Chapter 5. Diagon Alley.oOoOo

  The Heritage Ritual Chamber was nothing short of breathtaking.

  It was a vast, spherical cavern, nearly four hundred meters in diameter, so immense that it seemed to curve out of reality. As far as the eye could see, every inch of the stone walls and domed ceiling was carved with silver-etched depictions of animals, both real and mythical. A rabbit ambled alongside a dragon, an elephant lumbered past a mole burrowing into an unseen tunnel. The level of detail was extraordinary, but what truly stunned the Denge family, still new to the magical world, was that every creature was fully animated. They moved with natural rhythm and curiosity, occasionally pausing in their activities to turn and observe the newcomers, their expressions alert and unmistakably aware.

  Grimtalon, for his part, seemed quietly pleased by the family’s awe. To him, their wonder was not just fttery, it was a respectful acknowledgment of his people’s culture.

  At the center of the chamber stood a solitary pedestal, roughly a meter tall, topped with a smooth, dark orb about the size of a handball. Gabriel, a lifelong fan of Tolkien, couldn’t help but think of a Pantír at the sight of it. But unlike the dark artifacts from fantasy, this sphere shimmered faintly with an opalescent sheen, giving it a strangely calming presence.

  “Welcome to the Hall of Heritage,” Grimtalon decred with pride in his gravelled voice. “Every magical bloodline, regardless of species, is represented and protected by two guardian totems. Mine, for instance, is guided by the Cassowary and the Monitor Lizard. As for the Potters, the family who escorted you here, theirs are the Gryphon and the Hawk.”

  Noticing the surprise in the Denges’ eyes, he offered a bit more context with a sly flick of his ear.

  “Of course, this isn’t some ancient secret. Most magical families dispy their totems openly in their family crests, when they have the courage to cim them, that is. The Malfoy family, for example,” he said with a dry chuckle, “opted for an abstract ‘M’ instead of acknowledging the Peacock and the Ferret.”

  Still chuckling to himself, Grimtalon stepped forward, drawing closer to the central pedestal.

  “Your role here, Miss Denge, is very simple. All you need to do is pce your hand on the Zaulurag, or the Bck Star, as some humans prefer to call it. Do not worry. The process is completely painless. The sphere will take a single drop of blood, and the magic tied to your lineage will do the rest.”

  He tapped the pedestal lightly with a cw.

  “Two totemic animals will respond. Though on rare occasions, a third may appear, however it is highly uncommon. If the combination is unique, your family will be registered as new blood. If it matches an existing family, we may contact them, if you wish, to see whether you’d like to be formally welcomed under their name. And if the response comes from an extinct line… then the choices will be expined in due course.”

  Suddenly self-conscious, Séléné swallowed hard. But when she saw Miyu’s encouraging nod, she gathered her courage and stepped forward. Without giving herself time to hesitate, she swiftly pced her hand on the orb.

  A soft warmth bloomed in her palm, and just as Grimtalon had promised, the sensation was completely painless. Beneath her hand, the surface of the Zaulurag shifted. Silver light rippled across it like drifting clouds on the surface of a celestial globe.

  All around them, the carved animals embedded in the chamber walls flickered one by one, as if the magic was scanning them, testing each figure before passing on.

  After a few long seconds, two silver silhouettes began to emerge from the walls and drifted toward her.

  The first was clearly a bird. It glided through the air with serene grace, circling gently above her before coming to rest at her left side. Formed entirely of radiant silver light, the creature revealed itself to be a crane, long-beaked, slender, and standing tall with elegant dignity beside the young girl.

  The second figure was massive, and unmistakably mythical.

  Its body resembled that of a heavy warhorse, broad and muscur like a Percheron, but covered in glistening reptilian scales. A long tail extended behind it, lion-like, ending in a tuft of soft, shimmering hair. Its head bore the features of an Eastern dragon, complete with flowing whiskers and luminous eyes, and atop its brow sat a single horn that pulsed with a warm glow.

  Its form might have been intimidating, but the sheer nobility in its gaze dispelled all fear. No one in the chamber flinched as the creature stepped to Séléné’s right and nuzzled her gently, affectionately, as if greeting a long-lost kin.

  “Impressive. Kirin and Crane, I must admit, that’s not a combination I’ve ever seen before,” Grimtalon observed, his tone admiring. Chimeric creatures were always a sight to behold.

  “But even now, we already have a few clues. As you can see, both animals are fully grown. That tells us Miss Denge is part of an existing magical bloodline. If the animals had been juveniles, it would have meant the lineage had never existed before.

  “Next, take note of their posture. They’re standing by her side. If they had kept their distance, it would have signaled that the bloodline had been cursed in the past, uncimable by any heir. Thankfully, such cases are extremely rare.

  “Now, if the animals had circled her but paid her little attention, it would suggest she’s a secondary member of an active family, recognized, but not at its heart.

  “But in this case,” he added, gesturing toward the majestic figures fnking Séléné, “with both creatures proudly standing guard, it indicates a bloodline that once existed, but has since gone dormant. And your daughter is its new head.”

  Grimtalon paused for a moment, seeming to weigh his next words carefully.

  “The only complication,” he admitted, “is that we’ll now need to consult the archives to identify the specific family. The presence of a Kirin strongly suggests an eastern lineage, which will make the search somewhat slower. But while our scribes begin their research, I suggest we move on to the next stage of the procedure.”

  oOoOo

  The rest of the meeting was far less interesting for Séléné. After returning to Grimtalon’s office, the group began discussing various details and procedures. Naturally, since Gringotts was a bank, the main topic was the opening of an account with a more advantageous rate that Séléné could use during her years at school.

  Séléné tried her best to stay focused, but the words "interest rates" and "return on investment" washed over her like a dull fog. At one point, a quill perched on the edge of Grimtalon’s desk gave a zy stretch, as if just as unimpressed by the conversation as she was. Séléné gave it a sympathetic gnce.

  Still, a few topics managed to cut through the haze of her boredom.

  First was the question of warding. The goblins offered protective enchantments for non-magical homes, as long as the property wasn’t directly adjacent to others. Luckily, their house sat slightly apart from the rest of Ottery St Mary, with no immediate neighbors. That meant it qualified for a full ward package, not only shielding the property from harmful intentions, but also allowing the creation of a dedicated magical space. There, during summer breaks, Séléné would be allowed to practice basic, safe spells. The idea made her sit up a little straighter.

  Next came the possibility of linking their firepce to the Floo Network. Gabriel and Miyu wouldn’t be able to use it on their own, they weren’t magical, but as long as Séléné was with them, it would make trips to Diagon Alley or other wizarding locations much simpler than driving all the way to London. That alone might save hours of stress.

  And finally, the point that truly caught her attention: the mirror system. A way to stay in touch during the school year. The spellwork required was too complex for her parents to use without help, but thanks to the wards, they’d still be able to receive her calls from Hogwarts.

  She’d only be allowed to initiate them during assigned time slots, depending on her House schedule. And the system was expensive, enough that only wealthier families usually chose it.

  But Gabriel barely hesitated. He gnced at Miyu, who nodded once, and then he turned back to Grimtalon.

  “We’ll take the mirror,” he said simply.

  Séléné didn’t say anything, but a quiet warmth bloomed in her chest. She didn’t know if she’d even use it much. But just knowing it would be there, waiting, felt like a promise, quietly lit in gss.

  As Gabriel finished reading over the st contract, and Séléné continued to marvel at the quill, which had apparently decided to start doing push-ups, the door opened.

  A goblin she had never seen before entered the room, pced a scroll on Grimtalon’s desk, and left without a word or ceremony. Goblins, it seemed, had little patience for small talk.

  Grimtalon gave the document a quick gnce, then nodded to himself as if confirming something internally before speaking again.

  “I have the results of the heritage test here. As I suspected, Kirin and Crane are indeed a Japanese combination and correspond to the bloodline of Izumo no Okuni, which I believe you’re already familiar with. There is a vault associated with the lineage, but it has been inactive since the early seventeenth century. We’ll need some time to transfer its contents to the London branch.”

  He adjusted the scroll slightly before continuing.

  “What I suggest is that we conclude our appointment here. In a few days, once your Floo connection is active, you’ll be able to return and explore the vault at your own pace, without feeling rushed.”

  Recognizing the logic of his suggestion, and realizing they had already been in the bank for over two hours, the family agreed. They chose a time slot during which they would be avaible to receive the goblin team and allow the instaltion of the wards at their home.

  At long st, after what felt like an eternity, Séléné and her parents stepped out of the bank, blinking against the sharp November sunlight.

  The sounds of Diagon Alley rushed back in, clinking shop bells, bubbling cauldrons, the distant hoot of an owl overhead.It didn’t take them long to spot Lily and Rose seated at the terrace of what looked like an ice cream vendor, their fiery red hair easy to pick out in the crowd.

  oOoOo

  Séléné hadn’t expected ice cream, eaten in autumn, at a terrace café in the middle of London, to taste this good. And yet, it did. Perhaps the company helped.

  While her parents and Lily chatted about what had happened at Gringotts, Rose, once the initial shyness had melted away, turned out to be an unstoppable chatterbox. She was clearly always ready to share funny details about growing up in a magical family, and had absolutely no qualms about throwing her brother under the bus with delightfully humiliating anecdotes.

  More than once during their break, Séléné felt quietly grateful to be an only child. No one around to expose her own blunders… though, she had to admit, telling the stories did look like fun.

  “And then Sirius showed up, furious, with his hair completely pink and his earlobes dangling down to his shoulders. Harry tried to act all innocent, but his trousers were stained with pink dye, so Sirius didn’t buy it and chased him all through the house and garden for almost an hour. Obviously, I didn’t say it was me who dyed his hair and spilled the potion on Harry’s pants to frame him. It was way too funny to interrupt.”

  At that moment, whatever trace of doubt Séléné still had about sibling life completely vanished.

  Yep. Being an only child? Absolutely perfect.

  While listening to the demonic child beside her gloat about her wicked antics, Séléné took the opportunity to quietly observe the undeniably magical look of Diagon Alley.

  At first gnce, the street resembled a typical old English ne, if its architects had been heavily under the influence of something highly questionable. None of the walls were straight. Windows that couldn’t possibly open were open, and rooftops were either far too steep or, more often, not sloped enough. Every element taken on its own felt subtly wrong, but when viewed as a whole, the street possessed a chaotic cohesion that somehow made sense in its entirety.

  The same could be said of the people walking by. No two looked alike. While some dressed in vaguely old-fashioned but otherwise normal styles, others looked like they’d wandered in straight from a Monty Python sketch, their appearances so absurd that they looped back around to feeling intentional.But more than anything, what struck her was the feeling that lingered in the air, a quiet sense of happiness, of calm.

  People were smiling. Their clothes were vibrant, cheerful. From somewhere behind her, she could hear Mr. Fortescue, the owner of the ice cream shop, humming a cheerful tune as he worked. Nothing in sight matched the image Okuni had painted of the magical world.

  No one looked at Séléné or her parents with contempt for their mundane clothing. Everything felt perfectly welcoming.

  And yet, once again, there was that name, Harry, mentioned by Rose as Lily’s son. It was undeniable proof that, for all the warmth and color around her, there was some truth in Okuni’s vision after all.

  A gust of wind tugged at her sleeve, carrying with it the sound of conversation and clinking cutlery from other tables. She blinked, realizing she’d tuned everyone out for a moment.

  “Alright then, now that the ice cream’s finished,” Lily’s voice chimed in clearly, “I think it’s time we continued the tour.”

  Séléné refocused just in time to hear her mother asking what the next stop would be.

  “I think we’d best wait until summer for robes and clothing,” Lily replied. “Séléné will likely grow a bit before school starts. But we should begin with the wand, then books, and maybe the menagerie st.”

  Seeing Gabriel and Miyu nod in agreement, the small group gathered again and made their way toward a shop that, oddly enough, managed to look even more crooked than the others, yet still perfectly solid.

  Next to the door, behind slightly dusty windows, a sign proudly read: “Ollivanders – Wandmakers since 382 BC”

  A soft chime rang out as the group opened the door and stepped into the shop.

  As its crooked exterior had suggested, the inside was just as dusty as one might imagine. Shelves lined the walls, stacked high with boxes of varying sizes, while a rge table stood in the middle of the room, so cluttered that its surface likely hadn’t seen daylight in generations.

  Yet beyond the apparent mess and ever-present dust, there was something unmistakably magical about the space. The few rays of sunlight that managed to slip through the windows were dressed in drifting motes of dust, casting an ethereal glow across the room.

  While Gabriel’s French side was taking in the pce with wide-eyed wonder, unbothered by the dust and already imagining how magical it would be to open all those boxes one by one, Miyu’s Japanese side was nearly catatonic. She was just one step away from losing it completely and scrubbing every surface in sight while cackling maniacally.

  Séléné, for her part, knew her parents well enough to understand exactly what they were thinking, and she couldn’t help but be amused by the sharp twitch of her mother’s eyebrow.

  As the non-magical family advanced cautiously, uncertain whether one of the crooked shelves might colpse under the weight of dust alone, Lily made her way toward a heavy curtain that seemed to be made in equal parts of fabric and sawdust.

  Trailing at her heels, Rose was doing her best to convince her mother that, despite being only ten, she was definitely mature enough to have her own wand.

  The faint sound of wood being sawed from the back room stopped at st. After a few seconds, the curtain parted to reveal an elderly man, his eyes nearly white behind thick gsses.

  He paused at the threshold and observed the visitors who had just entered his shop. His gaze passed quickly over Gabriel and Miyu, clearly too old to be seeking their first wand, then lingered a little longer on Rose, before moving to Séléné and resting for a few seconds on her pale hair, as if something about it stirred a memory.

  At st, he turned to Lily and began to speak.

  “Lily Potter. Dragon heartstring, willow, fifteen inches. Nice and swishy. I trust it continues to serve you well?”

  “It does, Mister Ollivander. Always eager to help when I need it. We’re here today for Séléné Denge,” she pced a hand gently on the girl’s shoulder, “and please don’t let my daughter try to talk you into anything. She’s not eleven yet, and she’ll be choosing her first wand with the rest of the family.”

  Once again, Ollivander’s eyes flicked toward Rose, this time with unmistakable amusement as her face folded into a pout.

  “A first wand is a tremendous step, young dy. Before your eleventh birthday, your magic is not yet stable enough. The wand that would choose you now may not be the wand you’ll truly need.”

  Realizing there was little he could say to convince her that the universe wasn’t cruelly designed to frustrate her personally, he allowed the matter to rest and turned his attention to the more pressing task at hand.

  “Miss Denge, is it? Yes… I thought I’d meet you someday.”

  Once again, his gaze lingered on her hair. Séléné shivered slightly. She had the strange sensation that he wasn’t looking at her, but through her , toward some long-lost memory.

  Finally, just as Gabriel was starting to feel a flicker of impatience, Ollivander seemed to jolt back into the present.

  “I remember every wand I’ve ever sold, Miss Denge. But more importantly, I remember every wand I crafted… and every core I ever gathered,” he said, his voice dipped in something half-mystical.

  Without sparing another gnce for the rest of the group, he moved to a shelf and began rifling through boxes.

  “Normally, at this point, I would take your measurements and let you try several wands, one by one. Because the wand chooses the witch, Miss Denge, and make no mistake, one has already chosen you. Long before you ever stepped foot into this shop.”

  Still searching, he didn’t notice the uneasy gnces shared among the others.

  “Ah. Here it is.”

  He pulled free a box, bck as midnight, marked with a stylized symbol that resembled a letter C.

  “As I said,” he continued, almost reverently, “I remember every core I’ve gathered. And I often travel. Around twelve years ago, I was in Japan, harvesting cherry wood, when a woman approached me. She was beautiful… but cold, and pale as frost. She was clearly a Yuki-Onna. And I must admit, I was not at ease, they tend to be… opinionated.”

  He paused, the box still in his hands, his eyes tracing the mark as if it were something sacred.

  “But she hadn’t come by chance. She had a message. ‘I’ve owed a debt to the Kabuki Witch for centuries,’ she said. ‘Today, I’m fulfilling it.’ I didn’t know who she meant but before I could ask, she gave me a single strand of her hair and said: ‘The girl it’s meant for will have hair like glowing silk and a pendant that shines through the night.’”

  Suddenly, a bright smile lit up his face, startling Lily, she had never seen him look quite so cheerful.

  “I was truly lucky, Miss Denge. Yuki-Onna aren’t like phoenixes or thestrals. You can’t simply take a hair from them and hope it will make a wand. Just like with Vee hair, it has to be freely given.

  And this… this was the first and only time I’ve ever seen such a gift.

  Vees, at least, live in communities. They may be elusive, but they’re sociable in their own way, and sometimes willing to offer a strand. But Yuki-Onna are solitary beings, distant from humankind, cold, detached.

  And yet, there I stood… with a treasure in my hand.”

  As he continued, Ollivander made his way back toward the counter, voice still ced with wonder.

  “I returned as quickly as I could, and once I stepped into my workshop, I felt it, the right piece of wood. It was waiting for me. I spent nearly a week crafting the wand. The shop stayed closed; customers were starting to riot.”

  A hint of amusement ghosted across his face.

  “But when I finished… I was holding one of the finest pieces I’ve ever made. And from that day on, I’ve been waiting, waiting to meet the girl with glowing silk hair.”

  With those words, Ollivander finally opened the box, and a collective gasp filled the room. Even Gabriel and Miyu, despite having no real experience with wands, had to admit the object was breathtaking.

  “Here it is, after twelve years. Thirteen inches, silver birch, and Yuki-Onna hair. Not the most powerful wand I’ve ever created, but certainly the most unique.”

  Resting on a cushion of bck velvet, the wand’s pale color stood out even more, making it appear almost white. Its shape curved ever so slightly, reminiscent of a crescent moon, and about a third of the way up the shaft, a silver ring marked the transition into the handle.

  Speechless, Séléné felt as if the wand was calling to her. Silently, she closed the distance to the counter.

  When her fingers finally curled around the wand, a soft hum of satisfaction resonated through the air, and a gentle breeze stirred around her.

  Moved by an instinct she didn’t fully understand, Séléné gave a small flick of her wrist, and a cascade of light burst forth, illuminating the shop with a glow that made it feel even more enchanted than before.

  “Splendid,” Ollivander breathed, visibly eted. “As I always say… the wand chooses the witch, Miss Denge. And this one seems to have been chosen very well.”

  The rest of the interaction passed in a blur.

  Séléné was far too mesmerized by the wand, by the way it felt, the way it seemed to resonate with her, to notice her parents asking about the recommended wrist holster, or the wand care kit, or even paying for the purchase itself.

  Her dazed state sted quite a while. She didn’t notice the people she passed on the streets, smiling as they admired her wand, most of them probably remembering their own reactions at eleven. She didn’t notice when they entered the bookshop and her parents gathered all the books from her list, along with several others about the magical world. She didn’t notice when Rose, clearly amused, convinced her parents to buy the most childish book she could find: a tale about a Puffskin falling in love with a nostril. She didn’t notice when Lily offered to shrink all their books with a timed spell that would wear off the next morning. She didn’t even notice when they were back out in the street again, on their way to the pet shop.

  It was only when a bck shape ran into her legs with a loud meow that she noticed anything at all.

  She blinked once, then twice, and finally realized where she was, catching the amused smiles of the people walking beside her. Blushing furiously and pretending not to care, she looked down at the thing that had jolted her back to reality.

  It was a bck cat, meowing with all her might, brushing insistently against her legs. Séléné was almost certain that if the cat could speak, she’d be shouting, “Notice me!”

  After a quick moment to ask Lily how to secure her wand in the holster, she crouched to pet the cat, and immediately noticed something odd. The cat had two tails.

  “Oh, looks like she finally adopted someone.”

  Startled by the unfamiliar voice, Séléné looked up and saw a middle-aged woman in a green apron, watching them with a kind smile.

  “What do you mean?” she asked, intrigued.

  “We’ve had this dy for three years,” the shopkeeper replied, clearly amused. “Every time someone showed the slightest interest in her, she’d vanish, just disappear for days. No one could find her until she decided to return.”

  “And… what is she, exactly?” Séléné asked.

  “What do you mean, darling? She’s a cat,” Miyu replied, sounding a little surprised.

  “But… she has two tails.”

  “Um, no, she only has one…” Gabriel added, frowning, clearly just as confused.

  “I see two tails too,” said Rose, with Lily nodding beside her.

  The shopkeeper stepped closer, still smiling as she watched the cat purring happily against Séléné’s legs.

  “That’s normal. She’s a Maneko. A rare breed of cat from Asia. You see, in that part of the world, you’ll find Nekomata, those are two tailed cats, beautiful, powerful, and very dangerous. They don’t really have predators.”

  She crouched slightly, lowering her voice with a note of fondness.

  “Manekos aren’t nearly as strong. They’re more like Kneazles, clever, magical, and loyal. But what they are especially good at is mimicking. So instead of fighting like the Nekomata, they just pretend to be one. It’s how they survive. And since the second tail is only an illusion, only those with magic can see it.”

  Gabriel could only sigh as the cat rubbed insistently against his daughter. He exchanged a gnce with Miyu, who simply nodded, far more amused than he was. “Well… I suppose there’s no leaving without her, is there? Since her wand already chose her, it seems only fitting that her pet should too.”

  Miyu stepped closer and gently stroked her daughter’s hair. “Tu as un nom pour elle ?” (Do you have a name for her?)

  “Umbra,” Séléné answered without the slightest hesitation. The name seemed destined for her.