Harry had been manipulated his entire life by the man he had trusted most, his venerable headmaster. Some of the revelations about what had been done to him still made him shudder. He would jump at the chance to undo it all, and the immortals had provided him that chance.
More importantly, though, they had offered him the choice. There had been no manipulations or threats, just a couple of simple choices. Stay dead, go back to when they'd died, or go back to the very beginning. Really, it had been no contest.
Going back and living his life again would no doubt be fraught with problems, he knew. It seemed that trouble always found him, despite his best efforts to avoid it. At least this time, he would not need to go it alone. His best friend and the woman of his dreams was a chosen one now too, and coming along for the ride.
A soft smile crossed his face as he thought of Hermione Granger. He couldn't wait to see her again. A sudden thought crossed his mind though, and an icy knot of fear gripped him. Had she made it back ok? He had no way of knowing until they met on the Hogwarts Express in September.
Harry quickly pushed those fears to the side for the time being, since it was unproductive and he knew there was little to be done. And so he began to think about the changes they could make now they had returned to the beginning.
In the long run, he and Hermione needed to destroy Riddle, and to do that, they would need to find and destroy his horcruxes as soon as humanly possible. Ideally, all seven pieces would be dealt with prior to their fourth year, when he had been resurrected the first time around. Of course, events might not unfold the same way once they made changes, so time was of the essence anyway.
If Harry was able to get the Gringotts' goblins to assist with the removal of the horcrux in his scar, as his family had suggested, then they could be used to destroy the others, once they had them. Perhaps they could even find a way to get the goblins to destroy Hufflepuff's Cup in the Lestrange vault. Regardless, he needed to find out.
If it turned out they were able to destroy the soul fragments, Harry knew that he and Hermione could acquire one of them fairly easily once in Hogwarts, namely Ravenclaw's Diadem. The others, however, were out of their reach for the moment.
His initial short term goals were more of a personal nature, however. Once they had retrieved his money from Gringotts, he would go through events as he had done the first time around, shopping for his school equipment. However, when all was said and done, he intended to linger at Diagon Alley after they had finished shopping.
Harry knew that Hagrid would be under orders to take him back to Privet Drive afterwards, and so he would need to lose the half-giant or send him away, ideally without alerting Dumbledore. How he would do this remained to be seen.
Once Hagrid had left him, he would use the month before heading to Hogwarts to undertake a course of self-improvement. This would include improving his poor physical health, acquiring new well-fitting clothes, purchasing lots of books, and studying hard. He would try to get as much done as he could while he was free, and hope that Dumbledore didn't come looking for him.
"Ah," Hagrid grunted, cutting through Harry's thoughts, "nearly there!"
Hearing the half-giant speak, Harry snapped back to the situation and saw that they were indeed approaching land. Hagrid stuffed the paper into one of his many pockets, before tapping his umbrella once by the tiller, slowing the small boat down.
As the craft gently came to rest alongside the opposing jetty on the mainland, Harry and Hagrid quickly disembarked and looked at their surroundings.
It was a very picturesque area, with the natural beauty of England's southern coast only interrupted by a smattering of small cottages. The chimneys and vents from the houses gently steaming in the cold morning revealed that the owners were awake, but it was early enough that the street was deserted.
"So," Harry began, after admiring the view, "where to now, Hagrid?"
"Well," Hagrid murmured, rubbing his chin in thought, "we need ter get ter London, so we can get yer supplies. We'd better look fer a train station..." Harry nodded in understanding.
"Right, ok," Harry replied brightly.
With that, the duo set off away from the coast and into the village proper. As they wandered in search of a station, the streets slowly began to get busier as people left for work. However, the increases in foot traffic also drew more attention to the pair, or more specifically, the eleven foot tall half-giant.
The incredulous stares and flagrant gawping of the people they passed quickly began to annoy Harry. Apparently these people didn't know it was rude to stare. Thankfully, Hagrid seemed unaware of the unwelcome attention, and was instead more preoccupied with trying to find the way to a station.
After ten minutes of aimlessly exploring the local area, Hagrid admitted defeat and approached a local, a little old lady, for directions. After the obligatory gawping at Hagrid's size, she helpfully informed them that while there was no train station, there was a bus route that ran through the village that could get the duo closer to London.
As they waited at a nearby bus stop for their ride, Hagrid turned to speak to Harry while also rummaging around in one of his huge pockets.
"If I give yer the money, Harry," Hagrid began, his hand moving from pocket to pocket as he searched for his quarry, "would yer mind paying fer the bus? 'Fraid I'm not that good with muggle money..." Harry smiled brightly and nodded.
"Yeah, sure," Harry replied, "no problem Hagrid." Hagrid smiled back, before exclaiming loudly as he produced a selection of coins and crumpled notes from his pocket.
A short wait at the bus stop later, and a small single-decker bus pulled up in front of the pair. Once the few passengers disembarking had gotten off, Hagrid and Harry stepped forward and waited politely for the driver, who was preoccupied with sorting and putting away change from a previous customer.
"Good morning," the driver greeted brightly, not looking their way as he fiddled with his cash tray, "where are you..." as he finally turned to look up, he choked on his words, staring in shock at the immense man in front of him, "...h-headed t-today?" He finished faintly, silently wondering whether Hagrid would actually fit inside his bus.
"Good mornin'," Hagrid replied just as cheerfully, either unaware or uncaring of the man's shock, "we're needin' ter get ter London." The driver stared at him silently for a moment, before shaking himself and speaking.
"I-I'm afraid this bus doesn't go into London," he apologised, quickly overcoming his surprise, "but we do pass a train station that can get you there." Hagrid beamed at the man and nodded.
"Grand!" Hagrid boomed, making the driver jump slightly, and he turned to Harry. "Go on, Harry." Said wizard nodded, using the muggle currency he'd been given to settle the fare with the driver.
With that done, Hagrid ducked his head and doubled over as he slowly made his way on board, to the nearest available seats. The bus itself groaned as he embarked, leaning to the left as he moved and sat down, taking up two seats. The other passengers, meanwhile, stared in wide eyed astonishment as he clambered aboard. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes at their reactions, Harry quickly followed behind and settled himself on a nearby seat.
The responses of the muggle passengers to Hagrid set the tone for the rest of their journey to London. Stares followed them the entire time as they made their way to the capital, using England's confusing muggle transport system. It wasn't just his size that drew looks, however, but the man's utter ineptitude with all things muggle.
Much of their journey was spent with Hagrid struggling with various things in the muggle world, before loudly announcing his amazement once Harry explained. The first time they had come up against an automatic ticket barrier in one of the stations, for instance, the half giant had been completely thwarted. He puzzled over the gate for a minute or so, poking and prodding at it, before Harry came to his rescue and showed him how to get through.
"You have to stick your ticket in here Hagrid," Harry explained exasperatedly, placing his ticket into the slot, "it's to check you have paid to use the train."
Hagrid watched in wonder as the ticket disappeared from the first slot and was spat out of another slot further up. The gates then opened, Harry retrieved his ticket, and stepped through. Shaking his head, Hagrid chortled loudly.
"Amazin'," Hagrid exclaimed, before copying what Harry had done, and shimmied through the now open gate, "the things these muggles dream up, eh?"
All the while, staff and other rail users stared at the two of them with undisguised curiosity, confusion, and peculiarity. While Hagrid was friendly and greatly loyal, Harry knew that the one thing Hagrid couldn't do was keep a secret.
And that, apparently, included the International Statute of Secrecy.
After a few hours of people pointing and staring at the giant of a man, with Harry trotting alongside, the pair finally reached London and their destination, the Leaky Cauldron pub. To a muggle observer, the pub would appear to be nothing more than a dirty, tattered, and decrepit building which should have been torn down years ago. Not that they would actually be able to see the Leaky Cauldron, of course. As with most buildings in the magical world, the pub had very strong notice-me-not enchantments on it, specifically to keep any muggles from seeing it.
"'Ere we go, Harry," Hagrid announced, smiling at the dishevelled pub, "this is the Leaky Cauldron pub." With a faux look of confusion, Harry tilted his head curiously.
"How are we going to find everything I need to get in a pub?" Harry asked in utter bewilderment. Hagrid chuckled at his uncertainty, and gently patted him on the shoulder.
"You'll see, Harry." He replied mysteriously, pushing open the door and stepping inside.
As they stepped into the pub, Harry couldn't help but think back to the last time he had seen this place. It had been a quiet, derelict building with far too few customers and noise. As with many of the businesses in Diagon Alley, the pub had lost most of its custom during the Second Blood War. Most people were staying at home, too afraid to set a foot outside for fear of being attacked or spirited away to God knows where.
Conversely, the Leaky Cauldron of 1991 was a bright, seething mass of noise and frivolity. It was packed to the rafters with customers of all sorts, some having breakfast while reading the paper, others having a catch up and gossip with friends, and a worryingly large amount of people already being completely intoxicated, despite the fact it was almost certainly before midday.
As Harry and Hagrid stepped through the door, they were quickly noticed by the other customers. Normally, people entering the pub from the muggle side wouldn't have caused much of a stir. However, as they walked in, the barman called out to Hagrid.
"Hello Hagrid," the middle-aged balding man greeted, giving him a smile that revealed his many missing teeth, "good to see you. The usual?" Hagrid smiled back but shook his head.