The day I had to board the train back to Hogwarts, I had Tipsy drop me off in the same compartment she picked me up from. I made sure to arrive early enough so nobody else would take it. I activated my Magic Perception spell to notify me when anybody got close, it was much easier to use the spell now, my range had increased quite a bit as well. While I waited for Hermione and Neville , I was going to use the time to train my "new" wand.
It flew out from its holster and levitated in front me, in its true form, with just my thought of wanting to use it. It was no longer a wand really, rather a staff, at least for someone my size anyway. The faces on the heads of the wand had become much clearer, to now become somewhat recognizable. It also glowed whenever used now, looked as if it was made from molten rock, and I absolutely loved that particular detail!
I remember the day it changed to its true form. It was the day after my expedition to the library, I was in my study writing a few notes on another list I was making. This one of all the magical artifacts I remembered from the comics. As soon as I recollected the information on the wand, I called it to my hand in its real form I knew of at the time. When my mind finally connected the familiar looking wand in my hand to the one, I knew from the comics, a burst of visible power originated from it that shrouded me completely. I could somehow tell that it had now fully accepted me as it's owner.
"Wand of Watoomb, my wand is the Wand of Watoomb! Oh, shit Voldemort, you are so dead!" I had exclaimed out loud as I saw the wand start changing.
It began growing in size, the faces becoming more detailed, the horns getting bigger and sharper. I felt my own magic change as well, brought forth by the wand. I could feel it becoming denser signifying an increase in my magic reserves. Along with that, I could feel a deep intrinsic connection being formed between the wand and I.
It was no wonder Quirrell's curse got devoured, I knew the wand to be capable of absorbing mystical energies. Though I still needed to learn how it actually did that so I can do it on command. But that was just the beginning, there was so much more to the wand that I knew I had to learn. Additionally, from what I remember there are supposed to be 5 other similar wands, might even be possible to combine them…
It also confirmed that supreme level beings existed in this universe. Watoomb, the creator of the wand, was one of few mortals to become one of the Principalities. Beings that could be summoned for power; like Dormmammu, Cyttorak, and Agamotto, as in the Agamotto that Dr. Strange calls upon for his most powerful sorcery. If one existed, then they all had to exist.
Thinking about those supreme existences always caused a heavy feeling on my body, like gravity was pressing down on me harder. I knew it to be the burden of responsibility I was starting to feel, to become as powerful as I could. So that innocent people don't have to lose their lives when they eventually came for Earth. Especially when I'm the only one that knows of them at the moment. Even when aliens do start showing up on the regular on Earth, they won't know of the real threats, till it will be too late.
Clearing away those thoughts, I focused back on my wand, specifically on the connection that now existed between the two of us. I was effortlessly able to conjure some leaves to lay on the empty seats in front of me. Wizardkind magic had become a lot easier to do now so that wasn't where my focus was anymore, it was instead on learning the magic of Watoomb. With my connection to the wand, I could tell that the pathway had been laid out for me, I just needed to walk it. As in practise, lots and lots of practise. And the first step was learning to master the wind element, eventually learning to use all the others as well.
Instead of having the wand call on my magic as I used to do, I now called upon the magic of the wand. I focused on one leaf first, and a small localized gust of wind flew from the wand to raise the leaf gently into the air. When I was able to bring it to a satisfactory height, I raised another leaf and then another…till I had all 30 leaves in air. It took a bit more of a mental strain but I was able to then get half the leaves to remain floating stationary in front me, while the other half flew around me in a circular pattern, their flight speed increasing with each revolution.
Calling forth big gusts of wind to blow people away was cool but I could use Wizardkind magic if I wanted to be flashy, I wanted to have the option to use a more subtle approach when the situation called for it. And to do that, I had to master my control to the point that I could do multiple things on a minute scale. I was even working on controlling my wind magic so that I could compress the wind I called into thin blades that would be able to cut through anything, though that is proving to me more difficult than I had previously thought.
I had to stop after 25 minutes of moving the leaves around in different ways and directions. That was my limit at the moment. Anymore and my body would start feeling fatigued as if I had been awake for more than 24 hours so I didn't want to push it.
Just in time too, as someone had just come into range of my Magic Perception spell. As I vanished the leaves with a swipe of my hand, my wand intuitively changed back to its disguised form and went back to my holster. Man, I loved my wand.
It wasn't Hermione or Neville who came, as the person kept walking ahead after a quick peek inside. Since one person had come, more would soon follow so I decided to open up a book to occupy my time instead. The one I had on me was "Carrie" by Stephen King, I'd bought it after seeing it in a book store I was passing by when I made another trip to the library, I'd seen the original movie in my old life but never actually read the book so I decided to do it now.
I put the book away when I heard someone opening the door. It was Hermione who arrived first, and pulled me into a hug as soon as she was free of her things.
"Thank you so much for the gifts, though you didn't have to get my parents anything," she said when we sat down.
"It's no problem at all, just wanted to be understanding of their situation. I know it can be hard accepting all this after growing up completely unaware of the magical world, so I hoped some magic with something familiar would help" I replied.
I had gotten Hermione's parents Self-Shuffling Cards, after finding out she played cards with her parents all the time. It was a family activity they loved when they all had free time.
Though I did have Sebas be the one to buy it, along with Hermione's gift and Neville's gift…My elves make me very lazy at home, maybe I needed to start doing some of the shopping myself, to get out more at least.
"They appreciated it very much. My dad especially. I think he spent the entire first day just scattering them everywhere so he can see it work" Hermione interrupted my musings and then asked about her gift. "And where did you buy my gift? It's one of the MOST detailed books on magic theory I've seen. The explanations were much easier to understand and went a lot deeper than some of the books from the Hogwarts Library?"
I gave her a sheepish smile before replying "I didn't buy it, it's a copy of a book I found in the manor library along with some of my own notes added in. I also gave Neville-" I was interrupted by said person walking in the compartment.
"Hi Harry, Hermione! It's good to see you guys" Neville greeted, as he sat down.
"It's good to see you too, Neville!" Hermione replied.
"I agree, it's good to see you, Neville!" I replied right after her.
As we fell into conversation about our gifts to each other, the train eventually departed for Hogwarts. It was a bittersweet return for me. While there was still a lot of Hogwarts waiting for me to explore, now I couldn't take as much time as I originally wanted to. I need to get it out of the way quickly so I can focus on more important things.
Thankfully, my beloved elves always know when to cheer me up. When everyone else had gone to sleep, Nabel knowing I'm a late sleeper, appeared on top of my bed. She told me she had seen the Weasley twin's using the Marauder's Map earlier today, right before curfew. Perfect! Now that it's confirmed, it was time to make a deal with the devil, or devils as it were.
