"Let's try you out on this," Mr. Ollivander handed a long, skinny box to Melinda; "It's 9 and ¾ inches, rosewood, with a core of dragon heartstring."
Melinda opened the box to find a deep red wooden stick inside. Looking at the wand, she considered all that had happened today, all of the amazing and inexplicable occurrences. Instead of being overwhelmed, as she thought she should, her curiosity seemed to get the better of her as she penetrated deeper into the unknown.
"Go ahead, don't be afraid." Harry said to her.
"Right." She said, snapping back from her thoughts.
As soon as Melinda grabbed the wand, the entire room began to shake. Boxes fell from every direction and Melinda watched in frozen terror as a particularly large pile came crashing towards her. Harry, however, pulled out his wand and waved it at the pile, making it fall the other way, and then knocked the wand out of Melinda's hand.
"I guess that's not the right one." Harry laughed.
"I dare say not." Ollivander chuckled along.
Melinda gave a weak smile as Ollivander went searching through the rubble for another wand for her to try.
"How about this cherry wood-"
"Maybe something with Mahogany." Melinda interrupted.
"Oh, if you think so." Ollivander switched to another pile. "Yes, I think this one will do fine." He handed her another box. "10 and ½ inches, mahogany, with a core of unicorn hair."
Melinda timidly opened the box and reached inside cautiously. She braced herself when she grabbed the wand, but nothing happened. She pulled it out and examined it. A small white light seemed to form at the tip of the wand. It was growing larger and exuded some sort of shimmering wave from it. Melinda looked at the two men to gauge their reactions. They both looked as if they were being given a deep tissue massage; each of their faces were in a relaxed state with a soft contented smile, and their eyes seemed to glaze over.
"Are you two ok?" Melinda asked.
"Yes," Ollivander said dreamily.
"Couldn't be happier." Harry finished in the same tone.
Melinda decided to put the wand away, and as the stick left her hands, both of the men seemed to alert themselves.
"Oh, I wish you would have told us you were an empath." Ollivander sighed. "I would have given you unicorn hair from the beginning."
"You're an empath?" Harry turned to Melinda.
"Apparently?" Melinda said.
"Oh, that's wonderful. They're so hard to come by, most of them are muggle born and never practice witchcraft. We're always looking for a good one at the Ministry. Here's my card if you ever need a job." Harry handed her a business card with a cross street on it and directions to "dial 62442."
"Is this your extension?" Melinda asked, seeing no real value in any of the information on the card.
"No, once you're inside you'll have to be directed to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement on the sixth floor. I'm Head of the Auror Offices."
"I see. I might take you up on that offer. I've been looking for a job." Melinda pocketed the card.
"So, are we ready to purchase, then?" Ollivander asked.
"Yes, of course." Melinda said, rummaging through her purse for her wallet. "How much is it?"
"7 Galleons." Ollivander said.
"Um, I'm sorry…I only have pounds and dollars." Melinda pulled out her cash.
"Muggle currency, I'm not sure." Ollivander looked to Harry.
"Here," Harry pulled out a pouch full of coins and handed the man some gold ones, "that's about equal to 35 pounds."
"Thank you." Melinda handed him the cash.
"They'll be closed now, but I suggest you come back tomorrow and go to Gringotts to convert your currency." Harry said. "Thank you Mr. Ollivander, see you soon." Harry waved as he and Melinda left the shop and headed for the Leaky Cauldron.
"Here, this is the pattern you tap to get through." Harry said, showing her which bricks to tap so the wall would open up.
"Thank you and thank you for staying with me. I wouldn't have ever figured my way around here."
"No problem. May I ask who you're staying with? I know most of the wizarding families around here."
"Oh, I'm not sure you'd know mine." Melinda said.
"Try me." Harry pressed.
Not seeing the harm Melinda conceded. "I'm staying in Derbshire with my uncle Miles Stone."
"Oh, Dr. Stone! He's your uncle, you say? I wasn't aware he had any siblings. So glad to hear that he's not alone, though"
"Yes, well, we're newly acquainted." Melinda said, shocked that Harry knew who her uncle was. "How did you say you knew him?"
"From the Ministry, of course. He handles all the expenses for the department."
"Oh, yes. Sorry..." Melinda thought on the conversation she'd had earlier with her uncle about his CPA work, it was surreal to her that 'magic' could be so organized.
"Let me ask you something," Harry paused, "I've never wanted to offend him, but what sort of Doctor is he?"
"I think he just has a doctorates in accounting – I suppose. I've never asked him myself." Melinda admitted.
"Right, perhaps you could come into the offices with him sometime this week and see how we run across the pond."
"I don't see why not." Melinda lied.
"Great, well, I have to be going. It was nice meeting you. Give my best to Miles."
"You as well, and I will."
And with that, Melinda watched her new acquaintance Harry disappeared into thin air with a loud "POP!"
As Melinda road the train back to Derbshire, she became lost in thought. She was almost in disbelief over the sequence of events that just took place. Had it not been for the wand she held in her hand, she would have thought it all part of some psychotic hallucination. When Melinda's train pulled into the Derbshire station she saw a town car waiting in the parking lot for her. Melinda thanked the driver for picking her up and quickly got into the back seat, eager to get back to the Manor so she could sneak into the library again. During the car ride Melinda went back and forth in her mind over whether or not to confront her uncle about his involvement in this apparent magical world. She decided that, depending on what she found in the library that night, she would determine whether she was delusional or not and then speak with her uncle accordingly.
When Melinda arrived back at the Manor it was almost midnight and everyone had gone to bed. After changing into some lounge-wear, Melinda snuck off to the private library. Luckily, it was open. After scanning nearly 100 books looking around for anything that might give her something to start with, Melinda stumbled upon the perfect one, Powers You Never Knew You Had and What to Do with Them Now You've Wised Up. Melinda took the book back to her room to read, as not to get caught in the library.
Melinda scanned the index for 'empath' and turned to the indicated page. Melinda read:
So you think you're an Empath
Well, congratulations, nearly 3/4ths of the population of Empaths have no idea that they have the abilities, and more than half of that 3/4ths are muggle born. The difficulty that comes with realizing you are an Empath is that most witches, wizards, and muggles chalk up their powers to human nature.
Now, just because these powers usually go undetected doesn't mean that they aren't great. An Empath, much like a witch or wizard, has to learn how to control and center their power to obtain the fruits of their efforts. However, unlike a witch or wizard, an Empath will usually channel their gifts through their hands, or some other form of touch.
The difference between a witch and an Empath is very slight. An Empath is able to use magic at a very basic level, but will generally be thought to be a squib while growing up as their power doesn't develop until nearly 15 years after a witch or wizard, although able to then practice witchcraft on a very minute level, most Empaths choose not to; this is what makes muggle born Empaths especially hard to discover.
Although the type of magic used for charms and curses is not strong in an Empath, they do have a great well of power in another sense. Empaths, when fully trained and practiced to the best of their abilities, will be able to change the moods of others without any invasive or mind altering control over the subject of their choosing. This ability to gently persuade people into doing what they want could be great help in careers such as healing, working with aurors, or professor; popular muggle careers for Empaths include psychologist, social worker, or teacher.
Feeling as though she'd gotten as many answers as she could from a book, Melinda decided that at dinner tomorrow night she would ask her uncle about the magical world and hoped he would tell her the truth. Melinda put the book under her bed and turned in for the evening.