Harry unpacked his trunk putting all of his clothes away and placing his magic equipment mostly on the shelves although he stood his Nimbus 2000 up against the wall by the desk. As he put his clothes away he shook his head. Except for his Hogwarts clothes everything else was several sizes too big as they were all cast-offs from his cousin Dudley. 'I need a whole new wardrobe,' Harry thought as he made a mental note to talk to Professor Xavier about it.
Deciding to explore his summer home Harry left his room and walked back downstairs to the front hall. He walked out the front doors and saw that Scott was there sitting on the steps.
"Are you all unpacked?" Scott asked him.
"Yes" said Harry, "I was going to explore the place. Do you think you might show me around?"
"Sure" said Scott as he stood up and led Harry back inside.
Although this was ostensibly a school a lot of it seemed more like a mansion home. Scott explained that it actually was the professor's family home which he was now slowly converting into a school. Scott showed Harry the main livingroom and lounges, the diningroom, the kitchen ("we tend to be responsible for our own meals for breakfast and lunch but there's a cook who comes in regularly to make dinner, also there's plenty of food in the place if you want a snack or something"), a laundry room, a couple of rooms that were being turned into academic classrooms, the garage where several cars were kept, and a work room. Then there was the gym. It had a lot of weight lifting equipment and gymnastic apparatus as well as a large bare section that could be used for general exercises. Furthermore one level up from the main floor was a track around the edge of the room for running. Scott recommended to Harry that he start exercising regularly and also begin lifting weights to develop his muscles.
It was the room next to the gym that was the most interesting or bizarre. It was a very large room, at least as big as the gym maybe even bigger, but when Scott and Harry entered it the room appeared to be completely empty. According to Scott that appearance was very deceiving.
"This is the room" Scott said, "where we really work out with our powers. There's a lot of specialized equipment and machinery that you're not seeing right now because it's not in use so it's all put away. You don't get to work out in here until you've gained real control over your powers and experience using them effectively. The challenges in here are advanced and can be dangerous if proper safety precautions aren't taken. Bobby and I call this room the 'Danger Room.' and Professor Xavier seems to have adopted that name because he uses it too."
"That's ominous" said Harry.
"I doubt you'll be in here much" said Scott, "or at all since you're only staying for the summer but the professor might let you watch some time."
The tour continued after that with Scott showing Harry the indoor swimming pool ("the professor doesn't use it but we do") before taking him upstairs to show him the library ("Hermione would love this") and the computer room as well as the professor's office and pointed out a couple of doors that were locked.
"The professor has some things he keeps to himself" said Scott without elaborating. Harry nodded. They went back downstairs and out the back doors of the house to the back lawn which Harry had seen from his window earlier when Scott had zapped the stump.
"How big is the school property?" asked Harry.
"It's quite large" was the answer, "which is really unusual considering how close we are to New York City. The whole county is basically suburbs so it's remarkable that the professor has so much private land."
"Well he did say he was really rich" said Harry.
"He did" said Scott nodding, "and he is."
"If there are no nearby houses" said Harry, "then I could do some flying without the neighbors seeing me, at least if I don't go too high."
"I'd like to see that" said Scott, "it sounds so stereotypical that you use a broom to fly but considering what the rest of us can do why shouldn't you use a broom?"
They went back inside the mansion where they found Bobby and Professor Xavier waiting for them.
"All unpacked?" Xavier asked Harry who nodded, "good. You must be hungry. It's the cook's night off so I thought we would order in tonight." Harry realized with a start that he was hungry. It had been late afternoon in London when the Hogwarts Express reached Kings Cross and getting to America had taken several hours more. It was true that New York was five hours behind London but by now it was late in the day locally which meant that for Harry it was already night. He hadn't eaten since breakfast except for having snacks on the train and the plane and that wasn't all that much.
"What are we having?" he asked.
"What would you like?" the professor asked him.
"I'll try anything" he said, "I don't know what's good here yet."
They ordered Chinese which Harry had never had and he enjoyed trying the various dishes although he didn't choose a favorite. He went to sleep not long after dinner as his body clock was now telling him that it was long past midnight. Fortunately he was tired enough that his body began adjusting to American time at once so he didn't wake up at 3 AM thinking it was 8. He slept soundly that night, better than he had in a long time with no dreams.
He woke up at around 6:30 AM feeling more rested than he had in quite a while. He got out of bed and went to his bathroom to take a shower. After that he dressed in his Hogwarts uniform but without the robe, so just his shirt and pants which were the only clothes that really fit him, and went downstairs to see about some breakfast. Scott had been right when he said there was plenty of food in the kitchen. Harry didn't have any trouble finding what he wanted and pretty soon had made himself some eggs and bacon and several pieces of toast while having some orange juice to drink. Scott joined him while he was eating.
"You're up early" Scott said.
"So are you" said Harry, "but it's actually quite late back home."
"I always get up early" said Scott going to the refrigerator and taking out the milk. Soon he had a bowl of cereal that he was eating.
"Is anyone else up?" asked Harry.
"Not yet" was the reply, "but the professor should be up soon. Bobby will sleep later if he can."
"Like my friend Ron" said Harry, "waking him up for class is always an adventure." Scott cracked a smile at that. Hedwig chose that moment to fly in through an open window and land on the table in front of Harry.
"Good morning Hedwig" said Harry. He held out a piece of bacon for her which she ate before nipping his finger affectionately, "do you approve of our summer accommodations?" She looked up at Harry with a face that quite clearly said that she was more than pleased with their home for the summer.
"Can she understand you?" asked Scott watching their interaction.
"Yes" said Harry, "I really think she can. And she makes it very easy for me to understand her."
"Wow" said Scott, "well you did say she was smart." Hedwig looked over at Scott with an expression that seemed to tell him that of course she was smart and why would he doubt it?
"Well that's me told" said Scott with a small smile while Harry laughed. Not long after that Hedwig flew off again.
It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day so once he was finished with breakfast and had taken care of his dishes Harry went to get his broom so he could do some flying. Soon he was out behind the mansion where he kicked off from the ground and was soon airborne. To be safe being seen by any neighbors he didn't go too high but he still had plenty of room to play around with. Soon he was practicing some of his seeker moves in between just flying for the sheer pleasure of it.
When he finally decided to stop he saw that Scott and Bobby were outside the mansion watching him. He came in for a landing.
"What did you think?" he asked them. Both of the other boys were looking at him with wide eyes.
"Wow" said Bobby, "that was quite something."
"Yes it is" said Harry, "if you ever want to try it for yourselves I can take you up."
"Maybe" said Bobby looking as if he was really considering it.
"Thanks but no thanks" said Scott, "I'm not sure there would be room for both of us on your broom."
"You'd be surprised" said Harry.
"Why don't you come in?" said Scott, "the professor's having breakfast right now and he wants to see you."
"Sure" said Harry, "I'll just go put this away and I'll be right there."
Soon Harry was back in the kitchen sitting at the table next to Professor Xavier while Scott and Bobby left to go do other things.
"So Harry," said the professor, "have you got yourself settled?"
"Yes sir" Harry said, "and thanks for bringing me here."
"My pleasure. Now before we discuss your training is there anything else you need?"
"Actually" said Harry slowly, "there is. I don't know if you noticed the clothes I was wearing yesterday?"
"I did" said the professor, "they seemed rather big for you."
"They are" said Harry ducking his head in embarrassment, "I've lived with my aunt and uncle ever since my parents were killed. They, well, they hate magic. They hate anything that they don't consider to be 'normal.' They've never liked me because I'm a wizard. I really don't like to talk about it but right now you should know that they've never bought clothes for me. I just get my cousin's cast-offs after he's done with them and, well let's just say that he's a lot bigger than me. The only things I have that actually fit me are my Hogwarts uniforms."
"I see" said the professor, "so you need new clothes."
"A whole new wardrobe is more like it" said Harry, "I don't need you to buy me anything" he went on quickly before Xavier could reply, "I have money of my own that my parents left me. Do you know if there's a Gringotts branch in New York? If there is I can get money from there."
"There is" said Xavier, "Albus informed me that you might need to get money and he told me where the local Gringotts branch is as well as the New York magical shopping district. If you want to we can go there this morning."
"Yes please" said Harry, "where is it?"
"Gringotts, New York, is located on Wall Street next door to the New York Stock Exchange at 13 Wall Street. That's also where Colony Alley is, the New York equivalent to London's Diagon Alley."
"Colony Alley?" asked Harry raising his eyebrows at this, "first Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley. Now Colony Alley? Was it founded before the US was independent?"
"Possibly" said Xavier, "I don't know."
"I suppose there's also a Vertic Alley somewhere as well as a Horizont Alley, a Mystic Alley, a Fundament Alley and a Practic Alley?"
"I wouldn't be a bit surprised" said Xavier with a completely straight face as he wheeled himself away from the kitchen table, "if you'll meet me outside in about 15 minutes we will go."