❝The war is won❞
Voldemort has been defeated by Harry Potter for good, and the Wizarding World has begun its healing. The paved streets of Diagon Alley are filled with people vanishing broken glass, fixing up robbed shops, and reinstating their bus...
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AUGUST 7, 1998
HARRY
THE RESURRECTION STONE HAD BEEN THE GREATEST GIFT that the Battle could have given him. And even though his loved ones would never materialize in front of him again, Harry knew that he didn't need his eyes to see them.
Hagrid's mokeskin pouch carried several mementos of them, and he dumped out its contents to organize them. He had no need for the Maurader's Map, the fake locket, and the Snitch anymore, so he placed those in a dresser near his bed. However, he looked upon Sirius's mirror shard and the letter penned by his mother, and placed those back in the pouch once more.
A look inside his small pantry told him that he needed to buy more food. He renewed the stasis charm to keep the remaining vegetables inside cold, before heading outside, munching on a box of dumplings. He could apparate, of course, but he found that he preferred walking lately. Besides, the distance from his flat to the Leaky Cauldron was just a brisk ten minutes. There were a few Muggles giving him funny looks because of his dark red robes in the summer weather, but most of them were heading off to work.
It was a work day for him, too, but he only had a few documents to complete that wouldn't take him more than two hours. Thus, he reached the grimy little pub that Muggles avoided and swept inside. Over the past month, each time he'd been inside the inn's dining room, the number of people eating there had been steadily increasing. Now, the chatter of voices and the clinking of cutlery filled the slightly musty air. A few people recognized him as he made his way through, but he brushed past them too quickly for them to say anything.
He tapped the brick by the garbage can and stepped out of the hole in the wall the moment it was big enough to fit him. Diagon Alley unfurled like a map in front of him. He made his way around the South Side, stopping at several markets along the way.
He bought two chicken and mushroom pies from a vendor that he was beginning to grow fond of, crumpets, a box of onion soup, apricots, potatoes, tomatoes, and lettuce. He successfully restrained himself from buying any candy from the Sweetshop and instead headed back up the road to the North Side. Stopping briefly at Quality Quidditch Supplies to examine the new Firebolt model and at Gringotts to withdraw some change from the Black family vaults, he headed towards Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, figuring he'd indulge himself with a sundae and the treacle tarts they made (which almost matched the quality of the Hogwarts treacle tarts by a hair).
However, when he got to Florean Fortescue's, what greeted him was a shock. Instead of the iconic green-and-purple wallpaper, the front of the shop was painted a brilliant white. Harry stared at the shiny paint, a part of him wondering why the new owner, whoever they were, had made this change. He was a little sentimental and wondered what was so wrong with the old wallpaper.
