THE VISION THIEF - D. MALFOY

3. diagon alley

My head was pounding as I woke up and checked the time, 4 AM. I sighed deeply, not prepared for the day and its events. I quickly dressed myself, brushed out my long brown hair, and brushed my teeth as well. I stumbled around in the dark trying to make my way downstairs, but I managed. "You ready?" Grandpa whispers from the base of the stairs. "Not really." I mutter honestly. He frowns. "It's okay, just take it easy love." He says. I nod. 

14 painful hours after hardly any sleep and awful plane food we were finally in London. My thoughts were running wild the whole time and quite frankly it felt like torture. London was 8 hours ahead so it was now 7 am. 

I did have to admit, London was actually pretty amazing. It was a whole different culture. I was amazed by it all. We traveled by train for a long while to the country side, to a place named Wiltshire. A taxi took us to a small countryside cottage, with a smaller looking house spaced out from the cottage itself. Lush green stretched for miles far and wide. Herds of sheep could be seen in the distance. When we reached the cobblestone cottage I noticed a decent sized pond in front of the house.

 The taxi pulls to a stop, and we grab our baggage. Right as the taxi pulls away and begins down the road, the door front door of the house swings open. "Oh Nathaniel! You're here!" Someone exclaims from behind us. We both turn around to see a woman with outstretched hands rushing towards us. She has a head full of dark gray hair and wears a long silk dress that rivals today's fashion. 

She pulls grandpa into a hug and then turns towards me. "I'm Minerva McGonagall, But you can call me aunt Minerva. I've waited a long time to see you again Emmeline." She says. I smile softly in response to her welcoming words. "You can call me Emma." I say. "My, you have grown so much. I remember meeting you when you were a newborn. Where has the time gone?" She says. It turns out Minerva was my Grandma's sister. Rowena McGonagall had married Nathaniel Thomas, therefore making Minerva my great aunt. 

The nice thing about aunt Minerva's place is that she had an adorable little guest house on the back side of her house. It was almost the same as hers, just slightly smaller. It had 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, and a small kitchen and living area. It was perfect. 

I spent the first few days exploring Wiltshire and a nearby town. Grandpa had told me of the vast mansions and manors nearby which had sparked my interest, yet I never got around to seeing those. Mostly I just spent time alone exploring the rolling hills of London and the small shops a few miles away. I would walk the length in the morning, and head back in the late afternoon. I was fortunate enough to find a good book shop in which I spent most of my time in. A lot of the time spent at Aunt Minerva's house, we would work on finding a way for my powers to resurface.

At first, I used Grandpa's wand. It was mostly frustrating because I had to shout at random objects. The amount of times I shouted "Accio" or "Wingardium Leviosa" at a flower vase was unbearable. The most improvement we ever saw was that the vase moved a total of 3 inches. It was a starting point though. 

Finally, my Grandpa decided that was enough. "I think she needs a wand of her own Minerva." He said. She was quick to agree and decided we would go to a place named Diagon Alley tomorrow morning by something called the Floo Network. 

And suddenly the next morning I was standing in a fireplace. It felt rather strange, but considering all that I had seen and learned so far, I guess it couldn't really compare. "Now hold the floo powder in your hand and shout Diagon Alley!" Grandpa explained. Sure enough, I wound up in Diagon Alley with Minerva and Grandpa only a few minutes later. 

After getting my school robes and supplies, we eventually made our way to a wand shop named Ollivanders. "Well if it isn't two of my favorite customers!" A man with gray hair says excitedly as we enter in. "Hello Garrick." My Grandpa smiles. "Ah, who might this be?" Mr. Ollivander asks, pointing at me.

"This is my Granddaughter, Emma." He says.  Ollivander raises his eyebrows quizzically. "John and Alice's kid?" He asks. "Actually, She's Charlotte and Fletcher's child." Minerva speaks. Mr. Ollivander looks at me as if I have sprouted a second head. He rushes out from behind the desk and takes a step towards me. "But everyone thought you had died." He says. 

Well actually, I'm back from the dead, surprise!

"Fletcher and Charlotte faked her death to protect her-" Begins Grandpa. He explains to Mr. Ollivander my whole situation. When he finishes, Ollivander looks at me as if I am a living god. "Well it is a pleasure to meet you Ms. Emma Ashwood. Now, let's get you a wand." He says. I can't help but catch how he calls me by my parents last name. I've never heard Emma Ashwood before, but it certainly sounds more interesting than Emma Thomas. 

He walks towards an aisle full of small, narrow boxes. I notice how messy the shop actually is as my eyes wander from scattered papers, to more boxes stacked messily on top of the other. He takes a minute, studying each box, while humming to himself. Finally, he slides out a plain white box and walks towards me. "Now, let's see if this will do." He says as he removes the lid, and reveals a dainty light brown wand. He gently hands it to me. I smile as I take it from his hands. 

"Do you know any spells?" He asks. I breathe sharply. "Kind of." I say. He smiles, "Well why dont you give it a try?" He suggests. I nod before adjusting my grip on the piece of wood. "Lumos." I say. For a second, nothing happens. I frown as I look at the wand. Out of no where, a sudden blast emits from the wand tip. It looks identical to lightning itself and it rebounds off the ceiling and back to the floor, a few feet away from where I stand. I jump back and drop the wand. "Sorry." I mumble, feeling embarrassed. 

Mr. Ollivander blinks hard and stares at me. He shakes his head. "No worries." He laughs nervously, "Let's try something else." He says. We try about 3 more wands, each one no better than the other as each attempt becomes an automatic failure. Feeling hopeless, I feel as if I am about to give up. 

Suddenly, a single box drops onto the ground behind Mr. Ollivander. He turns around and walks over to pick it up. He removes the lid and pulls out a sleek dark brown, almost black wand, and examines it.  "Most peculiar." Ollivander whispers to himself. "Everything alright Garrick?" Grandpa asks. "Well yes it's just that, this wand, I came across it decades ago. Never have I been able to match it to any witch or wizard. It is made out of Silver Lime wood, best suited for a seer. It has the core of a phoenix feather, making this wand in its entirety, extremely rare. Why don't you give it a try Emma?" He says. The second he hands me the wand nearly every light in the room goes out and comes streaming in jets of light towards the tip of my wand, illuminating everything around me very brightly. I squint my eyes due to the almost blinding light. I feel almost as if energy is rushing through me. I swear I can nearly feel power pulsing through my veins as I hold the sleek wand in my hand. "This is the one." I say. I let go of the wand, unsure of what else to do, and immediately the light disappears, leaving the store quite dark. The outside light streams in through the widows. 

We look outside to see quite a commotion going on. Ollivander steps out from behind the desk and opens the front door. "What's going on?" He asks a woman on the street. "The power went out everywhere! It happened out of no where!" She exclaims and carries on. Mr. Ollivander steps back inside with a look of shock on his face. "Did- did I do that?" I ask softly. He nods his head slowly. "You're going to be a very powerful witch Ms. Ashwood." He says. 

Over the course of the next week, leading up to my first day at Hogwarts, we practiced rigorously on my spells. I only managed to break and blow up a few things which is why we ended up practicing outside most of the time. The good thing was that Minerva's house was secluded, so nobody would see us. I had Grandpa and Minerva constantly teaching me and quizzing me on many things. I learned the basics. I read books that first years typically had. Soon enough I was bursting at the seams with new information. 

By the end of the seemingly eternal week, I had almost mastered the spell Lumos and that was about all. I was making progress however. It was still very hard considering the spell that was meant to suppress my magic, but by everyday it was slowly wearing off the closer I got to 17. That was the initial plan anyways. By the time I was 17 I would be fully aware of my magic.