Chapter 22: 22 The Return Home

“Is... is that really me?” Harry asked. If he could see himself, he would see a direct mirror of his portrait self as he stood awkwardly with his face slightly red.

“It is, and I couldn't be happier to see my robes on such a strapping young boy.” Madam Malkin said and then she looked at his clothing. “Now, I believe I need to have a look at your other clothing.”

“Huh?” Harry blinked his eyes and looked down at himself. “What's wrong with them?”

Madam Malkin laughed and she rubbed her hand on Harry's wrinkled shirt. “There's nothing really wrong. It's just my clothing items have enchantments on them for never wrinkle and ever clean.”

“Wow, really?” Harry asked, his voice full of wonder.

Madam Malkin nodded. “It won't help if you spill a large amount of something on them, then you will have to Scourgify the mess first. Normal every day dust and dirt just slides right off.”

Harry opened his trunk and climbed down into it using the ladder and started to pass up all of the normal clothing he owned. Madam Malkin laughed and told him about the levitation charm to lift things out to himself and then she reminded him of the Accio charm that she had used to summon her hat on the Knight Bus.

“Can you levitate things out of a trunk charmed with anti-theft and auto-sorting?” Harry asked and passed up more clothes.

Madam Malkin opened her mouth to say yes, then she laughed again. “Harry, you keep teaching this old witch new things.” She said and piled his clothes beside the trunk. “Just for that, I'll teach you how to clean those dirty pyjamas. It's just a basic household spell; but, you're young and you probably haven't seen it used before.”

Harry nodded and then he gawked at the witch as she pretty much made his pyjamas dance and wash themselves. “WOW!”

Madam Malkin kept laughing as she cleaned all of his normal clothes. After that, she charmed them all with the two spells for no wrinkles and to stay clean from normal dirt. Harry asked her to teach him both spells, and she did so. She hadn't done anything like that for years and having an eager young boy that was actually interested in learning the simple clothing maintenance spells, made her feel all warm inside.

To her surprise, Madam Malkin regretted that her granddaughter wasn't old enough to attend Hogwarts for a couple of years. She wanted her to meet this wonderful boy and then, possibly, Harry could have become her grandson by marriage. She laughed at herself for thinking such selfish thoughts and gave Harry a hug. Harry's face flushed red at the unexpected intimate contact and wasn't sure how to react.

“Let's get you packed back up.” Madam Malkin said and let him go, then waved her wand at the stack of clothes. They folded themselves up and then swarmed into the open trunk.

“What was that spell?!?” Harry asked and looked into the trunk.

Madam Malkin gave him a concerned look. “You're eager to learn these spells because you've never seen or heard of them before, isn't it?” She asked and he nodded. “You don't know any of the basic household spells, do you?”

Harry shook his head and ducked it a little. “I was raised in a muggle house.” He said, sadly.

Madam Malkin gasped, then she understood. “Don't be sad about that, young man.” She said. “I suppose you were sent there to keep you safe from the bad wizards still looking for you-know-who.”

Harry shrugged. As far as he knew, no other wizard, good or bad, had ever visited him. Except for Hagrid, the gamekeeper from the school. Harry took in a sharp breath when he realized he now knew someone he could ask about learning to understand his owl, Hedwig.

“Well, I suppose as payment for all of the enchantments I just did, I can show you the spells you don't know.” Madam Malkin said with a smile and started to teach Harry all of the common and basic spells that every wizarding household used to maintain their homes, clothes, food, and themselves.

Harry was almost blown away at how much wizards actually used magic at home. After two hours, the lessons were over and he was very happy to have learned so much.

“I guess this is the end of our visit.” Madam Malkin said, her voice full of sadness, because she thoroughly enjoyed having the young man visit. “Thank you for giving me such a wonderful portrait to showcase my work.”

“But... I didn't...” Harry started to say and Madam Malkin took him into another hug.

“You could have said no, or asked me to pay you for your time, or told me to keep it private.” She said.

Harry looked up at her with wide eyes. “I could have?”

Madam Malkin laughed and she let him go. “I am so very happy to have met you, Harry.”

“M-me, too.” Harry said. “I meant meet you, not me. I meet me every day.”

She laughed again and told him to grab the handle of his trunk. She led him out of her shop and down the alley, told him about the shops he hadn't stopped at before, then they were out through the Leaky Cauldron and on the sidewalk.

Harry took out his ticket and flicked his wand out like the conductor told him to. He waited for several seconds, then there was a soft bang down the street as the Knight Bus appeared. Three parked cars jumped out of the way and jumped back as the bus swerved over the road and the sidewalk, then the bus slammed on the brakes and skidded to a stop right in front of Harry.

“That was brilliant.” Harry grinned up at the conductor as he passed over his ticket.

“Hear that, Ernie? The young lad says you're brilliant!” Stanley nearly yelled.

“Is there something wrong wit him?” Ernie asked.

“Probably!” Stanley laughed and stepped aside. “Hop on! We'll have you back to where you're going in two shakes of a dragon's tail.”

“Goodbye, Harry.” Madam Malkin said.

Harry looked at the older woman and made a decision. He put down his trunk and gave her a hug. “This is only my second time giving a hug.” He admitted. “I hope it's okay.”

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Madam Malkin was surprised by his words for a moment, then she smiled. “It's more than okay.” She said and hugged him back. “Thank you, Harry.”

Harry's face was slightly red as he let her go, then he picked up his trunk and stepped onto the bus. He sat down on the closest seat, quickly cast the Spongify spell on everything, just in case it had worn off from that morning, and the bus took off. He couldn't help his laugh as he tumbled and rolled around the bus as it drove and swerved. He didn't understand why the other two passengers weren't enjoying it like he was, though.

The bus stopped once near some kind of marshland and a rickety old house, the two passengers got off, then the bus took off again. Harry laughed, because there didn't seem to be any other speeds except 'stop' and 'full speed'. After a few more tumbles and one really nice long slide from the back of the bus to the front, it stopped right beside his front doorstep.

“Here ya are.” The conductor said and waved out the door.

“Thanks!” Harry said and tried to step off, only to find he couldn't.

The doorstep was covered in packages!

“Okay, that's a bit ridiculous.” Harry said as he opened his trunk and shovelled a pile of them inside. “I'll see you guys next month.” He said and stepped off the bus, then tossed the rest of the packages into the trunk.

“Popular guy, that Harry.” Stanley said. “That's the last one until lunch, Ernie!”

“Lunchtime!” Ernie yelled and the bus took off down the street, made a tree dodge out of the way, then it disappeared from sight.

Harry chuckled at the sight and reached for the door handle. It was locked, even though it was the middle of the day. He smiled, because he assumed that his aunt and uncle thought he couldn't get in without a key. He flicked his wrist and his wand slid out of his sleeve.

Alohamora! Harry said in his mind and mouthed the word as he concentrated on what he wanted it to do. The lock on the door handle clicked and the door opened for him. He put the wand back up his sleeve to hide it, stepped inside and closed the door, then went to the cupboard under the stairs. He put his trunk inside and locked the cupboard again with Colloportus, then went to the living room. He opened the window and Hedwig hopped from her perch and onto the window sill.

“Hi, Hedwig.” Harry whispered and pet her. “I've got a lot of packages to go through and then I'll have lots of letters for you to deliver.”

Hedwig hooted softly and slowly blinked her eyes.

“Should I send for a few other owls to help you?” Harry asked, concerned. “I don't want you overworking yourself or doing more than you should.”

Hedwig hooted softly and shook her head.

“Okay.” Harry said. “I'll be right back with the first and most important letter.” He left the living room and went to his cupboard, unlocked it and went inside, then took out his writing things. He quickly wrote it out, put it in an envelope, and brought it out to Hedwig. “Get this to Hagrid and wait for him to write back.”

Hedwig hooted softly and took the letter, then flew away and out of sight.

Harry closed the window and went back to his cupboard to start responding to all of the packages that he had received. I'm going to need a few more bags of owl treats because of this. He thought and pulled out the first handful of packages. He read the notes to see what they had inside them, then had one of the weirdest and eclectic meals he had ever had as he sampled everything and used the food preservation spell on them.

There's like a week's worth of food here! Harry thought with amusement as he kept writing and casting the spell to keep everything fresh. Little did he realize that Hedwig had to go back to the hospital every morning and that would set off another flurry of care packages full of food.

Harry had been so preoccupied with Hedwig and writing the letters that he had completely missed the astonished looks on his aunt's and uncle's faces when he had walked by them in the living room.

*

An hour later, Hagrid sat in his hut and enjoyed a nice bucket sized cup of tea. He saw a fluttering of white outside his window and reached over and opened the window just as Hedwig came in for a landing.

“Harry's writing ta me!” Hagrid said happily and accepted the letter from Hedwig. “Thankya.” He said and dug out a squiggly worm-like grub from his pocket.

Hedwig checked it and then turned her head away.

“Heh, yer right. It's not as fresh as it shoulda been.” Hagrid said and tossed it out the window. There was a quick snap and a satisfied rattle. “Harry'll give yeh a treat when yeh get back.”

Hedwig gave a hoot and didn't move.

Hagrid knew what that meant and opened the letter to read it. Dear, Hagrid. I was wondering if you knew of a way to understand owls. A book of their language, a teacher, or even someone that already understands them would be a big help. Let me know as soon as you can. - Harry.

A big dollop of wetness plopped onto the parchment and smudged the words.

“Young Harry has taken an interest in magical creatures!” Hagrid almost bellowed as he cried. “I'm so happy!”

Hedwig gave a stern hoot and Hagrid nodded several times.

“Right, right. I can't be losing meh head right now. He needs meh help.” Hagrid said and walked over to the side of his hut and looked through the piles of books he had. “Now, where did I put that damn... ah! Here it is.” He pulled out an old and fairly worn book that was covered in dust and grime. “I think he's definitely gonna like this.”

Hagrid wrapped it up in some paper he grabbed from another shelf, tied a string around it, then went back to the table. He wrote out a response and tucked it into the string, then handed the package to Hedwig.

“Off witcha, now! Harry's waiting!” Hagrid said and Hedwig took off.

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