"Mother, is ninjutsu the same as magic?"
Akaihane Hibari pressed her mouth into a thin line, and looked at her small black haired daughter. "We don't talk about that here. When we get home."
"But no one can understand what we're saying!"
Hibari's eyes narrowed.
Suzume bowed her head. "Yes mother," she muttered in English.
The young witch was used to her mother not answering questions. She couldn't stay preoccupied with her disappointment long at any rate. Not somewhere like Diagon Alley. She'd never seen so many wonders in one place. Cages full of owls hung from the eaves of a magic pet shop. Suzume quickly checked over the parchment clutched in her hands.
"It says I can bring a pet. Can Tsuchibue come? He's sort of like a cat."
"Unless it says foxes are allowed, I wouldn't count on it. Besides, there are time limits to how long summoning animals can stay with us."
She tried to swallow her disappointment. Then again, maybe they wouldn't notice a fox. He looked mostly like a regular fox anyway, she could visit him outside and if anyone asked her just pretend he was a wild animal. Though, she'd have to remind him not to speak in front of anybody.
It was weird. Some people in this world were witches and wizards, they performed all kinds of wonders using what they called "magic", yet they weren't accustomed to something as normal as a speaking animal. Not that talking animals were super common, but Mom said a lot of families in her home world had contracts with summoning animals. Even talking slugs.
Suzume had never seen that world though. She was born here in Britain.
She wondered what it would be like to live in a place where the other children were like her. Where she didn't have to hide her heritage and be cautious not to use jutsus or chakra enhanced movement around other people. Even the witches and wizards didn't move like her mother and uncle Hayato could, though the wizarding grownups could apparate. That was pretty cool.
Uncle Hayato told her about how he and mom used to play, leaping across the rooftops and canals in their village with the rest of their friends.
Colorful buildings towered around her. She looked up wistfully, knowing it would attract too much attention to go bounding up the sides of Flourish and Blotts right then. Shinobi weren't supposed to attract attention. Mom only let her do that sort of thing in the forest, when it was dark.
Mom attracted attention though. She was pretty. She also didn't look much like most people, except for uncle. Their hair was red. Not ginger red. Real red like a candy apple. Their eyes were golden too. People tended to give them weird looks. Even some of the wizards.
Not Suzume though. Her eyes and hair were boring black. It blended in. Her mother was happy about that. She said it would have been troublesome if Suzume had taken after the Akaihane side of the family.
One wizard regarded them with a shrewd look. He was tall, with long neat white hair and carried a cane even though he seemed young and didn't really need it. There was a white haired boy with him that looked about Suzume's age. They had fancy clothes. Suzume's family had fancy clothes too, but with a decidedly eastern flair.
"I don't recall seeing you before." He graciously offered a gloved hand to Uncle Hayato. "My name is Lucius Malfoy. This is my son Draco. Is this your first time in Diagon Alley?"
Uncle shook his hand. His cheeks flushed almost as red as his close cropped beard, and he stammered back in his heavy accent, "No, just, we are buying a wand."
Mr. Malfoy's sharp gaze darted from Uncle, then to Suzume. They focused on the supply list clutched in her hands.
"My son Draco is beginning school, and we are on our way to purchase supplies as well. I would be happy to assist you in finding your way around. "
Uncle's face lit up. He bowed out of habit.
"Thank you! I am Hayato Akaihane," then gestured to Suzume's mother who had wandered off, distracted by a display of cauldrons. "My sister, Hibari Akaihane." Then put a heavy hand on top of Suzume's head. "And my niece, Suzume."
Uncle and Mr. Malfoy wandered ahead of her, chatting back and forth. Apparently Mr. Malfoy was on the board of governors for her new school, and he claimed it was one of the finest in the world. Uncle was careful how much information he disclosed. "Hibari and I were homeschooled," in response to being asked where he attended school, though he did give the real name of their home village when asked where he was from. Uzushiogakure.
"Were they not satisfied with the quality of the wizarding schools available?" Mr. Malfoy asked. Clearly he was probing for some information, but Suzume wasn't sure what.
Draco trailed along with Suzume, but he wasn't very interested in talking. He mostly seemed bored, except when they passed a shopfront full of broomsticks. Mom caught up with them, taking Suzume by the hand and smiling at Draco. She carried a new copper cauldron for herself in her other hand, as easily as if it was a silk purse.
Uncle strolled ahead, hands clasped behind his back. "You know how demanding parents are. They wanted to give us an early start, and by the time we were school age it made more sense to continue at home. Besides, they felt that we ought to be more familiar with, darker spells than the school approved. Solely for defensive purposes of course."
Mr. Malfoy nodded and visibly relaxed. "Well, it is certainly refreshing to know my son will be attending school with at least one other student from a respectable wizarding family," he said. "Ah, here is Mr. Ollivander's shop. You will find that he is one of the finest, if not the finest wandmaker in the world.
Best school and best wandmaker in the world, thought Suzume. Pretty dang presumptuous.
The wand shop felt dark and closed in compared to the wide bright street they'd left. It smelled like oil and sawdust. A thin, white haired man stood behind the counter. He greeted them, and laid out several open boxes on the counter.
"So, you're beginning school at Hogwarts this year," he said. It was a statement, not a question.
Draco stepped forward. "I like that one." He reached out a hand and recoiled it in shock when the wand snapped a spark at him.
Mr. Ollivander put it away. "I should explain that when you purchase a wand, you don't just pick out any wand you like. The wand must choose the witch or wizard. Here, try this one instead."
He reached for another. This time it didn't spark at him, but Mr. Ollivander didn't let him keep hold of it either. They went through half a dozen wands like that, until finally Draco lifted a handsome hawthorne and unicorn hair wand from its box. He smiled as it showered them with glistening silver sparks.
Suzume's mother kept a hand on her shoulder, hand tightening when Draco found his match. Mr. Malfoy paid, then guided his grinning son to the side so that Suzume could have a try.
She tentatively reached for a short black wand lying in an open box. It felt heavy and cold in her hand. Mr. Ollivander whisked it away and pushed another into its place.
A dozen wands rejected her in various ways, some just refusing to acknowledge her completely, and some of them alarmingly destructive. Mr. Ollivander hurriedly put out the flames set by her latest rejection, and bustled to the back room to retrieve more boxes.
Other children came and went through the shop. Most of the other children were chosen by wands in the first few tries, sometimes demonstrated by gentle showers of glittering light, one even by a spray of flowers. Uncle Hayato, getting the hint that something was not right, quietly struck up a conversation with the increasingly curious Mr. Malfoy and convinced him to show uncle the way to the book shop.
After they left, Suzume began to panic. What if I'm not a witch after all? What if the letter was a mistake? What if jutsus and spells are too different, and I'm not actually magical? Tears pricked at her eyes, and she fought to keep them at bay. She didn't really want to leave mom for months, but all the same she was starting to look forward to magic school.
Mr. Ollivander noticed her distress and smiled kindly at her. "Don't give up yet. We haven't gone through all my wands yet. Once in a while I get someone like you"
After 3 more hours went by, even Mr. Ollivander was starting to look worried.
Suzume wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "I think there was a mistake," she sniffed. "I'm probably not a witch after all."
The wandmaker shook his head. "No, the letters don't go out by mistake. You are a witch. But for some reason none of my wands fit. It's as if they just don't-," he waved his hand, searching for a word. "Resonate."
"What do you recommend?" Uncle asked. He had finished gathering the rest of Suzume's school supplies and returned, minus the nosy wizard.
"There are other wandmakers in Britain," he said. "You could try those, though I have my doubts about them. In the past it wasn't uncommon for wizards and witches to present a core material to a wandmaker that was connected to them in some way. I don't do that anymore as there is no guarantee the wand would bond with you, but perhaps it is worth a try."
"What sort of things go into the core?" mom asked.
"I exclusively use dragon heartstring, unicorn tail hair, and phoenix feather," he said. "Those being the most powerful and reliable cores. Some have used lesser substances, such as veela hair."
Mom hesitated, then reached into her purse and pulled out a rolled up piece of brown tissue paper. She handed it to Mr. Ollivander, who carefully folded it open and examined whatever was inside.
"This might work. It looks rather plain, but-" he closed his eyes for a moment, "it feels like it may make a suitable core. What is the connection?"
"It was her father's."
Suzume snapped her head around to look at mom. Uncle looked at her curiously too. Mom's expression was deadpan, giving nothing away.
"That may be good enough. I will need some time to find the right wood for this core. Write your address here and I will notify you when it's ready."
Mom jotted something down on a paper, thanked Mr. Ollivander, and they left. It was already starting to get dark.
