𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 | 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿

Famous Boys & New Toys

CHAPTER THREE:

Third Person P.O.V.:

After spending a night at a hut to rest up, the half-giant got on his flying motorcycle as the two young wizards each got in a sidecar. With a large whoosh, the three were off into the daylight.

Charlie had a tough time sleeping the night before, as his mind was clouded with the memories of his birthday, whether they be good or bad. He was grateful to be out of the castle, but he was also scared of what returning to the castle could mean. Returning to Hogwarts meant preparing for the start of the term, and even though he wouldn't admit it to anyone, he was scared. Scared about what would happen at his sorting, scared of potentially failing his classes, and scared of trying to make friends.

All of these things scared him, but yet also excited him, as they were each things that he could look forward to and strive towards. He was pulled from his thoughts, as Hagrid gave him a little pat on the back to tell him to get up and follow.

Charlie groggily got out of the sidecar and caught up with Harry who had been reading off the items on the list that came with his letter, "Are you sure we can find all this in London?" He asked the giant.

Hagrid have him a quick nod, "Sure can. As long as yeh know where ter look."

Charlie smiled at Hagrid's comment as he knew that three of them would soon be walking through Diagon Alley, but his smile faltered as he realized that they first had to get to the entrance by walking through the Leaky Cauldron. The brown eyed boy was already dreading the attention he was bound to receive.

As the three of them entered the tiny, grubby-looking pub, Charlie took a minute for his eyes to adjust to the darkness inside. The low buzz of chatter had stopped as the three of them walked in, and Charlie suddenly felt uncomfortable because of the twelve or so people that were now staring at him with wide eyes.

He listened closely to the whispers from the crowd before him:

"Is that Hawthorne's son?"

"It's Charles Hawthorne!"

"What's he doing with the oaf outside of the castle?"

"Look at Dumbledore's grandson, all grown up!"

Charlie ignored them all and followed closely behind Hagrid as he made his way through the pub, but then stopped as Hagrid began talking to the bartender. He listened carefully to their conversation and the brown eyed boy was surprised when the bartender had directed a comment towards Harry instead of himself.

"Good Lord," said the bartender, peering at Harry, "Bless my soul. Harry Potter... it is a great honour!"

The Leaky Cauldron had once again gone completely silent before erupting into cheers, "Welcome back, Mr.Potter! Welcome back!"

Suddenly everything clicked in Charlie's head. Harry Potter was a legend within the Wizarding World, it was no surprise that everyone had been awaiting his return. He then looked towards Harry to see the boy standing there with a blank expression — he clearly didn't know what to say.

The brown eyed boy watched as the strangers had surrounded the boy with the glasses and bombarded him with praises. For the first time in his life, Charlie understood what it felt to be someone on the outside, looking in — and he thoroughly enjoyed it. Not the part about his new friend being surrounded by a crowd, but the part where they weren't concerned with him any longer.

Just then, a pale young adult man had made his way forward, very nervously. It didn't take long for Charlie to recognize the man as Professor Quirrell— twitching eye and all.