fools in love | tmr jr.

chapter five

finally, a magic wand

"what a git," dahlia said to neville as they left the store but not before looking around to see if her mother would hear her. "can you believe the kind of rubbish he was spouting," dahlia squared her shoulders back and raised her chin in a snubbish way. "well i don't think they should let the wrong sort in," she mimicked the pale boy. "i swear the next time i see that pompous malfoy git. i'm going to grab him by the neck-"

"woah there prongslette," her dad cut her off as she was finishing her threat. it seemed as if frank and james had finished the rest of the shopping while they were being fitted. "just who are you threatening with major bodily harm," he said amused. trust james potter to find amusement in an eleven year old wishing harm on another child.

"just this git we met at madam malkins."

"dahlia", lily scolded.

"sorry mum," she gave her mother an innocent smile before turning back to her father. "but it was true. you should've heard the rubbish he was spouting. he was saying that muggle-borns shouldn't be allowed to go to hogwarts and i know that's not true because mum's the most brilliant witch ever and she's muggle-born."

"oh sweetheart," lily was touched by her daughters words. "well," she started, "i'm proud of you for sticking up for what you believe in." dahlia smiled. "just don't go around calling people gits okay."

"okay mum," dahlia nodded.

"ok now that that's sorted out," said james drawing their attention back to him. "i think it's time for you and neville to get your wands."

that perked up dahlia considerably. a wand, she thought excitedly. now that what was she was truly looking forward too during this trip. now don't get her wrong, while diagon alley is full of wonderful things, the wonder does start to dull after a while. besides, what kid doesn't want a magic wand.

they waved the longbottoms goodbye, promising to meet up after they, the potters, had gotten dahlia's wand, and the longbottoms wanted to check out the apothecary as a late present for neville before getting his wand.

ollivanders was an old and worn building. a narrow and shabby shop, it had gold letters that were peeling from years upon years on being on the door. the front window displayed a single wand that laid on a faded purple cushion.

"that's been there since i got my wand", said james following dahlia's eyes to the wand.

"then it must be ancient," dahlia cheekily replied.

"ha ha," james said, "how witty." he ruffled up his daughters, "now lets get your wand bambi." he rubbed her shoulder affectionately before leading her into the shop.

as they entered the shop, a tinkling bell set off sure to alert the owner of the new occupiers of the building. it was a tiny shop. mostly empty, except for an old wooden chair that was sure to break at any minute. it felt rather like a library except for the slight tinkling dahlia felt which she thought had to be some sort of magic.

"good afternoon," a soft voice said. dahlia jumped startled by the appearance of the man. she was sure the shop seemed empty a few minutes prior, but now he, she assumed him to be ollivander, stood before them. with wide, pale eyes shining like moons he turned to the adults before him.

"james potter," he said.

james jumped as if he were a kid in trouble, which he usually was. ollivander seemed to ignore this and continued. "mahogany. eleven inches. pliable. especially suited for transfiguration. how's that working out for you," he questioned.

"it's never led me astray," james replied looking fondly at his wand.

ollivander seemingly satisfied turned his eyes to the other adult in the room. "lily evans," he turned his wide eyes towards her, "ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. nice wand for charm work," he paused, "how about you, how has yours treated you?"

"great," she smiled. and ever the responsible of the two she said, "polished it last night." she patted her robe pocket where her wand laid.

"excellent," ollivander mumbled. finally he turned his attention back to dahlia. "well now ms. potter. which is your wand arm," he questioned.

confused dahlia replied, "well, i'm right handed."

"hold out your wand arm. that's it." he measured dahlia from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head.

as he measured, he said, "every ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, ms. potter. we use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. no two ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. dnd of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."

as he finished, dahlia noticed that there was a tape measurer measuring between her nostrils and went cross eyed looking at it.

"that will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "right then, ms. potter. try this one. beech-wood and dragon heartstring. nine inches. nice and flexible. just take it and give it a wave."

dahlia gave it a wave feeling as if she were playing dress up. however, mr. ollivander must not have liked that wand one bit because he snatched it out of her hand instantly.

"maple and phoenix feather. seven inches. quite whippy. try —"

dahlia tried but she barely picked the wand up when mr. ollivander snatched it right back up.

"no, no," he said, "here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. ho on, go on, try it out."

dahlia tried. and tried. she had no idea what mr. ollivander was waiting for. her arm strained from how many wands she had tried out and it seemed as if it would never end. the pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but, oddly enough, the more wands mr. ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.

"tricky customer, eh? not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere — i wonder, now — yes, why not — unusual combination — holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."

dahlia gave it a wave, feeling her arm strain as she did so. however, it seemed as if the end had finally come because as she raised the wand over her head a sudden warmth spread through her fingers. and as she brought it back down, it erupted. a stream of red and gold sparks shot form the end like fireworks. dazed, dahlia set the wand back down barely noticing her parents cheers.

"hh, bravo! ees, indeed, oh, very good. well, well, well . . . how curious . . . how very curious . . ," mr. ollivander said.

that snapped dahlia out of her haze immediately. her curiosity peaking. "sorry sir," she started, "but what's curious?"

"oh nothing dear," ollivander replied. "however, i should tell you that a few hours before you a young man came in and the wand that choose him. well it just so happens that the phoenix whose feather is in your wand gave just one another that ended up in his." he fixed her with his pale stare. "i'll say we can expect great things from this generation." he turned back to her parents. "that'll be seven galleons."

as her father paid, dahlia looked at her wand. it seemed as though there was someone out there very similar to her, they were even in the same year, and she couldn't wait to meet them.