The Wizard called Oz - HP

Harry was currently in his own room at the grangers, looking out the window at the sun high in the sky. Times like these he felt truly blessed by his new living arrangements.     

In his first year joining Hogwarts Oz approached Harry and Hagrid at the time noticing the abuse Harry had been through. Harry himself knew his living arrangements weren't the best at all with the constant yelling and slave-driving the Dursleys put him through however he had nowhere else to go. He would go through phases in his younger years at the Dursleys where his emotions became dark and chaotic due to what he'd been put through however in the end he always found himself just accepting it all and moving on, suppressing any bad emotions and keeping a straight face.     

So when Oz fully exposed his abuse he felt both trepidation as well as sheer elation. He felt trepidation at what would happen next but also elation at how someone finally noticed. Even on Privet Drive when he'd leave the house with the odd bruise Vernon or Petunia would brush it off as 'A child messing about' to the neighbours. Now that Harry thought about it, there was one neighbour who seemed to know more and bit her tongue whenever she saw Harry's injuries. He always wondered what her deal was.     

When the entire wizarding community erupted along with Hagrid at the time, he felt like he had a presence in the world compared to when he lived under those stairs.     

Fast forward to the present day and he was in a living arrangement he couldn't ever dream of. He had a nice room filled with his own belongings, a warm bed to sleep on and unlike at the Dursleys he only had to do a few chores rather than tending for the entire house. Even when he did a couple chores at times the Grangers would try to tell him it was not his job yet he felt awkward doing nothing. At this point it was probably hard-wired into his brain.     

Much like the previous summer with the Grangers, the days passed slowly. He spent his time hanging out with Hermione, sometimes being subjected to reading sessions as thats all she wanted to do however on the odd occasion the entire family would go for a trip somewhere. These trips never seemed to be out of the country though, always staying close to home. Regardless of this Harry still felt happy getting out and about.     

Despite this however there were times when he felt 'eyes' on him whenever he left the house. He once told Hermione about it and she told him he must be paranoid is all. Harry by no means in his own books at least was a good wizard. He saw the truly good wizards as people like Oz he used their magic to breeze through life and push aside any in their way. Yet despite all of this he still couldn't shake the feeling of being 'watched' by something whenever he walked out the door.     

Frankly it drove him crazy to the point where he spent more of his summer inside writing letters to everyone and reading books on random subjects that interested him. As the summer was starting to near its end, Hermione came bursting into his room.     

"Harry! Have you done your summer homework yet?!"     

Harry who was currently writing a letter to Daphne dropped his quill and put his head in his hands. Seeing Harry act this way Hermione looked at him with a knowing look.     

"Seriously?! I finished mine near the beginning of summer... Fine let me help you".     

As Harry pulled his head out his hands he smiled at Hermione thanking her for the help. She entered into the room she sat down next to him as the two started to work through the homework. The light outside the window began to dim as the hours flew by, soon Harry was virtually nearing the end point of his homework.     

As he started to pack up Hermione spotted the letter Harry was writing to Daphne underneath all the homework. As she looked at it she started to speak.     

"You've been sending an awful lot of letters recently... Has everyone replied?".     

Harry smiled as he reached over and grabbed a wad of letters addressed to him.     

"Cho responds pretty quickly whenever I send a letter out. Apparently her family this year went on a trip to wales. Much like you she seems to be obsessed with how much homework I've done...".     

"As for Luna she's her usual self. Her letters recently have started included words and creatures I have never heard of... she did give an update on her mother though saying that she's still in the same condition. No better no worse...".     

"Daphne... her replies are the worst almost as if a majority get stopped. I've sent a bunch of letters over the summer but only received a couple of replies. The latest one told me that apparently her family restricts her from contacting people over the summer to focus on studies/family business... being in a pureblood house seems hard".     

Hermione listened in to what everyone in the group was doing nodding along with each explanation.     

"What about Rose? Is she at that orphanage still?".     

Harry nodded as he continued.     

"She was apparently relocated to an orphanage that has 'connections' with the wizarding world. I guess that makes sense else she'd struggle doing some of the 'practical' homework. Her letters always seem to have a lonely tone in them though...".     

"It's not like she will feel that way much longer though is it? Only a week or so left of summer now for us and we'll be back".     

Harry smiled at Hermione hearing that soon he'd be back at Hogwarts.     

"I guess you're right".     

The room grew silent for a moment as Hermione began to tap her feet. She seemed to want to ask a question yet kept reconsidering it before finally going for it.     

"H-Have you heard anything from Oz yet?".     

Harry frowned as he shook his head.     

"Just like usual that guy is completely elusive... Cho, Luna and Rose included in their letters that they've tried to find out where he is based so we can send him letters yet they couldn't find anything. Regardless he's travelling isn't he? Pinning him down wont ever be easy as he could be anywhere across the world...".     

Hermione sighed hearing about Oz. She held him in high regard due to his knowledge. Having him gone for a year will make the study sessions a bit more boring for her as she'd have nobody to question.     

"It will be a weird year without him thats for sure... Even though he never socialised too much outside of those 'study sessions' having him at the school still made the school feel 'safe' somehow".     

As the room fell into silence once again both Harry and Hermione started to wonder where Oz could be right now, what he could be doing. Hermione was eventually snapped out of her daze as she remembered something.     

"Oh thats right! I asked mum and dad to take us to Diagon Alley soon. They actually agreed for once as well".     

Harry was also snapped out of his daze as he heard the news from Hermione.     

"Diagon Alley? Won't we be going there end of summer anyway?".     

"Yeah but at that time we are always so focused on getting school supplies. This time we can take out time looking at the different shops and buying what we want! I'm thinking of spending most of my time in flourish and blotts...".     

Harry felt excitement well up in his stomach thinking about the diagon alley trip now. His mum and dad had left him a rather large fortune after all. If he took out some money he'd be able to get anything he wanted.     

"Anyway Harry, I'm heading off to bed... Mum told me that she wants us both up early to help with something if thats not too much trouble for you".     

"No problem, tell her I'll be there... Goodnight".     

Hermione left the room with a slight skip in her step. Harry watched her leave before looking back down at his homework filled desk. He liked being here, he truly did. Compared to being at the Dursleys this place was much better yet...     

'I still feel out of place...'.     

Harry had been at this house for two summers now and not a day went by where he felt 'weird' about being here. He did chores to help out and did anything he could to 'fit in' yet no matter what he did he always felt like there was going to be a barrier between him and the grangers. That's why he always looked forward to Hogwarts again, so the guilt of 'freeloading' would be lifted.     

'Maybe I could pay rent with the money I have? No the Grangers would never accept it...'.     

As thoughts about his arrangement sprung to mind he cleaned up his homework and desk before heading to bed. A day trip to Diagon Alley was on the horizon so he had something to look forward to...     

.     

The day trip finally arrived and the Grangers plus Harry were currently in a car heading towards their destination. After a long drive they arrived at a car park where they paid the toll with muggle money, for a few hours, before leaving towards the Leaky Cauldron.     

As they arrived the two Grangers who entered first received judging looks from the people inside however as Hermione and Harry walked in the people seemed to understand the situation. A few eyes lit up seeing Harry considering his fame. The four quickly walked through the leaky cauldron heading towards the entrance to Diagon Alley. Going through the familiar brick wall, they were presented with an alley filled with magical folk.     

"We finally made it! Mum, Dad, can we head straight for flourish and blotts? Apparently there's a new selection of books out I want to buy a couple!".     

Mrs Granger looked down at Hermione with a slight chuckle.     

"Did you forget we have to trade our money in for your wizard money first? Come on lets head to the bank first".     

Walking down the alley Harry took in all the sights, the different shop windows littered with magical items. As he walked with the grangers he still felt that slight disconnect from them as if he was trailing along rather than standing with them. Sighing to himself he looked towards one window and saw a product that interested him.     

"The... Magi-Cast?".     

The Grangers all stopped in their tracks as they heard Harry speak. Usually he'd keep quiet and just be polite whenever spoken to, mainly due to years of 'conditioning' by the Dursleys. They all focused their attention on what Harry had spotted out. In the shop windows nearer to Gringotts was a device called the 'Magi-Cast' that was on display to all. The device itself seemed increasingly popular as many of the witches and wizards in the alley were stood at the windows looking at the device themselves.     

The Grangers along with Harry joined these window shoppers as they looked at the device. It looked like a small disposable camera you'd get in the muggle world yet its 'features' explained that it could do so much more.     

"Record video... project video... This is the wizard equivalent of video cameras! They managed to make the device so small!".     

Mr Granger seemed shocked as he took a look at what the device did. Mainly he focused on the projection part noting that the muggle world had nothing like that included. Hermione seemed more interested in the mechanisms behind the camera though, looking deeply at the one on display.     

"How did the creator even manage to fit runes this small into this!? Whoever designed this device must be a genius!"     

Her eyes trailed as she looked over to the note near the camera giving more information.     

"Created by... 'Lee Oswald the Master Enchanter'! He's the same guy who created the Health Specs! Apparently he's a master enchanter who appeared from thin air one day creating products for all witches and wizards to use... He actually unveiled this product here at Gringotts near the beginning of the Summer! I wish I could have seen that...".     

Hearing about the Health Specs, Harry flashed back to when he first met Oz who held the Health Specs in his hand.     

'So this enchanter created that item? Technically he helped me a lot if you think about it...'.     

If it wasn't for the health specs Oz would never have noticed Harry's condition. Seeing the name 'Lee Oswald' Harry felt a sort of respect and gratitude towards it. Looking at the device itself he started to realise how cool it was.     

'Able to record anything and play it back? Project it as a 'hologram' or into a screen? This sounds like a fun gadget to have!'     

Harry looked over at the price of the Magi-Cast and felt his jaw drop slightly. The Grangers also looked at the price with a knowing sigh.     

"It wasn't going to be cheap was it... Although compared to our cameras this one is still slightly cheaper".     

Even though the 'Magi-Cast' had a slightly hefty price tag Harry was determined to buy one. As the Grangers and him split off towards the bank he withdrew from his vault a decent amount of money heading directly to buy a Magi-Cast himself. After buying it he joined back up with the Grangers who had been led by Hermione to Flourish and Blotts. Harry had a grin on his face as he thought about the camera in his pocket now.     

For some reason he felt as though this camera would be 'useful' this year...     

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