That wasn't QUITE a roller coaster.. but somehow even more fun!
Gringotts
Walking back up the marble stairs after the two professors, Mei sends the guards a last wave before entering the building. The high arching ceiling and carved architecture was breathtaking. The room screamed opulence, and all the tellers were dressed to the 9’s in fitted suits and sleek black shoes. Walking to a free teller in the back, Mei continues to observe. A couple of them were acting more fidgety than she’d expect, but then her eyes fell on him.
The man in question is a goblin whose photo she had seen the night before when looking over a book on prominent figures in history. The book had been referenced in the one on sentient creatures and had all kinds of information on the directors of Gringotts including the most recent, Ragnok.
The other goblins' uneasiness made more sense now, but she is still confused as to why they seem to be ignoring him with sweat beading on their brows. At least until their teller waved their hand toward the director and introduced him as the cart driver assigned to them for the day. Mei felt her smile grow wider. She didn't know what game he was playing, but the reactions he’s getting from the other goblins has her playing along too.
Following their ‘cart driver’, they entered this jagged rock tunnel. The change was so drastic from the pristine Grand Hall that it caught Mei off guard. Her guides didn't look phased so this must be the right direction. The tunnel ended as they came upon the cart. Mei can say that this is not what she was expecting. It was old and rickety, the tracks it sat on looked rusted and below it dropped into black nothingness. Well, at least she has her booster shoes and Inflation babies in case they go down!
“Key?”
“Don’t you normally need it once we get to the door?” Snape asked back, not used to this change in procedure.
“Typically. Key?” Seeing no reason to argue, it's handed over with little more fuss.
Entering the cart and buckling when told, the key gets slid into a little hole in the front neither had noticed before. The director then gives a near evil grin before cranking the level as far back as it goes. From the corner of her eye Mei sees both professors instantly tense but when nothing happens for a moment the tensions start to be layered with confusion. Her and the director are still staring at each other and she knows something big is about to happen. As the thought exited her head, there was a creak and the wall opposite the one with the tunnel they entered through, opened up and the cart slid sideways off the rails into the hole in the wall before they were promptly entered into free fall. She didn't see who the scream came from but considering how close it sounded and that she's sitting next to Snape, it's not too much of a stretch to guess.
She’s laughing like a maniac with her arms in the air when she feels the decent start to slow. It was like it started to hit clouds that thickened and dampened the speed till the cart gently settled down on a new set of tracks. Snape and Sprout were both panting and grasping the sides of the cart like a lifeline.
Not phased, Mei unbuckles and follows Ragnok on to the platform they had dropped by.
“So Mister Director-san, they seem awfully surprised. Can I assume that wasn't the normal method of traveling to the vaults?” The stone around the door was cleaner cut than the hall they first entered through.
While the goblin had begun to assume she somehow recognized him when they locked eyes in the main hall, he was still pleasantly surprised. “How is it you know who I am, child?” He asked as he opened the vault. Meis' eyes were tracking all the moving parts as the door lock slid open. “But yes, normally you’d take the full track. Only Account Managers and above have access to the feature.”
“You have a picture in ‘Prominent Magicals Through History’, I read it just last night!” Looking up at the tracks above them she figures when the key was placed in the hole of the cart, it knew exactly where to fall. Is it actually teleporting and you don't realize due to the inertia of falling and the darkness of the cave? Looking at her with a quirked eyebrow, It must have been an old copy she read. He was pretty sure they discontinued the edition with the section on Gringotts shortly after he got his position. “Oh! I’m Hatsume Mei, it's a pleasure to meet you Director-san.”
Pomona stared at the child astounded, she saw the amount of books she read last night for that project of hers. How did she have time?! She looked over at her companion and got maybe a bit too much satisfaction at the sight of him looking into the dark abyss above them and whispering a prayer to his goddess. Then the situation started to catch up once the adrenaline started to fade. They just used a special entrance because they were with the Director of Gringotts, and Hatsume recognized him.
Ragnok watched the child in wonder as she inspected the vault door, completely uncaring over the mounds of gold resting at her feet. There was something very unusual about this teen. She seemed almost otherworldly. “I believe you should come back for a meeting when you find you have more time to stay.”
“One of us can bring her back at the beginning of October” offer Snape
“Does the first Saturday work for you Miss Hatsume?” Ragnok directs the question to her rather than the professors.
Hatsume looked thoughtful for a moment, “Yeah that should be great! Could we possibly exchange letters in the meantime if I have any questions?” Totally not taking in her professors stiffness at her being bold enough to ask to chat with the Director of Gringotts over letter.
Lightly chuckling, he responds, “Of course child, just try to keep them to the point. I do a lot of reading, it's nice when it's efficient.” Safe to say both adults were floored. Handing over a velvet bag, “Okay how about you take this pouch, it has an extendable and feather light charms on them. This way you aren't lugging around kilos of gold today.” Turning to the teachers, “what all is she needing to purchase today?”
Hatsume, who at that point had her entire arm inside the bag, was giggling like mad at the ideas.
~~~
Stepping out of the bank, Mei thought she heard Professor Snape mumble something along the lines of that shortened my already nonexistent lifespan. Hmm, She’ll need to keep her eyes on that. Can’t be letting one of her favorite teachers die, now can she?
Looking back out over the alley and taking a deep breath, she lets the tension from the last 30 minutes float away. With renewed vigor to finally explore parts of this new world, she turns to miss sprout. “What's next?”
Having gotten most of her school related books from the other students she met this morning (and by asking the castle) at breakfast, they decide to put that at the end of the list when she's free to do more personal spending. Settling on Madam Malkins since they may have to wait for the order to finish, they head that direction a short distance from the bank. Before they get too far Mei makes sure to turn back and wave to her 2 new friends getting matching sets of viscous grins in return. Or normal grins, she guesses, everything goblins do is just a bit vicious by nature.
Approaching the small store, she notices the faded sign she saw when they arrived. A plan starts to form in her head as the three of them walk inside. It's a lot more cramped than she was expecting. Sure it looked small on the outside, but come on! She's been in the magical world less than 24 hours and she knows expanding charms are a thing already.
A short stout woman approaches them with a big smile and hugs Ms. Sprout right away before saying hello to Snape and finally turning to Mei. “Welcome to my shop! I’m Madame Malkin. Are you getting school robes, dear?”
“Yes please Master Clothes Maker! I’ll also need a couple other things since I’m in a rather interesting situation and don't have any clothes other than what I’ve got on.” Mei replied, rubbing her neck sheepishly at the end. Another thing she picked up from 10 million. They really aren't kidding when they say you can pick up mannerisms from the people you're around.
“Oh goodness, I'm sorry to hear that. Come over to the platform and we’ll start by getting your measurements.” As soon as she stepped up, Mei had measuring tapes flying around her and Madam Malkins was rapidly taking notes. “Do you know what style, color, and material you'd like?”
Blue Screening as she looks at the clothes that are on display. Shaking her head she answers, “I honestly have no idea, I mostly just need a couple pairs of pants and shirts for right now.”
“You’ll also need a set of dress robes or a dress of your choice this year,” Pomona speaks up behind her.
Setting a book down in front of Mei, Madam Malkin tells her to go through the marked pages and tag the ones she likes and gives her a pad for notes if she needed. Flipping through she notices there are not a lot of designs that are good for mobility or excessive arm movement. Which, considering Wizards hardly move their arm high enough to cast a spell, it isn't entirely too surprising.
“How about you head to the apothecary Severus? We’ll meet you there when we finish up.” Pomona said to a Snape that looked entirely uncomfortable amongst the bright color fabric. Giving only a nod, he was out the door faster than Iida on exam days.
Back to the task at hand, Mei marks up 5 different shirts with some notes to changes she’d like in the cut or material; then follows the process with several pants, a single skirt (that was more like a Utility Kilt, let's be honest), and 2 sets of mid quality robes. She had noticed that Traditional Clothes back home would fit in pretty well here and tried to style more closely to what she was familiar with. Getting most of the clothes in Black and Dark Neutrals, she asks for 5 different Haoris with a note to look at her most fun fabrics.
She saved the Dressy one for last and asked Ms. Sprout a couple questions about the event and theme. Apparently something called the Tri-Wizard Tournament was happening and it had a Ball portion. It was a big enough event that she's surprised it didn't get brought up at breakfast. So, instead of designing something she could only use once she decided to make it a bit more multi-purpose.
The design would be 4 separate parts and completely reversible. The top portion would be a shirt of choice, covered by a tight fitting waistcoat that had 4 tails. The bottom half is a simple fitted pleated pant, that could be paired alone with the top items. The last is more specifically for the ball. It’s a full length flare skirt with an opening in the front and back for easy mobility.
She’d be able to wear it for several types of formal occasions! The waistcoat and the skirt can be reversed to either show white or black depending on the occasion. When she comes back in a month for her meeting with Ragnok, she’ll place an order for a set or two of Kimonos and Hakama pants. Since they wear their uniforms most of the time, she doesn't need too many personal clothes at the moment.
Madam Malkins makes a small sound of surprise once the note is handed back to her. She’d been catching up with Pomona and thought it would take her longer. She checks the clock on the wall, it's only been 15 minutes since she sat down! Looking at the designs and notes, she can't help but be excited over this order. She had been planning on handing it off to her assistant but this looks like it would be fun.
The teen followed her to the back racks of fabric to pick out the patterns for the Haori. Malkin had had some of the fabric rolls in the family for close to a century, patterned robes just weren't really in style anymore. She’d never thought of using them as outer accessories like coats or sweaters! She can already imagine how popular they'd be especially paired with the all black outfits Ms. Hatsume picked.
Mei was looking at the fabrics when she remembered an idea she had entering the store. “Would you be interested in a partial exchange of services?” She asked the store owner.
“Oh, how so?”
“I do a lot of building and design, it's kind of my passion. Entering your store I noticed that your sign has seen better days, and if you're willing I’d fashion you a new one for 30-50% off my order today.” The stout clothing creator looked over to her long time friend to find her simply amused and not an ounce surprised. Sign making was a nicher craft than one would initially think. It took a collection of knowledge on not just materials and wood working, but runes, charms and Arithmancy as well. But the look on her friend's face shows not a sliver of doubt and that gives her all the confidence she needs.
“Not a bad idea, how about this? You’re a sweet child and I don't want anyone else to try to swindle you in the alley if you make similar offers elsewhere. Magical signs are a lot more money than I think you’re assuming. There are only a handful of families in the world that you can currently order one from. The one I have outside was commission by my Great Grandmother about 200 years ago. I'd say that is average for most of the older shops in the alley.
“Magic can be a strange thing, it both wears on and preserves the environment it’s around.
Make sure you pick up a book on the craft on your way out of the alley and one on magic's effect on weather and weathering.” Getting a nod, she takes a deep breath and continues, “Now that said, your total for clothes and materials comes up to 80 Gallions. I propose, for the sign AND all your designs you created today for your clothes, I’ll give you all of what you’ve gotten today as well as 320 additional Gallions worth of Instore credit. Does this sound agreeable?” Already knowing it more than was.
The pink-haired child stared slack jawed for a moment while Pomona just crossed her arms looking pleased as could be where she stood behind her. Shaking out of it, Mei shoves her hand outwards, “That’s a deal!” After picking out a couple more things like a scarf, winter coat, gloves, hat, undergarments, and the pajamas she forgot, they headed out to meet up with Professor Snape.
Entering the apothecary, Mei was pleased to find it was much more open. Severus had not looked up at the sound of the door assuming they would be longer still. He was currently contemplating comparing the benefits of the two vials of welsh green blood in his hands. One was high in iron, leading to believe it might be better in healing and nutrition potions, while the other seemed to have higher glucose, which could be good for strength enhancing or energy potions he thinks. Humming to himself, he puts both in his base when he finally notices the color pink right next to him.
It's only the years of spying for two Lords of Magik that keeps him from flinching and releasing the scream that's lodged in his throat. Subtly coughing, “Ms. Hatsume. That was a faster trip than anticipated.” Remembering her attention to detail and her comments about her eyes, Snape pulls the two vials back out and hands them over to her. “What differences do you see between these?”
The looks of concentration on her face as she tilts them at different angles and light refractions, is a balm to his weathered soul. Even if the little chaotic brat gets sorted into Gryffindor, he may still have a competent apprentice yet.
“This one,” She holds up her left hand. “Has more of a defined shimmer to it and seemed to be rather runny.” Holding up her right now, “this one, while being less shimmery, has a higher viscosity and the swirls are darker.” handing them carefully back to him, she asks, “Are they from different parts of the creature or did they come from two different dragons with different diets?”
She can't help but beam when she sees his lip twitch up briefly before his face went blank again. “Very good. It is the latter. The more shimmery vial had a higher quantity of Iron in its diet while the other had more Glucose hence it being thicker.” Striding to the front, he places his basket and list on the counter and grabs an empty basket. The next hour is spent going over the differences in the types of ingredients and what they'd work best for. She would swear later that Snape left the store with a skip in his step.
Looking at her watch, Mei realized it was only about 10:40am. Thinking it may take a while she suggests to her guides going for a wand. While they agree, she thinks she saw Snape whispering a prayer toward the sky. The store is run down and everything looks to have been broken and fixed no less than 5 times each. She sees a gold bell on the counter, and like most teens with close to no impulse control, lets her hand fall on top of it creating a super loud ding that causes a crashing sound near the back. Through the stacks, approaches an old man that would give Gran Torino a run for his money with how shrunken and small he was.
Misty eyes look her over with a frown before they clear into unadulterated excitement. “Oh my. Hatsume Mei, I can say I never thought I’d be alive to see the day you walk through those doors.” Well that’s confusing, but his gaze does seem to just see.. More. She hadn’t even introduced herself. Unperturbed, but not sure how to respond to that, she looks over to Professor Snape. Despite all her reading last night, none of it touched on wands or magic levels so she felt a little out of her depth here.
“Dumbledore performed the core test on her when she arrived last night and the color was legitimately warm gold.” If possible, the old man got even more excited.
“What does that mean? I haven't had a chance to look.”
Ollivander took over for him, “It means, Ms. Hatsume, that you’ve got more magical potential in your pinky finger than the average wizard could ever hope for. While it's not the highest category recorded in history, there has only been 1 other person in Britain in the last 5 decades born with a similarly large magical core. There's been a serious decline in magic in the last century.”
Shelving the thought that magic was getting weaker for a time when she could process better. To say she was stunned would be an understatement. Back home she had a moderate cool quirk, while it was useful, it was very nonphysical and therefore not considered “strong”. At least 10mill thought it was awesome, she's going to miss him. Here though, she was one of the strongest witches to be recorded in modern history. The knowledge she gained last night of the existence of Divinity paired with how Mr. Ollivander recognized her the moment he saw her, it really only further confirmed her suspicions that maybe she was truly meant to come here.
Clapping his hands, the old man turned back to the stacks and started pulling boxes at supposedly random. Shattered lights, windows, and vases later they were no closer to a wand then they were when she walked in. Humming he gestures for them to follow him as he walks down a staircase behind the counter none of them had ever noticed. Pomona and Severus shared a look before following the two down. This had never happened in all the years they've been bringing students to get a wand. It was rather exciting, they can see why Gerrik acted like a kid in a candy store when he got a difficult customer.
The basement was dimly lit with indirect light. Ollivander stood in front on a large shelf that spanned floor to ceiling and went the entire 30ft of the long but thin room. It was full of drawers that changed in size as it went down. “Behind me here, I have a selection of every type of wood known to wizard kind for wand making. I need you to touch each one with your eyes closed the entire time. If you feel a small connection to any, leave the drawer open. If you feel a strong connection, please hand it to me. I’ll let you know when you can open your eyes.” He moves to her right to give her space. “We go at your pace, try to feel with your magic.”
Taking a deep breath, Mei closed her eyes, and tried to reach that warm buzz she felt the night before during the scan. Opening the first drawer, the cold that crawled up her finger when she touched the wood had her jerking her hand back and letting out a hiss as she shook it and slammed the drawer shut. The next 3 were less intense and more nonreactive, she felt the first pleasant tingle on the 5th drawer she opened. It bloomed and spread up her arm before settling like a warm weight over her heart. Reaching in further she brushes the tips of her fingers over the grain of the wood pieces. Digging a little deeper, Mei pulls out a strip near the middle of the pile that felt simply right.
Handing it to Ollivander and getting a thoughtful hum in return, she goes back to the woods. There were a couple drawers that gave a whisper of the same sensation, so those were left open but untouched. By the last drawer, she’d grabbed out 3 other woods.
“Don’t open your eyes yet. With 4 woods you’ll most likely need binders.” She could hear the sound of him setting down the woods on the work bench along the other wall. “Okay now, You’ll repeat the process with this next size set of drawers. This time I need you to verbalize when it's the right one instead of pulling it out.”
Already used to the process it was hardly anytime before she told him the three she felt connected with her. “One last section and you can open your eyes. It’s a couple big drawers with jars, you only need to touch the outside. Hand it to me if it connects.”
Mei could tell by reaching for the first drawer that whatever these are, they are much more powerful than the woods or binders. Nothing in the first drawer felt right so she opened the second. The hum from the wand maker sounded less thoughtful than it had with the woods and more excited like it had when they reached the 75th wand that hadn't worked for her upstairs.
This one felt more promising. On the 3rd jar, it was like her arm was lit up by the most pleasant lightning she's ever felt. Grasping the jar and handing it to the old man, she heard one of the 3 gasp. Just when she thought that would be the end, the very last jar in the far corner sent a sparkling sensation up her arm. Handing that over too, got her an “interesting, very interesting.”
“You can open your eyes now Ms. Hatsume,” He waved her over to the desk. “Very interesting combinations indeed.” He set the jars down as she took one of the 2 stools and he took the other. “Your four woods are Walnut, Black Walnut (A bit rarer), Ebony, and Red oak. I can already tell you're going to give your teachers gray hair over the next three years.” He let out a merry laugh before continuing, “You can get a book on wand lore, but this tells me that you're incredibly brilliant, resilient, adaptable and strong of character. That you’ll stand up for yourself and your beliefs in the sincerest way.”
He pulled the two jars forward. “You also chose very unusual cores. I can easily say I’ve never heard of the two being paired together before in a single wand.” Unscrewing the tops of both and setting them in front of her. “The first was Tail feathers from Thunderbirds, They're a species native to the United States. Notoriously difficult to master, but powerful all the same. The second is a rather more uncommon core. Unstable but with a strong affinity for powerful but unpredictable wizards, Curupira Hair.”
Snape's, “Really?” goes ignored by the duo.
“Lastly, we have the binders. These are metals, gems, powders or liquids that help in the creation of complex wands like this. Without them, the wand would likely implode shortly after it finished. You pulled 3. Goblin Silver, obsidian dust, and sapphires. There's only a couple more things I'll need you for before you three can head to lunch and pick this up after.”
Placing a bowl covered in runes and full of various shaped and sized sapphires in front of her, she's directed to close her eyes again and channel her magic with her hand over the bowl. Slowly, 20 various sized gems floated up and Ollivander caught them in a cloth. Both teachers watched transfixed as the two repeated the process 2 more times before switching to a different bowl for the cores.
After having her let a drop of blood fall on each piece of wood, the old wandmaker shows them out before locking up for the next hour to complete the greatest wand he’ll probably ever make in his career.