Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 82: Shopping Trip
"Mister Potter… you look terrible…" McGonagall stared at him with eyes of disapproval. "We don't have long to make this trip to Diagon Alley so you can acquire a new broom for yourself before the next game. My time is very valuable, so I hope you don't waste it."
James could tell what she was thinking, that he probably stayed awake all night, fooling around with his friends.
'And she would kinda be right this time…' He recalled the events from last night.
After finally being able to transform, he had the sudden urge to go outside and run through the wilderness.
Remus had to break open the door, as this one was boarded to prevent any students from entering from that side.
Once they were out, they ran towards the Black Forest.
The memories from the night were a bit fuzzy, this was supposed to be normal for the first tranformation, but he seemed to recall that Remus and Peter didn't dare to venture further than a few feet past the entrance, whereas Sirius followed him inside with no reserves.
They must have run for hours after that, and he saw many of the forest's usual inhabitants during their joy run, like some Acromantulas, a unicorn, fairies, and even some centaurs, who chose to stay clear of him and merely observed him with wary eyes.
He found it extremely pleasant to run while in that form. James had never moved so fast before, and no matter how much he ran, he never grew tired.
He also knew that the stag he had transformed into held some magical abilities other than enhanced speed and endurance, but he didn't have the chance to test them yet.
However, by the end of the night, James had realized his mistake. The stag may have incredible stamina, but as a human, he still needed to sleep, and by the time they finished their escapade, the sun was almost out...meaning that they no longer had any more time to rest.
On top of that, James had promised to meet with McGonagall for their shopping trip. So unlike Sirius and the others, he could not sleep during class either.
"I'm fine, Professor. I just stayed up late reading a book," James told her.
"Hmph… sure." She did not seem to believe him at all. "Well, come on then. We can take the Floo from my office. I'm sure you remember where it is."
"You seem very upset with me, Professor. Have I done something to offend you recently?" James asked as they walked through the corridors of the castle. He, of course, knew why this woman was angry with him. He just found the silence too uncomfortable.
Her angry eyes were locked onto his. "What do you think? You have been a mischievous student since you first arrived, Mister Potter. You and your friends were always causing trouble and pulling pranks on the other students...or even the professors, but at least those were mostly harmless. I cannot say the same about your last stunt…"
"I assure you that my only intention was to mind my own business. Those Slytherin boys are the ones you should be giving that look of disapproval," James commented.
"I did that too. The three of them have been given enough detentions to keep them busy for the rest of the school year," McGonagall responded.
"And I'm sure they have learned their lesson," James said with a sarcastic tone.
This earned another glare from the professor.
"And what about you, Mister Potter? Did you learn your lesson?"
'I have learned to be more careful about where to put my next lab.' James thought.
"Of course. My talk with the Headmaster was very eye-opening. He made me see the error in my ways, and it won't happen again," he assured her.
McGonagall had to fight the urge not to roll her eyes. "I hope it was." The Headmaster had not shared with her the reason for James getting away without even a short suspension, or at least some detentions.
The professor assumed that it had something to do with the fact that James had saved Snape's life with that potion. The Healer had later confirmed what he said… Snape would not have made it to the infirmary in time otherwise.
"Let's go." She opened the door to her office and handed him some Floo powder. "Diagon Alley."
"Yes, I recall how this works." James took the powder and disappeared in a puff of green flames.
<><><><><><><><><><><>
"Is there any shop in particular you wanted to visit? Otherwise, we can go directly to 'Quality Quidditch Supplies.' They should have enough models for you to choose from."
"That's fine by me." He still felt that this was a wasteful expense, but unfortunately, it was necessary if he was expected to play Quidditch on a regular basis now.
The destruction of his lab had put a serious dent in his finances, and it was going to take him months to recover, unless he got some big requests… something that was going to be difficult now he can no longer use his real name for the deliveries.
Using a drop point or a pseudonym for the owl deliveries is something that the Ministry has put heavy regulations on. This was done in order to prevent criminals from using the service.
They arrived at the shop, and the person working there wasted no time attending to them. The quidditch shop doesn't get many clients during this part of the year, so they could not afford to lose a sale.
"We are looking for a flying broom for a Seeker. The budget…" McGonagall glanced at James. They had not spoken about how much he intended to spend, but she hoped it was enough for something decent, at least.
"Well, we have a large range of great brooms, from the latest models, like the Comet 260, to more modest ones, like…"
"Wait… show me that one over there." James pointed to one particular broom that caught his attention. It reminded him of one he used to have.
"Ah… that one just came in last month, actually," the clerk said with mixed feelings. They hadn't sold a single unit of that broom yet, but he couldn't say that to a client.
"A Nimbus?" McGonagall said with curiosity. The brand was not too well known, mostly because they are the latest company to join the broom market, and so far, their previous models were not able to keep up with older and more established brands like Comet or the Cleansweep series.
James was well aware of the history of these flying brooms. And he also knew that this particular model was going to be the one that managed to put the Nimbus brand on the map, due to the improvements they managed to implant in this particular model.
"The Nimbus 1500… I'll take it," James said with determination.
A.N: - Remember to comment, vote, and/or leave a review if you have the time. Those things help me a lot and I would really appreciate it.
You can Support me on P@treon if you like and get 20 advanced chapters. You can also find characters images to view for free in Collections/Invincible Stage Images
-patreon.com/Kriogenix
For donations and commissions, go to ko-fi.com/kriogenix