Chapter 2

The Wand

When breakfast was had and the plan for the day was arranged by Lily and Remus. Harry, Neville, Lily and Remus had all ventured to Diagon Alley. Normally a trip like this would be to help his mother gather things she needed for her work. This time however, this trip was all about Harry and his preparations for school. He had gone to the wizarding bank Gringotts – which was a bank run by goblins and had dragons protecting the many vaults hidden beneath London. The Potter's were comfortable when it came to money but they were not rich enough to have Dragon's guarding their vault. Which was disappointing for Harry and Neville. They had first gone and bought Harry his owl – a snowy white owl named Hedwig, and laughed when Neville had chosen a toad called Trevor, who seemed rather happy with his new owner. Both boys had gotten fitted for their school robes together, bought the books that would teach them the spells that Harry already knew and finally, as if his mother had purposely kept it till last, gone to Ollivander's to finally buy Harry his first wand.

"We'll go and fetch Neville some potion ingredients," Remus had told Lily, leaving the pair to have this moment alone.

Neville already had a wand waiting for him at home, it was the wand that once belonged to his father, Frank Longbottom. Mr Longbottom had been an Auror. He was still alive. Sadly, however, he had been tortured into insanity along with Neville's mother, Alice. This happened when Neville was just a baby. As it turned out, Neville's parents were also members of the secret order that Lily and James Potter were part of. Harry wondered if this was the reason that Lily was always so kind to Neville, because she also knew the truth about his parents. Either way, Harry felt that he had gotten his best friend out of the deal, so he could hardly complain. The reason that Harry now had to go and purchase his own wand, instead of inheriting his father's one, was because it had been destroyed the night he died. Harry would have liked to have had that wand, he had nothing of his father's, except being told that he looked just like him.

"Ah, Lily Potter." An elderly man said in a pleasant voice when Harry and his mother stepped into the shop. Harry saw that this man was Mr Ollivander himself, and was surprised with how happy he was to see not only his mother, but Harry as well, "And Mr Potter, I'd been wondering when I'd see you in here."

"Hello Mr Ollivander," Lily said kindly, "Been keeping busy?" She asked.

"O, you know how it is, so many new students, so little time." He chuckled, "You've picked the perfect time, I'd say you were the last according to the list,"

Harry didn't approve of this, his eagerness to gain his wand being something of an obsession with him, he didn't like that so many children had a wand before him. He thought of them all, faceless competition as they were waving their wands stupidly instead of properly, possibly doing better than him. What if they were more talented? More powerful? What if Severus had given them all the answers and was teaching them behind Harry's back just to make school harder?

That was of course insane and Harry forced himself to focus. He was here now and it was time to get what he wanted. And acting as if he was about to leap off a mountain, Harry took a dramatic deep breath and stepped forward. Lily smiling with amusement as she watched him being so serious.

"Right, where shall we begin?" Ollivander asked, mostly speaking to himself as he toddled off up the aisle that held hundreds of wands in little wand length boxes, muttering to himself. Harry wondered if the old man was altogether there, looking up at his mother for reassurance, she simply gave his cheek a gentle stroke and tapped the tip of his nose. This little action being the silent way of her telling him to stay calm and patient. "Ah, let's try this one, excellent for charms," Ollivander said, coming back with a nice thin wand that looked very fancy.

Harry, in his eagerness took the wand and held it like he had been using wands for years, even hearing Mr Ollivander say, "A natural I think he'll be."

Lily rolled her eyes. "If he didn't know how to hold one, I'd say he had been replaced with an imposter," And giggled when Harry carefully twirled the wand like he had seen in a book and said, "Orchideous!" then pointed the wand tip towards his mother.

It was a depressing sight when a mound of compost dribbled out the tip of the wand and landed over Lily's shoes. Harry had intended to give her flowers and look very clever as he did it. He was instantly disheartened when nothing more than the dirt happened.

"Don't worry sweetheart," Lily told him, using her own wand to vanish the compost from her shoes. "I'd imagine it's not the right one," She said softly, taking the wand from Harry and passing it back to Mr Ollivander, who got to work finding a new one right away, "But I appreciate the gesture," She whispered to him, kissing the top of Harry's head when Mr Ollivander wasn't looking.

"Nope, nope, nope!" Ollivander repeated, again and again when handing Harry different wands. It was when they got to the sixth wand and Harry had accidently set Mr Ollivander's curtains on fire in his attempt of trying out a water spell, That Harry started to lose hope, even with the constant reassurance from Lily, that these things take time. But then Harry heard, "Hmm, I wonder, it's possible, given the history."

Ollivander came back and this time he had a more serious look on his gentle face. Placing the box on the counter, he opened it with care and made sure not to touch the wand. Harry got the distinct impression that Mr Olivander was afraid of the wand. Harry, looked hesitantly to his mother, who simply nodded her head once and watched her son take the wand with less eagerness than he did the previous six. The second Harry's fingers coiled around the wooden stick, red sparks flew from the top of, illuminating the little shop with a bright light and a power rolled through Harry making it seem like the floor was shaking.

"Curious, very curious," Ollivander whispered.

"What is curious?" Lily asked, suspiciously.

"As you know Lily, I remember every wand I have ever sold, every, single, one," Ollivander replied, "You see, the Phoenix feather that resides in this wand, came from a Phoenix that gave another feather, just one other feather. It is curious that Harry would be destined for this wand, when its brother, took James Potter from us."

The visit to Ollivander's did not end as happily as it started. Harry never felt the need to ask his mother about the reason for why he would get this wand. But it was this wand he would have, and it was only later that night, that he shared with Neville what had happened in the wand shop. For Harry, however, no matter how tenuous the connection was, he by some chance had gained a wand that was connected to his father. He may not have liked the reason for that connection, but it was more than he had ever had before. So well into the night and for most of the next day, Harry, with Neville joining in once his grandmother had finally given him his wand, practiced what spells they could before starting their first year at Hogwarts. Harry was a few steps ahead of Neville. Interestingly, Harry discovered he had a lot of patience when it came to teaching. Sadly, it was clear that Neville would need more work before he could match Harry.