Diagon Alley
Harry entered the wand shop with obvious excitement. He was going to get a real wand!
Jayden had told him that he was going to wait outside, mostly so he could get some things that didn’t apply to their visit today. Harry was not fooled. He caught the older man mumbling about creepy wand makers when he turned his back.
“Ah, Mr. Potter. A bit early for a wand, don’t you say?” An elderly man revealed himself from behind the excessive amount of dusty shelves.
Harry blinked at him. “I think I’m plenty old enough. Who might you be?”
“Garrick Ollivander, a pleasure to meet you.” The man stuck out his wrinkled hand. Harry took it, and quickly retracted his hand once they did the proper motion of shaking hands.
“Now, let’s find you a suitable wand, eh?” The man chuckled, prowling around the store in a practiced ease. Harry thought he was dancing.
Ollivander pulled out an ordinary brown box. “Nine inches, oak wood, a dash of unicorn hair, quite flimsy. Give it a wave.” The elderly man took an oak wand out of the box and handed it to Harry, but quickly retracted it with a, “No! That won’t do.”
“Try this one. Twelve inches, redwood, dragon heartstring, unyielding.” Ollivander began to hand another wand to Harry, but again he yanked it back. It continued like this for an hour.
Ollivander smiled. “Tricky, very tricky. I wonder…” He produced another wand. “Eleven inches, holly, phoenix feather, nice and supple. Give it a try.”
Harry reached out towards the wand. The old man did not yank it back this time. When his fingers connected, it was pure bliss. He vaguely recalled green and gold sparks coming out of it, and in unearthly glow surrounding his senses.
“Curious, very curious…” Ollivander mumbled, looking at Harry curiously. The child looked right back. “The phoenix that gave that tail feather have one other feather, just one.” Ollivander held up one finger slowly. “The wand who the phoenix feather belonged to also happened to give to the scar.”
The man looked pointedly at the dumb Quidditch hat. “Voldemort?” Harry gasped, revolted. Ollivander looked at him in a new light. “You’re very brave to say the name, Harry Potter. Your wands are brothers. They will not kill each other even in the darkest of circumstances. The wands have great potential, Mr. Potter. Use it well.”
Harry paid seven galleons and left the store.
“Harry!” Jayden shouted, grinning like mad. “What’s your wand made of?”
“Holly, eleven inches, and, uh… phoenix feather.” Came the reply, quite hesitantly.
Jayden looked at him. “What’s wrong?”
“Voldemort. Our wands are brothers, Jayden.” Harry looked down at his feet.
“We’re definitely getting you a custom wand now. Come along.” Jayden first transformed into his hobo persona and led them into a dark alleyway full of people Harry didn’t exactly trust.
The older of the two led them into a shop not much different than the rest. That means it was cold, musty, dirty, and dark.
“Hello?” A gruff voice from the front asked. “Who’s there?”
“Jasper and company.” Jayden responded, grinning. He held Harry’s hand excitedly.
A man appeared from behind a shelf full of suspicious items. He looked just like a friend Jayden’s hobo persona would have. He was wearing dark robes with stains and patches all over them. His blond hair was matted and greasy, and his teeth were chipped, rotten, and green. Harry winced.
“Who might your little company be?” The man asked immediately when he saw them. Jayden instead of answering pulled the ugly blue hat off Harry’s head and moved his bangs.
The man nodded. “Hello, Henry. I am Gerald. I will tell you more in the back.”
Jayden practically skipped over with Harry in hand. Said child was beginning to think that his guardian had a crush on the mildly unpleasant smelling man in front of them.
Gerald led them to a door next to the front counter. He opened the door and walked in, followed by Jayden and Harry. The child looked around curiously.
A part of the room had crème colored armrests surrounding a wooden coffee table. The walls were a light white, not overly bright like hospital walls but instead like your average couch. The floor were plain, polished wooden boards.
The second part Harry assumed was for the actual wandmaking. Many wooden boxes littered the floor in one section and the rest was a large table that looked like it belonged in a laboratory. A huge cauldron was in the middle of that section. It was large enough to belong in those silly Halloween versions of witches with all the pimples and crooked noses.
Gerald finally spoke after Harry had looked around. “Great, now that we’re alone, I can talk freely.” Gerald and Jayden both went back to their normal looks. Jayden was still as middle-aged blue eyed brunet as ever, but Gerald was a man slightly younger than him with smooth blond hair and warm brown eyes. He smiled kindly.
“Hello, Harry. I am Gabriel. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He stuck out his hand, just like Ollivander, but Harry did not feel repulsed this time. They shook calmly and retracted after a normal period of time.
Gabriel looked at Jayden. “I assume he wants an actual wand, and not those flimsy things Ollivander calls wands?”
Jayden, looking amused, nodded. “Yes. Could we get a holder, too?”
The blond nodded. “Over here, Harry.” He led Harry over to a box and took off the lid. “Feel around in this box and select a shape that feels warm and familiar, like it sings to your magic. Close your eyes as well. If you find two, don’t worry. It’s perfectly normal and I can just make two wands for you.”
Harry closed his eyes and stuck his hand in the box and moved things around. Nothing felt special.
“It’s not working.” Harry stated in disappointment.
“Just keep looking, Harry.” Gabriel said calmly. “It can take a few minutes.”
A warm tingly sensation soon followed the man’s words. He could feel two things just pulsing, waiting for him inside. Harry grasped them both and took them out. He started to opened his eyes in order to look at them.
“Nope!” Jayden said, covering Harry’s eyes. “No peeking. We’ll lead out to the next box.” Hands on Harry’s shoulders led him to a different part of the room.
A lid was opened, and his hand was guided into another box. He startled rustling around and was surprised to hear a sound like wood pressing against each other.
“They’re your types of wood,” Gabriel explained patiently. “Next will be your cores, blood or venom, and then a gem. The gems, blood, and venom, are not necessary, and if you don’t get even one, don’t be disappointed. It’s normal not to get one.” Harry nodded and continued shifting around in the box.
It was shorter this time around. The child heard rustling sounds, a gasp, and the items were gently plucked from his hands. Harry was again led over to another box.
“The cores,” Gabriel announced proudly. “They’re in glass spheres, so don’t move around so recklessly. A lot of cores don’t work properly if they’re exposed to oxygen and sh-“ Harry heard a smack. “-stuff.”
This process took longer than the shapes and wood combined, but very worth it. He got four cores! Harry heard a quick, “What the-“ and some not very friendly words Uncle Vernon uses all the time. A stronger punch was heard after that, and a gasp.
Harry was led to the blood and venom next. It was very different this time. They were still in the boxes, yes, but they were held in rows of vials Jayden or Gabriel took out as he searched. They were at the second to last row when he found two!
“I’m not even surprised anymore,” Jayden mumbled quietly. Gabriel gasped. “I am,” he said. “I’ve never used these before, and these are the-“
“Don’t spoil it for Harry dearest.” Jayden complained. They led him over to the gems. Again, two were found. The duo led Harry over to the couch.
“Open your eyes, Harry,” Gabriel said happily. The shapes were placed in front of him on the coffee table.
“These are simple oak wood designs,” Gabriel explained. “This one is called the Ampelos, Greek for vine. It’s named that because the whole simple shape handle is supposed to be wrapped around by a blood vine made of actual vines and your blood.” Harry gasped at this. “Not to worry, it barely hurts. I just numb your arm and get the blood out with a needle.
“Anyways, the blood makes it virtually impossible for another person to use the wand, because you are the first master of it and it has your DNA in it. Rather fascinating. Any questions before the next one?”
Harry nodded. “Uh, what happens if I die and I’m still the owner of it?” He asked nervously.
“Simple,” Jayden chirped, squeezing his shoulder reassuringly. “The wand is automatically locked inside your vault and left for another heir, it disappears, or it follows you to the Afterlife. Don’t ask what that is, because nobody knows.”
Gabriel nodded. “Exactly. Now, this next one is called Olísthima, Greek for slither. It simply has a snake design on the handle. Here, look at it. The open mouth at the end is for a gem.”
Jayden handed both shapes to him. Ampelos was a beautiful design. Thorns were on the side of the vine at the handle, yet Harry knew that they wouldn’t ever hurt him. The actual wand has no thorns, but the beautiful vines were still there.
He looked at Olísthima next. The snake was patterned grey and black, with an open mouth just wide enough for the gem. The fangs would wrap around the gem, and Harry had a feeling the fangs would hurt anyone else with if this wand would be the one with venom. “I love them!” Harry stated excitedly. “Can Olísthima be the one with venom? It looks like the fangs could hurt.”
“Of course!” Gabriel responded with a kind smile. He took the shapes away and pulled out the woods. “This one,” he started, pointing to the one on the left, “is personally gifted to wizards by the god of forests. Before you ask, it’s just a legend. It was gifted to my ancestors by a supposed god of forests. We could never find a match before you. Anyways, it’s a wood called Elm. It’s rumored that only purebloods can use magic with it, but that’s obviously not true.
“The next one is from the Norse tree Yggdrasil. Again, just a legend. Nothing serious, but none of my family could ever find what wood it was, so maybe it’s true. Who knows, honestly. Do you understand?”
Harry nodded, eagerly picking up the woods from the table. The Yggdrasil wood was a rather appealing grey shade that seemed to be thrumming with magic. The Elm wood was the same, but just less. That’s probably what holding up the Nine Worlds and connecting to the Underworld, Earth, and Asgard can do to something. Hm.
“Alright, I’m bored of staring at Harry. Next?” Jayden complained. Gabriel chuckled, took the woods away, and produced the cores. They were still in the crystal balls, innocently floating by an invisible force in the middle of it.
“This is going to take a long time because they’re bloody four of them. So, anyways, this one is called Royal Mermaid Eyes. It’s literally the eyeball of a dead queen of the mermaids, said to give people strength and healing powers.
“The next one is Basilisk Tongue. It’s rather gifted in rituals, runes, dueling, and Dark Arts. I know that we’ll be in contact more, so don’t you dare go waving this around at people like Dumbledore… without my permission, of course.
“This one I’ve only even vaguely heard of. I’m now sure how it even got in there, but it’s one of the rarest things. It’s called Hydra Head. I know hydras have acid, so it may have some destructive properties. I don’t know yet.
“Lastly, Dragon’s Wings. Again, I don’t know how this got in my crates, but I might as well use it. The properties are very different from the common dragon heartstring. It works better for people that fly a lot. This brings you unyielding loyalty and courageousness.”
Gabriel took a huge breath. Jayden snorted and patted his arm reassuringly. Harry was completely focused on the somewhat gruesome cores.
The hydra head and dragon wings seem to be mashed down and grounded up to fit in the small spheres. Harry stopped looking at any of them after he saw it.
Gabriel finally took the cores away. “The blood and venom!” He announced grandly, placing down the vials.
One was dark and looked poisonous. Harry assumed it was venom. The other one was blue and Harry did not have a clue to what it was.
“Basilisk venom and siren blood,” Jayden gasped. “Very rare. Basilisk venom is said to overpower spells to the point a simple lumos from a ten year old could be seen clearly for a mile. Siren blood can give the master of the wand manipulative powers even if they don’t even have the wand with them. It’s truly an honor to be given all this.”
Jayden looked ready to fill another bottomless bag with vomit. “You better not use that on me,” he warned playfully. Harry laughed nervously.
Gabriel smiled. “I’m finally almost done. We only have the gems left and then I can stop awkwardly trying to remember sh- stuff about these things.”
He took away the vials and put two gems on the table. One was a beautiful emerald green that sparkled in the light. The other was a warm red ruby.
“The emerald one is literally what is looks like. Emerald. It’s specially mined by wizards so that the master of the wand it goes to is very beautiful or handsome. Basically you get pretty privilege from it, and you can appear healthy and fit.” Jayden laughed.
“Finally, the last thing. The majestical ruby. It can make spellcasting easier than literally anything in existence. I’m serious. I’ve always wanted to try it, but it never picked me. Unfortunate.”
Gabriel finally stopped talking. He slumped in his chair. Jayden looked at him, fake sadness in his eyes. “Poor you,” he pouted. “Having to talk for less than an hour. Completely bogus.” Gabriel nodded in agreement. Harry laughed.
The blond turned to him and gasped. “You laugh at my pitifulness? How dare you!”
Jayden smacked Gabriel slightly. “Don’t talk to Harry dearest like that, you overgrown walnut!” Said blond started fake sobbing and begging for forgiveness. Jayden looked at him critically.
“Due to your crimes, Harry dearest and I will leave you to go shopping while you make Harry dearest’s overpowered wands! We’ll be back when we’re back, good day! Come on Harry dearest!” Jayden grabbed Harry, quickly drew some blood from his arm, put it in a vial, and exited the shop.
They walked all the way to Diagon Alley before doing anything, where they burst into loud laughter. A few people looked at them like they were Death Eaters before shuffling them and their children away. A redheaded family was particularly vocal about ‘no-good, worthless mudbloods’. A blonde family told them that blood traitors had no room to make an opinion like that.
Harry and Jayden stopped laughing and nodded at the blonde family politely while glaring at the redheads. The two quickly got their shopping done, including Harry raiding the apothecary and potions book section, Jayden buying Harry a surprise Nimbus broom, and them buying a cat and owl for Harry and a family owl.
“What are we naming them?” Harry asked as he looked at his new calico maine coon kitten. The cat meowed at him innocently.
Jayden hummed. “That depends. The cat’s a boy, your owl’s a girl, and the family owl is a boy. Any ideas?”
“Absolutely none,” Harry chirped. “Unless we want to name my cat something unoriginal like Callie.”
Jayden shivered. “No. Never in a million years,” he snapped. “We can create a list of names when we get home. Gabriel will bring us the wands and holsters there. Okay?”
Harry nodded. Jayden led them to an apparition point and got his wand out. “Hold on tight to the cat,” he warned, and then they were gone.