Harry Potter and the Hall of Justice

Chapter 3 Return to Diagon Alley


It was late evening when Mr. Weasley and Harry arrived at the Burrow. Ron, Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were on the front porch as the ministry car stopped in front of the odd old house. Ron ran out and threw his arms around his old friend as he stepped out of the car. If Harry had any concept of what heaven was, he would probably say it couldn’t be any better than being with his old friend at the Burrow.

Ginny ran up behind her brother and was about to give Harry her welcome when he stepped clear of Ron and wrapped his arms around her. Harry felt her jump with a start, but she instantly returned the affectionate hug. Mrs. Weasley came next and kissed Harry on the cheek and immediately began doting over him, telling him how wonderful he looked and how very happy they all were to have him back in their home.

Shortly, Ron and Harry had carried his things into the house and up the stairs to his bedroom. Ron was his old self, talking non-stop about everything and rolling his eyes around with an occasional smirk at something funny he would say. Harry grinned at every little detail, so filled with joy he was.

They were soon called them down to dinner. Ron’s mom and Ginny had prepared a feast for Harry’s homecoming. As they were sitting around the table, Mr. Weasley whispered something to Mrs. Weasley and she laughed out in wonder about whatever it was. He continued his story in a whisper, and she happily nodded her head all the while. Ron and Ginny asked him about his summer and Harry told them the best thing that happened was their dad pulling up into the Dursley’s driveway to pick him up.

Mrs. Weasley overheard his reply. “Now Harry,” she began, “there won’t be another thing you’ll have to worry about anymore where that is concerned, I dare say. I would think you’d be glad to be going back to school.”

“Yes, Mum,” he replied. “I’ve thought of little else from the very day I started my summer holiday.”

“Harry?” Mr. Weasley began. “Have you given any thought what you might be doing after your last year at Hogwarts?”

“No, sir,” he said, glancing at Ginny who seemed to be intently waiting for his reply. “Professor Dumbledore told me he wanted to speak to me about my future plans before school finished last semester. He made it sound like he had something in mind. I’ll hear him out before I begin looking at my other options.”

“Wonderful!” Arthur Weasley exclaimed. “I bet Dumbledore will steer you in the right direction. You can be sure of that. Fine, fine old wizard, that Dumbledore is.”

“We have not been able to get a word out of Ron,” Mrs. Weasley added, faking a sorrowful expression. “He doesn’t seem to understand the importance of making plans.”

“Now, Mum,” Ron whined, rolling his eyes at Harry. “You know Fred and George want me in the family business.” A big smile blossomed on his face, with a subsequent wink at Harry.

“Family business, you say?” Mrs. Weasley asked loudly. “Family business. Ha! Those two pranksters are going to get the business end of my frying pan if they try dragging you into their shenanigans. Those two boys are my biggest disappointment, they are. I must have dropped them on their heads when they were babies. That’s probably what done it.”

Harry noticed Ginny had hardly touched her food. She sat and stared at him the entire time he was at the table. Each time he turned her way, however, she would blush and shyly look down at her plate or towards her mother. He knew it was going to be very hard keeping his distance from this lovely, lustful creature until they were back at Hogwarts.

The family headed off to bed after the late evening meal was over and after a little conversation about what supplies were needed from Diagon Alley the next day. Harry had gone straight to the bathroom down the short hall from Ron’s room and upon exiting ran into Ginny. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek.

“I’m glad you’ve come to stay with us, Harry,” she said. “I’ve missed you so very much this summer.”

Harry placed his hands on Ginny’s arms, high up near her shoulders. “I missed you even more,” he whispered. He then leaned forward and kissed her gently on her cheek. “When we get back to Hogwarts, I have something to ask you,” he whispered in her ear.

“What?” she gasped. Pulling back so as to look into his face, her green eyes were glistening.

Harry could feel her quaking in his hands. She raised her own shaking hands and laid them against his chest. “Not now,” he whispered. “After we get back to Hogwarts but not before.”

Harry pecked her again on her cheek and walked off to Ron’s bedroom. It was one of the hardest things he had done in a long time, separating from her. He wanted to hold her close to him, tightly, and never let her go. He stopped before entering Ron’s bedroom and turned to find her still standing there in her long white nightshirt. In the dim light he smiled at the frozen statuette of the beautiful girl and entered the bedroom.

Ron was leaning back against the headboard of his bed squinting at a brochure from a muggle department store. “I don’t know what any of this stuff does, Harry. One of these days you must take me to one of the muggle stores and show me these things for real. After looking at this, I sort of understand why my ol’ dad is so excited about muggle stuff,” Ron said.

“Yeah,” replied Harry. “But you should let Hermione take you. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had a lot of that junk, but they never would let me near it so I don’t know how any of it really works.”

Ron frowned and sadly said, “You’ve had it pretty bad. I don’t understand muggles, I don’t.”

“No, Ron,” Harry said, wanting to explain. “It isn’t muggles. It is the Dursley’s. They are just different. I think it has to do with a fear they have of strange things not a part of their world. Of course, my Aunt Petunia is just jealous. She was really jealous of my mother; I know that for a fact. So, I don’t really think it has anything to do with being a muggle. Look at Hermione, after all. Her parents are really nice people.”

“Yeah. I guess,” Ron replied. “I wonder if we’ll be seeing Hermione at Diagon Alley tomorrow?”

“Didn’t Ginny get a letter from her?” Harry asked.

“Yeah, but she didn’t say anything about Diagon Alley. We always seem to run into her there though, don’t we?” Ron asked, arching his eyebrows as if expecting a quick agreement from Harry.

“Seems like we always do. Are you still pining away over her? You really need to tell her how you feel, Ron.” Harry said, not expecting much of response out of him.

“Nah! I once thought I’d like to be with her but she still gets too mental for my liking, and it drives me absolutely crazy. I don’t see it ever happening. It would have made me very sad to admit that, once upon a time, though. But things change, huh?” Ron said with his characteristic little smile.

“Yeah,” Harry replied.

“I guess you know Ginny is still crazy over you. If she bothers you, I can talk with my mum and dad if you like,” Ron said, his expression changing to a worried look.

“No, don’t do that!” Harry blurted out. “I’ve been thinking about Ginny a lot lately. There aren’t very many girls I’ve known, Ron, who really know me for who I really am. Ginny is different. If it doesn’t bother you, I think I’m going to ask her to be my girlfriend.”

“Really? Ginny? I never thought I’d see the day. She’ll be floored. And no, why should it bother me. I want to see her happy. I just hope it doesn’t mess up our friendship,” Ron said, laughing out about the revelation.

“Don’t say anything. Okay?” Harry quickly asked.

“Don’t worry about me. It’s none of my business. You and Ginny! Of all the things! Ha!” Ron laughed out. He rolled over in his bed and was still giggling about it when he drifted off to sleep.

Harry couldn’t believe he had let his old friend know so soon. He wanted to let Ron know his intentions about Ginny after they got to Hogwarts and things settled down. “Well, so much for letting the cat out of the bag,” he thought. In a strange way it did give him some comfort as he closed his eyes. He hated keeping anything from Ron, but figured he would notice something was up soon enough.

Harry’s last thoughts, as he drifted off to sleep, were of Ginny. He replayed the scene outside the bathroom door over and over in his mind, relishing her touch and the softness of her skin as he softly kissed her cheek. His mind kept replaying the look in her eyes over and over, after he had told her there was something he wanted to tell her, after they got to Hogwarts. Looking down into Ginny’s eyes was the last conscious vision he had as he drifted off to sleep.

The next morning the two boys were lifted out of bed by a heavenly scent drifting up to them from the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley had prepared a grand breakfast, and it took them all of a minute to find themselves sitting at the kitchen table.

“Well, good morning to ya!” she exclaimed. “I hope you two didn’t stay up half the night talking away. We have a big day ahead of us, we do.”

“We slept like a couple of babies, Mum,” Ron said and Harry agreed.

“We need to all get a good breakfast in us before we head out to Diagon Alley. It will lessen the temptations once we get there,” she told them.

She didn’t really need to tell Ron and Harry they had to eat heartedly. They were just finishing their first plate when Ginny came down dressed in a green blouse and black skirt, which ended just above her knees and showed off her shapely legs. The green blouse made her eyes gleam an amazing emerald green. She had a large smile on her face and greeted everybody a very good morning at the table.

“Do you like my new blouse, Harry?” she asked, her eyes dreamily seeking his approval.

“It’s beautiful, Ginny. It makes your eyes look an amazing emerald color. Don’t you think so Ron?” he asked.

“Yeah, whatever,” Ron said, never looking up from the crumpet he was slapping a heap of jam onto.

Harry winked at Ginny and she blushed instantly. She brought a hand to her mouth before wiping away a few emotional tears. Harry noticed she was breathing heavily, and she lowered a hand to her chest, as if she was trying to will herself to control her breathing.

“Thank you, Harry,” she finally said, bashfully but proudly.

Mrs. Weasley had turned around and saw the interaction between her young daughter and their guest. She quickly turned back to the stove and smiled, reaching up to wipe her own tears away. Nothing could have made her happier this day. What she had just witnessed spoke volumes to her, and it was the answer to one of her grandest dreams.

“Well, it is just us today,” Mrs. Weasley happily said. “Arthur was called into work. Seems like something big is happening at the ministry. We’ll know more in a day or two. So you boys finish up your breakfast and get cleaned up. We leave within the hour.”

Again, she really didn’t need to urge them very much. They were both ready for a little adventure, and Harry had a secret and very special little mission of his own to take care of, which excited him even more about the trip. The sooner they left, the better.

Within the hour Mrs. Weasley had them positioned in front of the fireplace. She held a flowerpot in her hand filled with glittering floo powder, and one by one they stepped up to the fire, threw the floo powder into it and shouted “Diagon Alley!” and vanished. In a flash of emerald green light they were transported to Diagon Alley and, with just a small bit of soot on their faces and clothes, looked none the worse for wear.

Harry excused himself right away, telling Ron he had to take some money out of Gringotts and arranged to meet the family at Flourish and Botts in a couple of hours to buy their schoolbooks. With that, Harry hurried off to the bank where he withdrew a sum he figured would cover his rather costly purchase.

Upon leaving the bank, he made his way to a small jewelry store he had noticed before beginning his second year at Hogwarts. He was staying at the Leaky Cauldron at the time and had spent hours and hours exploring Diagon Alley.

He walked straightway down the cobblestone street and quickly relocated the store. Upon entering, Harry spoke to a little old wizard behind the display case, describing a particular sort of jewelry he was looking to buy. The small man scratched at his head a bit, and then in a flash his eyes lit up. He knew exactly what the young wizard wanted to see. He excused himself and disappeared into a room at the rear of the store. Shortly, the old man returned and opened a small green felt jewelry box. Inside was a square cut emerald set in a gold setting with rows of small diamonds along each side.

“This is a most exquisite piece, my young man,” he said. “The emerald is a little over four carats, emerald cut, with a VVS rating under the Type III clarity scale. That means it is nearly flawless and is rated as exceptional plus. As you can see, very fine diamonds accent it. The emerald is prong set in a two-tone ring of white and yellow gold. It is very elegant, very unique and very, very beautiful, don’t you agree?”

“How much is it?” Harry was almost afraid to ask.

“I could not possibly take less than five hundred Galleons for it, my young man. It is a one of a kind, you see? Very old and, of course, exceptional as it is,” the old man added, greedily smiling up at Harry.

“Is it possible to engrave something inside the band?” Harry asked.

“Of course, it is done all the time. And if you like, the letters can glow in any color you would like, making it easier to read,” the old wizard proudly informed him.

Harry had never been an impulsive buyer of anything in his life, but the ring touched a nerve, in an odd sort of way. There again, he had never really purchased anything of real value in his entire seventeen years living on this earth.

The old man teasingly lifted it up closer to his face. Harry didn’t hesitate but quickly reached out and removed it from the jewelry box. “Fine, I’ll take it!” Harry blurted out, shocking even himself with the suddenness of his decision. “I’ll go get the money. I want the inscription to read ‘Ginny, Love Always, Harry’. Can you do that? Is it too long, too much?”

“Consider it done,” the old man winked. He gave Harry a piece of parchment and had him write down the inscription exactly how he wished it to appear. He also asked the old wizard to have the letters glow the same green as the stone.

Harry returned to Gringotts and in no time walked back into the jewelry shop with a heavy canvas bag of Galleons. The old man was waiting, and they quickly completed their transaction.

“The gold band will automatically adjust perfectly to the finger of the wearer,” the man informed him. He lifted the ring so that Harry could inspect it and the new inscription closely.

“You said it was old and unique?” Harry asked. “How old and what do you know of the previous owner?”

“I’m afraid I don’t remember much about it, young man. I purchased it years ago from an old wizard named Nicolas Flamel. Seems to me, how was it now,” he paused in thought. “Yes, this Flamel was very old. His wife had just passed away, and he wanted to settle some outstanding debts or use the money for some special purchase or something like that. My mind isn’t as sharp as it once was, my young man, you must excuse this old wizard. Anyway, as I recall, he told me he had the ring specially made for his wife before they got married. Yes, that is right. But there is something else.”

Again, the old man stopped to ponder. He rubbed at the stubble on his chin. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. “Oh, yes, of course, he called the ring by name: ‘Preciosa Querida’, Precious Beloved. One could clearly see the ring meant a great deal to the old man. It was very hard for him to part with it, but I don’t believe he had any family to leave it to. Really rather sad, it is, thinking back on the old fella standing here about where you are this very moment, young man. There was such a great sadness in his eyes. I never saw him again. But I’m sure old man Flamel would be happy to see someone wearing it and not have it stored away in the back of my old store. I do so hope whomsoever you give it to will have many years of great happiness wearing it.”

Harry thanked the man and stuffed the box down deep into the right-front pocket of his pants. After he left, the old wizard hurried to the door, as he had suddenly remembered something else about his acquisition of the ring. The young man was not in sight, though, so he turned around and reentered his shop. “That is odd,” the old wizard thought to himself, thinking back upon his conversation with Nicolas Flamel. “The day he sold the ring to me - - - he said I would someday know who to show the ring to.” He reached up and scratched at his balding head. “That is strange, that young wizard was the only person I had ever shown the ring to in all these years. Strange, very strange indeed.”

Harry made his way quickly to Flourish and Botts and arrived just as the Weasley’s were entering the shop. Once inside, they immediately spotted Hermione. She was hefting a large book off of an upper shelf and nearly fell over backwards as it pulled free. Ron quickly reached up and helped her lower the weighty volume to the table behind them.

“Thanks, Ron!” she said, looking around at all the red-headed magical folk standing around her. “I just knew I’d see you all here today.” Hermione reached out and hugged Mrs. Weasley and Ginny.

“Hello, Hermione!” Harry called out as he stepped around the counter.

“Harry!” she screamed. “I didn’t know if we’d meet you here this year or not. Looks like you lucked out and made it to the Burrow, huh?”

“Yeah, thankfully!” he replied, grinning widely. “I told Ron the very best day of my summer holiday was when his dad pulled into the driveway at the Dursley’s.”

“So? Did you bring your list?” Hermione questioned the two boys.

“Regretfully,” said Ron with a frown. “I was kind of hoping they’d be sold out already.”

“You know you’re not that lucky, Ronald Weasley,” Hermione said, laughing out.

The five meandered through the old bookstore and soon found the texts and supplies they needed. Hermione’s mother and father came into the store, each with a shopping bag dangling from an arm. Mrs. Weasley, at Ginny’s urging, spoke with her parents about the possibility of having Hermione stay the last few days at the Burrow before they departed for Hogwarts. Hermione had hoped such would happen and had forewarned her parents before coming to Diagon Alley. Her parents agreed to let her go to the Burrow for a preschool visit and to meet her at the train station with her luggage the day of departure. It was soon agreed all around and right after a nice lunch, which was Harry’s treat, the five departed Diagon Alley for the Burrow.

After another trip by floo powder, they each needed a good washing. It was no wonder, Harry amusingly thought, that many pictures and paintings of wizards and witches showed dirty, grimy faces. Thank goodness for portkeys and the like.

Ginny and Hermione were seen very little over the next several days at the Burrow. However, Ron and Harry could hear the two giggling and laughing away in Ginny’s room from time to time. Harry figured Ron’s eyes were surely close to falling out of their sockets as much as he had been rolling them around. He noticed Ron had pretty much developed a permanent smirk, too.

Finally, however, their little sojourn at the Burrow had ended. Mr. Weasley had again borrowed the largest vehicle he could from the Ministry and the six of them squeezed into the vehicle amongst a wide assortment of luggage and animals.

Hermione’s parents met her at the station with her luggage and Crookshanks. And, after a final visit, hugs and kisses, they each pushed their carts through the brick arch at Platform 9 and three-quarters. The huffing, puffing and hissing of the old red steam engine was music to their ears as they passed through the magical brick archway. And the sight of moving masses of young students winding their way to the coaches was just as visually pleasing.

After pushing their luggage down to the baggage handlers, Hermione turned around to Ron and Harry. “Shall we?” she asked, pointing toward a coach car.

“Yeah,” Harry said. “We better find a compartment fast before we have to divide up and squeeze in where ever we can.”

“No need to rush,” Ron remarked. “There’s always an empty compartment or two.”

His statement didn’t change Hermione or Harry’s mind, though. They quickly boarded the train and began looking for an empty one.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Author\'s note: Once again - - - you will notice I changed Ginny\'s eye color to green (they are brown in J.K.\'s story) - - - please forgive me taking such liberties . . .