Harry Potter and the Magic of Books Part 6 (Patreon)

Sarah glanced at the entrance to the dungeon the guide was calling the Lion dungeon. “Okay, it looks like we’re going to need two keys before we can get the magical key that should open any door.”

Harry asked, “How do we get the keys?”

“The first one is easy, you sneak into the dungeon and take the eastern door. Kill any of the bats in your way then use your ladder spell to cross to the middle of the room and grab the key while avoiding some fire elementals. After that you head back to the entrance room and go north. You’ll plant a bomb on the middle of the north wall. Once that’s done everyone dodges the monstrous four headed plant creature and goes to the next room where there are knights and a second key. We kill the knights then we wait while you go to the next room and unlock the north door. Then you go in and blow the north wall. Grab the map in there while avoiding the giant plant monster.”

Hermione asked, “Giant plant monster?”

“Just like the other creature,” Sarah replied.

Harry sighed. “At least they shouldn’t be able to see me.”

Sarah said, “You’ll have to unlock the door on the north side. Go north and you should find the giant crab. You should be able to kill it with a couple of shots from your bow. After that you go east and kill all the knights and assorted monsters and a block should move letting you grab the Lion key which is a magical key that should unlock every door in this land and others. Once we get the key we’ll backtrack back to the beginning and head east to collect the magical book. Any questions?”

Harry asked, “One east then back then mostly north until I kill the giant crab monster then east.”

“Basically yes.” Sarah replied.

Harry looked at the map that Sarah was holding. “Okay, we should be able to grab both of those items before Mrs. Granger gets here.”

Hermione glanced down at her wooden sword. “I don’t think my sword is going to do that much damage to these things.”

Harry shrugged. “That’s why we have bombs, don’t be afraid to use them.”

Sarah said, “With any luck we can find a witch or wizard in this dungeon that expands our bomb bag or teaches us how to do it.”

“That would be nice. Let’s do this.” Harry activated the invisibility ability of his ring and walked into the dungeon.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Sarah giggled as she picked up the magic book and handed it to Harry. “This should upgrade the magic rod to shoot fire.”

Hermione raised her eyebrows. “You mean the magical rod that we don’t have?”

“We’ll get it.”

Harry put the magical book in his bag then looked at his watch. “But not today.”

Hermione asked, “How are we doing for health?”

Harry took a drink of his healing potion. “Ah, better. That last knight got in a lucky shot.”

Sara giggled as she hugged Harry. “Let’s go back to the library. We can work on decoding the magic book until Mrs. G shows up.”

“I’d rather not be late,” Hermione agreed.

Harry focused and pulled everyone out of the book. He grinned as he looked around and realized that no one had seen their exit. “Okay, let’s see if we can decode the magic book or maybe work on the enchanting book.”

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Mrs. Granger smiled as she walked around the corner and saw Hermione, Harry, and Sarah sitting at a table reading quietly. “Are you ready?”

Hermione turned and smiled at her mother. “Can Harry and Sarah have dinner with us?”

“Sure they can come over for dinner, but what time are they expected home?”

Harry shrugged. “We live in books, we’re not exactly on a schedule during the summer.”

“In that case, you’re welcome to come for dinner and stay in the guest room tonight.” Mrs Granger figured it would be a good chance to get some answers about magic and to get to know her daughter’s new friend.

Harry packed up his books and stacked the couple of library books they had been looking at. ”That should do it.”

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Harry looked around Hermione’s living room after being invited in by Hermione’s father. The house while nice had a lived in feel that the Dursleys couldn’t duplicate. There were also bookcases all over the place which fit Hermione quite well. “It suits you.”

Hermione grinned. “Thanks.”

Mr. Granger glanced between Sarah, Harry, and Hermione. “How did you meet my daughter?”

Sarah said, “Funny story that, the first time was in a bookstore, she saw through my notice-me-not spell.”

“I didn’t get a chance to talk to them until I spotted them in the library earlier today,” Hermione said.

“And you can do real magic?” Mr. Granger asked dubiously.

Sarah held up her hand and conjured a ball of light. “Like that?”

“Okay… magic…” he trailed off, unsure how to dispute what he was seeing, even though he’d been positive his little girl had been a more highly evolved human than had ever walked the earth before! He mentally shook his head, he’d been listening to too much college rhetoric.

Mrs. Granger laughed at her husband’s confused expression. “You owe me twenty dollars, dear.”

“What?” He looked at his wife with a frown.

“You bet me years ago that her tricks were psychic powers and not magic, pay up.” Mrs. Granger snickered at the expression on her husband’s face.

He shook his head and grinned. “There’s pizza in the kitchen.”

Hermione said, “I’ll grab it.” as she headed toward the kitchen.

Mr. Granger asked, “So, what else can you do?”

Sarah said, “I can do some minor things with plants, conjure clear water, and hide things. I can also conjure a flying broom. Harry can jump into books.”

“Like into the story?” Mr. Granger asked in disbelief.

“Yep, that’s where I learned how to summon a ladder and make a ball of fire for camping and lighting up dark rooms.” Harry wasn’t going to mention that he could reach into a book and pull things out until he got to know Hermione’s parents a little better.

“That’s certainly interesting though it seems a little dangerous,” he replied, thinking of all the books he’d read.

Harry nodded. “That’s why I’m being rather careful not to enter dangerous books.”

Hermione walked in with both pizza boxes floating three feet off the ground. “Look, no hands.”

Harry snickered as he used his magic ring to conjure a mage hand then used it to grab one of the pizza boxes. “I’ll give you one.”

Mr. Granger blinked as he noticed the floating pizza and glowing white hand. “How?”

Hermione said, “Magic.”

Harry held up his ring. “I’ve got a magic ring that lets me conjure the hand.”

Sarah said, “You should let him try the ring.”

Harry floated the top pizza box over to Sarah then slipped the ring off and tossed it to Mr. Granger. “Here, give it a go.”

Mr. Granger frowned as he looked at the nondescript ring before slipping it on his finger. “How does it work?”

“Think about conjuring an extra hand.”

Mr. Granger blushed and quickly took the ring off when a glowing hand appeared on Mrs. Granger’s left breast. “Ah, right… that’s an interesting ring.”

Mrs. Granger straightened her shirt once the hand vanished with a hint of a smile on her face.

Sarah snickered. “It takes some practice to get it to appear where you want. You might as well keep practicing with it.”

“Thanks, I’ll do that,” he replied.

Hermione floated the pizza box over over to the table and opened it. “I should get one of my favorite books.”

“I’m sure it can wait until we’ve eaten dear,” Mrs. Granger said.

“How long have you known about magic?” Mr Granger asked.

Sarah said, “A while but Harry hasn’t had his power for all that long, so we’re still sort of working things out.”

“It’s been rather interesting so far,” Harry said.

Mr. Granger asked, “Can anyone learn magic?”

Sarah shook her head. “Not here, you need a certain amount of magical talent in order to learn magic, in some of the books… well, that’s an interesting question.” She looked over at Harry. “It might be possible, it’s certainly worth looking into.” She picked up a piece of pizza and started eating.

Harry nodded. “It’s something to think about. Which book are you thinking of?”

Hermione glanced at her mother and father. “A safe and educational classic, maybe Sense and Sensibility?”

“I’m not familiar with the book.” Harry looked at Sarah. “Are you?”

Sarah shook her head. “Nope, sorry.”

Mrs Granger shook her head at the education standards. “It’s not a bad idea.”

“What's it like?” Harry asked.

“It’s set in the last part of the 18th century, which means that we can see what London looked like two hundred years ago. Not to mention buy some ‘antique’ jewelry and lost books. We’ve got some gems that we could sell,” Hermione said excitedly as she thought about it.

“I knew it would come back around to books,” Harry replied with a grin.

“It’s better than something dangerous,” Hermione pointed out.

“Actually, London was a fairly dangerous place at that time,” Mr Granger corrected her.

Sarah said, “Don’t worry, I can use a notice-me-not charm so that people don’t pay much attention to us.”

Harry shrugged. “I don’t have a problem with jumping there for a bit after we’ve eaten, maybe catching a London show or something.”

Mrs, Granger smiled as she thought about seeing one of the old London shows even if she could never really tell any of her friends. “That sounds nice.”

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Harry smiled slightly as they walked the streets of 1790’s London, or at least one author’s impression of it. It wasn’t as exciting as hunting monsters but he’d had fun watching a play at the theater and listening to Hermione and her parents discuss the clothing choices and the architecture. While it wasn’t something he was all that interested in, it made Hermione happy to explore the past. He yawned. “Not to complain but it’s getting rather late and time flows the same in here as it does in the real world.”

Hermione glanced down at her watch and frowned as she noticed that it was well after midnight. “It’s getting late.”

Mrs. Granger said, “Ah, sorry, we lost track of time.”

Harry shook his head. “It’s easy to do. Shall we head back?”

Mr. Granger glanced around the streets once more then nodded. “Thank you.”

Harry reached out with his magic and pulled the group back to the real world. “How did you like your first trip into a book?”

“I think this trip convinced me that you’re using magic rather than psychic powers, though I guess we could just be dreaming.”

Hermione snickered as she held up an expensive ruby covered silver hair clip that she’d bought in one of the jewelry shops. “Then how do you explain this?”

Mr. Granger sighed as he reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet, grabbed a twenty pound note and handed it to his wife. “Fine, it’s magic.”

Mrs. Granger snickered as she stuffed the twenty in her pocket. “Hah.”

Mr. Granger shook his head. “Why don’t you show Harry to the guest room. Sarah can sleep on the couch in your room. We’ve got to work tomorrow so I’m turning in.”

Mrs. Granger said, “There’s water in the fridge, don’t forget to brush your teeth. We’ve got extra toothbrushes in the cupboard.”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “I know Mum.” She turned to look at Harry and Sarah, “Let’s go.”

Sarah smiled as she followed Hermione.

Harry followed the two girls into the guest ‘bedroom’ which looked like it was also used as a reading room or at least that’s how he explained the bookshelves that lined most of the walls. The only spot that didn’t have books was one wooden section of the wall that the desk was pressed up against. “Ah, where is the bed?”

Hermione smirked as she walked over to the desk pressed the release switch on the side of it then slid the desk over to the opposite wall where it clicked into place. She grinned as she reached up and pulled on a fake book on the shelf next to the wooden wall which caused the hideaway bed to slowly swing down. “Dad is a bit of a secret passageway nut.”

“That’s pretty neat,” Harry replied.

Hermione said, “I’ll show you where the bathroom is then we should probably get some shuteye.”

Harry yawned. “Thanks for inviting me over.”

”You’re welcome.”

Sarah asked, “Are you going to show us your room?”

“Follow me.” Hermione exited the guest room and walked to the next door and opened it. “You’ll have to excuse the mess, I wasn’t really expecting people…” She stepped into her bedroom and out of the way so that Harry and Sarah could come in.

Sarah was a little surprised that there weren’t all that many books scattered around other than on Hermione’s desk. The couch was free of books as was the table with her television and game system. There was also a cute stuffed unicorn on the desk. The ceiling was off white which was better than pink or some other girly color that hurt the eyes. “It looks like a wizard’s room, books, books, and more books.”

Hermione laughed softly. “I like books.”

Harry liked books a lot more now that he’d discovered his special talent. “Books are great.”

Hermione looked at Sarah. “Do you have any parent approved sleepwear?”

Sarah looked at Harry. “Can you pull a t-shirt out of one of your catalogues?”

Harry took his backpack off and reached in and pulled out the catalogue. “Sure, any preference?”

Hermione spoke up, “Something that won’t get weird looks from my parents.”

Sarah giggled as she slipped out of her clothes. “Where is the fun in that?”

Harry reached into the catalogue and pulled out a large men’s t-shirt with the words, ‘I hate Mondays’ on the front. “Here.” He smiled as he tossed her the t-shirt.

Sarah gave Hermione smile then slipped the t-shirt over her head.

Hermione noticed that the t-shirt only came down to Sarah’s midthigh. “As long as you don’t stretch in front of them, it should be okay.”

Sarah giggled as she reached up toward the ceiling which lifted her shirt up so that her crotch was clearly visible. “Perfect.”

“You like causing trouble, don’t you?”

“I’m a nymph, it’s my nature.” Sarah grinned at Hermione.

“Right, bathroom is across the way, I’ll get you some toothbrushes and a sheet for the couch.”

Sarah pouted. “You’re not really going to make me sleep on the couch are you?”

“Considering my parents might check on us, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. You’ll just have to wait until we’re in a book for the fun stuff.” Hermione headed for the bathroom to grab two extra toothbrushes and a sheet for Sarah.

“Rats.” Sarah snickered as she followed Hermione.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Minerva McGonagall yawned as she watched the school’s enchanted quill write Harry Potter’s location on the outside of his Hogwarts letter. “Guest bedroom at the Grangers.” She quickly sorted through the rest of the letters on her desk until she found Hermione Granger’s letter. She checked the addresses and realized they matched. She muttered to herself, “She’s a muggleborn, how in the blazes did they even meet?”

She shook her head as she realized that she was wasting time. She briefly considered telling Dumbledore that she’d found him before realizing that whatever wards or spells protecting him might object to her sharing his location. ‘I’ll just have to ask him once I get there.’

McGonagall carefully put the two acceptance letters in her standard greeting bag then headed for the fireplace. She picked up a pinch of floo powder and tossed it in the fire. She said, “Leaky Cauldron,” then stepped into the flames and vanished from her office.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Tom waved as the witch stepped out of the fireplace and banished all the soot on her. “Minerva, you’re here rather early.”

“Sorry, Tom, no time to chat. I’ve got letters to hand deliver today.”

“Don’t let me keep you then.” Tom went back to cleaning the bar with a rag.

“Thanks. I’ll be back later to grab a bite to eat.” She drew her wand and disillusioned herself then apparated to the town square near the Granger residence. She’d been here once a couple of years ago when she gave a muggleborn his letter, thankfully the place hadn’t changed all that much. She smiled as she read the nearest street sign. “That makes things easier.” She apparated to the next block then up a block and looked at the large house that was the Grangers’ residence.

“At least it looks normal enough.” She glanced around to make sure no one was looking then dispelled her disillusionment charm and walked up toward the front door of the Granger residence. She felt a shiver go down her spine as she thought about the fey lord that was protecting Harry or perhaps keeping him prisoner or collecting young magical students for some purpose. She quickened her steps and pushed the doorbell a bit more forcefully than she might otherwise have.

Mrs. Granger opened the door and looked at the older woman standing on her porch. “Can I help you?”

“I’m the deputy headmistress of Hogwarts, I was hoping to talk about Hermione’s future plans for her education.”

“I’ve never heard of Hogwarts. Is it a new school?”

“No, it’s a very old and prestigious magical school.”

“Magic?” Mrs. Granger raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, magic, I assure you it’s quite real,” Mcgonagall replied.

“Sarah, can you come here a minute?”

Sarah walked over and looked at McGonagall. “Yep, she’s a witch.”

McGonagall stared at the purple haired teenager dressed in muggle clothes. While she didn’t have the same ability to sense magic as Dumbledore, the girl’s magic felt fey and wild. “You’re fey.”

Mrs. Granger sighed. “I guess you should come in.”

McGonagall stepped inside and glanced around at the bookshelves. “You have a very nice home.”

Hermione walked out of the kitchen where she’d been eavesdropping. “You teach magic?”

“I teach Transfiguration at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”

“You have actual schools for that?”

“How else do you think that wizards and witches learn to control their magic?” She looked over at the purple haired girl. “You didn’t tell her about the various magic schools?”

Sarah shrugged. “That’s not really my job, is it?” She would have told Harry and Hermione had she known, but she hadn’t really had time to go looking for this world’s magical society yet.

“Did you tell her about magic?” McGonagall asked.

Hermione snickered. “I figured it out. I saw through her notice-me-not charm.”

“To be fair, I didn’t know there were any witches around, so I cast the less mana intensive charm that only works on mundanes. It worked out well enough.”

“Since you already know about magic, this becomes slightly easier.” McGonagall reached into her bag and pulled out Hermione’s letter. “Here.”

Sarah gestured and looked at the letter. “It’s clean.”

Hermione accepted the letter, tore it open carefully and looked it over. “Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry…” She continued reading.

Mrs. Granger asked, “How much does the school cost?”

McGonagall said, “It’s actually paid for by the Ministry of Magic and through various trusts though you have to pay for books and supplies.”

“What type of things are you going to teach her?”

“Transfiguration, Charms, how to defend herself with magic, Potions and other branches of magic depending on her interests.”

“Math and science?” Mrs. Granger asked.

“The school offers an elective for math and we have astronomy for science. Primarily we offering magical training rather than mundane subjects.”

“That’s your science credit? Studying the planets? I mean sure, it’s interesting but that’s hardly important in the grand scheme of things. Chemistry would be far more useful and knowing the basics in physics means you know how to apply less magic to a problem to get the results you want, astronomy is just…” Sarah shook her head.

Hermione said, “I can always read about science and math, it’s been rather hard to find books on magic.”

“Certain types of magic are hard to learn out of books without at least basic instruction and someone to correct your mistakes,” McGonagall explained.

Sarah muttered, “We’re probably just not looking in the right place.”

“Indeed, the magical world is hidden.”

Hermione looked at her Mum and asked, “Can I go?”

Mrs. Granger frowned slightly. “I’ll have to talk this over with your father, but learning to control your magic is probably a good thing.”

Sarah hugged Hermione. “If the school doesn’t pan out we can probably hire a private tutor. I don’t suppose you have a syllabus for all of the classes handy?”

“There is a book list in your packet. The teachers control what is taught, subject to review by the board of governors.”

“That seems rather backwards, how are you supposed to practice during the summer?” Sarah asked.

“You’ll have plenty of chances once you start school.”

Sarah frowned as she noticed one of the required items. “You require them to get a wand?”

“That’s how witches and wizards cast magic,” McGonagall replied.

“Seriously? Why?” She let go of Hermione and stepped to the side so she could see McGonagall clearly. “I mean pointing with your finger is much easier, you can lose a wand.”

“It’s a focusing tool.” McGonagall scowled slightly.

“It’s also a liability. I mean sure, they help for some of the more complex spells, but why get into the habit of using them?”

“Not everyone is fey.”

“I get that but honestly, how do you expect them to learn to toss battlemagic with one hand while shielding with the other if you expect them to use a wand?” Sarah asked dubiously.

“Why would they need to know battle magic?”

“Monster hunting and to defend themselves from bad guys. I’m not letting my friends train at a school that doesn’t take defense seriously. Do you at least teach them bloodfyre or how to shift?”

“Bloodfyre? Shifting?” McGonagall asked in confusion.

“You know… lighting people’s blood on fire…” Sarah trailed off as she noticed that McGonagall’s face had gone paler than normal. “Wait, seriously, you don’t know the spell? What the hell do you use as an attack spell?”

Mrs. Granger spoke up, “That seems a little drastic.”

McGonagall nodded in answer to Mrs. Granger’s comment. “We teach stunning spells and disarming jinxes to start with.”

“I can work with cutting off limbs,” Sarah replied, visibly relieved that there was at least one useful spell being taught.

“What, no! It’s a spell to remove a person’s weapon,” McGonagall replied aghast.

“Really? I guess that’s a decent spell to have when you’re trying to disable someone that isn’t an enemy but for fighting enemies, those types of spells just don’t cut it unless you destroy their weapon or wand.”

“Destroying a person’s wand is a grave insult.”

“So is attacking me,” Sarah replied.

Mrs. Granger asked, “Is that what you’re going to teach Hermione?”

“Not right away, I mean I trust Hermione and all to be reasonable but you’d have to be crazy to teach that spell to an 11 year old. It takes a fair amount of skill to pull the spell off without hurting yourself.”

Mrs. Granger asked, “How dangerous is being a witch?”

Sarah frowned as she considered the question for a couple of seconds. “I’d say slightly less dangerous than being a mundane because most mundanes don’t know how to deal with it.”

McGonagall said, “There are certain rogue elements in the magical society that have been known to cause problems, but that happens in any society.” This whole conversation wasn’t going how she wanted it to thanks to the fey’s questions. “Do you happen to know where Harry Potter is?”

Sarah frowned slightly. “Why are you looking for Harry?”

“I’ve got a Hogwarts letter for him and I wanted to make sure he was safe.”

“Why wouldn’t he be safe?” she asked dubiously.

“He vanished from his Aunt’s house.”

“If you had an evil aunt, you would have left too,” Sarah replied.

“So you know where he is?”

“Yep!” Sarah replied happily.

“Where?” McGonagall asked sternly.

Sarah shook her finger at McGonagall. “Nope, sorry, you show up representing a magical school, that’s great and all, but I’m still confused about why his present whereabouts matter to you. Hermione, when does school start?”

“The first,” Hermione replied

“Right, then you don’t really need to know where he is until the first.”

“It’s not that simple,” McGonagall repled.

Sarah raised a purple eyebrow. “Then explain it. Why does a school care where he is before he starts said school?”

“You truly don’t know who he is then?”

“He’s Harry, a moderately powerful wizard that likes adventure. He’s also a nice person despite having horrible relatives.”

“He’s famous in the magical world,” McGonagall replied.

Sarah laughed. “Famous? For what?” She stared at McGonagall as she realized the witch wasn’t joking. “Wait, you’re serious? What could he possibly have done that would make him famous? Magical relatives or royalty, I guess. I could see him being a prince or maybe a lord.”

“There was a dark wizard that tried to kill him and failed. The previously unblockable attack left him with nothing but a lightning bolt scar.”

“He’s famous because he didn’t die?” Sarah asked in disbelief.

“And his defeat of the dark wizard.”

Hermione frowned. “I’d think he would have mentioned that.”

“It happened when he was a baby. It’s how his parents died,” McGonagall repled.

Mrs. Granger frowned. “Why wasn’t Harry told us about this?”

“His aunt should have informed him about most of this, her sister was a witch after all,” McGonagall replied.

Sarah snorted. “I’m guessing they don’t teach critical thinking in Hogwarts then, he was a baby, isn’t it far more likely that his parents cast some type of protection spell?”

McGonagall sighed. “I agree, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s famous.”

“Right, we obviously need to change his name and do something about the stupid scar if that’s how people recognize him, thanks for the heads up.”

“His scar is cursed, it can’t be removed,” McGonagall replied.

Sarah snorted. “I’m sure I can find a way. Where exactly do we get his school supplies?”

McGonagall sighed as she handed over Harry’s letter. “Diagon Alley.” She pulled two muggleborn care packages out of her bag. She handed one to Hermione and one to Sarah. “This should help with most of your basic questions and explain how to get to Diagon alley.”

“Great, so is there a place we can exchange some gold for pounds or do you take gold?” Sarah asked curiously.

“The goblins can exchange your gold for galleons, provided that it’s real.”

“Goblins? Why the hell would I want to trade with goblins?!” Sarah asked in disbelief.

“They control the wizarding bank.”

Sarah stared at McGonagall in shock. “But… they’re goblins.”

“I can assure you that they will stay polite provided you return the favor.”

“Okay…” Sarah wasn’t sure about the goblins but if everyone else considered them trustworthy to handle their money, they might not be as bad as the goblins in her world.

Harry walked out of the kitchen where he’d been eavesdropping. “Did you know my parents?”

McGonagall sighed in relief as she saw that Harry looked well enough if a bit skinny. “I knew your parents quite well, I taught them for seven years and knew them after Hogwarts. I considered your mother to be a friend.”

Sarah handed Harry his Hogwarts letter. “Here.”

“Thanks.” Harry opened the letter and looked it over. “I’m afraid, buying supplies is going to be a problem,” he lied, knowing he could easily bury any bill in gems. He also had access to local money, thanks to his wallet, but he wasn’t completely sure where that money was coming from, and suspected he might have been left money by his parents, given that they apparently weren’t worthless drunks like his uncle said and this looked to be the quickest way to find out.

McGonagall said, “Your parents left you an account with Gringotts.”

“That’s good to know, do I need an account number?” He made a mental note to do something nice for James jr. for his help in learning to subtly gain information without giving away how much you wanted it.

“Gringotts vaults have keys.”

“Do you happen to know who has my key, because I don’t.”

“Your magical guardian, which would be Dumbledore.”

“I’ve got a magical guardian? Where the-” He glanced at Mrs Granger. “Where was he for the last ten years then? My aunt was a spiteful woman. I could have used a magical fairy godmother or something to rescue me.” He frowned slightly when he noticed her wince at the suggestion of a magical fairy godmother. ‘One more thing to research.’

“There were reasons and he can explain some of them when you get to school.”

Harry used his spy training and his desire not to look like a prick in front of Hermione and her Mum to rein in his temper. “I guess that will have to do for now. I just want to get my books and start practicing. Besides, I don’t want to be a bother for Mrs. Granger, I suspect this has already been strange enough.”

Mrs. Granger smiled slightly. “It’s a relief to know that Hermione will have a friend at her magical school Harry, and you’re not a bother.”

Harry sighed in relief. “In that case, if Hermione goes to Hogwarts then I will, if not I’ll look into other options.”

Sarah figured she could help make up any shortfall in Harry’s education and going to a magical school sounded fun.

McGonagall asked, “Would you like me to show you around the alley?”

Mrs. Granger spoke up, “That might be easier than stumbling around an unfamiliar marketplace ourselves.”

“Thank you,” Harry said politely.