Harry smiled at the couple as he placed his Gringotts Key on a black stone they provided. "Thank you John, Sarah. You have both helped me above and beyond what I expected." He pressed his thumb against the "G" on the card, and felt the slight sting as blood was pulled and the black stone gained a green edge. He paused. "I don't suppose you have an order catalog? I can easily see me needing storage trunks, ones maximized for safety, maybe more bookcase ones."
Sarah grinned as she handed him a pamphlet. "Careful there, cutie. Keep spending like that and we may not let ya go."
John laughed at Harry's blush, and held out a hand. "Ignore the missus young man, and it was a pleasure to help out the boy-who-lived. Feel free to owl us anytime, even if it isn't an order." Harry shook hands and then pressed his hand on the Potter Crest. A quick "Shrink" command later and he was holding a small flat box. Apparently the command didn't keep the original Trunks proportions, which he was grateful for. His other two bookcase trunks were already inside the Family trunk, and he felt Professor McGonagall was reaching the limit of her patience.
The pair had a much FASTER shopping trip to "Magical Nick's Knacks" where he picked up two bottomless pouches (He had chosen two of the more expensive ones, which were apparently made from "Acromantula Silk", which was some sort of huge spider with semi-magical thread. They had a dragon leather rim with runes that would partially shrink items that the user pushed into it and that would automatically tag each item for easy retrieval. They could even generate a list of what it held, although Harry didn't really need it. His memory was pretty good after all. They stopped by "Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions", where he picked up a hat and some robes and the required winter cloak and protection gloves. Ms. Malkin was pretty busy, but her assistant had answered several of his questions and had even sold Harry some raw cloth and such. Apparently it wasn't that uncommon for some families to purchase cloth for patches or whatnot, although the amount he had purchased had raised an eyebrow.
When Harry had found out what the gloves were to be used to protect against (Some potions ingredients and much Herbology greenhouse work), he had asked about eye and ear protection. The teacher sighed and explained that ideally all the protective gear would be provided, but the cutting of funds required students to get their own gloves since dragon skin and leather was so costly. He nodded and made a mental note to determine if he could donate the supplies later... Heck, maybe they had something similar to "Tax Deductible Donations".
Unfortunately Professor McGonagall was an observant woman, for she had scheduled their trip to Flourish & Blott's as the last stop, and none of his pouting... uh, his careful and logical arguments, had managed to convince her otherwise.
He had stored all of his purchases inside one of his bottomless pouches, which he had tied to his jeans with only a small amount of quiet thread work. He had been a BIT nervous about putting one bottomless pouch in another, but nothing had happened. The trunks went in quickly after, as he was concerned people would notice the crest.
Harry sighed slightly. The cauldron still seemed silly to him, but he decided to not make an issue out of it. The telescope on the other hand had been fascinating. According to the clerk, while the telescopes were weaker than muggle alternatives there were some stars and signs that were only visible due to how they interfered with the magical fields in space. Without specially designed tools, it just seemed like empty space to muggle options.
His pouch now held the brass scales needed and a large selection of both glass and crystal phials, along with large amounts of parchment and quills. He hadn't liked the idea of constantly refilling supplies when he had space and money to handle the issue now. There had been a short argument about the USE of quills, since pens were much simpler to use and keep clean, but apparently the quills had a tiny magical core and acted like very weak wands, allowing the professors to verify who worked on each assignment by checking the magical signature of the ink. Still, he had managed to argue her into allowing him to use pens for personal notes, as long as the final version was quilled before turning them in. Now however, he was to get a wand.
There was a faded sign marking "Ollivanders", declaring wand creation from 382b.c. The stick in the window certainly looked wandish, so that was good he guessed.
As McGonagall headed off for what she called a "Surprise", Harry started to enter the shop but had to stand aside as some child with bushy brown hair almost bumped into him.
She had seemed overjoyed but now was apparently embarrassed. "OH, sorry sorry, didn't see you sorry!"
Harry chuckled and handed her the book she had dropped. "Don't worry about it. I assume you just picked up your wand?"
It was like he had turned on the sun, she smiled so big. "IT WAS AMAZING! I was so worried none of the wands would choose me and all this would end up being a mistake and I wouldn't be able to go to Hogwarts, but it was taking so long and I went through so many but FINNALLY one felt right and warm and stuff and sparks went everywhere but I hope the shop is ok because I think I burned part of it and..."
He laughed and held his hand up. "Slower, breath, peace." He grinned at her second awkward blush. "I am about to try and get a wand as well, but I am glad everything turned out ok with you. Have a good day, miss."
She smiled back and nodded, following her apparently amused mother as he entered the shop.
'Quack.'
He turned quickly, seeing an old man. He thanked Jim quietly as the elderly gentleman grinned with wide moon-like eyes. "Good afternoon, Harry Potter." It wasn't a question, but it also wasn't a threat. Harry forced himself to calm down as the older man walked closer to the counter of his store. "I see you inherited your mother's eyes, if not a bit more." He seemed to fade back into his own memories. "Ah, when she first bought her wand, her eyes sparkled so. It took twelve tries, and she had bonded with a ten and a quarter inch wand. Long, swishy, willow." He grinned as he continued. "Your father though took over forty tries. He was quite annoyed by the time he had found his eleven inch, pliable, mahogany wand."
Harry gave a small smile. "I wonder what happened to the wands, after their death."
Ollivander sighed and turned to the counter, picking up a tape measure covered in silver markings. "I believe the wands were placed in the Potter Family Vaults, as is custom. Sadly, I also sold the wand that caused all that tragedy, the one belonging to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He did such terrible things with one of my darlings. Things of great magnitude, but terrible in nature."
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