"Unlike a normal Inheritance Test." Ragnok waved a hand at a golden bowl sitting on the desk between them. "This will take seven drops of blood and seven days. Once completed the results will reach much farther than the standard test."
Ragnok produced a thin silver dagger. He offered it to Harry. He took it and held his hand over the bowl. The blade pierced his finger painlessly. Exactly seven drops of blood fell into the bowl. The tip of the dagger glowed, sealing up the puncture with nary a tingle. His blood swirled around, spread along the inside, and covering much more surface than seven drops should have. Ragnok placed another gold bowl atop the first, creating a perfect orb.
"I look forward to hearing from you in a week." Harry offered the blade back to the goblin. "Thank you for your time, Master Ragnok."
"And yours as well, Lord Potter." Ragnok stood.
Harry walked back out into the lobby. He took a look at the time to see that it hadn't hardly been an hour. That left him with plenty of time to explore. It was nice to see the Alley again before the worst of the war. Businesses that he didn't ever remember were open and thriving. If there was one place, he definitely needed to visit it was the bookstore. So many texts were outlawed or simply gotten rid of once things picked up. Tom's people weren't the only ones limiting the available knowledge. The ministry was quite proactive in removing any sort 'improper' material.
He stopped in the doorway when the sounds of a struggle came from inside. Muffled curses, an odd sort of growl, and the occasional tearing of paper made him smile. Third year, Hagrid was now the Care of Magical Creatures teacher and that meant the Monstrous Book of Monsters.
Harry strode into the shop. The clerk looked up as he entered, giving the stack of books in front of him just the opening they needed to attack. Harry moved quickly, stroking the spines on the books closest to the clerk. They settled down with a contented purr. He moved on to the rest as the clerk watched in stunned awe.
"How?" The clerk managed to whisper.
"Stroke the spines." Harry tapped the side of the crate. "The instructions are on the box."
The clerk leaned over to see a piece of parchment glued to the crate. It was a bit hard to make out since it was upside down. The clerk blushed as they noticed a large arrow pointing to the floor with text reading 'This Side Up'.
"Oh." The clerk cleared their throat. "Thank you for the assistance."
"No problem." Harry smiled. "I can't imagine what that would have been like once students got their copies."
The clerk blanched. "What can I do for you?"
"Hogwarts Third Year books." Harry picked up one of the, now content, books and began to pet it. "I was going to take a look around as well. Do you have any charmed bags? I'm planning on getting a lot."
"No." The clerk slowly shimmied away from the crate. "There is a luggage store just a few shops over. They have bags, satchels, and trunks with all sorts of charms."
"I'll go grab one while you get my order together." Harry continued to stroke the furry book. "Do you mind if I take this one with me? I'll be right back."
"Go ahead." The clerk sighed once they were a safe distance from the crate. "That one is yours, on the house."
"Thank you." Harry smiled. He plucked a galleon from his pocket and flipped it to the clerk. "Seems you dropped this."
The clerk caught the coin. They looked from it to Harry and then back at the gold piece.
"I'll get right on that order." The clerk pocketed the coin.
Harry petted the book as he walked to the baggage store. It wasn't all that different now than it was in the future. Once it was rebuilt anyway. Harry grabbed a new trunk with decent storage with a linked satchel. Anything he put in the bag would be organized into the trunk. It only worked with things that could fit through the opening, but it was still incredibly convenient. With that done he returned to the book store.
The clerk smiled at him as he entered. They gave a small wave to the stack of books on the counter.
"That was fast." Harry gave an appreciative nod.
"You saved me from death by a thousand papercuts." The clerk chuckled. "You're my new favorite." They held out their hand. "Morris Morrison, at your service."
"Harry Potter." He shook it.
The clerk froze. His eyes traveled to Harry's forehead then slowly grew.
"Mister Potter, sir." Morris straightened up their hair. "Please, forgive me. I didn't mean any sort of disrespect."
"Morris." Harry sighed. "Stop."
The clerk froze. Harry reached over and plucked a stray piece of paper that had tangled in his hair.
"Call me Harry." He fed the little slip of paper to his book. "Potter, if you must, but don't freak out. I'm here, alone, and trying to keep a low profile."
Morris nodded. "Got it."
"How much was it?" Harry motioned to the books.
"On the house for you Mister Potter, sir." Morris practically shoved the books at him.
"Morris." Harry tried not to glare at the clerk. "I'm not a 'sir', I'm not even thirteen yet. Take a deep breath."
Morris did. His face slowly began to turn red.
"And let it out." Harry shook his head.
The clerk did.
"Feel better?"
Morris nodded. "Sorry about that. I've read all of your books. Last year I was too busy running around for that fraud Lockheart that I totally missed you coming in."
"Oh." Harry sighed. "The books. They are complete and total fiction." He paused. "I don't actually know who wrote them. Fun read, but not true at all."
"You were trained since birth by the ghost of Merlin?" Morris looked at him hopefully.
"Sorry, no." Harry shook his head. "That would be wicked though."
Morris seemed to shrink just a bit. "You aren't betrothed to a Veela princess, are you?"
Harry shook his head.
"That makes sense." Morris sighed. "You're not even a teenager. Veela allure wouldn't do anything for you yet."
Harry patted him on the shoulder. "Sorry, mate. I'm just Harry."
Morris took a deep breath. He straightened up his posture and put his salesman face back in place.
"You said you were looking for some other books." Morris stepped out from behind the counter. "What can I help you find?"
"Spells, information on lordships, and history." Harry counted them off. "Etiquette would be a good idea as well. Do you have anything on Hogwarts that isn't written for Hogwarts students?"
"Follow me." Morris was in his element now. "I hope that bag has plenty of space."