Ravenstar: Chapter Two

[eaivalefay]

Chapter 2: To Be a Wizard

"I am not going blond!" Nalian’s refusal seemed to echo in Darian’s office. "Brunette, all right, redhead, fine, blond, no damn way."

"What, precisely, is wrong with being blond?" Geno arched his eyebrows, golden-blond hair tied back at the nape of his neck.

"Geno, you do remember the time Caran magicked my hair blond, yes? I look awful as a blond."

Darian sighed and rubbed his face. "Fine, fine. You’re a redhead then. With brown eyes. Can we alter your appearance and move on already?"

No one argued; no one was willing to anger Darian. Geno and Caran moved forward to perform the spells, and a few minutes later Nalian had layered auburn hair that fell to his shoulders, chocolate brown eyes, and a tan complexion. And human ears.

"It’s a pity there aren’t any good spells to alter my height." He sighed wistfully as Geno shoved him in front of a full-length mirror.

Darian hid a smile. "Now, where were we? Caran will take you to get your things. You’ll be going to both the wizarding and muggle world. I’ve bought a muggle apartment for you to stay at during the last couple weeks before September first, and that’s where you’ll go during vacations for us to pick you up. Caran will stay with you so he can teach you more about human, particularly wizard, culture." When Nalian nodded his understanding, Darian continued. "You’re name is Nalian Morthen and you are an American exchange student, a halfblood with a magic-less father and a witch mother. Don’t worry about any busybodies searching for your records, all of that has been taken care of. If anyone asks, you’re parents died, and you live with your uncle Derek. If anything happens, contact Derek and he’ll contact me."

"What if there’s an immediate emergency? What if I need to get out right away?" Nalian asked.

"I have a necklace for you." Darian pulled something from his pocket; a small silver crescent moon and a small golden sun that connected together and hung from a silver chain. "The moon will transport you to my study and the sun will put you in mirror-contact with me. Don’t use these unless absolutely necessary."

Caran grinned, "so if you’ll stop admiring yourself in the mirror, Nali, we’ll be on our way."

"One more thing," Darian said as Nalian and Caran turned to go, "your wand." He pulled a long thin box from his pocket. "This is a wand made of Alder wood with a core of a single elven hair."

Nalian stared blankly at it for a second. "I-thank you, my lord." He bowed and accepted the wand before quickly leaving with Caran.

Darian had to know what it meant to him. Alder was a sacred tree to the elves, and the hair had to be one of Darian’s own. It was like taking a piece of home with him. It also solved the problem of a wand maker recognizing him for what he was. Nalian’s hand trailed over the wand placed in his pocket. He could feel the power, practically throbbing in the wand, calling to him to use it.

Reluctantly taking his attention away from his gift, Nalian looked toward Caran. "Where do we go first?"

Caran grinned, "the muggle world."

-------

The muggle world had been the easy part. Caran had dragged Nalian all over London, and even went so far as America, Italy, and France for some clothes. He now had an entire compartment of his trunk full of clothes: fifty various types of shirts, thirty pairs of pants, an endless supply of underwear and socks, and at least ten pair of shoes. This wasn’t including accessories. Outside-wear he was apparently buying in the wizarding part of the world. Nalian was grateful that the clothes would still be usable after this year at Hogwarts and that he didn’t always have to shop with the clothes-loving elf. He was also grateful that his trunk was so big; there were eight locks on it, each lock opened a different compartment.

Now Caran was lounging on the black leather sofa in Nalian’s new apartment. "Why would my lord Darian buy such nice things when it will barely be used?"

"Because that’s the way he is, you know that." Nalian snapped. "Stop asking inane questions and let me study, Car."

"What are you studying? You should be over here, so I can explain wizard culture to you."

‘Explain’ was a bit of an understatement. Nalian knew nothing of human culture, as he had been so rudely shown when he went shopping with Caran. Nalian had let Caran do all the talking, and watched with interest. In the least there weren’t many electronic devices in the wizarding world; Nalian couldn’t adjust himself to such things so quickly. Whoever heard of traveling around in a steel contraption? Horses were much more sensible.

He sighed. "I know, I know. It’s just that my practice with wizard magic is a bit rusty. I thought I’d read up on it a bit."

"You can read up on it on the Hogwarts Express; which is, by the way, a train where you get to sit for many hours and twiddle your thumbs. Or talk to whoever is unfortunate enough to sit next to you." Caran said.

Nalian made a face and closed "Magical Theory: Understand the Dark Arts". "All right, talk, O Wise Puppet Master’s Pet."

Caran threw a pillow at him. "First of all, practicing the Dark Arts is a big no-no for most wizards today. This is because of a Dark Lord the Light wizards are currently fighting. The Dark Lord is Lord Voldemort, but people don’t use his name because they’re that scared of him. He’s called You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." Nalian looked regretfully at his book and nodded.

"No bartering. It’s done, but generally only in either secondhand shops or dark arts shops. I’ll teach you how to use wizard money tomorrow, there is already an account set up for you at the Gringotts, the wizarding bank. When we go to Diagon Alley tomorrow I’ll be pointing out a street that you are to stay away from. Also tomorrow you’ll be doing most of the talking. You are the one living with them after all and you need to get used to dealing with them; and I need to see how you handle things on your own. The most important rule, as is the same at court, don’t trust anyone, Nali."

"This is going to be a fun trip." Nalian muttered sarcastically.

Caran smiled grimly. "Just don’t get yourself killed. Or caught. My lord gave me a list of the artifacts you’ll be searching for. There’s a specific or general area for where most of the objects should be."

"Most of the objects?"

"Yes. There are some that we haven’t a clue where they are. The trick in the end is getting yourself to the location where the artifact is, Nalian, and hiding your tracks." Caran sent him a worried look. "It won’t be easy. You most likely will have to make friends with people you don’t like, hate even."

"In other words," Nalian drawled, "it’ll be just like the king’s court."

-------

"Car? What are all these people wearing?" Nalian whispered. Muggle clothes were easy to adjust to; they were somewhat similar to elven clothes, but wizarding style was just insane.

"They’re called robes." Car seemed amused. "Stop staring and try to look like you belong here."

"I don’t want to belong here." He muttered.

Caran glanced sideways at him. "I don’t want you to belong here. I tried to talk him into finding a different way, but you know Darian."

Nalian snorted, "there is no other way. I need to get over it. Where’s this shop where I’ll get these robes?"

Caran grinned. "First we must get your money at the bank." Caran led the way to a huge white marble building with three sets of doors Nalian was envious of. Inside were wizards and goblins moving all over the place, some talking at counters while others left through doors that led to the vaults deep underground.

"Do they always rush around so much?" Nalian asked quietly.

"At the bank, yes. The goblins run the bank. Lets get in line, shall we?"

He frowned, "the wizards take no part in running the bank? That’s a nice tactical advantage for the goblins."

Caran smirked, "the goblins were given this position after the bloody goblin war in the 1600s. The wizards and goblins fought for near a century, until the goblins were finally given some lasting power in the wizarding world just so the bloodshed would end. It so happened that goblins have a love for money and business, so they were tasked with making lasting banks throughout most of the wizarding societies, despite the fact that the war was held only in Britain. It’s a position they hold willingly, even gladly."

They had reached the front of the line. "I’m activating an account for Nalian Morthen, and withdrawing some money." Nalian told the goblin at the desk.

The goblin shuffled through a few papers. "Lay your hand on the desk." He obeyed and the goblin ran a plain stone over it. Nalian felt a strange, vague sense of magic tingle up his arm. The goblin nodded, "everything is in order. I will fetch your key, and Murkshank will take you to your vault."

Fifteen minutes later they were heading to Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions. "That was peculiar. Do they normally give new customers sealed letters from the head of the bank?" Nalian inquired. "Or is Darian just known here?"

"Why, gee, what do you think?" Caran held the shop door open for him.

"I’ll make an educated guess then, puppet boy." Nalian smirked before noticing that a tall man with black hair and equally black eyes watched them with an odd look on his face. "Is something the matter?" Nalian inquired politely. The man looked away without answering. Nalian
shot Caran a confused look. ‘Did I do something wrong already?’

"Madam Malkin, will you just owl the things to me? I have potions I need to see to."

"Of course, Mr. Snape. The bill will be with the shipment." A woman called from the back room.

Mr. Snape shot one last peculiar look at Nalian and left the shop quickly.

"What was that about?" Nalian asked softly.

"I don’t know, Nali." Caran said.

He frowned in confusion as a witch led him to a stool and took his measurements. ‘This will be much harder than I thought.’

The rest of the shopping expedition went without a hitch. Nalian did spend four hours in the bookshop before Caran bodily dragged him away. And he discovered the wonders of butterbeer and why you never mix it with pepper imps- he was almost positive Caran had never laughed so hard in his life when he had belched fire and incinerated his dinner. Apparently there was alcohol in butter beer.

-------

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
Return to Story Index