A Hogwarts Education

Ollivander's

I stumble after him onto a crowded street, suddenly overwhelmed by my surroundings.

The have to be over a hundred people here right now, cramped on this narrow street, with even more in the many shops. The first store I see is to my right. It seems to be a bookstore of sorts, selling what I assume students need for school. A sign saying, "Get all you school books here!" confirms my suspicions.

Past the bookstore is a loud, brightly lit place. A lot of younger kids are walking in and out of the store with smiles on their faces, showing each other what they had purchased. The things in their hands looked like random gadgets and bottles, all of which were very colorful and made me feel uncomfortable that little kids had their hands on them. Two little boys near the entrance of the store, both dressed in black cloaks, laugh mischievously as they played with something they had bought.

Looking ahead of me to see if I was still near Leo, I curse under my breath. His long strides had carried him a distance away from me. Doing an odd speed-walk, I nudge my way through the crowd before Leo notices I was gone. Getting my breathing under control, I can't help but marvel at my surroundings. It feels like we've entered another world, one away from technology, my school, and everything I've come to know. Almost everyone here seems happy. And, while I'm tempted to ask someone for help since I still think I was technically kidnapped, I'm more curious as to what Leo and Professor McGonagall want with me.

An odd, loud squeak attracts my attention to my left, where a group of cages stand outside a store. Only one of the cages has something in it; a light brown owl, who let out another noise. My feet carry me towards it, that is until Leo put a hand out to stop me.

"We'll get you one later, Mia," he says. "We're almost there." He grabs my wrist, pulling me along with him.

Feeling like a child, I comply, looking up at signs, searching for a store called Ollivander's. After a few more minutes of walking, passing all sorts of stores, Leo stopped suddenly in front of me. Realizing just in time, I stop short, avoiding walking into him. The sign above this shop says: Ollivander's - Makers of Fine Wands Since 382 B.C.

I think back to when I was in the library with Leo earlier, realizing he wasn't pointing a twig at me. If magic is real, I guess wands are too.

A teenage girl, probably around my age, walks out of the store with a rectangular, red box in her hand, Leo holds the door open for me. I give him a grateful nod and head in. My mouth opens slightly in surprise as I look around me.

The shop is dimly lit, mostly by candles, making the place seem eerie. To my left is a table, lit with a few candles, and covered in papers - newspapers, random pictures, and other scraps, all of which seemed to be moving. But something else catches my attention: the sheer size of this shop. From the outside, it had looked like all the others. But now, it seems like the shop extends infinitely in front of me.

Leo takes a seat on a bench to my right, but I can't help but continue to gape. There are tall shelves, all filled to the brim, with rectangular boxes, all slightly different, similar to the one I had seen the girl with a minute ago. The shelves look as if they are never ending, with ladders scattered throughout the rows.

I hadn't noticed that there was a man in front of me, behind a desk, until set a large book down, startling me slightly and snapping me back to reality.

"Um, hello." I say uncertainly, glancing back at Leo to see if he was going to do or say anything.

When all he did was make eye contact with me and nod at the man, I sighed quietly and turned back to face the desk. The man behind it was quite old, with rowdy grey hair standing on top of his head. His eyes opened widely as he looked at me and introduced himself.

"Hello! I can't say I recognize you. What is your name?"

Not knowing why this man would recognize me, as I have never seen him before, I hesitantly reply, "Mia."

"Hmm," he says squinting slightly at me. "Well, nonetheless, welcome. I am Ollivander. I assume you are here for a wand, yes?"

I open my mouth to say that I'm not sure, but Leo beats me to it, saying, "Yes, she is."

"Ah, well good to see you Leo." Ollivander says with a friendly nod of his head before looking at me again. "Now, before I give you a wand to try, I need to ask you a few questions."

Not knowing if this warranted an answer, I nodded at him, giving a meek smile.

"What is your age?"

"15," I reply, wondering why it was relevant.

"And your birthday?"

"November 22, 2005."

At this, Leo sits up, making some noise. I look back at him for a moment before Ollivander says something.

"Alrightly, and you've got dark brown hair and eyes. Let us try..." he says before walking down one of the aisles. He gingerly picks out two wands, one in a pale green box and the other a deep blue.

Walking back towards me, the boxes in hand, he suddenly stops and mumbles something to himself before taking one more box from a shelf. This whole time, I'm wondering how the shelves are still standing. They're covered in a thin sheet of dust and seem to wobble beneath the weight of the wands.

"Here we are," Ollivander says, setting the boxes in front of me. "Give this one a go first." He tells me, gesturing at the green box and opening it for me.

I give him a confused expression as I reach out to grab the wand inside. It's a dark brown, almost black, and seems to be about a foot long. It feel cold in my hand as I hold it uncomfortably, wondering what I was supposed to be doing.

"Well give it a flick," Ollivander says, noticing my hesitancy.

I lift the wrist of the hand holding my wand when Ollivander grabs my hand, giving me a heart attack.

"Don't point it at me, for god's sake. Point it at the table over there."

Blushing, I hear Leo behind me stifle a laugh. I do as Ollivander says and turn towards my left. I give the wand a flick, not expecting anything to happen. And nothing does. I do it again for good measure, before turning towards Leo, who wears a concerned expression.

"Did I do something wrong?" I ask, partially to myself.

"Not quite, but interesting." Ollivander says, holding his hand out. I place the wand in it, only to be handed another. "Try this one."

He hands me the wand from the dark blue box and I do the same thing I did before, but more hesitantly. Expecting nothing once again, I gasp when a gust of wind knocks the papers off the table, rather violently. They all float to the floor, some of them on fire from the nearby candles. The table, which seems was also affected by the wind, rocks on its legs before settling again.

I whip my head around towards Ollivander, searching for an explaination. But, he's not there. I assume he's headed back into the infinitely long rows of shelves to grab another wand. While I wait for him to return, I admire the wand in my hand. It feels much more comfortable in my hand than the other, but still not quite right, though I'm not sure why.

This one is a lighter brown than the previous wand, but it a little shorter and wider. It has engravings along the bottom, which I run my thumb over.

Hearing footsteps, I turn back towards the desk and place the wand in its box.

"Well, Mia. This may be the one," Ollivander tells me with curious, seemingly eager eyes.