"...Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ..."
The door to the pub's back room slammed open and Severus Snape vanished instantly with a crack of apparation. He'd missed the beginning and end of the prophecy, but knew it involved his lord and that was enough. Perhaps this bit of information would gain him some favour and he'd be moved to the inner circle. He allowed himself a small smirk before settling back into the unemotional mask that had become custom on his face when visiting with the Dark Lord. Yes, He would be most pleased.
Chapter 1
"Quickly now, boys. Wands first."
Harry and Ethan both held one of their mother's hands. Even though Harry was eleven and Ethan nine, they didn't feel embarrassed. Since the rise of the Dark Lord, Diagon Alley had become a dangerous place for mixed blood like them. Harry doubted he and his brother would have been allowed to attend Hogwarts, run by the Dark Lord himself, if the law mandating that all non-mudblood magical children must attend wasn't in place. But it was, and Harry wasn't scared of being treated like a second-class citizen for his mixed blood - he was excited. He'd be learning magic and meeting other kids his own age!
"You're up, Harry," his mother said quickly, pushing him gently but firmly up to the counter. He'd zoned out through his brother getting his wand. Ethan had his light brown wand out and was waving it in the air, watching in wonder as silver sparks shot out the end and drifted to the floor, disappearing into the worn wooden boards.
"Harry Potter," the old man behind the counter, Ollivander, rasped. "I've been expecting you."
Harry swallowed nervously. "It's nice to meet you, sir" he said politely, remembering the manners his mother taught him.
The old man, satisfied for the moment, harrumphed and dug beneath the counter. A few moments later he pulled out a pitch black box. There was some sort of green design on the top, but before Harry could see what was on it Ollivander quickly opened the box, took out the contents, and stashed it back under the counter. It was a long white wand.
"For you, Mr Potter." The old man gave Harry a sharp look as he handed the boy the wand.
Harry glanced over at his mother quickly, but she was preoccupied with looking out the window and scanning the streets to notice that Mr Ollivander was acting a bit odd. Nevertheless, he took the wand and waved it, like he remembered his mother doing many years ago and his brother was doing now. Inky black smoke came out the tip, trailing along the path he drew. The blackness twisted around itself for a few moments before dissipating into the air.
"Yew, Phoenix Feather, 13 ½ inches," Ollivander said loudly, then lowered his voice to a whisper Harry could barely hear. "That's a very valuable wand, Mr Potter, and I warn you to take care of it because you won't like the consequences if you don't."
Harry swallowed nervously again and quickly nodded his head. "Of course, sir."
"Eighteen Galleons, Ma'am," Ollivander said louder to Harry's mother.
"Mum, can I get a wand holder?" Ethan asked.
"No, sweetheart." She began digging in her wallet. "The price really has gone up, hasn't it?" she said offhandedly to Ollivander.
"What about for Christmas, then?"
"Ethan," Harry began, "Hogwarts is one of the safest places in the world. I'm sure we won't need a wand holder," he lied between his teeth.
"Muggleborn sales tax," Ollivander said, accepting the money and giving her a receipt in return.
"Of course," Lily said bitterly before swallowing down her negative emotions and putting the receipt carefully into her purse. She knew that Harry knew how she felt – nothing much got past Harry these days, but she still liked to think that Ethan was mostly innocent to the ways of the world. And she'd like to keep it that way, at least for a little while longer.
"But I heard there's dueling!" Ethan said as they walked out of the store.
"Only for Harry," their mother said, taking their hands. "Lower Years don't do combat magic."
Last year, the Dark Lord implemented a system into Hogwarts where from ages 9-10, half-blood students (lower years) attended Hogwarts and learned the basics of magic, laws, and other such things that the purebloods had an advantage over them. Hogwarts tested out the system with 9-year-olds last year, and it was such a success that it was decided to be kept indefinitely.
Ethan frowned as they entered the bookstore and went immediately to the second-hand section in the back. They got to the Hogwarts textbook section, when suddenly a white-haired man with a cane appeared near them. "Ms Potter," he said sternly. "A word, if you will." Harry and Ethan had seen the man only a handful of times before, and he always made their mother nervous. She said his name was Mr Malfoy.
"Of course," she said. "Harry, Ethan, I'll be right over there." She pointed over by the registers about twenty feet away, then handed them each their school list. "Quickly, find the items on your lists."
"What if we find another book we really need?" Ethan asked.
She gave a nervous look at Mr Malfoy. "If you find all the cheapest textbooks, I'll see what I can do."
Ethan gave a big grin and started hunting through the shelves. Harry gave a worried look at his mother, but she smiled reassuringly before turning away and Harry began his search as well.
It had been ten minutes and each boy had found all the books they needed, cheapest versions possible. One of Harry's was missing part of the cover and nearly all had writing in them, but most of Ethan's were in good condition, since they were all only a year old. Harry had tried in vain to listen in on Mr Malfoy and his mother's conversation, but there was so much noise in the store he couldn't hear anything.
"Look what I found!" Ethan said, holding up a book for Harry to see. The cover said Curses and Counter-curses and Ethan opened it up, showing Harry a page in the middle. "Jelly-Legs Jinx," Harry read from the page. "Mum would never let us have this," he said, trying as fast as possible to memorize how to perform the spell.
"You are correct," Lily said from behind Harry, making him jump. When Harry put back the book, dejected, she continued. "However, there might just be a copy in the Hogwarts library."
Harry perked back up and his brother gave a wide grin. "Awesome!" Ethan said.
"Did you find everything, boys?"
They gave their lists and books to their mother and the three of them bought the items and left the store.
"What did Mr Malfoy say, mum?" Harry asked.
"Nothing you need to worry about," Lily said with a smile. "Now, let's get the rest of the items on your lists, shall we?"
Harry could tell his mother was faking the smile, but he didn't say anything (even though he suspected his mother knew that he knew) for the sake of his brother who wasn't paying attention. "Of course, mother," Harry said obediently. He loved his mother, but was really looking forward to Hogwarts, where he'd be free to learn magic, and maybe, if he and his brother were gone for a while, his mother would stop being so sad.
