Magical sticks
Caterpillar was starting to recognize his surroundings. It hadn’t taken long for him to be able to memorize the strange build of Diagon Alley. It was quite busier than the last time he’d visited. Great, as if the place wasn’t too narrow already.
As Caterpillar walked through the alley with Moore following close behind, he let his eyes scan the people hurrying along and minding their own business, shopping. Just like what Caterpillar was supposed to be doing right now.
He took note of how the majority of the ‘witches and wizards’ were likely undergage judging by their looks. Assuming they were all human, that is. Caterpillar could deduct that they were there at Diagon Alley for the same reason he was; buying school supplies.
Caterpillar stole another glance at the list Moore had acquiesced to giving him.
Ollivander’s and-
“We’re here! It looks the same as always, hm?” Moore suddenly interrupted Caterpillar’s thoughts; the usual.
The white haired boy looked up, noticing the little shop they’d stumbled upon. Yup, this was Ollivander’s. It was a pretty small place with windows allowing one to peer inside the place. Caterpillar took a mental note of how similar it actually looked to Fontaine’s architecture to some level. He let out a breath before stepping inside the shop.
The moment he stepped inside, he was mildly glad that he’d taken a breath before entering, not that the air quality was any good in Diagon Alley, but inside Ollivander’s it felt a bit fusty. Well, Caterpillar didn’t need that much air anyway.
Moore walked past him and stepped deeper into the shop, walking to the place’s counter. “Hey, Mr. Ollivander! This first year needs a wand.” he greeted the alleged person behind the counter.
Caterpillar squinted his blank eyes slightly, not seeing anyone behind the counter. That quickly changed once an old-looking man with a mustache and a bald head with sideburns emerged.
“Ah! A new first year, you say?” Ollivander said with an intrigued look before looking down, his eyes locking onto Caterpillar. The old man’s eyes scanned the boy up and down, his eyes lingering on Caterpillar’s empty eyes and pale figure a couple of seconds too long. “Intriguing, very intriguing. Let’s see what I’ve got for you.”
Caterpillar only stared at the old man as he walked from behind the counter, towards the endless numbers of shelves, each containing some long cases of sorts. Ollivander stole another glance at Caterpillar before picking out a case and opening it, pulling out a pointy stick.
“Perhaps a unicorn hair core will ruffle your magic.” Ollivander suggested, handing the boy the weird stick.
Caterpillar took the stick and inspected it. He felt the light weight of Toad leave his head as Moore gently picked the frog off, letting Caterpillar have some space.
Noticing Caterpillar’s inner confusion, Ollivander gave some instructions: “Give it a few flicks, little boy.”
Caterpillar shot the old man a brief and unreadable look before turning his attention back to the stick. He flicked it. Nothing happened. The shop was quiet after that. It was like Ollivander and the ever-so-talkative Moore were expecting something, but that something never came.
“Hm. Perhaps not.” Ollivander mumbled before taking the allegedly magical stick from Caterpillar’s hands, placing it back into its case and back on the shelf. He then reached for another case, pulling it out and handing Caterpillar a different stick. “Try this one. Give it a few swishes in the air.”
Caterpillar stifled a sigh before taking the stick and swishing it in the air. He tried imitating the movement Moore had done with his wand when he’d cast the translation spell on him.
But nothing happened.
“Huh. The first difficult customer this year.” Ollivander hummed thoughtfully. Despite his words, the old man didn’t sound mad at all, but rather, quite excited. Ollivander took the stick from Caterpillar’s hands and turned back to the shelf, searching for another one.
Caterpillar glared at Ollivander’s back as he searched the shelf. He couldn’t help but to wonder…
“What is it that’s supposed to happen when I flick the stick?” Caterpillar asked blankly.
Moore chuckled at Caterpillar’s wording, but didn’t make further comments.
“Well, you’ll know when I give you a wand best suited for you.” Ollivander answered without turning to look at the boy in question.
Toad croaked from Moore’s hands, seemingly thinking the same exact thing Caterpillar was thinking: I wasn’t asking for a vague answer; it was a simple question. “What’s wrong with telling me the truth?” Caterpillar pressed further, not letting his neutral expression falter.
“Ahah, well, I suppose nothing.” Ollivander gave a half-hearted chuckle as he took out another case from the shelf. “It depends on the user; sometimes it might be a faint glow, sometimes a spark or sometimes even something that flies all around the shop. All trivial ‘test’ magic.”
Caterpillar pondered for a moment. Was it even possible for him to become a wizard? He wasn’t so sure. Was he already considered a wizard? Maybe one part of him… One single part surrounded by other parts in an inner whirlwind of the mess that was Caterpillar’s inconsistent identity.
Ollivander handed Caterpillar the third stick. It was a dark-ish wand which was in a slight spiral, excluding the handle. Caterpillar thought that waving it around wouldn’t cause any type of reaction. Maybe he should… fake it . Surely his Anemo powers worked in this other world too. He hadn’t attempted anything, but judging by the fact that he was in his human form, Caterpillar figured it was very likely for his powers to work as well.
Caterpillar sighed before raising the stick and preparing to flick it. He tried to concentrate on channeling elemental energy to the tip of the wand. He felt three sets of eyes on him as he looked at the wand intently. A course of wind shot through his veins, causing his hair to slightly flow with the inner energy.
Caterpillar flicked the wand and-
As he channeled Anemo energy through the wand, a wave of…something else overrode his powers. The tip of the wand glowed red as a gust of wind was created. The magic flung in the air, spiraling around the shop.
Woosh!
Moore, Ollivander and Caterpillar all followed the red gush of wind with their eyes as it spiraled around them, bearing different expressions. Toad didn’t seem to care.
What is that? Not mine… Caterpillar didn’t blink as his eyes stayed glued on the glowy magic.
After a few seconds, the magic slowly vanished from view as it faded away. For a moment, Caterpillar stared at the empty space, in which the gush of red magic had just moments ago disappeared from.
Ollivander clasped his hands together in a pleased manner. “Interesting! This wand seems to be the right one for you. I have never seen any wand react by creating a gust of wind, which is even more interesting.” the old man walked over and gently took the wand out of Caterpillar’s hands, placing it back in its case.
Right. That wind part was all Caterpillar’s doing. But what about all the red glow? Caterpillar closed his eyes, regaining his composure. Perhaps he really did have the capability for magic in this world. Caterpillar opened his eyes and glanced at Moore, waiting for the man to hand Toad back to him.
Moore’s eyebrows were furrowed in contemplation. He seemed to be deep in thought as his eyes gazed down to Caterpillar’s black hands, which everyone else assumed were gloves thanks to the long-sleeved robe Caterpillar currently wore. Caterpillar’s judgment recognized the suspicion in Moore’s eyes.
Cool. As if things weren’t already confusing.
“Yew wood with a Phoenix Feather core. Interesting! You’ll be an interesting wizard. Hopefully you’ll choose the right path.” Ollivander commented as he cased Caterpillar’s new wand and handed it to him.
Caterpillar gave a slight nod before turning to Moore again, expecting him to pay.
Moore cleared his throat before setting Toad back down on Caterpillar’s head, letting the oversized frog settle in the white set of hair. Moore then pulled out a small bag of what Caterpillar assumed to be this world’s currency, and lended it to Ollivander. Ollivander nodded in appreciation of the good business stuff, and walked behind the front counter again, setting the bag of money somewhere.
“Good luck in your studies, little one!” the old man waved them off as they left the shop.
Stepping out, Caterpillar felt the surrounding background noise increase as they emerged and found themselves on the semi-busy Diagon Alley. He looked down at the case in his hands, still mildly intrigued by how the wand had reacted to his touch.
“You’ve gotten yourself a cool wand, Cater.” Moore praised, looking down at the boy while addressing him. He didn’t pet Caterpillar’s head this time because of Toad, which was still sitting on the boy’s head, blocking Moore’s access. It was a good thing in Caterpillar’s book.
Caterpillar hummed in response, putting the case in his pocket on the inside of the long black robe he was wearing. He was expecting Moore to mention something about the awfully clear suspicions the man had of him, but Moore’s figure had suddenly become more guarded and more difficult to read.
“Let’s get you your school books now, eh?” Moore suddenly changed the subject and started walking in the alleged direction of ‘Flourish and Blotts’.
Caterpillar reluctantly followed the man. He wasn’t too surprised that Moore had changed the subject, yet Caterpillar found himself growing increasingly more wary of this man. The newfound tension between them wasn’t something to shiver over, according to Caterpillar, but it was still there, lingering around in the air as if waiting for the right moment to-
“Ah, good ol’ bookshop. Brace yourself, Cater, it might be slightly dusty. I noticed how you were at Ollivander’s, this might be a tad worse.” Moore stated as the two arrived at the doors leading to another shop; Flourish and Blotts.
Moore noticed that?
Toad croaked on top of Caterpillar’s head. Perhaps thinking of the same thing as the white haired boy yet again. This oversized frog indeed was a great choice for a companion.
Caterpillar let out a slight hum as an acknowledgment at Moore’s words, looking through the shop windows of the book shop. There were…a lot of books. Maybe even more than in the Narzissenkreuz Ordo. One thing that Caterpillar also noted was that this shop was the most crowded one. Youngsters in cloaks going in and out, carrying various books and moving around like they were in a huge rush.
Caterpillar eyed the humans rushing through and almost bumping into one another as they went. He was practically immortal himself, so he didn’t fully understand why people could sometimes be in such a rush. Caterpillar took a mental note to study that mortal behavior in more depth when the time comes.
Moore urged Caterpillar to go inside the shop, which he did. The inside of the shop was about as much as he’d expected; dusty books across many bookcases. He took out the list, skimming through the required books. He could feel Moore’s presence looming over him. Caterpillar was very convinced now that the ‘Ministry of Magic’, which Moore had mentioned to be a part of, was some kind of group that held authority over others, much like the Maison Gardiennage in Fontaine.
Caterpillar memorized the needed books and let his eyes scan the store while setting the list back in his pocket. He couldn’t get a grasp of how the books were organized right away, so he instead tried a different tactic. He noticed young children rummaging around in a certain part of the store. Certainly around 11-12 years of age. First years. Caterpillar glanced up at Moore before walking towards the section the children were at.
A flock of red-cheeked children of various backgrounds looking up at the shelves with innocent and sparkly eyes, some were too short to reach certain books at the top shelves, but they had older students there, Caterpillar guessed around 16 years of age, help the younger ones by using Anemo magic. Well, it was likely not called ‘Anemo’ in this world, but Caterpillar used it as a placeholder name until further notice.
Caterpillar walked through the flock of children, leaving Moore to stand and wait near the bookcase. He swiftly picked out the required books without causing any attention to be turned onto him. It was quite impressive to see him not even slightly grace a single child at all, considering that part of the book store was rather crowded with them.
As Caterpillar picked out all the books, a rather sizable pile started forming in his arms. He could feel Toad shift on his head as if to turn away from the huge pile. Caterpillar was going to make up for that inconvenience later.
Caterpillar could barely see in front of him, but sight didn’t really matter when he had other senses to keep track of his surroundings. He felt a small figure approach. He stepped to the side to avoid conflict, but the figure also seemed to step on the same side as him to avoid-
*Crash!*
Before Caterpillar knew it, he had fallen onto the hard wooden floor, right on his butt. Toad practically pulled Caterpillar’s hair in order to avoid flying off. His blank and monotone eyes widened for the first time in a while as all of his books fell on the ground, some of them opening and pages flattering as they crashed onto the ground. Caterpillar hoped none of the pages got too folded and rumpled thanks to that stunt. He should’ve paid closer attention.
“Oof!” a high voice yelped. It was the little kid who’d crashed into Caterpillar. The white haired boy blinked and refocused his eyes.
The one who’d crashed into him was another young first year. A little girl with blond hair that was messily tied half-up at the back. She was wearing a rumpled sweater currently, her lower lip slightly quivered as she sat on the ground. She’d obviously also crashed right onto her butt.
Caterpillar’s expression softened ever so slightly as he stood up, dusting off his black robe, especially his butt since it was the part he’d fallen on. He then extended a hand out to the little girl. “It’s going to be alright. This is just a minor inconvenience.”
The little girl looked up at Caterpillar and took his hand, accepting his help. Her eyes momentarily widened once she felt that Caterpillar was not wearing any gloves, despite his hands being black. “Uhm…thanks…” she mumbled sheepishly as she dusted off her own clothes, straightening her skirt, which reached below her lightly bruised knees.
The girl looked pretty embarrassed, looking away with flushed cheeks. Her state wasn’t that surprising; it was a normal reaction. Caterpillar was the odd-one-out here.
“Ah- you dropped all your books.” the girl pointed at all of the books Caterpillar had dropped.
“Yes, that appears to be the case…” Caterpillar said as he crouched down to collect all the schoolbooks he’d dropped, hoping that the old pages of them didn’t get rumpled enough to make them unreadable.
The little girl just stared down at Caterpillar as he picked up all his books one by one from the hard floor. Her eyes dropped to Toad, who was still clinging on to his white hair for dear life. “I’ve never seen a toad that color before…that’s so cool…” she mumbled, reaching down to touch it.
“How did you know its name?” Caterpillar glanced up before continuing to pile his books up from the floor.
“Hm? What are you talking about?” the girl asked, her voice a bit louder now. She poked Toad with her index finger, feeling its slimy skin under her finger. Toad recoiled at the touch, licking its eyeball and sinking down further into Caterpillar’s hair.
Caterpillar placed the last book on the pile he’d created. He seemingly didn’t mind the girl touching Toad or him for the matter. “You knew its name, Toad.” Caterpillar said before putting his hands slightly underneath the tall pile of books before picking it up without breaking a sweat. “You seem to be good at guessing names.” he added as he balanced the books.
The little girl took a step back as Caterpillar stood up. “A toad named Toad?” she mumbled under her breath in a confused manner. She shook the weird thought off as Caterpillar’s added compliment gave her a distraction. “You think so?” her eyes sparkled.
Caterpillar had to turn his head around so that he could face the little kid from behind the pile of thick school books he was carrying. Her brown eyes were practically glowing as her ego got stroked. Caterpillar gave a slight nod as an answer to her question.
“What’s your name??” she then asked, inching a bit closer to Caterpillar, which made Toad croak and shrink into his white hair. The oversized frog was practically pulling on Caterpillar’s hair, which he didn’t really mind.
Caterpillar blinked, mildly amused that the girl had asked for his name right after it was established that she was good at guessing names. “My name is Caterpillar.”
Silence. The crowded area near the first year books seemed to still be fussing over their own things, only a few children standing by raised an eyebrow at Caterpillar’s claim. Caterpillar sighed, shifting his pile of books and getting a better hold of them.
“My name is Edith, Edith Tucket.” the blond little girl introduced herself, placing her hands on her hips. She seemed pretty unfazed by Caterpillar introducing himself as ‘Caterpillar’.
Edith…Caterpillar committed that name to memory, even though he was unsure whether they’d see each other again.
“Are you going to Hogwarts too??” Edith smiled as she started playing with the hem of her skirt slightly. “I’m so nervous…” she then sighed, not even waiting for Caterpillar’s response.
“Starting school can be a very challenging thing to do. Considering the change in environment and atmosphere, it can be very draining for young minds as well as everyone else.” Caterpillar suddenly said in a monotone voice. “Being nervous is part of the whole move. I am 100% certain you’re not alone in that, Edith.” his words were oddly reassuring.
“Hmph. You sound like my mother.” Edith huffed as she stopped fiddling with her skirt and instead let her hands fall to her sides.
“Do I? That was not my intention; I don’t know your mother.” Caterpillar stifled a shrug, as he was unable to move his shoulders much thanks to the weight of the thick pile of thick books he was carrying.
“That’s not what I…” Edith mumbled before shaking her head. “See you at Hogwarts then…Caterpillar.” she waved and quickly ran away and out of the busy store.
Caterpillar blinked at the sudden departure. Though, it was nice to have someone finally call him by his name instead of a nickname. He steadied himself and started walking through the narrow gap between the bookcases where the first year’s books were stored.
He slowly walked to Moore, who’d been standing near the crowd of first years. Caterpillar couldn’t see his face from behind all the books he himself was carrying, but it seemed as if the man had just been observing Caterpillar and how he operated near ‘other’ children… It reminded Caterpillar of…the tests…
Caterpillar shook his head, getting rid of the thoughts. Now wasn’t the time for that.
“You got all the books, I assume?” Moore spoke up. “Hah. That right there is a hefty pile. Careful, you might drop them all again.” he chuckled as he picked up half of the books from Caterpillar’s hold, cutting the boy some slack. “Let’s go ring these up, hm?”
Caterpillar nodded, finally being able to see in front of him as his eyesight was no longer blocked by the books.
Why was he being so compliant? This wasn’t what he was supposed to do. He was supposed to be gathering information quickly in order to find a way back.
But maybe getting off track wasn’t so bad…just for a little while, that’s it…