"I really hope he shows up around here," Ron said to Hermione outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream parlor. Harry was staying in the Leaky Cauldron, but at the moment, was somewhere is Diagon Alley.
"Yes," Hermione agreed. "He hasn't been in any of the shops we have checked, so he must-"
"Look, there he is!" Ron exclaimed.
"Harry! HARRY!" Hermione yelled.
Harry, who had had his back to them, sat down at their table. Hermione was relieved that he had shown up, she hadn't seen him all summer.
"Finally!" Said Ron, grinning stupidly. "We went to the Leaky Cauldron, but they said you'd left, and we went to Flourish and Blotts, and Madam Malkin's, and — ”
" i got all my school stuff last week, " Harry explained.
Hermione had seen the new Firebolt broomstick, and since he loved quidditch so much, maybe that was where he had been all this time.
"And how come you knew I'm staying at the Leaky Cauldron?" Harry asked. He could be so dumb sometimes. If course it was Mr. Weasley, he worked for the ministry.
"Dad," Ron answered simply.
"Did you really blow up your aunt?" Hermione asked. She hated rulebreaking, and what Harry had potentially done was definitely breaking a rule. She knew it had been an accident, but he had still broken a rule. Ron started laughing, which she also disapproved of.
"I didn't mean to. I just lost control," Harry said, looking a little embarrassed.
"It's not funny, Ron!" Hermione snapped. "Honestly, I'm amazed Harry wasn't expelled!"
"So am I," Harry said truthfully. "Forget expelled, I thought I was going to be arrested."
Hermione sort of agreed. But, she also thought it would be a little severe if he had been arrested, not to mention unfair.
Harry looked at Ron, seeming a little bit unsure. "Your dad doesn't know why Fudge let me off, does he?" he asked.
"Probably cause it's you, isn't it?" Ron shrugged. He was still laughing. "Famous Harry Potter and all that. I'd hate to see what the Ministry'd do to me if I blew up an aunt. Mind you, they'd have to dig me up first, because Mum would've killed me. Anyway, you can ask Dad yourself this evening. We're staying at the Leaky Cauldron tonight too! So you can come to King's Cross with us tomorrow! Hermione's there as well!”
Hermione nodded, smiling. “Mum and Dad dropped me off this morning with all my Hogwarts things.” They had, and she was glad she got to spend some time with Ron and Harry before school started that year.
“Excellent!” said Harry happily. “So, have you got all your new books and stuff?”
“Look at this,” said Ron, pulling a long thin box out of a bag and opening it. “Brand-new wand. Fourteen inches, willow, containing one unicorn tail-hair. And we've got all our books — ” He pointed at a large bag under his chair. “What about those Monster Books, eh? The assistant nearly cried when we said we wanted two.”
What's all that, Hermione?” Harry asked, pointing at not one but three bulging bags in the chair next to her.
"Well, I'm taking more new subjects than you, aren't I?" said Hermione. She was taking all the classes and could, regardless of the time and effort they would all take. “Those are my books for Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, the Study of Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies — ”
“What are you doing Muggle Studies for?” said Ron, rolling his eyes at Harry. “You're Muggleborn! Your mum and dad are Muggles! You already know all about Muggles!”
“But it'll be fascinating to study them from the wizarding point of view,” said Hermione earnestly.
“Are you planning to eat or sleep at all this year, Hermione?” asked Harry, while Ron sniggered. Hermione ignored them. They were ridiculous.
“I've still got ten Galleons,” she said, checking her purse. “It's my birthday in September, and Mum and Dad gave me some money to get myself an early birthday present.”
"How about a nice book?" Ron asked innocently.
“No, I don't think so,” said Hermione composedly, not getting the joke. “I really want an owl. I mean, Harry's got Hedwig and you've got Errol — ”
“I haven't,” said Ron. “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 over,” he added, placing Scabbers on the table in front of them. “I don't think Egypt agreed with him.”
Scanners was looking more pathetic than usual. His whiskers drooped, and he was definitely thinner.
“There's a magical creature shop just over there,” said Harry, who knew Diagon Alley very well by now. “You could see if they've got anything for Scabbers, and Hermione can get her owl.”
So they paid for their ice creams and crossed the crowded street to the Magical Menagerie.
There wasn't much room inside. Every inch of wall was hidden by cages, filled with different animals. It was smelly and noisy because the animals in the cages were squeaking, squawking, jabbering or hooting. The witch behind the counter was talking to a man about double ended newts, so they waited, examining the cages. There were so many different animals; Hermione couldn't choose.
A pair of enormous purple toads sat gulping wetly and feasting on dead blowflies. A gigantic tortoise with a jewel-encrusted shell was glittering near the window. Poisonous orange snails were oozing slowly up the side of their glass tank, and a fat white rabbit kept changing into a silk top hat and back again with a loud popping noise. Then there were cats of every color, a noisy cage of ravens, a basket of funny custard-colored fur-balls that were humming loudly, and on the counter, a vast cage of sleek black rats that were playing some sort of skipping game using their long, bald tails. Hermione thought that rats were rather gross, yet fascinating at the same time.
The double-ended newt wizard left, and Ron approached the counter.
“It's my rat,” he told the witch. “He been a bit off-color ever since I brought him back from Egypt.”
“Bang him on the counter,” said the witch, pulling a pair of heavy black spectacles out of her pocket while Hermione examined all of the animals. She saw a beautiful brown owl with grey specks, and another that was dark brown with some black feathers. In particular, she saw a brown, grey and white screech owl that she liked.
Ron lifted Scabbers out of his inside pocket and placed him next to the cage of his fellow rats, who stopped their skipping tricks and scuffled to the wire for a better took.
Like nearly everything Ron owned, Scabbers the rat was secondhand (he had once be-longed to Ron's brother Percy) and a bit battered. Next to the glossy rats in the cage, he looked especially woebegone.
“Hm,” said the witch, picking up Scabbers. “How old is this rat?”
“Dunno,” said Ron. “Quite old. He used to belong to my brother.”
“What powers does he have?” said the witch, examining Scabbers closely.
“Er — ” The truth was that Scabbers had never shown the faintest trace of interesting powers. The witchs eyes moved from Scabbers's tattered left ear to his front paw, which had a toe missing, and tutted loudly.
“He's been through the mill, this one,” she said.
“He was like that when Percy gave him to me,” said Ron defensively.
“An ordinary common or garden rat like this can't be expected to live longer than three years or so,” said the witch. “Now, if you were looking for something a bit more hard-wearing, you might like one of these — ”
She indicated the black rats, who promptly started skipping again. Ron muttered, “Show-offs.”
“Well, if you Don't want a replacement, you can try this rat tonic,” said the witch, reaching under the counter and bringing out a small red bottle.
“Okay,” said Ron. “How much — OUCH!”
A huge orange something has jumped from the top of some cages and landed on Ron's head. It lunged at Scabbers.
“NO, CROOKSHANKS, NO!” cried the witch, but Scabbers shot from between her hands like a bar of soap, landed splay-legged on the floor, and then scampered for the door.
“Scabbers!” Ron shouted, racing out of the shop after him; Harry followed.
Hermione looked at the cat. It has a squashed face, and looked like he had fun face first i to a wall. It's due was thick and fluffy. She liked him.
"Bad Crookshanks!" The witch exclaimed. " I'm so sorry. No one had wanted to buy Jim yet. He is quite aggressive. "
"How much is he?" Hermione asked.
"7 Galleons, " the witch replied, and Hermione bought the cat.