Sorry for the wait! Here are all the chapters I didn't post as an apology.
The next morning saw us back at Diagon Alley, it was just as weird and twice as
crowded as the last time.
The number of people also brought forth a lot of weirdness, mostly from the children
playing with magical toys, but also from the dress style of some of the people there.
According to Xeno, those are the ones trying to blend in with the 'muggles', which
makes sense if you disregard color theory and compress the last 100 years of
fashion into one outfit.
The walk toward Ollivander's was oddly peaceful, the shining sun and laughing
children giving a sense of life that was missing in my previous visit.
It also helps that we didn't come first thing in the morning, having taken care of the
garden before we left.
Arriving at Ollivander's, Xeno left to go to the bank, Gringotts, while Luna and I
headed in.
There were already customers inside, a kid and his parents, so Luna and I waited in
a corner while we watched.
It was honestly astounding seeing it how it's supposed to be, every wave of a wand
had a different effect, while Ollivander was quickly changing cores, woods, and sizes
until, with a shower of yellow and blue sparks, a wand was chosen.
After the family had left, Luna and I approached Ollivander, who was finishing
cleaning up from all the magic that was thrown around.
"Hello, Mr. Ollivander." Luna said, curiously peering at a shelf reassembling itself.
"Ah, Miss Lovegood and Mr. Lupi, welcome back!" He said, turning to us while giving
an almost negligent wave of his wand towards the last of the mess, fixing it. "Let me
grab my tools and I'll be able to finish your temporary wand, Mr. Lupi."
He had barely given a step before stopping and turning back to us, a worried look on
his face.
"You won't need to scalp yourself to acquire the hairs needed, will you Mr. Lupi?"
"I don't think so, although I think the scissors will need to be stronger than normal to
do it." I replied, thinking about how annoying haircuts will be in the future.
With a nod, Ollivander went, though he still looked unsure.
He quickly returned with two small wooden boxes, a thin and long one, a fist-sized
one, and a small shear.
Setting them on the counter he opened the fist-sized one and motioned to give me
the shears before Luna scooped it up from his hand and quickly turned to me, an
unholy glint in her eye coupled with a smirk that did not bode well for me.
"Alex, pull up the chair and sit down, I'll deal with this." She said before turning to
Ollivander. "How much will you need?"
"Hmm, with hair this short, two or three locks. If you can, some more for me to work
with would be appreciated." He replied.
By the time Luna turned back, I was already sitting, waiting for my fate.
"What to do, what to do? I can't take too little nor too much." Luna said while circling
me, a pensive look on her face.
"Just shave the sides" I sigh. "It's a decently popular style back home."
'And something that can be easily fixed if I need to' I uncharitably thought.
"Yes, that could work." Luna nodded before getting to work.
It was a surprisingly calming experience, Luna was a deft hand utilizing shears from
her work in the garden and my hair wasn't that hard to deal with, so in a few minutes,
we were done.
By the time I opened my eyes, Ollivander was already fiddling with my wand, the
previous dark brown wood now with a distinct dark red tint.
As both of us approached him he slowly passed his hand over it one last time before
extending it to me, expectation clear in his eyes.
"Blood Oak with three locks of your hair, seven and a half inches." He said.
I cautiously reached for it, all the waiting and excitement for it momentarily eclipsed
by the dread of failure.
'This is my one chance to get actually useful magic before I have to go back home
and wait for the cooldown again, if this doesn't work, I'm fucked.'
I gingerly grab the wand and instantly I can feel it, its faint warmth coursing through
my arm as a small amount of purple sparks shoot from it.
"Woah" Is all I can say as I look at the fading sparks.
"Tsk, a better match than expected, but still poor in comparison." Came from
Ollivander, suddenly beside me.
"How so?" Luna asked from my other side. "I'd think that the best match for you
would be yourself."
"Most think so, but no. Wands are complimentary foci, they choose you based on
who you are and who you can be, and if both match the wand's temperament, it'll
choose you. But a wand like this is already you, it cannot help you become more
than that, and might even hinder your growth as it's stuck in this moment." He
explains. "That's also why this wand is temporary, as time passes and you grow and
change as a person Mr. Lupi, you will be moving on from what the wand wants in a
wielder."
"Well," He finished with a snort. "That and because people rarely work well together
with those too similar to themselves. Mutual respect and sympathetic magic allow for
collaboration, as your wand shows, but a true partnership needs more than that."
'Mutual respect huh,' I think, looking at my wand. 'I guess I'll have to put getting
those materials at the top of my to-do list, that way I get a matched wand and you
have a chance at that as well.'
"Thanks, Mr. Ollivander, for everything that you've done." I say, finally looking away
from my wand. "Now, how much do I owe you?"
"Ha! You already paid Mr. Lupi!" He laughed out, grabbing the fist-sized box. "The
hair leftover is more than payment enough, and I expect whatever is left from the
materials you'll bring to me will be just as well."
"Then thank you, and I'll return as soon as I get them." I said before turning with
Luna to leave.
Since Xeno still hadn't shown up, we decided to start moving towards Gringotts.
On the way, Luna taught me the wand-lighting charm. It and its counter were so easy
we didn't even break stride while doing it, which meant I spent the entire walk casting
it.
Reaching the big, marble building of the bank I was already reaching the stairs when
I felt Luna's hand holding me back. As I turned toward her, I noticed a conflicted look
on her face.
"What's up?" I asked, wondering why would she like that about entering a bank.
"Dad doesn't want me getting into Gringotts without him, he doesn't trust the
goblins." She told me seriously.
"Goblins?" I asked. I had heard of goblins before, but that was back home and only
in fiction.
"I sometimes forget that you're from another world." She said, shaking her head.
"Let's get some distance so I can explain."
She grabbed my hand and pulled me into a more secluded area, although we still
had good enough vision of the bank to see Xeno when he leaves.
"The Goblin Nation, thanks to several rebellions, is mostly locked in Gringott's
territories." She explains. "They can still expand their underground tunnels with some
restrictions and individual goblins can move around with relative freedom, but the
nation itself can't expand overground."
"And they're fine with that?" I ask.
"Oh no, they hate us and make no attempt at hiding it." She simply responds.
"But, wait, doesn't that mean that your economy is run by an enemy nation?" I reply
incredulously, what the hell is the political situation of this world!?
"And that's why Dad doesn't trust them, the goblins and the ministry are obviously
conspiring towards something, and he doesn't want me involved until I'm older." She
finished with a small smile.
Yeah, I can see it. Xeno is a dotting father, so if the political situation is this
complicated he probably wants Luna as far away from it as possible for as long as
possible.
I was about to ask about the 'another species of intelligent beings in this world' thing
when Xeno arrived.
"Alex! Pumpkin! How was it? Did it work?" He excitedly asked.
I quickly hold up my wand, not having let go of it since getting it.
"Oh, that's great!" He praised, taking in the unusual dark red wood. "And it works
without issues?"
"Lumos" I cast, lighting up the tip of my wand while I smirked. "Nox"
"It isn't a perfect match, but it'll do." Luna explains while turning to take in the rest of
the Alley. "Now, what's next?"
"We'll take the most time there so Madam Malkin's first, then Flourish and Blotts,
lunch, and we finish with Mr. Mulpepper's Apothecary." He said before he started
moving in the direction of Madam Malkin's.
Xeno was right, our visit to Madam Malkin's took hours.
It wouldn't have been so bad if it was only the regular fitting for her school uniform,
that took all of 20 minutes when we got there. No, what took over two hours were the
dress robes that Luna was required to bring for this year.
What school kids would need fancy dresses for I have no idea, but Xeno had an air
of amusement over it so it should be fine.
The good news was that, since it was something mostly between Madam Malkin and
Luna, Xeno had ample time to teach me some new spells.
All of them were 'first-year' spells, but still very nice to finally be able to learn.
After Luna reached a deal with Madam Malkin, we headed to Flourish and Blotts.
It was a pretty fast visit, all things considered, not at all because I had to hold myself
back from browsing. I was already imposing enough on Xeno as is. Next time I'll
come with a literal ton of gold to pay him back for his hospitality.
After a quick lunch, we headed for the Apothecary.
This was one of the subjects that interested me the most, even beyond most
traditional magic, for the simple fact that it doesn't exist back home.
All other types of magic that I've seen here have ways to be replicated with the
magic back home, except potions. So I'm obviously very interested in learning
everything I can about it.
Entering the shop, Xeno went to get what was on the school's list while me and Luna
fell into a deep discussion over the interactions chart we were making.
It was when Luna was deep into a rant over a particularly annoying interaction that
we were interrupted.
"Ah, Miss Lovegood, it's good that at least one student in your year is applying
themselves to my class." Said a deep, sarcastic voice from behind us.
"Professor Snape!" Luna exclaimed, a bright smile replacing her previous scowl.
"Just the person we needed! Can you explain why the reactions between powdered
moonroot and sunflower petals are consistently inconsistent?"
She was already showing the man the chart when I internalized his name, and then I
saw him.
The days of Luna teaching me potions came to mind, her no-nonsense sarcastic
attitude, as if she was eternally annoyed to be there, contrasted with her appearance
and normal sunny disposition was hilarious then.
But now, seeing the man she was emulating, black hair, black eyes, black clothes, an
annoyed look in his eyes but lips stuck between a smirk and a sneer while he seems
to patiently listen to Luna ramble.
I couldn't help myself, I laughed, hard.
A/N: There you have it folks, this chapter was supposed to deal with Gringotts
and go until the end of the trip, but for what I have planned for Gringotts I'll
need some setup back home so that'll have to be next time Alex goes to HP
while the rest of the Alley trip got deleted accidentally with over half the
chapter, I had to rewrite everything past the Ollivander scene from memory in
the last hour.
Also, sorry for not reading and responding to the comments, but I'm swamped
with work and other obligations so the best I can do for now is keep to my
posting schedule.
See y'all next time!