Beth had never seen anything like Diagon Alley before. She followed Auntie Em, wide-eyed, as they made their way down the street. Beth kept tripping over her feet as she looked around, taking in the sight of the many wizard shops that lined the street instead of paying attention to where she was walking. Disgruntled replies of "Hey! Watch it there!" fell on deaf ears as she bumped into other young witches and wizards as they too made their way down the cobbled streets. Beth tried not to stare, but many of them were so oddly dressed that it was hard not to. She thought she could tell the wizarding families from "Muggleborns" like herself, a term that she had heard tossed around soon after they had arrived, and which Auntie Em had explained referred to a witch or wizard who did not come from a family of wizards. Surrounded by brightly colored yet strangely matched clothes which were often accompanied by a cape, Beth felt out of place in her jeans and favorite yellow sweatshirt that she had so carefully picked out that morning.
Finally, Auntie Em pulled her over to the side and out of the way. "I wish we had a map," she said. "Not that we're lost," she added quickly, seeing Beth's suddenly worried expression, "but it always helps to be able to see where everything is. Now, let's look at that list of yours. What should we get first? Beth! Come on, show me the list." She patted Beth's arm to get her attention.
Finally looking away from all the strange people, Beth pulled the list out of her pocket where she had stuffed it for safe-keeping and unwrinkled it before handing it to her aunt. "Let's go get my wand!" she said excitedly as Auntie Em read the list of materials.
"We passed Ollivanders back that way, I think," Auntie Em said, turning back in the direction that they had come from. "Hopefully the robes shop is over there, too, and the bookstore."
Beth wrinkled her nose at the thought of having to wear robes as she ran to catch up to Auntie Em's fast-paced stride. Soon they reached Ollivanders, much to Auntie Em's relief and Beth's delight. Despite her eagerness, she hung back as they approached the shop, and Auntie Em paused at the door when she realized that Beth was no longer directly behind her. She retraced her steps, knelt in front of Beth, and put her hands on her shoulders.
"Are you nervous?" she asked, and Beth nodded. "Well, don't be," she said cheerfully. "The perfect wand is in there waiting for you."
"You said the wand chooses the witch," Beth said, looking down at her shoes. "What if none of them choose me?"
"Not a chance," Auntie Em said.
There was not even a hint of doubt in her voice, which Beth found reassuring. She smiled, and Auntie Em smiled in return. This time Beth led the way to the door of the shop, and the two slipped inside quietly.
A bell on the door rang to indicate their presence, but the occupants of the shop paid them no mind. Auntie Em put a finger to her lips and ushered Beth to a dimly lit corner to wait. As Beth watched, the older man, whose pale eyes stood out in the darkened shop, handed a wand to the young, dark-haired boy, who looked the same age as Beth. A tall, very large man holding a pink umbrella stood off to the side. Beth couldn't help but notice the pile of discarded wands next to the boy, whose face betrayed none of the anxiety that she herself felt. As she watched, the boy swished the wand, and golden red sparks flowed from the tip. The giant man yelled with delight, and the boy grinned and pushed his glasses further up on his nose. The older wizard looked even more triumphant.
*"Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well...how curious...how very curious…" he said as he found a box for the wand, placed the wand in gently, and wrapped it.
*"Sorry, but what's curious?" the boy asked, and Beth strained to listen.
*"It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather - just one other...why, its brother gave you that scar," the man, who Beth realized must be Mr. Ollivander, answered.
He continued to speak, but he lowered his voice conspiratorially, and Beth was disappointed that she could not hear the rest of what he said. The boy, however, looked a little unsettled by his words, and he and the tall man left the shop quickly without a glance at Beth or Auntie Em. Mr. Ollivander went back to his chair surrounded by boxes upon boxes of wands, and with a flick of his own, he set the pile of wands that the boy had left behind back into their own boxes, which then floated into a neat stack.
Auntie Em nudged Beth forward, and hesitantly she approached Mr. Ollivander, who sat with his wand on his knees and his fingers pressed together in a point in front of his nose. His pale eyes stared thoughtfully into nothingness, and he didn't move as Beth approached.
"Ex-excuse me," she said apprehensively, and he started.
"Well, well, another one already! And what is your name?" he asked as he stood.
"Elisabeth," she said quietly, clasping her hands behind her back.
"What was that? Speak up! No need to be shy," he said in his raspy voice.
She cleared her throat and tried to stand up straighter. "Elisabeth," she said only slightly more loudly.
"Ah, American. I don't see that very often. All right, Elisabeth, are you right handed or left handed?" Mr. Ollivander asked, and she was glad that she wouldn't have to repeat her name again, although his note of her accent made her somewhat self-conscious.
"Right," she answered, and a moment later, a length of measuring tape floated up to measure her arms, legs, and for some reason, also her head. Mr. Ollivander, meanwhile, seemed to be taking stock of his now rearranged inventory.
"The most important thing to know," he said with his back turned as he stood on a magically suspended ladder, "is that the wand chooses the wizard, or witch, in your case, and that while you can technically use another's wand, it will not work so well as the one that chose you. Each wand is unique, and each has a core of unicorn hair, phoenix tail feather, or dragon heartstring. Let's see which one yours will be, shall we?"
With that, Mr. Ollivander descended from the ladder with a variety of boxes in his arms and made his way back to Beth. He deposited all but one on a table that Beth had not even noticed before, as it was already covered in wands, and she hoped that they were not all options for her. With slight trepidation, she took the wand that he offered her and waved it slightly. Nothing happened.
"Good, good, you know what to do. But no, not that one. Nice one, it was, too. Maple, phoenix feather, 9 inches. Have another. Fir, dragon heartstring, 13 inches." Quickly he took the first from her and shoved another into her hand.
She knew from the moment that she took it that this one would not be right. It felt ungainly in her hand, and he grabbed it even as she began to wave it.
"No, no, try this one," he said, and he watched her intently.
Nervously, she waved the wand. It felt light, but not too light, and unlike the other, it did not feel too long. As she swished it, she was surprised to see not sparks, but cartoon-like flowers of light flow from the end. She looked first at Auntie Em, who was watching from the corner and who nodded encouragingly, and then to Mr. Ollivander for confirmation. He looked pleased.
"This one is cedar, with a unicorn hair core. 10 inches," he said. He took it from her gently and placed it in its box. As he wrapped the box, Auntie Em emerged from the corner.
"How much for the wand, Mr. Ollivander?" she asked respectfully.
He looked up with a start. "Emily Tanner," he said. "I did not think I would see you here again." He looked at her pointedly, and Beth watched curiously as Auntie Em looked somewhat sheepish.
"Me neither, yet here I am," she said with a shrug and a slight laugh. "I guess you don't forget faces any more than you forget wands."
"Or names," he said, and suddenly his brow furrowed. "I was very sorry to hear about Eddie, you know. Oak, dragon heartstring, 12 inches. He was a good wizard, if a young scallywag."
"He was a good man, and also a rascal," Auntie Em agreed with a lopsided smile, her voice thicker than usual.
Beth looked back and forth between her aunt and Mr. Ollivander and suddenly wondered how her uncle Eddie had died, and whether his death had to do with the wizarding world rather than the normal one. After a moment in which Mr. Ollivander looked at Auntie Em with a look of sympathetic understanding that did not suit his odd face, and in which Auntie Em's eyes filled briefly with tears before she blinked rapidly and composed herself, Mr. Ollivander spoke gruffly.
"That will be 7 galleons for the wand," he said, and he handed the box to Beth.
Auntie Em reached into her purse and drew out the coins. She counted them into her own hand twice before dropping them into his. He bowed his head slightly, and she nodded in return.
"Ready, Beth?" Auntie Em asked, and Beth nodded.
"Thanks, Mr. Ollivander!" she called as they left the shop, no longer as intimidated by the odd man as she had been when they entered. She wondered what he could have said to the boy to have made him so uncomfortable.
"I wish I'd known Uncle Eddie," she said timidly once they were back on the street. She glanced quickly up at her aunt, but Auntie Em's expression didn't change. Instead, she strode ahead determinedly, and Beth ran to catch up. She wondered where they were going next.
"Me, too," Auntie Em answered after a short pause. "You would have liked him," she added. She realized that Beth was struggling to keep up, and she slowed her pace.
"There was a war in the wizarding world," she continued after a moment's hesitation. "Eddie fought in it."
She took a deep breath, and Beth waited silently, hoping for more details. "There was an evil wizard, back in the day. They refer to him 'You Know Who,' or 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.' That boy in the shop, actually, is the reason he was defeated. 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named' tried to kill him when he was a baby, but for some reason, the spell rebounded, and he destroyed himself instead."
"What's his name?" Beth asked curiously.
"Voldemort," Auntie Em said bluntly, and several wizards and witches in earshot turned and looked at her aghast.
"No, the boy," Beth said hurriedly, feeling the horrified looks of the people around them.
Auntie Em laughed. "Oh! Right. He's Harry Potter, and the whole of the wizarding world is a bit enamored with him, and rightly so. I'm sure you'll hear about him at school. You might even have some classes with him."
Beth hoped so. "Where are we going?" she asked, sensing that the conversation had come to an end and resolving to find out more about the wizarding war later.
"Well, would you like an owl or a cat? Or a toad, or a rat?" Auntie Em asked.
Beth pondered that for a moment. She had always wanted a cat, but that was before she had known that owls were an option.
"Cats are excellent companions, if standoffish sometimes," Auntie Em said, sensing her dilemma. "Owls, on the other hand, are good companions, too, but they can also be used to send letters. Eddie used to send me letters while he was off at school," she reminisced, a faraway look in her eyes.
"I want an owl," Beth said decidedly. If Uncle Eddie had had an owl, that had to be a good choice.
They emerged from Eeylops Owl Emporium fifteen minutes later with a tawny owl that had nipped Beth affectionately on sight. They spent the rest of the day navigating Diagon Alley to the place where Beth bought gently used robes and the store where she bought her books. At the end of the day, Auntie Em ducked into Gringotts, which she explained was the wizarding world's bank run by goblins, while Beth stayed in the lobby with her owl and the other purchases of the day. While she waited, she named her owl Phoebe, and Phoebe cocked her head and blinked her big eyes in pleasure. Auntie Em returned soon after, looking slightly harried, and the two hurried to the next train that would take them home. Beth left reluctantly, and she thought Auntie Em did, too. Soon, though, she would be at Hogwarts, she thought, and she smiled as she balanced Phoebe's cage on her lap and chattered to Auntie Em about all the things that they had seen that day in Diagon Alley.
*Note: The dialogue is JK's.