It took Harold an entire day to finally come to terms with the fact that Sirius had followed him back to Diagon Alley.
After all, Sirius was already here—he couldn't exactly kick him out now… Mainly because Harold was a nice person, and not because of any agreement about rent. Definitely not.
"Speaking of which, the first time I saw you, you scared the living daylights out of me…"
The next morning, Sirius took a huge bite out of a sandwich—it was the first proper breakfast he'd had in ages. No more raw rabbits or live fish, just good, normal food.
In three bites, he polished off the whole sandwich, then gulped down a large glass of pumpkin juice before continuing, "You're in third year, and you've already mastered the Animagus transformation. Even James didn't manage it until he was sixteen."
"No, you misunderstood," Harold said, shaking his head. "I learned Animagus before the start of third year. Technically, I was still in second year when I pulled it off."
Sirius's mouth twitched. He lost his appetite completely.
"Did you have a trick or something?" he couldn't help asking. "We worked our tails off for two whole years and barely made it."
"You could say that." Harold nodded. "I asked Professor McGonagall for help. She gave me a detailed reading list on Transfiguration, all arranged in the best order. All I had to do was follow her list, one book at a time—it saved me loads of time."
"Plus, ever since I started carrying a mandrake leaf, she's been helping me gather relevant research and essays about Animagi. I gained a lot of insight from that."
Sirius listened, a little enviously.
Back when he and James were learning to become Animagi, they'd never dare tell McGonagall. They even had to sneak books out of the library, terrified they'd get caught.
Looking back now, a lot of those books were probably useless.
"There's also this wand—it helped a lot."
"What?" Sirius looked up at the wand in Harold's hand.
"That's just an ordinary wand, isn't it?"
"Yes… and no," Harold said. "The core is a strand of Professor McGonagall's hair. It boosts the success rate for Animagus transformation."
Sirius went silent.
"Is pulling jokes at Christmas a thing now?" he said, forcing a smile. "Because that wasn't a good one. It's clearly fake. A wand is a wand—it can't possibly help with Animagus transformations."
"I never joke about wandlore, Sirius," Harold replied. "Every wand is different, just like wizards. Some are suited for dueling, others for transfiguration… and some lean toward dark magic."
"Take this one, for example…"
With a thought, a book whooshed into the air and hovered in front of Sirius.
"You remember this, don't you?"
Sirius stared at the floating book.
Oh, he remembered it all right. Back on the eighth floor at Hogwarts, that magical book had practically tortured him.
"That's a wand too," Harold said.
"Impossible!" Sirius blurted. "That has to be some kind of magical artifact… I'm a Black—I've seen my share of magical oddities. You can't fool me!"
"Is that so?" Harold grinned. "Believe me, you'll change your mind soon enough."
Sirius scowled—clearly unconvinced.
"Oh, and didn't you say you'd sell me a wand?" he added. "It's Christmas break now, and I haven't once gone after that coward."
"Fair enough."
Harold had said it, so he was prepared to keep his promise. He pulled a light brown wand from his lizard-skin bag.
"I'm guessing you'll choose this one—core's made with Harry's hair."
Sirius's eyes widened. He stared at the wand, completely entranced.
He reached out, then quickly pulled back, furiously wiping his hands on his robe before finally taking the wand with trembling fingers.
"Give it a try," Harold said expectantly. "Unless you've forgotten how to use one."
"I'll never forget that," Sirius said, then gave the wand a flourish.
Bang!
Sparks exploded from the tip, and the whole wand trembled violently.
It wasn't until Harold snatched it out of Sirius's hand that it finally calmed down.
"What just happened?" Sirius asked, bewildered.
"It rejected you," Harold replied. "And I've never seen such a violent reaction before. If I'd been a second slower, that wand might have exploded."
"But… why?"
"I think I know why." Harold turned the wand over, examining it. "Because it contains Harry's hair. Right now, the person Harry hates most is you—and that hatred is being reflected in the wand core."
"But it's just a wand! How could it possibly know who I am?"
"That's just what you think," Harold said. "The moment Harry resented you, a magical resonance formed between the two of you. It's like the Taboo Curse on Voldemort's name…"
"You know—that whole 'say his name, he knows' thing."
"I remember all too well." Sirius shivered involuntarily but quickly pulled himself together.
"That's the gist of it." Harold nodded. "Wizards might not notice the magical feedback, but wands do—which is why it reacted so violently."
"Try this one instead." Harold pulled out another wand and handed it to him.
"Black walnut, boggart core, twelve inches—excellent for transfiguration."
"Wait…"
Sirius had still been moping, but now he looked up sharply.
"Did you just say the core is boggart?"
"Yep," Harold replied. "You mean you don't know what a boggart is?"
"Of course I do," Sirius said, eyes wide. "That's why I asked. How could a boggart possibly be used as a wand core?"
"Don't worry about that," Harold said, casually stuffing the wand into his hand. "Just try it. If it doesn't work, we'll try another—I've got loads."
Sirius gave the wand an instinctive flick.
This time, it behaved perfectly. A soft white glow shimmered at the tip.
"Knew it," Harold nodded.
Sirius had managed to learn Animagus magic at just sixteen—that alone showed a strong affinity for Transfiguration, which paired well with the boggart wand.
And it worked.
"That'll be seventy Galleons," Harold said. "Don't worry, that's a fair price. These aren't easy to make."
"Honestly, not bad at all," Sirius said, giving the wand another satisfied wave. That familiar feeling… he'd missed it so much.
"I'll pay you," he promised. "I'll head out later anyway—I want to get Harry something for Christmas."
"I think you stand out too much," Harold said. "If you're going out, we'll need to make some… adjustments."
"Relax, I'll only go out in my Animagus form," Sirius said. "This is Diagon Alley—full of witches and wizards. I'm not stupid."
"You misunderstood. I meant your Animagus form." Harold smiled and pulled out a small bottle.
Elegant cursive writing on the label read: Color-Changing Spray.
…
(End of Chapter)