N/A: Well, everyone seemed to prefer a slower pace... or a mix of both. So what I'll do is include interesting moments and, over time, gradually speed up the story. Obviously, the first chapters will move forward more slowly.
Now, another question for discussion: what do you think about making Draco a good guy? To do that, we'd have to get rid of Lucius early on, and from there we could explore a friendship between Draco and Harry. It'd be interesting"especially since writing evil Draco over and over again just so he gets what he deserves is starting to get a bit repetitive.
What do you think? After all, I have two possible routes to follow.
...…..
After spending a week at the hotel, Wanda managed to gather enough money to buy a house. She simply exchanged the gold she stol" found in Diagon Alley and converted it to Muggle currency at Gringotts. The goblins were more than happy to make the exchange: to them, Muggle money had no real value anyway.
And while many might think that, without official documents, Wanda wouldn't be able to buy a house... come on, what are you thinking? It's Wanda! She could literally create a brand-new reality where she's queen of the world if she wanted.
So yeah. Wanda and Harry moved into a lovely, upper-middle-class neighborhood. And yes… she found quite a bit of gold during that week.
Harry adjusted quickly to living with her. It was normal to see him following her around like a little duckling, always glued to her side"which, of course, Wanda didn't mind at all.
"All right, Harry. This is our new home. Do you like it?" Wanda asked with a big smile as they reached the front door.
"Yes!" Harry replied enthusiastically, carrying his brand-new backpack stuffed with all the toys Wanda had bought him.
They walked in hand-in-hand. The house was beautiful, spacious, with several bedrooms, a huge living room, and a gorgeous garden both in front and back. The neighborhood felt calm and friendly. Many families had kids, and it wasn't unusual to see a police patrol drive by, which made the area feel even safer.
Of course, the house was pretty expensive… but Wanda had been very lucky to find bags full of Galleons.
"All right, Harry, you can pick whichever room you like best," Wanda said, spreading her arms cheerfully.
"Which one are you going to use?" Harry asked quickly.
"Me? That one over there," Wanda said, pointing to a random door.
"Then I want the one next to it," Harry said, choosing without even looking inside. He just wanted to be close to her.
"Haha, all right. Then let's get your things set up there," Wanda replied, laughing as she began moving boxes with her magic.
The boxes were filled with all the things they had bought during their adventures in Diagon Alley: books, toys, clothes… Many of the books were magical stories, and Harry loved them"especially the ones that talked about him.
One of his favorites showed a brave Harry riding a dragon, something that always made him laugh when Wanda read it to him at bedtime.
And while magical clothing was kind of weird, Wanda still bought several outfits because they were incredibly durable. In Diagon Alley, going around in Muggle clothes drew too much attention. Still, she avoided buying Muggle-style clothes from wizarding shops because they were… a bit too extravagant. They went to regular stores instead. Now Harry had everything: T-shirts, pants, coats…
Wanda even got him a bunch of animal-themed pajamas. But without a doubt, his favorite was the dragon one. He wore it all the time, and Wanda was pretty sure that, if she let him, he'd even wear it to go shopping!
The neighbors didn't take long to drop by and say hello, offering warm smiles. Even though they saw the two were still unpacking, they left some desserts and waved goodbye kindly.
That night, once everything was finally in place, Wanda tucked Harry into his new, fluffy bed. He watched her while she read one of his favorite bedtime stories: Harry Potter vs. the Evil Goblins.
"Wanda… can I play with the ball in the garden tomorrow?" Harry asked suddenly.
Wanda looked at him with tenderness and replied with a soft, almost sing-song voice.
"Of course, sweetheart. You don't need to ask permission for those things. Just tell me where you'll be, okay? Try not to leave the garden. The street can be dangerous."
"Okay," Harry said seriously, like he was making a solemn promise. That made Wanda smile.
Then, she resumed reading, and before long, she saw his eyelids slowly start to close. When he finally fell asleep, she kissed his forehead and stayed there for a moment, watching him in silence.
And then, for the first time in a long while… she went to rest too.
......
"What are you doing?" asked a little girl, carrying a gigantic book under her arm, as she watched a boy standing in the front yard of his house. The boy was staring intently at a ball just a few feet away, lying on the sidewalk.
"I'm trying to pull the ball with my mind," Harry replied without taking his eyes off the target. Then he turned his head and looked at the girl as if her question had been completely unnecessary. To him, what he was doing was perfectly obvious.
"That's silly. Why don't you just go get it?" the girl shot back, giving him the exact same incredulous look he had given her.
"Wanda told me not to leave the yard because the street is dangerous," Harry explained quickly, before locking his gaze back on the ball. He raised his small hand seriously, mimicking the gesture Wanda usually made when trying to pull something with magic.
"But… that's not on the street, it's on the sidewalk," the girl pointed out, causing Harry to freeze. What neither of them noticed was that, at that very moment, the ball shifted slightly.
"Mmm…" Harry thought for a second, tilting his head in doubt, then shook it firmly. "Still, it's not in the yard," he added, as if that was reason enough not to touch it.
The girl sighed in resignation, gently lowered the book, walked to the sidewalk, picked up the ball with her free hand, and walked back to hand it to Harry.
"Here," she said in a neutral tone, stretching out her arm.
"Thanks!" Harry replied with a big smile, happily accepting the ball.
At that moment, a woman's voice rang out from the neighboring house. It seemed to be the girl's mother.
"Hermione!"
"Coming!" the girl quickly responded. Then she turned to Harry with a polite smile. "Well, bye," she said, waving before running off toward her home.
"Bye!" Harry shouted, waving enthusiastically as if he had just made a new friend.
Right then, Wanda stepped out of the front door, stirring cream in a bowl. She was wearing a white apron and had a cheerful smile on her face.
"Harry, do you want chocolate cake or strawberry?"
"Cake!?" Harry exclaimed, turning around immediately with eyes sparkling in excitement. He sprinted toward her. "Chocolate, please!"
"Haha, okay," Wanda laughed, amused by the little boy's reaction. The two entered the house together, Harry bouncing with joy at her side.
⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯
After living with Wanda for an entire week, Harry finally gathered the courage to ask the question that had been on his mind since the very first day.
"Wanda… what was my mom like?" he asked while eating his piece of chocolate cake, his face completely smeared with cream.
"Honestly… I have no idea," Wanda replied bluntly, leaving Harry completely puzzled.
"Huh?"
"She appeared to me as a doe and asked me to take care of you," Wanda added naturally as she grabbed a cloth and began wiping his face.
"So… am I going to turn into a deer?" Harry asked, even more confused.
"No… well, I don't think so. Don't worry, if you ever turn into a deer, I'll change you back!" Wanda assured him with a calm smile.
"Well… I'd rather turn into a dragon than a deer," Harry commented before digging his spoon back into the cake, now focused only on his dessert.
Children change topics with magical ease.
⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯
Knock, knock.
Wanda was playing with Harry in the living room, using some of the magical toys she had bought for him. When she heard the doorbell, she quickly got up to answer it.
When she opened the door, she found a smiling couple. They seemed like kind, polite people with a relaxed, everyday look. The woman was holding a cake with both hands.
"Hi, we're the Grangers, your neighbors. Sorry we didn't come by sooner… we're dentists, and work has been crazy this week," Mrs. Granger said with a friendly voice.
"Hi, nice to meet you," Wanda replied, smiling back.
"And this is our daughter, Hermione," the woman added, stepping aside to reveal a girl the same age as Harry, shyly hiding behind her leg.
"Hello," Hermione greeted politely, still clinging to her mother.
"Hello, Hermione, it's lovely to meet you," Wanda said warmly. "Please, come in. Would you like a cup of coffee or tea?"
"Tea is fine, thank you," Mrs. Granger answered as they stepped into the house.
"This is Harry. Harry, say hello to the Grangers and their daughter Hermione. They're our neighbors," Wanda said, looking at the little boy playing on the floor with colorful marbles.
"Hi," Harry said quickly with a friendly smile before turning back to his game. The marbles, called gobstones, exploded with confetti when someone lost. Of course, Wanda had modified them so they wouldn't spray liquid like the originals.
"They brought cake!" Wanda announced cheerfully, which made Harry drop the marbles immediately and run over, making the adults laugh.
While the grown-ups chatted in the kitchen, Harry led Hermione to the playroom with his cake in hand. He wanted to show her his toys and favorite books.
The door opened and both children stepped into a room that looked like something out of a child's dream. Shelves were full of storybooks, toys neatly arranged by size and type, animated dolls that moved as if they were alive, and a fluffy rug in the center.
On one shelf, a small toy dragon watched them closely. It blew out little puffs of fake fire while gracefully flapping its wings.
Hermione's eyes widened in amazement, and Harry smiled proudly.
It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
"Wow!" said Hermione, her eyes sparkling with wonder.
Everything she saw around her was incredible. It was the first time she had ever seen toys move on their own, as if they were alive. There were dolls waving, soldiers marching on shelves, and even a tiny dragon that breathed fire from its mouth (magical and harmless fire, of course).
But despite all the magic around her, what caught her attention the most was a large children's library filled with colorful books, with eye-catching illustrations and spines decorated with glitter and curious shapes.
Although she was only around four or five years old, Hermione was already a devoted lover of books. Unfortunately, she didn't know how to read properly yet, so for now, she just followed the pictures. Still, she was learning fast. Her parents, both dentists with complicated schedules, had hired a nanny who used to be a preschool teacher, and thanks to her, Hermione was beginning to recognize letters and words.
"Can you read?" Hermione asked, turning to Harry with curiosity.
"Read? No… I don't know how to read. But there are books you don't need to read," said Harry with a smile, as if sharing a wonderful secret. "They tell the story all by themselves."
He walked over to one of the books resting on a stand, opened it carefully, and the moment he did, the letters began to softly glow. A warm, melodic voice emerged from the pages, narrating the story written there.
"See?" said Harry proudly, while Hermione ran over to the book, full of excitement.
She watched closely. There was no speaker, no wires, no buttons. Just glowing letters and a voice floating in the air. She leaned in closer…
"What is this?!" she exclaimed, then looked at the toys again. They no longer seemed like advanced technology as she had thought at first. They were too real! The dragon kept breathing fire and moving its tail as if it had a life of its own.
"How do these toys…?" Hermione frowned, completely confused. "This makes no sense!"
"With magic," said Harry, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "We bought them in Diagon Alley, in the wizarding world."
Hermione blinked.
Suddenly, Harry froze. His face went from calm to pale in seconds, and he covered his mouth with both hands.
"Oh no!" he exclaimed, eyes wide as saucers. "I messed up!"
"What?" asked Hermione, getting nervous at the look on his face.
"Now they're going to erase your brain!" blurted Harry dramatically, as tears started to form in his eyes.
"WHAT?!" Hermione's eyes widened as she grabbed her head with both hands. "My brain?! But… but my brain controls my whole body! That's what Miss Bia said! If they erase it, I'll stop breathing! Or walking! Or knowing how to eat cake!"
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" said Harry, his lower lip trembling. "But when someone without magic enters the Leaky Cauldron, they erase their brain so they don't know magic exists! Wanda said so! And now you know everything! The toys, the dragon, the talking book! They're definitely coming for you now!"
"Waaaaah!" Hermione burst into tears, hugging her head as if trying to protect her brain with her tiny hands.
"Waaaaah!" cried Harry too, caught up in the fear, hugging Hermione as if that could somehow save her.
And so, the two little ones clung to each other, sobbing, utterly convinced that Hermione's brain was about to be erased forever.
Just then, Wanda's voice called from the living room:
"Harry? Everything okay up there?"
"WANDAAAAA!" they both screamed at the same time.