Because of a certain young wizard's birthday, several young wizards had returned to London rather earlier than usual.
So buying next term's school supplies got moved to the top of the schedule.
Diagon Alley, three weeks before the end of summer vacation, had already started filling up with small groups of Hogwarts students, since the new school year was getting close.
At Quality Quidditch Supplies, Sean spotted two Gryffindors—Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas—staring longingly at what looked like a newly released broom.
Outside Flourish and Blotts, he ran into Neville, who stammered that he seemed to have come too early.
Sean quietly said that maybe it was perfect timing, since they could have a raspberry ice cream.
But Neville wasn't the only one who had come early. Outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, Ron's freckles stood out as clearly as ever, Hermione was deeply tanned, and both of them were waving at them with all their strength.
"Morning, Sean! And Neville."
Ron grinned at them, then promptly sat down.
"Where's Harry? Come on, Sean, doesn't he live in Diagon Alley right now?"
The moment he finished speaking, Harry's delighted voice came from a distance:
"You're all here!"
As Harry hurried over, Justin appeared at the edge of the street from one of the nearby shops.
"Harry, you really… you really inflated your aunt?"
Hermione asked in a very stern tone.
That question instantly captured everyone's attention.
"It wasn't me."
Harry said.
In front of Fudge, he hadn't wanted to explain that. He'd figured that if anyone was going to be punished, it was better if it was him and not Sean. After all, Sean had only been helping him.
But in front of his friends, he was honest.
"Then what spell was it? Can I learn it?"
Ron gasped from the side.
"This isn't funny, Ron!"
Hermione scolded sharply.
"Honestly, you…"
She turned suspiciously to Sean.
"How come they didn't arrest you on the spot?"
"Sean used his grandfather's wand."
Harry muttered.
So they'd mistaken it for him.
But what if he hadn't been there?
Harry found himself wondering whether the Ministry might not have caught anyone at all.
By that logic, maybe he had been the inconvenience.
"Grandfather?"
Hermione went blank, and Justin looked just as confused.
As far as they knew, Sean had no relatives.
"Well, anyway, they didn't punish you, right?
I bet it's only because it was you."
Ron shrugged.
"The famous Harry Potter, and…"
He gave a little laugh.
"I can't even imagine what the Ministry would do if I inflated an aunt.
I'll tell you what: first they'd have to dig me up, because Mum would've killed me already.
Anyway, you can ask my dad yourself tonight. We're staying at the Leaky Cauldron too!
We came back early from Egypt, but Dad agreed to let us spend a few days in Diagon Alley!"
"That's brilliant!"
Harry said happily.
"So are we buying books first, or equipment?"
Everyone instinctively turned to look at Sean.
At that moment, he was still thinking about the magical structure best suited to the Blinding Light Charm.
"What about buying a pet first?"
Hermione said, trying to sound casual.
"I really want an owl. Look—Harry has Hedwig, you have Errol—"
"I don't," Ron said.
"Errol's the family owl. All I've got is Scabbers."
He pulled his pet rat out of his pocket.
"I think I should get him checked," he said, setting Scabbers on the table in front of them. "Egypt didn't really agree with him."
Scabbers looked even thinner than before, and his whiskers were clearly drooping.
"Then…"
Justin smiled at Sean. Sean closed his book and nodded.
"Then let's go. I remember…"
Ron began excitedly searching the street for something.
"You mean… there's a magical pet shop over there?"
Harry said. After a few days in Diagon Alley, he already knew the place quite well.
"They might be able to do something for Scabbers, and Hermione can get her owl."
"Yeah! That's the one!"
Ron smacked his forehead.
So they paid for the ice cream and crossed the street toward the Magical Menagerie.
The shop was tiny. Cages crowded every wall. The air smelled awful, and it was deafening inside because every creature in the cages was squeaking, shrieking, chattering, or hissing.
Behind the counter, a witch was explaining to a customer how to care for double-ended newts, so the group waited to one side and looked around at the cages.
Two huge purple toads sat there greedily gobbling dead blowflies, drool dripping everywhere.
A terrifyingly large tortoise by the window had a shell glittering like jewels. Poisonous orange snails crawled slowly along the walls of a glass tank.
On the counter stood a large cage full of sleek black rats, balancing on their bald tails while playing some kind of jumping game.
The wizard buying the newts left, and Ron stepped up to the counter.
"My rat," he said to the witch, "he's looked a bit off ever since I brought him back from Egypt."
"Put him on the counter."
the witch said, pulling a thick pair of black glasses from her pocket.
Ron took Scabbers from the inside pocket of his robes and set him down beside the big cage of rats. The rats immediately stopped their jumping game and crowded against the wire to inspect Scabbers closely.
Like everything Ron owned, Scabbers was secondhand—he had originally belonged to Percy—and he looked thoroughly worn-out.
Compared to the sleek, glossy rats in the cage, he looked especially shabby.
"Hm."
The witch picked Scabbers up and said, "How old is this rat?"
"No idea," Ron said. "He's ancient. He used to belong to my brother."
"What can he do?"
the witch asked, studying Scabbers carefully.
"Uh…"
Ron hesitated.
The truth was, Scabbers had never shown the slightest sign of doing anything interesting.
The witch's gaze moved from Scabbers's torn left ear to his front paw, where one toe was missing, and she clicked her tongue loudly.
"This rat's had a rough life."
she said.
"He was already like this when Percy gave him to me," Ron said miserably.
"A normal rat or garden rat only lives about three years," the witch said.
"If you want something with a bit more life in it, maybe you'd be interested in one of these…"
She pointed at the black rats, which instantly resumed their jumping game. Ron muttered,
"Show-offs."
"Well, if you don't want to replace him, you could try this Rat Tonic."
The witch bent under the counter and pulled out a little red bottle.
"All right," Ron said. "How much—ow!"
A huge ginger beast suddenly sprang down from the top of the tallest cage and landed on Ron's head, nearly flattening him.
The creature reared up and bared its teeth at Scabbers with murderous intent.
"No!"
the witch shouted, but Scabbers had already slipped like a bar of soap from her hands, landed flat on his back on the floor, and then leapt up and bolted for the door.
"Scabbers!"
Ron yelled, racing out of the shop after him, and Harry sprinted after him too.
"I like that cat."
Hermione said suddenly to Sean and Justin.
~~~
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