Chapter Text
Harry stared up at the stone castle that would soon be his new school. His parents were next to him. He looked at his mom who was staring at the castle longingly as if it was a missed friend. His dad was smirking at the castle as if he was already thinking of some way to prank someone. Harry had grown up on the wrong end of his father's pranks; he learned how to read his father and his mischievous moods, to see the moment such a thought entered his mind. Through the years he had found ways to turn the prank back on his father.
“Let's head to the meeting and then we can explore the castle and grounds,” His mother says, Harry turns his attention back to her. If he didn't know his mother, he thought she would fit in as a student. She looked youthful and her gentle smile made her look childlike. His father took his mom's hand and Harry followed behind them. Harry always felt like a third wheel when he was with his parents. Their love was obnoxious.
Harry’s eyes flicked around the castle, he had been in castles before. There was an underlying pulse of magic in Hogwarts that other castles lacked. Harry didn't know what brought them back to England. They had been traveling around the world, never quite settling anywhere. Sometimes they would stay a few months but then they would be off again to somewhere new. Harry never counted how many different cities he has visited and now he was basically being shipped to boarding school. And stuck here for at least a year.
Harry could admit that he was a bit antisocial. He never had very many friends his own age, anyone he had met he didn't spend any real time with them. He met people, got their contact info, and then he was gone again. He wasn’t like his parents, who could make friends everywhere they went, with promises to visit again.
When they entered the headmaster's office, he wasn't alone. Two others were with him; he heard his mom call out, “Severus!” The man stared at her startled before his face smoothed out into an indifferent mask as his eyes looked over to his father.
Harry wasn't interested in the people, his eyes wandered around the room and he took in the portraits on the wall and the trinkets randomly spread around the room. His parents were already talking as if everyone was old friends. He heard his name but he ignored them.
“Harry, come over and say hello.” Harry looked over and all five of them were staring at him, Harry walked over.
“Hello,” he greeted.
“We're going to sort you into a house and then we’ll talk about what classes we’ll put you in. We’ll test you a bit and see where you can fit into the curriculum,” The headmaster spoke. Harry nodded, his parents had already explained what they were going to do before they arrived.
Harry took an offered chair and a hat was put on him, “Interesting, interesting,” The hat spoke. Harry itched at his nose and waited for it to call out a house. He had heard all about the houses from his parents who always reminisced about the wonderful times they had in Gryffindor.
“Slytherin,” The hat called out, the hat was taken off of his head.
“What!” He heard his father yell. Harry shrugged his shoulders. He didn't really care which house he was put in. But the fact that his father was so surprised did give him a bit of a thrill. He smiled at his father who was staring at the hat like it was broken.
“I’m very happy for you Harry,'' his mom said, pulling him into a hug, she didn't sound sincere.
“Slytherin? Slytherin? A snake? In my house?” His dad kept muttering to himself.
“Let's talk about the classes and then we can figure out what exams we want you to take.”
“Okay.”
Harry stretched out his body after the last exam.
“Let’s walk around while they finish grading. I can show you the spot I used to hang out at,” his mom said. His dad had finally gotten over the housing situation. Or at least waited until later to have another talk about it. His parents took him all around the grounds, from the quidditch pitch to the lake, to the shrieking shack. His parents walked in front of him sharing stories back and forth as if he wasn't there. As he walked the places in the stories he was told as a child became real.
After they finished giving him the grand tour, they walked back to the headmasters office.
“Harry has passed with near perfect scores, he has been taught quite well.”
“We have made sure his studies have been taken care of in our travels. He has always excelled in everything he has tried.” His mother said. Her tone didn't leave any room for comments. His mom had been pretty strict about his studies, she never wanted him to fall behind or to lose out on anything. His father had taught him wizarding customs, his mother taught him muggle customs. They traveled to muggle cities and to wizarding ones, he never felt he lacked education, he knew math and chemistry just as much as he knew charms and potions. He was well rounded in many subjects.
“Classes are due to begin in a week, you are welcome to stay here until the new term or you can join us by taking the Hogwarts express.”
“We want him to have the full experience so he’ll be coming home with us for now.”
Home was a strange word for Harry. Home was an ever-changing house. If magic did not make packing and unpacking so easy he probably would never unpack his things.
The fact that he was going to be in one place for nearly a year was bizarre. Leaving from Hogwarts; his parents wanted to take another trip down memory lane in Hogsmeade. Harry trailed along behind, he looked around at the shops and the quaintness of the town.
“We’ll go to Diagon Alley tomorrow and get his books and school supplies,” his mom was saying excitedly. It was about Harry but it was directed at his dad. Harry wondered if he should stay home while his parents took that particular trip.
After spending a few hours wandering around, they finally returned home. More accurately they returned to his godfather's house. The house his family owned in Godric's Hollow was abandoned by them when they left England. It was under the same charm as Grimmauld place but his parents didn't want to return to it. Harry had never gotten the full story of exactly why they left. He knew about the war and Voldemort, he knew about the Order of the Phoenix, he also knew that his parents still kept in contact with them.
What he didn't know was why, he had once overheard their conversation and knew they were gathering some kind of resources throughout their travels but whether it was magic items or contacts he couldn't be sure. He let his parents do their own business, he would either figure it out or he wouldn’t.
He loved when his godfather visited them wherever they were in the world. They would always go off and do their own thing. Harry always had a good time when he was with Sirius. Now they would be living together for a week before he was shipped off to Hogwarts.
Sirius wasn't home when they got there so Harry headed to his room. He was given a few books, one about Hogwarts history, another about magical jewelry. It had become a hobby and he was taught by a woman in Japan who was making origami messages. They could be used in two ways, one was similar to a howler but you could choose the volume it spoke at and it wouldn't explode if you didn't open it right away. The other way was more similar to a letter. As soon as you wanted to open the origami shape it would open and you could read the letter and then you could make it contort back into its shape and keep it. Harry thought it would be nice to make a smaller one and like a pendant you could open or close it whenever the wearer wanted.
That had been over two years ago, since then he's moved from paper to metal and back and forth. It had been the only hobby that has kept his interest longer than two months. He also found different spells and charms for the things he made.
On the empty desk in his room he set out a purple pouch, when he pulled the string to open it, the desk was soon filled with all of his tools and materials perfectly laid out in their places. Harry pulled a chair over and wrote out ideas from the day, and then did a few sketches before designing one and molding the metal how he liked. Some of them included the whomping willow, giant squid, and a building in Hogsmeade village. He decided to go with the more difficult Whomping willow, the branches would have to be delicately created to keep the intended image but also able to move around and reflect the real tree.
Harry tapped his pencil trying to decide which metal to use and what he wanted from the design. Harry always wanted more from his projects, and to give more to his clients. Harry met a lot of people traveling, a lot of people in all types of different situations. Harry had taken their names and created specific pieces for them. He charged more to the ones who could afford it and charged nothing to the ones who couldn’t. He wasn't in need of money. His family had money but he had created his own nest egg for his personal use. He didn't want to have to rely on his family all of the time. Harry had always grown up to be independent; it was hard not to when his parents needed him to be.
Harry thought of the Whomping Willow and how it protected itself, defense. He wrote out the charms he wanted to use. Then had to decide on a metal, it had to be something strong, cobalt. After everything was decided and figured out, he pulled out the materials and his wand. Sometimes he needed his wand for multiple spell combinations but he preferred not to use it. He pulled out the metal and began to work, he muttered spells as he manipulated the metal in the specific shape in his mind. He worked as if he was in a trance, the spells continued and the metal changed as it infused with the protection and defense spells.
The chain he chose for it was also imbedded with protection magic, when he finally sat back with his finished project his body popped and cracked. He stretched out and checked the time, it had been four hours since he started working on the project. He stood up, stretching his body in different ways to release some of the tension, his stomach rumbled in hunger. Heading out of his room, laughter rang out through the hallway. When he went downstairs he found his parents and godfather in the sitting room.
“There‘s my godson, your parents told me that you were working on something?”
“It's nothing. Were you able to get some days off?”
“Not just a few days, I got the whole week off. So we can have some real fun,” Sirius said excitedly. Harry grinned, “Your parents did want you to meet some of the others in the order though, some of the Weasleys are pretty fun. And you may have heard of Neville Longbottom.”
Harry nodded, he had heard about the Weasleys, Neville, and a few other kids and families who were in the Order of the Phoenix. He hadn't been too interested because of the way his parents had hyped them up. He knew Neville was the chosen one and his parents had died protecting him, his grandma, afraid that they would be next, took protection with Albus Dumbledore and the Order of Phoenix.
In his first year it was found out that a teacher was working with Voldemort, second year a basilisk was set loose in Hogwarts, though Harry hadn't heard much about his third year. He heard about his fourth year when the Tri-wizard tournament began; though Neville had fallen ill before names were chosen and his grandmother forced him to come home, his name had been called out of the Goblet of Fire.
It had caused quite the scandal, how could someone who wasn't present and who was underage put their name in? It was impossible, it wasn't long before they went through everyone and found Barty Crouch Jr. In his fifth year, Harry just knows that there was a change in the headmaster of Hogwarts and then it changed back. Harry was too focused on other things to care too much about Hogwarts. He didn't understand why his parents wanted him to start school in his 6th year, especially when things seemed to always happen around Neville and they weren't always good.
So for the rest of the day his godfather told him stories from his time at Hogwarts.
The next day Harry woke up early and began working on the giant squid. Instead of protection Harry focused on calming effects. Similar to a calming drought only this would have less of an effect and it also wouldn't wear off. He had used similar spells for a piece that helped a girl that had anxiety. He learned how to adjust the spells and which ones blended together to create the effects he wanted. A lot of it was trial and error and he failed quite a few times. There were still a few projects that he was still working on to get the right effects for.
He finished the squid and had just changed when his mother knocked and opened his door.
“Breakfast is ready, we’ll eat and then head to Diagon Alley. We’re going to meet the Weasleys and a few others there.”
“Okay, I’ll be down in a minute,” he told her, she smiled at him and shut the door. Harry packed up all of his tools. He wrote a small tag like he did for every project.
Squid Bracelet
Calming
Platinum and cobalt
Amethyst stones
He put the finished squid bracelet in a silver box and wrapped it with a red ribbon tying a bow on top with the tag. He placed it in the bag of his other finished products. He would mail out the commissioned products when he got back from shopping.
When they arrived at Diagon Alley; Harry shook his head at the uncontained excitement of his parents. Sirius was next to him, his hands were behind his head as they walked around. Harry took in the sights of the old buildings, a huge contrast to muggle life. Signs for quills and parchment made him shudder. Couldn't he just use a pen and notebook? He didn't understand why the English wizarding society decided to stay medieval. He knew it was difficult to integrate magic and technology but it wasn't impossible; he had seen other magical communities find ways to integrate. He supposed some communities were more old-fashioned than others.
“Harry, we're going to go in here to get you some quills,” His mother said, her smile widened and her eyes brightened. Harry stared at her and her smile softened. “I know this isn't very exciting for you,” she said. “But let us enjoy it.”
“How about you and dad go pick out the things I need and Sirius and I will walk around and check things out?”
“Alright, we're supposed to meet up with everyone at 1 in front of Gringotts.”
Harry looked at his watch, it was in thirty minutes. “Meet you later,” he said, he waved and Sirius wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
“Come on, I heard the Weasley twins had something of a store.”
“For what?”
“Pranks,” Sirius said, he smirked and led Harry further down the street.
The storefront they arrived at was small and wedged in between two buildings. It was so small, Harry was sure you couldn't fit more than a few people in there. When they got close, a red-headed man leaned out of a window. Harry couldn’t even see a door, it was only a window.
“I believe I’ve seen this man before, what can I get for you Sirius?”
“This is my godson Harry.”
“Ah, Mum’s been talking about you for days, I’m George Weasley. What can I get for you?”
Harry smiled, “You're the ones who created the extendable ears right? Sirius sent me some last year.”
“That was us,” Both twins stuck their heads out. Fred went back in and only George was only visible again.
Harry grinned, these were the people he wanted to meet. “I believe you've been looking for investors right?”
The man sighed, “We tried to get some before the summer but were turned down because of our age. We’ve made some good money this summer but we’ll of course never turn down a willing investor,” George said.
“I’ll invest,” Harry told him. “ how do you test your products?” Harry asked, he knew they created more than just extendable ears.
“We mostly use them on ourselves, you don't get very many willing participants.”
Harry nodded. “That's what I thought, I have an idea on how to fix that. Ever since I discovered it I really wanted to meet you and ask if you’ve been using the same technique.”
“Your very interesting Harry Potter,” George said.
“I’m thinking the same thing, do your parents know about this?” Sirius asked, his tone was curious and he ruffled Harry’s hair.
“If they asked then they would know. They’ve been really busy the past few years,” Harry said. He ignored Sirius’ frown as he focused his attention on George who soon closed down the store and called out to his brother. Harry found that he really liked the twins. He told them about the practice dummies he learned about in Italy.
A woman he met was a designer, she used the dummies for her clothes. They moved and walked around like humans, so she could see how her designs looked on a runway and for the general public. It helped her designs come to life. With a drop of blood or saliva, they would mimic a person. There was no brain activity or could do anything more than move their body. Basically, they were just walking mannequins. Harry thought that the twins could modify the dummies for their own use. And with the saliva or blood then they would react to their pranks as a normal person would. He had also come up with ways to recreate human skin to test on. He used the skin to see how certain metals affected skin. Sometimes his spells would affect the metal and cause it to irritate the skin. So some spells he couldn't use on certain types of metal.
Harry and the twins had to meet their families at the bank anyway so Harry decided to invest with the twins while they were at the bank and before either of their families interfered. It was the money Harry had gathered from his jewelry; he knew a good investment when he saw one.
When they finished all of the paperwork and left the building Harry saw the rest of the Weasleys in a group, they stood out with their fiery red hair. His mom stood next to them and strangely he thought she was also a Weasley, her hair was a bit darker but he thought she fit in.
“There you are, Sirius told me you had some business in the bank?” She asked, her eyes shifted between him and the twins.
Harry smiled, “Did you find everything?”
“We’ll need you to go in to get your robes and you can take Moonlet with you to pick out some treats for the school year.” Harry nodded, Moonlet was his owl, she was a short-eared owl that he had for a few years.
It looked like her face was surrounded by the moon, his father also sometimes called him Prongslet.
“We’ll take Harry to get new robes,” Fred said, he wrapped an arm around Harry’s shoulder, George doing the same on his other side.
“You boys will only cause trouble. Harry, this is Ron, Ginny, and my husband Arthur.”
“Hello,” Harry said, nodding to all of them, and then turned his attention to his parents.
“We can let the kids continue shopping, how about us adults go get some tea?” His mom suggested, with everyone in agreement, the two groups separated.
“Let's get you some robes and treats then we can have some fun,” Fred suggested.
“Mum will kill us if we don't get you robes,” George added.
“Mum said you'll be a 6th year, we might be roommates soon,” Ron said, Harry’s eyebrows drew together.
“I thought all of you were in Gryffindor,” Harry said.
“We are,” Ron said, his chin tilted up.
Harry snorted. “We won't be roommates then, I got sorted into Slytherin.”
Ron looked at him in horror. “What? But your parents… how did that happen?”
Harry shrugged, “It's where the hat put me.”
Ron frowned and then fell quiet, Harry ignored him as he listened to Fred and George. Ginny also didn't say much and he soon forgot she was there. They quickly got him robes, and treats, Harry wasn't very picky but Moonlet was. After she found ones she liked, they were free of obligations.
“Neville!” Harry turned when he heard Ginny yell. A tall boy waved with a bright smile, when he reached them Ginny hugged him and then hung on his arm.
“Neville? Ah, you're the chosen one right?” Harry asked, he looked at the tall boy who suddenly became shy. “I have a question for you.”
Ginny began to glare at him. Harry looked at her then to Neville as he asked his question “You're a parselmouth right? Do you think if I recorded a snake, you could translate it?”
“What?” Neville asked, he heard Fred and George start laughing and he ignored Ginny and Ron’s gobsmacked faces.
“I have a recording I saved in case I met up with you.” Harry pulled out a snake earring, he tapped it with his wand and a hissing sound came out.
“It uh, it says, fuck off basically.”
“Really?” Harry asked, he smiled at the earring. He tucked it away and returned his attention to Fred and George.
When Harry got home he finished the third piece of jewelry he had thought of, it was a building from Hogsmeade village, he decided relaxation and peace charms fit it well. When he finished he got ready for bed.
The week leading up to his departure was spent with his godfather and creating different types of jewelry, he was a bit inspired by Neville’s lightning scar. From a lightning bolt, he created a whole weather series. He took muggle and wizarding pictures of what he made. He sent out the ones commissioned for people and then boxed up the rest. He made sure everything was packed up in his trunk to take to Hogwarts.