Caitlin: ha-ha, I enjoyed your last review very much.
Sarah: Fred and Favian are going to get married, just so I can annoy you.
Moril: whoever ends up with Favian is, of course, based on you.
"Let's see, I think that's it." Mrs. Weasley looked at everything checking it against the list.
"No." I disagreed. "I still need a wand."
"Of course. I always forget that! Come now, Olivander's is the place to go."
Inside the shop a bell tinkled upon our arrival. Behind the counter was an elderly man with piercing blue eyes, writing scrupulously in a notebook.
"Ah, hello." He looked up and smiled. "Mollie, good to see you. I didn't expect to be seeing you for quite some time! But who is this young lady? I have never seen her before." He came around from behind his desk and looked at me carefully, trying to recognize me.
"This is Favian." Mrs. Weasley introduced me. "Favian, meet Mr. Olivander."
"Hi."
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance." He smiled sincerely at me. "Let's get your measurements, shall we?"
"I guess so."
He pulled out a tape measure and it began to, on its own, might I add, measure me from all different angles. Mr. Olivander paid close attention then said "That will do." He walked back to the shelves and pulled down six boxes for me to test.
"Right, here's phoenix tail feather, seven and a half inches, maple." He handed the wand to me. It looked nice.
"You're supposed to wave it, dear." Mrs. Weasley said.
"Oh." I waved it about, practicing the swish and flick motion that Hermione had taught me.
"No, no, no." The old man snatched the wand away. "Try this one. Dragon heart string, eleven inches, oak."
I took it and once again did the motion that Hermione had me practice. Once again Mr. Olivander shook his head.
"Willow, thirteen inches, unicorn hair."
Apparently this wand didn't like me either. "Oh bugger, we'll have to keep trying then!" The man smiled at me and took a wand and just handed it to me without telling me what it was made of. It was a white wood, very pretty and I felt a sort of tingling in my fingers as I waved it. Silver and gold sparks shot out of the end and I was afraid that I had done something very wrong.
"Excellent!" Mrs. Weasley clapped her hands together.
"Well there's something interesting." Mr. Olivander read the box label. "I've had this wand for over twenty years now."
"Is that unusual?" I asked, staring at my wand.
"Yes. Usually wands are created about the time that the wizard is born and you, my dear, are about fifteen."
"That's right." I looked at him curiously.
"The wand is made of birch and is nine inches long. The creature, rather creatures, involved in making this wand are a re'em, a sphinx, and a centaur. A hair from each tied together and becoming a singular strand."
"What's a re'em?" I asked.
"An extremely rare giant ox with golden hide. Drinking its blood will give great strength. It's found mostly in North America."
"Oh. So… is it just rare to use three hairs?"
"That's not it. Of course, you are correct, but also the sphinx and centaur were adamant that their hairs join together with that of a re'em. I remember this. I had been following a unicorn when a centaur came upon me along with a sphinx. I was frightened, as you may imagine, but they insisted that I take the three hairs that they offered. I didn't think the wand would ever find an owner, but I was clearly mistaken."
"Why did they want you to make a wand?"
"That," he said, "is the true mystery."
Mrs. Weasley and I were heading back to Flourish and Blotts. A very fair-haired family was standing outside the entrance speaking to a short and vibrant little man.
"Cornelius, I would be quite happy to discuss this at your office."
"Thank you, Lucius. It is good to see you again. I'd best be off." The little man named Cornelius turned and saw Mrs. Weasley. "Oh, Mollie, hello. What are you doing here? Buying school things, I suppose?"
"Yes, Minister." She said coolly.
"Excellent, excellent." He looked at me. "I don't recognize this one. I thought all of yours had red hair."
"They do, this is Favian. She's staying with my family."
"Oh? Whatever for?"
Mrs. Weasley looked as though she would prefer not to discuss it with him. Lucius and his pale-haired family stood watching us, listening intently. I noticed that the boy had two books in his arms. I recognized the titles from Hermione's letter. He must've been a fifth year too. I smiled at him, trying to be friendly. His smile was so smug and too reminiscent of a smirk to make me feel comfortable. Maybe a zit had just sprouted on my nose.
"Her parents have died recently, Minister. We must be going now."
"All right then. I suppose I'll see you later." The Minister Cornelius bustled off, acting important. I didn't really like him; there was an air of arrogance around him.
"Come on Favian." Mrs. Weasley nudged me towards the shop.
"Don't you already have enough children without taking more on?" Lucius asked. "What with funds being so tight and all."
The boy snickered.
Mrs. Weasley kept her mouth tightly shut and continued forward.
"Who-?" I started.
"The Malfoys. A rich family. Not nice. Come on."
We returned to Number 12 Grimmauld Place and Ron was waiting by the fireplace, picking his prefect badge up and setting it down absent-mindedly. Harry sat by him reading Flying with the Cannons, a copy that was so bent up that it had clearly been read a lot. He didn't seem very focused as I stepped through the flames.
"A prefect!? Oh Ron! We must celebrate! I'm sooo happy!" Mrs. Weasley wrapped her arms around Ron and squeezed him for a long time. Harry was frowning slightly but whenever Ron looked over he plastered a grin to his face. Mrs. Weasley dragged Ron downstairs so that he could tell Mr. Weasley. Harry said he'd be right down to help celebrate Hermione and Ron's victory. He watched them leave and I stood silently to the side, watching him, clutching my things in my arms. Harry sighed and slumped in his chair.
"Must be an interesting book." I said, breaking his quiet. He stiffened and whipped his head up to face me.
"Oh, yeah… it is." He looked at his book. "Ever read it?"
"No."
"You should. You can borrow mine sometime, if you'd like."
"That'd be great." I smiled what I hoped was a genuine smile. I didn't think he was reading because he was engrossed but rather trying to avoid something else. "Are you okay?" I asked carefully.
"Yeah, of course."
"Okay, let me try again, what's wrong?" I sat down with a pile of books in my lap.
"Am I that obvious?" He seemed taken aback.
"To me." I nodded.
"I'm kind of pissed, to be honest."
I frowned. "Why?"
"Hermione and Ron… spending all summer here and not telling me anything…."
"Well, that wasn't really their fault. Professor Dumbledore wouldn't allow them to tell you."
"That's another thing! Why does he suddenly treat me like a… a… child?!"
"I guess he's not being fair really. Maybe there's some good reason for it… I mean, he's a reasonable guy."
"I'm the one who Voldemort wants to kill! Whose parents have been killed! Who nearly got killed and he still thinks that I should be sheltered from… THE TRUTH!" Harry looked on the verge of yelling. "And… I know this will sound incredibly stupid but… now he's made Ron prefect and I can't figure out why… why it wasn't me!"
I thought for a minute. I understood how he must've felt. "Probably because… well, you might not want to hear this, actually."
"Shoot." Harry waved a hand at me.
"Ron's never really been… famous like you. Maybe since you and Ron got about the same academically he chose Ron. You've got a lot to deal with this year too. From what I've heard from Mrs. Weasley it's not easy work."
"Yeah… just Dumbledore hasn't talked to me at all. I can't figure it out. Even at the trial he wouldn't… look at me."
I frowned. "That's weird." I agreed. "But there may yet be a reason."
"God, I hope so." Harry exhaled. "You know what? I'm going to be happy for Ron."
I smiled.
"Thanks, Favian."
I began to stand, depositing some books into my cauldron. "Don't worry about it."
"You need some help with that?"
"I wouldn't mind." I admitted. Harry helped me deposit my books into my room and we went downstairs. Everyone was downstairs decorating for a prefect party. Mrs. Weasley procured a lot of food and a beaming face. Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Mad-Eye Moody were all there with the Weasley family and Hermione and me, of course.
Harry was in a relatively good mood for the rest of the evening. I felt glad to know that I had helped him.