Chapter 2—On with life

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The next morning I checked on Nagas as he had been quiet for a long time. "I don't talk too much but I could do with some food." Nagas hissed.

Jane was the assistant and really nice, she helped me with information as we had breakfast.

"Boy you really have some powerful people working for you; I haven't seen my boss jump so quick in ages. He left me with some instructions so when your finished we will hit the road."

Nagas was not happy over the sausages but I couldn't just order a live rat for him.

I found that I had a new name of Harold Jimmy Evans with the nick-name of Harry. If anyone asked I lived with an aunt and my parents were dead. I was given a phone number if anything went wrong and she then took me shopping. I got everything from pants to jeans with trainers and more. It was fun and everything fit me. We arrived in a small town out west in a semi-desert community. We rented a furnished apartment about two blocks from where I was now enrolled in school. Classes started Monday. With a hug and a goodbye Jane left.

Nagas slithered off grumbling in search of live food and I checked out the apartment. One thing that I appreciated was all the work I did at the Dursley's it now helped me clean and keep up my apartment. I was a whiz at cooking and there was a Laundromat in the complex. There were an abundance of mice in the area so Nagas was one happy cobra. I found a local supermarket and stocked up on food items before Monday classes.

Monday was embarrassing as the teacher wanted me to stand up as the new kid and tell everything about myself. I just said I was born in England and lived here with my aunt and ran out of words while I turned red with imbarasment. I realized that I must watch what I say and do because I definitely did not want to be return to the Dursley's because of a big mouth. This also meant that after school I didn't exist and was staying to myself.

It wasn't long before I had a couple of friends at school. Glen was the football nut and Pete was the baseball nut. The next thing I know I am playing tag football and short-stop on the ball team. I did have some minor problems with the language. I had to ask why people here always were talking about their pants; underwear was something you wore not talked about. We all laughed about the Americans calling pants what the English called trousers.

Nagas was a fountain of information about different things even if he did not have the full information. He knew that Hogwarts was a school for wizards but little else. He knew of Goblin wars but we could only guess who won. He knew about my killing Voldemort when he killed my parents, but that left me in the dark why I ended up at the Dursley's. It was that summer when I got introduced to more knowledge of the wizard world.

/Scene Break/

Summer break had started and I wanted to see the coast and the ocean. I hopped on the train and we headed off on a day trip or whatever trouble we could get into. On a wander thru the streets Nagas and I found a wizards street. I found a book shop and bought a ton of books about wizards, spells and other odd subjects.

The Goblin credit card worked great but I still had Galleons in one pocket and dollars in the other. Since it was a hot day a nice ice cream and cola was sought at a side-walk café.

"High, do you mind if I join you? Everything if full-out here and it's too nice to sit inside." There stood a cute brown-haired girl wearing one of those witches' costumes.

"Please I could do with some company, I'm Harry, Harry Evans."

"Ann, Ann Perkins, nice to meet you Harry."

Ann was happy to chat away about her school and magical things. She then asked the question, "Have you gotten your wand yet? I got mine yesterday and I just can't wait to get to school to use it." She trudged on even though I had not answered her questions. When she came up for air I asked about where one bought a wand and got directions. That brought another adventure.

I'm sure her directions were correct but I was lost on a bright day on a dingy wizard street. I finally spied a wand shop that had seen better days. As I entered the shop a little bell tinkled and a short old man entered from the back and barked out, "Who sent you?"

I always try to be polite so I said that I had just gotten lost and found his shop. "Get out!" was his reply.

"Look I can pay and want a wand, if you won't sell me one then tell me where I can buy one." I was not thrilled with this grouch.

The next question pissed me off, "Where are your parents?" So I gave him a bit of lip, "Dead! Where are your parents?"

That got a chuckle out of him, "Sonny I make illegal wands, the Ministry approved wand shop is on Ducas Street."

Still not happy with him and being a little stubborn "So who makes the better wand and what's the difference?"

Nagas had explained about the Ministry to some extent which meant the law and breaking the law could mean return to the Dursley's. Ann had told me enough about wands that I wanted one and later I would realize I made a good choice in getting one. I also found out as I read the books I bought that there was more than spells and curses around the life of Harry Potter and a wand was a necessity.

"My wands are illegal because they have no tracking charms. If the Ministry catches you they will confiscate the wand and fine the hell out of you as you are underage. My wands are better because I make them for a specific wizard but that makes them expensive as hell."

"Fine, will you make me one?" I asked because I felt that I was illegal already or if not now I would be soon in my not normal life.

He was a grumpy old man but he knew what he was doing. I seemed that way as he first had me walk to a work bench that had twelve wands laid out in little cases. "So can you feel your magic?" I gave a "huh" as I had no idea what he was talking about. "Figures" he growled, "I want you to feel your magic and feel your magic down your arm. Then send your magic thru the wand while you say 'lumos' and think of a light at the end of the wand". I picked up the first wand and nothing; the second wand produced a bright light. The grouch let off a string of curse words that I only understood half of. When he asked and found out that I was going on ten he let loose more curse words and just said, "Remind me never to stand in front of you when you use your wand." Every step was done and redone, first the selection of the wood then the core and the matching it all together.

After the wand was done and I produced a 'lumos' that almost blinded us, he was happy which was almost unnatural for him. I had to ask about the twelve wands and he said, "The one on the far right is for almost squibs, the first one you used was for god himself to light, it was a power check. You lit the wand that maybe two or three other people in the world could light." He took my money and ushered me out of his shop.

I got to practice what I found in the books with the wand. I was happy that I chose to go into a desert area to practice that first day because Nagas had insisted that hunting would be to his liking out in the desert... I tried a 'defodio' and had a culvert appear in the dirt thirty feet long. I found the spells in the books to be easy to do but control was something I would need to practice.

/Scene Break/

I was doing super in school and even got myself into a culinary cooking class. I already knew a lot of what they taught but it was a class mostly full of girls. I found them strangely alluring and nice to be around. Most boys my age were still either pulling pigtails or saying girls were icky.

Our baseball team won and went to the finals where we lost. We were still happy that we were that good to play at state. My grades were almost all A's which here meant the best you could score. I also was getting more control over my wand or I guess my magic. School passed quickly and I again went to the coast and the wizard street. I wanted more books. The books I wanted were for advanced magic and were getting more and more expensive.

/Scene Break/

I got a Gringott's owl on my birthday containing a forwarded letter which inviting me to enroll in Hogwarts and a list of supplies. I penned a letter back stating no thanks. Nagas had been informative and the wizard street had added to my information but the books about Harry Potter were enough to make me avoid England and any full-time involvement in wizard society. I was safe and happy where I was and as far as I could tell untraceable.

By the end of the year our ball team was again in the finals and after a thrilling game we won the state title. I was the happiest I could imagine as I had hit a three bagger and that had won the game. I had also made a daring steal which led to Hank safely stealing home. My stealing second base ended in a spectacular slide and my downfall.

In sliding I had dislodged my ball cap and some reporter made a good shot which was good enough to make the papers. When I returned home from the state meet I was met by SharpKnife sitting on the couch.

"Hi Harry, we need to talk." It was not a very nice talk and left me ready to blast something. I had long ago found out there was a prophesy which stated that I had to... I hated being forced into doing things. The prophesy stated that only I would be able to kill Voldemort the Dark Lord. If that was not bad enough the English Ministry had tried to confiscate my vault led by an Albus Dumbledore. That same turkey had also put me with the Dursley's. I definitely did not want to return to the Dursley's. I now knew who I wanted to blast. The newspaper picture would have all these people coming my way if I stayed here. SharpKnife offered the only suggestion that made sense. I was going to be relocated and be provided tutors for magic training. I was now known as Harold Orion Black, nickname Harry.