The Wand Maker's Daughter

Introducing: Evy

Florence's wand spun out of her hand and flew to the opposite side of the room, where it narrowly missed the head of a poor girl who was practising her colour-changing charm on a shiny beetle as it scrabbled across the desk. "Alex!!" She chided her friend who had cast the spell and weaved through the sofas and desks of the common room to retrieve her wand. When she reached down to pick it up, humbly muttering apologies, she was stopped by a slender hand that swiftly whisked the wand off the floor and held it up to the light.

"Ash," said the girl, her hot pink beetle forgotten. She twirled the creamy coloured wand dreamily in her fingers and said decidedly "Ash, with a unicorn tail hair and mother of pearl centre. Expensive and unusual combination, but a beautiful one. This wand is old, I think, current generation wand makers stopped using mother of pearl long ago after a dispute with the Merpeople." She handed the wand back to Florence and met her eyes. Her hair, long locks of silky black coils were as smooth as wet clay, and were swept back charmingly into a twist, held in place with rings of copper and colourful crystals that Florence suspected were Phoenix flint. In her ear, a copper chain was twisted through multiple piercings and she wore circlets of copper on every finger and toe. Her shoes were of standard black leather but they had beautiful cut outs and colourful stitching that made pictures of moons and stars and fire and snowflakes made her normal robes have a slightly quirkier, more artistic vibe. A light spattering of freckles were positioned so arrestingly on her nose and neck, and Florence felt that she had spent too much time looking at her nose than was normal. She cleared her throat.

"Yes I- it was my grandmothers, but she-" The rest of her story was cut short by the out-of-breath arrival of Alex, who couldn't stop grinning throughout her cheerful apology. "Evy!" She exclaimed, and Florence felt an inexplicable sting of jealousy that Alex already knew her. "I'm Alexandria, I saw you at the Quidditch tryouts. She was amazing!!!" She mouthed at Florence, who nodded in bemusement.

Evy smiled, and flicked her wand absentmindedly. Florence, who had been watching the beetle out of the corner of her eye throughout the entire conversation, saw it change from a brilliant turquoise to a emerald green and finally to a glittering, iridescent purple.

"How do you do that charm?!" She exclaimed in wonder, interrupting Alex's rambles. They had attended brief lessons on colour changing spells in Charms, but had quickly moved on before Florence could master the difficult spell. Her eyes followed Evy as she bent down and very gently picked up the beetle. He clung onto her finger and flicked his wings in earnest, revealing a scarlet body underneath the purple exterior. Evy set him on the table. "I could teach you if you like," she offered, and quoted "One has never truly mastered a spell until they have successfully taught it to another."
"Was that Albus Dumbledore?"Florence questioned.
"Yes. He was my headmaster for my first two years of schooling before his death the year after I had left."
"You went to Hogwarts?"
"For a couple of years. We lived in Scotland - My parents tend to move a lot, they are both Wandmakers and are both rather eccentric and stubborn."
That explained the analysis of my wand, Florence realised, and sat down in one of the polished oak chairs. Evy produced another beetle and coached Florence until she managed to transform the shiny yellow shell into a blue and pink checkered one.
"There!" They both nodded, satisfied. The beetles were both returned to their natural black, and released onto one of the marble windowsills. Alex had wandered away in a cheery buzz, and now handed them two lavender glazed doughnuts.
"How do they taste?" She demanded, and Florence took a large bite. A dreamy, calm sensation overcame her, and she opened her mouth to respond before Evy cut in.
"A summers day picnic - ginger beer and wild strawberries on a red checkered mat, the air perfumed with sweet peas." Florence nodded, she had described the sensation exactly. "Definitely sweet-pea scent?" Alex asked disappointed. "Not the scent of wild violets, by any chance?" Both girls shook their heads. "Definitely sweet-peas" Florence confirmed, and Evy made noises of agreement. Alex cursed. "Back to the kitchen then! Madame Leroy will be happy, it's the closest attempt yet. Here - have the rest." At that she dumped a whole lot tray of powdery donuts on their table and skipped off delightedly.
"What I really want to know," said Evy, her mouth stuffed with pastry, "is why you have your grandmothers wand. Canadian wands are fairly well priced at the moment, and Illvermorny usually demands that you have your very own wand to ensure the finest quality of spell work. And..." here she trailed off but Florence followed her gaze to her own robes and sighed. It was true, her robes boasted her families wealth in the way they were designed to do. Her shirt was crisp and white and her underskirt was of emerald green calico with tiny sequinned diamond shaped stitching around the bodice, and her coat was a silky black with lilac satin that boasted her house, Flora. Even so, she dismissed this assumption with a flick of her wrist. "I use this wand because I want to, not because it was forced upon me. There are certain grey areas of the law that meant that I, before the age of eleven could learn and perform magic, with the supervision of an elder. My grandmother for instance." Here, she looked at Evy, who was listening intently. "She taught me basic spells, like Lumos and Nox," here she flicked her wand and warm yellow light erupted from the tip of her wand, before being extinguished. "But also spells she thought were beautiful, like Avis..." twittering bluebirds spun through the air, much to the chagrin of people studying nearby, "and Aparecium." Here she gestured to the black ink on the thick, creamy parchment, and with practise flick of her wand, the text disappeared.

"When she died... because she did, when I was 11; I went to get a wand to start school. But I realised that I already had one. It feels like a part of me, like an extension of my arm and when it's missing from my palm I constantly feel like my body is not whole, like a piece of me is missing." She touched the carved vines and flowers that textured the handle. "I didn't choose it, it didn't choose me, but somehow we were always meant to be together. And I don't think it's because I am a carbon copy of my grandmother because I'm not, we were very different people. Still... maybe it can sense her in me." She looked up at Evy, who was looking at her hands, and barked a surprised laugh. "But look at me, only talking about myself! I want to here about Hogwarts. And Scotland. And where you got those beautiful boots from!"