Ep. 39 – Gringotts, Wands, Heist, Magic

We entered the hall and went towards a goblin.

"Good morning, is it possible to exchange gold for wizard currency?"

The goblin continued mumbling something looking at his papers for a few seconds, then looked up. "Yes, it is possible. How much are you planning on exchanging?"

"Oh, not much. About 100 kilos of pure gold."

"I see, 100 k- 100 kilos?!" the goblin began saying, then he realized the amount I mentioned. 'Is it a lot? Being able to make how much I wanted has dulled my sense of value.'

"Yes, 100 kilos." I said, plopping on his desk a large pile of gold. Weiss shook her head, holding her temples.

Anyway, it was a lot. Like, a LOT of galleons. We ended up buying 9 of those anti-theft magic pouches, though anyone capable enough to pickpocket us might as well keep the money. We divided the coins between us, though we would be together most of the time. It was just so that everyone had some in case we wanted to visit different shops.

"So, which shops are we going to?" asked Pyrrha.

"Well, we have access to the Hogwarts library, so we don't really need to go to a bookstore yet. We should get some wands, though I will make better ones once I learn how to make them. There is a pet store if you want. The magical materials shop we passed coming here is a must. The ice cream shop. That quidditch shop. Oh, and there should be the less-than-reputable part of the district, Knockturn Alley. We are totally getting everything we can from there. I read those books in the Ravenclaw common room and have a decent idea about what to get." I said.

"Okay, first stop wands, then I want to go to a bookstore even with the library available. Then we could have some time for the fun shops like pets, ice cream, and quidditch. Lastly, we'll go to Knockturn alley and ransack some stores." Said Blake.

We went towards Ollivanders, the magic stick shop. 'I want to see whether the old man seriously uses legilimency or is just a really good occlumency user.' When we entered, we found the old man reading his newspaper at his desk. Nothing like creeping up from behind or coming out of a side room at the right time.

"Good morning. Are you Mr. Ollivander? We are here for some wands. The best you have, money is not a problem. Custom-made ones are fine as well." I said. No need to waste time trying hundreds of wands which might not even react since we are not wizards, yet.

"Yes, I am Ollivander. Let's see…" as he said that and looked towards us, I heard someone shout "Mind!".

I took my 'Last Word' and pointed it at him.

"Old man, you better stop whatever you are doing before I make you a new breathing hole. Get the damn sticks, take your money, and go fuck yourself. Move it!"

He didn't move, so I shot his shoulder. "Want to test me? I said 'get the damn sticks'. You either do that or Ollivanders will change owner."

He was holding his shoulder in pain, looking at me. I cocked the hammer back, then he got up and ran to the back of the shop. I turned back to the gang. I saw that Jaune was holding his head.

"Are you okay? What did it feel like?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I felt some memories resurface and a headache. I broke eye-contact almost immediately, so he shouldn't have seen much." He said.

Pyrrha was hugging him, looking worried. "It's good that you are fine now." Is all she said and all that he wanted to hear.

'I am going to kill him. His legilimency is confirmed. If he really used it in the books/movies and nobody noticed, then my 'Tattoo of Radiance' can at most create a 'wall' for our minds, but it can easily be broken down. We need Occlumency, as soon as possible.'

While I was thinking, the old fuck came back with ten boxes.

"I asked for the best. You do realize that I will kill you if I find out that you have better, right?" I said. His face became as white as paper and he ran back with two boxes.

"When will people learn to listen to orders?" I said, going towards the boxes the idiot left behind. I opened them and saw different sticks. I wanted to check them out with my semblance, so that I could possibly make better ones, but the old fuck returned with a couple more boxes.

"Is this all?" I asked, still holding onto my weapon.

"Y-yes!" he said trembling.

"Good. Now keep your hands where I can see them. And roll up your sleeves, I read about wrist wand-holders." He followed my orders and guess what I saw under his sleeve? A bloodied wand-holder. Good thing it was on his 'injured' arm, otherwise he might have attacked. I took his wand and passed it to Yang.

"Dear, hold this for a moment. Now, you old fuck, explain what these sticks are made of. Do your 'magic', so to speak."

"Yes! Uhm, t-this one is made of Alder, the core is White River Monster spine, 12.5 inches. It is suited for a benevolent wizard or witch and will produce powerful yet refined magic.

This one is made of Applewood, the core is Dragon heartstring, 11.25 inches. It's made for a powerful, upstanding wizard/witch, often it is used by those lauded as 'saints' because of their temperament. A powerful wand for sure.

This is made of Ash wood, the core is Thunderbird tail feather, 11.5 inches. Made for a courageous person, who will always stick to his or her ideals. Stubborn, to put it simply. It will be difficult to master, though it will be of enormous help in Transfiguration and defense.

This one is different. Aspen wood, dual core: again Thunderbird tail feather and Curupira hair. This is an old wand, 11 inches exactly. This wand is extremely powerful, it is suited for all kinds of magic, though the combination of the two cores makes it absolutely extraordinary for charms. It searches for a determined owner with a strong will; it has not yet found its owner.

The next one is Black Walnut, with a Snallygaster heartstring as a core, 11.5 inches. This is suited for an insightful owner with good instincts, the core itself wants someone who hunts his opponent.

This one is made of Cedar wood, the core is Wampus cat hair, 12.75 inches. This wand searches for a loyal owner and is suited for fast-paced magic.

This one is Cherry, with a Coral core, a whole 14 inches. This wand is lethal, but the Coral acts as a suppressant against unintentional magic.

This was a fun wand to make: Dogwood, with White River Monster spine as a core, 12 inches. Only for adventure seekers, literally.

This one is ebony, with Rougarou hair acting as core, 11.5 inches. For someone who will fight for his beliefs with powerful and elegant magic.

Lastly, this thing. It is… a complicated wand. It has been made from the remains of many other wands. The woods used are Elder, Dogwood, Cherry, Cedar, Black Walnut, and Blackthorn. They may seem many, but my ancestor built this wand. He used a special method he didn't pass on to mix all of them into one. It has a dual core: White River Monster spine and Curupira hair. 13.25 inches. I didn't bring this out at the beginning since I myself don't understand it. You asked for the best and this is theoretically the best."

Ollivander explained all of the magic sticks, while I was using my semblance to understand them. Their construction, lore, purpose, performance, everything. I must say that the nine wands he presented us are fantastic, suited for at least one of my friends. The last one though, it's sick. In a wrong way. It won't allow any human because of the mixing of so many powerful woods. It would literally make the magic go haywire and explode. It could go to any of us since we can revive, but I'm not risking it. I'm taking this abomination myself. Hopefully I don't explode since I don't have a human body.

"Ruby, you take the first, try it out. Pyrrha gets the second, Jaune, the third. Weiss, you get the fourth, should be suitable for your glyphs and enchantments. Ren, the fifth should serve you well. Sun, the sixth is definitely for you. Nora, the seventh is all yours. Yang, the eighth has your name on it. Blake, you get the ninth. And I take this ticking time bomb." I said, distributing the wands.

"Wait, why 'ticking time bomb'?" asked Weiss.

"If a human tries doing magic with this wand, it might cause it to go haywire and explode. Inside the body. I might be able to use it though."

She looked worried, but nodded nonetheless.

"Old man, fetch us some wrist wand-holders." He nodded and disappeared in the back of the shop. He came back after less than a minute with ten bracer-like things.

"Here, these are top-grade dueling wand-holders."

We took one each and put it on, inserted our new wands, and gave it a try. It wasn't bad, though I could make it better.

"Now then, let's talk about your little stunt from before." I said, pointing my gun again. "Why did you try reading my friend's mind?"

"I-I do it with everyone! T-to check their p-personality! Otherwise it would take hours, days even to go through every wand in the shop!" He said hurriedly, obviously scared.

I stored my weapon and gave his wand back.

"I hope that is the truth. Let your shoulder remind you that you ask before searching through people's minds. Oh, for the payment, these should suffice." I said, before dropping a couple thousand Galleons on the table. As a repayment for the scare. Apparently, he didn't search Jaune's mind with malignant intentions, so I won't kill him. Though, I will come back after having learnt legilimency and check if he was saying the truth.

We exited the shop and went to the ice cream parlor. We needed something fresh.

"Well, we got our wands! One way or another! Now we can enjoy shopping around. Then comes the first stop on our 'Treasure Hunt'!" I said, seeing as the atmosphere was a little tense.

"Yeah, let's do that! But we seriously need a way to protect out minds. If anyone can just look at us and explore our memories then we are screwed in this universe." Said Ruby.

"Then let's check the bookstore on our imminent shopping spree. Maybe they will have some useful book." I proposed.

Like that, we started going through every store in Diagon Alley. Well, not EVERY store, but most of them. I personally bought one of each potion material and any other magical material I came by. I also bought a couple of gimmicks, like a handheld watch that bonds to a person and displays their current status: alive, dead, poisoned, etc. I plan on making something similar after having studied magic decently. On that note, I created a secondary thought process to study all that knowledge I got yesterday.

Anyway, we reached the shop called 'Flourish and Blotts', to see whether we could find some interesting books or not. Most of them should be in Hogwarts' library, but owning books has a different feel to it.

I was using my semblance to get all the juicy information in those books, which unfortunately included Lockhart's, that fucker's, books. Anyway, after a quick glance, I couldn't find anything on Occlumency or Legilimency, so I asked the guy at the counter.

"Good morning, do you have any books on mind protection and mind reading?"

"You mean occlumency and legilimency? Unfortunately, both subjects are… Frowned upon by the ministry, so we don't have them in stock."

"I see. And… Do you know of any other shop that might have them?" I asked, sliding ten Galleons to him. I know I have to go to that shop called something-something Burkes, but I don't know where it is in Knockturn Alley. Plus, I just read all the books they have on display, 10 Galleons are nothing.

The Galleons worked miracles and the shopkeeper told me how to reach 'Borgin and Burkes', so I thanked him and regrouped with my friends. They couldn't really understand what the books were about since they lack a magic education, so they didn't buy anything. Blake was looking at a stack of books though, so I subtly sent Sun a hint. He ended up buying those books.

After exiting the bookstore, I found an area without much movement and turned to the gang.

"Ok, they didn't have any books that might interest us, which leads us to Knockturn Alley. It's the less reputable area. I got the directions to a shop with a very interesting stock so… Shall we check it out?" I said.

"Of course. That should be the first stop of our 'Treasure Hunt', right?" Sun asked. I nodded to him.

And that brings us to this… Building, for lack of better term. We entered 'Borgin and Burkes' and saw a shit-ton of very dark-magic-like stuff. It just screamed 'Evil!' from every angle possible. We went towards the counter and I tapped on the bell thingy. Soon, someone, who I guess is either Borgin or Burkes, came to the counter. I shall call him Tiffany.

"Hello there. A 'friend' told me that I could find some 'special' stuff in your shop. Something the Ministry doesn't exactly like." I said to him, leaning in on the counter to act sneaky and also take a look at any hidden weapons. I only saw a wand, which I guess is his second one.

"No. We don't have any of that stuff!" Tiffany shouted towards the outside, signaling us to wait. "We only sell Ministry-approved merchandise!" he said while closing the door and the shades. Then, he returned to his place at the counter.

"Sorry about that. Ministry dogs are everywhere. So, what can I get you?" he asked.

"No problem. We were looking for any books the Ministry frowns upon or considers outright illegal. Mind arts as well. Paying isn't a problem, as long as the merchandise is of quality." I said, showing him some Galleons.

"Sure, wait here." Tiffany said and went to the back of the shop.

I turned to the gang and said: "Be careful, he might be plotting something. Let's see what he brings back, then we'll have fun." To that, they all nodded and held their weapons in hand.

The shopkeeper came back after a few minutes with a stack of books in hand and a few more flying behind him.

"Let's see. We have: Dark arts, Rituals, Mind Arts, Unforgivables, prohibited potions, and a book on forbidden areas in Magical Britain. Does this suit your needs?" he asked.

"Yes, yes it does. How much?"

"Hm… These books are quite rare nowadays. Let's do 1500 Galleons and they're yours." He answered. I put my hand in my pocket to take out some money. At least I would if he had given me a fair price and we were not here to specifically steal anything interesting he has.

I took my hand cannon out and pointed it at him.

"Know what this is?" he nodded. "Good. Put your hands up and this baby won't go pew-pew. Got it?" he raised his hands. "Now then, you see, we are not from around here and really, really like to collect all sorts of books and gimmicks. Now, we can get most of said books and gimmicks at Hogwarts, but you should have some interesting ones. Why don't you show us?"

Tiffany started moving with his hands up, before trying to go for his wand. I shot his wrists. Both of them. He looked at me horrified and with a pained expression, so I wagged my finger at him and took the wand.

"If you act like a good boy and show us around, I might not shoot you more and give your wand back."

Yang then whispered in my ear something that made me wish we were alone: "You acting like this turns me on. You, me, bed. When we go back."

'I should do this more often.'

Anyway, Tiffany showed us to the storage area, where we ransacked all books, all interesting gimmicks, all sorts of materials, and potions. I stored all the delicate stuff in my inventory. Tiff tried having us touch some cursed stuff, but I checked everything with my semblance. Crazy useful that thing. Oh, for his stunt, I shot his left knee. I saw he had a weak right knee, so there was no use in shooting him there, right?

"Tiffany, do you have any more… Interesting stuff lying around?" I asked

"Who the fuck is Tiffany?! Fuck you! This was everything I had in the store!"

"Ah! You said 'in the store'. You have more, don't you? Why don't you share with us? Come on, sharing is caring!" I said, waving my weapon around like a madman. 'Ooh, I am so enjoying this right now. I think ransacking less-than-reputable shops suits me. Maybe I should do it more often.'

He didn't want to talk, what a pity. Seeing no other choice, I took out my 'Raze-Lighter'. A flaming sword is always the answer to all your problems.

"Well, if you don't want to share, I'm afraid your body will be lighter when I'm finished with you." I said, squatting in front of him. I then pointed my sword at his face. "Any second thoughts?"

Needless to say, he gave us several locations where his stuff was stored. We then went back to the front of the store.

"Thank you, Tiff! I'll see you again! Oh, before I forget. If any of the locations you have given us is empty, I'll be back sooner than you can say 'fuck', got it? Bye bye!" I said, grabbing the books he had first put on the counter. "Oh, here's your wand. Take good care of it!"

We were on board the ship right now, cataloguing our loot. We had already visited the other locations given to us by Tiffany.

It has come to my attention, that I never actually described my ships' common room. Well, imagine a big rectangle. In one corner, we have a huge library. It started off small, but I expanded it to fit all the books we will get our hand on. It spans a few tens of meters and there is an area close to it with a fluffy red carpet, a coffee table, and some couches and armchairs. We are just missing a real fireplace, though there is an hologram of one, just for ambience. On the opposite corner, we have the bar. It's filled to the brim with all kinds of booze, snacks, and anything that could get you sat there. There is a decent sized (read as 'oversized') counter with all kinds of glasses, ice, garnishes. There are also some stools to sit down on, obviously. In the middle of the room, we have a giant table with our personalized seats. They are not so important. The table though has all sorts of displays and can connect to the cockpit, both for a quick chat and to show the view, for when you get tired of staring at a wall.

Talking about walls, there are several exposition cases with the gang's old armor and weapons. There is also edge-mom's old armor. She didn't want it back, for some reason. Oh, we also have a pool table and other such entertainment gimmicks. In a separate area, there is my workshop which will become the area for gimmicks and potions we loot in our travels. We all have our rooms, completely personalized and soundproofed. In my room, which means Yang, Ruby, and Weiss' room, I have a lot of photos with my wives, not enough to be creepy mind you. Oh, I also set up a display which will show all of the 'embarrassing faces' pictures I collected throughout the years. Just in case I need to put an end to an argument real quick.

Anyway, Blake was given full governance over the library, while Weiss and I on the potions and materials area. Yang and Ruby had all the gimmicks. While Sun, Ren, Jaune, Pyrrha, and Nora were not interested in dealing with the stuff we found.

"Well, that has been fun. Surely against everything a Huntsman should be, but fun!" I said.

"Oh, it was fun! We already agreed to treat this universe like a playground, so let's not dwell too much on it. Plus, that guy was just like Torchwick, if he didn't participate personally in the heists." Said Pyrrha. 'You know that everything is fine when Pyrrha says it is. She is probably the most upstanding of the group, alongside Ruby. Not to say that we are scoundrels, but we are more… Flexible over what is right and wrong. Courtesy of yours truly, obviously.'

"Yeah, 'Tiffany' totally deserved it. Now he'll think twice before not telling us where the good stuff is!" said Yang, still sorting the gimmicks with Ruby.

"Pfft! 'Tiffany'! That was brilliant (*sips tea* verily so)! I was trying so hard to keep a serious front!" said Sun

"Well, now that we have the books, should we get magic?" asked Blake

"Yes, we should. Yesterday I read those books in the common room. Basically magic works by 'convincing' it. I can use a ritual to 'convince' magic to create an accumulation point in our bodies. After doing that, we will have to meditate like all other wizards. That or we can repeat the ritual to increase our magic. We, well you in reality, have two options: either create an immaterial organ that will automatically produce magic, which you will have to exercise to improve, or a magic 'core', which will mature with time. We can do the ritual here, if you want." I said. I came up with the best way to give us magic like, five minutes ago, but it's safe. Yeah, totally safe. I better test it.

"Well, since we want to use magic now and not in a decade or so, I think the organ is the best choice. I doubt that it would improve more slowly than a magic core. I think that here is fine if the ritual is safe." Said Weiss.

"Ok then, wait a moment, I need to set some runes. After that, you will have to put as much Light and Aura as you can. Theoretically, the more you put, the better the organ will be. Ah, the process will be absolutely painless since the ritual will prevent you from feeling pain." I said as I went towards one of the extra rooms. I will remodel it to become a 'meditation' area, but for now a room will suffice. I started carving some runes in the floor.

Oh, I never mentioned how my runes work, right? Well, you know how the Hive have those enormous 'magic circles'? I combined those with another civilization's 'magic' to create my very own set of runes. I need to inscribe them somewhere, even the air, by using some Light on the tip of my fingers or any other writing utensil. After that, the runes activate and do what they are supposed to do. Now, the rituals work a little differently: I inscribe the runes without using the Light then, when I want to start the process, I pump it in. Pretty cool.

It took a little over a minute since the runes used were quite complex. When I was done, I cross referenced the completed magic circle with the one I had planned. 'Perfect, I just need a lab rat. Which means me. Not putting anyone through a test like this.' I stepped on the circle, put my Akashic Engine in 'overdrive', then started pumping as much Light and Aura I could into it. And it was a lot, as always.

I couldn't feel anything, but I knew that some kind of 'thing' was growing in my chest, right about where the heart should be or, in my case, the Akashic Engine. My fantastic body started integrating the 'magic heart' with my Engine, resulting in me having infinite magic. The same thing should happen to the gang. Not the infinite magic part, the fusing with the heart thing. In theory, after experiencing the ritual, I can say that their heart will change into a completely new organ and that both blood and magic will start pumping through their bodies. This should make them capable of using magic and will also gradually change the rest of their bodies. They will become half-human, half- … I don't know what to call the other half. Spirit is kind of right since the magic itself is immaterial and we are fusing a body with magic. Ok, they will become half-human, half-spirit.

Anyway, the ritual works, the benefits are many, let's do this. I went back to where the others were and told them about the ritual and its effects.

"I see… There isn't a change in appearance, right? We won't grow a third eye or something?" asked Jaune.

"Good question. No, there shouldn't be a change in appearance. The only thing that will change is your heart. It might change you later on, but it will be something like better skin, hair, teeth. Basically, any change will be a good one and in the far future. We're talking about years here. Oh, it might make you taller as well."

"Hm… I see no drawback in becoming a magician and more beautiful as a byproduct. Sign me in, Dear." Said Weiss. One by one, everyone else agreed.

I personally took almost half an hour to complete the ritual because I just needed the most basic 'magic heart' and the Akashic Engine would do the rest, but spending more time would increase the purity of the magic. I don't know what it does, but it can't be bad. I have also devised another ritual to increase the purity of energies inside our bodies, though I haven't tried it yet.

Anyway, everyone spent almost an hour in the magic circle, with Weiss, Pyrrha, and Jaune spending the most time since the first had more Light than others, the second had high amounts of both, while the third had a pretty insane amount of Aura. In the end, everyone had their magic heart and could start using magic.

"Ok, I know that you want to start using magic, but you might damage the ship. Let's return to Hogwarts and test it out there. In the meantime, I will try to figure out how to make our wands better." I said, seeing as Yang, Nora, and Blake took their wands out.