Chapter 4: Diagon Alley (Edited)

At the moment, Harry Potter was living in Ivan's house.

Compared to the Dursleys, it was basically paradise. Besides, the Mason couple soon accepted the fact that their son had become a wizard.

In addition, they were also very kind to Harry.

Whenever Mrs. Mason cooked, she prepared Harry's favorite dishes. Here he could finish his summer homework without worry, and when he was free, he could play video games with Ivan or talk to him about Hogwarts.

Harry loved the feeling of being able to talk to another person about the magical world all he wanted, without worrying about the other party treating him like a madman or a weirdo.

In fact, Ivan really liked Harry, too.

Over the course of the week, Ivan went through Harry's first year magic books and, with Harry's introduction, got an overall impression of each course.

It could be seen that Harry was deeply prejudiced against the potions classes and Professor Snape, even though the latter was very talented in Defense Against the Dark Arts classes.

Harry also told Ivan about Hogwarts castle, the secret passages, the ghosts, the banquets, the Gryffindor common room, Hagrid, his friends, Ron and Hermione, and Quidditch, the most popular magical sport in the world.

After a week, Harry finally summed up everything he knew about the magical world at breakfast and said, "Ivan, you have to come to Gryffindor, it's the best house at Hogwarts, it's where Dumbledore was selected."

Ivan pondered for a moment and said, "Well, after hearing everything, I also feel that Slytherin is pretty awful, not to mention that my parents are Muggles, so I shouldn't be in that house. Although I'm not sure I could get into Gryffindor, I might be assigned to Ravenclaw."

Harry said honestly, "Relax, the young wizards starting out are all at about the same level, besides Hermione, I've never seen anyone learn as fast as you."

Right after Ivan discovered that Professor Snape had a habit of embarrassing his students in class, he spent a week or so going over the Potions class material.

It's amazing because the only textbook for Potions class was the O.W.L.S (Ordinary Magical Level) exam book, Harry also started doing his homework, but even he had to ask Ivan for advice.

Just as Harry was about to say something else, two owls flew over Ivan's balcony, one after the other, it was Hedwig and another owl with beautiful brown feathers, which he had never seen before.

Ivan joked with a smile, "If my mother saw them, she would faint from fright."

Harry said worriedly, "I hope Mrs. Mason doesn't see them."

During their short stay, he discovered that Mrs. Mason had an extreme phobia of birds, so he had to let Hedwig stay at his friend Ron's house.

Harry passed Hedwig to Ivan and said, "Ivan, take care of Hedwig for me."

Harry then turned and looked at the other owl and said, "This is the school owl bringing the book list for second year."

Ivan fed Hedwig and looked along with Harry at the list which read:

Second year students will require:

The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk.

Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart (92-93 term only).

Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart (92-93 only)

Vacations with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart (92-93 only)

Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart (92-93 only)

Travels with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart (92-93 period only)

Gilderoy Lockhart's Werewolf Wanderings (92-93 only)

A Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart (92-93 only)

Harry looked at the list of books for the second year and said, "These are the required textbooks for Defense Against the Dark Arts class, which are also required for first years, I bet the new professor is a Lockhart fan."

Harry pondered for a moment and said, "Let's hope he's a reliable professor, these books look like novels, not magic textbooks."

Harry remembered Quirrell and what happened last year, he had Voldemort in the back of his head, but luckily he had stopped his plot in the end. It was said that the Defense Against the Dark Arts class was cursed by Voldemort, and no one was allowed to teach for over a year.

Ivan said as he roused Harry from his thoughts, "Think of something happy and see what the letter Hedwig brought says."

Harry said cheerfully, "It's Ron's answer!"

Harry smiled, saying, "Ron and Hermione are going textbook shopping in Diagon Alley next Wednesday, and they're asking if we should come along that day too!"

Ivan quickly said, "I have no objection."

Ivan couldn't wait to see the streets of Diagon Alley, and seeing that Harry was a bit hesitant, Ivan asked, "What else did it say in the letter?"

Harry was a little hesitant and said, "Ron asked me if I wanted to stay at his house for a while."

Harry was a little embarrassed and obviously worried about how the Mason family would feel, and then said, "The letter also said, if you are willing to go..."

Ivan got excited and said, "Really? that's great, I've wanted to see what a wizard's house is like for a long time!"

Ivan waved his hands so Harry wouldn't worry and said, "Don't worry about my mom, I'll convince her."

Before long it was already the next Wednesday, Mrs. Mason woke them up early, the two packed their bags and after a hurried meal, Mr. Mason took them to the Leaky Cauldron.

Harry excitedly pointed to a small dingy bar and said, "There you have it, this is the Leaky Cauldron and the entrance to Diagon Alley!"

Noticing the small bar between a large bookstore and a record store, Mrs. Mason sighed and said, "I never thought there would be a place like this in town, it looks like a building from the last century."

Ivan tried to remember what he had read in the Magic Theory book and said, "Mum, the Leaky Cauldron is a very famous place, there is a protection spell and a Muggle deportation curse, you can't mark it on a map, if Muggles who don't know the address, can't see it..."

Mr. Mason stopped Ivan's chatter and then led everyone to the small bar as he said, "Well, my dear wizard, I don't think it's the best idea for us to stand in the street and talk about a dingy pub."

But for a famous place, it was too dark and dreary.

In the dim candlelight, Ivan saw a few old women dressed strangely like medieval witches sitting in a corner drinking a small glass of sherry, and sitting on the edge of the bar was a man full of bandages, in front of him a small plate of raw liver.

The bartender was a hunchbacked old man who appeared silently in front of them and said, "Welcome, Mr. Potter!"

"Hello!", Harry greeted, somewhat awkwardly.

It wasn't just the Mason family, but even Harry seemed to be wary of the old man because when he was here last year, it was Hagrid who escorted him.

Soon, they found a family that wasn't in tune with the bar, just like them.

"Harry, Harry!"

Hermione Granger rushed over from the other side of the bar to greet them, not far behind her, stood the Granger couple with very unnatural expressions.

Hermione looked at Harry and said, "Harry, I heard you were coming today, and I waited for you here since very early in the morning, luckily you look good, Ron said you were caught by the Ministry of Magic for using a transformation spell, he was very worried, I hope they didn't do anything to you!"

Harry said with a smile on his face, "Thanks Hermione, I'm fine!"

Harry then pointed to Ivan next to him and said, "This is Ivan Mason, a new first year student, and thanks to your help, I escaped from the Dursleys this summer. Ivan, this is Hermione Granger, I told you about her a while ago."

Looking at the girl with thick, fluffy brown hair in front of him, Ivan's mind cleared; of course, he knew this was the brains of the golden trio, the real Miss Know-it-all.

Ivan held out his hand and said, "Nice to meet you Miss Granger, I heard Harry say you got first place in last year's final exam, that's pretty impressive!"

Hermione's cheeks reddened and she said, "It was nothing but a bit of cunning to be a bookworm!"

Then Hermione shook Ivan's hand and said, "You can call me Hermione, so can I call you Ivan?"

Ivan accepted Hermione's proposal and then said, "No problem, Hermione, actually, I've been browsing through Harry's books for a while and I have a lot of questions I'd like to ask you."

Harry had a headache as he listened to these two people's topic of conversation gradually change from trivia to textbook content, luckily it didn't last long as Ron's arrival saved him.

The fireplace flickered with a green fire and the Weasley family emerged from the fireplace.