Olivander started handing Harry wand after wand. Minutes passed with each wand barely reacting to his touch, having been lulled into thinking none of the wands would work. Harry was therefore shocked when the next wand, a particularly frail one, had spat sparks and burst into flames as soon as he held it up.
The wand clattered against the floor where it sat burning until Ollivander doused it with a flick of his wand, leaving behind the burnt stub of its handle and an oddly unsinged silver hair.
When he held the wands Harry could feel his magic try and rush into the wands, begging to be released however the wands seemed unable to channel his overeager magic quickly enough, this resulted in his magic becoming backed up. It reminded him of when Dudley had stepped on the hose and the water had swelled behind the block until it had burst.
Just like the water within the hose, his magic either broke through the barrier, leaving the wand broken, or rebounded the excess magic back into Harry with an unpleasant feeling of wrongness. A feeling which Harry had quickly gained a distaste for and would like to avoid for the rest of his life.
Soon he was surrounded by mountains of wands, while Ollivander had seemed to get happier and happier every time a wand reacted badly he had started to lose his cheer. By the time Ollivander gave Harry yet another wand, this time a "Holly and phoenix feather, 11 inches, slightly springy" Ollivander seemed to be at his wits end.
When Harry held this wand just like all the others his magic rushed forward, however this time the wand was able to channel it all out without issue and it seemed to Harry like the entire shop was filled with his magic.
'Finally, something I can use' he thought, just as the wand fought back against him, stinging him and forcing him to drop it onto the floor where it gave off a few weak sparks on its own before stilling.
"Well I never! Mr. Potter in all my years I have never come across this situation before. I know exactly which wand would be best suited for you, however, I regret to say I have already sold it some 60 years ago. The phoenix feather in that Holly wand would work wonders for you, the issue seems to come from the wood itself, you see Holly favours those that need help overcoming great emotion and works for almost any child under the age of 13…"
Harry shuffled his feet self consciously, he knew he had greater control over his emotions than any other child in his school as by controlling his emotions it further prevented the Dursleys to take notice of him. He didn't think anyone had ever noticed before and he had grown to hate it as he was the only one to need such control. Luckily Ollivander continued on, unaware of the child's awkwardness.
"The wands that have reacted best for you have all been woods of either cedar, fir, acacia or pine. Those woods often favour individuals who are independent, strong and most importantly one who has or will survive a mortal conflict. Other lesser woods would be beech, walnut and yew, those woods are most often seen in the hands of particularly strong witches and wizards, be that magically or physically.
"The wand I had sold was a phoenix and yew wand, the phoenix feather was the twin to that holly wand on the floor. I would suggest elder wood as the best suited for you, however, I myself do not poses elder wood as very few wizards are ever capable of dealing with one, which is why even if I did have elder here I would hesitate to give it to you.
"You see every time a wizard has bonded with an elder wand they have died soon after, this led people into believing if you burned elder wood you would see the face of a demon while planting elder wood would keep the demons away. This is in part due to the fact that without fail carriers of wands of elder having been either saviours or destroyers."
Harry faintly wondered if Mr. Ollivander always scared his customers out of buying a wand or if he was doing it just for him, as if reading his mind Ollivander grimaced
"I've said too much I see, a curse of age my boy, one I hope you will live to see for yourself… Now I believe a walnut wand will suit you best for the time being, the walnut tree is often mistaken for an elder tree but where the elder tree is stubborn, walnut is adaptive and will listen to almost any wielder should they be strong enough." Ollivander hurried into the back room and returned with a block of what must've been walnut.
"Hopefully the wand will allow you to pass through school without suffering from an unbonded wand, I have known students with great potential suffer simply because they have used the wrong wand. I will take the phoenix feather core from the holly wand and make you a new wand out of Walnut and the phoenix core. Since it is my own fault for not having a suitable wand it will come at no extra cost."
Ollivander smiled at Harry and he felt warmth well up within him, never before had anyone been as kind or helpful towards him as Ollivander was being and Harry felt unsure of how to process it.
"The wand will be finished within the week and I can either owl it on to you or you can come pick it up here in a week's time."
"I think it would be best if I came back in a week sir, the neighbours will say something if they see an owl arriving with a wand." Harry said cautiously
"Very wise, although you should know most post owls are often enchanted to be unnoticeable to muggles. If you still wish to come in person I will await you within the week then Mr Potter, you can pay for the wand once you have it." At this he held out his hand and Harry shook it before starting to leave.
As he opened the door Ollivander called out to him "The wand will never fail you, however as you age you may find it lacking in power. If that should happen come here, or to other wandmakers if you so wish, and think about getting another wand. Although it is rare it is not unheard of for a witch or wizard to use different wands depending on the circumstance. Take for example Albus Dumbledore, I myself sold him two wands while he was in school and a third after he graduated, I have heard he has since gained a fourth which he uses regularly."
Nodding he left the store and met up with Petunia
"Well boy, have you gotten your wand?"
"Mr. Ollivander said it would be ready by next week and that I will need to come collect it then"
Petunia sniffed disdainfully "Fine, come along then, the sooner we leave the better"
Unnoticed by the pair Mr. Ollivander watched them leave the alley and couldn't help frowning to himself, Harry Potter puzzled him. The boy seemed delighted by the magic yet wands regularly bonded with muggleborns or even half bloods raised within the muggle world rejected the boy completely.
To properly sell a wand you first needed to get an understanding of the personality of the customer, when Albus Dumbledore had first stepped through his door Garrick had known the boy would be strong. He had been attracted to the darker woods and yet Garrick had known the boy's morals were stronger than his lust for power.
Another powerful child leaped to Garrick's mind, a young lad calling himself Thomas Riddle. Just like Harry he had entered the store alone and seemed to sense the magic within the store, like Harry he had left a mountain of wands behind him.
Just like Harry he had been best suited for the yew and phoenix feather wand, the feather from Albus Dumbledore's familiar. Three powerful children, each having entered his store alone, each more mature than their years and every one had been destined for great things.
When Garrick had first seen Tom and how the phoenix wand had bonded with him he had hoped this meant Riddle was destined to be mentored by Albus, maybe become the next defender of light. He had the power for it and was similar to Albus when he was a child.
It was not to be however as instead of nurture the boy and see the potential in him, Albus had only seen the dark and alienated him, resulting in one of the most feared dark lords in British history.
Needless to say, Garrick had never regretted holding his tongue more than when he realised the great Lord Voldemort was little Thomas Riddle, who had been so pleased to get a wand and who had beamed with joy when Garrick had done a little magic trick at the boy's request.
Tom had been genuinely happy to see magic and was clearly excited to learn all he could, but Harry had only pretended to be awestruck, his perfect smile had never once reached his eyes, he would never be as great as Tom Riddle he would be so much more.
More world building and "subtle" hinting at what the future may hold for little Harry Potter, wands will be a big part of the story and I have been thinking of starting another story based solely on wand lore as the wand lore on the Pottermore website really interested me.
On my quest to update these chapters to a better quality I can definitely see how much I have improved since the beginning almost a year ago. I can only hope that in another years time I can look back on this chapter and improve it even more, perhaps in a few decades I may be unable to improve this any further.