Disclaimer: I don't own anything created by J.K. Rowling, thank her for the awesomeness!
Chapter Three: A Witch's Wand
Making her way around the dingy tables of the Leaky Cauldron, the girl wrinkles her nose in disgust. She glares down at a drunk wizard babbling nonsense about self-stirring cauldrons. As the innkeeper, Tom, greets her, she refuses to meet his eyes. She is absolutely revolted by his dirty hands and toothless smile. She focuses all of her attention on the floor that clearly hasn't been swept since the age of the Hogwarts founders. Her eyes follow the movements of her mother's shiny black shoes, so out of place in this shady establishment. Finally escaping the curious stares of the Leaky Cauldron regulars, she follows her parents through a door at the back of the pub. Though it appears to lead only to a blank brick wall and some dusty trash cans, their journey is not yet over. The girl's father whips a dark wand out of his sleeve, tapping the brick wall sharply. Suddenly, the bricks begin to shift and turn as if they are alive. In no time, the bricks have rearranged themselves to form an archway into the alley beyond. The girl simply walks through the archway, not impressed in the slightest by this show of magic.
I take my first step through the brick archway into Diagon Alley, impatient to get on with the shopping. Everyone is always so happy to see the "exciting hustle and bustle" but I just find it annoying. All these dirty witches and wizards running around, bumping into people. They go around asking for the price of nasty things like dragon's liver or eye of newt, as if! They act exactly like how those poor muggles see us. I swear, about half of them have warts, too. I speed up my pace as a pair of muddy little boys run past me towards the broom shop. Another thing, what is it with the cobblestone? Can't they afford normal streets? Cobblestone is just ugly, it collect dirt like a vacuum and makes you trip over the protruding stones. I wrinkle my nose in disgust as I follow my parents into one of the dingy old shops. Apparently the first thing we have to do is buy a wand. This is an activity that I am actually rather excited for, not that I would tell anyone. I always liked to play with my parents' wands as a child, spurting out little sparks and stars. It will be quite nice to have a wand of my own for a change. A bell rings as we enter the shop, causing the man at the counter to glance up.
He has creepy, silvery eyes that stare at us, unblinking. The wrinkles on his leathery old face deepen as he opens his mouth to speak.
"Hello Ms. Malfoy." He says, walking slowly out from behind his counter. I do not ask how he knows my name. "Here for a witch's wand, I assume?" I nod my head nervously. He bobs his head curtly and reaches for something in a drawer in his desk. His hand shuffles around in the drawer for a moment, then he extracts a small silver measuring tape. He tosses the tape into the air and I duck instinctually, afraid it will hit me. Instead, the little thing comes to a grinding halt not an inch from my face. I stare down my narrow nose, going cross-eyed as I try to look at the thing. It hovers in the air for a moment before zooming away. It quickly measures my full height and the length of each of my feet, before moving on to my shoulder width and the length of each of my slender fingers. Then, to top off the embarrassing moment, the blasted thing measures each of my nostrils and the space between my eyes! I swat at it, fed up with this nonsense. How in the name of Merlin will the dimensions of my nostrils affect the type of wand I receive? The globe-eyed man emerges from behind a row of shelves, startling me, as I hadn't realized he had gone at all.
He is holding two olive green boxes, and he opens them slowly and carefully as he winds around the piles of similar boxes. He takes a shaky breath and hands one of the wands to me. I take it in my fingers, trying not to tremble, for Malfoys don't tremble. The wand is a reddish brown color, perhaps mahogany, and it has simple swirls carved around the base. It looks to be about ten inches long and, I discover as I bend it in my fingers, is quite pliable. A respectable wand, I decide. But, is it good enough for a Malfoy? I raise the wand in the air, bringing it down with an almighty swish just as my brother did two years ago. And...
Nothing. My face reddens at this slight embarrassment, but I brush it off blaming the old man in my mind. I narrow my eyes menacingly and toss the wand back to him, daring him to try again. Instead of fear, I see something closer to amusement in his eyes, and he gives me a wry smile. He places the wand back in its box, placing the incorrect wand on his cluttered desk. He then opens the second box, pulling tantalizingly at the silvery wrappings. He glances up at me for a moment, considering. With a flourish, he pulls the wand from the box, placing it delicately in my nimble fingers. The wand is beautiful. The base is a wood so dark that it is almost black, and smooth to the touch. The wood gradually lightens until the tip, which is a pure white. Its surface is smooth, which I like immediately. The wand is very thin and, I realize, completely stiff. I try in vain to bend the thing, but it remains just as rigid as ever. Taking the wand in my hand, I slowly raise my arm. Without realizing I was holding it, I let out a deep breath. With a perfectly theatrical wave, the wand comes crashing down.
A flash of white bursts from the wand just as the clouds outside part. The room, now bathed in sunlight, is full of ivory particles. Examining them, I find with surprise that they are ice crystals. My mother rushes forward to hug me tight, while my father gives a satisfied nod. Somewhere deep in his eyes I see something like pride. Smiling wide, I close my eyes, letting the minute ice crystals pepper my skin.
A/N: So it kind of took me a while to finish this chapter heh heh. Why? Well first of all last week I was on a school trip to Washington D.C. so I couldn't update or work. Then over the weekend I pretty much caught up on sleep and only woke up for about an hour at a time. And for the final excuse, I have gotten a lot of homework so far this week. But hey, at least I have it now, right? *backs away from angry mob* I'm so sorry I promise to try harder next week please forgive me! Oh, and thanks for reading :)
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Magical Minnie