Hey guys! I can't believe it has been so long since I have updated... it's been what, 6 months? I can't believe myself. I really have no excuse other than highschool and writer's block. This chapter has been so hard to write, and I have no idea why. This chapter used to be around 4000 words, but I had to reset my IPad, which is where the document was saved, so now it has been about halved in length. I figured you guys wouldn't want to wait another few months for a longer chapter. Either way, I hope you enjoy! Happy reading!
"Hello Harry"
I raised my eyes to meet his, silently judging him. He met my eyes evenly, knowing that he would not have my trust just because of the dream. He looked much as he did then, with the silver hair and pale skin, wearing somewhat rumpled yet nice looking clothing. The difference was that now the feeling of power and knowledge seemed much more real, spread throughout the entire shop, almost mingling with the natural power in the air from the wands, leaving an intoxicating feeling of pure magic in the air.
"You are called Ollivander, then?" I asked, though it seemed obvious, as not only was that the name of the shop, but the way the wands accepted him made it clear that he was their maker.
"Indeed I am. Garrick Ollivander, to be precise." He spoke calmly, with a bright smile.
"I knew you would come here soon. There is much you must know, and even more still you have to learn, but first, we shall get you settled and fed." He chirped the last words cheerfully, before spinning and quickly walking to the back rooms of the shop, where I assumed he lived. I had to wonder, what did he mean by settled? I quickly followed so I could ask.
"Settled?" The calm, curious word was all it took to stop Ollivander in his tracks and get his complete attention. He whirled around, looking somewhat amused yet also surprised that I did not know what he was talking about. I shifted under his surprised stare.
"You do not have a place to stay, correct?" He asked, though I could tell he already knew the answer. Still though, I shook my head.
"I have been waiting for you for a while now. I knew you would eventually come here, so I have prepared a room just for you. I will not leave you without a home when I am perfectly able to give you one, so it is here you will stay for now." He said all this in a calm yet happy manner. While I do not yet know him or trust him, I do know that he has my best interests in mind, and that he will not do anything to harm me, so I am happy to accept his offer. Now, more than before, I know the value of a safe place to stay, where you can relax without any risk.
I nodded, showing him that I would stay, and he grinned, turning around and continuing on to where he was leading me. He went through a narrow hall, which opened up into a small room that has nothing but a shelf which held a candle and a few books, and a spiralling staircase in the corner. It was the staircase he went to, climbing up the stairs. It was also the staircase that gave the first hint that this building was more than it seemed, made of what looked like solid, polished mahogany, a smooth handrail and the posts holding up the handrail were covered in beautiful vine carvings. I quickly followed him up the stairs once I noticed he was waiting at the top for me to catch up. We continued into what I now realized was his home upstairs. It was very different from the shop, full of beautiful carved wood, mostly mahogany, ebony and cherry, and accents made of coloured glass and wrought iron. The room the staircase ended in was a small square room, obviously designed to just be an entry with a shoe mat, some slippers, and a coat rack. The walls were smooth cherry with decorative wrought iron panels in the shapes of trees and other plants. We continued into a hallway, wide enough for two people to stand next to each other. It opened up into six other rooms. Ollivander turned, and began talking.
"This first door here on the left leads to the study. For now, it is set up for just myself, but if you choose I can expand it and have another desk and bookshelf just for you. However, if you prefer, you could always use the one in your room." He offered, for which I was grateful. He was giving me the chance to make choices of my own, instead of attempting to control my life. I would never tell him right now, but I really do think that this would become my true home. I turned from my inspection of the room and nodded in thanks, to which he grinned. He waved us on.
"This room here, first on the right, is the library. You can read any book you would like, I won't tell you what you can and can't know, but I will advise you to carefully consider what you've read before developing an opinion on it or using the information. What is written in a book consists only of what the author knows, their beliefs, and their opinions, all of which are things you must develop for yourself. So be aware of what you read." He gave me this advice seriously, advice I knew I would take. His piece about the library said, we continued down the hallway.
"Here, second room on the left we have my bedroom. It has an attached bathroom, with my room being the only entrance." The room was gorgeous, I had to admit. A large mahogany four poster bed with deep red curtains with silver vine detailing, four bookshelves, a window and two tapestries, one of a Phoenix and one of a black Dragon hung on the wall. I looked over at him, and wondered why he looked as disheveled as he did when he had a home this nice. I knew I would eventually find out the answer though, so we went to the next room, which was straight across the hall.
"This is your room. I did not know what you would like, so I made it somewhat similar to mine, but we can change anything you would like different." He opened the door and gestured for me to enter first. When I did, I stopped short. The room was about the same size as Ollivander's, so somewhat large for a bedroom. The floor was mahogany, but the main area in the centre of the room had a thick, plush looking carpet in deep emerald green. The bed, pushed into the corner, was much the same as Ollivander's, a King sized four poster, but instead of plain mahogany, this one was mahogany with Ebony inlays for the frame and top. The posts were the really amazing part, being pure mahogany with wrought iron vines around them, which I noticed could also be used to hold back the curtains. The curtains were a nice dark shade of forest green with gold embroidered vines and flowers. There were also two bookshelves which I could fill with any book I wanted.
On the wall across from the bed there were two doors. I looked in the first one and saw a small office area with a mahogany desk. It had six drawers, three on either side of the chair, which was mahogany with ebony vine inlays on the chair and back. There were shelves above the desk, six of them in three layers, each layer split in half. On the walls there were beautiful wrought iron hangings, trees, birds, and what I guessed were runes, along with several magical creatures such as a phoenix and a griffin. I smiled inwardly, thinking that it was absolutely beautiful.
I walked out of the doorway and went to the next room. Opening the door, I looked in to see a bathroom. It was nice, not too big, and not too fancy. It had a simple shower with a black tile floor and green curtains that looked more like silk than any shower curtain I had ever seen, and tasteful blue tiling on the lower half of the walls, the tops simply painted blue. The sink was simple white, as were the toilet and the frame of the mirror. I noticed there was also a door leading out to the main hallway next to the sink, though it could be locked from the inside.
I walked out of that room as well, and turned to the doorway of my bedroom where Ollivander was still standing. He smiled and tilted his head, silently asking what I thought of the rooms. I gave him a small, barely there smile, and he grinned brightly in return.
"Follow me," he began. "There is one more room I would like you to see. It is the last room, here on the left. The door will only allow those to whom I give my permission to enter. It is the most important room in this home." His words were serious, and I was very interested to see the secrets that this room held for it to be so important. We reached the door, and he placed his hand on it.
"I, Garrick Ollivander, head of the house of Ollivander, do grant permission to Harry James Potter to enter this room when he so desires, so long as he does not bring another other than myself with him. So mote it be." His voice was strong and clear as he spoke. Once he finished, I felt old magic ripple along my skin and got the sensation it was judging me. I waited tensely for it to end, and nearly sighed with relief as it drew away, seeming to approve of me.
A quiet cough drew my attention, and I looked up to see Ollivander holding open the door to the last room, waiting for me to go through. I quickly stepped inside, and I could not stop my jaw from dropping. The room pulsed with magic, more so than the shop downstairs. I looked around, seeing many shelves lining the walls, though only some held anything. Those that did, around a hundred of them, all held a wand and a journal. In the centre of the room, there was a pedestal that held nothing but a wand.
"This room holds the wand of every Ollivander ever to have lived. The journals all hold far more pages than they look, and contain the records of their particular owner's lives, including any magical discoveries they made." He explained softly. I was in awe of the knowledge contained within this room. To have the knowledge of so many people in one place, and to be able to access it every day... I could not believe it, and yet, I had to. I looked at Ollivander, wondering what else was special about this room. He smiled, seeming to have caught the question in my eyes.
"Each of the wands is their personal wand, and the first wand they ever crafted. The first wand any Ollivander crafts is their own. Each of these wands holds the memories they felt were most important and those they thought should not be forgotten. The wand in the center of the room is the wand of the first Ollivander, the one who invented the Ollivander's style of wand making, the first style in the world that allowed someone to craft another's wand. Before that, everyone had to craft their own wand, a feat which requires much more magic than it does today. This lead to there being far less trained wizards in the past. Much knowledge was lost, for those who knew or discovered anything would not have many, or anyone to pass on the knowledge to before they died."
"The wand does not only contain his memories, but all of his knowledge. It is tradition for every Ollivander to grasp the wand sometime in the last year before they go to school, to allow them to make their own wand. We do not have to worry about gaining too much knowledge either, as he created and cast a now forgotten spell on his wand to judge the age, maturity, and trustworthiness of the one who holds it and to give out certain knowledge and memories based off of those criteria."
I stood there silently for some minutes, contemplating what I had just learned. I felt great respect for the one who had both left the wand and created such a spell, for he or she clearly knew the dangers of too much knowledge in the wrong hands. Also, for Ollivander to have trusted me with such information... Why? He only just met me?
"Thank you, but why?" That was all I said, but I knew he would understand. He smiled at me.
" I would like for you to become the next Ollivander, and, if you would let me, I would like to adopt you. It has long been an ability in my family to be able to sense a person's aura, and I know that you can sense magic because of that. Only those who can sense magic have the ability to make wands, along with some other talents know only to a few, all of which are known or know of by the Ollivanders." I was numb with shock. He wanted to adopt me? That would give him so much power over me, power I would never give to anyone. I was about to refuse immediately, when I began thinking more about it. Being adopted would ensure that no one other than him would be able to truly control me, and I could easily ask him to vow to never hurt me or force me to do anything I am unwilling to do. He also does not seem like the type of person who would be controlling or strict, and he would likely allow me to have my freedom.
"You will vow to never hurt me or force me to do anything unwillingly, and I will keep my freedom." I said firmly. He nodded.
"Those and any other vows either of us feel necessary will be reviewed and performed at the official ceremony." I nodded satisfied. Ollivander grinned at me brightly and I smiled slightly in return, a quiet thought running through the back of my head.
I finally have the chance at a family who loves me...
Word count: 2,378