Author's Note: Don't own anything but Arania (she was called Arabella but I changed it to make my life easier). Please vote in the poll about what house she should be in! Your opinions are valued and helpful.
Chapter Four:
The Professor, The Alchemist, and The Muggle Born
"Can we go to Flourish and Blotts first?" Asked Ara, and her father chuckled, shaking his head as they made their way out of the wizarding bank.
"Wouldn't it be better to do that last so you can spend more time there?" Her father propositioned, knowing full well just how long his daughter would take if they went to the bookstore first. Arania frowned for a moment before nodding her head sullenly.
"I guess that makes sense." She agreed. "Okay, what about Madam Malkin's first?" It was Nicholas' turn to crinkle his nose, causing Ara to laugh. "We have to start somewhere!" She exclaimed smiling from ear to ear. She could've picked anywhere else but she was getting him back for making her wait to go to the bookstore. Nothing got between her and her books.
"Fine, we'll go there first." Nicholas lamented, before motioning for her to go ahead of him towards the wizards and witches robes shop. Madam Malkin's was one of the shops open to the wizarding community that sold wizard apparel, and while it was a favorite of Perenelle's, it most certainly was not one of Nicholas'. To be truthful, Ara didn't really have an opinion on the shop. It was fine enough if you didn't include the gossiping seamstresses. Coming up to the purple shop, Ara opened the door, the bell above it alerting the people inside of the new customers.
"I'll be right with you dear. I take it you are here for school robes for the new semester?" Madam Malkin asked, and Ara nodded her head, causing the woman to sigh. There was no doubt that she had been getting a lot of customers due to the new school year, but seeing as Madam Malkin was a rather portly little woman with white hair specked with grey, she probably wasn't able to keep up as well as she used to.
The girl she was attending to now was standing on a little footstool, but there was not a parent in sight. Maybe they were gathering her other supplies, thought Ara. Which was most likely a great idea for Nicholas. It'll give him something to do.
"Papa, can you go gather my writing supplies? I'm sure I can handle getting my robes." Nicholas gave her a thankful look.
"Oh thank goodness, I was hoping you'd say that. Are you sure though kiddo?" He questioned, only sounding a little concerned. The prospect of freedom from a clothing shop was probably too much to bear for him, he looked already like he was just itching to go.
"Yes, I know you don't want to hang around in here until I'm done." She stated, and her father smiled. "Just meet me back here once you're done getting them."
"Alright, I'll see you then, darling." He pecked her on the top of her head before walking briskly out the door glad to be out of the robe shop, and no doubt ecstatic with getting out of at least some of the shopping. It was quiet in the shop after he'd left, and Ara found herself inspecting the rest of the inhabitants. She'd known Madam Malkin for a while but the bushy haired girl on the stool she didn't know at all.
"Alright, you are all set dear." Madam Malkin said to the other girl, and she hopped down from where she was standing.
"Do you mind if I stay here until my guardian gets back?" The girl asked, and Madam Malkin nodded.
"It's no problem dear." Malkin answered before looking to her other customer. "Your turn. Just pop on up here." She told Ara, and she followed her instructions brushing past the waiting girl on the way. They were all silent for a moment before the other girl piped up.
"Are you going to Hogwarts?" She asked, causing Ara to look at her.
"Yes, are you?" The girl nodded, but only stayed quiet for barely another second.
"All of this is so amazing!" She gushed, her legs swinging underneath the chair she was sitting on. Ara just shrugged in answer, not really knowing what to say having been around magic from a young age. She must be a muggle born.
"What's your name?" The girl asked, looking at Ara with a brown eyed stare.
"Arania Falor, and you?"
"My name's Hermione Granger. Are you from the non magical world, or from a wizard family?"
"I'm from a wizarding family." Arania answered cautiously, hopefully this girl wouldn't take it upon herself to look up the last name.
"My dad was muggle born though, so the family name hasn't been around for long among the wizarding community." She explained, quickly amending her earlier statement with a white lie. To be fair her father was technically muggle born, just he was born over 500 years ago. And it wasn't like she actually knew her magical blood status, she'd never asked, and never really cared about the answer anyway.
"What are muggles, if you don't mind me asking?" Ara stared at the other girl for a moment before answering her.
"Muggles are what the wizarding world call people who don't have magic, or can't use it. If you are muggle born it means you weren't born of magical parents, or of a combination of a magical parent and a non-magical one. You are considered pure blood if you have two parent from an only wizard line. Though I don't see how anyone is these days."
"Why is that?" Ara could sense Madam Malkin getting uncomfortable with the topic of conversation behind her as the older woman had stiffened. Ara didn't exactly know Malkin's stance on the whole blood purity thing, but hopefully she wasn't a purist. Maybe she was just waiting to see what Ara would say.
"Well, wizards and witches who aren't related to each other and are from pure lines are kind of in short stock. You know how muggles used to marry their cousins to keep the throne in the family or the money, or even their house?" Hermione nodded. "That's kind of like what it is for some pure bloods. There are some who could care less if one of their kids married a muggle or a muggle born, and then there are some who would disown their own children if they decided to marry someone who wasn't a pureblood, or at least a half blood."
"So how did I become a witch then? If muggles don't have magic." She inwardly groaned, good lord how was she supposed to explain this one? It was a large theory in the wizarding world, if you can count it as that. It was also part of a huge argument amongst the pure bloods who didn't what to taint their bloodlines with "dirty" blood. The Flamel family as a whole didn't really care wether or not you had pure blood, and Ara personally believed that pure bloods could do with a little perspective.
"No one really knows. There are some theories but the leading one is that somewhere far back along your bloodline you have at least one wizard and maybe they married a muggle. Some think it could happen if a squib married a muggle as well. Another theory is that it's all just a coincidence." Ara rambled a bit, not really knowing what to say.
"What's a squib?" Figures she'd ask that.
"A squib is a non-magical person born into a magical family. Sometimes they'll go on to marry muggles because it's sometimes hard to be married with someone who has magic and you might not. Not to mention some wizards believe it's worse to be a squib then a muggle. Some stupid hogwash about their blood not being magical enough."
"Does that mean I won't be as good at magic as someone who's from a wizarding family?"
"No! I mean no." Ara stated bringing her voice down a level after the exclamation. "Some of the greatest wizards and witches who have ever lived have been muggle born. And if you think about it, all of us wizards had to come from somewhere, so chances are we are all related to a witch, wizard, or muggle at some point." This seemed to appease the bushy haired girl greatly, and the shop was silent except for Madam Malkin working on Ara's robes.
"So you must be pretty familiar with the non-magical world then." Hermione guessed.
"Familiar enough. We aren't often around muggles."
"What about your grandparents?" Boy, this girl asks a lot of questions.
"They died before I was born." Ara said bluntly. Well at least that was true enough. They had died long before Ara was even thought of, let alone adopted by the Flamels. The other girl glanced out the window before jumping up from her seat, going instead to wait by the door for someone who Ara presumed was her guardian. The shop door opened causing the bell above it to jingle cheerily, but the woman who walked through certainly didn't match the sound. It was none other than Professor Minerva McGonagall.
"Are you all ready Miss Granger?" She asked briskly, and Hermione nodded before glancing at Ara who was still standing on the stool.
"Professor? Can we wait for Arania? It would be nice to have some company, I mean, only if she wants to of course." Hermione quickly added, and Ara did her best not to raise her eyebrows. Hermione seemed all right, and she must be pretty lonely if the first person she met she asked to come with her. Ara caught McGonagall eye, smirking slightly at the woman's expression.
"That would be great. Madam Malkin, am I almost done?" Ara said turning her head slightly to look at the seamstress.
"Just a few more stitches dear, and then you'll be free to go."
"We will have to wait for my dad before we leave, he went off to buy some of my other supplies." Ara explained to her soon to be shopping companions.
"No you don't." A voice said from the doorway, and it took all of Ara's will power not to jump a foot. "Minerva, how lovely it is to see you." Her father said, although McGonagall's face showing that it wasn't at all lovely. Turning to Hermione he held out his hand for her to shake, more than used to the muggle custom after over five hundred years of life. "Nikolo Falor, I'm Ara's dad."
"Nikolo, it is good to see you." McGonagall intoned, no doubt finding his slight change of his own name more than a little amusing. Not that Ara could blame her. Nikolo, really?
"You're all set dear." Madame Malkin said, using her wand to fold the clothes neatly into a bag which she then handed to Ara. "Have a good school year girls." She voiced sounding a bit robotic, before leading Nicholas away so he could pay for the robes.
"Hermione, where would you like to go next?" Ara asked as they waited for her father to finish paying.
"Well, I already have my robes and my books, what about if we go get potions supplies next?" Hermione reasoned, and Ara grinned. While the apothecary might not smell great, she had always loved helping her father with his potion making, something about the art just made her happy.
"That's fine with me. It's just up that way to the left." Ara motioned with her hand, pointing towards the little green shop positioned at the entrance to Diagon Alley. Just then her father and McGonagall came back, the latter with an almost sour expression marking her face.
"You girls ready?" Nicholas asked and the two eleven year olds nodded. "Okay, let's get going we have a lot of shops to go to."
"We decided on going to the apothecary first and then going from there to wherever else we needed to go." Ara explained.
"Alright, sounds like a plan."
The group headed off towards the apothecary, and from there went to Potage's Cauldron shop and Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment, a shop that sold magical instruments, to buy their telescopes. Hermione seemed to be fascinated by all of the objects, and they spent a while in there, Ara and Nicholas taking turns explaining the uses of certain instruments. Ara had just finished telling Hermione the purpose of a rememberall, when McGonagall walked over to the pair, her arms crossed over her chest.
"Ladies, in case you've forgotten this shopping trip is only to get your school supplies, not useless trinkets." She reminded them, causing Hermione to blush with embarrassment but Ara just laughed.
"We know that McGonagall. If that wasn't the case I would've already dragged us inside Broomstix or to Gambol and Japes." Ara drawled, earning her an incredulous look from Hermione and a eyebrow raise from the transfiguration professor.
"Just keep that in mind. Your father is buying who knows what at the moment and then we are going to Ollivanders." McGonagall stated before walking away, once she was gone Hermione turned to her, face still red.
"How can you do that? She's a professor!" Ara just shrugged, indifferent to the situation.
"We aren't in school in the moment, are we?" Hermione shook her head. "Then no need to worry about it. Plus McGonagall isn't nearly as solemn as she seems, she just puts on that mask because she supposed to be the more stern one compared to Dumbledore."
"Oh. Okay." Hermione seemed to accept that as an answer. "Are you nervous to get your wand?" Ara gave her an odd look.
"Nervous? No. I mean Ollivander's supposed to be really nice, and the only problem normally when looking for a wand is because it sometimes takes a little while." She didn't find the prospect very intimidating, having been around magic her whole life, but she supposed that it might be different for a muggle born.
"Ara, Hermione, we're all set! Time to go!" Nicholas called, now sporting a very heavy looking bag that had gold metal sticks poking out of the top of it. The girls followed him out into the street and farther down the alleyway before stopping outside of the wand shop.
"382 B.C.? They've been open that long?" Hermione questioned, and Ara nodded.
"Yep. The Ollivander family has been making wands for ages." She said, leading the way into the darkened wand shop. Inside, you could see the dust swirling in the light and an elderly man in an old fashioned muggle suit sat behind a counter. Noticing his customers he stood up carefully, clearing his throat as he did. Coming around the side he grasped one of Nicholas' hands in both of his, smiling.
"It's been a while, Nikolo." Ara frowned at that, how many people knew about the ruse? This would never work if everyone they met knew who her father was pretending to be.
"Indeed, it has." Nicholas agreed, also smiling. Ollivander released his hand turning now instead to McGonagall.
"Minerva, my dear! Still have your wand I take it? Fir and dragon heartstring, nine and a half inches, very stiff, good with transfiguration?"
"Yes, I still have it. It has served me well." Minerva said, the corners of her mouth turning up into a genuine smile. "But that's not why we're here, as you know."
"Ah yes, of course!" He said clapping his hands once and turning to both of the girls. "It feels like it was just yesterday when I was giving your father his wand, Miss Falor. Unicorn hair core, and..." He trailed off, a frown marring his face. "I don't remember the wood, I'm afraid." At this Ara frowned, her father's wand was made of applewood with a phoenix feather for the core... Not to mention Ollivander was known for always remembering every wand he'd every sold, which included the length and wood type. Unless he was talking about her biological father... How did he know who her father was? But she didn't get a chance to ask him, as he had already turned to Hermione.
"Hermione Granger, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm sure you will start a very long line of wizards after yourself." At this Hermione blushed at his words. "We'll have you go first, yes?" With that he turned away from the girls. "Are you right handed or left handed?" He asked over his shoulder as he went deeper into his shop.
"I'm left handed." Hermione said, her voice higher than usual.
"Excellent, that will be your wand arm." They could hear him rummage around a bit in the back. "Ah this one would be a good try." He came back out into the front area of the store holding a wand box in one hand, and a wand in the other. He handed it towards Hermione handle first, and she just stared up at him.
"Hermione, you're supposed to take it from him." Ara whispered after a few seconds of the brunette just staring at the wooden rod. Ara's words seemed to urge her on, because she wiped her sweaty hands on her jeans before hesitantly taking hold of the wand.
"Don't just stand there, wave it around a bit!" Ollivander demanded, and startled Hermione did just that, except before she could so much as move it more than a little he snatched it back from her hand. "Not that one then." He commented, going back to the rear shelves.
"But- but why?" Hermione questioned confused, exchanging a look with Ara.
"The wand chooses the wizard Miss Granger, or in your case the witch." Ollivander quipped, once again standing beside them, a new wand and case on his hands. "Try this one, rosewood 11 1/2 inches, very springy." He handed it to her and this time when Hermione waved the wand she pointed it at the lamp on his desk. Which was not a good idea. The lamp shattered, and Ollivander plucked the wand from Hermione, not seeming to notice his broken lamp. "Apparently not."
"How many tries does it normally take?" Hermione muttered, sounding nervous.
"As many as it must." McGonagall answered, her clipped tone causing Hermione to blush, as she had been directing the question at Ara. "Getting a wand is of the upmost importance Miss Granger, one does not take this lightly."
"Of for goodness sakes Minerva, lighten up a little! This is a memorable moment! She's getting her first wand, it's a big deal." Nicholas said, trying to get the professor to let up a little on the poor girl. "Don't you remember first getting your wand? How excited you were? How nervous? And when you finally got to the right one it made your hands tingle and instantly you loved it?"
"Yes, Nikolo, I remember." McGonagall said sounding a little wistful as her eyes moved about the shop to look at the countless wand boxes. "Miss Granger, the important thing is to remember that it takes so long because it must. One does not hurry when finding something that will be your constant friend and guardian for the next many years." They were interrupted from that melancholy note when Ollivander came shuffling back into the room.
"Miss Granger, let's see about this one, hmm?" Ollivander stated handing her a wand made of a pale green wood. Hermione gingerly grasped the wand, and gave it a wave, but this time nothing shattered and Ollivander didn't take it from her. Her hair ruffled and a look of awe spread across her face. "I do believe this is the one. 12 1/2 inches, dragon heartstring core, vine, quite wippy. I do believe it will suit you well." He commented brightly, causing Hermione to both blush and beam.
"I will pay for her wand after Arania is done buying hers." McGonagall stated, and Ollivander nodded.
"That's fine. Miss Falor? Which arm is your wand arm?"
"My right one." Ara answered, craning her neck to see over the large front counter so she could see what he was reaching for.
"Excellent, let's try this one, yes?" He asked handing her a wand of a dark red auburn color. She grasped it carefully in her hand, feeling the wooden handle against her palm. She peered around the shop, before seeing what she was looking for; a stack of books on top of a rickety old fashioned chair. Pointing the wand at the books, she waved the books and was about to mutter an incantation under her breath before catching her father's eye. He shook his head. Right. No underage magic. So instead she just waved and pointed, sending the books flying into the wall.
"No that is certainly not the one." Ollivander said, taking the wand from her hand before she could do any more damage to his shop. He eyed her for a moment before his mouth turning up into a half smile. "Excellent form already, my dear. Your teachers will earn a valuable student. Hold on let me find another wand for you to try."
But apparently that wasn't to happen. Wand after wand they tried and every time, every single wand seemed to reject Ara. Some would shoot out blue and gold sparks, some made things shatter, and one specific one caused poor Ollivander to jump to the side to avoid being struck with a red light. Hermione had taken a seat by the window and Minerva was leaning up against a wooden shelf, tapping her foot every so often to remind everyone she was there.
"Little wren, this is certainly shaping up to be a challenge." Nicholas said, before giving a short chuckle. "You never do make this parenting business easy do you?"
"It's not my fault, Papa. None of the wands seem to agree with me." Ara huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. When people had said that getting a wand could take a while, somehow she didn't think they meant more than two hours.
"Don'to worry about it Miss Falor, I always enjoy a difficult find." Ollivander said from where he was rifling through one of the shelves. "You just have a very specific wand waiting for you. I'm sure we'll find it."
"Is there a type of wood you haven't tried yet?" Nicholas asked, walking over to stand by the elderly wandmaker. The old man stopped for a moment, scratching his head, before suddenly he whipped his head around.
"There is a few... But I can only think of one type of wood that would suit her well. Unfortunately, none of those wands have been made in this century. The last one was made by my grandfather in 1872."
"But you know where they are?" Ara questioned, unfolding her arms from her chest. Am I finally going to get a wand?
"They are rather far back... and they are of a special make. So it would be required for me to know a little bit more about your... Preferred type of magic."
"Preferred type of magic?" Ara questioned. Oh no he'd noticed.
"Yes." Ollivander stated hesitantly, glancing over at the school professor in the shop. "Why don't you come help me find it?" What?!
Once again, review, vote in the poll, etc! Any people who want to beta please message me! Thank you to those of you who have voted! It's very helpful! Special thank you to my guest reviewers, it's nice to have some outside input. So anyway... How does Ollivander know her biological father? What did Ollivander notice? And what kind of wand is it that is so old, yet so fitting for Ara? Find out in the next chapter of A Flame to Behold! (Feel free to guess as well, I'd love to hear your thoughts!)