Saturday morning dawned nice and bright, a perfect day to go out and stroll through a magical wonderland. I sighed into my coffee, drained it dry in a single gulp, and got ready to go pick up Harry.
I put on two rings, including the one I'd been working on when Harry showed up. It was one of my more ambitious rune projects. The ring itself was a complicated piece of work as well, and not just the rune sequence I'd spent months studying. It was actually two pieces of metal careful put together that I could twist, so that the runes on both sides would align, creating a powerful runic sequence that would temporarily give me enhanced perception and reaction time. Basically, I made a ring that let me do bullet time.
It put a large strain on the body, though, so I could only use it for ten real world seconds at a time, though it felt like it was closer to a minute based on my altered perception.
This whole study was part of my desire to figure out a way to manipulate time itself with runes. As much as I wanted a Time Turner, I didn't have the desire to deal with temporal paradoxes and time loops, which were basically built into the Time Turner itself. You couldn't go back more than a day, and you couldn't change the past at all. Essentially, once used you were created a stable time loop that refused to decay no matter what you did. Very clever, but useless for me since I'd have to constantly keep track of all my loops to avoid going mad.
My ultimate goal was to create a Hyperbolic Time Chamber, similar to one used in Dragon Ball, but I was very, very far off from it.
"Inky, keep watch over the house, the potions, and Duncan, please," I requested as I put on my shoes. "And don't forget to tell my mother I'll be stopping by tomorrow to visit her and the Weasleys."
"Yes, Young Master Eddy!" Inky said cheerfully, sounding rather spry for such an old elf.
I left the apartment and caught the bus to Privet Drive, where I picked up Harry without a fuss. He was waiting for me on the doorstep, and for a moment I was worried his aunt or uncle had kicked him out or something, but no, he was just excited to go shopping again and meet other soon-to-be students.
"Easy there, Harry," I said with a laugh as I watched him vibrate in place on the bus bench. "You won't miss 'em, we'll be there in time."
"But… other kids!" he said eagerly. "I can actually have friends my own age!"
"And you will, just don't go bananas," I told him. "And act like yourself. You know, like the goofy boy who hates math that I know."
"I don't hate it, I just find it hard," Harry pouted, which was adorable, and I told him so. He just blushed and refused to look at me for the rest of the trip.
"So, how's Hedwig?" I asked as we got off and headed to the Leaky Cauldron.
"She's great! Not very happy about being in her cage all the time, though," Harry said. "I let her out at night so she can hunt!"
"That's a good idea. Let her stretch her wings a bit," I nodded. "And speaking of stretching, how's your new room?"
Harry shuffled his feet a bit. "I don't know what to do with all the space," he admitted. "But I like the window. It's nice to just look outside whenever I want."
I nodded calmly, but clenched my hands into fists. A moment later, I blinked and left my anger behind as I noticed Harry wasn't wearing his hat.
"Um, should I have?" he asked nervously when I pointed it out.
"No, no. You'll just get to experience what it's like to be famous sooner than I thought you would," I replied with an amused grin. He frowned at that, but then perked up when he saw a familiar head of bushy brown hair.
"Hermione! Hi!" he said, hurrying over to her, where she and her mother were standing in front of the disguised pub.
"Harry!" she squealed excitedly. "It's so good to see you!" she gave him a hug, and I shared a smile with Mrs. Granger.
"Morning, Doctor Granger," I said politely in greeting. "And hello again, Hermione."
"Hello, sir!" she said, giving me a polite nod, her response a bit distant compare to Harry's greeting. I didn't mind at all, since she didn't me all that well. I was closer to an adult than a kid in her mind.
"Hello, Mr. Rose," Dr. Granger said. "We're trying to find the Leaky Cauldron. The teacher's directions said to meet here, but…"
"Ah, yes, I see the problem," I said, chuckling to myself. "You can't see it due to some spells protecting the area. Only Harry, Hermione, and I, can see it. Just hold your daughter's hand and you should be fine, though."
She blinked in surprise when, after taking my advice and held Hermione's hand, the dingy looking building seemed to materialize out of nowhere between the two stores to the side of it.
"Oh. Oh my," she murmured.
Hermione shot her mother a smug smile, a soft "I told you so!" escaping her.
"Come on in," I said, opening the door for them like a gentleman. They entered, and found the interior to be slightly more crowded than it'd been yesterday. And with more children, too.
There were three other First Years with their parents, waiting for the Hogwarts teacher.
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