Chapter 29

Harry turned around as he heard the female voice to look at a woman with red hair and a kind smile on her round face, opening her arms to hug him welcomely, something Harry was not keen on but allowed nevertheless as it would be rude to say no to just a small greeting. And Ron had warned him that his mother was a bit handsy when personal space was concerned, something that Harry would see the reason in as she had 7 children after all. Soon afterwards, Mr. Weasley came out of the flames too, mumbling something about that this kind of traveling was nicer than apparition, a magical way to teleport. Callie then pinged him and appeared in his glasses, saying that she had the coordinates for future reference just in case.

Mrs. Weasley then let Harry go, telling him to sit down for now as she would get her children to meet him. Harry thanked her for the invite and sat down with Mr. Weasley, who began to question him about various muggle things he saw in Kear Mohen. Harry soon found out that Mr. Weasley was a huge fan of muggle things like radio, sparkplugs for cars and motorcycles and he even had a small collection of rubber ducks. Harry was laughing at it, as he explained to the wizard that these things were normal items for the muggles and nothing worth noting about, but he could see the appeal for someone who would see it rather sparingly in his life like a wizard would. As they talked even about some small political themes, Mrs. Weasley returned with her children, except her two oldest ones as they were at work. But Harry recognized all the boys that came down the stairs, as all of them where in the same house in Hogwarts and two of the four were even playing Quidditch with him.

The small girl was unknown to him, but he knew that she was the main reason he agreed to the visit the Burrow. He noticed how shy she was around him, even hiding behind her mother and only looking at him sparingly. Fred tried to lure her out so Harry could talk to her, but to no avail. Harry then stood back up and offered his hand in a greeting to the young girl, to which she took it into her hand and shook it.

"Hello, my name is Harry, and what's your name?" Harry knew of course that she already had to know that, but it was common courtesy to introduce himself if you stood before each other for the first time.

"M-my name is Ginevra Weasley, but my friends and siblings call me Ginny. N-nice to meet you Mr. Potter," She was almost as red as her hair, which was seemingly really a family treat of the Weasleys Harry noticed. He told her that she could call him Harry, just like her brothers did. He then asked her if she had any hobbies, just to start some small talk with the girl, in what he succeeded as she began to relax around him visible when they talked about Quidditch, something that Ron, Fred and George also began to speak with them as Mrs. Weasley was now preparing a guest room for Harry in the former room of her oldest son as it was free for now.

Percy was watching his siblings talking with Harry, not wanting that they put shame on their name by insulting the heir of house Potter, as this was his obvious position in the magical society as the last of the Potter line. But he worried for nothing, as Harry was just glad to speak with someone his age and could take one or two jokes with him in the center.

"And you would not believe it, Ginny, in his first match he almost swallowed the snitch." Fred was laughing hard, as he noticed gladly that Ginny was giggling while Harry got pale from the memory.

"I could not help it, after all that stupid Bludger hit me in the worst moment possible. And please correct me if I'm wrong, but was it not your job to keep it away from me?" Harry turned his small mishap into a small insult of Fred and Georg's talent with the beaters bat, not that there would have been anyone better in the whole school and Harry knew that.

"If you must know Harry, we were on the other side of the field and the Bludger was flying away from us, so even with our supreme skill our brooms would not have been fast enough. But do not worry, we are on the way to purchase better ones, even when they are used." Fred let them into this secret, as not even their parents knew that he and his twin were saving their allowance for the brooms they wanted. They would not be the fastest, but a lot faster than the one's they had right now.

Harry decided to ask them when they were alone to round up the money until they could get a new one with a small contract that they would pay him back in the next 10 years, only to be reminded by Callie that they would have to be of age before they could sign something like that. Harry thought about it, telling Callie to remind him tomorrow when they were at Gringotts to ask the Goblins what they could do as long they were not of age yet, as they surely knew a way to solve this. And Harry wanted to give them something, as the whole family treated him like a normal boy that needed just some real friends to have fun. Mrs. Weasley soon came back down to the living room, telling them that it was time to go to bed and showed Harry the guest room.

Harry looked around the room, noticing how tidy it was. He thanked Mrs. Weasley for her hospitality and placed his bag on the ground, opening the one window his room had, as two owls flew through it. One was Hedwig, with a small package in her talons and the other was Nina, with the answer he was hoping for. It seemed that Daphne could also come to Diagon Alley and would go shopping with him, the Weasley's and Hermione for their school supplies. He still wondered what he would get from her for his birthday, but he would not ask with the others around him. And he was still a bit worried how Ron was still not nice to Daphne, only because she was a Slytherin. He was getting better, as his brothers did not care when they saw him with Daphne, as she was also present at one training session and even the other players did not mind Daphne being there. Harry noticed Nina looking at him expectantly while Hedwig was clacking her beak angrily at her. It seemed that Hedwig was angry at the small owl to beg for some treats before she got some. Harry then remembered that she had a small package and took it from her talons, after he placated her with some small owl treats and gave Nina some too, which she took gladly and flew back out to return to Daphne.

Harry opened the package, seeing that it was a small cake with a Happy Birthday Harry written on it. He guessed that it was from Hagrid, which was confirmed by the small card that flew out. But he also found a small book in it and opened it. On its first page, Hagrid had written that he asked the schoolfriends of his parents for some photos, which they gladly supplied after he had told them for what he would need them. Harry turned another page and saw his parents, as young as he was now so they had to be at Hogwarts in that picture. And just like the portraits in Hogwarts, the photos were moving and waving at him, causing him to lose a small tear. On another picture that was labeled the "Quartet of mischief" showed his father with his friends Harry guessed, surprised to see a young Mr. Weasley with Mrs. Weasley in the background laughing. He wanted to ask them if they knew his parents and how they behaved in school. He turned another page and saw his father running away from McGonagall with a small boy dragging behind him. He wanted to see more, but he was getting tired and placed the book in his bag and laid down on the bed, almost falling asleep instantly.

The next day, Harry was awoken by the sound of pounding feet outside of the room he resided in. He soon heard some knocking on the door as Mrs. Weasley asked him if he was awake. Harry stood up and opened the door, to see a smiling Mrs. Weasley telling him that breakfast was ready. He thanked her and walked back into the room, putting up some clothes and later walking down to the living room where all the Weasley already sit by the table and much to his surprise, Ron did eat here like he did in Hogwarts, as he was grabbing what he could to stuff it into his mouth. Harry was still astonished as Ron was the only one who lacked table manners in this family as even the twins looked miffed about him. Harry sat down at the table, paying attention that he would sit next to Ginny, helping her further to get used to him so she would not be so nervous later. He noticed gladly that she did not flinch as much as the night before, even smiling a bit at him before she blushed and continued to eat.

"So, the plan for today is that we go shopping for school supplies, and for this we need to go first to Gringotts to get some money. Do all of you have your lists?" Mr. Weasley looked to everyone at the table, getting a nod from everyone.

"But Dad, do we have enough money? I mean with Ginny coming with us, we must buy five sets of all the books from Lockhart, and they are expensive. Together with her wand and the other supplies, I guess we would have to watch every knut." George was asking his father, being ready to spend some of his allowance for his own stuff. Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley were looked downtrodden a bit but told them that they would manage like always.

Suddenly, Harry had an idea. "Mr. Weasley, if I could suggest something? If you would agree, I could loan some money from my trust vault for Ginny's supplies with your word that you would pay it back over time. Also, I would like to also pay forward the money for Ron to get his own wand, as the one he has is not a good fit right now. He had some problems with simple spells in school, just like the wand would not follow him thoroughly with his intention. We can discuss it with the goblins in Gringotts how we would work that out. What do you say?"

Harry was almost ready to be embraced out of gratitude and promised everything he wanted if they could not pay back, but he was once more surprised as Mr. Weasley shook his head.

"Thank you for your offer, Harry, and please call me Arthur. But we cannot take it, as we had always managed our own problems in the Weasley family and we are used to it, having not as much money as other families. But if you would insist, I would only take so much from you to pay the two wands for my two youngest children, I hope this is good for you?" Mr. Weasley looked serious, even as Mrs. Weasley had almost dropped her pan with bacon in it gasping for this offer from Harry. But she also was on the same mindset as her husband, you could see it in her eyes. They would never want to be in someone's dept if they could help it. Meeting this sincere honesty was something fresh for Harry, accepting this conviction to find their own solution for their own problems.

"Very well Arthur, I agree to loan you the money for the two wands for Ron and Ginny. As soon as we arrive in Gringotts, we will talk with my account manager. Is this agreeable?" Harry saw Mr. Weasley nod, smiling that they would agree at least to this compromise. Ron was also smiling, finally getting his own wand and being ready to show what he could do.

Ginny meanwhile was just happy to not have to use a preowned wand that could not be a perfect fit for her, like Bill or Charlie, her two oldest brothers, now had purchased their wands for themselves. And she was happy to spend more time with her childhood hero while they would walk through Diagon Alley. And maybe she could even make more friends with this Hermione she heard so much about from Ron. As far she knew, they were always together studying and getting along with some other students from other houses. She wondered who they are, as she only heard how the houses from Hogwarts are rivals.

After they all had breakfast, they gathered in front of the fireplace to Floo into the Leaky Cauldron to go into Diagon Alley afterwards. Harry luckily knew already how that worked and arrived securely in the Leaky Cauldron with the others and walked outside to buy everything they needed. The first stop was of course the magical Bank Gringotts so they could arrange the small loan they had talked about before. As they got closer to it, Harry noticed a girl with her parents standing there. Her bushy hair was still the same shade of brown like the last time he had seen her. Ron also recognized her, calling her name and walking up to her.

"Hermione, what a surprise to meet you today. Or not, as you had to buy supplies too. How was your holiday?" Ron talked to her, while his father was fascinated by her parents because they were muggles after all. Harry found it strange how Ron was talking with Hermione as just a few months ago he called her know-it-all almost all the time, except when he needed some help with his assignments. And right then Harry had the solution because he was so nice to Hermione, he hoped she would lend him her notes to write from it. Harry was just a bit angry, as he would have to help him too until he would return to Kear Mohen. Not that he was against it to help, but Ron was always depending on them as he almost never did any work beforehand. But that was something he would talk about when they were back at the Burrow.

But Harry had to laugh as Mr. Weasley was asking Hermione's parents questions about rubber ducks or escalators or how cars work. He knew that magical people did not know much about how muggles could do almost all the same things with their technology as the magical did with their magic. And they tried to explain everything they knew, but Harry noticed that they were just a bit uncomfortable. So, he asked if they should go now to their vaults and get some money. Mr. Weasley blushed a bit as he was getting carried away. Mrs. Weasley was not present, as she was getting some robes for Ginny with her and would be waiting for her husband to come with some money.

Mr. Weasley was going to his vault and would meet Harry later as he had to meet his account manager first to see if everything was alright with his vault and investments that Harry told them to make. Even if the goblins could work with all his money to their own discretion, but his monthly letters were telling him that they would do nothing without his consent. Even if he was a minor in the eyes of the magical community, for the goblins he was a customer who had to be catered for.

So, Harry opened the door to his manager's office, seeing him crouched over piles of papers and mumbling to himself. The other goblin who led Harry into the office had almost to scream for the manager to look up.

"Ah, I do apologize heir Potter. But some of your investments did cause some other families to notice the flow of the gold shifting. And we had our hands full to honor your wish to remain anonymous, but I guess you received a letter from someone who pieced it together?" The account Manager, Grankor, was making some space on his desk and placed the important documents on it. Harry just nodded and told them that Mr. Greengrass wanted to talk with him and his account manager, even asking if he could bring his lawyer with him. They discussed how they would go about this situation and what they should expect from this encounter. It was after all not an everyday occurrence that someone would offer their own business and would work for a salary just to save it all from another wizard.

After their points were finalized and a day selected, Harry was accompanied to his vault for some gold. Then he met the Weasleys in the entrance hall of Gringotts once more, with Mr. Weasley once more talking with the Grangers. But different to before, the Grangers seemed to be more relaxed, purely due to Hermione explaining why Arthur was so curious about them. When Harry joined the group, they decided to head over to Madam Malkins first, as Mrs. Weasley would wait for them there with Ginny. Just to be safe, Harry took more gold than he would need just in case Mr. Weasley could not pay the robes in full. Good robes were a necessity for a good school environment, so she would be picked on in school when he or her brothers were not close by.

When they arrived in the shop, Ginny was standing on the stand with the shop owner fussing around her, trying to fix the robe she was wearing to her size. But Madam Malkins was smiling, which in turn was a good sign as Mrs. Weasley and Ginny where also smiling.

"Ah, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, it's nice to see you again. I think I am with you shortly; this lovely girl is soon finished with the work for now. Am I right in the assumption that the young Mr. Weasley needs a lengthening just like Mister Potter?" At this, both boys nodded and let her do her work while waiting for their turn. While they waited, Harry was talking a bit with Hermione about schoolwork and how far she was already.

"Oh, I am finished but I think I will go over it one more time. Maybe I can write a bit more in the essay for History of magic." And she talked more, while Ron was just rolling his eyes. For him, it was still enough time for his homework, so he had not even begun. Soon, Ginny was finished, and Mr. Weasley wanted to pay Madam Malkin, who just shacked her head and told him that she will put it on the house, as it was so long ago that such a well-behaved child was in her shop. She even did not mention that the robes were almost brand new, but she was soon needle deep with the older children to work over their wardrobe. Harry suppressed a laugh as Madam Malkin was complaining that Ron should rather order some new robes, it would almost cost the same to make them then to enlarge those he already had while with Hermione she asked her if she should make some extra room for "girl stuff" up there. Hermione whispered, while blushing, that this would be a good idea, but it could wait for another year.

As they were finished and had to wait some time until all the things were done, Harry was accompanying Ginny and Ron to Ollivander's to get their wands. On the way, they met Neville, who finally convinced his grandmother to get him his own wand, as he had used the one his father owned previously. What he did not know was, that Professor McGonagall had written to his grandmother about the situation and how a new wand might correct his grades for the better.

And so it happened that four children and an older woman stood inside Ollivander's, while Neville, Ginny and Ron tried multiple wands, much to the delight of the owner. Augusta Longbottom, Neville's grandmother used this time to talk with Harry, as she wanted to know him better, despise the story's she heard from Neville. She was pleasantly surprised that Harry was very mature for his age, and he knew what he carried with his name. Neville has soon found his wand, being such a good fit that even Ollivander was surprised. Neville thanked him and said his goodbyes to his friends as he and his grandmother leaved the shop. Ron soon had his wand too, being happy for having something new. But for Ginny, somehow no wand seemed to fit. Mister Ollivander had almost all his premade wands used, when he got an idea. It would cost more, but it was the best solution right now. He asked Ginny to come to the back with him, while Ron should go and call their father for some information. Harry asked if he could stay, to what Ollivander told him that he should stay as his help may be needed.

As they were now in the back room of his Shop, Mister Ollivander explained why they were here.

"You see Miss Weasley, you almost tried every combination of wand parts in this shop that I have on stock. As some special ones are only made by order, we need to see which wood and core are best for you. And for that we need you Mr. Potter. Could you please hand her your wand?" Harry pulled his wand out of his holster, giving it to Ginny. "Now Miss Weasley, tell me do you feel any kind of pull by Mr. Potter's wand?"

Ginny concentrated and tried to feel anything. She noticed that it felt warm in her hands, but it was not feeling right. She told this to Ollivander, who nodded and placed holly wood and a phoenix feather on the table and asked her if she could tell, to which she felt a stronger pull after she handed the wand back to Harry. So, she stood by the table and had her hands over the materials. She felt a bit nervous and ashamed for needing a very special wand, but she knew that this would give her the best wand for her. She then took the phoenix feather in her hand and gave it to Ollivander, telling him that it was warmer than the wood for her. He just nodded and mumbled something about fire creatures.

"Now Miss Weasley, I will place all the kinds of wood I have in the shop, which are all used in wands across the globe. Please do the same you did with the other components before. Take your time." Ollivander stood back once more, while Ginny moved her hands over all the woods that were before her. She soon found a wood that was almost flying into her hand, which surprised Ollivander once again.

"Ah yes, Yew is a very special wood. It will make a fine wand for you, but now we need the core." He placed multiple materials on the table, prompting Ginny to repeat the procedure. She hovered for some time over the different cores as the door to the shop opened and Mr. Weasley came to the back room together with Hermione, who wanted to see how a wand was made. Mr Ollivander greeted them as Ginny held up a vial with something bloody inside it.

"Ah, dragon heartstring, a powerful core who's demanding discipline from its master. And this was a mighty dragon, a Chinese fireball. This will be one of my finest wands. But before I start, we need to see how long it should be. For this, please take this wood which will grow or shrink, until it will suit you. Just move it around in the air until I say stop." Ginny did just that, until she felt that the wand was beginning to feel lighter in her hands. Ollivander soon took it from her and measured it.

"Ah, 14 1/8 inches. That will do, but before I begin, this wand will cost more than the others in my shop, so Mr. Weasley can you pay it?" Ollivander knew that the Weasley did not have much money, not that he would give them the time to pay him.

Mr. Weasley looked at Harry, who nodded and then told Ollivander that he would pay for this and Ron's wand per agreement with Mr. Weasley. Ollivander just nodded and began to wave his wand in a complicated manner. Hermione was astounded on how fast and precise the movements were, showing that Ollivander was one of the best in his field. As the wood began to float and being sized to the right length, it split open for the dragon heart string to be placed inside of it. It began to spark as the two wooden halves were joined again and Ollivander was finishing his work. After some finishing touches, he picked it up and handed it over to Ginny.

"Now, this wand should outperform almost every other wand I ever made. Except few examples of course." He winked at Harry, who was the only one that saw that. Ginny meanwhile grabbed the wand and immediately the room shone brighter and the sparks from the wand flew almost across the whole shop, as the door to the backroom was open. All were surprised at the amount of magic that was emitting from the young girl. After the lightshow died down, they walked over to the counter, where Harry paid the fee for both wands, totaling in 30 Galleons including the Holster that Ginny wanted.

Mr. Weasley thanked Harry for the generosity and promised that he would pay him back before Christmas. As they had to still buy their books, they were now on their way to Flourish and Blotts, hoping that there would not be too many people.