Albus Potter and the Sorting of the Students

Chapter 2

Diagon Alley

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"AL! Wake up!"

"Wha- who - " Albus sat up slowly, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes, a feat made difficult by the small redheaded girl jumping up and down on the end of his bed.

"Get up, sleepy head! It's Saturday! We're going to Diagon Alley today, remember?!"

Albus unstuck his eyes to a point where he make out the hands on his clock: 6:21. He turned his head so he could see Lily, whose face was shining far more eagerly than anyone had any right to at the present hour. He groaned and fell back onto his pillow.

"NO! You're getting UP!" Lily jumped off the bed, grabbed Albus's arm, and pulled.

"Lily! Leave me alone, Diagon Alley will still be there in three more hours... maybe four..." Albus pulled his arm from his sister's grasp, rolled onto his stomach, pulled the pillow over his head, and sighed, content, as he began drifting back to...

WHOMP!

Albus spun around, sending the pillow over his head flying as he sat up. "What did you do that for!" he yelled. Lily was standing next to his bed holding a spare pillow, which had taken the form of a weapon in Lily's war to drag him out of bed.

Rather hard, too... he thought.

"So you would GET UP, silly head!" She giggled for a second, but then - "Oh, don't you dare, Albus Severus Potter!" For Albus had gotten to his feet, eyes full of a familiar mad twinge that usually preceded her being thrown rather bodily from his room. She was an expert at annoying her older brother.

Albus growled at her. She squeaked and scurried from the room. Albus shut the door behind her as gently as possible, so as to not wake anyone else that might have the idea to come in and interrupt his precious time asleep. It was with thoughts of slipping back into a peaceful sleep that he climbed into his bed and promptly did so.

Until...

WHOMP!

"Lily!"

WHOMP! WHOMP! WHOMP!

"LILY! STOP IT!"

WHOMP! WHOMP! WH-

BANG!

The room lit up in a shower of purple and black sparks, and Lily was thrown across the room and through the open door into the hall outside. Both siblings sat where they were for a moment, both very much surprised. Their parents' door opened a moment later and their mother stormed out, hair looking as though she had been attacked by an owl. Like Albus, she was not much of a morning person.

"What in the name of Merlin's..." She paused, searching for a polite word to fit the situation. She failed. "What the bloody hell warrants this much noise at this hour?!"

My thoughts exactly, thought Albus, but his thoughts were quickly sidetracked.

"Al hexed me, Mum!"

"What! I did no such thing - "

"Did too! And only because I was trying to get him up to get ready to go Diagon Alley!"

"You hit me over the head with a pillow!"

"Only a little - "

"A little! You should hope I don't have permanent brain damage, you hit me so many - "

"ENOUGH!" their mother screamed, and the bickering children fell silent, cowed.

"Lily. Do not beat your brother with a pillow, no matter how stubborn he is to get up. I can understand, I've had my own fair share of trouble getting him up in the mornings, and I pity his future dorm-mates at Hogwarts, but I think that might have been a bit excessive if he exploded like that."

She turned to Albus. "And Al, I can sympathize with you, too, I certainly do not like being woken up any earlier than I absolutely have to, but please try to control these outbursts. You and I both don't want to have to repair your room again, and now that you're starting school, you can start to get in trouble for these things."

Albus must have looked sufficiently abashed, because his mother's hard face immediately broke into a softer expression. "Come here, you two," she said, as she swept them into a hug. "You two know just how to get under the other's skin. It's a very familiar experience for me. Just be lucky there's only three of you. I had to figure out how to irritate six brothers. And they were ALL older than me."

The kids giggled at this. "Now, come on, as long as we're awake at this ungodly hour, we might as well take advantage of it, and get moving early," she said as she released them and headed for the stairs.

Albus was surprised to find that he felt far more awake than he thought he would. I guess the secret to getting me up in the mornings is to make me mad enough to use accidental magic and wake the whole house up. Simple enough.

He went back into his room to get dressed, glaring at Lily, who smirked and stuck her tongue out at him. He slammed the door in her face, sighing. She wasn't really upset by being sent flying like that, she just wanted to get their mom yelling enough so that they would be forced to all get up and get moving. Manipulative little girl...

Of course, he had to learn to control himself better. He had been having accidental magic outbursts for as long as he could remember, though few and far between, and only when he let himself get worked up to the point of bursting (usually courtesy of one of his siblings). These incidents were common among young children who hadn't yet been to Hogwarts, and even those who had been there for a year or two, but his always seemed to be rather... explosive. His parents had always said it was a fair exchange in comparison to James. They didn't happen as often as James's had, or as Lily's were, but they wreaked far more destruction. The last time anything big had happened, he had blasted an enormous hole in the exterior wall of his room (during winter, as fate would have it), and burned many of his belongings to dust.

Five minutes later, he was sitting at the breakfast table eating a delicious meal of pancakes and sausage and listening to James, still in his nightclothes, grumble about the hour.

"It's 6:30, I don't see why we have to be up this early!"

"Neither do I, but as long as we're up, we might as well get to Diagon Alley early, before the crowds hit," their mother responded.

"But it's SO early, most of the stores won't even be OPEN yet!"

"They will be by the time we get there, don't worry," their father said, coming down the stairs and taking a seat at the table. He looked far more awake than anyone, with the possible exception of Lily.

"Dad! Why are we up so blasted early!" James appealed to his father, since it was clear that his mother wasn't going to let him go back to bed.

"Ask your sister. And watch your mouth."

"Sorry Dad - LILY! What did you DO?!" James turned to his sister, bellowing at her once he processed what their father had said.

"I just wanted to get to Diagon Alley early, before the crowds hit!" Lily echoed their mother with a smug expression on her face.

"She jumped on my bed and woke me up, and I accidentally blasted her across the room after she hit me over the head with a pillow," Albus contributed, eager to get James as annoyed at Lily as he was.

"Ah, the Burrow Bomber strikes again!"

"James!" their mother scolded him as Albus sighed. James's nickname for Albus's outbursts had come about after Albus had ignited the Christmas tree at their grandparents' house when he was four. The incident was but a blur of bright lights in Albus's memory, but his brother had never let him live it (or any of his other occurrences) down.

"What? I'm just teasing. He knows that I don't really think he's going to be blowing stuff up forever. I'm just saying, he has a future in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. He can be in charge of making sure everyone there is on their game!"

Albus shot him a dirty look.

***

An hour later (due to James' desire to take a lengthy shower before going anywhere and Lily's sudden desire to change outfits), they were headed to their cousins' house, their mother having sent word ahead that they were going to get moving slightly earlier than planned.

As they entered the Den, Albus was immediately accosted by an extremely chipper Rose, who wanted nothing more than to talk nonstop about what to do once they got to Diagon Alley.

"I don't know what we should do first, do you think we should go get our books first? They are the most important part of learning - oh, but our wands! How could I have forgotten! But the store might be crowded, maybe we should go somewhere like the Apothecary first, or Madam Malkin's - No, Albus, there's no need to go to Quality Quidditch Supplies, you're not allowed brooms your first year at school, you know that - ooh, perhaps we should go to get our cauldron and scales and telescope and the like first, or - "

"Rose, breathe," Uncle Ron said, his face bearing a tired expression similar to the one on Albus, James, and their mother. "First thing we need to do is to go to Gringotts; we can't get you anything if we don't have any gold."

"That should be an adventure," their father remarked, a bitter tone to his voice. The goblins had never liked their parents, for reasons unbeknownst to Albus.

"What do you mean, Daddy?" Lily asked, a look of slight disappointment creeping across her face. "We are going to get to go, aren't we? I want to ride on the cart!" The cart ride was Lily and Albus's favorite part of Gringotts - although it only made Rose and Aunt Hermione nauseated.

"Of course you will, sweetheart, don't worry."

"Good." Lily crossed her arms and nodded. "Can we go, already?!"

Uncle Ron looked at her, and then to their parents. "Has she been like this all morning?"

Their mother sighed. "You have no idea," she said, as James burst out laughing.

"Alright, let's go!" Aunt Hermione strode into the room with Hugo, holding a flowerpot full of a glittery, silver powder. "Who's first?"

"I'll go first, make sure they're ready for visitors," their mother said, reaching for the flowerpot.

She scooped a small handful of powder up, walked to the fireplace and climbed in. Dropping the powder, she let out a yell of "Diagon Alley!" and immediately vanished in a puff of green flame.

Albus always enjoyed watching people travel by Floo, but actually doing it was a different story. He never liked the feeling of being surrounded by smoke, and had yet to land at his destination without falling over.

"Alright, they should be ready now. Albus, you go next," Aunt Hermione said, after waiting a few moments.

Albus blanched. "Why me?!" He certainly wanted to go - he just wasn't sure he had the courage worked up yet.

"Because you're closest!" And indeed he was, Albus realized. Darn.

"If the wittle baby's scared to go, I'll go!" James smirked.

Albus shot his brother a death glare, reached out, and seized a handful of Floo Powder from the proffered flowerpot. He stepped into the fireplace, and with a confident shout of "Diagon Alley," he dropped the powder and felt himself zooming away in a flash of green.

A second later, he found himself forcefully ejected from the fireplace at the Leaky Cauldron and flying across the room. He crashed into an empty table roughly ten feet away from the fireplace, knocking it and the surrounding chairs over.

His mother sighed, from the bar. "I'll never understand how you manage to do that," she said, as the bar's few early morning patrons stared, and the tall, pretty barmaid tinkled a laugh.

"Hi, Hannah," Albus said to his godmother as he climbed gingerly to his feet, rubbing his stomach where he had landed, refusing to look at any of the half dozen or so customers still watching him bemusedly.

"Hi, Al! You all right?" Hannah Longbottom asked as she cleaned a tall mug.

"Yeah, I'm used to it," he muttered, lowering his eyes. He never could figure out what he was doing wrong that always made him make such a... dramatic exit from the Floo channel.

The fireplace flared up again, and Lily calmly stepped out, much to Albus's annoyance. "Ooooh," she said, upon seeing the overturned furniture. "Did Albus do it again?" The barmaid laughed again as Albus groaned. "Payback for this morning!" she exclaimed with an evil smile. Albus just gave her a narrow look.

The fireplace lit up once more, and Hugo stepped out. Normally a very quiet boy, he burst out laughing when he saw the overturned table and chairs, as the entire family was well acquainted with Albus's experiences with Floo Powder. "Come on, Al, I've seen you go farther. You can do better than that!" Albus shot a dirty look at his younger cousin as everyone within earshot snorted with laughter.

Within two minutes, all nine of them were there, and the room had resumed its usual buzz of activity. "James, no, get back from the bar. Hannah knows you're nowhere near age," their mother scolded.

"Well, that doesn't mean I can't talk to her, now does it?" James said with a cheeky wink at the blonde matron, who gave him a stern look that failed to reach the upturned corners of her mouth.

"You'd better watch out," she said. "My husband hears you saying that, and you might find yourself shoveling dung your first month back at school."

"Where is Neville, anyway?" their father asked as he helped Albus set the table straight.

"Oh, he's at Hogwarts, getting things sorted out there. They've got a lot to do, what with the new Headmaster and all." Albus looked up, hoping to hear more.

"Oh. Well, tell him we called," Harry said. "Come on, let's get moving."

Albus frowned. Guess we're not going to hear anymore about this fellow today.

As they left the bar, which was growing more crowded by the moment, the first thing Albus noticed was the bright sun gleaming off the large white building towering above the rest down the narrow road. "Let's go!" Lily exclaimed, running ahead.

"Lily, don't get too far ahead, and don't go into Gringotts without us," their mother called.

As they made their way down the narrow, twisting cobblestone alley, Albus was surprised to see as many people as they did out already. "Dad, how come everybody's out so early?! I figured they'd be having a lie-in. Like we should be doing right now," he added.

"It's the first weekend after Hogwarts letters," he replied, frowning. "I should've figured on this. Blast."

"Oh, no matter, we'll find everything and make it out of here quickly enough," Aunt Hermione said, although a slight frown had also crept across her face.

As they approached the tall, marble building, they noticed a large black man standing in front of Lily with his hands on her shoulders.

"Kingsley!" Uncle Ron exclaimed. "How are you!"

"Very well, thank you," the retired Minister of Magic said in a deep voice, smiling. "I was coming out of Gringotts, and I noticed this one trying to run inside," he said, gesturing to Lily. "I figured she'd be better off entering with her parents," he said, giving the adults a significant look.

Albus noticed the look, and knew from the glance James gave him that he had noticed, as well.

Their mother flushed. "Lily! I thought we told you not to go in!"

"I wasn't going to do anything, I just wanted to have a look, I wasn't going to steal something, or anything like that!" the young girl protested.

Uncle Ron snorted loudly, turning away to cover his laughter.

Kingsley chuckled. "Must run in the family," he said. "Good to see you all, but I'm afraid I must be off. Duty calls."

"What duty?! You're retired!" their father exclaimed, smiling, as the tall, dark man began walking away.

He turned and flashed a grin. "Retired, but still married." And with a wink, he turned and disappeared into the crowd.

"He's a good man," Aunt Hermione said. "If you all ever need anything, he's one person you can turn to, remember that," she said to the children.

They entered the Gringotts lobby and approached one of the goblins behind the counter. "Hello," their mother said, while the others hung a few feet back. She always did most of the talking when they were at Gringotts, for some reason. "We need to make withdrawals."

The goblin, an old, wrinkled thing, looked up from his paperwork and frowned. "Ah... the Potters and the Weasleys... of course, of course... Vaults 687, and 521, if I'm not mistaken, yes?"

"That's right," their mother said. Albus noticed a certain tenseness in the air between her and the goblin as the two exchanged an appraising look.

After a long pause, the goblin spoke. "Very well. Slicktooth! Escort our guests to their vaults." A much younger goblin that Albus had never seen before approached from the side. "I'll trust you'll find the cart an acceptable mode of transportation? Or shall we call for... alternate arrangements?"

His mother's lips pursed, and her eyes narrowed. His father spoke up from behind her. "A cart will be fine, thank you." He put his arms around Albus and Lily and gave the goblin a smile that Albus noticed failed to reach his eyes

"Of course," the goblin said. "Slicktooth! What are you waiting for!"

"Right this way," the younger goblin said in a croaky voice.

"Never gets old, that Grappleclaw," Albus heard Uncle Ron mutter under his breath.

Albus was confused. "What was that all about, Dad?" he whispered.

His father sighed. "Don't worry about it, Al. He's just a grumpy old man."

"Goblin," their guide corrected him.

"Goblin," his father echoed.

As they approached the carts, a second goblin joined them. "I'll take 521," the new goblin said. "You deal with 687."

"Right," the young goblin said, and the Weasleys and Potters parted ways, with Albus and Rose giving each other a nervous look. "In here," their guide said, pointing to a rickety cart along one of many tracks. The five Potters climbed in, and Albus started feeling the thrill of anticipation for the wild cart ride.

As they took off, the goblin gave Harry an appraising look. "Don't mind Grappleclaw. All the older goblins are still mad about what happened during the war."

Albus gave his father a startled look. Why would the goblins be mad at Dad? He was one of the leaders of the good guys!

His father gave Slicktooth a look as startled as the one Albus had given him. "You mean the younger ones aren't?"

The goblin chuckled, an ugly, grating sound. "Let's just say that goblin youth are a bit more... modern. A lot of us are rather impressed by what you did."

Well, they should be, Albus thought as they went around a sharp curve. Voldemort wasn't exactly a walk in the park, from what they've said...

"I mean," the goblin continued, "no one had ever done it before, and to escape on a dra- "

What?

"Thank you, Slicktooth," Harry interrupted with his voice raised. "I appreciate the sentiments, and I'm sure my children do, too," he said, putting a meaningful emphasis on the word.

A look of realization dawned on the goblin's face, quickly followed by embarrassment, which was not an emotion Albus had known that goblins could express. "Ahhh, I see. Well, here we are." And indeed, they were slowing down. As the cart stopped and they got out, another cart full of red hair zoomed past, and Albus caught a glimpse of a very green looking Rose and Aunt Hermione.

What was that goblin talking about?

***

Ten minutes later, they made their way back out into the sunshine of Diagon Alley.

"Mum, where are we going first?" Lily asked eagerly. "I want ice cream!"

"Lily, it's eight o'clock in the morning, why on Earth do you want ice cream?" their mother asked. "Aren't you hyper enough without it? Come on, you all need new robes, let's go to Madam Malkin's first."

"Mum," Albus spoke, seized by sudden inspiration and excitement, "can Rose and I go and get our wands first?"

She hesitated.

Their father spoke. "Ron and I can take them to get their wands while you two take the other three to get new robes and clothes."

"Actually," Aunt Hermione spoke up, "I was thinking I'd get their books, save them a trip."

"Alright, whatever works, let's go get these two their wands." Uncle Ron waved her off, obviously eager to visit the wand shop.

They split up once again, and Albus and Rose followed their fathers to dark and dusty Ollivanders.

As they entered, an ancient man behind the counter looked up. "Merlin, he looks just like you, Mr. Potter," he said, looking at Albus. He felt his face turn red. "And Mr. Weasley - well, I suppose we should be thankful she looks more like her mother, eh?"

His father chuckled. "Yes, we should. These two need wands."

"Obviously, obviously..." Mr. Ollivander said, turning around, and picking up two tape measure off a table behind the counter. "Now, who's first? How about you, Miss Weasley? GRIMBOLD! A little help up front, please!"

Even Albus's father seemed taken aback by Ollivander's sudden bellowing, and the old man seemed to notice. "Aye, sorry to yell. Grimbold is my new apprentice. I'm getting up there in years, and don't have any children of my own, so he'll take over the shop when I decide to call it quits - or something does me in, whichever comes first, hmm?"

Albus wasn't quite sure what to think of the old man. His father had described him as rather creepy, but he seemed to him to be rather exuberant and cheerful. Maybe we caught him on a good day. Or maybe he's just old and crazy.

They heard a noise, and a stout young man, perhaps twenty-five, with dark hair and hunched shoulders, came shuffling down one of the aisles. "Yes, Herr Ollivander?" he asked in a thick foreign accent. Albus noticed a heavy scowl seemed to be etched on the young man's face.

"Grimbold, start pulling wands you think might be suitable for these two. The young lady will be first."

Grimbold looked at Rose, who visible shrunk under his harsh glare. His eyes then moved to Albus, who stared back warily. Finally, his eyes came to rest on Albus's father, and with a nod, moved off down one of the many aisles lined with boxes of wands.

"Yes, he's a most peculiar soul," said Ollivander in a low voice as he gave a wave of his own wand and the tape measures flew into action, "but he's terribly bright, and a truly great craftsman. I found him in Germany, and invited him to return with me. He initially declined, but I came downstairs one morning a few months later to find him already inside, combing phoenix feathers. Doesn't say much, but he has a passion for the work. That will do."

The tape measures returned to the counter, just as Grimbold returned to the front with a large stack of boxes. "Miss Weasley, here, try this." Ollivander took one of the stacks off the top. "Hawthorn and phoenix feather, rather springy. Nine and a half inches."

Albus watched Rose eagerly take the wand from Mr. Ollivander and give it a wave. Nothing happened. Rose frowned at it and waved it harder. They heard a loud crashing noise from the back of the store, where Rose had been pointing the wand. Albus winced.

"No, no..." Ollivander snatched the wand back. "Here, holly and unicorn hair, ten inches even. Good for healing spells."

Rose took the wand with a little more trepidation this time, and gave it a very ginger wave. A few gold sparks shot from the end, and she looked slightly pleased, but Ollivander snatched it back. "I don't think - here, this one..."

And so they continued, through a good dozen wands, before finally, Rose gave a wave of a ten and a half inch willow wand with a unicorn hair. A shower of red and gold sparks flew out the end, and Mr. Ollivander's hair stood on end.

"Yes! Very good, very good! I believe we have found something that works!" Rose smiled at his words. "Now for you, young Master Potter. Grimbold, would you like to set him up with his wand?" Neither Albus nor Grimbold looked particularly pleased with the prospect, but Ollivander had already disappeared into the back.

Grimbold scowled at Albus. "Here," he said in his thick accent. "Yew. Dragon heartstring. Zwölf inches." Albus reached out and took the wand from Grimbold, ignoring the ugly look on the young man's face. He gave it a wave, but, like Rose, nothing happened. Grimbold snatched the wand back quickly. "Nein, nein... here. Try. Vine. Unicorn haar. Zehneinhalb."

"What?"

"Zehneinhalb! Ten and one half."

"Oh." Albus took the wand and gave it a flick. Purple sparks flew out of the tip, but Grimbold once again grabbed the wand away.

"Nein, nein..."

And so, as it did for Rose, the process continued, but for much longer. The more wands they went through, the nastier Grimbold seemed to get, and it was apparent that the adults didn't quite know what to think of the young man (Rose was busy gently flicking her new wand when her father wasn't looking). Finally, Grimbold pulled an old, battered box from the middle of the stack, opened it up, and handed a wand so pale it was almost white to Albus. "Here." Albus was surprised to hear his voice much softer. "Ash. Feather. Eleven and one half." Albus took the wand from the young man, and instantly felt a warm feeling creep up his arm and through his body. He didn't wave it. He knew. He looked up at Grimbold to see, much to his surprise, a tremendous smile cross his face, no trace of his previous anger present.

"I take it that means we've found a match?" his father asked, still looking at Grimbold rather apprehensively.

"Ja. A good match, indeed."

"GRIMBOLD!" All five of them turned to see Mr. Ollivander standing at the end of one of the far aisles, a look of angry astonishment on his face. "Geben Sie ihm das nicht!"

Grimbold stared back. "Es ist mine zu geben."

Albus and his family stared in surprise at the two men arguing in German. Both were silent for a moment, and then Ollivander approached, and whispered something in Grimbold's ear. Grimbold backed up and looked hard at Ollivander. "Ich verstehe."

Mr. Ollivander give him a disapproving look, and then turned to Albus. "Are you sure you want this wand?"

Albus was nonplussed by the question. "Yes! That sensation was incredible, it just feels... right!"

"Okay, then. You have your wands, I wish you both the best of luck with them."

"How much for Rose's?" Uncle Ron asked.

"Oh, Mr. Weasley. You do not pay here. I have not forgotten that you helped save my life. I would offer the same to you, Mr. Potter - unfortunately, that right is not mine to give with your son's chosen wand. The wand is the property of Grimbold, and only he can set a price for it."

Albus's father was visibly startled, and Rose's father had turned red at the mention of his heroics.

"Mr. Grimbold, you made this wand?" Albus's father asked.

"Nein," Grimbold responded, his voice now very soft. "Mein Vater did. It vas one of ze last ones he ever made."

Albus still wasn't sure what the commotion had been about before.

"Mr. Grimbold, are you sure you want Albus to have this wand?" Harry asked quietly.

Grimbold stared hard at Albus. "Ja," he said simply.

Everyone was silent for a moment, and then Albus' father spoke again. "How much for it?"

Grimbold was silent again, and then: "No charge." He looked at Albus, who swallowed hard. "Treat it with proper respect." And with that, he turned, walked down the aisle, and disappeared into the back.

***

"Albus! Rose! What took you all so long?" His mother was standing with Lily, Hugo, and James in the sitting area of Madam Malkin's. They appeared to have been waiting quite some time, as James was dozing in his chair. "James, get up, they're here!"

"Took a while to find the right one," their father said simply.

"I'll say," James drawled. "I got mine on the fourth try, how many did it take you?" he directed the question at Albus.

"More than that," Albus said, not meeting his brother's eye. He was still a little unnerved by the whole experience at Ollivanders.

"Well, get over there and get fitted, let's not dally," their mother chided.

Fifteen minutes later, Lily, Hugo, and Ginny were headed to the ice cream shop, their fathers were headed back to the Leaky Cauldron to meet with Neville Longbottom, whom they had gotten word had returned from Hogwarts, and James and Albus had dragged Rose to Quality Quidditch Supplies.

"I just don't see why we have to go there! James already has everything he needs for his broom, and first years aren't allowed to fly except in lessons!"

"That doesn't mean we can't go just to look, Rose!" Albus said as they entered the store.

But looking was going to be hard, as the store was so packed with people that they had difficulty moving, let alone seeing anything for more than a split second.

"Why is this place so crowded?!" James protested loudly, but the answer came quickly.

"Step right up, right here, for a free test ride on the all new Valkyrie! This broom is specially designed for Seekers, with tremendous acceleration and agility. You'll have no problem beating your opponents to the Snitch on this beauty!" A man by a door near the trio was shouting loudly over the cacophony in the store, and was holding a beautiful golden broom over his head. There was a loud rumble as people immediately began rushing to line up. Albus' eyes had widened upon seeing the broom, and took advantage of his small frame to dart through the crowd towards the man.

"Al!" Rose cried, but he ignored her. He kept the broom in his line of sight as he darted and weaved around the other patrons. He was almost there, and as he ducked around a man with an enormous belly -

CRACK

Albus stumbled backwards, clutching his head, and tumbled to the floor. He blinked the stars out of his eyes, and looking around, immediately found the source of his fall: A small girl with long brown hair was sitting in a similar position to him nearby, also holding her head gingerly. She fixed him with angry hazel eyes.

"Watch where you're going, Bludger-brains!"

Albus opened his eyes wide in surprise. "Me?! You watch where you're going! You ran into me!"

"I certainly did not," the girl retorted. "You were running with a look on your face like a dog running for a bone, and you smacked right into me without looking!"

Albus flushed and searched for something to say, but as he had been so focused on getting to the broom, he didn't know if what the girl was saying was the truth or not. "Well, you should have moved, if you think you're good enough to ride that broom. I'd hate to see you with a Bludger coming at you! Probably would just sit there and let it - "

"OI!" the shopkeeper holding the broom shouted. "How's about both of you take your Bludgerin' selves and get out, as you're holding up potential customers! I doubt either of you has enough money on you to buy this broom, so you might as well just clear out!"

Both children just glared at each other from their positions on the floor as if daring the other to leave first, until James came up to the side of Albus, lifted him up, and pulled him, protesting, from the shop.

"James! Why'd you do that?!" Albus protested as they once again entered the sunlit alleyway.

"Besides the fact that I reckon that guy was about to give you a permanent ban? Not to mention the fact that that girl looked like she was about to curse you?"

"I can handle myself," Albus muttered, as the girl in question pushed past them, marching quickly down the alley.

"Yeah, sure you can," James sniggered.

"Where are we going, now?" Rose asked, but before anyone could answer, they were interrupted.

"James! Al! Rose!" Albus heard his father's voice calling from behind them, and turned to see him and Rose's father standing a little ways behind them. "Come on," he said, "Rose's mum has already gotten everything else you'll need, let's stop and get some ice cream before heading home. Al, what happened to your head? You've got an enormous bruise over your eye!"

***

The ice cream cheered Albus up, and he enjoyed sitting in the shade with his brother and cousin (his mum and aunt had taken Lily and Hugo home, as they had gotten into a tremendous fight which resulted in Hugo wiping ice cream out of his hair), watching various people come up and say hello to his father and uncle, and introducing themselves to the kids. By the time he had finished his treat, he had met Seamus Finnigan, a wizard who worked in the Ministry Registrar's Office and had gone to school with his parents, Horace Slughorn, a former Potions professor and Deputy Headmaster who had praised his father to no end, Demelza Robbins, a woman whom his father said was an excellent Chaser for Gryffindor in her time, and many others. As they finished, Uncle Ron spoke up. "Well, I suppose there's only one stop left."

"Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes?" James volunteered.

"Hah! As if you need to go there! Like your uncle George doesn't give you free things every time he sees you," their father laughed. "No, we need to get these two pets. I reckon you'd want owls?"

Albus's heart leaped. An owl! Of course, they had the family owl, Delilah, and James's owl, Bob (James had an interesting sense of humor), but he had wanted one of his own to take to school. "Of course! Let's go!"

Ten minutes later they left Eeylops Owl Emporium, Albus clutching a cage with a small but speedy owl, black with a few odd white feathers here and there, and Rose with an enormous tawny owl.

"What are you going to name yours?" Albus asked.

"Jupiter," Rose answered promptly.

Albus was taken aback. "That was quick. How'd you come up with it so fast?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "It was already his name, Al. See? Right here on the side of the cage!"

Uncle Ron roared with laughter. "Rosie, that's the name of the company that makes the cage!"

Rose blushed deep as Albus stifled a smirk. "Well - I like it anyway, so that's going to be his name! What are you going to name yours, Al?"

Albus shrugged. "I don't know. It'll probably come naturally. Actually, I don't even know if it's a boy or a girl." Albus lifted the cage up so the owl was at eye level. "Are you a boy?" he asked, not really expecting a reaction.

The small owl squawked loudly and gave Albus a reproachful look.

Uncle Ron laughed again. "Apparently not." Albus blushed.

His father smiled. "C'mon. Let's get home. You'll have all the time in the world to name the poor creature."

And so, they departed for the Leaky Cauldron and home, all thoughts of the girl from the Quidditch store, Grimbold, and most importantly, any nightmares, banished from his mind in the happiness of the moment.