HSWW And Us Chapter 3, a harry potter fanfic

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (And Us)
Chapter Three

Ollivander looked at his notes. Last year he had made his usual predictions and found that half of them were wrong. He had been sure that the Whiting boy would have been a Hufflepuff, and then he turned out to be a Slytherin. Either children these days were becoming too crafty or he was just getting easier to fool. He flipped the page and looked at this year's predictions. Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs mostly. A few Ravenclaws, but only one that had stood out. He'd counted only four Slytherins, but judging by his predictions from last year, there would be more than he expected.

He snapped the book shut, and was just about to close shop early when the bell above the shop door tingled. He looked up and saw a small boy, a first year to be, in need of a wand. "Left or right?" Ollivander asked without any pretense. "I… need a wand." The boy replied weakly.

"Obviously." Ollivander continued. "Are you left or right handed? I went through twenty wands with the last girl with no success until she finally mentioned she was left handed. After that, of course, it only took me two tries to find the best one." The boy still stood in the doorway. "Right."

Ollivander ushered him in and began his work. The boy stood quietly, did as he was told, and asked no questions. "What is your name, boy?" Ollivander asked as he handed the boy his first wand to try. "Farrel. Leon Farrel."

"And where are your parents, Leon?" the wandmaker ventured. Leon replied too quickly. "Not here." During the three hours it took for him to find the right wand, Ollivander asked simple questions. And Leon answered each with a short, one sentence answer. "Do you have a sister, Leon. I recall a Ravenclaw with the name Farrel. She had a lovely Walnut with a Kelpie Hair Core." At this, the boy gave Ollivander such a cold and hateful look that the old man knew not to pursue any more small talk. He sold the perfect wand, and was glad to see the boy go. He locked the door, dimmed the lights, and returned to the notebook he had abandoned on his desk. Flipping to the current year, he added the name Farrel, put a note of relation to a fourth year named Colette, and in parentheses made his prediction. (Slytherin).

Merili hugged Minako so tightly she yelped for breath. "I'll see you in a few days! We can meet on the platform and share a compartment! I'm so excited it'll be great and we can…" Merili's mother smiled politely and dragged her daughter forcefully toward the door. Minako and her mother waved goodbye. "I warned you about Gryffindors. They're all hyperactive. She's a sweet girl, though I wonder if she ever sits still!" Minako's mother began a small rant about the superiority of Ravenclaw, while Minako pretended to listen. Merili was lots a fun. She was a bit random, but it was obvious her mind was constantly working. "I bet she's really smart." Minako commented. "You'd have to be to be able to talk so often and still have meaningful things to say."

"Sometimes, the most meaningful things are those we keep to ourselves." Her mother said soundly. After their talk, Minako had plenty of time before she needed to meet her mother for dinner. She had been given a few coins for lunch, and was eager to spend them. The Alley was magnificent and crowded. She spent nearly half an hour just trying to find a calm place to eat. A secluded tea shop that served only light sandwiches seemed perfect. She sat down, ordered, and pulled out one of the school books she'd bought the day before. She was a chapter into 'Hogwarts, A History' when she noticed an annoying motion out of the corner of her eye. A thin boy with black hair was twirling his wand around his fingers and looking into space. Minako turned her chair so that the movement couldn't distract her. She began chapter two as a new disturbance appeared, however. A man walked into the shop and sat across from the boy. He barely moved, but he was an ugly man, so Minako turned her chair even further.

"Got all your supplies then?" Wonderful, thought Minako. He was ugly and he talked loudly.

"Yes, sir.", replied the boy. "Well here's your ticket then. Do you know how to get to King's Cross?" "Yes, sir." "Very good, but have you any idea how to get onto the platform?", the man asked. Minako could predict the response. "Yes, sir."

"Very good. Well then it's understandable, you're mother being a muggle and all. But in the future, you should be accompanied by an adult. I'll be your representative within the Ministry. If you need anything, then, just send an owl." Leon took the business card the man was offering him and sighed. "Yes, sir."

A few moments after the man had left, Leon made his own way toward the door. Minako looked up as he left, and though she hadn't meant to stare, their eyes met. Leon's seemed to twitch for an instant, then he proceeded out the door. Minako shuddered. The thought of him going to Hogwarts with her made her less excited than she had been all summer. There was nothing to worry about though, she thought. Anyone who answered four questions in a row with the same response couldn't be smart enough for Ravenclaw.

At day's end, Leon was feeling generally miserable. He'd been treated like an idiot all day, just because he was there without a parent. What ever happened to the phrase 'Still waters run deep'? People were the same no matter how they were raised. Muggles or wizards, it didn't matter. People were cruel. No one would guess just by looking that this near twelve year old boy was as mature as he was jaded. Muggles and wizards. It was both their faults. The muggles refused to notice when his mother had become an empty shadow of her former self. And the wizards never cared that it was their fault it'd happened in the first place. And Leon's mind came to the same conclusion it always did. Things would have been different if his sister was still here.

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