The Master of Wands
The tiny bell over the door jingled, announcing Harry's entrance as he stepped into the shop. A lot of work had taken place in the effort to repair Ollivander's to his former self after it had been destroyed by the Death Eaters when abducted Mr. Ollivander. In the days following his abduction, most of his stock of wands had been looted from the remnants of the shop. Fortunately, they had left behind his stock of woods and cores, not having any use for them since none of them were wandmakers.
Now, as the shelves were once again getting fuller and fuller, the store was beginning to look as though nothing had ever happened other than a good dusting and removal of cobwebs. It was like the destruction had all been a fantasy…perhaps a nightmare that had escaped the mind only to be slowly dissipating.
"Ah, Harry, my boy," said Mr. Ollivander in his familiar raspy but cheerful voice as he rolled into view atop his ladder. "It's good to see you. What brings you here, today?"
"Just thought I'd drop in to say hello and see how you're getting along," came the reply from Harry. "I haven't seen you in a while."
"Well, I am glad you are here," said Mr. Ollivander as he climbed down from his ladder. "I have been hoping you would stop in. I have something to tell you."
"Tell me? What is it, sir?" inquired Harry, his curiosity aroused. "I hope it is something good."
"It is about this," he said as he pulled a box from under his counter and opened it up for Harry to see the contents.
Inside were the two pieces of the wand that once had belonged to Herpo the Foul. Ron had snapped it in half after they along with Hermione and Ginny barely escaped death at the hands of Herpo. Harry had left it with Mr. Ollivander after showing it to him quite some time ago. It caused Harry to recoil and take a deep breath.
"That's Herpo's wand," gasped Harry. "I am surprised you still have it. I figured you would have disposed of it."
"Ah, I almost did," he replied as he pulled out one of the pieces and held it out like he was offering Harry something of great value. "I started to throw it away when I stopped for some reason and decided to investigate it. I can't say why. I guess my just curiosity got the best of me. After all, it's not every day you come across a wand of this vintage, especially as odd as one made from olive with a minotaur hair core. "
Harry took the piece of the wand and began examining it. Even in its broken state, he did not like the feel of it. It was as if the evil had never fully left it.
"So, did you discover something interesting about it, sir? I imagine you must have to have kept it."
Mr. Ollivander took back the pieces and carefully returned them to the box.
"I kept feeling like I should try to learn more about it before I disposed of it. I took it and traveled to visit several of my fellow wandmakers. After careful, examination and a lot of discussions, we have all come to the agreement that it is the work of Kyrios Ravdi."
"Kyrios Ravdi?" asked Harry, a confused, but inquisitive look on his face. "I don't believe I have ever heard of him. Who might he be?"
"I am not surprised," said Mr. Ollivander. "Few outside of the wand making community ever have. But to those of us who are students of wands and wandlore, he is known as The Master of Wands…the greatest wandmaker who ever lived."
"So, is this wand valuable even though it is broken?"
"Priceless, my boy. Priceless. There are only three, well four, now, known examples of his work in the world. All of them are broken, and this is the best of them. But the legends of his wands can be found throughout history. He is comparable to that famous muggle violin maker Stradivarius or Hattori Hanzo, the master maker of Japanese swords. I dare say that if the muggle's big British Museum had it, they would treat it as a prized possession."
"Just what makes his wands so special?" asked Harry as he looked around the shop with its shelves lined with Ollivander wands. I had always heard yours were the best in the world, sir."
Well, thank you, but we're talking a different thing here. My skills are the result of the collected knowledge and skills passed down by hundreds of Ollivanders before me. I like to think I have added things to the art. However, Kyrios Ravdi was around in the earliest days of wand making. He was creating the actual art of wand making and matching. It is said he took the making and pairing of wands to a level that has not been seen since."
"Just how did he do that, sir?" asked Harry.
"Well…" he began. "Other than the wands, everything that is known of him is legends and lore passed down through history. He did not write anything that has ever been found. And there are no known writings of a chronicler. History has recorded many witches and wizards that are said to have possessed one of his wands. All of them are known to have done great things, mostly good things but also dark and evil things. Herpo can serve as evidence of the latter. Herpo created the first horcrux. That is a great thing…a very dark and evil thing, but great none the less."
"I see," said Harry, wondering where this might go. "Can't you just copy what he did and make wands like his?"
"That would seem plausible," said Mr. Ollivander, fiddling with an ebony wand that had been sitting on the counter. "The problem is no one really knows how he did it. We know his woods of choice and cores, but the stories of his skills do not include his techniques. The stories about them are fascinating, at least to us wandmakers."
"And what are those stories, sir?"
"Do you remember how I told you that the wand chooses the wizard, Harry?" asked Mr. Ollivander as Harry nodded in the affirmative. "Some of the people for whom he made wands wrote about them and the process they went through in the making. It is said in these accounts that he had taken pairing to the elemental level…before the wand was actually created."
"I don't quite understand. What does that mean?" Harry asked with a confused but inquisitive expression.
"The stories are all similar. They tell of taking them to a room with boxes of wand elements. First, he would have them handle pieces of different wand woods while he appeared to be listening to something. He would take away various woods and hand others back for another listen. Eventually, he would announce that the person would be getting a wand made of pear or walnut or some other wood. Then he would repeat the process with wand cores telling them they would perhaps be getting unicorn hair…or a troll whisker."
Harry stood by listening to the story. He could tell it meant a lot to Mr. Ollivander. He had devoted his entire life to making the finest of wands.
"I wish Hermione could be here to listen to this," noted Harry. He could not help but think Hermione would be taking this with great relish.
"Yes, I imagine Miss Granger would enjoy this story. She is quite the bookworm, isn't she?" said Mr. Ollivander with a smile. "Anyway, next he would start them selecting seemingly identical wands from a box and start swishing them about one by one. He slowly eliminated them one-by-one until he announced something like slightly springy for you. None of the folks who commented on this had any idea what he could hear or sense. They would say the wands all felt the same to them."
"So, you are saying he could hear the wand elements talking to him?"
"Yes. Yes. He could hear them or see something, maybe both. I don't know. No one knows. That is the problem. Regardless, he would then take them to the final box. It had more identical wands, but they varied in length. Following a lot of waving while he stared intently at them, he would announce a length, maybe 10 ¾". After that, he would send them away to return in two weeks. When they returned he would present them with their wand and they would pay him the equivalent of 100 galleons. According to the owners of his wands, the consensus opinions were that their Ravdi wands were worth every knut and more."
That is a fortune, sir," said Harry with a stunned look. "Your wands are still 7 galleons, aren't they."
"Yes, 7 galleons," answered Mr. Ollivander.
"That is a huge difference."
"Yes, and even bigger when you consider what 100 galleons were worth back then. I imagine you could outfit an entire quidditch team with new uniforms, pads, firebolt brooms, the works and still get change back.
"What will you do with it, sir?" asked Harry, still a little taken aback by what he had heard about this wand that had almost ended his life and those of Ginny, Ron and Hermione, and the legends of its maker.
"Well, I suppose I will keep it," replied Mr. Ollivander. It was clear he really had not given that a lot of thought. "The magic world does not have museums like those of the muggles. And I see no reason to hand it over to the Ministry. Who knows what they might do with it. I cannot imagine the prospect of them actually trying to repair it. If they were to succeed, then who knows what they would do with it?"
Have you considered giving it to Hogwarts and having them watch over it?"
"I suppose that is possible, that is if they can guarantee it will be safe from prying hands. I will discuss that with the headmistress the next time I see her."
"Okay," replied Harry with a smile. "Well, I have to be going. Goodbye, sir."
"Goodbye, Mr. Potter. Always a pleasure."