When Garrick had gotten a letter saying that Harry and Jimmy had gotten around to whittling some wands to test, the first thought that Garrick had was about Jimmy. 'Harry AND Jimmy'? Garrick was missing some information. It must have happened earlier that day because he had seen all three of them yesterday. The letter said for Garrick to come by at lunch and all four of them would test the wands throughout the afternoon. He was invited to stay for a bite to eat, and there was no way that Garrick would turn down Cosme's food. Garrick would have the rest of the afternoon and tomorrow morning to prepare for the testing of the wands.
Garrick thought it over and realized that he was operating with maybe half of the information. If he didn't want to be left out of the loop, he'd have to take a more proactive stance. He was used to people coming to him and not the other way around. Even Albus Dumbledore came to him for things wand-related, Garrick couldn't remember the last time that he had to go to someone for information. Being proactive was sure that this would be an exercise in creativity.
Putting that thought aside to deal with later, Garrick prepared to visit Cosme. Walking around his workshop he thought about what he would need to bring. He didn't have a list, but he did have an idea of what he needed to bring. Garrick grabbed his satchel. It was usually for gathering wand woods, but he figured that it would serve this purpose well enough. He emptied it from any lingering wood and put the wood in their drawers that are labeled carefully with the type of wood.
Above the drawers full of wood, the cabinets were stuffed to the brim with various vials and tinctures with wand cores. He grabbed two each of phoenix feathers, unicorn hair, and dragon heartstring. He carefully lined them up on the bottom of the satchel. He looked around the shop trying to think of anything else that he should bring. If the tests are successful then they might begin teaching Harry traditional wand-making so he should probably bring supplies for that.
Traditional wand-making was taught from a hands-on approach. Book knowledge would be helpful, but not the only thing that a wand-maker apprentice would need. For books, he grabbed his family grimoire, Core of the Wands: The Seeds of Magic, a spare copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and a compendium of wand woods. Some of those books he intended to give to Harry, but others were just for potential reference material. Thinking about reference material, Garrick also packed a notebook that he usually used for note-taking. He usually wrote rough drafts in that notebook so he could sift through his thoughts before writing information into his family grimoire.
Garrick was going to leave the workshop and head home when he realized that he should also bring wand woods. He would not bring any of the woods that Cosme used, but instead fill the gaps with some of his favorites. He grabbed a branch of Alder, Beech, Holly, Mahogany, Silver Lime, and Yew. There were a few others that he was tempted to bring, but he knew that he should start slow. As it is 6 wand woods, it may be overwhelming.
As Garrick was grabbing the wand woods, his mind drifted to another wand in the shop. The night that Harry Potter was hailed as the Boy-Who-Lived, Garrick thought it would be rather fitting for Harry to have the Holly wand. Then shortly after, Albus told him to keep an eye on the wand and to tell him if it was ever sold. That was when Garrick realized that Albus also thought that it was fitting for Harry Potter to be chosen by the wand.
Curiosity was often a personal weakness of Garrick. He just wanted to know how the Holly wand would react to Harry. Not only that, Garrick wanted to know how Harry's Spruce wand would react to another wand accepting Harry. Would it attack the Holly wand? Or maybe it would throw a temper tantrum. Garrick could find out the answer, all he needed to do was bring the Holly wand and hopefully be there to watch the results. It was too tempting for Garrick to resist so he grabbed the box containing the 11" Holly wand with a phoenix feather.
The satchel was packed with everything that he could think of so he took the satchel and headed home. He stepped out of his shop and apparated home. He walked in and put his satchel by the door so it would be easy to grab in the morning. He hung up his overcoat and walked to the dining room.
As soon as Garrick enters the room, his wife calls out, "Hello, dear. How was the wand making?"
Garrick moved closer to the table and sighed, "The wand-making was easy enough, but Cosme sent a letter and it seems that I now have plans for tomorrow."
She smiled, "Well, that sounds nice. What are you two going to be up to?"
Both of them were moving the plates around for dinner and filling their glasses, "There are four of us and we may be changing the entire field of wand-making as we know it."
"How fun for you. Though you say four? You, Cosme, Jimmy, and who else? I didn't know you made any more friends?" Though Aleta would be pleased to hear that he made more friends.
Garrick let out a scoff, "Aleta, I am not a child. They're not my friends, they're research associates. I am pretty sure that I told you about Harry already."
She tilted her head in thought, "Oh? That new apprentice of Cosme?"
"He is a shared apprentice," Garrick emphasized the word 'shared', "Though he technically only did the bond with Cosme."
Aleta only hummed in acknowledgment and started plating dinner. It was Shepherd's pie and Garrick always enjoyed it. Garrick sighed knowing that his wife didn't care about wand-making. They both took their seats and dug into their food. Garrick was the first one to take a bite and hummed in appreciation. The food was as good as it always was.
"And you beloved? How was your day?"
"It was rather productive. I managed to write 10 more pages. Though my wrists are aching fiercely." To demonstrate, she shook out her wrists as if Garrick could see her pain.
Garrick smiled in amusement, "Perhaps we'll spend the rest of the afternoon, resting our old bones."
Aleta laughed and swatted at Garrick gently, "Oh please, speak for yourself. I am far from old."
"Then perhaps you'll keep me company while I rest my old bones. Surely you would be fine sitting with an old man and maybe some of your youthful exuberance will help me."
The rest of the evening was spent relaxing by the fire with soft blankets on their laps. Neither talking, but both content. It gave Garrick time to plan for the next day and Aleta time to plan out her next big hit.
The next morning Garrick was puttering around the house completing some household chores. There were small tasks that he thought would keep him busy until it was time to go to Cosme's house. He went to the garden taking laps to make sure all of the plants were in tip-top shape. He then walked to the library and reshelved some of the books that Aleta left out while hoping that she did not leave them out on purpose. The next room over was the kitchen, which didn't even need a wipe-down. That was normally a good thing, but Garrick needed something to keep him occupied and a clean kitchen was not what he needed. Sighing, he glanced at his watch to check the time and saw that he had three more hours before he had to go before he could head to Cosme's place.
Garrick had completed all of the household tasks so he went to see his beloved wife in her office. Maybe spending some time with her will keep his mind off his impatience. He walked to the back of the house and gently tapped on the door. He paused. There was no answer. Garrick decided to just head inside. He opened the door and received a pillow to the face.
"Get out! I finally found my rhythm and you won't be the one to ruin it."
Having received affection from his beloved wife, he decided to heed her advice and leave.
"Sorry for interrupting. Have a good day, my beloved."
Garrick decided that Cosme couldn't be any worse than staying here and annoying his wife. He walked to his living room and tossed some floo power into the fireplace. He kneeled and waited for Cosme.
"Garrick? I am pretty sure that I wrote in my letter that you should come over for lunch." Cosme looked down at his watch. "Well, I suppose we can always have an early lunch."
Cosme opened the floo for Garrick and he came through.
"It is good that you are here early. You are not the only one that came early."
As if summoned, Jimmy flounced into the room. "Morning, Garrick! I'm glad to know that I'm not the only impatient one. If we're all here then can we start?"
Cosme smiled, "Oui, we can start. Start with lunch, that is."
Jimmy let out a groan, "You know what I meant."
A giggle came from behind Jimmy and Garrick realized that Harry was standing behind Jimmy. Garrick had to smile when he noticed that Cosme and Harry were matching. Not only did they both have vests on with their button-down shirts and trousers, but the colors even matched a bit. Cosme wearing his signature purple was far from a surprise, but Harry wearing a purple to match made it a sight.
The group walked as one to the kitchen to eat at the table there. Sitting down they all looked at their plate that had stuffed chicken with roasted tomatoes. The sight instantly caused Harry's and Jimmy's mouth to fill with saliva. As quickly as they could while still being polite, the two of them dug in. Harry paused to think about the flavors of lemon and cheese with the texture of the crispy chicken and creamy filling. Cosme and Garrick ate far slower and savored the food. Jimmy enjoyed the food, but he had a stronger urge to get to wand-making. Jimmy had priorities and food was high, but wand-making was higher.
The conversation was entirely between Cosme and Garrick. The two conversed about the flavors of the meal, what they had done the previous day, and Veela's hair being used in wands. Cosme couldn't resist the opportunity to brag about his successes yesterday. Jimmy and Harry were either stuffing their mouths or looking at the nearest clock to see how much time had passed. Soon the plates were emptied of food and they went to Cosme's workshop. In preparation, Cosme switched out his normal bench for four stools for them to sit on. Two on one side and two on the other side. It was the best set-up for all four of them to watch the experiment.
To start with, Harry and Jimmy lay down all of the core-less whittled wands. They both put down two wands that each of them created. Harry hesitated and then added the wand that only cast water spells. After even more hesitation, he put down his spruce wand. Harry had been debating whether to include it since the day before. In the end, the deciding factor was the wand's own opinion. Harry had held it in his hand and explained what they were planning on doing. He had thought that the wand was going to refuse to be part of experimentations, but it instead embraced the option of gaining a core. However, the wand did have one condition. It wanted to be last.
Cosme looked at Harry with a questioning look when he saw Harry lay down his spruce wand.
"The wand wants to be included, but wants to be last."
The three wand-makers nodded. Jimmy then said, "So we have six wands. Almost all of them are made with different woods and none with cores."
Garrick opened his satchel and pulled out his notebook and a quill. "I think we should test each of the wands to see if they match the personality of their woods."
No one protested so Garrick began picking up wands. He already knew that the water wand was made of Scots pine and Harry's spruce wand so he wrote down descriptions for those without picking them up. He picked up an elm wand that Harry put down. It had a teardrop handle with a bead on top. It felt like a raging waterfall. Not violent but unstoppable and a presence unchangeable. It was ill-suited to Garrick so he put it down and wrote down the characteristics. He then picked up Harry's other wand which looked like a branch just broken off the tree. It had a much subtler presence. It was loyal, unassuming, and firm. It felt like a mountain so easily overlooked but accepted nonetheless.
After those two, Garrick was even more excited to test out Jimmy's wands. The first one looked rather plain. He thought it was maple wood. The thought was reinforced after he picked it up. Despite its plain appearance, this was a wand that craved adventure and was ambitious. It felt like nature, but no specific part of nature. Jimmy was watching closely. He wanted to see if Garrick's expressions gave any indication of what he thought about Jimmy's wands.
Garrick wrote down the notes for the first wand and moved on to the second one. It was also simple in design. It was smooth but there was a groove running down the length of the wand. As Garrick stared at the groove, he almost felt the soothing sensation of a river running through a field. It was another elm wand. Though it felt different, it focused on another element of the elm's personality. It focused on the durability and the dignity of elm.
The entire time that Garrick was taking notes on the wands and their personalities, the other three were watching. Garrick was one of the few wand-makers in the world who could feel wands like this and were trained about what to expect.
Garrick put his quill down and looked up at the three, "So the wands feel exactly as I think they should for the wood types. I think deciding on wand cores that would match the wand-type should be our next step."
Jimmy was just as excited as to test out the cores, but he still asked, "You don't want to test out spells or anything?"
Garrick shook his head, "No, they feel just as a wand should."
Cosme pulled over his trays full of wand cores and Garrick pulled out his samples of his supreme three wand cores. Jimmy looked at the both of them, "Uh…did I miss something? I didn't know that I was supposed to bring some cores."
Cosme laughed, "Non, I knew that Garrick was going to bring his wand cores and I already have some. So I didn't tell you because we probably have more than we need anyway."
With all of the coreless wands and cores in front of them, there was a moment they just stared.
It was Harry who broke the silence, "So how do we pick a core for the wands?"
Jimmy and Cosme hesitated so it was Garrick who answered, "Traditionally, there are two factors to deciding the core. The first is by common combinations. Some wand cores are consistently paired with certain types of wood. The second is a bit by feeling. You can feel the two and see if they would like each other. Sometimes it is helpful to introduce the core to the wood before trying to combine them. It encourages a bond."
Harry nodded as he took in the information, "What wand should we start with?"
Jimmy grabbed his simple maple wand. "I am willing to offer mine up as a sacrifice, just in case it doesn't work."
Garrick realized that he had a perfect teaching moment waiting for him, "How about you feel the different wand cores and tell me which ones you think would work for the wand?"
Jimmy handed Harry the wand. Then the trays and Garrick's wand cores were put in front of Harry. There were about 20 options in front of Harry. Most of the options immediately felt like poor matches for the wand. The first tray only had one core stand out to him and Harry almost laughed when he realized that he once again chose a horn from a Horned Serpent. The second tray was a bit better. There was a small vial full of what Harry thought was hair but it was an unnaturally bright red color and a thin wing that looked like it could be from an insect. The third and last tray had a feather that switched between gold, blue, gray, silver, and other colors which felt like the sky full of storms. Harry then moved on to Garrick's offerings. There were only three options so he fortunately was able to choose quickly. Harry once again chose a vial that looked like it was full of hair, but this time it was a bright silver color.
Harry put his choices on another tray that Cosme handed to him. Cosme looked them over, "I see. You have picked a horn for a Horned Serpent, a Thunderbird feather, Unicorn hair, Curupira hair, and fairy wing. Very interesting."
Jimmy hummed in thought, "I think our best choices would be the Thunderbird feather or Curupira hair. What do you guys think?"
Garrick stared in surprise at Jimmy. "...I agree."
Both Cosme and Harry almost laughed at Garrick's surprise but managed to hold it back to just a smile. Harry laid the wand down in the center of the workbench and put the feather on one side and the hair on the other. He was about to ask how they were going to choose between the two of them when the wand wiggled a bit toward Curupira's hair.
All four of them let out chuckles.
"Guess the wand has decided. Garrick, will you do the honors?" Jimmy was the one to ask and he once again caused Garrick to stare at him in surprise.
Cosme wanted to jump up and down with glee. Harry brought together Garrick and Jimmy! Those two always bickered, but here they were working together.
Garrick pulled out his wand and cast, "accipere et facti sunt"
The hair wrapped around the wand in a spiral direction, and then sunk into the wood. The maple wood started as a pale color but soon took on a reddish hue, almost reminding them of cherry wood. After a couple of seconds, the wand stopped wiggling around and accepted the core.
Garrick was the one to reach out and grab the wand, "Lumos, Aguamenti, Avis" and as expected there was a bright light, followed by water, and a few birds.
"Great! It works, but what does it feel like? Does it feel like a normal wand? Do you feel a difference between with and without a core?" Jimmy shot out each question so quickly that even Harry who was nearly bouncing off the walls had a hard time understanding him.
"...it is different from without a core. It feels stronger and more alive. It almost reminds me of the liveliness of your Spruce wand. At the same time, it is still a wand just a bit more."
Garrick's answer led to a few more minutes of silence. Each of them pauses to think about what it means.
"We should add cores to more of the wands to document how it works." Cosme was the one to suggest. In response, Garrick pulled out his quill and wrote down everything they saw when the wand bonded with the core and the feelings that changed.
Harry picked up his elm wand with a teardrop handle and put it in the middle. It was time for Harry's wand to be tested with a core. Instead of Harry picking out the wand cores, they collectively voted and only accepted a core as a choice if two of them agreed. In the end, there were four options: Dragon Heartstring, Unicorn Hair, Wampus cat hair, and African Mermaid Hair.
"Why are so many of the wand cores hair? Is there something about hair that makes it a good wand core?"
Cosme smiled, "Brilliant question. Hair is frequently used as a wand core because of how easy and humane it is to collect. A wand core needs to come from a magical source because it is already used for channel magic. And hair is easy to collect from magical beings without causing them harm or discomfort. It is also plentiful which means that we don't have to worry about running out."
The wand ended up choosing Dragon Heartstring.
Harry didn't think that was such a big deal until Garrick said, "I remember every wand I have ever sold and I remember the last time that I sold an Elm wand with a Dragon Heartstring core. Let us hope this owner will be more supportive and less focused on dignity."
Harry puzzled over the words, but both Jimmy and Cosme had ignored Garrick's words. They continued this process of choosing cores for wands. They paired the other elm wand with a hair from an African Mermaid. The Ash wand with a bark pattern was then paired with Unicorn Hair. Both wands stayed the same in appearance, unlike the first maple wand.
The only two that were left were the water wand and the spruce wand. Cosme thought about it and said, "It will be interesting to see if the scots pine wand will be able to do anything other than aguamenti after adding a core."
It was unanimously decided that the best core would be coral. What core could be better for such a water-orientated wand? However, this decision was surprising to Jimmy because he didn't think that Garrick would choose a core outside of his precious three. As soon as Garrick cast the spell to bind the core to the wand, Jimmy saw why Garrick picked it. This binding was different from the ones before it. The coral, a small chunk, reshaped itself and instead of disappearing into the wand, it wrapped itself around the wand. The wand had spirals that were cut into the wand, and the coral shaped itself to fill the spirals. The wood then took on a pale-ish blue color as if to reinforce its preference for water.
Harry picked it up and brought the wand to eye level. The coral perfectly filled the spirals, leaving no gaps. He then handed it back to Garrick, who cast, "aguamenti…avis!" The first spell worked, but not the second one. After some thought, Garrick tried "Glacies" and the puddle of water that was on the table froze.
"I see. The wand is willing to work for any water-based spell. I wonder how far we can push that limitation."
The fact that the wand refuses to go past the limitations that Harry placed on it was interesting and Harry wished that he had also brought his notebook so he could write that down. Instead, Harry just mentally theorized and hoped that he would remember all of the details later.
Synchronized, they now turned to look at the last wand. Harry's spruce wand was now the only one that didn't have a core. It was also the most sentient of the wands and the most likely to have an opinion about whatever core they picked.
Harry knew that the wand wasn't fully committed to getting a core, so he picked it up, "What do you think? Are you willing to go through the process and get a core?"
The wand sent back a strong warm feeling that felt like a shouted 'yes!'. Shortly after the warm feeling, it sent feelings of nervousness.
"Would it be easier for you if you're the one to pick out the core?" The other three men watched in interest. A wand picking out its core was not unheard of, but this was probably the first wand that any of them had that was so outspoken about the process.
Garrick had an idea of how things were going to go so he decided to speed up the process a bit, "How about we do the same as the previous wands? We each pick a core and then we see how the wand decides?"
No one protested so three of them were looking at the cores to see which one would suit the wand. But the fourth, Garrick, was not looking. He had an idea of what core would be chosen. However, he didn't want to be accused of being manipulative.
"Oh, I think I left one of my unicorn hairs in my bag." Garrick reached into his satchel as if he were looking for a small misplaced vial. As he was pretending to look, he casually took out the box with the holly wand and put it on the table. Whatever action he was going to do next was quickly forgotten. As soon as the box touched the table, the holly wand took action. It forced the lid off the box and tried to tip over the box so it could roll to Harry. But it was quickly intercepted by the spruce wand that shot a spark at the holly. Harry, in shock, put the spruce wand on the table. He wasn't sure if the spruce wand was going to get angry at him and he wasn't sure what was happening.
The holly wand stopped moving so the spruce one once again sent a spark at the holly. The outside of the wand sizzled a bit and then cracked in half revealing a feather. All four of them were staring in shock. Garrick knew something was going to happen, but he didn't expect that! Because he was expecting something, Garrick was the first to shake off his shock.
"The wand has chosen its core. I guess the holly chose to concede to the spruce."
Garrick's statement earned himself an exasperated look from Cosme. Followed by, "There was no conceding there! The spruce wand attacked the holly and forced it to give up the feather! I have never seen such a sight!"
Garrick ignored Cosme's words. Instead, he pulled out his quill and wrote down a play-by-play in his notes about the fight between the holly wand and the spruce wand.
"Geeze, Cosme, do you think we should be worried about the spruce wand and its tendencies for violence?" Jimmy didn't want to be worried, but….he was.
In response to Jimmy's unspoken accusation, it fired off some sparks in his direction.
Harry who had been watching wordlessly up to this moment burst out into giggles. He picked up his wand and scolded it, "You wanted the feather, huh? Though you shouldn't be mean to Jimmy, He just said that because he wasn't expecting you to do something like that."
The wand didn't shower any sparks in anyone else's direction so Harry counted that as a win. He then turned to Garrick, "So are we going to give it the feather? And what's so special about that feather that two wands were fighting over it?"
Garrick pulled the feather gently from the remains of the holly wood. He rather liked the combination of holly and a phoenix feather, they were difficult to combine. Not only that, it was a combination of a fierce person who won't let anyone or anything get in their way. But the combination of Phoenix feather and Spruce wood, well that was almost an impossible wand to gain the loyalty of. The combination suited someone bold, loyal, helpful, and with good humor. It was also a wand for someone with a flare for dramatics, but Garrick wasn't sure that Harry had yet lived up to that.
"Garrick? You still with us? You're not getting out of telling us about what is so special about that feather?" Jimmy was waving his hand back and forth in front of Garrick's face trying to get his attention.
Looking in Harry's direction, Garrick cleared his throat and answered, "That tail feather happens to come from a phoenix. And that phoenix gave another feather—just one other. I thought that it might be the feather for his wand since the wand that contains the other feather is the one that gave Harry his scar. 13 ½" yew with a phoenix feather. They will be brother wands."
Harry stared at the feather in Garrick's hands with wide eyes. His spruce wand chose that feather, but he wasn't sure that he wanted it anymore.
Cosme let out a sigh. This was typical behavior of Garrick so he wasn't surprised, but he was also a bit disappointed. "Ah Garrick, you were meant for the theater."
That caused Jimmy to giggle which then led to Harry giggling. The tension in the room was broken.
Harry decided that it didn't matter where the feather came from and who had the brother to his wand. "So how do we add the feather to my wand? Do we just cast the spell like normal?"
Cosme nodded, "Oui, thought maybe you should ask the wand if it is okay with me casting the spell."
Harry was still holding the wand and he didn't have to ask the wand anything. As soon as Cosme voiced the question, the wand heated up in approval. It preferred Cosme to cast the spell. It senses Harry's unease towards Garrick and thinks that it would be better for the wand and Harry if Cosme cast the spell.
Harry put the wand on the surface and Garrick placed the feather on top of it.
Cosme pulled out his wand, "accipere et facti sunt"
The feather let out bright red and gold sparks and started to sink into the wood when the wand let out sparks of its own and the feather was forced out.
"...that's different than the others," Harry spoke up.
Cosme laughed a bit nervously, "Oui, that was not right. Let me try again. Accipere et facti sunt"
The feather once again tried to sink in and was once again forced out.
Harry reached out and grabbed the wand, "What's wrong? I thought that you wanted a core?"
The wand sent out feelings of agreement, but also discomfort.
"Somethings wrong. The wand says that it doesn't feel comfortable with the feather, but it does want it."
The three wand-makers leaned back to think on the issue.
Jimmy was the first to suggest an idea, "What if the wand needs something more than just a feather?"
"Two wand cores! I don't think that's ever been done before," Garrick scoffed at Jimmy.
"Hmm neither had coreless wands, but here we are. The real question is what could possibly be added to a phoenix feather while keeping the wand balanced?" Cosme was half-thinking out loud and half-answering the question. "Really, there is only one thing that could serve as a perfect balance for a phoenix feather."
Garrick and Jimmy stared at Cosme. They were both thinking about whether Cosme was going where they thought he was going.
"Oui, I see it on your faces. There is only one answer: Basilisk venom. It is the perfect solution. A balance between life and death with two rebirth cycles. If we were to try to add anything else the phoenix feather could burn it out."
"Wow, Cosme, you don't hesitate to go for shock value. You're insane. In a good way, but still insane." Jimmy wasn't sure why he hadn't realized Cosme's insanity before now.
Garrick felt the need to point out the obvious, "And where are we going to find Basilisk venom? It's not exactly common nor is it cheap!"
Cosme immediately tried brainstorming, but both Garrick and Harry stared at Jimmy who looked…sheepish.
"Bloody hell, Jimmy! Why do you have Basilisk venom?" Garrick wasn't sure if he was more concerned for Jimmy or whoever gave Jimmy the venom.
"Well, you see the thing is when you travel, you pick up all sorts of things and you bump into all sorts of people." Jimmy shrugged as if everyone experienced that, "I was just minding my own business exploring this town in Germany when I saw something I wasn't supposed to, and in return for keeping my mouth shut…he gave me the venom."
Cosme thought that he reached a new level of concern for Jimmy, "I am going to choose not to comment on that, but you are no longer allowed to travel by yourself."
Jimmy smiled. That was great news after all. He always got a bit lonely when he traveled by himself.
Harry brought them back to the point, "How do you ask Basilisk venom to a phoenix feather?"
They all looked to Garrick who was internally panicking. He had never done anything like this before nor had he heard about such a thing. Trying to remain calm, he answered, "We need to place the feather on something that we don't mind vanishing afterward. We'll drop the venom on it and then vanish the object so it won't burn through the table. The venom will be quite potent. Jimmy, get the venom. Cosme, get a tray or something. And Harry, make sure that the wand understands what we're going to do."
Each of them listened to Garrick's directions and was relieved that he was able to make something up on the spot. Once all four of them had completed their tasks, Garrick set it up. There was a silver tray that looked like it belonged in a kitchen. Garrick put the feather on top of it and opened the vial full of Basilisk venom. He carefully released seven drops of the venom on top of the feather and stepped back. The venom quickly sizzled and filled the air with smoke which blocked them from seeing what was happening. Then there was a flash of red light and then a green light. The green light was so bright and vivid that all four of them ducked down.
They thought that it was over when the tray and all of its contents were set on fire and burned a brighter red than any of them had seen. The flame burned high and bright until it lowered and then changed color. The red turned into a bright orange color which then changed into a yellow color. The color stayed yellow for a few seconds before rapidly changing into white and settling to blue. The heat was so intense that Garrick was tempted to try putting the fire out, but he feared that not even water would be able to put this fire out.
Fortunately for all four of them, the fire disappeared just as suddenly as it arrived. The four stepped closer and Garrick was ready to vanish the tray when they saw what happened to the feather. It was transformed into a black and blue feather and there was no indication of the Basilisk venom. And despite the fire and its heat, the tray underneath lay untarnished.
"Are there black and blue phoenixes out here?" Harry asked. It was a perfectly reasonable question for someone who was not raised in the magical world.
However when Cosme answered 'yes' and Garrick answered 'no', Harry realized that it might not be so simple after all.
Jimmy was the one who clarified for Harry, "It's complicated. Dark Phoenixes are only documented in myth and legend and so no one is quite sure whether they exist or not. I think it's a bit silly since to No-majs, unicorns are legends and it doesn't make them any less real."
Garrick scoffed, "The muggles also think that orcs are legends, doesn't mean that those are real."
Cosme sighed, "We should agree to disagree. Whether a Dark Phoenix exists or not, we do have a feather that is both a Phoenix feather and is black and blue. I think that we should see whether the wand will accept it as a core now."
Garrick was the one to reach out and grab the transformed feather. It felt no different than it did earlier. Harry put the wand down and Garrick put the feather on top of it.
Cosme cast, "accipere et facti sunt"
Harry and Jimmy held their breath as they watched the feather let out blue, green, red, and orange sparks. The wand was originally a creamy color, but it now shifted to a deep red hue, bright and glittering in the light. The color probably wouldn't have been out of place if they were looking at polished cherry wood but for a spruce wand, it was unheard of. The color seemed to appear all at once and was a shocking difference from its original color.
Figuring that it was complete, Harry picked it up. On closer inspection, the grain of the wand seemed to be filled with a blue color that they had seen earlier in the feather. The color was so intense that it almost seemed to glow with power. The wand felt warm, far more than it did before. The warmth filled his fingers and then his whole body. A smile, involuntarily, appeared on Harry's face. Following his urge, he swished the wand and it let out a stream of red and green sparks. The sparks were so bright that they lit the furthest corners of the room.
Jimmy and Cosme clapped while Garrick had a strange look on his face.
Garrick was supposed to send a letter to Albus Dumbledore when he sold the Holly wand with the phoenix feather. Then again he still hasn't sold the wand and the feather that Harry has isn't quite the same feather that Albus gave him so there was no need to send any letter.
"Now that is a wand unlike any other and we have paired all the wands with cores. Do you feel any differences now that your wand has a core, Harry?"
The wand sent feelings of pride to Harry. It wasn't too sure what the point of a core was at first, but the wand felt more now that it had a core. Like Garrick, the wand wasn't sure what it was more of, but it knew that it was more.
Harry paused to think about all of the feelings that he felt from the wand. "The wand agrees with Mr. Ollivander about being more, but it isn't too sure about what it is more of. I think that I can understand it more clearly though."
That was scribbled down in Garrick's notebook.
"We can now begin your formal wand-maker instruction."