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Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the recognizable Characters They and the world of Harry Potter belong to J. K. Rowling. Any Original characters were created by me and anyone who wants them can use them. Not making any money off of this please don’t sue.
This is a rewrite of the second part of my unexpected Verse Shopping with the Dursleys. The original version was uploaded at ff.net on 8/31/2007. It was 1919 words. This version is 2014 words.
Shopping with the Dursleys
He arrived out side the Leaky Cauldron where Veronica Dursley was waiting with her mother. He was a bit surprised not to see Dudley with them. “Where’s Dudley?” He asked as a formality since it was clear he wasn’t there his cousin was too large to be easily missed.
“There was a problem at the gym her works for.” Annie said as her daughter kept bouncing impatiently. “Veronica calm down we’ll be heading in soon?” She said turning to her Daughter who subsided. “Harry I wanted to ask you some things about the stuff Dudley has told me if you don’t mind?”
“Sure I’ll do my best to answer any questions you have.” He was actually relieved that Dudley wasn’t here there were too many bad memories despite how well they’d parted. He was surprised to hear that Dudley worked for a gym his Uncle had always insisted that Dudley was going to follow him into the family bussiness.
“Dudley mentioned some kind of war and that it was over now but...” He understood she was worried about her duaghter’s safety. “He couldn’t give me too many specifics only that it involved you and his whole family went into hiding for a year.”
He gave her a brief overview of the war as they walked into the leaky cauldron. He was use dto the stares now but he saw that she was shocked by the blatant staring that was going on. “Sorry.” Harry said once he got her out into the alley. “But it’s the price of being famous from the war.”
He continued with his quick rundown on the war with Voldemort as they headed to Gringotts to exchange money. “You can exchange money inside there but it is best that I don’t go in with you. Gringotts isn’t exactly fond of me because of the time during the war I had to break into the vaults.” He tended to let Ginny do all the family banking since the goblins followed him around constantly any time he was there.
He guided them to Madame Minkin’s shop so her daughter could be fitted with robes. “I have a question.” Annie asked suddenly. “Why do people like me and my husband produce Magical offspring?”
He was a bit shocked no one had ever asked him that. “I don’t really know.” He had just always taken it for granted that muggleborns existed and never wondered why. “I’ll have to ask Hermione about it sometime.” He saw the curious look. “My Best Friend’s wife a muggleborn and was the best witch in our year.” He paused for a bit smiling at Hermione’s imagined reaction to the question. “She’ll either know or become obsessed with finding out and search every book in existence on the subject.”
“I was just wondering,” she said calmly. “Because when I told my parents my mom seemed a bit shocked and wondered if Veronica got it from us.” Hecouldn’t help but be curious about that. “I mean according to Mom her Grandfather went a bit funny before he died and kept insisting to someone who wasn’t there that he wasn’t a squib and not to send him to be with muggles.” She seemed to pause. “But I have no clue what a Squib is.” She said looking down. “I only bring it up cause of the word muggle which you said was used for non magic people.”
“A Squib is the opposite of a muggleborn.” He said curiously. “A child with at least one magical parent who was born without magic.” He really wasn’t sure what it could mean. “According to someone I know squibs were usually sent off to live with non magical families to make it easier on them or hide them.” He paused, “You wouldn’t happen to know your Great Grandfather’s surname would you?”
“It was Kingston but that was supplied by the Orphanage.” She looked away. “According to Mom he had been found at the orphanage a six-year-old boy with no memory of where he came from.” He could guess that whoever his parents had been they had obviated his mind to keep him hidden. “I was told he only went funny there at the end of his life.”
“I have a very good idea what happened.” He looked at her wondering how she would take this. “He was probably born to a family obsessed with blood purity and they erased his mind when it became obvious he was a squib to hide him.” He wondered how they’d explained his disappearance death or the truth. “He’s really lucky they didn’t just kill him off.”
He could tell she was really freaked out about it. “Just like with muggles there are bad eggs in the wizarding world. “ He said trying to soothe her. “It’s been getting better the last 20 years or so.” He said with a smile.
“Do you have any children?” She asked suddenly as they were leaving with her daughter’s robes. Veronica who had bene extremely well behaved so far looking around excitedly at her heels. “I asked Dudley but he didn’t know.”
“I have three.” Harry said with a smile. “My two sons are already in Hogwarts and my daughter starts next year.” He remembered how relieved Al had sounded when he ended up in Gryffondore. “I’ll introduce you at Kings Cross.” He said and seeing her nod smiled.
While getting Veronica her books, he was surprised to run into Antonia and John Weasley. “Hey Uncle Harry.” John said walking over his red hair obviously marking him a Weasley. His Older Sister Antonia however was the spitting image of her mother Penelope except for a pair of Horn-rimmed glasses like her father. “And who is this.” He asked Veronica who was staring around happily.
“I’m Veronica Dursley.” She said brightly and curtsied. “My Daddy is Mr. Harry’s Cousin.” She looked around at all the thick books on the shelves with a bit of trepidation.” Harry couldn’t help but smile when John offered to help her find her books and left with her and her mother.
“So Antonia, where is everyone else?” He asked Percy’s oldest daughter who in many ways despite her similarity to her mother in appearance was very much like him. He could just see that her mind was somewhere else.
“Mother and Father are helping Eleanore buy her wand and robes.” She said calmly. “John and I are purchasing everyone’s books and Owen is supposed to be refilling our potion ingredients.” He knew from her tone she doubted the oldest of her younger siblings was doing that. “I imagine we will find him at Uncle George’s goofing off or staring at the latest racing broom in Quality Quidditch supplies.”
Harry knew she was getting ready to go on a tangent about how irresponsible her brother was and decided to change the subject. “So what House does Eleanor want to be in?” He wondered because unlike the rest of the family so far Percy hadn’t had a single child in Gryffondore much to his annoyance at George’s teasing about it.
“She says she will be in Gryffondore like dad.” Antonia said primly and flicking a bit of her brown hair over her shoulder. “I expect she’ll get her wish though if not I hope she ends up in Ravenclaw with me and John instead of Hufflepuff with Owen.” She gave the first indication of something other than her normal adult tone when she spoke next. “The Fact they won the Quidditch cup last year has made Owen more irritating than ever.”
James had been furious as well; his first year on the Gryffondore quidditch team as a chaser and they got crushed by his cousin and Hufflepuff. He could still remember his son ranting that Hufflepuff only won because the sorting hat put Owen there by mistake. “Oh Congratulation on becoming Head Girl.” He said noticing his Niece brighten considerably at him finally remembering and congratulating her on it.
He was saved from listening to her go on about how good it was for her future prospects when Annie and her daughter returned having gotten their books. “I’ll see you two later.” He said to them and then escorted Annie and her daughter to the next stop on their list. As they passed quality Quidditch supplies, he spied the jet black hair of Owen Weasley goofing off with a few of his friends and showing them what looked like a tattoo of the Hufflepuff crest. “I hope your dad doesn’t know about that.” He said as they approached and Owen looked up guiltily.
“It’s just one of Uncle George’s removable reusable fakes.” He said sheepishly. “I wanted a real one but Dad said he’d hex me into next week if I showed up with one.” Harry introduced him to the Dursleys. “Pleasure to meet you but wasn’t Dursley the last name of that guy that Uncle George helped give the ton tongue toffee too?”
Harry shot him a look to be quiet and said pointedly. “Aren’t you supposed to be buying potion ingredients?” At which point Owen said he had to go as he needed to get that done before his parents found him. He didn’t think either Annie or Veronica needed to hear about the Ton tongue toffee incident.
“A strange boy.” Annie observed after he had left. “And what’s a ton tongue toffee?” Harry didn’t answer he just waited as they were approaching a store he knew would get a reaction. “What on earth is that?” She asked staring at a store.
“That’s Weasleys’ Wizard Weezies.” He said with a smile. “My Brother-in-law George founded it with his twin brother Fred.” He smiled even more when Annie wanted to head inside. “Why don’t we go get your wand first?” He suggested knowing he’d have to explain and warn Annie about some of what was in there before they got there. The little girl brightened and commented that she had really wanted a wand most of all. Harry knew that was true it seemed everyone looked forward to the wands the most.
As they approached the shop, Annie pointed. “I think I see another of your brother in laws.” Harry looked and saw she was pointing at Percy’s back. He and Penelope walked with a little red haired girl between them. “A lot of red hair in your wife’s family isn’t there?”
He couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah my mother-in-law was a bit taken aback when some of her grand kids showed up without the red hair.” When they reached the shop he watched Annie and her daughter react to Ollivander. He had never been quite sure how to take the man and he saw he had that effect on the Dursleys as well. He couldn’t help but smile though when Veronica reacted to hearing some wands contained Unicorn tail hair. The little girl had become ecstatic and declaring she wanted one of those wands.
The reaction of Ollivander was even funnier because he spent the next few minutes trying to explain that a wizard had no control over the type of wand they were best suited for but the girl remained adamant until her mother informed her she would get the best wand for her regardless of what it contained. Harry could tell the girl still hadn’t given up hope because she smiled brighter every time Ollivander handed her a unicorn-cored wand. On the fifth wand they had a winner and much to Veronica’s delight it was cherry and unicorn hair.
Afterwards Annie managed to persuade her daughter to leave without a tour of Weasleys Wizard Weezies by asking her didn’t she want to go home and show daddy all the things they’d bought.
As Harry said goodbye to them and assured them he’d see them at Kings Cross to help them get on the platform he left wondering vaguely what family her great-grandfather had come from. He wondered what Hermione’s reaction to all that would be other than outrage at a wizarding family hiding away a squib with no memory of where he came from.
The End.
REVIEW HERE
This is a rewrite of the second part of my unexpected Verse Shopping with the Dursleys. The original version was uploaded at ff.net on 8/31/2007. It was 1919 words. This version is 2014 words.
Shopping with the Dursleys
He arrived out side the Leaky Cauldron where Veronica Dursley was waiting with her mother. He was a bit surprised not to see Dudley with them. “Where’s Dudley?” He asked as a formality since it was clear he wasn’t there his cousin was too large to be easily missed.
“There was a problem at the gym her works for.” Annie said as her daughter kept bouncing impatiently. “Veronica calm down we’ll be heading in soon?” She said turning to her Daughter who subsided. “Harry I wanted to ask you some things about the stuff Dudley has told me if you don’t mind?”
“Sure I’ll do my best to answer any questions you have.” He was actually relieved that Dudley wasn’t here there were too many bad memories despite how well they’d parted. He was surprised to hear that Dudley worked for a gym his Uncle had always insisted that Dudley was going to follow him into the family bussiness.
“Dudley mentioned some kind of war and that it was over now but...” He understood she was worried about her duaghter’s safety. “He couldn’t give me too many specifics only that it involved you and his whole family went into hiding for a year.”
He gave her a brief overview of the war as they walked into the leaky cauldron. He was use dto the stares now but he saw that she was shocked by the blatant staring that was going on. “Sorry.” Harry said once he got her out into the alley. “But it’s the price of being famous from the war.”
He continued with his quick rundown on the war with Voldemort as they headed to Gringotts to exchange money. “You can exchange money inside there but it is best that I don’t go in with you. Gringotts isn’t exactly fond of me because of the time during the war I had to break into the vaults.” He tended to let Ginny do all the family banking since the goblins followed him around constantly any time he was there.
He guided them to Madame Minkin’s shop so her daughter could be fitted with robes. “I have a question.” Annie asked suddenly. “Why do people like me and my husband produce Magical offspring?”
He was a bit shocked no one had ever asked him that. “I don’t really know.” He had just always taken it for granted that muggleborns existed and never wondered why. “I’ll have to ask Hermione about it sometime.” He saw the curious look. “My Best Friend’s wife a muggleborn and was the best witch in our year.” He paused for a bit smiling at Hermione’s imagined reaction to the question. “She’ll either know or become obsessed with finding out and search every book in existence on the subject.”
“I was just wondering,” she said calmly. “Because when I told my parents my mom seemed a bit shocked and wondered if Veronica got it from us.” Hecouldn’t help but be curious about that. “I mean according to Mom her Grandfather went a bit funny before he died and kept insisting to someone who wasn’t there that he wasn’t a squib and not to send him to be with muggles.” She seemed to pause. “But I have no clue what a Squib is.” She said looking down. “I only bring it up cause of the word muggle which you said was used for non magic people.”
“A Squib is the opposite of a muggleborn.” He said curiously. “A child with at least one magical parent who was born without magic.” He really wasn’t sure what it could mean. “According to someone I know squibs were usually sent off to live with non magical families to make it easier on them or hide them.” He paused, “You wouldn’t happen to know your Great Grandfather’s surname would you?”
“It was Kingston but that was supplied by the Orphanage.” She looked away. “According to Mom he had been found at the orphanage a six-year-old boy with no memory of where he came from.” He could guess that whoever his parents had been they had obviated his mind to keep him hidden. “I was told he only went funny there at the end of his life.”
“I have a very good idea what happened.” He looked at her wondering how she would take this. “He was probably born to a family obsessed with blood purity and they erased his mind when it became obvious he was a squib to hide him.” He wondered how they’d explained his disappearance death or the truth. “He’s really lucky they didn’t just kill him off.”
He could tell she was really freaked out about it. “Just like with muggles there are bad eggs in the wizarding world. “ He said trying to soothe her. “It’s been getting better the last 20 years or so.” He said with a smile.
“Do you have any children?” She asked suddenly as they were leaving with her daughter’s robes. Veronica who had bene extremely well behaved so far looking around excitedly at her heels. “I asked Dudley but he didn’t know.”
“I have three.” Harry said with a smile. “My two sons are already in Hogwarts and my daughter starts next year.” He remembered how relieved Al had sounded when he ended up in Gryffondore. “I’ll introduce you at Kings Cross.” He said and seeing her nod smiled.
While getting Veronica her books, he was surprised to run into Antonia and John Weasley. “Hey Uncle Harry.” John said walking over his red hair obviously marking him a Weasley. His Older Sister Antonia however was the spitting image of her mother Penelope except for a pair of Horn-rimmed glasses like her father. “And who is this.” He asked Veronica who was staring around happily.
“I’m Veronica Dursley.” She said brightly and curtsied. “My Daddy is Mr. Harry’s Cousin.” She looked around at all the thick books on the shelves with a bit of trepidation.” Harry couldn’t help but smile when John offered to help her find her books and left with her and her mother.
“So Antonia, where is everyone else?” He asked Percy’s oldest daughter who in many ways despite her similarity to her mother in appearance was very much like him. He could just see that her mind was somewhere else.
“Mother and Father are helping Eleanore buy her wand and robes.” She said calmly. “John and I are purchasing everyone’s books and Owen is supposed to be refilling our potion ingredients.” He knew from her tone she doubted the oldest of her younger siblings was doing that. “I imagine we will find him at Uncle George’s goofing off or staring at the latest racing broom in Quality Quidditch supplies.”
Harry knew she was getting ready to go on a tangent about how irresponsible her brother was and decided to change the subject. “So what House does Eleanor want to be in?” He wondered because unlike the rest of the family so far Percy hadn’t had a single child in Gryffondore much to his annoyance at George’s teasing about it.
“She says she will be in Gryffondore like dad.” Antonia said primly and flicking a bit of her brown hair over her shoulder. “I expect she’ll get her wish though if not I hope she ends up in Ravenclaw with me and John instead of Hufflepuff with Owen.” She gave the first indication of something other than her normal adult tone when she spoke next. “The Fact they won the Quidditch cup last year has made Owen more irritating than ever.”
James had been furious as well; his first year on the Gryffondore quidditch team as a chaser and they got crushed by his cousin and Hufflepuff. He could still remember his son ranting that Hufflepuff only won because the sorting hat put Owen there by mistake. “Oh Congratulation on becoming Head Girl.” He said noticing his Niece brighten considerably at him finally remembering and congratulating her on it.
He was saved from listening to her go on about how good it was for her future prospects when Annie and her daughter returned having gotten their books. “I’ll see you two later.” He said to them and then escorted Annie and her daughter to the next stop on their list. As they passed quality Quidditch supplies, he spied the jet black hair of Owen Weasley goofing off with a few of his friends and showing them what looked like a tattoo of the Hufflepuff crest. “I hope your dad doesn’t know about that.” He said as they approached and Owen looked up guiltily.
“It’s just one of Uncle George’s removable reusable fakes.” He said sheepishly. “I wanted a real one but Dad said he’d hex me into next week if I showed up with one.” Harry introduced him to the Dursleys. “Pleasure to meet you but wasn’t Dursley the last name of that guy that Uncle George helped give the ton tongue toffee too?”
Harry shot him a look to be quiet and said pointedly. “Aren’t you supposed to be buying potion ingredients?” At which point Owen said he had to go as he needed to get that done before his parents found him. He didn’t think either Annie or Veronica needed to hear about the Ton tongue toffee incident.
“A strange boy.” Annie observed after he had left. “And what’s a ton tongue toffee?” Harry didn’t answer he just waited as they were approaching a store he knew would get a reaction. “What on earth is that?” She asked staring at a store.
“That’s Weasleys’ Wizard Weezies.” He said with a smile. “My Brother-in-law George founded it with his twin brother Fred.” He smiled even more when Annie wanted to head inside. “Why don’t we go get your wand first?” He suggested knowing he’d have to explain and warn Annie about some of what was in there before they got there. The little girl brightened and commented that she had really wanted a wand most of all. Harry knew that was true it seemed everyone looked forward to the wands the most.
As they approached the shop, Annie pointed. “I think I see another of your brother in laws.” Harry looked and saw she was pointing at Percy’s back. He and Penelope walked with a little red haired girl between them. “A lot of red hair in your wife’s family isn’t there?”
He couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah my mother-in-law was a bit taken aback when some of her grand kids showed up without the red hair.” When they reached the shop he watched Annie and her daughter react to Ollivander. He had never been quite sure how to take the man and he saw he had that effect on the Dursleys as well. He couldn’t help but smile though when Veronica reacted to hearing some wands contained Unicorn tail hair. The little girl had become ecstatic and declaring she wanted one of those wands.
The reaction of Ollivander was even funnier because he spent the next few minutes trying to explain that a wizard had no control over the type of wand they were best suited for but the girl remained adamant until her mother informed her she would get the best wand for her regardless of what it contained. Harry could tell the girl still hadn’t given up hope because she smiled brighter every time Ollivander handed her a unicorn-cored wand. On the fifth wand they had a winner and much to Veronica’s delight it was cherry and unicorn hair.
Afterwards Annie managed to persuade her daughter to leave without a tour of Weasleys Wizard Weezies by asking her didn’t she want to go home and show daddy all the things they’d bought.
As Harry said goodbye to them and assured them he’d see them at Kings Cross to help them get on the platform he left wondering vaguely what family her great-grandfather had come from. He wondered what Hermione’s reaction to all that would be other than outrage at a wizarding family hiding away a squib with no memory of where he came from.
The End.
REVIEW HERE
