A solitary twinkle of a bell somewhere in the shop announced their presence.
Sylvian found the dusty and narrow interior exactly the same as when he came here 7 years ago. This shop seemed to be suspended in time.
"Good afternoon."
Maybe time-loop would be more apt as a description. This creepy old man still liked scaring youngsters.
"Good day, Mr Ollivander. Don't stare that intensely at the poor girl." The eccentric man turned to him in surprise.
"Sylvian Scamander, what a nice surprise to have you here again. An alder, 12 inches, unyielding. My father told me that wand would lay in the shelves for a long time, that was my first and only attempt at using augurey's tail feather as a core.
It's serving you well, I hope?"
"Splendidly. I've got a job as a professor of History of Magic. I'm here to escort Miss Granger to get her school supplies."
Sylvian duplicated the lone chair twice and invited Grangers to sit. Mr Ollivander started asking questions from Miss Granger. After measuring her hands and shoulders he went back to the shelves stacked with wand boxes. He returned with a dusty brown box.
"Vine wood, 10 and a half inches, with a dragon heartstring as a core, quite bendy. Vine gives a little huff of magic when it senses a compatible master in its vicinity, so it's usually easy to pair with someone.
Try it, Miss Granger."
The girl took the wand with elaborate vine patterns. The moment she touched it a breeze was roused and blew the dust from tabletop and the shelves.
"As expected. Vine chooses a master with a greater purpose. I hope it will be helpful in your quest, Miss Granger.
6 galleons and 13 sickles. I'll add a pair of wrist and waist holster for you."
After paying for the wand, they left the store. Sylvian told Hermione wrist holster would useful after a few years. For now, she had better keep her wand on her waist.
"Should we get a pet for you, darling? Your letter mentioned that, didn't it?"
"I'm not sure, Mum."
"If they mentioned it in the letter, then it must be quite popular with kids, right? We wouldn't want you to miss out on the fun. What do you think, Mr Scamander?"
"Actually most witches and wizards tend to call them 'familiars' instead of pets. There are two shops, one sells only owls, menagerie deals with other animals. They are usually half-breed magical or raised along magic, so I'm pretty sure you won't have much trouble if we pick mature and calm one.
You don't have to worry about their food, if you're not planning to get a toad that is. Owls and cats hunt for their own food. You can give occasional treats. But if they get sick, you must take them to an adult on time."
The girl thought for a moment and agreed.
"Which one would you suggest, professor Scamander?"
"Owls can be useful for sending letters. You can also use school owls, no need to worry. They're pretty independent. Once in a while they'll come for a treat or carry their prey to you."
"You mean dead mice?" She paled a little at this thought.
"Exactly."
"Uhm, no need for owl then. Let's check the cats."
"Sure. We can go to the Magical Menagerie then. It's near the archway we passed earlier."
Sylvian wondered if she'd pick the ginger half-kneazle like in the books. He already dealt with the rat, so it wasn't that important. But Hermione could use some emotional support. He didn't want an accident with a troll this year. The trio can become friends in another way.
Menagerie was a place of constant noise. Birds chirping, snakes hissing at passersby, cats lazily lounging on their pillows... Well, the last one wasn't making noise, so erase that.
Also noise was something he learnt to tolerate at Hogwarts, the stink was unbearable. With a wave of his wand he conjured a light breeze that cleared the air.
Grangers were looking at the cages, checking all sorts of pet options. Shopkeeper finished dealing with customer before them and went to introduce the different breeds and characters of cats.
Sylvian noticed Hermione seemed to have taken a liking to the fat ginger cat. Her parents asked for some tips to take care of it. At the end, they came out with a cat in Hermione's embrace, soft bed placed in the trunk and a bag of catnip.
"His name is Crookshanks, professor. Look at how cute he is!"
She has just gotten it and is already this obsessed. Maybe fate is real after all.
"I'm grateful for your suggestion, professor Scamander. If not for you, who knows how long this poor little guy would lie here with no one."
"I hope it won't bring you any trouble, Miss Granger. Would you like to subscribe to magic newspaper? The most popular one is Daily Prophet. It belongs to the Ministry and they send a copy daily through an owl. If you want to send a letter in the future, you can pay a few knuts for delivery."
"That sounds helpful. Do they have an office here?"
"Yes, it should be this way. Let's go."
In the newspaper office a bored receptionist took a 10 sickles annual fee and informed her she'd have to pay a knut for each delivery. Hermione asked her about delivery fee if she used owls to send her letter.
"3 knuts if in the same city, 12 knuts if it's inside Britain."
"And for other countries?"
"You'll have to visit the post office to ask about that, Miss. Have a nice day."
They took today's issue and went out. Mr Granger exclaimed in wonder when he saw the moving pictures.
"The method of having pictures move is quite old. They have been using special alchemical solutions and enchantments to make moving portraits. Taking a photo and making it move is a bit recent. Daily Prophet became the bestseller after the editor invented this method and started printing Quidditch news. Don't mention wizards, even witches go mad when it comes to sport.
If they had half the interest in magic, I wonder how fast our development would be."
"No wonder you became a professor, Mr Scamander. I won't be surprised if the old Headmaster picked you to be his successor," Mr Granger jokingly said.
Sylvian chuckled in response. Though he internally admitted becoming a Headmaster didn't sound so bad.
"Now that we have finished all the business, let me accompany you out of the Leaky Cauldron."
"Ah, thank you for your help, Mr Scamander. Should we grab a lunch together in a restaurant or eatery?"
"I appreciate your hospitality, Mr Granger, but I have some errands to run. Next time, for sure."
"Next time then. Our doors are always open for you, sir. Visit anytime you want. Why don't you thank him, Hermione?"
"Thank you for your help, professor Scamander."
"Don't mention it.
If you have any questions, you can just write my name on the letter and the owl will find me. It's Sylvian Scamander.
Oh, this is your ticket to the train. It will leave at 11 a.m. on September 1st. You'll have to go to King's Cross and pass through the wall between platforms 9 and 10. It's just an illusion of the wall, not a real one.
We call it Platform 9¾. If you have trouble going in, wait for some time and other witches or wizards will help you pass.
Any questions?"
"No, professor. Thank you once again."
"Have a lovely day, Mr Granger, Mrs Granger. See you at Hogwarts, Miss Granger."
____________________
The rest of the summer was uneventful for Sylvian. He visited other muggleborns, researched magic and prepared some teaching material for the upcoming semester. He didn't get any letter from Dumbledore or McGonagall about Harry, so he assumed the story progressed as original and Hagrid went to pick him up.
He did get a letter from Hermione after a week though. She thanked him for the book again and asked if the card was for her.
When he got The History of the Kings and Queens of Britain he used magic to hide the Queen of Wands card in the book. He put a seal on it, so the card would materialize on air when someone read the book fully.
It was a curious enchantment he created to encourage his friends to read when they were young.
Sylvian told her it was a gift for her in his reply and she was welcome to ask any questions regarding the contents of the book. They became pen friends over the course of summer after that.
Finally the first of September was on the door. Sylvian checked the trunk he packed the day before, bade farewell to his grandparents and disapparated to the outskirts of Hogwarts.
He walked towards the castle. In a short while the front gate appeared in front of him. He could feel a protective barrier when he reached out.
Sylvian took his wand and summoned his patronus. He sat on his trunk to wait while his patronus went to deliver message to Professor McGonagall.
"Ah, Syl, welcome back. How's Mr Scamander doing? Didn't expect to meet yeh so soon y'know."
Sylvian hugged the big guy on the waist and returned the greetings.
"He's doing as usual, thank you for asking, Hagrid. How are you doing?"
"I'm doin' just fine, thank yeh... bit busy today, y'know, preparin' the castle for the young 'uns.
Here, lemme get your trunk.
How's Mimi?"
"Thanks. She's fine, sleepy in the summer, you know. She'll fly here at night."
"Good, good. Yeh can't imagine my surprise, Syl, when Professor McGonagall said they hired yeh to teach history. Yeh'll do a great job, I just know it..."
Talking about this and that, they reached the castle. Hagrid first led him to his living quarters. It was near the library; he requested such arrangement in his letter to Professor McGonagall.
"I'll be off then, Syl. We are all in the Great Hall."
"I'll come down after putting my things away. Thank you again, Hagrid."
Sylvian asked for a spacious, empty room, so that was what he got. He closed the door and opened his trunk. Using his wand he summoned the shrunk furniture from it and cancelled the Shrinking spell. A large bookshelf was placed on the side of the room close to the door. The books floated out of the trunk and returned to their original size while stacking neatly on the shelves.
He put the large oak desk on the opposite side, perpendicular to the windows. Two wingbacked chairs were placed in front of the fireplace opposite the windows.
In the center of the room Sylvian first laid a plush carpet with vine motifs. On top of it he put a low table, sofa and two armchairs with cushions around it. Small tools, some trinkets, and ornaments he collected over the years also flew around and placed themselves on the bookshelf, desk, walls and added a touch of personality.
For the curtains, he opted for the thin linen ones. The room now resembled a proper study of a professor.
He then went through the door in the corner and entered his bedroom. It was half the side of the study. Sylvian covered the floor with a thick woolen rug. An arched bed, wardrobe, divan, bedside table and a small cabinet spread out on to their places. For the bedroom, he used thick brocade curtains. Trunk was placed between the bed and the window.
A private bathroom was connected to the bedroom. After putting the toiletries, moving in was complete.
Sylvian fused all the doors to their frame using transfiguration and put an alarm charm. For now, these would be enough. He would put stronger barriers in place later.
On the corridors brooms were sweeping the floors, walls, even the ceiling. Near the Great Hall the suits of armor were polishing themselves.
Professors were in the Great Hall, busy preparing the banners, tapestries, candles and whatnot for the Start-of-term Feast. Sylvian said hello to everyone he met, exchanged a few words and finally reached Professor McGonagall.
"Good day, professor McGonagall."
"Good morning, Sylvian. You can call me Minerva, you know. We are colleagues after all."
"Give me some time to fit into the role of a professor, I'll do that."
"Good. Did you find your quarters acceptable?"
"Yes, it was very kind of you, professor. I've settled in. How can I help today?"
"Severus may need a hand to hang the banners. You can catch up in the meantime."