Year One
Chapter One - Books, Wands and Family Drama
It had been ten years since the defeat of the dark lord, Voldemort, and the wizarding world celebrated still. However, the Potter family, despite the fame of the Boy-Who-Lived, lived in relative peace. Lily had attained her masteries in both potions and charms in the time of peace while James had been promoted to the position of Head Auror after the dust had settled and his famous capture of the Lestrange brothers along with Rudolphus' wife Bellatrix following the mind breaking torture of Frank and Alice Longbottom that had been featured heavily in the Daily Prophet.
The Potter house in Godric's Hollow, repaired a few months after the events of Voldemort's attack, was a flurry of activity as the inhabitants prepared to leave for Diagon Alley, the shopping hub of wizarding Britain.
"Harry! Charlus! Get down here!" the Potter matriarch called out, hands full with a bag of floo powder and the much smaller hand of the youngest child, Emily. Her words were followed by a cacophony of loud thudding sounds as her two sons hurried down the stairs, feet slamming repeatedly on carpeted stairs.
The faces of Harry and Charlus Potter came into view a few scant seconds later, Harry's pale features surrounded by his dark red hair, piercing grey eyes crinkled in excitement, the joy of visiting the alley evident on his face for all to see, a small grin gracing his features. As opposed to his brother's near cocky, toothy grin, a replica of the smile one James Potter had worn throughout the first five years at Hogwarts. Charlus was tanned where Harry was pale, long hours spent on a nearby public quidditch pitch having darkened the boy's skin slightly.
Charlus strode past his mother, grabbing a handful of powder on the way, not mindful of the grains he dropped onto the floor, and called out as he stepped into the fireplace and threw down his powder.
"Leaky Cauldron!"
With a flare of green flames he was gone, leaving Harry, Lily and Emily alone in the house, James having left first to make sure everyone arrived together. Harry smiled softly at his mother and sister as he took some floo powder, taking care not to cause a mess as his brother did, and stepped towards the fireplace, his vision obscured by the flames surrounding him. And, repeating the words his brother had said, Harry vanished, pulled along by the magic of the Floo Network.
-TDR-
The Leaky Cauldron was a small pub that served as the popular entrance to Diagon Alley, most people choosing not to go through the Midnight Inn, the entrance to Knockturn Alley, mostly for reputations sake. The average witch or wizard tended to avoid the unpleasantness of Knockturn Alley, and for good reason, in that it was not patrolled by law enforcement, nor was there any real regulation on dark creatures there, such as werewolves or vampires. The Ministry had, of course, attempted to do something about the alley, but it was eventually decided to be a pointless endeavour, after a number of hit wizards and an auror had lost their lives in the attempt. Now the darker side of Diagon Alley was full of petty criminals, dodgy store owners, social recluses and the odd vampire or werewolf.
Harry had considered slipping off to explore the mysterious alley more than a few times, but he knew that was as close to a death wish as he would ever get, if not by something in the alley itself, then by his mother when she came to fetch him and wring some sense into him. So that idea had been benched for a later date. After exiting the floo, he stepped to the side, and just in time it seemed, as he was followed by Emily Potter, her dark hair flying everywhere as she tumbled out of the fireplace and landed face first on the floor of the unusually busy pub. She started to rise amidst the raucous laughter, no one laughing more than her oldest brother Charlus, but she was assisted by Harry, his hand lowered to a position that would be easy for her to grab, and she looked up at him, his soft smile and loving eyes, and took his hand before dusting herself off.
Emily was moved towards him as he strode over towards his family, standing in between Charlus and Emily, a hand on her shoulder, his extra inch of height allowing him to look down, if only slightly at his brother's amused face.
"Find something funny did you, Charlus?"
His question was met by narrowed eyes and an irate attitude.
"So what if I did? Gonna go cry to mummy? You're pathetic, always spending time with mum and Emily, why don't you go tuck yourself into another potions book?"
"I spend time with them not only because they are family and I love them, but also due to the fact that your attention seeking, arrogant behaviour takes up what little time father has off of work. So, Charlus, if anyone here is the pathetic one, well, it would obviously have to be you."
His brother turned towards him bodily at that, nostrils flaring in anger and fists clenching as Emily chose to hide behind her preferred brother. James finally noticed the events taking place next to him and put a restraining hand on his heir's shoulder.
"Charlus, calm yourself, and Harry, don't provoke your brother, now enough of this nonsense."
He finished just in time to turn around and watch his wife exit the floo as gracefully as a lady of nobility may descend a flight of stairs. He grinned at her, reverting back to his so called 'charming grin' that had irritated the muggleborn redhead all throughout her years at Hogwarts.
"Enough of that, husband. Where to first do you reckon boys?"
"Quidditch store/Bookshop"
The twins answered at the same time, each glaring at the other with irritation clear in their eyes. Lily exhaled sharply at the dislike the two boys held for each other, and bemoaned the stupidity of boys, young boys especially.
"Very well, James, you can take Charlus to the quidditch shop, I'll take Harry to Flourish's. Emily, who would you like to go with?"
Emily looked indecisive for a long moment, hesitating to pick between either of her brothers. She may have liked Harry more, but she did prefer to remain a neutral party in all things involving her siblings. She looked at her two brothers, one smiling his gentle smile at her, the one that seemed to come out just for her, and the other that wasn't even bothering to look at her. Her smile fell before she made up her mind.
"Umm, I'd like to go with you and Harry, please."
Her words were followed by a snort from the oldest Potter child, his face showing nothing but derision.
"Did you really expect anything else? Cmon dad, lets just go already, I wanna have a look at the new Nimbus."
He walked off, followed by a puzzled James Potter, and towards a crowd of adoring fans of the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry almost pitied his brother's fame. Almost.
Turning to his younger sibling and mother he smiled, eyes closing as a result.
"Well," he said, voice strained, "that was fun. Shall we?"
And with a pair of nods they moved off, heading past Quality Quidditch Supplies and towards Flourish and Blotts.
-TDR-
Flourish and Blotts was a quiet store, two stories of bookshelves covering nearly every topic known to wizardkind. Some were of a darker nature yes, but they were merely documentations of questionable magic, hardly instruction manuals. Harry was fond of the store, it brought a sense of calm that was not easily found elsewhere, and it was a repository of knowledge. Contrary to what his brother believed, Harry was not a bookworm, he did have a healthy respect for books and the knowledge they held, but was not obsessed with all books, mostly just those on the topic of potions and the mind. His mother, while lenient, was not open to him reading advanced potions books, or books that instructed the user to manipulate their mind. So the subject of legilimency and occlumency was out, as were books such as Moste Potente Potions.
He wandered off towards the second level of the store, leaving behind his two family members. His eyes drifted from shelf to shelf, taking in the words magically engraved into the metal panels that were floating above the aisles.
Charm Theory and Application
Advanced Charm Theory and Application
History (Wizardkind)
History (Magical Creatures)
Potions (Ingredients and Concoctions)
Potions (Supplementary Texts)
He stopped as he reached the last two rows of shelves, gazing at the leatherbound books that detailed basic ingredient effects, brewing recipes, and texts to supplement the previously given knowledge. It held books that covered potions from an educational standpoint, organised by grade, books that gave added knowledge of the years potions and poisons that were deemed too 'unnecessary' to be included in the original book.
He strode down the aisle, skipping past the first three years of potions textbooks from the Hogwarts curriculum, stopping at the fourth year text, and pulling it from the shelf, watching as the empty slot was quickly filled by another copy of the book. Quickly taking off the fourth year supplementary text as well, he made his way back to the front counter to rejoin his mother and sister. As he reached them, the door opened to reveal his father and brother, Potter senior sporting a bruise on his left cheek. Arching her eyebrow at the sight, Lily waited for his explanation in pointed silence.
"Aha, we may have run into the Malfoys at the quidditch store. Some words were said, some punches were thrown and we ah, may have been kicked out of the store for the day."
Lily's sigh punctured the silence that followed James' explanation, her head shaking in disappointment as Harry looked at his father in shock. Sure, the man was really more of a manchild, but surely he hadn't gotten himself kicked out of a quidditch store! That was the equivalent of an alcoholic being kicked out of a bar before getting drunk.
James was left to wonder as to his wife's mood as she turned without a word to finish the purchase of school books for her children. Paying a decent sum of fifteen galleons for the lot, she shrunk the two packages before placing them in her handbag. She walked past James, who slumped over at her silence before following her out, fearing the tongue lashing that was yet to come.
The visit to Flourish and Blotts was succeeded by a whirlwind visit through Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment, Slug and Jiggers, and Madame Malkin's which was just a quick visit as she still had the boys' measurements on record from their recent visit.
Before long, they found themselves outside of Ollivander's, the windows showing a dimly lit shop that was filled only slightly by the natural light filtering through enchanted windows. Stepping through the door, the Potter family was greeted by an old man with a raspy voice, his silvery, moon like eyes gazing at them from behind the counter.
"Well well, it's about time you arrived, I've been expecting you for quite some time now." He looked over first at James, followed shortly by a glance at Lily, "Pliable mahogany, eleven inches and swishy willow, ten and a quarter inches."
Lily smiled at the old wandmaker, her eyes crinkling slightly as she did so.
"Your memory is as sharp as ever Mr. Ollivander. Yes, we were supposed to come in last week but something came up at James' work and we had to cancel the plans, wanted it to be a family event. I'm sure you understand."
"Indeed I do Mrs. Potter, indeed I do." he peered intently at Harry and Charlus for a moment, his eyes focusing on theirs for a unnervingly long time. "I can tell that this will be a long process. Well, may as well start with the oldest, come along Charlus."
As the Potter heir followed the mysterious wandmaker, Harry had not realised just how long he would have to wait.
Two hours and fifty-three pages of a potions textbook later, Harry's reverie was broken by a sudden yelp of terror, and his eyes darted towards the sound only to see his brother running out of the backroom, arms clutching a long box that held his wand within. Raising a brow in question, Harry was ignored in favour of his brother starting a whispered conversation with their parents, and so, without a word, he stood and strode into the room his brother had fled from.
"Ahh, young Harry, I'm sure you're quite eager for your wand, quite eager indeed. Please sit, I hope you won't take as long as your brother, but if you do it is not my place to question the choices of the wands now is it?"
Harry shook his head in the negative, but he didn't sit, instead he wandered the large room that was filled from floor to ceiling in bookshelves that held boxes upon boxes of wands. He continued walking all the way to the back of the room, where a smaller bookshelf sat against the wall, only coming up to his chest in height. Eyeing the boxes in speculation he turned to Ollivander.
"These wands here, what are they?"
"Those would be my first ten creations, all fine wands I assure you, but no one has ever matched with them, it truly is a shame, a wandmaker's first creations sitting unused on a shelf. Why do you ask?"
"I feel… something, but I'm not quite sure what really. But there's something pulling at my mind, grabbing my attention." His fingers trailed over box after box of wands, stopping finally on the far left box. "May I, Mr. Ollivander?"
The man blinked owlishly before nodding, eyes never leaving the box the boy's fingers rested upon. Seeing the wandmaker's nod of approval, Harry removed the box from the shelf, slipped the lid off and gazed at the wand within. It was truly beautiful in his eyes, at a glance it was pure black, but as it caught the light it showed a tinge of green, so dark that it may as well have been black. It was etched with a serpentine creature curled around the wand, silver filigree replacing the missing wood.
"This is a beautiful wand Mr. Ollivander, may I ask what inspired it?"
The man chuckled at Harry's question before answering. "In my wandmaking youth I was still oh so obsessed with the founders of Hogwarts, what made them so special amongst all their peers at the time. I figured it may have been the wands they used, but I was not certain, so in my hubris I attempted to make a wand in honour of each of them that would reflect the very personality of the founder. The very first I made is resting in your hands, the most talented idealistic of the four, the most dedicated in his beliefs, and the most dangerous founder. In your hands you hold the wand I crafted in reflection of Salazar Slytherin himself."
Harry's eyes widened in surprise, and he looked down at the wand in a new light, his fingers wrapping around the base of the wood. Raising it to eye level, he swished the wand in wonder, and as he did so, emerald and silver sparks flowed from the tip as trumpets sounded in the ears of those currently occupying the shop. And a solitary silver tear flowed down the cheek of Garrick Ollivander as he croaked out in a whisper.
"Cypress wood, etched with and soaked in basilisk venom, powdered basilisk horn core, twelve inches, rigid. This wand will serve you well as long as you reflect the ideals of Salazar Slytherin"
And with those words, he walked Harry out to the waiting room, asked for his fourteen galleons, and when the Potters left his store, he wept in joy.
AN: Hey guys, Arhan here. So begins the first proper chapter of my story. I was originally going to have the express ride, sorting and the next day in this chapter, but this felt like a good place to end it so I did. I feel this chapter helps sort of set the tone of the Potter family as it currently stands, and that's what this chapter is mainly about. On the issue of Charlus and Harry, I don't mean to bash anyone at all, because I personally don't like that in a fanfic, regardless of how I feel about the character, but I see Charlus as a more arrogant character due to his fame mostly, that and he is much closer to James, as opposed to Harry who is more friendly with the two women of the family. One reviewer asked me to change Charlus' name to Harry, and Harry's to literally anything else mainly due to the looks of the two characters and their potential personalities, but I personally think it works just fine. Let me know what you guys all think and I'll see what happens. Cheers for reading and I'll catch you next time, Arhan out.