Agents of Discord

by KittyrinnAiko

Chapter 12: Shopping at Diagon Alley

When Nova had finished up at the shop, she found that she was now completely without a chaperone. On her previous trip, she’d purchased parchment and ink that would change color as you write along with several quill pens. But now it was time to buy books she hadn’t been able to get before. She’d already picked up Modern Magical History, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century along with a complete set of the Harry Potter Mysteries, and a couple of other Harry Potter titles. Course books had been denied her previously but now there would be no stopping her.

Flourish and Blotts looked pretty much like any other bookstore. Aerie made sure to get all the first-year books, The Standard Book of Spells grade one, A History of Magic, Magical Theory, a Beginner’s Guide to Transfigurations, One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, Magical Drafts and Potions, Fantastic Beasts and Where to find them, and a copy of The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection. To this pile, she added An Introduction to Magical Beasts printed back in 1910 that described such things as how to tame a three-headed dog, a copy of Hogwarts a History, A beginner's guide to Herbology, Who are the Akkadians, and Curses and Counter curses.

“Now Miss, you have to have an adult with you to buy this book,” chastised a store clerk on seeing the curse book.

“I’m with an adult,” Nova countered. “Selena?”

The gorgeous witch that emerged from the stacks befuddled everyone in the place as not a one had seen her enter.

“Oh yes, I thought it might be a good idea if she knows the counter curses,” Selena offered with a disarming smile, and a short time later the two were out the door. Oh, and the books went into her shoulder bag. Pretty much everything went into the bag.

“So where to next?” Selena asked once they were out of earshot of the people in front of the bookstore.

“Well, there’s the apothecary, might just as well get it over with,” Aerie offered and headed in that direction. There she purchased glass crystal vials, a pewter cauldron standard-sized two as was required, silver scales instead of brass, and the first year potions packet. From there they went over to the astronomy and astrology shop where she wanted to check out the telescopes.

“They are pretty, but not a one has optics more advanced than what was available in the nineteenth century,” Aerie whispered to Selena.

“Aerie, Aerie Potter?” Called the familiar voice of Professor McGonagall. “It is you, and you look a sight. Where’s Hagrid?”

“Afraid we got separated shortly after leaving the bank,” Aerie replied cheerfully. “Oh, hello.” She waved at a boy about her apparent age who was considerably darker in skin tone than many of those around him save a woman who stood behind him Aerie took to be his mother.

“Dumbledore assured me he had everything in hand. And you’ve no idea where Hagrid went?”

“Right off hand I’d think back to the pub to fortify himself,” Nova replied. “He turned Dudley into a pig boy last night with a snout even, and was sick in Gringotts, so I’m perfectly happy to not be under his feet.”

“Who’s Dudley? Hi, the name’s Dean Thomas.” He extended his hand and Nova reached over and took it.

“Aerie Potter, nice to meet you,” she replied shaking his hand.

“Who’s Dudley?”

“My cousin. Granted he hadn’t far to go.”

“That must have been wicked.”

“Actually, it was kind of stressful. Our house got firebombed, my uncle was having a nervous breakdown even before the fire due to harassment, we go on this impromptu road trip, end up in a ramshackle cabin out on an island, and this huge man comes calling in the middle of the night. I get up, go open the door because it sounds like he’s trying ta kick the door down, swing open the door and this huge foot goes sailing past my head. In the state of mind I was in I kind of let him have it, verbally that is, and I haven't had a thing to eat since yesterday because all he had to offer was lint-covered mystery meat from his pockets. And then we took the only boat off the island so I figure My Aunt, Uncle, and cousin are still there without any food or water. Did I mention our house burned down? Letters came spewing out of the fireplace. With a fire in it. Every last one for someone named H Potter, and every last one catching fire as it passed through the flames.”

“Dear…” McGonagall began. She was obviously trying to check her rage. “Do you have any idea where you plan to stay tonight?”

“With the Finch-Fletchleys I imagine, short of someone has burned their house down just to keep me from going back… Oh, I should probably give them a call,” Aerie offered, and then fished out her cell phone.

“Oh, dear, that’s not going to work…” McGonagall began.

“Hello? Flora, yes, it’s me, I’m fine. Worn out. Is it OK if I come home? Seems I’ve nowhere else to go. I can? Yes, thank you so much. I’m over at Diagon Alley getting my school supplies. The homeless man? That was Hagrid. No idea where he is though. Oh, and, I hate to impose, but I could really use a ride. After the night I had, I’d likely fall asleep on the train.”

“That’s one of them Akkadian phones, super expensive they are,” Dean announced.

“And now I know why,” McGonagall said softly wondering how Aerie had even gotten a hold of it.

“She says she will be right over and meet me out front,” Aerie informed them. “Oh, and Professor…” Aerie pulled out the extra note Dumbledore had penned for her making certain promises and showed it to her. “I imagine they’ll be my guardians once the paperwork catches up with the promises.”

“I see… did you know about the cellar under the house?”

“Oh, yes, I did. The hatch to get under the house was via the cupboard under the stairs. I discovered the hatch fairly early on and it looks like an old middle ages cellar that was modified by the War Department in World War two as a bunker. Once under the house, I gained access via a set of stairs. It had been buried, but when you spend a lot of time locked in a cupboard, digging out an old bunker is just a way to keep busy.”

“Were you, were you locked in a cupboard often? Mrs Thomas asked.

“Oh, I lived in a cupboard,” Aerie provided as she put her letter away. Her tone indicated she thought it was perfectly fine for a child to live in a cupboard under the stairs. “A cupboard under the stairs. Grew up in it. I only recently got moved out when the authorities found out about it. Not sure why it was such a big deal. They tried to move me out of the house because of all my bruises, but then a judge signed an order to send me back, and then takes off on vacation and no one is quite sure where he went. I will have to admit that living with the Finch-Fletchleys was a lot nicer than with my actual relatives. Thanks to the way the system works I couldn't get out again until something worse happened. The BBC saw Hagrid using magic to propel a boat. The whole trip was just one thing after another. I’m to understand the authorities were poised to swoop in and rescue me. Followed us right to the Leaky Cauldron. They may even be watching the pub now.”

“I see,” McGonagall replied figuring she knew what had happened to the judge. Her rage had slipped over to a resigned what the absolute fuck oh my god!!! So in other words she was now in a rather interesting state of zen.

“Professor, do I have to have a wizard-made telescope?” Aerie asked. “The thing is, there are better quality telescopes in muggle shops.”

“And you’ve already got one,” Selena pointed out.

“I do at that. These are pretty, but I want more than pretty… Oh, right, this is Selena. She’s a friend.”

“Well, it’s good that you have someone with you,” McGonagall offered. “As for the telescope, I don’t see that it’s going to be a big problem, but you might want to get a charm added that will allow you to see through clouds.”

“It’s an Akkadian telescope. The charm is already there, all I had to do was activate it. Now, that leaves a wand,” Aerie said triumphantly.

“She already picked up a trunk,” Selena offered. That trip had proven most interesting and most fruitful in that they’d picked up a rather nice deluxe trunk with an apartment that looked suspiciously like the flat under the Finch-Fletchley’s home. The two were also fairly sure the sales clerk had in fact been Discord.

Ollivanders wand shop wasn’t much to look at from the outside. Just a small storefront with a door and a single window. It looked rather shabby too. The sign outside featured peeling gold lettering which boasted of having been in business since 389BC; before the common era. Although to be accurate it was Before Christ since it lacked the ‘E’ normally applied so that people would know it meant before the common era and not the later. Assuming of course BC didn’t stand for something completely different. After all, why would wizards even use the same calendar as the muggles? Sure, she could see coordinating major holidays, but that BC could just as easily be Before the Great Charter, and somewhere along the line the ‘G’ was dropped from the sign. One thing was for sure, short of the building being of Roman construction, there was little chance it dated back to 389 BC of the modern western calendar. Might it actually be Before Claudius? Nova imagined that it would make perfect sense for magical Britten to date their calendars to such a significant event in the history of Britannia. Granted that it would throw their calendars off, but not by all that much.

A small bell jingled as they opened the door and entered the store. In the window could be seen a single wand on a faded purple cushion. The lobby was small, there was a counter, behind which were stacks and stacks of little boxes, and a passageway plunged into the depths of the shop making it look as though the shop itself had been built in the space between buildings. It was also just as shabby on the inside as the outside. Dust, cobwebs, and peeling plaster walls. Red ocher could be seen underneath where the whitewash along the bottom third of the wall was peeling, and the floor sported a simple checkered pattern offset from the walls. When Nova looked up at the inside front wall she could just make out the telltale signs of a roof peak proving that additional floors had been added over time. Was it Roman? All Nova could think was a definite maybe. And yes, this was the first time she’d ventured into the shop.

“Mother, this one suits me a lot better than the one you were going to get me,” came Draco’s voice.

Nova stopped examining the architecture long enough to discover Draco and his mom were presently standing at the counter.

“Oh, hi Aerie. You were absolutely right,” Draco informed her. “I really did need to pick out my own.”

“I’m glad you found a better wand,” Aerie replied cheerfully. “We are here to get our first wand.”

“And I shall look forward to dueling you when you get your wand,” He offered with a smile.

“There will be no dueling at Hogwarts,” McGonagall chastised.

“He’s just funning,” Nova offered in Draco’s defense. “Like we could do anything shy of zapping each other till we’re silly.”

“I suppose that’s a fair enough assessment,” McGonagall admitted as Draco and his mother made their way out the door.

“Good luck,” Draco offered as he exits the building.

“Good afternoon,” offered the soft-spoken clerk behind the counter. He was an old man with wide pale eyes that gave Nova to ponder if he might not be fully human.

“Ah, Mr Ollivander, we’ve two new students for you,” McGonagall informed him.

“Indeed, indeed, and if my eyes do not deceive me this is the young Miss Potter, is it not?”

“Um, that is, yes sir,” Aerie replied just a bit apprehensive. Had he been forewarned, or was there something else going on? He seemed to be the only one who knew who she was and got the gender right.

“Ah yes,” Mr Ollivander said as he came out from behind the counter and went over to Aerie. “Yes, yes, I thought I’d be seeing you soon?”

“Hang on, Doctor?” Aerie asked recognizing the man's face.

“Jelly Baby?” He said as he pulled out a bag with little candies in it. “Now, where was I?” He looked at Selena, and then back at Aerie, you have your mother’s eyes.”

“And hopefully her good looks?” Aerie quested.

*“Well, time will tell, won’t it? Seems like only yesterday she was in here buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches, a swishy bit of yew. Nice wand for charm work.” He paused and shook his head. “Not so much for fighting the forces of evil though.

“Now your father, he favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches, pliable, a well-powered wand that was excellent for transfiguration. Granted that it’s the wand that favors the wizard.”

“Compatible magical core is what I’d think,” Aerie offered.

“Ah, yes, that is it, isn’t it? Which makes me wonder why…” He headed back to the counter, “certain wizards are so captivated by the idea of the elder wand.”

“Elder and thestral, wasn’t it?” Aerie asked. She looked back at McGonagall, “I’ve already done some reading.”

“Indeed, Elder wood and Thestral hair,” Ollivander confirmed as Aerie moved over to the counter. “You are absolutely correct. Not really suited for anyone so far as I know. No, that one is typically possessed by people with lofty ambitions and entirely too much testosterone. They overcharge it. But for you, nothing of the sort will do.” He looked right at Aerie’s forehead.

“I am sorry to say that I sold the wand that created that scar on your head. Notwithstanding meddlesome chaos gods. Yew, thirteen and a half inches. Powerful, very powerful that one.

“If I’d have known…” he shook his head. “Ah, I see Hagrid outside with an owl and ice cream. Oak, sixteen inches. They snapped it in half when he went and got himself expelled.

“Well now, Miss Potter, let’s see what we can set you up with…”

“Professor, if he intends that for me, could you remind him that I’ve got a cat already,” Aerie requested of Professor McGonagall while Mr Ollivander started pulling out different wands. McGonagall turned and stepped outside.

“Now… Miss Potter, let’s see what we’ve got…” Mr Ollivander said as he pulled a long tape measure with silver markings on it out. “Which is your wand hand?”

“Right hand,” Aerie offered with confidence and held out her arm before she could be prompted to do so. Mr Ollivander then proceeded to measure Aerie from top to bottom, stem to stern, and before long the tape was doing all the measuring while Mr Ollivander took notes. A moment later he’d dismissed the tape and offered a Beech-wood and dragon heartstring wand.

“No, thank you,” Nova said. She’d no desire to even so much as touch that one.

“No? Never mind then, let’s try something else as I have got a feeling that wasn’t going to suit you anyway. “Maple and phoenix feather?”

That one Aerie tried only to have it snatched away.

“No, that will never do, here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches. Go on, give it a try.”

She gave it a flick, but didn’t really get anything and feared what would happen if she tried to force it. Wand after wand came out

“Not to worry, we’ll find the perfect match…” Mr Ollivander was saying and promptly produced an eleven-inch holly wand with a phoenix feather and offered it up just as McGonagall came back in. Nova was pretty sure he’d just pulled it out from under the counter.

Aerie let out a sigh and gave it a try. Nothing.

“By any chance did Professor Dumbledore give you this with instructions to make sure I got this one? This specific wand?” The look on his face told her more than enough. She handed it back and added, “Perhaps you should save this for the chosen boy. I am not the chosen boy and no amount of manipulation is going to change that.”

“Mr Ollivander, did you and Professor Dumbledore seriously try to force an unsuitable wand on a student?” Professor McGonagall asked.

“I don’t understand, Dumbledore did the measurements some time ago, but his measurements are usually spot on?”

Nova had a good idea of what had happened.

“Have you done this often?”

“To be honest, yes. I was to give Narcissa Malfoy a specific wand for Draco, but then young Draco comes in and insists on getting a different wand.”

“My doing, I’m afraid,” Aerie offered. “After all, the wand chooses the wizard, does it not? I’d had a chat with him. He’s a bit of a prat, but likable enough. I’d imagine our meeting didn’t go quite the way Professor Dumbledore had planned.”

“You aren't suggesting…” Professor McGonagall began but stopped when she realized the evidence was beginning to stack up. Professor Dumbledore had plans for ‘the boy’ only young Potter turning out to be a girl was throwing off his plans. Her being far more knowledgeable than she should be was also causing shock waves.

“I think I know how to speed things up a bit,” Nova offered, closed her eyes, and held up her hand.

“What… are… you… doing?” Dean Thomas asked thinking he’d seen something like what Aerie was doing before. Boxes began to shake and quiver depending on which direction the palm of her hand was pointing and it was causing harmonics that made it almost like an orchestral choir softly singing to amp up the suspense.

Suddenly a box flew out of its cubbyhole and slapped into Aerie’s hand.

A hush fell over the room.

“That’s more than just magic,” Professor McGonagall said softly.

“You’re a Force User,” Dean Thomas said in awe.

“Ya, I discovered that I could do it after seeing Star Wars,” Nova offered. OK, it was after seeing Star Wars and finding herself back in Equestria many years later, but who cares about the details? “I reached out with my feelings, so to speak, and found the one that came closest to matching my core.” Aerie then opened up the box to find a thirteen-inch blackthorn wand. In the box was a note that looked suspiciously like her own handwriting. It was written in old Ponish in a script likely unknown in the human world. Nova Silverwood no doubt.

Blackthorn, winged unicorn tail feather. Hope this works for you. I did some checking based on your dimensional background frequency, and it’s looking like you are going to be here for a while. About a weak their time, but more than enough time to finish Hogwarts and transfer to my school. Try to enjoy yourself, and we will kick Discord’s flank when the time comes. Your other self.

Nova smiled hoping to hide the wrenching feeling in her gut, gave a flick of the wand, and felt her magic freely flowing through the wand followed by a shower of rainbow colors shooting forth from the wand.

“Yes, this will do nicely,” Aerie said softly. “What do I owe you, and I should probably get going?”

“That’s alright, no charge,” Mr Ollivander offered. “I really should stop going along with Professor Dumbledore and properly fit wands.”

“Thank you,” Aerie replied, gave him a polite bow, turned, and exited with Selena right behind her. This time she willingly took one of the half-melted ice creams. “A person would think that wizards could come up with a spell to keep ice cream from melting.”

“Mr Dean Thomas, you said Force User?” McGonagall asked.

“It’s from a movie about a war in a distant galaxy far far away. I always thought that kind of stuff was just pretend… like magic, only…”

“It would seem we are going to have a very talented young lady at Hogwarts this year.”

For Aerie, passing through the Leaky Cauldron on the way out proved nearly as difficult as when she’d arrived. Possibly even worse. The anonymity she had enjoyed on her earlier trips was all but gone. Everyone seemed to know her now, and everyone seemed to think they deserved a piece of her. Hagrid being right behind her only helped to highlight that yes, this was the girl. Aerie had picked him up along the way along with the owl because the pet shop wasn’t going to take it back. Yes, he knew Aerie had a cat, but he’d been instructed to get Aerie an owl. Aerie would just have to give the bird to Justin who’d not gotten an animal. Hagrid had of course apologized profusely for making such a mess of things, and Aerie had little choice but to tell him she forgave him and didn’t hate him. Hagrid wasn’t exactly the brightest individual and needed reassurance as badly as he’d messed up. Aerie had to remind herself that Hagrid was probably a genius among giants. Still though, as far as wizards went, he was a bit slow.

Somehow they managed to get through, and out to the street just as Flora pulled up. Granted that she was one store over.

“Hang on, Aerie, where’s your cat?” Hagrid asked perplexed.

“Moonie,” Aerie called as she opened the car door. A moment later Moonie the cat bounded on over and up into the car.

“Ang on, where’d Miss Selena go?” Hagrid asked as he looked about as Aerie climbed into the front seat of the car.

“Left,” Aerie replied. “I have to go now. Bye.” And with that she closed the door, Flora pulled out into traffic, and a moment later they were on their way. Minus the owl.

“I suppose I don’t have to tell you how worried I was?” Flora asked as they continued on their way.

“I had everything under control. On the other hand, I’m starving. Any chance we can stop for Fish and Chips along the way.”

“I think we can manage that.”

They stopped a short time later, Aerie got a double portion, and when she’d eaten it all she fell fast asleep not to wake up until the next morning.

Comments

[harts fire]

Oh the fun of seeing all of the right strings being plucked and pulled , to unravel all of the shabby plans put forth..
Hay Discord you bets get a good supply of popcorn going and Pinky i really like banana muffins..
pull up a chair this is going to be a amazing ride.

[badninja]

Why do I think Dumbeldor will have a very unpleasant day tomorrow. So I wonder how fast Nova will be getting rid of the useless teachers at Hogwarts? I see Binns and Quirrlmort going in the first week.

[KittyrinnAiko]

11356138
She can't actually get rid of Quirel without tipping off Voldy. At the same time, letting things play out creates opertunities to make Dumbldore look bad.

[Da Fennec]

Fully expecting Dumbledore to either back out of the deal or 'fix' things so while it doesn't look like his doing he keeps his status quo especially where 'Harry' is concerned

[uis]

“Hang on, Doctor?” Aerie asked recognizing the man's face.

Who or Whooves?