The three children walked through the streets of London, knowing exactly where they were headed. At least, Lillian and Jack knew. Harry wasn't so familiar with the way to Diagon Alley.
He followed his siblings, while having a quiet conversation with Ruby. It was about Hogwarts. Ruby wanted to know if she could go there, and Harry said she most likely could, since she was his pet, after all.
Ruby didn't like being called a pet, and right now, Harry was apologizing to her for calling her that. He hadn't meant to hurt her feelings.
The three children soon reached the Leaky Cauldron, a shady looking pub, on the corner of two streets in London.
Jack and Lillian entered, so Harry quickly followed them inside.
As soon as they entered, Ruby poked her head out of the hoodie to see what was going on, and Harry didn't push her head back down, sine it was an interesting place.
They went up to the counter, and the bartender noticed Jack. He was quite hard to miss in his old emerald green jacket, with the Slytherin emblem embroidered on the back of it.
The bartender, that Harry thought was named Tim, he wasn't sure, greeted Jack with a smile, and a cheerful. "Jack, my boy! Going back to another year at Hogwarts?"
Jack nodded. "Yep, but this time this little Raven here will be joining Lillian and I." Tim cast a curious glance down at Harry, and then widened his eyes.
"Good lord. Is this -- can this be --?" Jack sighed, and face palmed, as the rest of the Leaky Cauldron went silent.
Jack sighed, and nodded silently. Harry felt quite uneasy under the man's stare, but didn't show it, and instead stared right back at him.
"Bless my soul," whispered the old bartender, "Harry Potter... what an honor."
He hurried out from behind the bar, rushed toward Harry and seized his hand, tears in his eyes.
"Welcome back, Mr. Potter, welcome back."
Harry carefully reached out and shook Tim's hand. "Pleasure to meet you too." He greeted, which made Tim tear up further.
Lillian groaned quietly.
Then there was a great scraping of chairs and the next moment, Harry found himself shaking hands with everyone in the Leaky Cauldron.
"Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter, can't believe I'm meeting you at last."
"So proud, Mr. Potter, I'm just so proud."
"Always wanted to shake your hand -- I'm all of a flutter."
"Delighted, Mr. Potter, just can't tell you, Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle."
"I've seen you before!" said Harry, as Dedalus Diggle's top hat fell off in his excitement. "You bowed to me once in a shop."
"He remembers!" cried Dedalus Diggle, looking around at everyone. "Did you hear that? He remembers me!" Harry shook hands again and again -- Doris Crockford kept coming back for more.
A pale young man made his way forward, very nervously. One of his eyes was twitching.
The man nervously greeted Harry, holding out a hand for him to shake. "P-P-Potter," stammered the man, grasping Harry's hand, "C-can't t-tell you how p- pleased I am to meet you. I-I'm p-pr-profes-sor Q-Quirrel."
Harry glanced at Jack and Lillian, who both shrugged. They had never seen the man in their lives. "What kind of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrel?" Lillian asked, feeling a weird feeling of dark magic coming from the man.
"D-Defense Against the D-D-Dark Arts," muttered Professor Quirrell, as though he'd rather not think about it. "N-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" He laughed nervously. "You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He looked terrified at the very thought.
But the others wouldn't let Professor Quirrell keep Harry to himself. It took almost ten minutes to get away from them all.
YOU ARE READING
The Call Of The Snakes
FanfictionWhat if Harry Potter was left at on orphanage by the Dursleys? What if he made friends at that orphanage? What if their names wee Lillian Gaunt, and Jack Fey? What if Harry got sorted into Slytherin, like the people he saw as his older siblings? And...
