Chapter 3: Wands and Owls
"Thank you, sir," Claire acknowledged to Garrick Ollivander. "My name is Claire Krystal, and I'm here to purchase my first wand."
"Just like your brother before you," Ollivander noted.
Surprised, Claire asked, "You know my brother?"
"I remember every wand ever sold, Miss Krystal," Ollivander explained. "His was made from maple wood, with a dragon heartstring core, and it was ten inches in length. A fine wand, it was, before he was expelled and the wand was snapped in half."
"So that's why he didn't have a wand when he returned," Claire murmured, looking astray.
"Is he with you now?" Ollivander questioned.
"No," Claire shook her head. "He disappeared not too long ago, and hasn't been seen since."
Frowning, Ollivander replied, "I'm terribly sorry to hear that. This whole ordeal must have had a significant impact on you."
"It did," Claire answered. "I loved my brother, but his disappearance left me with a lot of burning questions like: what are the Cursed Vaults, why was Jacob expelled for trying to find them, and why did he leave so suddenly?"
Ollivander looked thoughtful for a moment, and then he pulled out a box from a nearby shelf. "Seems you have an adventurous spirit, Miss Krystal, and I think I have just the wand for you."
Opening the box, Ollivander pulled out a small wand and gave it to Claire.
"This one is made from applewood, has a dragon heartstring core, is nine inches, and quite rigid," Ollivander stated. "Now, give it a twirl and let's see if it fits."
Unsure of what Ollivander meant, Claire waved the wand in front of her which caused several papers to fly from the desk.
"Hmm, perhaps I was mistaken," Ollivander observed.
"Sorry," Claire apologized.
"It's not your fault, Miss Krystal," Ollivander assured. "After all, the wand chooses the wizard—or witch in your case."
After going through four more wands, including the same one that Jacob had, Claire started to doubt herself when Ollivander presented a fifth wand that was fourteen inches made from maple wood with a unicorn hair core and 'reasonably springy'. As Claire took the wand from Ollivander's hand, she gave it a small wave and suddenly a bright light surrounded her.
"Ah, a perfect fit," Ollivander smiled.
Once Claire paid for the wand, she left Ollivanders feeling a little better when she saw Rowan approaching her wearing a multi-colored scarf that had little ball-shaped tassels hanging from it.
"What in the world is that?" Claire wondered, trying not to gawk at the scarf too much.
"My new scarf," Rowan smiled. "Don't you like it?"
"Well, it's…unique," Claire replied half-heartedly.
"Then it is perfect!" Rowan cried triumphantly. "That way, I'll stand out more and the teachers will have to pay attention to me as I prove to them why I'd make a good Head Girl and Prefect."
"Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself?" Claire questioned.
"Maybe, but it's not too early to start planning ahead," Rowan argued, and saw the box Ollivander had placed Claire's wand into. "Is that your wand?"
"Sure is!" Claire beamed, and opened the box. "It's—
"Made from maple wood, with unicorn hair inside and it's fourteen inches in length," Rowan abruptly stated.
Naturally, this shocked Claire. "How'd you guess just by looking at it?"
"I know a lot about wands," Rowan answered. "My family runs a tree farm, and we sell a lot of the wood that's used to make wands and broomsticks."
"Oh, I see."
"But I spend most of my time reading books, mainly so I don't have to partake in the manual labor required to plant trees and harvest them. You don't think I'm weird, do you?"
"Not at all," Claire said, and took Rowan's hand. "You've been very helpful to me, and I appreciate that."
Smiling, Rowan placed her hand over Claire's. "So, where to next?"
"The Owl Emporium," Claire responded.
Further down from Ollivanders, Claire and Rowan approached a large store with glass windows and dozens of caged owls. Though Claire had hoped to find an owl that looked like the one which delivered her acceptance letter, she couldn't seem to find an equivalent. So she settled on purchasing a round Short-eared owl with grey feathers orange eyes and a small black beak.
"What are you going to call it?" Rowan asked as she and Claire left Diagon Alley.
Pausing for a moment, Claire said, "Eban. The color of its plumage reminds me of a stone, and Eban means 'Stone.'"
As if in response, the owl hooted.
###
Back home, Claire proceeded to train Eban how to deliver mail though the young female owl managed to pick up this skill pretty quickly. So Claire sent a response letter to Hogwarts the day before July 31 saying she had gotten the acceptance letter and would be happy to attend Hogwarts with help from her mother who provided Claire with the necessary paper and ink quill to write the response with. A few days later, Eban returned with an envelope containing two train tickets. Apart from the different dates on them, Claire's eyes fell on the platform location which puzzled her right up to the day she was set to leave for Hogwarts which was August 31.
"Platform Nine and Three-Quarters," Claire murmured as she entered the King's Cross railway station in London after saying goodbye to her parents.
Wandering through the various lines of Muggles with her luggage and Eban in her cage, Claire talked to the nearest conductor who gave her a funny look before helping someone else. Then she saw a flash of black hair and noticed Rowan just ahead of her.
"Rowan!" Claire waved.
"Claire!" Rowan called, pausing so Claire could catch up to her. "Fancy seeing you here."
"No kidding," Claire replied. "Any idea where Platform Nine and Three-Quarters is?"
"Right over there, I think," Rowan said as she pointed to a blank wall between Platform Nine and Ten.
"I don't see anything," Claire admitted.
"It's a magic platform, silly," Rowan answered giddily. "There's a hidden barrier in that wall that we can pass through while Muggles can't."
"Are you sure?" Claire looked and the wall again and frowned. "Looks pretty solid to me."
"Maybe I should test it first to see if it is real," Rowan offered, positioning her luggage cart to line up with the wall. "See you on the other side!"
Before Claire could stop her, Rowan pushed her cart straight towards the wall at a quickening pace. Instead of hitting the wall, though, Rowan's body passed right through it along with the cart and they were completely gone. Nervously, Claire lined her cart with the wall and closed her eyes as she ran towards it. When nothing happened, she opened her eyes and found herself on a different platform altogether with several children and adults boarding a large red steam train. It didn't take long for her to find Rowan as they packed their things into the train's luggage compartment before getting on.
To be continued…
