The Cupboard Series 3: Potter Haven

Chapter 15

Applying the brake, Harry brought his bike to a stop just in front of an unexpected sign.

He was not actually far from home after his morning excursion back to Kelso. It was the closest big town to Potter Haven and the place that he hoped, correctly as it turned out, that he'd be able to find what he was looking for.

Being the first of September, the day that schools around the country started up and coincidentally the day that all of his friends were returning to Hogwarts, he knew that he wouldn't be able to get any work done. So, instead of trying to struggle through learning charms and arithmancy, he'd taken the day off in search of something that he'd been wanting for a couple of weeks.

The small music shop that he'd found in Kelso was cluttered with racks of books and stands of instruments. Bagpipes galore hung from the walls, along with a collection of bodhrans and pipes. Squeezing in between a couple of racks, Harry'd searched deeper in the store, idly wondering where the shopkeeper was. And then, in the very back, he found what he was looking for: a collection of more 'usual' instruments.

In amongst the flutes, clarinets, trombones and trumpets, he discovered two saxophones, one the same size as the one that Angus had been teaching him and one much larger. It was then that the storekeeper had materialized beside him and, twenty minutes later, he'd left with the beautiful gold alto saxophone with silver keys, a box of reeds, two stands – one for the sax and one to hold music – and a couple of beginner music books.

He'd breathed a sigh of relief at finding out that the instrument's case came with straps that made it possible for him to wear it like a backpack.

His task done, Harry'd been steadily making his way back home until he'd come upon the small sign pointing off down the side road.

Archery Range

Come and Try Day

September 1

3pm – 6pm

Glancing at his watch, he realised that it was still over an hour until the place was to open, but with a shrug his pushed off and turned down the side road anyway. Waiting around there and then trying something completely new was bound to be better than sitting around the manor and imagining his friends speeding northwards on the Hogwarts Express.

-oOoOo-

"What about this one, Mum?" Mickey called, holding up a thick book and waving it around in the air.

"Hold it still so that I can actually see it," Beth replied.

Instantly, the book stopped rocking backwards and forwards and she was able to read the title: Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.

"Looks perfect," she smiled. "Put it on the counter with the other one."

With half an ear, she registered her now ten year old son doing as he was told. This time next year, she reflected, he'd be heading off for his first year at Hogwarts. She wasn't sure if she was looking forward to it or dreading it. At the moment it was probably more of the former but she suspected that as the time drew closer, it'd be more of the latter.

Her hand settled on a particular tome and she plucked it off of the shelf. Weather Magics, First edition. With a nod, she tucked it into the crook of her arm and headed out of the shelves towards the counter.

Harry, she knew, would already be waiting for this month's package.

-oOoOo-

"Are you sure that you have everything, Poppet?" Xenophilius Lovegood asked.