Destination Unknown

Chapter 7

July 31^st, 2013

"Cory! Harry! Get up! Your Hogwarts letters have arrived!" shouted Hermione. Her sons leapt out of bed, had a quick shower, dressed in the new robes kept for them and ran down the stairs to receive the letters. All in ten minutes.

They read the letters avidly before even touching their huge pile of birthday gifts. Following that, they had a huge breakfast. Then they went shopping for their Hogwarts stuff.

Draco opened vaults in their named in Gringotts. Ace wanted one for herself, too, but they managed to dissuade her with the ride in the trolley. When they were back on the surface, Ace swore she would never open a vault of her own at the bank. Next they went to get the books, robes and other things. Finally, the only things they were left with were wands for the two boys.

They entered Ollivanders' shop with trepidation.

"Welcome, Mr. Malfoys," said Mr. Ollivander, appearing suddenly and causing them to jump out of their skins, "I've been expecting you."

"Hello, Mr. Ollivander," said Hermione. Draco nodded. Mr. Ollivander regarded them with his silver eyes.

"Hello, Mrs. Malfoy. Willow, eleven inches, phoenix feather, wasn't it? Perfect companion of a certain holly. And Mr. Malfoy - Rosewood, thirteen inches, unicorn tail hair. I do remember those particular wands pretty well...

"Now young Mr. Malfoys...let's see whether your wands are as powerful as your parents'...here, try this, Master Heron - mahogany, ten inches, dragon heartstring. Just give it a wave."

Harry took the wand and waved it. Nothing happened. Mr. Ollivander snatched it away immediately and gave it to Cory. No reaction from him occurred, either. He handed him another wand. Cory waved it. Nothing. Mr. Ollivander kept giving them new wands and snatching them away.

"Difficult customers, eh?" said the old gleefully, "I have not seen such tricky customers since Harry Potter!"

Harry and Cory smiled nervously.

"I wonder..." said Mr. Ollivander, and fetched two boxes from an unused corner. He held out two wands. "Holly, eleven inches, phoenix feather and yew, thirteen inches, phoenix feather. They are brother wands," he muttered. Harry took the yew one and Cory took the other. They waved it. Nothing happened.

"Maybe I was wrong, after all," said Mr. Ollivander, looking a bit relieved, and a bit disappointed.

"Maybe you should exchange the wands, dears," suggested Hermione. The boys did so and waved the wands. Everyone gasped in surprise.

Jets of white light shot forth from both the wands and combined to produce an image of a glittering white phoenix with gold and silver tail marks. Hermione gave a startled cry and fainted in Draco's arms. He quickly took out his wand and muttered, "Enervate." Hermione blinked and stood up, her face flushed.

"Curious...very curious," said Mr. Ollivander.

"Er, what is curious, sir?" asked Cory hesitantly.

"The phoenix you saw, Mr. Malfoy, was the one that gave the tail feathers to your wands. That particular phoenix was a very special one. He gave me two feathers and instructed them to be made into these wands. I have never seen him since."

"Come kids, let's go," said Draco and paid Mr. Ollivander, who bowed them out of the shop.

"What's wrong with Mum?" Cory asked solicitously, glancing at her. She looked very pale and shaken.

"Nothing, dear. I was surprised to see the phoenix. There was a time when I knew him," she said quietly.

"What happened to him?" asked Harry.

"He died," said Hermione sadly.

"Did you miss him?" Ace asked.

"Terribly, my dear," her mother replied. Draco suddenly understood. He looked at his wife and a flash of understanding passed between them.

"Did you know him, too, Dad?" Cory asked. Draco nodded.

"He was the bravest and the most intelligent phoenix I've ever known. He was wonderful," he said.

"Why did he give two feathers? Don't phoenixes give only one feather for a wand core?" Cory asked.

Hermione smiled indulgently. Draco looked very proud.

"Always knowledgeable, aren't you?" said Draco proudly, "I knew you will be your mother's true successor at Hogwarts!"

Cory beamed. Hermione ruffled his hair affectionately and said, "Phoenixes do give two feathers sometimes, but it is a very rare phenomenon. A phoenix which gives two tail feathers is a very special one, it has Seeing abilities. It is said that when a phoenix gives two feathers together, it has Seen the coming of two very similar great witches or wizards. So that means, you two are very powerful wizards, and you must work hard at school to be the best students Hogwarts has ever produced. Ok?"

Harry and Cory nodded eagerly.

"We will be the top students of Hogwarts!" they chimed. They walked in silence for some time.

"Which house is the best, Mum?" asked Cory.

"All are good, dear. I was in Gryffindor and your Dad was in Slytherin. Aunt Luna was in Ravenclaw," she said.

"Slytherin's the best," said Draco.

"No, the best's Gryffindor!" said Hermione hotly, "I fought with the Hat to get there...it wanted to put me in Ravenclaw! And we won the House Cup all the seven years!"

"So what?" said Draco.

The children were rather alarmed at this argument.

"Will you be angry if we didn't get into your houses?" asked Harry nervously.

Draco and Hermione burst out laughing.

"No, dear," Hermione said.

"I won't be angry if you get into Gryffindor, Slytherin or even Ravenclaw...but if you get into Hufflepuff, I'll try very hard not to be angry...but I can't promise," said Draco.

The boys nodded gravely.

That night, after dinner, Draco and Hermione sat in their bedroom with wards all around the room so that no one could overhear their words.

"Who was it?" asked Draco.

"The phoenix? Surely you recognise him, Draco?"

"Are you sure it was him?"

"Honestly, Draco, the number of times we saw him transform..."

"I wonder, Herm...did he plan all this? Did he know what was going to happen?"

"Maybe, Draco, maybe. I don't know!"

"Their wands are exactly the same..."

"I know, but the feather is his...it's pure Light. Dark wizards cannot even touch a wand with that core, Draco. Cory's safe. And Harry. Nothing will go wrong," Hermione said firmly, as if to convince herself. Draco nodded fervently. They sat in silence for some time.

"What will happen if they get sorted into different Houses?" asked Draco suddenly, "I know that many of my Father's old crowd still believes in their old ideals. And many of their children and grandchildren are at Hogwarts."

"I don't know, Draco, I don't know anything anymore! I'm worried about them, Draco. What will happen if they found out everything?"

"Calm down, darling," said Draco softly, embracing his wife, "nothing will happen. It'll all be ok. We'll all be ok."

"Will the past haunt us forever? Will he haunt us?"