Cosme was awake earlier than he preferred. It was part excitement for the day and part nervousness about Jimmy's and Garrick's responses. He knew that they wouldn't do anything too horrible but lifelong biases can be difficult to overcome and Parseltongue was not something to casually dismiss. Cosme was sure that none of them knew what they were getting into when they desired to have Harry as an apprentice. In just the first week, Harry has defied nearly every expectation set by them. Harry was such a spectacular child that Cosme's mind went to a rumor he heard towards the end of the last war. It was so ridiculous that the first time that he heard it, he scoffed. Though he knew some people believed, at least some of the important people did. The rumor said that the real reason that the Potters were attacked wasn't because of Lily or James Potter, but instead because of Harry Potter. The idea of a one-year-old being the reason that the Dark Lord attacked them seemed like little more than fairy tales, but Harry showed extraordinary magical abilities all without being trained. Of course, as soon as the thought crossed his mind, Cosme knew that he would keep the thought to himself. Any child would likely blame themselves for their parent's deaths if they heard a theory like that.
Another thought that Cosme couldn't suppress was whether Harry should be an apprentice at all. At this point, it was little more than a thin excuse to get him away from the muggles. Cosme wasn't sure if he could teach Harry anything about wand-making or the magic involved. With just the ability to create wooden living creatures, Harry could find himself a good comfortable career. Of course, yesterday showed that Cosme could indeed teach him some things. Seeing Harry panic over his snake reminded Cosme that no matter how advanced or independent Harry seemed, he was very much a young child. Every day is a surprise with Harry, though Cosme liked to think that he was doing pretty good at keeping his cool.
Focusing back on the present moment, Cosme took a sip of his tea. It was lavender tea since he had a feeling that he would need to find his inner zen for that day….or at least as close as Cosme could get since he wasn't reality a calm person to begin with. He took a big gulp to finish off the tea and put his mug in the sink for Milly to take care of later. Harry surely had enough excitement yesterday with whittling so Cosme was going to distract Harry with something new. He took a peek out the window and saw that it was still the low light and mistiness of an early morning. He still had a few hours before he had to open the wand shop. Today was going to be a particularly busy morning. It was the last business day of the week before Beauxbaton started and was full of last-minute shoppers all panicking about the school year ahead. Also, many parents procrastinated on buying a wand for their child so that the children wouldn't have too much temptation to use their wand before the school year started. Every year there was at least one parent who got into trouble for underaged use of magic because they mistakenly gave their child a wand far too early.
Entering his wand shop, Cosme went to his work area. From there he could keep an eye on the stairs to see when Harry came down and the front of his shop so he could open on time. Remembering how Harry spent his previous mornings, he pulled a spare sheet of paper from one of his many drawers and a pencil. He scribbled a note to make sure that Harry came to his shop instead of whittling.
"Milly! Please put this note next to Harry's breakfast." The note disappeared without any visible acknowledgment from Milly, but Milly had never failed Cosme so he did not doubt that she would take care of it. He moved his work bench from the back wall and positioned it so he could easily reach all of his wand cores and woods without stretching himself.
Cosme had made enough wands with common wand cores to last this school year, so he indulged himself with his collection of unusual wand cores. Some of the wand cores that he picked were just to annoy his fellow wand-makers if he succeeded. He remembers hearing Garrick continuously rant about troll whiskers and kelpie hair being used by ancestors and their clear inferiority to his precious 'superior three'. That wasn't to say that he truly thought that they would be good wand cores, but he did think that Garrick was exaggerating how inferior they were. After all, if troll whiskers were as based as Garrick thought then surely Sir Cadogan wouldn't have been a far lesser wizard with such an inferior wand.
Cosme once had an opportunity to use Veela hair but it was specifically commissioned so he had little choice but to use a wood that would work for the intended user and not his preferred woods. It was difficult working with Veela's hair and he ended up pairing it with rosewood. However, he cut the cost of the wand by half in exchange for four hairs. He wanted to see how elm, elder, vine, or ivy. He was sure that elm and ivy would pair well, but the vine was tricky by itself and elder might reject it outright. Of course, that was what experiments were for. He had two of each wood type and he laid them out. He picked up the first piece of elm. Elm was always a very particular and very distinguished wood. This block felt very regal and he had a feeling that whoever was chosen by this wand would be a very serious individual who would be prone to harsh judgment. He grabbed one of the Veela hairs and laid it next to the wood to see what their first impression would be. At first, he felt nothing, but the magic from the Veela hair reached out to the wood. The wood made no reaches of its own, but it allowed the magic to flow through it. Cosme rested the hair on top of the wood and then pulled out his wand.
"Accipere et facti sunt"
The Veela hair slowly sunk into the wood and the wood accepted it. The magic that was being slowly pushed into the wood drew the magic from the hair and encouraged it to shape the wood. The wood accepted the partnership and shaped itself into a twisted wand with a smooth handle. Cosme thought it looked like a piece of taffy stretched out smooth and then twisted in the middle. The length of the wand was the average 10" and the wood color didn't change at all and maintained its light reddish color. He picked up the wand once he felt that it had finished. It immediately rejected Cosme, and he knew that whoever was chosen by this wand would be an interesting person. He opened the drawer where he stored the extra wand boxes and chose a purple box. He then used a quill to fill out the label with the wand description. Once satisfied, he put it aside on a pile with other completed wands.
Cosme then pulled a block of ivy to him and repeated the process on this wood. Ivy frequently showed strong possessiveness and high amounts of jealousy, but it was also very devoted and didn't shy away from change or personal growth. Pairing it with the Veela hair was probably going to be easier than the last one, but trickier than the elm. The willingness to undergo change and its association with spiritual growth wasn't quite a perfect match for the hair. Cosme had just cast the spell when he heard the clock announce the time. It was close to the time that Harry usually woke up. Mindful of his promise to not teach Harry anything about wand-making before he created a couple of sample wands, he put away the Veela hair and the last of the wooden blocks.
Harry was used to regular schedules so he woke up right at the predicted time. His kitten had taken to sleeping near Harry's feet so when Harry rose for the day it meowed in protest. His kitten, unfortunately, wasn't the only thing protesting that morning. His hands felt a bit off and like they were protesting. His fingers felt tight and were a bit tender when he bent them. It seems that his hands took notice of all of the whittling that he did yesterday and they did not approve. Harry dressed and once he had his vest on, he put Duchess into his pocket. She seemed to prefer it there because she stopped meowing at Harry once she was settled.
The two snakes were sleeping in the water basin and didn't seem to notice Harry's movements so he left them alone. Looking at the room as he was leaving, he took note of Linden sleeping in his small nest.
He was contemplating whether he should ignore the tenderness while heading downstairs to eat. As if in response to his thoughts, there was a note right next to his plate. It was simple and just requested Harry to see Cosme in the shop after he was done eating. Thinking that Cosme had a task or some chore for Harry to complete, he rushed through eating breakfast. He put his cup, plate, and utensils in the sink. Harry would have washed them if there were any sponges or soap visible. Instead, he left the kitchen and pushed the symbol that was meant for the shop. Cosme still hadn't told Harry how to use the doorway, but by this point, Harry had seen him use the door often enough to guess how it worked.
Harry walked into the shop as Cosme finished prepping his shop for the day. He was standing in the front of the shop where he usually greeted customers and was opening a large book. Harry had never seen the book before but it looked old.
"Bonjour, you have perfect timing. I was hoping that you would join me for the day here in the shop. I agreed to wait to teach you wand-making, but I can still show you the day-to-day side of wand selling. Of course, just because you are a wand-maker does not mean that you will sell the wands, but most wand-makers prefer to. After all, we know our wands the best."
Thinking about how his hands ached a bit, Harry responded with a, "Yes, please!"
Duchess meowed as if agreeing with the plan for the day so Harry plucked her out of his vest pocket and put her on the front counter where Cosme was resting. She delicately sniffed at all of the items on the front counter and batted gently at Cosme's quill before resting on the edge of the counter close to the front window of the shop. She sat with her front paws resting on the edge of the counter and her legs tucked under her like a loaf of bread.
"Tres bon! So I will explain the layout of the shop and then tell you some of the things that I look for when selling wands. Now I did not mind you telling Juliette your name, because she was raised by nonmagical people, but if we tell everyone that Harry Potter is selling wands, I will never again have peace. So you are still Harry, but you will use my family name Acajor. Tu comprends?" Cosme was hoping that Harry wouldn't mind using his name because he was not ready to deal with being the known guardian of Harry Potter.
Harry felt a rush of warmth flood his face, "Oh…Harry Acajor sounds a bit funny, but I like it."
Cosme was pleased that Harry had no protests, "The wands on the shelves are separated by the four wand woods: elm, elder, ivy, and vine. Then they are roughly in the order of wand core by alphabetizing so you will wands with African mermaid hair and coral at the top and unicorn hair at the bottom. I am sure that Garrick would kill me if I explained any of the wand cores to you so I will not. And now we wait for our first customer."
Harry moved close to the nearest shelf and tried to read the labels on the boxes. The shelf closest to him was full of elder wands, but Harry had a hard time reading some of the wand cores. However, his eyes did catch on a box labeled 'Thestral Tail Hair". Cosme had turned the sign to indicate the shop was open.
"Usually while I wait, I am in the box creating more wands, but today will be busy and I am not allowed to show you how to make wands yet." Cosme decided that some teasing would be fine while Harry was beginning to show visible impatience to find out how they made wands and how they differed from his technique. "What we CAN do while we wait is teach you how to write with a quill. No matter what school you go to, you will likely have to use a quill, and it's better to get practice."
Cosme always kept quills and parchment at the front counter, because he sometimes had to use it to write quick letters to people throughout the day. He began the process of prepping a quill and sharpening it with a penknife. He then showed Harry how to dip it in the inkwell. It was a messy process and between Harry's inexperience and Cosme's slowed-down demonstrations, there were splatters of ink all over the parchment. Luckily, Harry was saved from the messy process by the sound of the door opening.
Cosme turned to the customer and spoke in lightning-quick French. Harry listened closely but after 'bonjour', he couldn't decipher a single word. Two people entered the shop. A tall man who dressed similar to Cosme with a long robe with decorative embroidery, but in a far more sedate brown than Cosme's violet robes. With the man, there was a young girl who was slightly hiding behind the man. Harry thought that they both must be magical with their robes.
After greeting the customer, Cosme walked through the shelves grabbing a couple of wands while talking to Harry. "So the first part of selling wands is to be observant. You should take note of how people are standing, what clothes they are wearing, and their facial expressions. These details can easily eliminate some of the choices." Cosme walked back to the front counter with eight boxes. He opened the first box and let the girl take it from the box. She grabbed it and then looked to Cosme to see his reaction. Cosme shook his head and she put it back.
"That wand was made from vine and they are usually sensitive to potential owners." Cosme slid forth the next box and repeated the process. Once again nothing happened. He opened the next box and waited for the girl to grab it, "Depending on what happens with the first wand, changes what my next choice is. I am going with Elm."
The girl grabbed the wand and this time there was a single spark. Harry and the young girl looked at Cosme but he shook his head and she put it back in the box. This time Cosme went back to the shelves, "Since there was a spark, that shows that we are probably looking for an elm wand, just with a different core. That one was Phoenix feather, but I am thinking maybe Unicorn Hair or Fairy Wing."
Harry thought the girl looked a bit nervous so he tried to smile at her. She gave him a small smile back but didn't try to talk to him. Cosme seemed to find what he was looking for because he grabbed two boxes and came back to the counter. This time he opened both boxes and slid them to her. She put her hand over the closest box but seemed to hesitate and grab the other wand. Immediately, Harry knew that this wand was for her. The wand let out three small orbs of blue light and the girl had a large smile on her face.
"Oui, just as I thought. It is a 7" elm wand with unicorn hair." Cosme bagged the box and held it out to the two of them.
Harry had no clue what the wand type meant, but the two customers smiled, grabbed the bag, and left the shop after saying something in French.
"Now those two didn't speek any English, but it's rude to talk about people in a language that they don't speek. So what did you notice about those two when they walked in?" Cosme was looking very earnestly at Harry which made him nervous.
"Well, their clothes were very nice and orderly and magical. Uh…she seemed a bit shy but nice." Harry was going to finish there, but Cosme was looking at him waiting for more so Harry continued, "...the man was the only one who talked?"
"All correct! Now I will tell you what I noticed. Not only were they both in wizarding robes, but they were both in serious colors and they appeared to be the style favored by pure-bloods. Neither spoke English likely because of house pride, but neither was rude about me speeking in English. They were not very chatty and went straight to business so not ones to linger with frivolousness. And I agree, she did seem rather shy, but she still returned your smile so perhaps she is only shy in the presence of adults."
Harry was stunned. Cosme was facing the shelves when he smiled at the girl so how did he see all of that?
"There were a couple of other things, but those are the major ones. Now I did not expect you to notice all of that, and you did a good job on the first try. If the next customers speek English then you can try to pick wands for them or at least the wood. I think I will help with the core since there is more variation with those. Now back to practicing with the quill."
Cosme put the rejected wands back on the shelves and then leaned against the counter looking out the window. He was people-watching while Harry was practicing with the quill. There still weren't that many people since it was still early but he was sure that it was only a matter of time. He had sent a letter yesterday about Harry and his parseltongue so he figured that they would visit today especially since most of them didn't open their shops on the weekends. There was also the talk about Harry and his magical creations. It was one thing to create something that seemed to have a life, and now that they were showing signs of magic they reached another level of spectacular. Cosme was looking forward to blowing their minds with the impossible so he made his letters vague with a hint of the truth, just enough to lure them in.
Harry was holding the quill, but it looked overly large in his hand. His letters were not horrible, but occasionally had a large blob where Harry failed to control the amount of ink on the quill. Cosme was sure that Harry had sent a letter to Juliette yesterday so he took a moment to pray for Juliette and her ability to read Harry's handwriting.
The door once again opened and Harry perked up at the sight. Harry hoped that they were able to speek English. They were far more casual than the previous customers, dressed in nice trousers and dress shirts, but with no robes. This time there was a young boy with the adult and Harry tried to give special attention to what the boy was like. Harry saw that the boy was dressed a bit more messily than his guardian. It didn't seem like it was laziness but instead a casual disregard for his appearance. He carried no bags on him but held his hands in his pockets. The boy was looking at all of the shelves and seemed like he was taking in every small detail. Harry wondered what the boy saw when he saw the shop
"Bonjour! Parlez-vous anglais?"
The boy nodded while the man was the one to reply with, "Ah yes, we do."
"Great! Harry here is learning about wand-making and I was hoping to give him some experience with picking the wand, if you do not mind."
The two gave their full attention to the small boy which reminded Harry that he had no clue on how to pick wands.
"A little young to be a wand-maker, eh?"
Cosme was quick to come to Harry's defense, "Not at all! He already made his first two wands, but he has never paired anyone with a wand before."
The boy stepped closer and couldn't help but think that the boy was rather small and looked younger than he was. "So what do I need to do?"
Harry thought that boy was rather confident to offer himself up like that and comfortable in the presence of strangers. He didn't even seem nervous that he was getting his first wand. Harry looked at Cosme and unintentionally ignored the boy who fortunately took no offense, "He doesn't seem like any of the other kids so does that mean he is getting elder? It's the only wood that I don't have experience with."
Cosme nodded and went to the shelf with elder wands. He grabbed six boxes and brought them to the counter, unlike last time though, he put the wands closer to Harry.
"Each of these has a different core." Cosme paused when Harry leaned forward to try to read the labels, "No, do not look at the labels. Hold the wands in your hand and think of which one feels like the boy."
At this point, all three of them were looking at Harry closely. The boy held no part of himself back and was blatantly curious about Harry and the wands.
Harry grabbed the first wand and immediately rejected it. It was a pale wand with a natural-looking handle, but it felt flighty and nervous, not at all like the boy. He grabbed the next wand which felt confident, but also like it would be quick to anger. He hesitated but also put it back. The third wand was a much likelier candidate. It was pale like the others but felt more determined almost stronger. He put the wand back into the box and pushed it near the boy.
"Can you try this one?"
The boy showed the first sign of hesitation. He didn't have a clue how a boy could look at him and pick a wand that might suit him, but he forged ahead and picked up the boy. His eyebrows instantly rose and there was a shower of sparks but the boxes on the counter also flew back violently. Cosme leaned over and pulled the wand from the boy.
"Hmmm…that was the right wand wood and core, but perhaps not the right length and rigidity." Cosme didn't seem to be talking to any of them so they watched as he went back to the shelf and ran his hands over the boxes until he found one that seemed right. He walked back and opened it in front of the boy. This time when the boy picked it up, there was a pleasant breeze and a soft glow.
"Very good. That's the wand for you. It's elder wood with phoenix feather 11" not 9 ½"."
The boy accepted the wand, but the man seemed to hesitate before accepting the bag that held the wand's box.
"Wow! That was awesome. Thanks!" The boy ran out the door without hesitating. The man put the necessary amount of money on the counter, nodded at them, and followed more sedately.
Once the door closed behind them, Harry turned to Cosme, "Why did the man seem unhappy? Shouldn't he be glad that the boy found a wand?"
"Ah, I chose four kinds of wood that I thought made good wands, but when I chose elder wood, there were more than a few people unhappy. It is largely a British idea, but many believe the saying that 'wand of elder, never prosper'. It is total rubbish, but not something easily dismissed by some."
Harry was too pleased about making his first wand sale so he just nodded and accepted it.
"Will you teach me more about wand cores?"
"Not yet, I am still waiting to hear back from Jimmy and Garrick. They will be here either during lunch or after closing."
They made two more wand sales where Harry makes three more accurate guesses about wand woods, but only one guess about the wand core. His guess kept receiving interference from either the rigidity of the wand wood or the length. Then things went exactly as Cosme predicted, both Jimmy and Garrick showed up at the shop at the start of lunch. Cosme barely had the chance to flip over the sign indicating lunch before they both rushed into the shop.
As soon as Jimmy was safely ensconced in the shop, he scolded, "Cosme! You cannot just send a letter hinting at mysterious and advanced magic. I mean talk about a cliffhanger! I got the letter far too late in the day to do anything about that and by the time I woke up, I had to open the shop! That was mean." Jimmy had started with a stern expression but by the time he finished, he was already pouting.
Garrick looked amused at Jimmy's pout, "He is ridiculous, but he is right. It was a bit of a tease; though I already suspected the things you hinted at."
Cosme was sure that Garrick didn't know the whole truth, so he countered with, "Oh really? So you were aware that Harry is a parselmouth who has been whittling creations that are not only alive by the grace of his magic, but also have magic abilities that were granted because he was unintentionally dabbling in blood magick?"
Garrick had looked smug about the parseltongue, but both he and Jimmy were gaping by the time Cosme finished. It was now Cosme's turn to smirk pleased that he knew more than they did. He rested against the counter looking deliberately relaxed as if to prove that the news was something of little significance.
Jimmy was used to being told impossible things were more possible than he had been led to believe so he was the first to recover, "Did you just say blood magick?"
This time Harry felt like he had something to add because he was just as baffled as Garrick and Jimmy, "Uh, Cosme... I don't know anything about blood magick?"
Cosme was constantly endeared by the confusion expressed by Harry, "Oh, Harry, you didn't know anything about wand-making and you were more than dabbling with it. You bled on some of your creations and must have accidentally imbued them with blood magick. I think blood magick is the reason why your bird can fly through walls and windows."
Jimmy straightened up with a smile, "Cool! I want a bird that can fly through walls and windows!" Jimmy was already thinking about all of the different things that he could get his magical bird to do.
Cosme saw Jimmy's expression and felt fear, "Harry, as your guardian, I beg of you, never make Jimmy a bird. He would blatantly abuse the power. I do not know how, I just know he would."
Shaking himself from his shock, Garrick wanted to get back on track, "I already knew he was a parselmouth, but what is this about blood magick?"
"Well I only suspected it but when whittling on Harry's creations, he bled on them by accident. His bird and snakes show magical abilities, but his cat does not. The most obvious difference is that he has not bled on them. The only mystery left is if that would affect his wand-making since I suspect he bled on that as well." Cosme thought this was a pretty straightforward explanation, but by the other's expressions, he wasn't too sure anymore.
Jimmy laughed, "Well that's certainly not the only mystery, but that would explain why it strongly protested anyone from touching it. Blood magick would ensure that the wand only works for him."
Once again, Garrick corrected him, "Actually, that's already been answered. The first wand let us use it and showed no signs of rejecting us. I suspect that it is just because Spruce wood can be highly jealous."
Releasing some tension from his shoulders, Jimmy replied, "That's a massive relief, so perhaps him bleeding on it acts as an extra focus for his magic, but it is not a necessity since his cat does not show any major differences other than that extra oomph."
"Oomph is not a word nor a measurable magic component. We would need more samples to see what effect it does or does not have on the product." Cosme did think that the word 'oomph' did capture the extra element of Harry's creations.
Garrick was thinking of all potential experiments, "Hmmm, we should also probably get him gloves so he does not accidentally bleed on his creations."
Jimmy decided to poke at Garrick, "I have no clue how you made a sentence about caring for his well-being sound so practical. Just admit it, you're already soft on him."
"Psshhh, of course, he is soft on Harry, who can resist this adorable little wand-maker." after saying this Cosme reached over to Harry and squeezed his cheeks.
Harry had never experienced this but he had seen others do it to Dudley so he knew the appropriate reaction was indignation, "Cosme! I am not that short. Also, I have no clue what any of you are saying. I thought that I understood, but now I am just confused. It sounded like you were saying that I couldn't be a wand-maker because my wands would only work for me, but then you guys seemed to change your mind because of my first wand. But that wand was a failure! It could only make water."
"Well, that negative self-talk won't do", Jimmy interjected, "you said yourself that the wand was only supposed to make water so by that reasoning it was a success. And to circle back, yes, you can make wands. We were just a bit confused because of how jealous your wand is."
As if reminding Harry that it existed, his wand heated up. He had carried it in his pocket but hadn't had any use for it so he would admit to himself that he had forgotten its existence a bit. The wand sensed Harry's thoughts and would admit to itself that it definitely feels ignored and yes, it is incredibly jealous of other wands, but who cares?
Harry sighed, "I thought we worked through this already! I am not going to replace you and apparently, you are extra special because you were made with this blood magick nonsense."
The wand stopped heating up and thought about his words. It did agree that it was going to try to not be jealous and Harry was right, it is extra special. It decided that it would be appeased…for now.
Garrick decided to bring the conversation back to the potential experiments, "You should make a couple of wands without any blood magick so we can make sure that you can make wands that others can use. Whether you can or cannot doesn't matter, we have chosen to be your teachers and we will continue to do so regardless of any changes." He wasn't too sure why he felt the need to add the reassurance, but when he saw Harry relax, he knew he made the right choice.
Harry felt like he was going to melt, but he also really didn't know how to respond to such blatant affections.
Jimmy saw Harry's uncertainty and decided to save him, "Aww that's so sweet! Two reassurances from Garrick in one day. I feel so gooey."
And just as Jimmy expected, Garrick just rolled his eyes, "Ugh you are disgusting, I am leaving."
As Garrick was taking steps to the door, Cosme finally spoke up, "Wait! I just want to make sure that I am right. It was the horn from the Horned Serpent that gave him away, right?"
Harry's head swiveled between the two of them but rested on Garrick as he said, "Yes. It was an obvious sign." Garrick knew that his reputation as all-knowing was at risk. He had carefully cultivated his reputation as mysterious and unquestionable and today was not going to be the day that Jimmy finally poked holes into his knowledge and reveal that it took forever for him to figure it out. Determined to leave, Jimmy and Cosme were unable to get a word in before he walked out the door.
Jimmy thought Garrick's rush was a bit unusual, but decided not to think too long on it, "Can I meet your snakes? When I went to Ilvermorny, I was in the house of the Horned Serpent and I have always wanted to see one. They seem positively magical! Can yours turn invisible too?"
Harry ignored the blatant pun and answered, "One of them can, I am not sure that the other snake can. I used two different processes and I made a mistake. I guess we can ask the snakes, last time I checked, they were both napping in their water basin."
Jimmy took note of how Harry seemed to avoid his eyes, and thought that Harry gave a very vague answer, "How did you mess up? And both of the snakes are okay now?"
Seeing Harry's avoidance, Cosme interrupted, "There was an issue with the details on one of them and so it had to shed the extra wood like a normal snake to fix it."
Harry thought that was a much nicer way to put it than what he was going to say, but chose not to add more details.
Fortunately, Jimmy was distracted by one of the details in Cosme's answer, "So if the snake can shed its skin then does that mean it can grow? Something has been bugging me since I first saw your bird. Do they need to eat food? Can they eat food?"
"Uh, I think no to all of those. They don't eat food and I have never tried to feed any of them. I don't think they can grow since they don't eat, but I guess I don't know."
Cosme didn't even think of that! Could the snake grow? Could any of his creations grow? If Harry's snakes got bigger…did he unleash a large magical snake controlled by a small child in an unsuspecting school? It was one thing to be magical, it was another to be still growing since Horned Serpents are normally bigger than the ones he made. He already panicked over this, but he figured this new information permitted him to panic again.
Oblivious to Cosme's internal turmoil, Jimmy pushed on, "Oh, by the way, I got a gift for you. I got a couple of books on whittling, not too many so don't look too nervous. I figured I would probably have better luck finding a book for you than the other two." He pulled a small bundle of mini-books from his pocket which he placed on the counter. Pulling out his wand, he tapped the stack, and it grew much larger revealing a stack of 6 books, all thick.
Harry paused to stare at the large books and had to wonder if Jimmy realized that he was a young child and did not usually have access to or read this much. Deciding that the answer was probably no, Harry stepped closer and read the titles of the books.
Cosme decided to have his crisis later and focus on the books, "Oh mon dieu, I was already planning on adding a desk to your room, but it seems that I should add a bookshelf as well at the rate that Jimmy keeps getting these for you!"
Thinking back to the stack of books that Harry got from his 'magic' lessons, he nodded but also smiled. These books were going to ensure that Harry knew everything to know about whittling and magical culture. He was going to be one well-informed child.
Jimmy felt a bunch of warmth go straight to his face. Oops, he supposes that he has given Harry a lot of books in such a short time.
Saved by the bell, an owl made a tap tap at the front window. Cosme took the lead and opened the door. Once the opening was wide enough, the owl flapped into the shop and sat next to Duchess. It then lifted its leg towards them. Cosme untied the letter from the leg and looked at the return address.
"It's a letter from Juliette."
Jimmy smiled, "Oh? Making friends already! That's great! I have always struggled with that myself, but I guess that no one can resist your charms."
It was now Harry's turn to blush, thinking back to the fact that Cosme was the only reason that Harry spoke to her. Deciding to avoid this conversation, Harry grabbed the letter and the pile of books. He quickly stuffed Duchess into his pocket after some thought. She let out a small meow at being picked up but seemed to settle quickly.
"I uh- I am going to take these upstairs."
Cosme and Jimmy exchanged looks of amusement but just shouted after Harry to meet them in the kitchen. There was no reason to keep gossiping in the front of the shop when they could be sitting comfortably in the kitchen with a cup of tea to keep their hands warm.
Harry rushed to meet the other two downstairs and soon all three met in the kitchen to drink some tea and eat lunch. Today's lunch was a light ham sandwich with some pomme frites. Harry sat down but stared a bit at the food.
"Harry? What's up?" Jimmy took note of Harry's odd expression.
"Well, it is just that it is a bit odd how the food is always ready when we want to eat, but none of us have cooked it?"
Cosme was mid-chew so he couldn't answer the question but Jimmy still slapped Cosme on his arm.
"Cosme? You didn't introduce Harry and Milly? That's a pretty big deal."
Cosme swallowed and tried to defend himself, "I must have forgotten! Milly."
Milly, the house elf popped in, and before Cosme could say anything Harry said, "Oh! That's Milly! I saw her yesterday when she brought in the table."
Harry wasn't sure if that was rude, but it was too late to stop his words.
Milly let out a giggle. "Yes, young master Harry. I brought the table."
"Milly here is a house elf. They are frequently found in pureblood houses here in Europe. They are magical creatures that take care of household tasks in return for magic."
"Oh, je suis desole, Milly. I thought that you two had been acquainted," Cosme occasionally forgot things, but this was a larger transgression compared to his usual ones. Milly left seeing that they did not need her.
"So she cooks all of the food?" Jimmy nodded so Harry followed up with, "Thank you for the food, Milly." The only acknowledgment of Harry's thanks was a refill of Harry's tea.
They finished up the meal while telling each other interesting or odd details about their customers for the day. Harry even added that he was able to guess all of the wand woods for the day.
"Well, that's a lot more than I could do when I started. I kept mixing up my ivy and vine customers. Of course, we can't all be like Garrick who guesses usually within five wand options! It creates unrealistic expectations from my customers. They seem to think that I can guess their wand choice by instantly looking at them or recognizing a wand just by looking at it! I am not magic-sensitive like the rest of you lucky buggers!"
Cosme snickered at Jimmy's rant, "Buggers? Spending too much time with the British, have you? Anyway, his first try was incredibly accurate. Only the wand length was off, though that might have been my fault since I recommended the wrong one."
Harry shook his head but Cosme just waved him off.
"Before I forget, Milly, can you make sure that Harry's room has a pair of dragonhide gloves, a desk, and a bookshelf for all of his books? Well, we finished lunch. Let's see how many more wands we can sell today?"
Jimmy brings his plate to the sink, "You will probably sell more than me, but I am having too good of a day to care! I have been selling more wands these days so hopefully, it's a sign that the British are beginning to trust me. See you guys later!"
For the rest of the day, Harry practiced writing with a quill by taking notes on wand-making and what he could observe from people and their wand choices. It was interesting and mildly frustrating. It felt like Cosme always saw things that Harry missed, no matter how thorough he was.
Once the shop closed, Harry ate dinner with Cosme and then ran upstairs. He had a letter to read and a response letter to draft. He thought it was best to send it tomorrow so Linden wouldn't have to fly in the dark and so he wouldn't wake Juliette up when Linden dropped it off. When Harry entered his room, he realized that Milly was efficient. There was already a desk in front of his corner chair and a bookshelf next to his wardrobe. His books are neatly lined on the shelf by subject.
Harry sat on the chair and opened his letter.
Dear Harry,
It was a good thing that you sent me the letter since I was not able to convince my parents to buy an owl. One of the teachers told them that I could use school owls without cost and I already have a cat. They said that two pets was too many. Your bird is very cool. What's his name? I did not know that you could buy wooden birds to deliver your mail. I didn't see them when I was shopping.
The school's name is Beauxbaton and I will admit that I am very nervous. I have never gone to a boarding school and I have never been away from home. I will make sure to tell you all about next week!
Juliette Gauthier
Harry was surprised by how nice her handwriting was. She definitely seemed better at writing with a quill than Harry was. He reaffirmed his decision to practice more and mentally thanked Cosme for making him practice. Harry wasn't really sure what he should say about his bird. Technically, he didn't think that you could buy one, but if he said that he made his bird then would she ask for one? Also, should he make one for her? He hadn't known her long and her parents only told her no to an owl because she already had a pet, but you didn't have to feed his wooden creations so maybe her parents wouldn't mind. With all of the questions on his mind, Harry decided to go to bed and ask Cosme for his thoughts tomorrow.