The next day, we were on the train back to London. "Ah, finally, summer holidays", yawned Tim as he got comfortable in the compartment.
"Anyone got plans I asked" as I searched my satchel for a cassette.
"Going to France", said Grant. "My muggle aunt has invited me to check out Paris."
"The city of love, don't go falling for some French girl", I joked.
"Pfft", Tim snorted.
"Well, what about you?" Asked Grant to Tim.
"Camping," said Tim. "We usually do that and ride horses; Mom loves that."
"What about you, Eddie?" Grant asked.
"Ah, studying mostly; I'm going to look in the vaults to see if I can find more information on the violin." I sighed. "Also, my grandmother is coming from America to see me." I picked at the felt of the armrest.
"That's good, isn't it?" Grant asked.
"Don't know, she's from a powerful family in America," I said, "What if she's like a Slytherin?"
"We're Slytherins," said Tim.
"Right, but I mean, what if she's like pureblood this and pureblood that?" I stated my worries.
"So, do what you do", Grant smiled. "Tell her to fuck off."
I blinked at Grant, then started laughing. Soon, Tim and Grant joined me.
We compared report cards on the train too. I had gotten all O's apart from history of magic which I got an E . But what I was most happy about was the crown on my Charms score. Grant got all O's but no crowns. Tim got mostly O's but a few Es and an A in history of magic.
When we arrived at the station, I waved goodbye to my friends and took a cab to the leaky cauldron. I asked Tom to store my trunk as I would leave in the evening and didn't need a room. Heading into Diagon Alley, I headed straight towards Gringotts. Bludrook saw me enter and greeted me. "Mister Carter, welcome. How can I help you today."
"I need to access my vault," I said. Bludrook nodded and gestured towards the vault entrances. He took me down to the vaults, where I stored Maryann's violin back in its display case. I turned to the bookshelf, looking over the tomes. "Bludrook, I'm going to need any tomes or books moved from the American vault to this one," I told the goblin.
"we can arrange that, Mister Carter", Bludrook said, then smiled. "There will be a fee, of course, and a ministry officer will have to inspect the books."
"And the price for them to not?" After thinking about it, I asked if Purebloods could bribe the ministry, and so could I.
"Hefty, but affordable for you." Bludrook smiled.
"do it, and send me the bill," I said to Bludrook. "Do this discreetly, and I'll give you a bonus." I smiled at Buldrook, and he returned the smile with a hungry look.
"as it should be, Mister Carter," Bludrook confirmed.
"Maryann Carter's Journal", I mutter to myself, pulling out a tome and cracking it open. "Yes, this should be it." I picked out a few other books as well.
When I left Gringotts, I took a stroll around Diagon Alley; I was wandering, looking at the shops, when a thought occurred to me. Turning and heading to Ollivander's, I pushed the door open. The bell chimed, "Coming", I heard from inside the shop. "ah, Mister Carter, what do I owe the pleasure?" he smiled. "Nothing wrong with your wand, I hope?"
"no, no, nothing wrong with it, it's brilliant, in fact." I smiled at him. "No, I came to ask you about other magical foci."
"Hmm, Ollivanders only make wands," Ollivander said. "but I do know some about other magical foci, staves, orbs, rings, swords", he rattled.
"what about instruments, Musical Instruments?" I asked.
He paused and thought, "There have been tales of magical Instruments used to cast spells; there was a Chinese wizard that used, I believe, it's called a GuZheng."
"do you know if they're made like wands, or is it another discipline?" I asked.
"I'm sure there are some things in common, but I doubt they are exactly the same. May I ask why you are asking?" Ollivander asked.
"I held one, I played one. My ancestor left it in our family vault; I want to make one of my own." I said.
"oh, so you are from a wizarding family. So what was the instrument, and what was playing it like?" Ollivander seemed excited.
"a violin and it was not like casting a spell; it was like weaving the magic, the different tones and tempo making the magic move, and my will and emotions flowed with it, giving the magic form; honestly, I hadn't felt it that powerful before or since", I explained.
"you didn't use it again?" he asked.
"the wand chooses the wizard." I smiled. "No, the violin just showed me what was possible." I sighed, "it's getting late, I should go. Thank you for your time, Mister Ollivander."
"It's my pleasure, Mister Carter; if you manage to create your instrument, come show it to me, Please," he asked. I nodded and left.
My last stop in Diagon Alley was a cafe where I had a coffee and a small meal. After paying with and leaving a tip, I headed out and stopped at the leaky cauldron to get Henley and my trunk; stepping out to the streets, I hailed the Knight bus.
*bang* Returning to Spinner's End, I sighed and walked home. I Knocked on the door, and Mrs Malhook welcomed me home with a hug. "dinner will be ready in an hour; go freshen up." i nodded and did that. Dinner was mostly vegetables and some grilled chicken. It was pretty good, but Mr. Malhook had a look of disgust on his face. "This is the fourth chicken dish this week, " he told me.
"Mrs. Malhook, got your diet down." I smiled at him.
"yes, I don't know the last time I had a bit of red meat," he complained. "or bacon. She threw out all the bacon."
"Good," I said to him, "Maybe talk to your doctor about your diet properly instead of waving him off."
"not you, too?" he was shocked.
"you're the one that had the heart attack; nobody here wants to lose you," I told him.
"I know", he said dejectedly, "and you won't. I will grumble and want a steak, but I will listen to my wife." he then smiled. "Or she will send me off to an earlier grave", he chuckled. I laughed with him; Mrs. Malhook just shook her head.