Disclaimer: I own once more my incredibly crazy life, but also my three day weekend. -grins- Unfortunately, I still don’t own Harry Potter. If I did, I wouldn’t bother writing this disclaimer.
Parenting Class
Adventure in Diagon Alley
Important Author’s Note at end. Please, please, please read!
“I’m sorry,” Harry whispered, looking down at his feet, emerald eyes welling with tears before he blinked them back.
Hermione slid off the bench and knelt down before the child, taking his small hands into hers. “You did nothing wrong,” she murmured, “and shouldn’t be sorry for anything. Tell me honestly…did you want to cause this much trouble?”
Slowly, Harry shook his head, still refusing to meet her eyes. “No,” he said, so softly his reply could barely be heard.
“Then you aren’t to be blamed at all. Although I can think of someone who would be the mastermind behind all of this.” Ron looked guiltily down at his feet as the brunette’s gaze landed on him. “Tell me, Ronald Weasley, was it your idea to play with these dolls?”
“But Lavender gave them to me!” Ron defended. “It should be all right then.”
“I’m quite sure Lavender’s judgment is better then to let you play with obviously magical dolls. I get the sneaking suspicion that perhaps you took them from her trunk.” Just as Ron did when he was older, the boy blushed so much that his ears turned bright red. “That’s what I thought.”
“I just wanted to have some fun,” Ron muttered, picking at a loose thread on his sweater.
“You need to learn that sometimes your fun might not seem like that to others. It can be mean, hurtful, embarrassing, and other things I won’t mention. You should be very ashamed of yourself. Now, go apologize to Professor Snape this instant.”
As the hall watched, Ron sullenly made his way up to the Head table and stopped next to Snape’s chair. “I’m sorry, Professor Scary,” he said softly.
At a pointed look from his godson, Snape muttered, “You’re forgiven.” Bending closer so that only Ron could hear him, the Potions master said, “But if you ever do anything else, don’t run to anyone for help…you’ll be in trouble with me…very big trouble.”
Gulping and biting back the urge to scream and run as fast as he could, Ron made his way back to Hermione. “Happy?” he asked, arms crossed over his chest with a pout on his face.
“No. I don’t like that attitude young man. And even though I’m not your real guardian, I do have every right to do as I wish. Lavender and Terry will give you your real punishment, but I’ll start for them. Now come on, we’re heading back to the room.”
Draco picked up the still sniffling Harry and followed Hermione, who was walking directly behind Ron, out of the Hall. Their group was silent as they went down the corridor towards Leviculus, no one saying anything to trigger an outburst from the quite enraged Hermione.
The jester fortunately seemed to sense that Hermione was in no mood to play games or chat and swung open as soon as she said the password, her voice tight. As they entered, the girl pointed for Ron to sit on the on the armchair and for Draco and Harry to sit on the couch. She opted to stand and look at Ron.
“I’m not going to punish you severely, that’s for Lavender to do, but I am going to give you a timeout. You are to sit in that chair until Lavender and Terry come back today. What you did was very bad Ron. How would you like it if I controlled your actions and made you run butt-naked around the school?”
“I wouldn’t.”
“Then are we very clear that you are never to use these dolls again? Or do anything like this? You were very lucky…Draco or myself could have been severely injured in some of the stunts you pulled.”
“Yes,” Ron mumbled.
“All right then. Now stay there until Lavender comes to pick you up. And no talking to Harry.”
A few minutes later, the group had settled. Hermione was in her bedroom reading a book (with the door open so she could watch Ron), Draco had been given permission from Hermione to go out to the quidditch pitch and had already left, and Harry was sitting on his bed, just watching Ron.
As soon as Ron saw that Hermione was deeply immersed in her book, he beckoned for Harry to come over. The black haired child gave a little shrug, not wanting to really get in trouble. The gesturing got more frantic and Harry, against better ruling, cautiously made his way over to Ron.
“What?” he whispered, throwing a fearful glance at Hermione’s room.
“I’m bored,” sulked Ron.
“You’re also in trouble…wouldn’t it be better to just be bored and sit quietly so Hermione doesn’t yell?”
“No. There’s really nothing worse she can do. Hey! Why don’t you go get the dolls from her?” Harry gave his friend a pointed look of ‘are you crazy?’. “I’m just kidding.”
“I’m going to go back to my room…I don’t want to get in trouble.”
“Don’t go,” Ron pleaded. “I’ll die of boredom!”
“You mean you’ll really die?”
Ron nodded. “Uh huh.”
“But I don’t want you to die!” Harry cried in a hushed voice.
“I know what’ll help.”
“What?”
“There’s this shop in Diagon Alley that sells this yummy ice cream. If I had a double chocolate dipped cone with rainbow sprinkles, I’m sure I’ll live, even if I am bored…but I can’t leave this chair.”
“How do you get to that place? I’ll get you the ice cream!”
“You use floo powder.”
“Floo powder?”
“Yep. You step in the fireplace and then throw it at your feet while saying where you want to go. And you’ll go there.”
“Where do I get floo powder?”
“Draco probably has some,” Ron mused, tapping his chin thoughtfully. “He is rich, you know.”
“Draco’s rich?” Harry asked, jaw dropping.
“Very rich. He could buy almost anything he’d ever want!” Ron’s eyes grew as wide as galleons as he told Harry what he would buy. His list consisted of ice cream, candy, cookies, a broomstick, his own house, an own, and a pet elephant.
“An elephant?” Harry repeated. “Aren’t those really big?”
“Yeah, but my elephant could get his own house. What would you get, Harry?”
“I’d want some clothes that actually fit me…and a gameboy! Dudley has one but he never lets me play. And a puppy…I really want a puppy!”
“A puppy would be nice,” agreed Ron. Throwing a glance at Hermione he said, “do you think you should go now? She doesn’t look like she’ll notice.” Harry nodded and crept into Draco’s room.
Opening the Slytherin’s trunk, Harry dug through some of the clothes until he found a small pot that was labeled ‘floo powder.’ On a sudden impulse, he grabbed a handful of gold coins from a bag on Draco’s dresser. He knew ice cream cost money, but he didn’t know much. So a few of the huge gold pieces should be enough, right?
Darting back across the common room, Harry stepped into the fireplace, thankfully the fire not lit. “I’ll be right back Ron,” he assured. “Don’t die.”
Seconds later, Harry disappeared from Hogwarts and appeared sliding out of the fireplace at the Leaky Cauldron. Standing up, he looked curiously around at the array of people clustered about the small room. Following a man walking with a cane, Harry exited the building and followed the man through a stone archway.
Harry gasped in surprise as the wall closed up as soon as he’d walked through, each stone sliding back into place to form a solid wall. To further his amazement, the boy simply had to look in front of him. Never had he seen so many magical things and stores all at once.
He shivered, just realizing how close to magic he really was. Uncle Vernon would be really mad if he ever found out…but he didn’t want Ron to die. Taking a deep breath, the child started into the magical world of Diagon Alley.
“If I were ice cream, where would I be?” Harry wondered, edging his way carefully around the crowds. “Somewhere,” the child sighed, realizing just how big Diagon Alley was. Stores lined both sides of the street, other alleys branching off to even more shops. People were everywhere and being so small it was basically impossible to see where he was going.
As Harry stopped to try and get his bearings, he was shoved from behind and tumbled into a store on his right, eyes blinking slowly to adjust to the darkness. Barrels lined the walls and bushels of plants hung from the ceiling. At the front counter, a rather plump witch was getting a bag of newt eyes weighed on a large brass scale.
In interest, Harry began to go around and look into each barrel, being extremely careful not to touch a single thing. Just like when he went to someone else’s house with his aunt and uncle, he was told not to bump into anything and to sit perfectly still on a couch or chair and not disturb them at all.
After he’d inhaled the stench of dragon dung, Harry decided to leave and go back in search of ice cream for his ‘dying’ friend. Exiting the shop he once more started on his way down the crowded streets. Meanwhile, back at Hogwarts…
“HE’S GONE!” Hermione screeched grabbing her cloak from her bed and dashing back into the common room, panic in her eyes. “HOW DID HE GET OUT?” Grabbing Ron, the witch sprinted from the room out to the quidditch pitch, eyes scanning the sky for the blond. “DRACO MALFOY! GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!” she screamed, shaking her fist at the brooms.
Seconds later, Draco dismounted in front of the duo, surprise etched on his face. “Where’s Harry?” he asked, leaning casually on his broom.
“I DON’T KNOW! HE JUST DISAPPEARED!” Hermione took a calming breath and then continued. “I went to check on him and he wasn’t in his room,” she said slowly. And he wasn’t with Ron.”
Draco turned to the redhead and queried, “Ron, did you see Harry go anywhere?”
The child fidgeted and shook his head, though guilt was ridden all over his face. Before anyone could blink, Hermione had conjured a stool and placed Ron on it, a bright light shining on his face just like she’d seen real interrogators do to make their victims sweat.
“Did you speak to Harry while you were sitting on that chair?” she pried, eyes boring into the boy.
“Umm…yes?”
“Are you answering or asking, Mr. Weasley?”
“Answering?” At Hermione’s death glare, he quickly said, “answering.”
“What did you say to him?”
“That I was bored.”
“Is that all?”
“Umm…yes?”
“Mr. Weasley!”
“Sort of…no…not really.”
Draco took on the role of the good cop. “I promise, Mr. Weasley, that if you answer all questions truthfully you will be rewarded.”
“And if you don’t,” growled Hermione, “You’ll wish you hadn’t. Now, what else did you say to Harry?”
“That I was bored…and that I might die.”
“Why would you die?” the girl snarled. “You can’t die by sitting in a chair.”
“But I could die from boredom! It is true. Fred and George almost died when Mum made them sit in different rooms for over an hour. It’s dangerous!”
“So where exactly did Harry go after you talked to him?” asked Draco, intervening between the two’s conversation.
“HewenttoDiagonAlley,” Ron said in one breath, hoping that neither teenager would catch it. Unfortunately for him, Hermione has very keen hearing.
“DIAGON ALLEY!” she screamed, picking Ron up by his sweater and shaking the child. “WHY ON EARTH WOULD HE GO THERE?”
Draco pried Hermione off of the child and set him back on the seat. “I’d like to know too,” he said, holding Hermione back incase she attempted to grab Ron again.
“I told him that I’d feel better if he got me ice cream…so he said he would.”
“Let me get this straight. You told Harry you would die but ice cream would make you better. So you sent him to Diagon Ally for ice cream. Is that right?”
“That’s right,” Ron grinned, thankful Hermione appeared to be calming down. Note the appeared.
“WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING? SENDING HIM OUT THERE! DO YOU KNOW WHAT COULD HAPPEN? IF I WASN’T WORRIED ABOUT BEING SENT TO AZKABAN, I’D KILL YOU!”
Ron burst into tears and Draco sighed. “Mione, you can’t be so hard on him,” he scolded. “He’s just a kid. But you do need to be more responsible,” he said, turning to look at Ron. “Exactly how did Harry get to Diagon Alley anyway?”
“Floo powder,” Ron whispered. “He took it from your trunk.”
“Let’s go talk to Dumbledore,” Draco suggested, still keeping a death grip on Hermione’s wrist so that she wouldn’t attack her best friend. “He’ll know what to do.”
The three made their way quickly up to the headmaster’s office, the candy password this time Skittles. Dumbledore was writing a letter when Hermione burst in. “Headmaster! You have to help us! Harry’s in Diagon Alley! By himself!”
“There is no real reason to worry, Miss Granger. I was informed of this problem as soon as Harry left the castle. As you probably know, the floo channel is monitored and as soon as someone in your room departed, I knew. Don’t worry about Harry…he’s in good hands. Now, go on back to your room…Harry will be returned before dinner.”
The group left, and headed back to the ‘rainbow room,’ apprehension on the teens minds and relief on Ron’s. But all couldn’t help wonder…who was watching Harry?
LINE! LINE!
Harry exited the quidditch store, a smile on his face. He wanted to learn to fly just like Draco and all the people on the posters. But back to his current ice cream…finding ice cream for Ron.
But Harry happens to be distracted easily. As he was passing another store, a barking inside caught his attention. Ignoring the building just two stores up that had an ice cream cone on the front, Harry entered the noisy store.
Surrounding him were animals of all kinds and sizes. An electric blue parrot was squawking loudly from its perch and two small red parakeets that glowed whenever they got to close to each other sat beneath it.
Several cats came and began purring, rubbing against Harry’s ankles. Reaching down, Harry made sure to pet every single one before continuing in the sound of the barking. In a roped off corner were several puppies, barking and chasing each other around.
Squealing, Harry climbed over the small fence and into the dog’s area. At once, the little puppies began to crawl over to him and lick the boy upside his face. Giggling, Harry hugged the smallest of them all, a tiny Golden Retriever, to him and threw a chew toy to the end of the enclosure.
Immediately, the other puppies took off after the toy, though the retriever stayed by Harry’s side. “I wish I could keep you,” Harry whispered, petting the wriggling mass. “I’ve always wanted a puppy.”
“Excuse me,” said a man, his long face in a frown. “No one is supposed to be back there without supervision.”
“I’m sorry!” Harry cried, standing up quickly though his arms were still wrapped around the puppy. “I just wanted to pet them.”
“It’s all right,” the man smiled. “May I ask where your parents are?”
“They’re dead.”
“Then where are your guardians?”
Harry knew lying was bad. But he couldn’t very well say he’d snuck out of Hogwarts. He’d get in really big trouble. “They’re outside,” he lied, crossing his fingers behind the puppy.
“I see. Are you interested in buying a dog? This one sure seems to have taken a liking to you.”
“Can I really?”
“If you have money. These puppies will be rather expensive since they are muggle dogs and are quite rare in the wizarding world. The one you’re holding will be about five galleons.”
Harry gently set the puppy down and pulled out ten of the gold coins he’d taken. “Will this pay for him?”
“Actually, you only need half of those,” he said with a smile. “Now come right this way, young sir. We’d best get your new dog some toys and a leash, hmm?”
Harry nodded eagerly and followed the storekeeper with his new puppy in arm. “Over here we have a custom brand of leashes,” he said. “This one is very nice,” the man said, pulling a red one off the wall. Depending on where you hold it, it will shrink to where you want the length to be.”
“I’ll take it! Can I get a collar for him too?”
“Of course. What color would you like?”
“Red to match his leash!”
Nodding, the clerk pulled a collar off a hook and slipped it over the Golden Retriever’s head. “As it grows older the collar will expand so you won’t have to buy another one,” he explained. “Would you like to get your new pet any toys?”
Together, Harry and his puppy picked out a squeaky ball that flashed different colors when you squeezed it and a cloth unicorn that had a squeaker in it. The total purchase came to six galleons and three knuts, which Harry happily handed over. A few minutes later, Harry and his puppy exited the pet store, the dog walking happily next to Harry.
“I need to name you,” Harry said, bending down and scratching the dog between his ears. “How about Butterscotch? You’re golden like butterscotch…how do you like that?” The puppy gave a yip as an affirmative. “Good!”
Just as the two were about to enter the ice cream an orange tabby cat darted in front of the duo. With a bark and a snarl, Butterscotch tore from Harry’s grasp. The child chased his dog, yelling for him to heel, though the pup didn’t heed.
Out of a store farther up the road, a man stepped into the path of the dog and caught the leash as Butterscotch tried to pass. “Thank…you,” Harry panted, reaching weakly out for the leash.
“Don’t you think you’re a little young to be out on your own, Harry?” the man asked kindly, leaning over and petting Butterscotch.
“How do you know my name?” Harry asked curiously.
“I was a good friend of your father’s. Professor Dumbledore sent me to watch you while you were out and make sure you arrived back safely at Hogwarts.”
“What’s your name?”
“I’m Remus Lupin.”
“Do you have a nickname?”
“I do in fact…Moony.”
“Can I call you Uncle Moony?”
Lupin smiled. “If you’d like. Would you like to get an ice cream cone?”
At that, Harry paled. “Oh no! Ron’s going to die if I don’t get him his ice cream! I need to get it really fast!”
“Your friend is perfectly safe,” Lupin reassured. “Don’t worry about the ice cream. But would you like any while we’re here?”
“Can I really have one? Uncle Vernon never lets me have ice cream or anything.”
“Yes, you can. My treat.” Minutes later, both walked out of the ice cream parlor, Harry licking on a strawberry cone coated in dark chocolate and Lupin with a frozen coffee smoothie and a bowl of vanilla ice cream for Butterscotch.
“I think he likes it,” Harry laughed, watching the puppy devour the ice cream. “Do Hermione and Draco know I left? I don’t want them to worry…”
“Yes, they do know. But Professor Dumbledore assured them that you’re perfectly safe. Speaking of which, we’d best head back now. Dinner will be soon and we should make sure your pet gets a chance to visit his new quarters, hmm?”
“Okay,” Harry agreed. “But how are we getting back, Uncle Moony?”
“Floo powder,” he grinned. “Come along, we’ll go from the Leaky Cauldron. It’s the most accurate of the floo transports here.” They made their way back to the crowded pub and seconds later were both sprawled out on the Headmaster’s office floor.
“I see you got him,” Dumbledore smiled, offering a hand to help Lupin up. “And who’s this?” he asked, looking at the soot covered puppy that had just jumped up on his robes.
“Harry’s new dog,” Lupin chuckled. “You don’t mind if he keeps him, do you? We’d devastate him if we told him dogs weren’t allowed at Hogwarts.”
“You mean Butterscotch can’t stay here?” Harry asked, overhearing both adults. “Please Grandpa? Can’t you let him? He’ll be good, I promise!”
At that second, the sound of ripping was heard and everyone turned. Butterscotch was sitting innocently on top of Dumbledore’s desk, papers ripped all around him, ink pots tipped over and Fawkes in his mouth, the bird squawking angrily.
“Good, huh?” Lupin snorted. “What an understatement. I present Hogwarts with its newest terror…Butterscotch, the Destroyer.”
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