Magic? || Years 1-5

Working At The Owl Emporium: Year 3/Summer

They walked into the Leaky Cauldron, Stan and Ernie hobbling along behind them carrying Harry's belongings.

"You've got him, Minister! Will you be wanting anything? Beer? Brandy?" Tom, the landlord of the pub, was standing beside the bar, a lantern in his hand.

"Perhaps a pot of tea," Fudge answered, his hand still resting rather tightly on Harry's shoulder.

Amisty followed awkwardly, not quite knowing what to do.

"'Ow come you di'n't tell us 'oo you are, eh, Neville?" Stan asked, beaming even though he wasn't using Harry's proper name.

"And a private parlor, please, Tom," Fudge gave the landlord a pointed look, steering Harry away.

"'Bye," Harry's voice was miserable as he looked at both Amisty and Stan and Ernie.

"'Bye, Neville!" Stan called after him as they walked down a passage alongside the bar.

"Amisty, if you could wait outside for a moment, I'd like to speak with Harry alone. I'm sure you're hungry, yes?" Fudge turned around, giving her yet another gentle smile.

She nodded shyly, not knowing how one was supposed to speak to the Minister of Magic.

"Come along, Miss River, I have some food for you," Tom appeared at her side, and she jumped slightly.

"Thank you," She dipped her head, throwing a glance over her shoulder as Fudge and Harry entered an empty parlor before following after Tom.

He brought her to a table, not near the bar at the sight of wrinkled nose at the scent of alcohol, and placed a plate of something that resembled bread in front of her.

A teapot soon followed, a faint trace of steam wafting up from the spout.

"These are crumpets, you can butter them if you like. They're safe, I assure you," Tom explained at the sight of her confused expression, before disappearing behind the bar once more.

Most likely to get Harry and Fudge's food as well.

She picked one of the crumpets up hesitantly, taking the knife in her hand and spreading a tiny amount onto it.

When she took a bite she was happily surprised with the taste. It was soft, buttery even the sparse amount, and it filled her with a sense of warmth.

It was homely, similar but not as good as the food she had eaten when she had spent a summer at the Burrow.

She looked up as Tom walked by, carrying a tray of the same food she had received. Pulling out one of her textbooks from her trunk, she flipped open to a random page and started to read.

It was one of her Charms notebooks, but she wasn't able to focus on it properly. Her attention instead was focused on the library at Hogwarts.

There was a book there, one that she hadn't been able to read through very much with her little free time at the school, and she wanted to see if there was any possible way for her to buy the same copy from Flourish and Blotts.

It wasn't likely, but there was always a chance that they had it, and if she could get her own copy instead of relying on the library she would learn so much more.

She flipped the page of her textbook, staring blankly at the picture that decorated it. The words she was reading weren't processing in her brain, sliding right by.

Fudge left a few minutes later, saying a simple farewell to her as he straightened his green bowler cap on his head.

"Miss River, if you could follow me. Mr. Potter is already in room eleven, you'll be staying in room ten," Tom walked down a staircase she hadn't noticed when she walked in.