6 July 1999
Today was officially my first day as the apprentice of renowned wand maker Garrick Ollivander, henceforth referred to as Garrick because apparently I am no longer allowed to call him Mr. Ollivander after "everything I did this past year." Any way Garrick made keeping this journal part of my contract, but I have really no idea what to do really. I mean he calls it a field journal, but let's be honest it's a diary. What the hell do I do with a diary? The only one I ever picked up was property of the recently slain dark lord that tried to possess anyone who wrote in it in order to make them open the Chamber of Secrets. So yeah not much help in being a guide on how to do this especially since Tom's diary was bloody blank.
But I digress this afternoon Garrick and I signed the apprentice contracts at Gringotts. Pretty much they boil down to this. For the next week Garrick and I will travel to some of the more accessible local areas he knows to get supplies so he can start making wands immediately. While collecting he will show me how to find, harvest, and store the materials he uses in the shop. After that week I will travel the world for up to 2 years to gather materials to help replenish his stock that was destroyed by the Death Eaters. After that I will return to England and study under him until I can "consistently produce wands up to his standards." The only other interesting part is that I inherit the shop and am supposed to take an apprentice of my own if my children don't follow in my footsteps, which contrary to what Ginny thinks is not happening anytime soon especially not with her.
After Gringotts we did a little shopping to pick up supplies for the field. The first place he dragged me was Madam Milkins and we ordered every type of protective clothing under the sun. Not only do I have dragonhide gloves and boots, but I have clothes designed for every environment imaginable. Apparently around the world really means around the world because I have clothes for the frozen tundra, tropical rainforests, barren deserts, and everywhere in between. I got a backpack enchanted like Hermione's beaded bag, but this thing is huge. It has two small side pockets and a small front pocket in addition to the main pocket that probably has more storage space than the Dursleys house. Along with the bag I am now the proud owner of my very own wizarding tent (thank merlin this one doesn't smell like cats) that got shoved into a side pocket with enough food and water under stasis charms to last me close to a year. After a stop at the some potioneering shop in Knockturn Alley to get harvesting tools and what felt like a million containers, we ended up in Borgin and Burke's for this damn diary. Apparently it needed to be made so only I can read it so Borgin keyed it to my blood which I still don't entirely approve of, but Garrick didn't give me a choice. I still don't know of I am going to tell Hermione I'm going to learn all this new stuff and never be able to share it with her. I think a letter after I leave the country is probably best, but I might wait until I am in America just to be safe.
