Chapter Four: Wild Vultures and Wild Wands
"I'm just saying he could be a danger to the students."
"Faustas? Dangerous? Only if someone was trying to hurt me. Please Professor Dumbledore, he's a lot better behaved than most of those Slytherin people! You can't treat Faustas like just another bird, ask professor de La Vega-"
"I've tried to reach the Professor several times Lucy. I sent an owl finally yesterday, but this trans-atlantic post is always so touchy, I can't be sure when we will receive a reply."
"But that doesn't mean you should send him away! Professor, I know this may sound strange, but it was a tremendous honor to have Faustas come with me. I thought they would just send one of the institute falcons, but Faustas is a tierra guardian, they only ever leave the land they protect on very special circumstances. This hasn't happened in over six generations, and I think only because I've been there for so long and Faustas and I-"
"Professor you don't really intend to let that stay?"
"But you let owls stay!"
Professor McGonagall gave Lucy a sharp look. "Owls are civilized mail carriers AND pre-authorized pets for Hogwarts students. A huge wild vulture-"
Fuastas snapped at McGonagall. "See! I told you he was dangerous."
Lucy looked at Faustas, and back to McGonagall, and said in a hushed voice, "He only did that professor, because you insulted him in the worst way possible. Faustas takes the form of a red shouldered hawk. Only the eternally condemned come back as vultures."
McGonagall gave a "Hrmph," and muttered under her breath about , "ruddy westerners with their finicky spirirts and hocus pocus."
"That's enough," Dumbledore sounded as tired as he felt. He had had no idea how difficult the transition from Espiritu to Hogwarts was for Lucy, but he had previous expereince with creatures like Faustas, and he had no intention of asking what, in the most simple sense, was a lower level god, to pack his bags and go home. "Lucy, where would Faustas be most comfortable, inside or out?"
Lucy, who had been expecting another battle, was shocked. "I-I- I'm not exactly sure, sir. He needs the open sky of course, but I'm afraid he's not quite prepared for the weather."
::Kindly don't patronize me, infante. I'll do quite well on my own, just make them promise not to shoot me if I do choose to come inside, si?::
Lucy supressed a giggle as Faustas spoke inside her head, and smiled. "Well, he seems to perfer outdoors at the moment, sir, although he would like to be sure that he won't be," she stole a glance at McGonagall, "harassed, should he need to come indoors."
"Does he need to eat?"
Lucy frowned, "They never say, sir. He has favorite foods, of course, but whether he asks me for them because he likes the taste or he actually needs the nourishment he won't say. There's an awful lot we don't know about tierra guardians, sir, and they like to keep it that way."
"I see," Dumbledore swore that the huge bird was grinning at his ward, "does he need any special arrangements inside?"
He watched Lucy's forehead wrinkle a bit in the middle, the pose she often took when "mind-speaking" with Faustas, then her eyes refocused and she shrugged. "He won't say where he's going to live outside, but it won't be the owlry, he finds it somewhat," she searched for a less insulting pharse than 'glorified outhouse', "distastefull. But inside, all he needs is a decent perch in the Gryffindor common room and one on my room, he doesn't want to damaged the furniture."
"How considerate of you Faustas, I'm sure Hagrid will find you something in the morning."
Faustas bobbed his head.
Lucy grinned and scratched under his chin.
Professor McGonagall crossed her arms and stared at the large bird dissapprovingly.
The rest of the week passed relatively normally at Hogwarts. Faustas's frequent presence in the fifth year girls bedroom finally forced Parvati, Lavender, and the rest of the girls to start talking to the new arrival, and their gwaking at Lucy rapidly diminshed. By the weekened she was more or less normal as far as they were concerned.
But the weekend brought its own problems. Once it was out that there was an expedition leaving for Diagon Ally, every student wanted to go to, for some vital piece of school equipment they couldn't live without. McGonagall settled the matter, allowing fifth year Griyffindors to tag along, for the purpose of "getting better acquainted." As much as McGonagall detested Faustas, Dumbledore had filled her on on what he knew of Lucy's difficulties, and she agreed that a little bonding time with her classmates would do her good.
Lucy wasn't so sure.
"You'll be fine! There's nothing to worry about, honest! Once we get there, everyone will scatter to shop anyway, it'll just be you, Hagrid, and Faustas." Hermione had taken to including Faustas at all times. The large bird became more personable every day, and although Hermione might never develop the ability to "listen" to him, the two understood each other remarkably well.
"Easy for you to say! You know these people, I don't! The girls are ok, but the boys treat me like some sort of walking sideshow. They're as bad as that Malfoy character.!"
Hermione laughed, and pulled Lucy down the hall. They were travelling by some special sort of "one way" flu powder, out of Dumbledore's office, there was no time for the express. The return trip should dump them off somwhere in Hogsmeade. Lucy didn't much care, anything was better than Juaquin's botched gating job.
"Don't ever let Harry or Ron catch you comparing them to Malfoy and his like. The rivalry has gotten downright dangerous ever since-" Hermione's voice broke a little, she didn't need to finish, Lucy could easily "lift" the high emotions out of her head.
'Since that boy," Lucy didn't use Cedric's name to mak it easier for Hermione, who nodded. Lucy nodded back, and they didn't speak the rest of the way into the office.
The man in the wand shop made Lucy nervous, very nervous. Then again, there was nothing about Diagon Ally that particularly appealed to her. It was crowded and smelly and dark and dank, and she would have sold her soul just for one glimpse at the desert sunsent.
As it was Hagrid, along with everyone else who had heard, was suffieciently disgusted at her lack of wand that he dragged her off to get one first thing. So at the moment, she found herself waving idiotically every piece of wood the tottering old man thrust at her. She just didn't understand why she needed one, because that's all that they were to her, dead trees. She'd worked through several cases when the man suddenly stopped.
"Where did you say you were from again?"
"N-New Mexico," Lucy stammered, surprised at the question.
The little man dissapeered into the back, then returned, carrying a tightly rolled piece of fabric, tied with a leather thong. He untied it, letting the fabirc roll open, revealing a dark wand.
But Lucy wasn't looking at the wand, she was looking at the fabric. "Where did you get this?"
The little man smiled. "I didn't, my grandfather was a boy when a man came into the shop. Now, as a rule we don't take other craftsman's work to sell, not if we don't know them, too risky. But there was something about this man, a foriegner, that my great-grandfather trusted. The stranger would only sell us this one, however. And said that when the time was right, the student would appear. That wand has sat in the back ever since."
Lucy ran her hands over the fabric. "There is a much larger tapestry of this design hanging on the wall outside my room at home. It was woven by one of the most famous Espiritu graduates. It's priceless."
She was still staring at it when the old man gently placed the wand in her hand. As she slowly rotated her arm bright red fiery light exploded in an arc from the tip.
" 9 ½ inches, sequoia and bald eagle feather, two rare elements that only exist on the other side of the world. I should have known it wouldn't want anyone from around here. It's yours."
Lucy looked down at the wand. The man was right, there was something about it that didn't quite fit with the other wands in the store. "Made for a barbarian, huh?" She grinned.
The man smiled and shook his head "I think it just needed someone who would understand it. Let's wrap it up for you now, shall we?"
Lucy nodded and followed the man to the counter, where the wand was re-wrapped in the colorful cloth, and Lucy paid him out of the money she had been sent with. The man winked at her on her way out, and it gave her an extra bit of courage.
"How much money do ye got there?" asked Hagrid as they made their way back onto the street. Lucy could see the other Gryffindor's in dense little packs, coming out of stores or buying something to eat. At this point she was glad she was alone.
"Not much, we'll have to go talk to the people at Gringotts," she sighed, "and see how much money Espitiru was
Espiritu was able to put in the trust for me."
That wasn't much. Lucy wasn't surprised, it was evena little more than she expected. She knew she was at Hogwarts on scholarship. And the scholarship didn't provide for much else besides the basics. The wand had been the only thing Profesor de La Vega had insisted she buy top of the line, everything else they didn't send with her would have to be got at second hand.
When Lucy pointed them towards "Astrid's Previously-Owned-But-Virutally-Undamaged Wares For Wizards", Hagrid gave her a surprised look, then as if he seemed to understand, smiled at her, and didn't say a word. And fortunately, Lucy was used to haggling at the markets in the villages around Espiritu, and with the various tribe members who stopped by the Institute. With her quick tongue and Hagrid's imposing presence, she was able to purchase all her books and materials (most, with the exception of the only potions book available, in rather good condition) for far less than "Astrid" would have charged her for.
She did pause a moment to ponder buying herself a set of the usual Hogwarts black robes, but the ones available at Astrid's were horrendous, and since fitting in wasn't exactly a necessity, she decided against it. She'd already written back home, and if Diego's mother, whom everyone called Mama Rosa, heard anything about it, Lucy was sure she'd have a set of black "Espiritu style" robes by Navidad.
They were headed back the way they had come, to deposit the rest of Lucy's money (minus the personal stipend she was taking with her to Hogwarts) back into the trust at Gringotts, when Hermione, Lavender, and Parvati ran up to them.
"Are you done yet? I'm starving, and Lavender's been whining for over an hour-"
"I have not!"
"-So we're going to grab lunch, come on!"
Lucy could barely make sense of the whole thing, but Hagrid laughed, took the bag of money to be returned, and gently shoved Lucy toward Hermione, who whisked her away into the crowd, followed by Lavander and Parvati.
"Where are the guys?" She asked when the world stopped spinning and the others led her to a small table just outside "Miracle Morry's Café".
"Still looking at exploding something-or-others," sighed Hermione. "They said they'd meet us here when they were done, which may be never, so WE are DEFINITELY not waiting to order."
Lucy grinned, and fashined a stand for Faustas out of a wooden chair with all girls' shoping bags piled on it to compensate for the hawk's weight, so he wouldn't tip it. Faustas stepped gently from Lucy's shoulder to the improvosed perch, and, apprantly pleased, set about grooming himself.
They had just started their meal (Lucy, used to Mama Rosa's cooking and not sure what to order, had played it safe with a sandwhich), when Harry, Ron, and Shamus elbowed their way to the table, dragging in extra chairs to sit on.
"Find what you were looking for?" Hermione looked at the boys with a raised eyebrow.
Ron grinned, in bliss, "All that we wanted and more, I think we even found some new stuff that not even Fred and George have!"
Laveder rolled her eyes at the other girls, "Wonderful, just what we need."
Lucy gave her a sympathetic grin, scratched Faustas under his chin, and sat back to listen to the boys' description of their new toys.
"I'm just saying he could be a danger to the students."
"Faustas? Dangerous? Only if someone was trying to hurt me. Please Professor Dumbledore, he's a lot better behaved than most of those Slytherin people! You can't treat Faustas like just another bird, ask professor de La Vega-"
"I've tried to reach the Professor several times Lucy. I sent an owl finally yesterday, but this trans-atlantic post is always so touchy, I can't be sure when we will receive a reply."
"But that doesn't mean you should send him away! Professor, I know this may sound strange, but it was a tremendous honor to have Faustas come with me. I thought they would just send one of the institute falcons, but Faustas is a tierra guardian, they only ever leave the land they protect on very special circumstances. This hasn't happened in over six generations, and I think only because I've been there for so long and Faustas and I-"
"Professor you don't really intend to let that stay?"
"But you let owls stay!"
Professor McGonagall gave Lucy a sharp look. "Owls are civilized mail carriers AND pre-authorized pets for Hogwarts students. A huge wild vulture-"
Fuastas snapped at McGonagall. "See! I told you he was dangerous."
Lucy looked at Faustas, and back to McGonagall, and said in a hushed voice, "He only did that professor, because you insulted him in the worst way possible. Faustas takes the form of a red shouldered hawk. Only the eternally condemned come back as vultures."
McGonagall gave a "Hrmph," and muttered under her breath about , "ruddy westerners with their finicky spirirts and hocus pocus."
"That's enough," Dumbledore sounded as tired as he felt. He had had no idea how difficult the transition from Espiritu to Hogwarts was for Lucy, but he had previous expereince with creatures like Faustas, and he had no intention of asking what, in the most simple sense, was a lower level god, to pack his bags and go home. "Lucy, where would Faustas be most comfortable, inside or out?"
Lucy, who had been expecting another battle, was shocked. "I-I- I'm not exactly sure, sir. He needs the open sky of course, but I'm afraid he's not quite prepared for the weather."
::Kindly don't patronize me, infante. I'll do quite well on my own, just make them promise not to shoot me if I do choose to come inside, si?::
Lucy supressed a giggle as Faustas spoke inside her head, and smiled. "Well, he seems to perfer outdoors at the moment, sir, although he would like to be sure that he won't be," she stole a glance at McGonagall, "harassed, should he need to come indoors."
"Does he need to eat?"
Lucy frowned, "They never say, sir. He has favorite foods, of course, but whether he asks me for them because he likes the taste or he actually needs the nourishment he won't say. There's an awful lot we don't know about tierra guardians, sir, and they like to keep it that way."
"I see," Dumbledore swore that the huge bird was grinning at his ward, "does he need any special arrangements inside?"
He watched Lucy's forehead wrinkle a bit in the middle, the pose she often took when "mind-speaking" with Faustas, then her eyes refocused and she shrugged. "He won't say where he's going to live outside, but it won't be the owlry, he finds it somewhat," she searched for a less insulting pharse than 'glorified outhouse', "distastefull. But inside, all he needs is a decent perch in the Gryffindor common room and one on my room, he doesn't want to damaged the furniture."
"How considerate of you Faustas, I'm sure Hagrid will find you something in the morning."
Faustas bobbed his head.
Lucy grinned and scratched under his chin.
Professor McGonagall crossed her arms and stared at the large bird dissapprovingly.
The rest of the week passed relatively normally at Hogwarts. Faustas's frequent presence in the fifth year girls bedroom finally forced Parvati, Lavender, and the rest of the girls to start talking to the new arrival, and their gwaking at Lucy rapidly diminshed. By the weekened she was more or less normal as far as they were concerned.
But the weekend brought its own problems. Once it was out that there was an expedition leaving for Diagon Ally, every student wanted to go to, for some vital piece of school equipment they couldn't live without. McGonagall settled the matter, allowing fifth year Griyffindors to tag along, for the purpose of "getting better acquainted." As much as McGonagall detested Faustas, Dumbledore had filled her on on what he knew of Lucy's difficulties, and she agreed that a little bonding time with her classmates would do her good.
Lucy wasn't so sure.
"You'll be fine! There's nothing to worry about, honest! Once we get there, everyone will scatter to shop anyway, it'll just be you, Hagrid, and Faustas." Hermione had taken to including Faustas at all times. The large bird became more personable every day, and although Hermione might never develop the ability to "listen" to him, the two understood each other remarkably well.
"Easy for you to say! You know these people, I don't! The girls are ok, but the boys treat me like some sort of walking sideshow. They're as bad as that Malfoy character.!"
Hermione laughed, and pulled Lucy down the hall. They were travelling by some special sort of "one way" flu powder, out of Dumbledore's office, there was no time for the express. The return trip should dump them off somwhere in Hogsmeade. Lucy didn't much care, anything was better than Juaquin's botched gating job.
"Don't ever let Harry or Ron catch you comparing them to Malfoy and his like. The rivalry has gotten downright dangerous ever since-" Hermione's voice broke a little, she didn't need to finish, Lucy could easily "lift" the high emotions out of her head.
'Since that boy," Lucy didn't use Cedric's name to mak it easier for Hermione, who nodded. Lucy nodded back, and they didn't speak the rest of the way into the office.
The man in the wand shop made Lucy nervous, very nervous. Then again, there was nothing about Diagon Ally that particularly appealed to her. It was crowded and smelly and dark and dank, and she would have sold her soul just for one glimpse at the desert sunsent.
As it was Hagrid, along with everyone else who had heard, was suffieciently disgusted at her lack of wand that he dragged her off to get one first thing. So at the moment, she found herself waving idiotically every piece of wood the tottering old man thrust at her. She just didn't understand why she needed one, because that's all that they were to her, dead trees. She'd worked through several cases when the man suddenly stopped.
"Where did you say you were from again?"
"N-New Mexico," Lucy stammered, surprised at the question.
The little man dissapeered into the back, then returned, carrying a tightly rolled piece of fabric, tied with a leather thong. He untied it, letting the fabirc roll open, revealing a dark wand.
But Lucy wasn't looking at the wand, she was looking at the fabric. "Where did you get this?"
The little man smiled. "I didn't, my grandfather was a boy when a man came into the shop. Now, as a rule we don't take other craftsman's work to sell, not if we don't know them, too risky. But there was something about this man, a foriegner, that my great-grandfather trusted. The stranger would only sell us this one, however. And said that when the time was right, the student would appear. That wand has sat in the back ever since."
Lucy ran her hands over the fabric. "There is a much larger tapestry of this design hanging on the wall outside my room at home. It was woven by one of the most famous Espiritu graduates. It's priceless."
She was still staring at it when the old man gently placed the wand in her hand. As she slowly rotated her arm bright red fiery light exploded in an arc from the tip.
" 9 ½ inches, sequoia and bald eagle feather, two rare elements that only exist on the other side of the world. I should have known it wouldn't want anyone from around here. It's yours."
Lucy looked down at the wand. The man was right, there was something about it that didn't quite fit with the other wands in the store. "Made for a barbarian, huh?" She grinned.
The man smiled and shook his head "I think it just needed someone who would understand it. Let's wrap it up for you now, shall we?"
Lucy nodded and followed the man to the counter, where the wand was re-wrapped in the colorful cloth, and Lucy paid him out of the money she had been sent with. The man winked at her on her way out, and it gave her an extra bit of courage.
"How much money do ye got there?" asked Hagrid as they made their way back onto the street. Lucy could see the other Gryffindor's in dense little packs, coming out of stores or buying something to eat. At this point she was glad she was alone.
"Not much, we'll have to go talk to the people at Gringotts," she sighed, "and see how much money Espitiru was
Espiritu was able to put in the trust for me."
That wasn't much. Lucy wasn't surprised, it was evena little more than she expected. She knew she was at Hogwarts on scholarship. And the scholarship didn't provide for much else besides the basics. The wand had been the only thing Profesor de La Vega had insisted she buy top of the line, everything else they didn't send with her would have to be got at second hand.
When Lucy pointed them towards "Astrid's Previously-Owned-But-Virutally-Undamaged Wares For Wizards", Hagrid gave her a surprised look, then as if he seemed to understand, smiled at her, and didn't say a word. And fortunately, Lucy was used to haggling at the markets in the villages around Espiritu, and with the various tribe members who stopped by the Institute. With her quick tongue and Hagrid's imposing presence, she was able to purchase all her books and materials (most, with the exception of the only potions book available, in rather good condition) for far less than "Astrid" would have charged her for.
She did pause a moment to ponder buying herself a set of the usual Hogwarts black robes, but the ones available at Astrid's were horrendous, and since fitting in wasn't exactly a necessity, she decided against it. She'd already written back home, and if Diego's mother, whom everyone called Mama Rosa, heard anything about it, Lucy was sure she'd have a set of black "Espiritu style" robes by Navidad.
They were headed back the way they had come, to deposit the rest of Lucy's money (minus the personal stipend she was taking with her to Hogwarts) back into the trust at Gringotts, when Hermione, Lavender, and Parvati ran up to them.
"Are you done yet? I'm starving, and Lavender's been whining for over an hour-"
"I have not!"
"-So we're going to grab lunch, come on!"
Lucy could barely make sense of the whole thing, but Hagrid laughed, took the bag of money to be returned, and gently shoved Lucy toward Hermione, who whisked her away into the crowd, followed by Lavander and Parvati.
"Where are the guys?" She asked when the world stopped spinning and the others led her to a small table just outside "Miracle Morry's Café".
"Still looking at exploding something-or-others," sighed Hermione. "They said they'd meet us here when they were done, which may be never, so WE are DEFINITELY not waiting to order."
Lucy grinned, and fashined a stand for Faustas out of a wooden chair with all girls' shoping bags piled on it to compensate for the hawk's weight, so he wouldn't tip it. Faustas stepped gently from Lucy's shoulder to the improvosed perch, and, apprantly pleased, set about grooming himself.
They had just started their meal (Lucy, used to Mama Rosa's cooking and not sure what to order, had played it safe with a sandwhich), when Harry, Ron, and Shamus elbowed their way to the table, dragging in extra chairs to sit on.
"Find what you were looking for?" Hermione looked at the boys with a raised eyebrow.
Ron grinned, in bliss, "All that we wanted and more, I think we even found some new stuff that not even Fred and George have!"
Laveder rolled her eyes at the other girls, "Wonderful, just what we need."
Lucy gave her a sympathetic grin, scratched Faustas under his chin, and sat back to listen to the boys' description of their new toys.