A Change of Feeling

The Conversation at Diagon Alley

The days passed without anything remarkable happening. The book lists had come and all the Hogwarts students were getting ready for a shopping trip to Diagon Alley. However, Harry was not busy with the upcoming Hogwarts year, he was reading Ekrizdis' book daily. He was frantically going through the pages, looking for the redeeming answer. Ekrizdis himself became crazier and crazier as the pages passed and Harry had a gut feeling that this was also related to the tattoo. His own tattoo hadn't grown, but it had become clearer. The lines were now drawn proudly on his skin and seemed to exude more power than ever before.

He had to tell his friends. He hated that he kept this a secret from them. What should he do? All these years of friendship, all the adventures... But Ron was so explosive, there was no saying how he would react. Hermione was so sweet, she would want to help him with all the knowledge she had. But she would also propose the knowledge of others, such as Dumbledore. Harry didn't know what to do with Dumbledore.

The man was like a grandfather to him, but he didn't even look at him during his hearing. No pat on the back, no wise advice. Nothing. Harry felt a cold anger bubble up in him. No, he didn't trust Dumbledore. Harry decided to tell his friends little bits of information at a time. Depending on their responses, he would then tell them more - and otherwise, nothing more.

Harry watched his friends get ready to go to Diagon Alley. Hermione had set her sights on a deluxe edition of 'Hogwarts a History', and Ron had been begging his parents for the latest Comet, a reasonably fast broom, for days. Harry wanted nothing more than to visit Diagon Alley with Sirius. But he knew this was impossible and, above all, dangerous. The fear of losing his only father figure was crippling. Harry, therefore, put on his widest and most dazzling smile and joined the exuberant group.

They went to Diagon by Floo. The street was, as always, buzzing with the sounds of witches and wizards doing their shopping. The first stop on their trip was Madam Malkin's. Harry's robes were due for renewal: he had grown two inches this summer. Before he could step into the store, he bumped into Malfoy Sr. and his son. Harry was flooded with uncertainty about how to act. Had Draco accepted his apologies? He didn't have to think about this anymore, as Malfoy Sr. spoke.

"As the head of the Malfoy family, I accept the House of Potter's apologies for the behavior towards my son. My son and I would like to invite you to lunch to strengthen the bonds between our families. Shall we say 'The Golden Plate', at one o'clock?"

Harry was surprised, he hadn't expected that. He regained his composure and gave his answer.

"Thank you for accepting my apologies, I look forward to seeing you at The Golden Plate at one o'clock. Until then."

'Wow, not even ten minutes on the road, and immediately something happened. New record' , Harry thought in amusement.

The fitting of new robes went very quickly. Harry decided to add some everyday clothes as well. Kreacher had thrown out all of Dudley's cast-offs and was expanding his wardrobe. However, Harry enjoyed picking out some clothes himself. He also saw a pile of blankets in the corner of the shop. These seemed out of place, blankets were usually not sold here. Harry found a green blanket, which was very soft to the touch. He immediately decided he wanted that one.

The group's purchases were quickly completed and the group hit the road again. Harry was surprised that no one had said anything about his meeting with the Malfoys, but decided not to think about it.

The group went to Flourish and Blotts for their books. A number of adults decided to go to the Apothecary for their potion supplies. Harry walked into the bookshop. Although he was not a bookworm like Hermione, he was very fond of books. The fondness for books was born at a young age when he ran into a library during a Harry Hunting session. Soon the library became a safe haven for Harry. Since then he loved literature and liked to read new books. The big difference between him and Hermione was that Harry had a specific taste. He liked exciting stories and detectives. At school, he did not find everything interesting and therefore found it difficult to learn more about it. He knew a lot about Defense Against the Dark Arts and he had also read many books about Ancient Runes. The latter was not even a chosen subject for Harry, but he had taken it up for his own project and found it very interesting. He even considered taking an O.W.L. on the subject, even though he hadn't taken it at Hogwarts.