The following Wednesday, at an ungodly hour in the morning ( seven a.m.) everyone had gathered in the kitchen for a plateful of bacon sandwiches before being ushered to the crooked fireplace.
Mrs. Weasley picked up a flowerpot off the mantle and glanced inside." We're running low, Arthur. We'll have to buy some more today... Ah, well, guests first! After you, Harry dear!"
He stared blankly at the flowerpot being offered to him." W-what am I supposed to do?"
" He's never traveled by Floo powder," Ron said suddenly, sounding like he was mentally facepalming." Sorry, Harry, I forgot."
Mr. Weasley looked shocked." Never!? But how did you get to Diagon Alley to buy your school things last year?"
" I went on the underground-"
" Really? Were there escapators? How exactly-"
" Not now, Arthur," Mrs. Weasley quickly interrupted, before turning to Harry." Floo powder's a lot quicker, dear, but goodness me, if you've never used it before-"
" He'll be alright, Mum," Fred interrupted her." Harry, watch us first."
He took a handful of the powder, stepped up to the fireplace, tossed the powder into the raging fire, and stepped in.
" Diagon Alley!"
With a flash of green, he was gone.
" You must speak clearly, dear, and be sure to get out at the right gate."
" The right what?"
George vanished into the fire.
" Well, there are an awful lot of wizard fires to choose from, you know, but as long as you've spoken clearly -"
Arwen did just as the twins had done and soon had disappeared as well.
" He'll be fine, Molly, don't fuss," Mr. Weasley assured his wife.
" But, dear, if he got lost, how would we ever explain to his aunt and uncle?"
" They wouldn't mind," Harry spoke up." Dudley would think it was a brilliant joke if I got lost up a Chimney, don't worry about that - "
" Well... all right... you go after Arthur. Now, when you get into the fire, say where you're going - "
" And keep your elbows tucked in," Ron added.
" And keep your else shut, the soot - "
" Don't fidget, or you might well fall out of the wrong fireplace-"
" But don't panic and get out too early; wait until you see Fred, George, and Arwen."
Harry's braid was swimming in an overload of information by the time he'd stepped into the green fire to the point where he immediately forgot everything, breathed in by mistake, and barely managed a " D-Dia-gon Alley-" before he was gone.
Only when Mrs. Weasley joined her husband, sons, and Arwen in the Leaky Cauldron did they all realize someone was missing.
" Where's Harry?"
The sea of gingers looked around in confusion, everyone seeming to realize at once that Harry was - in fact - missing.
Then chaos broke loose.
_________________________________________________________
When Ron spotted the familiar groundskeeper of Hogwarts and the two second-years with him, they all breathed a sigh of relief, running over to Hagrid, Harry, and Hermione.
" Harry," Mr. Weasley greeted before doubling over from the exhaustion of running." We hoped you'd only gone on grate too far... Molly's frantic - she's coming now-"
" Where did you come out?" Ron asked with a mixture of concern and interest.
" Knockturn Alley."
Fred and George's eyes sparked with excitement." Excellent!"
" We've never been allowed in," Ron bemoaned.
" I should ruddy well think not," Hagrid interrupted gruffly.
The sound of two sets of footsteps rapidly approached them as Mrs. Weasley and Ginny came running from somewhere nearby.
" Oh, Harry - oh, my dear - you could have been anywhere -"
Mrs. Weasley dusted off any soot that remained on him before shaking Hagrid's hand repeatedly.
" If you hadn't found him, Hagrid..."
" Well, gotta be off!" Hagrid said once he got his hand back." See yer at Hogwarts!"
The group that remained made their way up the steps of Gringots with Harry and his friends a step behind everyone else.
" Guess who I saw in Borgin and Burkes?" He whispered to Ron and Hermione." Malfoy and his father."
" Did Lucious Malfoy buy anything?" Mr. Weasley asked, having overheard him.
" No, he was selling-"
" So he's worried! Oh, I'd love to get Lucious Malfoy for something."
" You be careful, Arthur," Mrs. Weasley quickly interrupted." That family's trouble. Don't go biting off more than you can chew-"
" So, you don't think I'm a match for Lucious Malfoy?"
They got distracted by spotting Hermione's parents and going over to talk with them, but the rest of the family had overheard enough to know what was going on.
" Don't the Malfoys have more than enough evil magical artifacts in that old manor of theirs?" Fred whispered under his breath.
George shrugged." I dunno. Maybe it's for them to show off to all their equally evil friends. 'Oh, look at this, MY fancy plates can kill three people and make it look like an accident, what can YOURS do?"
" Maybe they're for Draco as an intimidation tactic at school," Arwen offered." I mean, no one above their year cares about that Git, even the other Slytherins."
" Wait, they were selling..."
All of their faces fell at the realization their strange ideas were wrong, filing into one of the carts to take them to the bank vaults.
They made it to Arwen's fault soon and she swept a few of the coins into a small bag from her family's modest amount of money, before getting back into the cart to go to the group's other two stops.
Even though it was a relatively quick trip, everyone was relieved to see the sun again when they got out of the bank.
What was more exciting, for the fourth years of the group, was the sight of Lee Jordan the second they exited the building.
Mrs. Weasley quickly stopped them before they could go running off with no set rules keeping them from having rules to break.
" We'll all meet at Flourish and Blotts in an hour to buy your school books," She told the group, taking Ginny's hand and beginning to lead her down Diagon Alley, calling over her shoulder," And not one step down Knockturn Alley!"
A/N: I feel kind of bad that I kept forgetting to update. This will be the last chapter for a LONG WHILE, either until Early April or Late May, depending on when I'm next back from College given that I do not have the books with me in my Dorm Room.
But, as per usual,
I hope you have an absolutely wonderful rest of your day/Month/Until I update next!
- Alex
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