Chapter Thirteen
Errands
With their letters in hand, the three of them made preparations for a day in Diagon Alley. Sunset teleported to the Burrow where she found not only the gathered Weasleys, but also Luna and her father. They’d apparently been waiting for her. They were quick to coordinate with her, confirming that they would be meeting up with her group in the Leaky Cauldron at noon.
That gave her some time to get everything prepared.
When she arrived back at home, she was surprised to find Harry and Sirius waiting for her there. Evidently, Professor Dumbledore had sent Harry’s letter through Fawkes. She wondered how Philomena had known to come fetch them.
The answer was simple. She hadn’t. But Princess Celestia had called her to help with something.
Like she’d said she would on the day of the first contact, Celestia had used her connection to the Sun to reach out to Equestrian phoenixes and request their aid. It had taken a while, but one had finally answered.
Of course, Ferana had needed Philomena’s help to gain the ability of traveling between Equestria and Earth. Apparently that had happened the day before and no one had thought to tell Sunset about any of it.
As such, this morning it had been Ferana that had taken Harry and Sirius to the Grangers’ abode before flaming back out to take the newly appointed Ambassador Fancy Pants to a meeting with Mister Crouch.
With everyone gathered, the seven of them then flamed over to the Leaky Cauldron. After all, Sunset and Hermione were the only ones of them able of teleporting, and neither of them were technically allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts until they turned seventeen. It wasn’t an issue when traveling to a warded home like the Burrow or Malfoy Manor, but while the alley near the Leaky Cauldron was warded against detection by muggles, it wasn’t warded against detection by the Trace, the spell construct used by the Ministry to monitor underage magic.
When they arrived, more or less exactly at noon, they weren’t too surprised that the Weasleys weren’t there yet. Something about too many of them being together seemed to stop that family from being punctual. Ever.
When they did arrive five minutes later, they were accompanied by Luna, being her regular, ever calm self, and Xenofilius, who seemed to be mildly amused at their antics. Ignoring the usual stares Harry gathered as well as the newer ones focused on Sunset and Philomena, the group quickly set out into the alley and to the traditional first stop of anyone doing their Hogwarts shopping. Gringotts.
While the others went to withdraw some funds to make their purchases, Sunset gave her coinpurse to Hermione and took Lyra to one of the tellers to get her an account set up. And to pass along a letter from the Princess.
The teller at first didn’t seem to be interested as they approached … then he took a second glance and his beady eyes widened just a bit. After a moment, he leaned forward and asked “What do you need?”
“First, I am here to help my friend open a vault here at Gringotts,” Sunset said and Lyra brought up a small bag of gems. “This is what she has brought to trade in.”
Sunset then pulled out the Princess’ letter. “And this is a letter from Princess Celestia of Equestria that I have been instructed to present to the head of this bank. You may read it if you wish to check its authenticity and sincerity.”
“So … the Princess from another realm …” the Goblin said, taking the scroll and unfurling it. The pouch that Lyra had placed down went ignored for a moment. As the Goblin read, his eyes grew bigger and bigger, and as soon as he finished it he quickly rolled it back up and called out.
“Groak! Groak come over here and take care of this exchange!” The teller said, then pointed to Sunset and said “You, follow me.”
What followed was a short walk to the bank director’s office. The exchange that followed was short, mostly the director seeking to confirm that Princess Celestia was serious about arranging a meeting and opening relations with the goblins just as they were doing with the Ministry.
After assuring him that the Princess was sincere, the Chief Goblin spent a moment scribbling out a message. Rolling it up and sealing it with a rough stamp, he stretched his arm over the desk to give it to her.
“Give this to your Princess then. I can tell you now that we will be able to establish a vault for the use of your Royal crown, but we will need to discuss more terms with her, especially to ensure that only those with your princess’ permission may access it. Anything else will be between her and our representative at the Goblin Liaison Office.”
Sunset nodded, and, recognizing the waving motion he made as a dismissal, stepped outside where she found a goblin waiting for her and was escorted back to the main hall. Lyra was already being led over to one of the doors leading to the many vaults, so Sunset hurried over to regroup with her.
“So, you all set?” she asked, and Lyra gave her a wide grin.
“Yup! The appraiser was quite amazed at some of the gems I gave him and said I should be good for all seven years at Hogwarts. He’s going to send an offer for most of them in a few days. How about that letter from the princess, how’d that go?”
As they made for the railcar that would take them to Lyra’s new vault, Sunset told her there wasn’t much to say. She presented the letter, and was given some information and a letter in return before being shooed out.
Of course, then came the cart ride, which Lyra thoroughly enjoyed.
More or less going by the same order Professor McGonagall and Hagrid had taken her, Harry and Hermione the year before, Sunset found herself once more headed to Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions. Lyra was, of course, the only one who didn’t have Hogwarts robes yet, but Ron, Ginny, the Twins and herself had all gone through growth spurts over the last year that left their robes a bit short in places.
Lyra was quite impressed when the grey trim on the robes instantly shifted to red the moment Madam Malkin put them on them. The explanation of the four houses of Hogwarts, prompted by the questioning glance she shot Sunset, became a rather communal thing as not just the rest of the group, including Xenofilius, Molly and Sirius, but even Madam Malkin and Erica Hops, one of the contacts Sirius had mentioned helping out with feeding Quirrell the information to get past Fluffy who was still working at the store, joined in and lasted them through most of their stay.
“Sunset, I think I found something about human society I don’t find fascinating.”
Sunset and Hermione shared a soft giggle at Lyra’s discomfort. Seeing how she hadn’t mastered the transformation yet, Lyra was, of course, in her human form. That being said, her face was still making a rather valiant effort at matching the color of her coat.
They were in the apothecary to restock their potion’s kits and get a new one for Lyra. While they still found the sheer amount of bizarre potion ingredients to be a bit disgusting, Sunset and Hermione had gotten far too much experience dealing with the various substances over the past year to be too bothered.
Lyra was lacking that experience and seemed very relieved when she got to leave the store behind her.
Next on the list of their places to go was Flourish and Blotts, the alley’s largest bookstore. While Sunset and Hemione were set to get their own books, the pair decided they would help Lyra get hers first. Seeing the line of people, most of them seemed to be witches around Mrs. Weasley’s age, all trying to enter the store, gave the group pause.
Then they spotted a rather noticeable banner announcing that Gilderoy Lockheart was signing his autobiography inside. As they approached, they noticed a single, tired looking wizard standing at the door, calling out for patience and reminding the witches he let inside to mind the books.
The fact that some of them had rather obvious books was enough to signal to him that they were here for their regular Hogwarts shopping and not for the book signing, so he let their group squeeze inside after barely a glance. And they really did have to squeeze as the queue continued on inside, weaving through between the shelves all the way to the other end of the store where Gilderoy Lockheart was signing his books. They couldn’t actually see him through the crowd, but most of them had seen his likeness on several books in the kitchen at the Burrow.
Mrs. Weasley looked to be a little distracted, but the rest of the group focused mostly on picking up their books. Given that the Lockheart books were right beside Lockheart himself, they went around the store to first pick up everything else on their list before having to deal with the crowd. They mostly moved as a group, picking out the second year books, while Sirius helped Lyra find her first year books and Mrs. Weasley was … otherwise occupied. Fred and George, as well as Percy, predictably also struck out on their own to find the books they would need.
When they did finally come into view of Gilderoy Lockheart they found him sitting at a table surrounded by portraits of himself along with examples of all his books, which likewise all included his portrait on the cover one way or another. All of the images, of course, were magical and winking at the crowd in a way Sunset could describe only as ‘obnoxious’.
Bouncing around him was a small, rather irritated-looking wizard with a camera that kept releasing clouds of colored smoke whenever the flash went off. Several of the group actually found him more entertaining to watch than Lockheart himself as he kept trying to shoo the nearby witches out of the way of his photographs announcing that he was from the Daily Prophet. The witches, naturally, didn’t think about moving from their spot in the queue.
That entertainment lasted precisely until the wizard took another picture from right in front of their group before leaping away again. Lockheart, however, was still looking in their direction after smiling for the photograph. He saw their group. His eyes widened slightly when he saw Sirius. Then his gaze fell on Harry, Sunset and Philomena.
“Well if it isn’t Harry Potter and Sunset Shimmer,” he called out, jumping up. Unlike the photographer, the gathered witches seemed all too happy to let him pass, whispering excitedly. Lockheart hurried over and grabbed both of them pulling them forward by their arms. Philomena squawked in protest and departed in a flash of golden fire, startling Sunset enough to get her wits about her. She twisted her arm out of Lockheart’s grip which was surprisingly easy, all things considered, and stopped for a moment before deciding to humour the man, if only to not leave Harry alone with the man. Sirius would never forgive her if she did.
So they shook hands with Lockheart before the amazed audience and the photographer who kept taking pictures. Sunset made sure that no picture showed her face without making it clear that she was rolling her eyes. Lockheart kept talking to them through his teeth as the matter went on. Something about the three of them making it to the front page, but neither of the two was really paying attention.
He then put an arm over both their shoulders and dramatically announced, to none of their surprise, that he would be assuming the role of the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for this year of Hogwarts. Finally, he pulled out two stacks of books, each a full, signed selection of his autobiography and put them in their arms before finally returning to his table. The crowd was cheering and, thankfully, focusing on Lockheart for the moment, allowing Sunset and Harry to sneak their way back out of the limelight.
The two of them shared a glance and, seemingly, both came to the same decision. Lyra’s new vault notwithstanding, the two of them were the wealthiest members of the group. If any of them should buy their books themselves, it was them. In short order, they handed them off to Ron and Ginny who seemed a bit startled, but ultimately didn’t argue.
“Funny to meet you here,” they heard a familiar voice from beside them.
Sunset turned and raised a brow when she laid eyes on Draco Malfoy. “Oh, also here?”
Malfoy nodded and turned to Ron and Ginny. “Your father also here?”
They shot him skeptical glances, but inclined their heads to point in Mr. Weasley’s direction. Malfoy looked in the direction and spotted him, then turned his head in a slightly different direction. Following his glance, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Sunset and Hermione who had also showed up beside them spotted another man that had Draco’s pale blonde hair and long face and could only be his father. Draco glanced between them for a moment until the two of them spotted each other. Then he leaned against the side of a bookshelf as they both stopped and stared at each other.
“Good. This should be entertaining.” When Sunset raised a brow he smiled. “Father has been rather on edge since your stunt at the ministry. That isn’t a good state of mind for a Slytherin. I figure if he gets a chance to vent a bit it’ll only be good for him.”
“You know,” came the voice of one of the Twins. “Dad has been a bit stressed himself lately.”
“Yes, he might have a point, brother dear, it might help them both.”
Sunset giggled, putting an arm around Hermione’s shoulder as they all turned to watch. Sure enough, Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy had been talking to each other with gradually increasing volume while the group had been distracted. Just as they returned their attention to the two, Mr. Weasley threw the first punch. Much to their surprise, Mr. Malfoy didn’t seem to even consider drawing his wand and returned in kind.
“Not how I expected that do go, to be honest,” Sirius remarked from beside the group.
The entire shop had by now turned their attention to the two men. A man they could only guess was the store owner tried unsuccessfully to get them apart. The photographer was bouncing around them taking picture after picture and Lockheart repeatedly swung his wand to reposition his table out of their way, but made no actual attempt to get them to part.
“Alright, fun though this is,” Sirius finally decided, “this has gone on for long enough.” He turned to two women standing not far from each other at the edge of the crowd. “Molly! Narcissa! Time to end this.”
Mrs. Weasley and the other woman who could only be Mrs. Malfoy looked to him, then to each other, nodded and drew their wands, reining their respective husbands in with a few well placed spells.
“Oh well, I best get going,” Malfoy remarked as he watched his mother start to drag his father out of the store. “See you at Hogwarts.”
“You know,” Lyra remarked from beside the group as she watched the Malfoys leave the store, “I wonder why that man tried to sneak this into my books.” When they turned to look at her, she held a small diary in her hands. “Pretty sure he didn’t want me to notice.”