Three Hallows' Eve || Harmione & Jily

Chapter 14.3

Harry had never liked shopping; grocery shopping was boring and clothes shopping was tedious, though he supposed that shopping for new toys and things like that was alright. This morning, though, he was looking forward to a shopping trip like he never had before.

Their house wasn't connected to the Floo network because his and Thea's friends would sometimes stop over for sleepovers, or just to come and spend time together while the parents nattered away over a cup of tea, so the family had to pile into the car for an hour and a half drive into London. It was a drive they made fairly regularly and usually he and Thea just went to sleep to pass the time. Today, though, he was so excited that he couldn't even think about going to sleep. Instead he stared out of the window watching the scenery zoom past, feeling every single second of the journey.

After what felt like a whole day of travelling, they finally made it to London and parked up a short walk away from Charing Cross Road where the Leaky Cauldron and the entrance to Diagon Alley was situated. Walking through the pub was an exercise in restraint for Harry, who was tempted beyond belief to roll his eyes at the attention they garnered; as was always the case whenever the Potters were seen in public in the Wizarding world, people would stop and stare, whispering to one another behind their hands while furiously trying to direct the attention of whoever they were with. One woman at the edge of the room turned to point them out to her friend so quickly that she knocked her drink and spilled it across the table.

He absently wondered if these people thought that they were being discreet with all of their pointing and murmuring. If they did then they were in for a world of disappointment.

Entering the Alley was no different, but even the numerous clusters of prying busybodies couldn't take the spring out of Harry's step. Of course, he'd been down Diagon Alley before so the crooked shops that lined the cobbled lane weren't unfamiliar to him, but today they were to be explored solely for him rather than just popping in to collect this potions ingredient for Mum or that broom polish for Dad.

With the exception of all the eyes currently following them as they walked further into Britain's largest magical enclave, Harry thought the atmosphere was electric. The air in the Alley felt positively static, though that might well have been the breeze brushing the hair that was standing up on his arms and the back of his neck - God, he was so excited that he had goosebumps. A veritable orchestra reverberated through the area; sounds of people talking and children laughing and street peddlers harking out their best offers and prices. A musician played a lyre and sung of Brandon the Brave's legendary duel and the birds of Eeylops Owl Emporium just a bit further down seemed to hoot along with the verse.

Their first stop for the day was to be Potage's Cauldron Shop. A brightly painted sign in the window described the wares it sold: cauldrons of all sizes, metals and varieties from big and bronze to small and silver, with everything in between available too. There they bought a run-of-the-mill pewter cauldron in standard size two and a set of glass phials of varying sizes, as well as a much smaller standard size one-quarter cauldron made of nickel that both Mum and Dad agreed might be useful.

Just next door was Slug and Jiggers Apothecary where Mum helped him select a wide variety of potions ingredients. He found himself extremely thankful to have her there because the shop smelled absolutely rancid and he didn't want to spend any more time than necessary inside it. Some of the ingredients she selected, like the Moondew petals, weren't even on his list but she assured him that they'd be good to have anyway. While there they also bought two pairs of protective gloves made from the skin of Haemian Garter snakes, which apparently provided as much protection as dragon hide but was lighter and more flexible.

After leaving there Harry was practically dragged past Flourish and Blotts Bookshop, much to his chagrin ('We'll go in there later,' Dad had declared authoritatively), and into Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions where he was fitted for first-years' Hogwarts robes of which they bought three sets as well as a thick winter coat and a black pointed hat. Wizarding hats looked truly ridiculous, in his opinion, like something that a wicked witch would wear in a Muggle children's fairy tale, but they were compulsory formal wear for the feasts at Hogwarts.

On their way to their next stop, Hayter & Hayter's Assorted Instruments, he was dragged past yet another shop: Quality Quidditch Supplies. That shop was a favourite of his, though he'd only been inside a couple of times. At the window stood a small crowd of kids not much older than himself staring wistfully at the shop's newest ware: the just-released Nimbus Two-Thousand. It was the biggest news in the broomstick world and had been given two double-page spreads in all three of the most recent editions of the Quidditch This Week magazine.

'It's the fastest broom ever!' he heard one of the boys tell nobody in particular. It pushed seventy-three miles an hour, in fact, nearly seven miles an hour more than the Cleansweep Six, which had been the fastest for the last two years since its release.

'I heard that it did the Eyam Dash in twenty-nine seconds!' said a girl that Harry couldn't see. Actually, that one wasn't true - it had actually completed the Eyam Dash in twenty-eight seconds, shattering the previous record of thirty-four.

Unfortunately, he didn't get the chance to hear the crowd wax lyrical about more of the broom's statistics or achievements as Mum placed a firm hand on his shoulder and ushered him away. His mind was still whirring about it, though, as they bought an extendable telescope and a set of brass scales from Hayters'.