The Vault, the Cup, and Shopping

The Christmas holidays at Hogwarts were not long, lasting only about three weeks, from mid-December to early January.

Will spent three days at Lestrange Manor. On December twenty-ninth, Roy took him and Sylvia to Diagon Alley. Will needed to buy ingredients for potion brewing, while Sylvia wanted to make up for missing out on shopping at Christmas.

First, however, Roy took Will to Gringotts.

The goblins clearly recognized Roy, and their service could even be described as deferential. Will could not help remembering the first time he had exchanged Pound Sterling for Galleons. Back then, their attitude had been downright rude.

They boarded a little goblin mine cart with no speed controls and headed underground.

Sylvia tidied her disheveled hair while glaring at the goblin leading them. The excessive speed had completely ruined the hair she had carefully styled that morning.

The goblin avoided the young lady's gaze and gestured for them to proceed.

"Our last contact with Lord Weiznan was in 1982. He removed the magic from the Lestrange Vault and deposited everything in this vault," Roy explained quietly in Will's ear. "Lord Weiznan said there were some dangerous objects among them, but his descendant would certainly be able to avoid them."

Will took out the key Roy had given him and opened the vault that now belonged to him. He had already guessed what the dangerous object was—Hufflepuff's Cup, one of Voldemort's Horcruxes.

Beyond the vault door lay piles of Galleons and Silver Sickles. Will frowned slightly at the heaps of gold coins. Although there was certainly a considerable amount of wealth here, it was noticeably less than the mountain of treasure he remembered.

Still, the Lestrange family's vault had been divided into three, and this one-third share was already quite substantial.

Will swept his gaze over the contents. A gleaming golden cup sat on the pile of Galleons at the very back.

Will had guessed correctly. The cup really had ended up in his possession.

He did not bother with it, though. It was still one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, after all, and he would at least need a basilisk fang to destroy it.

Will had only come to withdraw some Galleons this time.

A quarter of an hour later, Will and Sylvia were strolling through Diagon Alley, while Roy entered a large shop. Will saw him warmly greet another old man with white hair and a big belly.

"My grandfather always likes going to play Wizard's chess with old Piers," Sylvia muttered. "Sometimes those two old men play all day."

Sylvia tugged Will toward the other end of Diagon Alley, and they stopped outside Ollivanders.

"Are you buying a wand?" Will asked, puzzled. Sylvia did not seem to need a new one.

"Of course not. I'm buying a Wand Care Kit." Sylvia pushed open the shop door.

"There's such a thing?"

Sylvia looked at Will in surprise, seemingly astonished that the usually knowledgeable Will did not know wand care kits existed. It was not really his fault, though. The night before his last shopping trip to Diagon Alley, he had stayed up late reading, and choosing his wand the next day had taken so long that he had nearly fallen asleep.

"Don't tell me you've never taken care of your wand?" Sylvia remembered that Will's wand was always clean. It certainly did not look neglected.

"I usually wipe it down every other day."

Still talking, the two stepped into Ollivanders. It was a small, dark shop, kept rather cool, perhaps to prevent the temperature from affecting the wand shafts. Thousands of boxes were stacked up to the ceiling, many coated in a layer of dust.

Sylvia unconsciously lowered her voice.

A somewhat thin, wizened old man appeared beside the counter at some point, his large, pale eyes fixed on Will and Sylvia.

"Good morning, Miss Lestrange. Black walnut wood, dragon heartstring, twelve inches. Very beautiful, isn't it?" Ollivander recited the details of Sylvia's wand without error.

Sylvia smiled. "Yes, Mr. Ollivander."

"Ah, Mr. Berens. Acacia Wood, phoenix feather, twelve and a quarter inches. An exceptionally discerning customer, chosen by a temperamental wand." Ollivander stared at Will. "You were a little tired that day."

"An astonishing memory, sir." Will was actually a little envious of Ollivander's memory.

"Now then, what can I do for you two young wizards?" Ollivander smiled. His customers were most likely here to spend money.

"Mr. Ollivander, I'd like two of your best Wand Care Kits." Sylvia's words made Ollivander smile even more broadly. The best Wand Care Kits cost several Sickles each.

Over the next few minutes, Ollivander carefully explained how to use the kits to Will and Sylvia. Will soon realized, however, that these so-called Wand Care Kits were merely a few items for maintaining a wand's temperature and moisture levels, along with cleaning it quickly. Ollivander had simply arranged them very attractively.

Several Silver Sickles for a few items without any enchantments—no wonder so few people bought them. In the end, though, Sylvia still bought two sets. She could easily spare a few Sickles.

And that was not all.

Sylvia bought Will an entire Potion Protection Set, including a Protective Robe made of dragon hide and Dragonhide Gloves, and even a set of test tubes ground from Crystal. His previous set had been glass.

"I probably don't need such thorough protection yet." Will carried the packaged case. It was certainly an expensive gift.

"Consider it a belated Christmas present." Sylvia blinked her bright eyes. "I'd meant to buy you a set of books for Christmas, but you bought them yourself that day, so I had to get you something else instead. You said in your letter that you'd be studying second-year potions after school started again. I want you to have proper protection.

"When Potter had detention last time, his fingers swelled up into ten carrots, and apparently they hurt and itched, too.

"You're leaving tomorrow, so today is my only chance to give it to you."

Will could hear the clear concern in Sylvia's voice. He remembered that incident, too. Snape had made Harry collect nectar from Agapi Flowers for several days in a row.

"Thank you." Will accepted the protective gear.

As the two bought the ingredients Will needed, the staff at Diagon Alley's ingredient and herb shops were overjoyed.

Big customers like Will were hard to come by. Every Potions Master had their own special sources for ingredients, to say nothing of the pharmacists at St. Mungo's. These little shops catered to Hogwarts students and ordinary wizards.

With such a large order from Will, the herb shop's manager even gave him a twenty-percent discount and had everything sent straight to Hogwarts by owl.

Will watched the owls fly away with packages of all sizes dangling beneath them, hoping the little creatures would not die of exhaustion halfway there.