Christmas part three

Isaac drives down a long gateway, which leads seemingly nowhere until a small cottage suddenly pops up out of nowhere.
"Protective spell." he responds to my surprised expression.
A man with slicked back, greyish hair stands in the door. He looks very formal and strict but his expression is gentle.
"Dad!" greets Isaac him with a tight hug "Looking fit, how's work?"
"It's all good son." Russel pats him on the back "Things are good at the hotel?" his Irish accent is even stronger than Isaacs.
Isaac nods "Fedoria and Jim are finally expecting."
I quietly close the car door behind me, unsure what to do with myself. Do I hug my uncle? Shake his hand? Run away and take the next train to Hogwarts where I don't have to deal with family members I probably used to be a massive dick to?
Russel turns to look at me "It's so good to see you, kid." he greets me with a wide smile.
I carefully walk towards him "Er- it's, uhm, nice to meet you... sir."
He laughs "Sir." he gives me a warm, friendly, dad hug "You used to call me uncle Russel, but I'm assuming you might need some time to adjust."
I nod carefully.
"Ah well, that's just fine. Come on, let's get you settled, eh? Make you some tea. You want something to eat?"
"Oh I'm all good, thanks." I follow him into the cottage.
By walking through the blue door I enter the living room. A fire is crackling in the fireplace. The entire room is simple but incredibly comfortable, with its leather sofa covered in colourful pillows and soft blankets, the record player in the corner is playing quiet, classical music and the walls are covered in dark bookshelves, filled with all kinds of literature. A warm feeling grows in my chest as I look around closely examining, the paintings and flowers pinned to the walls, the photographs on the wooden desk, the soft carpets covering the crooked, wooden floor.
"It's so beautiful here." I whisper.
Russel looks surprised and exchanges a quick look with Isaac "You weren't exaggerating." he says.
Isaac laughs "No. Creepy, isn't it?"
"What is?" I ask.
"Let's just say... the old you wasn't the kind of person to describe this as beautiful. Or to call anything beautiful at all." says Isaac.
Russel smiles softly "It's still good to have you back, Haven." he points at the sofa "You kids sit down, I'll get you some tea. Earl Grey is still fine?" He asks me.
I stare at him "Uh-"
"Yes dad. Earl Grey is perfect." says Isaac for me.
As soon as Russel disappears into the kitchen I stare at Isaac "Who?"
He grins "You didn't just lose your memory you also lost you britishness. Tragic. To answer your question, Earl Grey tea is your favourite. Trust me."
I shrug "How couldn't I." I go to sit down on the couch but a specific photograph catches my attention. "Is that... us?" I ask Isaac walking over to the desk. The past version of me is staring back at me. Though dark blue, my eyes are piercing straight through my skin. I'm even paler than now, the black hair falls messily into my face. Isaacs arm is wrapped around my shoulder and few feet away stands Russel with a forced smile on his face.
"Yes..." says Isaac stepping behind me "Your parents used to be standing there." he points at the empty space between us and Russel.
I'm not smiling in the picture. I'm just staring. I notice bruising on the left side of my face, well hidden by the curtain of hair. "Why..." I look at Isaac "Why is my face all bruised?" I ask him carefully.
I frowns sadly and shakes his head "I doubt you'd like to know."
"More of the things you're going to tell me when I'm fourteen?"
He nods "Yes."
I sigh "Isaac... did my father do that to me?"
He lowers his eyes to the ground "Haven, let's not talk about this today, okay?"
"He wasn't a very good person, was he?" I ask carefully.
Isaac shakes his head "No, he really wasn't."
I sigh "Well... not much I could do about it now, anyways, right?"
He smiles with relief once he realizes I'm willing to let it go for now "The tree is still outside." he says "Wanna get it and decorate?"
I nod eagerly and follow him out into the garden.
"In the summer this is all covered in wildflowers." says Isaac under his breath as he lifts up the fir tree "The fairies love them. It's all buzzing with fairies in the summer. They lay their eggs here, they hatch here, they build their cocoons here."
I smile "I'd love to see that."
"You will." he says firmly. "Now, let's get this bad boy inside."
Isaac brings the tree into an upright position with a flick of his wand but we decorate it by hand. It's a rather small tree, compared to the ones we have at Hogwarts but still manages to fill the entire right corner of the small living room. We climb around it, wrapping it in lights, and hanging colourful ornaments from each branch. Finally Isaac picks me up to place the topper on the tree. It's an odd sculpture of a green creature wearing a Christmas hat.
"I've never read of this one." I say pointing at the topper.
"Where would you have read about it?" grins Isaac curiously.
I shrug "I don't know, I thought fantastic beats and where to find them maybe."
Isaac chuckles "I envy you."
"Why?" I look at him with confusion.
"Because you'll get to watch Star Wars for the first time... for a second time."
"Star Wars?"
"That-" he points at the topper "Is Jedi master Yoda. Very strong in this one the force is. Hmm." he says with a strange voice.
"If you're having a stroke right now, you can just tell me." I stare at him.
Isaac just loves "Shut up and drink your tea."
We sit down on the sofa and pick up the steaming cups. "Dad, she doesn't remember Star Wars." says Isaac, once Russel returns to the living room with a plate of gingerbread men.
Russel nods seriously "That is a tragedy. We might have to do a movie night then."
Isaac stares at me "Honestly Haven, you spent a month roaming the streets of London and didn't see anything about Star Wars?"
I shrug "I mostly went to the record shop next to the Leaky Cauldron. Now that you mention it I think there was a record called Star Wars."
Isaac smiles "Did you listen to it?"
I shake my head "It wasn't very intriguing."
He gasps in offence "The greatest movie score of all time wasn't intriguing?"
"Isaac, I understand maybe a third of the words you're using right now."
Him and Russel both snicker quietly. "Should I drive down to the Blockbuster and rent them?" asks Isaac, barely sitting still.
Russel shakes his head with a smile "We've got all the time in the world for movies. Haven tell me, how's it going at Hogwarts? Dumbledore became headmaster in my fourth year, I guess a lot has changed since then?"
Russel and I talk about school for a while. He, just like Isaac, was a Hufflepuff. He talks about his work in the spirit division of the ministry for a while. And then about Isaac's mother.
"I met Diana when I went to visit your grandfather. Met him at work and he invited me to dinner to tell your father all about Hogwarts. Things changed a lot during that time and George's experiences were a little outdated. Back in his day Dumbledore was just the defence against the dark arts professor." He sighs, staring out of the window. "It was the summer of 1969-" he smiles softly "I was just nineteen, making my first own money. I saw Diana sitting on the Wilderwald's sofa, embroidering tulle. She might not have any magical abilities but she was just as enchanting. I took her to the cinema, where we watched this new romance flick Three into Two Won't Go. To this day I can't remember a single detail of the plot because I just kept staring at her."
Isaac sighs "Every goddamn time. They fell in love, had me two years later, end of story."
Russel rolls his eyes at him "I've still got the embroidery somewhere." He gets up to the desk and shuffles through one of it's drawers. He pulls out a beautifully embroidered piece of see-through tulle.
"She was quite the artist." says Isaac with a proud look as Russel hands me the piece. An incredibly detailed hand surrounded by flowers and butterflies decorates the piece of fabric.
"It's beautiful." I say, taking one more close look before handing it back. "Is that her?" I ask, pointing at the photograph of a young woman with thick, black hair, full red lips pulled into a beautiful smile and Isaac's honey brown eyes.
"That's Diana, alright." says Russel nodding with a soft, loving smile. "The most beautiful soul I've ever met. Sweet and pure with a hand for mischief."
"You know, they say squibs are bitter." says Isaac "But she wasn't. She found beauty in everything in this world. She'd love the fairies just as much as the butterflies.  Plant all kinds of flowers, whether magical or not in the garden and always make sure all kinds of strays were taken care of."
I stare at the smiling portrait. My father couldn't have been that much of a monster if she was that kind. There's no way.
"Is George still alive?" I ask carefully.
Russel shrugs "I've got no idea. He stopped working for the ministry when Diana died and disappeared. He should be... what is it... seventy-two now, so unless something happened he's probably still out there."
"Did my parents get a funeral? Didn't he show up there?" I ask confused.
They shake their heads "We don't know. The ministry... took care of it."
"What does that mean?"
"When I went to visit-" says Isaac "They were already gone. I asked a ministry official where they were taken but he said that's none of my business."
I stare "But it-"
"I know." He interrupts "That's what I told him. He said it was ministry business and I shouldn't get involved."
"I was asking around." says Russel "If anyone's heard anything. No one seems to have heard a thing." he sighs "It's all highly unusual. Plus all of the records on them being destroyed by the memory charm."
I shake my head "How is that even possible? The ministry must have some kind of protection for their records. I mean, I understand why I can't see them but-"
"It's not like anything we've ever seen. It wiped out everything clean. Nothing left except some blurred names and the memories we have."
"And their wands." says Isaac. Only to be hit by a furious look coming from Russel.
I raise my eyebrows "The ministry has their wands?"
"Well done." mutters Russel at his son "How's that waiting until she's fourteen going, eh?"
Isaac frowns and I sigh "It's fine." I bite my tongue "I'll just forget about it."
They exchange looks "So similar and yet such a different person." Russel shakes his head.
Isaac smiles "I think the cooperative act is a Christmas miracle."
I grin "It's not worth the trouble."
Until it's time for dinner I dance with Isaac to the Christmas songs blaring from the record player. He also leads me into the forest surrounding the lot. We walk up to a small treehouse "You used to call this your own little Terabithia. Look, there's even our old crowns." He grins and puts a carefully crafted crown of braided branches onto his head. He hands me the other crown and with a flick of his wand flowers and leaves grow from between the branches.
I carefully put it onto my head "Well, Prince Isaac." I say dramatically "I welcome you back to the magical kingdom of Terabithia, which is based on the kingdom of Terabithia, which is loosely based on the kingdom of Narnia."
He laughs "I get to be prince?"
"I suppose you used to be a servant?"
"A knight."
"Well..." I sigh "I award you the special honour of re-joining the royal family of-" I stop to think.
"Wilderwald." he laughs.
I shake my head "The royal family of Mercury."
He raises his eyebrows "Mercury."
"He's royalty." I grin.
"Well, Haven of Mercury, I am more than honoured to reign by your side once again. Any first amendments?"
I smile "I h'reby dare thee to a fat game of quidditch. To proveth yourself w'rthy of the title M'rcury."
"Been reading Shakespeare, have we?" he laughs.
"A little. I barely understood a word."
"So it seems. Well, i fain accepteth the dare. I shalt meeteth thee on the duelling ground in jump twenty minutes." he hops off the treehouse into the deep snow, holding onto the crown on his head.
I follow him down the ladder "I'm assuming that means we'll go get some brooms?"
He laughs "I think so."
We play a small game of Quidditch, no snitch, one Bludger and about seven near death experiences.
"There's a reason the players get special uniforms." laughs Isaac after, wiping the blood from his nose. Luckily Russel is quite familiar with fixing broken noses.
I rub my arm where the Bludger left the most damage and nod "Rough game."
"You're doing quite well on the field." notes Russel "Are you trying out for the team next year?"
I nod "Definitely. Nia and me both."
"What positions are looking to play."
"Nia would make one hell of a chaser." I say "And I've been considering trying out as a Keeper."
"Not a Beater?" asks Russel surprised.
I shake my head "Absolutely not. I prefer Bludgers as far away from me as possible."
"Probably a smart choice." laughs Isaac.
"You were never on the team, were you?" I ask him.
He shakes his head "No, dad was, though."
Russel nods "In my last year as a Seeker. The previous one quit the team after being almost killed by a Bludger. So I replaced him for the last two games."
Isaac nods proudly "Caught the snitch in the final game against Slytherin."
A soft hooting catches my attention and I turn to see Salem sitting outside the window, carrying a note. "Salem!" I greet him joyously as I open my window "My god, I was worried sick about you, my poor boy." I stroke his feathers.
"Salem?" frowns Russel "You named your owl Salem?"
I nod "It was the obvious choice for him." I feed Salem a little treat and he hoots happily before flying over to the fireplace shaking his feathers.  "Oh you must be freezing, darling." I say quietly and take the note, petting him a little more.
After dinner I go to the bedroom I'm staying in. It seems to have always been my room of sorts. The one I'd be staying at when I came to visit. There's a few other mixtapes lying around on the desk, and shelves and also quiet a few other children's books.
I curiously look through the drawers, some of which seem to have been emptied. I find an old pocket watch, and a few packs of matches. The idea of me being a little arsonist doesn't really surprise me.
I sigh and sit down on the bed to unfold the parchment.
Dear Haven,
I also wish you a very happy Christmas.
I have so much to tell you, once you're back at Hogwarts.
You won't believe it.
Love, Harry.
p.s. sorry it took so long but Salem needed some time to recover from the heavy snow here.
p.p.s. thanks for the Flamel advice. Making progress.
I smile at the sight of his handwriting and put his note to the many others we had exchanged over the month of August and during potions class.
At around midnight I sneak down into the living room to leave the small presents for Russel and Isaac under the tree, which already has four packages laying around it.
There is something about being awake at night, that's just so calming. The complete silence, the darkness. In a way it's just so peaceful. I grab my coat and walk over into the woods all the way to our own little Terabithia.
It's insane to think that I had this whole life that I spent with Isaac. That this guy who's ten years older than me would waste his time on playing pretend with a little child. Even in the thick snow it is obvious, just how much effort he put into the tree house.
"I hope you don't sneak out like this when you're at Hogwarts." says Russel, suddenly climbing up the ladder.
I smile "I try to avoid it."
"Having trouble to fall asleep?" he asks sitting down on the edge.
I shake my head "I just prefer nights. It's really nice here."
He smiles "It' fascinating. Everything about you changed in less than a year and yet you're so much like yourself. You'd always sneak out at night. It was quite concerning actually. I doubt you're getting enough sleep for a child that's still growing."
I laugh "It's plenty, don't worry." I look at him "Why did you keep me around? From all I've heard... I wasn't-"
"You're just a child." he says quickly "We tried so often to... to just get you into a better environment but your mother refused."
"What was wrong with my father?" I ask "What did he do? Why did he... do it?"
Russel sighs "He was never the most gentle man. But after Diana passed... he loved his sister more than anyone, it drove him mad."
"Well, you loved her too. You seem to be doing a good job with Isaac."
He smiles "I hope so. I lost one son that day and my wife..." he sighs deeply "But Isaac lost his mother and his brother when he was just ten. I knew how much he needed me to be strong, how much he needed me to take care of him. Your father... he didn't really have the capacity of caring about anyone else."
I frown "He loved Diana more than his wife or his own daughter?"
"In a way... I mean not exactly. But the pain of losing her was stronger than the love he had for you. He tried... sometimes. To teach you something. But it never seemed to be a valuable lesson. Instead he pushed his beliefs onto you. Made you hate what he hated..."
"Muggleborns and the Weasleys."
"For instance. He just wasn't a very good influence. Sadly that also applies to your language."
"My language?"
He laughs "All the swearing. You would have done well erasing that from your brain as well. But I guess language is unaffected by memory charms."
I blush "I'm trying..."
"I know. I don't blame you for anything. But me and Isaac, we'll try to be a somewhat good influence from now on."
"So... you are actually like my legal guardians now?"
"Well-" says Russel "Isaac is. I'll do my best but Isaac is the one who raised you the first eleven years of you life. It seemed appropriate."
I frown "Does that make me... my new dad?"
Russel laughs "In Helga's name, no. It just means that when there's any trouble at school or with the ministry he will be contacted. If something happens to you, like an accident during classes, things like that, the school will inform him."
"Oh... he's going to have a lot of work then."
Russel laughs "He'll be completely grey by the time he's twenty-five, I'm afraid. Which reminds me" He jumps off the edge "Off to bed with you now."
I jump after him and go to bed.
Isaac wakes me in the morning "Rise and shine little one and happy Christmas."
I smile, blinking the sleep out of my eyes "Merry Christmas." and roll out of the comfortable bed.
Russel is sitting the kitchen counter, drinking steaming hot coffee. He hands Isaac the other steaming cup "Sleep well?" he asks.
Isaac scratches his messy bedhead "As well as always."
I just nod. Russel hops off the counter to pour some boiling tea into a mug "Tea?" he asks me.
I nod "Thanks." and take the mug.
"Alright now," says Isaac, leaving the kitchen "presents."
Russel smiles "Ah yes. The true meaning of Christmas. Why spend time with your family or at least have some nice morning chatter."
Isaac rolls his eyes "We had an entire family day, yesterday."
We sit down on the sofa and Russel is the first to hand me one of the packages "This one's from me."
"Thanks..." I blush heavily and open it. It's a book with beautiful binding called 'The Never Ending Story'.
"You were going on about how much you wanted to read it, back then." he says.
"Thanks." I smile and hug him "I can't wait to."
He hands Isaac another package "Here you go boy."
Isaac unwraps it as quickly as possible and stares at his father with wide eyes "You are awesome dad! Merlin's beard this is awesome!" he hugs Russel eagerly "Thank you!"
Russel laughs "Did myself a favour here. No more driving to blockbuster once a week."
Isaac shows me his gift "All three Star Wars movies. The three tape set. This is huge!"
Just smile and nod "Wow." I say "Brilliant."
Isaac frowns "That's it. We're doing a marathon today."
I frown a little "I'm all for cardio but don't you think it's a little cold?"
Him and Russel exchange a confused look "Movie marathon." sighs Isaac "We sit and watch all the movies in one sitting."
"Oh..." I stare at my hands "Well anyways, here's mine for you." I hand both of them my rather badly wrapped packages.
Isaac nods "And here's mine for you two." he hands me another package. It's heavier and bigger than any of the others.
In it I find a pair of black boots with four bright red wheels attached to the sole. The odd boots are surrounded by multiple pairs of colourful, striped socks and some red, plastic knee pads. I read the white writing on the wheels. 'Roller Derby'.
I look at Isaac who's busy inspecting the book filled with potion recipes I got him "Awesome." he says "I haven't even heard of most of these."
"You take that outside, boy." says Russel "I won't let you blow up the house again."
I raise my head "Again?"
Isaac frowns "He's exaggerating. I started a small fire. And it was three years ago." he points at the boots in my lap "You like them?"
I nod "What exactly are they?"
"Rollerskates. We went once, when you were six. You had the best time... well once you finally stopped falling."
I stare at them. They seem like a guarantee to break a neck. "Brilliant, thanks."
After a while of sitting and chatting Isaac once again becomes restless and commands Russel and me to follow him to his room. "The only room with a TV." he says "Dad thinks the living room should be a place to have conversation and not to stare at the TV. Had to get my own."
His room is covered in posters of the weird sisters, some other wizard bands and also a load of muggles. Most notably a life-sized Freddie Mercury in drag. A few pictures of him and some friends are taped to the wall next to his bed. There's a few fairy lights hanging messily from his bookshelves which are filled with books and small plastic dolls.
"What's rocky horror?" I ask him, pointing at the black poster with bloody font and a curly guy in makeup and a corset sitting inside a pair of lips like a sofa.
"A masterpiece." he says "You have the soundtrack on one of your tapes. I'll show you the movie when you're older."
Directly over the head of his bed hangs a giant poster reading 'THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK' "That's Star Wars, I assume?" I point at it.
"Exactly." he lets himself fall onto the bed beginning to unwrap the three tape set from the thin plastic.
"You sure have a lot of faces staring at you." I say staring deep in Kurt Cobain's eyes.
Isaac sighs "Yeah, I only sleep here during the holidays. It's always like returning to your childhood." He pushes a few of the buttons on the TV and puts one of the tapes into the thing under the thing.
"Woah." I suddenly say, looking at a smaller poster of a guy with long, brown messy hair, tattoos and his nose pierced on both sides "He looks cool, who's that?"
"Rachel Bolan." says Isaac "From Skid Row."
"Bangin'." I say without taking my eyes off Rachel "I'm definitely getting my nose pierced at some point."
"Absolutely not." says Isaac "You can do that when I'm dead. Before that I won't have you running around with any metal in your face."
Russel laughs loudly "This is fantastic." he grins at me "I remember when I said almost the same thing to him." Imitating Isaac with a whiny voice he says "I hate you! You're ruining my life! You don't even know what's cool!"
Isaac sighs "Different times."
"It's forbidden though. Like, at Hogwarts." says Russel "It's a rule."
I roll my eyes "Well, that's boring."
"Well, it's the rules." says Isaac, finally sitting back down and pushing some buttons on the remote in his hand "Now, silence and watch the movie."
Russel sits through the first movie 'A new hope' but when Isaac goes to turn on 'The empire strikes back' he gets up "This is fun but I cannot sit through this again. You kids have fun, I'll make some lunch."
Isaac frowns "You're missing the best part."
"According to you every part is the best part." laughs Russel "And I've seen them about a hundred times. I'll survive this one."
"So?" asks Isaac once the credits of the Jedi roll out "What did you think."
"Brilliant." I say "Absolutely brilliant."
"And? Shocker right? Darth Vader was Luke's father the entire time. WHat?!" his eyes are filled with ecstasy.
We keep talking about Star Wars throughout all of lunch and well frankly throughout the next two days. Isaac also re-introduces me to the Rocky Horror soundtrack after which I beg him to let me watch the movie but he just laughs and shakes his head. Instead he shows me movies like the Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters, both of which are absolutely fantastic.
"Wait, that's princess Leia." I say pointing at the woman following the Blues Brothers around in her car and trying to kill them.
Isaac sighs with a big smile "Carrie Fisher. She's the greatest of the greatest."
And just like that Christmas at Russel's is over and Isaac and I load the trunk to drive back to London.
Once he's seated behind the wheel he says "Its 106 miles to Chicago."
"Weve got a full tank, half pack of cigarettes-" I continue.
"Its dark out, and were wearing sunglasses." grins Isaac.
"Hit it." I say, pressing play on my radio and Isaac starts the car as the Peter Gunn Theme starts playing.
"Have a good time?" greets us Fedoria once we arrive back at the hotel.
I grin "The best."
Isaac messes up the hair on my head "Introduced the little one to the greatest gifts of pop culture."
"Wonderful." sighs Fedoria.
"Well, we're gonna go hit the mall." grins Isaac.
"Yeah... this places has got everything." I chuckles quietly.
Fedoria rolls her eyes "Great job, Isaac."
"What?" he laughs "Kid's got good taste in movies. It ain't my fault."
She sighs again "Just go."
"I take it, Fedoria isn't a movie fan?" I ask Isaac.
He shrugs "Muggle stuff."
"So?"
"She thinks it's stupid. To get involved with muggle culture."
"But it's fantastic." I frown.
"No need to tell me that." he grins.
"I bet Fred would love them." I say. "Blues Brothers? They're basically the muggle Weasley Twins."
Isaac laughs "Isn't their father really into Muggle stuff? I bet they already know all the classics."
I shrug "Maybe. But the Weasleys don't seem super involved with muggles."
Isaac raises his eyebrows "Well they're missing out, aren't they?"
I nod "Yes, definitely. This kind of makes me wonder... you said I was pretty much a pure blood supremacist but at the same time I liked their culture. It doesn't add up."
Isaac shrugs "You were mostly just saying what your father wanted you to say. It's not like those were your own beliefs. It's something you copied and probably barely understood."
"Oh... that's ignorant."
Isaac laughs "Haven, stop making it so hard on yourself. You are a literal child. No need to overthink everything so much."
"Hey, those are the same dolls you have on your bookshelf." I say pointing at one of the packages in a toys store.
"Oh yeah." smiles Isaac inspecting the package "They're called action figures, not dolls."
"What are they for? WHat do they do?"
"Nothing. You can play with them. Use your imagination. These are from one of my favourite shows, Masters of the universe. This-" he points at a muscular blonde figure "Is He Man."
"Why isn't he wearing any pants?"
Isaac laughs "Because he's got nice legs."
"What?"
"Nothing." he grins and puts the box back "Come on."
After strolling through the mall for a while where I pick up a Take That poster for Hermione, we go on to Diagon Alley.
"Well, that's disappointing." laughs Isaac at the poster.
"It's for Hermione... we had a bit of a fight but she told me she really liked Mark Owen... s singing."
"Yes, of course." he rolls his eyes "Boybands are going to be the downfall of society."
"Spoken like an old man." I laugh.
"Harry's on the quidditch team." I say walking towards the Quality Quidditch Supplies shop "You think they've got something good for Seekers?"
Isaac opens the door "Well, a broom compass barely disappoints. But tell me, what's Harry's team?"
"Gryffindor."
Isaac laughs "Quidditch team, you genius."
"Oh... I doubt he's got one yet. I know that Fred's a fan of the Chudley Cannons so I guess Ron is too. I suppose Ron would influence Harry to be a fan of the Cannons."
"What's yours?" he asks curiously, flipping through a some Quidditch books.
"The Montrose Magpies." I say.
Isaac frowns "Same old then, eh..."
"Why, what's yours?"
"The Ballycastle Bats." says Isaac proudly, pointing at one of the banners. I recognize it as the exact one he has hanging next to his Hufflepuff flag in his bedroom. "Good ol' Irish pride."
"Right..."
"Well..." says Isaac softly "If Fred's a fan of the Cannons... maybe you can-"
"Here for Harry, not Fred." I interrupt him.
"I mean you guys are friends, right?"
"Acquaintances."
"Right..." Isaac grins.
"I'm serious. He's annoying."
"Yeah no, I totally believe you." laughs Isaac.
"They sell snitches." I say to change the topic.
"Everything Quidditch related." nods Isaac.
I sigh and grab three of the Chudley Cannon jerseys. "Only to make peace with George." and to not exclude Ron, and get the broom compass, a golden snitch and some Quidditch inspired candy for Harry. For Nia I choose a big Magpies banner.
"What's down there?" I ask Isaac as we pass an entrance to a much darker alley.
"That's Knockturn Alley." he says quietly "Nasty place, full of dark magic."
My eyes light up a little "Can we go down there?"
Absolutely not. That's no place for children."
"Oh come on, just in and out, twenty minutes."
"Absolutely not."
"Aren't you curious?"
Isaac rolls his eyes "I have already been there. It's not worth it. It's dangerous and filthy."
"Filthy? Now you're being elitist."
Isaac rolls his eyes at me "Shut up and come on."
I give Knockturn Alley one more curious glance before I follow Isaac down to Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop where we pick up a bunch of different curious looking items.
"Shame Pixie sleeps in the same dorm as us." I sigh eyeing some of the Dungbombs.
Isaac shrugs "You could try getting along with her."
I shake my head "Never. We have a perfect dynamic. I'd be a monster to ruin that."
"Sure." laughs Isaac. We pick a couple of fireworks and balloons, some prank candy to mess with Pansy without having to suffer the consequences and to my delight we find a set of necklaces of leather cords, the jewels are small empty phials with a moving snake slowly moving around it.
For Lorinda I find a book full of practical and advanced spells. And for Elijah I pick up some Herbology book. "The boy loves his plants." I shake my head.