Chapter 6
Percy was thankful to be back out in the sunlight, breathing fresh air. He couldn't explain why but he was incredibly uncomfortable when underground.
As the trio left the large marble building, Minerva lead the two boys to a small dingy shop that had a wand laying on velvet cushion in the front window. Percy knew he wouldn't be able to read the shop sign so he didn't even bother looking at it.
As they approached the shop, a girl around Percy's age exited with a woman who was looking at a list like the one Percy got with his acceptance letter, a long thin box clutched tightly in her hands. She had black hair that was put in little braids and tied up in a ponytail. Her dark brown eyes met Percy's sea green ones briefly before Percy averted his gaze submissively and she continued on her way.
It was one thing that always started a fire in his chest. If it were socially acceptable for him to stand up to others and speak his mind, he would have done it a long time ago but one rule that the Dursleys had always drilled into his head was to shut up and respect his "betters".
Minerva, seeing his actions, looked down at the boy.
"You know Percy, you should never be afraid to speak your mind."
"I'm not afraid!" he exclaimed, his head snapping up.
As Minerva met his gaze she could see the burning rage that he bottled up inside and watched as he forced it down before averting his gaze once more.
"Ma'am." he added, as an afterthought.
"You have the right to express your opinion and you shouldn't always respect someone because they're older than you or in a position of authority. People need to earn your respect."
Percy merely nodded and entered the wand shop. Minerva smiled to herself for while he hadn't said so, she believed that she had gotten the message through to him. Harry followed his brother, slightly quivering with excitement.
The more time they spent with the woman, the more Harry trusted her. Percy had always been reserved. In private, he was a dork but as soon as they would stepped out of Harry's room, a shield would go up, a mask to hide all his vulnerabilities. Harry missed his fun loving older brother and hoped that Percy would eventually loosen up and come out of his shell now that they were away from the Dursleys.
Inside the shop were towering shelves long skinny boxes dust floated in the air, clearly visible thanks to the small rays of sunlight that managed to filter through the grimy window. The shelves extended so far back into the shop that Percy could see only darkness. Evidently it was bigger on the inside than it appeared on the outside.
Suddenly, a gaunt man appeared from the back of the store making Percy jump. He had frizzy white had that stood up around his head making him look like a mad scientist. His washed-out blue eyes bored into Percy's sea green eyes.
"Mr. Potter, I was wondering when I'd be seeing you." he said cryptically.
Percy eyed him warily.
"It's good to see you again Mr. Ollivander." Minerva said, drawing the old man's attention away from the defensive boy which he was thankful for.
"Ah! Minerva, 9 1/2 inches long, made of fir and dragon heartstring if I remember correctly. Well suited for transfiguration."
The transfiguration professor smiled gently.
"Now, Mr. Potter let us find your wand. Now remember, the wand always chooses the wizard."
The man proceeded to jab his wand at a tape measure which started measuring Percy while Mr. Ollivander started shuffling among the shelves, pulling out boxes here and there. Dropping about eight boxes on the front counter, he flicked his wand absentmindedly and the measuring tape fell to the floor.
"Alright, give this one a go."
Ollivander presented a deep chestnut colored wand that lay in an open box.
"Chestnut wood with a unicorn hair core. Eight inches, rigid, perfect for charms."
Percy tentatively picked up the wand, immediately he knew that it didn't feel right in his hand.
"Well, give it a wave."
Giving the wand maker a doubtful look, the eleven year old raised the wand and hesitated before slicing the air with it. An earthquake suddenly shook the shop. Boxes fell off the shelves, Ollivander stumbled into the counter. The vase in the corner was knocked off its little table and it shattered on the floor. Harry fell and thankfully was steadied by Minerva who was sitting in the one little rickety chair. The wand started to heat up so Percy quickly put it on the counter. Immediately, the earthquake stopped and the old man turned to look at the small but fit boy in front of him, his eyes wide. That such a great amount of power could reside in such a small, young child astounded him. In all his years, he had never met a wizard like Perseus Potter.
"I believe I'll have to find my stronger wands."
With that, he scooped up the wands he had brought forward and disappeared back into the shadows. Percy waited in silence, refusing to look up from his suddenly very interesting sneakers.
"That is so cool Percy! Do you know how powerful you must be? You need a special wand!"
Percy blushed bright red but grinned and ruffled his little brother's hair.
"Of course I'm powerful. How else would I protect you otherwise."
Minerva smiled sadly at the sight. She could still remember that night eight years before as though it were yesterday. The three year old laying there on the grass, his body curled around his baby brother.
"Always protect him."
At the time, the traumatized child had only nodded weakly, allowing himself to be scooped up and moved onto the front step of the house that would be his prison for the next eight years of his life. She liked to think that they never could've predicted all that he would go through. The periods of starvation, the physical and emotional abuse, the veritable slavery. However, Minerva herself had watched the then family of three for an entire day before the Potter boys were brought to their aunt and Uncle. Not only that but she had also had many lengthy conversations with the late Lily Potter about her sister's attitude towards magic and about her bad tempered brother in law.
"Alright, here we go." Mr. Ollivander shuffled out of the shadows coughing and waving dust out of his face. He held one obsidian black box, one electric blue box, and one sea green box in his hand. He lay them out side by side on the counter.
Percy stared at them, watching as Ollivander took off each lid.
"Many years ago my great-great-great-grandfather was walking through the woods, collecting pieces of trees for his wands, when three old women approached. They presented him with these wands saying that one day a very special child would come in need of a wand and that one of these three wands would choose them. I do believe that this child is you. Never before have I seen such a display of accidental power. Not even Dumbledore displayed so much power as a child."
When Percy just stood there, Ollivander motioned for him to pick up one of the wands.
In the black box, the wand was made of a black glass-like substance. It was smooth and there seemed to be some sort of a ghostly glow pulsing within it. The wand in the blue box looked like the rest of the wands except for the fact that there appeared to be fissures all along it that glowed an electric blue making it seem as though sapphire electricity danced across the surface. The last wand is the one that really caught his eye.
It was made of sleek sea glass. The perfect blend of light green and blue surrounding the magical core, concealing it from prying eyes. As though in a trance, Percy reached out his right hand and picked up the peculiar wand.
As he came into contact with the cool glass, he could hear waves crashing against distant shores as though he stood on the crystal shores he remembered from his short time living with Lily and James.
As he lifted the object the shop was bathed in a soft blue light creating the illusion of being underwater which was only reinforced by the salty smell in the air.
Ollivander beamed and clapped his hands.
"Very good Mr. Potter! Very good!"
The light died down and Percy looked up at the old man. The wand maker bent down to Percy's level.
"Listen to me young one. You are very powerful. But with power, comes responsibility. You must always do what you know is right."
Percy looked seriously into his eyes.
"I promise I will."
The eleven year old paid for his wand and the three of them left the shop. Next stop was Flourish and Blotts where Minerva automatically led them to the Greek books at the back. Harry looked through the titles, his brow furrowed, before turning back to his new caretaker.
"What are these about?"
Minerva noted this. There was a list forming of irregularities to do with Perseus Potter. As she thought, Percy was the one to start answering the younger boy, pointing to the corresponding books.
"Well these ones are for charms, I think. These ones say 'The Standard Book of Spells'. There's grade one to seven. I'm guessing I'll be needing grade one?" he said, looking to Minerva at his last sentence for confirmation.
"That is correct Percy. Now I'm afraid that ancient Greek is not a language I've learned so I shall read out the titles in English so that you may put them in our basket."
It was fairly slow going but eventually they had all the books Percy needed for the year rung up as well as a few mythology books for leisure.
As they left the shop, there was some commotion down the street and three red-headed boys came sprinting through the crowd. The two at the front were identical and seemed to be around Percy's age. The third must've been around sixteen years old and looked a little more than unimpressed.
Minerva put a hand on Harry's shoulder and pulled him out of the other boys' way.
"You'd best be careful Harry, there are many people here and I wouldn't want anything to happen to you."
At the mention of anything bad possibly happening to his younger brother, Percy automatically stiffened.
"Maybe we can move things along and get home."
Harry grinned once more and led the way down the street to the apothecary to get Percy's potions ingredients. It took a little less than an hour for them to collect the rest of the older boy's supplies and were soon heading back to McGonagall castle.