Jacob Moon married Roberta Thurofield on a sunshine-bathed morning in May.
Their wedding guests wished the young couple well, toasted to their health
and to the magicfulness of their future child, and sent the newlyweds off
to their honeymoon in the Caribbean.
As soon as they returned, the Moons moved into a two-story home in a small wizarding community near Southampton. Once settled, Jacob was granted ownership of Lunary Wands—the family business. Lunary was only six generations old; not nearly as aged or as famous as Ollivander's, but praised for its variety and uniqueness of wood and core combinations. And now that Jacob was married, his father could retire, and leave the store to his son.
On the February 21st after Jacob and Robi's first anniversary, Dominica Anne was born to the Moons. Dominica was an only child, a bright and beautiful girl with her father's sunny brown hair and the violet eyes that ran in her mother's family. In all practical aspects, she seemed to be an average magical child. That is, until she turned six.
* * *
"Mum! Mummy, can I please go outside?" Dominica pleaded, one small hand on the back door. Robi looked up from the book she was reading.
"Alright, but be back inside before it gets too dark," she warned.
"I will!" Dominica replied as she disappeared through the door.
Robi monitored her daughter's play through the living room window. Dominica ran across the lawn to where her toy broomstick sat propped against the shed. She swung her leg over the broom and pulled the skirt of her sundress into place. She kicked off with her skinny legs, and began to navigate around the backyard, her toes skimming the grass. Robi returned to her book.
As the day progressed, the sun moved across the sky, and began to sink below the horizon. Robi absently reached for her wand and tapped the reading lamp. A sphere of yellow light zipped from her wand tip and sat under the shade.
The darkening room was thrown into golden relief. Standing, Roberta went to the screen door and ducked out into the warm evening air.
"Dominica! It's time to come inside!" she called, glancing about the back yard for her daughter. Dominica, however, was no where to be seen.
"Dominica!" Mrs. Moon tried again, panic rising in her stomach, "Don't hide! It's not funny!"
The backyard was void of any movement. Robi dashed back inside, grabbed her wand off the lamp table, and ran through the back door, allowing the screen to slam shut behind her.
"Lumos," said she, and the tip of her wand shone bright white. "Dominica, where are you?"
Robi scoured the backyard with her light, but Dominica still wasn't there. Then, she spotted something lying in the grass. It was Dominica's toy broom, sitting forgotten in front of the brush that led into the wooded area behind the house. From the look of it, Dominica had probably left it there before venturing out into the trees. Robi stepped over the bushes and made her way into the woods.
"Dominica? Dominica?" Robi called, stepping carefully between the trees.
Robi caught a snatch of sound: her daughter's small voice somewhere in the trees ahead. Roberta sighed with relief, and continued forward.
Robi pushed a large branch from the way, and froze. There was her daughter, conversing casually and petting the head of what appeared to be a small, golden pony: a baby unicorn. It looked up when Robi emerged from the brush. Without a sound, it turned and disappeared into the woods.
"Come back!" Dominica called, jumping to her feet. She turned to her mother, her expression saddened, "Mummy, you scared her away."
"I-I'm sorry…" Robi fumbled, stepping into the clearing, eyes glued to where the unicorn had been. The two stood in silence until Robi could gather herself. "D-Domi, its time to come home, now," she said faintly.
"But—" Dominica glanced longingly where the unicorn had vanished.
"No, you need to come inside. Its time for dinner, and Daddy will be home soon."
Dominica hesitated, then walked over to her mother and took her hand. Robi lead her back to the yard, brow furrowed in thought.
* * *
Dominica sat on her bed, leaning against the wall. Her journal sat open in her lap.
Nanny Moon told me that I shouldn't read Muggle books. I asked her why, but couldn't get a straight answer from her. She mumbled something about how Muggles don't know anything. But I don't think that's so. When I went to America last summer with Mum, I met this Muggle girl named Hillary. At first, I thought she was magic, by the way she acted. But when I asked her about American Owl Post, she looked at me like I was off my rocker. Still, if other Muggles are anything like Hillary, then they're not entirely as incompetent as Nanny Moon thinks they are. At any rate, their authors write some really good fiction.
The June sun poured in the window and spilled across Dominica's desk. An evening breeze ruffled the curtains. A large, tawny owl swooped in through the window and dropped the Moon's mail on Dominica's bed. It then fluttered down to perch on her knee. Dominica reached over and stroked its head. The owl nibbled her finger affectionately, and took off again out the window.
This owl wasn't familiar with Dominica or any of the Moons, for that matter. There was simply something about her that animals— both magic and non-magic—liked and seemed to draw to naturally. Though she hadn't had any encounters with unusually rare magical creatures since the baby unicorn five years ago, Dominica's parents couldn't deny their daughter's uncanny gift for animals.
Dominica put her journal to the side and began to sort through the mail. A bill, a robe catalogue, the Evening Prophet, and a letter in a heavy parchment envelope addressed to Dominica. Curious, she turned the letter over. It was sealed in purple wax with a familiar coat of arms. Dominica's heart flip-flopped. This seal was identical to the one on the letter her mother had shown her the other day. Mrs. Moon had received it when she had been Dominica's age.
"MUM!" she shouted, leaping from her bed and bounding down the hall, "It came!" Dominica thudded down the stairs and slid into the kitchen. Mrs. Moon looked up from the sink, where she had just set the dishes to washing. Dominica fell into a chair and began to open the envelope. Drying her hands in a dishcloth, Mrs. Moon leaned over her daughter's shoulder. Two heavy pieces of parchment fell from the envelope. Dominica picked up the first sheet. It read:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7 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 Miss Moon,
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 September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Minerva McGonagall,
7.1 Deputy Headmistress
"Wonderful!" her mother exclaimed, "Oh, your father will be so pleased!"
Just as Mrs. Moon said this, there was 'pop' and Mr. Moon appeared by the kitchen sink.
"My letter came!" Dominica cried, and ran to hug her dad 'round the middle. He stared down at her, momentarily taken by surprise, and then laughed.
"That's great, Snidget," he said, using Dominica's childhood nickname. "A real witch, eh?"
Dominica grinned at her father. "I can't wait!"
"You mean you can't wait to leave your mum and I and not see us again for ten whole months?" Mr. Moon asked, looking pained.
"No! I mean, I can't wait to be a real witch and do real magic! I'll miss you guys loads at school!"
Mr. Moon smiled, "I know."
Dominica released him and went to read her letter again. Mr. Moon picked up the supply list from the kitchen table.
"We should go up to London to buy these things," said he, looking over the list, "But I can't leave the store for a while more, with my new apprentice. She's got plenty of motivation, but…(he looked at Mrs. Moon here and rolled his eyes) not an ounce of common sense. I don't think I'll be ready to trust her with the shop for a full day until at least July. But we can go sometime around then. Does that sound all right?"
* * *
The following weeks couldn't have gone by more slowly. June became July, the 1st, the 2nd, the 3rd…Dominica's father had promised to take her to buy her school supplies on the 31st, and she waited for this day more anxiously than for any Christmas or birthday she had ever had.
"Domi. Domi. Dominica!" Mrs. Moon took a hold of her daughter's daisy- patterned sheets and threw them to the foot of the bed. Dominica groaned, rolled over, and curled into a shivering bundle.
"Its too early, go find someone else to bother," Dominica grouched, pulling a pillow over her head.
"But you're father's taking you to get your school supplies this morning."
At this reminder, Dominica was up quicker than winking. Her mother slid back into the hall as she disappeared into the bathroom.
Dominica brushed her fine brown hair and twisted it into two knots on the top of her head. A set of sugar pink summer robes and a maroon cloak were chosen from her closet and swiftly donned. Grassy green socks (embroidered with little golden Snitches) followed. Dominica tugged on a pair of black, thick-soled, nearly knee-high, buckled boots and ran from her room and down the stairs.
Mr. Moon was sitting calmly at the kitchen table, sipping his coffee and reading the Daily Prophet. Dominica grabbed a bottle of chocolate milk from the cold-spell box and began gulping it down.
"I'm sure your mother would have a few choice words about your breakfast." Mr. Moon said, looking up from his paper.
"But we're in a hurry!"
"Are we?" asked Mr. Moon, nonchalantly taking another sip.
"Dada!"
Mr. Moon smiled.
It was 9 o'clock by the time Dominica and Mr. Moon were standing in front of the fireplace. Mr. Moon plucked the drawstring pouch off the mantel and shook a handful of its contents into his palm.
"Dear, you don't need nearly so much! You're going to London, not Africa." Mrs. Moon reproved with her hands on her hips.
Mr. Moon shrugged, "Too late."
Mrs. Moon sighed and rolled her eyes, "Now, Domi, don't you go taking up your father's bad habits."
"Yes, mum." Dominica replied as her father funneled half of his powder through his fist into her outstretched hand.
Mr. Moon stepped up to the fireplace and tossed his powder into the blaze. "The Leaky Cauldron!" he told the fire, and let himself be consumed by the flames. When the blaze had changed back to its normal color, Dominica tossed in her handful and stepped into the grate.
"The Leaky Cauldron!"
A few seconds of unpleasant spinning brought Dominica tumbling out of the pub's fireplace.
Shaking the soot from her hair and patting it from her robes, Dominica followed her father out back.
Mr. Moon pulled his wand from a pocket in his robes and proceeded to tap the bricks around a small cavity in the wall. Three up, two across, and the bricks began to rearrange themselves into a huge archway, through which Dominica and Mr. Moon entered Diagon Alley.
"We'll go to the bank, first," Mr. Moon told his daughter.
Dominica waited in Gringotts cavernous main hall while her father rode down to get money from their vault. She watched a goblin weigh sapphires, had a nice conversation with one of the guards, and waited for her father to return. Dominica's attention was turned from a goblin clerk examining a pile of ancient-looking coins when a huge man entered the hall.
This man was at least twice as tall as any of the other wizards in the bank, and probably four times as wide. Despite his intimidating stature, he wore a friendly smile under his tangled brown beard, and gave the impression of a gargantuan teddy bear.
As Dominica continued to stare along with everyone else, she noticed that the man wasn't alone. A wiry boy about Dominica's age clad in baggy muggle clothes was following him, and goggling at everything in sight. He had glasses that had been taped together and unruly black hair. Surely, being no taller than Dominica and quite skinny, he couldn't be this giant- man's son?
Dominica was about to try to get a closer look at the pair when her father stumbled, looking shaken, from one of the many doors, a goblin at his heels. Regaining his composer, he crossed to Dominica, "All right, we can go now."
Dominica cast one last glance at the awkward pair before allowing her father to steer her from the bank.
Dominica and her father spent the rest of the afternoon wandering from shop to shop, gathering robes, potion ingredients, phials, scales, books, a telescope, and a cauldron, until they were both loaded down with boxes and bags. Dominica's father even bought her a small blonde kitten. It purred as it slept soundly in its white wicker basket.
Dominica had everything she required, except a wand. But of course, Mr. Moon would supply that himself.
Because they were too loaded down to use Floo powder for the return trip, Mr. Moon had their packages Auto-Apparated home, while he and Dominica Flooed to Lunary Wands.
As Dominica tumbled out of the furnace in the back, she caught her head on the top of the opening and fell to the floor with a thud. Her father rushed over, "Dominica, are you all right?"
Dominica sat herself up. She ground her teeth, but a tear of pain managed to squeeze itself free and trailed down her cheek. "I'm okay, Dada."
Mr. Moon sighed with relief, "That's good." He gently brushed the hair from his daughter's forehead and examined it. A red mark was already appearing in the middle of her brow. "You're going to have quite a bruise there."
"Yeah, I'm going to be a regular Harry Potter," said Dominica as she pulled herself to her feet. Mr. Moon laughed.
The walls were completely hidden by tall shelves, all full with wand boxes—how Dominica's father was able to find her a match so quickly, she would never know. Maybe it was pure luck, or perhaps it was because Mr. Moon knew his daughter so well, but after she had tried an oak, 11 inches, with a mermaid hair core; a mahogany, 10 and ½ inches, with a dragon scale at the center; and a juniper, 12 inches, with a Re'em tail hair core, that her father decided to try something a bit more out of the ordinary.
While Dominica waved about a willow wand, 12 and ¾ inches long with a Kneazle whisker core, Mr. Moon climbed up his ladder. He shuffled through the boxes along the top shelf, until he found a very old, gray box with a peeling Lunary label stuck to it. Blowing the dust from the spindly script, he glanced over the wand description. Perhaps, why not? It was worth a try.
Mr. Moon climbed down and snatched the willow wand from Dominica—who had been determinedly poking it at a potted plant and had accidentally set the plant on fire.
"Sorry, dad."
"That's all right," Mr. Moon replied, putting it out with his cloak. He handed the box to Dominica and bid her open it.
"Rowan and feather of a Thestral winged horse, 11 and ½ inches. We seemed to have had this wand in waiting for quite a while. That's my great- grandfather's handwriting on the label. Go on, give it a wave."
Dominica handled the wand for a moment. It fit her palm nicely, as if it had been made for her grip. She swept the wand upward, and a trail of luminescent bubbles flowed from the tip. When the bubbles popped, they twittered like birds.
"Ha!" her father cried, "That's excellent!"
Dominica ran her fingers up and down the smooth finish of the pale wood. She smiled and slid the wand into a pocket in her cloak. ********
Author's Note: I am trying as best I can to remain true to the real books. If you catch an inconsistency, please let me know by reviewing! Thanx!
As soon as they returned, the Moons moved into a two-story home in a small wizarding community near Southampton. Once settled, Jacob was granted ownership of Lunary Wands—the family business. Lunary was only six generations old; not nearly as aged or as famous as Ollivander's, but praised for its variety and uniqueness of wood and core combinations. And now that Jacob was married, his father could retire, and leave the store to his son.
On the February 21st after Jacob and Robi's first anniversary, Dominica Anne was born to the Moons. Dominica was an only child, a bright and beautiful girl with her father's sunny brown hair and the violet eyes that ran in her mother's family. In all practical aspects, she seemed to be an average magical child. That is, until she turned six.
* * *
"Mum! Mummy, can I please go outside?" Dominica pleaded, one small hand on the back door. Robi looked up from the book she was reading.
"Alright, but be back inside before it gets too dark," she warned.
"I will!" Dominica replied as she disappeared through the door.
Robi monitored her daughter's play through the living room window. Dominica ran across the lawn to where her toy broomstick sat propped against the shed. She swung her leg over the broom and pulled the skirt of her sundress into place. She kicked off with her skinny legs, and began to navigate around the backyard, her toes skimming the grass. Robi returned to her book.
As the day progressed, the sun moved across the sky, and began to sink below the horizon. Robi absently reached for her wand and tapped the reading lamp. A sphere of yellow light zipped from her wand tip and sat under the shade.
The darkening room was thrown into golden relief. Standing, Roberta went to the screen door and ducked out into the warm evening air.
"Dominica! It's time to come inside!" she called, glancing about the back yard for her daughter. Dominica, however, was no where to be seen.
"Dominica!" Mrs. Moon tried again, panic rising in her stomach, "Don't hide! It's not funny!"
The backyard was void of any movement. Robi dashed back inside, grabbed her wand off the lamp table, and ran through the back door, allowing the screen to slam shut behind her.
"Lumos," said she, and the tip of her wand shone bright white. "Dominica, where are you?"
Robi scoured the backyard with her light, but Dominica still wasn't there. Then, she spotted something lying in the grass. It was Dominica's toy broom, sitting forgotten in front of the brush that led into the wooded area behind the house. From the look of it, Dominica had probably left it there before venturing out into the trees. Robi stepped over the bushes and made her way into the woods.
"Dominica? Dominica?" Robi called, stepping carefully between the trees.
Robi caught a snatch of sound: her daughter's small voice somewhere in the trees ahead. Roberta sighed with relief, and continued forward.
Robi pushed a large branch from the way, and froze. There was her daughter, conversing casually and petting the head of what appeared to be a small, golden pony: a baby unicorn. It looked up when Robi emerged from the brush. Without a sound, it turned and disappeared into the woods.
"Come back!" Dominica called, jumping to her feet. She turned to her mother, her expression saddened, "Mummy, you scared her away."
"I-I'm sorry…" Robi fumbled, stepping into the clearing, eyes glued to where the unicorn had been. The two stood in silence until Robi could gather herself. "D-Domi, its time to come home, now," she said faintly.
"But—" Dominica glanced longingly where the unicorn had vanished.
"No, you need to come inside. Its time for dinner, and Daddy will be home soon."
Dominica hesitated, then walked over to her mother and took her hand. Robi lead her back to the yard, brow furrowed in thought.
* * *
Dominica sat on her bed, leaning against the wall. Her journal sat open in her lap.
Nanny Moon told me that I shouldn't read Muggle books. I asked her why, but couldn't get a straight answer from her. She mumbled something about how Muggles don't know anything. But I don't think that's so. When I went to America last summer with Mum, I met this Muggle girl named Hillary. At first, I thought she was magic, by the way she acted. But when I asked her about American Owl Post, she looked at me like I was off my rocker. Still, if other Muggles are anything like Hillary, then they're not entirely as incompetent as Nanny Moon thinks they are. At any rate, their authors write some really good fiction.
The June sun poured in the window and spilled across Dominica's desk. An evening breeze ruffled the curtains. A large, tawny owl swooped in through the window and dropped the Moon's mail on Dominica's bed. It then fluttered down to perch on her knee. Dominica reached over and stroked its head. The owl nibbled her finger affectionately, and took off again out the window.
This owl wasn't familiar with Dominica or any of the Moons, for that matter. There was simply something about her that animals— both magic and non-magic—liked and seemed to draw to naturally. Though she hadn't had any encounters with unusually rare magical creatures since the baby unicorn five years ago, Dominica's parents couldn't deny their daughter's uncanny gift for animals.
Dominica put her journal to the side and began to sort through the mail. A bill, a robe catalogue, the Evening Prophet, and a letter in a heavy parchment envelope addressed to Dominica. Curious, she turned the letter over. It was sealed in purple wax with a familiar coat of arms. Dominica's heart flip-flopped. This seal was identical to the one on the letter her mother had shown her the other day. Mrs. Moon had received it when she had been Dominica's age.
"MUM!" she shouted, leaping from her bed and bounding down the hall, "It came!" Dominica thudded down the stairs and slid into the kitchen. Mrs. Moon looked up from the sink, where she had just set the dishes to washing. Dominica fell into a chair and began to open the envelope. Drying her hands in a dishcloth, Mrs. Moon leaned over her daughter's shoulder. Two heavy pieces of parchment fell from the envelope. Dominica picked up the first sheet. It read:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7 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 Miss Moon,
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 September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Minerva McGonagall,
7.1 Deputy Headmistress
"Wonderful!" her mother exclaimed, "Oh, your father will be so pleased!"
Just as Mrs. Moon said this, there was 'pop' and Mr. Moon appeared by the kitchen sink.
"My letter came!" Dominica cried, and ran to hug her dad 'round the middle. He stared down at her, momentarily taken by surprise, and then laughed.
"That's great, Snidget," he said, using Dominica's childhood nickname. "A real witch, eh?"
Dominica grinned at her father. "I can't wait!"
"You mean you can't wait to leave your mum and I and not see us again for ten whole months?" Mr. Moon asked, looking pained.
"No! I mean, I can't wait to be a real witch and do real magic! I'll miss you guys loads at school!"
Mr. Moon smiled, "I know."
Dominica released him and went to read her letter again. Mr. Moon picked up the supply list from the kitchen table.
"We should go up to London to buy these things," said he, looking over the list, "But I can't leave the store for a while more, with my new apprentice. She's got plenty of motivation, but…(he looked at Mrs. Moon here and rolled his eyes) not an ounce of common sense. I don't think I'll be ready to trust her with the shop for a full day until at least July. But we can go sometime around then. Does that sound all right?"
* * *
The following weeks couldn't have gone by more slowly. June became July, the 1st, the 2nd, the 3rd…Dominica's father had promised to take her to buy her school supplies on the 31st, and she waited for this day more anxiously than for any Christmas or birthday she had ever had.
"Domi. Domi. Dominica!" Mrs. Moon took a hold of her daughter's daisy- patterned sheets and threw them to the foot of the bed. Dominica groaned, rolled over, and curled into a shivering bundle.
"Its too early, go find someone else to bother," Dominica grouched, pulling a pillow over her head.
"But you're father's taking you to get your school supplies this morning."
At this reminder, Dominica was up quicker than winking. Her mother slid back into the hall as she disappeared into the bathroom.
Dominica brushed her fine brown hair and twisted it into two knots on the top of her head. A set of sugar pink summer robes and a maroon cloak were chosen from her closet and swiftly donned. Grassy green socks (embroidered with little golden Snitches) followed. Dominica tugged on a pair of black, thick-soled, nearly knee-high, buckled boots and ran from her room and down the stairs.
Mr. Moon was sitting calmly at the kitchen table, sipping his coffee and reading the Daily Prophet. Dominica grabbed a bottle of chocolate milk from the cold-spell box and began gulping it down.
"I'm sure your mother would have a few choice words about your breakfast." Mr. Moon said, looking up from his paper.
"But we're in a hurry!"
"Are we?" asked Mr. Moon, nonchalantly taking another sip.
"Dada!"
Mr. Moon smiled.
It was 9 o'clock by the time Dominica and Mr. Moon were standing in front of the fireplace. Mr. Moon plucked the drawstring pouch off the mantel and shook a handful of its contents into his palm.
"Dear, you don't need nearly so much! You're going to London, not Africa." Mrs. Moon reproved with her hands on her hips.
Mr. Moon shrugged, "Too late."
Mrs. Moon sighed and rolled her eyes, "Now, Domi, don't you go taking up your father's bad habits."
"Yes, mum." Dominica replied as her father funneled half of his powder through his fist into her outstretched hand.
Mr. Moon stepped up to the fireplace and tossed his powder into the blaze. "The Leaky Cauldron!" he told the fire, and let himself be consumed by the flames. When the blaze had changed back to its normal color, Dominica tossed in her handful and stepped into the grate.
"The Leaky Cauldron!"
A few seconds of unpleasant spinning brought Dominica tumbling out of the pub's fireplace.
Shaking the soot from her hair and patting it from her robes, Dominica followed her father out back.
Mr. Moon pulled his wand from a pocket in his robes and proceeded to tap the bricks around a small cavity in the wall. Three up, two across, and the bricks began to rearrange themselves into a huge archway, through which Dominica and Mr. Moon entered Diagon Alley.
"We'll go to the bank, first," Mr. Moon told his daughter.
Dominica waited in Gringotts cavernous main hall while her father rode down to get money from their vault. She watched a goblin weigh sapphires, had a nice conversation with one of the guards, and waited for her father to return. Dominica's attention was turned from a goblin clerk examining a pile of ancient-looking coins when a huge man entered the hall.
This man was at least twice as tall as any of the other wizards in the bank, and probably four times as wide. Despite his intimidating stature, he wore a friendly smile under his tangled brown beard, and gave the impression of a gargantuan teddy bear.
As Dominica continued to stare along with everyone else, she noticed that the man wasn't alone. A wiry boy about Dominica's age clad in baggy muggle clothes was following him, and goggling at everything in sight. He had glasses that had been taped together and unruly black hair. Surely, being no taller than Dominica and quite skinny, he couldn't be this giant- man's son?
Dominica was about to try to get a closer look at the pair when her father stumbled, looking shaken, from one of the many doors, a goblin at his heels. Regaining his composer, he crossed to Dominica, "All right, we can go now."
Dominica cast one last glance at the awkward pair before allowing her father to steer her from the bank.
Dominica and her father spent the rest of the afternoon wandering from shop to shop, gathering robes, potion ingredients, phials, scales, books, a telescope, and a cauldron, until they were both loaded down with boxes and bags. Dominica's father even bought her a small blonde kitten. It purred as it slept soundly in its white wicker basket.
Dominica had everything she required, except a wand. But of course, Mr. Moon would supply that himself.
Because they were too loaded down to use Floo powder for the return trip, Mr. Moon had their packages Auto-Apparated home, while he and Dominica Flooed to Lunary Wands.
As Dominica tumbled out of the furnace in the back, she caught her head on the top of the opening and fell to the floor with a thud. Her father rushed over, "Dominica, are you all right?"
Dominica sat herself up. She ground her teeth, but a tear of pain managed to squeeze itself free and trailed down her cheek. "I'm okay, Dada."
Mr. Moon sighed with relief, "That's good." He gently brushed the hair from his daughter's forehead and examined it. A red mark was already appearing in the middle of her brow. "You're going to have quite a bruise there."
"Yeah, I'm going to be a regular Harry Potter," said Dominica as she pulled herself to her feet. Mr. Moon laughed.
The walls were completely hidden by tall shelves, all full with wand boxes—how Dominica's father was able to find her a match so quickly, she would never know. Maybe it was pure luck, or perhaps it was because Mr. Moon knew his daughter so well, but after she had tried an oak, 11 inches, with a mermaid hair core; a mahogany, 10 and ½ inches, with a dragon scale at the center; and a juniper, 12 inches, with a Re'em tail hair core, that her father decided to try something a bit more out of the ordinary.
While Dominica waved about a willow wand, 12 and ¾ inches long with a Kneazle whisker core, Mr. Moon climbed up his ladder. He shuffled through the boxes along the top shelf, until he found a very old, gray box with a peeling Lunary label stuck to it. Blowing the dust from the spindly script, he glanced over the wand description. Perhaps, why not? It was worth a try.
Mr. Moon climbed down and snatched the willow wand from Dominica—who had been determinedly poking it at a potted plant and had accidentally set the plant on fire.
"Sorry, dad."
"That's all right," Mr. Moon replied, putting it out with his cloak. He handed the box to Dominica and bid her open it.
"Rowan and feather of a Thestral winged horse, 11 and ½ inches. We seemed to have had this wand in waiting for quite a while. That's my great- grandfather's handwriting on the label. Go on, give it a wave."
Dominica handled the wand for a moment. It fit her palm nicely, as if it had been made for her grip. She swept the wand upward, and a trail of luminescent bubbles flowed from the tip. When the bubbles popped, they twittered like birds.
"Ha!" her father cried, "That's excellent!"
Dominica ran her fingers up and down the smooth finish of the pale wood. She smiled and slid the wand into a pocket in her cloak. ********
Author's Note: I am trying as best I can to remain true to the real books. If you catch an inconsistency, please let me know by reviewing! Thanx!