Magical Encounters

Chapter Five: The Fortune and the willow wand.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hp

Ariana took a deep breath and made her way toward the shop in front of her with Neville following close behind. As she reached the threshold the dim lighting of the shop shown down on her face and the smell of wood gently wafted into her nostrils. She hesitated slightly at the door desperately wanting to go inside the shop but being deathly afraid to take even a single step forward. Ariana felt a squeeze on her shoulder and looked up to see Neville smiling down at her.

"Don't worry," he said. "Nothing bad will happen here. Beside if anything does happen, you've got me to get us through whatever comes our way."

"It's just," Ariana began, looking up at him. "This place, I feel like something has happened here. Something bad. It's like some feeling deep inside me and I can't really figure out why I feel the way I do but it's as if I can see that some form of…of evil…. Has left it's mark here."

"There was a kidnapping here," Neville said. "the owner got taken by a dark wizard. But that happened many years ago, all the kidnappings stopped once Vo…. Uh, you know what Ari don't sweat it. The point is bad things don't happen very often anymore so there is no need for you to be scared."

Ariana nodded, but still somewhat reluctant, she walked slowly into the shop. Inside was a wooden counter behind which stood shelves and shelves of tiny little boxes. Ariana's curiosity got the best of her and her timid steps became strides toward the counter, all the feelings she had previously experienced fading into simple background noise in her mind.

Ariana and Neville waited in front of the counter for a small moment before a Tiny little old man walked up through the aisles of shelves and met them with a huge smile on his face. Ariana uncertainly smiled back at him.

"Hello there," He said in a small and raspy voice. His eyes locked onto Ariana's and his smile grew as if he had just encountered a diamond in a pile of coal. "I will take a guess to say that you, young lady are here for a wand."

"Yes," Ariana whispered as if she was afraid of hurting the fragile little man in front of her. She cleared her throat and spoke again, this time at a normal volume. "Yes, um, I'm Ariana Dumbledore."

"Ms. Dumbledore," He said softly as his eyes widened. "I can't tell you how long I have been waiting for you."

Ariana blinked. She looked up and Neville, her eyes questioning. Unfortunately he looked as confused as she felt and was simply staring the old man with his mouth slightly agape. She looked back at the man to see him gathering some boxes and bringing them up to the counter.

"Now don't look so alarmed my dear," He spoke trying not to laugh at the expressions of his customers. "I am Ollivander and I am going to help you get the wand that is meant for you. Now may I ask you to be my audience for a story?"

"Sure." Ariana replied numbly still a little confused.

"Well Ms. Dumbledore, about thirty-five years ago your uncle Albus Dumbledore came to me. He said that a trusted friend of his foretold that in time a young woman of blood relation to him was going to come to me, looking for a wand. He also told me, that for this young woman, there would be no wand. For you see, Ms. Dumbledore it is not the witch that chooses the wand, but the wand that chooses the witch. He told me that it was prophesized that no wand of normal materials would choose this child. And if no wand chose her then it would lead to a danger beyond measure.

He said and I quote, 'that if no wand chose this child then history would repeat itself'. Now at first Ms. Dumbledore, I did not realize how I could be involved in this prophesy but then Albus confided in me that he had found materials that would fit this young woman. He then asked me for a favor, and the favor was for me to make a wand from the materials he gave me and keep the wand stored until the child came to find me. That, is what I did and I now have that wand sitting here on this counter waiting for you to try it out."

Ariana looked up at him as he finished his story with wide eyes and a huge smile on her face. Her hands almost instantly shot up to the counter and she realized how rude her gesture might seem just in time to pretend she brought her hands up to fiddle with her hair.

"So," Ariana began in a smooth voice acting as if nothing had happened. "Um, which one is it?"

"Well," Ollivander began. "I was hoping you would indulge me by trying out all the wands laid out here. I want to see if it's true that no wand of ordinary means would work for you. The last one we try will be the wand that was made especially made for you. Now, shall we begin."

"Yea sure." Ariana said, a little let down that she was going to have to wait to get to her wand.

Without any further words between them, Ollivander handed Ariana the first wand. She took it firmly in her hands and just looked at it expectantly. After about a moment, she put it down on the counter and shrugged her shoulders.

"Sorry, Mr. Ollivander," Ariana said frowning. "But that wand didn't feel right at all."

Mr. Ollivander nodded and handed her the next one. Ariana took it eagerly and felt her heart drop. She shivered and looked at the wand with disgust as she put it down. She looked up at Ollivander who was gazing at her with confused eyes.

"Mr. Ollivander," Ariana whispered. "That wand is going to go to some one bad. I can feel it."

Ollivander looked at her with wonder in his eyes before saying, "It is not the wand that makes some one good or evil, it is the soul of the person itself." With those words he handed her the last wand, the special wand.

Ariana took it quickly and gasped as an electric shock went through her body. She felt as if there was fire and power riding with the blood in her veins. Ariana closed her eyes and she could feel everything on and around her, from the tips of her toes to the ends of the golden hair.

""Whoa!" Neville exclaimed , knocking Ariana out of her trance like state. "Ari, you look like you're on fire."

Ariana opened her eyes and looked down at herself. Sure enough she saw a flickering orange glow around her body. She gasped and put the wand down on the counter, making the glow fade away. She looked up and Ollivander and smiled.

"This is the one Mr. Ollivander, I can feel it." Ariana said, a giant smile on her face."

"Indeed it is, Ms. Dumbledore." Ollivander began. "You know, Albus personally gave me a feather from his phoenix as well as bark from the Whomping Willow tree on the Hogwarts campus. No other wand has ever been made from this wood, it was thought to be too hard to tame. But of course, if anyone could control it a Dumbledore could. Well, it's ten inches and very flexible, but as for the exact properties, they are a mystery waiting to unfold."

"Thank you Mr. Ollivander." Ariana said. "Do you know anything more about the story?"

"Unfortunately no my dear," He began. "But that does not mean that the story ends here."

Ariana nodded as she picked up her wand and put it in her pocket feeling the surge of energy from touching it. She watched Neville thank Mr. Ollivander and began to reach for the mokeskin pouch on her chest when she heard Ollivander say that everything had already been paid for. With that, Ariana and Neville were off, and although Ariana didn't know where they were going to go next, she didn't care. Ariana had a wand now and that meant that nothing was going to stop her from going to Hogwarts and finding out her past.