The Willful Wand
Alex walked out of hearth coughing, wheezing, and covered in dust from head to toe. He never understood how come wizards never bothered to invent a cleaner method for travel. Soon, the strong stench of the rotten eggs and vegetables greeted him. As he opened his eyes, he found himself in the cramped shop with the assorted jars containing the eyeballs, wings of insects, larvae, horns, unicorn hairs, and countless bizarre objects, some alive, others not so much. His father stood near the counter. He pulled out the wand and gave a flick, causing all the dust to fall off him, and said, "Since we are already at the Apothecary, we will be buying your potions ingredient first." While his father bought various ingredients required for the first year, Alex eyed the jar full of salamander eyes, he thought they were wonderful but his father refused to buy them .
They walked out into the fresh air and the tumult of the crowd. The Diagon Alley was stuffed with the chattering people, jumping from one shop to another, colliding, and frequently muttering apologies. Children wading through the forest of human bodies toward a shop, which Alex knew for sure was the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.
"Should we go and buy the books first?" he asked.
"No, We must get you a wand first," replied his father with an air of urgency.
As they took to the street, Alex noticed a horde of people in front of a glass case containing, what kennilworthy Whisp described as wizardkind's worst kept secret, a broomstick, specifically the thunderbolt , Alex would have loved to dismantle it if only he had enough money. In the end, they reached a narrow and shabby shop:
Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C, was written in the gold letters above the door.
A bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they entered the premise. The shop had a single twisting chair and boxes stacked over one another till there was no more room for them. There was a thick layer of dust on almost every surface of the shop, but it smelt wonderful compared to the Apothecary. A frail old man appeared out of the depth of the shop and said, "Good Morning, Mr. Fowley," and then further went on saying, "Eleven inches, cedar, with a unicorn hair for the core, was it? if memory does not fail me."
"It certainly does not, Mr. Ollivander," his father said respectfully. He brandished the wand and handed it over to Mr. Ollivander, who examined it keenly and said, "Ah beautiful, You have kept it in fine condition," While giving it back, he said, "Are we looking for a wand for young Mr. Fowley, today?" he asked.
"Yes, Indeed," his father replied.
"Unfortunately, We are out of stock," said Mr. Ollivander.
It was the first time, after arriving in the Diagon Alley, that Alex felt nervous. His fathers eyebrows furrowed, and he said, " Will we be able to buy a wand from other wandmakers?" his father asked calmly.
"No, just this morning, I received a message from the other wandmakers stating not to send any more customers since they have run out of wands," said Mr. Ollivander.
At this moment, clouds of thoughts had started condensing in Alex's head, what if they could not find a wand for him? Does Hogwarts even accept students without a wand? He felt as though rats were running in his stomach.
"There is a way, However, I cannot guarantee that it will work for certain. Give me a minute," said Mr. Ollivander, and disappeared into the silent darkness of the shop. Soon, He returned with a dusty box in his hands and said, "This wand has been in my family since the time of my grandfather but it has always refused to choose a master," He opened the box and pulled out a polished wand.
"Fifteen inches, flexible, snakewood, and an unknown core; Hold it in your wand hand, and give It a flick," said Mr. Ollivander.
Alex took the wand in his right hand and gave a flick, nothing happened
.
"Ah, as I thought," said Mr. Ollivander, and with these words, Alex's heart sank even further.
"Can we make any other arrangements?" his father asked.
"Although He may face some difficulties, he can still use this wand," said Mr. Ollivander, and added, "I will have crafted a new set of wands by Christmas, and then he can have it exchanged for one that suits him best."
"Very well, Thank you very much, Mr. Ollivander. How much will it be for the wand?" his father asked.
"It will be 15 galleons," he replied.
Soon, They were out on the street and among the fumbling crowd. "Don't worry, son, Christmas will be here even before you start complaining about Mr. Filch," said his father, reassuringly, as they walked in the direction of the Flourish and Blotts. Fortunately, the Flourish and Blotts had ample supply of every book they required, and more. Alex was drawn to them like a Hummingbird to the nectar. His father noticed him staring at the book named The Mechanics of Magical Flight, and said, "Don't even think about it, young man, that book has enough mathematical formulae to make a spell crafter weep in despair."
After leaving the Flourish and Blotts they went to Madam Malkin's to buy dress robes, and then to the Amanuensis Quills. They stood in front of an object which had caused much polarization amongst wizards, a fountain pen. The fountain pens, along with the ball point pens, were recently introduced in Britain's wizarding community, and had caused quite emotive reactions amongst wizards. Many old fashioned wizards fumed over them while others fawned, Alex was amongst later ones. He found the fountain pens to be much more efficient than quills, and much more elegant compared to ball point pens.
"How about this spell check once?" asked his father.
"Not particularly useful to me," returned Alex.
Soon, they were out with a few quills, a couple of fountain pens, and ink bottles. At last, they went to the Eeylops owl Emporium. Inside, they observed a dark room filled with countless gleaming gem-like eyes staring at them. His father approached an owl, and asked, "Do you think Merlin would like her?"
"For lunch? Absolutely," he answered, His father snickered as he scratched the owl.
.
As soon as they were out in the open his father asked, "So, What are you going to name her?"
"Hmm Let me think, How about Morgana?" he replied.
"The Queen of Avalon? Charming. How about an ice cream before we head home?" asked his father.
"Nah, We better get home," he muttered, while making a face at the passing crowd.
In the evening, the pair of them stood in the basement covering their noses from, truly awful stench that had spread to every corner of the cramped basement. His father pointed his wand at floorboards and muttered, "Alique," the floorboards rose in the air and then were pushed aside revealing green patches on the dirt. Several eyes opened on the surface of fungus-like creatures, they stared at them, and soon, sprouted multiple feet like a centipede.
"Bah! Bundimuns," his father shouted as they started escaping in various directions.
His father pointed his wand at one of them and shouted, 'Scourgify!' and it vanished into the thin air as though it never existed. His father repeated the same spell and with every pink flash more and more of them vanished.
"Can we keep some of them?" He asked eagerly.
"Not a chance, Young man, even if one of them remains, we would be in deep trouble!" shouted his father.
Alex took out a glass jar and opened it near the floor, and soon, one of the nasty rascals scurried in the jar. He slipped it in his pocket before his father could take a note of it.