Chapter 5: The Dark corners
Arcturus Black stepped in the manor that had been his adobe for a few decades or so. He had relinquished his previous family house, 12th Grimauld place, to his elder son, Orion Pollux black. While the other house, that in London, was in the hands of his second son, the younger one, Cygnus Arcturus Black.
Whereas Orion was rather a subdued man under his own wife, Cygus was just opposite. An authoritive man that had no regards for anyone but himself, but still, Orion was the cunning one of the two. However he may behave around or with his wife, his wits were nearly as sharp as Arcturus himself.
On the adverse side his daughter in laws were not alike their respective husbands, whereas Walburga was loud and obnoxious woman, much like a banshee. On the other hand, Druella was calm and composed woman just opposite to Cygnus. He never understood what drew Orion to the loud mouthed banshee that he married her, She was the reasons why his heir, Sirius, wasn't keen on supporting his family.
His eldest grandson was a replica of Orion, he was a bit joyful in nature but his mind was as sharp as any Black, that was evident by his performance through his years in Hogwarts. He was the sole Black to be ever sorted into Gryffindor, a lone swan in a murder of crows. Arcturus cannot say he didn't felt his heir's allegiance a little mocking, still he was a Black and did behave like one when asked of.
His second grandson, Regulus, was calmest of his five grandchildren, one calm lonely crow that didn't followed anyone. Although, untill Sirius hadn't started his years in Hogwarts the two brothers shared a strong relationship, Arcturus suspected it was Walburga's influence on the younger brother that had led him to solitude. According to Walburga, Sirius wasn't the worthy heir for Black family, a worthy heir ought to be ruthless, unyielding and cunning unlike Walburga's description that was of an extreme blood purist.
In an not un-foreseen manner Arcturus himself was an extreme blood purist, untill and uptill, the war with Grindlewald. That war taught him comradeship, His family at the beginning of the war supported the much renowned and powerful Lord, however as the war took its toll Arcturus lost his father and elder brother. While his brother was killed in a duel, his father was disposed off by Grindlewald, he rendered his father useless as the Black family wealth wasn't in favorable conditions. Arcturus fuelled with revenge didn't followed his father or brother's footsteps, instead he invested his first few year after graduating from Hogwarts to refill his family treasures and reclaimed the former standing of his House.
He fought against Grindlewald in the war and formed an unexpected alliance with Charlus Potter, who himself was fuelled with revenge as Grindlewald had killed Henry Potter, Charlus's father. The Potter family was an old warrior family, not the one to remain stationed if one of them is in danger. The wars, that they had fought as a warrior clan against Dark lords even before Grindlewald, did take toll on the family, nonetheless, there was only one branch of Potter living.
This comradeship turned into an unlikely relation when Dorea black, his sister, revealed her feelings for the man. The marriage shocked and offended many in the Wizarding Britain, as Black family and Potter family were on the flip side for years. His nephew, James, was only shadow of his father untill now, the boy was bright but he didn't had motivation to be as powerful as his father. This brought Arcturus thoughts to his second son, or as the boy was depicted, Harry Sirius Potter was an even match for Charlus.
The amount of scars scattered across the boy's body, that too only on the little skin that was visible underneath his clothes, told story of a Warrior. The orbs of emerald that shone bright every time the boy's aura reflect it self on instinct was rather an intimidating sight, and his magic felt cold, much similar to Blacks, rather than the warm magic of Potters.
Harry Potter wan an enigma, the story that Charlus had read him about the individual ,Voldemort, if they were real then the boy was surely powerful to be able to kill the wizard. And, Arcturus had very little to not trust the man's word.
That also raised the issue of his heir, Harry was protective of the boy there was no illusion or faulting in that. At first he had the thought to use the boy as an ally, but the boy was sly but assertive in his approach, on top of that his personality raised alarm in Arcturus mind to stay on guard in front of the boy.
Even if the boy was James's son, he was not even a little bit like the arrogant, jolly and careless boy James was. No, Harry was mature; more than his age, cunning; in every way possible, assertive; yet natural in his approach and confident in his abilities; but not arrogant. Grudgingly, He admitted that the boy was more Black than any current member of Black family, excluding himself, he ,of course, was the Baron Arcturus Black, nightmare of every bugger out there.
Another concern that followed this list was that of the jib that Harry took on him, Walburga and Cygnus were somewhere the wrong and unpleasant link across the chain of the family for the new Potter. And, He reckoned that he would tolerate them in near future, the disdain and hatred in his voice even while taking a jib on their name didn't went unnoticed by the Black family patriarch.
A Family meeting was due, there was much to ponder about, things couldn't go as they were.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
The next week after the prolonged discussion with the Black family patriarch can be, justifically, refered as hectic for Harry. Charlus had arranged for him to take his exams in the week in audience of the chief educational reformer, Maria Marchbanks. The women was much more younger than Harry remember, she was one of the few ministry officials that Harry had informal contact with. She was Professor McGonagall's friend, thus he was acquitted with her. The surprise came in the form of Maria sharing with him that she was friends with Dorea too. Mrs McGonagall, Dorea potter and She were school time friends and met quite frequently over cups of coffee and tea.
The exams consumed the the first five days of the week, the theoretical and practical exams were alternated on the same day through a two seating schedule throughout the week, and results were due on the Sunday, normally the result took quite sometime but as he was the solo recipient for the untimely exams, tardiness in results delivery didn't served anyone well. Maria had agreed to keep his identity secret untill Charlus himself discloses the issue infront of the press. Her friendship with Dorea did suggest why she had adopted a softer approach for Harry while he had given his exams of potion in ministry years back, as on the day of his potions exam he was in ministry fighting for the prophecy.
The result came in the morning of last day of weekend through a ministry owl. The ministry owls behave as stoically as ministry agents themselves, the brown scabrous owl perched on his table was the even example of that.
The table was his study station that he uses to research more about different types of magic. He had, unofficially, completed the syllabus for all seven years of Hogwarts times back, there was no need to study those topics repeatedly. The subjects that were being taught there now were not that unfamiliar to him, so he doesn't need to worry about those. Moreover, he specialized in Transfiguration, Charms and DADA. Potion was not his cup of tea thus he was working on that subject before his last battle with Tom. He tossed a piece of bacon, that was left out of his breakfast, to the bird after retrieving his letter from it's talon.
Undoubtedly, He had gotten Outstanding in most of his subjects and, an intended, Acceptable and Exceeds expectations in Astronomy and Arithmency, respectively. He didn't wanted Divination or Astronomy for known purposes, while Arithmency was still useful to him as many of the runes, that he learnt from Hermione, were based on those values.
He quickly set down the parchment and duplicated it to send one to Dumbledore, as instructed by Charlus, and the other to show his family. The swish of his wand did complied with his request but the wand itself didn't fully complied to him. This was the continuous problem with the magical stick he had acquired from Charlus, it was the primary wand of Henry Potter and was surely strong cored. Harry interpreted it was due to the unfamiliar core of the wand that it repulses his commands so keenly.
He had to acquire a new wand if he was to liberate his full magical prowess at once, some of his stronger spells couldn't possibly be performed as the wand compliance stands.
Clearing through his thought the owl flew away with a hoot, he pocketed the result copy for Dumbledore and went down to announce his result. He climbed down the stairs and entered the study room to see his father seated on his chair with Dorea beside him, instructing him something about handling a politician. He cleared his throat to garner their attention, noticing their attention toward him he placed down the other copy of his result on the table.
They eyed the result for a second before beaming at him, Dorea abandoned her position to strive forward and engulf him in a hug. That, he responded positively for, Dorea had been introducing him to motherly touch for weeks. At first it was a little overwhelming but through time and practice, or he can say by constant remission of Dorea, he had adapted the routine perfectly.
Charlus nodded toward him with appreciation reflecting in his eyes and ducked the result down into one of the drawers.
"You did brilliantly, Harry. We're proud of you" Dorea praised him.
"Yeah, I agree, We are" Charlus agreed with a smile.
"It was easy, I am already far off from even the current syllabus of seventh year of the school" Harry waved off the words of praise.
"As it may be, This still does raise a need and opportunity for a feast today, I would have to instruct Poppy to cook something special" Dorea stated with a thoughtful expression.
"I don't think that's necessary, it is just a result and beside I am far ahead of the syllabus anyway" Harry denied.
Charlus placed his hand on Harry's shoulder and smiled at him gently. "I understand you're not use to appraisal, son. However, You must get use to them now, each and every accomplishment of yours will be credited and appraised by us. That's how it's with James and that's how it's for you now."
Harry just nodded in response, not able to reply properly due the lump he found in throat by active praisal and care he received. In the hindsight, Charlus was right, he was never praised for his any of his accomplishments from young age. The Dursleys never accepted that he was better that Dudley in both sports and studies, for a first few years of his primary school he scored in top 3 of his classes, several rank above Dudley. Neither his aunt nor his uncle appreciated that and, on the adverse term, scolded him harshly for his wits, that discouraged him from performing better in his schools days.
When he received his letter for Hogwarts one of his thoughts was of being able to show his wits without any repercussion of his relatives. As, neither Dudley nor his two unpleasant relatives can attend the school, but he was soon derailed of his motives by his first friend, Ronald Weasley. The need to retain his first friendship with the redhead, as he never had a friend due to Dudley's active bullying of him in school thus no-one tried to connect with him, he quickly censored his abilities to that of an average Wizard.
Thus, this open display of appreciation for such trivial matter was new and welcoming change as per him.
"Do we have an owl in the shed?" asked Harry, at their questioning stare he continued "I need to send the copy of result to Dumbledore as agreed"
Charlus nodded in response; "Tuffy is there in the shed"
Harry walked out of the back gate and entered the shed. A dusty coloured Owl hooted from it's perch and landed on his shoulder with a short glide. He rubbed her feather's while tying the letter to its feet, he then instructed her to deliver the letter to Hogwarts and returned to the house for the much awaited feast.
It didn't took James much time to join them after he was told of the result, he patted Harry on the back and gave a mock salute while promising a fair competition in their next year. At dining table, Harry observed that the four of them looked much like a family, a true family indeed.
It was not untill the upcoming Thursday that Dumbledore replied him, wording it as an unseen prodigy adjoining the school and welcomed him to join the fifth year batch. It was probably a formal letter that was required for documentation, His and James' list of Books and other accessories were mailed the next day by one of the school's owl.
That was another issue for Harry to ponder upon, He needed a pet, and as per his previous choice it ought to be an Owl. He decided that a trip to Eyelops would be comfirm, the other issue was his wand.
It wouldn't be right to say he wasn't concerned about it. He knew, even after the changes in him due to the shed of Horcrux off his soul, the Holly and Phoenix wand would dutifully accept him as its owner, moreover his last wand, bypass the Elder one, was ought to be in Olivander's possession. However, after an evening of rotation between thoughts he concluded that Voldemort wasn't still a famed name, The rise of the Dark lord was still to come, and the second wand could be reverted as a surprise even for him, obviously his acting skills needs to shine again.
Charlus and Dorea decided that the trip to the Diagon alley would be carried the next day, that evening saw Sirius returning to the Potter manor. The boy has, again, sneaked out of his house to avoid a trip to Diagon alley with his younger brother, who, according to him, was behaving like his mother's pet for a year now, and his cousins, who were too arrogant and in case of Bellatrix, who was on the first stage of going nuts.
The four males of the house took the joke in strive, obviously in the absence of Dorea. But, Harry's mind was more inclined toward the hidden limp in Sirius' walk. He asserted to himself that a confrontation was needed with his future adoptive father, that's how he was standing outside the boy's room.
He entered the room with a knock, Sirius had taken a seat on the bed unpacking his wardrobe, probably for a bath.
"Hi, Harry" Sirius piped in. "I was truly happy to see your results, you outperformed both James and me" He praised the boy smiling at him.
"Yeah, It was nothing really." Harry waved off the attempt of distraction. He took a seat beside him on the bed.
He placed his hand over Sirius's shoulder that elicited a grimace from the boy that was countered as soon as he can.
"What is it Sirius? I know you're hurt" Harry held his hand in front to stop Sirius from denying. "I have been hurt too many times, and I know when I see an injury Sirius. If you do see me as brother, just like James, then you can share it with me. I promise you, I will not hold it against it you, neither will I mock you or disclose your secrets" Harry assured.
Sirius opened his mouth to say something but closed it abruptly, and followed the suit a few time before sighing and shook his head.
"Will you promise, You will not make fun of me" asked Sirius defeatedly.
"I promise, Sirius, you've became as much of brother to me as James during our time here" Harry replied honestly, He can see Sirius was not trustful toward others. It was probably because he was never encouraged, understood or appreciated by his family.
Sirius had shared most of childhood's storiea with Harry, it was after Harry's idiotic rant and argument with Sirius for the restriction imposed upon him for his own safety. After Harry had calmed down he had apologized to the man continuously, big as Sirius heart was he was pardoned on the first attempt with an instruction to understand that Sirius loved him and wanted the best for him. The man then recited some of his childhood stories to Harry, the negligence and abuse he faced by the hands of his mother, his brother's blatant support to his mother, his father intervening as little possible in between them and the last straw that encouraged the man to run off his house and settle with Potters.
Sirius nodded and abandoned the shirt he wore, Harry's eyebrows went into his hairlines at the number of scar Sirius had on his back, how dare his mother touch him while he was here, no things wouldn't go forward as they were, changes were due and has to be carried forward quickly. Atleast with the house of Black.
"Are there any more?" Harry asked sympathetically.
"Yes, on my left leg" Sirius replied without even a thought.
Harry nodded and bent down to inspect the wounds on the other boy's leg.
"Any more?" This time Sirius could clearly hear a draw in Harry's voice, he was clearly not happy with his treatment.
Sirius shook his head in negative.
"Who did this to you, Sirius?" Harry asked while mumbling some spells to himself.
"I don't want to talk about that, If you've seen, Can I re-dress?" Sirius asked meekly.
"Wait for some moments, and I will not pry if you don't want to share" Harry answered quickly.
"Agricolus vulnera" Harry whispered and his palm took a orange glow that he hovered above Sirius's back, then turned around him and bent down to run it over his leg. The wounds hissed back before closing up, Sirius face reflected the grimace but it soon changed into a calm demeanor.
"Thanks" Sirius said gratefully.
"It's nothing, but I still advice you to share these with either Mom or Dad or both." Harry voiced again before patting Sirius on head and opted to leave the room.
"Can you teach me that?" Sirius questioned him before he could cross the room.
He turned around and gave him an confused expression.
Sirius shuffled a little before standing upright. "I mean could you teach me that spell, I tend to- I mean we, Marauders, tend to get in problems constantly, it would be useful for us."
James had informed him about the title that the four of them had adopted, he didn't told him about their Animagus abilities and Lupin's furry problem though, that stilled that he was not still fully comfortable with Harry. That did little more to discourage Harry from searching him and spending time with him, it was one of the things that Harry loved about his return. He was able to spend an undisturbed amount of time with James, who was a little arrogant and boastful for other but completely opposite with his new found brother.
"I will, but sometimes later" Harry responded warmly and closed the door behind him.
The next morning saw the three Potters and one Black travelling to the Diagon alley, James and Sirius with Charlus while Harry with Dorea.
As informed by Arcturus the news about Harry had certainly spread across wizarding population in London. Yet, without a proper evidence regarding the whole fiasco the media was not keen on publishing anything regarding the matter, for everyone knew the boy was related to two of the most prominent lords of Britain, a slip of tongue could prove disastrous if even either one of them feel offended, that inability to write soon disappeared with Harry entering Flourish and Blotts for his school books with his family.
Apparently, A celebrity of some short was present in the bookstore launching his biography and had organised a fan-meet program. The attention of reporter present there suddenly diverted toward the new arrivals and they noticed an unknown boy with one of prominent Lords of Wizarding Britain, this resulted in cameras and mics turning toward the group.
There were several questions asked but a firm reply of a son studying abroad was the only one delivered, nothing more nothing less. The reporters dared not to draw in the ire of Lord Potter and left them on their accord, probably the nosy reporter, Rita skeeter, has not joined the journalistic clique yet.
Harry, James and Sirius bought the books as per their requirement, where Harry's pile of book was larger than the rest two. He had adopted the habit of his late friend, burying himself in the mountains of books to escape every problem one have, perhaps it was his way to mourn Hermione's death. He missed his two best friends too much to not adapt some habits of them as a cope up mechanism.
Considering his new hobby Potter Manor's library was heaven for him, he had been spending prolonged hours in the room, scrummaging through books on different topics: such as Runes, Wandless magic, Alchemy and a few more.
They exited the shop after paying required Galleons and galloped toward the stationary shop. Again, Harry's pile of paper and the number of inkpots and quills were extra, the habit to scrib down everything he comes to discover toppled with taking random notes out of random books, he researched with. It was another of his newly developed habits.
Truly, How Harry had changes over the course of two years was even a shock to him. He transformed from a meek, shy and attention hating average wizard to a strong, cunning, confident yet attention hating wizard. Gathering attention was never his intended target, but he was always seen the otherway, mostly by his crooked nose Potion's professor and that absurd Journalist, Rita skeeter. Given, Snape never left a chance to belittle him and compare him with his father with unhidden disdain and scorn, on the other side the journalist in question used to publish obscure, made-up, stories about him.
His mind re-diverted toward the books he had studied in the Manor's library. Some of those were pretty rare and informative on certain topics, but there were some books that he had on his read list before his travel to the past. He had liberated them out of Black family library after a thorough search and arrangement of books there, moreover, he had seen a journal of sort that listed the books available in Black family.
Some of those books were on the topics that intrigued him to no end, he had to take possession of them to continue expanding his knowledge and power. He shook his head with an amused smirk, he had became too much of a book worm for the liking of his younger self or his best friend, Ron would have horrified by his augmented inclination toward books.
Their travel ended at the familiar shop of Madam Malkin's robes, Harry was astonished to discover that the shop was situated at same place even before the commence of first Wizarding war. It shouldn't have been a surprise given Madam Malkin herself was an old lady, she was ought to start a business early on for it to be successful and famous enough.
They entered the shop and were greeted by the sight of the short squat woman fretting around a young boy, black short hairs, narrow face, handsome features and tone of tit-bit baby fat fading off his face. He had semioccasional shade resemblance to Neville, Harry quickly put up his impassive mask to stop leak of his curiosity.
"Frank" James exclaimed shaking the hand of the boy enthusiastically, confirming Harry's suspicions regarding the boy.
"It's nice to see you, James and Sirius" now recognised Frank Longbottom greeted the duo. He gave a short respectful bow to Charlus and Dorea, and looked toward Harry inquisitively.
"Nice to meet you..." He extended his hand in expectation.
"Harry Potter" answered grasping his hand firmly.
"Harry... Yes...Yes, Mother had informed me about you. It's nice finally meeting you" Frank said with a smile.
At that moment Harry saw the slight resemblance of Neville in Frank, Neville wasn't as confident as his father nor was he swift with words like him. His physical attributes were also pretty different, whereas Neville was blonde-haired and a little plump with round face, Frank on the opposite side had ebony hair with curls at scarce, was athletic in build and taller than Neville had been, probably due to him being a quidditch player from what James had transpired during some of their conversations.
The tetrad soon engulfed into shopping of the school robes, James' and Sirius' robes were fitted according to their growing adolescence body. While Harry had to buy the full set as he hadn't had one, he has moved into muggle Britain for comfy muggle clothing that he is used to wear a few days ago, as Dorea was unfamiliar and reluctant of such norms due her heritage, he hadn't had to incur the shopping spree of a woman.
This ended the need of shopping for James and Sirius, as they already had everything else required for their upcoming school year. Charlus gave them a treat in a nearby ice-cream parlour, that was surprisingly present in the alley, considering it was more of a muggle delicacy.
The ice-cream break ended and Dorea returned to the manor with two reluctant teens at her sides.
"Phew, I was worried something will cause another can of worms open that will led to unwanted problems in near future, with those two you need to attentive and vigilant" Charlus sighed softly.
"Yeah, Feared so too, they can be quit overwhelming when they are in mood" Harry mumbled shaking his head.
"So, Now what?" Charlus asked excitedly forsaking the gloomy mood of moments ago.
"I will need a wand, Some potion equipment, Some more books and an Owl" Harry recited the list out of his mind.
"Olivanders will do for wands" Charlus informed him. "Potion equipment will be available in the shop beside the Flourish and Blotts. As for Owl, Eyelops is the best there is"
"Olivanders?" Harry whispered uncertainly.
Charlus and Harry entered the shop after a short walk from the ice-cream parlour, the door open with a twinge of bells but the old eccentric wandmaker was nowhere to be seen in his shop.
"Olivander? Mr Olivander?" Charlus inquired raising his voice a bit on the second attempt to locate the man.
Like on a cue the old man slide in on the ladder with a frown that soon turned into a smile after his eyes fell upon Charlus and his companion.
"Lord Potter, it's an honour to work for you, Sir" Olivander greeted them giving a respectful nod from up the ladder.
Charlus returned his gesture with a short nod of himself and handed out his wand to the extended hand of Olivander, usual courtesy it was.
The wand was brown in colour with a high entailed pattern engraved on it and a black coloured shaft.
The man placed his ear on the wand and rotated it a few times before nodding and returning it back to Charlus.
"In a great condition, I must say. The core of Heartstring of a female Horntail does suit a warrior like you, Lord potter, much more with the combination of Blackthorn wood" Olivander added curtly and handed back the wand.
His eyes then fell upon Harry and Harry found himself under a calculative gaze before Olivander beamed at him.
"You must be Mr Harry Potter, have heard about you, yes, have heard about you." Olivander voiced in with his calm but still erratic voice.
Harry handed out his wand to the man that he was using as a make shift, the man touched it to his ear before scowling at it and returning it back to Harry abruptly.
"The wand doesn't favours you Mr Potter, it is not made for someone of your calibre" Olivander suggested him. "Instead, It detests you for forcing it to work like you intend. Hornbeam wands with a core of SnallyGaster's heartstring are loyal or more of obsessive with their bonded owners, even after their death."
Harry nodded affirmatively and pocketed the wand back.
"I must ask what happened to your original wand, Mr Potter, nothing too personal, just satiate my curiosity" Garrick looked toward him expectantly.
Harry would have been offended if anybody else had asked so, a wand was somewhat personal information for magical peoples. Asking about one's wand was termed as offensive in general catalog, but Olivander wasn't a general person by any way. He knew about the old man's obsession with wands and his quaint personality.
"We got separated three weeks ago, I will get it back but needs a wand currently" He replied vaguely.
Olivander nodded and went on his search for a suitable wand. "It seems like yesterday that your mother, father and brother came here to buy their first wand." Olivander said in reminiscent way.
Harry found himself jerked back in memories as if he had just suffered a whiplash, memories of his first visit to the shop resurfaced. An eleven year old Harry Potter anticipating nervously for his first magical stick, the feel of his Holly and Phoenix wand was also back with full force.
Then came the memories of his second visit, It was the next day after the scrimmage in Department of mystery for the prophecy. Somehow, his wand had been broken in half after his fated encounter with the man with the pale skinned, red eyed, no nosed man.
Flashback:
Harry entered the wand shop with Hermione and Neville behind him, Ron was injured from the previous day's encounter, also bitter with Harry for not able to identify Voldemort's soul plot.
He tapped on the wooden desk infront and called out "Mr Olivander? Are you in there?"
The man scurried through the shop. "Ah...Mr Potter, How may I help you?" The man asked with an extended hand for Harry to handover his wand. Harry revealed his broken wand and passed it to Olivander.
The wandmaker observed the wand very carefully before shaking his head remorsefully. "I see your problem, Mr Potter, but I must say the wand can't be reassembled, although the core is still intact and I will retrieve it for your need, but the wand will not work as it did even with another piece of Holly wood"
Harry felt heartbroken, the wand was one of his only possession that he didn't had to be taunted for. As the Dursleys had a habit to taunt him for everything they provided, no matter how scarce those were. The wand had helped him greatly through years, it was rare for a wizard to have affinity for more than one wand, rare as it was, but not certainly a pleasant feel that one would look forward to.
"I will repair it for you, but for now you should try some other wands. I daresay that I doubt you're affinity has changed even a little bit" Olivander voiced in and started rummaging through his shop, nearly fifteen minutes later he brought three black long boxes for Harry to try.
"The need to try these wands didn't arouse before as the Holly wand had already chosen you, but I suspected one of these will choose you" He handed him the first box.
A hazel coloured wand with spiral design engraved on it was the one to come out of the first box. Harry picked it up and nothing happened, no pull, no familiar feeling, nothing.
"That wand is a brother wand to your Grandfather's, I thought it would choose you as you have inherited his daring" Olivander informed him, Harry looked at the wand with a speculative eye before placing it back in the box. He didn't knew much about his Grandfather and Olivander couldn't possibly be the right person to discuss his family with.
The second wand was dark brown in colour with a white shaft, Harry wielded it but the wand didn't responded adequately. Although, it did react unlike his grandfather wand but the feel didn't last long.
"No, No, Definitely not. This wand will not do, not do I must say" Olivander mumbled loudly and took the wand from Harry's hand. "Not your Grandmother's, either." Olivander shook his head.
The last box was old and little curved at edges, probably due to rough handling, the old wandmaker opened the box to reveal a white wand with ebony shaft. A tail of some reptile was etched on the end of the shaft and the wand was scarcely curved in a zigzag pattern, which wasn't noticeable if not looked with intention to observe just that.
Harry reached to the wand and touched it, a feeling of familiarity oozed out of it. He felt complete, the wand glowed green in his hand before settling down.
"Ah..an Ideal match. Of course, an ideal match it is" Olivander blurted to himself.
Harry looked upon the wand before casting a 'lumos', the shop was engulfed into blinding white light as Harry intended, somehow the wand was much more comfortable than his previous one.
"Again, You've surprised me Mr Potter, you tend to wield unusual but strong wands" Olivander muttered interjecting his thoughts.
"I am sorry" Harry replied back still looking a little far off "I didn't catch what you said, Mr Olivander"
"Your wand, Mr Potter. It's an opposite one to your Holly and Phoenix wand." Olivander recalled.
"I must say, You ought be a powerful Wizard, who would accomplish great things with the new wand of yours, Mr Harry Potter" Olivander hummed to himself as usual.
Flashback ends..
Harry was handed out an another wand, it has been half an hour of trying different wands. At first Olivander exposed him to similar wands as his parents and brother. But, expectedly they didn't chose him, they didn't even flickered a little of magic except the one that was similar to his now mother. Then Olivander moved to his not so close family members, his maternal uncle, maternal grandfather and a few others, still the wands were rather incompetent with his magic.
The old wandmaker was tired and excited at the same time, tired as he had tried every possible wand type on the boy, and still there was no match. On the other hand, excited, because some of the wandmaker's and his family's previous customers had same problem and they had emerged out as some of greatest wizard in the following years.
He had tried wands specially adapt for Transfiguration, Charms, Curses, Dark arts; everything that there was. Only a few wands were left, but all of them were powerful and unparalleled.
At last, the all-so familiar box was passed toward Harry, he recognised the box, he knew the wand that'll come out of it and was feeling nervous now. He opened the box to come face to face with the white beauty that had been his loyal for long time, he placed the box down and picked up the wand.
He was submerged into the warmth that his wand supplied out eagerly, and tried to encase the feeling of completeness. How could he hesitate to touch his wand? He shouldn't had done that, the wand was his to command, it was his to wield.
However, the much awaited feeling of completeness didn't occur, the wand was at the edge but it didn't touch the high point, He felt vulnerable. Harry felt naked infront of the two people, his magic has been not accepted fully, he needed something more and his mind followed his lead with the image of Elder wand.
"An ideal but not a complete match, a rare instance, never encountered one in my life but had heard the phenomenon taking place" Olivander declared in a knowing but erratic voice.
Harry turned an curious eye on the wand, inspecting it before placing it down on the table, the warmth it radiated cut off abruptly.
"Don't worry Mr Potter, I know just the right thing to solve this." Olivander said enthusiastically.
Harry nodded and backed up. "Don't touch it" He stopped the man as he bent down to pickup the wand.
Olivander looked up toward him curiously. "It will not react nicely, It...feels... repulsive toward others" He conceded, hiding the fact that it hadn't reacted well when Hermione had tried to pick it up for a check.
"Ah, A connection... I must say you have formed quite the bond with the wand in mere second, Mr Potter, You astonish me no end" Olivander praised him.
"What's the wood and the core, if I may ask?" Charlus asked cutting in their conversation.
"The wand is 14" long, made up of Yew, and has a core of... Basilisk horn" Olivander said knowingly.
"Basilisk horn?" questioned Charlus. "But, wasn't that the core of Salazar Slytherin's wand" He looked toward Harry questioningly.
"Yes, Was it not? However, The core doesn't share an affinity to Dark arts as the myths share" Olivander recited thoughtfully. "According to the wand lore, the Basilisk horn is best for cunning yet fierce wizards, you can't contradict that fact because only two wizards in known history are known to wield a wand made with it as core: Salazar Slytherin and Mr Harry Potter." He looked toward Harry knowingly as he pronounced his name.
Charlus peered toward Harry proudly, he knew about the boy past and knew he wouldn't turn dark. It only meant that Harry was no ordinary wizard, a fact that Charlus knew better.
"Add that core with Yew wood, a wood that is already known to wielded by fiercely loyal, and, is said endow its possessor with the power of life and death." Olivander added with an unhidden shudder.
"But, it doesn't feel complete, feels like an essential part is missing." Harry frowned upon the words that he spoke without even realizing.
"Yes.. Yes, I noticed that Mr Potter, that only acknowledges that this wand had to be upgraded to your need" Olivander mused, retreating back into his shop.
He peaked back into the shop through curtains and gestured Harry and Charlus to follow him a moment later.
They stepped through the curtain into what looked like a room Olivander used for crafting his wands, He signalled them to take a seat by the table in middle of the room on the chairs adjoining it.
"I will you provide you wood samples to test and a few cores that will append the wand to the best" Olivander muttered loudly.
Harry nodded in response, feeling a little nervous, why did he always found himself in such perils.
Several pieces of wood were placed on the table and he started touching them one by one, the first ten didn't gave any other sense than the feel of rough wooden surface.
The eleventh piece of wood however enthralled a sense of belongingness to him. He picked it up and handed it to Olivander, who frowned on the piece of wood.
"Interesting, I think you need more than two woods for you wand Mr Potter" Olivander said uniquely. "This piece of wood" he flagged the piece above his head to show the other two occupants "was a pet project of mine, I wanted to experiment what would I get if I combine two different types of woods. This piece is part Ebony and part English oak. The former has an unequaled affinity toward Transfiguration while the later demands an owner full of courage and fidelity." He explained when the other two occupants gave a curious look to him.
"But, Affinity for more than one wood type is rare, and unheard of for more than two." Charlus intervened in his explanation.
"Unheard of, yes, but not impossible." Olivander responded mildly while rummaging through his shelves. He revealed a vial of some short out of the shelves, he placed it on the table attached with a stand.
"Can you place your finger over it Mr Potter, it will extract a drop of blood and educe your secondary core" Olivander instructed him.
"A secondary core?" Charlus blurted out looking amazed. "I have never heard someone wielding a wand with two core, that's highly unlikely" He pointed out.
"Well, I can't say I have not came across such anomaly, but yes it's rather rare in Britain, if not entirely impossible" Olivander replied back curtly. "I know of a wizard that used to wield a wand with two cores, but I am under a magical oath to not disclose further than this" Olivander stated firmly.
Reluctantly Harry placed his finger over the vial, as said by Olivander, it extracted a drop of blood. The drop changed colours several times before settling on light orange , Olivander gazed it with a frown, but his frown soon changed into astonishment.
"You're a surprising one indeed, Mr porter" Olivander stated with a smile. "It will take me an hour to complete this wand, untill then, I am sure you could find a means to entertain yourself, Yes...Yes, You can"
Harry and Charlus walked out of the store and advanced toward the shop famous for the best breeds of owls in the alley, Eyelops. There were several cages hung outside the shop for customers to chose from, the Eyelops, even in his time, was famous for the high breeds of owls it sold.
They entered the dim-litted shop to the viscous scent of Owl droppings, the owner tried to quash the smell by smell cloaking charms and fragrance charms. Still, He didn't probably acquired best marks in Charms, as the charm did little less to repress the smell.
"What can I do you for you gentlemen?" a fudgy looking man asked appearing out of nowhere. He was squat with anchor-styled beard and nearly bald, except thin patches above his ear directing to the back of his head.
"We are here to buy an owl for my son" Charlus replied pointing toward Harry who was already looking through the cages for a bird he find interesting.
"Caww...Nekros...Nekros...Caw" a sound came from a far off cage. Harry took a gander across the shop to locate the voice. His sight fell upon a black cage, an onyx Raven with slight amber- coloured eyes peered toward him interestingly.
"Nekros" this time it sounded more like a question, Harry moved forward and picked off the cage from the hook and placed it infront.
"Be careful young man, He tends to bite" The man warned him as Harry opened the door of the cage.
Harry placed his hand inside the cage for the bird to perch on, much like he used to do to Hedwig. The Raven bit his finger, as warned by the shop owner, drawing blood out of it, Harry grimaced but didn't pulled his hand. The Raven cawed again, but nonetheless perched on his hand. He stood up placing the Raven on his shoulder, it settled there comfortably before picking at his ear softly. He ruffled the Raven's plumage that it received with an upbeat.
"I will take this one, with that oak perch right there" Harry pointed toward a slightly longer perch than usual. "and a bigger cage than his current one" Harry decided facing the man.
The man nodded and busied himself with the job, he shrunk one of the long wooden perches and picked out a big black cage and placed it on the table. Harry encouraged the bird in the cage, which agreed after a few reluctant caws.
"How much will it be?" Harry asked.
"25 Galleons" The shopkeeper replied.
"25? Isn't that above your normal price" Charlus intervened, frowning at the man.
"Well, no matter how much you've travelled across the world, you don't get to see a Raven calling on dead, and delivering messages" The man stood to his point
"Fair" Harry voiced in, intervening in between and placed he required number of coins on the table before moving on toward their next shop.
This went on for nearly an hour, He was able to purchase equipment for his potion class he would attend at Hogwarts, this time with adequate experience of potion brewing and tit-bit advices from Charlus. After a thorough discussion with Slughorn, he has accepted that he made good or passable potions, but didn't opted to improve his work quality, additionally, his potion equipment were not of best quality in past. That particular factor credited in the quality of potion a brewer makes, better the quality of equipment better the potion comes out.
Harry readily blamed his treacherous teacher for his lackadaisical performance in the subject, the man could definitely hold a grudge. 6 years of animosity; because he couldn't forget his past with Harry's father, that was ridiculous, even if Harry tried to be nice infront of him his usual sneer and mocking tendencies crushed those attempts.
Snape was the one of the few people to think about, he was torn between killing the man due to his past issues and looking after the boy, that Snape still was in the present time, and shield him from the constant bullying that would turn him into a spiteful git. That also highlighted the need to lead James out of his bullying phase, in the past it transpired because the war took an ugly turn during James' sixth year. This time, Harry aimed to explain him the present situation of Wizarding world and pull him out of his bullying self.
"Maisie" Called Harry kindly, the house elf appeared ever-so-ready to carry out his order. "Please take this bird and the equipment back to the manor" he requested meeting the eyes of the elf.
The house elf nodded eagerly, grasped the cage, shrunken perch and the box full of potion equipment to apparate out.
"Now that's done, the wand and books are the only things on the list left, let's head back to Olivander it's been more than an hour, he would have completed your wand" Charlus decided leading Harry back to the wand shop.
The duo entered the shop with the familiar chime of the bells situated above it's door, a tired looking Olivander peeked in the shop through curtains.
"Ah, Mr Potter. I was just waiting for you to collect your wand." Olivander addressed with unhidden excitement. "It has been completed, took me more than an hour to alter it according to your needs, and as you predicted, it didn't accepted the touch of anyone else, it singed my dragon hide gloves. But, I promise you, it's the best wand I have ever created and strongest one too" Olivander said shaking his head.
The man retreated back in his workshop and returned with a better looking box than before, he opened it and revealed an unique looking wand. The wand looked as if two wands, one brown and one white, had been twisted together and the shaft was of ebony colour, adorning the wand an imperial yet strengthened look.
Harry picked it up and the warmth that wand emitted was much preferable than before, Harry felt he was complete again. It was the same feeling that the elder wand dawned on its owner, obviously this wand was not as strong as the Deathstick, however it still felt powerful.
He nodded and placed the wand back into its box. "It's perfect, What did you used as a secondary core?"
"Phoenix feather, Mr Potter, Phoenix feather" Olivander replied proudly.
Charlus whistled from behind Harry.
"Those are completely opposite elements, They are contradictory to eachother and aren't known to work together" Charlus intoned wistfully.
"Truly said Lord Potter, It was due to their particular contradictory properties that there wielder are likely polar opposite to each other." Olivander pointed out. "It seems we'll have to wait see for ourselves how does these two cores work together in the hand of Mr Potter" He finished looking at Harry with a speculative gleam in his eyes.
"How much do I have to pay you for this?" Harry questioned sheathing his wand into its cover and pocketing it carefully to not hamper it, a wand holster is the primary concern for now.
"28 Galleons, I always take 7 Galleons for a wand, but this particular piece of art consumed more wood than an average wand and an additional core." Olivander conceded.
Harry paid the wandmaker and exited the shop with a curt respectful nod toward the man.
"I need an another wand" Harry declared as they crossed the Gringotts.
Charlus just arched a questioning eyebrow, it was rare and prominently illegal to own two wands.
"This wand will surely have a trace on it, I can't use it to protect my self, the spells I am used to use are not seen as pleasant or favourable by ministry." Harry elaborated his point.
Charlus nodded and they both walked on toward the unanimously frowned upon part of the alley, the Knockturn Alley.
Harry had nicked a habit to wander in the potentially shady alley, after the fall of ministry Diagon alley wasn't the safest place to be in already, atleast the occupants of the Knockturn alley didn't dared to stare or probe him.
His reputation had exceeded from the boy-who-lived to the dangerous young wizard with no sense of forgiveness or empathy, if provoked. Tracking, capturing, mutilating and eventually killing such vast amount of Death eaters tend to isolate one from any passive interference. He was infamous and was termed as a dangerous foe to be made, he used to wander across the valley buying not-so-friendly books for his study.
The father-son duo entered the valley through a partially underground stone-made stairway. Charlus led him through a stone graved path to a particularly isolated shop. The board on the top was clearly scrubbed down to blur its printing.
The door of the shop was made up of black wood with tinted glasses, they walked in to the sight of a pretty neat shop, unlike the other shops in the alley, yet the shop did had a dingy smell. Charlus tapped at the bell on the front table eliciting a chime out of it.
"Yeah...Yeah, I am coming, no need to pluck the bell out, you gits" A manly voice yelled from inside.
In came a long-thin man dressed in black robes, his pale brown eyes wandering through the shop before landing on Charlus. His eye widened and he bowed down immediately.
"Pardon me, Lord Potter. I thought it was one of those lousy gits, they often come here after a fight and demand for repairs" The man apologized curtly.
Charlus waved off his concern and motioned Harry to move infront. "My ward here needs a wand, Ghausley." Charlus turned back toward Harry before continuing. "Write about your wand's wood and core on a parchment and give him, He will make one for you"
Harry nodded and wrote it on a parchment provided to him and passed it back to the man.
"My God, A very unique combination, It wouldn't be shame if I am unable to make this wand, still care not, it's highly unlikely that it would come to that" Ghausley said peering toward Harry, and for the time being Harry felt annoyed at the man's interest in him.
"Now's the time for vows, Adeel" Charlus demanded looking toward the man.
"Indeed, Mr Potter" Ghausley replied back swishing his wand over reciting the vow.
Harry and Charlus walked out of the shop to buy the books Harry needed.
"We don't need to return to Diagon alley for the books, in the hindsight, the books I needs will not be available their anyway" Harry confirmed leading Charlus toward the other side of the alley.
The alley, as per Harry's memory, was the regular hangout place for Dark creatures such as hags, caped vampires and other such creatures. However, apparently it wasn't so in the past, the alley still was a shady place but the dark creatures didn't dared stroll around the pathway.
They soon came across the shop that Harry was familiar with, he had spent many hours in the shop ,several times, in the search of right books.
Harry walked in and as expected, due his past experience, the shop owner didn't even abandon a glance toward him. He searched a number of shelves for a time of two hours for the books he wanted, at last he had collected five books, all of different sizes and colours, he paid the required amount of money and exited the shop.
"What are those books for?" Charlus questioned interjecting. "I understand you're not a kid like James, of whom I have to track every activity of, still, if the books aren't allowed to be sold in Diagon alley and they can't be bright" Charlus revealed his opinion in a firm voice.
Harry sighed, He knew that he has to explain some things to his grandfather. Even if he wasn't his real son, and that didn't helped much as the man treated him nothing short of his son, Charlus had been patient and open-minded with him. Yet, everything can't be tolerated without a question or two, the man still was his second father figure after Sirius and Harry had slowly accepted that fact.
He wasn't going to let down the man after the care both he and Dorea gave him. After his return, he hadn't felt for even a single second that they weren't his parents.
"You don't need to be concerned dad, these books are on blood magic and dark creatures." Harry clarified. "The first two books entail the use, benefits and drawbacks of using blood magic. The last three explain the magic, tradition and the right way to kill dangerous creatures like Lethifolds, Hidebehinds and many more." Harry continued further.
"They are not allowed to be sold in Diagon alley because blood magic is equally associated with Dark magic, but that's not true, we both know that" Charlus nodded at the answer. "and in the case of books over creatures, the way to kill or defend yourself from them is not so pleasantly described in these books." Charlus glanced toward Harry proudly before conntinuing on the path.
He was wrong to even suspect the boy a little bit, he was a mature and responsible boy, one that doesn't needs to be supervised.
They returned to the wand shop to find the man crouched on the front desk poking around a rather distinctive looking wand. It was similar looking to the wand he had in his pocket, although the brown was a little deep in colour and the white was slightly paler. The man looked up and gave a curt nod to the duo.
Harry bent forward and picked up the wand, to find that the warmth and feel of companionship was equal to the one made by Olivander. "Strange, the wand hissed at me when I touched it after creating it. However, you picked it up rather easily, definitely strange"
"It matters not to you" Harry reprimanded sharply. "Your job was to make the wand, that you've did perfectly, name your price"
"25 Galleons, the work is finest and the cores and wood cost heavy" The man answered neutrally.
Harry nodded and placed the money on the counter before following Charlus out of the shop.
"Why were you harsh on him? The wand is of near perfect quality, he was just curious" Charlus inquired as they walked out of alley.
"You've the experience, you might know that the shopkeepers here tends to ask too many question." Charlus shook his head positively
"Let's get back home" Harry requested adjusting the books in his arms.
Charlus nodded and placed his hand on Harry 's shoulder to disapparated in the fragment of a second.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter; All rights are reserved to JK Rowlings.