[1] New Beginnings: Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, and the Philosopher's Stone

14: the choosing of the wands

Percy was starting to get bored. "No, no, that won't do at all," Ollivander muttered with furrowed brows, evidently frustrated. The man placed the tenth wand Harry had tried on the counter, then retreated back behind some shelves to retrieve a new one.

"Who knew getting a wand would take this long," Percy whispered to Harry.

Harry nodded and sighed. "I know. I'm almost tempted to give up, at this point."

Ollivander made his presence known once more by walking up to Harry with another box containing another wand. "Now, I don't know if this one would work...go on, give it a wave!" Harry took the wand, waved it, and his eyes, along with Percy's, widened. A golden light had emitted from the tip wand and everything that was broken from all of the failed wands was fixed once again. "Curious, very curious," the old man said.

"Sir, if you don't mind me asking, what's curious?" Harry inquired.

"Your wand," Ollivander began, "eleven inches long, made of holly, nice and supple, possesses a phoenix feather core. Now, this particular phoenix only gave one other feather. And that feather is inside of your wand's brother, which belonged to He Who Must Not Be Named." Percy could see Harry swallow, at a loss for what to say.

To break the ice in the most unconventional way he possibly could, Percy spoke up. "Er, how much for the wand?"

Ollivander looked over at Percy and seemed to realize he was there for the first time. "My boy, we must get you your wand first!" And he flicked his own wand, making all of Harry's rejected wands float back into their boxes and up onto the shelves where they belonged. He was off, once again, to find a wand that would fit.

****

Harry was sitting on a stool behind Percy, staring off into space. Percy wondered what his adoptive brother was thinking, for though they were close, they weren't close enough to hear each other's thoughts. Ollivander was still searching for the wand that would fit Percy, and so far, at least fifteen had been unsuccessful. There was a sudden exclamation of "Aha!" from behind one of the shelves, and Ollivander came out from behind it, grinning triumphantly.

He handed Percy the box. It looked rather plain, nothing different from any of the others that Percy had been handed over the last twenty minutes. He opened it, already expecting it to be another failure, and inside was the most beautiful colored satin he had ever seen, a marvelous blue that looked like tropical ocean water. Nestled in the satin was a wand. He removed the wand and placed the box back on the counter with the other wands he had tried.

Percy hesitantly flicked the wand. Like Harry's wand, everything that was broken in the shop was fixed, good as new. Unlike Harry's wand, however, there was no golden glow of light at the tip. Instead, the door banged open with a little jingle from the bell and a faint breeze that smelled of the sea blew into the cramped shop. Ollivander raised an eyebrow. "I do believe you have found your wand, Mister Jackson. Twelve inches, olive wood, quite flexible, and with a core of the hair of a sea nymph I met quite a few years ago. An incredibly powerful combination, if I do say so myself, incredibly unique. I expect great things from you, Mister Jackson."

They paid for their wands and exited the shop, finding Hagrid in the mass of people. He was holding up two cages with brilliant looking snowy owls. He called over to them, grinning widely. "Happy birthday, Harry! An' happy early birthday, Percy!"

****

Once they were completely done with all of their shopping, they dropped everything off at the Leaky Cauldron in their room and then went for some ice cream at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. "Hagrid?" Harry asked, "who is He Who Must Not Be Named?"