It had been a lifetime for Harry since he had been thinking about talking to Miss Violet to get him away from the Dursleys. He had been thinking about all sorts of plans and in just one morning all of them had been derailed for better or for worse.
The sound of Uncle Vernon's rage reminded Harry why he was so desperate to leave that he agreed to leave with complete strangers. Uncle Vernon had come downstairs and when he saw the cupboard was unlocked, he opened the cupboard door so vigorously that it slammed open against the stairs leaving a dent. At the confirmation that Harry was not there, he then slammed the door shut and the force was so strong that the door didn't get a chance to latch before it bounced back. The door's refusal to shut didn't hamper Uncle Vernon at all, in fact, it seemed to anger him more. He took heavy steps to the kitchen.
"Boy! If you know what's good for you then you'll come out now!"
Harry was incredibly surprised at his words. Harry would have thought that when dealing with the sight of a missing Harry Potter, Uncle Vernon would have jumped to the conclusion that Harry ran away. Harry had a fleeting wonder about that fact before focusing on the situation in front of him.
"Vernon! What is all this ruckus?" Petunia screeched back. The fact that the entire neighborhood hadn't heard all this fuss was particularly surprising to Harry.
Uncle Vernon reached the kitchen and saw the room undisturbed. Uncle Vernon turned to check the living room when he stopped. There was a man who appeared from nothing standing in his backyard. The man was elderly, but his expression was ferocious. Garrick heard the muggle yelling and he was not impressed. Whether or not Harry becomes his apprentice, he feels that he needs to interfere with Harry's living situation.
Harry himself was frozen in uncertainty. He had long ago stopped trying to pacify his uncle when he was in such a black mood. The three men agreed to take Harry in, but he wasn't sure what they would do in the face of Uncle Vernon's anger. Harry watched silently at the sight of Garrick stepping out of Jimmy's protective bubble. As Garrick had stepped out, Jimmy turned to Harry and asked, "We will have to hash out all the details later. Do you need us to summon some of your belongings before we get out of here?"
At Jimmy's words, Harry was reminded that he was no longer alone, and he could use his magic for himself without fear of his family's reactions. Harry was certain that he knew what he had to do. He pulled out his wand and thought of all that he wanted to summon. He thought of his whittling tools and wooden blocks, his drawings, his notebook, his yellow crayon, his green man, and his incomplete cat. The items flew out of his cupboard, which was still slightly ajar, and landed at his feet. Harry's bird chirped in approval of Harry's efforts. It was still perched on his shoulder and Jimmy was stunned by the sight. The boy truly looked magical with his bird on his shoulder, wand in hand, and another wand tucked in his front pocket. Jimmy knew Harry could create but this was an implementation of spells that went further than creation. Harry pulled his belongings to himself and held them close. He looked to Jimmy for further instruction and once again Jimmy was reminded that Harry was still a small child, capable of unimaginable things, but still so uncertain.
Cosme was distracted by watching what Garrick was doing. Garrick had a habit of acting as if he knew best, and Cosme frequently had diffuse situations caused by Garrick's so-called solutions. Garrick had his wand pulled on the muggle and was waiting for the other to act. The sight of Garrick's wand filled Uncle Vernon with blind rage. Uncle Vernon took steps through the kitchen and yanked the back door open. He opened his mouth to yell again when Garrick decided that he had had enough of his braying like a mule. A red light shot out of his wand and hit Uncle Vernon. Garrick couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed at how easy it was to stun the man.
Harry gasped at the sight of his uncle lying flat on the grass and stared at Garrick.
Garrick smiled, "Don't worry. I just put him to sleep. He will be fine." Though Garrick was a bit tempted to do something more than just stunning the man. He didn't think he was vindictive by nature, but apparently, that wasn't true in this situation.
Harry was going to ask a question when they were all distracted by the sight of Petunia. She was standing near the back door and was gaping at Uncle Vernon on the ground. Before she could properly react. Garrick shot a red light at her too. Petunia fell prone. Hah! Garrick felt himself filled with dark pleasure at the sight of the woman falling on her face. He was sure that she would feel that when she woke.
Cosme wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not. He looked at Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia lying flat on the ground and sighed. "We are not supposed to use magic on muggles, and I know that you know that."
Garrick turned to Cosme and shrugged, "You and Jimmy should take Harry out of here. I will stay here and deal with both the Aurors and the Obliviators. I will use the Master-apprentice bond as a defense."
"But Garrick, you DON'T have a Master-Apprentice bond." Cosme looked more worried than Harry had seen him so far. Cosme was a bit more exasperated than worried, but only Jimmy could tell.
Garrick smirked, "Yes, but they don't know that. They are not likely to question me further or ask for proof." There were some upsides to being the most popular wand-maker in England.
Jimmy shook his head, "This is why you are a pain in my ass. Let's go Cosme."
Cosme chuckled and knelt in front of Harry, so they were at eye level with each other. A plan quickly came together in Cosme's mind, "Harry, I am going to portkey you to my shop. It will be uncomfortable, but we only need to do it once. You can put your stuff into my bag, and I will give it back to you once we arrive. If that's okay with you?" Cosme quickly grabbed his bag from its resting place on the ground.
"How in the world do you have a portkey?" Jimmy couldn't help but interrupt.
Cosme stood and faced Jimmy with a smirk, "I am the only wand-maker in France… it comes with a few perks." Cosme knew that it would irritate Jimmy, but he couldn't help but brag a tiny bit.
Jimmy frowned at the perceived unfairness but shook himself from the negativity.
Cosme opened his bag, pulled out a long rope that almost looked like a dog toy from his bag, and then opened it for Harry to put his belongings into the bag.
Harry looked at the bag and felt like running his fingers over the embroidered letters. The bag looked like smooth leather and Harry wondered if it was as soft as it looked. Before putting his stuff in the bag, Harry hesitated, "It doesn't look big. Can it fit everything?"
"Ah but of course it does!" Cosme put his arm deep into his bag to demonstrate its abilities. His arm kept going further into the bag until Cosme could not put more of himself without falling. Cosme loved his extended bag and felt it was worth every galleon. Harry figured it was magic and put his stuff into the bag without further questioning.
In the distance, there were five pops, and the sound caught the attention of the group.
"Mon Dieu! We really must hurry now. We don't want to be questioned by Aurors just yet. Hold on tightly Harry. This is not going to feel good, but you must not let go." Cosme's voice was not raised but still firm. He held out a hand for Harry and nodded at Jimmy to hold onto the other end of a rope. Harry grabbed Cosme's hand, and he noticed how warm his hand was. Cosme and Jimmy held onto opposite sides of the rope.
Garrick nodded at them. He was confident in his ability to diffuse the situation without revealing Harry Potter's role or getting in trouble for attacking muggles. It wouldn't be good to have anyone contest their apprenticeship with Harry Potter.
"La Maison" With that the three felt lifted off their feet and disappeared in a whirlwind.
Harry felt a pull coming from his stomach and he shut his eyes when there was a strong pulling sensation.
Garrick watched them leave and as soon as they were out of sight, he waved his wand causing the chairs and temporary ward to all disappear. The timing was impeccable as the sound of a gate unlocking was quickly heard. Three wizards stepped into the yard with their wands pulled out. However, they stopped short at the sight of Garrick Ollivander with his wand pulled out and two muggles stunned on the grass. Garrick couldn't help but smirk. He did enjoy messing with people.
"Greetings, John Dawlish, Peter Williamson, and Albie Savage."
If the three were surprised by the use of their full names, then they didn't show it. Dawlish and Savage seemed to be taking in the sight of the yard before turning back to Ollivander.
"We received a notice of a wizard using magic against muggles. You wouldn't happen to know anything about this, Ollivander?" Dawlish seemed to be struggling with questioning Ollivander. He was taken aback by his presence and wasn't sure how much he was accusing or just questioning.
"Hmm John Dawlish, 10" ebony wand with unicorn hair, a particularly rigid wand. And yes, I do. I stunned these muggles. I was here to collect my apprentice. He seems to have had a portkey problem, so he is no longer here."
The new information distracted Williamson and Savage from Ollivander's confession of guilt and eased some of Dawlish's inner conflict.
"An apprentice? This is the first that I have heard of it." Savage was the one to speak up.
"Well, yes, it would be. I found him only very recently. I have decided to act as his guardian since these are a bit insufficient. There was a bit of a scuffle, but I don't see any need for further action." Garrick gestured to Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia.
The Aurors nodded. That would explain this odd situation. Ollivander seemed to be acting within his rights. As the master of an apprentice, Garrick was just exercising his right to act as a guardian.
The three Aurors put away their wands and the obliviators stepped into the yard for the first time.
"Since you are taking guardianship of your apprentice then these two no longer have any need to know of magic." The obliviator looked to Ollivander for approval before raising his wand in the muggle's direction.
Garrick nodded. Harry didn't deny wanting to live with one of them and did not ask about how he would visit his relatives. Garrick decided that it was for the best if they forgot about magic. It also had a small benefit of covering up their tracks if someone wanted to find the new guardians of Harry Potter.
Seeing approval, the first obliviator stepped up to Uncle Vernon and the other stepped up to Aunt Petunia.
"Thank you for your assistance, this has eased the transition. If you'll excuse me, I must make sure that my apprentice has arrived safely." Garrick did not wait for the Aurors to respond before apparating away.
Garrick felt it was a safe assumption that he would need to apparate to Cosme's shop Baguettes Magiques de Cosme Acajor. With a small pop, Garrick apparated to Rue Girardon leaving behind the Aurors and obliviators.
Inside the back of the shop, Cosme's wards told him that Garrick had just arrived right in front of his shop. Jimmy was busy tending to Harry. Harry had a rather poor reaction to the portkey and was sitting on the floor trying not to throw up. Harry had yet to eat that day so it was easier than it should have been, however, even after ten minutes, Harry still felt a bit ill. Jimmy was rummaging around in his kit to see if he had anything in there to help. His kit was for testing Harry as an apprentice, so it didn't have anything outside of wand-related materials. Fortunately, Jimmy had been testing different wand cores, so he happened to have a few leaves of peppermint.
Cosme summoned his teapot and added the leaves to the pot after Jimmy handed them to him.
"Good idea, Jimmy." Cosme turned to Harry hoping to explain away some of the unpleasantness, "Hopefully, this can soothe some of your portkey troubles. The portkey was the only thing I could think of at such short notice, but it was not a pleasant trip. I have used it many times and I still hate it myself."
Harry was in no condition to question Cosme; however, Harry's wand was a bit curious about what Aurors were and why they moved so quickly to avoid them. The bird was more focused on hopping on and under the bench that Harry was resting on.
After setting the kettle to boil, Cosme turned to Jimmy with curiosity. "Why do you have peppermint leaves with the rest of your wand materials?"
Jimmy blushed at Cosme's question, "Well, you see, I have been testing wand cores. I know that Garrick has his chosen three but ever since I heard about James Steward, I've been questioning what else I thought was fact but is instead just tradition. I have a squib cousin who was telling me that muggles believe that peppermint leaves can enhance your third eye and intuition. I wanted to see what effect it might have on a wand. Especially since some of the things muggles believe about magic are true."
Unfortunately for Jimmy, Garrick had gone far enough into the shop to hear his words. Garrick scoffed at Jimmy, "Muggle foolishness. Peppermint leaves have no magic and cannot be a proper channel for a wand."
Jimmy knew that he got overly defensive when it came to criticism from Garrick, his idol, but he still raised his hands in surrender. "That's why it was an experiment! I have a couple of peppermint plants and I am testing to see if I can imbue them with magic enough to have them register as magical. I know that wand cores are usually from magical creatures and plants, but I wanted to see if that limit is a hard limit. If the definition of a magical plant could be challenged, then perhaps we can create wands with higher compatibility for different wizards."
Cosme was intrigued by the direction of the conversation but was stopped from contributing when he heard the kettle whistle. He poured a mug for Harry and brought it to him. Harry was now sitting on one of his workbenches but had his eyes closed trying to ignore the way that the room felt like it was still moving.
"Here, Harry. Hopefully, this will help."
Harry said a quiet thank you and drank a couple of sips. He seemed to have felt better after fortifying himself with the tea. Cosme was uncertain if it was because it was something to focus on or if the tea helped but moved away from Harry regardless. Harry paused after a few sips to look around the shop. It was his first introduction to a magical area and Harry wanted to be able to absorb it all.
Harry was in an area that looked like a workshop. The workshop was in the back of the shop. He could still see the front of the shop from where he sat. The front of the shop had four rows of ceiling-height bookshelves filled with boxes. The space between the bookshelves was large enough for a ladder to lean against the shelves. The ladders were perfect for reaching the highest shelf and Harry got the impression of both a grocery and a library. On the shelves, the boxes were triangular and came in three colors: orange, dark blue, and purple with small white labels. The boxes seemed to be a random selection of the three colors with no visible pattern. Most importantly, there were hundreds of boxes and Harry hoped that each box contained a wand. The shop was clear of dust but it was a bit dark. The front of the shop had huge floor-to-ceiling windows, but the light struggled to reach the back of the shop. The back of the shop was mostly illuminated by various candles that were scattered around. Closer to Harry was a counter that looked to be a workbench. On the workbench, there were wooden blocks and trays of feathers, teeth, scales, fur, and other items that Harry couldn't identify. The three men were all leaning or standing near the work counter while Harry was opposite of them on a bench. The bench was against the back wall and gave him a perspective of the entire shop. There wasn't anything that magical, but Harry felt that it seemed to be special, to be something more. This wasn't what Harry thought his introduction to a magical world would be like, but it was far from disappointing.
Cosme seemed pleased by Harry's curiosity about his store and decided to do a brief explanation. Each of his words was filled with pride and Harry knew that Cosme thought that his shop was perfect.
"This is my shop, Baguettes Magiques! It has been in my family for quite some time though nowhere as long as Ollivanders. Each of these shelves is organized by wood. My family has a tradition of using only elm, elderberry, vine, and ivy." Harry was curious about the reasoning of only using four wood types. Cosme turned to the counter, picked up a tray, and brought it closer to Harry. "These here are wand cores. I use a larger variety than Garrick. I would not recommend you touch them without asking but all of these on this tray are safe to touch. I know that you were curious about them earlier."
Harry reached a hand out to grab an item but he paused and looked at Cosme before grabbing it. Cosme gave an encouraging smile, so Harry decided to grab it. It was smooth and white. It looked a bit like a tooth, or so Harry thought.
Cosme had grabbed the tray hoping that Harry's choice would reveal some new information. He waited to see if the core that Harry chose would respond to Harry, but when nothing happened, he frowned a bit. Cosme opened his mouth to talk when Harry felt warmth fill him. Harry's eyes widened in surprise and uttered a small, "Oh".
Cosme smiled when the core responded to Harry but was stunned when Harry let out a small hiss in pain. Harry dropped the wand core back into the tray and quickly stuffed his hand in his pocket trying to get the burning warmth away from his leg. Harry's wand was heating to an uncomfortable level and feelings of anger were radiating off the wand.
Ignoring the men in the room Harry attempted to comfort his wand, "Please don't be like that. I just wanted to see it!" The anger changed to irritation and was no longer uncomfortably hot, but Harry still felt uncomfortable with the anger. "You're my wand and I am not going to change that." Reassurances were given; Harry waited to see if the wand would do anything, but it still was unhappy with Harry touching the cores. The wand calmed down a bit further when it felt the concerned gazes of the other men. Harry didn't like anger and the wand knew better, but it couldn't control itself when Harry grabbed the core and it responded to him.
Garrick watched the interaction and decided to give some input, "Your wand is more jealous than I would predict from Spruce." Garrick had the most familiarity with spruce compared to the other two, but he still didn't use it too often. Spruce was often a difficult wood to use and had its own ideas separate from its wielder which many wizards found to be tedious.
Harry's wand let out red sparks at Garrick's words, but the wand no longer felt unhappy. Harry raised his eyebrows at the sparks. Jimmy and Cosme smiled at the childish antics of the wand.
"Before your wand's anger, you felt something from the wand core." Cosme's words sounded like a question but were more of a statement.
Harry nodded, "Yes, it felt very warm and welcoming. But very different from my wand…it felt smooth? I am not sure if that is the right word."
Jimmy and Garrick took a few steps closer to look at what Harry had picked up, curious to see what felt welcoming to Harry.
"Uh, what is it?" Jimmy didn't recognize it but thought it was a type of horn.
The question was for Cosme, but Garrick answered, "It is a horn from a Horned Serpent. I have only heard of two wands to use such a core." Garrick thought it was rather interesting that Harry had picked that core from the tray. It revealed some new information to Garrick that he was debating whether he should share with the other two.
Jimmy nodded but he still felt that Cosme and Garrick knew something that he didn't. They both had their thinking faces.
Chimes rang through the store and Cosme looked at his clock which was tucked into a corner.
"I think that will be all for today. It has been rather long and filled with events. It has certainly been too much for me and I imagine that Harry would like to rest."
Cosme's words were immediately met with protests from Garrick and Jimmy.
"What about the rest of the bonding?"
"Non! It is already 3 in the afternoon. Harry has had a trying morning. He will take this moment to rest, and we will discuss the next steps now that we have a moment to think."
Cosme was quite firm and the other two had no arguments but still grumbled a bit. Harry blushed at the idea of taking a nap, he wasn't a baby. However, Harry couldn't find himself willing to argue with someone who sought his well-being.
"I have a spare bedroom that will be yours. I hope that it will be to your liking. I will also have sandwiches prepared and waiting."
Cosme glared at the other two to make sure that they had no additional comments. He walked out of the room and into a hall that Harry had not previously noticed. The stairs were narrow and there were various plants framed onto the wall. They entered a light-filled hall and Harry's first thought was 'purple'. The hall had three doors on each side and there was a large fern at the end of the hall. There was a long rug that ran the length of the hall that was a plain cream color with small purple flowers on vines. Each door was identical to the one next to it. Cosme kept walking to the end of the hall and turned to the door to the right.
Cosme opened it, "This room will be yours for as long as you stay here." Cosme was staring intently at Harry's face. He hoped that Harry enjoyed this room. Cosme had three other guest bedrooms but this one was his favorite.
Harry was in awe. It was so lively. The walls were green with little picture frames hung all over the walls. On closer inspection, the frames were full of tiny pictures of trees, plants, cottages, or forest animals. The wall closest to the bed had a large circle window that let enough light in for the entire room. The bed was pushed against the wall with the window and was covered with teal bed sheets. The wall on the right had one door that was slightly ajar and the wall on the left had another door which Harry stared at a bit longer. The hall didn't show any additional rooms beyond the length of the hall, so it didn't make sense that there were additional rooms. While Harry was inspecting the room, his little bird took flight and rested on the headboard of the bed. It cheeped twice in approval and then tucked its head under its wing.
"This is mine?" Cosme's heart broke a little at Harry's softly whispered question. He was glad that he picked this one for Harry.
"Yes, Harry. The door on the right leads to the washroom. Leave the door on the left alone, please. I will share it with you later, but I do not want you to go in there alone." Cosme walked towards a tall wardrobe. It was a dark purple that was nearly black but had more of the small flowers that Harry had seen in the hall. Cosme opened one of the drawers and pulled out a set of sleepwear. He looked at the sleepwear and then looked at Harry. He waved his wand and muttered something that Harry couldn't hear. The clothes shrunk. Cosme handed them to Harry.
Harry noticed how smooth and cool to the touch the sleepwear was. They matched the color of the bedsheets and Harry thought they were the nicest clothes that he had ever touched.
"I will get you some of your own most likely tomorrow. Sleep for as long as you like and we wi-", Cosme was interrupted by a plate popping into existence. The plate had two sandwiches and rested on a small table beside the bed. "Ah, perfect. You should eat something before sleeping."
Harry walked up to the sandwiches, "Thank you. They look delicious."
Cosme smiled and then left the room without any additional comments. It was time for him and the other two knuckleheads to figure out what to do with Harry. All their plans changed when they met Harry Potter this morning for better or for worse.