The wand shop seemed to be the only stationary store in Temporer Alley. It looked like a regular house with portrait windows and brown shutters. The shingles appeared ancient, and the white door contrasted painfully with the drabbiness around the house.

Vince and the girls walked closer, and saw a small sign in the window. "Meiwaku's Wands. Est. 1809." Vince rang the doorbell, and then an elderly Japanese man opened the door.

"Vincent Pentillo?" he asked with a sneer. "Have you finally decided that you've had enough of Muggles?"

"No," Vince replied shortly, "My family is in danger, and we need wands for protection."

The man nodded solemnly, and let Vince, Liz, Susan, and Vick inside. Immediately, Vick, Liz, and Susan spread out. Liz went to the cores, Vick explored the woods, and Susan opened the book on the counter that read Which Wand for Which Wizard.

Liz looked through the brief directory. It was sorted by animals. Liz couldn't believe how many different cores they had. Each animal had three or four body parts that were used as separate cores. Liz didn't even know what half of the animals were. There were crup tales, and augrey beak powder. Tongue of bat, and eye of newt, Liz expected. Well, she thought, I was half-right. Blood of newt's a core.

Vick was fascinated. Almost every wand had a different wood. There were also hundreds of hybrids. Vick didn't even think trees could be cross-bred. She saw a ebony/oak mix, and it made a real interesting color for the length of the wand. It was a grey-ish color, as oak is beige, and ebony black. It was kind of crazy to Vick for her to be seeing all the kinds of trees. There were red-lined, cream-colored signs that described each section, and there was a picture of what the hybrid looked like. Vick opened one of the boxes, and noticed that it was in four pieces. The handle was in half, as was the length. Length and handle was not connected.

Susan quickly finished the book. Based on what she'd just read, she knew she should expect a core that had something to do with gryffins. Coming to a conclusion about her wand had been much more difficult that than figuring out her sister's and cousins' wands. She knew Ana would get a Nundu core, and Liz would have an Ashwinder core. Vick would probably get something that had to do with dragons, and Cat would get a unicorn core.

"Don't listen to that book, shouju. It doesn't follow our rules," said the old man. He appeared out of nowhere, and had been watching the girls discover the magic all over his store. "Here at Meiwaku's, our specialty is braided cores and hybrid trees. That book was made for shops that only supplied one core and one wood per wand," he explained.

"I somewhat figured," Susan agreed, "but it was still very interesting to see what my family would recieve."

"I'll wager that it was hard for you to find your core," he stated mysteriously.

Susan didn't know how he knew that. It almost scared her.

"Try this," he offered and he handed her a wand that was in pieces. He laid out a large box that held one core for each kind. "Put it together," he instructed, "and then wave it around a bit. Which is your wand hand?"

"I'm lefthanded."

He just nodded, and handed her a different box. "Wand hand means a lot, depending on which wand is the best for you. Right-handed people generally don't have as exotic wands as left-handed people, but everyone's different, so one mustn't catagorize them by wand hand." He looked her straight in the eye as he instructed her further. "Once three cores have worked for you, I will hand you several different peices of woods. Put them all together, and if the wood works, I'll get the hybrid stick. It won't have a specific length until you wave it one last time. It will then tell me how long it has to be."

Susan understood, and started trying core after core. She had been going through the list in the book in alphabetical order. Finally, when she reached the letter D, something happened. Funny-looking shadows came out from her wand.

The old man held back a laugh. "Doxy Droppings, how peculiar," he commented, "A real joker, aren't you?"

Susan was stunned. She could barely stutter, "N-no. Not really." Writing it off as an oddity, Susan continued testing cores. It was a very long time before another core worked. At the end of it all, Meiwaku took the three cores and headed to the shelves, and came back with peices of woods. That, too, took awhile. Finally, he brought the long, hybrid stick out, and a small ball of light exploded exactly eleven and a half inches away from Susan's hand.

As Meiwaku disappeared to the back of the store, Vick and Liz approached Susan.

"So, what does he do to you?" Liz asked, a curious glint in her eye.

Susan gave her a serious glance. "He performs a bunch of curses on you, and whether or not you can handle them determines your wand."

Vick raised a meticulously plucked eyebrow. Liz just looked blank. Then Susan laughed, and it was a delerious, joyous sound. "It involves feeling very stupid by waving a wand around that has different parts until you have the right combination for you."

"Sounds very boring," Liz commented sarcastically.

Meiwaku chose then to enter the room. He was holding a cream and red, footlong box. "This wand contains braided cores, and is made from hybrid woods. It contains Doxy Droppings, Phoenix Wing Feather, and Sphinx Mane Hair. The handle is from a Dogwood/Willow hybrid, which is particularly good for enhancing social charms and empath powers. Since it's in the handle, it is the basics of the wand. The length gets a little more complicated," he continued, "as it is from a Fig/Sycamore hybrid. The fig is ideal for balance, and the sycamore is good for growth and perseverence." A roll of white paper recorded what he said about the wand as he said it. "It is eleven and a half inches long." The paper stopped writing. He tore off a piece and handed it to Susan. "Be careful with your Meiwaku's Wand, it may become tempermental or fickle in its age if you don't take proper care of it," he warned. "Who's next?"

"May I?" Liz asked excitedly. Old man Meiwaku let her. She jumped as her third core swirled smoke and embers. She was done testing cores when she hit the Gryffin parts.The woods were particularly difficult, as she couldn't get the combination right. She'd mix up the woods that worked with the woods that didn't. Finally, Meiwaku had her start all over again, and hand him the woods she knew that worked.

Liz had been experimenting for about forty-five minutes when Meiwaku could finally go into his monologue about everything the wand was made from. "This wand contains braided cores, and is made from hybrid woods. It contains Ashwinder eggshell, a Centaur tail hair, and a Gryffin wing feather. Your wand will be a bit more expensive because of the large demand of Centaur cores, yet only few Centaurs will let us take such things as a tail hair or finger nail, because of their loathing of the human race. The handle is from an Elder/Peach hybrid, giving your feelings of love an appearance of power. It embodies the saying 'With love, anything is possible.' The length is a Ebony/Rowan, and the Rowan will temper Ebony's power with the ability to immobilize anything, spirits and power included. This wand is ten and a half inches long." With that, he tore the piece of paper off the roll. "You heard what I said to the first one?" he asked.

Liz said, "Yes, sir," as she recieved the paper and the box that held her wand.

Vick had watched everything that transpired. She did the math as she looked at the prices and would have winced if hiding her feelings wasn't second nature. She motioned to show she was next. As she went through the process, she had enough sense not to jump when her first core reacted. Her common sense lead her through the nonsense to her wand, made of almost pure power parts.

Meiwaku seemed pleased. "At least one of you isn't silly," he commented with approval. He held open the box so that Vick could see the finished product. "This wand contains braided cores, and is made from hybrid woods. It contains a Dragon tail spike, from the Hungarian Horntail Harry Potter fought in the Triwizard Tournement two years ago. She died, and only one tail spike didn't disintegrate. Another core in your wand is a Kneazle whisker, from a Kneazle from an experienced breeder in Surrey. The last core is a Winged Horse tail hair. It was a male roan, with wild eyes and more strength than its trainer knew what to do with. The handle is made from an Elm/Oak hybrid, and the Oak will balance out the dulling effects of the Elm. The length is a Hawthorn/Spruce hybrid, which is great for defense/attack spells. This wand is twelve inches long." Vick had no emotion on her face as she recieved the box and reciept.

"Will you be needing a wand, as well, Vincent?" Meiwaku asked him.

Silently, he shook his head, and just looked at his daughter and neices having acquired their wands. He ushered the three of them out of the store, and as he exited after them, Tom came into view with Cat and Ana trailing after him. They held a couple bags that read "Roving Robes, for the travelling Witch or Wizard."

"Shopping for robes is so weird!" Cat exclaimed upon seeing Vick, Susan, and Liz.

"You think that's weird?" Liz refuted, "Just wait until you have to go get your wand."

"Let them experience it themselves, Liz," Tom interrupted.

Liz rolled her eyes good naturedly. "Okay, Uncle Tom."

"Come on, it's our turn to go buy robes," Vince commanded.

About an hour later, all of them met back at the car. Frank had all the books and potions supplies.

"How'd you get them all?" Vince asked, looking incredulous.

"The shopkeepers recieve about thirty owls every year on what schools require which items. I simply asked them which things Hogwarts would require," he said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"What kinds of wands did you guys get?" Liz inquired as she eyed the bags Cat and Ana were holding.

Ana was hesitant to say anything, so Cat began. "Mr. Meiwaku basically called me a frumpy, silly little creature when he gave me my wand. It's cores are fairy dust, mooncalf hoof, and unicorn tail hair. The wood in the handle is Apple/Coconut, and the length is Almond/Mistletoe."

"No wonder he called you silly, Cat. Those are all...well...really girlish components for a wand," Susan explained, having read the book at the counter. "But he shouldn't have called you that," she saved. "It's not like you could have picked which wand you wanted. It picked you."

"Right. He wouldn't even talk to me other than telling me what my wand contained," Ana snapped. "Mine's got a Leprechaun whisker, a Malaclaw claw, and a cystalized stick of Nundu breath. He acted as though I were a disease of some sort."

"Ana, a Nundu looks like a jaguar, but its breath is deadly. It kills entire villages. Africa's got a lot of desert because of those things," said Susan. "What were your woods?"

"The handle was Fir/White Poplar, and the length was Alder/Teak."

The three who had not witnessed it understood. Only Susan could decipher what it meant that her sister and cousin had recieved those woods, but her head hurt from all her thinking. "What's next, Uncle Vince?" she questioned.

"Well, next...we wait until envoys from Hogwarts come to retrieve you," Frank answered. "I've already sent them an owl. They'll be here shortly."

"You mean we're going there directly? No time with you to say goodbye to our mothers? No anything?" Cat asked, her eyes beginning to tear at the mention of their mothers. The other four became sad as well.

The three men gathered the five girls together in a large hug and held them close. They cried and sobbed there by the cars.


A/N: Hi, people. So glad the two of you read this!

Oddball91: Thanks for reviewing! I'm not quite sure it will be a great story...It includes putting people in Hogwarts, and they are all girls...but at least it's got a plot:-)

Moo Cow4: I really appreciate your reviewing. Hope you liked this chapter!