Chapter Text
It took Harry three and a half days to get bored of the Ministry imposed limit of ‘Stay in Diagon alley and don’t go to Muggle London’.
Whilst doing his homework at Fortescue’s and exploring the shops was fascinating, he couldn’t quell the quiet curiosity that rose within him every time he passed the colourful signs with names like Horizont Alley and Vertic Alley.
Harry thought the names left a lot to be desired; but then again, wixen had a way of naming things that made no sense at all. He’d taken a peek into Alkimic Alley briefly and was fascinated with the bright displays of enchanted items in the windows, but quickly left to avoid being seen disregarding the minister’s instructions.
He’d picked up a pamphlet in the muggleborn section of Flourish and Blotts’ with a map of the whole shopping district, one that he’d never realised existed in the first place. Harry couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit resentful that Hagrid had not let him explore the shop more all those years ago; the muggleborn section at the back was hidden by a large shelf of magical gardening books, and contained a gold mine of pamphlets and books to help those entering from the muggle world.
Harry had left with a bag full of free pamphlets and a book about ingredient combinations and how to prepare them that would hopefully help him save his potions grade this year.
While everyone called Diagon Alley, well, Diagon Alley, Harry hadn’t realised it was just a generalised term for the whole shopping district. From the small snippet of history on the pamphlet, it apparently used to be called ‘Camelot Court’ but the name fell out of favour when people fell into the habit of calling it the name of the first alley they entered. It was a bit stupid, in his opinion, people in London didn't call it 'King's cross' just because they got off the train there.
It had places like Horizont Alley, - which was mostly food and fresh produce-, Caziu Alley, -cafés and restaurants-, and Vertic Alley, branching off from the corner of the Daily Prophet and consisting of primarily offices, likely housing lawyers and additional boring adult stuff that Harry couldn’t care less about.
The ones that interested Harry the most were Alkimic Alley and Aura Alley. From what the pamphlet suggested, Alkimic was the centre point for the specialised craft shops of ward masters, enchanters, alchemists and such. He had wanted to poke around a little when he’d overheard someone at Fortescue’s talking about a cloak that adjusted temperature to match the weather, and they’d mentioned getting it from ‘Pankratz’s Pragmatic Parlour’.
Aura Alley had grabbed his attention simply because he really needed new glasses and it seemed to be the place to go for anything cosmetic or medical.
Harry didn’t want to disobey the Minister; but then again, Fudge had only said to stay in Diagon Alley right? If anyone asked, he’d say that he had no idea that he wasn’t allowed to explore the other alleys, since no one had specified if it was just the main alley or the entire shopping district. Although, he definitely wanted to avoid unnecessary attention – it wouldn’t do to get stared at excessively or mobbed. Maybe he’d start with slightly altering his appearance. There had been one incident at Fortescue's on his second day where his scar was just a tad too visible through his fringe and at least 4 people had stopped by to shake his hand, letting his ice cream turn into a disappointed, gloopy mess that Florian Fortescue had looked at in pity, and replaced out of the kindness of his heart.
As he ate his lunch, giving a nod to Tom as he stopped by with a refill of pumpkin juice, Harry started to scribble down a list of possible options on a napkin.
- Buy new clothes
From what he’d seen, most people dressed in wixen robes when going in and out of the other alleys, and his oversized muggle clothing would definitely not help him blend in.
- Do something about hair??
He’d been told often enough that the wild curls and inky black strands on his head was a dead giveaway Potter trait, and being completely honest with himself, Harry was kind of sick of people telling him that he looks just like his father. Maybe a trip to the hairdressers would help. Then again, hadn’t he made his hair grow back after Aunt Petunia’s horrible haircut when he was younger? If he could find out how to do that again maybe it’d be less willing to puff up in crazy directions if it was longer.
- New glasses, do wizards have contacts?
It would be nice not to have to beg to go to the optometrist this year. He’d only gone twice, the first time when he was 6 and the school basically strong armed Petunia into getting him the cheapest pair possible with an NHS voucher, and a second time when he was 10 and his prescription had changed so much that he had ended up having to threaten to tell his teachers again for his aunt to hand over enough money to get the lenses changed. Did wixen have self-updating prescription glasses? They're bound to be expensive, maybe he’d have to ask Tom when he finished eating to find out if he’d need to make a stop at Gringotts first…
He finished off his shepherd's pie and stood up to go pay at the bar.
“Good meal, Mr. Potter?” Asked Tom as he approached the bar. Harry nodded.
“Yes! Thank you so much- Er, I was wondering if I could ask a question?”
“Sure thing kid, what’s troublin’ ya?” He smiled kindly at Harry, putting down the glass he was drying with a rag that seemed to make the scuffs on it disappear.
“I’ve been meaning to get a new pair of glasses, and was wondering if you knew if self updating prescription glasses were a thing? You see- uh- mine are getting old, but they’re from the muggle world and I wouldn’t know how to go about getting some new ones or how much they cost.”
The barman let out a quiet chuckle “Can’t say I know much about the enchantments and how much they cost on ‘em since I don’t wear glasses myself, but I do know that Spellopticals in Aura Alley has quite a collection of different kinds, not just for vision.” He picked up another glass from the counter, rinsing it off and starting to dry it. “Minister said you weren’t supposed to leave the main alley, but you definitely look like you need a new pair o’ specs so I won't mention it to ‘im if I see you pop down into Aura, it's just off the corner to the left when you go past the wall. Be discreet though, don’t wanna have to explain myself to the authorities, kid.”
Harry nodded, thanking him and going back to his room with a half grimace on his face. At least he’d gotten an answer on if he was supposed to stay in the main alley. He definitely needed to start on his plan.
It took an hour and a half for the first step of his list to be complete. Harry had taken a quick stop at Gringotts, refiling his money pouch and embarrassing himself in front of the cart goblin by asking if they sold expanded pouches so he could carry more. He’d gotten a sneer, the vague sense of the goblin laughing at him, and a sharp “If you want fancy enchanted items, shop in Alkimic, we’re not in the habit of accommodating children.” Which added another reason to visit Alkimic Alley in his books.
He’d gotten clothes at Twillfitt and Tatting’s when he saw Madam Malkin’s overflowing with people and promptly regretted his decision when the very tall, very pretty man who saw him enter introduced himself as Aurelian Twillfitt, and decided he needed a whole new wardrobe to make sure he ‘Never had to wear such despicable examples of muggle mistakes ever again ’.
An hour later, Harry walked out in some elegant but not too over-the-top sage green robes, a light grey summer cloak with a hood that had cooling charms sewn in and an order to be delivered to his room at the Leaky sometime this week. It put him back fifty or so galleons, but he couldn’t regret it; it was nice to finally own some everyday clothes that were his and only his. Harry barely remembered what he’d bought (since he spent half the time trying to avoid blushing around the salesman), but he hoped Aurelian wouldn’t let him down.
As he walked back over to the Leaky Cauldron and up to his room, it was time to start on his second part of the plan. He took off his cloak and placed it on the coat rack (…was it called a cloak rack here? ), and sat down on his bed.
Harry’s next step was hair; hopefully he’d manage to grow it a bit longer. He'd seen that it wasn’t as unusual here as it is in the muggle world, so he probably wouldn’t stand out too much. If it came to it, he could give it a chop before heading back home at the end of next year.
The next half hour was spent looking through all his charm books, transfiguration books and - in a fit of desperation - even the beauty magazines left on the small side table in his room in an attempt to find a spell to grow out his hair that would last longer than a couple of hours.
“It can’t be that hard, I did it when I was five…” Harry muttered under his breath. The only clue so far he’d found was in one of the muggleborn pamphlets, titled ‘Wixen Fashion & Beauty and How to Navigate it’. It was a fairly short pamphlet, listing the clothing shops and hairdressers in the district, a guide on how to maintain magical makeup as well as a warning for muggle parents not to try and use wixen beauty products. It was by means of a small script at the bottom of said pamphlet that Harry found his solution, quite by accident.
There are very few ways to permanently alter your appearance in the Wixen world if you are not a Metamorphmagus, as most methods require either expensive, hard to brew potions, spells or products that rely on your own magic to sustain them. Most averagely powered wixen can hold a full face of makeup for perhaps a day or two before needing to remove it. It is why it is discouraged to use wixen makeup in a career that utilises a lot of raw magic, like Aurors or Spell-weavers, so we recommend you venture out to the muggle world, for their options might not hide our imperfections that well, but they are far less exhausting to wear.
Harry had adopted a habit of pulling out a large tome titled ‘Wixen Wordly Dictionary’ that was recommended to him by another pamphlet and looking up the more magical words he didn’t quite grasp, so when he’d looked up ‘Metamorphmagus’ he thought he was onto something.
Metamorphmagus (pl. Metamorphmagi )
A Wixen with the ability to change their appearance at will in varying levels. Originally thought to come from The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, it is a rare bloodline ability that enables wixen to vary their appearance by focusing on their magical core. The ability is believed to be dying out as the House of Black declines, though some purebloods and half-bloods still find themselves with minor versions of the ability, such as changing their hair length, colour, their eye colour, their fingernail length, or small cosmetic changes like freckles and blush. A wixen who fully inherits the Metamorphmagus ability is capable of changing their entire appearance to become someone else, though the magical strength required is quite massive.
Harry couldn’t help but feel a little giddy at the thought. He’d made his hair grow back, that had to be a sign of some minor version of the skill, right? He put his dictionary away and grabbed the pamphlet named ‘Your Magical Core and You’. It was probably his favourite one out of all the free pamphlets he’d picked up, and he’d read it about six or so times. It instructed him on how to focus on his core to be able to bring it up to the surface, making spell casting easier. Hopefully, it would make transfiguration a lot easier this year – he could already feel more comfortable when he held his wand.
The dictionary entry said it took focusing on your magical core to change, so he sat himself down in front of the mirror.
To be able to feel your magical core and bring it up to the surface, it takes a clear mind and absolute focus. It is not always necessary, but the wixen-raised will have been taught to do this from a very young age, so if you do not wish to fall behind your peers, it is best to master this skill before you begin your first year at Hogwarts.
The first step is to sit down somewhere comfortable and begin to meditate. There are many different methods, so choose what may work best for you and attempt to clear your mind. Any thoughts should be gently pushed aside while you focus on finding the inner warmth that is your core. It can feel very different for everyone, depending on what kind of magics your core is predisposed for and the size of it. The second step is to reach forward into yourself, gently pulling it to the forefront of your body and mind. With enough practice, it is the basis for wandless magic. You can…
It all of a sudden made so much sense, why he was struggling with the more detailed wandwork.
Harry had figured out that his core was quite large when he first attempted to bring it forward. For the past two years, he had become so used to pushing as much magic as possible into his spells that the precision needed for Transfiguration was exhausting.
As he stared into the mirror, Harry took a deep breath and gently brought his core to the forefront. He wasn’t quite sure on how to go about testing if he had this rare magical skill but he decided to just go for it and picture himself with slightly longer hair.
It took Harry about a dozen tries, losing concentration and having to pull his core back up while picturing his appearance until he noticed his hair grow slightly longer. It was definitely exhausting; no wonder a full Metamorphmagus was said to be powerful, even a tiny change had depleted him, leaving him exhausted. He hoped it would get easier to do it with practice, but he needed a nap right now.
He could try again to make it shoulder length tomorrow.