2: True As Ever (II)

So… where did I leave you off…?... ahh! I remember!

I had just left my guardians house to find my heirloom; what a pretentious word, heirloom… anyway,

I won't tire you with the details of my journey to that house I mentioned, because it was quite uneventful, boring, even.

On the outside, the house seemed quite shabby, as though no one had lived there four decades. There were dried up remnants of a garden, roof tiles loosing, faded blue paint… not exactly attractive.

However, to me, it seemed like heaven.

Again, it's not at though I'm this poor little orphan- charity case. I have never been abused, I was always well dressed and fed, but I suppose there is something in my nature that is… well, I consider myself a free spirit.

I must tell you though, once I got in, I was in for a surprise…

The interior of this place… wow! I mean, really, it was a bloody mansion!

I dropped my little bag in the middle of the hall and ran up the stairs to explore.

By the devil and all his minions, I love magic!

Each one of the twelve rooms was splendid, each bathroom more grand… and then I found the library; By George, what a collection! There were books on every subject ever written. I was totally L-O-V-I-N-G this place. And then, just I thought I couldn't possibly fall further in love with my new home, I reread the letter.

It said that in the house, "Hidden under the rose bush", something important was waiting for me.

I dashed out of the library, tumbled down the stairs and ran to the…

Oh, cripes… there is no garden. Looking around me, all I saw were the crumbling, gray leftovers of what once was plant life. Fan- freaking-tastic, what am I supposed to now?

Well, nothing. I chose to leave it for the time being, it was a long journey and the exhaustion finally kicked in. So I took a bath and went to sleep, abandoning all thought about my important surprise.

A few days had gone by; I found the secret stash of money my parents had left me. If you're wondering why it was left in liquidated form rather then at Gringots, well, when you're being hounded you tend to become paranoid, or at least so I've conjectured. I used the money to buy some food from a local muggle grocery store, and spent most of my days reading at the library.

Unfortunately for me, all the magic in the textbooks required the use of a wand (which I never got) and ingredients I had no access to. I really wanted to but a wand, and I could even afford it, but there is no way I could do that and still stay under the radar. Damn.

One day, my luck changed. I discovered that the house had a hidden attic, and being the curious creature I am, I decided to explore. It was quite the classic, corny old, dusty attic, and if there is anything I hate, it's dust. Actually, I hate loads of things.

But anyway, among other things, I found a wooden chest. I remember carefully dusting it, uncovering a painting of (you guessed it) a rose bush.

Inside, I found my surprise.

"Granddaughter Trista,

I ordered that this wand, made of ivy wood and my right fang, for you.

I trust you will use it well.

CL."

Grandma Carmilla, I never met you, but I bet you were bloody awesome.

Finally I had a wand to call my own and I can learn some applied magic. Brilliant.