Chapter Four: Shopping Trip

On a summer morning in the year that Steven turns eleven, a grey owl lands on the front deck of an ocean cottage, in broad day light.

Steven happens to be passing when it comes by. His face lights up when he sees it. He gets especially excited when he notices what's tied to its leg— not the usual bundle of the Daily Prophet, but a thick-parchment letter bearing a very familiar seal. His fingers stumble a little in his excitement as he unties it. The owl hoots in annoyance at his slowness. "Sorry, sorry," Steven says. He feels around in his jean pockets, and finds a granola bar. He feeds the owl a piece of it, which seems to satisfy it. A moment later, it takes off with a rustle of wings, and Steven calls after it, "Thank you!"

He runs into the house. It's a Sunday, so the car wash is closed, and Dad's sitting in the living room with a mug of coffee, reading the regular muggle paper. He starts a little when Steven screams, "DAD! IT'S HERE, IT'S HERE!"

"Yikes, Steven," he says, with a chuckle. "Indoor voice. What's here?"

"My Hogwarts Letter!"

"Woah! Congrats! Let me see!"

Steven shows it off with pride:

Steven Quartz Universe
The Loft Bedroom
Temple Beach House
Beach City
Devon, England, United Kingdom

His name and his address, sitting right below a crest depicting a lion, a snake, an eagle, a badger, and an ornate Letter H.

He waits for the witches to come before opening it. It doesn't take long. They appear in the fireplace with a roar of flames and a puff of green smoke. They knew it was going to arrive, of course. Garnet knows about every student coming to her school, and Pearl was the one who signed each and every acceptance letter. They still beam with pride as he pries it open. There's hair ruffling. Amethyst gives him a bag filled with Bertie Botts Every Flavoured Beans, and tricks Pearl eating one flavoured like Hippogriff feathers. She rolls off the couch from laughing while Pearl splutters. Greg gets Pearl a glass of water to wash out the flavour, and in the chaos, Garnet plants a gentle kiss on Steven's forehead.

"Anyway, Steven, do you know what this means?" Pearl asks, once she's calmed down.

"I'm going to Hogwarts?"

"True," says Garnet.

"Nah," answers Amethyst at the same time. "It means: shopping!"

oOooOoO

Throughout his childhood, Steven had had a handful of visits to Diagon Alley, each one met with rapturous excitement. Diagon Alley was, quite possibly, the coolest place in the entire world, as far as Steven was concerned. He loved he wizards and witches openly wandering down the street, talking about monsters and magic freely. He loved how everyone paid with shiny gold and silver coins instead of boring paper and plastic. He loved seeing the sky filled with hooting owls, and how cats prowled the alleyways. He loved the baskets that carried themselves. He loved the shops filled with potion ingredients, all weird and gnarled, some beautiful, some ugly, all awesome. He loved Weasley Wizards Wheezes, filled with the most ridiculous jokes and pranks and toys imaginable. He loved the immense, towering shape of Gringotts Bank, though he wasn't sure if he liked the goblins inside, who were all so still and serious and hated noise and mess even more than Pearl, and weren't nearly as nice about it.

But especially, he loved the adventure of it. Every single trip to Diagon Alley had been like a secret mission. He'd dress up in robes, first of all, which was special in of itself. Then Amethyst would cast a spell on him which would be all cold and tingly, and when he looked in the mirror, the person staring back would look completely different. Maybe his hair would be white, or red, shorter or longer, or less curly. He might be taller or shorter, thinner or fatter, and sometimes his skin would be different, too. Once, Amethyst let him be green, until Garnet made her change his skin into a tannish brown. Amethyst would shape shift into something, different, too, an adult who matched him. They'd choose fake name. Steven was usually just Steve, but Amethyst could be anything, and they played a game of coming up with the perfect name for her disguise.

This time, though, there would be no disguise. He'd be going as regular old Steven, even if he would be wearing a pair of nice robes over his usual t-shirt and jeans. Amethyst wouldn't be coming this time, but Pearl— and Dad. Dad's never come with him before, ever ever. Steven can't wait to show him everything.

"I'm still not sure if this is a good idea," Pearl muttered, wringing her hands. "What if-"

"Chill P," Amethyst says. "He's going to Hogwarts in, like, a month. Everyone's gonna know anyway."

Pearl bites her lip. "But what if—"

Garnet lays a hand on her shoulder. "He'll be fine. You'll be fine."

Steven's not sure what Pearl's worried about, but nobody else seems concerned, so he just says, "This is gonna be great!"

"Sure will, kiddo," Dad says, while he lets Steven pull him in front of the fire place. He bobs there excitedly while they wait for Pearl. She sighs, adjusting the wand hanging from her belt, then reaches for the pouch of floo powder that sits on the sill.

"Do you remember how to do this, Steven? Greg?"

"Yep!" says Steven, as his Dad shoots a shy thumbs up. Nonetheless, Pearl insists on going first, to demonstrate. Steven doesn't falter at all when he follows a moment after, throwing a handful of green powder into the fire, walking in, and shouting, "DIAGON ALLEY".

Travelling by floo is kind of like riding a roller coaster, except there's no seat restraints and a lot more smoke. He's kind of dizzy when he steps into the foyer of the Leaky Cauldron, but grinning ear-to-ear. Greg appears a moment later, looking like he might throw up.

"Phew," he says.

"Are you both alright?" Pearl asks, as she bends down to inspect Steven. They both say, "Fine," but Pearl only pulls away once she's assured herself that boy really is in one piece. It's nice, but kind of annoying. Steven is eleven now! He knows how to travel by fireplace.

"Let's get going," Pearl says. "First thing's first— we're going to the bank."

People are staring them. That's different. People have never stared at them before. Whenever Steven notices a witch or wizard watch, Steven waves at them. Some glance away quickly, but others wave back, or smile at him.

The barman, old Tom, greets them brightly. "Professor Magpantay," he says. "Not staying for a drink, I'm guessing."

Pearl gives him a wan smile. "You guess correctly. I'm on Hogwarts business."

"So I see," says Tom, giving her companions a long, thoughtful look. "Showing a muggleborn around?"

"Ah, well—" begins Pearl, while his Dad stiffens.

Steven notices none of this before blurting out, "I'm not a muggleborn."

"Y'er not, eh?" says Tom. A few of the bar's patrons are listening, curious.

"Nope! My mom was a witch."

Tom leans back. "I see." Whispers roll around the room. Steven only manages to catch snatches off them, before Tom asks, "What's your name then, boy?"

"Steven."

The whispers aren't whispers anymore, and next thing he knows, he's being swamped by wizards and witches from all sides, smiling at him, shaking his hand, pulling him into hugs—

"Mr. Quartz, a pleasure, absolutely a pleasure," says one.

"Off to school, huh? You'll blow us all away, I'm sure," says a tiny little witch.

A wizard so pale that he might be a vampire looms, saying, "An honour, a true honour-"

"Got your wand yet?"

"Where have you been hiding away then?"

"Can I see the scar?" asks a wizard, pulling at Steven's robes.

Pearl pulls him away with a surprising show of strength. "No," she say sharply. "He will not be undressing. And, if you please, we have things to get done, so. Greg, Steven. Let's go."

Steven manages an awkward smile and a tiny wave everyone before Pearl grabs him by the hand. His Dad takes the other one, and they half tow him out of the bar into the street outside. Steven's confused. He's not sure why all those people suddenly wanted to talk to him, or were acting so weird, or were calling him by his middle name, or why they wanted to see his scar.

Steven doesn't think about his scar much, but he's always felt it's kind of cool. Where other kids have a belly button, he instead has a shiny bright red circle of weirdly smooth, shiny flesh. It looks pretty wicked. He was told he got it when his mom saved his life as a baby, which makes it super special.

He's never been uncomfortable about it— he's always been fine wearing swimming trunks and stuff. But suddenly he's not sure if he wants strangers to see it.

"This is exactly what I was afraid of," Pearl is muttering.

"Yeah, well, it's nothing we didn't expect," says Greg. "Come on. Bank first, right?"

Pearl sighs. "Right."

The goblin at the bank counter seems even grumpier than usual, glaring at Greg while it waits for him to extract a keychain from the bottom of his pockets. Finally, though, he picks the key-ring (shaped like a guitar), and stares critically at the small, shiny pink key, before nodding decisively. It nods, too, at the small piece of paper that Pearl slides across the paper to him. Then, it leads the three of them through the massive doors which lead to the bank vaults beyond. Really far beyond; you gotta ride in these mine carts to get to them. Steven loves that part . It's like the scariest, most magical roller-coaster ever!

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Greg grumbles as they take a track veers sharply down and to the left. Pearl says nothing, but her fingers are curled around the bars, knuckles white, cheeks a pale blue. Steven just puts his arms up in the air, whoops as they go down a steep dive, and tries to spot the dragon Amethyst says lives there.

Soon enough the cart comes to a stop, and they arrive at the door to his mother's vault. The goblin leads them up the walkway to the massive metallic door, watching carefully as Greg slides the key into the lock. The entire thing glows with a pink-bronze light, then swings open.

Steven remembers the first time he saw the vault. It looked like something from a fairy tale; piles of gold and silver, glittering jewels, shiny swords, racks of ancient armour. He tried to dive in and swim through it, just like that rich duck from that one old cartoon, only to discover that it's a lot harder to do in real life. This time, he just stands there with his eyes wide, drinking it all in. His mom must have been really rich, his supposes. Maybe she lived in a castle. (Besides Hogwarts, of course. Like a family castle or something).

Despite all the wealth, when Pearl bends down, she only fills a single small bag with galleons, sickles, and knuts. She eyes it critically, then says, "That should be sufficient for now."

After that, they're on there way again, our the vault door, back into the cart. Steven expects them to go back to the surface… but after a few exhilarating minutes he realises that they're only going deeper into the great underground maze of tunnels.

"Is this your vault?" he asks Pearl, when they finally roll to a stop. He's never seen hers before, or this part of the Gringotts at all, though of course the place is supposed to be super huge.

"No," says Pearl.

It's very dark down here, and cold. The only sound is the distant dripping of water from stalactites. There's only a single vault in sight, and it takes the form as a single, plain door built out of the rocky wall.

Now Pearl fixes him with a very intense stare. "This isn't personal. It's… Hogwarts business. And it's a secret, Steven. It's very important that you don't mention it to anyone. Do you understand?"

Steven nods, seriously. He's gotten good at keeping secrets.

He stands besides his Dad as Pearl and the goblin (Gryphook he said his name was) step towards the small door. At least, Steven thinks it's a door. He can see no doorknob, no lock. The goblin takes a single, long finger, and runs it down the doors surface. There's a low hum, and then, the door seems to melt away.

Steven tries to peer into the vault beyond. It looks no larger than a broom closet, and less impressive. There's only a single thing inside; a small, heavily wrapped package. Pearl picks it up, stows it away in her cloak, then turns on her heel. She and the goblin step out of the room, and the door seals itself up.

He burns with curiosity, but Pearl said that it was a secret, so he does not ask. He simply enjoys the wild cart ride back to the surface, and by the time he's stepping back into the sunlight of Diagon Alley, he's practically forgotten the whole thing. There's so much else to do!

They start with Madame Malkin, where Steven is fitted for new robes. He already has a few fancy dress robes, but he obviously can't wear them from day-to-day, and so he only ever brings them out for special occasions, like Halloween and birthdays. Madam Malkin is a friendly, older witch who chats with him happily even as measuring tapes fly around, briskly taking measurements. Steven does his best not to squirm with impatience. Getting clothes this way isn't nearly as fast as just going to a store where everything is pre-made and labelled by size, but her enchanted needles work quickly, and it isn't long until Steven has several sets of his official Hogwarts uniform: robes, hat, (temporarily) plain white ties.

Next are school supplies. Pearl knows them inside out. She walks confidently from shop to shop, helping Steven pick up the required quills, inks, parchment, books, and of course, cauldron. She doesn't bother carrying any of it, just places down an order for it to be delivered straight to Steven's house.

Steven can't help but get… distracted. And not just by all the random people who keeps staring at him and whispering. Magical school stuff is cool, sure, but there's so many other awesome things! One store has a globe of the Earth enchanted so you can see the clouds and weather patterns moving across it in real time. The broom shop, where Steven fantasizes about getting to ride on a proper broomstick for the first time ever, soaring way above the quidditch pitch, quaffle under his arm. There's the pet emporium, where Steven presses his face against the glass, cooing over the owls, cats, mice, toads. He's begged his family for a pet before, arguing that with an owl he'd be be able to send mail, but Dad had said, "Having a pet's a lot of responsibility Steven," and Pearl had said, "There's plenty of perfectly good owls at Hogwarts you can use," and Garnet had said, "Maybe when you're older," so it doesn't seem as if they're budging. Neither is he allowed to get a pygmy puff— in fact, Pearl was pretty dead set about him going into Weasley Wizard Wheezes joke-shop at all, but he put on his biggest puppy dog face, and Greg couldn't say no. Father and son wander the place with joyous wonder, marvelling at the magical fireworks and enchanted quills, while Pearl glares daggers and mutters about love potions under her breath.

These are are all just diversions, of course. Nothing compared to what he's really excited to get.

His wand.

He's practically shivering with anticipation by the time they reach the store with the sign proclaiming: Ollivanders. Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC.

There's a tinkling of a bell as they step inside. The shop is gloomy, cramped, dust motes catching the watering sunlight filtering through the ancient glass windows. The storefront is small, but inside, row after row of shelves seem to stretch into infinity. Steven stares around with wide eyes. The shopkeeper emerges from the darkness.

The Ollivanders are an old family, stretching back nearly two-thousand years. The witch standing before them is only the most recent in a long line of successors. Steven can remember when the last owner of the shop had passed away several years ago, even though he'd never met him. His obituary had been in the Daily Prophet, and Pearl had gasped aloud when she'd read it. Amethyst and Garnet had been affected, too— the man had apparently made the wands of almost every single witch and wizard in Britain for the last seventy years or something, including themselves.

("It's not exactly much of a surprise," Amethyst had said, as she'd chewed on some toast. "I mean, the guy was ancient."

"He could have lived a lot longer, if not for…" Pearl had trailed off.

"Sush," Garnet had said.)

This witch seems pretty old herself, Steven thinks. She walks in a slow little shuffle. Her face is lined with wrinkles, like a piece of faded tissue paper; her eyes are milk white; her hair is like silver cobwebs. "Greetings."

"Hi," says Steven.

"Hello," says Greg.

"Mistress Ollivander," says Pearl.

The witch observes her. "Pearl Magpantay, isn't it?"

"Yes."

Ollivander tilts her head, as if staring at something that no one else can see. "Nine inches. Hemlock wood, unicorn hair core. Inflexible. Correct?"

"Why- yes," says Pearl, a little flustered. "But-?"

Ollivander smiles. "I may not have sold as many wands as my father, but I did help him make a great deal of them. He would tell me when they found their match. Tell me; it has suited you well, has it not?"

"Yes," Pearl says. "Yes, wonderfully."

"Excellent." Ollivander turns her strange, other-worldly gaze onto Steven. "Then let us hope that today is equally successful. Steven Universe, I do be believe?"

"Yep, that's my name!"

He holds out his hand. The wand maker takes it. Her fingers are thin, blue veins visible beneath the pale skin, but her grip is surprisingly tight. Thankfully, she lets go quickly, and pulls out her own tape-measure, taking the length of his arm. Then spins around, vanishing behind the counter, into the infinity of shelves. She returns some time later, laden down with about a dozen long boxes.

Steven's grinning with glee as he's handed his first wand— a short, reddish stick, which Ollivander says is made from maple and dragon heart-strings. He holds it, waiting for the rush of power he was surely expecting but…

… nothing happens.

"Not to worry, Steven," Pearls says, seeing his downcast expression. "We're hardly going to find the right one on the first try."

"Indeed," Ollivander agrees, shuffling through the boxes. "The wand chooses the witch, after all. Or wizard, as the case may be."

The next one is holly, five inches, hippogriff feathers in the centre. When he grips it, Steven feels a shiver run up his arm; some of the dust in the air around him flickers gold for a moment. A thoughtful expression passed across Ollivander's face, and she put the wand aside for later, before handing him another. The next wand, hawthorn and phoenix feather, has an even more dramatic affect; a brief snatch of music briefly fills the room before fading. Ollivander takes that one away from him, too, however, saying only, "We're on the right track."

It takes a while. He's given lots of different wands, with of all sorts of woods and centres. Some do nothing at all when he holds them; others cause violent sparks or made him feel strange and light headed. Others, yet, react very weirdly indeed, throwing boxes around the room, or pulling him forward, like a too-eager dog anxious to get off its leash. Each and every one is taken away from him, Ollivander seemingly unsatisfied by the results.

The thrill loses his edge. He was starting to wonder if he'll find the right wand at all. His Dad ruffles his hair, offering silent support.

For the fourth time, Ollivander disappears into the back of the shop in search of something else; this time, however, she returns with only a single box. She says nothing as she hands it to him.

It is a medium-sized wand, relatively thin. Its central body is made from a reddish wood with almost pink undertones, while the handle is tan wood so pale that it's practically white. Its design is simple, lacking much in the way of decoration— the handle's even unpolished, almost appearing as though it was plucked freshly from the tree— but something about that just makes it seem prettier.

Steven takes it from the box, and the effect is instantaneous. A faint wind plays around him, catching his robes, tickling at his skin, and a pale pink glow emanates from the wand, somehow filling the entire room. He tightens his grip around the wood, just in case Ollivander tries to take it from him, as well. "This is it," he says. "I'm sure."

Ollivander simply nods. Greg and Pearl beam.

"What is it?" Pearl asks, eyeing the wand.

"It's a dual wood wand," answers Ollivander. "Cherry body, but birch for the handle, and a phoenix feather core."

"His mother had a phoenix core in her wand, as well," says Pearl, yet there's an odd note in her voice when she adds, "But cherry and birch?"

"It's what suits him," Ollivander replies, voice even. She turns her gaze back to Steven. "This is a happy wand, it is. Flexible, well-suited for healing and protection magics."

Steven savours the description, running his fingers along the find grain of his new wand. It sounds perfect. He swishes it experimentally, dreaming of the day when he will cast spells as well as his friends.

After that, it's a quick matter of paying, and then Steven is back out in the street, his very own wand sitting snugly in his pocket, a wide grin on his face. His Dad suggests they go and get some ice-cream in celebration, and Pearl says there's a perfect place just down the street. He's visualising the kind of glorious enchanted sundaes that a wizard can concoct, when he notices a girl walking down the alley ahead of them.

She sticks out immediately. Almost everybody here is dressed in wizards' robes, but she's dressed like muggle, in a pretty pale green dress and matching shoes. He catches a brief glimpse of her face— dark skin, brown hair, behind a pair of huge glasses. She's staring absently at something, and she doesn't even notice when the bracelet she's wearing slips off her wrist and falls to the ground. Steven darts forward, picking it up.

"—Wait!" he calls out, after her. "You dropped your—"

But she's already disappeared into the throng of people, impossible to see.

"What's that you got there, Stevo?" his Dad asks.

Steven looks down at it. It's a pink glow-stick bracelet, like the ones they give away at parades or on New Year's Eve. "A girl dropped it," Steven says. "I wanted to give it back to her."

Greg looks around. "Well, I think you lost her, buddy."

"A girl?" says Pearl. "About your age?"

Steven shrugs. "Probably?"

"Well, then, she'll most likely be at Hogwarts. You can return it to her there."

She looks so triumphant about the idea, but Steven feels his stomach sinking. "But it's a glow stick, Pearl! It'll run out before I get to Hogwarts."

"Don't worry, Steven," his Dad says, with a wink. "I'll tell you a little secret; if you put those things in the freezer, they can last forever. If we don't run into the girl today, we'll stache it in there when we get home, and then you can bring it with you to school in September. Now, how about we go get that ice-cream?"

oOoOoOoOoOo

Author's Note: Lot of extra notes to go through in this one, if you're interested.

1) So, as some of you might have noticed from this chapter, there are going to be some characters from original Harry Potter canon, like the Weasley Twins or Tom the barman. I tried to avoid it, but frankly, even with the extended SU cast, there just isn't enough people to populate the entire wizarding world, and I didn't want to come up with a bajillion OCs.

History has been altered in this verse. I don't want to get into details, but there was no Voldemort, and while there was a Dark Lord, they turned up about twenty years later. The time-lines of existing HP characters have understandably been altered. Folks like Harry and Hermione are probably hanging around somewhere, but their lives turned out a fair bit differently. They might make a few cameo appearances if the situation arises, but they're not going to be a major focus.

2) I decided to give witch!Pearl a Filipino background to match that of her voice-actress, Deedee Magno-Hall. I chose the traditional last name "Magpantay", which means "to equalize or level".

3) Wand lore! I love wand lore!

Pearl has a hemlock wand with a unicorn hair core. Unicorn hair is associated with purity, and is a relatively subtle core, which lends itself well to more 'cerebral' users. Wands made from hemlock allow for quick reactions and is excellent for potion stirring.

Steven... It took a fair amount of debate for Steven's wand, but I eventually settled on a phoenix feather core for both him and Rose. This core is known for its versatility and power, and is particularly common among Light Wizards. Plus, it has a resurrection motif I couldn't ignore.

Steven has a dual wood wand, which is uncommon but not unheard of; the body generally represents its user's outward appearance, while the heart depicts the wizard's true nature. The body is cherry tree wood, descriped as "A 'happy', willing wandwood, which will give consistent results at all magic save the Dark Arts. Cherry with phoenix feather is a particularly agreeable combination for a Light wizard without particularly prodigious magical talents." Birch, meanwhile, is described having, "a reputation for weakness, [though] in actuality birch is one of the finest Light wandwoods in existence. It is associated with both driving out evil spirits (and thus will produce a strong Patronus) and with healing magic."