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Adventures in Magick

Summary: What if the first friend Harry made in the magical world was a goblin? Curious!Harry.

Characters: Harry Potter, Goblins, Twins, Blondes

Warnings: Harry's curiosity, and luck, is somewhat awe inspiring.

AN: Here you are you lot. I have a lot of fun finding things to start now that won't show their consequences until much farther on. This Harry is awesome to write and I can't wait for you to see what I have in store for him. I also can't wait for some of the other characters to be introduced. Hope you like my take on them.

ANx2: Hope you're sufficiently entertained.

ANx3: As always, I welcome thoughts, questions, guesses, theories and limericks. In whichever order of importance you feel inclined to give.

Shout Out to BubbleCloudz for the awesome Limerick.

A writer who used 'pseu' for a name
Re-wrote fiction like it were a game
Unriviled he were
That devilish cur
Was actually just kind of lame (JK I'm sure you're crazy cool.)

Ever Yours, Pseu [The clever, magnificent and ridiculously good looking]

"Your biggest challenge isn't someone else

It's the ache in your lungs, the burning in your legs

The voice inside you that yells - CANT!

But you don't listen, you just push harder

Then you hear the voice whisper - can

And you discover that the person you thought you were

Is no match for who you really are."

-unknown

Chapter 8

The shop wasn't impressive from the outside.

Neither was the Leaky Cauldron but it held the secret entrance to the secret wizarding world so Harry wasn't concerned. Gringotts was just a bank unless you knew the entrance to the Goblin Nation lay beneath it. As far as he could tell the more unassuming something seemed the greater the secret it held. If that were the case then this wand shop was promising indeed. Just inside the door, a deep silence pressed down saturated with magic. It had to be magic. This feeling. It swept over Harry, every inch, soft and cottony and alive. Did the collection of boxes in the many shelves, which Harry assumed contained the magical rods, add to the magic within the building in a way magic beings themselves did not or was there more to it? About then Harry noticed ab old wizard who might have appeared out of nowhere. Disappointed he'd missed such a neat trick he listened to the conversation taking place, pushing aside the voice inside of him asking what he was doing here.

He belonged here. He was a wizard.

"...pleased to see you. I hope you are not dissatisfied with your wand. Dragon heartstring-"

Harry popped up, unable to control himself. "Dragon heartstring? Like an artery? So there really are dragons then. Does the sort of dragon matter? If it's male or female? Young or old? I imagine different dragon species would have different traits and thus would be reflected in their DNA, right? Am I right? And would their heartstrings be different sizes affecting the length of the wand containing them? Or its flexibility?" The shop's thickening silence had seemingly no effect on Harry who was close to exploding. He was in a magic wand shop! Magic. Wand. He was getting a wand. How did they work? His mind whirled quickly, mouth open and question pouring out almost without conscious thought on his part.

Ollivander's odd eyes fixed on Harry. "Yes Mr P-"

"Is there any specific trait of dragon heartstring that indicates why they're used in wands? I imagine it's not just because having a piece of dragon you get to carry around is really cool."

The old wizard's lips curved into a smile. "Dragon heartstring wands form very close bonds with their wielders. Their owners will never feel comfortable using other wands even if they can cast with them well because most wands do bond so fiercely. Additionally, they can change their allegiance. While the wand chooses the wizard these wands take that up a notch or two, as they wish to only be wielded by those they deem truly worthy. If you are bested in a duel your wand may change its allegiance to the one who defeated you. This is true to an extent of all wands but most especially the dragon heartstring. Your friend Mr Malfoy received a dragon heartstring only this morning."

Harry turned to Draco, patting his back. "Well done!"

The little blonde was both confused and proud at this response.

"And the wand's wood effects? It's length..." This went on for a while. During this time Ollivander decided to get two birds with one stone as they say by having the excited lad try out wands as he asked his questions. To the adult's amazement Ollivander never lost his patience with the constant barrage of questions. In fact, he seemed quite pleased. They had an entire conversation discussing the various woods and cores used in wandcrafting, the differences in Britain versus other parts of the world, what cores and woods complimented each other best and what was best for which sort of magic. Harry was rather thorough in his questioning wanting to know if the time of day or year had any effect on it as well as the age of the wood or core.

"And what of alternative foci?" Asked Harry, balancing on a stack of rejected wand boxes.

Ollivander spoke around his own stack of wand boxes, these ones he was holding and transporting to the quickly overfilling counter. "Using something other than or in addition to wands do you mean?"

"Yes."

The old wizard put down his stack, opened a box and held out a wand. "Explain. Give that a wave."

Harry waved his wand about dutifully. It was snatched away. "While I understand that wands are the primary foci used I can't help but wonder if anyone's thought of experimenting with other foci? They could be rings, staves, staffs, a fan, a quill, a dagger, playing cards. Things that wouldn't be altogether surprising to find on another person. Something you could be seen with all of-"

Mrs Malfoy tilted her head. "I'm not sure that's possible."

"Try this one."

"-the time so people stop even noticing it. Should you lose your wand -has anyone ever tried Mrs Malfoy?- in a fight wouldn't it be helpful to have an alternative focus you can wield, one your enemy isn't expecting? particularly one, I think, with other functions? A dagger for-"

"No not that one. Try this."

"Not that I know of." She admitted.

"-instance could appear strictly ornamental, however -then how do you know unless someone tries?- without your wand and in close combat it can be a deterrent through intimidation, it can be used for physical combat to dispatch or otherwise render harmless your opponent. Not needing a wand at all could be quite an intimidating reputation to have don't you think? Or how about..." Harry's enthusiasm was hard to resist and soon the others were adding their own questions in now and then.

Unknown to the other occupants of the room Harry was having an inner panic attack he was struggling to keep to himself. None of the wands were working for him. Not one. The magical rods only worked in conjunction with a magical reservoir contained within the wielder. Thus a muggle couldn't use a wand but another an elf or a centaur or something similar could as they had more innate magic within them. Muggles only had enough to have the spark of life. He'd read the information in one of his magical experimenting books. While interesting at the time because it meant Dudley wouldn't be able to use Harry's wand against him, that information was now terrifying the boy. What if someone made a mistake? What if he was one of those squibs? What if he didn't really belong here? Harry's heart jolted in his chest.

Breathe Harry. Breathe.

Finally came a thin, delicate looking wand. Ollivander examined it with a considering eye then held it out to Harry gently. Harry's questioning quieted. His green eyes flickered between Ollivander and the wand he was offering him. None of the other wands had been well suited to him. Piles of wand boxes towered on either side of the counter. He reached out his small hand and grasped the handle. That was all it took. None of the brightly coloured sparks the adults were expecting. Instead, it grew even quieter, the boy and his wand glowing softly. The magic of their bonding almost visible in the sign of wind kicking up around them, messing up the boy's already messy hair. As the magic settled the glow brightened for just a moment and then faded.

It took his twins to ask what the adults were thinking. "What was that?"

Draco stepped closer to Harry and peered at the wand in his hand. The handle hardly wider than the tip. Small. Almost insignificant really. "It looks fragile." He commented. "Like you could break it easily."

"The body of the wand," murmured Ollivander drawing the room's attention to himself, "is from Ivy. The handle from Reed. Seven inches. Augery feather core. Swishy. For a wizard who is perhaps misunderstood. For you see Young Malfoy," His pale eyes moved to Draco for a moment, "appearances can be deceiving."

The old wizard reached out and brushed back Harry's hair. "Rather like it's owner I would imagine."

"I'm a big fan of imagination." Whispered Harry.

They exited the shop sometime later. Harry companions thinking over the things they were learning about their new friend. Harry himself bubbling over with energy. Two hours talking nonstop and standing you'd think the tiny eleven-year-old would be exhausted. Not even close. He was magic! He really, really did belong here. He was a wizard. This was a magical world and he was a wizard and there were dragons and dwarves and it wasn't a dream. Harry had a magical wand. Now if only it was a staff like Gandalf or bracelet with different boosts on each bead that could be activated like Eridanus received from the Luck Gambler. A pair of daggers? That would be cool just to have. Oh and he could practice neat tricks with them-

"We can't believe you received an offer of apprenticeship from Ollivander!" Burst out one of his twins. Harry jumped.

"You can't?" he asked when he could breathe again.

The other twin nodded. "That's a big deal, Harry. His entire family is known for wandmaking. His are some of the best in the world. People have been after his secrets for ages and now he's just handing them over."

Harry laughed. "Not quite. I have to do independent research projects on my ideas for him, create prototypes to bring him and experiment with, and keep up my grades. My actual apprenticeship can't start until I'm at least thirteen, it's usually fifteen, and then he has to agree and be pleased with the progress I've made. He may decide I'm not a good fit."

Draco snorted on his other side. "Please. You'd just convince him otherwise."

"You think so?" Asked Harry.

"See this here? That symbol in the wood just by the handle? You've got copper in your wand it encourages charisma and creativity." Explained the youngest Malfoy. "We've already seen both of those characteristics from you several times today."

"Does it? What about other metals? Where did you learn that?"

Draco raised his chin in a mocking superior way, "My godfather is a potions master. The material of your cauldron, stirrer and even that you're wearing can have an effect on the potions you're trying to make. I've been learning potions from him since I was seven."

"Potions...that's related to Alchemy right?" Harry asked.

"Yes."

"Do you mind if I pick at your brain a bit? I've done a lot of cooking and I'm pretty good at it. When I was six I started mixing up pretend recipes in the garden. Once one of them made all of the flowers turn blue. That's the week I turned my teacher's wig blue as well. I think I was inspired by the Hydrangeas." Harry reminisced.

Harry stopped walking when he realized he was walking alone. He turned around. His companions were staring at him. Again.

"What? What did I do?"

Draco pointed at him opened his mouth, closed it and sighed. "You know what? Don't worry about it." The twins snickered. Harry didn't know why. "I'll lend you some of my books Harry."

Lord Malfoy took the pause to clear his throat and get the young wizards' attention, eyes on the twins. "I understand your family may not be welcoming of our show of admiration and so to prevent any unsavory confrontations how about a compromise? You keep this ordeal to yourselves and when you are on the Hogwarts express you can change over entirely. While your other siblings will see it you will not be in the same room as your parents until the holidays. That should give you enough time to come up with a suitable explanation. I've heard you're proficient at hiding and covering things up, much to your father's distress."

The twins grinned at one another. "You might say that. Or you might not. Afraid we can't confirm these allegations."

"Quite." Lord Malfoy agreed. Harry rather thought the man approved of their non-answer.

A trip to a nearby shop filled with dead or pieces of dead things was short. Harry was told these were potions ingredients. He was more interested in whether they could be used in wandcrafting or the creation of other foci, how they figured out the ingredients various uses and who it was they sent to go after the ingredients. That sounded like a properly adventures magical profession. More importantly, he wanted the chance to experiment with them. Eyes of newt, basilisk scales, flubber worms... What sort of worm was a flubber worm anyway? How did none of the nonmagical people ever discover them? Were they blind or what-

"Is that a sword?" Harry turned and darted across the street. There lay a shop with a dagger on the sign and a sword in the display window. Two arms came out of nowhere, picked him up and start walking him back. "No. Wait. I just wanna see." Harry whined.

"Sorry Harry..." Said one of his twins. Fred, he thought.

George grinned at him from the other side. "...but we don't want you anywhere near something sharp..."

"...you almost died in a bookstore." They finished together.

"That was one time!"

Pseudonymous Entity

2016

Notes:

Recognize any characters?

Thoughts? Guesses? Questions? Theories? Limericks?

Now guys, don't be afraid to analyze things outside of Harry's thoughts. Everything the other characters do has a motivation behind it. Some of them are the normal everyday variety, others are sneaky and still others darker. Think of who he's talking to, the situation, how they are acting toward him, what they are saying. Don't take things at face value. I am pointing this out because some of you were A: upset with me because you don't think the Malfoys are acting the way you want them to, and B: you don't want Harry being friendly with them because they're dark and therefor evil.

Here are my responses to that.

Someone being a bad person doesn't mean they aren't likable, and someone being likable doesn't mean they aren't a horrible person.

As Ollivander said, appearances can be deceiving.

-Pseu

Post. Script. As always I have no beta, thus any and all mistakes are entirely my own. Apologies.

-Ever Yours. Pseu