1 Chapter 1: Prologue (New)

Beta read by Shigiya and DOOMRAIDER

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-???-

Whoever said that the afterlife is a peaceful haven, filled with everything we could ever desire was a bloody liar.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGHHH!!!!"

The pain filled screeches reached my ears, the sound of my neighbor, a soul who once used to be a guy called Henry. From the stories he used to tell me back when he was sane, the man was a World War 1 foot soldier who died while fighting in the battle of Verdun.

Great guy, really swell… that was only if we ignored his past, the many instants of rapes he committed back when he stood amongst the living.

"Have you any more stories to tell me? Crimes you wish to confess, people you wish to see again, any aspiring goals and an excuse why you ended up condemned for eternity here?" I asked the guy's soul beside me, burning in what I assumed was hellfire but couldn't confirm it. There was no brimstone, lava lake, and a red-skinned guy carrying a pitchfork walking around poking us in the ass. "It's not every day I get to talk to someone from such an old time period. People like you tend to have lots to tell, though I guess that's normal considering your history."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGHHH, MAKE IT STOP!!! MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP…"

He continued to scream from the pain, the very fact that his existence was being turned to ashes was torment far surpassing anything he could have experienced in the past.

I used to feel sorry for people like him, despite their crimes and failing… a part of me used to abhor what they were about to go through soon. But now, I felt nothing having seen it happen hundreds of not thousands of times. Seeing myself become detached to these occurrences was in itself a bone chilling realization.

My sanity itself was no longer what it used to be.

"Nothing, huh? Well, damn, Henry, you're gonna kill me with boredom here, and it's considered rude to not answer someone's question. If you're in pain… just stop burning, mate, Hahahahahaha!"

Tethering on the brink of insanity, feeling myself becoming crazy became a reality I was forced to accept.

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Now for why I floated beside this guy, sharing the same fate of being stuck in this black void for who knew how long… I had no clue as well. I wasn't a criminal, a tyrant or even an evil scientist sentenced to burn in hellfire.

"I don't even know if this is hell or something else."

Basically, I was a long-time resident in this dark void. Hell, Underworld, Niflheim or whatever you wanted to call it, I have been here for a very long time.

Every few years, someone would come by, like Henry here. At first, they would be fine, and even talk normally to me, have a conversation about our past lives—bits and pieces of my life, that is, if I was in the mood for it—and continue bonding. And indeed, the soul that came would slowly go insane with time and, for some unknown reasons, begin burning with a hellish blue flame.

I remembered when I first saw this, terror flooded my being. Thought about how I would be the next to be burned alive by the demonic-looking flames.

Fortunately, it never happened.

As to why I was left unharmed, I stopped questioning it after a few hundred people got burned afterward.

In the end, aside from the conversations we had, I also found another form of entertainment by watching them burn and scream for help or beg for someone to end their suffering. It was twisted and wrong, I knew that, but I was too bored and desensitized to care. Their souls burned beautifully, with different colours and patterns emerging from those suffering from their torture.

I realized that this revelation did not help the case of me not being crazy.

Speaking of souls, I used to be indeed a living person before. And was not, in fact, an entity created by the void.

I used to be Johnathan Hill; most used to call me Johnny, John, or Jo. I did, in fact, remember my father and mother, though my early childhood memories were scattered entirely around, as well as the next few decades after that. What remained was just mashed-up bits and pieces scattered inside my consciousness and not my brain since I don't have one. I would sometimes remember specific memories and reminisce about them.

I remember dying after being rammed by a truck while picking my brother from school — he survived, I was certain of it.

My death was a hard truth to swallow at first.

Unlike many people, which was sad, I had a loving family and a peaceful life. We weren't the most financially stable family, but we got by, food got scarce at times, but we always had something during those times.

Never got to finish my studies and started working at an early age. But as long as I could return to my them, I was happy with them.

Funnily enough, the first thought that came to my mind was the worry of how much the funeral might cost. I worried that my death would be an additional burden to the family. Part of me wanted them to just bury my body somewhere in the forest and not spend a dime on any unnecessary arrangements.

A messed-up way of thinking, guess I wasn't mentally healthy even before coming here.

Nevertheless, I wasn't going to drop the bomb on me for being emo or something like that. I had friends and a social life, and I even used to be part of a tennis club at one point in my life. It was just something like a side feeling that stuck with me for as long as I remember… barely caring about myself.

Who was I kidding? Anyone with love for their family would do the same. I just didn't care whether I died then or at a later time. My priority used to be them and never me.

"As long as they are okay and healthy, I wouldn't mind rotting in the void for eternity. But I would prefer escaping at one point as well…"

Now that I had enough time to reflect on myself inside this timeless void, I thought about something — I needed to enjoy life if I ever got a second chance. Sure, by nature I cared for other people, but I would always put myself first. I had a wrong way of thinking, and I wanted to fix it, even with my current circumstances.

"Wait, do I get to keep my memories if I get reborn?"

No one answered my question, and Henry still kept screaming. It wouldn't last long, he was already mostly gone by now.

"It's sad that I didn't get isekai'd…." Now that was a bummer, I had read enough mangas and animes in my past life to always find the idea of being transported to another world fun and interesting. Call me basic, but that idea was cool and funny as heck. And I even fulfilled the requirement of getting squashed by that damnable truck! Wasn't that all it took!?

'Like, come on, Truck-kun! Do your job properly for me, at least. Maybe that's why I'm stuck here because someone either messed up or forgot about me.'

Shhhhrrrrrr

The blue flames began dying down, and Henry here no longer had the strength or will to continue screaming.

"Help… me… Jo… please… you… are… my… only… frie… n…d…"

And so was everyone before him.

"I can't, honestly, you ain't the worst case that came around these parts. Ricky, who came before you, apparently was a killer, rapist, and cannibal. So his flame burned the brightest and probably was the most painful one as well. Yours was visually appealing at best. Don't know what version of hell you might be sent to or if you'll reincarnate afterward, but you'll definitely have a better outcome than Ricky, for sure."

This was the cycle I became used to, wandering around here for the rest of my existence and encountering the worst people imaginable.

"Find some peace now that you will cease to exist. I don't know what the future holds for you or if you'll even continue to live, but don't become an asshole in case you reincarnate, okay? Live an honest life, and don't return to being the person you once were, I believe burning for such a long time would be a good deterrent." Again, that was if he remembered the painful experience.

Maybe that was my role.

To accompany the dead in their final moments, guess even the evilest part of humanity would get such luxury before getting incinerated. I was their last friend, their last pal, listening to their life story and experience. To what led them to become who they are now, the countless tragic backstories were somehow perfectly remembered and cataloged in my mind.

The remaining cinders of his soul lingered around for a few more moments before disappearing completely. And just like that, Henry was no more.

"Haaaa, now I wonder who will be next…."

With how much I talked with such people, I was confident to become a certified psychologist or listener for villains, if that was a thing. Like Harley Quinn, before she fell in that vat of acid… except for me, I wouldn't be becoming a nut job obsessed over a psycho. Maybe that nut job part had already happened but the latter still held true.

Ohh, you killed an entire family in cold blood? Let's talk about it.

Do you like the taste of human flesh?

Try some of these Swiss brand chocolate in your next life instead.

Caused a massive war to erupt between two countries with millions of casualties? Not much I could do about that aside from listening to their stories.

I was sure many of them wouldn't have ended up as criminals if their situations were better.

"Honestly, I know that I'm dead and all. But can't I get some sort of salary or benefit? Being able to use the internet would be much appreciated; I have a lot of series to catch up on. Haven't even started watching the Witcher series on Netflix." I said jokingly, talking to myself from time to time.

With a helpless sigh, I continued wandering around the dark void, searching out any other new arrival and my next 'patient' who would also double as my sole source of entertainment.

"Hm?"

I caught something shining in the far distance. Curious, I decided to check out what it was. Usually, the only source of light here was either the souls or the blue fire. So for something else to shine in the darkness, which didn't look to be a soul, really made me intrigued by its origins.

With each passing second, I increased my speed. My curiosity grew by the second and thus forcing me to travel faster. "Hm, I can't help but get excited here!" It was something out of the norm, so I got pumped up.

"Haa… haa… haa…."

After what felt like an eternity, holy shit was that source of light far away! I didn't even know that souls could get tired from floating too fast!

Lo and behold, the source of the light and the thing that caught my interest was nothing more than a…

"A crack?"

In the void of nothingness was a small crack from which white particles of light escaped. There was no wall or floor, so this phenomenon happened in an open space. There was no sound, no sensation of hot and cold. But just like any curious person out there, I was tempted to get near it and touch it.

The closer I got to it, the more I began hearing sounds. Some of which I hadn't heard since my death.

Chirp

Chirp

"Birds?"

If I had a body right now, I would have been shaking like a leaf at the thought of what might be on the other side. Along with the chirping, I heard the wind blowing and the shaking of the tree branches. Noises of cars and people honking.

"Am I dreaming?"

In my dazed state, I went closer to the light.

Tremble

The void shook as it came nearer to the light. Scared, I backed off immediately, and the shaking stopped. "Hm…"

I got closer once and shaking happened once again.

Floating back, and it stopped.

I went back and forth a few more times to confirm my suspicion.

"It doesn't want to approach this crack, which might be a portal to the outside world." I tried going even closer than before, ignoring the shaking. "Let's see if I can escape this place…." When the edge of my soul went through the white light, the shaking grew worse, and I felt like it was about to break.

Fwish!

To my horror, the blue fire started appearing everywhere and engulfed everything instantly.

It was making its way toward me!

"Oh shit! Like hell I'm staying here!" Throwing any hesitation to wind, I forced myself through the white light and escaped just in time to feel the lick of a flame slightly singe my back!

"Argh, that's painful! No wonder those people went crazy—wait. Of course, they would go crazy by being burned whole! Stop being a dumbass myself!" The burn felt like a thousand needles stabbing me countless times. Or like if someone pierced a straight into me.

Kreeeeeeeee

A horrifying screech came from the disappearing darkness behind me.

"Nope! Nope! I'm not fucking with whatever that is!"

I didn't bother looking back and risked getting scared to death by whatever crawled out from the shadows and wanted to drag me back in; I continued flying through the white tunnel.

Until…

The soul, who once wandered the void for an innumerable amount of time, being stranded for so long that even memories of the past started becoming blurry, finally made it to the outside world.

"I… I did it." After what felt like an eternity, I finally laid my eyes on the sun, illuminating the sky, a blue sky that I once gave up hope to ever actually see again. Feeling the sun's heat was way better than the blue flame. It felt like liberation, like I could breathe for the first time after being locked up in an air-tight container for a long time.

Feeling the cold wind, the sound of birds chirping, and the sight of a dark manor surrounded by a large forest which gave off an eerie feeling.

"Hahahaha! I'm the best! Who's the best!? I'm the best, bitch!"

If I had an actual body, I would be balling my eyes out while screaming my lungs out. Might even kiss the ground while I was at it.

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Wait… a manor?

My jubilance was replaced with curiosity as I didn't expect to end up somewhere like, a middle-aged European-type place. I was used to modern architecture, so this caught me a bit out of the blue.

Just where did I end up?

And why did that manor look so familiar to me? Like I had seen it somewhere in my past life. Weird, I tried to remember, but my mind was still a mess of broken memories that fade over time.

Did I perhaps visit this place or seen it on TV? Considering my family didn't have the means to travel abroad, the second option seems more likely.

"—!" Suddenly, my soul started being pulled by an unknown force. Like an invisible rope tangled around me and pulled me downwards, I was frightened and tried to resist but couldn't muster enough strength.

"It's the manor!?" I finally realized where I was being dragged off to.

The force got stronger each second to the point that I was approaching the manor at Mach speed. Is this what those ghosts in the Ghostbusters felt when they got sucked into those vacuum cleaners!?

"Ah, come on! I just escaped prison, and now you want to lock me up in another? That's not fair!"

I closed my sight, instinctively fearing for my life as the image of me getting splattered on the roof played in my mind.

While forgetting about being an intangible floating ball of light, I just passed through the roof and entered a luxuriously decorated room with two people sleeping on a king-sized bed.

It happened so fast that I didn't even have time to see their features and was absorbed by one of them.

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'Where… where am I?' I couldn't see, I was back in the darkness.

No, not really. The surroundings felt different… It felt warm.

'I'm so… tired.'

My consciousness turned hazy, and I started feeling extremely sleepy.

'Just… what happened… to me?' It was my last thought before I slipped into a coma which, at that time, I didn't realize would last for the next few months.

{Break}

(January 10, 1980)

In the room where Jo had just been dragged into by force were two people peacefully sleeping, ignorant of what had just occurred.

Gasp!

A young woman woke up in stupor.

She was tall, slim, had ashen skin, and could be considered beautiful. With blue, cold eyes and long blonde hair, she possesses the arrogant good looks characteristic of her family.

Narcissa Malfoy, formerly known as Narcissa Black, was the current wife of Lucius Malfoy, the head of the Malfoy House.

Many know her to be a very proud woman who frequently displays a snobby and cold attitude, looking down upon others. As she believes strongly in the importance of blood purity and values her family's wealth, she is disdainful towards Muggle-borns, other non-pure-bloods, and the so-called "blood traitors."

But despite her character, she had a loving marriage with her husband, Lucius Malfoy. They were the perfect union in her eyes, and she couldn't wait to have her own children to spoil and love.

And that was a dream that would soon come true.

Because she was, after all, three months pregnant.

Tonight, she had woken up from a burning feeling inside her stomach. She had never experienced it before, and she feared that something might have happened to her child.

"Lucius!" She hurriedly called out to her husband with panic evident in her voice.

"Wh-what happened?" Seeing her change in demeanor, the head of the Malfoy immediately got up from bed and went to check on his wife. "Are you in pain?"

She nodded her head, "I felt something hot inside me. I fear something may have happened to our Draco. You must summon a healer quickly!"

"Of course, I have some personal contacts with the best healers in St Mungos's hospital. I'll send an owl, and we'll get you checked up as soon as possible!" He comforted his wife for a bit before quickly leaving the room to his office.

Like the rest of his house, the office was equally as opulent and extravagant as everything he owned. Being one the richest wizards out there, only second to his sister-in-law, Bellatrix Lestrange, he could afford such luxury.

"Dobby!" As soon as he called out, a small creature appeared in front of him in a bowed position. Wearing nothing but tattered clothes and a scrawny physique, this was one of the many house-elves working on the estate.

"Yes, master Malfoy, Dobby is at your command." Even after years of knowing this creature, Lucius could help but find its appearance disgusting and wanted nothing more than to kick it out of his manor. 'Such unsightly creatures.' Still, they did their job better than an actual human servant, so he kept them around.

"Make some preparation for some guests that will soon arrive. Don't. Disappoint. Me." He stressed each word, knowing that the elf knew what would happen if he failed.

"A-As you command!" Scared, Dobby vanished to start the preparation. He didn't want to suffer another beating from his master.

With a clearer mind, he realized that an owl would take too long. He didn't want to risk a possible risk to his wife's and child's health, so he used apparition to meet up with the healers.

{Break}

(An hour later)

In the main living room of the Malfoy manor, a handful of healers and wizards were gathered around Narcissa, who was resting on the couch, while the rest used charms and regular examinations to check her health.

Lucius, now drabbed in his dark robe and mantle, waited for their results impatiently. Continuously tapping the floor with his, one could see how this event was very stressful for the man who was worried for his family.

"Lord Malfoy." After they were done with their examination, one of the healers approached him.

"What are the results? Are my wife and child healthy?"

The healer nodded, "Yes, my lord, there is nothing you must worry about. Your wife and children are completely fine and suffer from no Ill effects."

Lucius sighed in relief.

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Wait, something wasn't right.

"Children?" He wondered if the healer had made a mistake or something.

"Indeed, after our examination, we have found the presence of two human life forces inside your wife instead of one. Which means that you are going to be the father of twins. Congratulations are in order, my lord." Everyone followed his example and congratulated the shocked couple.

To confirm once again, Lucius waited for everyone to leave and brought out his wand.

"Homenum Revelio." A bright light emerged from his wand and expanded around the room. It was a charm that revealed the presence of other humans in the surrounding environment, a variation of the Revelio Charm.

For a highly qualified wizard like Lucius and former Death Eater to his lord Voldemort, such charms were trivial for him to cast.

Just like the healer has said to him, there were indeed two life forces inside his wife's belly.

"Dear, does this mean…" Narcissa spoke, barely able to hide the joy in her voice.

"Yes, it seems that we need to find a second name for our children." He chuckled, his nerves now relaxed. "I guess we will have two formidable wizards in our family in the future."

Even when they weren't born yet, Lucius began pondering if he should send them to Hogwarts or Durmstrang Institute to become accomplished and powerful Wizards in the future.

With how things were currently, he preferred the latter option. 'I still have enough time before making my decision.'

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And so word spread like wildfire in all of England. One of the most powerful—if not the most powerful—houses in the wizarding world, the Malfoys, would be having two offspring instead of one.

In the following days, the head of the House of Malfoy organized a large banquet and even invited the ministry to attend. Considering his status, he had also reluctantly invited the headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore.

A time for celebration for some.

And a worrying piece of news to others.

{Break}

-Diagon Alley-

(11th January 1991)

Diagon Alley, a cobblestoned shopping area for the wizarding world, where Hogwarts students could come by to purchase necessary supplies. A festive area filled with the strangest and unexplainable stores, some which attracted tens of thousands of curious wizards and witches every year.

From the oldest of books to the most recent ones published by great researchers, wizards and a soon to be blonde fraud with the last name Lockhart; you could get everything here.

Some of the shops sold pets like owls, rats, cats you name it, they would provide.

In my eyes, this scene looked just like in the movies. The only difference being the amount of crazy things happening around me! Flying objects, kids getting attacked by a book with teeth and the general cacophony of hundreds of people talking loudly in such a small street!

No wonder my dad hated this place!

For the many years I lived here, I came to accept certain things. I didn't forget who I truly was and that all of this was just the work of a foreign god hearing my prayers and isekai-ing me for real! That damnable truck failed to reincarnate me properly and I had to resort to escaping from a weird void hole.

Certainly an unexpected occurrence, sounded like it came from a fantasy movie.

Reborn in a world of Harry Potter… I didn't know how to feel about that. I barely remembered my past with my broken memories. How was I supposed to remember a movie seen decades in the past during my childhood? I couldn't, some memories degraded over time and that just happened to be one of them.

But the first movie stayed mostly intact in my mind, for I happened to rewatch it later in my life with my little brother. And walking around the familiar environment and meeting the people of this world also helped to cement some of the scenes in my mind.

In my new life, they gave me a rather unique name name, Jarius Malfoy. Used to be called Jo instead of Johnathan with my last name but I figured this wouldn't be the case anymore.

A rather unusual name, but I grew to accept it nonetheless. Apparently, I was born a few seconds late to getting the better 'Draco' name, but I didn't mind. It would have been weird calling the snobby kid I saw on TV be called Jarius instead.

'Lucius could have tried a bit harder, respect to him and mom but Jarius sounded a bit odd. Jonathan is a better name, Jesse or even Jay if he wanted to keep the J.'

Anyways, I couldn't really change the past. By now, eleven years passed, today marking my eleventh birthday.

My face looked just like my brother's, since we were twins, but I didn't have my hair groomed like I was going to a wedding. With both of us having the same grey/silver eyes we inherited from our father.

Though I missed my black hair, I did find being blonde interesting. Fortunately, the stereotypes of blondes being dumb didn't exist here, people generally focused on someone's lineage than physical attributes… which sounded much worse to be fair.

I was having fun, though it seemed like I was the only one.

"Hugh, this place is filthy and these people will cause my ears to deafen. Why couldn't we just send the servants to buy our supplies?" An irritated voice muttered beside me.

It was none other than my blood sibling, my technically big brother which I didn't count as we were only a few seconds. This kid with a stick up his ass was none other than Draco Malfoy. He grew up to inherit the same snobbish attitude as in the movie, the fault rested mostly on Lucius's head.

But I did have my own influence on his earlier life. Even while reborn into a fictional world with characters I saw on the screen, I still considered this life as my new beginning; a fresh start. I threw away any hesitation I may have had in the beginning and accepted myself as a Malfoy and them as my family. What was the point of being stuck in the past when there was so much to discover in the future?

I promised myself to live my life to the absolute fullest!

"My innocent and naïve brother, where's the fun in that? There is so much to discover in Diagon Alley and you won't get a girlfriend when you're older with that attitude!"

"We're eleven." Draco said, tiredly. He had bags under his eyes and kept yawning every few minutes. I wasn't surprised since I dragged him away from our home without our parents noticing to finally buy something I wanted to get my hands on for years!

A wand!

My own wand, that belonged to me and no one else.

"Now let's see what's on the list."

A few days ago, two letters came from an owl mail. Written personally by Dumbledore himself, an invitation for us to enroll into Hogwarts. Let's just say Lucius was a bit conflicted that day, he wanted to send us to Durmstrang Institute at first.

Like hell I'd let my chances of getting into Hogwarts slip away that easily! Even if I knew Draco got in anyways in canon, I wasn't taking the risk now that I was born as his twin brother. He could have gone there but there was no guarantee for my case.

So I just challenged his ego while acting like an innocent child. "Are you scared of the people in Hogwarts, father?" Is what I said to him.

Very simple, but it worked wonderfully and he went on a long speech about how the Malfoys feared no one and accepted to have both of us attend Hogwarts. I didn't miss the irony of being a kid who successfully manipulated someone who is known to be a master manipulator and tactician. Or maybe he did notice, but decided to ignore it in order to train me — most likely the latter.

Anyways, this was the content of the letter.

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Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Hmmm, the uniform was excluded because mom already had the finest tailor in town make us some.

This was the following list.

First-year students will require:

1. Three sets of plain work robes (black).

2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear.

3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar).

4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings).

With a small note on the bottom.

'Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags.' Already got that covered with a name tag made of gold. Our parents certainly didn't hold back with the spending.

The letter also mentioned all students having a copy of one of the following books.

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk.

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot.

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling.

A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch.

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore.

Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger.

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander.

"..."

That last one was suspiciously familiar to me, I felt like I heard that title somewhere but can't seem to remember where. Possibly something that I saw being used in the movies and just happened to forget about it.

'I'm overthinking, this isn't that important.'

Lastly with the equipment was a cauldron made of pewter, set of phials, a telescope, brass scales and a pet.

'Doesn't pewter have a low melting point and high concentrations of lead?' The idea of standing near such a material while it brewed potions worried me a lot. I didn't dismiss the possibility of it being enhanced with magic, as to not cause harm to its user and just about anyone heart it.

Oh, the last item was a wand, of course.

Though there was a rule that baffled me.

'Parents are reminded that first years are not allowed their own broomsticks.'

That didn't make sense! I explicitly remembered Harry getting his first broomstick when he was a first year. Why weren't we allowed to buy one now!? I was so looking forward to flying on my own at night…

Freaking main character halo giving him all the fun.

"Here we are, stop being lost in your thoughts, brother." Spoke Draco as he stopped in front of an old two story building.

"Olivanders," I read the sign outloud, it felt weird standing in front of this iconic shop. Its display consisted of a solitary wand lying on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.

I was finally going to get my own wand!

While heading to open the door, I felt Draco take hold of my shoulders, stopping me from going inside

"Eh?" I looked at him in confusion.

"Did you even bring enough galleons with you?"

"..."

"You don't have anything on you, don't you?" He gave a deadpan look which made me sheepishly laugh.

I raised my hands in surrender.

"Hey, you can't blame me for wanting to exchange my pocket money for a few hundred pounds for future use." Even after I begged Lucius to give me some paper money instead of the regular sickles and galleons; to make purchases in the 'muggle world'.

'It's not like I can go to a computer shop and buy myself a Gameboy with freaking coins from the middle ages!'

And the few coins I didn't trade, I would either save them up in my hidden coffer or let Draco keep them.

Why him? Because he was surprisingly diligent with the money, an aspect I didn't expect to see in the current Draco. The boy barely used his own savings and even had a small booklet with him with the amount of coins we each owned.

"Sorry about that, I forgot to bring my own this time. Lend me some and I'll pay you back later.." I reached out my hand to my sweet brother who always cared about his sibling and wouldn't let me go empt—

"—No." He cut me off with an immediate response.

At least he learned to say no… if only he could say that to our parents.

"Why?"

"You don't have enough galleons left, only 5 of them and 100 sickles." Draco explained, taking a small leather book from his vest and showing me the numbers. "I did tell you to ask father for more."

True, he did say that… Ah! I also spent most of my recent savings to buy certain spell books and certain materials for my magic practice.

Draco sighed, "I still don't get your fixation on the muggle's money. They hold no value to us and you can't even use them in the first place, so why even bother trying to exchange so many of your galleons?"

Because I wanted to be ready for the day I would eventually leave this place. I had plans to go to different parts of the world one day, to visit other magic communities and even visit some schools like Hogwarts. And to ignore the ability to accumulate more wealth in both worlds was foolish and honestly a waste. Furthermore, in the case Lucius decided to oppose my decision or if I one day came to face a situation where I wouldn't have access to such support — then the money I saved up would come in handy.

Draco was quite similar to his TV counterpart, yet vastly different as well. Though the first part was guaranteed with our family… Some of our relatives took the concept of blood purity and racial superiority to its extreme. This showed me how Voldemort got so much support and followers in the past.

I tried to remove the concept of mudblood from his mind, but with no muggles anywhere near our estate, it was kind of hard to convince him that they could be strong wizards as well — this did not mean that my endeavors were fruitless.

But I still had other ways to protect his innocent mind in the beginning. First of all, I accidentally frightened that accursed duo, Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe from his life. Those fools who would become nothing more than leeches and yes men, they were not people Draco needed to hang out with.

Some would argue that I could have tried to change both boys to become better people in the future — I could… but had no such desires. There was no obligation or necessity for me to go out of my way just for those two. They were future nuisances, nothing more and nothing else.

Sure, we still got to meet them from time to time since their parents were purebloods and even Death Eaters, but now, they didn't dare to approach Draco.

I tried stirring his attention more towards other things kids his age would like. Dragons, magic spells, mythical creatures and so on. It worked, he had gained a keen interest with dueling and quidditch. Reading the biography of Filius Flitwick, a champion duelist in his younger years and wanting to become known for his skills in the future as well.

Though that came with the drawback of him being more interested in past strong wizards like his aunt dearest, Bellatrix Lestrange being one of them. As much as I disliked her, her dueling skills were undeniable and they continued to grow according to rumors. Even with her being locked away in Azkaban, Lucius did repeatedly remind us to never underestimate a Death Eater's prowess.

Though I feel like he was praising himself that time and not our aunt. Not surprising given his personality though.

"How about this, after getting our wands… we'll have a little duel a week later and impress dad? As for the galleons, we'll use yours for the moment and I'll pay you back later." Another major weakness of Draco was his fear and respect for Lucius. He always seeked his praise and acknowledgement.

"..."

"Come on, don't be a stick in the mud and take some risks in your life."

That did the trick.

"Fine, here!" He threw me a small heavy coin bag filled with enough sickles and galleons for an average wizard to consider it a small fortune. "You go first, I'll look around at 'Flourish and Blotts'. Happy now?"

"Very," I smiled, suspecting Draco would have helped me regardless.

"Also, don't bother paying me back or anything… we're brothers after all."

Yes, we were, and I would make sure that no harm would come of him in Hogwarts with me by his side.

The bag felt heavy, I turned my focus towards accumulating more coins now that I had enough pounds in my name. Not to mention during my stay in Hogwarts, I couldn't just always rely on Draco.

After he left to do some shopping on his own, I turned around and took a deep breath of fresh air.

.

.

.

Cough!

Cough!

Forgot the air wasn't exactly pure with all the smoke and perfume! Damn you all!

"Okay, enough wasting time."

I marched inside the shop.

…

Cling~!

A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as he stepped inside.

The place looked exactly like in the movies. A small empty counter with some miscellaneous items spread all over it. Around were rows of densely packed boxes of different sorts of wands all the way to the ceiling.

This place reeked heavily of dilapidating books and that of an old library.

'Any second now…'

Bam!

A ladder slid from the corner, right in front of him.

"Good afternoon." The old man with pale white eyes softly said as he stared at him.

"Bonjour."

That greeting came out of nowhere and I had no idea why I even said it.

"..."

"..."

An awkward moment passed between us.

"I didn't expect that kind of greeting from a Malfoy." The owner of the shop, Olivander, said with a slight twinge of surprise in his voice.

Better to play it cool and make it look intentional.

"Yeah, I do try to be interesting, you should try better with your jumpscares. Try to make the place a tad bit darker with soundproof glasses, it'll give a much spookier atmosphere." I advised, finding this whole thing about scaring any customers with a harmless jumpscare quite amusing.

"Hmm, interesting idea, I will try it with my next customer." He got down from the ladder and approached me.

"Yes, yes, I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Dra—cough! Jarius Malfoy." Almost slipped up there. "You have your father's eyes and your mother's face. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Fourteen inches long, pliable, made of dark ebony and dragon heartstring. Excellent for curses."

"Not going to reveal my father's wand?"

I was a bit curious, I saw it nearly every day but barely knew anything about it. Anytime I asked Lucius would just ignore me and mention that he would do so in a few years.

"Unfortunately, your father now wields an ancestral wand passed down through generations of the Malfoy family. His old wand's fate is unbeknownst to me. But no one knows a wand better than I do. Made of elm wood, dragon heartstring and twelve inches exactly. A powerful one if I may say so myself… exceedingly competent with both curses, charms and transfiguration. It's a wand that serves only those of strong will."

Now that was something I didn't know. I always thought that overly decorated wand was his own from the beginning. So it was a hand-me-down, huh. I wonder if he would give it to me or Draco… In either case I don't care.

The man came close to me and carefully inspected my face with his creepy eyes.

"Are you familiar with the term 'personal space'? Cause you're a bit too close to me."

"Hahahaha! No." Well that explained it. "Now – Mr, Malfoy. Let me see." He pulled a large tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"

I extended my right arm.

He measured me from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round my head. As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful substance, Mr. Malfoy. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."

"Then why does my dad use one which did not originally belong to him?"

"You misunderstood my meaning, Mr. Malfoy. I did not explicitly mention the power of the wand being weaker for another user. It's rather your hands, the grip you have on your original wand will never be outclassed by anything else. Ever."

The tape measure, which was measuring between my nostrils, was moving on its own. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes by the dozen. Even if his office was a mess, he did carefully drop every box as if they were fragile items. I could see that he put a great amount of care and passion inside these wands.

"That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Mr. Malfoy. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Ten inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave."

I followed his words and made a small gesture.

Crack!

Boom!

A vase of flowers exploded into countless shards. The man was quick as lightning and snatched the wand from my hand.

"Elm and Phoenix feather. Nine inches. Quite whippy. Try—"

Swipe!

I couldn't even get a hold of the wand as it went sailing past the man and embedded itself on the wall behind like a dagger.

"..."

"..."

"Wands, right? So picky, hehehe…" I tried to act cool but failed miserably.

"I must admit, that was new… I honestly expected that it would suit you perfectly."

And so, we continued this cycle for literally an hour. The inside of the shop looked absolutely horrible and looked like someone robbed the place. Olivanders was worse off with his clothes burned in some areas and even having many cuts. But the man didn't even look bothered and just kept bringing wands after wands.

There was even a mountain of boxes piled up at the back!

I was beginning to feel miserable here. Why wasn't I getting any wand to work for me? Was it because I was a foreign in this world? Or was it because my talent in magic sucked ass? No, it couldn't be because of that, I showed signs of having magic multiple times in the past.

"..."

Olivander suddenly had a conflicted face. "It can't be… but I must try, yes, why not, unusual combination; holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."

I felt tense when he brought another box from the shelves.

He didn't even get down from the ladder when he saw my reaction and put the box back.

"No… not this one as well. Which only leaves me with one. Unusual but possible. Here, Black walnut wood, dragon heartstring core, very pliant and thirteen inches."

I took the wand. And suddenly felt a sudden warmth passing through my fingers. It felt comfortable, relaxing… as if… I couldn't really explain this particular feeling. My heart for a moment when I saw a small candlelight blue flame appear on the tip of the wand.

A certain memory from more than a decade ago flashed before my eyes. One where the ghostly scream of thousands reached my ears before I forcefully pushed the uneasiness back inside my mind.

'No… this isn't the same flame.' Slowly, the fire fizzled away leaving me with a complicated feeling inside me.

"Strange… indeed, very unique as well." Ollivander said.

"What is?"

"I have sold many wands in the past, endless even. What I've learned is that a wand can sometimes be the reflection of its user. It can become their greatest weapon, but it can even cause their downfall."

"..."

"Black walnut is a very handsome wood, but not the easiest to master. It has one pronounced quirk, which is that it is abnormally attuned to inner conflict, and loses power dramatically if its possessor practices any form of self-deception. If the witch or wizard is unable or unwilling to be honest with themselves or others, the wand often fails to perform adequately and must be matched with a new owner if it is to regain its former prowess. Paired with a sincere, self-aware owner, however, it becomes one of the most loyal and impressive wands of all, with a particular flair in all kinds of charmwork."

Inner conflict and self-deception, a weird trait to be honest. Wands did not possess the ability to judge whether they were wielded by a good person or evil — as far as I knew at least. Self awareness and sincerity towards one's true nature could be attributed to everyone, good and bad. Could someone who desired to harm many but refrained to do so because of logical reasoning and just common sense even use such a wand? After all, they were not being true and sincere to themselves, lying to become normal.

"Interesting, I'm not sure how this really applies to me as I don't tend to hide any of my personality." I said, paying the fees and putting the wand in its holster.

Ollivander blinked, "Be careful, Mr. Malfoy. Good intentions hide evil desire, and evil actions can be fueled by pure intentions. The goal you'll desire in the future may easily clash with the method you'll take if it doesn't suit your true self. That is why I ask you, be careful."

A smile appeared on my face.

That wasn't so bad, after all, I never planned to lay low or live in fear of future enemies and challenges that I would face.

'But in the end, it's all about having fun and living life to the fullest! To live the way I want to and for once, caring about myself first!'

I felt the want grow warmer in my hand, like it had agreed with me.

"You know… I don't know why people don't do this. But I'm going to name it!" I couldn't be hung up on the past, but I rather use it to pave a road for the future. "How about Jonathan? Does sound a bit off, maybe I'll change it in the future."

"Hoh, naming your wand? Interesting indeed. A wonderful customer you were, Sir. Malfoy. Take great care of your wand."

"Don't worry, I'm sure it won't break if I accidentally sleep on it."

We both laughed, I liked this Olivander guy, he had a wonderful sense of humor. I thanked him one last time and paid seven gold Galleons for my wand, and he bowed them from his shop. I informed him that my brother would come next.

For a magical wand which held the ability to cause more destruction than some bombs, this sure was cheap. About thirty pounds in regular Muggle currency, basically anyone can get one.

The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky, painting the entire alley with a golden sheen of light. With little to no people and a less crowded street, I sat on a bench munching on some chocolate frogs and waiting for Draco's return.

He came back carrying a bag filled with trinkets and miscellaneous objects related to dueling. I even spotted a box of chocolate, as expected from my brother, we both had a rather big sweet tooth. From posters of famous duelists to even a book on a beginner's guide to dueling. On the other hand, he was carrying a cage with an eagle owl inside; it must be his new pet.

"Someone was busy." I commented.

"You're done?"

"Yup, even got a cool ass wand!" I showed him Jonathan and smirked at his amazed expression. "Looks cool, right?"

"Aside from your crass vocabulary, you indeed got a beautiful wand."

"Sure, now stop chatting, leave your stuff to me and go get yourself a wand!" I forcefully grabbed everything from his hands, startling the owl and pushed him towards the shop.

He gave me a major stink eye before huffing and walking inside.

I eagerly waited outside and focused my ears.

Bam!

"Waahh!!!" Draco's scream of fright reached the outside and I fell on the streets laughing hard.

"Hahahaha! He got him!"

Some of the witches and wizards were casting me weird looks which I ignored them all.

Haaaa, good times.

I couldn't wait for my first year of Hogwarts to start soon.

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The next 5 chapters of Snafu, Harry Potter and my 3 other Fate fics (Fate Coiling Sword and To love a sword having 3 chapters) are already available on my P@treon. With 4 more Broly chapters at /NimtheWriter. Also, I post monthly commissioned arts on each story, already posted a few on an Archer's Promise, Broly and Snafu.