Harry’s first impression of the town of Elb was that, save for Hogwarts, he had never seen anywhere quite so obviously magical. Elb, or Even Lower Boscastle as it was properly known, was a small, wizarding settlement which occupied the caves under the muggle town of Boscastle. It was a beautiful town: glowing lamps lit the cobbled streets, rough crystals encrusted the domed roof and the tiny shops were actually carved out of the rock: the caves were a site of ancient magic and, therefore had been hidden from muggles long before Elb had first developed. Aside from the pub, The Mermayde, there were branches of Gladrags, Scrivenschafts, Honeydukes, Quentin and Quistis and a little Apothecary. However, when Harry looked around, he could see no houses. Severus noticed his puzzled expression.

“No one actually lives in Elb, Harry” the Potions Master explained, “The lack of daylight makes it undesirable as a residence and the caves are but small, too small for a hamlet, let alone a proper town. Elb is more like a muggle shopping centre and, in the past, it was also used as a sanctuary for those fleeing the witch-hunters.”

“I thought real witches and wizards could escape muggles” said Harry, surprised.

“Well Harry,” replied Severus as he led the young boy to Gladrags “while magic is a useful weapon, when there are many muggles attacking at once, spells aren’t incredibly useful. Even the worst of spells can only be cast on one person at a time and, if you are within several muggle’s striking range, killing one will only serve to enrage the rest.”

“Why don’t people like magic, Sir?” asked Harry sadly.

“Some are simply afraid of us because our magic gives us power” Professor Snape explained. “Others are envious. Your Aunt, for example, wanted to be magical herself and, when Professor Dumbledore explained that she could not attend Hogwarts, she grew to hate Lily.”

“Aunt Petunia wanted to come to Hogwarts?” Harry squeaked, his eyes round. “But, that can’t be right, she hates magic.”

Severus smiled sadly “She hated magic for the same reason that she hated her sister; she was mad with jealousy.”

“Do you… do you think that’s why she hated me?” asked Harry “Was she jealous of me?”

“Most probably. Petunia was a spiteful, unpleasant woman who treated her sister as badly as she dared.” Severus replied “Now, Harry, lets get down to business: I think we’ll start on shirts first. Sport and Holiday section carries muggle-wear so lets go and see what they have in stock.”

Half an hour later, Harry and Severus left Gladrags each carrying a large bag. Harry had several new T-shirts, in bright, jewel-like blues, greens and purples, a couple of white, Egyptian cotton shirts, three pairs of wool trousers in black, grey and dark blue, swimming trunks, three light jumpers in green, blue and red, a thick jumper in cream cableknit, a big pack of pants, a box of brightly coloured socks- one pair for every day of the week- and, best of all, a thick, black trench-coat.
Harry, who hadn’t had anything new in years, was beside himself with joy and anxiety.

“Thank you so much, Professor. You didn’t have to buy me so much though, I could have managed with just a T-shirt and a pair of trousers. I mean, we could have gone to a charity shop, it was so expensive...”

“Harry” said Severus, “We’ve already been through this before we left Uroborus. And in the shop. And at the checkout. I am not taking you to a charity shop. Professor Dumbledore has given me lots of money to spend on you and, even if the money was coming from my own pocket, I'd still buy you these things because no child in my care will ever have to make one second-hand set of clothes last the week.”

“Sorry, Sir” Harry said blushing.

“I understand, Harry, if you find it difficult to get used to this way of living” said Severus in a quiet voice “you have been neglected so seriously and for so long that you do not realise what is normal. Every little boy and girl of your age is entitled to certain things, like warm clothing, food and love.” Severus paused, looking sternly at Harry “And you are not naughty but, even if you were, you would still be entitled to those things.”

“Yes, Sir” said Harry meekly. It didn’t make sense, though. If you were a trial and a burden you couldn’t expect even more money to be spent on you, could you?

“Good. Now, lets go to ‘Quentin and Quistis’.”

This turned out to be a little magical store containing everything from owl treats to newspapers to glasses. Severus grabbed a bag of owl treats (for Hedwig and Xiao, Professor Snape’s owl, who were both roosting in the Uroborus owlery) and a few extra packets of parchment before calling Harry over to the glasses case.

“Pick a pair.”

“Professor?”

“Which pair would you like, Harry.”

“I don’t need new glasses, Sir. These are fine.” Harry pleaded.

“When did you get your glasses, Harry.” Severus said patiently.

“Um a couple of years ago.” Harry replied, blushing.

“And where?”

“NHS.” Harry whispered.

“I think these ones, with the dark green frames, would suit your face shape” said Severus in a decided voice.

Harry walked out of the shop ten minutes later, a new pair of thin, black-rimmed glasses perched on his nose.

“These are fantastic, Sir! I can see everything!”

“They have a little spell which allows them to automatically adjust to your eyes” said Severus with a smile. “Honeydukes is next on the list, I believe.”

Honeydukes was better than Harry’s wildest dreams.

There were long, dark-wood counters, out of which tapered deep glass trays filled with all manner of confectionary; lollies, boiled sweets, candied fruits, bonbons, jelly beans and even what looked like little chocolate frogs. At the front of the shop, there was a chocolate counter and, towards the back, were speciality stands. Professor Snape left Harry to browse whilst he spoke to the shopkeeper.

Harry wandered around, eagerly reading packets. Many of the sweets had magical effects and some, for example Bertie Botts jelly beans and Acid Pops, seemed rather gross.

Harry picked up a basket and started picking out gifts for his friends. For Pansy, Tracy and Daphne, Harry picked out some beautiful boiled sweets in the shapes of flower bulbs: apparently, if you planted them in the little pots provided, they’d grow like real flowers, except their stems would be hard sugar, like candy canes, their leaves soft nougat and their petals formed out of soft fruit jellies. After thinking for a while, Harry added another two for Millicent and Hermione; although they weren’t girly girls like Tracy, Pansy and Daphne, the flowers in the display case looked really pretty.

Next, Harry found a vase of sugar quills; they looked just like real quills but you could eat them. He took a packet for Theo and a single one for Hermione: they’d enjoy eating them in the library.

For Draco, how could Harry resist the special chocolate Dragons which, as the packaging proclaimed “Allows you to breathe fire in one of seven exciting colours.”

Blaise was tricky. Harry knew that he’d love the packet of chocolate, peanut butter, honey and strawberry flavoured chap-sticks but… well, he didn’t want to make Blaise think Harry thought he was girly. In the end, Harry compromised and got Blaise the chap-sticks and a packet of Bertie Botts every flavour beans, like he was buying Crabbe, Goyle and Draco.

A box  of chocolate frogs went in for Neville (who was very fond of his toad, Trevor) and some rum truffles for Hagrid. Then it was time to choose the most important present of all; something for Professor Snape.

Harry scanned the counters. What to choose? He didn’t want to give the Professor something he didn’t like. Eventually, Harry settled on a box of humbugs. His uncle had always liked them and Severus reminded Harry a little of him.

“Close your eyes, please, Sir” said Harry, a little nervously as he approached the counter.

Professor Snape grinned. “I’m finished here, Harry,” he replied, swinging his Honeydukes bag. “You can meet me outside.”

When Harry finally emerged outside, he offered Professor Snape a silver box tied with a green ribbon.

“Sorry to keep you waiting so long, Sir. These are for you.”

“Thank you very much, Harry” Severus smiled, taking the box. “I hope you got something nice for yourself?”

“Oh I did, I got… oh!”

Severus laughed “I thought as much, Harry.” He pulled a Honeydukes 'Boy's Delight' Hamper from his bag “And this is for you.”

oOoOo

As Harry walked down a sunlit beach half an hour later, eating a triple-scoop pistachio, amaretto and Malaga ice cream, he could almost believe that Professor Snape really did like him a little after all.