The Centaur's Shrine

Chapter 8 - Diagon Alley buying spree

Diagon Alley,

Apparating in Diagon Alley, they were immediately immersed in the noisy atmosphere of the street. They had planned to meet just outside of the entrance of the Leaky Cauldron. Ron had suggested that they have breakfast there before going shopping.

"I'd rather be inside, if we get swarmed over like at the station. Tom should be able to control things better than we could in the streets or inside the shops."

Hermione had teased him of thinking with his stomach more than with his brain, but even she had agreed that it was probably a good idea.

Several people did recognize them, and cheers immediately broke out among the inn's customers. They didn't even get the chance to choose a table. A group of young wizards and witches stood up and insisted to give them their seats. The word spread quickly to the rest of the assembly, and other tables were soon arranged around them. They found themselves answering enthusiastic greetings, and accepting various breakfast oriented offerings. It was still overwhelming, but much more civilized than their previous experience. Actually, enough time had passed for the public curiosity to abate. Arthur had made good on his promise to pass the word that they should be allowed to move around freely, and Tom was doing his part as well, and keeping the more excited clients in line.

They did have to answer a barrage of questions, and sign a great deal of autographs. After a while Harry thought that giving interviews to Rita Skeeters wasn't so bad. At least in those, he only had to deal with a single interlocutor. Putting on the best face he could, he fervently hoped that this was not going to be their daily grind in the future.

Finally, they managed to convince the crowd that they really had some business to attend to. Standing up, they made to go, thanking everyone for the drinks and snack which had been offered to them. They hadn't been given the slightest chance to pay for anything, except with their time.

Ron's reasoning had been sound. The most enthusiastic of their fans had apparently been satisfied by that public sharing, and the rest of the population seemed content with friendly greetings and the occasional nice word. By and by, they were able to move around without provoking too much fuss.

First order of business was Gringotts. They entered the bank as a group, and several people stopped what they were doing to look at them. A couple of muttered remarks echoed in the marbled hall, but thankfully nobody tried to talk to them. They advanced toward one of the teller booth, under the fierce gaze of the Goblin perched there.

"Good morning," said Harry pleasantly.

"Your name?" he asked, screwing his eyes together.

I don't believe it. Everyone jumps at us, and the first person we actually want to talk to doesn't recognize me.

"Harry Potter, and I'm with my friends-"

"Please wait moment," interrupted the small creature. He stepped down and whispered to another of his kind, who quickly rushed to a side door. The teller then descended completely from his perch and addressed them.

"Sirs and Madams? Please follow me."

He started toward the same door and waited patiently for them to follow. Harry looked at the others, Draco shrugged, and nobody could think of a valid reason for not accepting the invitation. They were led through several corridors into a very luxurious part of the bank. The floor was covered in thick carpeting, and the doors were large and made of precious wood. Every fixture was gold or silver, and elaborately carved. The Goblin opened a last door and ushered them inside a room with a large grey marble table surrounded by big leather chairs. On the table, a gold tray was filled with several cups and glasses, tea and coffee pots, some water bottles and a bowl filled with cookies.

"Please make yourself comfortable. Someone will come in a moment."

He closed the door and left them alone.

"Well, what do you know?" asked Ron, taking a cookie.

"I think we'll be meeting one of the directors," said Hermione.

"But why?" asked Harry.

"One of the perks of fame, I guess," suggested Draco.

He poured a cup of tea for Ginny, and some coffee for himself. Shortly afterwards the door opened and another Goblin entered. That one was dressed in a rich dark jacket with thin vertical golden stripes, and he carried an unmistakable air of authority. Another Goblin stood at his side.

"Good morning. I am Gauldbag, the Director of the Bank, and this is Goblin Graskut, my assistant."

They were properly impressed. The Director of Gringotts would certainly rank high in the Goblin hierarchy. The bank was after the most important visible feature of their community. They stood up and returned the greeting politely. Ron swallowed convulsively the last of his cookie.

"Please sit down." They did and he took place at one end of the table. The chair adjusting automatically, so that he was at the same level as they.

"I took the liberty of meeting you. I felt it was important to know each other, but before we talk, do you have any simple transactions that we can carry out for you?"

"Er, we just needed to withdraw some money," said Harry. "For shopping," he added, as if he needed to give a reason.

"Do you wish to visit your vaults? If not, then you can simply write down the amounts, and we will have it brought here."

The prospect of long bumpy rides in the tunnels didn't enchant any of them. Harry looked around and they all nodded.

"That would be fine sir."

The Goblin assistant produced sheets of parchment where their current account was shown, as well as a blank space for what they wanted to take out. Ron and Ginny had one sheet for both of them. Harry was embarrassed when Hermione looked at his and whistled softly. He currently had 467 209 Galleons in his vault. The number didn't mean much to him, but it was still a lot of money.

The assistant took the sheets and gave them to another Goblin who was waiting outside the door. Draco spoke up.

"We would also like to set up a common account for all of us, and make some transfer to it." Ron and Ginny looked at him and opened their mouth but he shook his head firmly at them. Not daring to protest in public, they stayed quiet.

"Certainly." Another sheet was produced. Harry and Draco transferred a thousand Galleons each. The Goblin came back in less than a minute with small leather bags and six gleaming golden keys.

"That was fast," exclaimed Ginny. The Director smiled with condescension. At least, they supposed it was a smile. The display of the Goblin's small pointy teeth looked mostly menacing.

"For simple services, and honored customers, there is no need to waste time on details."

"We are honored indeed," replied Harry, "but is there a special reason for our meeting?"

"I wanted to meet the heroes who had vanquished the Dark Lord, and express my thanks on behalf of our community." He bowed gravely, and then he turned toward Hermione. "I have also heard that you have further plans."

She was surprised, but very interested. Relations with Goblins had always been part of the Association's goals, although with a reduced priority. After all they could take care of themselves much better than the poor House Elves. Still, it was important to keep in contact.

"Indeed we do sir, but may I ask how you learned about those?"

"We have contact with some influent families," he replied imprecisely. "You talked with some, and some talked with us. Was that not the purpose of your actions?"

"Yes." She wondered who it could have been. Certainly, most pure blood families were rich. "And what do you think of our project sir?"

The smile became more pronounced, and showed even more teeth.

"A generous endeavor, but I hope that you are not underestimating the difficulties."

She wanted to ask if the Goblins were ready to help, but she felt that they ought to wait until they knew more about each other. Certainly, their facial expressions were very disquieting. The Director was looking at her with careful eyes.

"We would be honored to discuss the statutes of the association in more details," she proposed.

"The honor would be ours," he replied politely. "It is perhaps a little soon for that however."

All right, they're not ready, or they were waiting for something else.

"We will be available when you think that the time has come."

He bowed his head in thanks, still showing the predatory grin.

"It has been a pleasure meeting you." He indicated his assistant. "Should you require anything in the future, please feel free to ask for Goblin Graskut. He will be handling all your accounts." He turned toward Draco and Harry. There will be some arrangements to make concerning the Malfoy and the Black estates." Draco's face froze. "However since you are still legal minors, the Ministry will have to validate the proceedings. You will be notified in any case."

"Thank you, sir."

"I wish you a good day then."

The Goblin stood up, and they were led back to the lobby. Coming back in the Alley, they decided to split up. Hermione had a personal business to attend to. Ron and Ginny would be looking at Quidditch supplies, while Draco and Harry had some undefined business to attend to. Luna decided to shop for clothes. In the end, they all agreed to meet back at Flourish & Blotts since books were the one common item they all wanted.

- - -

Hermione walked along the Alley until she arrived in front of a narrow and shabby little shop. A sign read: Ollivander's - Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC. She peered inside but no one was visible. The door was open however, and she entered cautiously, remembering the last time she'd been there, more than five years ago.

"Hello?" she called out.

"Good morning," replied a soft voice. "Ah, Miss Granger it is. Welcome to my humble shop. I trust your wand is still giving you satisfaction?" He raised his hand and his face showed concentration. "Springy willow, eleven inches with Unicorn hair core, if I recall properly."

He was right as usual. Nobody could testify to when Mr. Ollivander had ever made a mistake about one of his wands.

"The wand is fine, thank you sir. I didn't come to see you about it, at least not directly."

She was actually unsure of herself. After the episode when the Death Eaters had captured her and Ginny, when she had realized how helpless she had been without the means to cast any spell, Hermione had resolved never to be trapped in such a situation again. After some fruitless research, she had finally decided to ask an expert, but it was still awkward to ask a seller of wands about ... wandless magic.

"Er, I have an unusual question to ask you," she began carefully. "Most of our magic is done with wands, but on some occasions we may not be able to use one. I was wondering if ..." She made a helpless gesture.

"If there was an alternative?" he finished, looking at her over his spectacles.

"Well, yes."

"You are aware of course of the role the wand plays in spell casting?" he asked in testing voice that reminded her of professor McGonagall.

"Yes. It's used to focus the magical energy."

He raised a vertical finger and gently shook his head.

"No. At least it is not the main purpose." Hermione frowned. She'd never heard of any other function. He continued. "What you gave me is the official, and approved, answer. The truth is a little more complicated. The wand actually focuses the mental control of the magical energy. Do you see the difference?"

Hermione's mind raced. They had discussed theory with Remus, and she could understand what he was saying. What it implied exactly was something else. She reflected for a moment.

"Does it mean that if I can find another way to focus my mind, then I don't need a wand?"

He clapped his hands once and smiled.

"Exactly. Of course, it is still the most effective tool one can use for spell casting, and most wizards," he winked, "and witches, will be much more effective with one, but there are alternatives."

Hermione smiled timidly. She had the answer to her first question. There was a solution to her problem.

"And do you know where can I find out about that?"

Mr. Ollivander didn't answer at first. He pursed his lips, and stroked his stubbly chin for a couple of seconds while he looked at her.

"I am aware that you have been deprived of your wand during an unpleasant situation recently," he said indirectly. She nodded gravely, not willing to talk about it. "There are very good reasons for restricting wandless magic," he continued. "The Ministry keeps most of this information locked up in the Department of Mysteries." He smiled maliciously, "I believe that you are familiar with the place?"

"Er, Yes. I've been there." How does he know all this?

"Hum. My good friend Albus thinks very highly of you. Perhaps you can be trusted with some of this knowledge." He chuckled. "In fact, from what I have heard, you might even improve on it yourself."

He extended his index finger in the air once more, and quickly moved it in a swishing arc in the direction of the door. Immediately the lock engaged and the store curtains descended to hide the inside of the shop from any prying eyes.

Hermione's eyes opened wide. She tried to take a closer look at Mr. Ollivander's finger. He halted her and indicated that she follow him into a side room. She found herself into the wand maker's workshop, surrounded by the fascinating implements and supplies he used in his trade. The walls were covered with many shelves crammed with jars and boxes. Tools and several partially-assembled wands were visible on a long bench. One wand was positioned in a lathe, in the process of being turned. He led her toward a pair of chairs and a table.

"As you have seen, I myself have experimented with these techniques. Did you see what happened?"

"You used your finger instead of a wand?"

"Exactly. But it wasn't just my finger. Look at it. Do you notice anything?"

She examined it closely, but there was nothing particular about it. The nail was well trimmed and some calluses and minor scars could be identified. It was the typical finger of an old artisan.

"I don't see anything unusual." On an intuition, she took out her wand.

"Can I use a revealing spell?" He nodded, and she tried some of the standard magic to display invisible objects or markings. After a moment nothing appeared but the whole finger glowed with a golden light. It meant that the finger contains unspecified magic.

She stood up and frowned at the wizard, who was smiling at her with a questioning look. It wasn't possible to enchant living matter. What could he have done?

"You used some kind of magical substance on it?" she proposed.

He nodded approvingly.

"Close enough. I tattooed parallel lines, using an invisible ink adapted from wand core ingredients." Comprehension dawned on her. The finger would have some of the characteristics of a wand, but it would be totally undetectable.

"Brilliant," she said. He bowed graciously.

"Thank you. It does not work as well as a real wand. Like I said, the mental focus is facilitated but the result is not as good as with my personal wand. What is more, for spells requiring a lot of energy, the wand also functions as an amplifier, which cannot be the case here. It would be very painful and even damaging."

"So you can only use it for simple spells," she said pensively. "But that's already very useful."

"Oh yes. You can untie knots, summon another wand, and maybe even blind an enemy."

He went to a cupboard, took a small notebook from a drawer and gave it to her.

"These are my notes. I know that I can trust you to keep this from other's eyes. Please return it to me when you are satisfied, and I would appreciate any insights you might have in these matters." He also gave her some ingredients, and refused her offer of payment.

"Let this be my personal contribution to the rewards you deserve."

Hardly believing her good fortune, she took the notebook and material. Gratitude showed in her face.

"Thank you immensely sir. I will work on this immediately, and I will certainly share any knowledge that I might uncover."

"That is good enough for me, Miss Granger. Give my regards to your friends. Goodbye."

"I will. Goodbye sir, and thank you again."

- - -

Parkers' flat, London,

"Would you like to watch some TV?"

Silena made a lopsided grin and spread her hands. Her attitude said 'I don't know what a teevee is, but if you explain it to me, then why not'. She'd had a lot of practice since the previous day, and Alicia and Richard had gotten very much used to it.

In this case however, the object to be described spoke of itself, so they just dragged her to the living room sofa.

Silena watched politely as Richard zapped through a number of channels, before finding something he liked. Cartoons flashed on the screen, and suddenly she burst out laughing as Wile E. Coyote suffered another painful setback in his endless quest for Road Runner fricassee.

"Do you like that one?"

"Yes! It's really funny."

They watched the programs a little more, until Alicia finally suggested plaintively that, just maybe, they could do something else. Getting no response, she took refuge in Hogwarts, a History and continued her search for the answer to the Weasley twins' riddle.

Richard said it reminded him of a stamp. I don't think so, and there's nothing in Hogwarts about stamps. Wizards don't use these things.

She considered the drawing again. Going back to the book her eyes fell on some internal views of the castle.

...A lot of former students, who have made a name for themselves, have their pictures hung in the numerous corridors. Some of them even take an active role in the every day life of the school...

Sure. Like the Fat Lady who guarded the Gryffindor quarters. She was quite a sight in the golden frame of her painting. Alicia froze.

"Peoples! I think I know what the drawing means!"

Richard turned from the TV.

"What?"

"Turn that thing off. I don't like to yell."

He reached for the remote and turned off the sound. Silena looked at the little box curiously, wondering if it was the equivalent of a wand for Muggle. It looked somewhat like Hermione's telefone too.

"It's not a stamp," continued Alicia. "I think it's a picture frame, probably of a painting."

Richard went and sat next to her. He considered the drawing once more. She could be right, and in that case the text would be the title of the picture. He felt the thrill of being close to the answer.

"You're right. It's got to be it. Is there any picture in the book of someone who could be a 'modest sage'?"

They turned the pages quickly. Meanwhile, Silena had the remote in her hand, and she wondered what would happen, if she pressed any of the buttons. She glanced at her friends, but they were engrossed in their work. She pressed one at random, and looked at the TV set. Some text appeared on the screen which she didn't understand. What could SETUP mean anyway? She pressed another button and the picture changed. Some Muggles were talking to each other in a room. There was still no sound, but their faces were hard and strained. One character was holding a dark metal object in his hand, and pointing it at a well dressed man with a round hat and a red flower on his lapel.

"If 'sage' stands for wise, then the only modest one I can think of is the Headmaster, and he doesn't have his picture anywhere."

"Yeah, except on frog cards, and I don't think that's it."

Silena tried to understand what the images showed. The Muggle holding the dark object was acting menacingly. Suddenly, a door busted open, and a woman in a tight leather outfit jumped into the room. She did an impressive cartwheel and kicked the weapon aside. The scene erupted into fighting.

"Can you make the sounds come back?" she asked.

"What are you watching?" Richard balanced on his chair to take a look at the screen. "Oh, that's an old Avengers rerun. Push the blue button. The one with a 'plus' sign on it."

She did so. Loud suspense music was heard. The woman and the man with the black bowler hat were running toward some strange machine.

"Richard!" said Alicia.

He kept his eyes on the TV, trying to identify what the episode was. He'd always liked this series, even if the special effects were pretty lame.

"Richard! Are you going to help in this or not?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm right here." Reluctantly, he turned back to the table.

Silena tried to follow what was going on. Her experience in fiction was limited to children's books, usually with a pure blood prince saving the kingdom again Goblins or some such despised menace. At least, she could identify who was on the good side.

After a turning dozens of pages, Richard pushed the book away in disgust and sat back in his chair.

"Can't find a thing here. We're going to have to wait until we get back."

"And take a look at every painting," agreed Alicia. "Talk about fun."

"Maybe that's part of their plan. They want us to learn everything about the school." He tried to catch a view of the screen.

"What is it with the TV? You've seen that one a million time," exclaimed Alicia with annoyance.

"Yeah, but as a series it was cool. Even the name was nice."

"Maybe, but it's all over. The last season was never as good as the first, and the movie stunk."

"Tara King was okay, and they could always do a remake. Hey! You know it could be a good name for our group? The Avengers. That would be way cool."

Alicia considered it. "Hum. Why not. It rhymes with the other names they gave us. What do you think of it Silena?"

She shrugged, for her it was just a name.

"Would we have to dress up like them?" she asked.

They looked at each other. Alicia though about Emma Peel's exotic leathers suits and Richard wondered where he could find a bowler hat.

"It would be difficult to go around the school like that," he said. "Aside from that, I think that the idea's brilliant."

"Right," said Alicia. "Then let's do it. We'll be the New Avengers."

Silena looked at them for a moment, and moved to join them. She extended her right arm, palm downwards. The other two did the same, placing their hands over hers. They grinned foolishly at the makeshift ceremony, but it was much more fun to have some formality. They were a team. They had a name and a quest to finish. They didn't need anything else to call it an adventure.

- - -

Grimauld,

When they got back to Grimauld, Luna went upstairs and came back to the living room with the book Dumbledore had given her. Harry immediately noted the scorched cover.

"Have you been reading it or are you just starting?" he inquired.

"I've already read about half. The most important part, in my opinion," she replied.

"By the way, what actually happened with Firenze?" asked Ron, an unusually concerned expression on his face.

Luna waited until the others had joined them, and then she recounted how the Centaur had reacted to her remark about the Forbidden Forest.

"Who the hell does he think he is?" exclaimed Ron in outrage. "Don't believe a word of that crap about the forest protecting them. It certainly didn't protect the Unicorns from Voldemort when we were there."

"Don't get into a state, Ron," she replied calmly, "From what I read, he had a good reason to act like he did, even if I don't agree with everything he said."

"What's the story then?" asked Hermione. "What's the common history of Wizards and Centaurs?"

Luna looked at her before speaking, anticipating their reaction. She'd been stunned initially, but after some thinking, it explained a lot of things.

"In a phrase: the Centaurs trained the first wizards, and they lost all that they had because of it."

"What!" Harry was stupefied.

"That sounds familiar," said Hermione, remembering what had happened to House Elves.

Ron and Ginny looked at her with doubtful expressions. Draco was frowning.

"Explain," he said tersely.

Luna's eyes were as dreamy as when she was talking about one of her ridiculous conspiracy theories, except that this time the story was probably true. After all it had been confirmed by Dumbledore.

"Before there were any wizards, before the first human civilizations even, the world was a wild place, filled with normal animals and magical beasts. Several intelligent species existed, Humans, Goblins, Elves and such, but they lived as independent tribes. The Centaurs were the most civilized of those peoples. They have a faculty, which they call the Sight, and which enables them to see various magical phenomena, and interpret the stars to predict important future events. This helped them to develop a true culture."

"In contrast, the first humans with magical talent had no knowledge on how to use it. It only manifested itself like the unconscious magic we sometimes do as children. It all started when a group of Centaurs made friends with some of these humans, and helped them control this power. These became the first true wizards"

"It soon developed however, that the humans were able to do much more than their teachers. Centaurs can't do wand magic, or anything similar. Their talent is mainly passive, whereas the wizards were gifted in active magic. Humans gradually took over most of the world, while the Centaurs and the other magical species were reduced to living in out-of-the-way places like the Forbidden Forest."

"That's why they hate humans so much," she concluded. "They gave us this great gift, and we kicked them out."

"But-" started to say Hermione. Luna cut her off.

"Why didn't they see the danger? They can see Signs about the future, but that's always something vague. Apparently the Centaurs who decided to teach the humans divined that 'great things' would result. They didn't realize that the greatness would be for the wizards only."

"Who taught the Centaurs in the first place?" asked Ginny.

"Why did the Centaurs and the human compete so much?" asked Draco.

"Why-"

Luna raised her hand. "Please! One question at a time," she pleaded. "I really don't know much more because there is still a lot in the book that I haven't read. And some pages are missing or completely burned, including several which relate to the role of the Unicorns. Everybody, and especially the Centaurs, treats them as very important, but they don't say why."

"Unicorn based ingredients are very important in potions and in wand making," said Hermione.

"That shouldn't be reason enough for so much veneration," replied Draco. "Dragons are even more useful in that way, and they don't get as much respect."

"Maybe it's because Unicorns don't try to claw your heart out, or burn you to a crisp," retorted Ron.

"Perhaps the Unicorns are the ones who taught the Centaurs," proposed Hermione. They are close enough physically, and they are usually found together."

"It's possible, but I've never heard of anyone communicating with a Unicorn."

"I want to know why there was so much competition between us and them," repeated Draco.

"Humans don't like to share," murmured Hermione.

"Come on, the world is big enough," said Harry. "And let's look at it from another point of view. Why is Hogwarts, the foundation of wizard power in Britain, right next to the Forbidden Forest, and the biggest concentration of Centaurs?"

A long silence answered him.

"Now that's a really loaded question," said Draco finally. He turned toward Luna. "Okay, finish that book, and then we'll all read it. We'll ask more questions of Dumbledore when we get back to Hogwarts."

"He was right certainly," said Hermione, looking at the floor. "It's a sad story."

"I don't understand why it had to be that way," insisted Draco. "It's evident that the two species complement each other."

"Maybe there was something they both wanted, and that they couldn't both have," proposed Ron.

Diagon Alley buying spree Ch8 - 11