Chapter XI

Dad brought me to Ollivanders wand shop hundreds of times. They were good friends and had been school chums during their time at Hogwarts. But, walking into Olivanders now was only a sad reminder that my father was never going to wave me off to Hogwarts as he had always said he would. I was the last to enter the shop, and as I walked past the threshold I turned around waiting for my father to turn the corner and walk in behind me; no such thing happened.

"Finally, I have been waiting for you Mishka!" Ollivander popped his head out the back door and flashed me his patent smile.

"It's good seeing you Albus, and who's this?" He suggested to Tom.

Dumbledore cut in happily. "This here is Tom Riddle. Mishka and Tom are here wand shopping today."

"I see, I see, nice to meet you Tom." They shook hands politely and Ollivander turned back to me sympathetically. "Sorry to hear about your dad, good man he was. Talon had a nice wand, Frim-Ivy-with Unicorn hair very stout easy to conceal." -he looked down at the floor, remembering my father in a sad moment.- "But now it's time for the baby Gryffindor to grow her wings and learn to fly. And to do that, you'll need a wand." He smiled elatedly causing my stomach to do flips in anticipation.

He dug through the shelves of his shop and blew dust off a rack that was labeled unicorn hair. "Wand cores tend to be genetic." He briefly explained and grabbed all of the wands off the shelf. "Have a go, and now for Tom." He took Tom to the side and began to coach him on wands. It wasn't hard to tell Tom had never seen a wand before, as he stared at them eagerly as if they were going to pop up and attack him.

I knew exactly what to do, as I had seen countless children practice with the wands while my father chatted with Ollivander in the back. I picked up my first wand, it was white with imbedded crimson veins, I held it and was about to swish it, but felt the core heat up in my hand. I watched it curiously but dropped it when it burned my hand.

"OUCH! It burned me!"

Ollivander looked up and laughed childishly. "That one really didn't like you, keep going you're bound to find one."

Tom looked at the shelves and pulled a long white wand off of the Phoenix feather shelf and swished it. Golden light emitted from the wand and an invisible wind blew past his bangs. I felt jealous at how easily he found his wand.

Ollivander repeated after each wand that denied me, "You'll find it, keep going." I went through wands quickly, each one denied me as simply as the first. Ollivander pulled down more wands for me, gradually moving past the Dragon Hearstring and Thestral Hair shelves. A terrible thing happened each time I grabbed a wand; either glass would shatter, things would break, or it would cut me. One actually bit me, leaving a rather nasty mark.

Dumbledore and Tom were sitting in the corner, bored from the last two hours activities.

"We've tried everything…"-He rubbed the back of his neck tiredly.- "What is wrong with you, none of the wands like you?"

"There's nothing wrong with me! There's something wrong with your wands!" I said defensively.

He was deep in thought, and then his head snapped up. "I do have a few more wands. Though, they're… experimental and strange."

Dumbledore gave him a curious look, "Wands have never been classified as normal, but how are these experimental?"

"Well, I wanted to see if there were more possibilities with wands, moving past the Phoenix Feather and Dragon Hearstring… I've been quite anxious to try out my new wands, but haven't found any willing customers yet." -He shrugged and turned to me.- "Would you like to try them?"

Tom answered for me, "Is it dangerous?"

"…Not sure,"-Tom furrowed his brow- "Still want to try?" Ollivander asked cheerfully.

I grimaced bitterly and looked back at the hundreds of wands I had tried. There wasn't much time left for shopping and we needed to move on. I nodded reluctantly, it appeared to be the only way.

"I don't think it's a good idea." Tom said to me as Ollivander dug in the back for the wands.

"I haven't another choice do I?" He shrugged and stepped out of the way as Ollivander ran back from the back room with three boxes in his arms.

"If any of these wands will work, I think this one will." He suggested to the first green box. I grabbed for it and pulled out a clear wand.

"…It's translucent?" I stared at it.

Dumbledore came to my side and peered at the wand also. "What's it made of Ollivander?" It sounded more like an accusation then a question.

"…Let's see if it works first." Ollivander answered hesitantly.

I was scared to try it, especially after all of the past wands. I looked back at Tom who was staring at the wand bizarrely. He appeared to be almost as hesitant about me trying as I was.

I swished the wand none the less and nothing happened. I could see disappointment fill Ollivanders eyes.

I let go of the wand to drop it on the counter but it stuck to my hand. "Ollivanader, it's stuck?" I said slightly frightened. I looked at the clear wand stuck to my hand and watched as it began to dissolve into my skin.

"GET IT OFF!" I waved my hand around trying to get the wand off of me but it wouldn't budge. Dumbledore grabbed his wand and casted a spell but it rebounded. Ollivander stood back watching with interest painted across his face. "HELP ME!" I yelled at him but he didn't move. Tom was at my side now, he grabbed the wand but got shocked my a bright blue bolt; he jumped back and glared at Ollivander maliciously.

"HELP HER DAMNIT!" He cursed.

"The wand… has chosen her." He said with surprise.

The wand sunk into my hand and I felt my arm start to sting and go cold. It felt like I was in a freezer and I shivered unceasingly. Everything got blurry and I ended up passing out on the ground. I woke up minutes later with all three men standing over me, confused. Tom's face was bright red and I could vaguely hear him yelling at Ollivander for hurting me. After another minute of me lying on the ground everything started to come back to me.

I sat up and looked at my arm. It had changed in the time that I was passed out; my veins were silver, rather then the pale blue that they once were. My wrist pulsated and it almost felt like my hand had a heart beat of its own.

Ollivander paused, "… Well, give it a wave let's see what it can do!"

I waved my hand and Ollivander flew backwards into the wall. Tom and I laughed feeling the rightful justice in it. [That's what he gets for making these cursed wands!]

He coughed trying to catch his breath, "…THAT IS A POWERFUL WAND!"-He said with pride in his craftsmanship.

"So how do I get it out now?" I asked him. He came to my side and inspected my arm thoroughly. He poked it and pulled it but nothing happened other then my occasional ouch.

"Looks like you can't. But, it's a good thing! This way you can't be disarmed! Though, if you were to break you arm… Hm, I wonder if that would break the wand." He gave my arm a mischievous smile and I retracted backwards behind Tom.

"Don't touch my arm!" I cried.

Dumbledore was still focused on his previous question. "What's in that wand?" he asked sternly. Ollivander seemed reluctant to admit to it, but Dumbledore insisted he told him and he eventually succumbed.

"I stole a branch from the tree of lies."

"What's the tree of lies?" Tom asked.

Ollivander answered, "It's an invisible tree in Romania, very famous. It's said that if you stare at the invisible tree long enough you'll see its branches; and once you see the branches you'll see all truth. Though, it's never been proven…"

"But how do you see an invisible tree, left-alone find it?" Tom asked skeptically.

"You just sort of… bump into it." He laughed.

"And the core, Ollivander?" Dumbledore requested.

"…Unicorn blood."

"How did you obtain Unicorn blood, Ollivander!" Dumbledore lashed out.

He waved his arms out in front of himself trying to show he took it the wrong way. "I assure you, it was already dead… I just took a vial…"

Dumbledore was quiet, he thought over the consequence bitterly as did I. "So,"-I began- "What does that mean?" I asked Ollivander.

"…I'm not sure, though I'm excited to hear about it though. Do write when you begin to use it!" He smiled.