Chapter 5

After ten minutes of Arturo looking for his brother, so they could finally leave for 'Monte Vi' the shopping district where he would be getting the few things he has left to get for school and of course so he can get his wand.

His brother had previously said he had wanted to follow him and his grandfather on the trip. It wasn't going to be much of a trip, seeing as he was only going to get his wand. They already had people to get what was necessary, such as his books.

Earlier in the week, their grandfather had called someone from 'Milan' a high street clothing shop, to take measurements for new clothing. He had taken measurements for his school uniform as well.

"What are you doing?" Arturo asked his brother as he had just found him in the hallway on the second floor of the fourth wing.

Alessandro turned from what he was looking at to find his brother stood not too far from him, at the end of the hallway just at the top of the stairs, his hand still holding onto the railing.

"I'm talking to Achille" came his response. He had initially wanted to spend time with Arturo but when he had sought him his brother was taking one of his daily naps.

"Ah" Arturo responded as he neared them both, Achille was one of their many ancestors that filled the hallways of the large manor. He was actually the only ancestor in this hallway they were in, while the other frames were filled with colours and scenery.

"Yes, care to join our conversation, Art?!" the voice came from the very artwork Alessandro was looking at. The boy in the painting was only a few years older than Arturo when he had died. He was 15.

Alessandro took a step aside making space for his brother to have his view of the artwork, Achille was sitting on a fence, one of the fences that surrounded one of the gardens from the forest they had on the property. Achille had once lived in the very same manor they were living in, seeing as it was the ancestral home of the house of Carandini.

"What were you talking about?" Arturo joined them, a smile on his face.

"Who cares, I want to know about your schooling, when will you be leaving for Beauxbaton?!" the boy asked in an excited tone, the only source of entertainment was when the two of them came to visit.

"Next week."

"Brilliant, so that's not too far off then. What of the subjects?" Achille moved closer to them, jumping off the fence he was sat on, staring in keen interest. He was curious as to if the subjects were the same after so many years.

"Well, I'm sure the core subject is the same as when you attended. Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, Etiquette, flying, Herbology, History of Magic, Potions, Transfiguration, Astronomy, Defence Against The Dark Arts and Drama." Arturo listed off as Achille nodded along with interest.

"Hmm, well they are basically all the same- what about the extra three you must choose?"

Alessandro stared at both of them, listening- he couldn't wait to be able to attend Beauxbaton as well along with his brother. It would be too bothersome to be home alone if he even considered his grandfather's rare presence anything.

"Ah, those took me a while to decide on. I chose Philosophy, language and Painting. Grandfather Ermenegildo wasn't too pleased with the painting choice but allowed it nonetheless."

"I thought you chose Drawing, not painting" Alessandro interrupted confused.

Arturo shook his head at his brother, "I changed my mind at the last second. Using a brush sounds much easier than having to use a pencil to draw- what core subjects did you choose Achille?"

Arturo turned his attention back to Achille, the boy huffed as he lost himself in thought, "-Ah, I chose Philosophy as well, sculpture and Language."

"Really? You chose sculpture, your parents allowed you?" Alessandro interrupted once again.

"Yes, it was one of the hardest moments in my short life, arguing with my father to allow me to take the Sculpture class, but when you look at the options there really wasn't anything else that drew my eye."

He was right, nothing really stood out for himself either. Among the three options, they much choose from there is Art History, Philosophy, Dance, Horse Back Riding, Architecture, Drawing, Painting, Photography, Sculpture, Textiles, Literature and Languages.

Achille sat back down this time on the ground of his scenery, leaning his back against the wooden fence, bathing in his sun as his eyes closed. "I'm glad I died" he casually said.

Alessandro's brows raised.

"Why so?" Arturo asked curious to the random outburst, with nothing to do with what they were talking about.

His eyes opened at the question, "Because I had my midterm exams coming up and I didn't study like I had told myself I would do- we couldn't have the heir to the House of Carandini doing bad in a test, could we? How I detest those stupid standardized exams, why should a piece of paper be used to show if I'm a 'winner' or 'loser', it's stupid having parents breathing down your neck to succeed-"

"-Wait, you were the heir?!" Alessandro interrupted once again more confused than ever.

Arturo rolled his eyes as he scoffed at his brother's confusion, did his brother truly not know that? Looking at the frame of Achille, at the bottom, his name was engraved into it, Achille Alessandro Carandini.

Six generations ago he had been the heir to the House of Carandini, the next Lord, studying 'hard' in Beauxbaton to graduate, unfortunately, a week after his 15th birthday, in early January, himself and a few other students were murdered by another classmate- the school had closed for nearly a month after the incident, it unnerved both parents and attending students.

With Achille's death at hand, his younger brother Andrea was given the title of heir. Roberto and himself were Andrea's descendants. Achille would be somewhat of a 'distant' uncle, with how many 'greats' would have to come before uncle.

"Yes, I was heir, but I died. I only had one other sibling, my brother Andrea, your ancestor… I do miss the boy, I used to hate his existence, seeing as he always had our mother's attention while I was made to work and study in the library. I would hear his laughs, their laughs- but all I wanted after finding myself here in this Portrait was to hear them once again. I don't actually know anything of my death, seeing as the portrait was made before then. I was stored away for a while, before one of your ancestors found me and hung me, he told me of my death. Although knowing that my brother had a family makes me happy- strange, it took death for me not to fear having such 'emotions' my father would be disappointed."

"…" Achille hadn't told them this before, so it wasn't a surprise Arturo was lost for words.

"Well, at least you have us?" Alessandro filled the silence with a questionable look, he didn't realise the painting could hold such 'personality', usually, there would be much of a limit of what they can do or say, but seeing this portrait, someone who had known him must have made the portrait.

--

"-Finally, I can breathe!" Alessandro exclaimed as he let out a breath.

They were currently in Monte Vi, the high-end part of the shopping district, after having to walk through the lower part of the district, where most of the people shopped.

"And you couldn't before?" Arturo drawled as his eyes lingered on the nearby shops.

Alessandro shook his head in disgust, "Of course not, not with all those plebians walking around. Surely grandfather would have known an easier way to go past that all?"

"Of course, there is. The only reason we went that direction was because grandfather wanted to go to the bank, which is where he told us to meet him after I get my wand- do you really call them plebians?"

His brother shoved his hands in the pockets of his trench coat as they continued on walking down the street, staring at each shop, waiting to see the shop labelled, 'Peitro'.

It was the only wand shop within the shopping area.

Alessandro scoffed, "What else is there but to call them plebians? Besides I'm pretty sure that's what you call them. Grandfather never says anything whenever I call them that."

Arturo just rolled his eyes once again; he was finding it to be a habit whenever his brother spoke or just did anything at all.

After a few more minutes of walking, Arturo just knew they weren't going the right way.

—

It didn't take long for them to find the shop 'Pietro' after asking for directions.

The shop was on the cheap side, much to Alessandro's detest. He had decided to wait where he was since he didn't want to walk back there and have to hold his breath again. That plan, however, was disrupted when his brother dragged him along like a child. He wasn't a child! He was nine, he had told his older brother, while his cheeks flushed.

They were standing in front of the shop.

Alessandro asked, his brow furrowed, as he slowly moved the part of his trench coat, he was using to cover his face as he walked past the plebians.

"Has the man really been alive since 482 BC?"

The wand shop was labelled 'Pietro, wandmakers since 482 BC.'

"If you actually studied- actually even read a book willingly, then maybe you wouldn't be as stupid as you are now," Arturo said, not bothering to look at his brother as he tried to control himself, trying hard not to let out a laugh at the stupid question.

Alessandro gave the most offended expression at his brother's words.

Arturo too then looked to his brother, his expression straight, "It has obviously been in the family since 482 BC."

The younger boy's mouth hung open slightly in realization, then quickly closed as he turned away from Arturo's gaze. He had never felt more embarrassed than he did at that moment.

As he walked into the shop, the door made a ringing noise as he pulled it open, announcing his arrival. When he looked around, he saw many boxes of wands strewn about the shelves of the small shop he was now in, while his brother hurriedly followed him in, the door once again announcing a customer.

Looking around, he noticed how clean yet messy it was. He perceived it to be clean in the sense that there was no dust in sight. The desk in front of them was empty, with no one to assist them. Looking to the side of the desk, he noticed an open archway through which he could see many other shelves filled with wands.

"It's not as bad as I thought it would be..." Alessandro mused as he examined the jumble of wands. His hand reached out to the closest shelf to him, before his hand was slapped away. Alessandro clutched the hand that was slapped in his other hand, holding it close to his chest with wide eyes.

"Not bad indeed but do well not to touch boy," said an amused voice from their right, surprising both the boys.

Alessandro recovered from the sudden appearance and narrowed his eyes at the plebian that dared to touch his precious hand.

Arturo deduced from the man's appearance that he was at least close to the age of his grandfather, who was in his late fifties at the moment. Although the man's face suggested he was younger than his grandfather, his beard and hair, which was greying all over, suggested otherwise. His grandfather, on the other hand, had almost no grey hair in his dark locks.

Without saying anything else, the man moved closer to Arturo. The man was almost as tall as his grandfather, who was in fact quite tall.

"Wand hand?" he inquired.

Arturo immediately raised his left arm, and he swore he had seen the man's eyes sparkle as he did so. He moved to the shelf on their right, reaching for one of the many items on the top shelf.

As the man left their side, Alessandro shuffled closer to his brother and whispered, "I think I'll have him sent to Azkaban."

Once again Arturo snorted and looked to his brother, "Why?" he asked with true curiosity.

Alessandro brought the hand that has slapped to Arturo's face, "He touched me!" he hissed in a hushed tone.

"Well, you deserved it, besides why Azkaban? That's like in the North Sea."

"I heard it was much worse there, they have these things called-" Alessandro thought it best to stop talking as he saw the man approach once more and took a step back.

With a quick spell, he brought down a wooden box and approached him once more. He looked down at Arturo before opening the box.

"You look exactly like your father did when he was your age. He was a much grumpier person than you, and he was a very impatient young man. I'm pretty sure I remember what his wand was. 12" pear wood with a unicorn core. I have a feeling this is going to be your wand."

Grumpier? He wanted to ask more questions about his father but decided against it, while Alessandro was slightly curious what wand their mother had- but silently cursed himself for wanting to know.

With that said the man opened the box, revealing the wand inside. Alessandro leaned forward to get a view of the wand himself with great curiosity.

"Pearwood, with a dragon heartstring core, 13 ¼" and unbending flexibility."

He could feel a great deal of power surging from the wand itself as if it was calling for him. He took it out of the box with his left hand.

As he gripped it, he felt a calming warmth within him that he had never felt before. A small smile appeared on his face.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Test it" the old man spoke out.

Without missing a beat, he flicked the wand and watched as the wand spewed out a ray of light that was neither too bright nor too dim. It warmed the room, leaving everyone warm, similar to how he had felt once he touched it.

With a grin the man spoke again, "Wonderful, I knew it would be the one."

Arturo had expected it to take at least a few tries before he found his wand, just as his grandfather had predicted, but there he was, finding it on the first try.

Arturo raised his hand up in the air as his brother reached out to take it.

"Hey! I just want to hold it, please?" Alessandro reached upwards on his toes trying to get the wand only for the very same hand to be slapped again.