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Post by Harry Potter on Jul 4, 2010 16:31:50 GMT -5
As much as Harry regretted the decision to leave his friends in the dark, he knew that it was necessary and impecably important that they did not risk their lives for him. Again. As they so often did. The people he loved most, Ron and Hermione, Ginny and the rest of the Weasley family, all the members of the Order and the people from Hogwarts who had always stood by him and believed his ridiculous stories about Voldemort.. They came first now. They had to stay out of harms way, even if that meant they ad to be left behind.
It was now or never, because Ron and Hermione were so damn stubborn that they would not leave his side, and he was so sure that saying goodbye to Ginny would crush what little there was left of his soul. He would spend the day preparing, and then would sneak out in the middle of the night, leave like a shadow into the dark cold night. He had things to collect, orders from certain shopkeepers and back-alley dealers. So with his black travelling cloak pulled tight and his hood pulled up around his face, Harry walked through the Leaky Cauldren without saying a word, went out the back and tapped the correct brick with his wand. It opened, the stones all rearranging beautifully to create the arch onto the tiny cobbled street.
It looked different form the first time he was here. The colour drained from the windows, the people fewer and scared of any sudden noise. A car backfired in the Muggle street behind the pub, and three witches huddled together for protection from the unknown source of the sound. Harry almost felt sorry for them, except he was too anxious to get his tasks completed. He strode towards the first shop on his list, the potions supply shop, where he picked up an order for basic ingredients he suspected he would need on his journey. He systematically began, working his way through the shops on his list with no hesitation and no time to spare, his hood kept up to help keep his profile low.
It was too tempting, however, to stop in Ollivanders abandoned shop. The door was open, hanging off its hinges, so Harry just had to push it gently to enter. The windows were grimy with dust and muck, and all the shelves were empty of wands except a few which looked battered or damaged. He paused, before stooping to collect three off the ground. He placed them on the table before picking up the first to study it.
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Post by Stella Leimbach on Jul 5, 2010 12:04:09 GMT -5
"So..." the voice came from the door, a voice belonging to Stella "You're him?" She had been living with the boy in front of her's old rival, curious that she should be running into him here.
"I think", she kicked a box with her heeled shoe, "This place might be closed", she didn't look as if she belonged here. She looked like she belonged on the cover of some muggle magazine the way she dressed, but Vena had a never ending bank account and Stella didn't mind using it. She placed her hands on her hips and looked over at Harry.
"You're him aren't you?" she raised her brow, "The Chosen one" she used her little quote fingers as she spoke it. "Must be a bummer", as usual she was pointing on the obvious, very bluntly.
"So Mister Potter, what are you doing here?"
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Post by Harry Potter on Jul 5, 2010 14:29:01 GMT -5
His own wand was out before she even said a word, and both his own Phoenix father wand and the one he had been looking at were aimed squarely at her chest. It was a jerk reaction, something he had become so good at that it almost took him by surprise. It wasn't that he was scared, it was that he was cautious, and they were two seperate things. He looked at the girl her young face and fashionable clothes, almost mistaking her for a Muggle except for the obvious fact that she was in Diagon.
"Who're you?" He asked, not bothering with niceties or proper introductions. Harry didn't have time for that sort of thing. And besides, hadn't he decided to cut loose of all civilization? Wasn't this supposed to be his last day out in the Magical society before he disappeared, supposedly vanished into thin air so he could secretly carry out the task Dumbledore had set for him?
The young man didn't bother for a reply as to the girls name before he turned his attention back to the wand he was studying, slipping his own into his sleeve.. She didnt seem like a threat, and even if she was, he was certain he could perform a stunning spell before she could even think of a decent curse. Harry rolled the thin wooden stick between his fingers, looking at the workmanship, before waving it lightly towards the broken ladder. It fixed itself, but looked feeble, and after a moment split in two. He sighed, putting the wand back on the table away from the other two he had collected.
"If you must know, I'm going to steal a few wands." Potter said in a very matter-of-fact tone, not looking at the girl as he took up the second wand and tapped the desk in front of him. It burst into brilliant blue flames, before Harry extinguished them a moment later. He pocketed that wand and turned to look at the girl for a moment.
"Never know when you might need a spare."
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Post by Stella Leimbach on Jul 5, 2010 16:02:52 GMT -5
Stella didn't exactly look fearful when he pulled a wand on her, afterall what she had heard of him, he was supposed to be the good guy. She put her hands up to show she was unarmed anyway, a reflex reaction, something she had seen on all the old cowboy tv shows she had seen.
"Estella Leimbach", she said simple with a shrug, she wasn't bothered his attention seemed to elsewhere. She looked curiously at him. "Spares wands", she looked doubtful, no wand could ever do what your own wand could. Perhaps they could be decent substitutes however. She let her hands fall. She moved a bit closer interested in what he was doing, being the Ravenclaw that she was she could already see the flaw in his choosing.
"The ones with unicorn tails are more versatile and less picky on who uses them", she said simply, which was simply odd to her because unicorns had preference for females near them over males, but it seemed their wands did not care so much. "And oak" she added, "Probably the best". So she had read an unnatural amount about wands. Then again she had read an unnatural amount about anything and her mother's books were... detailed.
"Although I can't imagine your going to be playing with the type of people that a replacement wand will work for anyway", she frowned. "Though my cousins new project did seem to think that you had a great deal of skill", she pondered as if she was talking to herself. "I suppose I can see some of his regard for you now." She chose her words carefully.
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Post by Harry Potter on Jul 5, 2010 16:35:34 GMT -5
She seemed to know something about wands, which might be helpful, but Harry had been reading too. "I'm not very compatable with unicorn wands. They're usually best for healers and transfiguration. I need a wand that can fight." He said, somewhat distracted by the third wand. It was strange, Harry could almost feel the magic pouring out of it even though he wasn't touching it. He picked it up between his fingers very cautiously, and when he held it in his hand properly, it felt white hot in his grasp. The boy dropped it, and it clattered to the ground, a spark of red and purple starts spuring from the tip.
"Something unsavory. Probably Basilisk fang." Harry shuddered involentarily, feeling suddenly quite uncomfortable. He kicked the wand away from him, feeling like he had been violated by it's power. Some wands were created with evil in their very core, and Harry had learned about obscure wand cores. If a wandmaker so wished, he could probably make a wand with any core. True, the strength of the wand would depend on the core and the wood it was bound in, but Harry was content that he had at least one success here.
He finally turned his attention to her again, as if she was a ghost that could be ignored, but eventually you remembered their cool presence. "Sorry. It's important that I have a spare. Voldemort's wand and mine will not do battle. I need a back up plan." He said simply, shrugging slightly. Why was he telling this girl - Stella - about his wand and Voldemort's?
"Project? What do you mean, he thinks? Who holds me in high regard? I can't imagine many do at the moment. I'm leaving the wizarding world completely in the dark. I'm disappeaing. I thought people would hate me for that" The young man said, confused now. Not many people knew he was disappearing to perform the task of destroying HOrcruxes, but people had spread rumours that he was going to run away to Europe or somewhere far away where Voldemort could not hunt him until he stubled upon some miracle. Well, he might end up in Europe. How was Hrry to know where the rest of the Horcruxes were?
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Post by Christian Silvont on Jul 5, 2010 16:59:11 GMT -5
"Dragon heartstring?" she suggested lightly, "Probably would be the most accurate, but it holds strength well", she imagined the boy probably had a lot of raw power. It was odd hearing someone speak the "creatures" name. Vena said it often enough, but Vena had her reasons, she supposed Harry did as well.
Stella smiled at him. She had an odd trait of getting people to speak with her, perhaps it was something magical she had, or maybe she simply appeared trusting. "I suppose I haven't been apart of this wizarding world for very long", she shrugged, the troubles of Voldemort did not affect the magical population of America as it did Europe. Then again with the witch trials and things witchcraft has been kepy very secretive there. "So I can't decide to hate you or not yet", she said logically.
"You don't know then. I suppose thats good that your people know less, the more you know the more the Deatheaters will know and the more interest it will bring for Vena", her words carried a worried undertone. Her cousin was doing some risky things and Stella hadn't known the woman for long, but she had taken care of her, brought her in, and been nothing but warm and kind to her. She supposed she loved her cousin.
"The Malfoy boy", she crossed her arms, "He's ran off from the deatheaters". She spoke as if it was something simple and not a complex and personal decision the boy had made. "You two were something of... rivals?" she peered at Harry curiously now.
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Post by Harry Potter on Jul 5, 2010 17:17:34 GMT -5
Harry didnt know who this Vena person was, though he assumed she was some sort of problem for Voldemort. If the Death Eaters were a threat to her, then she obviously wasnt a Death Eater or an accomplise of the Dark Lord. That was comforting, to think that the world wasn't divided into the Order and the Death Eaters. There were people still fighting against Voldemort, resisting the Death Eaters, even if they were only doing it on a personal level.
"Malfoy.. You mean Draco? We.. We were rivals, you could say. I hated his guts for years. But last year.. He wasn't.." Harry hesitated. He hadn't talked about this properly, not even to Ron or Hermione. But Draco had lowered his wand and that cunted for something. He was't a cold-blooded killer. He was a boy, a scared boy who'd been shunned into an impossible situation. Very much like himself, Harry thought. Neither of them had chosen to have their fates tied to Voldemort's.
"He's not my friend, but I don't wish ill on him anymore. I just want him to.. I don't know. Grow up maybe, and realise he doesn't have to be his fathers lapdog." Potter spoke, thinking now of Draco, the same way Harry had seen him that night on the Lightning Tower. Weak, terrified and alone.
But he laughed at Stella's comment about not liking or hating him. "Maybe you should pretend we never met. That way youdont have to make a decision and you dont have to lie to anybody who might ask about me. Just forget.. this" He gestured to the room and to himself, "ever happened. It'll be easier on you, trust me"
Potter already knew that Voldemort was working inside the Ministry of Magic. He suspected it would only be a matter f time before he could controll the different puppets in the high official positions. Maybe he would put out a warrant for Harry's arres,t, send him to Azkaban instead of killing him outright. Harry would suffer under the Dementors until his sanity turned sour and disintergrated. He shuddered at the thought
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Post by Vena Leimbach on Jul 5, 2010 17:48:38 GMT -5
"Mister Potter", she looked at him doubtfully, "I doubt my knowledge of your existance, and this small meeting can in anyway make my life more complicated, Besides a brief conversation in Diagon alley about your old Hogwarts days is hardly a lie now is it?" she smiled simply. This Potter was an odd one. She had guessed he was now wary of hurting people who assocaited with him.
"Perhaps Draco is growing up then", she said thoughtfully, he seemed awfully mature to her. Maybe Potter was judging him unfairly, its not easy to go against the things you had learned since the day you were born. She held a lot of respect for someone who could do that. Her cousin for one. "He's as safe as he can be, somewhere with a clear head, maybe now he can make his own choice", in a way Draco had escaped the wizarding world just as Harry was planning on doing.
She trailed her fingers along a dusty shelve before shaking the dust from them. "It's quite odd seeing you here", she paused, "well not as if it's odd running into you, but seeing you, you're not like a super hero" she laughed, her muggle comic books. She frowned, could someone so ordinairy... no ordinairy wasn't the right word, she reasoned he would be ordinairy if he could, but no one gave him that choice, he made his own to be something great, instead of falling. "I've decided Harry Potter", she said simply, "I do like you afterall'.
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Post by Harry Potter on Jul 7, 2010 14:47:46 GMT -5
"I dont know if that's a good thing or not. People who like me usually end up getting hurt." Harry said simply, shrugging. He took a sweeping look around the shop, deciding that there was no more it could offer. He felt sorry for Mr Olivander, although he had never really liked the man as such. He was a little too intimidating, even when Harry met him at the Triwizard Wand ceremony. The man had been creepy and it chilled Harry's blood. Anybody who took pleasure in the acts of Voldemort's wand couldn't be sane, or normal. He had been almost excited by the thought of how much destructiion Voldemort's wand ha caused. Harry shuddered.
"It's good that Draco is somewhere safe, though I very much doubt anywhere is safe these days. I assume you're still at Hogwarts, right?" The boy asked, tilting his head to consider Stella and how old she might be. Probably still in school, with probably only a year, two at most, to go. He wondered what would happen at Hogwarts now that Dumbledore was..
He shook the thought. "Are you out here alone? It's probably a good idea to have a few friends next time you come venturing out.. Dont think I'm being funny, it's just safer with a group.." He realised the hypocrisy of his words before he finished, but there was no sense in people getting hurt for no good reason. At least Harry could look after himself, and if he didn't he had a idiculous amount of luck on his side. Speaking of which, he should probably see about investing in some Felix...
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Post by Stella Leimbach on Jul 10, 2010 13:38:19 GMT -5
"I am, I suppose I am in your age", she shrugged, Harry wasn't at Hogwarts that was obvious. "It's dreary", she said as if reading his thoughts, "They all miss him", Stella of course was left out of this group, because well, she hadn't been there she had never met the man. "He must have been something wonderful", she sighed.
She tried to contain her fit of laughter, he was warning her to not go out alone. "Potter... dear... Shouldn't I be telling you to be careful and not wander around alone", she frowned, "Then I suppose thats what you're planning on doing, "Since the people who like you end up getting hurt", she repeated his words, "You can't protect everyone, its silly to try", she was reminded of Vena again. She offered her hand for him to shake, "It was nice to meet you Mister Potter", she said with a quirky smile, "do be careful, I feel as if we'll meet again".
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Post by Harry Potter on Jul 11, 2010 12:58:08 GMT -5
Harry smirked. "You're a weird one, I'll give you that.." He murmured, his hands slipping into his jeans pockets. The wand he had aquired sat comfortably in his inside pocket, and he only had a few more things to collect for the journey he was about to make. He could almost afford this time to have a conversation, an ordinary conversation with an ordinary person. Not an Order meeting or some tactical plan with Ron and Hermione. He felt as if these past few years had stolen what chance he had of a childhood, and replaced it with a middle-aged attitude and a weariness he was too young to bare.
"Well, Stella, it's been nice. Bizarre, but nice. I hope you're careful, and that you're safe through all of this.. Horror. I'd tell you to give my best to Draco, but he'd probably choke in disbelief. Just.. Congratulate him. For finding a brain." Harry grinned, pulling the black travelling cloak back over his head. He looked at her for a moment, a smile and a slightly bemused look on his face, before he pushed through the damaged door and disappeared out onto Diagon alley again, to finish the rest of his shopping. He would stop off at Gringots very briefly, to take as much money as he could carry, before heading into Knockturn for the last of his supplies.
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