Phineas, Ferb, Linda and Lawrence sat in the living room, the letter from Smith in hand. Linda and Lawrence's minds went blank after reading the letter. At first, Linda thought her boys were simply imagining things as Candace had been all summer. A wizarding school was more unrealistic than building a beach in the backyard. The letter had to be a hoax, somebody just trying to get their money. But if it was, she thought, how come it didn't mention anything about a tuition or a down payment. Needing more of an answer she began to question. "Boys, who did you say gave you this letter?"
Before Phineas could open his mouth to speak there was a popping sound and Professor Smith appeared in their living room as if by magic. "How convenient," Smith chuckled, "I just finished up at the Garcia-Shapiro residence and was beginning to wonder how long it would take for the spell I put on your letter to summon me here." Smith looked around the living room taking note of how different it was in appearance from Isabella's Latin American themed room. "Nice place you've got here by the way."
Uncharacteristically of him Lawrence stood up from the coach somewhat infuriated, "Now just who do you think you are? Literally just popping into our home ?"
"Right, I'll have to start knocking like they do over in England when they deliver letters to muggleborn wizards. I get the reaction a lot." Seeing that his attempt to make conversation with the angry was failing Brit, the professor went straight to business. "My name is Professor Joseph Smith. I teach Defensive Magic at Mugwump School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Now, I suppose that you will have tons of questions so why don't we get started."
Lawrence returned to his seat, dumbfounded that everything he had just read was real. Before he could offer a chair to his guest, the cloaked man pulled out a wand, materializing a basic folding chair out of thin air. "How did you do that? How did you get here? How did you know about our sons? Ho...hpmph hermf urf." The questions rolled off of Lawrence's tongue before his wife covered his mouth with her hand so that they could listen.
"Very good questions there Mr. Fletcher. If by that you mean summoning a chair it was a simple Transfiguration spell . Your sons will learn to do such things in a few years, should you give them permission to join. I got here by placing a special charm on the letter that would alert me to when you were finished reading and I could simply apparate to the location the letter was at. I used to knock but you know, appearing out of thin air has a lot more flashiness to it." Lawrence nodded his head at this. "And lastly, we learned about your son's and Ms. Isabella Garcia-Shapiro through their leaks of magic. Our headmaster, Professor Maximilian Phoenix then monitors individuals who aren't from magical backgrounds and we decide whether or not they are talented enough for our school or if they should attend one of our sister school. Yes, there is more than one school of magic in America. Anymore questions?"
"Yes," Linda spoke up ,still dazed by the man's entrance. "How much does it cost and how have we never seen anyone perform magic if it is common enough to have a school devoted to it?"
"The cost? Nothing directly out of pocket. We're similar to a public school in that we are paid for through taxes. In fact, unlike most other countries, the wizarding government and the muggle, or non-magical, government are connected. Rather than a Ministry of Magic like they have in England we have a Department of American Magic. It's not exactly known to the general public but it ensures that our goals stay one in the same. The answer to your second question is that the magic community is under an oath of secrecy. After all, we can't risk one side taking advantage of the other now can we?"
Smith stopped speaking waiting for the next question. Looking around the room he noticed a young man with short hair and glasses with a camera flashing, taking a picture of what he was never supposed to see. To keep his cover, Smith waved his wand opening the door wordlessly. Irving began to run frightened but didn't make it far before Smith shouted "Stupefy!" Irving instantly fell to the ground. "Don't worry, the boy is just stunned for now," Smith reassured the family as he got up and walked over the Irving. "Obliviate!" Smith proceeded to wave his wand again which lifted Irving off the ground and he carefully placed him back on the other side of the fence. Smith made his way back into the house, closing the door and the curtains by hand to make sure that nobody could look in. "Don't worry, I just erased his memory of the last five minutes. He'll just think that he was going for a walk and fell when he comes to in about five seconds or so. And he doesn't have his photo evidence anymore either.
"So now on to what you are going to need for school." Smith pulled out two envelopes and handed them over to Phineas and Ferb. "Off the top of my head I know that you'll need a wand, but that's sort of a given now isn't it. A cauldron, I suggest pewter myself but there are other material options. A pet's always good, the school prefers a cat or an owl or some other large bird for delivering mail."
"I'm bringing Perry!" Phineas interrupted.
"A fine choice! And you'll need to get robes and what not. The rest is in the letters. They also give the nearest city and address for where to go buy these things, but I wouldn't use Danville. The older and larger cities usually have better prices and selection so I'd go to somewhere like Boston, Philadelphia, or New York. San Fran has a good selection but that's kind of far away. If you ever need help finding anything, just dial MAGIC on a pay phone without paying and you'll be assisted. Well that's everything so I'll just be on my way if you mind. I have to get home for dinner." Once again he pulled out his wand and disappeared in a vortex, but this time he left no departing words.
...
After reading the letter, Phineas lay in bed finding that he had very little time before term started. They had to depart August Twenty-fifth. It was already August Thirteenth! The next day they would be heading to Old City Philadelphia to shop for supplies along with Isabella and her mom. Phineas's mind raced and he couldn't exactly hold a thought for very long. How could they have not noticed that they were magic? What about Buford and Balijeet? Were they magic too? Sensing his owner's discomfort, Perry jumped on Phineas's bed and curled up next to him, allowing Phineas to absentmindedly stroke him
"Tomorrow we're going to the city to get school supplies. Can you believe it? Ferb and I both are wizards?"
Perry chattered in response.
...
The next morning the Flynn-Fletcher family, minus Candace, was joined by Isabella and her mother as they took a trip to Philadelphia. Not knowing where to look, the group immediately went to a pay phone near the Liberty Bell and Phineas dialed as instructed. Immediately a woman's voice came through without any dial tone. "Thank you for calling the Department of American Magic. How may I help you?"
"Um," Phineas stuttered into the phone, "I was wondering where to get school supplies for Mugwumps at."
"Okay that's simple enough! Just go to the Betsy Ross House. Once there you wanna walk to the old light post at the end of the street. Tap that three times and then continue as if you were gonna walk into the pole. I'd tell you the rest but I wouldn't wanna ruin the first time experience for you Mr. Flynn!" And with that the dial tone began to buzz. Clearly she had hung up.
"I wonder how she knew my name? Magic I guess."
Phineas led the way to their destination finally arriving at a light post that looked like it originally housed oil lamps. Giving his family a sheepish grin he knocked on the post three times, surprised that the old metal remained still rather than ringing out as it should have. "Here goes nothing!" He whispered to himself before walking at the pole. He squinted expecting to get hit in the face, but to his surprise nothing happened. A strange silence filled his ears and he took five more steps forward, finding himself in an alleyway much like the one he had just come from, but with a lot more street venders. The hustle and bustle of a your average mall was everywhere and the sounds of people talking and strange buzzes, roars, and squawks hit his ears. A hand on his should alerted him to the presence of another person.
"Wow, Phineas, this is amazing!" Isabella exclaimed as she took in the sights and sounds. "Where do we begin? There's so much to do!" As Isabella finished her sentence the rest of the group arrived and they began to walk down the alley.
Not knowing where to begin they walked down the alley looking for an information booth of some sort. Eventually they found a building with a Mugwumps school logo on the sign and walked in. Walking inside, they were surprised to see that it was mostly blank inside save for a counter that separated the employees from them and a flight of stairs going above. Behind the counter stood a tall blonde woman wearing black robes, something that seemed to be quite common in the area despite the summer heat. She gave the group a disinterested look, "Can I help you?" Her voice dragged.
"Yes," Lawrence spoke up. "We're first timers to this whole magic thing and wanted to find out where to start with buying the children school supplies."
"Names?"
"We are the Fletchers with our son's Ferb Fletcher and Phineas Flynn and those are the Garcia-Shapiros."
Suddenly the woman was interested. "Ok then, Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro, Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher if you'd follow me upstairs, please? Unfortunately since the kids are first years and you are muggles, some of the place they'll have to go won't be safe for you to go to." Seeing that Linda was about to protest the woman quickly explained why. "There are some dangers with wand testing and some animals in the pet store that are known to attack those without magic and we can't exactly risk that. Don't worry about price of things, these students were handpicked by Professor Phoenix himself, meaning they are on his tab for supplies." With that, the woman and the parents along with Perry vanished up the stairs and a few minutes later only the employee came back down. "Now then, your parents said that you all have your school supplies lists with you so you're free to go on your own. Your parents are getting briefed on how they'll be able to interact with our world now despite not being magic."
Phineas, Ferb and Isabella exited the building and entered the busy alley. Phineas took out his map and looked to see what was closest. "Well it seems that the wand shop and potions supplies shops are the closest but they're in different directions. I don't know about you guys, but I kind of want to get my wand first since that's the coolest part of magic and all that. Who's with me?"
Isabella was the first to answer, "Me!"
Ferb simply shook his head and pointed to the potions shop.
"Ok then. Isabella and I will go to the wand store and you'll go the potions shop. Want us to meet at the pet store after we're done?" Ferb gave him a thumbs up and turned to go to his destination, vanishing into the crowd.
The pair walked down the street, passing many vendors selling strange foods that they had never seen before and the occasional witch selling love potions or beauty supplies to young girls. Eventually they reached an older looking shop called Oliver's Wand Emporium. They entered store and once again there was only one room for costumers. The shopkeeper, a frail looking old man in a tattered blue cloak, stood at the counter, behind him were rows and rows of shelves all holding thin boxes. The man smiled at them as they approached the counter. "Welcome young witch and wizard," his voice was soft and kind and made Phineas and Isabella feel welcome. "Here for your first wands I assume?"
"Yes, sir. We are." Isabella replied.
"Very good!" A strange thumping noise came from behind the counter and the man reached down and pulled out box, shaking as if something inside wanted to escape. "Aw, looks like we won't be needing to search long for your wand miss. This one here seems to be reacting to your presence. Come on up and try it out." He opened the box and pulled out the wand. It was a pale colored wood and hardly more than a foot in length. Isabella took the wand from him. A golden aura exuded from the wand when it met her hand. "Excellent! A perfect match on the first try, convenient that I had just polished that one before you got here now isn't it? So that's maple wood, unicorn hair core, thirteen inches long."
"Wait! Did you just say unicorn? As in the white horse with a horn?" Isabella could barely hold back her excitement.
"The very same. Seeing as you're so excited I'm going to assume the two of you are muggleborns." The two nodded. "Of course I probably should have assumed that when you came in without parents. Now then, if you would kindly step forward." Phineas did as he was told. The man stepped out from behind the counter and started looking him over. "Now, before I continue my assessment, I realize that I forgot to ask your names. Not that it mattered for your friend Isabella, it seems fate had set up her meeting, but you on the other hand. You look to be significantly more difficult to place."
"Names help with picking wands?" Phineas asked.
"Yes, it can. Sometimes a wand will say the name of who it belongs to if you know how to listen. You see it's not so much about you picking a wand for you as it is the wand choosing you. That's how I know your friends name. Her wand could hardly contain itself as you just saw."
"My name's Phineas, Phineas Flynn."
"Ah, very well Phineas let's see now. There's a fire that burns brightly in your eyes and confidence flows from you like a river from its source. I think I know the wands to try for you." The man disappeared into the room behind the counter, lost among the many rows of shelves. When he returned he came back with two boxes, one a few inches longer than Isabella's, the other an inch shorter. "Try this wand," the old man handed Phineas the shorter box. Phineas opened it up and pulled out a darker, oak wand and gave it a wave. Nothing happened. "I see, dragon heartstring is not the core for you then. Try this one." Phineas swapped boxes and pulled out the second wand with a mahogany finish. Phineas waved the wand and there was a tremendous flash of light that filled the room. The shopkeeper and Isabella turned their heads away from the blinding light but Phineas was unaffected. His clothes and hair ruffled as if a wind had come through the room though nothing else stirred. "Amazing."
"What's amazing?"
"The amount of sheer power that was unleashed from you and that wand. Very few wizards ever experience anything like it. I cannot begin to grasp what you will be able to accomplish young man for you have been blessed with a great power. Headmaster Phoenix will be beyond pleased when he finds out! Then again, most wizards who use Phoenix feather wands are inherently powerful."
After finishing with buying wands they made their way to meet Ferb, talking about the experience. Both excited to have one of the most important parts of being a witch or wizard. After a few minutes of walking they saw Ferb standing with three bags outside of Berkley's Pets. Ferb's eyes immediately shifted down to the wands in his friends' hands and a smile of anticipation set upon his lips. Ferb pointed to two of the bags and is arms and then to Phineas and Isabella, signaling that he had picked up their potions supplies as well.
The three of them entered the shop and were shocked by the things that met their eyes. There were owls, hawks and eagles of all kinds in bird cages, many different species of reptiles and amphibians in tanks. Strange fish filled tanks on the walls and large fluffy cats occupied the cages at the back of the store. Ferb walked over to the large birds when a African-American witch in bright green robes walked over to him. "Looking for your first owl?"
Ferb nodded in response.
The lady guided him through the cages as Ferb looked at each of them, trying to decide which one was right for him. While he looked, Isabella, accompanied by Phineas, looked at the cats, which were all labeled as kneazels. However, all them seemed to reject Isabella leading her to search elsewhere for her companion to Mugwumps. Eventually she was drawn to a small barn owl with unatural blue eyes that seemed to mystify her. A store clerk helped her in purchasing it as well as the feed needed and a guide to using an owl as a messenger. When she was finished with this Ferb came up behind the two of them with a large bald eagle perched on his arm, the cage sticking out of one of the bags of potions supplies and proceeded to hand Phineas and Isabella their bags.
The witch who helped Ferb then approached Phineas to seek out his pet for Mugwumps when something began tugging on Phineas's shorts. Phineas looked down and saw none other than Perry at his feet. "Oh, there you are Perry!"
The lady turned around to see Phineas holding Perry in his arms and pulled out her wand approaching the two. She passed it between the two of them and a smiled. "Well it looks like I'm not going to need to find you a pet seeing as you already have a magical familiar."
"A what?" Phineas asked.
"A magical familiar. It's an animal who has formed a magical connection with a witch or wizard. The connection is rare but unbreakable. A familiar will follow any order its master gives and do anything to protect him or her. The bond between familiar and master is one of a kind, there can only be one at a time for each person and animal. Consider yourself lucky kid."
The rest of the shopping went by uneventfully, as Ferb chose to keep his wand experience a surprise for the other two. He even refused to show Phineas the wand saying that he would see it when the time was right. The families drove home and summer continued on as usual with creating inventions. The only difference was that by night, Phineas and Isabella would practice spells together. Ferb insisted on keeping his wand a secret.
A/N: Ok so what I took from Rowling were the spells, Apparation and magical familiar. And Oliver's is a reference to Olivander's. Don't worry about Ferb's wand. I plan on revealing that in a very special way so it was kept secret on purpose. I know the ending seems kind of rushed but that was because I was having a hard time not sending them to school here and now but I can't. I needed to get this chapter published AND I want to go back to doing all the request for Stereo Hearts. Read and Review :). Hope you enjoyed.