(Read at least the first two small paragraphs.)
I apparently confused more than one person, so just in case it was a more widespread confusion: When Malseth said that wizards fail to notice the little "shape-shifting advantage" of the Sandbloods, he was referring to the mulunctapoli, which are shape-shifter creatures, if you remember from Dizzy.
Because mulunctapoli are such an enormous factor in the series, especially from this point on, I'll give a little refresher. You can skip it if you know enough about the mulunctapoli that you don't need a reminder.
A mulunctapol is a creature whose shape takes the form of whatever the beholder finds nonthreatening or cute, so as to avoid being attacked. If it IS attacked, however, a mulunctapol can bite down on a wizard and suck out their magic, turning them permanently into a Squib. It will then use the stolen magic to command the forces of nature to attack their aggressor. Because of the mulunctapol's ability to command nature, it has often been connected to the legends of Dismiusa. In the legends, the mulunctapoli would suck out magic and, instead of using all of it, transport some of it back to give to Dismiusa. When the mulunctapoli gave Dismiusa enough power, she would awaken from her slumber and go on a rampage. Alternatively, it was said that one could also find Dismiusa somewhere in the Forbidden Forest and transfer your own magic to her body, combining your soul with hers. People claim this is how Gallen Ingot got his extraordinary power. Is it? What do you think? Aren't stories of Dismiusa supposed to be among the most far-fetched of legends? Then that brought up the important question: Where did the mulunctapoli come from? They were supposedly exterminated in the beginning of the fourteenth century. The Sandbloods, last chapter, revealed that the mulunctapoli were gifted to the Sandbloods by "The Man in the Shadows," who remains, as suggested by the name, in the shadows, unseen and untraceable. But then where did he get them? Either they reappeared out of nowhere, or the extermination of the mulunctapoli was incomplete (though people who lived at that time, such as Litinia Darstary, the portrait in the History of Magic classroom of the Hogwarts Herbology professor, insist that every mulunctapoli in existence was killed). If they reappeared out of nowhere, though, something must have brought them back. Was it the Man in the Shadows? Or was it Dismiusa?
I know I've teased you enough about that question, but I can't tell you just yet. I'll give you a hint, though: by the beginning of the fourth book, you will be able to assume for sure what the answer to that question is. Every little detail about the mulunctapoli is important, just not necessarily in the ways you might have been led to think.
That was long-winded, but I hope it helped some of you guys catch up. Sometimes, since I know the plot so well, I forget to mention some details because I already know them and I forget that the readers don't. That's why Andy is there, though, he reads through them beforehand and catches that sort of stuff when he can. If you ever are confused, though, DO say it in the reviews!
Hope you like this next chapter!
CHAPTER TWO
DIWANDOLOGY
O
Albus rushed downstairs. Today was the day. Today, he was going to meet up with Rose, Aidan, and Alec, and their second wands were going to choose them. He regretted that Eftan couldn't come, but he'd already gone to Diagon Alley with Sylvester.
"Slow down, we don't want you breaking your wand arm," laughed Harry. "How did you sleep?"
"I had a dream last night that I was dueling someone with two wands," answered Albus. "It was really awesome."
Ginny walked over to their toaster. "Twelve pancakes," she said.
A dozen pancakes popped out, two at a time; Ginny caught them on her plate. She walked around, distributing two to herself, her husband, and Lily, and giving three each to the boys. Albus was beaming over the prospect of two wands, and James had been beaming continuously for the past week, since he had been chosen Quidditch Captain.
Lily was practically exploding with glee; she ate her pancakes in about two and a half seconds. Albus knew she must be as excited as he was, if not more—she was getting her first wand. This was the year she'd been looking forward to for so long—the year she was finally going to be able to go to Hogwarts. Albus thought back to his first year and the excitement he'd experienced, which was so soon filled with dread at the prospect of being sorted into Slytherin. He wondered which House his little sister would join.
Ginny got up from the table when a tapping noise rang through the dining room; a snowy owl was at the glass door. It looked like Aunt Angelina's owl, Gilder.
Ginny slid open the door and took the letter; Gilder hooted and took off again. That was unusual—owls usually stayed in case a response needed to be written back to the owner. She opened the letter and scanned it quickly; a hand went up to her mouth.
"Oh, no," she whispered.
Harry's face went white. "What happened? Was that Gilder? Is everything okay with George's family?"
"They're all okay," said Ginny. "But the shop was burned down to the ground."
"WHAT?" shouted all four of the other family members together.
"He says the fireplace is still intact, and that we can use it to get to Diagon Alley," she continued. "He sent us Gilder so that we wouldn't be freaked out when we got there. Apparently the damage is really bad, but he'll explain it when we arrive."
"Oh, no," said Harry. "Quick, let's go."
"I haven't finished my pancakes!" complained James with a mouthful of pancakes.
"Then hurry up, you can go last," said Harry, stepping into the fireplace and grabbing Floo powder so violently that some spilled onto the floor. "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes!" he said loudly and clearly, disappearing into the green flames.
Albus went next, leaving some of his breakfast behind—he'd lost his appetite. He grabbed some Floo powder for himself and yelled, "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes!"
He was sucked into the Floo Network, tumbling around for a bit; then, he fell out of the fireplace onto a dirt floor instead of the usual neatly polished wood.
His heart sank as he looked up to see the sun—the entire store was demolished. There were no shelves with little toy Harry Potters chasing around little toy Voldemorts. There were no glittering aisles of love potions and clothes-removing potions. There was nothing—only ash.
"What happened?" Harry was asking Uncle George.
"Muggles," sighed Uncle George. "I love most of 'em, like Dad, but that small percentage of them… According to a note they left, we had been selling 'anti-Muggle' pranking equipment, products specifically designed to bring amusement to wizards at the expense of the suffering of their non-magical brethren."
"Were you?" asked Harry, aghast.
"We were most certainly not!" defended Uncle George. "We sell products to bring amusement to people at the expense of other people, wizards and Muggles alike. We certainly don't endorse the usage of these products for 'anti-Muggle' activities! And even if we did, I doubt that the pure-blood bigots would come here for ink-spraying pens that strip you down to your underwear. That doesn't seem like a type of product specifically targeted against non-wizards!"
Ginny and Lily had now tumbled from the fireplace, dusting ash from their clothing and looking around mournfully at the completely incinerated building.
"This is just awful," said Ginny, walking over to her brother.
"We bought this place with the money you gave us," said Uncle George to Harry.
Harry nodded. "From the Triwizard Tournament prize money," he said sadly.
Albus abruptly remembered that the Triwizard Tournament was going to be taking place this year.
He stopped thinking about the tournament, though, when he looked at his uncle's face. Uncle George looked the most miserable that Albus had ever seen him in his life. This was the shop that had launched his career… that had made him the wealthiest member of the Weasley family… from which so many memories had stemmed.
And, probably most importantly… he had built it with his brother.
A tear slid down Uncle George's cheek as he picked up the charred frame that used to hold the floating portrait of Fred.
Lily gasped. "Is Uncle Fred gone?" she cried, staring at the burnt portrait as James slid out of the fireplace and whistled at the state of the shop.
"No, he'll just have to stay in his other portrait that we have at the Burrow until we fix this one," said Uncle George, wiping his sleeve across his eyes and nose. He sighed and sat down on the floor, picking up the burnt pieces of wood that lay scattered around the plot.
He was so engrossed in touching the remnants of his building that he didn't notice an old man walk towards them, over where the door used to be, gazing around at the decimated joke shop.
"Can we help you?" asked Harry.
Uncle George looked up and squinted, as if he vaguely recognized the man. The old-timer sighed as he strolled into the shop, his hands in his pockets, and tilted his hat down over his eyes, as if he didn't want to be recognized.
"Shame," he said in a low voice. "Real shame. This was a marvelous place, this was."
"Who are you?" asked Uncle George.
"Never you mind," said the mysterious old man. He dug his hand further in his pocket, and Harry, paranoid ever since the incident in the car at the end of last year, kept his hand close to his wand.
But what the old man pulled out of his pocket was a bulging—massive—sack of Galleons, which he tossed towards Uncle George. The sack opened up and out spilled some of the coins, glistening in the early morning sun.
Uncle George's mouth fell open, and he stared back at the man.
"Heard about your shop a little while ago," he said. "Here, rebuild it."
"Th-Thank you," stammered Uncle George. "What…?"
"Repaying some of my debts," he grunted. "…Plus interest. Feel lucky, Weasley, I am by no means repaying all of my debts. Yours, though… I heard what happened to the shop and I remembered how much I liked your merchandise when you first showed it to me, and I figured… I figured I'd do some good for once."
He turned and shuffled out of the shop.
"And much better you than the goblins," he muttered.
Uncle George gawked after him. "Ludo?" he said in obvious disbelief.
The old man gave a courteous wave and then Disapparated with a faint pop.
Uncle George looked at the bag of coins in front of him. "That was… so unexpected of him," he said with a blank stare.
Albus had the feeling that he just witnessed some sort of climactic moment, but he had no idea what Uncle George's history was with this man named "Ludo."
"Albus! What the heck happened here?"
He turned to see Aidan and his parents staring at the ruins. Next to them was one of Aidan's siblings—probably Lauren, since she was coming to Hogwarts this year, as Aidan had said. She resembled her parents much more than Aidan did. Aidan's skin was dark, he was a bit on the short side, and his face small and narrow; she was pale, almost taller than him already, and had a rounder, slightly plumper look.
With a smile, Albus ran over and hugged his friend. "Some, er, vandalism," he said in response to the question.
"Some?"
"A lot of vandalism," revised Albus, staring back at his family.
His father tossed him a small bag of money—probably enough for a wand. "You can head over to Ollivander's if you want," he said. "Use that to pay if we don't get there before you get your wand. We'll meet you there when Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione show up with Rose and Hugo for their wands. Good luck!"
Albus laughed, remembering how long it had taken him to find his first wand, but how great his first turned out to be. He accompanied Aidan's parents Justin and Laura to Ollivander's, chatting about the Quidditch World Cup.
"You got to be in the Top Box?" asked Aidan, impressed.
"Perks of being famous," said Justin.
He held the door open for them as they stepped into the wand shop.
"Albus!" said Luna brightly as he walked into the shop. "Silver lime and core of Devil's Snare tendril. The freaky mind-probing wand. And your friend is… Aidan! Your wand was the first Ramora bone wand I've sold, was it not?"
"Yeah," said Aidan, pleased that she remembered him.
"How's business, Luna?" asked Justin, strolling up and having a look around.
"Much busier," said Luna, looking actually annoyed at this news. "I don't really want so much work in the wand shop, I like to study creatures, too. But I know why there was such a jump. People are buying second wands, because they're all nervous and think that having a second wand will help them duel. People who aren't trained, just coming in and buying another wand for protection."
"Do you have to be trained?" asked Justin. "It isn't just intuitive if you already know how to use one?"
"You don't really have to be trained, but a ton of practice is going to be needed if you want to learn how to focus your energy properly when you have to direct your movements with two wands. Some people just don't realize that getting two wands doesn't make you twice as good—it makes it harder for you to sustain your dueling, in fact. You tire faster. But I'm sure you kids are going to be learning all about that, you clever ones!"
Aidan and Albus nodded; they both couldn't wait to start Diwand Spells.
Luna slid a box out of her stores. "Let's get you your wand first, sweetie," she said to Aidan's sister. "What's your name?"
"Lauren."
"Lauren, all right. You're a charming girl… Care to try this one?"
She handed Lauren a box labeled APP-11-PF-FF5-39.
"Elijah!" she called to the back. "Could you get me out all the alder wands in the eighty-third section for young Aidan here? I think he's an alder kid."
A young boy who looked like a recent Hogwarts graduate was assisting Luna now. Albus felt a wave of depression flow over him as he remembered that Luna's affable old assistant, Hugh January with his seven fingers, was still missing.
Albus was distracted from watching Elijah sort the wands and Lauren test them when Exorian Wilcox walked in with his father.
"Albus?" said Exo, surprised to see him.
Albus grinned and ran over to hug his werewolf friend. "Hi, Exo! What's up? Here for your second wand?"
"Yeah, and I see Aidan's here… Is Alec here? Or Eftan?"
"Alec's coming," said Albus. "Eftan already got his. What was your first, by the way?"
"Fir and unicorn," said Exo as Luna walked over to greet him.
"Exorian Wilcox! And Helio. How nice to see you both. I'll be with you in a moment."
She tended to Lauren, and when Lauren had a nice-looking hazel wand, Luna turned to Aidan.
She barely had time to open her mouth, though, before Alec walked in and gave a roar of delight at seeing Albus and Aidan. As he ran to greet them, Holly and Mia walked in behind him.
"Hi, Albus," said Holly meekly, waving at him.
Albus held his breath when Mia walked closer—last time she had been around, she and Aidan had been in a bit of a shouting match. He hoped that tensions weren't still high after that.
"Hi, Albus!" she said pleasantly. "Hi, Aidan!"
Aidan looked relieved that she didn't appear to be holding a grudge against him, and waved back in a friendly manner.
Mia walked back over to Alec and held his hand. Albus liked Mia as a person (most of the time), and he hoped that she and Alec would stick together.
Luna didn't look very happy at how many people she now had waiting in line, but she turned back to Aidan and set herself to work.
"Here, try this one," she said, handing him a box labeled ALD-1075-UH-P9-12. "Alder, unicorn hair, ten and three-quarter inches, rigidity scale 9, matured with pressure."
Aidan took the wand, and instantly there was some kind of reaction—Albus felt the air slightly heat up for a second.
"Well, well!" said Luna happily. "Excellent! I rarely ever get a match on the first try. I am getting better at this. That'll be ten Galleons, ten Sickles, then."
She turned to Albus.
"You next, Al! Let's hope it doesn't take as long as it did last time!"
Albus laughed nervously, hoping the same thing to save himself the embarrassment.
"Elijah, could you put these all back? We had a successful match on the first try."
Elijah apparently had just finished pulling out every alder wand from aisle 83, and looked at her wearily before sighing and sending all the boxes back.
"And if you could get some ebony and fir from the seventy-second section?" said Luna. "A few of each that you think might suit Mr. Potter here."
"I've got fir," noted Exo.
Humming a little tune to herself as Elijah waved his wand and extracted some of the boxes from aisle seventy-two, she took the first box that zoomed towards her, examined it, shook her head and opened the second.
Before Albus could take it, in walked his mother and father with James, Lily, Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione, Rose, and Hugo.
Luna sighed at the three new customers in line, but was happy to see her friends again. She told Albus to start opening boxes as she went to talk to his parents, and to give a shout if he got one that felt right.
"How're the twins, Luna?" asked Ginny.
Albus started picking out wands from the pile and trying them as Luna recounted hilarious tales of her sons Lorcan and Lysander. He moved through the pile as quickly as Elijah was sending them his way, and as the flow slowed, Albus began to worry that he was going to be nearly impossible to match again.
"So," Harry was saying to Luna, "your research on wands made it into the Hogwarts curriculum?"
"Yes, Laney came by to ask me a bit about my research, especially on Diwandology and my deviations from the Supreme Cores that Ollivander studied. There's no reason why these others don't make wands that are just as decent, just as often… they're sometimes harder to get, though, and more expensive. I mean, we only have so many Acromantula bristles and I'd feel bad about sending Elijah out to get more. And you're not allowed to hunt Ramora—not that I would if I could—so we have to find them dead to get the bones, which is tricky… I've only sold a handful of those wands…"
Albus's face lit up as he grasped a wand near the bottom of the pile. His fingers tingled and he felt a shiver down his spine like a breeze. "Luna!" he called. "I think it's this one!"
Luna strolled back over. "Ebony, phoenix feather, fourteen inches, rigidity scale ten, matured in lightning. Interesting. Another remarkably combative wand. I just had this one brought in last month, actually. I knew there was an ebony wand somewhere out there for you, I just didn't have it last time. How's that silver lime wand?"
"It's just as freaky mind-probing-y as ever," he said, recalling the incident with Eftan towards the end of last year.
"Yes, I expected that… Well, that's good. It means you've got a good amount of magic in you, for the wand to keep expelling the extra like that." She turned to Wilcox and his son. "Exorian? How about you step on that scale there?"
Albus recognized the machine from the last time he was here, but someone had evidently made a few improvements to its design. Before, the design had just been a platform under a long vertical rod which rocked like a pendulum. Now it was composed of two smaller platforms, one for each foot, and a ring of several dozen floating marbles surrounded the top of the vertical rod.
Exo stepped onto the scale, and immediately three of the marbles dropped and clattered to the floor.
"Did I break it?" he asked nervously.
Luna giggled. "No, it's supposed to do that. That rules out about eighty percent of our wands already. Lean slowly to the left, then slowly to the right, then slowly forward, then slowly backward. Then crouch, then jump."
As Exo performed all of these odd actions, the vertical rod would tip in a random direction and knock down a marble. Elijah was taking swift notes on this. When Exo finished with a jump and the last marble dropped, Elijah waved his wand and all the marbles flew back up into their ring. Elijah strode away and started sending boxes of wands in their direction.
"Exorian, dear, try this one," said Luna, handing him a box labeled RDW-115-UH-P3-76.
He made to grab the wand, but Luna pulled it away before he could grasp it. "No, no," she murmured. Exo looked befuddled.
She handed him another one, labeled IVY-1075-UH-P4-54. He took the wand, and she grabbed it right back.
"Closer," she said. "I think… here."
She handed him a third box labeled IVY-95-UH-E4-51.
Once he took this wand, there was no taking it back.
"Ivy," said Luna, shrugging. "Nine and a half inches, unicorn hair, rigidity scale four, matured in earth. Dirt, I mean. Basically we bury some of our wands in special soil. I've noticed that earth-matured wands tend to be more steady and stable partners. With unicorn hair, you're going to probably be a well-rounded spell-caster. But there's a few things you should know about ivy."
Exo was listening intently.
"Ivy, as you know from the plant, will mostly flourish when there is a lot of material around on which it can climb," she continued. "Ivy needs a helping hand. I'm not slandering you when I say this, I promise, but it's just what I've observed in my time—the people to whom I've mostly sold ivy wands have some sort of disability."
Exo blushed.
"Parker Pullman, the blind boy in your year? He's got an ivy wand. Ivy usually needs a helping hand to succeed, and so do the owners of ivy wands. All I'm saying is, don't be afraid to ask for help from your teachers and friends. If you don't, like ivy without a wall, you may never be able to reach your fullest heights. But if you do have help, you will soar!"
She turned to Alec, leaving Exo looking rather dazed. He glanced at Albus.
Albus winked back at him. He'd always be there to help Exo.
Alec didn't have to step on the machine; apparently, Luna remembered his likely wand preference.
"Alec McKinnon," she said, laughing. "Larch and manticore spike. Good grief. How could I forget? Eighth manticore spike wand I ever sold, and four of the first seven went to professional duelists."
Alec grinned.
Luna strolled over to the aisles and started throwing boxes at him. "Here," she said. "Close your eyes and pick a box."
Alec closed his eyes and walked forward to the pile. A box subsequently hit him in the face; he fell backwards flat on his rear.
"You can find the pile and then close your eyes," suggested Luna gently. "And sorry about hitting you!"
Once he'd found the pile of boxes, Alec closed his eyes and sifted through them. On his sixth opened box, he pulled out a wand that glowed slightly red the first time he touched it. Luna noticed and walked over.
"Red oak, Chimaera mane hair—really, Alec? You've got a chimaera and a manticore in your wands? Anyway, length nine and three quarter inches, rigidity scale five, and matured in water. I like your combinations here, Alec. Larch and red oak? Matured in lightning and matured in water? Your two wands are extremely compatible. You're going to be a phenomenal Diwand spell-caster."
Leaving Alec looking thrilled, she turned to the rest of her customers.
Lily looked likely to explode from having to wait, but first, Mia and Holly had to get their wands. Mia took a sequoia wand to add to her reed wand, and Luna told her this was indicative that Mia was happy with a modest life, without much change. Her magic was likely to be strong and stable and good with defensive spellwork. Holly, much to her chagrin and much to Alec's delight, received a holly wand. Albus knew that Alec was not going to let this go for a long time, if ever.
"You have hornbeam and holly now, Holly?" asked Luna; Alec snorted in laughter again.
"Yes," said Holly glumly.
"You're a person who will be devoted to a single thing, a spiritual cause in all likelihood," said Luna. "Your devotion is moving. With your two unicorn tail cores, you'll be able to learn a lot from these two wands. Lily, now you?"
Alec bumped Albus with his elbow.
"What?" said Albus.
"It's you," he said, clearly suppressing some hilarity; his face was turning red and his mouth was twitching with the strain of not bursting out laughing.
"What's me?"
"Holly's 'devotion,'" he cackled.
"What are you talking about?"
"Luna said Holly was going to be devoted to a single thing," guffawed Alec. "It's totally you, she's obsessed with you!"
Albus's face went redder than Alec's.
"Stop it," he mumbled as Alec joyfully wiped tears from his eyes.
"Don't ever break up with her, Luna warned us, she's obsessed," chuckled Alec.
"I didn't know we were together," grumbled Albus.
Holly unfortunately chose that point in time to leap on him and kiss him on the cheek. Albus laughed nervously and patted her awkwardly on the shoulder.
Lily was chosen by an ice-matured vine wand with a phoenix feather core—Luna noticed its box wriggling on its shelf as Lily approached. Aunt Hermione was particularly pleased; apparently her first wand had been vine, though it was never recovered after she'd lost it in the war. Lily was overwhelmed with holding her wand and Harry and Ginny had to keep an eye on her at all times to make sure she wasn't waving it randomly.
Hugo was next. His wand was a cactus wand, which was one of the few in the shop. Luna claimed that the cactus wand's reputation of being less powerful than others was merely rumor, and that in actuality, wands made from cacti had the odd tendency to hold back their full potential by storing up power until a moment of need. In her experience, exams were included in these moments of need—a cactus wand can sense when its owner especially needs it to perform, even just for a good grade. Albus wondered how much of this sort of wandlore he'd be studying in his A.R.M. classes.
Rose was last, looking for her second wand, which came to her in the form of a bamboo wand with dragon heartstring in its core. Luna remarked that a bamboo wand was far more common in Asia, but that she found that bamboo wands, formed from a plant which grows at one of the most remarkable rates in the world, tend to choose owners characterized by their fast learning, fast adaptation, and fast reflexes; also, according to Chinese legend, they tended to have a large number of children.
"I find that the second wand tends not to be the same type of wood as the first, for some reason," said Luna, "and I've confirmed my findings so far this year, with these two dozen kids coming in for their second wands and all these moronic adults coming in for their second wands, thinking it'll make them safer… Anyway, looks like we're all set here. Lily, Hugo, and Lauren, good luck at Hogwarts! Albus, Rose, Alec, Aidan, Holly, Mia, and Exo, good luck in your A.R.M. classes! James, good luck on your O.W.L.s!"
They exited the shop, waving a grateful goodbye.
Albus took out his first wand and held it in his right hand, testing how it felt against his new wand. He switched the wands several times, testing the differences.
He frowned. For some reason, neither wand was particularly responsive in his grip at the moment. Usually he could feel some sort of connection—now there was very little that he could feel in his wands. He wondered if this was a side effect of being chosen by two wands.
"This is really cool," said Aidan, gripping his second wand and giving it a few waves. "Diwand Spells is going to be my favorite subject."
"Wandless Magic for me," said Alec. "I want to learn to blow people's heads off with a wave of my hand. Boom!"
"Grow up," laughed Exo. "I wand to learn about Alternative Artifact Magic. That sounds really cool—Dad told me we're going to talk about scepters and staffs and stuff."
"Modern Magical Instruments sounds great," said Rose. "We're going to learn about wandmaking! I want to work with Luna for a while when I'm out of school."
"I'm looking forward to all of them, really," said Mia.
"Me, too!" agreed Holly.
Albus was still trying to connect with his wands. The more he switched the hands holding his wands, the less magic he could feel when he held them. He stowed away his original wand and just held his new wand, examining the effects.
"Albus, your pocket is on fire," said Lily casually.
Albus jumped and extracted his silver lime wand from his pocket, which was indeed on fire. With a quick blast of cold air from his mother's wand, he was extinguished; he looked at his original wand curiously.
"The Triwizard Tournament is going to be happening this year," said Aidan in sudden realization. "Whoa. That's going to be cool."
"Long as no one dies this time," said Alec.
"I promise that won't happen," said Wilcox, smiling.
Aidan and Alec jumped; they'd forgotten that their headmaster was there.
"I've been working with Madame Maxime and Professor Vintervolff to bring back the tournament for a good reason," said Wilcox, gazing off into the sun. "Ever since the global revelation, the world has been in a state of utter upheaval. Everyone's full of fear and anxiety. In times like this… we need something to bring the world together. A way for us all to remember to be a tight-knit community, unbounded by frivolous and arbitrary land borders." He sighed. "We're not separate countries, we're one world."
"We're both," interrupted Alec.
Wilcox stared unblinkingly at him for a moment.
"Sure," he said. "We're both."
Justin Finch-Fletchley, Aidan's stepfather, was talking to Harry. They nodded as if making plans, and then Harry strolled up to the front of their group to talk to the group of seven.
"We're going to Flourish and Blotts," said Harry. "There we're going to get you your books for your new electives. After that, you seven third years won't have to stay, so we'll escort you back, but then we're going to take Hugo, Lily, and Lauren around to the other stores to get their Hogwarts equipment. Sound good?"
"Sounds perfect," said Albus, still fiddling with his wands.
They continued on their path towards Flourish and Blotts, entering the crowded store.
"This place is always tighter packed than Alana Falagair's shirt," muttered Ginny.
"What was that?" said Harry, tuning in.
"Nothing," said Ginny sweetly.
As they climbed to the second floor where the books were kept for the older students, Albus took out his Hogwarts letter and scanned it again.
Third year students will require:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 3) by Miranda Goshawk
Charming, Too by Quintus Flitwick
Rudimentary Runes by Starko Rhibbhedd (if attending Ancient Runes)
Numerology and Grammatica by M. Carneiro and L. Wakefield (if attending Arithmancy)
The Hairiest and the Scariest by Barlo Osculocate (if attending Care of Magical Creatures)
Unfogging the Future by Cassandra Vablatsky (if attending Divination)
A.R.M. students will require:
History of Wandlore by Jasper Norton
Copacetials by Faith Garland, Flower Garland, and Hope Garland
Sans Wands by Asante Molchiche
Mastering the Wands by Yohn Dixon
Shatterbolt and Frostflame (and other diwand spells) by Dalton Desulgon
"Hey, there's a book by Professor Desulgon on this list!" said Alec.
Aidan rolled his eyes. "You didn't notice this before?"
"I didn't know he wrote any books."
"He's invented twenty percent of the known diwand spells," said Rose, suddenly sounding slightly out-of-breath.
"Why does every girl in the school crush on Desulgon?" asked Alec, scratching his head in confusion. "He's got white hair and red eyes! He's awesome but he's freaky."
"I don't crush on him!" protested Rose unconvincingly.
"And he's albino, don't make fun of him," frowned Mia.
"There are other books on here written by our professors," Aidan pointed out. "I remember that one of our professors for A.R.M. had the first name 'Flower' and I assume that's her, I don't know too many people named 'Flower.' And then that 'Yohn Dixon' guy is our Diwand Spells professor."
"That makes sense, I guess," said Holly. "This is a fairly recent field with a lot of recent developments, so there aren't a lot of people around who know the subject as well as the people who wrote the first books.
"Guys?" said Mia, opening a book off of a close shelf. "This one was published in the nineteenth century."
"Which one?" asked Exo.
"The one written by one of our professors."
Albus looked at the book that Mia was holding—it was Mastering the Wands by Yohn Dixon. He remembered that name from the course list. He took another copy of the book off the nearest shelf, and flipped to the inside cover. The publishing date was 1898.
"Wait, this was written by a professor we have?" shouted Alec, drawing the attention of half the store as he looked over Mia's shoulder at the book. "Is he like two hundred years old?"
"It's… possible," said Albus, shrugging. "If wizards don't catch diseases, they can live for much longer than Muggles."
"Exo, do you know how old Professor Dixon is?" asked Aidan.
Exo shook his head no. "Sorry, I haven't met him."
"Let's go find your dad and ask—" began Alec, but he stopped dead and cocked an eyebrow.
"What?" said Albus, looking in that direction.
"There was a really creepy-looking guy staring at us," said Alec.
"Are you sure he was staring at us?"
"He looked away and went behind a shelf when I turned towards him."
Albus tensed.
"Where's Dad?" he said, glancing around in search of his father. If there was anything suspicious happening at all, he wanted his parents around. He was already flashing back to the shots being fired at them in the car. If something like that happened to him without his mother and father around…
"He's down there," said Exo, "with my dad."
Exo was staring over the railing, watching Harry and Wilcox having a conversation on the floor below.
Albus walked up to the railing. "Hey, Dad?" he yelled.
Harry looked up.
"Could you come up here for a moment?"
From the serious nod in response, Albus knew that his father understood why he'd asked. "Salimotor!" said Harry, leaping up to the second floor and landing on the railing.
"We've been seeing a guy who's creeping us out," said Holly, twitching.
"Where?" asked Harry.
Wilcox bounded up over the railing next as Holly and Mia pointed to a series of shelves.
"He was wearing a hooded robe and he had his hands in his pockets," said Mia.
"I'll check it out," said Wilcox, wandering down the way they were pointing.
Harry kept a hand on his wand, staying close to his son. His presence would have been calming if it weren't for the edgy look on his face.
Ginny clambered up to them from the floor below.
"What's going on?" she asked, as Aidan's parents followed her.
"There's a man hanging around who's unnerving the kids," said Harry.
"Flourish and Blotts screens people for unwanted artifacts, like most of the stores here in Diagon Alley," said Ginny, looking in the direction her husband was looking. "I'm sure he's no harm…"
Abruptly, Wilcox charged out from behind the shelves, down the stairs after a hooded man who was sprinting as if his life depended on it. Harry gasped; he whipped out his wand concurrently with Ron, on the floor below. Their headmaster, however, didn't appear to need help—he cloaked himself in some sort of fiery shield, and blasted towards the suspicious man as if shot from a cannon.
The collision rocked the bookstore when Wilcox slammed the suspect into the wall; the customers all screamed and piled out of the way as Wilcox peeled the man off of the wall and laid him out on the floor, holding the man's wand. With a wave of his own wand, he froze the man's robe to the floor.
"I'm sorry!" he wailed. "I'm sorry—let me go, I'll return them!"
"Return them?" asked Wilcox, arching an eyebrow.
The man smashed his icy bindings, and with a swift slash of his hand, Wilcox was suddenly Disarmed—he'd done it without a wand.
The man snatched his wand back, dropped about two dozen books on the floor, and smashed the window of the shop, careening down a side aisle and disappearing.
"I think he was just a shoplifter," said Wilcox, picking up one of the books he'd left behind and examining it. "That's why he was acting so nervous."
Harry sighed and scratched his sideburns. "Okay. Nothing to worry about."
"Nothing to worry about," repeated Wilcox.
Harry grasped his hair and pulled hard. "This stress is going to give me a heart attack. It's not paranoia, because my children and I could be in danger literally every second of the day—these aren't unwarranted fears." He turned to Ginny, who was just catching up. "Should I be keeping you and the children out of public for a while?" he asked apologetically.
"I… think that… maybe… we shouldn't take the kids to Diagon Alley anymore," said Ginny. "You know… even though this was a false alarm… I'm thinking we should probably play it safe and only you and I should go. Or get a larger guard to stay with the kids at all times."
"I'll try to get some friends from the Auror Office next year," agreed Harry. "I don't want to keep them out of Diagon Alley completely… it's a part of the whole Hogwarts experience."
"But for now, I think we should either take them back or keep an eye on them at every second," said Ginny.
Albus suddenly felt a great deal of annoyance at the fact that a bunch of adults were standing around, discussing his fate without his input. But the minds had already been made up, and he spent the rest of his visit to Flourish and Blotts while surrounded by his parents, the Finch-Fletchleys, Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione, and Wilcox, keeping such a vigilant watch you'd think an attacker was going to burst out from under the floor at any moment. And indeed, it seemed as though they thought exactly something like that could happen, which really wasn't calming to Albus's already bothered mind.
O
"Hey, Albus," said Harry, walking over. "I have two surprises."
Albus turned.
"One, as it's almost time for you to go back to school for your third year, I think you should have… this."
He held out a sheet of paper that Albus instantly recognized as the Hogsmeade permission form, which was signed at the bottom. He happily accepted it to store amongst his things.
"Two, I want you to get your wand ready," said Harry. "We're going to practice the Patronus Charm a bit."
Albus gasped in a grin like a lunatic, and dashed up the stairs to store his Hogsmeade permission slip and get his wands.
"You should really have your wand with you at all times," said Harry nervously.
Ignoring him, Albus stuffed the paper in his trunk and grabbed his wands from his desk. Which one should he use?
He brought both down, but he stuffed his old one in his pocket and kept the new one in his hand.
"I'm going to break in my new wand," he said.
"All right," said Harry. "Now—I don't want you getting too excited about this. You're learning it now, but… I really doubt you'll be able to master it. Not a whole lot of adults can do this spell, and you're a third year." He posed with his own wand.
Albus readied his wand, keeping it in a loose grip like Professor Desulgon had said.
"Expecto Patronum!" shouted Harry.
The silver stag bounded out of his wand, exploding into being instantly. It glanced at Albus with soft, shimmering eyes, walked over to him, and nuzzled its head against his chest. The Patronus wasn't fully solid, but it still felt like an ocean wave pushing gently against his body, and it filled him with warmth and good feelings.
"The memory I chose there was the day you were born," said Harry, smiling. "The Patronus can sense the memory you've chosen, and it will react to that memory accordingly if the opportunity presents itself. That particular Patronus was a manifestation of my affection towards you. That's why it walked towards you and nuzzled up against you, and you probably felt a sort of warmth in your heart—that's because that kind of affection is tangible. If I were to cast that same Patronus, and you were being threatened, the Patronus would be acting much more protective out of my love for you. It could even recognize a threat that you didn't see, and draw your attention to it by pointing it out to you. It's not beyond a Patronus to do something like that. But because Patronuses are so sentient, it's extremely difficult to cast one. I have strong faith that you'll be able to do it within the year, though, if you practice. All it takes is getting used to the mindset, really. Are you ready to try your own?"
"Yes!" said Albus eagerly, grinning his head off. He couldn't wait to see what form his Patronus was going to take.
"I can't stress this enough," said Harry. "You will not be able to get your Patronus today, or before you leave for Hogwarts. It is something that took me a lot of rigorous practice. And even if you do get it, you're going to want to practice a lot—you can't even imagine how difficult it is to produce a Patronus when there are Dementors around, you'll need to be an expert at the charm."
Albus couldn't wait to defy expectations yet again. For his entire Hogwarts career, he'd been doing things that no one thought he'd be able to do, blowing the minds of his teachers, and here was the chance to blow his father's mind, too. He was going to practice as hard as he could to get the Patronus before he left.
"Ready? I want you to think of a happy memory—but not just a happy memory. The happiest you can possibly imagine. Something that fills you up with the power of love—the most powerful kind of magic. You'll need its power to help you with this charm. It took James two months to do this, so don't feel bad if you can't get it now. When you're ready… the incantation is—Expecto Patronum!"
Albus searched his mind. What were his happiest memories? He tossed the thoughts around, trying to grab onto something special, something spectacular… a great joy… a great relief…
That was a good one! That was a rush of joy and relief like he'd rarely felt; that feeling couldn't be described in words. He raised his wand.
"Concentrate on that memory," said Harry, sensing that Albus had picked a thought. "Lose yourself in it. You don't have a body… All you are is what you are thinking right now. Clear everything from your mind, loosen every muscle, feel the memory in every core of your body, not just your brain. Remember the sights, the sounds, the smells, and go."
"Expecto Patronum!" said Albus clearly.
There was no reaction, not even the slightest hint of silver. He glanced at his wand.
"Which memory did you pick?" asked Harry, apparently unsurprised.
"When the Sorting Hat put me in Gryffindor," replied Albus.
Harry twisted his mouth around. "Is there something more powerful you could think about?"
"What, that isn't good enough?" pouted Albus, slightly offended. That was a really fond memory! Being Sorted into the noble House of his family? There was little in his memory that could compare to how joyous he felt after that occurrence. It felt a little bit like his father was insulting him by suggesting that wasn't a happy enough experience. Was there anything else he could pick to satisfy his father?
Maybe something someone had done for him? A present he'd gotten? A birthday?
That was it—his seventh birthday, the day he found out that he wasn't a Squib. That was sure to do it. What could be more exciting than finding out you were attending Hogwarts? He readied himself again and tried to act as Harry had said, losing himself in the memory; as he shifted his stance, his first wand rustled in his pocket.
"Hold on," said Albus, switching the wands. "Maybe this wand will be better, since I'm more used to it. I should use this one."
"That makes sense," said Harry nodding.
Albus stowed away his new wand and readied his old one. He basked in the memory of realizing that he'd done magic, running off to all of his cousins who hugged and congratulated him, laughing with his family the next morning about how he'd obliterated the entire house…
"Expecto Patronum!"
His heart jumped as he saw something emerge from his wand—
But it was only a puff of black smoke.
"Black smoke?" said Harry, evidently startled. "Black smoke? That's what usually happens when people purposefully pick a bad memory—what was the memory you chose there?"
"When I did magic for the first time!" protested Albus. It was a great memory! He'd never been happier… he was sure of it! What better memory could he choose? He stared at his wand, as if it were the wands' fault.
At that moment, while he was staring at the wand, a strange feeling crept its way out of his wand, through his fingers and up his arm, tightening his shoulder. He gently placed his wand down on the couch and stared at it; the foreign feeling left.
"What's the matter?" asked his father, walking forward.
"It felt… weird," said Albus. "My wand feels weird. It doesn't feel right."
"I'm sure it's just because you're using two different wands," said Harry. "You're only used to the feeling of your first wand, but now you're using a second. It'll take some getting used to, and I'm sure both wands will feel odd until you're used to having two separate wands. I had to use a different wand at one point and it definitely felt odd."
Albus shook his head. "That was too weird," he said. "It felt like something was wrong with the wand."
"I don't think so," said Harry. "Wands are mysterious; it might just be reacting strangely to the charm. Do you want to keep going?"
"I do," said Albus firmly, and he started practicing again.
Nothing, not even black smoke, came out of his wand after that. He attempted the charm with many different memories, from beating Aidan in the dueling tournament to getting accepted into the A.R.M. program, but nothing seemed to make any difference.
"Don't feel bad about it," said Harry. "It's nothing wrong with you. People would probably be astonished to learn that I'm trying to teach you the Patronus Charm before you're even in your third year. It's not even covered in the Hogwarts curriculum, because even if you succeed at doing the charm, it's implausibly difficult to perform under the stress of the exact sort of situation you need it."
"Do you think there'll be Dementors around?" asked Albus, worried.
"There already are," said Harry. "They're multiplying again. This time, fortunately, we can drive them back, because Muggles know about them and we don't have to worry about using the Patronus Charm in public—it won't get you criminally prosecuted anymore." He laughed, apparently at a memory.
"Will they attack people?"
"Probably not," said Harry. "They know that there would be severe consequences if they're aggressive."
"Can Dementors be killed?" asked Albus, surprised.
"No," said Harry. "But they can be… stymied. We can find them because of the effects they have at close range, and when confronted by enough Patronuses—or just enough happiness and love in general—they will meld into the gloom and shadows until the conditions are ripe for them to gain enough energy and escape again. The conditions I'm referring to are fear and despair, which unfortunately we have a lot of right now, but we can still give Dementors harsh punishments by banishing them for a while. They'll also merge back into the darkness if they haven't been well-fed, which is why they're often out and about feeding on Muggles just slightly. If they feed further, or if they go so far as to Kiss an innocent person, then we hunt them down. So, out of this fact grew an understanding—a truce, really, not exactly an understanding—we don't banish them at their slightest appearance, and they don't Kiss as a rule." He scratched his sideburns and sighed. "But if they break on that truce, the situation is likely to go out of control and we'll have to hunt them all down before any more damage is done. Which would be exactly what the Auror Office doesn't need—more distractions from the problems we've already got. The Muggle extremists, the Wizard extremists, and now even the Squib extremists."
It was a little too much information to process immediately, but Albus got the gist—Dementors were evil, and the Auror Office was severely overworked.
"You're tired, your Kinesis has got to be low after all that practice," said Harry. "Rest. Get some good sleep. We'll go at it again tomorrow."
Albus nodded, but he wasn't really paying attention. His thoughts were flying around, from when he tested out his newest wand and his old wand burned a hole in the pocket, to the black smoke coming out of his old wand, to the eerie feeling his old wand provoked in his arm. What was going on?
O
Everything had come so easily for Albus in the first two years of his Hogwarts career, and so it was immensely frustrating when he couldn't get the Patronus Charm down. Not a single wisp of silver was seen all through the last three weeks of summer break. He couldn't tell if his father was surprised by the lack of results; he just told Albus to continue practicing the charm at school, but only on weekends, when he wasn't tired out from his classes. Albus vowed to have his Patronus down at least before he returned for the Christmas holidays—then, at least, he'd have beaten his father, who didn't master the spell until the second term of his third year, and his brother, who only got it right before entering his fourth year.
Thinking about how badly he was doing on the Patronus Charm, however, would certainly only hinder his efforts to master it—he had to be happy. For now, he put the thoughts out of his mind. Soon, he would be getting to school, and shortly after that, he was going to start learning about Diwandology. There, he would figure out what the problem was with his wands, and fix it; then, he would be able to cast any spell he wanted. He was sure of it.
Few general announcements now...
Thanks to Andy for making the cover again! It's pretty awesome, though he said he might continue to improve it. He is also working on the cover art for the fourth book, which will be posted as my profile picture on the day that this story reaches 300 reviews, if it does.
Speaking of which... THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed! 34 in the first chapter! Holy cow. If that keeps up, I'll have to make good on my promise before we're even halfway through this book!
The reason I issued that challenge is because I REALLY want everyone's feedback possible. If you didn't like a certain part of the chapter, tell me so I can improve it. If you liked a certain part of the chapter, tell me so I can write more like it! If you thought something seemed out of place or out of character, let me know so I can correct it. And if you were confused on something, tell me so I can tell you what I meant, AND so I can make those sorts of things clearer in the future. If you just liked the chapter in general, you can say that too; it always makes me feel all warm inside. Just make sure that you ARE actually saying something in the review-nobody's done this yet, but please, don't review just to give +1 to the review total. I love feedback! If you have something to tell me that you don't want to put in a review, you can PM me, too!
And as always, see you next week!