CHAPTER THREE: Receiving the Wands
As they entered this new room, they saw a single wizard in the center of the room. He looked young, like he could be a student. His hair was a bright red. His face looked very resilient. Evan happened to gaze eyes on his ears, which were more pointed than usual. His left eye appeared to be bright blue, and his right eye was blurred over by complete darkness. He crossed eyes with Evan and smiled.
"Hello, Pukwudgies. I'm Professor Dorien Everwinter. I'm the head of the Pukwudgie house here at Ilvermorny" the wizard spoke softly. His voice had a bit of an Irish accent to it. "And I'll be in charge of making sure you each have a wand" he said. Professor Everwinter then proceeded to call on the prefects. He whispered something to them that Evan couldn't make out. The six prefects then separated the students into seven groups. Each group had about fourteen first-years in it by the time they were done. Somehow, Evan, Athena, and Jason all ended up in the same group. Each group had a prefect with them to help with wands, except for the trio's group. Professor Everwinter calmly walked over to the last group.
"Separating the first-years into smaller groups makes it easier to manage and make sure each student gets the correct wand" Everwinter said. He handed everyone a case with a wand in it. Some, almost nothing happened, whereas others were blown back a few feet. Both Jason and Evan were knocked back, but Athena seemed fine. The wand she examined was about eleven inches long, and pure white. It had some cross stitching towards the bottom, and was elegantly designed.
"Birch wood, with a dragon heartstring core. Not a bad wand" Everwinter told her. He went around and told a few other students what their wands were as well. For those who got knocked back, he called them back, and gave them each another wand. Most everyone seemed to have found their wands at this point. Professor Everwinter had a knack for discovering which wand would work for certain wizards. Jason and Evan stood up after being knocked down for a second time. Again, Everwinter took the old wands and put them back, and brought two new ones for the boys to try. Jason seemed to suddenly have a spotlight shining on him, while Evan had a blast that knocked a few students in his vicinity down, including Athena. He chuckled at Athena getting knocked to the ground while Everwinter talked to Jason.
"Figures that wand would be drawn to you, Mr. LeStrange" Everwinter told Jason. The wand Jason held in his hand was about ten inches long, with a slight curve to it. It was dark colored, and simplistic. The bottom half seemed to be slightly thicker than the top.
"What is it?" Jason asked. Everwinter smirked.
"That wand is made from walnut, with a dragon heartstring core. It's sister belonged to your aunt" Everwinter whispered to Jason. Jason went pale.
"Why does everything connect back to that part of my family?" he muttered. Everwinter apologized then noticed that the wand he had given Evan was still incorrect. He walked over to Evan, with a new wand in hand.
"This wand is special. Incredibly special. It hasn't had an owner since about 1714, when it's last owner gave it to Ilvermorny as a gift" Everwinter said. Evan gently took the new wand out of the box, and looked at it. It was 12 ¾ inches long, was a black wood, and had intricate designs toward the bottom of the wand. It had no curvature to it at all, and no bumps. It was smooth. Suddenly, while holding it, a loud hissing echoed around the room, startling some students, while the rest looked onwards in curiosity.
"What was that hissing? Is there a snake or something?" Evan asked. Everwinter just shook his head.
"No, Evan. that was the wand claiming you as it's new owner. It is made from black walnut, with a Horned Serpent horn core" Everwinter said. "It is one of only two wands in existence to have a Horned Serpent horn as the core. That wand had previously been owned by Webster Boot, one of the founders of this school" Everwinter told Evan. Evan stared at his wand, with questions swimming through his mind.
"Why did it make a hissing sound when it claimed me?" Evan asked. Everwinter smiled.
"Unfortunately. I don't believe that you speak Parseltongue, but that was the Horned Serpent agreeing that you were worthy of that wand." Everwinter told Evan. He then regrouped all the students into one group again.
"Alright students. Follow the prefects to the great hall, where the rest of the celebration will be continued. I will join you shortly" Professor Everwinter said. As the prefects led the first-years out of the room, Everwinter slowly walked into a seperate room off to the side, hidden between two shelves of wands. Inside, was a single pensieve. Everwinter put his hands to his forehead, pulled a memory out, and put it in the pensieve to go back and revisit it once more.