Three cheers for all my reviewers: General Mac, Allen Pitt, Miricle Anne Summers, pamie, manticore-gurl, Shabopo, LittleDrusilla, Goddessa, Mari, aleclovemax, Rosie.
time for some magic...
Sparks and Dust
She left Gringotts in a daze and walked along the street ignoring the other people around her, finally coming to a stop when she noticed that the heavy flow of human traffic had dwindled to a trickle and the shops on either side were closer together than they had been further down the street, closing in around the shoppers. She looked around and saw the very shop she had been told to go to.
It had quite a narrow shop front, with the words 'Ollivander's – Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC' written above the door in gold. As she entered a small bell could be heard ringing deep inside the shop announcing her arrival, she perched on the frail-looking chair in the centre of the dusty room waiting for someone to come out. All around her Buffy could sense the tension of the potential magic in the room; the boxes of wands, neatly stacked against the walls all called out, craving the person that would use them.
The slight creak of a floorboard, only audible due to her slayer hearing, was the only warning she had before a soft voice greeted her from behind. She stood and turned to find an old man watching her with large silvery eyes.
"hmm, and who do we have here?"
"Buffy Summers" Buffy replied, trying to edge backwards into the wall as the man inspected her closer.
"Summers… and American? Any relation to Professor Summers, the Arithmacy teacher at Salem?" Buffy moved herself out from between the shopkeeper and the wall
"No, my parents are Muggles." Mr Ollivander nodded thoughtfully and circled her, pulling out a tape measure
"Hold out your wand arm."
Buffy thought momentarily then held up her right arm, fighting the impulse that told her to save her stronger arm for a more deadly weapon.
He brought the measure to her and frowned slightly at it, glancing again at her in an assessing manner. "This is your first wand?"
"Yes, I…" he waved away her explanation, satisfied that his instrument was working; he left it to complete its measurements.
As the tape measure wove around her of its own accord, he moved to the stacks of wands talking as he picked out boxes "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same just as no two dragons, unicorns or phoenixes are quite the same. Your wand will be specifically chosen to suit you, and you will never get as good results with another wizard's wand."
As he turned from the shelves he noticed Buffy fighting to stop the tape measure from continuing its path across her body in a manner which had become slightly inappropriate and shook his head "That will do" he murmured angrily at it. Whatever had been animating it left at those words and Buffy suddenly found she was fighting a limp tape, unwinding it from herself she let it fall to the floor. Ollivander handed Buffy a wand "Here, take this" she took the wand and wondered what exactly was meant to be happening as Ollivander stared at it expectantly "Give it a wave" he flapped his arms at her in exasperation.
She waved the wand above her head. Nothing. It was snatched out of her hand and another box handed to her "Ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Try… no" once again snatched out of her grasp. The boxes of failed attempts started to pile up as Ollivander made more trips to the stacks.
"Try this. Phoenix Feather and Yew, a powerful combination, twelve and three quarter inches" He held a box out to her with a thin wand resting inside "Now take the wand and gi…" He stopped mid sentence as when Buffy raised the wand. As soon as she had picked it up out of the box she felt a surge of power run through her, towards the wand. The slight flick caused beams to shoot out of the wand, cutting a streak across the shop.
It was hard to distinguish the colour of the beam. It wasn't dark, so much as anti-light. If you take black as being no light, then this was what you got when you carried on into negative quantities of light. Looking at the beams, your gaze was sucked in, as was the meagre amount of light coming through the dusty window. Balancing out the two until it seemed like the room was contained in its own personal night, giving the shop an even more eerie feel.
Where the beams met one of the shelf-lined walls of the shop, it interacted with the wands, sending blinding streams of light to be engulfed in the darkness. The affects without were mirrored within; something inside that feed from the power, flowing beneath her skin. Terrified by what she had done, Buffy dropped the wand and started shaking. She felt like she had just run flat out across town, her muscles were so weak. A dark part of herself had connected with the wand, used it to force out into the world. She never wanted to experience that again.
Mr Ollivander stared at her in shock for a moment before taking in the damage which had been done to his shop. Many of the boxes that had lined the walls had fallen down in a cascade, and were now heaped on the floor around them. He tut tutted under his breath and waved his own wand, sending the boxes flying back to their previous positions.
A moment later it was impossible to tell that anything has happened; everything, including the dust and spiders webs, had returned to their previous positions. "Not right, definitely not right" he mumbled as he went back to searching among the shelves, his lack of a severe adverse reaction to what had happened the only thing that stopped her from running away from the shop, perhaps even the wizarding world. Even with this reassurance Buffy might have if she thought she'd get far, if she had anywhere to go.
Now he took more time over his selection of wands, often almost selecting a wand, then pulling his hand away as if it was burnt. He actually handed her one box, but pulled it away before she could even open it with a muttered "No, no… mustn't do that, let's try…" He glanced along his shelves, before snatching a box. "Hazel and unicorn hair, ten inches. Quite whippy. Try -"
She gingerly reached for the wand, terrified of once more seeing the sickening light emerge from wood under her fingertips, reminding herself that all the wands she had tried before that one hadn't had any effect at all. She sighed in relief when she lifted the wand, and nothing happened.
Instead of seeming disappointed at the failure of his carefully chosen wand, Mr Ollivander returned to his shelves, reappearing with a box after box for Buffy to try. She started to relax, feeling safe from the dark light that she'd somehow made. Finally Mr Ollivander came to her with "Birch and dragon heartstring. Nine and a quarter inches. Pliable"
Buffy touched the wand and felt a glorious sense of belonging warm her heart. It touched her in a way similar to how the other one had, but this time it didn't reek of the malevolent darkness that had overcome her when she had produced the beam, and instead of sucking the energy and life force out of her, it boosted her spirit, warming her soul. She waved the wand and was delighted when golden sparks drew a trail of shooting stars through the still air.
"Well done, very good…" Buffy didn't pay attention to anything, amazed to see the proof that she could perform harmless, beautiful magic, until Mr Ollivander snatched the wand out of her hand and wrapped it up in its box. She started to protest, when a low voice behind her reminded her that she wasn't allowed to use the wand outside school grounds until she was properly trained.
Buffy turned and assessed Dumbledore's expression. Had he been here when she'd used that wand? She couldn't see anything on his face to indicate that he had witnessed that dark and destructive power; instead he was merely smiling amiably at her. As she sighed in relief, Mr Ollivanders' next words chilled her chilled her to the bone.
"I would like a word with you, if you would wait a moment Professor." She tried to hide the fearful expression that she knew must be written all over her face. Why did he have to be told about the incident? It wasn't like she'd done it on purpose.
"I'm sorry but I have an urgent appointment elsewhere, I'll have to speak to you at another time"
Mr Ollivander regarded Dumbledore, deciding whether to press the importance of the point, then turned to Buffy and held out the box in his hands "That will be Eight Galleons" Buffy sighed in relief, then searched in her pouch for the appropriate coins and looked up Dumbledore, helpless, with a handful of coins. He picked out eight of the Gold ones, explaining the worth of the various coins before exchanging them for the wand and putting it safely away in a pocket of his robe.
"I'm sorry Ollivander, but I've just heard some very disturbing news. We'll have to go back to Hogwarts directly. I've organised for your books, robes, and other equipment to be sent on to the school." He finished, speaking to Buffy. Dumbledore turned to Ollivander "Do you have a fire we could use?" he politely, but hurriedly enquired.
"Of course…" Mr Ollivander led them to a fireplace in the back of the long shop.
Dumbledore pointed his wand at it and said "Incendio" starting up a blaze in the empty fireplace. "We're going to 'Hogsmeade Post Office'" He handed her a handful of Floo powder and gestured for her to step into the flames.
Buffy quickly stepped out of the way when she arrived to let Dumbledore into the room as she heard him coming close behind her. She had emerged in another room of fireplaces, though this one only hosted four very basic things with none of the ornate stonework on those in the Bureau or the gilded elegance of those in the Ministry.
They went through a small wooden doorway into a room filled with the sounds and smells of birds. The cause of the smell was lined up on perches on the walls; hundreds of owls ranging from huge ones that stood more than two feet high, to the tiny ones for "Local Deliveries Only". Dumbledore and Buffy passed by the shelves of birds and out onto a cobbled street. The fresh country air let Buffy know that she was now far from London.
Waiting outside was a carriage drawn by two of the strangest creatures that Buffy had ever seen. The beasts were like skeletal spectres, with their black, bat like wings and glowing eyes. Their skin, which seemed to be like the membrane of their wings; thin and leathery black, clung to meatless bodies, highlighting every bone in their horse-like frame. The two animals turned to face Buffy, sniffing the air.
Dumbledore looked at her expression, fixated on the creatures "You can see them?"
"Yeah." Buffy frowned, confused by the question, wondering how she was meant to miss such bizarre beasts.
Dumbledore observed her sadly "Thestrals can only be seen by people who have seen death"
People who have seen death.
Buffy saw flashes of her life since becoming a Slayer… Angel's death… she had not only seen, but lived death for the past few years.
Feeling his gaze still upon her she sought an explanation that would be acceptable for Dumbledore "I saw my cousin die in a hospital when I was young" she shivered slightly, imitating a reaction to the beasts that she hoped would seem normal for a person who hadn't been dealing with demonic creatures for years, who hadn't learnt to take death in her stride.
While the coach rattled through the village, Buffy idly watched the faces of the people they passed as their 'horses' came into view, trying to judge from the reactions whether they could see the fearful animals drawing the coach. They soon emerged from the village and all there was to see was the dark green forest that lined the road. Watching the shadows under the trees, she occasionally saw strange animals darting between the trees, she felt the Slayer rise in her, willing her to dive into the woods and let out all her pain, guilt and anger forcefully on the dark creatures within.
Finally as they rounded a bend in the road, she caught sight of a vast castle, seemingly made up of a mismatch of battlements, turrets and towers, all emerging from different heights along the main wall. "That's Hogwarts" for the first time any weariness had left Dumbledore's tone; he seemed more content and relaxed as he returned to the place in which he truly belonged. It sat in a prominent position on a raised portion of land and, as they made their way closer to the building, sheer cliffs came into view; descending from the far side of the castle into a deep blue lake below.
She looked out of her window at the place that was to be her home for the next year, watching it get closer until, in next to no time at all, they were pulling up outside a pair of wooden doors. Buffy climbed out of the carriage and, before Dumbledore had stepped down beside her, the doors swung open to reveal a tall witch.