'Thoughts' Human thoughts.

'Thoughts' Symbiote thoughts.

"Speech" English, human voice.

"Speech" English, symbiote voice.

:Speech: Parseltongue, human and snake voice, bold for symbiote speech.

~Speech~ Spoken Ancient, bold for symbiote speech.

~Words~ Written Ancient

Words Written English

Chapter 2

The Letter and Diagon Alley

It has been a little over a year since Seshat took Michael as a host. The memories of it still haunt her. It was the waiting, the waiting for Michael to regain consciousness that scared her the most.

Flashback

It had been almost an hour and all she got were flashes of memory and a few spikes of emotion that were not her own. She was growing concerned that even if Michael was not left brain dead from the torture and the blending, he may be locked in his own mind due to the psychological trauma and there was nothing Seshat could do for that, only wait. She waited and waited. The hour slowly became two and still, nothing happened. If he was truly brain dead then she would have received a flood of memories from him and access to his mind by now, as the host consciousness disappears, it happened before to one of her previous hosts.

The host that she remembers this happening to was Fionnlagh Ó Laoghaire, who was her host almost eight hundred years ago, who was an injured warrior that she found near her home when she was living in Ireland. He was twenty-five years old when she took him as a host. Unfortunately, he did not survive the blending due to his injuries and she was left with a brain dead host for almost three centuries before she needed a new host.

She hopes that this does not happen here, not to Michael, she really wishes to meet him. Then she got a funny thought. Her kin would not worry like this, they would just dominate the host with not a care in the world. The thought sickens her, it truly does. She was suddenly pulled from her musings by a mental "bump" and a sigh. Could it be...

'Hello?'

'Hello.'

'Am I dead?'

'Of course not, well not technically. You have been in a coma for the past two hours. You are only now waking up, which is good, I was so hoping to meet you.'

'Who are you? Where are we? Why does it hurt to think?'

'You are in pain due to the spell that wizard or creature, I have no idea what he was really, had used on you. It was destroying your mind, it could have killed you. As for where we are, we are in your mindscape, it is dark right now due to you being unconscious but as soon as you wake up further we will be able to see mental images of each other and talk to each other properly. As for who I am, I have some things to explain to you,' Seshat paused for a moment, 'My name is Seshat and I am a goa'uld. A symbiotic creature that lives within a human for mutual advantage. A human body gives me life while I give the human body increased strength, health and longevity...'

'Wait, so you are inside me...how? And why?' Michael interrupted as he began to panic.

'Calm yourself, Michael, you may fall back into unconsciousness. You know who Sarah Carlyle is, correct?'

'Yes, that strange woman with glowing eyes. Autie said I should be careful of her.'

'Well yes, we are/were sorry for scaring you as such. It must have been strange to see an old woman with glowing eyes. You have been spying on us for quite a while now, haven't you,' Seshat chuckled when Michael mentally gasped.

'You are Sarah! You are the person that saved me from that robed man. How did you do that, blast him into a tree and then disintegrate him? How are you in my mind now though, what happened to Sarah?'

'Yes and No, Sarah was my previous host, that is what my people and I call the humans we are inhabiting. Sarah has unfortunately passed away, she was too old. That is one of the reasons you kept seeing her eyes glow, her body was old and rejecting me, causing a battle between symbiote and host. I was going to have to find a new host anyway. Ironic how you end up becoming my new host.'

Seshat paused for a moment to let that sink in. She continued after another moment.

'Do not be afraid, we can be companions through your life, Michael, I will be your friend, mentor and soulmate. It will be a long life too, possibly four to five hundred years. How I defeated that ..man... was by using the weapons of my people, one is a bracelet and glove-like device called a KaraKash in our language, it has multiple uses but foremost it is an offensive/defensive weapon. The second you saw me use is called a zat'nik'tel, or zat for short, it stuns with one shot, kills with the second and disintegrates with a third. Do not worry, once we fully blend you will have access to my knowledge and know this stuff instinctively. How are you feeling with all this so far Michael, I know you are young, it can be overwhelming?'

'I'm fine, it's just...why? Why did you make me your host? And what happens now, my Auntie will not like me anymore.'

'I am sorry Michael, there was no other way, you were dying. That spell did more damage than I could heal with my healing device and with Sarah dying I made the choice to transfer to you and hope I could heal you. It seems I was successful and you are healed. As for what happens next, you are not strong enough to control your body so I will need to do all the walking and talking for now.' Seshat chuckled at Michael's current thoughts.

'Do not worry, I can talk with a normal human voice. But first, we must complete the blending, see if you can clear up your mindscape and I will appear to you. Just think of seeing a brightly lit room and try to appear as yourself.'

Soon the darkness cleared up and a small room, bare with a small bed in one corner, a window on one wall and a door on the opposite wall, appeared. There were no other furnishings in the room aside from a small wardrobe. Michael appeared in the centre of the room, looking around with slight trepidation. Seshat suddenly appeared in front of him, she appeared as she looked with her first host, medium height, long raven hair tied in a fancy bun with jewels and gemstones adorning it, long cream/white form-hugging dress, bright blue eyes twinkling. A silver ribbon device adorned her left hand and forearm. She looked all the part of an Egyptian goddess. She gave Michael a motherly smile, making him give a small smile back.

'This is not how I expected you to look. I thought you would look like Sarah,' Michael blushed a little when Seshat gave a small giggle.

'I suppose not, this is what my first host looked like, her name was Aiya. She was forced to become my host by Ra but I took pity on her. It is what started to change my opinion of humans and why I love your kind so much, well most of your kind anyway.'

'Ra? You mean the sun god Ra? He was real?' Michael couldn't hide the disbelief from his mental voice.

'Yes, many of those ancient "gods" were, in fact,, my people. We masqueraded as the gods of the ancient peoples of Earth, with the advanced technology we possessed, we appeared to be gods. I am Seshat, goddess of wisdom, knowledge and writing et cetera et cetera, a lot of things actually. The reason for this is that I was actually a scientist, I developed a great deal of technology, but most I kept secret from my brethren, but that is a story for another time.'

'Cool, so you are what...wait. How old are you?'

'Michael! You should know better than to ask a lady her age' she giggled at Michaels sheepish look' I am only teasing you. I am around ten thousand years old, Michael, although I do not know exactly as calendars and methods of timekeeping have changed over the millennia. Is that all your questions so far Michael, we best be getting back to your Auntie or she will be worried. I will have to take control as you are still too weak yet, do not worry, in a day or so you should be fit enough to be able to control your body properly. We will have to move Sarah to her bed to make it look like she passed away in her sleep, I will also have to remove my technology and artefacts from the house, after that we shall head home. Alright?'

'Okay.'

End of Flashback

After Michael had regained consciousness, Seshat and he spent the next few months getting acquainted with each other, Seshat thought him some skills he should find useful, languages and mathematics mostly. He could now hold a conversation in twenty-two different languages, and if he didn't know it, Seshat could translate. He could also do most elementary arithmetic and some more complex equations in his head, without Seshat's help and with her help, he could do some of the most complex theoretical equations known and unknown to mankind.

He also found that his powers were more powerful, thanks to the element naquadah that Seshat excreted into his blood which is used to power goa'uld technology. Seshat also explained that she believes he is a wizard and that he may or may not be contacted by a wizarding community in the near future. She also helps him to control his emotional outbursts so he doesn't draw attention to himself by blowing up windows or setting fire to objects anymore. Seshat told him that she believes his Aunt Tessie may, in fact, be a witch and may give him more information about the magical world if one even exists. Seshat knew one existed thousands of years ago but she is not sure about one existing nowadays. But she also agreed with him that his Aunt Tessie is quite mad if not clinically insane, she suggested in jest that they should call the men in white coats to take her away. But the fact that she may prove useful as a source of information if a wizarding community does exist, made them both wait until she approached them, as Seshat noticed she seemed to discreetly avoid and divert the conversation away from the topics of magic and wizards when questioned. She only ever brought up the topics in stories.

It was with this in mind, a week before Michaels eleventh birthday, that his aunt suddenly, in a very lucid state, summoned him downstairs, something she rarely ever did.

'I wonder what she wants, she never asks for me like this, she normally just ambushes me in a room and starts up a story. She was surprisingly sane there, don't you think?'

'Hmm, indeed, we should not keep her waiting for long. She may become insane again and we may never get any information out of her,' Seshat giggled with her last thought causing Michael to force himself to not burst out laughing.

Dressing, after a great deal of criticism from Seshat on his choice of clothing, he made his way downstairs at a leisurely pace. As he made his way from the stairs to the kitchen, he heard voices coming from inside the kitchen, one he knew was his aunts. It sounded like there were at least two people having a conversation in there.

'I wonder who else is there, I didn't hear anyone come in, did you.'

'I did not, nor do I know who possibly could be in the kitchen with your aunt. Perhaps it could be people from the wizarding community. Don't get your hopes up though, it could be anyone,' Seshat mentally urged him forwards towards the kitchen door.

Swallowing hard, he reached out and pulled down the handle and pushed the door open, edging his way into the kitchen. At the small kitchen table sat his Aunt Tessie and another woman having a heated conversation, while periodically sipping from their steaming mugs of tea on the table in front of them. They did not notice him at first, too engrossed in whatever they were talking about. Seshat suspected they knew each other. Inspecting the other woman, Michael made several observations. She was obviously older than his aunt, perhaps in her sixties if not her seventies. She wore odd, eccentric clothing like his aunt was fond of wearing. A dark green robe made of cloth and tartan. A similar coloured hat, looking suspiciously similar to a witches hat. Golden spectacles adorned her nose, her face set in a stern mask yet was expressive at the same time. She gave off a strict teacher vibe. It was then, with urging from Seshat, that Michael made his presence known by clearing his throat.

"Good morning Auntie, you called for me?" Michael said in a quiet yet polite manner.

"Good morning Michael, did you sleep well? Yes, I did call for you, we have an important visitor," Aunt Tessie said gesturing towards the other woman.

"This is Professor Minerva McGonagall and she is here to discuss the possibility of you attending a school come September."

Raising an inquiring eyebrow, Michael asked "School? What school?"

McGonagall decided to cut in to get to the point of her visit more quickly, she had other places to be after all, "Hello, Mr Wyndham, I am Professor McGonagall, as you already know. I am Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a school which your parents wished for you to attend. I have your letter and information package here with me, if you accept, you will be starting on the first of September along with your year-mates. Hogwarts is a boarding school, you will attend for seven years and will learn how to control and utilize magic. It is your aunt's hope that you accept and enrol at Hogwarts, as it would have been what your parents wanted and in your best interest." McGonagall finished by placing a letter and small package on the table, parchment not paper Seshat noted and looked at Michael expectantly.

Taking the letter, Michael and Seshat read it and then Michael signed the relevant area, accepting his place at Hogwarts. McGonagall took the signed letter back with a barely noticeable smile. Michael proceeded to read through the information package, details of the courses, course materials, rules and regulations and other legal information. Once finished he looked up at the expectant faces of his aunt and McGonagall.

"What?" was his ever so eloquent response. Seshat rolled her eyes at him. Both his aunt and McGonagall shared a look.

'I believe they are wondering why you have not asked a hundred million questions, why you have seemingly just accepted the existence of the wizarding world as if you already knew it existed,' thought Seshat in exasperation.

'But, I did already know about the wizarding world,' Michael would deny whining at a later date.

'But they do not know that Michael, as far as they know, you have had no contact with and have no knowledge of the wizarding world. You better come up with something or they will start interrogating you.'

"Michael, we are curious, normally when those who are raised in the muggle world get their Hogwarts letter, they normally have to have magic demonstrated to them before they accept it. Yet you have just casually accepted it as if it is no problem at all. Did you already know about the wizarding world?" asked Aunt Tessie.

"Uh, no I didn't Auntie. I was already aware of magic or at least I suspected, correctly it seems, that the powers and abilities I have are magic. So it is no real shock that there is a whole hidden world of people like me, it would have been too odd if I was the only one."

McGonagall smiled as his reasoning, a genuine smile. Michael wasn't sure it was possible she could have smiled when he first met her. It was a shock to his system.

"It is of no importance, at least we don't have to waste time demonstrating to you," McGonagall said, dropping the smile while standing.

"It is time for me to leave, I have other students to visit and deliver their letters to. I will see you in September Mr Wyndham," said McGonagall as she left quickly from the house, obviously in a hurry. A muffled pop was heard from outside. McGonagall was gone.

"So, now what. Is there a place where I can get all this equipment and the books?" asked Michael taking a seat at the table.

"Yes Michael, we will be heading to Diagon Alley, it is in London, after breakfast. So go get ready, we have a busy day ahead of us today," said his aunt with a smile, she hated keeping secrets from him, but it was for his protection that she hid him from the wizarding world. After the Dark Lord Voldemort's crusades against light aligned wizarding families, many were left dead at his hands or the hands of his Death Eaters. 'Funny' she thought, 'How can those proposing blood supremacy then go and slaughter other pureblood families.' Her thoughts darkened as she remembered that August night, when the Death Eaters appeared at Wyndham Manor, it was the night she lost her sister, the night Michael lost his parents and grandfather. She returned from her dark thoughts when Michael moved to bring his empty plate to the sink. Today she will be stepping back into Diagon Alley after almost ten years.

"Auntie, when are we going?" asked Michael from across the kitchen.

"We will be leaving at ten o'clock, go get ready. Hurry now, we will have to take the Knight Bus to the Leaky Cauldron," said Aunt Tessie.

Michael left for his room, with both him and Seshat wondering what the hell was a knight bus.

To say the Knight Bus was a different experience would have been an understatement. The nauseating speeds at which they sped through London, would have left Michael queasy for the rest of the day if not for superior constitution gained from being a host. The atmosphere of the Leaky Cauldron did not help either, the room was clouded with smoke and various fumes that both forced open your sinuses while making breathing difficult. Seshat wondered why no one died from asphyxiation. Passing the bar, Aunt Tessie was greeted by several patrons before she stopped to chat with the barkeeper, Tom was his name. Michael took the opportunity to look around.

The pub was crowded, with many different people, all wearing some form of robes and cloaks. The obvious clothing style favoured in the wizarding world noted Seshat. Michael saw what his aunt said were hags, sitting in a group in one of the darker corners, they were watching him and other children in the bar with all the subtlety of a bull stampede. Apparently, they liked to eat children, according to his aunt. He surveyed the room fully, noting several other children his age, his year-mates he thought. He was pulled from his musings by his aunt, she brought him towards a door that led out back. They stopped in a small enclosed area, facing a brick wall. His aunt removed a pointy stick, a wand he corrected, from her robes and tapped the bricks in a pattern. The bricks suddenly pulled back to reveal a sight that Seshat had not seen in almost five hundred years, minus the obvious magical parts.

Diagon Alley was a medieval looking street, with buildings of various eras crowded in next to each other. At the far end of the alley stood a massive white building, Gringotts bank Seshat noted, towering over the rest of the buildings. That was their first destination.

"Alright Michael, listen up, we are headed for Gringotts, it is run by the goblins. Do not stare, be courteous and polite at all times. Many wizards and witches do not treat the goblins very well, an attitude the goblins fairly return. They are much easier to deal with when you are polite. Now, you will most likely be called into one of the offices and you most likely be on your own. You are the heir of House Wyndham, you will be receiving your heir ring and any important information from your account manager, please be polite Michael and do not panic," by the time his aunt stopped talking they were already at the doors of Gringotts. Stepping into a large hall, Michael was met by an amazing sight.

Long benches flanked both sides of the hall, with goblin doing various things at different points along each bench, some were dealing with customers, others were counting coins, gold coins Michael noted, some were weighing jewels and jewellery, while others were doing paperwork. They joined a queue in front of one of the tellers, there were two wizards in front of them. Michael took a quick look around, it was obvious that some of the other customers were not human, one man with pale white skin and an ethereal beauty was standing, impossibly still, in one of the other queues. Two men passed heading out of the bank, both had amber eyes with a feral glint in them. Michael wondered what creatures they were. Michael was brought from his musings by his aunt, both were now at the tellers' bench. Michael studied the goblin, like all the others he had seen, this one had an almost permanent frown or scowl, he could not tell whether it was smiling or sneering, he just saw a mouth full of sharp teeth. The goblin looked at Michael and his aunt, impatience obvious in his tone of voice.

"Yes?" was the monotone inquiry from the goblin.

"Hello, my nephew Michael Wyndham would like to meet with the Wyndham account manager, to claim his heir ring and make a withdrawal," said his aunt in a polite tone.

"Of course, he will be brought to the account manager's office, where he will prove who he is. All other details will be sorted out there, you, of course, know you will not be permitted to join your nephew. Gringotts policy dictates this. Sharptooth!" a shorter goblin raced over and with a gesture to Michael, both headed off down a maze of corridors.

After a few minutes, they were standing in front of a door with 'Wyndham' stamped on the door in gold writing. The goblin, Sharptooth, knocked on the door, waited a few moments and then gestured Michael to enter. Entering the large office, Michael saw a lone, ancient looking goblin sitting a fancy desk, obviously a goblin of high ranking in the bank. Without looking up, the goblin gestured for Michael to sit at one of the armchairs opposite his desk.

'Be careful Michael, just do as he asks and you shall be fine,'Seshat's voice in his mind comforted his racing heart.

The goblin appraised Michael with a shrewd look before speaking, "Greetings Mr Wyndham, I am account manager Braison of the Wyndham accounts. It is my understanding that you are the Wyndham heir."

"Yes?" said Michael in a quiet voice.

The goblin looked Michael in the eye, he seemed to be searching for something. He seemed to find something he did not expect as he stopped and then started with a slight raise of his eyebrows. He seemed to shake off his slight shock, Michael could not tell as he seemed to just frown like all the other goblins. Seshat was wary 'Michael, I think he knows or at least suspects you are a host'. Michael was shocked, how could the goblin know.

Braison continued where he left off after a minute or so, "Okay Mr Wyndham, I need you to put seven drops of your blood onto this document, it will prove you are who you say you are." A piece of parchment materialized in front of Michael with a small silver dagger. Taking the dagger, he pricked his forefinger and let seven drops land on the parchment. Braison snatched it back swiftly and read whatever was appearing on the parchment, his eyebrows raised further and further the more he read. Michael was alarmed, that was either a good or bad thing, hopefully, a good thing. Braison looked up, shock, which he quickly hid, written on his face, "Mr Wyndham, you are who you say you are. Here is the heir ring, you will get the lordship ring when you reach your majority."

Braison handed Michael a small brown box which materialized out of thin air like the parchment, he opened it and found a small silver ring, set with a small sapphire and the Wyndham coat of arms, a simple shield with two crossed swords and an eagle or falcon with its wings spread, Michael could not tell, with a feather motif around the exterior of the ring.

"Please put it on your right middle finger, Mr Wyndham, you are the heir of the ancient and noble house of Wyndham."

Michael did as Braison said, the ring flashed blue, yellow, orange and then green, followed by a falcons call. The ring had accepted him, knowledge flowed from the ring into his mind, he knew the lordship ring would do the same thing. Looking up at Braison, he saw that the goblin was staring at him, or rather gawking, he could not tell.

"Yes?" asked Michael.

Braison seemed to snap out of the stupor he was in.

"Mr Wyndham, I apologise for being blunt, but are you human?" the question stopped Michael and Seshat dead.

'I think he knows Seshat' thought Michael.

'Indeed, question him first and see what he knows, then I shall reveal myself if necessary,' stated Seshat.

"What makes you think that?' asked Michael.

Braison spoke slowly.

"Along with your name and title on the parchment Mr Wyndham, another name also appeared," the goblin picked up the parchment and read aloud, "Seshat, Goddess of Wisdom, Knowledge and Writing. Would you care to explain Mr Wyndham? I assure you, anything you say here is purely confidential, it is Gringotts policy."

'Okay, time for the big reveal,' mused Michael, Seshat giggled.

Michael looked at Braison, the goblin squirming slightly under his gaze, Michael's blue eyes did their part looking otherworldly as always, and he said: "I am fully human master Braison, I do not know how you found out, but you are referring to my soulmate."

"Soulmate? " asked Braison, curiosity lacing his voice.

"Yes, would you like to meet her?" Michael smirked at Bryson's nod.

Closing his eyes and lowering his head slightly, Michael retreated while Seshat took control. Looking up and with Michaels eyes glowing brightly (causing Braison to jump in fright), Seshat spoke "Greetings Master Braison, I am Seshat," the resonating voice of the symbiote putting Braison into shock. He sat there doing a goblin impression of a fish while Seshat smirked at him.

"What are you?" said Braison, snapping out of his shock.

"Why I am a goa'uld, have you or the goblins heard of my people?" stated Seshat regally, she was putting on a show for her first reveal in centuries.

"No, I cannot say we have, only the rumours from our excavations and curse breakers in Egypt," said Braison, his voice small. He was looking at Seshat with, was that awe?

"You are one of the gods, a sky people from another world."

Now it was Seshat's turn for shock, she did not know that the humans remembered as much or knew and recorded as much about the goa'uld, this was a first.

"That is correct, we came to this world thousands of years ago, enslaved the humans and were worshipped as gods, at least most of my kin were. I did not share this ideal, so I remained when they left. A rebellion in case you are wondering was why they left," stated Seshat, Braison nodded, this cleared up confusion they were getting from their dig sites in Giza and other locations.

"I would request, in fact, warn, not to open any canopic jars you find with strange writing on them, some of my people were punished justly or unjustly and placed in those jars, in stasis. Open them and any nearby human will be taken as a host, I would rather not have to deal with any of my kin and neither would you."

Braison nodded, grateful for the warning, they had recovered several of these jars, they will certainly not be opening any of them now.

"If that is your curiosity sated master Braison, I will be giving Michael back control. I believe it is time to visit his vaults," said Seshat while giving Michael back control.

Michael was promptly escorted by Sharptooth to his vaults, he took out one hundred galleons and put them in a special money bag, at least according to Sharptooth, that will refill to that amount and cannot be stolen from. Sharptooth also informed him that he can pay for things via his heir ring and does not have to go around wasting time counting out his galleons for a purchase. Seshat decided they should store some of her goa'uld technology in the Wyndham vaults as soon as possible, in case any of her hiding places are compromised.

Returning to the main hall, after just over an hour, Michael met up with his aunt, "All set Michael " she asked, sighing in relief when she saw the heir ring.

"Yes, Auntie, where to now?" asked Michael.

"I believe we shall go get you a nice, practical trunk and get all your bits and bobs, potions ingredients and school books first before we head to Madam Malkin's for your robes and finally to Ollivanders for your wand," said his aunt, reading from the course equipment parchment.

"Okay Auntie, let's go," said Michael, he was excited and Seshat was smug, she would get to go clothes shopping. She desperately wanted to get better clothing than what Michael usually wore, she had a godly fashion sense after all.

The next two hours were spent gathering all his school supplies, followed by lunch at Fortescue's ice cream parlour, the next stop was Madam Malkin's for his school robes and some other clothing. Seshat was acting like Christmas had come early. Michael was sent into the shop on his own, his aunt heading off to get her own bits and pieces. He stood inside looking around the shop, one of the assistants quickly coming over to him, ushering him onto a small platform.

"Ok dearie, Hogwarts correct?" asked the assistant, she was a plump woman, in her late thirties.

"Yes, Ma'am and could I get some formal robes and casual wear please, full outfits would be best. I am in need of a new wardrobe," said Michael with excited prompting from Seshat.

The next hour and a half were passed by Michael being assaulted by measuring tapes, pricked by pins, choosing materials, colours and patterns, by the end, Seshat had discreetly taken control, Michael had a headache. In the end Michael had eight outfits apart from his school robes, four of the outfits were formal, two being standard wizarding styles while the other two were reminiscent of goa'uld designs, not that the assistants at Madam Malkin's knew this and the four casual outfits were the same, one standard wizarding style and three were goa'uld style, the goa'uld styles being surprisingly regal and formal for casual wear. They were made of the most expensive materials too, acromantula silk and Egyptian silk, with gold or silver threads. Michael walked out of the store wearing one of the new outfits, it was vaguely Egyptian in style but was designed for colder climates, he drew a lot of stares. His aunt was shocked, Michael refused to tell her how much he spent, there was no way he could justify spending over a thousand galleons. Seshat just laughed, she knew he would have to look that part, he was from an ancient and noble house after all.

The last stop of the day was Ollivanders for his wand. Entering the shop on his own, he was surprised to see the shelves littered with boxes, it was not what he expected in a wand shop. He looked around but could see no one.

"Ah, I wondered when I would be meeting you, Mr Wyndham," came the voice of an elderly man, seeming to appear out of nowhere. Michael jumped with fright, but the man just ignored him, moving to the shelves and picking random boxes.

"I remember when your father and mother came to get their first wands, your father nearly blew up my shop," said Ollivander, Michael assumed, with a look that said he was remembering fond memories.

"Try this, oak, dragon heartstring, eleven and a quarter inches," he said handing Michael a wand. The wand exploded in Michael's hand causing both of them to jump.

"No...No definitely not."

He rummaged through more boxes, before returning with another.

"Try this cherry, phoenix feather, eleven and a half inches".

Nothing, the wand felt just like an old stick.

"Hmm, a tricky one...but I have not met a person yet that I cannot match a wand too."

An hour passed, going through various wands. Michael was getting frustrated while Ollivander had an excited gleam in his eyes.

"Hmm, very difficult, I will have to break out some of the rarer wands."

Ollivander left to go deeper into the cavern of boxes, he returned minutes later with a very fancy black box, the wand within was a work of art, black with feather and leaf designs in white, it looked less like a stick and more like a rod.

"Elder wood, phoenix tail feather, twelve and a half inches. A powerful wand Mr Wyndham, good for most spell work but being best at charms, wards and battle magic. A well-rounded wand for a well-rounded individual," said Ollivander handing Michael the wand, gold, silver, blue and red sparks shot from the wand. Michael felt a warm feeling, a connection to the wand forming.

"Ah, that will be eight galleons, Mr Wyndham, take good care of that wand, it will serve you well," said Ollivander, Michael handed him the coins and was ushered out of the shop by Ollivander.

His aunt was waiting for him with a smile on her face, "We have an hour left Michael, would you like to go anywhere?" she asked.

Michael felt drawn to the shop that appeared to sell pets, he made his way over. He recalled his aunt mentioning that wizards can have familiars, he wanted one. Seshat was intrigued but kept silent. A familiar could be useful.

Entering the pet shop, Michael made his way past the owls, cats and toads towards the back of the shop. He walked by all the cages looking at what was beyond. He heard a hissing coming from one cage he was drawn to.

: Stupid humans, keeping me locked in here. I should have bitten that careless owner. How dare he damage my scales! Oh look, here comes a human hatchling, maybe I will bite that silly human if he gets too close: hissed the snake. Michael was intrigued, he could understand the serpent.

'Of course you can Michael. It is one of the languages that you will be able to understand, both wizards and us goa'uld could understand and speak to the lower serpents. That snake is in for a shock when it finds out just what I am,' Seshat chuckled.

: Why would you bite me beautiful serpent? What have I ever done to you?: asked Michael with a hiss.

: A speaker? Oh how long I have waited for a speaker: hissed the snake.

: I am more than just a speaker: said Seshat with a resonating hiss, no one was around, so she flashed her eyes at the rude snake.

: A God, one of the gods! Oh, forgive me, please. I meant no disrespect, I did not know: hissed the snake cowering slightly.

: What is your name: hissed Michael, inwardly smirking at the dress down by Seshat.

: Aeryn, my lord: hissed the snake respectfully. Michael was taken aback, where did that title come from.

'Relax Michael, if you chose to take Aeryn, she would have sensed my presence anyway and begin calling you my lord, you will just have to get used to it.'

: Do you want to leave here Aeryn? I can take you. I would love to take such a beautiful snake: hissed Michael, he noticed that instead of being just jet black, Aeryn had reds, greens and oranges mixed in with her scales.

: Yes, please my lord. I will serve you as your familiar: hissed Aeryn. Michael opened the cage and let Aeryn slither up his arm and drape across his shoulders. Walking to the front of the store, he got a startled cry from his aunt and the store owner.

"Michael, are you sure you want a snake?" asked his aunt looking warily at the serpent.

"Yes Auntie, I was drawn to her, her name is Aeryn," said Michael. The store owner seemed to accept this, his eyes lighting up at the fact he'd be getting ride of the dangerous creature.

"Yes, you seem to have a familiar bond with the snake. Thirty galleons for her and here are some pamphlets on familiars, thank you," the shop owner spoke quickly.

Michael handed over the gold and left the store.

: My Lord, I think you should refrain from speaking to me in public, wizards are paranoid and think speakers are dark wizards just because they can talk to us: hissed Aeryn.

Michael nodded, Seshat was a little shocked by this, how could this be, the ability to speak to snakes used to be well revered.

Michael was just leaving the shop with his aunt when he nearly ran into a boy his age. The boy had blonde hair, grey eyes and held an arrogant air about him.

"Watch where you are going," he drawled, "Stupid mudblood!"

Michael was about to retort when his aunt just grabbed his shoulder and dragged him towards the Leaky Cauldron.

"Beware of him Michael. A Malfoy! Arrogant just like his father, a follower of you-know-who," at Michaels vacant expression she amended, "the Dark Lord " she whispered.

"Blood purists, they believe they are superior just because they can trace magic in their blood back so many generations, you are from an older family but he does not know that, do not intentionally reveal who you are to him. I do not want to have to deal with his father or their ilk," his aunt spat, clearly she did not like the Malfoys and for good reason. Seshat was livid.

'Discrimination based on blood...what the bloody hell...I have never...' she continued to rant about stupid, childish humans for over an hour, leaving Michael with a massive headache.

Outside the Leaky Cauldron, his aunt summoned the Knight Bus and they made the nauseating journey home. A month to go until school begins. A month to learn as much about the wizarding world as possible. A month of etiquette lessons from his aunt and how to react and behave like a pureblood, just in case anything happens involving pureblood politics, so that Michael will know how to deal with it. In just over a month, Michael will be headed to Hogwarts aboard the Hogwarts Express.

Author's Note

This chapter has been updated.