The Slytherin Prince

¹¹| A New Wand {Part 1}

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The Slytherin Prince

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"Thoughts"

Letter

"~Parseltongue~"

":Deathtongue:"

~~~ August 2, 1990. Right where we left off ~~~

~~~ Hadrian's POV ~~~

When we found the shop, it was just a few spaces down from 'Borgin & Burkes', which Uncle Lucius frequents to buy and sell expensive and rare artefacts. The store had a rickety sign that read "Felix Wand Crafter - Maker of fine Wands, Staffs and Amulets since 200BC". All of us looked impressed as we entered the shop. As we did, all of us could feel the tingle of wards and the feel of magic oozing out of all the woods and cores, literally. "Amazing!" breathed Lucius, and Narcissa just nodded in agreement with her husband.

"Why can we feel the raw magic? Ollivander's is nothing like this?" said Remus, looking around in awe. The three of us, too, were looking around, slack-jawed, but I was sure that my expression was more controlled and schooled into a cool nonchalance.

"Ah! Young Wizards and Witches, how nice to see you!" said a calm, deep voice. Only Lucius and I were able to keep from jumping in surprise. "You can call me Felix. How can I help you?" he asked politely. "I assume that the wands are for you three?" he questioned, gesturing to the three of us. I just nodded. Before he could say something else, I asked him, "Why is your shop so different from that nutter, Ollivander's? Why can we feel the raw magic from the materials?"  

Felix smiled when I called Ollivander a nutter. He shook his head at my questioning and said, "Quite inquisitive, aren't you? It's going to be a fun day", clearly amused. "First and foremost, what Ollivander tells his customer is true; the wand chooses the wizard young Lord and Heirs," he said slowly as if retelling an exciting story.

"But, it is not the wand that chooses the Wizard. It is the core and wood that chooses the Wizard. Theoretically, a wizard can use any wand as long as the core and wood do not repel the user. But, each Wizard or witch has an affinity for different things. Some people are good at Transfiguration, while others lean towards Charms. Some are partial to Warding and Runes, while others show a flair for Potions related magic. Some lean towards defensive magic, others are better at offensive, some are better at Light magic, some are better at Dark Magic, such as the young Lord over here," he finished softly, but everyone heard him.

The adults looked worried, but Felix saw it and explained, "Dark Magic is not like what everybody is led to believe. It is not evil. It is simply a type of magic like Light or Grey magic. Light magic can just as easily be used for malicious intent. A simple cutting curse, a Light spell, can be used to chop potatoes as easily as it can be used to slit someone's throat to the bone if powerful enough," he explained.

"There is nothing like Dark magic is evil and Light magic is good. Both can be used for good or bad, and it simply depends on the user's intent. As I explained, most people have an affinity. Usually, it depends on the witch or Wizard's magical core. The Longbottom Heir has a strong Light core, while the young Malfoy has a mighty powerful Grey core. But the young Lord, on the other hand, has the most powerful Dark core I have ever seen, and I have been alive for centuries - I am a Vampire creature," he analysed and explained.

Each person will have an affinity for different cores, woods, and other materials but could use quite a few varieties very well. The difference between Ollivander," he practically spat the name, "and myself is that I create custom wands that will suit my customer the best, Ollistupid on the other hand, already has a range of fixed options and the customers can only pick and choose a combination out of his collection that suits them the best. This denies the wizards and witches the ability to use their core to its best capacity as the wand is not a good match but rather the best match out of the lot. Do you get what I mean?" he explained and then asked.

We nodded, and I gestured for him to continue. "Luckily, you three", he gestured to the adults, "have almost a perfect match, and it has been attuned to your magical cores for years, so it is best if you stick with those wands. But you three will get your best fit, come along," he said as he led us to a display table with all sorts of wood chips and other bits and pieces of stuff.

"Mr Felix," I asked, "Why does your sign say you sell staffs and wands? I thought Wizards only Wands?". He smiled at my question and answered, "It is true most modern Witches, and Wizards use wands, but it is not compulsory to use one. A Wand is a tool used to direct one's magic produced by their magical core. It can be done without the aid of any tools but is very difficult for most people. Thus the usage of tools to direct and manipulate magic was introduced. For example, in countries like America, Britain, France and many more, almost one hundred per cent of the population use the Wands, but that is just because it is the most common and recent type of magic manipulation. The original two forms were Staffs and Amulets. In various regions in Asia like Eastern India, China, Japan and Korea, the traditional method of magic manipulation and direction is a staff. While in Egypt, Greece and Italy, the Amulet was always the preferred method".

We were all very interested in the history lesson he was giving us, including the adults, as it seemed they knew nothing of this too.

"There are advantages to both Staffs and Amulets. An Amulet is much easier to carry, use and also conceal, but it is less effective in accurately directing the users magic. Whereas the Staff is the example opposite, it is challenging to carry and conceal and is very precise in directing and amplifying one's magical abilities. But due to how cumbersome, it was mostly avoided by regular magical folk. Thus the wand was created, basically in size closer to an Amulet but still being precise in directing magic as its shape is basically that of a scaled-down Staff. Thus, as I said earlier, Wands are most popular as they mark the sweet spot between an Amulet and a Staff", he explained.

We were all bit stunned from a load of information, making him chuckle. He just gestured for us to follow him and directed us to choose our Wand materials

He asked us to hover our hands over the materials and choose the ones that we felt the strongest pull towards.

Draco went first and pulled out a holly block of wood and a cypress handle, paired with a Dragon heartstring core. "Ah, Holly, best suited for Transfiguration and Offensive magic, but very fickle. But Cypress, very loyal to its owner and overrules the last quality of the Holly block. Dragon heartstring shows affinity to reptiles: shows courage, but can be cunning - just like a Dragon".

Next was Nevilles' turn, who seemed very nervous. Almost simultaneously, Draco and I put our hands on his shoulders and squeezed to calm him down and show our support. He hovered his hand over the materials and picked up a block of Cherry and a handle made from Red Oak, and he then picked up a Unicorn tail hair. "Cherry and Great Oak, two of the most loyal woods out there, just like its soon-to-be-master, this wand will probably not work for people you don't trust, an outstanding trait in a wand. You have the makings of a great Gryffindor, but I think you will end up somewhere else," he said mischievously. At the praise, Neville blushed beet-red. "And Unicorn tail hair, best suited for Charms and Defensive magic but can be trained to be just as good at Offensive magic.".

"Now, your turn my Lord,".

He said, turning to me with a slight bow. I nodded and went to hover my hand over the materials, but Felix stopped me. "None of those will work for you, young Lord. Your core is much too powerful to channel your magic through those things. The wand will likely shatter. I will bring out the more special materials", he then wandered off into the back of the shop and returned a few minutes later with a few floating trays that were intricately carved and very expensive-looking.

This was going to be fun!