Chapter 26: New company, New Wand

July 30th, 1990, 221B Baker Street, London, 6:45 AM.

Harry was sleeping soundly in his room, having finished another detective novel by Agatha Christie all night. He deserved to oversleep a little more. Suddenly, amid his peaceful sleep, the boy felt a thud on his chest… Something was pressing on it—not more like lying on it, something quite heavy.

"Ughhh…" The boy tried to ignore it, but the pressure grew heavier and heavier as his breathing became much more difficult.

Thud! "Ouch!" Finally, the boy was forced to wake up as he was knocked on the head. "Okay, I'm up. I'm up." Throwing both his hands up in the air as he surrendered to the assailant.

"Hmph!" the thing let out a heavy heave before jumping off Harry and walking back nobly to its resting place—a kennel, albeit not being a dog.

Yes, the very thing that came out of the ordeal back in China—the very thing that Uncle Ethan had been vying for so long—was now present in Harry's room. It was a newborn male Re'em with dazzling golden fur.

Coupled with the sleeping Jasper in his cage by the window, Harry now had two very rare magical companions.

Summoning his glasses, the boy glared at Osian—the Re'em. "You know you could do it gentler, not practically crushing my chest and head."

The Re'em heaved a short breath as if mocking Harry, which made the boy twitch his eyes.

For some reason, Osian had quite a big ego, probably something to do with its linage and its above-average intellect, which surprised Ethan because it could even learn to use its innate magic to do Apparition!

This could also explain why it could survive for so long despite being a newborn.

Big ego as it was, in front of Ethan, the Re'em showed no hesitation to hide behind Harry, showing unusual obedience. Having witnessed the thing that Ethan did back in China, it left a terrifying impression on the creature... Also, those tempting eyes hidden behind those amicable smiles of the seer whenever he did a check-up for the creature, really smelled danger.

However, whenever he's alone with Harry, the creature would mess with the boy, a couple of times making a mess of his room with its 'litters', disrupting the boy's practice, causing small mayhem around the house, and refusing to listen as if announcing that he was not worthy of its worship.

Well, in the progress of dealing with the Osian mess, Harry perfected two other spells wandlessly, 'Scourgify' and 'Reparo'.

...

As of now, months have passed, and the two relationship ships could be said to be quite complicated, something like a love-hate relationship ship, both yielding to none.

After doing a little bit of warm-up and bathing in the sunshine, Harry was prepared for a new day. "Come, Jasper, let's us have breakfast." Following his word, the golden Snidget gladly landed on Harry's shoulder, nudging against the boy's cheek. "Hehe."

Passing Osian, Harry didn't forget to give a side-eye. "Remember to come down later; today is your check-up day." Harry grinned whilst fixing his glasses.

Which shuddered the creature slightly.

Skipping downstair, Harry was eager as usual as he got wind of the aroma stemming from the kitchen. Ethan's cooking would always be best for the boy.

Click! "Good morning, uncle Ethan!"

Chirp, Chirp!

The boy and the bird both sent their gleeful greetings in their own way before heading to do the daily chores, such as watering those potted plants and preparing the table and chairs.

Ethan, who was cooking the breakfast. He donned a pinstriped apron outside his navy blue double-breasted waistcoat, white shirt, black trousers, and leather shoes. He was currently reading the newspaper while waiting for breakfast to be ready.

"Good morning, Harry, Jasper... Tsk."

Keenly noticing the change in Ethan's mood, Harry perched up, followed by Jasper. The boy's eyes widened with curiosity as he turned his gaze towards the slightly disturbed Ethan. What did his peerless dad just read that made him like that?

Seemingly noticing Hary's attention, Ethan casually let the newspaper fly into the boy's grasp.

Upon catching the Daily Prophet, what bombarded his sight were a big moving picture and the biggest dancing headline celebrating the newly appointed Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge.

Both he and Jasper, who had gotten used to perching on Harry's head or his shoulder, were blinking in confusion.

Gulping a sip of latte coffee, Ethan heaved a sign of disappointment. "Politics, Harry, politics, one of the very things that I despite the most."

"Is this... new minister bad?" It was rare for the boy to see his dad expressing his emotion like this."

"Not entirely, but... let's just say both Uncle Sam and I didn't really have a very good impression of him back in the day. His views were rather quite aggressive, hidden behind his bumptious. Simply put, a hypocrite.

"His actions may seem noble for the sake of everyone, but the truth is, they have always been for himself, as he would cower the moment the thing got out of his hand, stooping so low that... Anyway, being a politician means that the temptations and glories that follow ought to be exchanged for one's virtues." Ethan shook his head before getting back to prepare the breakfast.

Eventually, Harry would mark everything Ethan said in his mind. The boy decided to keep a sceptical attitude towards these so-called politicians.

"Come, Harry, breakfast is ready."

Snapping back to reality, Harry quickly jolted back to his seat as the two began their usual comfy breakfast.

During the past few months, little had changed, but nothing bad. Harry resumed his usual weekly study with Ethan, which still revolved around Hogwarts first-year subjects, delving deeper into their nature as well as exciting activities at Hyde Park.

Uncle Sam would stop by to play with him as well as tell interesting stories about the wizarding world, but according to what Dad once said sarcastically, Uncle Sam was more like seeking refuge from work.

On the other hand, uncle Remus rarely visited, for Harry knew that he was too busy handling the work left behind by his two 'elusive' bosses.

Sometimes they would visit 12 Diagon Alley for a change. While Ethan was forcefully dragged away to fulfil his respective duty as the founder of the Atid Stella by Remus, Harry would always go on to explore the buildings and those intriguing yet harmless products, curiously observing the house elf maintaining intricate magical machines that ran on magic and runes, the hard-working, enthusiastic, and diverse employee immersed in their jobs.

As a result, the employees would sometimes catch a glimpse of a stealthy young boy with his hoodie on, always carrying a satchel. Due to having been informed by Remus beforehand about the boy's identity as well as his social anxiety, all agreed that it was best to leave him be; at most, they would send the shy boy a few warm greetings.

It is not that bad to have such a cute, energetic child in here.

But there was one exception... "Good morning, young mister. Is that the newest version of Ancient Runic Cube from our company?" Verrona Rogeiros, the cheerful and friendliest manager of the main hall said, her voice was as soothing as ever. Still, the same brown, wavy hair was tied into a loose ponytail tossed over her shoulder as she exuded a sense of utter professionalism.

"Ah, ehm... I didn't... Ah, g-good morning, Miss Rogeiros..." Harry was slightly anxious to see the manager's sudden assertiveness, but he still remembered Ethan's word on how impolite it was to just run away as far as possible whenever someone tried to initiate a friendly conversation, especially when that person bore malice, so Harry tried his best to utter a formal greeting and instead froze in place or ran away.

"Hehe, I hope that you find the new version exciting, as we did alter its effect as well as the solving method. Oh, I assume you already figured out the solution to this cube." The manager giggles as she takes a step back, not wanting to trigger the shy boy.

Harry's instincts could clearly tell him that she was genuine. Harry's eyes trailed back to the rune cube in his hands. "Y-yes, D-da... Actually, Uncle Ethan taught me how to solve it."

"I see; still, it was brilliance. Anyway, I hope you find it comfortable here, Mr. Potter. Should you need anything, please, I will be at the main hall. See you around, young Mister."

"S-see you around, to M-miss." Harry tried to at least let out a wry smile while waving shakily at her. The boy hoped he didn't look too awkward. Much to his relief, Miss Rogeiros was waving back with a heartfelt smile on her face; perhaps she was also worried about something.

...

Clip-clop... clip-clop... clip-clop! The slow yet steady sound of hooves touching the wooden floor resounded in Harry's ears, snapping the boy out of remembrance.

As he realised those sounds belonged to Osian, his mouth curled up into a condescending smile.

"Huh?, There you are. Come, let us begin with today's check-up," Ethan said enthusiastically, putting down his newspaper He gestured for Osian to come in.

The Re'em hesitantly walked in under Ethan's friendly 'urge', and as it walked past the boy, Osian didn't forget to give him narrowed eyes, as Harry also did the same.

Hiss!

"Ok, now let's see..." The young Re'em gulped instinctively as he saw Ethan pull out his wand. It saw the powerful seer eye's sparkle with brilliance starlight, and following his wand movement, Osian could feel subtle, invisible waves coursing throughout its body.

Moments passed by before The young Re'em blinked in fear as Ethan enthusiastically announced, "Brilliance! It's time; come, Harry, to the basement."

In contrast to the seer's genuinely gleeful attitude, Osian was struck frozen in place; it was like it had been bell-tolled. Much as Osian wanted to appear right away, this house was like a fortress armed with numerous advance wards, preventing any malicious anomalies from coming in or out.

Humming Minuet in G Major (J.S. Bach), Harry picked up the dazed Re'em size of a husky with little effort down to the magical basement adorned with a starry night ceiling, followed closely by Jasper whilst chirping in tune with Harry.

Down in the basement, Ethan was preparing all the necessities. Walnut tree woods, raw magical materials, and various measuring and carving tools all served the sole purpose of one of the most ancient, complex, and mysterious branches of magic, which was none other than Wand-making.

For example, Walnut wood (beautiful, strong, adaptable, and versatile with no real slant to Light or Dark magic, unlike its Black Walnut counterpart), wands with this wood generally chose people with new ideas and methods who were highly intelligent. Once fully mastered, wands of walnuts would perform any task that their master desired, so long as their master was brilliant enough. With an owner who possessed no conscience, these wands were truly lethal, and wand and wizard might feed on each other, which was in no way healthy.

No need to mention its more than two thousand-year-long history; it contains numerous legendary, obscure, and powerful artefacts known as wands. Ethan was first fascinated by it the moment he visited Ollivander's shop. From then on, the gloomy genius tirelessly learned the craft.

Through various experiments and the consumption of quite a large amount of resources, it was around this time that Ethan came into contact with the Wandering Merchant. After two years, the gloomy genius had managed to craft his first ever artefact; he had made his very own wand that had stuck with him until now.

The 12-inch flexible sycamore wood and Augurey's tail feather core wand were born.

"Right, now the most crucial material..." Stroking his chin, Ethan's gleeful smile fell upon the fretful Osian at the corner as his gaze shifted between Osian and the materials.

Sitting on a stool nearby with Jasper on his head, Harry also copied Ethan's action, nodding slightly.

"Now, come closer, Osian; I promise it won't hurt, just a little tickle." Ethan said gently while pulling his wand; his eyes seemingly curled up into a smile.

On the other side, Osia was terrified to the bone, and the creature began to heave heavier, closing its eyes in an attempt to brace for the worst.... Whoosh!

.... ?

But nothing came. As Osian opened his eyes, the sense almost rendered the newborn Re'em faint. Resting firmly in Ethan's hands were its precious and prideful horns, a pair in total. Beside was a giggling Harry.

Yes, the missing and most crucial material was the wand core; in this case, it was Re'em horn, a very, very rare core. This core is nearly impossible to come across, as the golden-furred Re'em itself is a rare commodity on both the open and black market scene Re'ems were found in North America and have been hunted to near extinction. When used in a wand, Re'em Horns gave the user a magical, enormous boost. Even the weakest of spells are stronger than they should be and the spells grew stronger alongside the wielder. These wands could adapt to any type of magic very quickly and with each spell used, the wand would produce the spells stronger and stronger. Re'em's Horn wands were Heirloom wands, typically from families in the North American region.

Well, on the bright side, it was still alive. The creature slumped in place, its complexion darkened. Luckily for Osian, the golden bird, Jasper was generous enough to offer his consolation.

Leaving the depressed Re'em aside. Ethan began the process of making a wand under Harry's curious look.

After three hours of meticulous work, the wand was nearly complete. But there was one last step to ensure its faithful loyalty to its upcoming master.

"Come, Harry..." The boy quickly jumped down from the stool to Ethan's side as he kneeled before the boy while bringing the wand forward.

"Take it and drop your blood on this wand; this way the wand would be complete, as you are now officially its eternal master. The wand would serve you and you only; it would connect to you as well as Osian and vice versa..."

Ethan's voice trailed off as he patiently gave the boy some time to consider.

Normally Harry would be very careful with his own belongings, which included body tissue, as the boy was taught strictly about the Law of Contagion of Magic by Ethan, as his belongings that have a certain relationship with him magically or physically would serve as components in various dark rituals, curses, and such.

However, this was Ethan's asking, and Harry would certainly agree. Still, the idea of establishing a hidden connection, shallow or not, with that prideful, cocky Osian gave the boy some worry.

Still, put that aside, as he would soon receive his first wand, a specially made wand by Ethan for him!

And without that restriction placed upon it by the Ministry,

"Yes, uncle Ethan!" Harry carefully took the wand in one hand as Ethan helped extract a drop of blood from his thumb.

As the boy dropped his blood onto the small gap on the wand, something phenomenal happened. The blood was sucked into the core immediately as the gap closed itself, refreshing the entirety of the wand as if waking the thing up to welcome its master.

It was then that Harry felt a magical reaction coursing through his vein connected to the wand on his right hand. Harry's emerald eyes glowed more dazzlingly than ever with the iris deepening colour. Even the entire basement was churned in a subtle wave of magic caused by dancing colourful Magic Threads, which startled the two magical beasts.

Thus the 9.5-inch, springy Walnut wood and Re'em's horn core wand was born!

"Wowww..." Harry exclaimed in bewilderment while Ethan was observing the process with satisfaction.

"I know its a little early but... Happy birthday, Harry. I hope you will cherish it. Oh, and tomorrow we are going the zoo with Re-" 

The boy slammed into Ethan's embrace. "Thank you, Dad! This is the best birthday gift ever." Harry was thrilled to the roof, not noticing the daze in Ethan at his words. 'D-dad'. 

A tender smile slowly etched on the man's face as he pulled the boy into a warm hug. "You're welcome, Harry... Thank you for coming into my life..."