Harry brushed soot off his clothes as he stepped away from the fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron, a seedy-looking pub which marked the entrance to Diagon Alley in London. The room was dark, and his glasses were peppered with ash, so he stood off to the side, rubbing his glasses on his already dirty shirt, waiting for his eyes to adjust. Brenna hopped out of the fireplace right behind him, followed last by James, who did a quick head count, then nodded.
Tom, the aging barkeep, grinned over at them. “Well, lovely to see all of you this morning.” His eyes fell on Harry. “Come to do some school shopping?”
Harry nodded, grinning. “Yes, sir.”
He bobbed a bow, and Harry shifted uncomfortably. Tom always seemed a touch more polite to him than to the others around, though Tom was always polite to everyone, but James had taken Harry through here so many times through his life that Tom was used to it now. The shops in Diagon Alley would be worse.
“Could I get you anything before you head out?” Tom asked, his eyes sweeping over the three adults.
“Not today,” James said, putting a hand on Harry’s shoulder.
“Dad,” Harry hissed.
“Today is all about Harry. It’s his eleventh birthday.”
Harry rolled his eyes. Here we go.... A couple more curious patrons glanced over and noticed the scar on Harry’s head. Many of them were regulars, so simply nodded to him, some voicing some congratulations, but a few stared at him, whispering to each other, and his name passed rapidly round the small room. Harry loved his dad, but he could wish James was just a touch more discreet sometimes. “So, shall we go out back, then?” he said loudly, starting through the room. Brenna giggled.
Out back, Remus pulled out his wand, counted out the bricks above the trash can, and tapped on the one to open up the arch into Diagon Alley.
Though he had been there many times, somehow this time it looked different to Harry. This time, he would be picking out supplies for Hogwarts, so everywhere he looked, he saw things he would need. Cauldrons and potions supplies, robes and books, and maybe even animals and broomsticks. He wanted to stop and look at the display of the new Nimbus Two Thousand in the window of Quality Quidditch Supplies, but the rest of his group moved him onward to Gringotts first. Brenna jumped up and down, tugging on Sirius’s sleeve, begging to go in with them to ride in the carts. The carts were not terribly big, though, and all the rest of them had been to the bank plenty of times, so it was James, Harry, and Brenna who went up the steps of the snow-white bank and through the silver doors into the bustling marble lobby.
Harry kept an eye on Brenna while James went up to one of the goblins behind the counter. He eventually just seized her hand to make her stay close, but she kept trying to walk off, tugging on his hand. “Brenna, stop it,” Harry said, pulling her back. She giggled and did it again, this time pulling on him with both hands, using her weight”small as she was, Harry wasn’t very large himself”as leverage and grinning at him. “If you don’t stop it right now, I’m going to give you to the goblins,” he threatened.
“No, you won’t,” she said in a sing-song voice.
“Oh yes, I will. Do you know what goblins do to little girls?” he asked, lowering his voice dramatically. Despite herself, she stopped pulling on his hand and stepped a little closer to hear. “They use them as slave labour down in the tunnels. And they drill the Muggle way”no magic. Then, when you can’t work anymore, they feed you to their dragons.”
“So, they really do have dragons!” She jumped up and down. “I knew it! I told Daddy I’d seen a dragon once, but he said the goblins started it as a rumour to scare people. They don’t need dragons is what he said.” A goblin nearby heard this and chuckled dryly.
“Well, here’s a great chance to ask one if they do,” Harry said, jerking his head toward the goblin. He leaned toward her and whispered, “But be careful they don’t kidnap you. Even Uncle Sirius wouldn’t dare try to steal anything from goblins.”
Brenna scowled at him. “You’re lying. Daddy’s the bravest man in the world, and he’d do anything to save me! He told me so.”
Harry opened his mouth, but James returned just then and ushered them after a waiting goblin. “All right, you two,” he said, “that’s enough.”
“Uncle James, Uncle James!” Brenna jumped up and down, tugging on his robes even as the three of them followed the goblin. “Isn’t Daddy the bravest man in the world? Isn’t he?”
“I think you’re better off asking him that,” James said, and Harry snickered. Brenna kicked at him. “Hey now.” James took hold of her hand and pulled her away from Harry. “That’s not very lady-like.”
As they left the marble hall, the scenery around them darkened to torch-lit stone, but Harry could still see the little pink tongue Brenna stuck out at him. “Neither is that,” he said.
“So?” She stuck her nose up into the air. Their goblin guide was politely ignoring the children and whistled for the cart. “I don’t care about being a lady.”
“Is that so?” James said, hoisting her up into the cart. “That’s a perfectly valid choice. Then, it’s not very good manners to kick someone.” When James got into the little cart, Brenna sat on his lap, smirking smugly at Harry. He just rolled his eyes.
“It’s not good manners to laugh at someone, either,” she said, folding her arms.
“You have a point as well,” James said, putting his arms around her to keep her in place, and any more conversation was stopped suddenly as the cart zoomed off down the narrow tunnel. Harry still liked these wild cart rides; they rather reminded him of flying on a broom. Though, he thought as he was jolted against the side of it on a particularly sharp turn, the action of Dad’s Silver Tail was much smoother. Brenna squealed as they entered a huge cavern with an underground lake and tried to look over the side, but James held onto her. They passed it before she could fight effectively.
When the cart at last came to a stop in front of their vault, James patted Brenna’s shoulder. “All right, love, get up for a bit,” he said, and climbed out of the cart. Their goblin opened the vault door for them, revealing the small fortune that James’s parents had left to their only son. To Harry’s surprise, he pulled out two bags and filled each of them with some bronze Knuts, silver Sickles, and gold Galleons.
“What’s that one for?” he asked as James came back and the vault door began closing. He gaped as James held one bag out to him.
“Well, go on.”
Harry took it, hefting the bag of money. Even though they’d never had any problems with money before, Harry had never gotten an allowance.
“You’re going off to school now, so I won’t exactly be in the other room if you need something,” James said, stowing the bag he had gotten for himself and getting back in the cart.
Harry grinned. “Thanks, Dad,” he said just as the cart rattled back into motion. After a few turns, though, Harry realized that they didn’t seem to be going back up. Actually, they were going a bit deeper. Before long, they stopped at another vault. “Dad?”
“Sirius asked me to get some out of his vault, too, while we were here,” James said.
This door, rather than having a key, had a small hole the size of a Knut, just the right height for their guide to blow into it. A soft clicking sound came from the door, and then it split in half and opened. Considerably more things were in this vault. Not just money, but some jewels and crafted gold objects that looked like they might be heirlooms. Even a painting hung in this vault directly across from the door, a sallow, pale man with a pointed face and severe black eyes glowered down at James as he entered.
“You are not a Black,” the painting said. Brenna stuck her tongue out at it.
“No, I’m not,” James said lightly, gathering gold for Sirius anyway. “I come on behalf of a Black.”
The ancient Black sneered down his nose at James, then looked out at the cart where Brenna was. She suddenly looked deceptively innocent and sweet. “Very well, then,” he said grudgingly. Brenna grinned at him, but when he looked away, she made faces again. Harry snorted.
The door closed, and James came back to the cart. “You have to placate that one,” he said, shaking his head. “Leave it to the Blacks to figure out how to let a painting expel someone from a bank vault if they don’t belong.”
“They don’t even trust the goblins to guard it?” Harry asked.
“Blacks trust no one,” James said, rolling his eyes.
“At least he’s not like Grandma’s painting,” Brenna said. “This one doesn’t know Daddy’s a blood traitor.”
“You sound so happy when you say that....”
And off went the cart again.
When they returned to the marble main room of the bank, the first thing all three of them noticed was a gigantic man entering the silver doors. He was several times larger than anyone else in the room, with wild long hair and a beard, and a coat that seemed made of nothing but pockets. James grinned. “Hagrid! Well, if it hasn’t been bloody ages since I’ve seen you.”
“James!” Hagrid sounded like he was grinning, but his mouth was lost in all the beard. “An’ good lord, if it ain’t Harry. An’ ... Brenna?”
Brenna half-hid behind James, peering up at him with large blue eyes. “How do you know my name?”
“He’s a friend of mine and your dad’s,” James said, putting a hand on her head. “This is Rubeus Hagrid, he’s the gamekeeper at Hogwarts. Was even when I went there.” He tried to urge her out from behind him, but she stayed where she was. He chuckled, then turned back to Hagrid. “So, what brings you out here?”
“Doin’ a little business for Professor Dumbledore,” Hagrid said, puffing up importantly. “Wants me to get sommat out of Gringotts fer him.”
“Like what?” Harry asked, grinning despite himself at the gamekeeper’s demeanour.
“Can’t tell yeh that,” he said mysteriously. “More’n me job’s worth to tell yeh sommat like that, and Dumbledore’s countin’ on me.”
“Harry’s just gotten his letter,” James said, “and we’re getting his school stuff. It’s his eleventh birthday.”
“Is it, now? Happy birthday, Harry!”
“Thanks,” Harry said, shifting a bit and pushing his glasses up his nose.
“We’ve got Sirius and Remus waiting for us, Hagrid, but it was nice to see you.”
Hagrid nodded pleasantly and patted Harry gently on the shoulder. James grabbed his arm to keep him upright. “I’ll be seein’ yeh at Hogwarts, then, Harry,” he said, winking, and strode off toward the counters.
James chuckled as he herded the two kids out of Gringotts, Harry glancing back a few times at Hagrid. “He’s harmless, really. And a right good friend, too. Helped all of us out of trouble a fair few times when we were at school.” He waved to the other two when he spotted them, and the group gathered back together.
Brenna immediately went back to her dad and tugged on his sleeve. “Daddy, Daddy, do goblins use little girls as slaves in the tunnels?”
Sirius chuckled at her. “Of course not. Little girls aren’t the best slaves for underground tunnels.”
“And they use magic to dig?”
“Why all the questions?” He crouched down, and she cuddled up against his chest.
“Harry said goblins would abduct little girls and use them as slaves to dig their tunnels without magic. And then feed them to dragons.” She pulled away, looking at him urgently, the words spilling from her too fast for Sirius to answer in between. “And he also said that if I got abducted, you wouldn’t come rescue me because you’re scared of the goblins, but I told him you were the bravest man in the world and would come save me, and of course you would, wouldn’t you Daddy?”
“Slow down,” he said, hugging her and laughing. “Now, let’s get something straight. Goblins are not going to abduct you. Harry does not know everything.” Brenna stuck her tongue out at Harry over Sirius’s shoulder. “And of course I would save you from anything. You’re my precious, love.” He pulled back and ruffled her hair. “Better?”
She beamed at him. “Yes, Daddy.”
In order to get the necessary things done first, it was mutually decided that James, Remus, and Harry would go get Harry’s school robes. Sirius was stuck entertaining Brenna, who did not think waiting for Harry to get fitted for new clothes sounded very fun.
Harry entered Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions a couple of minutes later, looking around. James and Remus had gone right next door with his shopping list to gather his books, and he was going to meet them there when he was done. A witch, possibly Madam Malkin, spotted him and came over smiling. “Hogwarts, dear? Got the lot here”another young man being fitted up just now, in fact.”
He was ushered back where he saw a pale boy with slick blonde hair standing on a stool in front of a mirror as another witch pinned his hem up. The pale boy nodded to him, and Harry nodded back, stepping up and letting a robe get slipped over his head.
“Hullo,” the pale boy said. “Hogwarts, too?”
“Yes,” Harry said.
“My father’s next door buying my books, and mother’s up the street looking at wands,” he drawled. “Then, I’m going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don’t see why first years can’t have their own. I think I’ll bully my father into getting me one and smuggle it in somehow. Do you have your own broom?”
“Not yet,” Harry said, resisting the impulse to shrug. “Dad said he’d get me one when I get on a team.”
“What position do you play?”
“Usually Seeker, but Dad taught me Chaser, too. He used to play Chaser in school.”
“Well, Father said it’d be a crime if I’m not picked for my house team,” the pale boy went on, not very interested despite his questions, “and I must say I agree. Know what house you’ll be in yet?”
“No one does until they get there,” Harry said, getting irritated.
“Not for sure, I suppose, but I know I’ll be in Slytherin. All my family has. Imagine being in Hufflepuff. I think I’d leave, wouldn’t you?”
“Better than Slytherin,” Harry said. “I’m going to be in Gryffindor like my dad and granddad.”
“Really,” he sneered, looking Harry up and down. Harry looked back at the mirror to hide his scar. “You know, it’s usually only Mudblood-lovers who get into that house.”
Madam Malkin looked up at him severely. “Please do not use that kind of language in my shop.”
“Being in Gryffindor doesn’t mean anything of the sort,” Harry said defensively. “And besides, my mother was Muggle-born.”
“You have a Muggle for a mother?”
“I didn’t say Muggle; I said Muggle-born. She was a witch. And it’s only pureblood maniacs who get into Slytherin,” Harry added scathingly. “And prats obsessed with the Dark Arts.”
The boy’s pale face flushed about the cheeks, giving him the oddly off look of a porcelain doll. “What would you know about it, anyway?” he spat.
“My godfather came from a family all from Slytherin, and he hated every one of them. Said they were all gits only obsessed with breeding and the Dark Arts. They’re so thick, they burned him off the family tree because he got Sorted into Gryffindor.”
“That’s you done, dear,” said Madam Malkin, and Harry hopped off the stool and stalked away, just as glad as Madam Malkin to end the conversation with the pale pureblood. He hadn’t calmed down much by the time he went to find James and Remus in Flourish and Blotts bookstore.
Though normally all the spell books dominated the store (shelves of leather-bound volumes, some as large as paving stones, covered every wall and even more books were stacked up on display tables all round the store), today two people were the centre of attention: Harry’s dad and a pale man with long blonde hair. He looked suspiciously familiar, too, though it was only when Harry saw the glinting eyes that he remembered. “My father’s next door buying my books....”
Hogwarts Chronicles: the Philosopher's Stone by Faile, BrennaShade
Chapter Notes: From here on out, I will be pulling a few things directly out of the books--from this chapter, some dialogue from Madam Malkin Draco Malfoy was borrowed from "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" page 77 of the US edition. The plot is based strongly off of JKR's "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" because the intention was to find out how the books would be different if James was alive. Any similar elements found in this story which can be traced directly back to JKR's works are attributed to that and are not meant to be plagiarism. I do not take credit for the plot or anything else taken out of the books. This was written only for a "what if" and enjoyment.
Chapter Endnotes: Thanks very much to my beta Joanna for all her help.