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Chapter 43 - Cloaks And Masks

Dimension: 563 - Earth
Date: 18th August 2001 AD
Country: France
Location: Paris - Brights Book Store
Time: Early Morning


As Harry picked himself up off of the mat in front of the fireplace at the other end of the Floo he discovered that he was standing in what appeared to be a run down book store whose name translated as 'Brights Book Store'.

It wasn't a dark place or anything remotely unpleasant but the shelves and the furniture all appeared to be a bit worse for wear and could have used a good dusting.

The fire roared as Fleur casually stepped out of the fireplace behind him and casually cast a cleaning charm on his and her robes, Adam's were already clean, presumably he had performed a similar charm before Harry arrived.

Fleur led them around a few shelves, past the front desk where an old slightly frail looking man was sitting (it would not have been strange to think that the man was no longer among the living) to a door at the back of the shop which had been left ajar.

Pushing the door closed she took a hold of the handle and (much to Harry's surprise) slid it straight across the wood until it was on the other side of the door.

Twisting the handle the door opened in the opposite direction allowing sunlight to flood into the store.

Harry stepped across the threshold, blinking several times from the light before his eyes adjusted to the light revealing a long street full of busy witches and wizards.

"Welcome Arry," smiled Fleur "To Merlin's Road."

Harry stared astonished at the street before him.

It was amazing, unlike Diagon Alley it was not bending and full of leaning and bulging buildings surrounding a tiny cobbled street, instead was a long wide paved road, surrounded by tall sculpted grey buildings decorated with pillars and elegantly sculpted statues.

"Wow."

"Indeed." Grinned Fleur.

"It's....It's like Diagon Alley, but it looks professional," he said "Not just a strange collection of weird shops crammed together into a small space."

"It was based on Diagon Alley," explained Adam coming through and closing the door behind him "The designers saw how we had done it and decided to outdo us, this road is a lot busier than Diagon Alley as a lot of parents come here from around Europe."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"It's nice and central, you have a very large Wizarding shopping area roughly in-between Durmstrang, Hogwarts and Beauxbatons, it is the largest shopping area for wizards in Europe, the shop keepers all have permanent translation charms around their shops and it has more and larger shops than Diagon Alley."

"Oh." He nodded before Fleur took his arm and led him purposefully down the street.

As they walked along Harry saw many similar shops to those of Diagon Alley, there was an apothecary, a shop selling owls and other magical creatures (some of which Harry barely recognised), a restaurant, a very large bookstore (they would never be able to drag Hermione away), a smaller café, several robe fitting stores, a couple of joke shops and standing right at the end of the street; the largest building was that of the Paris branch of Gringotts bank.

Fleur walked them straight through the main doors of the bank, passed the armoured Goblins and the warnings to thieves and moved straight towards the head cashier.

Clearing her throat lightly the aged cashier lethargically looked up before realising who was in front of him and straightening up.

"Lady Delacour, Viscount Gryffindor, how may I assist you?"

"I wish to make a withdrawal as well as purchasing a money bag and debit card." Fleur replied.

"Which account do you wish to make the withdrawal from and which would you like the money bag and debit card to be linked to?"

"My personnel account not the Delacour Vault." She replied.

"Of course Lady Delacour, please follow me and I will take you to your vault, the paper work for the card and money bag will be ready upon your return."

He led the three through a doorway to where several carts were waiting for them.

Harry got in first and helped Fleur into the wobbling vehicle earning him a smile.

Once seated the carts started to roll its way down the tracks, past many vaults and through many levels until finally they slowed to a halt.

"Vault 956." Announced the Goblin, getting out of the cart "Key please."

Fleur took Harry and Adam's offered hands and climbed out of the cart before handing her key over.

Idly Harry wondered why the Goblin hadn't asked for the lamp until he realised the lamp was hovering in the air beside him, probably an enchantment or maybe Adam was levitating it.

The Goblin slid the key into the lock then returned the key and stood back as the door swung open.

As soon as the door opened Fleur entered the vault.

Harry waited in the doorway for her to get whatever it was she was collecting, not thinking it right to enter someone else's vault without their permission.

Though he does not enter he can still see into the vault, it is nowhere near as large as the Potter Vault but is larger than his Trust Account, inside like in his own vault are several large stacks of money both Muggle and Magical as well as several bookshelves and trunks.

He watches as Fleur walked around the vault, examining the books until she finds one she wants then flicks her wand in the direction of one of the open trunks, stacking the volumes neatly inside.

After several minutes she smiles in satisfaction before shrinking the trunk and placing it in her pocket.

"I need to brush up on my Magical History." she explains at his questioning look "I was in my seventh year of Beauxbatons during the Tournament so other than Veela history I haven't really made an effort to remember it with the level of detail that teaching will require."

He nodded his understanding before offering her his arm and leading her back out of the vault to where Adam and the Goblin were waiting.

Once they had returned to the surface Fleur quickly signed her name with a flourish and received her new card and pouch before they turned and headed out of the Bank and back into Merlin's Road.

After several seconds Harry paused and looked back at the bank.

"What is it Arry?"

"I'm disguised as Daniel yes?"

"Yes." Nodded Fleur, realising she too had just broken his cover by calling him by name "What about it?"

"Well that Goblin called me Viscount."

Fleur thought for a moment, looked back towards the bank then back to Harry.

"He did, didn't he?"

"Goblins are not so easily fooled by glamour spells," explained Adam "But there is another reason why he knew who you were."

"What?"

"You're still wearing your House Ring."

Glancing down at his hand Harry discovered that he was right.

"Oh."

Adam waved his arm over Harry's hand and the ring disappeared.

"It will reappear when you remove the rest of the spells," He explained "I may be able to come up with a faster way of disguising yourself. Now I believe we had some shopping to do."

He nodded and directed them towards the large book store.

"I think I better do Hermione first, she's the simplest to buy for, anything to expand her knowledge." He chuckled.

"Why don't you try to get her something different as well as the library." suggested Fleur with a grin though with she was making a serious point.

Harry thought for a moment "It would be an interesting experiment, any suggestions?"

"I have one," smiled Adam "I will tell you about it later."

"Want to give us any clues?" asked Harry.

"I will just say that I noticed how she uses her fingers."

The others both stopped and looked at him, not quite sure what to make of the previous comment.

"How she uses her fingers." Asked Harry.

"Yes, do not worry it is nothing inappropriate but I get the feeling that she will like what you get her."

They turned back from him cautiously before entering the large shop, the inside of which looked like an old library with lots of old wooden shelves that stretched up out of the reach of even the tallest person.

Harry walked around the store for a long time before he found just the right books to buy for Hermione and even one or two to buy Ron, Ginny and Neville.

They then headed out into the street having paid for their purchases and asking for them to be delivered to the Chateau.

They then moved towards the Quidditch Supply shop to get a couple more presents for Ron and Ginny. Harry would be astonished if they could not find something for both of them in there.

After a long time browsing through many shops Harry finally managed to get the number of presents down so that he only needed one present for each person, he was amazed at some of the stuff the shops sold but was very glad that they did, it simplified his search greatly, he had taken Adam's suggestion for Hermione's fourth gift but was very surprised when Adam had told him what it was.

That left one present each for Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville and or course Fleur who he hadn't bought anything for yet but was determined to make it the best present of the lot.

After many hours Fleur had strategically guided him towards one of the more expensive and exclusive looking clothing shops called Madam Fontaine's.

The inside was even more spectacular than the outside with rich fabrics laying over every surface and beautiful gowns and robes displayed around the large room. In the middle of the room was a raised stool presumably for the customers to stand on while they were being fitted; around the stool on three sides were a series of mirrors allowing the person being fitted to see themselves but with a couple of metres of empty space around the person being fitted to allow the fitters to move around and alter the garments being tried on, there appeared to a similar fitting area on either side of each set of mirrors, Harry guessed that there were probably four in total arranged back to back forming the shape of a plus sign with the gaps between the fitting areas being filled with clothing displays.

A middle ages lady stepped towards them "Good afternoon Sir's, Lady Delacour, what can I do for you today?"

"I wish to have several sets of custom robes and dresses tailored appropriate for use in a teaching roll at Hogwarts made for myself and several sets of robe and smart teaching attire made for this gentleman." She smiled looking to Harry.

"Fleur I...." he started to complain only to be cut short.

"You are not going to win this one Daniel; I AM going to buy you these robes and before you complain too much you already have some work robes so you wont need too many."

"Yes, but you paid for them too, please Fleur can't I...."

"No." she said stubbornly, stepping up onto a slightly raised platform as an assistant moved forward and started taking her measurements.

Before he could say another word he felt Adam take a hold of his shirt and pull him around a corner to another similar fitting area where he pushed him up onto the platform.

As he went to object he felt someone raise his arms and a tape measure appear and begin to measure him up.

"Shouldn't you be on my side?" he asked, looking to where Adam was leaning against the wall.

"He knows women well enough to know that your girlfriend has made up her mind so there is no point in arguing." A familiar voice whispered in his ear.

"Colette?" he said spinning around to face the grinning woman "What are you doing here?"

"Don't you remember Fleur telling you that my father owned several clothing shops? Well, you're in one." She grinned bowing "Colette Fontaine, Deputy Manager at your service."

"Deputy Manager?"

"Yes, technically I am the Manager but it works better for my father to make it look like he has control over all our stores but he rarely interferes with the daily running and if you are worried about Fleur paying for you, she knows well enough that when I am in the store she has no chance of paying, such an important customer brings in plenty of business."

"Oh." He replied, not quiet sure what else to say.

She laughed lightly before returning to measuring him up, enjoying teasing him by giving his behind a quick pinch as she finished causing him to squeak.

She laughed again as she turned and went to get some clothes for him to try on.

"I'm not quite sure who she would get along better with," he said to Adam "Hermione because of her liking for books and learning or Tonks because of her teasing, joking attitude?"

"Tonks." Adam replied after a moments thought "You could ask her to make her hair longer and bushier and then she can meet both requirements."

Harry snorted "Yeah, I can just imagine that."

Colette came back moments later, her arms laden with a huge pile of material.

Dropping the pile she drew her wand and started flicking the individual bits of material at him, when the material hit him it flattened against his skin before readjusting itself to be the correct size.

When all the pieces were against him they formed the shape of his body.

He watched interested as Colette walked around him, tugging, poking and adjusting the material as she saw fit. This was unlike his previous custom fitting when he got his first set of robes; all they had done was to take his measurements before hurrying them out of the shop.

After many minutes she smiled to herself before waving her wand at him again, fusing all the materials together so that it became shirt shaped.

"Take the top off please." she asked as she continued to adjust his trousers until she was satisfied with them and telling him to remove those as well, luckily this had all gone on over the top of his ordinary clothes as he really didn't want to be nearly naked in the middle of a shop in front of his mates best friend.

When she had both pieces of material she waved her wand again and they fused together forming a replica of his chest and legs (with certain private parts edited out).

"This way I can measure up materials when you are not here." She said, answering his unasked question. "From this template I can very quickly alter any garment to fit you perfectly," she smiled and ran her hand over the model "You have a very nice chest Harry."

Harry blushed deeply as Colette laugh as she walked towards him "You need to learn to take my teasing Harry; I will be doing it a lot when we start working together. Now, go and see Fleur so she can decide what she thinks she's buying you." She smiled, giving him a prod in the right direction.

Walking around the screen he saw Fleur wearing only her underwear in the middle of changing dresses in full view of the shop windows.

"Fleur!" he hissed out "What are you doing, we're in a shop, everyone outside can see you!"

She chuckled "Oh Arry, the glass isn't real, it works the same way as the Wizarding hospital in London, from outside the shop it appears that three customers are inside but it shows them browsing or being measured and when we are changing it looks like a curtain has been drawn across the front of the shop."

"But what if someone comes in?" he emphasised, trying to get her to comprehend the situation.

She smiled brightly at him as she pulled the dress she was currently trying on up and began to do up the fasteners "Arry, haven't you wondered why this shop is completely deserted except for us, this shop is very expensive and very exclusive, each customer gets a private fitting, the shop is closed to all others until we are finished even if we take all day and there are no men working the shop front so we will only get seen by the women fitting us."

"Oh." He nodded before lowering his head in embarrassment before beginning to walk back around to his fitting area.

"Arry," she said softly, moving off of the platform and moving to take his chin in her hand, raising his face to her own "Don't feel embarrassed, you were trying to defend my honour and my privacy....never feel guilty for that."

He smiled slightly at her before leaning in to kiss her softly on the lips, but despite his reassuring look she knew him well enough to know that he still thought he would loose her to someone else.

"Arry....I promise you I will never let any man see me in less than a swimming costume other than you," she said honestly, opening the link fully and pouring her feelings for him down it making him temporarily unstable at the weight of emotion that had just hit him, satisfied that she had proved her point she stood back.

"Now Arry, how do I look?"

Opening his eyes after getting his body stable again he looked at her and the dress she was wearing.

It was a deep blue (an unusual colour for her), reached all the way to the floor, was held to her body by two loops of material around three centimetres wide which rose over her shoulders and came down to attach to the back of her dress. The dress clung to her form, following her curves, flowing with and enhancing them to the point of perfection.

"You look....so beautiful." He replied slowly, unable to think of anything to even begin to describe her.

She sent him another hundred watt smile before walking up to him and giving him the lightest of kisses on his lips leaving him staring into space.

"I think you've broken him." Grinned Colette.

They spent several hours in the shop, trying on garment after garment all of which were chosen by Fleur for herself or Harry with the occasional contribution by Colette which were normally rather skimpy, revealing or provocative items of sleepwear.

After finally finishing ordering their new wardrobes Fleur and Colette argued for about ten minutes about paying, Fleur insisting that she was going to pay and Colette insisting otherwise, at one point both their hands had been smoking and Harry was sure that they were going to come to blows, luckily Adam stepped in, giving them both a blast of his charm and before either of them really noticed it he had paid for all the clothes himself and had led them out of the shop.

It took about ten minutes for Fleur to realise what had happened by which time they were all seated in a French café sipping drinks, when she tried to insist on paying him back she lost that argument as well.

After finishing their drinks (that Fleur managed to pay for) they wondered around the road, looking in shop windows, occasionally browsing inside until Harry caught sight of a small shop on a street that led down the side of Gringotts.

It was a very small shop, the styling and aged look was comparable to Ollivander's, giving off that traditional and slightly worn feel that gave you that comforting feeling.

Leading them towards the shop he looked through the window but due to the dazzling sun he could not see inside.

"This shop is supposed to be good for all things rare and exotic." Explained Fleur.

Looking up Harry read the name of the shop:

Madam Énigmes.

"Mrs Enigmas," translated Harry "That's different."

"Indeed." Agreed Adam, moving past to hold the door open for them.

Entering the shop Harry saw that the shop was a lot more like Ollivander's than it looked from the outside. The walls were dark stained wood on which were mounted many shelves holding the strangest collections of artefacts that Harry had ever seen, at the back of the shop was a high counter, behind which were shelves upon shelves upon shelves all filled to the brim with boxes and cabinets of all sizes, some containing items that Harry could not even describe.

They separated as they began to walk around the small store examining the various shelves.

Harry looked at one rack entitled 'Magical Focuses'. In a case under the sign were a whole series of objects ranging from phoenix feathers to Chimera hair and even a basilisk fang. On the shelf below there were a series of uncut branches all just longer than your average wand and divided up into species. On the last shelf were a series of crystals, varying in size, shape and colour.

"Focusing crystals," explained Adam, coming up beside him "They help focus and channel your magic. Just like with certain Perspex blocks can refract or focus light, these crystals do the same, normally a lot more efficiently than wands."

"Why don't we use them instead then?" he asked.

"They are hard to find naturally and even harder to create, not to mention very expensive, I am surprised there are so many, they are very difficult to come by, as are some of these cores."

Harry only heard half of what had been said as another item had caught his eye. Just to the right of the focuses was a glass case, inside of which was a mask.

The mask only covered the top half of the head, not extending much further than the nose, it varied in colour between a grey and black metal with silver edges. The mask had no holes for the eyes just a series of thick overlapped vertical plates that made up the cover for the upper part of the head, five of these did not curve back over the head as the rest did to grip the skull, but instead stopped bending and continued on straight as soon as the forehead was reached, thinning to sharp silver tipped points making the mask look bigger and more threatening than it was.

Harry felt strangely drawn to the mask, he couldn't identify the feeling, maybe it was some magic on the artefact but he did not know.

"Adam," asked Fleur off to their right, drawing Harry's attention away from the mask "What are these for?"

Turning to her they saw her looking at a basket full of tall branches most of which were up to and over six foot in length.

"These," Adam replied going over to inspect them "These are for making into staffs."

"Staffs?" they both asked at once.

"Yes staffs." Replied a gravely voice from behind the counter.

Turning they saw a skinny old women with heavily greying black hair, wrinkled features and a hard stare.

"They are a lot more powerful than wands and are more adaptable to many branches of magic, if you'll excuse the turn of phrase." She explained moving out from behind the counter, moving towards them on a pair of tiny legs "Not many witches and wizard can use them as they require a certain level of magical power that most witches and wizards simply do not have access to." She turned her intense stare towards Adam who met her look unblinking "You do....can I interest you in any magical focuses?"

"I am afraid not," he replied "I prefer to get my magical cores from the source so as to fully utilise their power."

"Very wise," she grinned displaying a row crookedly spaced teeth before turning to Harry and Fleur "Now dears, what can I do for you?"

"I need some specials presents for some friends of mine; I don't mind how expensive it's going to be I just want them to be special."

"Are your friends scattered around or all gathered in on place?" she asked.

"A bit of both."

"Do they often get into trouble?"

"The trouble normally gets us rather than the other way around." He nodded blushing slightly.

"I think I have just the thing." She grinned again, turning and moving back behind the counter while summoning a long flat box from the back of the store.

She placed the box on the desk and opened it for them to see.

Harry's eyes grew wide as he looked at the contents of the box; his mouth slowly formed a grin.

"I'll take them."