Chapter 2: Old Magic and New Witches

As they walked through the door of the wand shop, they saw shelves upon shelves of long, thin boxes, all of which were categorized in some way.

"Someone made all of these?" Amanda asked, sounding amazed.

"Yep, all of them were made by one person. If not most of them. Speaking of which..." Phoenix walked forward looking around, "Mr. Ollivander?!"

Just as his name was called, he slid to the front on a ladder, scaring everyone except Phoenix, he was a man of over 100 years, and he looked like he had a lot of knowledge.

"Ah...I see you've brought some new witches looking for some new wands, Am I correct?" Ollivander asked with a slight smile,

"You are correct Mr. Ollivander, girls, this is Garrick Ollivander, the owner of the shop and the one who made these wands."

Ollivander walked up to the girls and took a good look at them, muttering to himself as he did so. Lotte was slightly uncomfortable.

"Uh, why are you looking at us like that?"

"He's simply analyzing you, to see what wands may work for you. It's how wand makers find wands for their customers, narrowing the options down to a wand that might choose them."

Lotte, still a bit unsure, nodded in understanding.

After Ollivander finished his observation of the group, he asked the obvious question, "Who wishes to get their wand first?"

But before anyone could say anything, someone came bursting through the door, someone who seemed quite out of breath.

It was, "Professor Ursula?" Diana said in confusion,

"Actually...you can call me Chariot...we're not at Luna Nova...anymore." Chariot said still catching her breath.

Phoenix stepped forward, looking a bit angry said, "How did you get here? Only wizards and witches from this world can open the gate."

Chariot looked up, "Uh, you left the doorway opened."

Phoenix's expression went from angry to shocked, and then proceeded to facepalm, "Tom is going to kill me. Whatever, I guess you came here to join us?"

Chariot stood up and nodded, she explained that she managed to slip away from the other professors, she wanted to not only help Akko and the others, but she also wanted to see Hogwarts, maybe learn something.

"Hmm, well I guess since you're so interested…" Phoenix grabbed her arm and pulled her to the front, "She's first."

Ollivander looked at her and started walking toward a pile of boxes, he pulled one out and took out the wand that was inside.

"Try this..." he handed the wand to Chariot who was still slightly surprised being put on the spot. The wand was a 12 ¾ inch, cherry wood wand with a Jackalope antler core, she just stood there not knowing what to do.

Phoenix nudged her saying, "What are you waiting for, give it a wave."

Chariot did so, flicking the wand toward a light, causing it to explode, scaring everyone, "Definitely not" Ollivander said calmly, taking the wand back.

Chariot looked to Phoenix in shook, "Does this usually happen?"

"Yeah, finding wands for new wizards and witches is a bit of a 'trial and error' process." Phoenix said looking scared that the damage might get worse.

He pulled out another and handed it to Chariot, this one was a 14-inch, Hawthorn wand, with a Thunderbird tail feather core. When she had the wand in her grip it felt, perfect, she gave it a wave toward the broken light, repairing it almost instantly.

"That would be the one for you," Ollivander said.

Chariot looked at her new wand with a smile, "This feels, almost like it was made for me."

"That's what it usually feels like for new people, and just as I said to the girls, the wand chooses the wizard, and that wand has chosen you."

Chariot was about to reach into her pocket to pay for her wand, but Phoenix stopped her, "Uh, let me get all the wands, what is in your pocket won't suffice." Chariot nodded.

The other girls got their wands in more or less the same way, some causing more damage than others, but in the end, they all got their wands.

Akko got a 13-inch, Blackthorn wand, with a Phoenix feather core, Diana got a 13-inch, Mahogany wand, with a Unicorn tail hair core, Lotte, a 12-inch, Chestnut with Veela Hair, Sucy, a 13 ¾ inch, Laurel with Dittany stalk, Amanda, a 11 ¼ inch, English oak, with White River Monster Spine, Jasminka, a 10-inch, Pear, with Kneazle whisker, and Constanze with a 10 ½ inch, Walnut, with Rougarou hair.

Phoenix paid for the wands and they headed out to get the next thing on their list...robes.

"So, what kind of wand do you have Phoenix?" Akko asked,

"Well, I've got a 13 ¼ inch, Mahogany wand with a Horned Serpent horn core. Quite rare." Akko looked in amazement,

"But don't forget, your wand has a Phoenix feather, those are just as, if not rarer." Akko looked at the box her wand came in and smiled.

"So, I'm guessing we'll be needing new robes, and we won't be able to wear anything else?" Diana asked.

"Well, you'll need to wear the robes when you're in class and at most school events, but in your free time, you're free to wear just about anything, as long as it's not too revealing or offensive."

Amanda definitely was cool with that, as Phoenix saw her smile and fist pump in the corner of his eye.

They made their way to 'Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions', they had almost no problems getting their robes and other clothing...if not for Jasminka's constant eating making getting her robes a bit difficult. But they still, with some convincing, got her to stop eating, at least temporarily.

Next was books, so they went to 'Flourish and Blotts', they, thankfully had no problems getting the books, but Akko and Diana were slightly paranoid that they might see another monster book, but Phoenix reassured them. They picked up the books that Phoenix had listed, including The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1, One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection.

The last few things they needed were cauldrons, vials, an animal, and other miscellaneous things. Phoenix saved the animal of last. They made their way to Potage's Cauldron Shop, Sucy was the most excited for this, seeing how she was more into potion-making. They got their cauldrons and vials from there, Phoenix joking about just leaving Sucy there to enjoy herself, but Sucy, reluctantly went with them to get the rest of the things on their list, stopping at another shop to get their brass scales and small telescopes.

"Ok, so there's one last thing, you have a choice between an owl, cat or toad, what will it be?"

They talked about it for a bit, they originally thought cat, but Phoenix explained that Owls are usually good pets and are used for sending and receiving mail, so they all went with owls.

Once they got to Eeylops Owl Emporium, they immediately were bombarded by owls, they had all escaped their cages, the person running the place explained that someone used a spell to unlock their cages as a joke, Phoenix pulled out his wand and yelled "Immobulus!" And all the owls froze in the air, which confused them at first, but calmed them down after a bit.

After the owner apologized and thanked them for the help, they looked at the owls to see which ones they liked. Akko and Diana both chose a Snowy Owl, Sucy chose a Screech owl, Lotte and Constanze chose Tawny Owl, Amanda chose a Barn owl, Jasminka chose a Barred Owl, and Chariot chose a Brown Owl.

Everyone, except, Sucy, had already started bonding with their Owls, Sucy on the other hand, well, she did choose a Screech owl.

After they got everything back to their rooms at the Leaky Cauldron, Chariot decided to room with Phoenix seeing how all the other rooms were full. She was concerned about attending classes but Phoenix gave her an offer, she can attend normal classes, and he can give her private classes to get her ahead of the others, but in order for that to happen, she'd need to promise to stay totally focused on her studies when she has work to do, and he'd give her plenty of free time to help Akko and the others and time to relax.

She thought it would allow her to be helpful and allow her to be on top of things, but she felt it would be weird for her to attend class...when she's already an adult. Phoenix already had that covered, in the form of a very strong and specially made Polyjuice Potion that he had purchased, it would allow her to become younger for a period of time. She would have to take it at the halfway point of her classes, but it wouldn't cause any permanent changes to her body.

She asked for time to think about it, wanting to consider how it would work, Phoenix nodded in understanding and left to check on the others.

"Hmm, maybe I shouldn't have told her about the Polyjuice...I shouldn't worry about it. She was a powerful witch, still is now that I think about it."

He knocked on the door to Akko and Diana's room and the door fell off its hinges, what did he see inside? The room nearly destroyed, the monster book scurrying around the floor, and Diana on the floor, frozen in a scared pose.

Phoenix slapped his face, "Ok, where's Akko? This has to be her doing."

"I'm up here," Akko said, he looked up and saw Akko floating, upside down, hanging by her feet.

Phoenix slapped his face again, "Let me guess, you tried to use your wand on the book, and you tried to use the spells you learned from Luna Nova? Right?"

"Uh...maybe?" Phoenix looked at her with a raised brow, "Ok, yeah I did."

He sighed, while pulling his wand out, and undid all the damage, unfroze Diana and put the book back on the shelf.

"Let me make this perfectly clear, spells from Luna Nova will not work properly in the Wizarding World, I will teach you a few spells on the train. I know you're excited Akko, but you need to calm down a little. Dinner is in 30 minutes, so get your stuff packed and word of warning, don't put your wand in your back pocket."

After Phoenix left, Akko apologized to Diana for accidentally freezing her, Diana was still a bit disappointed in Akko but she knew Akko meant no harm.

"You know Diana, I'm starting to have second thoughts, maybe I'm not cut out for this kind of magic."

Diana saw that look of sorrow and doubt in her eyes, "Don't say that, you've done things that are beyond amazing, you are most certainly cut for this, you just have to believe in yourself, remember what Shiny Chariot always said, believing in yourself is your magic."

Akko looked at Diana in surprise, she saw a look of determination Diana always had and couldn't help smiling, "You're right, I just need to think positive, while at the same time making sure not to go too far."

Diana and Akko got up and Diana hugged Akko close, "That's what I wanted to hear."

Akko hugged her back, and quickly whispered "I love you",

"What was that Akko?"

"Nothing."

As everyone ate dinner, Lotte had been reading up on how to take care of an Owl, Sucy was reading up on Wizard World potion-making, Amanda had discovered a book on Broom riding, and Chariot had already started reading up on first-year magic. Everyone still had some questions but they all choose to save them for the train ride to Hogwarts.

Well, almost everyone, Lotte asked, "Hey, Phoenix, why did you say, you hoped none of us would get any wands that may have a negative connection?"

Phoenix looked in slight fear and anger, "Well, let's just say, some wands have connections, most of the time it's due to wands being made from the same tree, other times, it's cause some wands are made with the same core materials. There are times where one wand is used by a normal wizard or witch, and the other is used for dark purposes, this has caused many problems for people. Thankfully it's not common, but there is still a good chance."

"Oh...well I guess we're lucky...right?" Lotte said trying to change the subject to something less grim,

"Yeah, from what I've heard, you girls have done some pretty amazing things. Things that I wish I could have seen myself" Phoenix said gladly changing the subject.

After finishing dinner, Phoenix told everyone, "Be ready to go by 10 tomorrow morning, we can't miss the train, also, have your wands out and ready to use, I wanna teach you a few things on the ride there."

Everyone said goodnight to each other and they slept the night away, except for Diana. She was also having second thoughts about going to Hogwarts, but her talk with Akko made her feel a bit better, not to mention she had a secret of her own. She secretly had strong feelings for Akko, after she showed her the true power of magic and after she and Akko stopped that magic missile, she felt something she hadn't felt since her mother passed. She didn't know how to tell Akko, she didn't know how Akko would react if she told her. But she knew one thing, going to Hogwarts would mean an almost fresh start, a chance to start over, but for now, she needed to rest, the fresh start started tomorrow.

END OF CHAPTER