CBA_chapter 4
The lady flicked her wrist and her hand was in her hand. She started to wave it over Harry, but Bill shot an immobulus charm at her wrist.
She looked down at her paralyzed hand in surprise, "Now what was the for?"
"What spell are you casting on Mr Potter?" Bill demanded.
"The revealous charm. Unlike Ollie, my family wasn't blessed with seeing auras with the naked eye," she said.
Harry's eyebrows rose, "Ollie? Do you mean Ollivander?"
"Yeah, that's who this bloody notes says it's from," she complained as she motioned to her wrist, "Now could you please release my wrist?"
Bill and Harry looked at each before Bill shrugged. He waved his arm and her wrist was suddenly continuing its movements. Harry felt the tickle of magic as the charm washed over him. He was shocked to see different parts of his body light up.
"Ahh, so that's your magic flow," she muttered.
Bill nodded as he watched.
"Do you know what's going on?" Harry asked him.
Bill snorted, "I'll never get over how little you learn about the Wizarding World at Hogwarts. She's a wandmaker, so she needs to see how your magic flows through your body. Look at how concentrated your magic is around your right arm. You're right handed, so the magic is used to coming out through the wand held in your right arm. On the other side, look how dim the magic shows on your left arm. It's not used to flowing through there so it would be a lot harder to cast spells with that arm."
"Unfortunate habit of most wizards. What if they lose an arm in life? They'll be like first years again," the lady muttered as she continued waving her arm. Bill nodded in agreement.
Harry looked at the lights over his body in fascination now. The lights were bright going down his right arm, but they were brilliantly light centered around his chest. Harry couldn't see it, but the lady and Bill noticed the bulge of light over the scar on Harry's forehead.
Bill started up some small talk, "I bet you've seen some interesting magic paths."
She snorted, "Had a couple men who liked to use their second wands a little too much. Bright path going down it."
She leered at Bill who laughed, "How does that even work?"
"Too many male performance spells if you know what I mean," her eyebrows waggled suggestively.
Harry groaned, "Gross, stop it."
"Don't worry, I don't see any spell residue on you," she winked at Harry who blushed deeply.
Bill clapped a hand on his shoulder and laughed, "Let this be a warning, there's always signs left behind for what you do with magic."
Harry put his hands up, "Can we please focus here? What are we going to do about my wand and oh I don't know, but the worst dark lord of the century?"
The lady and Bill both frowned.
Eventually she spoke up, "True enough. Now you don't have too many options and I'm to sure you'll like any of them."
"Excuse me, but who are you anyway?"
"Sorry, I'm Lucy, owner of Magic Paths Shop. We sell holsters, polish, etc. I sometimes do wands, but Ollivander has practically a monopoly on that around here," she finished with a bow.
"Why did he send us to you instead of fixing the wand himself?" Bill asked.
"I said he practically has a monopoly on it. He does all the little Firsties who need their first time wands. Normally adults who need replacement wands also go to him, but sometimes he'll get a tricky adult who he sends to me. Magic gets used to certain patterns, like the phrasing of a spell. Sometimes adults have issues finding a premade wand that'll suit them," she explained.
"Ahh I understand," Bill nodded.
Harry frowned, "I don't understand."
Lucy rolled her eyes, "You will one day kid. Anyway, you have three options. I can split open your wand and try to add in an additional core."
"Try?"
"A lot of cores can be temperamental. Touching them, moving them, combining new elements can make them burn or explode or stop working. You still have to pay me for labor even if that happens by the way."
Harry clutched his wand to his chest.
She nodded and continued, "Yeah most adults don't like that option too much. You won't like the second one either. The second option is that I could destroy your old wand and make a new one."
Harry clutched his wand a little closer, "Why would you have to destroy it?"
"Your magic will always be calling out to the old one and would refuse to use the new one. We have to do the same thing with people who break their wand. The old has to be completely destroyed."
Harry felt himself start to sweat, "What's the third option?"
"I can make you a new wand for your left hand," she said.
Harry frowned, "How is that any different from a new wand for my right hand?"
She laughed, "Remember those magic channels we were looking at? You have a strong channel going down your right arm. That channel is used to using the holly wand and will call to it. You've almost never used your left arm, probably only with accidental magic. As you use the new wand, you are also creating a new channel like you did with the holly wand and your right arm."
Bill cut in, "The practice is popular is some other countries, especially where it's more dangerous like Australia. With enough practice, it's potentially possible to use both wands at the same time like in a duel."
Lucy laughed, "Don't get your hopes up kid. I've only met two people who could do that. You have to have incredible mental capacities to be able to do that. Legilimens and occulumens tend to have the mental capacities to do it but few others. I've only ever done another wand arm before for adults who's wands broke and their dominant channel was so developed it would never accept another wand."
Harry nodded, "Yeah, I think that's the option I want to go with."
She nodded, "Ok, I'll start making it. It'll be done in an hour or so."
As she walked toward the back of the shop, she threw on a heavy leather apron. At Hardy's questioning look, she grinned, "Always prepared for burning and exploding cores, Mr Potter."
Once Harry had put his invisibility cloak back on, Bill lead them back to Diagon Alley and towards the Leaky Cauldron. After he had gone several streets over in the magical world, he motioned for Harry to pull off the cloak.
"What're we doing now?" Harry asked.
"Gotta get you your supplies," Bill replied.
"Oh, I was hoping there might be a cool magical version that doesn't weigh anything and stuff," Harry muttered.
Bill laughed as he clapped Harry on the shoulders, "There is. We're just not getting it for you."
"What! Why not?" Harry asked.
"RIght of passage kid. You need to know how to handle the weight and struggle before it's easy for you. It builds character and whatnot. Most importantly, I am a big brother by trade and stuff like this is what we live for," Bill replied.
"What if I learn how to cast the featherweight charm?" Harry retorted. Bill immediately shook his head no.
"The only version of that that you would be able to cast at your level would be constantly drawing on your magic reserves. Some of the places we go will be dangerous. You'll need to have full magic strength at all times," Bill said.
Harry looked at the large pile of stuff in his arms. A hammock and the bag with the straps for it. A sleeping bag that compacted smaller than he ever imagined in its own little baggie. A large bulky backpack covered in pockets and straps with several support poles going down the back of it.
Harry groaned.
Bill laughed as he piled more stuff into Harry's arms.
Once they had checked out and walked into an alleyway, Bill shrunk the packages and handed them to Harry.
"Just for a little while," he said.
They headed back to Diagon Alley with Harry invisible once again. At the shop, Lucy grinned at them as they walked in. Her short hair was sticking up in several places like she had been running her hands through it and her apron had several new scorch marks on it.
"Ello, there. Just finished it up. A beauty if I say so myself," she greeted them as she handed Harry a box.
He reverently opened it to find…
….a very plain looking wand. It looked just like every other wand he had seen; nothing special about it.
He reached for it with his right hand, when Lucy's hand shot out and grabbed his wrist.
"Now, none of that, this is not for that hand," she told him.
A blush crept up his neck slightly, "Uh right, my bad."
He reached for the wand with his left hand. Every motion felt weird. Even holding the wand felt wrong. The wand itched to be switched over to his right hand.
Ignoring the desire, he swished the wand in the air. It wasn't very graceful, but a shower of sparks came out of the end.
Lucy and Bill clapped. Lucy stepped forward with a bottle of polish, "Cherry wood with a dragon heart string for a core. Quite an affinity for fire, you have with those two wands."
Bill grinned at Harry, "Look at you turning into a Weasley. Most of us have dragon heartstrings. Maybe to go with our fiery hair."
Harry blushed slightly, but he was pleased to be compared to the Weasleys.
"Now about payment?" he turned to Lucy's expectant eyes.
"40 gallons seems a little excessive for a wand," Harry grumbled as they approached the large building in front of them.
Bill and Harry headed into the airport. A quick apparation on Bill's part had dropped them off at London City Airport.
Harry looked around the city in amazement. He'd never seen so many people all crammed together in one space before. His neck twisted every way trying to see it all at once.
"Never been to the airport before?" Bill asked.
"No way, the Dursleys didn't like the neighbors seeing me let alone taking me on a vacation with them," Harry replied absentmindedly. He didn't notice the way Bill's hands clenched slightly at the mention of the Dursleys.
"Hey, why didn't we just floo or something?" he asked.
"Can't floo that far. Magic carpets are outlawed in England, which only leaves portkeys. Bloody miserable they are, so I normally choose the muggle version. Only a couple hours longer, but much more comfortable," Bill replied.
Harry nodded along trying to act like he had any idea what Bill meant by a portkey.
"Where're we headed anyway?" he asked as he adjusted the heavy backpack. Something in the pack was jabbing into his back. He made a mental note to move stuff around once he was on the airplane.
"Washington D.C. first," Bill replied.
Harry's eyebrows shot up, "Washington D.C.! Like the capital of America?"
"Yeah, we won't be there long. We'll take a connecting flight from there to Arizona," Bill said.
"What's in Arizona?" Harry asked.
"Tell you when we have some privacy," Bill replied.
Bill waited until they had been seated on the plane and the large man next to Harry started to snore before he leaned over and twirled his wrist slightly. Harry saw the tip of his wand sticking slightly out of his sleeve before a buzzing sound surrounded him. He looked around for bugs but Bill leaned back in his seat and spoke at a normal volume.
"Privacy charm. We can hear them, but they'll only hear mumbling from us. Unfortunate side effect is the buzzing sound," Bill explained.
"Wicked," Harry said. He leaned further away from the man next to him. Even squished as close to Bill as he dared, the strangers leg was still pressed against himself. In that situation, he finally understood why the girls would complain when a man sat with his legs apart.
"Some of the native wizards had some burial grounds out there. A new one was just discovered. It's absolutely covered in shielding charms. We need to break them and excavate the artifacts in there for Gringotts," Bill told him.
"What about the natives there currently?" Harry asked.
He wondered if it would be rude to push the man's arm off of the armrest. Bill had quickly established dominance over the armrest on the other side of Harry. Harry wasn't looking forward to spending the next several hours with his arms tucked into the sides of his body.
Bill said, "The natives will receive a portion of any profits. They didn't know the site existed."
"Ok," Harry nodded.
He pushed the man's arm gently to see how he'd react. The man snorted slightly and Harry jerked his arm back into his side. When the man opened his eyes and glared at him, Harry reached out and fumbled with the screen on the back of the seat in front of him.
The lap tray under the screen fell down with a crash and hit the top of Harry and the stranger's knees.
Harry started trying to shove it back up, "I'm so sorry!"
It fell again and hit the large man again.
"Please just stop," the man commanded. He reached over and pushed it up with a snap.
With a final glare, the man shuffled and leaned against the window. His arm was still securely on the armrest.
Harry glared at the opposing appendage.
Bill leaned over laughing, "Better get comfortable, we have several more hours on the plane."
When the plane started to descend, Harry gripped at the armrests. The plane bounced on another pocket of air and Harry felt his stomach hit the bottom of his lungs.
"I thought you loved flying?" Bill asked him.
"Yeah when I'm in control! If they let me fly the plane, I would be having a blast right now," Harry replied.
Then the stranger leaned back in the seat slightly and Harry caught a glimpse outside. His complaints (or fears depending on if Harry was labeling or Bill) were forgotten at he looked out at Washington DC.
Bill noticed him looking, "Beautiful, huh?"
Harry nodded.
Going through customs was another new experience for Harry. He stared at the winding line in despair before Bill pointed to the side. Another station slowly melted into appearance.
Harry switched directions as he realized they would be expected to go through the wizarding customs.
"Welcome to the United States of America. Passport," the customs officer held out his hand.
Harry looked at him in confusion, but Bill leaned over him and handed over a little booklet.
The man looked over it before stamping a page, "Alright."
He waved Harry on before repeating the procedure with Bill. As they passed through several more sets of metal detectors, Harry whispered to Bill, "When did you get me a passport?"
"Gringotts printed up one for you when I sent the paperwork over to them from the Dursleys. They had it waiting for us when we got there. I forgot to give it to you earlier," Bill replied.
He handed the passport to Harry. Harry flipped it open to the page with his personal identification. He groaned, "Come on, could they have gotten a worst picture? That doesn't even look like me."
Bill grabbed it back from Harry and looked at the picture before shrugging, "They probably took it as you walked into the bank. Could be worse, remind me to show you my first passport sometime."
"I'm amazed they're just allowed to create a passport for me," Harry said.
Bill rolled his eyes, "There was a form you signed giving them permission in the pile of papers at the Durseley's. You should really read over the papers more thoroughly. I could've slipped in a slave contract or something and you wouldn't have even noticed."
Harry blushed slightly because it was true. He hadn't asked many questions when he had signed the pile of papers needed to be an assistant for Bill.
They sat in the waiting area of Ronald Reagan National Airport for an hour before their connecting flight was ready. During the wait, Harry looked through the giant glass windows at the lights of the busy city.
In the next flight, they were seated in a section with only two seats. Bill allowed Harry to get the window seat.
As the plane ascended, the world dropped away.
"This is even better than a broom," Harry whispered.
"You can go a bit higher," Bill agreed leaning around Harry to look out the window too.
The sun was starting to rise as they flew over the country. Harry watched out the window at the patchwork fields and forests spread out under them. Occasionally, they would pass over a city.
The two hours passed quickly as Harry looked at the new country. He realized that they were getting closer as he saw the fields drop away and turn into red dessert.
"Which city are we stopping in?" he asked Bill.
"Phoenix," Bill replied absentmindedly as he looked through his own backpack. He had an expansion charm on it and his entire arm disappeared into it. "I know I tossed a candy bar in here for a snack."
Harry turned back towards the window. He tried to remember what geography he'd had in primary, but he had no idea where Phoenix was. Even his knowledge of where the different states were was lacking at best. He knew Washington was on the East coast and they were now on the West side of the country but that was about the extent of his knowledge.
Harry followed Bill out of the busy airport. All of their luggage was in the packs on their backs, so they were able to bypass luggage retrieval.
When the outside doors opened, Harry nearly fell over from the solid wall of heat that hit him.
"Bloody hell," he exclaimed.
"Despite the heat, we are not actually in hell," Bill replied. "We chose a bad time to get here. 10am and it's only gonna get hotter."
Harry tried to breathe but it was difficult. He'd never felt such heat before in his life. Unlike the humid days that sometimes occurs during the summer, this was a dry heat. His throat already felt dry.
He staggered slightly as he followed Bill. The jet lag was suddenly hitting him as the adrenaline wore off. Traveling across the world was catching up to him.
"Come on, we'll grab a taxi to the nearest hotel," Bill told him.
As soon as he was sitting in the taxi, Harry was asleep. Bill shook him awake long enough for him to get out of the taxi. Harry stood there blinking as Bill leaned over the seat and handed the driver some muggle money. Each blink seemed to take longer than the one before it.
They had to stand at the reception desk for several minutes as the receptionist found them a room with two single beds. Harry tried to lean the heavy pack against the receptionist desk.
Eventually they made it to the room and Harry just flopped onto the bed. He was possibly asleep mid fall onto the bed.
Bill looked at the young teenager sprawled on the bed. Harry's stiff boots stuck off the edge of the bed slightly. Bill shook his head and poked Harry, "Boots off. Your ankles will thank you tomorrow."
Harry grumbled nonsense words as he curled up and pulled the boots off without untying them. He worked his way under the thin upper blanket and went back to sleep.
Bill turned the AC onto full blast before getting ready for bed himself. His years of traveling for work had helped him to adapt better to the jet lag and exhaustion of traveling. Sitting at the desk provided in the hotel, he penned a quick letter to Andrew and another to his mother. In the letter to his mother, he only mentioned that he had made it safely to his new job and wanted to let her know. He didn't mention that he had left a day later than originally planned.
A snore from Harry's bed made him realize his own tiredness. He sealed the letters and left them on the desk. Sliding under the sheets of the other bed, he was quickly asleep.
=-/123/-=
Chapter 4 done. I think I can officially say that I am procrastinating on my finals studying for this story.
Thanks for all the reviews so far! They definitely encouraged me to write this chapter quicker, so keep it up!
What do you think about the choice of Arizona? I've actually visited there before, so I felt like I could write it better than some other places that I'd never been to. What all should they get into while at Arizona? Where should they go next? What did you think about the second wand? Too unrealistic?
Let me know in a comment!