Note: This chapter contains portions of The Philosopher's Stone book.

Commentary:

2020 Me: So Maggie is short for Margaret, right?

2019 Me: I guess. I just picked that name spontaneously.

2020 Me: And Melissa's first word was Thatcher, right?

2018 Me: I just threw that in for a laugh and to establish timelines and a bit of family dynamics.

2020 Me: …Okay, but what if John and Sophie named her that on purpose?

*minds of the past explode.*


The day after Harry's birthday, he, Melly, and their guardians went to Diagon Alley to shop for school supplies. Harry had hoped to go shopping with Ron and Neville as they were the only boys he knew in his year. Unfortunately, they had already gotten their supplies a few days ago, though Neville did promise to come later for lunch, so that was something to look forward to.

Shopping for school supplies was more interesting than he had expected. Seeing Diagon Alley again was as wondrous as it had been his first time there. Shops full of unique sights and sounds. People in colourful, strange-looking robes milling to and fro. Books about spells, potions, and other strange topics. Everything about it was just magical!

There were some uncomfortable moments, though. Getting into Gringotts was a long and chaotic event. Apparently there had been a break-in yesterday and the goblins were trying to figure out how the thief got in. Nothing was taken, judging from what Harry overheard from various people while in line, but it was still a huge and rare event for a break-in like that to happen at Gringotts.

After the bank, though, was when the discomfort got a lot worse. Every once in a while Harry would catch people's gazes. There were some kids his age or younger who stopped to gawk at him. Other times he'd see witches whispering to each other with fingers pointing his way. The attention made him uncomfortable. He had gotten similar looks back at the Ministry, and it never felt like it was meant for a good thing. He could guess what they were thinking. Poor, orphan boy. Trapped with muggles. Or, worse, the famous Boy-Who-Lived, our saviour! Not Harry, the boy who likes to make colourful crafts or Harry, the boy who loves to read. Not one of them saw him as just Harry. All they saw was what they read in the newspaper.

When the stares got too much, he walked closer to his uncle. Seeing his discomfort, Uncle Sirius placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and tapped his pinky twice against his shoulder. It was a system they developed over the month. Little gestures here and there to send silent messages to each other without feeling overwhelmed or nervous at the touch. In this case, the message was simple. I'm here. You're safe. Harry relaxed under the touch. He never thought he could get used to a guardian laying a hand on him again. Though now, with Uncle Sirius, he was slowly gaining back his ability to trust adults.

Near the end of his shopping list, Harry spotted the owl emporium off to the side. "Oh, can we stop here for a bit? I want to get extra treats for Maggie."

"Sure, pup. You all don't mind, right?" Sirius asked the Bennetts.

The adults agreed that the detour was fine. Melly, though, gave something of a sarcastic smile. "I'm sure Magdalene will be grateful."

Harry, catching her tone, rolled his eyes. Still, the two of them walked into the shop with their guardians. "Do you have to be mean about her name? It's not her fault you lost the bet."

"I know." She whined. She plucked a bag of treats and tossed it over to Harry's open hand. "It's mine. I didn't think you'd start your naming trend so early."

Harry didn't bother asking what she meant by that. His friend had already mentioned his supposed bad taste in names, though he didn't see the problem with this one. "Naming my owl after Maggie isn't the worst thing."

"True." She supposed. Then she flashed him a confused look. "That said, you do realize that Maggie's name is short for Margaret, right?"

Harry nodded. "I know, but I was already thinking about that name before I talked to Maggie. By then it just felt right." His friend gave only a defeated shrug. Clearly she had accepted that his decision wouldn't change. "If it makes you feel better, I was considering Hedwig for a while. It was my third choice."

Melly gave him a curious look. "What was your second?"

Harry stopped a moment to remember the other name he came across. "Germaine."

"Germaine?" She sounded incredulous. "You would have picked Germaine over Hedwig?"

"Probably. Why are you looking at me like that?" Frankly she looked like a half-collapsed zombie at the moment.

"Because you threw off my groove." She straightened herself a moment, only to drape herself behind him across his shoulders. "Seriously, kid, what happened to you?"

Harry chuckled despite the uncomfortable position. "I read more than one book?" He joked.

Melly groaned at the answer. "Curse you and your books." She slipped off of him and grabbed her own bag of treats. "That said, you're not allowed to change anything else. I'm officially banning you from making life decisions."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Right. Because that's no different than what I'm used to."

Melly violently flinched, whirling to face him with a look of pure guilt. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that! I was just joking around and-"

"It's fine, Melly." Harry interrupted. "I was just teasing." The two of them stopped for a moment. Harry, being pensive, while Melly still looked bashful and guilty. "...I suppose it's not the right kind of thing to joke about."

His friend gave a tense shrug. "I mean, if it helps you, sure; but other people shouldn't be making jokes about it, that includes myself. …I should try to be mindful about it."

"It's fine, Melly, really. If anybody understands what my life is like, it's you." He assured her. "That, and I can't imagine you going through life being afraid to make jokes about anything."

Melly gave a shy smile in spite of her feelings on the subject. "I suppose that really would throw off my groove, wouldn't it?" She chuckled lightly at what he guessed was an inside joke.

Knowing there wasn't much point in asking about it, he merely shrugged and gestured to the counter. "Probably. Come on, Neville will be at the restaurant soon. We don't want to be late."


Lunch with Neville Longbottom was an odd combination of interesting and dull. Dull, because the boy in question wasn't all that interesting. He was quiet, shy, and fidgeted any time his grandmother asked questions at him or Harry. Though, seeing as she seemed to ask at him and not to him, it was clear where the boy's shyness stemmed from. The only really interesting thing to Melissa was in watching Neville and Harry interact together. Their voices and tones were almost matched. Their smiles were shy yet encouraging in turns. Even the way they hesitated when their opposing guardians spoke to them seemed oddly mirrored. The only big difference was that, where Neville's demeanour was dimmed, Harry's shone just a little brighter. This isn't a thought that Melissa would have considered in the past, but Harry and Neville are actually very similar people. It was a surprising revelation, one that she wasn't sure was a product of their current upbringings or aspects glossed over in the original story. It was a mystery, to be sure.

"I still have some shopping to do." Harry's voice filtered softly through Melissa's musings, an answer to a question she didn't hear. "I have to pick up my robes and buy a wand."

"At Ollivander's, right?"

Harry nodded at the question. "Did you get yours there?"

"Oh, no… I have my dad's wand." The boy answered shyly.

Harry nodded his head and made a benign comment about it. Melissa, meanwhile, narrowed her eyes. About three separate thoughts swirled around her head as that information was relayed, none of which was positive.

"Well that's stupid."

The boys turned to her, Neville with a look of trepidation in his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"You shouldn't be using your dad's wand. There's literally no good reason to be using it."

"I beg your pardon?" Neville's grandmother snapped. Melissa flinched as she hadn't realized that she had been overheard. "How dare you say such atrocious things! My son was a strong wizard and his son deserves a strong wand to help him."

The wand chooses the wizard. Ollivander's adage whispered in her memory. Somehow, though, she didn't think reciting that argument would help against the single-minded woman.

"Augusta, I'm sure she didn't mean anything by it." Sirius appealed for peace-making.

"Yes I do." Melissa corrected before turning to Augusta with a serious expression. "Just because a wand worked for his father, doesn't mean it will work for him."

The older witch looked down on her haughtily. "What could a child like you possibly know about such things?"

A lot more than you, clearly. "Think about it. Is his father dead? Did he personally give him that wand? If the answer's no on both accounts, odds are that his wand won't change allegiance to another wizard. Even if it is a blood relative."

Augusta, Sirius, and Neville looked at her in stunned silence. Her parents and Harry didn't seem stunned, but they were quiet all the same. Melissa looked to the other wizards, trying to understand their stunned expressions. The realization as to why struck her as something of an oddity. "...Did you two not know that?"

Sirius looked at her and Augusta Longbottom quickly before answering. "Well… wandcraft isn't a common thing to study."

"Well, yeah, but it's worth knowing something like that." She stressed. "I mean, we have to be fitted to a wand like a tailored robe, don't we? If it doesn't work for him when he's just learning magic, how do you expect him to be any good with spells as an adult?"

Augusta, to her annoyed surprise, was only half-convinced. "Perhaps so, but I'm sure Neville will fit properly with his father's wand."

Seriously, lady? Do you have any idea how much he'll struggle in class?

No, of course she doesn't. Why would she know? It's not like she can see the future. Even Melissa can't, though her own knowledge and this new factoid held enough information to make her sure of an inevitability in Neville's schooling. That is, unless she takes a stand for the poor boy here and now.

I better not regret this. She sighed as the idea formulated in her mind. "Possibly, but you're better off putting it to the test. Neville, do you have your dad's wand on you?"

"I do." Neville nodded. He reached into his holster and produced his father's wand.

"Alright then." She nodded and looked over to his grandmother. "How about a wager then? Come with us to Ollivander's and have him test the wand. If the wand fits, I'll give him as much coin as a wand is worth and apologize for what I said. If it doesn't fit him, then you'll buy him a wand and pay me at the same cost."

"Melissa!" Her mother interrupted. "You're being rude, and you shouldn't be making bets with an adult."

The adults argued momentarily at the tangent, interrupting the tense and awkward argument the young witch had started. Still, surprisingly, Augusta Longbottom took the whole thing in stride. "Very well, then." She answered abruptly, quieting the other adults in her wake. "I accept your challenge. Neville, come, we'll put an end to this nonsense at once."

In jerked motions, the group collected themselves from the table and made their way towards Ollivander's.

"You shouldn't have done that." Harry whispered to her as they walked, casting Neville an apologetic glance as he did so.

"I know. I just… when I heard that about his wand, too many things made sense at once."

"What about?"

"From when we're at school."

Harry blinked owlishly at her. The meaning at once took form in his mind and a secret smile formed on his face. "You made that bet knowing she'll lose."

A twitch of a smirk met his knowing smile. "May-be." She sing-songed teasingly.

Harry shook his head, the smile still on his face. "Honestly, Melly, your get-rich schemes get sneakier every day."

"It's not a scheme!" She shot back with an air of confidence. She draped an arm around his shoulder as her other hand arced through the air. "Think of it as a wise investment opportunity."

A few paces off to the side, Melissa's parents rolled their eyes as they overheard that single declaration. "Are you sure she's ours?" Jake joked quietly to his wife.

Her mother sighed, annoyed and amused all at once. "Sometimes I ask myself the same thing."


As the group stepped into Ollivander's shop, the elderly shop owner cast a knowing eye on the Longbottoms leading the charge. It was eerie, in a way. Especially so as Augusta gave mention to Frank Longbottom's wand, prompting the man to perfectly recite the wand's contents. The wand now produced, he encouraged Neville to give his father's wand a go. With a swish by Neville's hand, a sheet of parchment at the desk caught fire.

Mister Ollivander frowned at the magical reaction. "No, no, I'm afraid this wand isn't a good fit, Mister Longbottom."

Neville looked sullen at the wandmaker's response. His grandmother visibly bristled at the diagnosis, and countered the man that Neville try again. Unfortunately, the second swish made no difference from the first. The wand was an ill match. Simple as that. …and Melissa tried very hard not to look Augusta Longbottom in the eye for the duration of Neville's matching attempts.

As Ollivander worked with Neville on finding a proper wand, Harry leaned in closer to Melly. "So, should I make a bet about mine?" He whispered in jest.

"I'd rather not." Melissa whispered back. "...That said, I'll be very disappointed if yours doesn't have a particular phoenix feather as the core."

"Why?" He wondered.

Melissa pursed her lips. "That's for him to tell you. Just… take my word that it can help in the long run." Harry blinked at the cryptic explanation, but nodded and turned back to Neville's matching.

Five minutes and fourteen galleons later, Neville Longbottom had a wand of his own. A fine piece of wandcraft made of cherry and unicorn hair. Despite his initial nervousness, he took the wand with a grateful smile on his face. If Melissa, too, seemed happy with the exchange, it was obviously from making a significant difference in a young boy's life ...certainly not at all because her pocket was suddenly 7 galleons heavier. Of course not.

When the Longbottoms left, with a quick farewell from the two of them, Ollivander looked to the rest of the group as if noticing them for the first time. "Ah, Melissa Bennett. You've come rather early for a second wand, haven't you?"

Melissa dismissed the misunderstanding. "No, I'm just here with my friend. My wand is just fine." She pulled said wand out of its holster and twirled it between her fingers.

The man nodded with a knowing eye. "Spruce and dragon heartstring. Eleven and third quarter inches. Quite bendy. A bold wand for charms and offensive magic. I am happy to see you're taking good care of your wand."

"I appreciate that, Mister Ollivander." The girl nodded. Though she couldn't help glancing at her wand afterwards. Charms and offensive magic, eh? Well she has been getting good marks in both Charms and DADA, though the latter she had assumed was more due to Salvatore's practical methods.

"Ah, I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter." Mister Ollivander's voice cut in, training his silvery eyes onto Harry.

Much like with Neville, he recited the wand types of both his parents, even their advantages with charms and transfiguration for his mother and father, respectively. From there, Harry was measured out and given dozens of wands to try, none of which seemed to connect. In time, though, Ollivander produced the final wand. Holly and phoenix feather, 11 inches. Nice and supple. Melissa watched with bated breath as Harry took the wand. With a downward swish, a series of red and gold sparks emerged from the wand. Sirius and Ollivander both cheered at the success. Though, naturally, Ollivander began to mutter the word "curious".

"Sorry, but what's curious?"

"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mister Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather, just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother, why, its brother gave you that scar."

From the corner of her eye, Sirius visibly paled at this statement. Harry, meanwhile, tensed outright. Then Ollivander continued.

"Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember. I think we must expect great things from you, Mister Potter. After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things- terrible, yes, but great."

"Yes, I'm sure he will." Sirius quickly interrupted. Though his voice betrayed a level of apprehensive anger. "Glad you found a wand, pup. We should get going, though."

Harry nodded at that, and stepped back to allow Sirius to pay for the wand. While the adults were distracted, Harry looked to his witchy friend with apprehension. A silent question echoing through his eyes. Melissa merely mouthed "told you" with a simple shrug. After all, there was no need to get into particulars now. Once Sirius completed the purchase, they left the shop and made for a crossroads. From there, Harry and Sirius went off to Madam Malkins' robe shop, while the Bennetts headed home for the day.


Note: Saint Hedwig is the patron saint of orphans, so I made the owl name choices in line with Hedwig's. Germaine is the patron saint of child abuse victims and loss of parents. Mary Magdalene... is the patron saint of hair dressers. I an NOT saying that that's Harry's future. I just thought it was A. funny, B. alludes to Harry's efforts to use magic pre-Hogwarts, and C. doesn't make his past as a lonely, victimized orphan tied to his future at Hogwarts.