Yay~ the first chapter~~~
Sorry to say that, NO, Regulus has yet to make his appearance in this chapter. I need background first to write the later parts...
Actually, I have read lots of Harry Potter fics and saw that many are written in British English, but I don't think I can do that, because I have gotten used to the American Accent, so really, I don't think I can do it. Sorry
Now then, please enjooy, I didn't think I could writhe this long for the 1st chapter though XD.
Chapter 1: Diagon Alley
It didn't take long for the adoption documents to be processed and it was before lunch that Dumbledore took Cynthia out of the orphanage.
Her first impression of the magical world was the Leaky Cauldron, a very dark and shabby place, despite being called famous by Dumbledore. Dumbledore introduced her to the Bartender and he seemed very happy at the news, saying that even the mighty Dumbledore wanted to have the warm sensations of a family. His loud voice had indeed captured the attention of others in the shop, making them flock to see who the girl in question was. Cynthia was so shocked and scared that she hid behind Dumbledore, while the Bartender had to drive the other guests away. As an apology for making her scared, the Bartender kindly presented Cynthia with a plate of meat pie for lunch and although it was not steaming hot, it was delicious to say the least.
Parting with the Leaky Cauldron, Dumbledore took her to a clothing shop called Madam Malkin's Robes for all occasions to get her some plain black robes for Hogwarts, a pointed hat, dragon hide protective gloves, a winter cloak as well as other clothes for her every day wear. The shopkeepers were very surprised to see Dumbledore himself guiding a small girl around for shopping and her calling him 'grandfather' none the less. But they didn't question it and actively assisted the shy girl on her choice of clothes, understanding how hard and awkward it would be if Dumbledore had to help the girl to choose her clothing.
"Our next destination shall be the wand store" Dumbledore said "There it is -" he pointed "The Ollivanders."
Cynthia looked at the direction of Dumbledore's finger, excited about the fact that she was about to get a real wand, just like in the fairy tales she had read about.
A bell tinkled as Dumbledore opened the door for Cynthia. The place was very neat with countless narrow boxes piled up on the shelves, right up to the ceiling and a single wooden chair resting in one corner
"Good afternoon." the girl jumped at the soft voice. She turned around see a middle aged man with pale silver eyes shining through the gloom of the shop
"Good afternoon." Cynthia said shyly as he nodded
"Good afternoon to you too, Professor Dumbledore and who do we have here?"
"Um…" she looked up at Dumbledore to get permission for talking, which he granted with a small nod and smile "My name is Cynthia Glinnis Dumbledore. I have just become Grandfather's family today."
"Oh!" he exclaimed delightfully "I guess congratulations are in order then!" he offered her his hand "My name is Garrick Ollivander, very nice to meet you." she took his hand hesitantly and he shook it violently, making her feel really scared. "Now then! Let's get to business!" he pulled a long tape measure out of his pocket and asked "Which I your wand arm?"
"I'm right handed, sir." She said, still hiding behind Dumbledore
"Well, come here then, we don't have all day" he said impatiently and Dumbledore had to reassure Cynthia for her to come out of her hiding. He measured her arm from shoulder to finger, from wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and finally round her head. Correction, the tape was measuring her on its own, while Mr. Ollivander was fitting around the shelves, taking down various boxes.
"Let's start with this one then: phoenix feather and cherry. Take it and give it a wave." Cynthia did as was told, but just as she waved it, flame came out of the wand, burning one of the shelves. Cynthia was terrified out of her mind, but the fire was put out immediately by Dumbledore, assuring her for her next wand trial.
"Dragon heartstring and cedar." he said simply and handed over the wand. Cynthia took it and accidentally waved into a circle. When the circle had been completed, it formed a wall of tornado, knocking not only the wand boxes down from the shelves but also the shelves themselves. Dumbledore had to cover for her at the same time as stopping the rampaging tornado. Cynthia was so scared by now, she didn't want to do it anymore, but Dumbledore kept encouraging her, saying everything would be alright, he would protect her.
Believing his words, Cynthia stood up to take her third wand, unicorn hair and cypress, she vaguely heard Mr. Ollivander saying. Just as the want fell into her hands, cracks appeared along the wood and in matter of a few seconds, it exploded right in her hand, making her squat down in fear and pain. Dumbledore immediately got to her, picking her up and putting her on the small chair "Show me your hand." he said impatiently as she listened to him. Her hand was not heavily damaged with exception of come minor cuts and bruises. Dumbledore took out his own want and muttered a spell to heal Cynthia's hand.
She sniffed softly "Is there any way that I can learn magic without a want, grandfather?" he looked at her kindly, knowing what she might be feeling right now. The experience was too much for an eleven year old after all. He decided to smile kindly "There is, but now…" he took a glass of water from Mr. Ollivander's hands "Here, have some water first."
She took it and drank in small gulps.
Noticing that she had calmed down, Dumbledore decided to speak "Listen Cynthia, there are ways to perform magic without a wand, but it is very advanced and hard to learn. I would like to teach you, but you cannot learn it if you haven't got the basics of controlling your own powers, not letting it go rampage, because it might hurt other people."
She nodded.
"And to learn this, you need to have a wand."
She nodded again, knowing that her grandfather was right and that she shouldn't be stubborn and listen to him.
He took her hand in his "But I understand that you must be terrified right now, so stay here, while I'll help Mr. Ollivander find the right wand for you, alright?"
She sniffed a bit, but nodded none the less.
Leaving her to fiddle with the water cup, the two older men started casting spells to re-organize the boxes knocked over by the tornado and also fix the shelf that was burned by the fire. It was an easy task for a high level wizard like Mr Ollivander and ever more do for Dumbledore. After having cleaned up, the two of them went to search for possible wands for Cynthia. The girl's mind was very unstable right now, it was best if they could actually find a wand without having to make her try out too many of them. Easier said than done.
Cynthia looked at the two, feeling quite a bit guilty for all the mess that she had created. She might not have meant for it to happen, but after the experience she had had in the orphanage, this was not something she could blame on if her powers had actually hurt somebody. The only thing she should be doing right now was to sit quietly on this chair and prepare for whatever was going to happen when she was to pick up another wand.
However, for an eleven year old girl, who had just been introduced to the magical world, she just couldn't help but look around at the shop's interior, which was just fixed from a wreck to a nice and tidy little room just as it was before. 'It is really magical' was all that she could think about. It was just as if she had never created that fire or that tornado.
Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed a white twig pocking out under the shelves. Curiosity dominated over her shyness as she stood up to see what it was. Her actions, however, had caught the attention of the two older men, when she kneeled down to pick the stick up, it turned out to be a worn out wand with various cracks along its body.
"What is it, Cynthia?" Dumbledore asked
"Grandfather!" she jumped from the sudden call and stood up quickly "I saw a wand lying under the shelves, so I thought I should pick it up" she showed it to them. The two older men looked at the shabby wand uninterestingly, thinking that it was probably damaged from things happening just now, until lights emitted from the cracks. Cynthia was very surprised by this, but deep inside, she wasn't scared. The rays of light were warm and kind, they felt really close to her. The lights died down to reveal a totally new wand with a white tip and gradually changing into a deep red colour at the base of the want. What miracle was this? It was a known fact that once a wand had been broken, there was no way of fixing or returning it to the way it was before.
Dumbledore looked back at Mr. Ollivander as the other man shook his head lightly, blinking his eyes in surprise. "May I see that wand, Cynthia?" Mr. Ollivander finally asked after what it seemed to be forever.
"Yes sir" Cynthia said and stepped closer to give him the wand
"This is!" Mr Ollivander exclaimed after having examined the wand for a minute. He looked at Dumbledore and continued "This is one of the wands that I have experienced with using two wand cores and a wood base to create a wand. I have thought that this would make wands stronger in power and more convenient for the users. My ancestors said it was impossible, but I didn't believe it and still wanted to try it out. I failed in the end, but I remember having gotten rid of them all a long time ago! They shouldn't exist anymore!"
Cynthia couldn't understand a thing Mr Ollivander was talking about and was now getting a bit scared of the loud voice he was using, that she was creeping closer to Dumbledore. Although he seemed more happy than mad.
"Now, now" Dumbledore spoke to calm Mr Ollivander down "So what is this want then?"
"It's yew combined with dragon heartstring and unicorn hair, eleven inches. Theoretically speaking, it should be good for duelling as well as healing, but as I have never experienced this kind of thing before, I am not really sure about it" just as he finished speaking cracks appeared on the wand again, returning it to its previous appearance. Dumbledore looked at Mr. Ollivander questioningly as the shop owner proceeded to explain "As there are two cores inside the wand, they continuously fight each other, so the wood cannot withstand it and will eventually snap or, as you can see, have many cracks, preventing anyone to use it. But for some reason…" he looked at Cynthia "Here, hold it again" and handed over the wand to her
She took it and the same thing as before happened again.
"Your granddaughter seems to be able to diminish the forces of the different cores, making them harmonize" Mr Ollivander continued "It would seem like the wand has chosen Miss Cynthia as its owner."
Cynthia looked happily at Dumbledore as he replied with a kind smile. Softly rubbing her head, he said "Yes, it's your now. Give it a wave."
She happily obliged and a soft gust of wind carried through the room, lightly caressing her hair and cheeks.
In the end, Mr, Ollivander didn't take any money for the wand, saying that it wasn't something for sale and he meant to throw it away, so it must have been fate that guided her to the wand and he would be very happy to hand it over to her.
"Out of all the cores combination, to think she would be compatible with the most radical one..." Mr Ollivander mumbled to himself after Dumbledore and Cynthia had left the shop "Dragon heartstring and unicorn hair... Combined with Yew too... How interesting... How very interesting..."
Excited by the fact that she had just gotten her first wand, Cynthia didn't notice that Dumbledore had led her to their next destination: the pets shop. The things that brought her back to reality were the sounds of the owls flapping their wings in protest inside their cages and their vocals. Cynthia lifted her head up from her wand to see a relatively small and dark shop with owls of different colours in cages in the front of the shop. They both stepped inside to be greeted by various owl vocals, it was loud, but still had its own melodic element. The owner greeted them and asked if they had any preference to a specific type of owl or any other type of animals, but Dumbledore allowed Cynthia to go around and browse for her favourite one. After a few minutes of browsing, a person slammed the shop's doors open, bringing with him a cage "Just got the owl today, put it on sale for me, will ya?" he said happily
The owl's soulful dark brown eyes caught Cynthia's for a few seconds before it rang its vocals and flapped its wings.
The small girl wasn't very familiar with these types of birds, but compared to the other owls in the shop, this one held such different pair of eyes, which was dark and deep, in contrast with the glowing amber or golden eyes of others. It was so fluffy too.
"It's a barred owl, not British native, but can be easily raised. Got lots of fur, so got really quiet wing flapping." The man said
Noticing his granddaughter's interest, Dumbledore asked "Do you like it, Cynthia?" the small girl nodded softly "Then we'll buy it!" the older man declared enthusiastically
Having bought all the necessary equipment for Cynthia's first school year, Dumbledore led Cynthia back to the Leaky Cauldron, more specifically, its fireplace. The small girl was beyond confused and scared and she was clinging tightly to her grandfather's robes, but none the less, she believed that he knew what he was doing. Dumbledore took a fist full of Floo powder and shouted "Godric's Hollow!" as an emerald green flame surrounded their bodies, teleporting them to the shouted destination.
When Cynthia opened her eyes, she was in a cosy living room with sofas and a rectangular table with a plate of pastries. She just felt so… at home.
"Welcome back, Master" a melodic voice rang from below, making Cynthia look down
"Ah!" she exclaimed and immediately hid behind Dumbledore
"Do not be alarmed, Cynthia" Dumbledore pushed her forwards lightly "Let me introduce you two. This is Melody, my house-elf. She had been in my family for a long time, helping out with my meals and the house's cleanliness. I'm afraid I cannot be at home at all times, so Melody shall be taking care of your needs as well." Melody bowed down a bit "And Melody, this is Cynthia, she has become my family member as off today, please take good care of her."
"Of course, Master" she bowed down again and turned to Cynthia "It would be my pleasure to serve you, Miss Cynthia."
"P-please just call me Cynthia" the small girl smiled awkwardly, still unable to take in that was happening in front of her "Please take care of me."
"As you wish then, Cynthia. Shall Melody take Cynthia to her room then, Master?" she asked
"Yes, I'll leave it to you to help her set in. Cynthia, please follow Melody's guidance, alright?" Dumbledore smiled kindly
"Yes, Grandfather."
Following Melody to the second floor of the house, Cynthia was now facing with an L shaped corridor with doors on each side of the wall and was led into the door on the right one. The room was much bigger that what she would have ever wished for. There was a window on the right wall, looking to the backyard, and a study table in front of it. Next to it and lined up against the back wall was a newly made, one person bed and opposite to it was a tall and wide wardrobe and finally next to it was a door to the bathroom, which also included a relatively large tub and a full body mirror.
Cynthia immediately ran down the stairs looking for Dumbledore. He was still in the living room "Grandfather the room is very beautiful! Thank you so much!" she spoke as tears of happiness filled her eyes
"I'm glad you like it then" he smiled and got closer to rub her head kindly "It's kind of late now, so please finish unpacking quickly and take shower so we can have dinner, alright?"
Cynthia wiped her tears with her wrist and nodded "Yes, Grandfather."
She ran up and saw that Melody had already put everything in its place. There was also a bird stand right next to her window where she could put Leonis' cage on. The sky was turning darker and so Leonis started to create havoc inside his cage. Leonis was the owl's name by the way.
"Melody, would it be alright if I opened Leonis' cage? He won't fly away, won't he?" Cynthia asked
"No, he won't, Cynthia. He has accepted you as his master, so he will always remember where you are and return to you"
Cynthia smiled "Then I'll be letting him out for a bit now" she opened the cage and Leonis flapped his wings out and through the window. He did a few circles up in the air and flew away from her sights.
"Don't worry, he will come back soon." Melody reassured
"Okay, I believe you, Melody." she said and went to the bathroom
When Cynthia came down the stairs, dinner was already served on the table. There were so many things: hot soup, meat, baked dishes that Cynthia didn't know what should she look at or start from. Dumbledore called her name and motioned her to sit down next to him.
Dinner was great. It had been a long time since she was allowed to eat steaming hot food and sweet deserts not to mention "I believe that Melody has showed you around the house a little bit, hasn't she?" Dumbledore asked
"Yes, Grandfather, Melody told me that Grandfather's room is next door to mine and opposite to my room is the reading room. There's even a room where you can see stars!" Cynthia answered excitedly
Dumbledore smiled "It's good to see you two already getting along. There will be lots of things you have yet to understand whether it's about the house or the magical world, so don't hesitate to ask questions to either me or Melody."
"Okay!"
After dinner, Cynthia was even more surprised by the dishes flying over to the sink and started washing themselves as Melody flicked her fingers, she would definitely need to ask Melody to teach her these tricks! Or magic!
After a few minutes of watching and chatting, Cynthia let out a small yawn, which didn't go unnoticed by Melody "You must be tired, Cynthia. Let's get you to bed; it has been a long day for you after all."
Cynthia nodded "Thank you Melody. Good night Grandfather"
"Good night, Cynthia. Sweet dreams."
When Cynthia got into her room, Leonis was already sitting on the window still singing into the night. She smiled a bit at the sight of the bird and went to get him. He obediently sat on her arm and climbed into his cage "Good night Leonis." she whispered
Having changed into her pyjamas, Cynthia climbed onto her bed and had a good night sleep in the longest time ever.
Noticing that Cynthia had already fallen asleep, Melody smiled a bit at the small girl and got out of the room, closing the door quietly behind her.
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Yay~ thanks you guys, I really didn't expect anyone to read or not to mention even favorite and alert this story already. I think that this story will get better and better, so stay tunned!