Replacement Boy That Lived Part 8 (Patreon)

Hermione looked up from her notes when her mother walked back into the living room. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm afraid I have to cancel our second trip to the alley," Sarah admitted. "I need to head into work because one of our patients slipped on his skateboard and hit a railing with his teeth and your grandmother has her monthly bridge tournament that she'll whine about if your father and I miss it."

"Can I go with Myst and Scarlet?" Hermione asked hopefully, wanting some extra books to read now that she knew what to look for.

"There's a magic bus and the alley is safe," Myst suggested, not seeing a problem with spending more time in the alley hunting down used books.

"Magical bus?" Sarah asked.

"It's basically public transportation for witches and wizards, not everyone likes teleporting and certain locations aren't connected to the floo system," Myst explained.

"Can I?" Hermione asked hopefully.

"How late do they run?" Sarah asked.

"Pretty much twenty four seven," Myst replied, not sure they stopped for anything save major holidays.

Sarah glanced at Hermione's pile of books, fairly sure it wouldn't last through the weekend and they had some social commitments that would make taking a trip to a bookstore over the next couple of days problematic as she knew her daughter would want more than an hour to explore since their first trip had been a bit rushed. "Give your grandmother a call if something comes up, I'll see you in the morning."

"Thanks," Hermione replied as she hugged her mother.

Sarah smiled as she pulled her wallet out of her pocket and handed Hermione five twenty pound notes. "Consider it an early birthday present."

"I love you," Hermione said as she pulled her wallet out of her pants pocket and carefully stuck the money in her wallet.

"It saves me from losing it at cards. How do you call for a lift?" Sarah asked, fairly sure it wasn't something as simple as picking up the telephone.

"You basically walk out to the street and hold up your wand and think of needing to go somewhere, I'm not exactly sure how it works, just that it does," Myst explained, not seeing a point in explaining the insanity involved because it was obviously safer than it looked if it had been in service for decades without major accidents.

"That seems simple enough," Sarah said as she grabbed her keys off the table and headed outside.

'Simple enough a drunk could summon it,' Myst thought as they followed Sarah down the short path to the street. "Should be easy enough." He pulled out his wand and held it up. He stared at the almost normal looking purple triple-decker bus that appeared out of thin air twenty feet up the street after ten seconds.

"Stay safe," Sarah told Hermione as the bus pulled up and stopped.

"I'll be fine, don't let Grams cheat," Hermione told her mother.

"Never," Sarah replied with a grin.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, transport for the stranded witch or wizard, my name is Florence," a plain looking brown haired woman in her late twenties told them. "Eleven sickles for a ride or thirteen for hot chocolate and a ride."

Myst stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled two galleons and five sickles out of his inventory then handed it to the woman wearing what sort of resembled a conductor's outfit. "This should cover it."

"No hot chocolate?" she asked, sounding almost disappointed.

"Maybe next time," Myst replied as he stepped onto the bus and moved out of the way so the girls could climb aboard, not seeing a reason to buy a drink they'd probably end up spilling.

"Have fun," Sarah told Hermione then headed back to the house to lock up and grab her keys.

Scarlet glanced up at the chandelier, wondering why someone stuck a chandelier in a large carriage like contraption. "How much do things bounce around?"

"More than I'd like, I keep trying to get them to use sticking charms on the furniture but they say it ruins the experience," Florence complained as she headed up to the front of the bus. "Where are you going?"

"Leaky Cauldron," Myst replied after checking to make sure the girls had gotten onboard.

Florence grabbed one of the metal poles. "You know the drill, Ernest."

Myst grabbed one of the poles, making sure to keep his legs on the far side of the pole from the chairs as the driver put the bus in gear.

Hermione frowned and grabbed Myst as everything lurched and the chairs started sliding around like an amusement ride. "Is this safe?"

"Neat!" Scarlet squealed as she jumped on one of the chairs and pulled her legs up so they wouldn't get hit by the other chairs, giving Hermione a quick look at her translucent loincloth before the chair spun around and she closed her legs so Florence and the driver wouldn't get a show, mostly because she seemed the stuffy sort and the driver looked old enough that the shock might kill him and that sounded like a horrible idea while they were in a moving vehicle.

Hermione stared at Scarlet for a few seconds before shaking her head and making a mental note to ask her friend about wizarding fashion when they weren't in public. "How long until we get there?"

"A few minutes, it's not that far," Florence replied, sounding bored and less than amused that someone was asking her questions.

'Probably why she gets replaced by Stan,' Myst mused as he jumped onto one of the chairs and pulled his legs up, enjoying the fact that he could act like a kid without anyone looking at him funny and without his knee protesting the sudden movement.

Hermione shook her head then jumped on an empty chair, figuring she might as well have fun as the lady didn't seem to care. "Is there a library in Diagon Alley?"

Myst glanced at the woman that seemed to be ignoring them. "Not that I know of but there are used bookstores."

"I guess that will have to do," Hermione mused, figuring she'd have to start building her own library.

Myst grinned when his chair bounced off Scarlet's chair in a way that indicated a charm had been applied to keep them from damaging each other and to increase the bounce, making it feel like a weird round of bumper cars.

0o0o0

"We should probably skip mentioning the chairs or them driving on the wrong side of the street if my Mum asks," Hermione said as they walked into the Leaky Cauldron.

"I'll just leave it at 'teleporting bus' if it comes up," Myst replied as he looked around the dark and shabby looking pub, scanning the shadows and looking at the various people scattered around the pub.

Tom glanced at the group as they walked in. "Knight Bus?"

"Yeah, I'm not sure he actually knows how to drive," Myst replied then froze when he noticed a kid sipping hot chocolate that was a dead ringer for the actor that played Neville.

"He hasn't hit anyone in fifteen years," Tom assured them.

One of the wizards at the bar laughed. "The last guy was a Death Eater, it shouldn't count."

Scarlet glanced at the older man wearing blue robes. "Depends on if he hit him on purpose."

"On purpose, he was trying to set some people on fire," the man replied.

"That makes me feel slightly better about his driving," Myst replied as he walked over to where Neville was sitting. "Can I trouble you for some information?"

Neville glanced at Myst then glanced at his hat that was flopped down in such a way it could have been covering a scar. "Sure, what do you need?"

"I was curious about used bookstores," Myst replied, fairly sure Neville had recognized him which meant someone had current or nearly current pictures or maybe he'd seen a picture of James Potter and made the connection.

"There's a used Second-Hand Bookshop next to Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor and the junk shop sells used books but most of them aren't worth buying," Neville replied, more familiar with the alley than he'd like as his grandmother kept dragging him along and out of his garden when she had her tea socials with some of the shopkeepers.

"Thanks," Myst replied then mentally tossed Neville Longbottom and Hermione a group invite, wanting to confirm his identity and make sure he could teleport with Hermione if they ran into trouble.

Neville blinked when a translucent window appeared in front of him asking if he wanted to join Myst's group. "How did you do that?"

"The group invite?" Myst asked with a grin.

"Yes," Neville replied then sighed when the translucent page vanished and he heard a female voice saying that he'd joined the group. "What's going on?"

"We're going on an adventure," Myst replied as he gestured towards the door that led to Diagon Alley.

Scarlet grinned when she saw Neville's name appear on the party section of her heads up display. "Do you want to come with us?"

Neville glanced between the three strangers. "What type of adventure?"

Myst gestured towards Hermione. "Hermione wants to pick up some books for her collection and we're looking for ice cream, are you up for showing us around the alley in exchange for free ice cream?"

Hermione tapped the accept button, joining the group and nibbling on her bottom lip to keep from asking a bunch of questions in the middle of the pub.

"That depends, are you going to explain the group thing?" Neville asked, not particularly opposed to showing them around the alley in exchange for ice cream since he was stuck in the alley for at least a couple more hours while his grandmother socialized and he was curious about the strange bit of magic.

"Sure," Myst replied as he headed for the door, not wanting to explain anything about his powers in the middle of the pub or admit to being Harry Potter.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it," Scarlet assured him then followed Myst, rather amused by the way Myst had pulled Neville into the group.

"I think he just likes confusing people," Hermione mused as she followed Myst and Scarlet.

Myst waited until everyone walked outside into the small walled courtyard then explained, "The group system is part of my magic trick, it basically rates some of your abilities on a scale I'm still trying to figure out. Just think about opening your character sheet."

"My character…" Neville trailed off as he thought about it and a translucent window appeared with a picture of him and everything he was wearing along with stats. "My strength and agility suck, how much magic are wizards supposed to have?"

"No idea, I have 51 points, Scarlet has 5 and Hermione has?" Myst asked, looking at Hermione.

Hermione focused on her character sheet and opened it. "45, my agility is 12, my strength is eight and my vitality is 15, is that good?" she asked, not sure why it didn't list anything for intelligence.

"I have the same vitality and worse strength and agility," Myst admitted.

Neville shook his head. "I think your ability is broken, it says I have 47 magic, I haven't been able to do any of the first year spells."

"Think about the group inventory and stick your wand in one of the slots then look at it," Myst suggested as he walked over to the wall so he could poke at the bricks.

"Inventory?" Neville asked, not familiar with the way he was using the term.

"It's basically a pocket dimension or an expanded space that is connected to the character page," Myst replied as he pulled out his wand.

'Maybe I'm just broken,' Neville complained as he tried to figure out how to bring up his inventory. He grinned when he managed to get the group inventory page to appear. "Group inventory, Neville?"

"Yep, stick your wand in one of the inventory slots and look for an eye or something, you might have to tap it with your finger," Myst suggested.

Neville cautiously and a bit nervously stuck his father's wand in an inventory slot then tapped the little eye with his finger and stared at the display. "Frank Longbottom's wand, compatibility 3%, power…" he trailed off as he realized where his problems were coming from. "Crap, Gran isn't going to believe me."

"No reason to tell her," Myst replied with a grin.

Neville froze as he thought about how badly she'd react if she learned that he wasn't going to be using his father's wand. "She'll explode."

"Like I said, only if you tell her. If you walk into Ollivander's and buy a new wand, no one is going to tell your grandmother, especially if you walk in with a couple of people in the process of showing them around," Myst assured him.

"I'd still have to hide it," Neville argued.

"That's easy, just get a wand holster that conceals wands or get two holsters, one for your father's wand and one for yours," Myst suggested.

"That would be easier than stuffing it in a pocket," Neville admitted, warming up to the idea of hiding the second wand from his grandmother.

"You shouldn't use an improperly matched wand to learn," Hermione warned him, having read about wands in the introduction material that warned them about buying second hand wands.

Neville shook his head. "I don't have enough money on me."

"I'll spot you, you can pay me back when we get to Hogwarts," Myst replied with a shrug.

"Are you sure?" Neville asked, surprised that he'd be willing to help.

"Our parents were in the Order of the Phoenix together, seven galleons one way or the other, isn't going to inconvenience me," Myst assured him.

Neville glanced at Myst's hat that was still covering his scar. "You're Harry, aren't you?"

Myst glanced down at his arms then grinned at Neville. "Not currently."

"I walked into that, didn't I?" Neville asked as Myst turned his attention back to the wall.

"I'd like to make at least a couple of friends before people start circling like sharks for something I don't even remember, so yeah, I'm Myst and you're Neville and we're on an adventure to get you a new wand and to get Hermione a bunch of used books so she can start her library," Myst replied as he tried to figure out which bricks he was supposed to tap because none of the bricks looked broken or particularly warn, unlike in the movies and he couldn't remember which bricks to tap.

Scarlet smiled at Neville. "Then we're going to blast some monsters in a forest, in other words, we're setting up targets and you're going to show off your new wand."

"We should have you back in a couple of hours, none the worse for wear so your grandmother will never know," Myst assured him.

"Issues with the wall?" Hermione asked when she noticed Myst scowling at the wall.

"I can't remember which bricks to tap," Myst admitted.

"Three up and two across from the rubbish bin," Hermione explained as she pointed at the bricks he needed to tap.

'That's not nearly as helpful as the books implied,' Myst thought as he tapped the brick in question, trying to memorize exactly where he needed to start counting from so that he wouldn't run into the problem the next time he needed to use the Leaky Cauldron entrance. "Thanks," he replied as he watched the bricks twist and phase into the walls, leaving an opening like in the movies.

Scarlet smiled as she walked through the entrance and into Diagon Alley. "Let's park Hermione at the bookshop, then you and Neville can pick up his wand. That should give us enough time to get started."

"It's on the way," Neville replied as he started walking, fairly sure his Gran was going to blow her top if she found out that he'd bought a second wand. 'I could always try to talk to her. Yeah, I can't see her accepting that a strange ability told me that I'm not compatible with Dad's wand, she'd just be disappointed that I'm not like my parents. I could tell a teacher. Suck it up Neville! You have a solution, just walk in there and buy a wand so you can get some practice and show them the difference. If his ability is right about the wand, it's probably right about your magic.'

Myst smiled when he saw Neville's shoulder's straighten and his stride go from unsure to determined. 'This is going to be fun.'

0o0o0

"Did you buy half the shop?" Scarlet asked as Hermione and Myst walked over to where they were eating ice cream.

"Not even close," Myst replied with a grin. "But we should have enough to keep Hermione in books until the winter holidays."

"At least," Hermione agreed, fairly sure making her way through five 'years' worth of history books would take a couple of weeks by itself, to say nothing of the rest of the books for her classes and the extra Defense books that varied in quality and topic. "Now that we have our books and Neville's wand, where are we going so we can practice?"

"Probably better if I show you," Myst replied as he opened his dungeon menu and selected the Gnome Wars Dungeon, figuring it was a decently safe dungeon to start with.

Hermione jumped when they reappeared behind an old metal building next to some woods. "Where are we?"

"Ottery St Catchpole, Devon England," Myst replied in a whisper as he reached out and the old fashioned metal door knob that didn't seem to go anywhere and pulled, opening a 'door' and a portal.

"How did you know the door would open today?" Neville asked, recognizing the glowing light as a dungeon portal from some of the family stories of dungeons.

"Magic," Myst replied as he gestured towards the portal. "I'll explain once we're inside, I'd rather not get caught trespassing."

"We're trespassing!" Hermione hissed.

"Technically, I doubt the family would actually care if I explained everything but I'd have to explain things and I'd rather not get stuck listening to a lecture." Myst sighed when he noticed the disappointed look Hermione was giving him. "In my defense, I didn't know it was on their property though it makes sense in hindsight," he admitted then stepped through the portal, wanting to be somewhere the Weasleys couldn't overhear them when her volume increased.

Hermione glanced at Scarlet then followed Myst through the portal, curious what he'd found.

"After you," Scarlet whispered.

"Sure," Neville replied, then stepped through the portal and out of the way, fairly sure the worst the Weasleys would do if they caught them would be to yell at him and call his grandmother which while horrible was survivable then gleefully raid the dungeon for anything valuable.

Scarlet walked through the portal and glanced between the two stone towers she could see in the distance, one of which had an abundance of lightning rods sticking out of the top and the other was surrounded by overgrown hedges. "Why does the tower on the left make me think of Frankenstein?"

"Probably because it looks like a mad scientist lives there," Myst replied as he glanced around the small valley the dungeon contained, the edges reminding him uncomfortably of the mists of Ravenloft.

"Where are we?" Hermione asked as she glanced at the forests that surrounded the field between the two towers.

"We're in a dungeon, they're basically pocket dimensions that we can farm for loot by killing the monsters," Myst explained.

Hermione gave Myst a look. "And it's worth trespassing?"

"Exploring dungeons is how I found the books that teach spells," Myst replied as he started pulling out the magic books out of his inventory that he'd shared with Hermione so Neville would pick up some magic that didn't require a wand in case he got disarmed. "With any luck, we'll be in and out and they'll never notice."

"Shouldn't we ask for permission?" Hermione asked.

Neville stared at the books, wondering what secrets they held. "That would require admitting that we know about the dungeon and that Myst figured out how to open it. They'd probably mention it to someone, then people would show up to ask some rather pointed questions about his source of information that wouldn't be interested in taking no for an answer."

"I vote we leave some gifts if we find anything particularly interesting," Scarlet suggested.

"Good idea," Myst agreed, fairly sure dealing with the rat counted for a lot though hopefully no one would connect the dots until later.

Hermione weighed her desire for books against her desire to do the right thing and ask permission to access the dungeon for a couple of seconds before she realized that asking forgiveness was probably better in this case. "Which tower should we check first?"

"I was thinking the tower with the lightning rods," Myst replied as he handed Neville the first book, "but we should probably get Neville caught up on skills and let Hermione use the firebolt staff before we start exploring."

"Firebolt staff?" Neville asked.

"It teaches you how to toss a bolt of elemental fire that you can use to torch monsters or Malfoys," Myst explained.

Neville gave Myst a look. "Don't tempt me."

"Malfoys?" Hermione asked.

"Rich pureblood bigots," Myst complained. "They're convinced that being inbred makes them better than everyone else."

Hermione glanced between Myst and Neville. "Is there any truth to it?"

Neville shook his head, thinking about his 'research' into the condition back when his family had been worried that he was a squib. "No, if anything it's the opposite. There are less squibs born to muggle-borns than purebloods."

"It might have something to do with recessive genes or a combination," Myst mused then shook his head as he realized it didn't matter for the current discussion. "On the other hand, the fact that the Malfoys are annoyingly wealthy means they can afford to bribe people."

"Lovely," Hermione muttered, thinking of some of the pricks at school that had thought they were more important than they were because their parents had money.

"How do I use the book?" Neville asked, changing the subject as he didn't like to think about how closely he was related to some of the idiots.

"Just open it," Scarlet said as she pulled the firebolt staff out of her inventory and handed it to Hermione.

"How do I use this?" Hermione asked as she examined the staff.

"Point it at something you don't mind setting on fire and push mana into it," Myst explained.

Hermione pushed mana into the staff and sent a firebolt into the air. "Oops?" she offered when she heard a loud bell coming from the tower with the lightning rods.

Scarlet grinned as she saw a wave of little humanoid figures charging out of the tower like an army of ants. "It was bound to happen eventually."

Neville pulled his attention off the tower and opened the book, picking up the ability to use telekinesis. "Do any of the books have combat spells?"

"A couple," Myst replied as he handed Neville the next book, fairly sure a wall of fire would work on gnomes as it was supposed to be an easy dungeon.