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“Where are we going first, Master Aurelian?”
After exchanging Catherine’s pounds for Galleons with the goblins, they left Gringotts.
Catherine asked the question as soon as they reached the bank’s front steps.
“Ollivanders first.
Once I have my wand, we will buy one for you as well.”
Two years earlier, Catherine had suffered an accidental burst of magic and revealed that she had the makings of a witch.
A witch, naturally, needed a wand.
“Phoenix is such a miser,” Aurelian complained.
“I wanted to use one of its tail feathers to have a wand made for you too, but it refused no matter what I said.”
The memory still annoyed him.
Phoenix had given him one feather and then vanished outright.
No matter how Aurelian called, it refused to appear again.
Not even a scrap of dignity.
Elaine had laughed at him about it for ages.
“Please do not be angry about that anymore,” Catherine said, amused and touched despite herself.
“Phoenix is a phoenix.
A phoenix tail feather is already a rare material, and it gave you one because of your contract.
Besides, even without a custom wand, Mr.
Ollivander’s work is excellent.”
She meant it, but Aurelian still grumbled for a while.
He only stopped when they reached the front of an old, narrow shop.
“So this is Ollivanders?” Catherine looked up at the sign.
“I have heard of it, but I have never been here before.”
The sign read: Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.
“That is the place,” Aurelian said.
“Their family history is even older than House Pendragon’s, so be polite when we go in.”
He said it seriously, then let out a small laugh.
“Not that I need to remind you.
You have never made House Pendragon look anything less than impeccable.”
With that, he pushed open the old wooden door.
“Mr.
Ollivander?
Are you here?”
Aurelian stepped inside with Catherine behind him.
He gave her a small gesture to be careful of the wand boxes stacked all the way to the ceiling, then called out.
His voice was not loud, but in the quiet shop it carried clearly.
“Master Aurelian.”
After a moment, an aged voice drifted from deeper inside the shop, and an old man appeared before them.
“Good afternoon, Mr.
Ollivander.”
Aurelian offered a formal aristocratic bow.
Catherine immediately followed his lead.
“You have come for the custom wand, I take it?” Mr.
Ollivander asked after returning the courtesy.
“Yes.
I would also like to purchase a wand for my maid, Catherine Bedivere.”
“Bedivere?”
Ollivander’s eyes moved to Catherine.
“Then you found a descendant of that admirable knight?”
“You would have to ask my mother about that,” Aurelian said.
“In any case, that is not the purpose of today’s visit, is it?”
“Ah.
Quite right.
Please wait here.
I will fetch your wand.”
Ollivander disappeared into the back of the shop and returned a short while later carrying a box marked with the Pendragon crest.
“Master Aurelian, this is the wand you asked me to make.
The core is a tail feather from your phoenix, Phoenix, and the wood is the sycamore you provided.”
He handed over the box.
Aurelian opened it.
Inside lay a wand roughly ten inches long, its surface smooth and clean.
“Thank you, Mr.
Ollivander.”
He studied it for a moment, but did not take it out.
Instead, he closed the box and handed it to Catherine.
She tucked it into the bag Elaine had enchanted with an Extension Charm.
“You are not going to try it?” Ollivander asked, puzzled.
“I trust your craftsmanship.
I would also appreciate it if this matter did not spread.”
Aurelian did not ask Catherine to take the wand back out.
“I understand.
You may rest assured, Master Aurelian.
I will keep your secret.”
Ollivander did not know why the boy wanted it hidden, but he agreed all the same.
“Then please help Catherine choose a wand.”
With his own wand secured and Ollivander’s promise given, Aurelian stepped aside and let Catherine come forward.
“Miss Catherine, which is your wand arm?”
Ollivander drew a measuring tape marked in silver from his pocket.
“My right hand.”
“Raise your arm.”
The measuring tape sprang to life and began measuring her by itself: shoulder to fingertip, wrist to elbow, even the distance between her nostrils.
While it worked, Ollivander moved among the shelves, taking down box after box.
“Every Ollivander wand contains a core of a powerful magical substance.
That is the heart of the wand.
We use unicorn hair, phoenix tail feathers, and dragon heartstrings.
Each Ollivander wand is unique, because no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are exactly alike.”
As he worked, he explained the basics to Catherine and Aurelian.
“Here.
Try this one.”
The moment the measurements were complete, he handed her a wand.
“Walnut and dragon heartstring.
Nine inches.
Quite powerful.”
Catherine gave it a wave.
Nothing happened.
Ollivander took it back at once.
“Then this one.
Unicorn hair and oak.
Eleven inches.”
She tried again, but the wand only flashed with a faint white light.
Ollivander snatched it back as well.
“Let me think.
Let me think.”
He drew boxes from one shelf and then another, only to put them back.
Then his gaze happened to pass over Aurelian, idle at the side, and from there to the way Catherine kept glancing toward him.
All at once, he rushed to a shelf and pulled down a box.
“Try this.
Unicorn hair and rosewood.
Ten inches.
Very flexible.”
Catherine took the wand and felt warmth flow from her fingertips into the wood.
She raised it and gave it a wave.
A beam of pink light shot out and knocked a whole row of wand boxes from the shelves.
“I am so sorry, Mr.
Ollivander.
That was my fault…”
Catherine looked at the scattered boxes and hurried to apologize.
“Do not worry.
Helping a customer find the proper wand is satisfaction enough.”
Ollivander waved off the apology, then looked at her with a meaningful smile.
“Miss Catherine, I assume you know what rosewood is said to represent.”
Catherine froze.
A heartbeat later, her face turned bright red.
At that moment, Aurelian walked over.
“Are we done, Mr.
Ollivander?”
“We are, Master Aurelian.
Seven Galleons, please.”
Catherine took seven gold coins from the purse and handed them to Ollivander.
Then she and Aurelian left the wand shop.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter.