Curious...

The Daily Prophet arrived with a special edition that evening:

LUCIUS MALFOY IMPRISONED!

Arcturus Black returns to the Wizengamot, but for how long?

Are squibs being sold to muggle slavers?

The article recounted Lucius Malfoy's attempts at trying his daughter in absentia for using dark rituals to steal magic, the appearance of Arcturus Black, the public announcement of the annulment of Narcissa and Lucius, and the dismissal of the charges against Lyra.

It went on to discuss the filing of the charges against Lucius for his crimes, the honor duel, and a public statement with a subtle prompt for the DMLE to look into what was happening to squibs born to magical families.

Accompanying the article was an animated pensieve sketch of the duel, the amount of action incredibly brief. There were about ten seconds of Lucius Malfoy and Augustus Stevens just staring each other down followed by the five-second long duel, then Stevens handing Lucius's wand to Dumbledore, bowing to Arcturus, and walking away.

In the Leaky Cauldron; Severus, Harry, and a visible Lyra sat around a table as Alastor described the events of the day. Lyra seemed exhausted from near-continuous invisibility over the past few days as well as the weight from the threat of imprisonment by her own father. Having those incredible stresses lifted was like watching a pot revert back into the soft clay that it came from.

Harry was a bit upset at having to potentially expose his secrets using his uncle, but according to Alastor, his name wasn't brought into it at all. He didn't want the man used at all, revealing his name or not, as he didn't want the attention that might be brought up with his name being used or for others to feel sorry for him or seek revenge on his behalf. Luckily that had been avoided.

Severus let out a deep sigh, "I will need to take my leave now. As you remember, Lyra, I am your brother Draco's sworn godfather. I have sworn an oath that in the event his parents aren't able to care for him, I become his guardian. With his father in prison, and his mother separated from the family, I need to go to him now. I probably won't see either of you until school begins."

Harry looked unhappy but said, "I'll make sure to study the ingredients in the book you gave me."

Lyra just kept quiet. She didn't know what to think when it came to Draco. Harry was her brother now.

"Remember," said Severus, "When we are at school, you are to address me as Professor Snape. I am not a friend there, I am a teacher. Most students see me as a monster like you saw Hannah react to me."

Both children nodded, and Severus headed out.

Alastor turned to them after Severus had left, "I know it has been tough being inside for so long, so tomorrow we will be heading out the back door to Diagon Alley. It is the main magical shopping district in London. We will get everything you need while we are there. Tristan and Auror Jameson will be accompanying us. We will get started early in the morning, so I will set an alarm for each of you."

Harry flinched a little when Alastor mentioned the alarm, remembering the watch in that tiny cupboard that he had thought was his room.

"For the rest of the summer, I want you also to start sleeping in your beds when you can. You will have a bed while at Hogwarts and until you are able to transfigure something different, that will be what you need to use. The rest of the summer, you'll be studying or in the alley for shopping. The only other place we will be going is to Tristan's commencement ceremony." Alastor frowned, "After that, I have to go through the trouble of picking out a new trainee to break in."

Alastor grumbled a bit more about young people until Jameson brought Whispers over to them.

"I never would have thought a demiguise could read," he said. "Even if he can't say all the words, he's definitely understanding them in the simplest books meant for the youngest kids. The pictures probably help him a lot too."

Whispers climbed onto the table and ate food off of Harry's plate.

"You three should get a good night's sleep tonight, you'll be exhausted in a couple of hours of exploring Diagon Alley tomorrow if you don't."

The next morning they were anxious. They had spent over a week inside the Leaky Cauldron and had only seen daylight from the windows. However, London summers being what they were, they were accosted by a heavy rainstorm the first day they went out.

Alastor and Tristan charmed everyone's clothes to be waterproof and gave an umbrella to Whispers. The security team at the front checkpoint stopped all incoming traffic while they made their way to the alley behind the pub. They stood in the rain while Whispers played with the umbrella and Tristan got the honor of explaining to the children how to enter Diagon Alley.

"The entrance is just past this wall. Once you have your wand, you will be able to enter on your own, so remember this dustbin here," Tristan pointed out a bin that was in the corner of the alley, "it doesn't move." He kicked it for emphasis, demonstrating that it was rooted into the ground. "See this mark on the back of it? That's where you need to start. Count three bricks up, and two bricks to the right. Take your wand and tap that brick three times, like so."

Tristan tapped the brick three times and they heard a grinding noise. In a choreographed sequence, the bricks in front of them unfolded themselves until they had formed an archway with a cobblestone street stretching beyond them. The children had seen bits of magic before this, both their own and some performed by others. However magic hadn't ceased to be magical to them yet and they stared with wide eyes and smiles at what most other wizards probably got annoyed at for taking so long.

They started walking down the street. There was next to no one walking, as people don't normally shop in the rain. A woman went running by, scaring Whispers into invisibility. She did a double-take and looked back, only to see a floating umbrella which was 'normal' as far as she was concerned, so she kept moving. The three aurors kept their wands drawn, though Jameson commented that the rain probably made their job a little easier.

They passed several stores selling clothing, books, and weapons. One store that sold 'licensed enchanted muggle artifacts.' Another specialized in camping gear. Plenty of small cafes were available as well.

Upon seeing a candy shop, Harry pulled on Jameson's jacket and whispered, "I need candy for Lyra," and gave him a pleading look.

He whispered back, "We can go after the bank when you have some money."

They arrived at a large white stone building that looked like a Greek temple that had been squished into a smaller space than what was available. There were two guards at the entrance that were unmistakably goblins. The descriptions from The Hobbit were near perfect in comparison to these nasty-looking creatures. Though unlike those, these were slightly shorter, around Lyra's height, and were clad in shiny armor that looked like what Tolkien's elves might wear. They carried metal clubs paired with tower shields and glared at everyone who passed by.

They were just about to enter when one of the guards stepped in front of them and said in a squeaky but menacing voice, "The children need to read the plaque before entering for the first time." He pointed to the engraved stone tablet above the door.

It read:

Enter, stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed,

For those who take, but do not earn,

Must pay most dearly in their turn,

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there.

When he finished, Harry felt a tingle of magic wash over him and the guard stepped back to his post.

"What was that?" asked Harry. He looked over to see Lyra finishing as she got the same shiver.

Alastor replied, "It is a minor oath with a compulsion charm made with Goblin magic. They could tell that it was your first time and hadn't read it before. If you ever do attempt to steal from them, they will also know, and they might contact the aurors before cutting your head off if you come back after committing theft."

Jameson also added, "Though the real threat is that if you attempt to steal anything you won't even make it out of the bank. There are enough security measures in place that no one dares to try. Last year, there was a break-in but nothing was stolen. They haven't caught the thief yet though."

The other guard growled at Jameson. "Go about your business, wizard, no loitering."

Harry and Lyra pushed ahead of the group to enter the bank.

The inside of the bank looked like a temple, however, the religion was money. The outside may have looked squished but all the lines of the walls inside were straight and clean. Along the walls were tellers specializing in various exchanges. Near the door, there was a desk with a sign that said, 'Muggle Money Exchange,' from there were desks for new accounts, loans, business accounts, and many more. There were guards stationed all over the bank, looking the same as the two outside. The tellers, on the other hand, were maybe a foot shorter than the guards and wore suits fitted for their smaller bodies.

At the end of this church worshiping gold was a tall desk that was about seven feet high and had a goblin in a suit and wearing spectacles sitting at the top. When they arrived he peered over the top but did not speak.

Alastor pulled a small golden key from his front pocket, "Harry Potter is here to make a withdrawal from his vault."

The goblin took the key and assessed it before looking back at them. "Am I to assume that the young lady is Miss Lyra Cassiopeia Black?"

Lyra backed up a little bit to hide behind Harry.

"She is," responded Alastor. "What business do you have with her?"

"We have instructions to bring Miss Black to her trust vault when arriving with Mr. Potter." The Goblin pulled out another golden key with a small black stone on the tip.

Alastor nodded, "Which vault will we go to first?"

"Miss Black's vault is lower, so she will be second," replied the goblin. He then spoke with a voice that sounded like crumpling a plastic bottle underwater and another goblin in a suit approached the desk. "This is Spinaltap. He will escort you to your vaults."

The second goblin took the two keys and led them to a back door. On the other side, the building turned into a cave with a minecart on a track and a wooden double door at the far end. The goblin looked at the group of five and pulled on the back of the cart, instantly extending it by another few feet. Harry gave a worried glance to the aurors.

Tristan told him, "You might be scared of the ride down, but no matter how scary it gets, remember you're safe. No one has fallen out or been injured that I have ever heard of."

Spinaltap turned around and smiled with a toothy grin, "That you've heard of."

Of course, that made their fears worse, so after climbing in, Tristan held onto Harry, and Jameson held onto Lyra, who held onto Whispers. Alastor's clawed foot dug into the wood of the minecart floor as Spinaltap took the brakes off and they rolled forwards. The wooden doors in front of them opened and they saw tracks going every which way in front of them, but theirs dropped off into the abyss in front of them. The cart sped up and seemingly turned everyone weightless as it fell down the tracks toward the vaults.

There were twists and turns and Harry lost track of how long they had been moving, though the wind in his hair felt amazing. When they reached the first stop, Spinaltap turned around and remarked with a distinct lack of sincerity, "Oh no, did we lose someone?"

Jameson responded, "she's still here, it just might take a minute for her to be visible again."

"Fine, Mr. Potter, please follow me and take the lantern from the cart," said Spinaltap.

"I can create light if you need me to," Harry said.

The goblin looked skeptical but nodded. Harry pulled his shrunken staff out of his pocket and shook it like Alastor had told him to do to return it to full size. Once it was full size, he tapped it on the ground and a white glow spread throughout the cave. Just like the light from the protector, the glow from Harry's staff did not appear to emanate from anywhere, in particular, the surrounding area was just illuminated.

Everyone just looked around at the light both interested in the magic and trying to figure out the source of the light. Lyra and Whispers both reappeared as the light made them feel safe.

Spinaltap snapped out of his amazement, smiled at Harry without showing his teeth, and unlocked the door to Harry's vault. When the door opened, the light from the staff spread through the vault to show three massive crates, an old traveling trunk, a wardrobe, and five cardboard boxes.

"That's weird," said Alastor. "There's no money?"

Spinaltap walked over to one of the crates and pulled the top off of it showing what might be hundreds of evenly stacked metal cylinders. He pulled out one that was about five inches long and instructed Harry to hold out his hand. Spinal tap tapped once on the top of the cylinder and one gold galleon fell into his hand. He tapped three times on the top and three galleons fell into his hand. He then put the cylinder on top of each coin in turn and they vanished into the cylinder.

He then returned to the crates and put his hand on each in turn while saying, "Galleons, sickles, knuts."

Tristan stared in amazement and asked, "Can I have this done in my vault?"

Spinaltap smiled a toothy grin back, "The patent for these cylinders was filed by Lily Potter and is now owned by Mr. Potter here. The addition of this system to any wizard's vault carries a fee for the purchase of each container as well as our labor fees for the sorting. You may inquire about it with your account manager at a time that is not now."

Turning back to Harry, "Each cylinder contains either 25 galleons, 35 sickles, or 40 knuts." He pulled a small pouch off a hook on the wall. "This bag will hold as much as you need. You could also store your staff in it without shrinking it. Do not put anything living inside for longer than it would need to breathe."

Harry had gotten his lecture on money and the things he would need to buy, but he still asked, "Alastor, how much should I take?"

Alastor responded, "I would recommend 100 galleons for the year along with at least 100 sickles and 200 knuts. Most of the galleons will be spent today on your school supplies, but I'm guessing there might be some other things in the vault here you might want to take that you won't need to buy later."

Harry looked around the room and moved over to the trunk. It was very long and had a very thin lid. Opening it up showed nothing particularly interesting, just an empty bottom. The lid had many leather straps on it in case you wanted to attach something to the inside of it. Alastor walked over to perform his own examination.

"There's something special about this, I can see that it has multiple compartments, but I can't see how to access them," Alastor said. He and Tristan looked it over while Harry moved over to the cardboard boxes.

The first one had books, mostly children's books, but others as well. Something caught his eye and he pulled out a very old copy of The Hobbit, he dug around some more and found four more Tolkien books; The Lord of the Rings series and The Silmarillion, though he hadn't heard of the last one. While the aurors were examining the trunk, Harry took the books and ran out to Jameson, Lyra, and Whispers.

"Look what I found!" Harry said with excitement.

Lyra read the cover and her eyes widened, "This is what you read to me, right?"

Harry nodded and pulled out the other books, "These three come later after The Hobbit, and I'm not sure about this one, but it's written by the same person. I haven't read any of them, this is going to be great!"

The yellow feathers in her hair started glowing while she thought of the memory of Harry helping and protecting the children in the shipping container with the words from this book. She shed a few tears before giving Harry a big hug.

Alastor called out from inside the vault, "We figured it out!" Harry dragged Lyra back inside, but Whispers stayed with Auror Jameson in the cart.

Alastor had the trunk closed and stood next to it to say, "This trunk has three compartments that we've found, and we are pretty sure it doesn't have any others. When laying down like it is now, if you open the top, you've got a regular trunk." He opened and placed one of the children's books inside, closing it. Then he reached over to the handle on the side and pulled it upright.

"Now you have a closet," he opened the lid, which was now more of a door, and there was a closet with a high shelf, a bar for hangers, and a shoe rack on the bottom. The inside of the door now held a shoe shining kit, lint brush, shaving kit, and sewing kit. Alastor tapped a small jewel and the inside of the door became a full-length mirror, he tapped it again and the mirror vanished. He opened the wardrobe in the vault and took out a hat, a leather jacket, and a pair of shoes, and put them all in the trunk-closet in their proper spots. He closed the lid and laid it back down. Picking up the handle on the other side, he turned it so the wardrobe would be upside down.

"Now you have a library," he opened the door again and now there was a bookshelf inside of the trunk. On the lid was a corkboard with pins, several quills, rolls of parchment, ink pots, and a shelf that could be folded down so you could write on it while standing. "May I have your books?" Alastor asked Harry.

Harry handed over the Tolkien books and Alastor placed them on the shelves, then closed the lid. Alastor looked at Harry and Lyra, "Stand back, I'm going to try something that I'm nearly positive will work."

The children took a few steps back and Alastor drew his wand. Harry stared in horror as Alastor levitated the trunk and proceeded to fly and spin it all over the vault before settling it back down. He opened it flat and the book he had placed there hadn't moved at all. He used his wand to turn it to the wardrobe and the clothes hadn't moved either. Flipping it the other way, all of Harry's Tolkien books hadn't moved either. Harry had been breathing heavily and was very relieved that Alastor had guessed correctly.

Tristan hadn't heard from Spinaltap for a bit and looked back towards the entrance to find the goblin eating a large stick of beef jerky in a red and yellow plastic wrapper while leaning against the wall.

Spinaltap noticed Tristan and waved him off, "Don't worry about me, I get paid by the hour."

Harry and Lyra returned to the boxes. The second box contained a large number of school books. Harry consulted his list of books and found everything he needed except for a book series by a man named Gilderoy Lockhart.

Harry asked Lyra to take any of the children's books she wanted to read as he put all of the school books into his trunk library. Harry opened the next box to find records. He remembered his aunt had a record player which she would occasionally listen to. Harry asked the aurors, "Is any of this good music?"

Alastor and Tristan started looking through them and pulled out records by The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Miles Davis, Elvis Presley, Van Morrison, Bach, Beethoven, Wagner, and many others. Tristan pulled out one by someone named Marvin Gaye, but Alastor pushed it back in while saying, "Give it a few years."

They went to put them onto a shelf in the trunk but it wouldn't fit until all the shelves just shifted upwards to make space. "Now you're also going to need to buy a gramophone too."

Before leaving, Harry looked through the wardrobe and found some gloves, warm hats, and a few red and yellow scarves that he added to his trunk wardrobe. After it was closed up, Tristan lifted it slightly by the handle on the top of the lid and twisted it ninety degrees. The sides shrunk to the middle, turning it into a slightly oversized briefcase. Harry remembered his briefcase from his old school, and it felt good to have a new one.

He carried it out to the cart and they all climbed back in before heading down to Lyra's vault. When they arrived, Spinaltap stopped them from getting out. He walked over to a wall and took off a device that was mounted there, turning back he said, "Everyone needs to stay close here. We have dragons guarding the vaults down here, they will not approach when they hear this." He shook the device in his hands and it emitted a ringing noise. In the distance, they could hear a small roar which Alastor's blue eye moved to track, and then he gasped. Even he took a big step closer to Spinaltap and they moved quickly towards Lyra's vault which was opened with her key.

The door was opened and everyone gasped. There were piles of gold, silver, and bronze spread around the room. A larger wardrobe than Harry's was in the corner as well as numerous bookcases and various types of weapons. However, right in front of them was a letter resting on a small podium with Lyra's name written upon it. Spinaltap led her to the envelope which she opened.

It took her a long time to read it, but after she was done, she turned to them and said, "It's from Uncle Arcturus. It's an apology for how he treated me before and an explanation of everything that is here. There's also a note at the bottom for you Alastor."

Alastor took the note and read it, and then chuckled. "It's a reminder that no matter what I see in here in regards to dark artifacts and books, none of it will hurt Lyra and I'm not allowed to confiscate any that might be illegal."

Alastor looked around the room with his magic eye, "Yep, there are quite a few weapons and books that if I ever caught you with on the outside, I would need to arrest you. Just ask before you take anything that looks like it might have blood on it, OK?"

Lyra looked a little scared and backed up to Harry and Whispers. The aurors began to look around the vault and Lyra spoke to Harry while holding the note. "No one has ever apologized to me before." She read the note again. "My father would hurt me and say it was for my own good, my mother never helped me, and my brother didn't either. Uncle Arcturus is the only one to apologize to me. I would like to talk to him again."

Harry nodded, "Of course, and I will be there with you. He deserves another chance." He leaned down and gave Lyra a hug that he felt she needed right then.

"Now pull!" yelled Alastor as he and Jameson pulled a large trunk out from under a pile of gold. "There is no way this wasn't deliberately put under all the money."

Spinaltap just shrugged, "There might be other stuff under there too, I don't have a magic eye. There is always the option of converting the storage to the method that Mr. Potter uses."

"For a fee?" asked Alastor.

Spinaltap gave them a toothy grin and nodded.

Alastor looked at the trunk, "I've got one of these, though mine has seven compartments, this one only has five."

There were five locks on the front and a ring of keys attached to the handle. The children watched as he opened them up one at a time to reveal regular but different spaces. The last one however seemed to drop down quite a bit lower than where the floor was. "This is about fifteen feet." He cast a spell inside, "It also refreshes the air inside so you can keep living things in it. Mine also has that feature."

Lyra tried to think of something she would want in there and asked, "Could I keep a mango tree in there?"

The aurors laughed and Alastor said, "That's probably not the original purpose that it was intended for, but you may need some artificial light. We can stop by an herbalist later to check if it can be done."

Harry thought it was a great idea. "If the mango tree is tall enough, you'd just need to reach down to pick a mango off the top of the tree, no climbing necessary!"

That thought made Lyra even happier about the possibility of a mango tree in her trunk.

They filled it up with some age-appropriate books, some clothes that fit her, and a few pieces of non-magical jewelry that Lyra liked. This one didn't have a shrinking charm on it, but it did have an extendable handle, wheels, and a featherweight charm. They filled a pouch with various coins and headed out.

The ride out was fast but uphill, so not as scary as the first ride. Harry and Lyra thanked Spinaltap for his help and set off again into the summer rain.

The first stop they made was Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions to be fitted with their school robes. Both Harry and Lyra were very uncomfortable with being posed and measured with a firm grip by Madam Malkin or one of her assistants. Harry got very close to having a panic attack from the constant grip the Madam had on him as she measured him for robes.

He took many big breaths as they exited the shop. Alastor admonished him a little, "If you were uncomfortable, why did you say anything?"

Harry's mind snapped back to life at the Dursleys and he responded angrily, "What would that have achieved?"

Jameson passed a napping Whispers to Lyra and kneeled in front of Harry. "I don't know what your life was like before this, but there are people around you now who care. So if you're in a situation you're not comfortable with, you need to tell someone. If they don't care, tell someone else. If you're still having trouble finding someone to help, you can always find one of us, and we will help. Do you understand?"

All of the wizards they had met so far seemed to want to help him, but he couldn't disconnect from the idea that some people might actually want to help him with problems. Even though he didn't really believe the man, he still nodded and said that he did.

From there, they had lunch at one of the small cafes. Then, they moved on to a candy shop where Tristan introduced the children to Chocolate Frogs.

He held the container to them and said, "There will be a frog inside that will hop. It is made of chocolate, so you can eat it. I'm going to open it now."

He pulled on the golden cord of the package and it opened up. The frog took a quick look around and tried to hop away. Harry snatched it out of the air and held it still in his hands. Lyra reached over and plucked the legs off of it before handing a leg to Harry and both bit down on the legs while holding the toes in their hands.

Tristan looked shocked as the children's eyes lit up from the taste of chocolate. "That looked like you've done it before."

"Well, yeah, frog legs are delicious," said Lyra. "We normally cook them first but these are chocolate!" she said with a chocolate grin on her face.

Harry felt the frog in his hands stop moving and opened them to find it was now just a simple piece of confectionery without life in it. He carefully broke it in half and handed one of them to Lyra. They both enjoyed their pieces of the frog.

The card inside was for a wizard named Ptolemy. Tristan advised the children to keep all the cards they got because some wizards were obsessive about them, even if it was worthless to them.

Harry ended up getting a bunch of other small sweets and a few more chocolate frogs.

The last stop for the day was for wands. They approached Ollivander's wand shop. The building was very narrow and three stories tall. The sign on the outside said, "Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C."

The aurors stopped outside and turned to the two children and Whispers. Alastor told them, "The matching of a wizard's first wand is a bit of a ritual. We will not go in with you. Take all the time you need."

Harry felt a bit vulnerable without the aurors, so he pulled out his staff before walking in. The inside of the shop was a lot wider than the outside. There were several chairs along the wall by the door and a long counter in front of them. Behind the counter were five rows of shelves and a set of very narrow stairs that led up to the next level. On every shelf, there were small, long boxes, too many to count. From the middle aisle, they heard a voice.

"Ahh, Mr. Potter, I was wondering when I'd be seeing you." They saw a shadowy figure approaching them with yellow eyes glowing in the darkness. Lyra pulled out her staff, shaking it to full size, but standing behind Harry as the man approached. "You made me wait a whole year for this moment, and I had been looking forward to it very much." The man stepped into the light to reveal an older man with short wiry hair all around his head. "I feel like it was only yesterday that your mother and father were here to buy their first wands, and now I get to help with yours." His fingers started moving like they were playing an invisible piano in the air, each one reaching a bit toward one of the boxes on the shelves before settling down and returning to his side.

He turned back to the children, "And Miss Black, you look to me like you will be an interesting one as well." He took another step towards the counter as she shrunk back behind Harry even more and whimpered a little bit. Whispers was peeking out over Harry's shoulder, he made a small chirp and the man turned to Whispers, locking his eyes on him. "And a demiguise? Incredible specimen, I don't work with the hair myself, but I know many who do." Whispers faded into invisibility and hid behind Harry.

Harry was terrified, he didn't remember what Jameson had told him, and he decided to act on his own. He took a step forward and slammed the butt of his staff into the ground and a pulse of the white glow came out. "You need to stop scaring my sister and brother right now." Harry said with a second pulse getting sent out when he said, 'now.'

The man stood up straight and looked at Harry closely. "Astounding." He stared at Harry's staff. "I am sorry for frightening you, Miss Black." Lyra relaxed slightly, she had just received the second apology in her life. "Your staves, the workmanship is very curious, may I hold them?"

"No," Harry said firmly. This was his, he wasn't going to let a stranger take it.

The man looked at Harry strangely and leaned forward to sniff the staff. He waved his hands around it before letting out a gasp and his eyes widened immensely. "This is the horn of a Lampong! Where did you get it?"

"What's a Lampong?" Harry asked.

"The creature that this is from. Is it all white, with black eyes, and antlers like slowing water?" The man asked

Harry nodded.

"The creature is called a Lampong, you were somewhere in the Philippines?" Another nod. "It is a great protector, fierce when it needs to defend, gentle when it needs to protect. I have only heard stories of it in the past, I can't think of anyone I know who has seen one living. How were you able to get one of its horns?"

Harry felt a tug on his back and nodded to Lyra, "I don't want to tell you," He said with some difficulty.

Lyra found her voice and said quietly, "We don't know you."

The man snapped his head up, "My apologies, my name is on the door. I am Garrick Ollivander, the premier wandmaker for the British Isles for nearly my whole life." He paused for a moment to scrutinize the children before him before saying, "Well, let's get you both a wand."

He pulled out a measuring tape and started reaching for Harry's arm, but he pulled back his hand. He was finding strength in telling people what he wanted. "Please don't touch me," Harry said with a touch of hesitancy. Ollivander gave him a strange look, but just tapped the measuring tape with his wand and it flew over to Harry and started measuring his arms, shoulder width, and even the distance between his nostrils for whatever reason. All the measurements were appearing on a sheet of paper next to Ollivander.

"Let's try something basic," he said, pulling out a wand near him. The wand he pulled from the box did look pretty basic and he passed it to Harry's left hand. "Since you hold the staff with your right hand, you will need to learn to use your wand with your left. Just practice every day with your left hand and you should be fine. Now give this one a wave."

Harry took the wand and gave it a wave. All the windows behind him exploded. Alastor Moody and the other Aurors burst in behind them, wands were drawn looking for a threat. Lyra and Whispers had vanished. After a quick explanation and fixed windows, the aurors went back outside and Lyra and Whispers faded back in with a quirk of an eye given to them by Ollivander.

Ollivander took back the wand that Harry still held in a firm grip, "Not that one." After consulting one of the measurements on the paper, Ollivander went down an aisle and brought back another wand, passing it to Harry. Harry was terrified but gave it a little twist of the wrist. A small bolt of electricity arced up to a light on the wall, shattering the glass around it into pieces. Ollivander caught the falling glass and repaired the light with his wand. "Not that one either," he said, taking the wand back from Harry.

This process went on for fifteen minutes as Harry destroyed bits of the shop here and there, and Ollivander repaired them immediately after. He blew out the windows twice more before Ollivander pulled a box from the shelves at the end, staring at the children from the darkness with his yellow eyes and muttering, "I wonder."

Ollivander approached Harry cautiously and opened the box, removing the wand. He carefully handed it to Harry and stepped back. Harry stared at it for a second, then waved it. A blast of fire shot out the front and engulfed Mr. Ollivander's head in flame. He rushed to the sink at the back of the shop to get his head underwater and put the fire out.

Ever since the box had been opened, Lyra had been transfixed by the wand being given to Harry. From deep in her mind, she could hear a bird's song. The song filled her ears and head like happiness spreading through her. She had a longing in her to sing along to the tune that only she could hear. She saw the wand placed in Harry's hand and she jumped back when Ollivander's hair was burnt off. While he ran to the back, Lyra tugged on Harry's arm.

"May I try that one?" she asked. "I can hear it singing."

Harry called Whispers up onto his back and took a step back from Lyra. She held out her left hand and Harry reached out and gently placed the wand in her fingertips.

Immediately there was a pulse of red light and a shower of red and brown sparks, the light seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere, just like the white light that came from Harry's staff. Ollivander came running out from the back, his head was hairless and covered in singe marks. There was a wind whipping around Lyra, blowing her hair and rattling the boxes around the room. She gave the wand she was holding a wave and the red and brown sparks flew around her, settling on the walls, floor, and table making them shine with glowing light. As the light died down, Harry reached out to Lyra and pulled her into a hug.

When he released her, he pulled out his bag of candy and gave her a handful of them. He hugged her again and told her, "Lyra, that was some beautiful magic."

She smiled and hugged him back.

Ollivander gave her an astonished look, then narrowed his eyes, "Curious, very very curious."

"What's curious?" asked Harry

Ollivander took on a somber tone, "I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather resides in that wand gave another feather... just one other. It is curious that she should be destined for this wand when its brother gave you that scar." He pointed to the scar on his forehead.

He turned to Lyra, "The wand chooses the wizard, Miss Black. It's not always clear why. But I think it is clear that we can expect interesting things from you." Turning back to Harry, "I am not sure how long it will take to find your wand, please come back tomorrow while I examine the results from today."

Harry and Lyra left the shop. Alastor stood up and vanished the conjured chair he was sitting on. "That was an incredible reaction! What kind of wand did you get?"

"I didn't get a wand," said Harry. "That was Lyra. He can't find one for me, he told me to come back tomorrow. There's also something weird he said about this wand. I think he was hoping that it would match me instead of Lyra."

"He told us that there is a phoenix feather in my wand and that that phoenix it came from gave up only one other feather for a wand." Lyra paused for a moment to look at her brother, "The other one was in the wand that gave Harry his scar."

The aurors looked shocked, nervous, and unsure of how to process this news. Alastor rallied quickly and said, "We need to get back to the pub now. We can have dinner and work out the rest of this later."

They headed back quickly and Alastor sent a letter to Dumbledore as quickly as possible when they arrived, unaware that Ollivander had already sent his own letter as well.