Chapter One:

The hour-long drive from Surrey to London was not an especially long one, although to the young Ivy it seemed to be the longest trip she'd ever taken. That was because today was the day she would finally be getting her wand. The Evans family had been a family of mages since Mordred's son began studying his grandmother's craft, but unfortunately for Ivy, she seemed nearly incapable of any wandless magic that didn't have something to do with fire. Instead of fruitlessly studying the Evans family magics, Ivy had chosen to attend Hogwarts so she could learn wand-magic, which any mage could learn regardless of elemental affinity. Needless to say, she was almost bouncing out of her seat such was her excitement. She only regretted that her cousin Dudley had chosen the opposite, and continued to excel in the family magics. "Calm yourself young lady, if you burn your seat you will be grounded for a month."

"Sorry Aunt Petunia." Ivy replied as she attempted to still her racing heart. Unfortunately for Ivy, she was a little too excellent at fire magic. Quite often when she got emotional, her body would unconsciously leak some of its magic in the form of fire. Even her body temperature was constantly near eight degrees higher than anybody else, leading to a lot of confusion and a few confundus charms with her school nurses and doctors. She had progressed far in learning to control her magic since then, but some incidents still occurred, especially when she dreamed. Sadly, this made her sheets a regular casualty in the Dursley household. "Will the Potters be there today?"

Aunt Petunia's grip on the steering wheel tightened in response to Ivy's question. "I don't know." She responded frostily, effectively shutting down further conversation on that topic. Lily Potter and Petunia Dursley mixed like oil and water. One was fiery and passionate, the other cold and calculating. One widely regarded as one of Wizarding Britain's most beautiful women, the other seen as quite plain-looking. One was an instinctive master at magic, the other barely able to hang on through hard work and dedication. Lily and Petunia's relationship had been rather testy as children, fraught with jealousy and resentment, but even still, they were sisters, and Petunia had been willing to make the effort to stay connected with Lily. Then Ivy had happened.

Through the Order of the Phoenix, Lily had caught wind of a prophecy describing a person who could defeat a dark lord, and more importantly, the fact that Voldemort believed he was the dark lord the prophecy referred to. Sensing an opportunity to orchestrate his downfall, Lily sought to create the conditions that the prophecy mentioned. Thus, on the 31st of July, instead of announcing the birth of her firstborn son Harry James Potter and his younger twin Rose Lucy Potter, the wizarding world learned of Ivy Potter. In reality, Ivy was a homunculus that Lily had created using the magics passed down in the Evans family from their ancestor, Morgana Le Fay and the body of Mordred as a template and DNA source. And so, Harry and Rose remained safe and hidden while news of Ivy traveled to the ears of Lord Voldemort. The fidelius charm that would protect the Potters was given directly to the spy in the Order of the Phoenix, and two more homunculi created to fool Voldemort into believing he had caught James and Lily Potter unprepared and without their wands. In his haste, Voldemort fell for the elaborate trap, and was defeated.

However, something happened that night that Lily did not expect. Ivy had survived. Unexpectedly confronted by Dumbledore with the child she had created, Lily denied her responsibility to care for Ivy. The homunculi were simply tools that ensured Voldemort's defeat, not actually people she reasoned. Likely the only reason it had even survived the trap was the dragon's blood it had inherited from Mordred giving it a resistance to fire. However, she recognized her responsibility in the matter, so she would take it off of his hands and dispose of it. The old headmaster refused to hand Ivy over to Lily, believing that if there was even a chance that the homunculus child was capable of developing a soul, he would not murder it so casually. He then approached Petunia with the child and asked if she would be willing to allow Ivy the chance to grow. Much to Dumbledore's delight, she had agreed. And so, only Voldemort, Dumbledore, the Potters, and the Dursleys ever knew what really happened to little Ivy, and consequently the Evans sisters were no longer close to each other.

It made family reunions especially awkward when Ivy and Dudley, and Harry and his younger sister Rose got along famously and their respective Mothers/Aunts wouldn't even look at each other. Even their husbands, James and Vernon, got along very well, although James was never quite certain how to act around Ivy.

Lily's opinion of her didn't really matter much to Ivy though. She'd been raised with care by her sort of Aunt and Uncle, even if she sometimes thought Aunt Petunia was far too strict. She had a few good friends in the form of her sort of cousin Dudley and her sort of brother Harry and his twin sister Rose. So, what did it matter if she didn't have a last name? She didn't lose sleep over whether she should be called Potter, Evans, or Dursley (or even Pendragon given that she was literally a copy of Mordred). Nobody important to her cared how she was born so she didn't either. She did have a slight fear that the pure-blood dominated wizarding world might look down on her for that, but Harry and Rose would also be starting Hogwarts this year as well so she wasn't worried about being alone at all.

All in all, Ivy was very much looking forward to her first year at Hogwarts. In fact, she was so excited, that she could almost be forgiven for saying what she did next. "Are we there yet?" An echoing groan was her only response.

Ivy had been to Diagon alley before, mainly when her Aunt needed magical reagents for her spells or potions. Occasionally, her Uncle came through Diagon Alley to buy something he needed for his job as a treasure hunter, or to sell something he had found on a hunt. Somehow, this trip seemed more magical than any previous trip. Perhaps it was because this trip was for her rather than her relatives. Maybe she felt that way because she would soon be learning how to perform the magic that she was seeing for herself. Regardless, Ivy was eagerly looking forward to this trip. Consequently, the ten-minute search for a place to park and the three-block walk to the leaky cauldron seemed to Ivy to be longer than the trip itself, but Petunia and Ivy were finally standing in the brick archway leading to Diagon Alley.

"It will take time for your robes to be prepared, so we will measure you for your robes first." Aunt Petunia stated calmly. "While you are being fitted, you may decide the order in which we will pick up your school supplies."

"Thanks Aunt Petunia!" Ivy exclaimed, taking her hand and pulling her into the alleyway. "Come on then, let's go!" It didn't talk long for Ivy to shoulder their way through the crowd, and the pair quickly entered Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions.

As soon as they entered the store, they were intercepted by an elderly woman in mauve robes embroidered with 'Madam Malkin's' in fancy cursive script and a matching hat. "Hogwarts fittings are through the back dear." She explained, already ushering the pair through the store. "Girls are on the left, but you'll have to wait a minute or two for the other young lady inside to finish up her fitting. Have a nice day!" Before Ivy could so much as blink, the other woman had seemingly teleported back to the front of the store with her Aunt, chattering at her at a mile a minute. Leaving her aunt to suffer the chatty assistant alone, Ivy stepped into the women's changing room she'd been directed to enter.

Just as Ivy entered, another blonde girl passed by her on her way out. "Hey Daphne." Ivy stated cheerfully. The two young girls had met thanks to Ivy's uncle. Vernon Dursley had a reputation in the wizarding world as a guy who could find you anything it was legal to possess, and was often hired by the richest and oldest families. He'd once brought Ivy to a meeting with Daphne's father, Bertilak Greengrass. The two had hit it off when Ivy discovered Daphne was an elemental like her, with control over ice. Outside of her family, Daphne and her best friend Tracey Davis were Ivy's only friends.

"Ivy." Daphne said coolly.

"We're finally going to Hogwarts, huh?" A massive grin spread across Ivy's face

"Calm down Ivy." Daphne stated, holding a hand up in front of her. "We still have another month before term officially begins."

"Eh? Aren't you excited at all? We're finally getting our wands and stuff you know!" Ivy exclaimed.

"Unlike you, my family never studied wandless magic at all." Daphne replied. "I actually got my wand last year, not that my family taught me many spells."

"Oh, yeah I forgot about that. But still," Ivy jabbed her finger at Daphne's chest. "You could at least smile a bit, this is your one and only first school year. Think of all the magic we can finally learn."

Daphne finally allowed a small smirk to appear on her lips. "I must admit, I am looking forward to the beginning of term with you and Tracey. Do try to get into Slytherin with us if you can."

"No way! But I'll save a spot for you guys in Gryffindor with me." Ivy countered.

Daphne giggled softly, a full smile finally showing on her face. "I'm meeting Tracey at Fortescue's in half an hour." She said, changing the topic. "Can you meet us there when you finish your school shopping?"

At this, Ivy's face lost its massive grin, and she started scratching the back of her head sheepishly. "Well, you see, ummm…" She trailed off.

"You're grounded again." Daphne finished for her, one eyebrow arched.

"Ah, yeah." Ivy perked back up quickly, never one to stay down for long. "But I finished that water sword I've been working on for the last month, and it's awesome!"

"You stayed up all night working on it didn't you." Daphne stated flatly, crossing her arms and staring her down in a manner eerily similar to how Aunt Petunia had that very morning. "You need to take care of your body better than you do Ivy, you know as well as I do that-"

"I'm fine, Daphne." Ivy cut her off. "And I also blasted a crater in the wall of my workshop too, so I'm grounded for a whole week now. Aunt Petunia won't even let me finish testing my sword!"

"Maybe this will finally teach you proper safety protocol then." Daphne replied dryly. "We can always hope."

Ivy gasped dramatically. "Not you too Daphne! I was totally safe, you know? My babies will never hurt me!"

"You just said you blasted a crater in the wall of your workshop." She responded, unimpressed with Ivy's lackadaisical response to her concerns. "That sounds at least a little unsafe. And I know you can't be hurt by any of your fire swords, but this is a different element than your own. Water under enough pressure to crater concrete could even kill you."

"Finnneee." Ivy capitulated, dragging the word out like a petulant child. "I'll do it safely."

"That's all I ask." Daphne said, directing a superior smirk Ivy's way at her victory.

"Tch." Ivy grunted.

"On that note," Daphne continued. "Have you thought of a name for your water sword yet?"

"Noooo." Ivy sulked. "I wanted to see everything it could do first, which is what the testing phase is for. I'll have to wait a whole week before I can do that now."

"You have no one to blame for that but yourself you know. At least this way you have a whole week to brainstorm possible names. Maybe you'll end up with a better name for this sword than Kavma."

"No way!" Ivy protested. "Καύμα is a wonderful name for a Greek-style fire sword!"

"You could have been a little more creative than calling a Greek fire sword 'burning' in Greek." Daphne said sassily.

"That's why it's perfect!" Ivy countered. "Besides, nobody speaks Greek anyway and it sounds like an awesome name even when you don't know what it means."

Daphne brought a hand up to cover her mouth as she giggled "Why don't you head on in and get measured for your robes now?" Daphne directed her. "I still need to meet with my father at the book store. I'll see you at Hogwarts Ivy."

"Alright, I'll seeya later Daphne." Ivy said as she resumed her walk into Madam Malkin's fitting room.

Madam Malkin wore the same mauve robe as her chatty assistant up front, but she had foregone the hat. She was a short woman in smart looking glasses, and was even older than her assistant. "Step up on this footstool here dear and we'll get you fitted. What's your name dear?"

"I'm Ivy." She introduced herself.

"I'm Madam Malkin, Ivy dear." She responded, grabbing a plain black robe off of a nearby dresser. "Put this on for me please." She instructed. As Ivy complied, she pulled several boxes of pins out of a nearby dresser. Madam Malkin soon set to bustling around her, pinning up the black robe in various places. "First year at Hogwarts dear? I remember my first year all too well." As the elderly shopkeeper launched into several tales of her 'younger days', Ivy let her attention wander away.

"That's you done dear." Madam Malkin said as she put the last pin in place and removed the pinned-up robe from over Ivy's head. "We'll have the Hogwarts set done in twenty minutes, and I can finish telling you about Ernie from charms class when you come to pick them up."

"Ah, that's fine Madam, but we're on a tight schedule today." Ivy said, waving her arms in front of her nervously.

"Are you sure dear?" She inquired "I was just getting to the part where Ernie spelled everyone's clothes to randomly switch with the nearest person every forty-two seconds."

"Really," Ivy giggled nervously. "I'm sure."

"Well, alright then." Madam Malkin gazed at her imperiously over her smart-looking glasses. "Remember to pick up your robes in twenty minutes."

"Yes Madam." Ivy bit out. As she turned around and fled the shop, Madam Malkin grinned at her retreating back and snickered.

Upon exiting the dressing rooms in the back, Ivy noticed Aunt Petunia was still up in the front with the chatty assistant, trying (and failing) to look politely interested in the conversation. They both locked identically twitching eyes.

"Ivy!"

"Aunt Petunia!"

The pair exclaimed at the same time. "It was nice to speak with you Lucy, but my niece and I are on a tight schedule." Aunt Petunia quickly bit out to the assistant. "Have a nice day."

As the pair turned and fled, the assistant grinned at their retreating backs and snickered.

The rest of the trip was, thankfully, much less harrowing for Ivy and her Aunt. Aunt Petunia had brought along enough money for the trip, so the pair were able to avoid the cart roller coaster at Gringotts as well. As such, their next stop was Flourish and Blott's. This time, they were not accosted upon entering.

Flourish and Blott's gave off the cozy feel of an eccentric scholar's well lived in study. Many of the books were loosely organized into subjects, but a significant portion of them were piled high in stacks around the floor. Several such stacks stood between the pair and the reception desk. Ivy and her Aunt had to carefully weave through them to get to the front desk where a middle-aged man sat smoking a pipe with his feet up on the desk. As Ivy drew closer, she was able to identify the scent as that of a tobacco pipe.

"Welcome to Flourish and Blott's." The man spoke up with a small smile. "There are some who call me... Tim. Here for the Hogwarts package?"

"Yes sir!" Ivy said.

Tim chuckled at her enthusiasm. His feet slipped off the desk between them as he leaned forward. "First year bundles are the short stacks of books to your left, and second year bundles are the stacks to your right. The bundles each come with five notebooks, two quills, and three inkpots." He explained. "Is there anything else I can help you find today?"

"Do you have any books on forging techniques or legendary weapons?" Ivy asked, a glint in her eye.

"Ivy," Aunt Petunia cut in. "I will only be paying for the supplies you need for school. Any other books you wish to buy will be coming out of your allowance."

"Oh." Ivy's face froze. "I'd still like to see what you have at least."

"Very well." Tim stood and made his way around the desk. "If you'll follow me down here," He began, striding off deeper into the maze of bookshelves. He came to a stop in front of what seemed to be the smallest bookshelf Ivy had ever seen, five books coming close to filling it. "We have a small selection of books on weapons and weapon crafting."

"That's it?" Ivy asked, disappointed.

"Afraid there's not much call for it these days, you know. You've either got a goblin blade or you can conjure a normal one." Tim replied. He took a puff of his pipe.

Ivy reached for the thickest book first, hoping that it would be a more detailed guide than any of the others. "'A treatise on the non-combat applications of the mighty flail', by THE SMASHER." She read.

"Oh, yes…" Tim trailed off. "Quite a good author THE SMASHER. Changed the face of construction work forever."

"Construction with a flail?!" Ivy exclaimed. "How does that even… never mind, I don't want to know." She decided, stuffing THE SMASHER's treatise back on the shelves.

"Yes, THE SMASHER was quite an ingenious man." Tim mused. "All five of our books in this section are his works. I personally recommend 'A short blurb on the history of the mighty flail of THE SMASHER and the inferiority of bladed weaponry in comparison'. 'Twas his last work, but it was left unfinished. Now we shall never know how bladed weaponry is inferior to the mighty flail."

"I think I'll just take the first-year package thank you." Ivy said faintly, a shell-shocked look on her face.

"Are you sure?" Tim questioned "I've got just the book for you right here." He reached down and pulled out the smallest of the five books.

"No thank you." Ivy replied. "Just the – oh." Held in Tim's hands was most certainly not THE SMASHER's last, lamentably unfinished work. A small golden magical circle was embossed in the center of the leather cover, directly below the golden lettering that spelled the books name – Magyks of Metal, by A.F. Ivy's experienced eye quickly discerned that it wasn't just golden lettering she was looking at. This book had been embossed with real gold leaf.

"I thought this might be what you were looking for." Tim spoke up softly. "But you have to admit, I had you going there." He chuckled at the gob-smacked expression on Ivy's face

"Yeah…" She trailed off, grasping the book – almost more of a journal really – gently. She cleared her throat. "Yeah, this is what I'm looking for."

"Excellent!" Tim said, looking pleased with himself. He turned around, headed back towards his desk. "I'll ring this up for you then. Is there anything else I can help you find?" He questioned her with a broad smile on his face.

"No." Ivy said, grinning back at him. "This is perfect."

"Let's see then… One Hogwarts package with The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1, A History of Magic, Magical Theory, A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration, One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, Magical Drafts and Potions, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection and writing supplies, plus Magyks of Metal." Tim mumbled to himself. "That will be sixteen galleons for the Hogwarts bundle, and two Galleons ten Sickles for Magyks of Metal."

After Ivy and her Aunt paid, they left Flourish and Blott's much happier than when they had left Madam Malkin's, with Ivy's purchases in a bag slung over her shoulder. An uneventful stop at the apothecary left Ivy with her cauldron, potions vials, and brass scales also weighing her down, while her Aunt went to grab her a telescope for astronomy. They met back up at Madam Malkin's. After a brief moment of hesitation, the pair cautiously made their way inside, resolved to grab their package and flee.

"Oh, hello again Petunia dear. So good to see you again so soon." Lucy greeted them. "You're just on time. Your young lady's robes were just finished a moment ago. I'll go fetch them for you dear." With that, she bustled off into the shop's back room, returning a moment later with a bundle of black fabric in her arms.

"Thank you very much." Aunt Petunia replied, her lips pressed tightly together. "How much do I owe you?"

"Still in a rush dear?" She replied. "Oh, when I was your age I was always rushing around everywhere. Never had the time to slow down and listen to an old lady tell her tale. I must have even seemed a little rude to all those people I just couldn't find the time for." She said in that same manner that all old people seem to develop just to make you feel like crap.

Aunt Petunia wasn't having any of it. "Yes," She replied. "Some people just can't take a hint can they? Ah, but I must not have been listening, how much did you say we owe you?"

Lucy pursed her lips tightly looking offended in that same way only old people can manage. "Twelve Galleons, six sickles dear."

Aunt Petunia handed over the money, and the pair of them left, feeling as if the eyes of the assistant were tracking their departure. Once out of sight of the shop, the duo shared an uncomfortable shudder. Catching the motion out of the corner of their eyes, the pair turned to look at each other. Aunt Petunia's mouth twitched into her stern version of a smirk and Ivy giggled.

"Nice burn Aunt Petunia."

"Whatever do you mean young lady? I am always a perfectly civil conversationalist." Aunt Petunia replied innocently, sending Ivy into another round of giggling. "Come along now, we have one more stop to make before we return home."

Ollivander's wand shop, purported to have been in business since three-hundred eighty-two B.C., was one of the most unremarkable shops in Diagon Alley. The dull brown paint was peeling. The once shiny gold lettering had long since lost its luster. These factors, plus the dusty windows all blended together to give Ollivander's a tired look. The inside of the shop improved its aura little. The walls of the tiny shop were covered from floor to ceiling with boxes upon boxes of wands, and a thin layer of dust and cobwebs covered everything. Upon entering, they immediately noticed a tired-looking old man sitting behind the counter, slowly polishing one of the shops many wands. He seemed right at home among the tired old shop.

"You must be Mr. Ollivander. I am Petunia Dursley, and this is my niece, Ivy." Aunt Petunia said.

"Ah, yes. You must be from the Evans family." Ollivander mused. "Hmm. I am Garrick Ollivander. I assume young Ivy will be starting Hogwarts this year then?"

"Uh, Yeah." Ivy replied.

"Which is your wand arm?" Ollivander questioned.

"Both, but probably my left because I'll have a sword in my right."

"Oh?" Ollivander raised an eyebrow. A tap of his wand animated a tape measure lying on his desk, which began to fly around Ivy measuring several different dimensions. He stood up from his chair and made his way over to one of the many stacks of wands. He hummed as his fingers trailed over several of the boxes. "Let's see… Perhaps this one."

He gently tugged out one of the boxes near the bottom of the stack, handing the wand inside to her. Barely had it touched her hand before he yanked it back away from her. "No, certainly not." He placed the wand back down on his desk, and crossed to the other side of the room. The wand he selected next was near the top of the pile, and he required a rickety ladder to reach it. "Yew, dragon heartstring core. Try this one."

He allowed her the time to wave this wand, but it felt cold and dead in her grasp and produced no noticeable effect. "Hmm." He hummed to himself as he placed this one on the desk as well. He pulled three more boxes from the same stack, handing the first to her. "Blackthorn wood with dragon heartstring. This one may suit you better."

This time, she felt a small, uncomfortable tingling sensation when it touched her hand. A careless flick of this wand set a cobweb in the corner alight. Luckily, only the cobweb burned away, leaving the rest of the shop unburnt. Ollivander was quick to snatch this one away as well. "Better." He muttered to himself. "But not quite."

He put this wand onto the pile on the desk, as well as one of the two wands she had yet to try. He handed her the last of the three he had previously selected. "Ash wood, and a unicorn tail hair core. Thirteen inches, and quite inflexible." At first, this one seemed to be a good fit to Ivy. It felt warm and inviting when she grasped it. She eagerly gave this wand a quick flick upwards to test it out. A few small embers leaped out of the tip, forming into the shapes of different weapons she had seen or forged. They danced and twisted into new shapes for a few moments, before she felt a sudden pinprick sensation in her arm, making her drop the wand. The fiery armaments in the air immediately burst into a few small explosions, knocking over one of the shelves of wands.

"S-sorry sir!" Ivy exclaimed.

Contrary to Ivy's expectations, a broad grin formed on Ollivander's face. "Quite alright my dear. In fact, I believe I know just the wand for you." He quickly shuffled over to a corner shelf only half the height of most of the stacks in the shop, plucking one off the very bottom of the stack. Ivy gingerly picked up the wand she had dropped and placed it on the desk with the other rejected wands. Ollivander shuffled back over to her, handing her the wand. "Ash wood with a dragon heartstring core, thirteen and one quarter inches, inflexible. A very powerful and stubborn wand."

This one Ivy did not even have to wave. As soon as she grasped it, a small fiery dragon leapt out of the tip, barely more than three inches long. It trilled gently as it flew around the shop, coming to rest on her shoulder briefly, before it flared out of existence. "I see. This wand will excel equally in both the dark arts and defense against the dark arts, however you will find the subtler aspects of charms and transfiguration quite difficult to cast with this wand." He paused for a moment. "That will be seven Galleons please."

A/N: There you have, it another chapter done. I will try to stick to one chapter a week every Saturday, but don't hold me to that. I tend to write when the inspiration strikes, and there really is no telling when that happens. That being said, expect the next chapter to take two or three weeks, because I have finals coming up. As always, I'll answer any questions with a PM, barring any spoilers. This chapter is un-beta'd (betad? betaed?) because I didn't want to make you guys wait any longer since its already been over a week since I posted this. All the same, I'm including a shout-out to my beta/sounding board/best friend (but actually my slave) Torxanen.

Ga3_Bolg out.