Lumos

The Boy Who Lived

Felicity felt like she needed about fifty more eyes. As Uncle Markus led the way down Diagon Alley, holding onto Felicity’s shoulder and pointing out various people he knew, she saw more extraordinary things than she’d ever dreamed of. A shop just here was selling cauldrons by the pile. A store just beyond displayed racing brooms and other Quidditch supplies. As owl hooted at her from a lamppost.

“Oh, and there’s Lucius! Hello!” Markus called, dragging Felicity toward a shop called Flourish and Blotts, outside of which stood a man with long, silver hair and a thin face.

“Markus,” the man said coolly, nodding to the rest of the party before setting his eyes on Felicity. “Ah, the long-lost child.”

“Felicity, this is your Uncle Lucius. He’s married to your grandmother’s niece.”

“So you’re not an uncle,” said Felix. “Not really.” Mr. Malfoy - for Felicity wasn’t quite ready to call him ‘uncle’ - turned his cold, gray eyes upon Felix with a look of...was it interest?

“Ah, right,” said Markus, as though he’d forgotten the existence of his sister and nephew. “Lucius, this is my sister, Astoria, and her other child, Felix.”

“A pleasure, I’m sure,” Mr. Malfoy said distractedly, his eyes tracing over the shops across the alley. “I’m just picking up books for Draco. He’s having his robes fitted now.”

“Yes, we’ll be getting those soon enough. Just have to pop by Gringotts, of course.”

“How is your mother?”

“Excellent. Most pleased that Felicity’s gotten her letter. She wanted me to tell Cissy hello. Is she with you?”

“Looking at wands.”

I want a wand,” Felix said eagerly.

“All in good time, kiddo,” Markus laughed, patting Felix’s head. “Soon as he heard, of course, it’s all he can think about. Heard him telling Seb the other night, ‘I’m going to Hogwarts if I have to fly there on Mommy’s broom!’”

“Determination is an admirable quality,” Mr. Malfoy said, that look of interest returning. It seemed to Felicity that he couldn’t decide whether or not to like them. “Perhaps he will bring respect back to his family.”

“I’m sure they both will. Well, give Cissy our best. Must be moving along.”

“Bye, Uncle Lucius!” Felix called over his shoulder as they left Mr. Malfoy. Felicity glanced back, but he had vanished into the sea of people crowding the street.

Further down Diagon Alley, they came upon a white building that towered over the other shops. They started up the front steps, passing through a set of marble doors. There was a second set just within, guarded on either side by two strange little men several inches shorter than her. He had pointed ears and a hooked nose and was smiling at them with his sharp little teeth bared.

Felicity drifted a little closer to the nearest person, who happened to be Sebastian. “Goblins,” he said, answering her unasked question. “Smart, but unfriendly at best.” His hand brushed hers and she quickly pulled it away, blushing. Sebastian didn’t seem to notice.

They walked through the doors and down a marble hall lined with high desks on either side, goblins working hurriedly and ignoring them wholly. At the end of the hall, they came upon a goblin gazing intently down at them. Markus spoke up in his usual cheery tone, “Hello, again. Feel like I haven’t seen you since last year.”

The goblin curled its lip and said curtly, “Yes. Griphook, if you will.”

Another goblin, this one shorter than Felix but nearly twice as wide, led the way to a door off the side of the hall. Here, Markus turned to Esther and said, “You can wait out here with Felix. Know you hate those carts.”

“But I wanna go!” Felix demanded, his face working into a well-practiced pout. “I wanna go.”

Esther, torn between her hatred of the Gringotts carts and her reluctance at leaving her children alone with Markus, said, “Oh, alright, go. I’ll wait out here, just...don’t let him fall out or get sucked into a vault or anything.”

“Excellent,” grinned Markus. “Off we go, then.”

So Markus, Felicity, Felix, and Sebastian followed Griphook through the door. Felicity was shocked to suddenly find herself in a dimly lit cavern. She could hear the sound of dripping water and their muffled footsteps as they approached a rather precarious-looking cart. Uncle Markus was the first to climb in, then an eager Felix, and Sebastian said, “Ladies, first,” and watched Felicity clamber in before getting in himself - then they were off.

Felicity felt her stomach lurch as the cart sped through a series of passages, moving too fast for her to keep track of where they were. Felix let out a shout of excitement as they dropped down a steep incline and then quite suddenly shot back up again. Beginning to feel quite sick, Felicity clenched her eyes shut. A hand grabbed hers, but she didn’t dare open her eyes to see who it belonged to.

Finally, the cart shuddered to a halt and Griphook said, “Vault 657.”

When it opened, Felicity was amazed at what she saw. The vault was the size of a large bedroom, the walls piled high with all sorts of treasure. In the middle of the room was a table groaning under an enormous pile of gold, silver, and bronze pieces. But what kind of money was it? She picked up one of the odd coins as Uncle Markus chuckled, “A lot different than Muggle money, eh? All those paper bills.” He shook his head. “Just nonsense.”

As if he had the right to call something nonsensical, Felicity thought.

Felicity marveled at the coins for a few more seconds while Markus produced a green, suede pouch and loaded it with the gold coins. Felicity counted around thirty of them as they disappeared into the bag. Markus closed it and handed it to Sebastian, then produced a second bag, the same size and color, but with silver beads that made it sparkle. He filled it similarly and handed it to Felicity, who took it with trembling fingers.

“For me?” she asked breathlessly.

“Pocket money,” said Uncle Markus, as though he hadn’t just handed her what was probably more money than her mom made in a month. After filling his own bag with more than twice as much as Felicity’s, Markus glanced at Felix, who looked expectant, and said, “You don’t need any spending money yet, my boy, but I’ll buy you a treat before we head home.”

Felix started to protest, but Felicity silenced him with a look. He followed the party, pouting, back out into the tunnel and into the cart. His grumpiness, however, flew away with the intense wind as the cart shot back up toward the surface. Felicity made no attempt to keep her eyes open this time. At one point, Felix shouted, “Look at that!” but, by the time Felicity wrenched her eyes open, whatever it was had vanished.

Once they were back in the fresh air, Uncle Markus led the way back down the street. They visited Madam Malkin’s first. Madam Malkin was a plump but pleasant woman who cheerfully went along with Felix’s demand to be measured for robes even though he didn’t need any. Felicity was fitted, as well, while Sebastian had his own robes tailored and compared their supply lists.

Next, they went into a shop to buy basic school items. Markus and Sebastian broke off to look for things Sebastian needed for his third year. Felix kicked and screamed until Esther agreed to take him down the street to Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop, which left Felicity alone to look for her own supplies. The choices were somewhat overwhelming. She had just spotted a bottle of color-changing ink and had reached for it when another hand knocked into hers.

“Sorry,” said the owner of the hand, which turned out to be a boy Felicity’s age. He had black hair, taped glasses, and was wearing clothes much too big for him. “You take it.”

“No, I just wanted to look at it,” Felicity insisted.

“Thanks.” He picked up the bottle and shuffled his feet nervously.

“Are you new, too?” Felicity asked. “To this, er, magic stuff?”

“Yeah,” he replied, looking relieved not to be the only one. “Are you from a Muggle family?”

“Sort of. It’s a long story. What about you?”

“It’s a long story,” he said with a slight smile. Then, expectantly, “I’m Harry Potter.”

Not sure why he felt the need to include his last name, Felicity reached out to shake his hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Felicity James.”

Harry looked surprised - yet oddly pleased - at her casual tone. “Well, I’ll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose.”

As Harry hurried away to pay for his color-changing ink, a hand came down on Felicity’s shoulder and she jumped. Sebastian was at her elbow, gawking after Harry. “Bloody hell, that was Harry Potter! Did you see his scar?”

“You know him?”

“Haven’t you heard of Harry Potter? He brought down You-Know-Who!”

“Who’s that?”

Sebastian shook his head. “You’re hopeless. You-Know-Who was a dark wizard, worst of the lot. He led this big war and everyone’s scared stiff of him. But he tried to kill Harry Potter and he couldn’t do it.”

“Why not?” Felicity asked, looking to where Harry had vanished between the shelves.

“No one knows why, just that he’s gone and Harry Potter is the reason. He’s the only one You-Know-Who ever failed to kill.”

“But...he’s my age.”

“He was just a baby when it happened. Wouldn’t even remember it, would he?”

“What about his parents?”

“Killed by You-Know-Who.”

Felicity frowned, her heart going out to the orphaned boy. She couldn’t imagine having to go through life without her mom or even Felix. “Poor Harry.”

“Poor Harry nothing. He’s famous now,” Sebastian scowled. “Famous for something he can’t even remember. ‘The Boy Who Lived.’”

. . .

“So, we’ve got robes, quills, ink, potion stuff, the rest of your books...That just leaves…”

Felicity looked up from the shockingly green cover of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi to see what Uncle Markus was gesturing at - a battered old shop with a sign over the door reding Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. As he’d often done throughout the day, Sebastian leaned down and muttered an explanation to Felicity. “Best wandmaker there is, Ollivander. He’s a bit odd, though, so mind you don’t stare.”

Uncle Markus hung back with Felix, offering to take him into Quality Quidditch Supplies, and the remaining three entered Ollivander’s shop.

Felicity immediately got the impression of a library - everything was hushed and she felt like the slightest sound would disturb the peace. Small, thin boxes were stacked from floor to ceiling in neat rows, some dustier than others. Sebastian leaned casually against the door; Esther bent over a pile of wands near the front window; Felicity looked around nervously for the shop owner.

Then, out of nowhere - “Good afternoon.”

Felicity jumped; a clatter of boxes told her that her mother had jumped, as well.

Mr. Ollivander, having appeared quite suddenly from between the shelves, had fixed Felicity with a cool gaze, his translucent eyes seeming to see right through her. “Miss James, at last.”

“Afternoon, Ollivander,” Sebastian said calmly.

Turning his gaze to Sebastian, Mr. Ollivander replied enthusiastically, “Ah, young Mr. Black. Willow and dragon heartstring, I recall. Ten inches, I believe it was.”

“Yes, sir, but we’re here for Felicity’s wand.”

“Yes, yes. Another from the Black family line. There were many doubts if their branch would continue in magic, but I, of course, never had any doubts. Come, come. Let’s see, now…”

Mr. Ollivander swept away, flitting between the shelves and plucking several boxes from the various shelves. Felicity couldn’t imagine how he remembered where they all belonged. When he returned, he opened a box and placed a black wand in her hand. “Oak and unicorn hair.”

Felicity held it for a moment and glanced at Sebastian, who mimed waving it. She went to raise her arm but, before she could bring it down, Mr. Ollivander snatched the wand away, muttering, “No, no...perhaps this…”

It went on for several minutes, wands being given and snatched away until Mr. Ollivander handed her a light-colored wand that she immediately thought quite pretty. “Maple and phoenix feather, eleven inches, surprisingly swishy. We shall see…”

But Felicity didn’t need to see. The moment the wand was placed in her hand, she knew it was the one. A warmth seemed to rush through her fingertips and a supreme feeling of completeness overwhelmed her.

“Yes, yes, this is the one,” Ollivander said. “Curious creatures, phoenixes. Very curious, indeed…”

Felicity, still lost in euphoria, didn’t think to ask just what was curious about phoenixes.