New chapter is live.
Settle in, take your time, and let’s see what waits in the dark 🖤
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Life at The Leaky Cauldron was comfortable and pleasant, especially with more than four hundred Galleons to his name.
Of course, after buying the necessary school supplies, Callan’s savings had fallen to a little over three hundred Galleons.
All things considered, that was still quite good.
Every day, apart from secretly practicing a few spells in his room, Callan went to Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour during the day, took a seat, and read quietly.
At first, he did not receive the free ice cream Harry would one day get every half hour, but once Mr.
Fortescue became familiar with him, he was happy to offer small treats and discounts.
After learning Callan was an orphan, that tendency became even more obvious.
Callan’s politeness and neat appearance tended to win people over.
It was not limited to the ice cream parlour either.
Even other shops treated him warmly.
The woman at Eeylops Owl Emporium even tried to give him a young owl after learning he had not bought a pet.
Callan refused as tactfully as he could.
“Ma’am, I am only worried I will not have time to care for a pet at school. Thank you for your kindness.”
Callan carefully put the little owl back in its cage.
After being rejected, it pecked his finger angrily.
For a moment, he almost wanted to buy it just so he could teach it a lesson, but he restrained himself in time.
Beyond that, he occasionally browsed the other shops.
He liked broomsticks very much, but as Euphemia had said, first-years were not allowed to bring them, so he had to give up on the idea.
Although Callan was hungry to learn magic, he remained restrained.
He did not spend all his money at once.
Instead, he patiently read the textbooks he would soon study.
After all, he had already read many books at Snape’s house, and Hogwarts had a library.
There was no reason to waste money simply because he was impatient.
Even so, he immediately bought an extra copy of Unfogging the Future and a crystal ball.
Divination.
If he had one advantage, it was surely something like prophecy.
His memories were heavily limited in the present era, but they were still useful.
As for Callan himself, perhaps he had some talent for Divination.
Unfortunately, no matter how many times he tried, he saw nothing in the crystal ball but unchanging mist.
He tried a few other methods of divination as well, only to get the same result.
He had no talent for Divination whatsoever.
Callan only mourned the Galleons he had spent on the crystal ball for a while before making peace with it.
After that, he stopped thinking about Divination.
From time to time, however, he still remembered the second time he entered Ollivanders.
And his second wand.
Eleven and a quarter inches.
Dragon heartstring.
Elder.
Just as he had told Mr.
Ollivander, Callan had truly only meant to buy another wand as a spare.
Suitable or not, he had planned to do it anyway.
He had not expected this.
He had confirmed the effect of the Memory Charm afterward.
Their later conversation proved that Mr.
Ollivander had indeed forgotten the matter.
But Callan remembered.
Elder.
It was difficult not to think of one of the Deathly Hallows, the Elder Wand.
Fifteen inches, Thestral tail hair, and the same elder wood.
At present, it was in Dumbledore’s hands.
The whole thing gave Callan a headache.
He did not even want it to have happened.
Elder represented power, but it also meant endless trouble.
That was why he had risked erasing Ollivander’s memory.
Even with the possibility of failure, he had chosen to do it.
He did not want this exposed, not even as the faintest possibility.
He had avoided exposure, but the problem itself still needed an answer.
Callan had long since discovered that his magical talent was not weak.
Otherwise, he would never have been able to cast the Levitation Charm and move objects without a wand.
Still, he did not think he had reached a truly absurd level.
The Memory Charm was difficult, but it was still a known spell rather than some lost or legendary branch of magic.
But there was another obvious difference.
When he held a wand, his Levitation Charm was far stronger.
In other words, the same spell might produce a much stronger effect in his hands.
Perhaps that came from practicing wandless magic.
Perhaps it came from the accumulation of repeated daily use.
But Callan had never forgotten where the Levitation Charm was supposed to begin.
A feather.
Now, even without a wand, he could already manage that.
With a wand in hand, the power of the charm rose even further.
Perhaps before long, he could truly try casting it on himself and see how high he could fly.
‘So, a talent for wandless magic and stronger spell effects.’
Callan silently noted his advantages.
His daily practice became even more diligent, though since he was staying at The Leaky Cauldron, he remained extremely restrained and did not dare try too much.
As for the other wand, he had put it away early and did not use it in daily life.
After comparing them, Callan could clearly sense how unlike the two wands were.
The ash wand was unquestionably loyal.
The elder-wood wand was far more powerful, especially with dragon heartstring as its core.
That tendency was obvious.
But its flaw was just as obvious.
It was not loyal enough.
That was what Callan hated most, even when it came to the Elder Wand itself.
He liked power, but he liked power he could control.
Never betrayal.
The more help such power gave, the greater the harm when it turned on him.
Voldemort’s fate was warning enough.
That was also why Callan remained so cautious about Dark magic.
Whether it was the Cruciatus Curse Grindelwald had cast during the three-way duel, the word Snape would later spit in fury, or Voldemort himself, Callan saw them all as expressions of extremity.
And extremity was sometimes another name for evil.
Callan was not afraid of becoming evil.
But that sort of extremity, that impulsive surrender to emotion, was something he kept his distance from.
What he wanted was to control power, not be controlled by it.
As for the elder-wood wand, he would probably use it only under truly extreme circumstances.
After all, he had no interest in fighting halfway through a duel only for his wand to suddenly become his enemy’s.
At that point, whether it was the Elder Wand or some lesser elder wand in his hand, the wizard holding it would be finished.
Of course, Callan’s elder-wood wand probably did not change masters as simply and directly as the Elder Wand, which seemed to abandon its owner after one defeat.
Still, he felt caution was best.
He was not yet familiar enough with magic.
It was the same reason he had not entered Knockturn Alley.
He knew that Borgin and Burkes had the Vanishing Cabinet connected to Hogwarts.
He also knew that the Hogwarts cabinet would not be damaged until years later, when Peeves crashed it while causing a diversion.
In other words, the Hogwarts cabinet was most likely still intact.
Even so, Callan had not risked going into Knockturn Alley to ask about it.
When he did not understand enough, caution was best.
In any case, those things would all belong to him sooner or later.
And if they did not, that was fine too.
Callan believed he had already gained enough.
Magic itself was enough.
That day, Callan came to the ice cream parlour as usual.
Mr.
Fortescue greeted him familiarly.
“Strawberry with nuts and a cone again?”
It was the flavor Callan always ordered.
“Yes, please, Mr. Fortescue.”
Callan answered politely and took out the money.
But Mr.
Fortescue pushed it back and smiled.
“Tomorrow is the start of term. I suppose I will not see you for quite a while. Today is on the house.”
Callan did not refuse.
He only thanked him politely again.
“Thank you very much.”
Mr.
Fortescue waved it off.
As he prepared the ice cream, he asked, “Have you thought about which House you might be in? You enjoy reading so much that I imagine Ravenclaw would suit you. Wit beyond measure is man’s greatest treasure.”
He chanted the last sentence in a sing-song voice.
Certain students with a deep attachment to Ravenclaw seemed to recite that line in exactly that tone.
Mr.
Fortescue had been a Ravenclaw himself.
“I have not decided yet.”
Callan played along.
“After all, I have to defeat the troll before I earn the right to choose a House.”
The tradition of frightening new students about the Sorting seemed better protected than a Fidelius secret.
Every adult Callan met found a chance to scare him.
Some mentioned trolls, some claimed he would have to prove his ability to cast spells, and some even said he would need to duel a dragon.
Callan could only pretend to be naive and act as though he had been foolishly frightened.
It was more tiring than practicing magic.
As he read quietly, Callan occasionally watched the passersby.
The First Wizarding War had already begun, and the Order of the Phoenix was likely taking shape somewhere out of sight, yet Diagon Alley in August 1971 still looked untouched.
Callan heard few rumors.
Either the conflict remained underground, or the Ministry was smothering the signs.
Eugenia Jenkins had taken office in 1968 and would hold on until 1975.
Callan remembered how that story ended: her success during the Squib Rights riots would not save her once Voldemort’s rise exposed the Ministry’s failures.
On the eve of Hogwarts, Callan found himself worrying about the wizarding world’s future instead of looking forward to school.
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Want to keep going?
I hope this chapter gave you another reason to stay with the story.
There’s still plenty ahead, and things are only starting to unfold.