Chapter 2. Wand of Cherry
"Did you talk to Emma?" Dudley Dursley asked. "I think she really wanted to talk to you."
Daisy shook her head. "Not yet. I saw her two days ago, though. I haven't seen Sophia or Jonathan all summer!" She looked around Diagon Alley with eager impatience. Every kid going back-to-school shopping was potentially one of her friends, but none of the faces she saw were the right ones.
"Well, we should start getting your things together soon, whether or not your friends show up. I see Harry's lot coming up the road there, you'll still have someone your age to talk to," Dudley said, recounting the coins he had just retrieved in exchange for muggle money.
Daisy looked in the direction he had pointed. Lily waved at her from between her parents but didn't try to get any closer.
Harry and Ginny were mid-conversation with Scorpius' parents and the father of one of James' friends. After a moment, they seemed to come to some agreement, and Albus was allowed to leave with the Malfoy family. Harry took James and his friend, and Lily and Ginny came over to Join the Dursleys.
"Ready for your second year, Daisy?" Ginny asked.
"Of course!" Daisy grinned. Her response to her second year at Hogwarts was so much different than how she had reacted at the beginning of her first.
"Then let's go!" Ginny made sure they were all following, and then led the way to Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.
Both Lily and Daisy had grown a good amount since the previous year's shopping, and they weren't the only ones. Madame Malkin's was packed with more students than usual. Many were first years, but more were returning students that needed a new set of robes. Two of them were students that Daisy and Lily had been looking for.
"We wondered when you two'd show up," Gracie Ellis said. She held her arms aloft as one of the shopkeepers pinned her robe into place.
Sophia sat on a bench next to Gracie, a parcel holding her new robe in her lap. "We've been here for at least an hour already." She turned to the others in the group. "Hello Mrs Potter, Mr and Mrs Dursley. And Daisy's adorable little sister, I love your hair and outfit by the way, are you starting at Hogwarts this year?
Poppy looked slightly startled by Sophia's comment. She flipped her braid forward proudly. "No, not this year, but next year hopefully."
Sophia nodded. "Awesome."
It took half an hour for Gracie, Lily, and Daisy all to be fitted for robes, but it wasn't at all boring. Gracie told them all about her trip to France that summer, pausing and laughing whenever Sophia interrupted with any comments.
"Neither of you have seen Jonathan though?" Daisy asked as they left the shop.
Sophia shook her head. "Did he say for sure he'd make it today?"
"No, but I was hopeful."
"Maybe he just hadn't been in to get new robes yet, or went to Twilfitt and Tattings instead."
"Not to interrupt your important conversation," Ginny said, "but what store were you heading to next?"
The four girls stopped and turned around. Without much thought, they had walked off down the alley leaving Dudley, Poppy, and Ginny to follow behind as they walked aimlessly down the brick walkway.
"Oops," Sophia trilled. "My bad. Books next? We're near Flourish and Blotts anyway."
"How bout Olivander's?" Daisy suggested. "Poppy really wanted to go there. You know, to figure out her wand situation."
Poppy stepped forwards to be more included, her eyes glowing with excitement. The cherry tree twig, through which Poppy had done her first bit of magic, hadn't left her side all summer even though Harry had suggested keeping it stored someplace safe. Using it, Poppy had levitated a baby bird that had fallen from its nest and accidentally set fire to the Dursley's Sunday breakfast.
The others agreed on the destination. Daisy threw an arm over her sister's shoulder and guided her in the direction of Olivander's wand shop. The shop had gone through some changes since Daisy had gotten her own wand. It was better lit, and the counter looked to have been replaced. The old man, Mr Ollivander was nowhere to be seen, and instead stood a frazzled looking Sean Ollivander, Garrick's great nephew who had given Daisy her wand the previous year.
"Ah, another Dursley off to Hogwarts then?" Sean surveyed the group of them curiously. "I wasn't expecting another until next year."
Poppy stepped forwards. "How did you know I'd be coming at all?"
Sean's grin was not without a little mystery and mischief. "A wandmaker sees much. I had a feeling your sister wasn't the only Dursley who would pass through. Now, how may I help you?"
Daisy looked from the young wandmaker to Poppy and back again. It was clear that Poppy wasn't satisfied with that answer, but she didn't ask again. She took the twig out from her back pocket and placed it on the desk.
"I'm not starting at Hogwarts until next year, but could I have a wand made? I can't do magic without this stick, not even the usual accidental magic."
Sean picked the branch up, measuring it with his eyes. "Cherry, yes?" He didn't check for Poppy's confirmation. "A very nice specimen, very nice indeed. Seems to be of wand quality wood. Small, but large enough to be made into a good one. Maybe 10 and ½ inches, quite rigid... but what of the core…" For the first time, he seemed to notice that he was saying all this in front of a small crowd of people.
Daisy guessed that if the old Ollivander had done such a thing, he would have thought nothing of it, but Sean blushed and placed the soon-to-be wand back down on the desk. Daisy tried to guess how old he was. He didn't look all that much older than the 7th years at Hogwarts, but it had to have taken years to be able to run a prestigious wand shop. He was probably somewhere in his mid-twenties.
Sean nodded to Poppy. "I can make it, but it's illegal to provide a child under the age of 11 with a wand, so a magical adult relative will have to keep it for you."
"I understand." Poppy didn't blink.
Sean narrowed his eyes, a small smile appearing at the corners of his mouth. "I don't doubt you understand. I doubt you'll follow through." He held her gaze for a moment more. "Anyway, we still need to find out what core best matches you. There are three possibilities: phoenix feather, dragon heartstring, or unicorn hair. Of course, you could also try out thestral tail hair, dittany or veela hair, but those are quite risky." He opened up the gate allowing Poppy to pass through to the space behind the desk.
"Here." Sean held out three identical oblong boxes. "Don't open them. Just tell me if one feels special."
Poppy took the boxes and weighed them in her hands one by one. One box did look like it stood out more than the others, and Daisy and her friends leaned in closer as Poppy ran her finger down the crease on the side.
"I like this one," she said. "It feels… powerful."
Sean frowned and yanked the box back out of Poppy's hands. He pried the lid open and looked inside. "Dragon heartstring."
No one said a word.
"That sounds nice," Gracie said politely, breaking the silence.
"Hmm." Sean took Poppy's twig of cherry wood off of the counter, dropped it in the box with the dragon heartstring, and put them both in a drawer behind the counter. Poppy's eyes didn't leave the box until it could no longer be seen.
"Yes, very powerful. I could be - I could be making a mistake making this for you." His eyes looked off into the empty space behind them for an awkwardly long few seconds before coming back to them, his face returning to a cheery smile."That'll be ten galleons, since it's special order, and I'll need the mailing address of a magical relative."
Dudley approached the counter, cringing as he fished out ten gallons, mumbling "Daisy's was only seven."
"And the address?"
"Have it mailed to Ginny Potter," Ginny stepped in. "I'll keep it until she's old enough."
Sean wrote something down on a slip of parchment and gestured for them to move out of the way for the next customer.
"Jonathan?" The next three in line included the remaining member of Daisy's friend group. Jonathan hardly had time to acknowledge Daisy's presence before her arms were wrapped around him.
It wasn't that Daisy had been lonely all summer - far from it. She'd had her sister, her cousins, and Emma, of course. She'd also been sending letters to both Sophia and Jonathan weekly so that they wouldn't miss out on anything, but Jonathan's letters had always been the shortest. Daisy didn't know what that meant. Maybe Jonathan just wasn't a long letter writer, but she still got the feeling that something was wrong.
"So you are here," Sophia reported. "We thought you couldn't make it."
"I wasn't sure which day I'd be going," Jonathan said. "I promised Sam that I'd go with him since it's his first year. You remember Sam, I told you about him, right?" He gestured to the boy he had come in with who was now waving a wand through the air at Sean Ollivander's instructions.
Daisy did vaguely remember a Sam back when she had talked with Jonathan about staying in touch with friends, but somehow, she hadn't comprehended that this "Sam" person would have anything further to do with her life. But there he was, looking as if nothing in his life had changed when Daisy's had just reached a turning point.
According to Lily, friendships made the first year at Hogwarts were always the strongest, but if that was true, why did Daisy have a feeling that Sam Edgecombe wasn't going anywhere?