The Trick

First Year - Wizard Shops

Mariah's POV

The first place Mariah wanted to stop by was Flourish and Blotts. She wanted to know everything there was to know about the wizarding world. Her brain felt like it was going to explode with knowledge after only being in the shop for five minutes. Her fingers skimmed the spines of each book that caught her fancy. They even feel different than normal books, she thought with a smile on her face. She knew she would spend many late nights reading. 

Before she could look at the list of required books, Professor McGonagall appeared next to her with a stack of books. She held them out to Mariah and she  took them from her. Her eyes skimmed the titles on the side of the books, interested in what she would be learning. To get a better look, Mariah set the books down on an end table besides a sofa. She started flipping through the book that was on the top of the pile which was, Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger. Mariah’s heart pounded as she let the knowledge soak up into her brain. 

“School doesn’t start for a little bit, you know,” Professor McGonagall said.

She looked up at her, cheeks red. “Oh, I know, Professor. It’s just that this is all so spectacular! I feel like I’m going to wake up any minute.” She smiled at Mariah and patted her shoulder. 

“Well, you’ll have plenty of time to read all of those, but we have many other items to get,” She ushered her up to the front desk where she paid for her books. Her fingers itched to open every single one of them. 

When they left the shop, Mariah stopped in front of Professor McGonagall. “I just want to express my deepest gratitude. I really appreciate you going out of your way to help me,” She looked at the ground, a little embarrassed. “In other words, thank you.” 

Professor McGonagall went to stand next to Mariah and led her to the next store. “It’s my pleasure to help a new student. I know how scary it can be when you have been pulled away from everything you know, but I think you’ll fit in nicely here.” 

After Professor McGonagall took Mariah to get all of the essential items for her school year at Hogwarts, she let Mariah explore a few of the shops. The one shop that stood out to her was Sugarplum’s Sweet Shop. She had a weakness for everything that was sweet. 

Mariah was practically bouncing off the walls as she explored the sweet shop. She had gotten everything off her list except for her wand and pet. Professor McGonagall had given her a few galleons to use on anything in the shop, so Mariah was trying to find the most extravagant things. There were so many weirdly named pastries that jumped out from the shelfs. Mariah didn’t care that she stood out like a sore thumb, she wanted to explore every inch of that place. She ended up getting chocolate frogs, fizzing whizbees, sugar quill lollipops, and bertie bott's every flavour jelly beans. As she was carrying her sweets up to the counter, a black haired boy ran up beside her and bumped into her arm, knocking the sweets out of her hands.

“I’m so sorry!” The boy said, kneeling down to help Mariah pick up her sweets. 

“Oh, it’s okay, I should have been looking where I was going,” She said to the boy as he was handing the sweets back to her. 

He made a ‘pft’ noise before saying, “No it’s not your fault. I just get really excited when I see so much sugar in one place. It’s like just looking at all of the sweets will give me a sugar high.” Mariah laughed a little as the boy smiled. 

“Well, I must get going,” Mariah said.

“Bye!” He said, before running off and snatching some chocolate frogs off of a shelf. Mariah turned the other way to head to the front desk. When she got there she dumped her pile of sweets awkwardly onto the counter.

“ You sure have a sweet tooth don’t you?” the  cashier said, with a laugh. Mariah felt embarrassed, but gave a little laugh in return. She still didn’t know how the wizarding world currency worked , so she just put up all the galleons she had onto the counter. 

“ Will this do, sir?” Mariah asked quietly. The man smiled and nodded.

“ This will do perfectly, ma’am” He took the Galleons and briskly put all her paid for sweets in a bag. He handed it to her and she thanked him before running out of the crowded shop. 

“This is the best day ever!” Mariah exclaimed to Professor McGonagall, who was sitting on a bench outside of the sweet shop. 

She smiled at her, sitting up and smoothing out her robe. 

“ It’s time to go get your wand. Let’s get going.” 

Mariah was practically skipping to Ollivanders. She was overjoyed by the fact that she would be getting a wand of her own, but she still felt a little nervous.  

Professor McGonagall opened the door to Ollivanders and walked in, Mariah at her heels. 

“Hello Mr. Ollivander, I have a young witch in need of a wand,” McGonagall said professionally.

             Ollivander looked down at Mariah with quizzical eyes. “ You must be nervous. Don’t be, it’ll be quick and easy.” He said whizzing around to the back of the shop. He was back quickly with a long, rectangular box. Ollivander opened the box and threw the lid on the counter hastily. He carefully took out, what looked to be, a long wooden stick. Mariah stood very still as Ollivander came over to her and handed her the wand. 

“It’s Rowan wood with a unicorn hair core, 13 ¾ and slightly springy flexibility.” He said putting the wand into Mariah’s hand. She held the wand tightly in her hand, scared of what might happen. Nothing happened for a second, but just as Mariah thought that maybe she wasn’t a witch after all, the wand lit up the whole room. Everything was glowing inside the quaint, little shop. This went on for a few seconds and then everything went back to normal. She breathed heavily and looked at the wand intently. She couldn’t believe what had just happened. She looked up at Professor McGonagall and smiled toothly at her. McGonagall smiled back slightly.

“Ah, yes! First try!” Mr. Ollivander said gleefully, putting the wand back into the box. Mariah paid for the wand and took it happily. 

As Mariah and McGonagall said their goodbyes and thank yous to Mr. Ollivander, McGonagall said, “Now it’s time to finally get a pet for you.” Mariah’s eyes lit up as they walked out of the wand shop into the bustling crowd of wizards and witches.

Written by: Cass