There have always been things that have bothered Gale Zymin. For example, Robbie. Her older brother was anything but humble, and frankly, quite annoying.

As she sat at the oak wood table in her family's eating room, reading a large novel, Gale tried to tuck her slim legs into the small space between the table and the chair. She was thin, but this was quite a squeeze for her.

The thing about Gale was that she wasn't exactly... normal. She knew it, her mother knew it, Robbie knew it. The kids at school knew it.

But they were just muggles. She could care less what they thought of her. Gale could attend Hogwarts soon. Soon.

"Gale!" Robbie called from the front room. "Gale! There's a letter for you!"

Gale tried to ignore him. Truth be told, she wasn't really listening to what he was saying.

"Don't you here me, Gale? Your bloody letter's here!"

She finally looked up, still half distracted. "What 'bloody letter'?"

Robbie rolled his eyes, but handed her the letter anyways. "The one to Hogwarts. You know, the one you've only been waiting for your whole life."

This surprised Gale, though it shouldn't have. She opened it up, knowing now that she most definitely got accepted, seeing as how they don't send acceptance letters to squibs and muggles.

"Signed by the headmaster himself!" She yelled in excitement.

Finally. A place she'd belong. Where she wouldn't be the only witch.

"What do you need?"

"Ummm..." she scanned the list. "Robes, wand, cauldron, books..."

"Hand-me-down time!" Robbie yelled, running to his room only to appear a moment later with a trunk full of books, used quills, an incomplete set glass vials, and who knows what else. "You can choose out the books you need, but the vials and quills are yours."

Gale raised an eyebrow, but decided not to fight. Her family didn't have too many pounds, let alone galleons, and doubted that her mum could afford new books. Just so long as she didn't inherit Robbie's sweaty old robes.

She grabbed a few volumes, and set them in the table, where she would later scratch out Robbie's name to replace it with her own. For a Ravenclaw, he most definitely want very careful with his belongings.

"I can get my own robes. But an owl or rat is off the line, I suppose. And a wand. I'll need a wand."


Diagon Alley was surprisingly empty, despite the oncoming school year. Gale had never really liked people, so she appreciated this.

She got her robes and other school supplies without problem. And then it was time to get her wand.

Gale stepped into Olivander's Wand Shop nervously. She had heard stories of children ruining Mr. Olivander's belongings in the process of getting a wand, which would most definitely draw notice to herself. Gale didn't like attention to be drawn to her as it was; it was a thing with the Zymins. Stay hidden, don't draw attention to yourself. Be invisible.

"Ahh." Mr. Olivander said with a grin as she entered (alone, because Robbie was getting his own supplies, and her mother was get some of her own shopping done). "Another Zymin. I never forget a face."

"Hello, sir. I'm here for a wand."

"I'd hope so, considering this is a shop wands." He let out a laugh. "Let me grab a few from the back."

Mr. Olivander left for a moment, returning with an armful of wand boxes.

"Try this one first," he told her, handing her a box. "Twenty-five centimeters, alder wood, Phoenix feather core, slightly bendy."

Gale tried it and, much to her dismay, it went "out of whack". She was mortified.

"Well, that's alright. Very few get it on their first try." He handed her another, which she also failed at.

It went on like that for a while, but none of the wands seemed to be the correct fit for Gale.

"I do wonder..." Olivander disappeared into the back room once again, this time returning with a box that had a different logo than the one for Wand Shop.

"That's not one of your wands?"

"No. It was imported last week from France. We don't actually make wands with this core." He took the wand out to inspect it, paying close attention to each of the curves on wood. "Twenty-eight centimeters, blackthorn wood, Thestral hair core, unbending."

She took this one carefully, hopeful that this would be the one so she could stop her searching.

"Swish and flick," she muttered under her breath.

And this time, it was the right one.


Alright! First chapter! Any constructive criticism? Comments? Questions?

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