Sofia fought back the urge to bounce up and down as she stood in the throne room. She was just so excited! She was going to get her wand today! It had been a week since her birthday, in less than a month she'd be going to Durmstrang! She'd miss her mother and mom of course, as well as the portraits and the Elves and some of the younger noble children who she got to spend time with. But she'd have more friends, or at least more chances for friends, at Durmstrang. And she'd get to learn how to do magic, and get to make potions rather than just watch her tutor make them!
A moment before she thought for sure she'd start moving, a man with a thick black beard and hair barely more tamed than Sofia's own short bob but just as black entered the room, flanked by two guards and pulling a large case on wheels behind him. He stopped a few meters away from the raised dais where the royal family sat (or stood in Sofia's case), releasing the case and bowing. "Your Majesties. I am Klaus Gregorovitch, and I thank you for calling upon me to help your daughter find her wand." Bianca inclined her head towards the master wandmaker.
"Your reputation, and the reputation of your family's wandmaking, precedes you Master Gregorovitch." She said in what Sofia thought of as her business voice. "You were the clear choice."
"You flatter me Your Majesty." The man said smoothly, rising from his bow before smiling at Sofia. "Congratulations on your recent birthday Princess, and your acceptance into Durmstrang as well. It is a fine school."
"Thank you." Sofia said with a smile, still barely containing her excitement. Klaus noticed this, and smiled again.
"If you will indulge me Princess, I always ask this question before helping someone find a wand. What do you know about wands?" Sofia blinked, thinking the question over.
"I know that each wand is special, not just in making but that each person has their own unique wand. And I know that they're what let us use magic...I don't know how though." She admitted with a frown.
"Ah, well, that is correct, and, if you'd like, I can explain how."
"Yes please." Sofia said quickly, eager. She liked learning things. Behind her Bianca and Vittoria exchanged fond looks, unsurprised at her answer.
"Well, all magical beings, be they sentient, beast, or plant, make magic. It's in us, tied to our very being. But what happens when we make it differs. Centaurs and Merfolk bend their magic back into their bodies, reinforcing and blessing some of their body parts-brains and limbs mostly. To them, a wand is just another stick, magic has given them other talents. Veela are a...special and complicated case we don't need to get into. But Wizards, Goblins, and House Elves, well, we radiate magic. Rather than keeping it inside, it comes out. Goblins find theirs work best when channeled through metal and stone, but can get some use out of wands, while House Elves are uniquely skilled and talented in making use of the stuff. It's widely believed that they taught us Wizards, as well as the Goblins, how to harness magic." Sofia blinked at that.
"But Wizards, we're a stubborn lot, and our magic is equally stubborn. It needs coaxing, and that is where wands come in. A wand cannot be made from just any old material. It requires special wood, and special cores from magical creatures, in order to properly function. They're magic themselves you know. The wand chooses the witch." He nodded.
"What about Vampires?" Sofia asked, thinking back to her lessons on the Phoenix Queen.
"Ah, Vampires are quite interesting." Klaus said, nodding. "They are a hybrid of sorts. A Vampire who was a Wizard before being turned will still be able to use their wand, and be as powerful as they were, however, the innate Vampire magic and skills that come with their nature will be lessened. In contrast a Vampire who was a Muggle will not suddenly have the ability to make use of a wand, but will have other, stronger talents. It's very interesting, but they're understandably reluctant to submit to study so…" He shrugged.
"Can only a wand help a Wizard channel magic?" Sofia asked, the thought just occurring to her. Klaus laughed and clapped his hands.
"You have a curious mind Princess, is good! In answer, no. A wand is the most versatile, easy to make, and useful tool, but one can make other enchanted objects to let one make magic. Staves were once quite popular, but they require a lot of time and effort to craft, and even more specialized wood than what is used to make wands. Magical jewelry, mainly rings and armlets, were once quite popular as well, but the problem there is that they're specialized. Anything made of metal and jewels can only do one type of magic, and because they're more rigid and less ornately magic the smaller the object the less it can do. And of course potion making is its own brand of magic, but that is as complicated as Veela magic and not my expertise. So wands are not the only thing a Wizard can use to do magic, but they are the most useful and practical tool." Sofia nodded in understanding. There was a spark of...something in the back of her mind, but she didn't know what it was yet, so she ignored it for the moment.
"Now then, let us get to the main event." Klaus said brightly, clapping his hands again. The case behind him opened up, and Sofia's eyes widened as it expanded, growing up and out until it resembled a large, three wing bookcase, full of wands on display. "Now, the nature of wands mean that I could not make one for you here and now. It is the finished product that bonds to a witch or wizard, not the individual pieces. But I assure you, these were all hand made by me, with the greatest of care and from the best of materials. Let's see...ah, try this, holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches."
Sofia stepped down from the dais and took the wand, waving it briefly only for Klaus to quickly take it back.
"No, not that one then. Hmm…" Sofia blinked, but she wasn't about to argue. The man knew more than she did after all. "Chestnut and coral, ten and a quarter inches." She waved it, only for it to once more be taken. "No trouble, no trouble, it's rare that we get this right on the first go." Klaus assured her, replacing the wand and pulling another one from the case. "How about this one, mountain ash and dragon heartstring, nine inches."
Sofia barely got to wave that one before it was taken from her. She flushed and looked over her shoulder, but her mother gave her an encouraging smile and her mom a grin, so she turned back. If they weren't getting annoyed or worried, then it was probably fine.
Wand after wand was presented to her, and then just as quickly taken away. With each one Klaus seemed to get more and more pleased though, and Sofia hadn't heard her mom start shuffling awkwardly in her throne like she usually did when she got bored or tired, so Sofia fought the urge to apologize. "Tricky customers, always fun." Klaus said happily. "But I have plenty of wands, we'll find the perfect match, don't you worry." He ran his hands over the wands, then paused at one. "Hmm...forgot I packed that one. Well, it's a little unusual, but why not?" He turned and presented it to Sofia. "Ebony and yeti hair, twelve inches."
Sofia felt a sudden warmth in her fingers, and waved the wand, swishing it through the air. A spattering of snow, in blue and green and white, shot from her wand, falling to the floor, and behind her Vittoria clapped as Klaus grinned.
"Ah, very good, very good." He said, nodding. "It may interest you to know Princess, that that is in fact the first wand with yeti hair I have ever made. They're not native to Europe, after all, and quite fierce besides." Sofia blinked up at him, and he nodded. "Ebony is a very interesting wood when it comes to wands. All wood prefers certain Wizards, as do the cores. Ebony is happiest in the hand of those with the courage to be themselves. As for yeti hair, well, we'll just have to see." He bowed, clapping his hands once more to close his case.
"Thank you Master Gregorovitch." Bianca said with a smile as Sofia returned to the dais. "We appreciate you making the trip. Our steward will ensure the proper payment, and you have our thanks as well."
"It was my pleasure Your Majesty." The man said, bowing again before leaving, case in tow.
"I have a wand." Sofia whispered as the doors closed behind him.
"Indeed you do dear." Bianca said with a smile.
"And a cool one too!" Vittoria added, waving her own wand to vanish the snow Sofia had made.
"Yes, very cool." Bianca said wryly before standing. She kissed Sofia on the top of the head. "And now I'm afraid that I must return to work. I will see you two at dinner." She kissed Vittoria on the lips and left through a back door.
"Wellp, no time like the present." Vittoria said, standing and stretching with a grin. "Let's go to the training hall. Can't teach you any spells yet, but we can get you used to moving and dodging with your actual wand now." Sofia huffed but nodded, openly bouncing now that she didn't have to be proper. She had a wand!
Two Days Later
Dumbledore reclined in his chair. In a few short weeks term would begin. Tomorrow he would reach out to Madam Maxime, to broach the subject of Sirius' hunt. With all the chaos caused by needing to secure the Philosopher's Stone he hadn't found the time, not helped by the general need to prepare for term, and the various other duties he had on his plate. In all honesty he wouldn't have complained to step down from a few of them, but he'd been unable to find any suitable replacement candidates, and he didn't know that he trusted Fudge to pick someone.
He idly picked up one of the European newspapers scattered on his desk. He did his best to keep up with the news from the Continent, to keep an eye on the continued movements of Gridelwald's Zealots among other things (they'd been continually stirring up trouble in the Alpine Union for the past few years for some reason). He didn't keep as up to date as he'd like, what with everything else on his plate things just seemed to slip through, and the isolationist stance the Ministry refused to budge from no matter how carefully he nudged didn't help. It was hard to prioritize keeping up with foreign news when he had so many domestic concerns.
He flipped through the paper, reading about the recent elections in the Centaur districts of the Fisher Kingdom, and about the Bulgarian's desperate need for a new Seeker for their national team, when a headline caught his eyes, above a picture. 'Crown Princess of Alpine Union Newest Royal Headed For Durmstrang'. The headline was nothing special. Truth be told the continued prevalence of monarchies was one of his bigger issues with the Continent, and he would have likely skipped past the article altogether if it weren't for the picture.
He leaned in, examining it. The picture was of the royal family of the Alpine Union. Queen Bianca, the Princess Consort Vittoria, and their apparently adopted daughter Sofia. He squinted, then dropped the paper abruptly and stood up, walking over to the fireplace and throwing some Floo Powder in. "Minerva, I need you." He said flatly, before walking back over to his desk and grabbing a watch. It was a magical thing. Rubbish as a watch, but connected to one in Sirius' possession, allowing them to communicate at distance without the need for a fire. He told the young man to return at once, then set it down again as Minerva entered his office.
"Albus, what is it? Transfiguring and enchanting a giant chess board is not easy." He held up the paper. "...I can't read Polish Albus."
"The picture, just the picture." He said tiredly. "What does the mark on that young girl's forehead look like to you?" There was a long pause, then Minerva ripped the paper from his hands to examine it more closely.
"Merlin's beard." She breathed. "Albus, that's...I think…" The door opened and Severus swept into the room.
"I do not understand why you continue to insist that there needs to actually be a way to get through my challenge." The young man began before stopping and frowning at Minerva. "What, exactly, is so troubling?" She silently handed him the paper, and his frown deepened before he began to examine the picture. His eyes widened and he stared sharply at Dumbledore. "Where was this picture taken, and when?"
"The Alpine Union, and relatively recently." Dumbledore said with a sigh. "I'd like to wait for Sirius to arrive before we discuss things further. He should be here in a few minutes, he has access to the Hogwarts Floo system." Severus scowled but said nothing, staring down at the photo instead. The girl looked remarkably like Lily had at that age, just with James' hair and need for glasses. Severus would know that better than most he supposed.
After a few more minutes spent with a silently panicked Minerva and a softly scowling Severus, the fireplace turned green and Sirius stepped through. "What's going on?" He asked, frowning. "What's so urgent?" Severus shoved the paper at him, which he took with a deeper frown before noticing the picture. "Wait...is that…"
"That is Sofia Aurora Ricci Bellarosa, Crown Princess of the Alpine Union, with her adoptive parents, Queen Bianca and the Princess Consort Vittoria." Dumbledore said heavily. "But, judging by her resemblance to Lily at that age, and the lightning bolt mark on her forehead, I believe we have finally found Harriet."
"How...how did this happen?" Minerva was the first to speak.
"Well, the Russian did say they'd shuffled her through a few different Muggle countries." Sirius said slowly. "If I remember correctly the Alpine Union goes across what, six Muggle countries?"
"Seven." Dumbledore corrected. Sirius nodded.
"So, most likely she wound up in their borders, and did something obviously magical that got her marked as a Muggleborn. No idea how that got her taken in by the royal couple though."
"What do we do now?" Severus asked flatly. Dumbledore sighed.
"The article in the paper is announcing that she will be going to Durmstrang this term." He said slowly. Minerva made a noise somewhere between a hiss and a growl, and Sirius didn't look too far behind.
"Calm yourselves, there's no reason to believe Karkaroff knows about the scar, that fact has been successfully kept out of the rumor mill." Severus said with a slight sneer. "Beyond that he is a coward, and he would not harm the Crown Princess of the Alpine Union, particularly not with the Dark Lord gone." Dumbledore nodded in agreement.
"The Alpine Union is not an enemy he'd like to make, and Vittoria Bellarosa even less so." He said consolingly.
"But what do we do?" Sirius said plaintively. "I mean...obviously I'm not saying we kidnap her. Both because, well, that'd start a war and because she does at least look happy and healthy. But we can't just leave her on the Continent! She probably doesn't even know about James and Lily, or what happened to her."
"Sirius is right Albus." Minerva said firmly. "There must be some way to contact her, or her...her parents." She frowned a little at that, but pushed past it. "Visits, information, something like that. She should be able to know who her birth parents are, see their graves, get the things they left for her in their wills."
"I will reach out. It will take some time, there will have to be negotiations and safeguards and a lot of talks." Dumbledore said slowly. "But I will seek an audience with them to explain the situation to one or both of the royal couple, and see if some sort of an arrangement can be made." It would be hard, particularly given the mistakes he had made, but he thought something could probably be arranged. Honestly the harder part would probably be getting the Ministry to agree to whatever security protocols the Alpiners would demand. That or drafting a fake story to give to the Ministry and the public at large to explain how, exactly, this had happened. He could truly care less about the damage it would do to his personal reputation. He'd deserve it in all honesty. But 'the Girl Who Lived's Muggle relatives gave her to criminals to be sent to who knows where' would only give Lucius Malfoy and his ilk more ammunition in their quieter but persistent political war against the Muggles.
"Well, guess that's my hunt done." Sirius said slowly. "Not sure what I'm going to do now." Dumbledore looked at him.
"Well, I believe that I do." He said slowly. "We'll need to have some discussions, but I can think of some ways you can make things more appealing to the Queen and her wife with regards to letting Harriet make more than a single visit in the future." Sirius blinked, and Dumbledore smiled for the first time since seeing that article.
Three Weeks Later
Sofia stepped out of the Floo and into the VIP Floo Port, holding tightly onto the cage of her new owl, a female Scops owl named Carmenta. A moment later Vittoria arrived, carrying her luggage, charmed to make it lighter and so the cauldron could fit in the suitcase. "I swear I can feel every one of your books in here." Vittoria said playfully as Bianca arrived a second later. The shorter woman glanced at the clock, nodding to herself. "What, did you think we'd lost half an hour in the Floo?" Vittoria teased.
"It never hurts to be careful." Bianca said primly. "Now, let's go, the train will be leaving in half an hour after all." Vittoria nodded, and led the way out of the Floo Port and into the Central Alpine Station. While Floo and Apparition made travelling within the Alpine Union relatively easy, Wizarding trains were the most common means of travel between the nations of Wizarding Europe. Apparition was faster, yes, as was Floo, but most nations were rather careful about the defenses on their borders. It had not been that long ago that Grindelwald had demonstrated just how much damage a small force could do to a nation with careful Apparition and the Floo Network.
They travelled towards the Durmstrang Express. Or, rather, part of the Durmstrang Express. It simply wasn't practical for a single train to visit every single nation that fell under Durmstrang's purview. So instead, each nation had their own trains that would meet and join up into a single train at the station in Poland-Lithuania before crossing the Baltic Sea and then continuing on land until Durmstrang station. So rather than a grand train, Sofia was getting onto a four car one. Still, it was the train to Durmstrang.
She watched as Vittoria put her luggage into the car, then carefully handed the sleeping Carmenta over as well. Once her things were stowed away she turned and hugged Bianca tightly, swallowing. She was excited to go to Durmstrang, she was. But still...she hadn't been away from her mom or mother for a full day since the first time Vittoria brought her to the castle. Occasionally one or the other would have to leave for an extended trip on official business, but never both for more than a few hours.
"It'll be okay dear. Don't forget, you'll be going home for the winter, it won't be that long." Bianca said soothingly.
"Yeah, and we'll write a lot." Vittoria said, walking up and rubbing Sofia's back. Sofia nodded, then whirled and hugged Vittoria just as tightly.
"I love you two. So, so much." She said fiercely, if a little muffled by Vittoria's robes.
"We love you too kiddo." Vittoria said, voice a bit thick.
"With all our hearts." Bianca reassured her. Sofia nodded slowly, pulling back and smiling weakly. The warning whistle blew, startling all three witches.
"I...I should probably get on the train." Sofia said slowly.
"Might be for the best." Bianca responded, brushing some hair out of her face.
"I'll write as soon as I can." Sofia promised as she slowly backed onto the train.
"You better." Vittoria teased, though her eyes were shining.
Sofia clambered onto the train, settling into the first empty compartment she found. She smiled at her parents, and didn't stop waving until the train had finally left the station.