Ch. 11

Minerva motioned to Filius to wait a moment. Once Mr Potter seemed to regain control, she continued.

"Unfortunately, the Dark Lord had a spy who gave him their location. They were killed on October 31, 1981. Now something happened that night, something no one can really explain." Harry looked a bit shaken at this but also curious.

"Some magic is what we call Dark. The worst of these spells is called the Killing Curse. It kills anyone it touches, no matter where they are hit. There is no sign of pain or even any injury. The person is just dead. Shields do not work against it. The only defence is to not get hit." She looked at Mr Potter to see if he understood. The boy nodded slightly.

"Your father was killed downstairs trying to buy time for you and your Mum to escape. There were signs he put up a significant fight before getting hit by the Killing Curse. The Dark Lord found you and your mother in your nursery." The professor realized her voice had dropped to a whisper but couldn't force it any louder.

"Your mother died in front of your crib defending you. And then he tried to cast the Killing Curse on you." At this point the Gryffindor Head of House's voice completely gave out.

Filius picked up the story for her. "That is when a miracle happed, Mr Potter. The Curse bounced off of you and rebounded onto You-Know-Who. His body was destroyed and you were left alive, but with that Curse scar on your forehead. We don't understand it but somehow a fifteen month old child managed to resist an unblockable curse and defeat the Dark Lord. You are famous in the magical world. They call you 'The-Boy-Who-Lived'."

Little Mr Potter looked shocked and stricken at the professors' revelations. Minerva could only guess at the thoughts running through the poor wean's head. So much dropped on him at once. She'd warned Albus that the Durselys were the worst kind of Muggles. She caught his correction from calling them family.

Minerva conjured three cups of tea. The boy could use it to settle himself. While he sipped his tea, the two professors proceeded to inform him about magic, the magical world and Hogwarts. It was the standard introduction given to Muggle-born students they had done many times before.

"If you wish, Mr Potter, we can take you to Diagon Alley to get your school supplies now," Minerva offered.

The boy nodded, "I guess. I don't think my relatives would take me."

Minerva couldn't suppress a sniff at this comment. She frowned at his small smile at the sound but she was pleased to see it.

The trip to Diagon Alley was almost as bad as Minerva feared.

During the short walk to the out of sight location where she and Flilius arrived at, Mr Potter resumed his earlier questions about her animagus form. She explained it was an advanced technique of Transfiguration requiring a great deal of expertise and practice. Only seven people in the last century had registered success in developing the skill. While Mr Potter seemed a bit saddened by her explanation he had cheered up a bit when she assured him he would be able to do so if he followed his father's footsteps as she had no doubt James Potter would have been successful in the endeavour.

The goblins were the easiest part of the trip although the cart ride disturbed her stomach. She was surprised at the number of coins in Mr Potter's trust vault but a discrete question to their goblin escort explained the wealth. The Ministry paid the bounty for the apparent death of the Dark Lord and paid above market value when they purchased the house the Potters hid in to make it a national landmark. In addition, many private citizens sent money to thank their saviour. While the Potters were a very old and magically powerful family, they had never been in the wealthy political elite of the nation like the Longbottoms or Malfoys. While they owned a fair amount of land in Wales, the family was known for its fighters and magical researchers, not politicians or financiers.

Their next two stops went smoothly enough. They purchased Mr Potter's trunk, potions and astronomy supplies with a minimum of fuss. It was in Flourish and Blotts that they encountered their first difficulty. Mr Potter picked up the standard First year texts but decided to pick up a couple of extras for 'background' reading. She was fine with the recent history and Wizarding culture texts but tried to draw the line when she noticed he had picked up a couple of books on dark or highly magical creatures.

On hearing her protests, Mr Potter merely shrugged, saying, "I enjoy reading about the creatures the normal world thinks of as myths. I am really curious to learn what the magical world knows about them."

It was at Madam Malkins that things started to go sideways.

Mr Potter was waiting to be sized when several school age students walked in. She did not recognize them so they must be magically raised students she did not have to visit.

One cute young girl of Indian descent with her long dark hair hanging loose approached Mr Potter. "Are you going to Hogwarts also?"

"Um, yes."

"Hi, I am Padma Patil. That is my twin sister Parvati." She indicated an identical looking girl except her hair was woven into a tight plait. "And those are our friends Daphne Greengrass, Anthony Goldstein, Su Li, and Megan Jones. What is your name?"

"Harry. Harry Potter."

All movement in the shop came to a standstill as Mr Potter's words carried.

"Are you really?" the girl asked in innocent surprise. "I heard you were supposed to be in our class but no one was sure you would be going to Hogwarts. Did you really grow up in the Muggle world? My father says you did but he tries to be funny sometimes."

It warmed to professor's heart to see the boy interacting with other magical children his own age. Harry was a bit shy and shocked at their excitement to meet him, but Minerva thought he handled it well.

What she was not prepared for was the huge crowd that had formed outside the shop. She guessed someone in the shop heard Mr Potter's name and slipped outside to announce it. She was thankful Filius had accompanied her as the rest of the trip had them dealing with the crowd of people that followed them. Fortunately, only a stop at Ollivander's was really required. It was unfortunate the boy would not be able to explore the Alley a bit but such was life.

They were approaching the Apparition point when Minerva drew tired of the crowd trailing them. In a fit of pique she rounded on them and proceeded to inform them exactly what she thought of their behaviour. She was moderately pleased at how the crowd, many of them former students, recoiled from her remonstration and left the area.

Feeling pleased, she turned back to Mr Potter and Filius. Filius looked impressed with her ability to chase off the crowd. Mr Potter seemed to have enjoyed it also as he was smiling as he put his glasses back on. They must have gotten dirty and he took the pause as a chance to clean them.

"Very well, let's get you home, Mr Potter."

...

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