13 13 - First summer back.

Nothing really eventful happened on the train, apart from the prefects checking in, I didn't get any unexpected visitors and after a few hours, I reached the platform.

Sighing, I thought about what I should do next, I don't really have to make my way back to the orphanage for now, legally I have stay there until I'm 13, because by then I'll have access to all of my family homes, but it's not like I would get into any trouble for going back later.

And that's how I found myself here, in Diagon Alley.. standing in front of Ollivanders, walking into the worn-out looking building, I looked around, noting the absence of a person, I walked up to the counter and rang the bell, hearing noises at the back of the store for a few seconds, I waited until Mr Ollivander came out, and when he noticed who I was, his face brightened.

"Ah, Mr Ignis, I was expecting to see you again, here for the agreement we made, I presume?"

"Yes, Mr Ollivander,"

"Well then, let's see the wand shall we?"

I quickly pulled out my wand from its holster and handed it over to him. He gently took the wand from my hand and stroked it like it was a priceless artefact, muttering under his breath.

"Mr Ignis, the wand is in great condition, it shows that you've taken good care for your wand so far, it's loyalty lies only with you and I can see that there's a strong connection between you, the wand seems to be going through some changes, only small but it looks like its lightly changing to better suit you, truly fascinating, I've only ever seen 2 wands change before, and none as much as this, I'm sure we can expect great things from you Mr Ignis."

"Yes, sir. You said that last year too."

"I'm sure I did, your wand is truly fascinating Mr Ignis, thank you for allowing me to check up on it"

I was honestly a little creeped out by how he treats his wands, but hey, who am I to judge?

Making my way out of the store, I puled out my shrunken trunk, enlarged it, and prepared for what's next.

I'm now at the end of the alley, near Gringotts, right in front of the entrance to Knockturn Alley, though, I am under a hooded cloak, and an illusion that makes me look taller.. and another that makes it so you can't see under my hood.. and another that makes it so if you're not looking for me, you can't find me.. and another that makes my voice deeper. What can I say, i'm a cautious person.

Walking into Knockturn Alley, I felt a few eyes on me, 'I'm guessing they're trying to see if they can find any fresh meat coming in, that must be how they see me without knowing i'm there before hand.'

I'm here to get the trace of my wand removed, you might be wondering how I know where to go considering they wouldn't have a sign saying 'wand trace remover' would they? Well, I don't. I couldn't really find any inside information on Knockturn Alley, I suppose the goblins would know but i'd rather not ask them, just to be safe.

So, I'm making my way to Borgin and Burkes, it supposedly sells furniture, to the public, while it also sells incredibly rare artefacts and/or dark artefacts, to the people who'd buy them. I don't see why they wouldn't sell information, though they'll definitely try and get as much money as they can for it.

Walking in, there was nobody there, ringing the bell I waited for a bit until a shady looking man came out and gruffly said "What do you want?"

Now, I'm not very good at bargaining, or shady stuff. I never really did anything illegal in either of my lives, but I figure it can't be that hard.

"Information." I said with a neutral tone.

The man narrowed his eyes a little "What type of information?"

"I want to the location of a certain store"

"and that would be?"

"A place to remove the trace of a wand"

After I said this, the man raised an eyebrow, i'm guessing he's trying to see how much he can make off of me.

"100 galleons"

At this I just scoffed, "do you think i'm an idiot?"

tsk "fine, my final offer, 80 galleons"

"no, 25 galleons, that's more than what this information is worth, take it or leave it, i'll just go to the goblins if I have to."

The man looking annoyed, "50 galleons, it's not easy for the average person to get this information you know"

"25"

"Look kid, this is valuable information, 40 galleons, I can't go lower than that."

I just started walking away.

"Fine, 35!" He almost shouted with an annoyed tone

I didn't stop.

"30!, That's as low is it gets!"

I just smirked, "26, my final offer"

The man pretty much growled, "Fine!"

I turned around and threw the pouch of coins onto the table, obviously waiting for the information.

He pointed to the left, through the wall. "2 stores over, password is 'the meaning of life is the key to the soul' now get out."

I've only got 150 galleons left, my trust vault gets refilled every year so I'm not really low on money considering there's still a few hundred galleons in the vault but still, I shouldn't be completely splurging with my money, I've never really cared for money, as long as I have enough, then it's fine, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna waste it everywhere, let's just hope it's enough to get rid of this trace.

Making my way to the store 2 buildings over, I entered and a bell rung, signalling my arrival. A man in his 60's was leaning over the desk, he had average features with dark hair that's greying and dark eyes, he spoke first saying "Can I help you?" In a clearly unhelpful tone.

"The meaning of life is the key to the soul"

He just stood there for a moment not doing anything, then slightly raised his eyebrow, "What do you need?"

"Wand trace removal" I said shortly.

"100 galleons"

"Ok", I didn't bother haggling, I can tell that he was just stating the price, not scheming for as much money as possible.

I slowly put a pouch on the table with 100 galleons.

"Wand" He said shortly, I hesitantly took out my wand, 'I know this is his business and he probably won't steal my wand, but still, I don't like it'

When he saw my wand he finally had an emotion on his face, one of interest and curiosity, luckily he didn't seem to be the greedy type, but I doubt if he was that i'd be able to tell.

"What a beautiful wand".

I didn't respond to that and just said, "So, the trace?"

His gaze went back to impassive, "Yea, yea, it'll take an hour, wait here and don't touch anything"

One thing that I noticed is his eyes while dark in colour, were oddly light, sort of like ollivander, I read up on this, and it seems this man has mage sight, not to the point of seeing magic completely but he can probably tell if most things are magical or not, I wonder if this is just something wand makers have, what a mystery.

I waited for an hour just in a half trance-like state, being aware of the real world, but still in my mindscape, just moving around, wondering what improvements I should make, until apparently an hour had passed and the man came out, holding my wand, to my relief.

"The trace is gone, the ministry won't be able to tell if you do magic now, but that doesn't mean you can go around casting magic in front of muggles" He said looking sternly at my chest.. which was actually the level of my eyes, it seems he saw through the illusion.

"I'm aware, thank you for removing the trace" I said, taking my wand and leaving the store, making my way out of Knockturn Alley, I got back to Diagon Alley and let out a breath, the air feels so much cleaner here.