It was the 21st of June and he was celebrating his 11th birthday today. He was out with his mother for the day at Diagon Alley. He had already got his birthday gift, the customary animal companion from his mother. It was a handsome looking tawny owl with a built for speed and lovely plumage in various shades of brown which he had named Dusk. They had gotten the Hogwarts owl early in the morning and though he knew it was coming, the letter still gave him goosebumps when he read through it.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr Darius Icarus,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Uniform

First-year students will require:

Three sets of plain workrobes(black) One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear One pair of protective gloves (dragonhide or similar) One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.

Set Books

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

Other equipment

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad.

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

They had brought the required books from Flourish and Blotts, except the ones which he already had, which happened to be most of them. Then it was onto Madam Malkin's for his robes. He already had all the potions books and ingredients he could possibly need. After buying the remaining miscellaneous items it was time to head to the last destination. Barely able to keep himself from running towards Ollivanders. It was about time he got his own wand.

The shop was a narrow and shabby looking structure in a corner and you could hardly believe that nearly every witch or wizard in the country got their wand from here. A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single spindly chair which both of them avoided. Darius got the strange impression as though he had just entered a very strict library. He looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling, knowing that one of them would be his own. The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic. He supposed that Ollivanders workshop would be at the back and the magical cores and woods lent to the atmosphere in the shop.

"Good afternoon."

Ollivanders suddenly appeared from behind the shelves and his glassy eyed stare was fixed on Darius. His eyes almost seemed to be ignoring him despite directly staring at him as if they were looking within him. It was not a very pleasant feeling and he became a bit curious about the man who was responsible for creating almost all the wands in the country.

"Good afternoon, Ollivander. This is my son Darius. He is here to get his own wand."

"Ah, Madam Icarus, a pleasure to have you in my shop again. It seems just yesterday that you were buying your wand. You favoured a pine wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. An excellent wand for delicate spell work. Well, I say you favoured it – it’s really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course. I was expecting young Darius to drop by one of these days."

"Well, let us get down to business Darius, shall we? Please hold out your wand arm for a moment."

Darius held out his arm while the magical tape began measuring all over his body and Ollivander started peering into boxes to find him a suitable wand. Soon, even the measuring stopped but Ollivander kept going through boxes, muttering to himself without even having him test any of the wands. Only a good while later did he return with an engraved box and set it on the counter.

"Pardon me for the tardiness customers, but you have presented me with a bit of a quandary. What I'm about to tell you is a family secret and I would appreciate if we could keep it between ourselves. I only tell you this to impress upon you the contradictions here. Every witch or wizard passing through my shop has a particular essence to them and the wands I select are some of those best suited to them. But what Darius here has are two contradicting essence of life and death. While twin essences are rare, they do exist. But directly opposing ones are theoretically impossible. This is a wand I made in my youth and I would call one of my best yet also worst creation."

Darius thought about his first death and his reincarnation thereafter and quite agreed with the explanation but hoped it wouldn't create any problems getting a suitable wand. Darius couldn't hold it in and had to ask.

"What kind of wand is it Mr Ollivander? And what did you mean with your comment about it?

"This wand is made with wood from white pine and core of thestral tail hair. 11 inches. Pliable. Suitable for powerful magic. The white pine is often used as a symbol of life while on the other hand the thestral tail hair stands for death. The opposing natures would make it difficult for most wizards to use it. But it may just be the best wand for you. Give it a wave."

He just held the wand and he could feel his magic seamlessly merging into the wand. The air around him grew magically charged and a gentle wind started to blow from the ground up. It was beyond anything he could have imagined. The wand almost seemed to be a part of him. He gave it a casual flick and the spindly chair got pushed all the way to the edge of the room.

"It seems that the wand was destined for you, Mr Icarus. It has lain inside its cubicle for close to half a century now before finally seeing the light. I will let you have it for free. But on the condition that you return here every summer to let me have a look at the wand. Your perfectly matched natures are going to make that a great wand, Mr Icarus."

"Thank you for the generosity, Mr Ollivander. We will be back next year. We will take our leave now."

His mother saw off Ollivander and they left the shop with him clutching to the wand with a death grip. He couldn't believe he finally had his own wand. His mother had to remind him not to crush it before he finally stuck it into his robes. He had the rest of the summer to start practising his spells before finally taking the Hogwarts Express on September 1st. A perk of being in the wizarding world was that he could get off casting spell in magical areas like Diagon Alley without owls flying to him from the Improper use of Magic department of the ministry. Lots to do the rest of summer.