Unhappy Endings

99: To Know Your New (Old) Wands

"This is the wand I will be returning to. Although it does not call to me as much as it used to, it does represent a much... darker... time." He rummaged through his bag and handed it to you. "It's a First Hawthorn wand; very contradictory. They are great with healing magic and curses alike, typically choosing an owner who has a conflicted nature, or who is passing through a time of hardship."

"Oh. I suppose that was you, very much so..." You muttered, admiring its softness.

"They perform excellently with the Defense Against the Dark Arts, as the wood symbolizes protection. The owners of hawthorn wands tend to be complex and intriguing, much like the wands themselves. They are not easy to master, and should only be put in the hands of a talented witch or wizard. I had a strong grip on magic before I even enrolled in Hogwarts. If badly handled, they can backfire. Another interesting thing about wands of hawthorn is that the wood to make wands with is only cut when pruning at Beltane in Ireland, making them more powerful. It also has a boggart skin core, which has strong ties to the Dark Arts, though their Transfiguration skills are extremely powerful as well, as well as their Divination and Legilimency skills. It is practically only Slytherins who have this core. A number of the death eaters have boggart skin cores."

"And is it rigid as well? It doesn't feel so..."

"Ah... no... it is actually a delicate wand... Once a spell is learned, they tend to be less strong, but far more reliable. I was not and continue not to be the most physically gifted..."

"From what you showed me... this feels like your childhood all wrapped in one." You muttered. Severus took this opportunity to lean in and kiss your forehead. "Is this really okay? Getting married so fast? Moving so quickly?"

"It's not a question of whether it is okay... it is necessary for survival. Who's to say we didn't just speed up the inevitable..." His mouth smiled. "Now, show me your first wand." You took it out from your own bag and handed it to Severus. "This... this is..."

"A Black family heirloom wand, yes. My mother was the first to have children and we had a right to see if it called to us. It was my great grandfathers. Dora's wand was much lighter, but this one... it called to me strongly. Yew. Basilisk Skin. Inflexible. I am sure that this is the wand I need to present."

"You are correct in that. Let me tell you about it... I do have interest in them, after all. First, passed down: Yew wands have Dark leanings because of the poisonous sap they produce, though its power lies with Transfiguration. That's why it's not surprising it chose a metamorphmagus. These wands, while fairly rare, are very powerful, like their ideal owners. These people are unusual and, occasionally, notorious. You are the former, but not the latter. Though not all who possess a wand of yew are Dark wizards, they are equally likely to be fiercely protective of others. These wands are said to give its owner the power of life and death, which could technically be said of all wands, but remain to have a very dark and terrifying reputation in terms of dueling and curses. Wands with a basilisk skin core are hardly made, they are more often passed from one generation to the next. When a new wand is made with this core, the chances of them choosing someone who is not either a Parselmouth or a Dark Wizard is slim to none..."

"I can speak in snake language when I am a snake. It was the first creature I morphed into as a small child." You noted. "Have always been a touch darker than Dora, I suppose."

"Like the giant serpent the skin is taken from, these wands are extremely powerful and extremely dangerous. The amount of good from owners of these wands is very small... which is why it's surprising that it chose you. Likewise, Inflexible wands are rare. They are difficult to teach, and are powerful, but not overly so." Severus really was taken aback by this wand. "It's settled then. We'll both use our childhood wands for the wedding tomorrow. From this day forth, we will be dark wizards to all who know us."