Chapter 3: The Wand Chooses the Witch

Once I stepped inside Ollivander's, I had suddenly found myself overwhelmed with anxiety. Several fears came flooding to me at once: What if this place had truly fallen into the hands of You-Know-Who, and someone did end up persuading me to join in his ranks—would I be able to run, or would I be jinxed if I didn't join? If this place still remained a wand shop, would I be able to find the right wand and would hopefully be chosen by that wand? What if I had tried every wand in this shop, and absolutely none of them chose me, just because of my family's 'cursed' history? What would Rowan think if I'd come back to her without a wand? Would she still be my friend, or would she think I'm a freak and would think I'm too 'cursed' to even deserve any friends at Hogwarts?

Before I could think up any more fears, I heard a sudden thump of a ladder hitting the edge of a shelf in the dim hallway just barely visible behind the desk. I looked up and saw an elderly man with curly grey hair and even older-looking eyes the color of maple. His lips curled in a smile the way one did when a well-known acquaintance arrived unannounced.

"I wondered when I would be seeing you, Miss Janelle Morgan," he said in a scratchy voice that sounded like it was a thousand years old.

I raised an eyebrow at him, wondering how in the name of Merlin he knew my name.

After the man, whom I assumed was Ollivander himself, climbed down the rickety ladder and approached the desk with a twelve-by-two-inch navy-blue box in his wrinkly hands, he asked me, "Here to receive your first wand, yes?" After I nodded, he lifted up the box and said, "I have just the thing," and took out a rather fine-looking wand with intricate carvings. "Apple wood wand, dragon heartstring core, nine inches, rigid. Go on. Give it a twirl!" He presented the wand to me, and I nervously took it from him.

I looked expectantly at Ollivander, hoping he would give me some instructions on what to do with the wand, but he just gestured his hand to nothing in particular, meaning that I was free to wave it at anything I chose to test it on. Naturally, I waved the wand over my head, and suddenly several papers went flying off the desk and scattered everywhere on the floor. Some even got shredded in midair, however that happened. Did I do that?

"Sorry about that," I said, feeling embarrassed by the mess. I had felt an urge to clean it up, but Ollivander spoke up before I could do anything about it.

"It's not your fault," he said as if he had had this sort of thing happen to him several times before. "The wand chooses the witch, and that is clearly not the wand for you." Then he paused for a moment, as one would recall something from the past. "I recall your brother exploded my favorite inkpot when he tried his first wand."

My eyebrows rose in shock at these words. "You knew my brother?" But then I thought, of course he knows my brother. Anyone who had been paying attention to the Daily Prophet would know what he did and how that impacted the Wizarding World.

"I remember every wand I've ever sold," Ollivander explained. "His was maple wood, dragon heartstring core, ten inches. A fine wand. Shame they snapped it in half when he was expelled." Yup, he had definitely been paying attention, I thought dismally. "I understand that he ran away from home after being expelled and has been missing ever since. That must have had a profound impact on you…"

I could suddenly feel his sympathy towards me, but I couldn't stop the words from coming out of my mouth. "Expelling him was completely unfair," I said angrily, almost like a whiny five-year-old, "and it was just as wrong of him to run away without telling us."

Ollivander raised an eyebrow, considering my seemingly huffy statement. I honestly didn't mean to sound so huffy; it just sort of came out that way. "Hmmm…I can tell there's a lot of fight in you." Here, I raised an eyebrow quizzically. I never really viewed myself as a fighter, and I didn't even think it possible to see that happening in the future, either. "I think I may have just the wand…" He turned back down the narrow hallway and skimmed several boxes until he picked another box that was black as tar. Then he returned to the desk with the box and took out what looked like just a twig roughly pulled from a tree. "Blackthorn…very unusual wand wood. Unicorn hair core, eleven-and-a-quarter inches. Slightly springy and flexible."

He presented the seemingly less attractive looking wand to me, and once I had it firmly in my hand, I had suddenly felt a sense of euphoria. A calm breeze washed over me, but the door still remained closed behind me. It was like my own personal wind phenomenon, but the only damage it had done was ruffle my hair a bit. The light breeze ceased soon after.

What did this mean, I wondered? Had I been chosen?

"Splendid!" Ollivander cheered with a clap of his hands. "I'll be interested to see what path you choose."

I asked him if the wind I had felt was a sign that the wand had chosen me, and after he confirmed my assumption, I couldn't have been more relieved.

After I bought my wand, Ollivander urged, "Go on, now. I look forward to seeing what becomes of you."

With that, I left the store with my new and somewhat ugly looking blackthorn wand in hand.

After leaving the store, I examined the wand more closely in the bright light of the sun. It looked like owl pellets had simply been hardened and shaped into a magical object for wizardry. I honestly didn't understand why a wand so ugly and unprofessional would choose me, or anyone for that matter. Then again, I did come from a cursed family, so I guessed it would make sense for the most unattractive wand in the world to suddenly become attracted to me. I was very tempted to go back into the store and demand Ollivander a refund of this wand so that I could find another more suitable wand to my liking, but then I'd remembered my mum once tell me, "I am no wandologist, but there is a rumor that once you are chosen by a wand, it is like a promise being made. As long as that promise is kept, your wand will forever be connected to you until death, or until the wand renders ineffective to you if that promise is ever broken."

Thinking back on Mum's belief that wands had 'voices', I was honestly a little confused by this statement. Now that this blackthorn wand had chosen me, I guessed that wind phenomenon was the exact moment when the wand had created a magical bond, or promise, with me that it expected me to keep, between now and when I had decided to part with it. The problem was, I didn't know what the so-called 'promise' was. How was I supposed to keep a promise if I didn't even know what the promise was? Maybe in the years to come at Hogwarts, I was going to find out, and I couldn't wait to get started.

Sometime later, I had found Rowan standing outside Flourish and Blotts where we had agreed to meet. She was dressed the same, but this time she was wearing a multicolored beanie atop her dark wavy hair.

"Oh! Hey, Jane!" she waved me over excitedly. "How do you like my hat?"

I could honestly say the multicolored beanie was an unusual combination with her current outfit, but instead I said, "It…suits you. You'll look like the smartest first-year at Hogwarts."

She smiled proudly. "It was your suggestion! I'll be coming to you for all my future fashion advice." I couldn't suppress a laugh; it was nice to hear someone comment something like that to me, especially when I very rarely shopped much at home. Mum always seemed to know what I liked and didn't like and would do most of the shopping for me.

Rowan suddenly paused, looking dumbfounded. "Wait! Is that a blackthorn wand?" She pointed down at my hand, and I had suddenly realized that I was still holding my unattractive looking wand in that hand.

Feeling slightly embarrassed to show her my wand, I had apparently found myself raising it up for her to see anyway. "Uh…yes. How did you know?"

"My family's tree farm supplies wood for wands and brooms," Rowan explained. "That's why I love staying inside and reading. It keeps me from going outside and farming." Then she looked down at her feet, seeming ashamed to say the next thing on her mind. "That, and the fact I don't have any friends…"

"We can be friends," I immediately responded. I somehow couldn't imagine this girl not having any friends to look to at Hogwarts. I honestly had felt the same way about myself, but I wasn't about to tell her that.

"Really?" She sounded a little unsure. "You don't think I'm too weird? People usually think I'm too weird."

"People say the same thing about me," I said honestly, shrugging my shoulders.

"Why would anyone say that about you?" she asked almost doubtfully.

Because I'm cursed, I thought to myself. Because I have a relation to someone who had made bad choices in school that ultimately got him expelled that everybody at school will know about.

"My brother is Jacob Morgan," I admitted unhappily. It still hurt to talk about him.

Rowan's eyes suddenly seemed to bulge out of her eye sockets, and I was pretty sure it wasn't an illusion through her large glasses. "The same Jacob Morgan who was expelled from Hogwarts for breaking school rules in search of the fabled Cursed Vaults?" I nodded in confirmation. "That was a massive story in the Daily Prophet. Everyone at school will know about that."

I nodded glumly. "I know. And they'll all think I'm weird."

"We'll be weird together!" she said almost insistently, like she wasn't going to allow me not to be her friend. "What should I do if someone gives you trouble over your brother?"

Wow, I was almost impressed with this girl. Despite telling her the honest truth about my family history, she seemed to be willing to be my friend, regardless of whether I was cursed or not. Even if I did end up going nuts from some cursed artifact, and I had unknowingly started attacking her, I would've thought she would just avoid me for the rest of my life, but it seemed like she didn't care what would happen in the future. In a way, it was like she was saying that even if I did go nuts, she would find a way to bring me back and would not be afraid to do so. She had no idea how much that comment meant to me.

"I can stand up for myself," I said confidently, "but I'd feel better if I knew you were on my side."

"Understood," Rowan nodded seriously. "I'll use my extensive vocabulary to verbally pummel anyone who attempts to besmirch your reputation." She had said that in almost a joking manner, and I couldn't help smiling.

"I'm glad we met, Rowan," I said proudly. "It will be nice to see a friendly face at school. Especially one who knows Hogwarts so well."

"Me too, Jane!" she agreed with great enthusiasm. "See you in September on the Hogwarts Express!"

"Yes!" I exclaimed with equal enthusiasm. "I can't wait!"

Several minutes later, I was back in the Leaky Cauldron with Mum and telling her all about my meeting with Rowan Khanna and how she helped me tremendously with preparing for Hogwarts, as well as this experience helping me gain some newfound courage.

"Didn't I tell you you'd meet someone helpful and knowledgeable before your first day?" she praised. "Especially one who is going to spend that first day with you!"

At Mum's request, I had reluctantly shown her my not-so-attractive Blackthorn wand and told her I honestly believed I had been chosen by the wrong wand, to which she said, "Remember what I told you about wands and how they make promises to the witch or wizard they choose? This Blackthorn wand chose you, Jane, and now you must live up to its promise to remain bonded to it."

"But that's just it," I countered back with a shrug, "I have no idea what that promise is. How am I supposed to keep a promise if I don't even know what it is?"

"In time, my darling, you will find out," Mum said as she embraced me tightly—a little too tightly. "I am so proud of you, Jane."

"Mum!" I groaned as I struggled to breathe. "You're smothering me!" It was okay to do it at home, but it was not okay to do it anywhere else, Muggle World or Wizarding World.

All things considered, I knew that as long as I had Rowan Khanna on my side during my time at Hogwarts, no matter what house we got Sorted in—though it would be incredible if we were sorted in the same house—everything would be right as rain.