Siren Call

After glaring at the spot Snape had last stood once more, Selenity sighed and looked around her. She was sitting at a small, white, round table with an umbrella situated in the middle. Glancing up at the building front, she saw a sign that read 'Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.'  She looked at the door, glanced back toward the crowd, then shrugged. If he wanted her to stay, he should have stayed and watched her. Pushing herself up from her chair, she walked over and through the front door of the shop.

Inside, it was pleasantly chilly, and an old man with graying hair stood behind the counter with a twinkling smile. After seeing the vast array of choices, she settled for an ice cream that would change flavors with every bite and turn her teeth different colors***. When she asked how much it was, he smiled and said, "Five Sickles and two Knuts."

She blushed and stammered, "Uh, I don't h-have and wizard money."

Mr. Fortescue smiled. "Quite alright, quite alright. I'm on my way to Gringotts later, so I can exchange it. Now lesse... That'll be  3 pounds."

Smiling nervously, Selenity held up a five dollar bill.

"Ah, American money! Fascinating! Very well, then, $2.34. Yes, thank you very much. Enjoy and do come again!"

Selenity nodded her thanks to the man and walked towards the door, scooping a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth and rebelling in the taste of orange sherbet.

"Oh, and miss?" She glanced back, and he smiled somewhat mischievously. "When it said every flavor, it meant EVERY flavor.

Selenity cringed as she got a mouthful of sweaty gym socks. "Duly noted," she said, leaving the shop with another bite. Quickly scooping several mouthfuls of ice cream into her mouth (butterscotch, chocolate, and pepperoni), a small part of her mind registered that it was a very creative idea for an ice cream flavor while a larger part yelled mentally at her stupidity in combining the flavors.

Suddenly, she spotted a harried-looking middle-aged woman with gingery hair looking around the tables Selenity had recently occupied. Swallowing her ice cream (blueberry) thoughtfully, she overheard the red-haired woman muttering to herself, “Honestly, Severus, leaving the child in the middle of Diagon Alley all by herself? Batty old Snape**. Poor child must be lost somewhere, completely beside herself. Poor Selenity…”

At that last line, Selenity composed herself and walked up to the woman. “Um, excuse me?” she inquired shyly.

The woman jumped and spun around, clutching her heart. “What on Ear-- Oh! Selenity! Thank heavens! So glad you’re ok.” She latched a hand onto Selenity’s arm, a motherly gesture, and began steering her deeper into the crowds around them.

“Um, where are we going?” And who the heck are you? Selenity asked.

“Oh, dear, where are my manners?! We’re going to fetch your school supplies. And my name is Molly Weasley.”

“Oh. Well, I have my list here…”

“Nonsense. I’ve had five sons go through fourth year at Hogwarts, and one going into it this year. I’ve got the list memorized by heart. Although I suppose you’ll be needing the more basic things, seeing as this is technically your first year… Ah, well. First stop, Gringotts!”

The pair lapsed into comfortable conversation as they traipsed their way to the goblin bank. They talked about their families and swapped hilarious  Once there, they went up to strange looking creature who introduced himself as Griphook.

“We’ll be needing access to the Castle vault, Griphook,” Mrs. Weasley said pleasantly.

He, even though he was considerably shorter than the red-haired witch, managed to peer imperiously down his nose at her. “Key?”

Mrs. Weasley turned to Selenity, who had been staring around in wonder, with a questioning smile.

“K-key? But I haven’t got a key!” she squeaked.

“No key, no acces--” The goblin had his eyes trained on Mrs. Weasley until the end of his sentence, where he swung his gaze around to include Selenity before stopping mid-word. His eyes became as big as saucers before he reached out and grabbed her hand. “Miss Castle! It is you! You look extraordinarily like… your father!” he finished weakly. Selenity sensed that he had been on the verge of saying something else but had refrained. “Come, your vault is this way.”

“But what about the key?” Mrs. Weasley asked incredulously.

Griphook looked at her disdainfully. “That is none of your concern,” he uttered coldly.

Selenity, whose hand was still in the goblin’s, bristled and yanked back. “You have no reason to speak to her that way!” she half-shouted, indignant.

The effects were immediate. The goblin gave a half bow and apologized profusely, glancing up at Selenity almost reverently.

Mrs. Weasley and Selenity exchanged bewildered glances but followed the goblin as he led them to Selenity’s vault. It was far below ground, and the floor by the entrance, although completely dry, seemed to ripple and waver as though underwater. Griphook opened the door and all thoughts left Selenity’s mind except for -- whoa.

Inside the vault lay piles of silver, mounds of gold, and heaps of precious jewels. Selenity felt her jaw almost brush the ground she was in such shock. Everywhere she looked, immense wealth stared back at her. “Wh-What is all this?!” she finally choked out.

Griphook gave a gleeful smile as his response and nudged her toward the smallest pile in the room, which consisted of two envelopes, a small purse covered in scales, and a circular silver locket. Bewildered beyond measure, she picked up the items and, seeing that the bag, though no larger than a wallet, was actually able to hold more than met the eye, dropped the letters and locket into it, and began to fill it with money. Even after she loaded close to a fourth of one of the humongous piles of money into the small bag, she still could not feel any weight. Deciding that this would be more than enough to tide her over, she zipped the small purse up and turned back to the others. Right before the door closed behind them, Selenity noticed a puddle of water in the corner of the vault. It was about four feet in diameter and glittered in the torchlight.

“What’s with the puddle?” she asked the goblin.

He gave her a look, said, “It is not my place to tell you, miss,” and left it at that.

When they left the bank, Griphook gave Selenity a final half-bow.

Utterly nonplussed, Selenity shook her head and turned to Mrs. Weasley, who hadn’t said a word since they’d entered the vault. “Well… that was unexpected.”

Mrs. Weasley gave her a grin and bustled her off to the shops. They stopped by Madam Malkin’s Robes For All Occasions for her school robes and a few casual robes, Flourish and Blotts for her schoolbooks, Slug and Jigger’s Apothecary for her potions materials, and Scribbulus Writing Instruments for her stationary and such. Finally, they only had two destinations left: either the Magical Menagerie or Eeylops Owl Emporium and Ollivander’s Wand Shop.

“Oooh! Let’s stop by the Menagerie! That looks promising!” Selenity exclaimed excitedly. After shopping nonstop with Mrs. Weasley, they had become fast friends and were getting on famously. Mrs. Weasley made an agreeing noise and they walked into the Menagerie.

Selenity’s first impression of the shop was that it smelled like a gerbil’s cage. No lie. Looking around, she saw the walls lined with cages that held animals of all sorts -- poisonous orange snails; giant tortoises with jewels covering every inch of their shells; black, grey, and white rats; owls; ravens; cats of every color; and so many more animals that she couldn’t name.

One cage in particular caught her eye: it held a midnight black owl that stared at her with intelligent silver eyes. It blinked, and became a falcon, keeping its startlingly silver eyes and dark feathers. She walked up to it and tentatively put her fingers up to the cage.

“Hey! Girl! HEY!” A woman rushed up and swatted her hand away from the bird. Shaking her head and staring at Selenity like she was nuts, the woman said, “Don’t get too close to that one. I can’t begin to tell you the number of people who have lost a finger to that dreadful bird.”

“What is it?” the teen asked.

“It’s an Avian Metamorph*. It can morph into any bird it chooses, but will always possess black feathers with silver eyes. And a nasty temper, too!” The woman glared at the cage before turning to face Selenity completely with a smile. “So, what can I do for you?”

Selenity grinned back. “I want that one!”

After she completed her purchase, Molly and Selenity left the shop, leaving a very bewildered yet relieved shopkeeper behind. The lady had been thoroughly shocked when the bird had let the teen pet it, let alone hold it and nuzzle it.

Said bird now perched up on Selenity’s left shoulder, looking around regally.

“What will you name it, dear?” Mrs. Weasley asked, smiling at the girl’s elated expression.

“Callisthene (kal ISS then ee),” she said without hesitation. “It means beautiful strength,” she added, seeing the red-heads confused look.

“Ah. It sure suits her. Let’s go get your wand, then!”

With that, she dragged the girl off to a dusty old shop. It seemed about ready to cave in on itself, and the windows were grimy and reflected the glaring light back at them.

“Well, in you go!” Mrs. Weasley said.

“What? You’re not coming in?” Selenity asked, confused and slightly nervous of being in there by herself.

“Picking your wand is a very personal ordeal. It’s best for you to be alone while you do it,” she explained.

Sighing, Selenity entered the shop with her bird, peering into the dark shadows blindly. “Hello? Anybody ho-- AH!” She shrieked as a man suddenly materialized from the shadows.

Chuckles floated through the shop as the man walked stepped toward her. “Ah, that never gets old. Anyway, I assume you’re here for your wand?” Before she could reply, he answered his own question. “Well, of course you are, that’s all we sell here!” He cackled at his joke as Selenity squirmed uncomfortably under his gaze.

Suddenly, he sobered up. “Well, then. Hold out your arm.” He spent the next ten minutes measuring her wand arm, her non-wand arm, her torso, her legs, and the length of her ears from her nose. He stepped back when he finished. “Interesting… Here, try this one.” At his words, a long, wooden box flew into his upturned palms. He pulled out a thin, tan wand and gave it to her.

It felt alien and strange in her hand.

“Hmmm. How about this one?”

And so it continued. She went through seven wands, none of them seeming to want to stay in her hand.

“Curiouser and curiouser,” Ollivander muttered. He disappeared to the back of the shop and came back minutes later with a long, black box. He blew on it, disturbing a thick layer of dust that had Selenity’s eyes watering. Opening the box, he pulled out a glistening, midnight black wand that seemed to glimmer in the dim light. “12 inches, black cherry. Unicorn hairs braided with strands of unknown hair. Normally, I don’t use material that I’m not familiar with, but the urge to craft this wand was too compelling.” He handed her the wand, and the reaction was instantaneous.

The second the wood connected with her skin, Selenity felt a shock go through her as a jet of black sparks rained from the tip of the wand. She glanced at the man, hoping this was a good thing.

Ollivander regarded her with a thoughtful gaze. “Interesting. Highly interesting… Well, that’ll be 300 galleons.”

She paid and left the shop to find Mrs. Weasley waiting anxiously by the entrance.

“Good! You’re all finished now! Let’s get home, we’ve got a big dinner planned for tonight.” And with that, Molly placed a hand on Selenity’s shoulder and Selenity felt dizziness consume her before everything went black.

 

*Avian Metamorph -- It’s just an animal I made up. They are extremely rare and get along with very few people. There are other types of Metamorphs (Canine, Feline, etc.) as well.

**I know the adults are always "Respect the teachers! "It's Professor Snape!" and such, but that's for the kids benefit. ^^

***I wasn't that sure about what kinds of confections they'd serve in the Wizarding world, so again I improvised. ^^ Hope you liked it, my friend thought it was funny (and slightly disgusting ^.^).