"This place is a lot busier than I thought it would be." Harry commented as the brick wall shifted, revealing Diagon Alley to him, Sirius and Remus.
"Well it IS almost Christmas." Remus said wryly, as the most common people they saw were those hurrying to do last minute shopping for their loved ones.
"So where to first?" Sirius asked while looking around like a child.
The Alley was decorated for Christmas as well as trees stood outside every single shop, and strands of garland strung overhead from shop to shop while fake snow fell from the sky. And in every shop window were figurines that were charmed to move as they danced to draw attention and interact with potential customers.
"Let's go to the owl post shop first. I have several presents and such to send out, too many for Hedwig and Noctua." Harry said, referring to his and Sirius's newly purchased owl, a melanistic barn owl with rare black plumage.
"Alright then, might as well fight our way through that first." Sirius said, while Remus went off to do his own thing for the moment.
Sure enough, Sanders Owl Post was swarmed with people trying to send gifts and letters to their loved ones for the holidays. Enough that Harry and Sirius couldn't even get close to the doorway until Sirius used his trump card. The Black family name.
Almost immediately afterwards the two of them were brought to the head of the line, and they were able to make the arrangements for all of Harry's packeges and letters to be sent.
"So what were the letters about?" Sirius asked when they quickly left the mad house behind them.
"Invitations for some people to come over on Christmas day for dinner. I sent them to Hermione's family, Neville and his grandmother, Susan and Amelia, and a few others from school. I also sent one to your cousin, Andromeda, along with her husband and daughter. Unfortunately the Weasleys are in Romania, or they would have gotten an invitation as well." Harry told him while ticking all of the different people off on his fingers.
"Y-you did?!" Sirius asked suddenly nevous for some reason.
"Yeah, why?" Harry asked while narrowing his eyes from the way his godfather was acting.
"Well..... Since its just the three of us bachelors there, I wanted to surprise you and Remus and sent out a request for some Veela dancers from France..." Sirius said, acting like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
"..."
"Did you really expect Veela dancers to entertain someone who is physically 11? I haven't even STARTED puberty yet." Harry said with undisguised exasperation.
"Oh yeah..." Sirius said, as if he JUST realized himself. "You just act too mature!" He shot back, making Harry roll his eyes.
"Well I AM double your age mentally. But oh well, we can just deal with the situation later." Harry said as they approached their next destination, the House Elf Employment Emporium.
For obvious reasons, this place was far less crowded when Harry and Sirius arrived, as not everyone could afford to buy a house elf. Only a few people were there when Harry and Sirius entered, allowing them to be seen to almost immediately as they were taken to one of the back rooms.
"Greetings, Lord Black and young Lord Potter~!" The assistant who was working with them said as they settled themselves.
"Greetings." Harry returned, while Sirius just sat idly to the side since he wasn't the one buying house elves.
"How may our little emporium be of service today?" The assistant asked when it was apparent Sirius wasn't going to say anything.
"I am in the market for three house elves. All capable of cleaning of course, but I also need at least one of them that can man the kitchen, one to tend to a greenhouse full of alchemical ingredients, tend to livestock, and one with experience managing a household as well as a business." Harry immediately listed off, while the assistant wrote everything down for him.
"Hmmm..." The assistant hummed in contemplation as he finished writing.
"Well, all house elves are skilled cleaners, that much is a given, as well as them all being skilled in cooking. That particular elf should be easy to find for you. An elf that is skilled at tending to a garden and livestock is a bit more specialized, but not too uncommon that finding one should be overly difficult. The biggest hurdle will be finding one skilled in managing households and businesses, as they are rarer and in fairly higher demand." He stated while adding notes to each item.
"I have complete trust in the competency of the emporium." Harry answered while tossing a small bag towards the assistant, filled with Galleons of course to expedite the process of finding his elves.
"We thank the young Lord Potter for his faith~!" The assistant gushed while quickly swiping the bag of coins. "We shall have a line-up of interested elves for you to choose from tomorrow~!"
"I appreciate it." Harry said, standing up along with Sirius since their business was concluded, for now, before they both left the emporium.
"Finally! I hate those kinds of stuffy places!" Sirius exclaimed as soon as they were back out on the street.
"Don't celebrate just yet. I also intend to buy a building while we're here to act as a shop." Harry told him, making Sirius pull a face.
"What do you need a shop for?"
"Tangible income, as well as a place to sell the things I make. I AM a craftsman after all." Harry told him, thinking of the surpluss of armor, weapons, potions, and accessories he had piling up in his bag and trunk. Not to mention the assortment of knick-knacks he had picked up over the years, and were just collecting dust in storage.
Of course Harry wouldn't sell any of the REALLY rare, dangerous and valuable items he had, like the eye of the Falmer, the gem paragons, or the claw keys.
"I can use the place to sell most of the casual items that I make, since I can't just sell them directly to vendors here like I did in Skyrim." Harry continued, already imagining the profits he would be getting from selling items and potions that can't be found anywhere else in wizarding Britain, or even the entire wizarding world.
"You're not going to try and make me run it, are you?" Sirius asked warily.
"Nah. That's what the house elf that specializes in management is for. It can manage the shop while we hire a couple attendants to run it during the day."
"Nice~!" Sirius whistled, now on board with the idea since he wouldn't actually have to do anything.
Harry just rolled his eyes at the seemingly older man as they approached a shop that appeared to be closed down, with a sign in the window stating that it was for sale.
An hour later, both of them exited the shop while the previous owner pulled the sign out of the window to replace it with one stating that the shop was sold.
"I don't think I've ever seen anything like THAT before." Sirius said as they walked towards Gringotts.
"I just know how to get good deals." Harry replied with a smirk as they entered the bank, as he had managed to talk the previous owner of the shop down quite a bit from his original asking price. Now they were going to Gringotts to arrange the transfer of funds for the shop, as well to register it under Harry's owned properties.
The visit went much the same as the last time Harry came to Gringotts, though a bit out of order.
First Harry and Sirius made the trip down to the actual Potter vault, not the trust vault that Harry visited last time with Albus. The reason for that was so that Harry could collect some Potter family artifacts to place in the manor, as it IS the Potter Manor, and he wanted to honor his ancestors without leaving their memories to collect dust underground.
Afterwards Harry and Sirius went to a private room that was designated specifically for Harry, where he discussed his personal assets and finances with Griphook and Demitrius. It was also in that room that all of the official documentation for Harry's assets, including the deed for his new shop and Potter manor, were stored.
After recording all of the changes to Harry's finances and assets, as well as informing them that he planned to acquire three house elfs the next day, Harry and Sirius took their leave of the bank.
"So what now?" Sirius asked with a stretch as they stepped outside.
"Maybe meeting back up with Remus for some lunch from the Leaky Cauldron, then some casual shopping for the rest of the day? We can also book a couple rooms since we'll just have to come back tomorrow anyways." Harry suggested.
"Sure, though I will miss that nice bed back at the manor..." Sirius said tragically.
"I'm sure we can just find you a nice dog bed while shopping, if you want." Harry offered with a smirk, making Sirius whine about how cruel his godson was to him.
After meeting with Remus, the three men spent the rest of the day wandering from shop to shop after eating their lunch, mostly just looking at various items while actually buying little. Harry did however buy himself some instruments when he saw some for sale, a drum, flute and lute.
"Don't tell me you're a musician as well!" Sirius exclaimed dramatically.
"Bard, actually. And it wasn't like I spent ALL my time in Skyrim in life or death battles against dragons, vampires and cultists. I also spent some time at the Bard's College when I needed a break, and could afford to take one." Harry said as he stuffed his purchases into his bag.
"Think you can play a song for us later then?" Remus requested, sounding interested in Harry's singing.
"Hmmm.... Its not like I can't. But as I told Sirius earlier, I haven't even gone through puberty yet. All of my training was as an adult, so I don't really know how well my singing will be as a child." Harry warned them.
"That's fine. Worst case senario, we have some good material to embarrass you with~!" Sirius said with a smirk, making Harry roll his eyes.
When they finished looking around the Alley, the trio returned to the Leaky Cauldron as they hung out in the pub with the rest of the poeple staying there. It was later, during dinner, that Harry was pushed into giving his performance in front of all the people staying there.
"As I said, don't expect much." Harry told them as he pulled his newly bought lute from his bag, as it was his favorite instrument, and took a moment to make sure it was properly tuned while also warming up his throat.
Then, Harry's fingers began to move as he played the lute, and his words spilled forth as he played one of his favorite songs from Skyrim.
"Alduin's wings, they did darken the sky,
His roar fury's fire, and his scales sharpened scythes.
Men ran and they cowered, and they fought and they died.
They burned and they bled as they issued their cries.
We need saviors to free us from Alduin's rage,
Heroes on the field of this new war to wage.
And if Alduin wins, man is gone from this world,
Lost in the shadow of the black wings unfurled.
But then came the Tongues on that terrible day.
Steadfast as winter, they entered the fray.
And all heard the music of Alduin's doom,
The sweet song of Skyrim, sky-shattering Thu'um.
And so the Tongues freed us from Alduin's rage,
Gave the gift of the Voice, ushered in a new Age!
And if Alduin's eternal, then eternity's done,
For his story is over and the dragons are gone."
"""..."""
Stunned silence filled the Leaky Cauldron, as even Tom froze while wiping out a mug as he stared at Harry in disbelief.
"So how was it?" Harry asked as he set down the lute.
"Pup, if that was you out of practice, then I can't even imagine you would sound like in your hayday..." Sirius said while shaking his head.
"Encore!" One of the other patrons demanded.
"Yeah! Give us more!"
"Encore!"
"Encore!"
"Encore!"
"Haaa..." Harry sighed in exasperation, even as he started playing his new lute yet again, and gave them Ragnar the Red.
By the time that everyone went to bed, Harry had played almost every song he knew for the crowd. And while they didn't know exactly what he was singing about, they all still enjoyed it as he painted majestic scenes with nothing but his lute and voice.
"I don't know how the actual bards do it... That felt more tiring than spending all day in classes..." Harry sighed as he entered his room. Sirius meanwhile was in the room to the left of Harry's, while Remus was in the room to his right.
He was mentally exhausted, but there was no time for Harry to sleep just yet.
As the night reached it's zenith, approaching midnight, Harry slipped out of his robes before pulling on clothes that appeared to be crafted from darkness itself.
The armor hugged his body like a second skin, yet did nothing to restrict his movement. A cloak hung from his shoulders like a cape, accompanied by a hood that shrouded his facial features. Not that it was needed, as a mast covered most of his face to completely obscure his identity.
His outfit complete, Harry arranged some pillows and blankets in his bed so that they looked like him, before he crept out of his room through the window to slip back out onto the Alley.
None noticed his presence as Harry slipped through the shadows down the Alley, stopping momentarily only when he came upon his target. The largest and most grand building that could be seen.
"Lady Nocturnal..." Harry began quietly, his voice barely a whisper behind his cowl.
"I offer you this great tribute, Mistress of the Night, Lady of Luck. May the shadows guide me."