Chapter Two

Harry sighed with relief when Hagrid put him on the train heading back towards Little Whinging.

He was mentally exhausted from the day he had had.

Things pretty much went as he remembered them.

The Dursleys were threatened by Hagrid.

Vernon’s gun got twisted like a pretzel.

And Dudley gained a little piggy tail.

Then the following morning Harry and Hagrid headed for Diagon Alley.

And with that came being swamped by every patron of the Leaky Cauldron.

Only this time instead of shying away from them from fear and nerves.

Harry actually spoke to them.

“Thank Merlin I’m mentally old enough to handle such interactions with maturity” he thought to himself.

And he was glad he did.

As he managed to win them over with his usual level of politeness and friendliness.

“Hopefully that will stop them all turning on me the first chance they get” Harry thought.

But with a sigh he highly doubted it.

Sure it was rather Slytherin behaviour of his.

But he had had quite enough of being vilified thank you very much.

Maintaining a polite expression was much more difficult in their next stop which was at Gringotts.

It was only reminding himself that the Goblins of this era don’t hold a grudge against him that allowed him to remain behind the mask of politeness.

A mask that also served him well when he was shopping for robes he even put aside his childish dislike for Draco and managed to actually talk to him.

Granted he was still an annoying bigot.

And when he asked Harry if he was one of their lot Harry was more than happy to say he was a halfblood.

He then went on to proudly talk about his Muggleborn Mother.

And only when Draco made a disparaging comment about her did Harry take offence.

This way Draco would think any bad blood between them was due to him insulting his Mother.

And not due to choosing “the wrong sort” in the Weasley’s.

Not that he was going to do that again anyway.

“I’ve had quite enough of being dosed up with Love Potions” Harry thought.

Harry was then brought out of his musing by the train arriving at his stop.

He quickly got off.

With Hedwig sent on to Privet Drive and his belongings shrunk to fit within his pocket he was able to disembark from the train with ease.

He however was nowhere near Little Whinging.

He had instead gotten off the train only one stop into his journey.

The reason being he had to make some purchases that he didn’t want Hagrid knowing about.

After all, for all he liked the man he knew he was unable to keep a secret.

And the last thing he needed was for him telling Dumbledore about certain things.

“Like it’s not bad enough I have a Dark Lord to contend with now I have to worry about Meddling Light Lords too” Harry thought with a sigh.

Harry exited the train station and headed to the first back alley he could find.

From there he Transfigured his clothing and placed some Glamour Charms over his appearance.

With his disguise in place he Apparated back to Diagon Alley with a barely audible pop.

Thankfully the Trace was not yet in effect.

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He knew this from his memories of Hermione mentioning being able to practise some simple spells before she boarded the Hogwarts Express.

He was glad he actually researched that at one point.

As such he knew it was due to the fact that boarding the train while in possession of their wand and their ticket forms a binding magical contract that initiates the Trace onto the young Witch or Wizard.

“Yeah I’m going to have to think of some way around that” Harry thought.

He had grown used to being able to cast magic whenever he wanted.

And the last thing he wanted was to be restricted by the Ministry again.

He quickly shook his head of those thoughts however when he began heading towards the first shop on his list.

That being the apothecary.

There he stocked up on ingredients that weren’t part of the standard curriculum.

This was so that Harry could brew some potions that would nullify the effects of any mind altering potion he could think of.

This included love and loyalty potions.

As well as revolution potions.

“This way I will keep my mind very much my own” Harry thought.

He also stocked up on ingredients for Wit Sharpening and Memory enhancing potions.

“This way I will be able to study and learn beyond my normal capabilities” he thought.

After all he had one of the most dangerous Dark Lords in history after him.

It would be folly not to do everything in his power to prepare for him.

“And this time I will actually be his damn equal” Harry thought.

He refused to let it be pure luck on his part that allows him to survive.

The fact he never took the threat of Voldemort seriously enough honestly annoys him now looking back on it.

“Why I fell for Dumbledore’s ‘enjoy your childhood’ mumbo jumbo I have no idea” Harry thought.

But then again with the Loyalty Potions in his system Dumbledore could have probably asked Harry to dance in the Great Hall in nothing but a tutu and he would have done it.

“Not this time” Harry thought to himself.

The final ingredients he purchased were for nutricional potions.

This way he could offset the years of malnutricion he suffered at the hands of the Dursleys.

“I might actually grow to full size this time” Harry thought with no shortage of pleasure.

With potion ingredients purchased he then headed towards the Second hand store.

There he purchased a slightly used Wizard Tent and a bag he has every intention of charming like Hermione’s beaded handbag.

He was also happy to find a wand holster in the store too.

As such he wouldn’t have to put his wand in his back pocket.

And would thus avoid any danger of harming his posterior in any way.

That and he didn’t want to risk breaking the wand again.

Sure he fixed it with the Elder Wand.

But it felt slightly off afterwards.

Like it was holding a grudge or something.

He was just glad this younger version of his wand doesn’t feel the same.

His last stop in Diagon Alley was Flourish & Blotts.

There he purchased all the supplementary texts to his school textbooks.

As well as pretty much anything that struck his fancy.

With those purchases done he headed into Knockturn Alley.

There he made his way to Borgin & Burkes.

Within the shady store Harry purchased first the Vanishing Cabinet.

He did so to prevent the Death Eaters from eventually getting their hands on it.

He also purchased A guide to Advanced Occlumency, a book that is sadly not stocked in Flourish & Blotts.

The reason he needed this was pretty much self explanatory.

He needed to be able to defend his mind.

And with Dumbledore, Snape, and Voldemort all in the castle in his first year he needed to be able to defend his mind as soon as possible.

And he sadly had little time to be able to do so with.

Thankfully he has a plan to rectify that.

But that will have to come slightly later.

Instead he focussed back on his shopping.

And so he finished with his final purchase being none other than a Pensieve.

The final purchase cost him a large amount of the Gold he had in his possession.

Despite that Harry knew it would be an invaluable tool.

And thus was more than happy to shell over the required gold.

With that Harry’s shopping was done.

And thus he headed back to Privet Drive.

And thanks to Apparition he managed to beat the Dursley’s back.

“Not surprising as they were out in the Middle of Nowhere” Harry thought.

And so Harry let himself in through the back door.

A quick unlocking charm was all that was needed.

He entered the house and headed up to Dudley’s second bedroom.

He quickly tidied up the mess with judicious use of household charms.

And with the room clear he had room to set up his tent.

Which he did so with a swish of his wand.

With his tent set up he proceeded to ward the room.

A few Muggle Repelling Charms, and those they used on the Horcrux Hunt made it so that he would not be bothered until September 1st.

“All I have to do now is stock up on food and other necessities” Harry thought.

And with the Muggle Money he got from Gringotts he headed to the nearest Supermarket.

There he brought enough food and drink to last him.

He also purchased some new clothing too.

And while they may not be anything fancy.

They were certainly a far sight better than the rags he was forced to wear.

And thus Harry settled in for the remainder of the holidays before he was due to arrive at Hogwarts.

And he was able to say he had made a good start in his plans.

Even if he had to temper himself and remind himself that this was only the beginning.

He had far more to accomplish.

And would no doubt experience various levels of setbacks.

But for the time being everything seemed to be going to plan.

And would thus enjoy the peace while it lasts.