New chapter is live.
Settle in, take your time, and let’s see what waits in the dark 🖤
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Another day began.
After dressing neatly, Mr.
Ollivander opened the shop, exchanged brief but courteous greetings with the neighboring shops, then returned to the back of Ollivanders.
There lay his private workshop, a place dedicated to thinking through the future of wandmaking.
As the finest wandmaker in Britain, Ollivander held himself to very high standards.
When he was not receiving witches and wizards in need of wands, he spent his days with the wands that were not yet complete.
Of course, he enjoyed both things: wands themselves, and the search for the wizards they belonged to.
The bell rang.
The sound carried to the back.
Ollivander set down the materials in his hands.
He showed no irritation at being interrupted.
He rose at once, as though he had been waiting for the bell.
He passed soundlessly through the narrow corridor like a ghost.
“Good morning.”
Mr.
Ollivander spoke without warning.
As expected, both mother and son jumped.
It was one of the few small jokes he allowed himself.
“Oh. Good morning, Mr. Ollivander.”
The visitors were a middle-aged woman and a plump little boy.
“This is my son, Peter Pettigrew.”
“Good morning, little Peter.”
Ollivander greeted him kindly.
Peter looked timid in front of him, clearly still shaken by the sudden appearance.
A cowardly, weak-willed child.
Ollivander made the judgment silently, then continued with the same gentle tone.
“Now, which is your wand hand, Mr. Pettigrew?”
Peter timidly raised his right hand.
“Right, sir.”
“Very good.”
Ollivander praised him.
He had met many children of this age and knew how to soothe them.
Muggles excepted, of course.
Muggles could not use wands, so there was little point in giving them the same attention.
“Now, try this one.”
After a brief commotion, Peter suddenly felt the difference in the wand he held.
Ollivander saw it at once.
“Remarkable. Very good.”
Ollivander sounded pleased as he took the wand back from Peter, who looked so excited he was nearly in tears.
He examined it carefully.
“Ten and a quarter inches, unicorn hair, hawthorn. A fascinating material.”
“Yes,” he repeated under the questioning eyes of mother and son.
“A fascinating material. Hawthorn often makes a strange and contradictory wand, just as the tree itself is full of paradox. Its leaves and blossoms have healing properties, yet its cut branches carry the smell of death.”
“There, then. It is yours, Mr. Pettigrew.”
Ollivander held out the wrapped box, but Peter’s face again showed that timid hesitation, as if he did not know whether to accept it.
Seeing this, Mrs.
Pettigrew simply shoved the box into his hands and said impatiently, “There. Come along. We still have plenty to buy today.”
Mr.
Ollivander watched them leave.
A timid and weak child, yet one full of contradictions.
How interesting.
Although a wizard’s strength had almost everything to do with the wizard himself, Ollivander still found himself comparing that hawthorn wand to yesterday’s ash wand.
He personally preferred the ash.
Both used unicorn hair, yet the ash represented a deeper loyalty.
The bell rang again.
It seemed the second customer of the day had arrived.
After the same startled beginning, a middle-aged man introduced himself politely.
“Good morning, Mr. Ollivander. I am Lyall Lupin, and this is my son, Remus Lupin.”
Mr.
Lupin looked worn down.
Remus looked the same, even pale and weak.
Their clothes suggested that money was tight, just like the mother and son from earlier.
“Oh. Are you… quite well?”
Mr.
Ollivander asked with concern and generously summoned a tea service, filling cups for them both.
“Please, rest a moment first.”
“It is nothing. Only a small accident.”
Mr.
Lupin was plainly used to being asked such things.
Remus silently lifted the tea and drank.
Whether his parents had specifically told him to do so, or he was simply too tired, Ollivander could not tell.
After a short silence, Remus stood again.
He was very quiet and seemed almost…
An intensely self-conscious child, full of self-loathing.
Mr.
Ollivander sighed inwardly.
He took even greater care with the fitting, hoping this small kindness might make the boy a little happier.
The process of trying wands was much the same, except that an eerie silence hung over it.
At last, Mr.
Ollivander caught the change in Remus’s expression.
“Splendid!”
Before Remus could react, Ollivander was already beaming.
He took the wand with visible excitement.
“Ten and a quarter inches, unicorn hair, cypress. Splendid.”
He repeated it once more.
“Cypress wands are often associated with courage.”
Ollivander patiently explained what he had said only yesterday.
“The owner of such a wand will die a heroic death.”
Lyall and Remus both looked slightly startled.
“Do not worry. Do not worry.” Mr.
Ollivander gave a gentle laugh.
“In fact, only yesterday I met another young boy suited to a cypress wand. Yes, I could see it. The same courage lies buried in both your hearts. May you grow into a brave man as well, Mr. Lupin.”
Remus accepted the wand in a daze.
For a moment, a tiny light of hope flashed in his eyes.
He seemed about to ask something, but in the end, he only pressed his lips together and stayed silent.
“Is there something you wish to ask?”
Ollivander saw through him and offered the opening himself.
He was always willing to provide this sort of small help.
“Yes, sir.” Remus paused.
“That boy. Is he a first-year too?”
“Yes. I believe so.”
Ollivander smiled as he answered.
Snape’s appearance and wand core flashed through his mind, making him frown slightly.
But when he thought of Callan and Lily beside the boy, his brow smoothed again.
“I think you will become friends, Mr. Lupin.”
A small smile finally appeared on Remus’s face.
Mr.
Lupin looked at Ollivander with gratitude.
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Want to keep going?
I hope this chapter gave you another reason to stay with the story.
There’s still plenty ahead, and things are only starting to unfold.