Rota Fortuna: Elements of Power
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or The Last Book in the Universe.
This chapter's quote is from quoteland . c o m
A/N: I want to thank everyone that reviewed my story so far. I'm glad that many of you like it. I'm sorry this didn't get up as soon as I and you would have liked. Also if anyone can find the reference to The Last Book in the Universe in this chapter, I will dedicate a chapter to that person! (If I manage to write a chapter after this, that is…)
Chapter Six
The Square
"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths."
-Walt Disney
The mid-morning sun twinkled merrily down on Pittsfield on the fine Wednesday of August 7, 1991. Most people were at work already and no one was out on the road, which was good thing since Kinston was at the wheel of his wife's candy apple red car. The other four people who were crammed into the screaming metal death trap were clutching to the car's leather interior and shouting prayers at the top of their lungs to what ever god would listen to them.
Needless to say, they were lucky that they were alive and that they hadn't been pulled over by the cops. Kinston haphazardly pulled in a parking lot on the side of the road. He got out and they followed his lead.
Who exactly are they? Well of course, Kinston was with his beloved wife, Petunia, and his nephew, Harry. They had also decided to bring their best friends, the Cunninghams, so that Langston could get his school supplies. There was Adrianna Cunningham, a dark skinned woman not to much younger than Petunia. She had dark eyes and dark hair and was very short compared to her much taller adult comrades. In fact, her son Langston was already taller than her. Then there was also Darius Cunningham, a tall, intimidating, and muscular man with dark eyes, dark skin and a bald head.
"How the hell did you get your license?!" Darius yelled in a deep, scary voice.
"License?" He asked in a falsely confused tone, though Darius didn't notice.
"Why I oughta…"
"Just kidding, you know I have my license," Kinston replied quickly, trying not to look afraid of his best friend.
"Well we're here!" Kinston exclaimed happily after a few moments of awkward silence. Harry and Langston squeaked with joy at this announcement. However the three muggles in the group looked quite confused.
"What exactly is here Kinston?" Adrianna asked curiously. She looked around, but didn't really see anything of interest except a record store and a book store. Petunia and Darius murmured in agreement.
"Oh yeah, I forgot you guys were muggles for a second there. Sorry," Kinston responded. "We're at Salem's Cauldron, follow me!" At the words 'Salem's Cauldron' a Georgian style tavern just seemed to materialize between the record store and the book store. Everyone but Kinston gasped in surprise. It was one of the first times they would see magic in their lives.
Kinston led them through the door into a dimly lit room. There was a bar to the right of the entrance where many patrons from last night were still sitting, sleeping with their head on the counter in their drunken stupor. The old, rugged bartender polished glasses behind the bar, muttering half-hearted greetings. On the left side of the tavern were multiple tables arranged in neat patterns where sleepy locals drank their coffee and read their newspaper while awaiting their breakfasts. Kinston passed all of this without batting an eye and led them through a back door into a dead end alley.
"To where are you going sir?" A falsely chipper male voice asked from their left. Kinston turned to him with a smile on his face. The other man was in a maroon and gold uniform and stood proudly.
"Two way to Salem Square." The man nodded hastily and pulled out a card from a bin labeled 'SS' and handed it to Kinston. After telling Kinston the price of the card, he placed the money in the teller's hands.
"To use the portcard (1), have everyone in your party touch the card at the same time and have one person clearly announce your destination. You may only use this to travel to and back from Salem Square. Thank you for your patronage and have a nice day."
The six looked over the card, which was The Fool from the tarot like all of the other portcards. Then they all held on gently to a part of the card. Kinston clearly announced 'Salem Square.' The world spun around them and they all felt a tugging sensation at their naval. They came to a sudden stop and found themselves sprawled out on the hard, brick-paved ground. Only Kinston remained on his feet since he was so used to actually traveling by portcard because it was how he traveled to work everyday.
Those who fell stood up and looked around in wonderment. Behind them, in the center of the square was a large fountain. The ground was paved in red-brick. A polished iron sign hung in front of them, proudly displaying 'Salem Square' in beautiful blackletter. The many stores were different sizes, shapes and colors with various amazing displays in the windows. However one building stood out from them all. Directly in front of the square stood a magnificent Romanesque building made of some bright white stone. It gleamed in the sunlight and just demanded attention. A sign indicated that it was 'Gringotts.'
Kinston convinced them to come to Gringotts with him so that they could go get their muggle money exchanged for wizard money while he went to get some money from his vault.
They passed through a set of bronze doors guarded on either side by sneering goblins in crimson uniforms. The muggles, Harry, and Langston felt rather uneasy and it took all they had to refrain from asking Kinston about what they were. Then they reached a set of silver doors also guarded by goblins. There was a plaque on each door with a poem on it.
Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.
They all shivered involuntarily at the words before continuing through the silver doors. Beyond the doors was a magnificent high-ceiling marble hallway. On one side were various booths where goblins sat so they could assist those who needed it. On the other side were countless doors that led to who-knows-where. Kinston turned towards the two African-American adults.
"Just go to one of the goblins and ask for them to exchange your muggle money for wizard money. There are 29 bronze knuts to a silver sickle and 17 silver sickles to a gold galleon. I'm going to visit my vault," he said before walking up to one of the goblins. Harry and Petunia followed him while Adriana and Darius did what Kinston told them to.
Over all, Gringotts was a quite uneventful ordeal. Once Darius and Adriana exchanged their money, all five of them waited for Kinston to come back from his vault so they could start shopping for supplies.
All first year students at the Salem Academy of Magic will require:
Clothing (All Clothing Requires a Self-Cleaning and Repairing Charm; All Magic Clothing stores perform these enchantments upon request) (3)
7 Sets of uniforms which each consist of:
1 White Button-Up Shirt
1 Black Blazer
1 Black Skirt or Pair of Pants
--
Any pair of shoes
Everyday Clothes
Pajamas
Any other Clothing Necessities
Books
"Defense: A Muggle and Magical Approach" by Lotti Vandal
"Enchantment: Volume 1" by Richard Kingston
"Beginner's Transfiguration" by Abraham White
"A Beginner's Guide to Potions" by Beverly Forge
"1001 Magical Plants and Herbs" by Harriet Lillian
Textbooks required for electives and muggle subjects will be provided to the student at no cost.
Other
1 Wand
1 Potions Kit
1 Pewter Cauldron
College Ruled Loose Leaf Paper
8 Folders
8 Notebooks
Pens, Pencils, Highlighters
1 Trunk to hold all belongings
We'd also like to let it be known that any other necessary supplies will be available at the school store or in Sage's Circle, the town surrounding the school.
"So, Uncle Kinston… what should we get first?" Harry asked apprehensively noting the length of his list. He had no idea where to start at all.
"Well, we should get a wand first. That's the most important thing," Kinston replied. He beckoned the others to follow him and he led them to a rather old and dusty looking shack of a building. 'Terra Wands' was proudly written on the rusting sign above the door.
Harry took a deep breath before pushing open a weathered wooden door. A bell tinkled musically overhead. The inside was just as dusty as he expected it to be. There was a long counter where an elderly woman stood, looking bored to death. Behind her were rows and rows of shelves filled with various boxes. She looked up with moss green eyes at the newcomers.
"Welcome to Terra Wands, my name is Lady Valor Terra (2). I assume the younger ones are here for their first wands?" She greeted with a polite smile.
"Yes, Lady Terra. This is Harry Dursley and Langston Cunningham, they're starting at Salem in a few days." Kinston replied. She gave a curt nod and beckoned the two over to her. The three muggles of the group felt uncomfortable and out of place in this ancient building. Even they could feel the magic permeating the atmosphere.
"Here at Terra Wands we only make custom wands to ensure the most perfect match possible," she started as she pulled out a measuring tape. "First we need to take certain measurements to ensure the wand has a proper length." With a snap of her fingers, the measuring tape gained a life of its own and measured the body parts the old witch commanded it to. She quickly jotted down the numbers on paper with a blue mechanical pencil and set them aside.
"Now we have to determine the materials for your wands, I'm going to start with the wood," she said, setting down various samples of wood, some only having subtle differences to ones that had such a stark contrast it was amazing they were wood. "Harry dear, you first. Just place your hand over the wood and I'll let you know if you've found the proper one. Don't be shy!"
Harry shot his best friend a slightly nervous look before doing as he was asked. He placed a hand over each wood sample and was surprised to feel magic radiating off of the samples! The way the magic felt let Harry know that most weren't right for him. He was starting to get nervous that he hadn't found the 'right' one yet when he reached the last sample. It was a pale reddish brown. He placed his hand over it and was immediately filled with an overwhelming sensation of warmth, power, love and security.
"That's the one, dear. It's red oak. It's good for enchantments, especially protection ones. Please take a seat while your friend looks for his," she announced. Harry did as he was asked as he watched his friend go through the same process.
Langston didn't take as long as Harry finding his wood. At the fifth sample, he found his. The wood sample was a dark reddish brown and seemed to radiate wisdom beyond ages and knowledge. It was slightly intimidating in a way.
"There you go!" Valor exclaimed with glee. "That wood sample is beech. Beech was once used to write on, so it is often associated with knowledge and wisdom. It's good for spells that deal with information and the mind."
"Now that that's over with, I'd like to find your wand cores. I make wands with two wand cores so that it is completely individual and as in tune to your magic as possible. I want you to go first again Harry. Just do what you did with the wood," Valor said while she laid more samples out. The samples included many different feathers, hair, scales and much more. Harry once again placed his hand over the materials.
The first one to catch Harry's attention was a beautiful, almost white feather. Valor noted that the feather was one of the cores and picked up and placed it beside his parchment. Harry continued down the counter until he found a small jar of gray scales which also happened to be his wand core.
"Okay, so this is an occamy feather," she said, holding up the off-white feather that Harry had chosen and then held up the jar of scales. "And these are ashwinder scales. Both are associated with protection. Ashwinders are often associated with fire and the occamy is often associated with metal due to its eggs being made of pure silver." (4)
Harry nodded and sat down as Langston looked for his wand cores. Langston ended up picking out a golden feather and a golden hair from the various cores.
"This is a phoenix feather," she said holding up the feather of the two golden objects and then she held up the hair. "And this is a re'em hair. Both are very rare creatures. The phoenix represents fire and rebirth and the re'em represents the earth and strength. I get the feeling you are going to be a very powerful wizard, Langston." (5) Then the older woman turned towards the adults with a smile on her face.
"Please come by and pick up the wands in an hour or so, they should be ready by then." Valor said in dismissal. The group of six announced their gratitude and left with promises of being back soon.
The rest of the shopping was uneventful. They had gotten all the required books and basic school supplies as well as a couple of books that Kinston said were interesting from Salem Tomes, a Victorian styled building. They had gotten a potions kit and cauldron from a smelly shack of a building simply called 'The Apothecary.' Then they had gone to a small clothing store where they bought their uniforms and had the necessary charms performed on them. Lastly, they went to a magical luggage store to buy trunks for the two. After that, they decided that it was a good time to go and pick up their wands.
"Hello, welcome to Terra Wands," Valor started before turning around towards the door. "Oh, Harry and Langston, it's you. You're wands are ready!" She then pulled two thin boxes from underneath the counter. One of the boxes was gold and the other was silver. She opened the gold box and pulled out a long dark reddish brown wand and handed it to Langston.
"This wand is thirteen inches, beech, and has a phoenix feather, and a re'em hair. Go on, give it a wave so we can make sure that it's perfect."
Langston did as he was asked and a shower of golden sparks emitted from the wand. He gasped in wonderment and amazement, obviously pleased with it.
"Yes, that's the one indeed," she muttered to herself and seemed to take brief note of it in her mind. Then she picked up the wand from the silver box and handed it to Harry. "This one is eleven inches, red oak, and has an occamy feather and eleven ashwinder scales."
Harry waved the wand, letting lose silver sparks. Valor nodded in satisfaction.
"Wonderful, wonderful! They're both perfect matches for the two of you. I know the both of you will do great things in your lives. That will be ten galleons each." Valor announced while she took the wands from both boys, placed them into their respective boxes, and handed them back. Harry and Langston gave her the requested amount and the group left the store.
They returned home without any incidents since Petunia had insisted on driving. The boys spent the last four days of summer chattering excitedly and reading their texts. They could barely wait until school started.
1 - Portcard: Basically a commercially available Portkey. Most if not all can be constantly reused and is set to two points. In this case it is set to Salem Square and the Salem's Cauldron of Pittsfield. It is always vocally activated. They are used to get to places you generally can't apparate or floo to because of security measures.
2 – "Lady" Valor Terra: The head and matron/patron (spouse of the head) of any noble-blood family is called Lady or Lord depending on their gender. Valor is matron of the Noble House of Terra.
3 – Enchantment is what American witches and wizards call charms in this story.
4 & 5 – I'm pretty much BSing if you can't tell…
A/N: I'm sorry this took so long to write. I was stuck on the Gringotts scene for a while and until I actually started on the wand scene, I had absolutely no ideas for how to go about it. Please don't hurt me for giving Harry a different wand than in the book!
On another note, a few people were curious to what happened to Sirius. I'm sure others of you are also curious but just don't want to ask. Sirius is in Azkaban, no ands, ifs, or buts. He will however make another appearance later in the Rota Fortuna series.
Can anyone find The Last Book in the Universe reference in this chapter? I will dedicate a chapter (the update after the review with the correct answer) to the first person to figure it out! Let's just hope that this will get me actually writing that next chapter…
Next Chapter (If there is one):
We finally get to the Salem Academy of Magic! Yay! There will be a train ride, a feast, new friends and more!