The day to go to Diagon Alley arrived. James, who told the Carters that he'd discovered that he was a Metamorphmagus, changed his hair color to a strawberry blond, matching Stella's, and moved his scar to his back. At Gringotts, Mr. and Mrs. Carter exchanged two hundred pounds for forty Galleons and a few sickles and Knuts. Stuart took James to a vault that had been set up by Hogwarts, which contained the school fund. Mari would have gone too, except that one of the goblins, upon hearing her name, had informed her that her parents had left her two vaults. One was the family money, which she would not be allowed to use until she came of age, and the other was her trust fund, to pay for her school things. A simple spell done on a drop of her blood confirmed things and she was handed a key to the vault with her trust fund. She went to that vault and withdrew some money.
The first stop was Flourish and Blotts, for the set books. In order to save money, James asked Stuart if he could just use Stuart's books from first year. Stuart looked surprised, but said he didn't mind, so in the end James just bought his Defense Against Dark Arts book and a couple of secondhand books for background reading that his older 'siblings' didn't have. The next stop was Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. There, James decided to just wear Stuart's old robes, even though they had been secondhand when Stuart had gotten them. James did, however, buy a set of forest green dress robes in case he was ever asked to a party or some other formal occasion, and a small kit for cleaning his glasses.
By the time the group went to Ollivander's Wand Shop, the only things James had bought was a cauldron, telescope, scales, writing supplies, potion ingredients, and phials. Everything except the writing supplies and potion ingredients were second-hand.
Mr. Ollivander was an old man with silvery eyes and appeared slightly creepy. He apparently could remember every wand he had ever sold, for he told Mari about the wands that her parents had and asked Stella and Stuart how their wands were doing. He gave James an odd look when introduced to him, then shook his head and muttered something about imagining things. After that, he started explaining Ollivander wands, asked Kyle which hand was his wand hand, and after taking measurements, handed him a wand to try. Nothing happened and Mr. Ollivander snatched the wand away and handed Kyle another.
After twenty-something wands, Kyle was handed a wand of beech wood, twelve inches, with a core of dragon heartstring. As soon as he touched it, warmth spread through him and blue and red sparks shot out from the end. "Bravo, young man," said Mr. Ollivander. "That's the perfect wand for you. And if the color of the sparks are any indication, you could end up in either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw."
James was next and it took absolutely forever for the perfect wand to choose him. Kyle soon grew bored, and Mari began trying the discarded wands in order to save time. After thirty-something wands, Mari found the perfect wand, ash, ten and a half inches, with unicorn hair core. James tried just about every wand in the store, and other than one of cedar with unicorn hair that produced a feeble blue spark, there was nothing that came close to fitting. Finally Mr. Ollivander thought of something. "A boy came by yesterday to buy his wand, and accidentally broke one. If the core and wood shows some reaction, then I will make up a new wand using the core and the same kind of wood for you, Mr. Lydell." He handed James a broken wand of holly, eleven inches when it had been whole, and phoenix feather core.
A feeble red spark appeared, and James felt a tiny bit of warmth for a second. "Hmmm," said Mr. Ollivander thoughtfully. "I'll make up your new wand now. Please wait for a few minutes." He disappeared into a back room and came out fifteen minutes later with a new wand. "Holly, unicorn hair, and phoenix feather, eleven inches. I added the unicorn hair from the wand that produced a small spark, since it seemed that the core must have wanted you."
James took the wand with the double core and instantly felt a wave of warmth spread throughout his body. He waved the wand and sparks of red, blue, green, and yellow appeared. "Oh my!" exclaimed Mr. Ollivander, looking delighted. "Well, you've got the perfect wand at last! And a double core to boot, which doesn't happen very often. I don't normally make wands like that. And with those sparks, you could belong in all of the four houses at Hogwarts." He then frowned and said, "Very curious, that phoenix feather." He went on to explain that the phoenix that had given the feather had given another, which was core of the wand belonging to "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named". That meant James's wand was the brother wand to Voldemort's. James couldn't help making a face, but didn't say anything. A wand was a wand and it was the one that chose a witch or wizard, not the other way around.
After paying for the three wands and leaving, Kyle talked his parents into buying him an owl. James ended up buying one as well, for at Eyelops Owl Emporium, a beautiful snowy owl caught his eye and flew to him when he was about to leave the shop. Since it was clear that she wanted James for an owner, and he had taken a fancy to her, anyway, he bought her. The storeowner had given him a discount on the owl because of this, and Stella later remarked that it was a good thing James had decided to use Stuart's old books and robes or he wouldn't have had the money to pay for the owl.
Mari bought a cat with white fur and black and gold spots, since three-colored cats were considered lucky in Japanese culture. She named her Fortunate Lily, partly because of the good fortune such cats brought and partly because the fur reminded Mari of a white lily with black and gold butterflies on it. James named his owl Hedwig, after a famous witch in his history textbook, and generously said that Mari could use Hedwig to deliver letters whenever she wanted. Mari thanked James, but pointed out that it wasn't really necessary, since the only people she knew that she could send owl mail to would be at Hogwarts. Well, she could write to the Carters, but it wouldn't be often enough to really need an owl of her own.
James rolled his eyes. "I know that, Mari, and also that the same applies to me. Which is why I offered to let you use Hedwig. That way she'll have more mail to deliver."
"Oh, all right then." Mari grinned and went back to reading A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration.
Author's Note: I can't decide between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw for James. A part of him wants to be in Gryffindor like his parents, but another part wants to be Ravenclaw like his foster siblings. So please go to my profile page and vote as to what house James should be in. Thanks! I hope nobody minds that James's wand is somewhat different. Since he's not completely like Harry in the books, he's going to end up with a different wand and some other things. I kept Hedwig, since he needs an owl to keep him company, and didn't change her name because I couldn't really think of a new name and I know I'd forget and write Hedwig if I did. I already found myself writing Harry instead of James a couple of times, but caught the mistakes before I posted the chapters. Well, enjoy this chapter, and I promise that the future chapters are going to be longer.