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The morning arrived with McGonagall's measured knock. Darius had been awake for an hour, checking his status one final time, ensuring the nano machine's interface was properly concealed. His body felt stronger, more solid—the numbers didn't lie.
[Status: Stamina - Moderate
Magical Energy - Slightly Increased
Condition - Healthy]
He slipped the paper crane into his pocket alongside the Hogwarts letter and made his way to the entrance hall.
Three other children waited with McGonagall—two girls and a boy, all looking as bewildered as Darius felt inside. Their clothes were clean but worn, marking them as children from working families rather than true poverty. Not orphans, then.
"Mr. Kael," McGonagall nodded crisply. "These are your fellow students: Miss Emma Hartwell, Miss Sarah Chen, and Mr. Thomas Bridger. All Muggle-born, all beginning their first year at Hogwarts."
Emma, a girl with auburn curls and nervous energy, waved tentatively. "Hello."
Sarah, smaller and quieter, offered a shy smile. Thomas, stocky with dark hair, looked like he was still processing the impossibility of it all.
"Right then," McGonagall continued. "We shall travel to London together. Stay close, follow my instructions precisely, and do not wander off. The magical world can be overwhelming on first encounter."
They rode the train in relative silence, the other children stealing glances at each other. Darius found himself observing their reactions—Emma chewing her lip, Sarah clutching a small notebook, Thomas staring out the window with forced calm. All of them trying to process the impossible.
"So," Emma finally broke the quiet, "magic is real. Actually real."
"Apparently," Thomas muttered. "Still feels like someone's having us on."
"Professor McGonagall folded paper into a crane without touching it," Sarah said softly. "I saw her do it. That's not... that's not normal."
Darius felt the nano machine's subtle hum as it recorded their conversation, cataloging speech patterns and emotional responses. He forced himself to engage. "Nothing about this is normal. But maybe that's not a bad thing."
Emma turned to him. "What do you mean?"
He chose his words carefully. "Normal hasn't exactly been kind to most of us, has it? Maybe magic is a chance to be something different."
The words surprised him as he spoke them. When had he started thinking like that?
Sarah nodded slowly. "My parents think I'm going to a special boarding school. They're proud, but they don't really understand. How could they?"
"Mine are terrified," Thomas admitted. "They keep asking what they did wrong, like having magic is some kind of punishment."
Emma looked down. "My father said it was probably just a phase. That I'd grow out of it."
The train pulled into London, and McGonagall led them through the crowds with purposeful strides. They walked through streets that grew progressively seedier until she stopped before a shabby pub squeezed between two larger buildings.
The Leaky Cauldron.
[Energy signatures detected: Multiple sources. Concealment patterns observed. Recording...]
The pub was dim, filled with oddly dressed people who seemed to shimmer at the edges of Darius's vision. The nano machine worked overtime, trying to catalog the magical signatures it detected.
"Stay together," McGonagall instructed, leading them through to a walled courtyard behind the pub. She withdrew her wand—a motion so natural it seemed unconscious—and tapped a sequence of bricks.
The wall folded away like origami.
Emma gasped. Sarah gripped her notebook tighter. Thomas swore under his breath.
Darius felt his own breath catch, but the nano machine's clinical voice kept him grounded.
[Spatial distortion recorded. Architectural impossibility documented. Magical concealment matrix analyzed. Data insufficient for replication.]
Diagon Alley stretched before them—cobblestones worn smooth by centuries of foot traffic, shops with impossible wares spilling from their windows, people in robes and pointed hats moving with casual purpose. The air itself seemed to hum with potential.
"Welcome," McGonagall said, "to Diagon Alley."
They walked as a group, necks craning to take in everything. A window displayed cauldrons that stirred themselves. Another showed books with pages that fluttered like trapped birds. A wizard in emerald robes argued with a goblin over what appeared to be a small dragon.
"This is insane," Thomas whispered.
"Completely mental," Emma agreed, but she was grinning.
Their first stop was Gringotts. The white building towered over the alley, staffed by creatures McGonagall identified as goblins. The goblin who attended them was efficient and impersonal, setting up access to the fund for Muggle-born students.
"Fifty galleons each for your school supplies," the goblin announced. "Standard allocation. Spend wisely."
The weight of the coins in Darius's pocket felt strange—real money for something that still felt like a dream.
They moved from shop to shop in a carefully planned circuit. Robes from Madam Malkin's, where the measuring tapes moved by themselves and Emma giggled nervously at the floating scissors. Cauldrons from a shop that smelled of metal and smoke. Books from Flourish and Blotts, where Sarah spent twenty minutes just staring at titles like "The Standard Book of Spells" and "A History of Magic."
[Text scanning initiated. Magical theory detected. Spellwork documentation found. Recording for later analysis.]
The nano machine was having a field day, cataloging every spell it observed, every magical interaction, every impossible thing they encountered.
Then came Ollivanders.
The shop was narrow, dusty, and felt older than anything Darius had ever experienced. Thousands of wand boxes reached toward a ceiling lost in shadows. A man emerged from the back—thin, silver-haired, with eyes that seemed to see too much.
"Ah," Mr. Ollivander said, "more first years. How wonderful. Who shall be first?"
Emma volunteered, clearly nervous. Ollivander measured her arm, asked her a few questions about her magical experiences, then began selecting boxes. The first wand produced nothing. The second shattered a lamp. The third made Emma's face light up as warm golden light filled her fingers.
"Oak and unicorn hair, eleven inches. Loyal and strong. Well suited to Transfiguration."
Thomas was next. His process was similar—several failed attempts before a wand of ash and dragon heartstring chose him.
Sarah's selection took longer, but eventually a wand of willow and phoenix feather core made the dusty shop shimmer with silver light.
Then it was Darius's turn.
He approached the counter with his practiced unremarkable expression, but Ollivander's pale eyes seemed to peer right through it.
"Interesting," the wandmaker murmured. "Let's see... try this. Holly and unicorn hair, ten inches."
Nothing happened.
"No? How about... cedar and dragon heartstring, eleven and a quarter inches."
Again, nothing.
[Magical resonance patterns observed. Compatibility matrix developing. No matches detected in first attempts.]
Ollivander's frown deepened as box after box produced no response. Darius began to sweat, aware of the other students watching.
"Curious," Ollivander muttered, disappearing into the back of the shop. He returned with a dusty box. "Hawthorn and phoenix feather, twelve inches, unyielding. A difficult combination. Not many could handle it."
The moment Darius's fingers closed around the wand, warmth spread through his hand—not the dramatic light show the others had experienced, but something quieter, steadier. Like finding a missing piece he hadn't known he'd lost.
"Ah," Ollivander smiled, but his eyes remained thoughtful. "Yes, that will do nicely. Hawthorn is protective but complex. Phoenix feather is one of the rarest cores. This wand will be powerful, Mr. Kael, but it will demand much from you in return."
[Resonance match achieved. Wand characteristics: Enhanced magical conductivity. Stability rating: Exceptional. Combat applications: High. Concealment rating: Excellent.]
As they left the shop, Sarah walked beside him. "Your wand didn't make light like ours did."
Darius shrugged. "Maybe it's just different."
But he could feel the wand's quiet strength in his grip, could sense the nano machine analyzing its magical patterns. Different, yes. Unremarkable on the surface, brilliant within.
Just like him.
The afternoon wore on with final purchases—an owl for Emma, a cat for Thomas, a toad for Sarah. Darius chose a small barn owl with keen eyes and steady flight.
"What will you name her?" Emma asked.
He watched the owl settle on his shoulder, meeting his gaze with intelligent amber eyes. "Minerva," he said, earning a rare smile from McGonagall.
As the sun began to set, they made their way back through the Leaky Cauldron. The other children chattered excitedly about their purchases, their fears giving way to anticipation.
Darius listened to their conversation, adding comments when appropriate, but part of his attention remained inward, where the nano machine continued its analysis.
[Data compilation complete. Magical signatures cataloged: 847. Spell patterns observed: 23. Educational texts recorded: 127. Wand compatibility matrix established. Cultural observations documented.]
[Assessment: Integration successful. Cover identity maintained. Social connections established. Magical tool acquisition complete.]
[New objective available: Maximize learning efficiency during Hogwarts attendance.]
As they rode the train back to their respective homes, Emma turned to him one final time. "Are you excited? About Hogwarts, I mean?"
Darius looked out the window at the passing landscape, his new wand warm in his pocket, his owl sleeping in her cage. For the first time in either of his lives, the future felt like something he could shape rather than simply endure.
"Yes," he said quietly. "I think I am."
The train carried them toward September first, toward a castle in Scotland, toward a life he was finally ready to claim. Behind his unremarkable expression, Darius D. Kael smiled.