-Diagon Alley, London, 1988-
Entering the alley, we were immediately welcomed by the magical atmosphere. The witches and wizards walk about in their peculiar attire. The various shops to our left and right displaying their magical goods. Also, there must be some magic that manipulates the space here. The alley was huge and is the central place of wizarding London.
"This is different. It's... "
"Magical?" I added
"Magical, yes. I've never seen anything like this" my matron agreed
"Though the name is a scam"
"Pardon?" the deputy headmistress intrigued by my choice of word
"This place is nothing like an 'alley' as the name suggested"
"Ah, I see. It is unlike an alley indeed. Well thanks for the compliments, I'm glad that you took all of this positively."
"Now, we'll buy your school robes first, and then get your wand at Ollivanders. The other supplies are already prepared in advance and you can pick them up later at Hogwarts." the professor explained
That makes sense since they need to take my measurement for the robe, and I need to go to Ollivanders to find a suitable wand. But the other stuff can be prepared in advance. Maybe if the muggle-born student is with their family and not an orphan, she will give them guides to these shops and let them buy the goods of their choice. With my current financial situation, I have to make do with second-hand goods.
"But first we need to go to Gringotts. We need to give you access to your school stipend account. This is also where you will exchange currency should you need to at later date." the professor said to my matron
Hogwarts students in their early years are still children. Their funds should be managed by their guardian. The student would squander it on something like chocolate cards if it's not managed by their guardian. Gringotts must be the place in the wizarding community that muggles visited the most then. They need to exchange currency and withdraw cash from the bank.
Along the way, the professor didn't forget to introduce us to the shops where we need to acquire my school supplies in later years. The Flourish and Blotts to get my school books, Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions to get my school robes, and many others. She also didn't forget to show us where to get the second-hand goods.
Not long after, we arrived in front of the famed wizarding bank.
Gringotts is different. The other shops in the alley are mostly small and medium-sized buildings made up of some kind of wood. The bank is huge and the building is made of white marble. It looks lavish and luxurious with its golden furniture and decorations.
"All of this is run by... them?" my matron stared at the goblins
When we entered the bank, we were welcomed by the sight of goblins manning the counters. My matron never saw these creatures and doesn't know what are they.
"Yes matron, the bank is managed by goblins. There are also human staffs, but it is mostly goblins." the professor explained
"So these are Goblins..."
It was the first time I saw a group of another sentient race. Seeing Creek didn't evoke that feeling since it was just one elf. It's not just between the color of our skin. Although still humanoid, the goblins are different from humans. They're still downright hideous and scary to me, at least for now. I'm sure I would freak out if I saw one of them in the middle of the night. However, since I'm now a part of the wizarding community, I need to get used to these different sentient races. There are vampires, werewolves, goblins, and some others. Humans aren't alone in this wizarding world.
"I need the key to Hogwarts' school stipend account for Mr. Isaac Balthasar"
McGonagall asked one of the Goblins at the counter. She then asks for a duplicate key and gives my matron access to the account. I would need to open one of my own later. Though maybe also on several other banks. I can't put everything here.
Visiting Gringotts for the first time is a unique experience for me. It's a pity that we don't get to ride the cart into the vault. It is too time-consuming to do that just to take a few galleons, and the professor has already prepared the cash in advance.
After we finished our business in Gringotts, professor McGonagall guides us to a second-hand robes shop. They selected the robes that suit my size. We bought three black robes, a black pointed hat, a pair of protective gloves, and a winter coat. We also bought my name tags and attach them to the robes.
It was not as memorable as our visit to the Gringotts.
The next stop is to purchase my wand. Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C., is the sign in front of Ollivanders' wand shop.
The interior is similar to the ones in the shows. Shelves filled to the brim with boxes of wands. Mr. Garrick Ollivander himself is currently sitting at the front counter tinkering with various wands. He looks old but still younger than the one in the movie.
"Ah, Professor Minerva. Here for a student's wand, it seems?" The doorbell notified the shop owner of our arrival.
"It's for Isaac here, Garrick. Would you please show him the suitable wand?" the professor replied
"Of course, of course. Let me take his measurement."
"Hello sir, I'm Isaac Balthasar. Nice to meet you" I greeted
"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Balthasar, I'm Garrick Ollivander. Now, I haven't heard the name Balthasar. Not for a long time. Are you perhaps the descendant of the esteemed magus, Saint Balthasar?"
Okay, who? I just pick a name at random. My name comes from a character in a video game I played in my previous life.
"I'm not sure, sir. I don't think so. Who is this Balthasar?" I asked
"He's one of the three great magi. Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar" the man replied
I think I've read about this, though I'm not sure where. My recollection of it has been corroded with the time I spent inside the void.
"Is he a great wizard?" I asked
"Oh, there is a theory that he's the one who created the hallows. After all, he's a magus king that wields the power of death."
"Garrick, Isaac is still new to the wizarding world. He doesn't know about the hallows" Professor McGonagall interrupted
I've read about the tales of the three brothers. Though I don't remember about a Balthasar in the story. Must be a very powerful wizard then. The hallows are artifacts with a class of their own.
"Ahh, so it is. Balthasar huh... I think I might know what you just need. Now, where did I put it, hmm..." mused the wand shop owner. He's looking for something on the upper shelves.
"Let's find out if you are a true Balthasar... Ah, here it is. Let's try this one. My very specialized own 13 inches, yew wood, and phoenix's feather" Ollivander took out a wand from a unique box on the top shelves. He then put it on the counter, in front of me.
Wait, that's a Voldemort's spec, right? What the hell? Though it rather makes sense considering his words about Saint Balthasar. I grab the unique wand from the table and turn my consciousness inside my mind palace.
.
The shop's interior turned into a luxurious palace. In front of me stood tall my supercomputer mind.
"Check this one for me" I said to the supercomputer
"81% COMPATIBILITY RATING"
"Heh not bad. How good is this wand compared to McGonagall's?"
"348% OF MAGICAL OUTPUT. 221% OF EFFICIENCY. 1 TO 18.7 MANA CONVERSION. 150% OF DURABILITY. 128% OF FLEXIBILITY" my mind revealed its computing results.
"Wicked. Every stat is better than McGonagall's. An artifact-level wand if I might say. Though I'm sure that Ollivander still got more than this. I need to look for more before deciding."
"The wand chooses their wizard eh? I'm trying to go against fate itself so the sentiment of a single wandmaker won't stop me. No, I, choose my wand"
.
I turned my focus back to the real world and my surrounding returned to the shop's interior.
"I don't think it is the right one, sir. It's the core I think?" I put the wand back on the counter
13 inches, yew wood... I just said some gibberish about the phoenix feather's contradictory features to the wand's theme. Everyone knows that Phoenix is all about life and rebirth, and he just said that Balthasar's theme is about death.
"You can tell the difference? You didn't tell me he's a gifted wizard, professor" the wandmaker asked
"I agreed. Mr. Balthasar is a gifted one. I have seen it first hand. The kid can cast wandless magic" the professor explained
"And a wandless magic!?"
"Not just any wandless magic. He cast a healing spell with the finest precision I've ever seen"
"Merlin's beard! Now I don't think just a 'special' wand is adequate. Follow me inside"
"Uhh..."
"Go on, it's fine. We'll wait for you here"
I followed the wandmaker and entered a room inside the shop. The deputy headmistress and my matron stay behind and waiting for me at the counter. Ollivander needed some privacy since we're going to enter deeper inside his workshop so this might reveal his trade secrets.
Contrary to my expectation we didn't go inside the workshop. It is still a storeroom, though different from the previous one. Instead of shelves filled to the brim with boxes, now there are different and unique containers around the room.
"When I watched my father making wands with weak cores such as kelpie hair, I pledged myself to work only with the finest cores when I take over the shop. My experimentation and research concluded that unicorn hair, dragon heartstring, and phoenix feather are the three supreme cores suitable for my wands. And from then on, I only worked with those three substances." Ollivander begins his explanation and searches for a specific container on the shelves.
"I also worked with limited varieties of wood. It is various compared to the cores, but it's still limited. And because of this, I had less variety of wands compared to others. Although my wand quality is of a superior standard" the shop owner pulled a chest container from the shelves and opened it in front of us.
Inside the container lies three unique wands. And I mean very, very unique.
"Is that gold!? A wand made from gold?"
This is the first time seeing such unique wands, so my expression this time is of genuine surprise.
"Some Ollivanders ancestors create a very specialized wand for great wizards or their descendants. These wands are my ancestors' creation for the three Saints. That golden wand is designed for Saint Gaspar" the man explained
The three wands lie inside the chest. The wand on the left, intended for Saint Gaspar, is made of gold instead of wood. The center wand is made from some kind of wood and constantly releases visible mist that has an aromatic smell. The right wand is also made from wood, though it has many thorns along its body.
"How about you, Mr. Ollivander? Did you also create a unique wand?" I asked
"Not as unique as some of my ancestors. But I did create two unique and very powerful wands that counter each other" he replied
"Now let's try this one, shall we? 13 inches, Thestral's hair, and a Balthasar's special, Myrrh wood." he took the thorny wand in the right, and presented it to me.
"What's the matter?" I was going to enter my mind palace but got confused since the wandmaker readied his own wand and point it at me.
"Just some precaution. It's alright, go on try it"
"Right..."
Well anyway...
.
My surrounding changed into my mind palace again.
"At last! A worthy master to serve!" a guttural and dismembered voice greeted me when I entered my mind palace
"Whoa... When did this Elias Ainsworth-looking fella get here?"
Apparently, there is a new resident inside my mind palace. With a goat skull as its head, and thorny branches and vines as its body, the new resident of my mind palace look like a very sinister creature.
"JUST NOW" the supercomputer replied
I just want to make sure. So this creature is really the data I gathered from that wand.
"Whatever, the results?"
"100% COMPATIBILITY, INSUFFICIENT DATA TO MEASURE POWER"
"Oh wow."
I was ready to kick this creepy-looking fella out of my head. But a hundred percent compatibility... and that message "insufficient data to measure power"? How powerful is this wand?
No, rather than power it should be about the wand's versatility. Because if it's as simple as numeric calculation and comparison, MULTIVAC should be able to measure its power. Make no mistakes, I'm sure that the wand is still very powerful. Way above the previous wand.
I would be a fool not to keep this one on my side. I need to get the wand's loyalty. It's just that it's too sinister-looking.
"Alright, let's get this over with. I, Isaac Balthasar, am a wizard currently in need of a wand. Will you serve me as your master, to the very best of your ability?"
"So formal... yes, yes I swear and all that" the creature replied in its dismembered voices
"Perhaps you need more convincing."
The surrounding turned into pure darkness. Since this is my mindscape, I have the highest authority. I turned the place back into the one before I build everything in here. The endless darkness of the void. I hope this works since this wand is all about death.
"Your everything, all mine. Do you swear it?"
The wand's monstrous avatar solemnly lowered itself and kneeled in front of me.
"With my pleasure... This lowly one is yours..."
Then I felt the magical oath connection from the wand's avatar. Well, it seems that this is a big success.
"Rise, you may stay in here from now on." I returned my mindscape back to the previous state. Palace, gardens, and all that. Also returned my [Pseudo Reality] spell around it.
"Now... let's just show them that we're compatible with each other, shall we?"
."As you command..."
.
My surrounding turned back to the real world. But now there are also thorny vines growing around me, courtesy of the saint's wand. I recalled back the vines and do it even further. Now the thorns are all removed from the wand. If the thorns are still there, I'm afraid people would start asking questions about the unique wand.
"I want this one"