Wands
Severus stared unseeing at the wall of the staffroom. The last twenty-four hours had been crazy. Especially in Slytherin House.
God, what people did to their own children! He was more sure than ever that he didn't want any.
What was an immense relief was that all the Squibs who had come or been brought to St. Mungo's were helped. Next year's class would probably be double its size with just the de-Squibbed, under seventeen-year-olds. Maybe they needed to open another class next to the one for adults for the 14–18 year-olds? Hm. Let's wait for the actual numbers before you start planning, he chided himself.
Filius sat down next to him and asked in an exhausted voice, "Stressed out?"
"Immensely so. You?"
"Ditto."
Silence.
"How are your students?"
"Getting there. It was hard going sometimes. I had no idea how many have kept such a trauma hidden."
"Me neither."
Silence.
"Filius?"
"Hm?"
"Did you ever find out why members of your house checked out all of those books?"
"Yes… It seems some students of my house noticed that Gryffindor and Hufflepuff House were getting smarter in comparison to them. Only Slytherin House had lower grades compared to my House. So they decided to sabotage Gryffindor and Hufflepuff House. Gryffindor House by depriving them of the books necessary to write an O-level essay. Hufflepuff was harder, because of their caring Head of House, so they only took some of the books, and otherwise tried to ruin their reputation by saying they were 'duffers' and such."
"So, The Spell dumbed them down intellectually so they started to manipulate things to their favour," Severus grinned.
Filius huffed, "Well, that's not something to be proud of as a member of Ravenclaw. There's a reason my house is so low on points at the moment. At least the counter-spell set everything to rights that was skewed."
"Right. With my House in second place once more after such a long time."
"Then how did your House win the House Cup so often?"
Severus smirked at Filius.
Silence.
"Filius?"
"Hm?"
"I've learned that some students learn magic with wands that didn't choose them for many reasons. Or they have broken ones."
"That's true."
"You know?"
"Oh yes. I talked to Albus and Minerva many times about it but… Oh! I can do something about it now!"
Severus chuckled tiredly and said, "I know of Mr Potter and Mr Ron Weasley. There are more?"
"Oh yes! For example, Miss Weasley and Neville Longbottom. From my house Miss Lovegood and Miss Edgecombe and some more Gryffindors."
"So, no Hufflepuffs or Slytherins?"
"No. Albus couldn't bully Pomona as he did me and Minerva. Not that Minerva needed any bullying. She didn't seem to care or had no time to, as you know. And your house is filled with pure-bloods who know better."
"Right. I also think he didn't deem Hufflepuffs worth his attention. Could I ask you for a list of all the students in need of a wand? We have a possible venue."
"Like with the books?"
"Exactly."
They both chuckled, thinking about those. Irma was much more even-tempered now that Mr Miller had agreed to work as her assistant, and she had gotten a trunk full of books to go through.
"I can write up the list in a heartbeat. Just one minute."
And lo and behold, Severus had a list of eleven students in need of a first wand and five older ones in need of a possible second one because their magic had changed.
Severus nodded his thanks and decided to tackle this right away. He sent a request to come to the headmaster's office after dinner to Potter, Longbottom, and R. Weasley and he wrote it in a way that they knew about one another.
After they had left to get some lunch, Minerva McGonagall got out of the wingback chair she had been sitting in looking out of the window and listening to the two men talk.
Was that what they saw when looking at her and her approach to the students? That she didn't care?
But she did!
Didn't she?
Yes. But Filius had been right. She didn't have time to show it back then. And she had learned that having emotional connections to her students was not advisable. Albus, as her mentor, had taught her that, and the deaths of many of her former students in the war against You-know-who.
After dinner, the three students in question knocked on the door to the headmaster's office. They were a little worried and quite excited. None of them had ever been in there, after all!
When the call to enter came, the three 12-year-olds shuffled into the room looking around with big eyes.
"Thank you for coming, Messrs. Weasley, Longbottom, and Potter," Headmaster Malfoy said. "I'm sure you're wondering why you're here."
Three differently coloured heads nodded.
"It has come to our attention that all three of you use a wand unsuited to you for different reasons."
Ron nodded sheepishly and Harry sadly.
Neville on the other hand frowned and stuttered, "M... My grandmother told me my fa… father's wand should be g… good enough for me."
Harry looked at him in shock, "But the wand chooses the wizard!"
"Exactly, Mr Potter. Also, loyal wands don't change their affiliation as long as their owners are alive. Your grandmother knows this. Or she should."
"But she wouldn't pay for it, sir."
Ron chewed his lip, "That's right. Wands are expensive…"
"That might well be the case, but we've found a way around this. But don't tell anyone. Professor Snape knew of your plight, Mr Potter, and he found the Lost-and-Found of Hogwarts. You wouldn't believe how many students have left their wands here in the last 1000 years. So, it wouldn't cost you anything if you find a wand there that likes you. Well, I would ask you not to tell anyone about it. I don't want to ruin Mr Ollivander's business. All right?"
The three nodded their heads again and looked at the headmaster with excitement again. Well, Neville still looked more worried than anything, but he seemed to be agreeable to follow along.
"Well, do you see that small door between the portraits? If you follow the staircase there, you'll arrive at the Lost-and-Found where Professor Snape is awaiting you.
Harry readily moved towards the door with Neville following him. Ron was a little more guarded, until a portrait of a cheerful woman in funny robes said, "Go on dear, there's nothing to fear."
The three walked down the narrow, dimly lit staircase and came to another door, which Harry knocked on.
"Enter," they heard the deep voice of their Potions Professor call.
Harry opened the door and found a room, similar to the one at Ollivanders, just much less dusty and the wands weren't in little boxes but in some kind of vertical little cubicles, with their teacher sitting on a chair in the middle of the room, holding a book.
"Welcome. Did Headmaster Malfoy tell you why you're here?"
"To get wands that like us, sir." Harry piped up.
"Exactly. So, I know you at least know how Mr Ollivander lets you find your wands, but I've found another way. Mr Potter, why don't you step forward?"
Harry did so eagerly. This was fascinating!
"Now close your eyes. Good. Stretch out your hand and think about a wand that may like working with you and call for it."
Harry stepped forward, squeezed his eyes shut and, much to the Professor's surprise, called out loudly, "Wand, who wants me, please come!"
Severus thought that he could have worded this better.
But it worked!
A wand came shooting out of one of the cabinets handle-first and landed safely in Harry's outstretched hand.
Harry's eyes flew open, and he looked at the wand in wonder.
"Give it a wave, Mr Potter."
Harry did and a gust of red and silver sparks came shooting out of it.
The other two boys cheered, and the professor said, "Well done! Why don't you go next, Mr Weasley?"
"Okay," Ron and Harry switched places and Ron crunched his eyes shut, stretched his hand out, and yelled "Wand! Er, who wants me? Come! Ehm. Please!" And again, a wand floated out and moved to Ron's hands. This time Harry saw it too!
Ron's eyes flew open as well and he gave the wand a wave and orange and golden sparks erupted out of it.
"Awesome!" he crowed while Harry and Neville cheered.
Neville who had lost much of his fear repeated the process and he too was soon a proud owner of a wand that had chosen him, shooting sparks in all hues of green there was.
He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Harry who noticed his dilemma said, "Now you have two awesome wands, right? Your dad's and yours."
Neville nodded and smiled shyly.
"Very well done, boys. Please be quiet about this and tell anyone who asks, the staff of Hogwarts got you wands that chose you, as they are essential to have to be able to become the best wizard one can be. If they ask how we paid for them, just say, the school did. It's not wrong, after all."
"Okay, and if someone badgers us, we act clueless and send them to the headmaster?" Harry asked grinning cheekily.
"Perfect. You do that." The Potions Master looked amused and ushered them back up the stairs into the headmaster's office where he ducked out of the small door, which disappeared unnoticed.
The boys proudly presented their wands and warned the Headmaster they would send anyone asking too many questions to him.
They then learned about wand maintenance and were asked where their wand holsters were.
"Huh? We just put them in our pockets?" Ron said looking unsure with Harry and Neville nodding along.
"I see," the headmaster sighed. "It's not your fault you don't know about it. We'll address it with your teachers."
"Can we owl-order them?" Neville asked and the other two looked at him in amazement. That was an awesome idea!
"Yes, you can owl-order them."
"Oh, and we'll need to tell Hermione about the wands. It wouldn't work sending her to you. She would keep asking us questions and come here to ask you. But she can keep quiet!" Harry said with emphasis with Ron and Neville nodding along with big serious eyes this time.
"I see. Well, then you may bring her into the secret. And ask her about wand maintenance, she might find out what you all need quicker than any lesson we can set up."
"And it will distract her," Ron nodded knowingly.
"Exactly. Now off you go and practise casting some spells with your new wands in private. You may leave now."
"Good idea! See you, sirs!" The boys waved and rushed down the revolving staircase to find an empty classroom to practise. Meanwhile, the two men looked at one another and as soon as the three were out of hearing distance, they started laughing. That encounter had been immensely refreshing with all the heartache surrounding them.
An hour later the three now red-cheeked boys rushed into the Gryffindor common room and flopped down next to the impatiently waiting Hermione and told her everything in great detail but also to keep it hush-hush, which she easily agreed to.
Ron had also gotten it right about her quest to learn anything about wand maintenance and soon they were asking a pair of prefects, who gave all the first and second years an impromptu lesson in wand maintenance, and even got them catalogues where they could order wand holsters and polish.
"How do you know all of this? Will we learn it in class later?" Hermione asked eagerly.
One of the prefects shook his head and said, "No. We were lucky to have a competent Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher for once and he taught us. But who knows what kind of idiot will teach us next…"
Hermione looked sad, "I hope we get a competent one again!"
The prefect smiled at her kindly and said, "Me too, believe me!"
The four ordered the more inexpensive kind of wand holsters with Harry insisting it was his late Christmas present to them. After studying the catalogue, Harry added parchment to his order, which Hermione thought to be a great idea, and did the same.
This marked the day the golden trio became a quartet.
As if fate had heard the heartfelt conversation about a competent Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, a rumpled and slightly threadbare man entered the Entrance Hall the next day and looked around with wonderment and sadness.
Headmaster Malfoy came down the Grand Staircase and after greeting the man said, "Please come up to my office, Mr Lupin."
Later at dinnertime, Headmaster Malfoy introduced the man as Professor Lupin who would be their new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor. And because he had been a Gryffindor too, they could come to him with house-related issues and he would do his best to help, but he wouldn't be their Head of House as of yet since he needed time to find his feet in teaching first.
One cheeky student called out, "Did he cast the counter?" and the rest of the school chuckled.
But Professor Lupin got up and nodded, "You make a good point. Redianormalis."
As nothing changed the students were satisfied and were looking forward to the lessons. The fifth and seventh years especially desperately hoped for a competent teacher. Lockhart had been such a bust, after all.