Chapter 6

As they left Ollivander's shop Harry was thinking about getting a belt holster but decided against it after he thought about the robes. With the one on his wrist, he could call the wand faster and easier. He was looking up to McGonagall, thanking her for her help and asking, where he should go next.

"I would advise to go in Madam Malkin's shop for robes. After all, they must be manufactured to your specification. She knows the rules for the robes by heart." Harry nodded, agreeing to her reasoning. As they walked down the street, Harry was looking around again, this time he was watching the other people around him. Callie told him that the suspicious person was still following him, but from a long enough distance to not be a threat. Also, Callie was recording the inputs Harry gave her. He was happy to be here, as he knew that his parents had to be here to. It was like he would follow them in their footsteps.

As they entered Madam Malkin's, he saw that there were already other children, most likely also students for Hogwarts. One boy with slick, blond hair and a haughty look in his face. The other was a girl, with brown bushy shoulder length hair, holding her arms out for the shop owner to measure them. As the shopkeeper looked over her shoulders, she saw Harry and Professor McGonagall enter and waiting for her. "Are you also going to Hogwarts, dear? Please wait a moment, I will soon be with you." Harry nodded, watching the other two. The boy was looking at him, judging him and scrunching his nose. The girl was giddy, almost bouncing on her feet. As Madam Malkin was finished with her, she turned around and smiling at Professor McGonagall.

"Hello Professor. Are we going to the next shop? And who is this? Is he also muggle-born?" At that word, the boy was scoffing, something Harry noticed and scowled. Harry did not like this boy, if he was really that arrogant. The letter that he got from Yen as he asked about his parents, told him that his mother was also a muggle-born. But even then, his mother was one of the best students in Hogwarts. So, being a muggle-born was, for Harry at least, was not proof that a witch or wizard was not as good as on with magical parentage. By the looks of things the blond boy thought differently.

"Hello Miss Granger. We will soon go to the next shop. Please be patient. And no, this boy is not a muggle-born, but is mother was one. But sadly, both his parents died in the last war against You-Know-Who." Harry was perplexed. Who was that man they called You-Know-Who?

"Erm, Professor, do you mean Voldemort?" Harry asked her. The next thing he heard was a needle falling to the ground and some shocked inhales from the shop owner. Professor McGonagall was also a little paler than before, and the girl was looking at him with puzzled expression at seeing the adults' reaction. The boy, on the other hand, was looking at him with disgust in his eyes.

"I think I am finished here. Send these robes to my parents, I have other things to buy," The boy got off the stool he was standing on, took off the robes he was wearing and tossed them to the ground. He left then the shop and went to a woman with dark blond hair outside. Harry could see her expression was not as haughty as his was, but she also did not tell him off for his behavior. Harry was still perplexed about these reactions to the name. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Well, not exactly my boy. It is just, this name is still feared in the magical society. So, we just call him You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. And I would be glad if you also could refer to him as such, please. Now, please stand on the stool so Madam Malkin can get your measurements. Miss Granger, if you want to wait a little longer, we can all go together to the other stores." McGonagall was now looking to the girl, who just closed her mouth and nodded. Harry got up and spread his arms as he was told. The shop owner was soon with him, measuring his arms, torso and legs. Soon he was finished and allowed do step back down. He also took the robes off and handed them to Madam Malkin. "Well, what a well behaved boy. Thank you. Oh, what is your name again, so I can stich the names on the robes?" Harry was looking to McGonagall, as if to ask if it was okey to tell her. She nodded and braced herself already knowing what would happen.

"My name is Harry Potter." As soon as he told her his name Madam Malkin's monocle was dangling on its chain, as she was shocked once again. The girl also was once more looking confused at Madam Malkin. He still did not know why everyone was reacting to him like that. He was just a normal boy. Or as normal as a young wizard can be.

"M-mr Potter! In my shop? Oh my goodness, it's nice to meet you, Mr Potter. Of course, I will sew your name on your robes, any special wishes?"

"No, thank you, just the normal stuff, thanks. How much is it?" Madam Malkin was now trying to gift him the robes, but Harry would not have any of it. He was a customer, after all. And he heard what she wanted from the girl, so he told Madam Malkin that he would pay the same amount, if she liked it or not. A little annoyed he left the shop with McGonagall and the girl.

"Oh, I do apolgize, I did not introduce myself. Please forgive me. My name is Hermione Granger. Nice to meet you," She stretched her hand out to him, which he took. "Harry Potter, but you heard it already. And it is nice to meet you too. I get it you are also attending Hogwarts coming September?"

"Yes, I am. As you heard, I am a muggle-born, my parents are both dentists which is why Professor McGonagall is escorting me through Diagon Alley, both are terribly busy. If you don't mind me asking, where did you grow up? Professor McGonagall said that your parents are both dead?" So, Harry told her all about Kaer Mohen and the landscape. He did leave out the part where he hunted in the woods and how he learned to fight with a sword. He was afraid that this information would frighten her. He was sure that his upbringing was not so normal like he first thought. McGonagall also kept silent; she knew what Harry was holding back. She was after all sometimes visited as he was out in the woods.

After they got to the apothecary they met again with Ciri and Hagrid, who were going to the shop for cauldron and other things to brew potions. So, the next destination was the Eeylop's Owl Emporium, the shop was where Harry saw the white owl when they arrived in the alley. Hermione was also looking around, a bit sadly though. Her parents would not agree to her having a pet, so she was just watching the owls. Harry, on the other hand, was walked straight to the white owl, who was now looking at him too. Her yellow eyes shone with an interested but curios gaze. As he got closer, she flapped her wings and descended onto his shoulder, cooing softly. The store clerk was glad that there was such a connection between a young wizard and an animal, so he gave Harry a discount on owl treats for Hedwig, as Harry will call the owl later.

Now with her in the cage, they were ready to leave the alley after completing their shopping. But before they left McGonagall asked Harry if he had a trunk to pack al of his school things into. Harry glanced over at Ciri who just shrugged helplessly as she didn't know either Harry shook his head in the negative. McGonagall knew that Harry and the Witchers do not go out into the muggle world often to get necessary things, so she suggested they head over to Eaton's trunk shop to buy a wizarding trunk for Harry to use while at Hogwarts.

McGonagall led the group back into the Alley towards a store that was out of the way. They arrived at Eaton's Trunk shop and saw many trunks of all sizes. A store clerk came forward and asked if he can assist them. Harry was looking around at the various trunks unsure what to look for. Callie provided some guidance when she noticed a particular type of trunk Harry might find useful. "Ask about multiple compartment trunks. That way you could store more things." Harry nodded absently

Looking over to the store clerk who was waiting patiently Harry asked him if he sold trunks with multiple compartments. "Ah, we do indeed! How many compartments would you require? We have at minium a three compartment trunk upwards to a ten compartment trunk."

Harry thought about his options and decided on small scale. "Do you have a four compartment trunk? Also, what security features do you have to keep unwanted people out of my trunk?"

The clerk led Harry over to a black trunk that had four keyholes on its face. "Well, in terms of security we can offer regular keys or if you want more in depth security we have one with goblin made locks. That means they are keyed by blood. Other features is they are featherweight, waterproof and fireproof." The clerk opened up the top compartment to show Harry how much space was inside the top level. "The bottom compartment is often used as a storage area which means it has a lot of space. The other three are in the same dimensions as the top one. So depending on which method of security will determine the cost."

Harry thought about his options and considered that Doctor Halsey, Yen and Geralt would likely prefer Harry gets the optimal security choice. Harry nodded and looked at the clerk and asked, "How much for the goblin security one?"

The store clerk looked at Harry shrewedly and subtly glanced at Harry's forehead. Harry noticed the subtle glance at his scar and inwardly rolled his eyes. The clerk nodded and told Harry the price, "30 galleons for the one with goblin locks, 20 for the the other."

Harry groaned inwardly wondering how much gold he had left in his money bag. Callie answered for him knowing Harry would need a means to track his spending money. "You have 45 galleons, 18 sickles and 7 knuts left in your bag."

'Thank you, Callie. I never thought to keep a mental count of my money before.' "Alright I'll take the goblin lock one. Where do you want me to place the gold?"

The clerk was mildly surprised that Harry still had enough gold for the more expensive trunk but if he the young wizard felt he had enough gold he wasn't going to complain. He led Harry over to a counter where he told Harry he could stack the coins on the countertop.

Harry pulled out his Gringotts money back and started building stacks of five galleons. When he finished with the 6th stack he saw the clerk nod his head in approval. "If you'll just give me a moment I'll go into the back and get the trunk your trunk. I'll also give you a pamphlet to explain how the goblin locks work so you can key others to access your trunk." With that the clerk went into the back room to find Harry's trunk. Harry walked over to McGonagall and asked her quietly how he was going to take the trunk back to Kaer Mohen. McGonagall thought for a moment and told Harry that she would shrink his trunk after he's placed his purchases inside. She explained that he can undo the charm with a simple Finite on the trunk. Harry thanked her and turned around as the clerk came back out levitating Harry's new trunk.

The clerk lowered Harry's new trunk onto the ground and waved Harry over to it. He explained to Harry that he needed to key into the trunk. "Seeing as you'll be the one using this at Hogwarts you will have to be the one to open up the top compartment. Place a finger at the first keyhole and it'll prick your finger getting a drop of blood." Harry nodded and followed the clerk's directions an placed a finger at the top hole and felt the small pin prick on his finger. Quickly pulling it back Harry saw that the wound was already healed. Harry heard a telltale click of the lock opening and Harry lifted up the cover. Harry beckoned Ciri over as he placed the purchases he was carrying inside.

The clerk gave Harry a small pamphlet that explained how the locks worked and how to key in others. Harry thanked the clerk and made sure all his purchases were packed inside his new trunk. Making sure that all of his purchases were inside Harry closed the lid and heard the lock engage. McGonagall moved forward pulling her wand from her sleeve and waved it over Harry's trunk reducing it to the size of a matchbox. Harry reached down to pick It up and put it in his pocket

Turning back to the others Harry saw Hermione looking at him with a raised brow. Hermione was confused, she thought that you can't do magic outside of Hogwarts and decided to give voice to her thoughts. "Professor? I thought we were not allowed to do magic outside of Hogwarts, how is Harry going to undo the….um what do you call that? A shrinking charm?"

McGonagall smiled at the young witch's intuition. And nodded her agreement and explained. "That was indeed a shrinking charm. And Harry's guardians have their own type of magic so they would be able to undo the charm. The rule for underage magic is more for muggle-born than anyone else, I'm afraid. There are many reasons for that but needless to say, you still have to follow that rule." Hermione glumly nodded, not wanting to get in trouble before she even got to Hogwarts. McGonagall offered to shrink Hermione's purchases so she could have easier time getting home. Hermione quickly agreed seeing the benefit of having her Hogwarts purchases shrunk down.

With that last bit of shopping done the group made their way towards the Leaky Cauldron where they separated when McGonagall waved goodbye to Harry's group wished them a good trip back home, as she had to accompany Hermione back to her Muggle parents. She also explained Harry how he would reach the Platform 9¾ at King's Cross in London.

As Hagrid brought them back to Kear Mohen on his flying motorcycle, Harry let his owl fly alongside them. He thought that she would like that and was right. She flew around them and diving down only to come back up again. Soon after, they landed in the courtyard of Kear Mohen. Hagrid waved goodbye to Harry and Ciri as they got out of the sidecar, he then took off again, saying he had work at Hogwarts to do.

"So, Harry, I hope you had fun. Now let us get your thing up to your room." Harry took out his shrunken trunk from his pocket and placed it on the ground., waving his hand at the small object thinking 'Finite' and watched it grow back to normal size. Ciri hoisted the trunk up, wondering that it was really that light. As they entered the great hall, they met Geralt and the rest of the extended family. As he told them what he experienced today, Callie did a data dump on her matrix, compressed it and sent it to Cortana for analysis and forwarding to the In Amber Clad II as a report on Diagon Alley. Even as her status is the one of a Smart AI, she did not just have the same computing power as Cortana, who now was a true AI. What even Halsey did not know is, that Cortana now even had feelings. That was something that Callie is trying to copy. But she knew that this would take some time. After she had dumped it all, she again began to record all sensor data to analyze it later. She was still copying the map of Hogwarts; it would be easier for her if she not have to check on the server all the time when Harry had to go for his classes. But she had to complete it with her data that she will going to assemble, after all Cortana and John had not access everywhere.

One month later

It was the first of September and they were traveling to London to get to the King's Cross. In past month Harry has read all the books he was assigned and compared the information to the books he already read in the library of Kear Mohen. Some facts of the creatures were not identical, he would need to ask the teacher for Care of magical creature, as soon he got that class. Maybe he should not go there until later and then he had any homework to do first. Yen and Triss did encourage him to ask the questions he thinks he would need to know, even if they sounded dumb to him. There is no stupid question, just stupid mistakes made because he did not ask. That was also a lesson he learned earlier as he was looking at the rifle of Uncle John and did not ask if he could shoot with it once. He will ask him in Hogwarts, he had still Training to attend too. Maybe he could make it a weekend hobby to train. And maybe his classmates would like to train with him. He hoped that at least. He had no problem to train alone, John told him that he fought alone for a long time.

Harry, Geralt and Yen arrived at King's Cross, Harry put his trunk and Hedwig's cage on a trolley and pushed it down the tracks, looking for the tracks 9 and 10. It took some work to get Geralt to leave his swords behind. John was already at Hogwarts, as he was the official security for the school, as Dumbledore asked him to do that beside the voluntary lessons in physical exercise. Soon, they reached the wall between those two tracks and did what Professor McGonagall told them to do. Before they passed through the magical gate, they watched out that they would not be seen. Soon they get through the gate and Harry saw, for the first time, as well as Geralt and Yen did, an old red steam locomotive; in front of the old steam train was on plaque who read Hogwarts Express

"Well, now that I know where we have to go in the future, I think I could make a portal here and back." Yen suggested, what got a groan from Geralt.

Geralt grumbled and shook his head, "I still hate portals. Now Harry, stay safe, remember to be nice and train your sword fighting." Yen rolled her eyes and chuckled.

"Geralt, his priority should be his studies, his sword techniques can be improved upon as soon he did all his homework. Now Harry, study hard, but let your mind rest sometimes. Then you can train with the swords. Or the guns, if John will allow it. I don't know if he has a shooting range on the premise of the castle."

"I will, thanks Yen and Geralt. I think I can go on alone, but I will send Hedwig when we arrive." He pushed the trolley down the train, looking for an entrance.

"I think you could go in there Harry." Geralt pointed to a train carriage, helping him lift the trunk up afterwards. Even if it is light, the measurements were still the same. So, after getting it inside a carriage, he said goodbye to Yen and Geralt and searched a compartment where he could sit down and wait until he arrived in Hogwarts. He soon found one and heaved his trunk in the rack above the seats. He then took the cage for Hedwig and opened it, so she could hop out and wait for him to open the window for her, "I don't imagine you want to sit in there throughout the train ride so do you want to meet up at Hogwarts?" Hedwig hooted and nodded her head. "Alright then I'll see you in the morning." Hedwig nibbled Harry's ear then took off out of the window to hunt and make her way north to Scotland.

All the while, Callie let the sensors in Harry's glasses work for her, to assess the train and the people outside. Most of them were children, but some adults outside did still look suspicious. She almost immediately put that notion down, then most likely that were just parents caring for their children or in awe about all that commotion around them. She especially noted those people in range with an elevated heartbeat, what was a sign that those would be the first time here, just like Harry. She deduced that those must be either first year students, muggle-born children and their parents or just as happy to return to Hogwarts with the friends they had.

Harry took the medallion out from his pocket an put it around his neck, still happy that he got one. Soon after, the train whistled and began to move. Harry looked out of the window in hope to seeing Yen and Geralt just once more before he would not see them for another three months. He was only a little sad that he could not see them anymore, as they most likely left already because he was now secure on the train. So, he sat back down thought about it to open another book and reading until he would arrive. Harry climbed onto the seats to pull out another book from his trunk, behind him the door to the compartment opened once more and a young boy was looking inside.

"Hey, are those seats taken? Everywhere else is full," Harry was looking over his shoulder to the redhead. On his curious face were some freckles, but nothing too bad. The clothes from the boy were looking worn down, but also very well cared for.

"Yes, of course. I am alone in here. I hope you don't mind me reading? Don't worry, if you have a question, I can hear you." Harry stepped down with The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection and flipped it open by his bookmark.

"Isn't that one of our schoolbooks? You already reading them?" The redheaded boy looked puzzled.

"Yeah, I was not raised in a wizarding family, so I have to catch up on some things. What about you?" Harry was already reading, letting Callie see through his glasses and let her show him similarities with the other books, especially poisons and hexes.

"Well, I was raised in a rather big family. Oh, my name is Ron Weasley by the way. Who are you?" Harry knew that this question would come, even if he would just lie, on the sorting ceremony everyone would know his name. So, he would just say the truth.

"Harry. Harry Potter," Ron's reaction was almost instant. His eyes became as big as saucers, and he stopped breathing for a moment.

"Wow, is it true? Do you have the scar?" Harry was almost laughing.

"Which scar do you mean? I have a few from some injuries. I was often in the woods, you see."

Ron was astonished. How could the famous Harry Potter just be so nonchalant? If he could be this famous, he would tell everyone he would see that he was him. But maybe Harry does not know how famous he is, or he was just this humble. Well, Ron would think about it later. Now he would try to befriend him.

"Well, I mean the one on your forehead. The lightning one?"

Now Harry was even more perplexed. How do all these people know about him and his scar? Well, that was something that Callie could research. So, he set her on that and pulled than his hair back, so to show his scar on his head. Ron was now smiling. "Wicked"

So, they talked a bit until they heard a cart on the corridor, pushed from an old lady. "Hello dears. Something sweet from the food trolley?"

"No, thank you. I have sandwiches." Ron took out a small bread with a sad expression on his face.

Harry did get a bit sympathetic towards Ron, so he turned to the old lady. "I would take one of everything please." He took out some gold coins, getting another "wow" from Ron.

As Harry ate the sweets, Harry reminding himself to brush his teeth afterwards as Catherine told him, he pulled a package of something called Chocolate Frogs and stared at it. "Those are not real frogs, right?"

"No, but they are bewitched to act like real frogs. More importantly are the cards they have in the package. They show famous witches and wizards of all time. I collect those, so if you would show them to me, I would be thankful." Harry took the card out, after biting into the head of the chocolate frog. He looked at it and saw an old man with a long white beard and a pointing hat, that was the same color as his robes. He had a kind smile on his face and his eyes were twinkkling. Above the picture was his name, Albus Dumbledore. He turned the card and saw that something was written there. So, he read about his achievement with the uses of dragon blood, something he had to ask Yen or Triss about, The card also spoke of Dumbledore's friendship with a Nicolas Flamel. As he turned it back to the picture, it was empty.

"Well, I got Dumbledore, but it seems that he does not like to stay in the picture. Do you have him already?" Harry asked Ron, already sure that Callie saved the information on the card in her memory.

"Yea, I have him 5 times already." Ron answered, pulling a bite from a gum snake. As he chewed on it, Harry was not sure what he should think of Ron. Not once he thanked for sharing, as if it would be natural. Well, he will wait until he judged his character, maybe he will come around later. He continued to read his book as the door opened once more, this time there was a girl in the door. She was looking into the compartment, searching for something.

"Excuse me, have you see a toad? A boy called Neville Longbottom lost his." Her bushy brown hair was swaying from side to side, as she did not look the occupants of this compartment into the eyes. Harry found that odd, but he just put it to her making sure that this toad would not escape if he was inside here.

"No, we did not see a toad. But if we see him, I will grab it and bring it to you. Are you sharing the compartment with this Neville?" Harry answered, as Ron had his mouth to full to speak. Not that he not tried to. The girl was now looking up, seeing the boys for the first time sitting there. "

Ah, yes I am. Thanks, I would appreciate it." As she smiled, she looked Harry in the eyes and gasped. "You are the boy from Diagon Alley, aren't you? Sorry that I did not say hi, but that toad seems rather smart in her ways to escape. So, maybe we see each other before we arrive in Hogwarts." She closed the door and did walk down the corridor, in search of the toad.

"Well, I would throw the toad away if it would not hop away himself. Having a toad is so old-fashioned. Well, I can't really talk, after all I just have a rat." He pulled an old rat out of his pocket that seemed to sleep.

Harry frowned as he looked at the sleeping rat. "I thought pets were limited to cats, toads and owls, how did you get a pet rat?"

Ron shrugged and looked down at the rat too. "Honestly, Scabbers was my brother Percy's first. When Percy became a prefect Mum got him an owl and I got Scabbers."

As they pulled their robes out and put them on, the train began to slow down until it stopped completely. Trough the intercom it was announced that they could leave the luggage behind, as it will be transported directly into the dorms after the welcoming feast. Soon, he will be inside Hogwarts and will be sorted into a house, as he has read in one of his books. But first he had to get there.

As they exited the train, Harry was watching the other students. You can almost immediately spot the new students by the robes they wore. They were the only ones that did not have any house colors on them. Of course, he knew what the colors meant that the older students had on the robes, including the patches they had stitched on. He was wondering how it will get on all robes at the same time as soon they are sorted, but that would be answered as soon as it happens, in that he was certain.

As they were now walking down another train station, Harry caught a glimpse of the bushy brown hair of Hermione, so the boy beside her had to be Neville Longbottom. His blonde hair was neatly cut, but on his face, you could see his sadness. Another student also caught his attention, this one had pale blond hair that was slicked back. On his face was the telltale sign from someone who thought he was better than everybody else. He also had two boys with him on either side of him, acting like bodyguards. Harry recognized him from the Madam Malkin's shop in Diagon Alley. It seemed that his first impression of that boy was right, he was a spoiled brat.

"Firs' years, over here!" all the first year turned to the voice who called them, as they saw a giant man with a lantern in his hands waiting for them on the end of the station. "Well, 'ello all of yeh. I'm Hagrid, the keeper of keys of Hogwarts. Please follow me, I will bring you to the castle." They walked down to a pier with multiple little boats. They did not look very secure, but Callie assured him that her scans showed that they are at least structurally sound. "No more than four students in one boat. Well except mine, in there I must be alone. Now onwoards."