Harry slowly savored the last of his ham and eggs before he stood up and stretched.
“Daernana, may you take Hermione and me to Diagon Alley to buy our schoolbooks, today?”
“Don’t you want to go with the others, Mr. Head Boy?” Minerva teased
“Daernana, please,” Harry implored, “I have a lot things I need to take care of.”
“Does Hermione want to go, today?”
“Oh, yes please!” Hermione interrupted, “I could do with a trip away from… Weaselette!” And, so once Professor McGonagall finished her breakfast she notified Mrs. Weasley, telling her that she would be taking Harry and Hermione out for the day.
CRACK!!! Harry, Hermione, Minerva, and Galadriel appeared noisily in the snaking, paved alleyway full of wizards and witches shopping for school supplies and other provisions. Without further ado, Harry dragged his grandmother off to Gringotts “to take care of things”, while Hermione ran off with Galadriel chatting about “buying something special” after promising to meet up at Florish and Blotts in an hour.
“Why do you need to go Gringotts now, Harry? You know I can always pay for whatever you need.”
“You’ll see.” Harry said, taking a firm hold on his grandmother’s hand as the pair traipsed through the crowds. Entering the bank through the golden double doors Harry led his professor right up to the marbled counter, and politely greeted a goblin before asking if he could visit his vaults.
“Mr. Potter, I presume?” Whereupon, Harry nodded and the goblin continued, “Yes, well Orion informed me that you are to have free access to all your vaults.” After learning this, Harry and Minerva immediately proceeded on the journey to the first Potter vault; where upon arrival Harry was restrained from entrance by McGonagall.
“Harry, stop,” Minerva entreated. “I need to know what is going on.”
“Hermione needs a blade, so she can train with me.”
“You want your fiancée to train? Wouldn’t you rather have her out of harm’s way like you wanted Ginny?”
“Ginny is a child,” Harry reminded his guardian, “It’s true, Hermione is still an elfling, but by human standards she is the most mature girl I have ever met. And, besides I would certainly feel better at night knowing that my love can defend herself.” Minerva merely nodded in approval after hearing Harry’s arguments, for her grandson was becoming a very mature young man.
Once he had won the debate with Minerva, Harry opened the vault and walked inside. The vault, itself was enormous and contained all of the weapons that had been used by the Gryffindor clan throughout the centuries. Acknowledging this fact, the two elves paced up and down the many aisles searching for a suitable weapon. And, following a lengthy period of time Harry found it… a short, thrusting sword similar in usage to the Roman gladius.
“I’ve found it,” The elf called to his grandmother who promptly rushed to inspect the sword’s efficiency. “ There’s something that confuses me on the sword hilt though, Daernana. You see, I already have Rowena’s dagger in my possession and I thought this was a Potter family vault, but this rapier bears the emblem of Ravenclaw.”
“Don’t tell me you have forgotten that your mother was Heir of Ravenclaw.”
“You… mean this was my mother’s…
“Oh, yes this was Lily’s first blade… she received her second when you were born. It is the custom of our people to present a weapon to your son or daughter upon their coming of age, although both genders usually begin training with arms at a much earlier age. Men receive their second as a wedding gift while women are presented with theirs after the birth of the firstborn child. If either the male or female chooses not to marry; then they may forge their own weaponry.”
“Do elves ever divorce each other?” Harry wondered curiously.
“Annulment of marriage is an extremely rare occurrence among elves, Harry, as most elven couples are bonds.” Minerva enlightened, “Sheath your mother’s sword now, darling because we must be on our way.”
Meanwhile, as Harry and his kin were making their way up the granite steps of Gringotts, Hermione and her companion were scouring the shops of Diagon Alley.
“So,” Galadriel began, “Remind me about what we are looking for again, Hermione?”
“Tomorrow is Harry’s birthday, but unfortunately he has forgotten, and I need to buy a present for him.”
“Ah, do you have anything in mind?”
“I was originally going to get him a book on defense, but since Harry’s an elf…”
“ Perhaps, you should give him jewelry.” Galadriel suggested.
“Jewelry… men and boys don’t wear jewelry.” Hermione gaped.
“Nay, I did not mean jewelry like that… I was thinking more along the lines of a family heirloom.”
“An heirloom?” Hermione doubted, “What do you mean?”
“Look.” Galadriel pulled a small velvet box from the pouch fastened to her girdle, and opened it… inside was a gleaming, silver wristband. “This chain is fashioned out of mithril, the most durable metal in the world, known only to elves and dwarves.”
“Are elven blades made of mithril?” Hermione interjected, inquisitively.
“Indeed, they are.” Galadriel smiled, “Now, this band of mithril had been a family heirloom of Godric’s line for several centuries, but alas when Godric traveled to earth he didn’t take the mithril with him. So, when Minerva requested that Elrond, Celeborn, and I move here to earth; my first reaction was to bring the mithril. You see, this mithril is designed, so that the wearer will always know if his love is safe.”
“Brilliant,” Hermione whispered. “You were right, Galadriel this is the perfect gift for Harry.” Having found a gift for Harry, Hermione and Galadriel went to join the others at the bookstore. Unfortunately, as the store was coming into view…BOOM something exploded right in the middle of the avenue!
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