Chapter 2 - Diagon Alley
James had always loved going to Diagon Alley, it was the most amazing place. He'd been looking forward to doing some real shopping there for years. Most of all, he wanted a wand. A week before the start of term he and his father were in Diagon Alley shopping for his school things. He would be going to Hogwarts in a week; he was having difficulty getting his head round it. James couldn't remember when he'd been more excited. They'd bought his books for Charms, Potions, Transfiguration, History of Magic, Astrology and all the other subjects he'd be taking. He'd been to Madame Mulkin's and bought his school robes, he'd also got his telescope, cauldron and scales. His wand was all that he had left to buy.
His father tried to tease him by trying to tempt him over to the ice cream store. The young man that owned the place, Florean Fortesque was a very interesting and knowledgeable wizard, and his ice creams were fantastic, but even ice cream couldn't distract him from his mission to find a wand and to be able to do real magic at last. He had, of course been making things blow up for several years now, and his mother had starting making sure anything valuable was out of reach whenever he got upset.
He and his father wandered into Mr Ollivander's wand shop. He sat down on the spindly chair, trying hard to be quiet, as this didn't seem like the sort of place he could be loud. There was a girl there already trying out different wands. She didn't seem to be having much luck. Finally, Mr Ollivander handed her one that worked, he watched as green and silver stars shot from the end. "Marvellous" said Mr Ollivander, sounding delighted. "Ten and a quarter inches, willow, quite swishy. Perfect for charm work, unicorn hair core. The girl blushed as she noticed James sitting there. She had very pale skin, dark red hair and brilliant green eyes. James looked at her and felt quite uncomfortable as those eyes landed on her, but he had no idea why. The girl paid for her wand and left, smiling, calling goodbye to Mr Ollivander and looking for her parents.
"Well now Mr Potter, I've been expecting you." James started. How on earth did Mr Ollivander know his name? "Come, come" he said, "let's take some measurements." He whipped out a tape measure and started measuring the length of his arm, his leg, his height, the distance between his nostrils. "Which arm's your wand arm?" he asked. "Right" replied James confidently; he'd always been right handed.
"Ok, try this one, 11 inches, teak, dragon heartstring." He picked it up, nothing happened, "Ok, this one then." He didn't have any luck with that one either, or the next one, or the next one for that matter. Until finally, Mr Ollivander exclaimed "I know, try this one, 11 inches, mahogany, unicorn tail hair, pliable, quite powerful." He picked it up and waved it, he immediately felt a warm tingling all the way up his arm and a fountain of green and gold stars shot out of the end. "Wonderful, Mr Potter, just wonderful." Exclaimed Mr Ollivander, as he took the box down from the shelf. It was next to an empty space where the wand the girl before him had bought had been. Mr Ollivander seemed to have noticed this too, and was looking at James intently. It made James feel incredibly odd indeed; he wished he'd stop. "Er, excuse me sir, could I, erm, pay for this?" Said James nervously after a few seconds. "What, oh yes, that'll be 7 galleons please." James paid him and left the shop, he shivered to himself, he didn't think he liked Mr Ollivander very much.
James had always loved going to Diagon Alley, it was the most amazing place. He'd been looking forward to doing some real shopping there for years. Most of all, he wanted a wand. A week before the start of term he and his father were in Diagon Alley shopping for his school things. He would be going to Hogwarts in a week; he was having difficulty getting his head round it. James couldn't remember when he'd been more excited. They'd bought his books for Charms, Potions, Transfiguration, History of Magic, Astrology and all the other subjects he'd be taking. He'd been to Madame Mulkin's and bought his school robes, he'd also got his telescope, cauldron and scales. His wand was all that he had left to buy.
His father tried to tease him by trying to tempt him over to the ice cream store. The young man that owned the place, Florean Fortesque was a very interesting and knowledgeable wizard, and his ice creams were fantastic, but even ice cream couldn't distract him from his mission to find a wand and to be able to do real magic at last. He had, of course been making things blow up for several years now, and his mother had starting making sure anything valuable was out of reach whenever he got upset.
He and his father wandered into Mr Ollivander's wand shop. He sat down on the spindly chair, trying hard to be quiet, as this didn't seem like the sort of place he could be loud. There was a girl there already trying out different wands. She didn't seem to be having much luck. Finally, Mr Ollivander handed her one that worked, he watched as green and silver stars shot from the end. "Marvellous" said Mr Ollivander, sounding delighted. "Ten and a quarter inches, willow, quite swishy. Perfect for charm work, unicorn hair core. The girl blushed as she noticed James sitting there. She had very pale skin, dark red hair and brilliant green eyes. James looked at her and felt quite uncomfortable as those eyes landed on her, but he had no idea why. The girl paid for her wand and left, smiling, calling goodbye to Mr Ollivander and looking for her parents.
"Well now Mr Potter, I've been expecting you." James started. How on earth did Mr Ollivander know his name? "Come, come" he said, "let's take some measurements." He whipped out a tape measure and started measuring the length of his arm, his leg, his height, the distance between his nostrils. "Which arm's your wand arm?" he asked. "Right" replied James confidently; he'd always been right handed.
"Ok, try this one, 11 inches, teak, dragon heartstring." He picked it up, nothing happened, "Ok, this one then." He didn't have any luck with that one either, or the next one, or the next one for that matter. Until finally, Mr Ollivander exclaimed "I know, try this one, 11 inches, mahogany, unicorn tail hair, pliable, quite powerful." He picked it up and waved it, he immediately felt a warm tingling all the way up his arm and a fountain of green and gold stars shot out of the end. "Wonderful, Mr Potter, just wonderful." Exclaimed Mr Ollivander, as he took the box down from the shelf. It was next to an empty space where the wand the girl before him had bought had been. Mr Ollivander seemed to have noticed this too, and was looking at James intently. It made James feel incredibly odd indeed; he wished he'd stop. "Er, excuse me sir, could I, erm, pay for this?" Said James nervously after a few seconds. "What, oh yes, that'll be 7 galleons please." James paid him and left the shop, he shivered to himself, he didn't think he liked Mr Ollivander very much.