Quoth the Raven, Nevermore
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1. Reviews are welcomed, flames aren't. Special thanks to Phil for his comments and corrections and for his British expertise.
Chapter 19: No Living Human Being
Ollivander sent a message two days after they had dropped off the ingredients. The carefully cryptic note sent to John and Wolf raised a couple of eyebrows.
"Dear Client,
Please come to the shop at 5 pm tomorrow. Please bring your guardian and instructor.
-O"
The next day the trio arrived in front of the wand shop at the appointed time. Once inside the creepy shop, they were startled by the aged wand-maker when he appeared suddenly. Ollivander flipped the sign on his door to "Closed" before ushering them into a large and well-warded back room.
"This is where I test some of my more esoteric wands. They can be quite temperamental," Ollivander explained as he motioned them to take a seat near his work bench. "Now then, I am afraid that we - or rather, Lord Harry - has a problem."
The men exchanged a wary look at each other. Ben placed a protective hand on John's shoulder as the boy wiggled onto a stool between them.
"Normally," the aged wand-maker continued on as he went to a second bench. "I would just craft a wand from the many ingredients that my family and I have collected over the years and then allow it to choose the young witch or wizard. But in this case, being Goddess-touched, young Lord Potter has to be the exception to the rule. The Morrigan herself came to me in a dream and told me years ago that I would be crafting a very special focus for a very special young mage. I would know him by the items he would present to me - a blackthorn branch and a raven's primary feather. Her instructions were quite clear. . ."
"Wait. . . Wait. . .," Wolf commanded, rising abruptly. "What do you mean,'A young mage'? There hasn't been a mage since the time of Merlin."
"I am aware that Japan has at least one mage and I think there's one or two across the Pond in the States," Ollivander stated quietly. "This young man will be the first for Europe or the British Wizarding World in several centuries." He stepped behind the second work bench and picked up a long, black staff. It was so highly polished that it gleamed like obsidian and at the top, resting majestically within interlaced fingers of wood, was a blood-red garnet. A closer look along the staff's length revealed intricate runes that spiraled down it.
John gasped in awe. "It's beautiful! But it's too big!" And it was, at well over six feet tall.
Ollivander smiled as he proudly handed the staff over. "That's easy to take care of Lord Potter. Close your eyes, child, and imagine your staff about your shoulder height. You need a clear picture of it in your mind."
John grasped the staff and pictured it in his mind as the old wand-maker said. He briefly felt something tingle down his arm, and then stop. Hearing a gasp from Uncle Ben and Wolf, John opened his eyes and saw his staff was now just the right size for him. "Wow! Brilliant!"
"Now then," Ollivander continued with a chuckle, "that'll be 90 galleons for the garnet and rune work, and I expect your instructor and you to be at my shop every day at 5 p.m. for the next two weeks."
"Why is that?" Ben asked with a suspicious glance, a little over-protective of his ward.
Ollivander smiled as he looked at the two older men. "He needs to be trained in how to use the staff. Also his instructor needs to watch so he can help with the practical training. I'm too old to go one-on-one with a young untrained mage."
"But I don't have a staff," Wolf protested.
"Now you do," Ollivander said with twinkling eyes, producing an oak staff with a dragon's eye quartz on the top. "It isn't as strong as the blackthorn but it'll do for the training. You aren't mage potential, but you'll do as you are warrior trained, which the child needs. The goddess knew what she was doing when she paired you two together."
"How much for this as well?"
"It was included in the price of Lord Potter's staff."
0o0o0o0
So, for the next two weeks, Wolf and John appeared via a special Apparation point behind Olivander's at five minutes to five p.m. each evening, for training.
John took to it like a fish to water. That is to say, he enjoyed being able to use his staff to fire off cool spells.
He soon found a staff was very different from a wand as he didn't need to verbalize the spells. All he had to do was think them and, viola! He now understood why the Ministry frowned on staves in the hands of wizards.
Wolf also learned to use his like a quarterstaff, just like Robin of Locksley and his men did in the time of Robin Hood. That it was a magical staff made it even more effective.
Wolf found that his staff could strike harder than a simple quarterstaff, and if he concentrated he could deliver a blow that struck twice — once with force and once with magic! A secondary bonus was the fact that he could feel his magic strengthening as he trained.
"Magic is like a muscle," Ollivander explained one night. "The more you push it, the larger your core grows, just like a muscle. Wizards, since the time wands were introduced as a teaching tool to help young ones to focus their magic, have relied too heavily on them. They chose to do what was easy rather than what was best for their magic, and refused to give them up. Thus they became too dependent on wands. A staff was meant to be the next step after focus was learned with a wand. When those in power realized that they could limit the average wizard's potential if they made wands mandatory, the die was set. The last staff was made in the late fourteenth century. And so was lost the art of making and using a staff." Ollivander sighed. " Now, let's get back to work shall we?"
By the end of the two weeks, John had a good handle on how to use his staff. He could now make it whatever size he wished and was very competent with it in whatever form he chose to use it. Wolf and he were sure there was a ghost or two that could help with further instructions for training.
"Before you go, I would like to give this to Lord Potter," Ollivander said, holding a cloth-wrapped package. "This is my gift to the Goddess-touched Avatar."
John thanked the man as he unwrapped a wand holster and looked questioningly up at him.
"This wand holster is made from dragon hide and will protect your staff from harm when it is shrunken to wand size. It will keep it from being summoned by anyone but you when it's within. Your staff will fit quite comfortably in it," he explained. "As you grow, so will this holster and your staff. Both are charmed that way. I expect you to stop by from time to time for more training and to show me what you've learned so far."
"Uh, Mr. Ollivander. . ." Wolf said with a frown.
"Don't worry, Mr. Wolfram. No-one will ever know that you've visited me, and when it comes time for Mr. Potter to make his appearance, I'll be equally horrified when he fails to show up."
Thank you sir," John said with a smirk as they left.
0o0o0o0o0
John crouched among the foliage of an old oak tree, well camouflaged against those who were searching for him. Once John had mastered his staff—so far as a 10-year-old could do, that is, - Wolf had started to step up his training.
This week-end John was with a special ops unit, participating in a stealth exercise at an undisclosed location. Lessons at home had been put on hold as Hermione was visiting her grandparents for the week. This had given Wolf the opportunity to take John on this exercise.
For this exercise John was allowed to use anything and everything to keep from getting 'tagged'. The members of this elite squad were a mix of Muggle-borns and Squibs, some of whom had magic at their disposal.
John's objective was to make it from point A to point B without being caught, tagged or hindered in any way. He was free to use stealth tactics and/or magic.
At this moment, he was about half-way through the course. Wolf was monitoring the exercise from a tower nearby, but was not participating in any way. John had to get through the exercise on his own merit.
Foot-steps! They were getting close. In the branches above a raven cawed, making the person below jump and fire a spell into the foliage overhead. John hunkered down in shelter of the large branch he was perched on. He was being Scrapper at the moment. They did know of his animagus form but, unlike natural ravens, Scrapper knew when to be quiet. So he waited.
There was no time limit for this, and John was grateful for that fact. He looked at the sun. He had about another two hours before it set. He needed to get moving again.
The person below finally moved off. John edged out of his hiding spot, but not before he made sure he wasn't seen by anyone on the ground. He thought a couple of the men were animagi themselves, so he had to be careful as well.
The goal was in sight,but he couldn't be too cocky. He could still lose! He saw a black shape move closer. Drat! Someone was a cat animagus! Cats and ravens were age-old enemies!
John reverted back to his boy self and picked up a stone.
Placing a quick spell on it, he threw it at the cat. It worked! Extremely potent catnip with a sleep spell chaser works every time! Still, John needed to get to the Finish Point. A lot was riding on the outcome. He inched away from his hiding place, took a quick look around and ran . . . like the very devil himself was after him!
When John's hand touched the flag, fireworks went off. He had won! He grinned, thrusting a hand in the air. Yes! EuroDisney, here we come!
"Well done, John!" Wolf said as he laughingly corralled the excited 10-year-old. "We'll go over the debriefing in the morning." John suppressed a yawn and nodded as the men chuckled.
0o0o0o0o0
Once John was back in their bivouac area and safely asleep, Wolf and the colonel in charge went over the results with the other men.
"He did well," said the colonel. "He could have,and should've, been tagged on three separate occasions."
Wolf agreed. "After three failed attempts before this win, that isn't bad. He really wants to go to EuroDisney. Plus, we can't make it too complex, he's only 10 after-all."
The colonel nodded. "He is a child, first and foremost but he's been keeping up with recruits twice his age. As long as we can keep these exercises fun, he'll continue to learn. Well done, men. And someone slip Hawthorne a sobering potion before he embarrasses himself again," the colonel smothered a snort. "I would love to know what that boy did." The colonel chuckled as he left the room on a gale of laughter.
0o0o0o0
No, we haven't abandoned this story, so don't worry. Summer is over and now we can write. Thanks for all the reviews and comments, we really do appreciate them.
Until next time. -GF and the Frau
