Chapter 15: 28th July 1991, Sunday: Part 3

The overly dramatic invitation was met with zero reaction from the Linwoods. Any enthusiasm to see the magic shopping centre had been successfully stifled by the vague danger George was apparently in. After reading the general attitude shared by his muggle company, Remus didn't bother to wait for a response and instead skipped the fanfare and opened the door. Amanda and Dominic didn't hesitate to walk inside but to their dismay, Remus stood in the doorway and blocked their entry.

"Before you enter, there are just a few things I would like to clarify. It'll just take a second."

"Make it quick", was written all across Amanda's face.

Remus gulped and cleared his throat, "most wizards and witches behave no differently than you or I. But inside, it's just like a normal pub with maybe one or two differences.

Magic society has generally stagnated in its culture, which means that decor and clothing may seem quite dated by your standards.

Just keep to yourself and everything should be fine. I'm here to mediate if there are any problems so there is absolutely nothing to worry about".

"If that's all then let's get on with it", Amanda insisted as she walked past Remus.

Ellie was dragged in along with Amanda, and Dominic waited for George to enter before going in himself. Remus was left awkwardly standing at the door like a servant at the entrance of a manor house. George could see the signs of exhaustion were starting to show on the tired werewolf, his constant upbeat attitude was taking its toll. The pain of putting up with his foster family was something George was all too familiar with. He bet that Remus must have been regretting agreeing to the favour for Dumbledore by now.

Once they were inside the Leaky Cauldron, the family was immediately greeted by the quiet sound of conversation and instruments playing what sounded like mediaeval string music. The entry directly connected to a large open room with a ceiling three stories high, the windows that had appeared to be black from outside were now transparent and let light in like a two-way mirror. The only other form of lighting came from candles lit around the room which provided minor illumination. This generally left the large open space in shadow, shrouding a lot of its occupants in darkness.

The Linwood family's eyes navigated around the room to absorb as much as possible, neither one of them moved from their current position beside the door. They all noticed the unusual clothing the patrons were wearing, but it wasn't exclusively the clothing that was dated. The entire pub was like experiencing time travel, there were no modern exceptions in the interior design that suggested otherwise. The walls appeared to be made out of old English brick with wooden struts in between for support. Those bricks were covered in flaking plaster which looked identical to an old Victorian house.

The benches and tables were made out of thick wooden boards crudely bound together with a thick layer of varnish, which appeared to have been worn away over years of use. Speaking of which, the table was laid with food and drink but it all appeared to be very basic and unappetising. The drinks were various colours of ale served in metal tankards, and the food was just buttered bread and soup served in wooden bowls with a few apples and pears scattered around like an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Just as Remus had said, the men were dressed in old English suits with varying styles of facial hair and hats which ranged from flat caps to top hats. The women wore thick and warm dresses that looked to be made out of natural fibres with large scarfs draped over their shoulders and bonnets on their heads. These patrons were idly talking to each other, having their small conversations in various corners of the room. This behaviour was perhaps the only aspect of the pub Amanda and Dominic didn't find unusual.

Even though they already knew what was coming, George's foster parents stood still like statues. He found it funny watching them in such a state, their behaviour was nearly identical to when they saw his fire conjuration for the first time. He couldn't imagine how Dominic will react when he has to talk to creatures that weren't the same species. As long as that gun stays in its holster, the sight should be quite spectacular.

Before a smile emerged on his face, George rained in his emotions before it became too obvious he was taking pleasure out of their bewilderment. His innocent child facade should be in just as much surprise as they were. Instead of mocking them, he should be using them as a reference for how someone should react under his current circumstances.

Remus closed the door behind them and broke George's foster parents out of their gawking. He walked directly in front of their line of sight and gestured to a small corner table with six wooden stools spread around it.

"We can't just spend all day standing around staring at people. Go find a table and sit down, I'll go get us some drinks. Don't be shy, just treat it like going abroad and you're adapting to a different culture."

Dominic squinted his eyes towards Remus as he retorted in a hushed but stern voice, "this isn't like going abroad. Pubs in Spain don't bloody well have floating jugs refilling your pint glasses."

Dominic held out his arm and pointed towards a corner of the room with a few witches and wizards lazing around. There was a woman holding up her tankard towards a metal jug that was floating beside her. The hovering jug appeared to notice her request and started to pour its frothy contents into her tankard as if it was sentient. It stopped pouring once her tankard was full and flew away to the next customer where it repeated the process. George thought that it would be good if they could buy some of those self-pouring jugs later, they would be handy to have around the house during a heat wave.

Remus looked back over his shoulder towards where Dominic was gesturing only to see someone he recognised at the bar, he didn't spare the floating jug a glance.

Remus turned back around and suggested, "just bear with me for the time being, I've just spotted one of the staff at Hogwarts. I think we should go over there and introduce ourselves, what do you think?"

Without waiting for a response, Remus headed toward the individual, leaving the Linwood family stranded. George saw this obvious ploy as none other than a distraction to divert Amanda's and Dominic's attention from the conversation outside. This act of avoidance only stimulated his curiosity further, what could be so dangerous about George's potential? In the end, they had no other option than to follow or remain alone in this foreign environment.

"Can we talk now George?", Ellie said quietly while pulling on his sleeve.

George looked down at her and promised, "just wait a little bit longer. Then we can talk."

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On their way over to the bar, George recognised exactly who Remus was referring to. Sitting on a buckling bar stool was a humongous man with long unkempt hair and a coat which looked like it was made out of the hide of several animals, he immediately recognised the half-giant as none other than…

"Hagrid! What a pleasant coincidence meeting you here. Then again, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. It's nice to see you still spend half your life emptying the Leaky Cauldron of all of its pure malt whiskey", Remus proclaimed.

Hagrid flinched after being recognised and accidentally flicked a portion of his whiskey into the air from his tankard onto the bar table. The giant man's whole body twisted to face Remus, causing the barstool to squeak in pain, his eyes lit up once he recognised his old friend. With a jolly smile, Hagrid put down his tankard and got up to embrace Remus in a warm hug. The Linwood family decided to stop just a few feet away and observe. Hagrid was undeniably an intimidating man regardless of how friendly he seemed. The hug lasted for a few seconds before Remus pulled away whilst patting the giant on his back.

"Where in Merlin's name have you been? Everyone at Hogwarts has been worried about you living all alone up in the north with all those muggles, it'd send anyone do-lally.

You know, Professor Dumbledore has been talking about you becoming a professor at Hogwarts for the past few years", Hagrid happily bellowed.

Remus was quick to end that particular subject, "enough about me. What about you? A month before the start of term and you're here. Surely you should be helping out with the recruitment of muggle-borns like the rest of the Hogwarts staff."

Hagrid seemed quite offended by the implication, "I would have you know that I'm on official Hogwarts business under the authority of none other than Professor Dumbledore himself.

Not only that, Professor Dumbledore seems confident that the Dudleys will cause Harry some problems, somethin to do with his acceptance letter. So, he's asked me to go and pick him up in a few days", Hagrid said with a massive smile on his face, he was clearly in a good mood.

Remus looked a little confused, "sorry, you lost me there. Harry?"

Hagrid must have realised that he got a bit carried away in his excitement and didn't explain things clearly.

He leaned forward and spoke quietly so only Remus could hear, "I meant Harry Potter, you know, James's son."

Remus's face looked suddenly shocked, before a faint smile began to appear as he reminisced, "oh my, it really has been ten years."

Remus stood staring out into nothingness for a few seconds before quickly shaking the distracting thoughts out of his head.

He quickly got back on topic, "Hagrid, I would like you to meet young Mr Linwood here. One of, in my opinion, the greatest young talents in this wizarding generation. This will be his first year at Hogwarts."

Remus gestured towards George who quite happily stepped forward away from his still apprehensive family. He was in a good mood after hearing events will still be going in the direction he had anticipated judging by the conversation he had just overheard. He was wondering when the boy-who-lived name would come up and now he knew for certain that the chosen one did indeed exist. That was yet another thing his mysterious hindsight had gotten right. His patron hadn't been wrong, his future visions really were exceptional.

Hagrid brushed his huge hand against his coat, presumably in an attempt to half-heartedly clean his palm, and then reached out and shook George's hand. Even though that massive gorilla grip could bend steel like clay, the handshake was extremely gentle. There was practically no pressure at all which demonstrated the half-giants considerate and friendly nature.

Hagrid then introduced himself formally, "it's nice meeting ya, Mr Linwood. I am Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts, but you can just call me Hagrid. I guess that you're here to buy your school equipment".

"Yes, you are indeed correct, that's why I'm here. Professor Dumbledore has asked me to show young Mr Linwood around Diagon Alley to help familiarise himself and his family with the wizarding world. But, before you get any ideas, this is just a favour. Nothing more, nothing less", Remus was quick to say before Hagrid started spreading rumours.

"Shame, that is. Always thought you'd make a good Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Not saying anything against Professor Quirrell, but considering your history with the…", Hagrid started to say a little too much.

Remus interrupted once again, "no need to drag up the past. Anyway, we're burning daylight and...

"Mr Hagrid. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Amanda Linwood, George's mother."

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