Childhood part 10: Leaving it all Behind

They entered the shop excited and Onyx instantly went to the back, leaving Neville at the storefront. "Master Jimmy. I'd like to call in a favour." Jimmy looked up from a book he was reading, it was called 'The Magician's Nephew'. He had gotten into muggle literature recently after Onyx's recommendation. He observed Onyx's stature and the boy seemed to be very serious. "Alright then, get on with it. Do you require a wand?"

Onyx nodded. "Yes. My friend was given his father's wand and I'd love it if you could create one for him." Jimmy's mood suddenly turned sour and he started mumbling something 'stupid ignorant stingy bastards' and walked out through the curtains to see the tubby boy standing in the storefront.

"Hello there Mr. Longbottom. Might you be the friend my apprentice spoke of?" Neville had been inspecting the horns on the shelves and Jimmy's sudden burst into the room had made him jump, almost bringing the shelf down with him. "Y-yes Master wand maker Kiddell."

Jimmy gestured for Neville to follow him and so he did. "Onyx! Show this boy around and make sure he gets some proper parts for his wand." Meanwhile Jimmy sat down with his book again, now and then a curse was mumbled out.

Onyx was ecstatic, and started showing Neville around. He started with the cores and Onyx was certainly correct. The unicorn hair he felt was almost desperate when he came in here himself now obviously found what it had been looking for. As soon as Neville got close to it, Onyx knew that the wand core had been found and settled. He picked it up and placed it on a table. "Onto the woods!"

Neville was surprised at how easily this went over. He had heard of how long it took for people to find their wands at Ollivanders and now Onyx was running him through the shop at high speed. He seemingly didn't even hesitate in choosing a specific unicorn hair.

'Perhaps I'm more like my father than I thought' was all that was on Neville's mind as Onyx led them through the wand woods and they ended up in front of a light pink log. Onyx looked back and forth between Neville and the log before calling out "Wand wood Cherry" He glanced once more at Neville "10 and a half inches, don't know the flexibility. Unicorn hair core"

Jimmy had put his book down once more and clapped "Almost! The boy will need a bit shorter wand. 10 inches. Probably reasonably springy but I'll know for sure once I start working on it and yes. That core seems set on him." Neville looked back and forth wonderous.

His friend could tell what wand would work for him and even guess its length. Maybe he could take up the profession one day. While Neville was stuck in thought, Jimmy had taken the wood and core and went to his worktable. Onyx had lead Neville out of the room and he was excited "Oh Neville, I hope it feels the same for you as it did for me when I got my wand. It was incredible!"

Just a short while later Jimmy came out with a beautifully crafted wand. It had an almost pink tip with the colour gradually changing to black as you went down to the grip where it had an intricate pattern reminding him of a unicorn's horn.

Neville reached out for it and as soon as he grabbed it he felt the wand in his entire body. He felt complete. How could his grandmother think his father's wand would be right for him when this was how a wand was supposed to feel? Did she think he couldn't feel it because she didn't believe his magic to be powerful enough?

No matter the reason he bowed towards Jimmy "Thank you. It feels incredible. I don't know how much it costs but send the bill to Augusta Longbottom, I'll explain it before she gets it."

This caused Jimmy to be surprised and his eyes widened before he silently mumbled 'They didn't tell Augusta before coming here…' and then he laughed "Good luck with her boys! Let's just hope she can appreciate the wonderful wand you got there and that you're not your father." Neville nodded and the two boys left the room.

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Neville showed his grandmother the wand that evening and she was angry at first. The fact that changed that was seeing that Neville actually stood up not just for himself but for Onyx as he explained their reasoning without giving up Onyx's secret.

Augusta was for once proud of her grandson and her belief that Onyx would be a good influence was proven correct. His father's wand was placed back in a drawer and Neville started carrying his own one instead.

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A few weeks later and it was finally time. Hogwarts! Onyx had been waiting for this day for a long time. He would miss his international friends but just the thought of being able to live with friends and see them all day long was a really exciting prospect. The night before the train he barely slept a minute.

'Today is the day' Onyx thought. He got up early, he and Neville agreed to meet up before and find a compartment for themselves. Neville would bring his toad Trevor and Onyx was allowed to bring Rufus.

It took the school a really long time to respond but eventually they got back and said that as long as the safety of their students are guaranteed they'd be fine with it. Apparently, it wasn't all that odd for pure-bloods to have a familiar at school.

He got dressed. He had already packed his trunk the day before. It had a couple of extension charms on it so it could fit all of his things. He needed so many clothes just in case of any special occasions. If there was ever a special tradition he would have the dress robes so that he could properly represent his house.

He also had plenty of books with him. The ones the school asked them to buy just wasn't enough. They merely explained what was already taught. A couple of days ago he had gone buying new books to learn from when he had some free time.

He was bringing the obligatory books, some of the upper years' books, a few notebooks about wand making he got from Kiddell, a few books on runes and wards, a couple of magical theory books and finally plenty of muggle books to calm his nerves if it was ever necessary.

Apart from books and clothes he brought some items for Rufus. Some special treats they had made and a few toys for him to keep himself busy. Onyx was sure he'd be able to keep busy in a place like Hogwarts without issue though.

When he was ready, he stood by the front door waiting for the rest of the family to get ready to leave. He was apparently an hour early but that didn't matter to him, he was so excited he couldn't stand the thought of being late.

To spend a little time he went to the garden and to his slight surprise there was a feeling of sadness in the garden. The magic of the place wasn't as strong as usually and all of a sudden, a bowtruckle jumped from the tree and into his pocket.

It refused to leave and so Onyx fed it some wood lice which he always kept in his pocket. "Alright then Tina, you can come too. I'll find you a nice spot at Hogwarts." He smiled at the small creature, he had liked her best among them. She was just a young one and had clung to him rather than a tree more often than not.

He went over to the cubs. They had gotten big! He remembered what Rufus was like and he was nothing like this. As he knelt down by the pen for the little ones, they all came up to greet him.

"Hi all of you, I hope you won't miss me. I sincerely hope you can get some owners of your own! Except for you Carl. I want to see you next year as well!" The fox named Carl barked back at him and he went back to the front door.

Leaving it all felt almost melancholic. Even if a new adventure was coming, he felt like he left so much. This farmhouse had been what his life was about. Now it would be about getting allies, learning spells and becoming a pillar of trust and dependability.

Leaving behind an easy life for that left him a bit sad. Rufus begged to be picked up and with Rufus in his arms he met his family by the front door. They knew he'd be early and was ready to leave already.

They went through the floo to platform nine and three quarters with all of Onyx's belongings.