Wizards, Wands, and Foreshadowing

Leaving Gringotts with 4 rings, 1 on my hand and the other 3 on a silver chain around my neck, I contemplated the discussion wed just had.

...

Clearing his throat, "Ehem. No, there is no law against it. Obviously some of these inheritances have prerequisites to claim them, and then there are others that most would want to avoid."

"Josh, I would advise only claiming at most four of them for the time being." Grandfather said, continuing, "Myrddin, Evans, Sayer, and if need be the Peverell heir ring." He looked worried looking at the list. "On this continent, the others lack any real power or have implications we'd rather avoid for the foreseeable future."

"Can I still claim the family magics and properties available without claiming the heir rings for all of them?" I asked.

"Magic itself, has already claimed them for you. The exceptions being any that are claimed by another, or are lost." Stormblade informed me having regained his calm. "Have you decided which rings you wish to claim?"

"Lets go with grandfather's suggestion." I answered after a moment. I'm sure he'll explain why he chose these when we return.

"Very well." 

...

Grandfather suggested, and I agreed, to move all vaults to a single vault and the goblins provided me with a bag that had an undetectable expansion charm on it, that contained 2000 Galleons, 500 Sickles, and 150 Knuts, the currency they use in the Wizarding world. We would return on his own tomorrow to oversee the movement of the various vaults into my new one, closing all but the oldest. The books and magical items would be transferred into a trunk for me to examine later.

"Next up, we will be getting you your wand. Everything else can wait for tomorrow." He said, looking like he was ready to sleep but determined to press on.

...

Garrick Ollivander, might be one of my favorite people in this world.

....

I entered his shop with the tinkle of a bell, as Grandfather excused himself for a minute. "Be right with you!" Came from the back of the shop. Shop because of the counter with a till, otherwise it would be a bit difficult to distinguish it from a warehouse with all of the stacked boxes and layers of dust on them.

"Garrick Ollivander at your service," came a voice from a man who just walked out from the back. "My, I hadn't expected to see another Myrddin in my life time. I sold your grandparents their very first wands, when they were your age." He said as he took stock of me. His eyes seeming to be looking into the very core of my being.

"Which is your wand arm," he asked "as a magical tape measure began to measure me.

"I'm right handed," I told him, as he walked over to a shelf and pulled out a box.

"Try this one. Ebony wood 11 inches, with a unicorn hair core." Reaching out, I went to grab the wand, only for Mr. Ollivander to yank it back as static started to discharge from the handle.

"Not that one. Perhaps, Elm, 12 inches, dragon heartstring core" He said handing me a gorgeous wand covered in runes.

"Go ahead, for it a wave."

The wand let out a sound of a dry fart. "No, not that one either." He said, taking it back and handing me another. "White Pine, 9 inches, Phoenix core. Pliant" This wand seemed to be crying?

On we went, trying wand after wand.

Rumble

"No, surely not.." Mr. Ollivander said, disappearing into the back of the store after the 37th failure. Honestly at this point, I was starting to wonder if there was a wand here that would suit me.

Mr. Ollivander returned from the back of the store, with a dark red wood box in his hands, "This is the final wand my father created before he passed this shop over to me in is entirety."

"In all of my years, this wand has never once stirred or showed any desire to be wielded by any witch or wizard."

He placed the box on the counter in front of me. "The very constructing of this wand goes against so much of what is considered standard wand lore. If it had been created by anyone else, I would have salvaged it for parts years ago."

Holding eye contact for a minute more, Mr. Ollivander sighed and then opened the box turning it to face me.

The most beautiful wand I have ever seen lay on blue crushed felt. Black, pale white, soft white, rich red, and 2 distinctive sets of silver. The handle was carved as if to be the hilt of a sword, a setting for a pommel stone the size of a half dollar. The grip a delicate inlay of onyx wrapped with a dark green snake skin leather. It shimmered with small arcs of what looked like lightning and fire.

"14 and 1/2 inches long. Rowan, Ebony, Elder, Snake, and Ash woods. Bound together with a mix of mithril and goblin silver. Core of a Thunderbird tail feather, with a basilisk skin handle and rare earth onyx inlay. Unyielding."

"It's gorgeous." I say reaching in and picking it up.

Like a bolt of lightning, I feel the wand reach out to my magic. Seeing if I am worthy to wield it.

What ever it saw it seems to like it. A golden light of magic surrounds me, gentle currents of air begin to swirl around as I hold it.

"If I hadn't seen it myself, I wouldn't believe it..... " said Mr. Ollivander. "Never let anyone tell you otherwise Mr. Myrddin. The wand chooses the wizard, and this wand would have chosen none other than you." " However, there's more." Turning on his heel and walking back into the storage area, he brought out a wand holster made of the same material as the wrap on the handle, and a 6' oak staff with 8 hollowed sections reinforced with a dark silver metal. "When my father made that wand, he also made a forearm holster the style of which has only recently come into use on the market and this staff, with instructions that should this wand ever choose someone, then the staff and holster should go with them as well." He pressed a rune on the staff, and it shrank to the same size as the wand.

"Ollivander's hasn't sold a battle mage staff in 200 years. Even then, one pre-matched with a wand and a custom holster has never happened in our family history."

"Great things are coming in your future Mr. Myrddin. I have no idea what they will be, but they will be great."

....

Myrddin Manor

...

Upon returning to the manor, my grandfather gave me 4 books to read. One on a practice called occlumency. The second a book on the etiquette and bearing a of a lord and their heirs. The third book was my own copy of the Myrddin family grimoire linked to the main family one, charmed to update any time new material would be added. It also had a very convenient charm added that would allow it to communicate with the other family grimoires. The fourth book was an introduction to runes and arithmancy book that he'd written himself, with his personal experiences with enchanting, and magical manufacturing.

He advised to look at all of them, but to start with the occlumency book tonight. If all went well, we would begin practicing it's techniques tomorrow night.

....

September 1, 1987

London

Kings Cross Station

....

For the past month, I think I have read more books, than any other short period of time in both of my lives.

I don't know about others, but I took like a fish to water with the occlumency training. Grandfather thinks I might have a natural affinity for it, possibly a part of one of my magical inheritance.

It starts with clearing your mind. Something I'd struggled with in my last life when I learned to meditate from my original father when he began to show an interest in the topic.

To properly meditate, it starts with clearing the mind of all distractions. Grandfather re-introduced me to the concept of guided meditation. He started by leading me to a quiet, and spacious sitting room on the ground floor of the manor, the walls here are painted in light earth tones soft greens and rich browns. The room could comfortably fit 30 people trying to meditate, with room to spare between each of us. Soft couches line the walls, with one wall that opens to the outside for fresh air.

"Start by closing your eyes. Try and feel what's going on around you, as the air passes across you. Feel the house, as it settles. Identify yourself as yourself, together a part of and separate from the world." He began, "Control your breathing, as you begin to sense yourself. Start be imagining a point, at the center of your forehead, and using it, draw a line, around your body. First the outline."

"Next, using that same point, begin to trace it your arms, down to each individual finger, and back to the center. "

"After that, trace your legs, down to each toe, and again back to the center."

Taking measured breaths, I tried to do as Grandfather instructed. Focusing on myself within the world around me.

"After tracing out your body, draw again, that line of yourself within the world, circling your body again, but this time let it carry away your concerns, your distractions, everything but the dot."

"Bringing the dot, back to your core, let the dot grow, connecting your mind to your core."

Whoa

I no longer hear Grandfather's voice, just silence, and an empty white space.

According to the book on occlumency, this is a representation of my untrained mind scape. Everyone, regardless of if they are a witch, wizard, no-maj, or even a magical creature, can allegedly bring their minds to this point through meditation.

The next step from the book is to imagine the events of my life. Take those events and store them into books or scrolls. This part is supposed to take a long time, but for some reason it happened almost instantly as if they were ready to be stored like this. The next step was to create a library here. A library, a storage room, a vault, whatever form best suits the user. A library is often the go-to for most beginners, utilizing this method, to organize their minds. The familiarity of it making it easier to imagine. 

Shelves upon shelves, begin to fill the space ahead of me. I imagine the books of my lives, filling the shelves with my memories. The old on the left, the new on the right. Next, I include all of the books I read both in that life and this one. Oh, there's even a computer system for storage and cataloging. I don't think I had considered that.

Now, I imagine walls, surrounding the library. In my mind, it looks like a giant cube.

Seeing that catalog computer gives me an idea . The library is shrinking and changing shape to my computer from my previous life. All of the files are sorted, and coded. Time to set up a password... and done. Now, I'll imagine a new library surrounding this one. The books I'll fill with the stories I imagined reading fanfics. Now, I'll form a new library, but this one based off of the New York Public Library. Where better to hide my memories than in the home of Flynn Carson. There's even a magic sword guard dog.

....

I open my eyes, to discover Grandfather wide-eyed and staring at me.

I don't blame him, as I seem to be floating a few inches over the seat.

"Huh. Neat." Is all I could manage before I fell back into my seat.

"You were floating. For thirty minutes." He said. Mouth hanging open in disbelief. 

"I've never seen actually get into a proper meditative state on their first try, let alone floating...."

.....

After developing my occlumency practice, I found studying a lot easier. I could retain most information after reading it once, and the continued meditation just made it recalling it all easier.

I've already committed the first year and half of the second year text books to memory, and started practicing most of the beginner transfiguration, charms, and potions with Grandfather and Jack. I don't want to look at a magical theory book again for a month at least. 

Grandfather's reasoning was that due to our family legacy, combined with my background as being from the U.S., I needed to be used to the kind of expectations I would face in school. Honestly, if they teach like Grandfather, then Hogwarts has to be pumping out combat mages. It was easy to see how he has stayed in such great physical shape. Jack seemed to get a weird look on his face each time Grandfather mentions the school and then ramps up the training. However he didn't say anything to contradict him, and he seemed to be grow numb to my rapid understanding of the material and ease of using the beginner spells. 

...

Stepping out of the fireplace onto Platform 9 3/4, I realize that we must be earlier than I thought as there are very few people here. Most of them seem to be station staff, aurors, and a few families that seem to have come early to see their kids off before reporting to work. 

Gleaming crimson red and polished steel, the Hogwarts express radiates a sense of majesty I have never seen on a train before. 

I walk with Grandfather and Jack to the train, my trunk shrunk down with a rune matrix that Grandfather added himself. "Well, I guess this is it until the holidays." He said, as he rested his palms on my shoulders, making eye contact as if to keep a clear image of me in his head. "Study well, practice diligently, and try to make some friends." He finished before clapping my shoulders and turning on his heel. Jack handed me a box, "I know there will be a snack vendor on the train, but I thought you might enjoy a few creature comforts from the mug.. I mean the no-maj side of things on your trip. The box has an expanded space inside as well as stasis charms. It currently has several cases of soda, a few large pizzas, a couple cases of crisps, and an assortment of American candies." He then followed after Grandfather, walking into the no-maj part of the station.

.......

The train ride itself was rather un-eventful. A relatively quiet and relaxed ride through the Scottish countryside. A few older students peaked into my chosen cabin, as if looking for someone, before they moved on. Eventually The train eventually set off and our journey commenced. 

Taking the time offered to me, I pulled out grandfather's book on arithmancy and runes, and how they work together to build spells and matrices. Within it, he clarifies that both can be used independently for the same tasks, using both not only further strengthens whatever we create, but it also makes it more stable, and harder to interrupt or counter by other wizards and witches. Additionally when applied to enchanting tools, it allowed much more complex tasks to be programmed into the machines. Grandfather goes on to say that he hopes this can be used to imitate the no-maj computers for magical use. He included the rune schemes he'd come up with to magic proof the technology in the businesses owned by the family after seeing the convenience they offered in business. I suppose I should thank Dad for that. Apparently he was the one to bring grandfather's businesses into the modern age.

Knock Knock

"Excuse me, I hope you don't mind if I join you. Most of the other occupied compartments of new students are full." Said a bright looking young witch, already in her school robes as she stepped into my cabin.

"Not at all. Would you like some help with your trunk?" I asked standing to welcome this new addition.

Nodding and offering a smile, "Thank you." She said, as I lifted her trunk into the overhead, and she took a seat.

Offering my hand, "Joshua Myrddin, at your service, however I prefer to be called Josh" I said, flashing a smile.

"Penelope Clearwater." She replied, smiling herself as she reached out and taking my hand offering a firm handshake.

"First or second generation magical I take it?" I asked her, to her apparent surprise as her eyebrows raised.

"What gave it away?" She asked hand still holding mine, as she looked at my face expecting to find the answer.

Smiling, I gave her hand an additional shake before letting go and replied, "It's the small details. For example, most witches who are meeting someone for the first time go for a more Victorian era style of handshake. Even when in an informal setting like this one."

Blushing slightly her eye brows returned to a more normal position and she smiled, "That's one point, but you said small details as in plural?"

Chuckling lightly, "You got me there. Let's see.... Well, there was the band stickers on your luggage. All no-maj bands. Next, your perfume, while very light is a scent I smelled in passing while shopping in No-maj London. The most telling would be your shoes though." I pointed out her tennis shoes as she looked down in surprise. "Hogwarts doesn't openly discriminate against no-maj clothes, but even now in the 1980's most long standing magical family's are seriously behind the times on practical no-maj inventions."

Laughing lightly, Penelope sat back in her seat. "I am guessing that makes you a second generation or half-blood then. What exactly is a no-maj?" she asked, curiosity evident in her eyes. 

Joining her in laughing, I responded, "Ah, not exactly. I am the heir of the Myrddin family. We can trace our ancestry back to our founder. I personally was raised in the United States amongst the non magical, or No-maj. My parents are both descended from magical families with long storied history. My family prefer the American No-maj to muggle. Personally I have only known about the magical world for the past couple of months since I came here to meet my Grandfather and an owl with my letter knocked on the window"

Penelope.exe - Has crashed.

I seem to have given her some serious information overload. I think I'm more excited than I previously thought.