical cats.
She had been keeping an eye on Harry Potter for nine years now and was not really pleased with the glimpses of the Boy-Who-Lived's unhappiness she sometimes saw. However, nothing indicated he was abused in any way. The boy was thin yes, but a lot of boys were at his age. As for the less visible sadness she sometimes caught, she assumed it must be linked to his parents' loss or some left-behind feeling with his relatives. This must happen with orphans and their new families. One thing she never saw from the boy was his link to the magical world. Harry Potter, resident of 4 Privet Drive was an ordinary boy to anyone's eyes. She therefore was not prepared for what happened that day as she was eating alone surrounded by her cats. She was definitely not prepared for Harry Potter Flooing in her living room.
"Ahem, hello Mrs Figg."
Chapter 2
"Harry Potter! What are you doing in my fireplace? Did you just Floo here!? How exactly do you happen to know that?" screeched Arabella Figg.
Ah, yeah. Explanations. Dan couldn't believe how stupid he was. Not only did he fail to withdraw money from Gringotts but he managed to come back to Little Whinging yet again without clear plan. The plan to bribe his way into living at the Dursley's without being harassed was nipped in the bud. It was now time to turn on his bullshit ability. Hoping he'll be good at that, and with a faked frightened look and his eyes down to the ground, he started mumbling his way out of this mess.
"I just ran off from the Dursley's. They forced me to do all their chores and beat me when they didn't like something, I just can't carry on anymore. I was down the street wiping sweat from my forehead with my arm when a giant purple bus came out of nowhere, it was like magic! One man told me he could take me to Diagonal Hey or something and I thought it couldn't be worse than the Dursley's and decided to run for it," Dan said hastily, hardly pausing between sentences.
"But then this street was full of odd items, I thought it was like magic again! But it couldn't be, everyone knows magic is for children's stories! But there were people in cloaks, like wizards, and flying brooms and people making spoons float with their fingers and all. Then I remembered all the weird things happening around me from time to time, like when I accidentally regrow my hair or when I found myself on the roof when Dudley wanted to hit me and I thought: this is magic. This street is a Secret London where all magic people meet. There was too many things to see!"
Surprisingly, Mrs Figg didn't say a word during all of Dan's monologue and was even a little tearful from what he said to her. Dan decided it was time to end this.
"But then, I realised I had nowhere to go, that I didn't knew anyone other than the Dursleys and in the animal shop I was in, I heard someone talk about you! They said something like 'Yes, Mrs Figg bought that for her knee zul last time.' What is a knee zul by the way? Is this some kind of leg injury?" Dan decided to play dumb, after all, he really wasn't supposed to know anything at all about the magical world.
"After that I noticed a fireplace there with a pot of powder on its chimneypiece and I decided to try this "Floo" thing I read about in the library down the street and here I am."
"Oh dear, I didn't know you were that miserable at the Dursley's. But how did you know these people were talking about me? It could have been another Mrs Figg. I'm sure there must be some in a big city like London," said the still tearful Mrs Figg.
"It didn't hurt to try, I guess. Besides, you're the only person I know who's ever been nice to me. I had to try, I couldn't live in the street, what could I've done? So you're a witch? That's great, tell me more please!"
At that Mrs Figg smiled sheepishly. "I am not a witch, dear, though I hope I would have been one. My parents were wizards, but sadly I didn't inherit their power. I am what witches and wizards call a Squib, someone whose family is magical but doesn't have magic himself or herself."
"Oh, that's ok. I mean, at least you can go to this Diagonal Hey and buy all those kind of magical items," replied Dan with a little smile.
"That's Diagon Alley and yes, at least it's better than nothing. I'm sorry I didn't give you a most enjoyable time when you stayed here or revealed the magical world. I couldn't take the risk of the Dursley's noticing something odd and cutting off the connection between us. I needed to keep an eye on you as Dumbledore asked me. Speaking of which, I could probably Fire-call him to explain all that happened today. There are some biscuits on the table. You may have one and stay here, dear."
Dan didn't ask questions, took a biscuit and sat on a chair waiting for Dumbledore to make his appearance. He needed to think about his next move. At least his story seemed to work with Mrs Figg, so he decided he'd stick to it. The important part was to be able to practice magic and learn what he could before going to Hogwarts. He didn't want to be a Hermione Granger but hell, he had always dreamed of reading real spell books and the like.
After a rather quick Fire-call and the repetition of his tale, Mrs Figg retreated from the fireplace and within seconds green flames appeared with the shape of a tall man inside them.
"Hello, Harry. I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
"Hello sir," responded Dan, wary of what would happen next. It appeared though that Dumbledore wasn't going to contradict his story.
"Mrs Figg here told me what happen to you. I believe you must have raised your wand arm and called the Knight Bus unwillingly. As you may now know, the wand is the tool a wizard uses to perform magic. I do not know what you had time to learn from the wizarding world this morning at Diagon Alley – the magical street you have been in – but I believe the time has come for you to know the truth." Dumbledore let out a small sigh, more affable than you would expect from a sigh, and began to tell the story Dan knew quite well..
"When you were fifteen months old, your parents – both wizards – were attacked by an evil wizard known as Lord Voldemort. The British wizarding government and Voldemort's followers were at war for eleven years and a terror reigned throughout all magical Britain. However, on the night of 31st October 1981, for unknown reasons so far, Voldemort was destroyed when he attempted to kill you with the same curse he killed your parents with, leaving nothing else than the lightning bolt-shaped scar on your forehead. The abrupt end of Voldemort – or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, as many of us still use from darker days – brought back peace in Britain. You could now assume that this story is well-known to all of us wizards and indeed, you are quite renowned yourself as the Boy Who Lived. Every wizard knows your name and your story and I wanted to protect you from this fame and possibly Voldemort's fugitive followers by entrusting you with your last living relatives. Alas, from what Mrs Figg told me, you have seem to have been quite... neglected by your aunt and uncle and I am sorry for that." Dumbledore seemed nearly sorrowful at that point and Dan couldn't stop himself from trusting the old man. Yet, he wasn't sure what would happen if Dumbledore knew of his future origins. In doubt, Dan avoided looking into Dumbledore's eyes, he would keep on doing so while he wasn't capable of protecting his mind against Legilimency.
"Nonetheless," continued Dumbledore, "it is in your best interest to stay with the Dursleys for the moment for the same reason you spent the last nine years there. I will, however, accompany you back home and have a talk with them to ensure they don't mistreat you again. I will come back monthly to assure that you are alright. Moreover, now that you are aware of your magical inheritance, I assume you will want to take the remaining time before your entrance to Hogwarts to learn what you can about our world?"
Dan just nodded his affirmation.
"That's what I thought," replied Dumbledore with a genuine smile, "I will then take you to Diagon Alley myself tomorrow to get you some books and materials. We might not get you your wand straight away, however. You will have to remember that magic is prohibited outside Hogwarts grounds for children underage. This correspond to children younger than seventeen years old, the wizarding age of majority. Now, without further ado, let's go see your aunt and uncle. Have a nice day, Arabella, I will talk to you soon!"
Dan and Dumbledore just Flooed to the Leaky Cauldron from Arabella Figg’s house. The talk with the Dursleys went as expected. Vernon was angry red the whole time while Petunia looked like she was about to faint. The two of them reluctantly groaned their approval when Dumbledore demanded that they stop harassing Harry, give him a proper room and let him work. Petunia looked down in defeat when Dumbledore warned them that he’d come back regularly to check on Harry and make sure he was not doing chores and that he was well fed. He finished by promising them that he would pay for Harry’s part of the food expenses if all went well after each of his visits. This carrot assured Dan would be peaceful for the months to come and he was pleased that it worked nearly according to his plan. The only difference was that Dumbledore was involved instead of Dan simply paying the Dursleys himself and living his life as he wanted until Hogwarts. It wasn’t too bad after all, he’d be busy enough studying magic to not think about wandering at Diagon Alley.
Speaking of which, they just entered the magical street and Dumbledore appeared to be going straight to Gringotts. Dan slowed down and called out the Headmaster.
“Excuse me sir, shouldn’t I get a purse or something to store money before we go to the bank?”
“Well, I do not want you to keep too much money with you at your age, so I was just thinking about handling it myself, but if you really want this, I guess I could let you keep some change so that you will treat yourself a little after our shopping. That’s the least I can offer considering what you have been through.”
“Thank you sir, I appreciate that.”
If Dan was stealthy enough, he could grab a few more Galleons and have some financial autonomy. He was determined to come back alone and purchase handy items and advanced books like books on Occlumency.
The two entered Gringotts quickly after Dumbledore bought a magically expanded purse for “Harry”. Dumbledore asked a goblin to take them to Harry’s vault and they followed the small creature behind some huge marble pillars. They sat on a cart and the goblin said a few words in Gobbledegook to start it. The ride was really pleasant to Dan. In fact, that was nearly as fun as a coaster ride with the slopes the cart went on at high speed. The cavern view was really impressive. Dan had done speleology once in his old life and visited some beautiful caves, but it was nothing like the grandeur of Gringotts’ underground. The carefully sculpted arches and sculptures were breathtaking, or was it the speed at which the cart was descending in the cave’s depths? The sight reminded him of the Mines of Moria from the Lord of the Rings films, minus the deadly orcs. After several minutes, their guide halted their cart in front of Harry Potter’s vault’s entrance. It was carved directly into the stone – which stone, Dan didn’t know, although he would guess it was granite, that wouldn’t be cliché at all – and ended on a door glowing from ancient looking runes. The goblin motioned for Dumbledore to give him the key and opened the vault.
That was breathtaking. There was more money in the vault than Dan ever imagined, literally piles of gold and silver coins neatly stacked in there.
“Go ahead, Harry,” told Dumbledore, “I suggest you take around thirty Galleons – that’s the gold ones – and a handful of Sickles – the silver’s –. It should be enough to pay for your robes and your school books. We will come later to buy the rest of your materials, you won’t be needing those for the moment.”
Dan took the time to carefully pick up his coins and not to knock down the piles of money. This allowed him to take more than Dumbledore advised as he soon seemed bored of watching him. At a rough guess, Dan managed to take a hundred of Galleons and as many Sickles by handfuls when Dumbledore was looking away. He just went on picking up the coins one by one when he felt Dumbledore’s gaze. He was not sure if he was caught or not but he assumed Dumbledore didn’t really care if he took a bit more than advised, he just took a big ‘bit’ more.
Soon after, they left Flourish and Blotts with the eight books in the first year curriculum and some school robes in Dan’s newly purchased trunk. He couldn’t wait to read all his books and come back to buy new ones.
“Sir?”
“Yes Harry?”
“Can I buy a magical pet please? I’ve always been so lonely, it would give me some company. Please?” asked Dan in the most childish way.
“Well, it cannot hurt to have a companion by your side. You will have to handle it at home though,” agreed Dumbledore. Dan just grinned.
And there he was, with his Hogwarts books to read in his new room at 4 Privet Drive and his little grey kneazle with blue eyes. He's going to be busy for the remaining months before Hogwarts.
(To be continued)