"To Hogwarts, and the Golems – Part 1"
"Harry, you finally arrived!" said Hermione as she walked in through the back door of the house, holding a letter in her hand and her face full of excitement.
Meanwhile, Harry was calmly feeding the owl that had brought his own letter.
The flames in the fireplace turned green as Daphne stepped out with her letter in hand, and a second later Draco appeared. The four of them had promised to open their letters at the same time, so they had gathered at Harry's house with great anticipation.
Meanwhile, Wanda simply watched them with a smile, sitting while sipping a cup of tea next to Susan and Selene, who had arrived even before their daughters.
"Let's open it quickly and see what it says!" said Daphne with an excited smile. At last, they would legally be allowed to have their own wands. Everyone felt a bit envious of Harry, who already had his, though of course they all wanted their own.
Hermione didn't hesitate to open her letter and began reading aloud while Harry picked up his.
–
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards)
Dear Mr. Potter:
We are pleased to inform you that you have been offered a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1st. We await your owl no later than July 31st.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
–
"It's honestly pretty dull." commented Daphne, losing a bit of her excitement when she saw how simple it all was, as she quickly skimmed through the list. After all, a servant or her house-elf would probably handle everything.
The others were thinking more or less the same.
"That's because you all knew you'd be going to Hogwarts even without the letters. But imagine boys and girls who don't even know that magic exists, or have no idea whether they can use it," Selene said calmly.
"She has a point," said Hermione, thinking about what would have happened if she hadn't known anything about the magical world and suddenly received a letter like this. Unlike her, who already knew a little about magic and had met some of the professors, other students from the Muggle world would probably need a teacher to explain that magic was real.
She not only knew that magic existed but could also use it herself thanks to Wanda's lessons.
"It doesn't matter, we finally have permission to use wands," said Daphne, raising the letter proudly. "We have to go buy them!" she added, looking at her mother with eyes shining brightly.
Selene was already starting to feel a headache coming on as she imagined her daughter with an object that could cause chaos.
At that moment, the doorbell started ringing insistently, as if someone were in a big hurry. Wanda moved her hand and opened the door with a simple gesture.
Through the doorway came Sirius, wearing an excited expression. Behind him was a tall man with brown hair and a face full of scars: Remus Lupin.
He was one of his old friends, who had spent several years hiding in the United States. Sirius had spent quite a bit of money to track him down, since Remus felt so guilty that he couldn't bring himself to approach either Sirius or Harry. So he had thought it best to hide away in a small rural town in America.
Sirius had hired some investigators to catch him, and they had brought him back tied hand and foot, throwing him down in front of Sirius while he looked at him with a mocking expression. That had been the day they went to visit Harry's parents' grave, a year ago.
Since then, Lupin had had to accept his fate.
"So, has Harry arrived yet?" Sirius asked excitedly.
"Good day, godfather. It's nice to see you well," said Harry in a respectful tone—though it was clearly mocking Sirius for walking in without even saying hello.
"Yes, sorry. Hello, Harry. I hope you've had a good day. Now… where's the letter?" said Sirius, playing along.
Harry smiled slightly as he lifted the acceptance letter he had just read.
"Haha! Finally! Did you see this, Remus? The little psychopath is finally going to Hogwarts," said Sirius, patting Lupin on the back.
"Calling him a psychopath isn't very kind… No wonder he keeps treating you this way," Remus commented with a smile. "Congratulations, Harry."
"Thank you, Uncle Remus," Harry replied with a friendly smile.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go buy your wand!" Sirius said quickly, with more excitement than Harry himself.
"There's no need," Harry answered. "I already have a wand," he added, pulling out the red wand he kept hidden up his sleeve.
"What? Since when?" Sirius asked, confused.
"Since last year," Harry said calmly as he put it away again.
"You've had your wand since last year and never told me?" Sirius protested.
"Well, I was sure you'd want to teach me some strange spells, so just in case, I didn't mention it," Harry said calmly.
"I feel betrayed. Can you believe this, Remus?" Sirius said, trying to get support from his friend.
"Well… I knew too. He asked me to teach him the Patronus," Remus confessed, scratching his cheek lightly.
Sirius made an exaggerated gesture of indignation while Harry simply shook his head, ignoring him.
"So, my strange nephew, do you have your wand too?" Sirius asked, turning to Draco, who had earned himself a peculiar nickname from his mother's cousin.
"No," Draco said calmly. He had known Sirius for some time, and although at first Sirius used to stare at him because he was Lucius's son, he was also Narcissa's son—one of the people who had helped him during his trial and who now played a key role in the Black family's business alliance. Andromeda, along with her husband and daughter, also belonged to the Black family.
Draco seemed to have been well raised. He was a friend of Harry's group, and they shared the same interests. So judging a child because of his father was something even Sirius knew was wrong.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go buy the wands. I'm sure Selene's little brat doesn't have one either. If you want, I can teach you a spell to flip someone upside down," Sirius said with a grin. "Or one that turns their snot into bats."
"If you teach Daphne anything weird, I'll have Edward chase you all over Europe," Selene said from her seat, giving him a serious look.
"That would be interesting too. We could finally see which of us is stronger. If I remember right, we were tied: 150 to 150," Sirius said, smiling intensely.
"You fought my father?" Daphne asked, very intrigued.
"Of course. Every time your mother couldn't beat me with words, she sent your father as her champion. How do you think he got so strong? Because he faced the best," Sirius said, his ego shining through everywhere.
Meanwhile, Harry leaned toward Draco and asked quietly,
"Isn't it said that Daphne's dad is only surpassed by Dumbledore and… well, my mother?"
Draco nodded, wearing an equally serious expression, and both of them were starting to reconsider their opinion of Sirius.
"If it weren't for his personality…" Remus added, stepping closer after hearing their conversation, "…he might have become a truly renowned wizard," he said with a smile.
"Hey, what are you all talking about?" Sirius asked, turning around when he felt them staring so intently at his back.
"Nothing," Harry and Draco said at the same time.
…
"Are you afraid, Potter?" Draco asked with an arrogant smile as he held his wand ready.
"Not in your dreams," Harry replied, staring seriously at his opponent, his own wand prepared.
"Do you have to do this every time you compete?" Daphne said, sounding a little annoyed as she sat to the side of the battlefield they'd set up in Harry's backyard.
There was a square ring about two meters across. Harry and Draco were standing on opposite sides, and in the center were two small golems—one with a sword and shield, the other with a large hammer. They were each about thirty-five centimeters tall.
"It gives it atmosphere," Harry said with a grin.
"Come on, this is our first real test of controlling the golems. Stop fooling around," Hermione said, holding her notebook ready to write down every bit of information as she watched the first battle.
"Fine," they both said before pointing their wands at the golems.
"Praeceptum Golem," they both pronounced at the same time, and thin threads shot from their wands, connecting to the backs of their creations.
Then the two little golems began to move. Though it looked like Draco was having a bit of trouble controlling his, Harry's moved almost perfectly.
"That's not fair, he's had more practice," Draco complained, sounding a little annoyed.
"It's just a test," Hermione chimed in quickly.
"That's right," Harry said before moving his wand. His golem raised its shield, charged at Draco's, and knocked it out of the ring.
"And I win," he said calmly.
"You're almost as competitive as Hermione," Draco grumbled.
"No. I'm worse," Harry said before laughing—but when Hermione didn't smile, they both fell silent at once.
"What are you kids doing?" Sirius asked as he came into the yard through the side gate.
"Golem competition," Daphne explained. "Each of us makes our own golem and then controls it to fight in a ring. But we're having trouble managing them."
"Sounds interesting," Sirius commented as he walked over to inspect Harry's golem, then picked up Draco's, which had fallen, and set it back in the ring.
"You made these?" he asked, surprised at the detail and the runes covering each one. Even though they were made of simple materials that could break easily, they looked pretty professional.
"These are our years of research," Hermione said proudly.
"If a bunch of kids told that to professional researchers—who I'm sure never reached this level—and you just did it for fun, I bet they'd cry," Sirius said with a smile.
"The problem is that the spell is a bit complicated. It takes a lot of practice," Draco explained.
"Show me," Sirius said with interest. Draco started explaining how it worked.