Chapter 2

Red Bricks

It had been 8 months since Ben's birthday and the time had finally come. He was to enter Ilvermorny next week and today he'd make the travel with his mom, aunt, and his two cousins to the famous Arcane Square. He'd only been there once 2 years ago to accompany his sister Marie and now it was his turn to travel along the brick-laden roads.

"Let's go already! God and you say girls take forever to get ready!" His cousin Kelsey groaned.

"Shut up," Ben retorted. "For the record, Jenny and Marie always take longer than me. And you woke up like 2 hours before me! Of course you're ready!"

"I'm just saying I hope you don't plan on showering soon because we need to get going!"

"Alright, alright I'm ready, relax." He assured her.

The adults had always joked that Ben had as much McKenna blood as Kelsey, but he felt that was unlikely. No way I'm as stubborn as her. Still, as annoying and hard-headed as she may be, he was glad she was the same age as him. It made the whole experience of starting school much less nerve-racking knowing he would at least be with someone he knows.

Ben washed up in the bathroom and pushed his thick brown hair to the side so it wouldn't hang over his eyes, even though it inevitably would fall back in front of his face again anyway. He then made his way downstairs and found his two bickering cousins waiting for him. Kelsey was wearing a long sleeved tee and jeans with her golden hair pulled back in a braid. Her brother Charlie, who was one year her senior, was wearing a Weird Sisters tee and shorts. His sandy blonde hair was cut short for the occasion and he had picked a loose fitting shirt as always. They didn't look much alike as Kelsey was much thinner than he was but the one thing that was distinctively similar about the two were their piercing blue eyes. Ben on the other hand had only one bright blue eye that matched his relatives. The right eye was a green that could've only come from his father.

Charlie stood up quickly. "We all set to go?" He always had been Ben's closest cousin. He was a lot calmer than Ben was and always ended up being the voice of reason whenever he and Ben would get into trouble. For example, Last year the both of them had rigged the toilet with mini "pop-its" that blew up whenever someone had sat on it. However, Charlie and Kelsey's youngest sister Phoebe decided that was the day she'd use the "big girl potty" and after the tantrum that followed, Charlie had spent the better part of the afternoon convincing the adults of their innocence.

His aunt Beth checked her watch. "Yes, I think we have everything."

Kelsey leapt for the floo powder but was stopped short by Mrs. Reilly.

"Hold on, let's have one of the adults do it first so we can be there when you arrive. I'll go first," she decided. "Arcane Square."

His mother erupted into an inferno of green flames.

"Alright, I'm going now. Arcane square!" Kelsey nearly screamed.

And she too was swallowed whole by the green explosion.

"Alright, here we go." Ben stepped in the fireplace and grabbed a handful of powder. "Arcane Square."

He saw nothing but green flashes and felt the earth violently shudder. Suddenly, he was sitting on a street paved by red bricks. He looked up and saw the unassuming street bustling with families that were also doing some last minute school shopping. The shops, as extraordinary as their contents were, looked no different than any other cheap, family-owned business one would find on any other street in this Midwestern town.

"Where is Arcane Square anyway?" Kelsey pondered.

"It's in a No-Maj college town called Athens. The entrance has got a bunch of enchantments so that it is completely unknown by the locals." Ben recalled from the last time he asked the same question.

"So none of the No-Maj's know this is here?"

Mrs. Reilly spoke up. "No they don't. Overall, the MACUSA has done a good job of hiding it but there have been some slip-ups. In the No-Maj world, this town is considered the most haunted college campus in the nation because of us witches and wizards." Ben couldn't imagine anyone fearing a place like Athens. It seemed so simple and beautiful, as if the serenity of the atmosphere seeped into everyone's spirits. Not a single person seemed to be upset.

Beth and Charlie materialized behind them. "Well, I'm sure you two want to get your wands. Jean, do you mind taking them to Jonker's? I ought to take Charles to the Owlery I promised I'd get him one as an early birthday present."

"Of course," Mrs. Reilly responded. "Let's go guys."

After walking a few blocks, they approached a shop that looked the size of a supermarket. However, besides the few people in line ahead of them, the shop looked abandoned. The dim-lit walls were lined with countless boxes, all of which seemed downright impossible to organize.

"How does someone find anything in a place like this?"

"Oh don't worry," his mother assured him. "You won't have to find anything, that's what Josef is for."

"Who?" Kelsey asked.

"You'll see."

A few moments passed and finally they are called forward. They reach a desk that was run by a man that had a quite serious face and had strands of hair hanging down the sides of his otherwise bald head.

"Mm. More McKenna's. How many has it been now … 11? 12?" =

"Hi again Josef" Mrs. Reilly pointed the two of them out. "With these two included there'd be 13 of 'em."

"There's more? You all just keep coming, dont ya?" He gave a toothy smile. "You first." He focused on Kelsey. "I'm Josef Jonker but you can just call me Jonker. Now lemme look at'cha." He abruptly turned and made his way back and returned with a black box. "Try this. Holly with Jackalope horn." She flicked her wrist and a stool went flying across the room. "Nope. Here give it back lemme get somethin' else."

Kelsey tried about 3 different wands before they finally figured out what she was suited for. "Ah Ash wood." He explained as blue sparks shot from the end of her wand. "Ash wood and Rougarou hair, 12 and a half inches. Ash wood is s'posed to be best for real hard-headed witches."

"Sounds about right." Ben mumbled to nobody in particular.

"I love it!" Kelsey giggles and began to wave it around.

"Kelsey" Ben's mom shot a look at her. "Enough of that, now. I'm not trying to have anyone lose an eyeball anytime soon. Ben, go ahead."

He took a step forward as Jonker took a look at him. "Hmm... 'Right here ya go. That's Rowan wood right there. Real nice wand, that is."

Ben flicked it and BOOM. Broken lamp.

"Alright, that ain't gonna work. How 'bout this one. This is Acacia. It's a little bit temperamental but we'll see."

BOOM. Broken table. He tried over and over again but nothing seemed to work.

"Cedar?" BOOM. "Hawthorne?" BOOM. "Laurel?" BOOM. "Poplar? BOOM. "Gotta be Elm right?" BOOM.

"Alright, boy. We're going on 8 different woods now and nowhere close to figuring it out." Jonker started mumbling to himself. "Okay so… it can't be a fir otherwise… no that would've worked… haven't tried oaks yet but…" Jonker turned and hobbled, almost excitedly if Ben knew any better, to the back end of the store and retrieved a very old and dusty box. "Try that real quick."

Ben ran his fingers along the dusty old wand and felt a shock hit his spine. Not a painful shock but the kind a person feels right before hearing a beautiful voice that gives them goosebumbs. Multicolored sparks shot from the wand and he looked up at the dumbfounded Josef Jonker.

"Well I'll be. First time I've seen that wand work before."

"What is it," Ben asked.

"What'cha got there is a southern live oak wand. They're a very picky and temperamental type of wood at the best of times. That one, however, is pretty special though. It was cut from the old legendary Angel Oak in South Carolina. A few were made just to see what would happen but, at least as far as I've know, nobody has ever been chosen one so they stopped cutting the damn tree." Jonker explained.

Ben stared at the wand. "Wait, so I'm the only one that has it?"

"From the Angel Oak tree, yes. There are some that have southern live oak wands and they're powerful but picky. Not unlike an Ash wand," he gestured to Kelsey.

Ben examined the wand. "What about the core?"

"Wampus hair, boy. Best core in America, in my opinion. Second to a Thunderbird feather, maybe."

Both Kelsey and Ben continued to gawk at the wand as Mrs. Reilly handed Jonker a small bag of Dragots and bid him good day.

It wasn't until after the rest of the school shopping was done that the family had regrouped and made their way back to the McKenna's home outside of Pittsburgh.

"I think I'm gonna let Phoebe name him." Charlie stroked his new pet owl. "I'm not too good with names and I think she'd like that since she was so upset about not being able to come."

"Well don't be surprised if its name is 'Tulip' or something. I'm gonna laugh when it ends up being something stupid."

"I'm sure it will be and I'm looking forward to it." Charlie laughed.

Ben smiled and pulled out his new wand. Why such a strange wand would choose him is unknown but one thing was certain: He was thrilled about it.

A/N: I think it's probably a good time to mention that a fair amount of places and people introduced are based off of real people and places that I'm familiar with. So far I think it makes it easier to write about when I have a clear image in my head of what the person or place is really like. I'm absolutely open to ideas and suggestions so feel free to message me with whatever you want!