Harry Potter: Another Chance

Chapter 10: Shopping trip

Disclaimer: 
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
 
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'

 
Chapter 10: Shopping trip
 
Harry and Lily were walking through the streets of Diagon Alley. After receiving his letter, Lily told him that it was time for him to get a wand and buy all of the other supplies they needed.

His father was busy with work and Lyra had to stay at home to take care of Holly who could not come because according to his mother, it would take them all day to finish the shopping if they had to bring her. 

Besides, Holly's birthday would be shortly before his trip to Hogwarts so his mother wanted to take the chance to buy her a good present.

Harry, on the other hand, was just enjoying spending some time with his mother alone.

"Here we are," Lily said as they arrived at the door of Ollivanders.

They went inside and were greeted by a familiar old man.
"Welcome." Ollivander looked at Lily for a moment.

"Ten inches, willow wood, and a phoenix feather core if I remember correctly."

Lily smiled and took out her wand.
"That's correct, Mister Ollivander."

"I hope it has served you well." The old man said.

"It has, thank you. But today we are here for my son." Lily put her hand on Harry's shoulder and nudged him forward.
"Don't be afraid of him, Mister Ollivander has always been a bit peculiar."

Ollivander chuckled at the comment but did not seem one bit offended instead looked proud of it. He then turned his eyes to Harry.
"Of course, getting your first wand is a very exciting experience, young one."

Harry smiled softly. If only Ollivander knew the number of wands and other types of foci that Harry had to use over the years…

The old man did some measurements and went to pick up some wands before coming back. He opened one of the boxes, pulled out a wand, and handed it to Harry.
"Go on, give it a try."

The moment Harry picked it up, He felt the unicorn hair that was used as a core. He directed his magic through the wand with ease and this one started to shine.

Olivander gasped in surprise. "A match on the first try? In all of my years, I have never seen this before."

Harry placed the wand back on the counter.
"I prefer one with a phoenix feather if you don't mind, Mister Ollivander."

The man made a complicated expression. "Young man, that is not how it works I'm afraid. The wand chooses the wizard, and this one has already chosen you."

"Humor me, please," Harry asked.

"Harry?" Lily did not understand why her son was asking for a different one when that one seemed to be a good match, but she believed that her son must have a reason so she turned towards Ollivander.
"Mister Ollivander, if you don't mind?."

"Sigh…very well. Let's see…phoenix feather, I only have a few of those." 

He went to the back of the shop and started to pull out boxes.
He then went back to the counter with two boxes and opened up in front of Harry.

The one on the left had a dark wooden color and was about ten inches long.
The one on the right was eleven inches long and was made of holly.
Harry smiled at seeing his old wand and was very tempted to pick it up.
'No…if Neville is the boy of the prophecy this time, He may need that wand.'

He took the other wand and noticed a sight of relief on Ollivander's face.
The moment he picked it up, the wand illuminated the entire room and a rush of wind came from Harry, pushing everything away.

Lily took grasped the counter to keep her balance and Ollivander had to hide behind it.

When the phenomenon ended, the old man rose up and looked at Harry in disbelief.
"Two connections and this one was much stronger than the previous wand…amazing. I have never seen a phenomenon like this before in my long life…"

"Yes, that was…quite something," Lily said, looking a bit shaken.
 
"I like this one." Harry smiled.
 
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After leaving the wand shop, Lily took the box containing Harry's new wand and put it inside her purse.
"You can have it when is time to go to school. I'll keep it safe until then. "

Harry just shrugged. He understood where she was coming from. The last time her son tried to use a wand, he ended up in the hospital. And is not even allowed for him to use a wand before attending Hogwarts anyway. 

"Let us go to Madam Malkings to get your measurement done, then we can go to the library next. That way can get your school books and some fun storybooks for Holly's birthday."

"Don't we need a suitcase to start putting things inside?" He asked.

Lily tapped her purse.
"I have one in here, it has been reduced using a charm. It used to belong to your dad, I'm sure you will like it." She said with a lovely smile.

Harry just followed her lead everywhere during their long shopping trip. He could not help but be mesmerized by the sights. This location was one of the first places destroyed during the last war. Seeing it back in perfect shape and filled with happy people felt so surreal to him.

His life back at the Potter Mansion during the last weeks has been like a dream to Harry. He could not help to think that maybe he was actually dead and this was his heaven, but seeing Diagon Alley has brought him back to reality. This was definitely not a dream and not the afterlife.

Their next stop was the pet shop, "Magical Meagerie". 

'Could she still be here?...' He wondered.

"Owls are very useful but you could also get a cat if you want. Just please don't get a toad..." Lily made a disgusted expression.

Harry was too distracted to listen to what she was saying. He went directly to the section with the owls.

There were five left but... none of them were Hedwig. He would have immediately recognized her as she was the only snowy owl in the shop.

"Oh, an owl?. Which one do you like?" His mother seemed to have mistook his intention. He was not looking for just any owl.

"Excuse me, sir." He went directly to the shopkeeper and asked about a pure white snow owl.

"Ah, that one...yes, we had her for a while. She wouldn't get along with anyone, but...just two days ago, the 'Boy who lived' himself came to my shop and took a liking to that particular owl, can you believe it?"

"I see..." Harry muttered.

'So she is with Neville then.' He thought that maybe it was some sort of fate.

"Harry?, is everything alright?." Lily came to his side.

"If you don't find one that you like, there is another shop on the other side of the alley." 

"Hmph!, Brendoms?. Madam, you won't find better magical pets than the ones I have right here." The shopkeeper proclaimed with pride.

"No, it's okay. I think I changed my mind. I won't be getting any familiar pet after all." Harry told her.

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Their shopping trip took quite a while, they were currently in their last location, an ingredient shop for potions. It wasn't the one most people go to, but one that was located in one of the inner alleys. 

During her student days, Lily was a very talented potioner and her professor had introduced her to this particular potion shop, since then she always made her purchases here instead of the most popular one.
She became close friends with the owner and was always given a discount.

"Okay, I think we have everything…" Lily went over the school list one more time after paying for the ingredients.
"Are you sure you don't want a familiar pet? If you get an owl you can use it to send letters to us." Suggested his mother for the second time.

"No…I can use the school owls to send messages, don't worry about it." He had no intention of replacing Hedwig.