Olive Wood and the Cup of Potions

The Letter and Diagon Alley

For 11-year-old Olive Wood, life was harder than that of a regular 11-year-old. 

Living with your aunt and uncle who hated you mainly because of your late parent's background, was surprisingly hard. And she had to deal with them all by herself.  The only thing Olive loved about herself was the lightning-shaped scar on the right side of her forehead. It made her look cool 

Her brother is Oliver Wood former Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team at Hogwarts, who graduated the previous year. 

And she had been waiting for a letter ever since her 11th birthday. 

'OLIVE WOOD!  COME DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!' 

Olive groaned and dragged herself down the stairs. 

'What?' She grumbled. 

'What is this?' Uncle David spat in her face waving a yellowish envelope in front of her. It was closed with a red seal and had a capital 'H' on it. She wiped the spit off her face and took the letter from him. 

he knew where it was from, but didn't show it knowing she would not ever get to go there if she showed her excitement. 

'It's from Hogwarts.' She said. 

'Exactly! Hogwarts! And it's addressed to you!' he spat again. Thank God, none of his spit got onto her face this time. 

'So?' asked a voice behind Olive. She whirled her head around and saw her older brother standing there. 

'She will need to stay at Hogwarts all alone! That place is filled with lots of murderous things! And you know, she will be the only girl in out entire family not to go to Beauxbatons!' Aunt Hana yelled. 

'You let Oliver go.' Oliver retorted. 

'That's because he's a man. Women find it hard to fit in at Hogwarts. And that mindless Albus Dumbledore never takes the safety of his students into his concerns!' She yelled again. 

'So what if I'm a girl? Isn't it called the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?' Olive asked. 

'That doesn't change anything. You are not going and that's final.' Uncle David declared. 

'How about I vouch for her?' Oliver suggested. 

'All right.' Uncle David said. Then he began to stare at Olive and lowered his voice. 

'Put one toe out of line there and I swear I will pull you out.' He said pointing a warning finger. 

Olive simply nodded. Then, she walked back upstairs smiling to herself, and fell asleep dreaming about Hogwarts and all the adventures there. 

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The next day, Olive and Oliver were preparing to leave for Diagon Alley by Floo Powder. 

'Ready?' Oliver asked her. She nodded. Oliver went first, taking a handful of Floo Powder and stepping into the fireplace. 

'DIAGON ALLEY!' He yelled. Green flames surrounded him and he disappeared. 'Still gets me.' Olive whispered. 

She followed the same procedure as her brother and found herself spinning round and round, green flames engulfing her. When she found herself feeling dizzy and uneasy, her feet landed on solid ground. 

Oliver was standing in front of her tapping his feet impatiently.  

'Oh, good. You're finally here.' He said. Olive raised her eyebrow. 

'Come on. We need to find a lot of stuff. Wand, Robes, Books, and an owl.' Oliver listed off. His hand was in his pocket looking for something. 

'I don't suppose you have a list?' Olive teased. Then unexpectedly and expectedly, Oliver pulled out a list. 

'Always the tone of surprise.' He smirked. 

'Where to first?' Olive asked. 

'Ollivander's. A wand is a first-year Hogwarts student number one on a list.' Oliver said. 

'Lead the way.' Olive said. 

After navigating the winding roads, roadside stalls, and first to seventh-year students looking for their books. 

Finally, they arrived in front of Ollivander's, the place where every witch and wizard bought their first wand. 

Olive pushed open the door and turned to look at Oliver who was standing outside. He nodded and she went deeper into the wand shop. 

'Um, hello? Is anyone here?' She called out. At the sound of her voice, an old man who looked well over 70 appeared on a ladder. 

'Yes?' He asked. 'Are you Mr. Ollivander?' Olive asked. 

'Indeed I am. I suppose you are looking for your first wand, young lady.' Ollivander said. 

'I am.' Olive said. But, Ollivander's gaze on her suddenly hardened and his eyes were squinting at her. 

'My, oh my! Can it be? Olive Wood!' He slid down the ladder and jumped to the counter. Olive was surprised as to how he knew her name and how he was so active for his age. But before she could ask him either of these questions, he pulled out a case and opened it. Inside was a very small wand. 

'Applewood, unicorn tail core, 10inches.' he said. Ogre toenail? 

Before testing it, Olive knew that this was not the wand for her but, to not offend Ollivander she took it from him and gave it a flick. A random pile of scrolls, went flying and fell on the ground near a pile of empty wand cases. 

'Not the wand.' The old man said. 

'Not.' Olive repeated. 

After testing 3-4 more wands,  Ollivander finally gave her a wand that looked and felt good.

'Holly, phoenix feather core, 11 inches.' he said. 

Olive took the wand from him and instantly felt a calm in her. 

'Strange. Very strange.' The wandmaker muttered. 

'What's strange?' Olive asked. 

'The fact that this wand is the same as your partner's wand.' He said. 

'Partner?' Olive repeated. 

'You will find out soon enough. Now chip, chop. I'm sure you have many more things to buy.' he said. 

'Yeah, Thank you for the wand, sir.' Olive said. 

'I am just doing my job, Miss Wood.' Ollivander said. 

Olive smiled at him and pushed the door open. Oliver was waiting for her with bags filled with books and robes. 

'I see you went shopping.' She said. 

'I did. You were taking your own time so I decided to finish everything up by then.' he said. 

'Thank you.' she said. 'Now, as much as I hate to say it we need to head back home.'