Chimaera Of Judgement

3: One Gift Becomes Three

The following weeks seemed to rush past, and in that time the school lists came winging their way toward students all over the Isles. Albus hardly spared his a brief glance; he was more looking forward to going back to Hogwarts itself than which specific books he'd be bringing. Besides, at that moment Lily had come bursting into his room complaining that his owl had left droppings all over her Transfiguration essay, and he was forced to spend the next half hour alternately apologising and shouting at her for needlessly pestering him about it.

The Potters had queued up in front of the kitchen fireplace, preparing to head off for a full day of shopping, when James remembered his birthday gold was still stashed in his secret hiding place (Albus knew it was in a magical book called 'How To Stretch A Sickle', which opened with a password to reveal a modest-sized vault; the only reason he hadn't taken advantage of this was because he knew James would pound him within an inch of his life if-and-when he found out). They were on point of leaving again when Lily decided she needed to change her jumper, because Joseph Moran was supposed to be meeting her and she wanted to look her best. Finally, when their father threatened to have the three of them pack the entire house without magic, they were off.

The Leaky Cauldron had a modest crowd that day; a couple of young children were giggling conspiratorially at the bar, perhaps hoping the toothless old barkeep would forget to check their ages and sell them a tankard of firewhiskey. A mane of long, black hair disappeared up the stairs as soon as Albus had spotted it - perhaps a hag not wanting to be found in public? He even thought he saw a vampire in the corner booth, but when he looked again the person's hood was up, hiding his or her face from view.

Once in the dingy alley behind the bar, their mother took out her wand and tapped a brick. Instantly, the wall became an archway, and a winding, cobblestone street full of witches and wizards came into view, lined with enticing shopfronts and curbside peddlers. Waving over his shoulder casually, James took off into the bustling crowd of Diagon Alley before his parents could stop him, his hair now hanging just below his ears thanks to his mother.

"Never been much for family outings, that one," Lily muttered to Albus quiet enough so their parents wouldn't hear.

After dropping by Gringotts Bank for their gold and Flourish and Blotts for the new books, Lily ran into Hugo lingering around Eeylops Owl Emporium and stayed behind to chat with him, and Rose was found watching James through the windows of Quality Quidditch Supplies with a kind of mingled awe and longing. Passerby might have thought she was desperately head over heels for the boy, but Albus knew what she truly ached for was the Firebolt The Third he was forking over a small fortune to procure.

"That broom is too good for him," she said listlessly.

"Everything is," Albus gusted. "C'mon, let's get you away from here before you drool on the glass."

Albus and Rose's parents had run into Neville Longbottom, an old friend and current professor of Herbology at Hogwarts, and said something about having a pint in the Cauldron with him before heading off, leaving Albus and Rose to wander into the Apothecary by themselves to stock their Potions ingredients.

"So what do you reckon? Go back to Fortescue's after this?"

"Eh, Fortescue's is decent, but the flavours all kind of... taste the same."

"Yeah," Albus said, digging into a barrel of newt eyes. "My dad says the ice cream was loads better when Fortescue himself ran it."

"We could go back to strolling up and down the street for no reason whatsoever."

It was as good a plan as any, which is how they came to find themselves dawdling around a secondhand shop when the first truly interesting thing of the day happened. Expecting to see a heap of grubby cauldrons and broken quills, what did they find instead but the white-blonde head of Scorpius Malfoy and his gang of Slytherins skulking in the back, snickering and leering at the customers.