The Alley and The Wand
Walking into my room and getting dressed, I am hit with a faint feeling of nostalgia. Unsure as to why I brush it off and finish dressing. Walking out of my room, I approach my parents who are now waiting for me.
"Are we ready?"
"Yep, we sent the reply to Hogwarts. Are you excited?"
"Yep, where are we going?"
"Diagon Alley."
Instantly, that feeling of nostalgia, or even familiarity, comes back and hits me in the face. Trying to remember how I know what the alley is, I flashback to my past life, glancing at harry potter lore instead of reading the books, though I can barely remember the key points of it.
'Im in Harry Potter.'
For the first time in this life, I had no idea what is going on. Following my parents without thought, we arrived in front of my father's study.
"Arnt I banned from this room?"
"Because it housed all of our magical books and artifacts." My dad replied.
Nodding, I watch my dad open the study, to a room that looks no different to the Nest, with the only expectation being a fireplace on the wall.
"I didn't know we had a fireplace?"
"Its not your ordinary fireplace." My dad said, while chuckling.
"Martha, if you wanna show him how to use it."
"Sure, Dear."
Watching my mother step into the fireplace, my eyes widen. After she grabs a hand full of powder from a container on the side of the fireplace, she exclaims with a loud and clear voice.
"Leaky Cauldron."
*Woosh*
Watching my mother disappear into flames, I snap my head to my dad for an explanation.
"Don't worry, this is what we call the Floo Network. A super handy magical means of transport. You have to get into the fireplace, grab some Floo Powder and clearly state where you want to go. This time it is 'Leaky Cauldron.' Ok?"
'Right, there was something like that in Harry Potter...'
Nodding, I get into the fireplace, grab some powder and state my destination and throw the powder down.
"Leaky Cauldron."
Watching the dazzling green flames engulf my body, I prepare for the burns, but the pain I expected did not come. Instead, what greeted me was a heat-less tube of green fire that I was travelling through. Taking in the view, I watch the end of the tunnel get closer. Closing my eyes I brace for impact.
Feeling my feet land on something, I open my eyes to see the sight of my mother laughing at me, with other people joining in. Observing my surroundings, I see that it's a small, rickety bar with few patrons. Before I could get a better look, my mother calms down from laughing at hurries me out of the fireplace.
"Quickly, Get out before someone lands on you."
Remembering that I'm still in a magical fireplace that can teleport people, I quickly run out of it, seconds before my dad appears.
'That was close.'
"Next time, don't stand in the fireplace." My dad remarks.
Im not sure how he saw me do it, but I just nod.
"Ok, let's go to Diagon Alley."
Turning around, my dad walks towards an inconspicuous brick wall. Pulling out a stick, which I can only assume is a wand from his robes, tapes the bricks in a square pattern. As he completes the square, the bricks start to part, revealing a bustling street behind it.
"What? How? Why?"
"Well, this is Diagon Alley, all the stores here are of a magical type. It's where we got Meowser for your 11th birthday. How? Well, magic. It keeps this entire alley from being discovered, you'll learn more about it at Hogwarts. Why? To keep us wizards safe from the muggle world. I think Hogwarts will also teach you about that, however, I will give you a brief overview. A while ago, a group of important wizards got together to sign a law called the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. Which basically hid all of the magical communities from ordinary people to keep them safe."
Blanking out, I remember that I seem to have read this in my past life. Nodding as I take in the information, I turn to my dad.
"Where are we going to now that we are here?"
"Our first stop is getting you your own wand!" My mother replied happily.
Looking at my mother's face, I know she is almost as excited to get a wand as I am. Looking around the Alley whilst walking with my parents, I notice that the clothes everyone is wearing are strange. Wearing pointed hats and loose woollen robes, it looks like a recreation event from the medieval ages. However, the most peculiar thing are the items around them. Wooden carts that pull themselves, using quills to write on old parchment, the windows of each store show that the glass is hand made, or magically made. The buildings around me have a strange sense of style, not uniform at all and some buildings seem to be held up by the will of magic itself to not collapse on their occupants.
Seeing my parents stop out the front of such a store, I look at the sign displayed out front.
'Ollivanders - Makers of fine wands since 382 B.C.'
Widening my eyes at the year it started, I turn to my parents as if to ask if it's true. Seeing my exaggerated reaction, they just nod and walk in, with me following. Hearing a bell tingle as the door opened, I look up to see a bell attached to the door, but no knocker is present inside. Looking around the store, I notice it is simply filled with bookshelves, but what the bookshelves house are not books, but tiny rectangle boxes with no distinct labelling on any of them. Before I can look around the shop any further, a man pops out from underneath the serving bench and looks at my parents.
"How can I- Ah, If it isn't Mr and Mrs Douglas, I hope my wands have served you well." Said the strange man.
'Douglas? But my last name is Zouglas. What is going on here?' Making a note to ask my parents later, I quickly focus back on their conversation.
"Yes, they have Olivander. We are here today to get our son his own wand." Cliff stated our purpose.
"When did you two have a son? Where is he?" The strange man named Olivander looked at my parents before spotting me further back.
"And who might you be?" He asked.
"Zane."
"A wonderful name, let's get you your wand."
Seeing that he is getting straight to the point, I smile and nod. After nodding he pulls out a bunch of measuring devices and gathers seemingly irrelevant data.
"What's your dominant hand?" Olivander asked.
"Right," I replied.
After some time, he finished up his measuring antics.
"Perfect, lets start with this one. Cedar wood and a dragon's heartstring." He pushes a wand towards me.
Picking it up expecting a rush from my heart, I wave it around only to receive no reaction from the wand. Shooting a look at Olivander, he takes the wand back before starting to talk again.
"The wand chooses the wizard, Mr Douglas, I'll go try another wand."
"My last name is Zouglas, Mr Olivander," I replied.
"Oh... I see." He looks to my parents, then goes back to his rows of wands.
"Here try this, Mahogany wood with a unicorn's tail hair." He presents me with another wand.
Picking it up, I wait for the wand to respond to me, but with no luck.
"Well no matter, I have a shop full of wands. We can spend all day if we have to, to find your perfect wand."
Nodding at his words, my anticipation builds at finding the perfect wand for me.
[3 Hours Later]
"Well, Mr Zouglas, you are officially the pickiest customer I've ever come across."
"... sorry." I mumble out.
"This is no fault of your own, I have one last wand to try before I resort to making you a custom wand."
Nodding meekly, I look at Olivander as he walks away to the very back of his shop. After some time, he returns with a rather interesting-looking box.
"This wand was one of the strangest ones I have ever created, purely for the fact that I forgot what core was in it. You should know I am proficient in Occlumency, so forgetting isn't something that happens every day. The only thing I know about this wand is the wood, which is called Purpleheart. Give it a twirl."
Opening the box, I look at the wand inside. Looking closely at the wand, I notice it is a captivating deep shade of purple. The engravings on the grip of the wand, going up the shaft of it also capture my attention.
Picking up the wand, I felt a strange connection to the core of my heart. Waving the wand around, I heard a low buzzing coming from it. Closing my eyes and feeling that it is using the energy in my core, I push all of the light I can muster into where the wand has formed a connection. Opening my eyes, I see the wand producing a blinding golden light from its tip. Looking at Olivander, I see his mouth is wide enough to fit an egg in it. Looking over to my parents, I could probably fit a few more eggs into their mouths.
As if sensing my thoughts, the wand's light splits into 3 egg-shaped lights, that fly into each of their mouths before they could even react. Widening my eyes at what just happened, I started laughing hysterically.
"Mr Zouglas... Can you explain what just happened?" Olivander asks.
Still laughing, I try to explain what I was thinking.
"Eggs- AHahahahaha- Mouth- AHHAHAA."
After laughing, even more, I try to calm myself down and explain again what happened.
"I felt a connection to this wand, and when I opened my eyes I could see a light. Then I saw your mouths open and thought I could fit an egg and- hAHAHAHAA."
"Well, the wand has chosen you, Mr Zouglas. Treat it well. I recommend you get a wand holster and a care kit while you are here." Olivander explains.
Looking at my parents, my dad just nods before asking olivander for the whole works. Seeing my dad pulling out a strange currency to pay for the wand and care kit, I ask him about it.
"Well, this is a Galleon, used in the wizarding world. It comes from the bank called Gringotts, you can see it when we exit the shop, but our next stop is getting you the rest of the equipment, we have spent too long in Ollivander's."
Realizing that 3 hours have been spent getting my wand, I urge my parents to hurry up as we go to our next destination.
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Author Corner:
I forgot to mention in the last chapter that the misunderstanding has been cleared up with his parents and magic, and while subtle, he has learned to listen first before speaking over someone.
This is also my largest chapter to date. 1.8k words. I couldn't think of a fitting wand core for Zane, and decided to leave it up to interpretation. Or maybe i have decided on a core and I will tell you with some hints. Hehe. Im getting cheeky. Have you seen purpleheart wood before? it's honestly a pretty good-looking wood.
I have also decided to give Zane some surface-level information about Harry potter. I don't want Zane to get too caught up in keeping the plot consistent so he can plan for it, and instead, intend to let him make his own decisions based on what he sees and observes. He at least knows who harry is and what type of world this is. Anything more specific like why wizards hide, floo network, occlumency wont be a thing. Please also keep in mind it's been 11 years since he last really needed his past life memories. So far he has been coasting through the lower years of school and reading to pass his time, waiting till he is 18 to do something interesting.
ANother thing while i was researching for this chapter and future ones, I thought I completely skipped the chamber of secret's. The most important day happened in like may, and I read the wiki thinking it was may 1992! But no, re-reading it showed that Im in the correct time (i think).
Was super strange waking up this morning to the queen's death.
Congrats on reading 15.5k words with this chapter!