Over the next few days, Gwen and Harry made their way around Diagon Alley buying the new textbooks they'd need for the new year. They first went to Flourish and Blotts where Gwen was horrified to learn that they'd need to buy a book that seemed to be alive.
As they entered, a cage of the books were fighting with each other, pages flying everywhere as they bit at one another. The manager had not been too happy to learn that she needed to buy one, brushing them aside as he reached in with gloved hands, battling to tie the book shut with the belt that was wrapped around the binding and handing it to Gwen who took it gingerly.
'Do you need anything else?' the manager asked, looking a bit more dishevelled than he had when they'd entered.
'Uh, yes,' Gwen said, looking down at the list in her hand. 'Unfogging the Future by Cassandra Vatblasky.'
The wizard nodded and shuffled toward a stack of books. As he did so, there was a loud ripping noise; the monster books had started fighting again. The manager sprung backwards, grabbed a walking stick and started batting the books.
'Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!'
The books eventually ceased their attacks, and, wiping the sweat from his brow, the manager sighed and went back to the other shelf. Harry and Gwen shared an apprehensive look.
'Here,' the wizard said, pressing a copy of Unfogging the Future into each of their hands. 'Starting Divination this year? This book is a very good guide to all your basic fortune telling methods; palmistry, crystal balls, bird entrails.'
Gwen nodded appreciatively, but both she and the wizard noticed Harry wasn't listening. They followed his gaze to another Divination book, one that looked much more morbid than the one they had just received.
'Oh, I wouldn't read that if I were you,' the wizard said. 'You'll start seeing death omens everywhere. Enough to frighten anyone to death.'
Gwen grimaced while Harry continued to stare. The cover depicted a giant spectral dog with foggy eyes. The dog was massive, probably the size of a bear.
The wizard turned back to them. 'Anything else?'
'Yes,' Gwen said, noticing Harry tearing his eyes away with effort. 'We need... Intermediate Transfiguration, The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Three...'
Gwen and Harry emerged ten minutes later carrying their new books and made their way back to the Leaky Cauldron. They kept bumping into people on the way, and their books nearly toppled from the top of the stack several times.
They went into their respective rooms to drop off their new belongings. Someone had been in to tidy Gwen's room; the window was now open and sunlight spilled in. She could hear the street of the unseen Muggle London below, and on the other side, the bustle of Diagon Alley could be distantly heard.
Gwen dropped her books on the dressing table, then went to knock on Harry's door. He looked quite shaken when he faced her, and Gwen immediately asked him what was wrong.
'That dog on the cover of the death omens book,' he said, shutting the door behind her as she stepped in. 'I've seen it before.'
'When?'
He shook his head. 'When I left the Dursley's. On Magnolia Crescent.'
Gwen looked at him. 'Is that a Muggle street?'
Harry nodded.
'I doubt it was a death omen, Harry. It was probably a stray dog.'
He nodded again, but didn't look convinced. Gwen reached out to squeeze his hand. 'Don't think about it,' she said. 'Death omens present themselves much more obviously. My grandmother said she saw one years ago, she was convinced she was going to die. She's still here.' She paused. 'Just about.'
That seemed to put Harry's mind to rest a little. He even managed a small laugh at her morbid joke. He squeezed her hand back and turned to the mirror, attempting to flatten his hair down. It was always messy and untameable.
His mirror spoke then, in a wheezy voice. 'You're fighting a losing battle there, dear.'
• • •
As the days slipped by, Gwen and Harry spent most of their time at Florean Fortescue's. They spent their time eating ice cream sundaes and awaiting the respective arrivals of Ron and Hermione. They'd seen plenty of other Hogwarts students with the start of term so near. They'd met Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, fellow Gryffindors, in Quality Quidditch Supplies, who were also ogling the Firebolt. Lavender Brown, another Gryffindor girl, had said a cheerful hello to them when they'd seen her near Gringotts, and they'd passed Parvati and Padma Patil, twins who had been leaving Madam Malkins.
Outside Flourish and Blotts, they'd met Nevill Longbottom. He was a sweet, forgetful boy who, unsurprisingly, had misplaced his booklist and was being told off by his ever-formidable grandmother. After Gwen had given Neville her booklist, feeling quite intimidated under his grandmother's gaze, Harry checked they were out of earshot and mentioned, quietly, that he hoped that she never found out he had pretended to be Neville when he had been on the run from the Ministry. Gwen tried to suppress a giggle.
They'd also seen Theodore Nott, who was happy enough to greet Gwen with his charming smile. She'd never seen him or Harry interact before, but she guessed, from the tense atmosphere, that there was some sort of rivalry. Probably due to the fact that Theo was friends with Draco Malfoy. Both Harry and Gwen were glad they hadn't seen him.
It was on the last day of the holidays, when Gwen and Harry were deciding where they were going for lunch, that someone yelled their names from behind.
'Harry! Gwen!'
There they were, both of them, sitting outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour -- Ron looked incredibly freckly and Hermione very tanned, both waving at them.
'Finally!' said Ron as Harry and Gwen joined them, sharing hugs and greetings. 'We went to the Leaky Cauldron but they said you'd both left, then Flourish and Blotts and Madam Malkin's--'
'We got all our school stuff last week,' Harry said. 'How did you know we're staying at the Leaky Cauldron?'
'Dad,' said Ron simply. Makes sense, Gwen thought. Mr Weasley worked at the Ministry of Magic, and would, of course, had heard Harry's story with his aunt.
'Did you really blow up your aunt, Harry?' Hermione said seriously.
'I didn't mean to,' said Harry, while Ron howled with laughter and Gwen found herself laughing again. 'I just-- lost control.'
Hermione glared at Gwen and Ron. 'It's not funny,' she said. 'I'm honestly amazed Harry wasn't expelled.'
'So am I,' Harry said as Gwen ordered them all an ice cream from Florean Fortescue. 'Forget expelled, I thought I was going to be arrested.' He sighed, then looked at Ron. 'Your dad doesn't know why Fudge let me off, does he?'
Ron shrugged. 'Probably 'cause it's you, isn't it?' He was still chuckling. 'Famous Harry Potter and all that. I'd hate to think what they'd do to me if I blew up my aunt. Mind you, they'd have to dig me up first, Mum would've killed me.' He paused as their ice creams arrived. 'Anyway,' he went on with a mouth full of ice cream, 'you can ask him yourself later. We're staying at the Leaky Cauldron tonight too, so you can both come with us to King's Cross tomorrow. Hermione's staying there too.'
Hermione smiled, nodding. 'Mum and Dad dropped me off this morning with all my Hogwarts things.'
'Brilliant,' Gwen said. 'So have you got all your new books and stuff?'
'Look at this,' Ron said, pulling out a long, thin box out of his bag and opening it. 'Brand new wand. Fourteen inches, willow, containing one unicorn tail hair.' Gwen picked it up, twirling it between her fingers. Ron had broken his wand at the beginning of last year, and to say he'd had a tough time was an understatement. She found herself grimacing as she remembered he'd accidentally cursed himself to vomit slugs.
'We've got all our books too,' he went on, pointing to a large bag under his chair. 'Those monster books, though.' He shook his head. 'The assistant nearly cried when we said we wanted two.'
It was then that Gwen noticed three huge, heavy looking bags next to her chair.
'I'm taking a few more subjects than you, aren't I?' she said. 'Those are my books for Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, the Study of Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies--'
'What are you taking Muggle Studies for?' said Ron, rolling his eyes at Gwen and Harry. 'You're Muggle-Born! Your Mum and Dad are Muggles! You already know all about Muggles!'
'But it'll be fascinating to study them from a wizarding point of view,' Hermione said.
Gwen raised an eyebrow. 'Are you planning to sleep at all this year, Hermione?' She took a bite of her ice cream. Harry smiled while Ron sniggered. Hermione ignored them.
'I've still got ten galleons,' she said, checking her purse. 'My birthday's coming up and Mum and Dad gave me some money to get myself an early birthday present.'
'How about a nice book,' said Ron innocently.
Hermione shook her head. 'No I don't think so. I really want an owl. I mean, Harry's got Hedwig, Gwen, you've got Orion and you, Ron, have Errol--'
'I haven't,' Ron said. 'Errol's a family owl. All I've got is Scabbers.' He pulled his pet rat out of his pocket. 'And I want to get him checked out. I don't think Egypt agreed with him.'
He put the rat on the table in front of them, and Gwen instinctively moved her ice cream away. She wasn't a fan of rodents, but she did have to admit that Scabbers was looking thin, and there was definitely a droop in his whiskers.
'Well, the creature shop is just over there,' Gwen said; both she and Harry knew Diagon Alley very well now. 'You could see if they have anything for Scabbers, and Hermione can get her owl.'
They finished and paid for their ice creams, then made their way to the Magical Menagerie.
Inside wasn't much of a room. Every inch of the walls were covered by cages. It was smelly and noisy, and it seemed that every occupant of the cages were squeaking, squealing, squawking or hissing. The witch behind the counter was already advising a wizard on the care of double-ended newts, so Gwen, Harry, Ron and Hermione waited, examining the cages.
There was an array of weird and wonderful creatures that Gwen had never seen before. Plump purple toads, a giant tortoise with a jewel encrusted shell, poisonous orange snails and a fat white rabbit that kept changing into a silk top hat with a loud popping noise. Then there were cats of every colour, a noisy cage of ravens and a basket of custard coloured furballs that were humming loudly. On the counter, there was a vast cage of sleek black rats that were playing a skipping game with the long, bald tails.
The wizard with the double ended newts left, and Ron approached the counter. He explained the situation and the witch ordered that he put him on the counter as the witch pulled out a pair of giant spectacles. The rats on the counter stopped playing their skipping game and scrambled to take a closer look.
'Hm,' the witch said, picking Scabbers up. 'How old is this rat?'
Ron shrugged. 'Dunno, Quite old. He used to belong to my brother.'
'What powers does he have?'
'Er--' Ron glanced back at Gwen. Truth was, Scabbers had never shown any magical ability. He was nothing more than a garden rat.
The witch looked at Scabbers more closely. 'Been through the wars, this one. Normal rats don't usually live more than three years. And he's missing a toe.' She sighed.
After a closer inspection, she advised Ron to give him a special rat tonic, which came in a small red bottle. He went to take it.
'OK,' he said, 'How much-- OW!'
Ron buckled as something huge and orange came soaring from the top of the highest cage, landed on his head and then propelled itself, spitting madly, at Scabbers.
'NO, CROOKSHANKS, NO!' the witch yelled, but Scabbers had shot from her hands like a bar of soap, landed splay-legged on the floor, then scampered for the door.
'Scabbers!' Ron cried, sprinting after the creature, and Harry followed. Gwen would have too, had she not been still trying to process what had happened.
The witch managed to grab hold of what Gwen had now realised was a cat, which was still hissing and staring at the door. Gwen and Hermione stood there watching as the witch calmed the orange cat down, and eventually, it stopped its attack and sat purring on the counter.
'Oh, I do apologise,' the witch said, stroking the cat's long fur. 'He's usually a very tame boy, I don't know what's gotten into him.'
'It's OK,' Gwen said, approaching the counter with Hermione. 'I'm sure Scabbers will be fine. How much is the tonic?'
Gwen paid for the red bottle, pocketing it. She expected Hermione to be browsing the owls, but instead, she was fixated on the cat.
'Did you call him Crookshanks?' she asked, reaching out to stroke the orange fur. It wasn't a pretty cat by any means, and had a face that looked like it had been slapped by the back of a frying pan, but Hermione seemed to have utterly fallen in love with it.
The witch nodded. 'Yes. He's a good boy really. Do apologise to your friend for me.'
Hermione was smiling at the cat, who purred louder under her touch. 'He is lovely, isn't he?' She glanced back, who had to admit despite its appearance, the cat was quite adorable.
'Nobody wants him,' the witch sighed. 'He's been here for ages.'
Gwen reached across the counter to stroke the cat too. Crookshanks seemed like a fitting name for him. He nuzzled his nose onto Gwen's hand. She did feel sorry for him.
Apparently, Hermione did too. 'I'll take him,' she said, beaming. 'He's beautiful.'
The witch looked truly delighted. She took Hermione's payment and gave her a run down on his favourite foods, things to do and places to sleep.
'I think he may be part Kneazle too,' she said as Hermione cradled the cat in her arms. 'He's awfully intelligent, our Crookshanks.'
Pleased with her new purchase, Hermione led the way from the Magical Menagerie, Gwen following behind. Crookshanks continued to purr loudly as they caught up to Harry and Ron, the latter of whom had caught Scabbers. His mouth fell open as he saw the girls.
'You bought that monster?' he said, his mouth hanging open.
'He's gorgeous, isn't he?' Hermione said, positively glowing. Gwen didn't miss the apprehensive look that crossed over Harry's face.
'Hermione, that thing nearly scalped me!' said Ron.
'He didn't mean to, did you, Crookshanks?'
'And what about Scabbers?' said Ron accusingly, pointing at the lump in his chest pocket. 'He needs rest and relaxation! How's he going to get it with that thing around?'
'Oh, that reminds me,' Gwen said, passing Ron his rat tonic. 'Stop worrying Ron, Crookshanks will be in our dorm, and Scabbers in yours.'
'What's your problem?' Hermione said. 'Poor Crookshanks, that witch said he had been there for ages; no one wanted him.'
Ron scoffed. 'Wonder why.'