Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. I am not making any money off of this story.
Chapter Five: The Wandmaker
I smiled as I thought about running into those two again. Percy and his mother seemed like quite the characters. It amazed me how intelligent Percy was, but it was also slightly obnoxious, as well. I didn't know how long I would have been able to be around him, listening to him rattle on and on about facts. I immediately took back this thought because I realized it was a little unfair to him. I didn't even really know him all that well…
Putting them aside, I figured I would have to run into my mother, Mrs. Flockton, or Benjamin eventually. I continued my aimless wandering up and down the aisles, just as I had done before Percy interrupted me. Eventually, I came upon a boy with brown hair, sitting in a rather large, padded chair next to a window that looked out onto the busy street below. I noticed the title on the book to be Quidditch Through the Ages.
The boy looked to be not much older than I was. He seemed to be very absorbed in this book and I almost considered saying nothing to him, but Quidditch was something that I had always been interested in. Surely, I wouldn't be bothering him so much that he wouldn't answer a single question.
"You play Quidditch?" I asked him, tilting my head ever so slightly to notice a pile of Quidditch books sitting at his side.
I saw the boy nearly jump out of his skin and I slightly regretted saying anything to him. He looked up at me, furrowed his brow at me briefly before processing the question that had just been asked of him," Me? Oh, no…not yet anyways."
Immediately, I noticed his accent. I may have had an accent from growing up in Britian, but he most definitely had a different accent than I. I assumed it to be a Scottish accent, which made me even more intrigued by this boy.
"Oh," I said with a nod of my head, realizing the awkward pause in the conversation. "You seem to have quite the collection there."
He looked down at the pile at his feet before smirking," I guess you could say that."
There was another awkward pause as he looked down at the book. I sensed that all he wanted was for me to leave him be, but I stood there for a moment more, still wanting to know more about him. He gave me an irritated look as he glanced up from his book. It amazed me how intense this kid was studying this stuff. You would have thought that I was directly insulting him.
"Is there…any other reason why you're still here?" He asked me, an annoyed tone to his voice, but not being directly rude in tone.
I furrowed my brows and crossed my arms, taken back by his comment," I was simply going to ask you if you went to Hogwarts, but if I'm that much of a pest…"
He sighed, obviously regretting his comment," I'm sorry it's just that…it's my second year at Hogwarts and this is my first big chance to be on the Quidditch team. This is basically like studying for a huge final for me."
"It's just a sport," I said with a chuckle, and instantly regretted it. I felt like an idiot. This kid had a stack of Quidditch books at his feet and he wasn't much older than I was. Obviously, he took it very seriously. His reaction was going to be explosive, I assumed.
He looked me directly in the eye before saying with a growl," Quidditch is much more than a sport."
I narrowed my eyes at him and opened my mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by Benjamin, who nearly knocked me over from behind," Lana! You'll never believe this! Look at this!"
"Benjamin!" I exclaimed, scared nearly out of my mind as he shoved a book into my hands.
Looking over, I saw the Scottish boy slam his book shut and pick up the other three or four at his feet, tucking some under his arm as he started to migrate to another portion of the store. Presumably, somewhere more quiet. I thought that he would just go about and say nothing else to me; he was probably wishing I had never stopped to question him, but before he could leave, I spoke to him.
"It was nice talking to you!" I called after him, wondering if he would even acknowledge me.
He reluctantly turned back before saying with what I sensed to be a pleasant tone to his voice," You too. "
Mentally, I scolded myself for even speaking to the boy. He obviously just wanted to revel in Quidditch and not speak with anyone else. I was only trying to be cordial, but I guess he didn't see it that way. Despite my embarrassment, I eventually put the Scottish boy out of my head. Perhaps, I would see him at school, but I preferred that I never have to see him again. He seemed to have much more important things to worry about than socializing. I hadn't even learned his name!
After he was gone, I looked over to Benjamin who seemed to be ecstatic to show me a boy that looked as though it was about to fall out of its binding.
"This book has nearly every little piece of information about Hogwarts imaginable!" He exclaimed, pointing to several pictures and diagrams.
I loved Benjamin, I truly did, but I needed some sort of adventure. How badly I wanted to be at Hogwarts, rather than simply hearing more about it.
Whenever we found our mothers again, my mother informed me that our next stop was Ollivander's Wand Shop. Selecting a wand was nearly the most important decision of a wizard's life…or one of them, at least. After pushing through the crowded street for a third time, we reached the old wand shop and found it to be nearly empty.
An elderly gentlemen emerged from many aisles of what I assumed to be wands, he smiled as he came to the counter and looked from my mother to me. He then turned to Mrs. Flockton and Benjamin, still smiling.
"You seem to have come at just the right time. Moments ago, I had a filled shop," The man told us as he opened a book on his desk, as if filling in the records. "Welcome back, I do recognize the both of you," He said, referencing our mothers.
My mother smiled as she tucked a stray hair behind her ear," Yes, that was several years ago, Mr. Ollivander."
"Let me see…Mrs. Stockholm, correct? I believe your wand to be a beechwood, just shy of ten and three quarters in length with a core of unicorn tail hair..yes?" He asked her, many of his words sounding foreign to my ears.
A smile crept on to her face," You've quite the memory, Mr. Ollivander. That's exactly perfect."
He returned her smile," I remember every wand I have sold, Mrs. Stockholm."
He then turned his attention to Mrs. Flockton and said," And you, you too purchased a wand here…let me see..you are now Mrs. Flockton, correct? Previous…before getting married you were a Thompson… Hmm… Your wand is a twelve inch holly with dragon heartstring as a core. Yes?"
Mrs. Flockton released a chuckle before saying," That is correct."
As if proud of his accomplishments, Mr. Ollivander smiled before looking down at me and asking," And so here comes the next member of the family…this is your daughter?" He asked my mother, glancing up at her.
My mother placed a hand on my shoulder before saying softly," Yes, this is Lana."
"Ah, Miss Lana, well…why don't we find a wand for you?" The elderly gentlemen said with good humor as he placed a finger on his lip, as if in thought. I was in awe of the shop, there was something..well..magical, as cliché as that sounded, about it. I had always passed this store, but never stepped inside. There was never a reason for me to go inside Ollivander's.
Just after the man disappeared behind the shelves, he reappeared briefly," The father…he had a blackwood…twelve inches with a phoenix core..correct?"
I looked up at mother, seeing if he was really as accurate as he claimed to be. Mother put a small grin on her face before nodding her head in affirmation," I believe so."
Mr. Ollivander merely shook his head before turning again and disappearing. It seemed to be an eternity of standing and waiting before he reappeared with three dusty boxes stacked atop of one another. Carefully, he set each box out on the desk as I approached him. One by one, he lifted the lids on the boxes and revealed a wand lying inside.
My jaw nearly dropped to the ground as I looked upon the three light brown wands sitting in their boxes. He smiled at the look on my face and picked one of the wands up, examined it before stating," Here, Miss Lana, is a wand that I myself enjoy quite a bit."
I stared at the thin piece of light brown wood as he lifted it from its case and twirled it in his own fingers," This, my dear, is a wand made of dogwood. It is nearly eleven inches long with unicorn hair as a core. Should this wand be the one for you, I guarantee it will be loyal to you until the end."
I smirked at him and extended my hand out to him, tenderly he placed the wand into my palm and I wrapped my fingers around, hardly believing the moment was real," How do I know if it chooses me?"
"Well, I'm sure you will simply just know, but why don't you give it wave around and see what happens?" Mr. Ollivander chuckled, as I looked closely at the wand.
There was definitely something alluring about that wand sitting in my hand, but I could not necessarily tell if it was to be trusted or not. I was a little leery of this wand right off the bat and as soon as I twirled it about in the shop, the strangest thing happened…it seemed to throw itself out of my hand and onto the floor. I looked up to Mr. Ollivander for some sort of explanation for this event that the rest of my party seemed to find quite humorous.
"Did I do something wrong?" I asked, genuinely concerned if I had damaged his wand.
He chuckled before sauntering over to pick up the wand from the ground," No, Miss Stockholm, you did nothing of the sort. Dogwood wands are very particular about their owners because they tend to be more 'social' of all the other wands and have quite the attitude, as you can see. All this simply tells me is that we need to keep searching."
I smirked at Mr. Ollivander, but also found him to be very eccentric. He spoke of wands as if they were…people. Nevertheless, I came back to his desk and waited as he put away the Dogwood wand before handing me another light brown wand with a large handle and round tip.
"This, Miss Stockholm, is a wand of hazel wood. It too is under eleven inches with a core of unicorn. Another wand that is very tightly knit with its owner, very selective about whom it chooses. A hazel wand will mourn when you mourn and applaud when you suceed. It is, indeed a very unique wand. Here you are," He said and I felt the weight of the wand sit in my palm briefly before turning and giving it a small wave.
How strange it was to wave this wand! I felt as though there was something…missing in this wand as well. A small puff was released from the end of the wand, but nothing else was emitted. There was a sudden cut off feeling with this wand and I knew that there was more shopping to be done.
Mr. Ollivander nodded, understanding," I see, well, now I am rather confident as to which wand you will possess, but for safety's sake, let's have you try said wand."
He took the Hazel wood wand from me and boxed it up before moving on to the last box. Softly, he placed his hand under the wand and before giving it to me said," This wand is a very unusual wand, indeed. I will tell you, Miss Stockholm, that only certain witches can handle a wand such as this. Alder wood is unyielding, or stubborn if you will. When an alder wand searches for a owner, it looks for nearly the opposite of itself. An owner of an alder wand is typically more likeable and compassionate. This wand is an alder wand with dragon heartstring as a core and just under eleven inches, give it a twirl and see how it does."
I nodded, finding the traits of this particular wand to be rather intriguing. I grabbed the wand tenderly and turned away from Mr. Ollivander. This wand was most definitely different than other wands…there was something that I felt while holding this wand that I did not feel at all with any of the other two. All of my body seemed to be at peace and it was no question after I waved the wand that it was the one for me.
No spell was said and no thought went through my head, but at the mere wave of the wand, a thick shower of sparks was emitted, lighting up nearly the entire store. My mother screeched and put her hands over her gasping mouth before Mr. Ollivander looked at me with a wide smile on his face.
"It is just as I presumed," He said softly with a nice smile on his face.
It was as though a piece of me literally was latched onto this shining, brown piece of wood in my hand. Reluctantly, I passed the wand back to Mr. Ollivander and allowed for him to make selections for Benjamin. Excitedly, I told Benjamin of the feelings of waving a wand for the first time and waited anxiously for him to receive his, as well. Benjamin ended up with a nine inch, pine wand that was rather springy with a dragon heartstrings core.
As much as we wanted to spend the rest of the trip waving our wands about and pretending to actually know what we were doing, our mothers confiscated the wands and told us that we were to finish our shopping, which seemed to be not nearly as entertaining as choosing a wand.
However, before we continued our shopping I found that something strange happened just after my mother paid for the wand. Frail, Mr. Ollivander was tucking away the gold coins into his drawer, but just as mother bid him a farewell, he grabbed her by the arm. I saw her jump slightly at his touch.
"Mrs. Stockholm…would you mind a word for a moment? It will not take long I assure you," Mr. Ollivander said in a rather chipper voice. My mother looked at him out of the side of her eye before warily speaking.
"Yes, of course," She said and then looked to Mrs. Flockton, saying," Go ahead and take them to finish up. I'll be out shortly."
And so we continued shopping for several minutes before mother found us once again in a store where we purchased a couple of glass containers for what I presumed to be for Potions. Mother had a very cross look on her face as she threw open the door to the shop and came storming, unlike I had ever seen her before. She tried to speak quietly to Mrs. Flockton, but her words still caught my ear. I felt a little guilty, but it was such a strange event to be gone unseen or unheard.
"How dare that man make such an accusation!" She whispered harshly under her breath.
Immediately, I looked up at my mother. Mrs. Flockton saw my gaze and shot my mother a warning look before pulling her by the arm and stepping around the corner.
In my mind, all I wanted to know was what in the world a gentle, kind wand maker such as Mr. Ollivander could have done to infuriate my mother so greatly.
Author's Note: Alright, so next chapter we're off to Hogwarts! I hope you all liked this chapter and the brief little run-in with Oliver Wood. There will definitely be more about him later, but I just wanted you all to see a little of him now.
What are your thoughts on the wand shop? I had to do some researching on this wand lore…pretty complex stuff. What do you think Mr. Ollivander said to Mrs. Stockholm? Let me know in a review! They would be greatly appreciated! A thanks goes out to those who have reviewed/ favorite'd/ alerted this story! Lots of love to you! :)