Bee had walked into Ollivander the wandmaker's shop in Diagon Alley with her older sister and a mother armed with a new camera, from whom she had been keeping her distance in case that camera began to snap. Mr Ollivander had been helping another customer, and Bee sat on a bench under the grandfather clock that was floating sideways in mid-air and examined her sister Cassie's wand. Cassie was sifting through Bee's new schoolbooks, babbling nostalgically about how she remembered doing these things in her first year at Hogwarts, oh how long ago it seemed, oh how she couldn't believe it had seemed so hard then. Their mother was completely ignoring Cassie's continuous attempts to get her attention, and was instead flipping through a magazine with her shrewd eyes taking in every detail.
Bee was memorizing everything about Cassie's wand to make sure she could compare her new one to it. Cassie's was short and stubby, and this reminded Bee of Cassie in a strange way. Cassie wasn't short and stubby at all; rather she was tall and willowy the same way as Bee, but there was something so full about her, and the way she bounced around so often reminded Bee of a little child.
The wand was also jet black. Bee glanced at Cassie, reminded suddenly of something else about her sister. Cassie was ambitious, and dangerous when something stood in her way. Bee tossed the wand into Cassie's newly bought cauldron, and Cassie turned around almost instantly and swept it up gracefully.
"Bee, if he hands you a dragon heartstring wand, for heaven's sake don't take it, just pretend like it doesn't work, I hear they don't work too well, phoenix tail feather's the strongest, mine's phoenix tail feather, and it's never let me down. Did you Harry Potter's wand was phoenix tail feather? Noel's wand is unicorn hair, I think that's so cute, don't you?" Noel was Cassie's fiancé.
"Voldemort's wand was also phoenix feather," Bee answered darkly. Cassie just laughed.
"Exactly!" To Bee, Cassie's laugh seemed to turn into a cackle as she said this, and when Noel walked into the shop a second later she fell into his arms without missing a beat.
Bee glanced at her mother, as if she could provide some clarification for her eldest sister's inexplicable behaviour. Yanyaa was looking at Cassie, frowning, winding the camera's strap around her finger. She turned to Bee suddenly.
"Your wand will be exactly like Cassandra's," she announced. "A wand's appearance can tell a lot about a person, and you and her are just like each other." After this proclamation she returned promptly to her magazine.
Cassie hadn't heard this comment and was busy dragging Noel out of the store.
"We'll meet you for lunch," she said over her shoulder, the cauldron at her side clanking against the door as it shut behind her. Yanyaa nodded without looking up.
Despite her mother's words, Bee didn't like jet black wands, as a rule. As much she thought it may be a bit superstitious to think that a wand looked like its holders personality, she'd rather hers looked very different to her sisters.
She watched the people at the counter, and realized with a jolt that it was a first year with her parents. Of course it was. She wondered whether she went to Hogwarts.
"Oh dear me, aren't you difficult," Ollivander was laughing, and he handed down a long dusty box. "Try this." Immediately, he turned around and started looking through the rows and rows of boxes behind him, as if he didn't actually think this girl would suit the wand he gave her. Sure enough she pulled it out and it spurted red jets of light in protest and flew out of her hand. Olivander was already ready with another box. Bee saw about a dozen more boxes sitting in a pile on the counter.
"Mum." Bee turned to her mother, who was now sitting on the bench next to her reading Witch Weekly.
"Mm."
"Mum, they're going to be a while," said Bee, glancing at the little family again.
"Mm," said Yanyaa again, completely engrossed in the magazine. Bee sighed and watched Olivander frantically look through the shelves, take out one box, shake his head, return it to the pile, and move on. The girl at the counter was laughing as her father joked about her being such a difficult child, and her mother turned then and looked straight at Bee. Bee kept on staring, feeling rebellious. The woman turned away.
Bee sighed again, wishing Cassie and Noel would come back. Yanyaa, who had been through the experience of buying a child their first wand about four times now, not to mention the new wand for Quho when he had broken his last year, wasn't fussing over Bee as much as she would like, and she felt a bit of jealously for the girl at the counter. And then she felt angry for being jealous. And then she felt angry because she didn't want a wand like Cassie's.
She sighed again, more deliberately this time, and the woman at the counter looked over again for a second. Another family came in, two boys and their parents, all chattering happily. Bee's scowl deepened.
"Beatrice, honey, did you know a pleasant expression makes you look thinner?" Hearing her real name, Bee looked up at her mother hopefully, thinking her efforts to get her frustration across had worked. Yanyaa wasn't, in fact, looking at Bee at all, but was reading out from the article she had been reading.
"Gah," Bee replied. She stared at the younger of the two boys, who was wearing Hogwarts robes. Why on earth would he be wearing Hogwarts robes? His older brother was wearing Muggle clothes, as were his parents. Yanyaa noticed this as well.
"Mudblood," she noted quietly to Bee, smiling at the family condescendingly. Bee looked in horror at the boy, who would probably soon be in her classes at Hogwarts, hoping he hadn't heard. She thought he gave them a strange sideways look.
He probably doesn't know what it means, she realized. Bee hadn't ever had much contact with Muggle-borns.
The parents of the boy smiled at them, looking just as excited as the boy. Bee wished they wouldn't. They were feeding her mother ammunition.
Luckily, at that moment, the family at the counter said thank you and goodbye to Olivander, and Bee jumped up and practically dragged her mother to the counter. Yanyaa came almost reluctantly, dropping the magazine onto the low table in front of the bench. The boy and his family slipped into their vacated seats, talking quietly.
"Good afternoon!" cried Olivander, looking a bit flustered, waving his wand to put the boxes left over by the last customer away. "How can I help you today?" His eyes fell on Bee. "First-year? Hogwarts?" A tape measure jumped up from the counter and began to measure Bee from head to toe.
"Yes, this is Beatrice," Yanyaa stepped in briskly. The tape measure finished its business and dropped to the floor. "Most of her siblings have phoenix feather, as does her father, so you might like to try those first." Bee blushed. Why did her mother always have to act like she knew more than the experts?
Ollivander winked at Bee. "Must be a coincidence." He turned around and began to sift through boxes. "Wands don't recognize family ties, just –" he pulled out a box and gently placed it in front of Bee – "the individual witch or wizard."
Yanyaa looked annoyed and grabbed the box before Bee could, looking at the label.
"Dragon heartstring, 14 inches, willow, springy," rattled off Olivander, a small smile on his face. He flicked his own wand and the lid flew off the box, and Bee could tell her mother was about to explode. Bee gingerly took the box from her mother's hands and looked inside at the long, thin piece. Yanyaa sniffed haughtily and began to examine photos of Diagon Alley sitting on Olivander's counter, and Bee was glad.
"It's a strange combination, and an unusually long length," said Ollivander. "But then again aren't all wands strange things?" He laughed, turning back to his boxes and sifting through them as Bee picked up the wand, balancing it on an upturned palm and grasping it. Ollivander whipped around, shook his head and grabbed it from her at once, placing another one in her fingers instead.
"Phoenix feather –" he paused to wink at Yanyaa, who managed to look down her nose at him even though he was poised on a ladder above her head. "– 8 inches, hornbeam, rigid." This one was black – without thinking, Bee placed it on the counter. Yanyaa glared at her, about to say something, but Ollivander barely noticed, snatching up the wand and placing another box in its place and turning back to his shelves.
"Unicorn Hair, 10 inches, cypress," he threw over his shoulder. Bee pulled this one out of its box. It was unusually heavy, but somehow very flexible. As she held it, it sputtered white sparks, making her flinch in alarm.
"Oh, wonderful," said Yanyaa, reaching for her money purse. Ollivander paused in his sifting through boxes, but didn't get down from his ladder. Bee weighed the wand in her hand. It was glowing slightly, but it felt somehow…wrong. She frowned. Was this supposed to happen?
"Not quite happy?" asked Ollivander suddenly.
"Of course she's happy," said Yanyaa briskly, but she still hadn't got out her purse, and was looking at Bee intently.
"It's just…I don't think –" Bee broke off, shaking her head.
"No, no, this wand isn't for you then." Ollivander snatched it up and resumed his looking through boxes. "Sometimes the wand chooses you but it is not in your…destiny." Ollivander seemed to come a realisation, pulling out another box and looking at the label, seemingly deep in thought.
He stepped down from his ladder then and opened the box, offering it to Bee.
"Phoenix feather, 13 and a half inches…" He paused, his wide, grey eyes looking intently into Bee's own brown ones. Bee looked back, feeling uncomfortable under his stare.
"What is it?" asked Yanyaa, evidently irritated with the old man.
His gaze unwavering, Ollivander took the wand in his long fingers, and passed it to Bee. It was light in colour, long and so thin it looked delicate. When she took it in her fingers he said quietly, "Yew."
The wand didn't disappoint the expectant atmosphere Ollivander had built. It grew warm in her fingers immediately and a spray of glittering white sparks shot out of the end.
"Aha!" cried Ollivander happily. "Seven galleons that is." He pulled out his own wand and waved it to bring forth some parchment and a bright purple quill, which began to scribble of its own accord. "But I expect…yes, I expect it will be worth much more in its deeds," he added mysteriously. Bee stared at the wand, gripping it tightly in her hands, utterly confused and not knowing how to ask what he meant.
"Hmm," said Yanyaa boredly, pulling out a clattering purse and placing the gold coins on the counter. Bee could tell she was unimpressed by the wandmaker's theatrics. "Come on, Beatrice." Bee felt her mother's long nails dig into her shoulder as she steered her towards the door. Bee clutched her wand, half wanting to turn and demand to know what Ollivander meant, but she didn't dare.
They stepped out into the bright, dusty sunlight, and as the door closed slowly behind them Bee heard Ollivander muttering to himself – "aren't all wands strange things?"
The wandmaker's words echoed in Bee's head the rest of the day, and when she and Yanyaa were sitting in small café eating lunch with Cassie and Noel, Bee considered them, twirling her new wand in her fingers.
"Bee, no wands at the table," said Yanyaa, sipping her tea delicately. Yanyaa didn't eat lunch, saying it was a pointless meal. Bee reluctantly put the wand on her lap and picked up another potato chip, nibbling at it distractedly.
"What's with you anyway?" asked Cassie through a mouthful of salad.
"That loony wandmaker has her all wound up thinking about wands," said Yanyaa flatly.
"I never liked him," announced Noel, always willing to take Yanyaa's side, unaware of the fact that all her children had learnt long ago – flattery didn't work in their household.
"He's a melodramatic old man," sniffed Cassie anyway.
Bee sighed loudly and deliberately.
"Okay, miss drama queen, you're wand is destined for greatness!" cried Cassie defensively. "She's probably taken in by him because she's just like him." Cassie and Noel laughed. Yanyaa slurped the last of her tea and stood without a word, picking up her bag and sweeping out of the café. The other three scrambled to gather their things and follow her, Bee leaving behind her nearly full plate of chips.
That night in her and her mother's room in the luxury room above the Leaky Cauldron, Bee sat on her bed with an open Charms textbook, absentmindedly twirling her wand in small circles as tiny bubbles spiralled out of it. Yanyaa was sitting up in her bed with another copy of Witch Weekly.
"Harry Potter's youngest daughter starts Hogwarts this year," proclaimed Yanyaa. She had a habit of droning random facts from her magazines as she read. Bee ignored her, concentrating on turning the bubbles from her wand green and then blue, muttering under her breath. The wand responded to her will so easily she found every spell easy. She had done magic before with her sibling's wands, quite illegally, not that her parents cared much for the law. Those wands had always put up resistance against her. This wand was like an extension of her hand, doing everything she commanded with the barest effort.
"I wonder if he still has that horrid scar," mused Yanyaa. "Harry Potter, I mean." Bee flicked through the book, trying to find a spell that was remotely hard. Did people really have trouble with these? She cut off the bubble charm with a muttered word and a flick of her wand, packing up her charms book and pulling out Magical Theory.
"Oh, dear lord, he does," sighed Yanyaa. "And his wife still has that awful red hair. With all the appearances they make in magazines you would think they would put in a bit more effort to look good. Not to mention look at the camera for once instead of hiding away."
Bee flicked through the book to find the chapter on wandlore, remembering the wand shop from that morning. It was absorbing. There was a lot of information on Priori Incantatem, the phenomenon caused by twin wand cores meeting in battle, the most famous example being of Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort's wands.
"Harry Potter's in my textbook," Bee informed her mother.
"Oh no, the Weird Sisters are getting back together," Yanyaa replied.
Bee read a little about the phoenix feathers that made Harry Potter's and Voldemort's famous wands brothers, but her head started to hurt from the confusing terms and she eventually threw the book into her messy trunk and rolled over to sleep. Her eyes were just drooping closed when she heard the rustling of Yanyaa's magazine being put away and her mother muttering something thoughtfully. Her eyes snapped back open and she strained her ears.
"…yew," Yanyaa was murmuring. "Yew and phoenix feather, thirteen and a half inches. Probably just a coincidence…but…knox." Yanyaa's wand light went out, and the room was dark.
Bee could barely sleep all night.