Legendary Artifacts And Their Uses
The next week, Harry, Ron and Hermione took the Knight Bus to the Leaky Cauldron, accompanied by Tonks and Bill Weasley. Hermione was carrying a bag on her back, in which Harry's invisibility cloak was concealed. Tonks and Bill knew nothing about this, as Hermione had told them she needed the bag to put all her extra books in.
Getting information about the Staff of Amaror was going to be a problem. They had discussed what they were going to do the night before. In the end, Hermione offered to slip away under the cloak to Knockturn Alley , and look around to see if she could find any books that might help. Harry didn't like the idea of Hermione going into Knockturn Alley, but there was no other way. Harry couldn't go himself because Tonks and Bill would surely notice if Harry disappeared, as they were meant to stay with him all the time. And Mrs. Weasley made Bill promise to not let Ron out of his sight. Due to the disappearance of the wand-maker, Mr. Ollivander, the previous week, everyone in the Order had been jumpy and hardly anyone got any sleep as the search for the man continued. Hermione reasoned that Tonks would let her go off alone if she said she was just going to pick up a book she ordered and do some girly shopping with a friend, and would be back within half an hour. Tonks had agreed to this, so the task fell upon Hermione to find out whatever she could bout the Staff of Amaror in the time she was given. Although she was trying very hard not to show it, she was considerably nervous about even entering Knockturn Alley, let alone buying anything from there.
They arrived in Diagon Alley at mid-morning, and proceeded to get all the things on their school lists. As they passed Ollivander's wand shop they got caught up in a crowd of people that seemed to all want to enter the shop. Harry frowned and asked Bill what was going on. "They'll have a big problem this year" said Bill quietly "You see, they reckon Mr. Ollivander was kidnapped, as they found signs of a struggle inside his flat above the shop. Also, when the Aurors went into the shop, they found all the wands piled up in the middle of the floor, all snapped and burned. Hundreds of them."
"But that doesn't explain why all these people are here though" Ron said. Bill just sighed. "Use your head Ron. Over one hundred witches and wizards are starting Hogwarts this September. And what's the first thing on their list of school supplies? A wand!"
Hermione looked at him, her eyes wide "So the first years won't have wands?"
"Not quite right Hermione, there are other wand shops, but not in England, and not nearly so good. So the new students are going to have to travel a long way to get their wands! And Ollivander's is meant to be the best in the world" Tonks supplied. "So, of course, it's essential to find Mr. Ollivander as soon as possible. At the minute, we have no idea where he is." What she didn't add was that the Order had their suspicions that Mr. Ollivander's disappearance was connected to Rookwood's murder, and the Staff of Amaror going missing.
Soon after this, Hermione left them, saying she was going to pick up some books. She walked through the crowds to the side of Gringotts bank, and quickly pulled out the invisibility cloak, and after checking that no-one was looking, she disappeared under it, and strode off into Knockturn Alley. She forced herself to make her heart beat slower, and to take time to look into each shop window carefully to search for anything that might be useful. She stopped outside Borgin and Burkes, which looked promising, and, hesitating only a second or two, pushed open the door and went inside.
She found herself alone in a shop that had all sorts of disgusting but interesting things in it. Hermione had to stop herself reaching out to touch some of the more abstract looking items, and made her way to the back of the shop, where a number of dusty books were stacked onto a rickety shelf. She looked at the titles of the books, and finally selected a promising looking book, a dusty volume with the title 'Legendary Artifacts And Their Uses'. She ran a finger down the contents page, and found what she was looking for. Aware that her half-hour was nearly up, she pulled off the cloak and rang a bell that was on the grimy counter by the till. Two minutes later, a stooping, greasy haired man came into the shop behind the till and looked at her inquiringly. "Err, I err, I want to buy this book" Hermione said nervously, putting the book onto the counter. The shop's owner looked at her with distaste, as if he knew exactly who she was, and didn't like her at all. Finally, he asked her for five galleons, which was far to much, but Hermione was too scared to argue, and handed over the money wordlessly, tugging nervously at her hair. She put the book in her bag, and practically ran out the shop, pulling on Harry's cloak as she went. Five minutes later, she appeared red faced and out of breath next to a startled Ron and nodded at Harry's questioning glance. "Oh Hermione! Your back. Just in time for lunch, come on." Tonks said as she spotted her and led the way over to a small café opposite Flourish and Blotts.
After a quick lunch, the five of them headed back to the Leaky Cauldron, having bought everything they needed, and took the Knight Bus back to Grimmauld Place. Once back Harry, Ron and Hermione went up to Ron's room and got out 'Legendary Artifacts And Their Uses' and opened it to the page titled 'The Staff of Amaror' and read the passage.
'The Staff of Amaror's existence is disputed frequently by the wizarding community, with the majority believing in the Staff's existence, but it's powers to be greatly exaggerated. It is said that the Staff has the power to block all spells/hexes/jinxes/curses aimed at the Staff's holder, even the killing curse, and also gives the holder the power to use all spells/hexes/jinxes/curses without needing a wand, or needing to speak any incantations out loud, just thinking the words is sufficient. This makes the Staff one of the most powerful objects known to the wizarding world, as it is said to be impossible to damage.
It was created in 1738 by Amaror Ollivander, a witch of considerable powers, devoted to her family's tradition of making magical objects, mainly wands. She is said to have accidentally made the Staff of Amaror when experimenting with rosewood and the effects various spells have on the wood. In took her ten years after completing the Staff to realise its powers, although the true extent of the Staff's abilities is not known.
The Staff is said to be almost six foot tall, made of rosewood, with moving runes and sigils engraved into it. It is topped with a large sapphire that constantly glows while the staff is activated. The Staff disappeared shortly after Amaror died, but reappeared again in 1784 in the possession of Camilla Brown, who was, at the time, working for the Ministry of Magic. Unfortunately, the Staff was not activated, and no-one knows how to make it work, as Amaror Ollivander never told anyone other than her son how to use the Staff.
Its current whereabouts is not known. Although it has had various owners in the past, it has apparently disappeared in the last 100 years, which adds to the frequent speculation about its existence and its powers.
"Well, now we know why the Order wants it, and Voldemort too" said Harry, as usual ignoring Ron's wince. He closed the book and put it back in Hermione's bag. She got it back out again though, and read through it again. "So you think it was Voldemort - oh stop being stupid Ron! - who killed Hector Rookwood and stole the Staff?" she asked, frowning. Harry sighed "I think so, who else could it have been? Maybe he didn't steal it himself, but I think he defiantly got someone to do it for him."
"So, do you think You-Know-Who has got Mr. Ollivander then? Reckon he knows how to use it yet?" Ron said , then added "Actually, if he knew how to use it, we'd probably know by now, wouldn't we? He'd have attacked someone with it or something."
"Do you think I could possibly borrow that fascinating book of yours Miss Granger?" came a voice from by the door, and all three of them jumped and turned quickly to find Dumbledore standing in the doorway. "I don't mean to seem strict, but that book you've acquired contains a lot of information that people of your age would find disturbing. Also, certain pages are cursed with dark magic to harm the reader unless they de-activate the spells first. I trust you have only read that one page?" he said, moving across the room and picked up the book. Hermione blushed, looking extremely ashamed at being caught with an object that they clearly should not have even touched. Dumbledore went on "Well, never mind, we were actually hoping to get this book ourselves you know, so really you've saved us the trouble of finding it." he stopped by the door, book in hand, then turned back to them "Oh I almost forgot! Your O.W.L.s results have arrived. They're on the kitchen table."