Chapter 7: Shopping and Final Preparations
15th Sept 1990
Diagon Alley
"I say we get your trunk first. That way we can put your school supplies inside it instead of carrying them all day in our arms." proposed dad, to which we all agreed. And so we started towards our first stop for today, "Wizeacre's Wizarding equipment".
Arriving at the shop, we spent some time looking at the options. Of course, all basic Hogwarts school trunks have the standard 'ministry-approved' Extension Charm placed on them so that all of the student's belongings could comfortably fit inside. But I wanted something better.
So, I decided to buy a 3 compartment trunk. One part was for all the clothes and toiletries and whatnot. The second was for all the school supplies for potions, astronomy, quidditch and herbology. The third was for a small personal library.
We also bought a nice, collapsible brass telescope for astronomy. You may wonder how the antiquated telescopes of wizards fare against their modern muggle counterparts. The answer is, surprisingly well. After all, it has been proven repeatedly, that what wizards lack in science and common sense, they make up for it with magic. So, with an autofocus charm and a farsight spell, wizarding telescopes are actually far better than anything you'll find in the muggle market.
Paying our dues, we made our way to Madam Malkin's. As soon as we entered the shop, an assistant came forward to greet us. "Welcome to Madam Malkin's. How can we help you today?"
"We need a standard set of Hogwarts Uniform, please." said mom, gesturing towards me.
"Of course. If you could please step in here, we'll get you sorted out." The assistant said, looking at me.
As Madam Malkin used her charmed measuring tapes, I asked her about the spells she wove in the clothes. Apparently, the uniforms were designed to last growing children for a while, during which time they would keep expanding with the student to make sure they always fit. That was pretty much it for the standard robes. Of course, there are charms and even runes that can be incorporated into the clothes but they are simply not worth it to be put on clothes that you would outgrow in a short time. After taking the measurements, the proprietor asked us to return in an hour to collect our order.
We took a short break and had some ice-cream at Florean Fortescue's ice-cream parlour, before moving on to tackle the potion supplies, which led us to 'Slug and Jiggers Apothecary', where we bought a complete potions set, along with a nice set of crystal phials.
At 'Potage Cauldron Shop', mom insisted on me getting a Copper cauldron, even though the equipment list stated pewter. According to her, pewter cauldrons are notoriously substandard. The reason for so many melted cauldrons among the first years was that pewter can't handle the volatile reactions from wrongly mixed ingredients of even the most basic level potions.
The Ministry subsidizes the initial school supplies of 1st year students. So pewter was chosen to reduce government expenses, even though everyone knew about the dismal quality. Professional potioneers used silver cauldrons, while copper cauldrons were favoured by most adult witches and wizards.
Our next stop was 'Flourish and Blotts', where we purchased the standard set of books for first years. I didn't plan on 'buying' anymore books for myself. After all, I already knew about the Geminio Charm. Once I am at Hogwarts, I can just go to the Room of Requirement and start duplicating all the books from there. Hence why I purchased a trunk with a small library.
It was amusing to see my own books sitting in the 'Fiction' section of the bookstore. It was doubly amusing to see the moving pictures of Gilderoy Lockhart on the covers of his books casting dirty looks on my works from the 'non-fiction' section. Mrs. Greengrass had informed me that Lockhart's sales figures had taken a big hit since the advent of my books. Understandable, considering that the man's writings are filled with a wealth of invented details that were nothing but conceit, self-praise, vanity, gross exaggerations and idle speculations that were all hot air and bilge water.
Exiting the bookstore, we went back to Madam Malkin's and collected my uniform. That left only one item on today's list. We gathered in front of the only shop in Diagon Alley that sold the most important tool for a wizard. The golden sign on top was weathered with age, as if to demonstrate the weight of the words written there.
Ollivanders : Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC.
As we entered the shop, a tingling bell rang somewhere in the back. Almost subconsciously, we refrained from making any noises, as if the sanctity of this place demanded our respect.
The sight of hundreds of wands in their cases filled me with awe. I could literally feel the magic tingling across my skin. I was sure that if I used 'Magesight' in here, I would be blinded by the sheer multitude of different combinations of various aspects and attributes of magic.
It took a soft "Good afternoon" from behind to snap me out of my daze. Judging by their reactions, even mom and dad had been surprised and poor Rachel had let out a squeal, and was now looking crossly at the old man with wide pale eyes, for embarrassing her.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Ollivander. Still up to your old tricks, I see." Dad said, extending his hand for a shake. "Did you have fun scaring the kids?"
"Well, unlike you whippersnappers, I am an old man. I have to get my kicks wherever I can get them." Mr. Ollivander replied, before his serious expression transitioned into an indulgent smile. "Andrew Carter, good to see you, my boy. Ash, dragon heartstring, thirteen inches, flexible, was it?" he said, shaking dad's hand.
"Indeed, and still in good shape." said dad, producing his wand from his coat pocket. Mr. Ollivander gave it a brief look and nodded, then turned towards mom.
"Miranda Simmons, although I believe it is Carter now? Cedar, phoenix feather, eleven and half inches, springy?"
"It's good to see that age hasn't addled your mind, at least." said mom with a light smile and came forward to shake the wizened old wizard's hand.
"Of course not, my dear. Anything's possible with magic." Mr. Ollivander gave a short laugh and then turned towards me and Rachel. "My, my, how the years pass us by. Well, nice to meet you, young ones. Garrick Ollivander, at your service." he said, giving a short bow.
"It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Ollivander. Benjamin Carter, at yours." I said, reciprocating the bow. I then turned towards my sister "and this is my sister, Rachel."
"Hello." said she, looking uncertainly at the weird old man.
"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, young lady. Although I do not believe you require my services just yet." Mr. Ollivander turned towards my parents with a questioning look.
"We're just here for Ben today." said mom.
"Splendid. Let's get to it, shall we?" Mr. Ollivander clapped his hands once and went behind the desk to look at me.
"Now, Mr. Carter, please raise your dominant arm. Thank you." I raised my right arm and he started taking measurements from all over. As he did that, he spoke " Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Carter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you'll never get such good results with another wizard's wand."
As the tape continued to take measurements by itself, Mr. Ollivander went to some of the shelves and started taking down boxes.
"That will do." he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Mr. Carter. Try this one. Mahogany and unicorn hair. Nine inches, springy. Just take it and give it a wave."
I took the wand and give it a swing. A window smashed to smithereens. Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of my hands at once.
"No, no. Elm, phoenix feather, eleven inches, quite whippy. Give it a try."
I barely raised the wand when it too was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander.
"No, definitely not. Hmm, I wonder. Here, Mr. Carter, try this. Maple, dragon heartstring, thirteen and half inches, supple flexibility."
As soon as I held the wand, I felt a sudden warmth in my fingers. The feeling was hard to describe, but to put it in words, it was like meeting an old friend that you never knew you had. I raised the wand above my head and it gave a bright blue glow as sparks shot off its top like fireworks.
My family clapped as Mr. Ollivander came forward smiling. "Oh Bravo! Mr. Carter, well done. The wand chooses the wizard and this wand has chosen you. Maple wands often choose owners who are travellers and explorers by nature. They are not stay-at-home wands and prefer ambition in their witch or wizard, otherwise their magic becomes heavy and lackluster. Possession of a maple wand has long been a mark of status because of its reputation as the wand of high achievers. Dragon heartstrings, on the other hand produce wands with the most power, capable of the most flamboyant spells. I think we can safely say, Mr. Carter that you'll have a fairly exciting future."
We thanked Mr. Ollivander and after paying him 10 galleons for the wand and a wand-maintainance kit, we exited the shop and returned home. And thus today's exciting family outing came to an end.
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1st Aug 1991
Carter Residence
Only fools think that magic and science are mutually exclusive. In order to perform any sort of complex magic to change the natural order, one needs to first understand the natural order, things defined by physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics, which constitute the laws of the universe.
With that insight, I have been studying the sciences for years with emphasis on material science, biochemistry and particle physics from the public library in our neighborhood. God! How I miss my smartphone! How I miss the internet! How I miss GOOGLE! It used to be so easy to collect any kind of information. Now I have to do everything the old-fashioned way.
I convinced my parents that I want to develop magical technologies after Hogwarts. Both of them had enough exposure to the new technologies springing up in the muggle world, so they supported my decision. It was certainly better than being a lackey in some ministry department for years.
To that end, I spent several days visiting second-hand book stores in London to amass a respectable collection of science books including some on science fiction. All those books were neatly packed in the small library of my school trunk.
There's been a positive development on the magic frontier with the acquisition of my wand. As soon as I held it in my hand, I could feel it gently coaxing my ambient magical energy like a greeting, almost. I couldn't hold back my curiosity and cast 'Analysis' on it. What I saw, blew me away. Inside the wand, there were dozens of carved out runes. I could see the materials used, the wood and the core, and every single groove meticulously carved into every facet of the wand. It was beautiful.
Strictly speaking, witches and wizards don't have a magical organ. They have a sort of.... container in the form of their body. Such is also the case for every magical creature in this world. The more you interact with magic (magical particles), the more you manipulate it, the more your body becomes saturated with it.
This is why older wizards like Dumbledore and Flamel are so powerful. Their physical bodies have deteriorated with time, but their internal magic has only become stronger. Magical creatures take that one step further. Long lived beings such as Unicorns, dragons, phoenixes and basilisks not only have powerful magic, but even their physique is changed by magic, and those changes are transmitted by bloodlines.
Magical particles are all around us. The primary difference between Magicals and non-magicals is that the bodies of the former can interact with these particles, or say mana. Whereas for Non-magicals, mana simply passes through their bodies without any effect.
A wand forcibly directs the mana flowing around us into our body, thereby drastically reducing the amount of magic needed for a spell, as compared to wandless magic. Using a wand for the first time was a revelation. With it, I didn't need to fuel a spell purely with my own magic. All I needed to do, was initiate the spell with intention and move the wand in the predesignated pattern, and the magical tool will facilitate the formation and continuation of the spell by drawing in the ambient mana, mixing it with my internal magic and moving the mixture in the pathway need to actualize the spell. It allowed me to save almost 80% of my magic that I was used to spending.
Hats off to Ollivander's, truly. Whoever designed the modern wands was a genius. They allowed the formation of entire magical societies, instead of a few small covens here and there. But at the same time, they also brought down the average level of wizards.
Casting magic with wands requires a fraction of the focus necessary for wandless magic. The rune circuits inside the wand do all the work, and the witch or wizard only needs to wave the thing around like an idiot without even understanding the underlying principle.
Wands equalised the structure of magical society. After all, who wants to take a road filled with bumps and potholes when a highway is available? This allowed politics and bureaucracy to control our world, instead of wisdom and power.
Either way, getting my wand was a milestone for me. In the past year, I have learnt and performed spells from Charms, Transfiguration and Defence against the Dark Arts upto 3rd year level. I know, it seems like a lot, but trust me before 5th year (OWL year) the curriculum is rather lax. Besides, I've been studying magical theory for years now, and that made it easy to understand the 'how' and 'why' of things.
As I learnt these spells from the school books, I was struck by how similar they were to the ones from the Grimoire. For instance, 'Lumos' worked under the same principle of transforming magical energy to light energy (photons, maybe?), and 'Reparo' worked in the same way as 'Minor Heal/Mend' by taking all the broken pieces and reversing their time to a more recent whole state.
Once I could cast these spells following the wand movements in the books, I started backtracking, trying to feel the patterns in which my magic was being drawn by my wand. It was monotonous work, but by now I was used to performing spells wandlessly and I was not going to start relying on a crutch.
Not that I was going to throw away my wand. That would be plain stupid. The drastic reduction in magic consumption alone made it extremely precious. However, it was a thin stick made of wood, which made it vulnerable. Maybe I could create a smaller and more durable magical foci, like a ring, perhaps. But that's for later.
I have also learnt some new spells from the Grimoire -
Creation Magic -
a) Runic Enchantment - allows the caster to imbue magical Runes on objects to grant specific effects.
Evolution Magic -
a) Structural Analysis/Diagnostic - allows the user to view/feel the internal structure of an object or a living being.
I couldn't believe my luck! Runic Enchantment came at just the right time. Let me explain. Soon I would be off to Hogwarts, where lived Dumbledore, Snape and Quirrel. All of whom could, and would try to read my mind if they felt something was off.
Snape, paranoid old bat that he was, would bore into my eyes at the slightest suspicion. The less said about voldemort-infested Quirrel, the better. And if my luck turned out really shitty, I could be dealing with an evil Dumbledore, which would just suck.
The only defence against mind readers in this world is Occlumency. Unfortunately there is a reason why it's such an obscure art. For most people, the benefits are simply not worth the effort required to cultivate it.
I tried to learn it, but the hyperactive mind of a child is not something so easy to empty. Moreover, there were no books on the subject at my home. And then I got my Grimoire when I turned 7. Obviously, I couldn't bring it out in front of everyone, so I could only practice after dinner. I chose to study spells in those precious hours, instead of sitting down and trying to think of nothing.
But I couldn't deny that I had no viable defences against mind readers. Until now, that is. Enchantment allowed me to create my first artifact. Not that it was easy. I had to memorize a lot of Elder Futhark and Younger Futhark Runes. The result was a pair of high quality black-rimmed spectacles with several useful features - magnification, farsight, Magesight and night vision. But most importantly, the lenses will scramble any legilimency probes directed toward my eyes.
With my thoughts finally secured, I could rest easy knowing that I would not have to walk on eggshells at school. With all my preparations complete, it was finally time for school.
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