Chapter 4:

Laughter filled the air as sunshine was splayed out through the leaves adorning the branches of the old trees that arched over the well-worn path. Children skipped and ran around the park as parents followed with a watchful gaze. Others walked by in a distracted and inattentive manner as they went off to their work for the day. On a bench that was tucked away down a side path in a small flower filled garden, a 7 year old boy woke from his deep slumber, slowly acknowledging his current situation as words of French filtered from the path and the powerful aromas of nearby flowers was made apparent.

Rolling himself off the bench and onto his feet, Harry surveyed his surroundings far better than he could the night before. Seeing the wide array of bright and colourful flowers around him, Harry smiled, looking forward to what was to come in the coming days.

After making his way out of the park Harry began wandering down the winding streets of the seemingly endless city, going unnoticed due to his ragged clothing and small size compared to the bustling adults around him. After finding himself a small breakfast consisting of a bread roll he had nicked off a café table whilst the occupants attention was elsewhere, Harry set about his self-imposed task of finding others like him, concluding that in a city of this populace there must be at least somewhere else like him.

As he walked through the streets, Harry calmed himself, removing all thoughts from his head as he stretched out his energy in order to discover other sources of it. As he did so, Harry could get a general sense of what was around him, even with his eyes closed, as it felt as though the energy that was flowing about him was interacting with dull objects and surfaces. Not knowing what to expect, Harry resolved to continue his wandering until something stood out.

It was by the middle of the day that Harry came across a small building that had a symbol prominently displayed of a white 'i' in a circle in front of a blue square. Harry entered the building as he was drawn in by the map displayed across the window, deciding that it would be far more effective if he could search an area and then mark it off on a map so that he didn't return to the same place more than once.

Subtly acquiring the fold-out map brochure along with one of the complimentary pens, Harry left before being noticed by any on the occupants. After retracing and marking off the places he had been, Harry began methodically covering every inch of the city that he could.

Whilst surviving off of the meagre amounts of food Harry could nick from places he passed by and sleeping on benches tucked away inside the many small parks littered throughout the streets, Harry spent the next two weeks scouring the streets, not once finding anything out of the ordinary, further discouraged by the fact that he didn't know if there was anything to find or if his method of finding it would actually succeed.

Regardless, given how far he had come already, Harry didn't give a thought to throwing the towel in, pushing on to scour each alleyway and dead end of the city he had already covered a great portion of. It was this dedication that led to Harry finally receive at least some form of result. It was only a moment, almost short enough to be dismissed as nothing, but as Harry weaved through a crowd of people on one of the busier streets, he felt his energy pick something up.

Rather than the usual feeling of his surroundings being bland and dull under his energy, whatever this was, he felt a spike of foreign energy that his own couldn't pass through or close to. It had passed to quickly to have been a nearby object, filling Harry with hope that it had been one of the other people passing in the other direction. Deciding that was all he was going to find for that day as the un was already passing beyond the horizon, Harry quickly scavenged himself some food before settling down in on a bench that was near the spot where someone had passed.

Walking up at the crack of dawn once more, Harry narrowed his chosen search area for that day to spiraling out from his current location in hopes of tracking down that source of foreign energy he had felt the day before. Much to his glee, Harry found far greater success that day than he had beforehand, Finding the same energy passing him multiple times in large crowds and recording the direction that they were heading.

After reviewing the notes on is map that afternoon as he sat on one of the outside tables of a café that had been kind enough to allow him to stay, even giving him a glass of water, Harry looked for a pattern. Through his work he was able to discern that there was a central location that people were often heading towards early in the day and away from later, although there were some irregularities that he disregarded. Using this, Harry devised a general area consisting of 4 separate city blocks within which the place that these people were coming form and going to was.

Using this information, the next day, Harry scoured the streets of these blocks and was excited to find more and more people with foreign energy filling the crowds and it was that afternoon that he made his big discovery. Down one of the side streets was a beautiful area of shops and cafes, but one of the sets of stairs that led down into the area from the road, that held a metal statue of a sitting lady, was being avoided by most people, almost as if they didn't know it was there. Approaching the statue, Harry found that it a feeling that he hadn't felt before, Unlike the other sources of energy that seemed to repel his own, the object held a foreign energy within, one that he could seem to feel as his own passed over it.

He was shocked then when a man in a heavy coat pushed past him towards the statue, sporting an attitude of superiority and self-importance in his arrogant posture that shouted to his surroundings that he thought of them as dirt on his feet. The man then touched the side of the statue only for it to come to life and pull its metal dress away for the man to then walk through the stone atop which she sat that was usually covered.

The man's attitude was quickly pushed out of Harry's mind by what he had just seen done in front of him. None of the people passing below or above on the streets seemed to give it a second thought, seeming to the world as if they didn't even see it, but Harry stood there with his mouth hanging open.

It was then that a kind looking young woman took hold of his arm softly and smiled at him as he was knocked from his trance.

"Did you get left behind? Must be your first-time young man, I myself couldn't close my mouth as I saw her move my first time here." The woman spoke in her native tongue, voice filled with warmth and mirth, easing Harry's unrest, "Magic is a truly wonderful thing, but don't stop here, it's even more wonderful on the other side."

A single thought ran through Harry's mind at this, 'Magic!', it almost seemed obvious as Harry remembered the stories he had heard Petunia tell Dudley through the walls as he held his ear to the stairs when he was younger. Again and again the word bounced around his head as he thought of everything he had done and how in many ways it fit in with those stories.

Going through all he knew so far, Harry thought of 'The Tale of Three Brothers' that he had enjoyed so much and the other stories that he had read in that book and how real it had all seemed, 'Was that a book written by these people. His people.', breaking from his stunned stupor once more, Harry turned looked in the woman's warm, forest green eyes that seemed to be growing with concern due to his unresponsive nature.

"Yeah, it is amazing" Harry let out breathlessly as he looked back to the statue, then realizing what she had said he went on, "C-could you take me to the other side." Harry asked as he looked down at his feet, unused to anyone paying him more than a moments attention without abusing him in some way or another.

"Of course." The woman said with a smile that matched the warmth of her eyes and her voice, gently grasping his hand with her own delicate, smooth hand, lightly pulling him forward.

Harry was awed by the kindness this stranger had shown him and his heart filled with joy as his eyes watered slightly but he was quick to follow her towards the statue rather than once again being lost from the world in his own thoughts.

Following her instructions of just walking forwards as if there was nothing in his way without question, Harry found himself appearing on the other side that seemed identical as far as the statue was concerned but that was where the similarities seemed to taper off. Down the stairs was a bustling street of people in strange robe like clothes as well as others in regular clothing. There were a couple cafes that had people outside it, but their food seemed to float over to them. There were stores that had animals in them for sale like owls, toads and mice, but there were also weird looking dogs with two tails and strange looking cats amongst other things.

Further down the street there was a store labelled 'salon de potion puissant', translating to 'Potent Potions Parlor', from which there were cauldrons and ladles on sale amongst a huge variety of strange looking ingredients to be added into what he must assume were potions of some sort. Others stores seemed to be selling odd looking candies that children were laughing about eating as they made faces, some with steam or smoke billowing from their ears or making animal noises after eating them, others floating off the ground only for a friend to pull them down.

There was also a store that prominently displayed the 'Nimbus 1980', with a sign talking about what was said to be 'The fastest racing broom on the market, equipped with state of the art turning and cushioning features'. Seeing the moving images of people flying about making sharp corners, and some passing balls between them excited Harry at the thought of how much fun he could have with his powers amongst other people like him.

Many other stores littered the street selling different wares, much of which he had no chance of understanding, having never seen anything of such sort. Before he could continue to peruse the street from his spot on the stairs he was interrupted by a soft hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up into the face of the woman who had helped him through.

"Thank you, madam." Harry said as Petunia had instructed him to and attempted to teach Dudley to when speaking to other women, although he had learnt the French himself.

"Quite alright young man, it is a pleasure to know some still have their manners about them. Would you like a hand finding your family?" She asked as she squeezed his shoulder softly.

Harry was still amazed by the kindness someone he had never met was showing him, a level of caring he had only witnessed previously. Then he remembered the question and let out a slightly panicked answer, hoping he wouldn't be thrown out of this new world, "Uh, I'm okay, I'm sure I'll find the soon."

"Very well, I might see you around, I run a little café around the corner called, 'Madam Alarie's', feel free to drop by, I'd love to meet such a kind chap's parents. I must be off now to open up." She finished before giving his shoulder a last squeeze before joining the crowds as she headed down the street and around the corner.

Walking down through the streets, Harry was trapped in his own mind as he thought about whether his parents were a part of this world and if they might have one day visited here as a family and he would be racing off to find them again after talking to the kind woman.

As a lone tear trickled down his cheek, harry wiped it off, bringing his mind back to the present as he looked up to find a bold and imposing building that seemed to be the central hub of the area, a golden placard proudly boasting the title of 'Gringotts Bank' with 'Head French Branch' under it in smaller font. Walking over to one of the columns, Harry placed one of his hands on the large marble pillar that supported part of the section of roof that hung over the entrance, reminding him of images he had seen of ancient Greek structured in the library at school.

Despite the cool, solid feel of the marble, there was something more to it as Harry could feel his energy, 'his Magic' he reminded himself, respond to within it, like it was even stronger than it appeared. Stepping back from the building, sensing that it would draw to much attention if he were to enter the building only adults seemed to go in and out of, Harry moved back to his wandering.

Throughout the day he was able to learn a great deal about the world from different things he read and picked up from conversations other had nearby. Unfortunately, the sun was soon to set on this miraculous day and Harry didn't want to leave the place he had found, even though he had marked it down on his map.

Therefore he spent the evening continuing his wandering, seeming to find endless new things to explore, only slightly put off by the fact that many people seemed to look at him with thinly veiled disgust, something he was used to, and the other children avoided him like the plague, seeing his disheveled appearance. Unfortunately, nothing lasted forever, and Harry was soon witness to the spectacle of store owners using their magic to pack away the shops at a speed and efficiency others couldn't hope to match.

Not knowing what to do, Harry sat down on one of the curbs that was out of the way and reflected on all he learnt. From what he had seen everyone using magic seemed to use their wands, just like the three brothers from the book. Magic also seemed to be hidden from the outside world and the others without it were called 'muggles', whilst he himself was known as a wizard and females were witches.

He also learnt from other children's chatter that there was a magical school that everyone from France went to where they learnt to use their magic, and from the complaining he found that you weren't supposed to use magic outside of the school until you were an adult and could only attend the school once you reached eleven.

Despite this, Harry refused to give up what now defined him as who he was and what he believed connected him to his parents, now firmly believing that they were a part of this world at one stage.

He also learnt a little more about how this world worked and that there was a Ministry of Magic for each nation and a Minister running it amongst other politicians. There were also aurors who enforced the rules that were set for people like them. Further chatter down one of the less travelled, darker seeming alleys revealed that there had been a war some stage in the recent past that some men were talking about, saying that 'we came so close to defeat, I think we ought to build an army to protect us next time' which seemed part of the debate they were having over the issue. The men also said that the war had taken place primarily in Britain but with riots and attacks scattered across the mainland, and that if Britain, which is considered the center of the magical power and community for the Eastern Hemisphere, fell, the entirety of Europe would soon follow.

Despite the trove of knowledge that their discussion seemed to hold, Harry was soon to leave as he saw some of the other large men bustling about with scowls that seemed like permanent fixtures adorning their faces.

Focusing back on his situation, Harry saw how the streets were almost entirely empty now with only the stragglers leaving back to their homes now, and all the tables chairs and other adornments had been removed from the streets. Now troubled for a place to rest for the night, Harry concluded he would have to bear with the cold, hard ground for the night, not that he hadn't experienced worse, much worse.

As Harry curled up in one of larger streets just off the main streets, he tucked himself into the shadows of what seemed to be an empty store, wanting to avoid any notice. As he was trying to quell the shivers that permeated his body on the cold winter's night, Harry watched the last store closing, with the chairs and tables floating inside and blinds falling. The soft glow of candles inside now only lit the streets through the thin slits in the blinds and faintly illuminated the soft pink-painted wood that the quaint shop seemed to be made from.

He heard the pleasant chime of a bell ringing as the door opened for the shop keeper to have a quick look out onto the street where her things had been set up. Seeming satisfied with what they had observed the door moved to close, only stopping suddenly as it was halfway shut.

Swinging back open the owner made their way out of the shop as they pulled their winter coat tightly around them, the days warmth having given way to a biting chill. As Harry curled more tightly in on himself, pushing into the shadows encasing him, and thanking his magic for his own meager warmth at the moment, he hoped he hadn't been spotted.

Such hope was quashed as the owner walked directly towards him. Whimpering slightly as thoughts of this stranger attacking him like Petunia would after approaching him at such a stride, Harry closed his eyes and if possible, closed tighter in on himself, as if it would hide him from the world.

He was therefore shocked when the owner stopped before him and crouched there before extending a soft hand to place on his shoulder. Looking up at the person who had touched him, Harry heard a slight gasp as his fearful expression shocked the person he now identified as the woman who had helped him earlier.

With the comfort of the previous encounter to quell his fearful thoughts, Harry's face drained of its fear much to the lady's relief. Speaking softly, she addressed the young boy she'd found curled up in the cold with only baggy clothes to keep him warm.

"Hello again little man, did you get lost again?" She asked in a kind voice.

Not trusting himself to speak, Harry shook his head almost violently, his actions provoking the woman to speak again, "Then where are they? What are you doing out in the cold alone?" She asked, seeming almost frightened of the answer she would receive.

Not knowing precisely why, maybe because of the kindness he had received at the woman's hand that he hadn't felt before, or maybe the words provoking certain thoughts, Harry's eyes began to tear up as for the first time in a while he cried, he cried for his lost family, for the family he never truly had, for his answer to why he was out in the cold alone.

Never had Harry felt so lost before, not even in his self-imposed solitude in the forest, Harry was surrounded by families and happiness all day, and now everyone had returned to their homes, but he was lost and alone.

Gasping in shock the lady didn't understand what was going on, but she felt a deep pain in her heart as the boy shuddered with silent tears as if afraid of what would happen if he cried aloud. Unable and unwilling to stop herself, she wrapped her arms around the boy, noting how cold he was as he shook from both his despair and the cold.

Kneeling on the ground with Harry in her arms, she was unknowingly giving the child the first act of love or true caring he had ever in memory received, only provoking further agonizing tears.

Not knowing what was truly going on, the lady simply realized that the child needed someone and she would jump in front of a killing curse before she left him out here alone, and so she picked up the boy who felt a fair stone off of a comfortable weight, carrying him into her shop.

On she went up the stairs into her home above, placing the boy onto the couch just in front of her softly glowing fireplace as she pulled the blanket off the back of the couch to cover the boy, a blanket she had often curled up under herself on cold nights as it was enchanted to be impossibly soft and provided a perfect warmth. Smiling at the boy who had drifted off to sleep with the tension eased from his face, the lady acknowledged how little she knew of what she had just gotten into but by simply looking at the boy her heart seemed to both swell and ache and she swore to herself to make sure he was going to be ok.

Doing so, she didn't realize what she had committed to, but even if she knew of hardships to come, she would never once turn back with regret over her choice, but rather only with whole-hearted happiness and joy.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.

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Hopefully it wont be too long till the next chapter so I'll see you then :)