The Muggle Witch

Chapter 3

I race my family to a growing line beside the small Ollivander's shop.

"Should we just go inside?" Dad muses, glancing at a door on the other side of it.

"People are lining up here, it must be for something interesting," I insist.

Luckily, this line goes by quickly. My family, along with at least two or three others, are ushered inside Ollivander's. My first impression is of a small, dark room with boxes lining the shelves situated all around the walls. Then, as my eyes adjust to the dim, I notice a large desk to the side of the room. A man sitting behind it stands up and greets us; I push to the front of the small crowd of people standing around the desk to get a better look.

The man, who introduces himself to be Mr. Ollivander, begins to talk about wands and their properties. I already know all of this information from merely reading the books, so I study the boxes on the shelves. I've seen all the Harry Potter movies several times, and I recognize the boxes to be the ones that held wands in them. Suddenly my attention is riveted.

"I'll need...you."

I look up in alarm at the man acting as Mr. Ollivander, who motions for me to come towards him.

I glance back at my family with a grin before walking to the front of the desk. Mr. Ollivander turns, pulls a box out from the shelf behind him, and opens it. He takes out a thin, wooden stick gingerly and handed it to me.

"Now give it a little wave," he says. I nod, my heart pounding in excitement. I flick the wand, and several automated books on one of the shelves in front of me toppled over.

"No, no," Mr. Ollivander mutters, just like in the movies. "Perhaps this one..."

I take the second wand, feeling everyone else's gazes on me.

"Now, try to water that plant," the man says, pointing to a potted plant high up in a corner shelf. "The charm is--"

"Aguamenti," I say firmly, waving the wand, before Mr. Ollivander can even tell me what the spell is. He looks taken aback, but recovers as water tipped down onto the plant from some unseen mechanism and gives me a curious look.

"Well, then," he says, clearing his throat. "Perhaps this wand, now." And Mr. Ollivander hands me a third stick from a box. Immediately, the room goes even darker and a golden glow shimmers all around the room, as though I'm Harry Potter being handed his holly wand for the first time.

"Good, very good!" Mr. Ollivander cries, clapping his hands and getting back into character. "Very well then, everyone, you may all head into the door right over here..."

Soon everyone who's in the room at the same time as my family and me finds him- or herself in a larger, more open room, but still with shelves filled with long, thin boxes.

I look around: there are wands that are replicas of wands owned by notable wizards and witches such as Harry, Hermione, and Bellatrix. I take out one of the vine Hermione wands and study the intricate design on it. Then I glance at the price tag.

"Fifty dollars!" I exclaim. I quickly lower my voice when some adults turn to stare at me.

I put it away and look around, wondering if there are cheaper items for sale. I find an entire wall dedicated to different wand woods that are lined up in alphabetical order.

"Hello, my dear," a voice says suddenly directly behind me. I jump in shock and whirl around. It's the guy who acts as Ollivander. I wonder why he's here and not entertaining other people in his tiny room.

"Um, hi," I respond uncertainly.

"I noticed you looking over the wands," the man whispers. He reaches into the shelf labeled as "ash," pulls out a wand from the very back in what seems to be a hidden compartment, and hands it to me. I remember that on Pottermore, my wand wood is ash, and I take the stick from the man, confused. It feels slightly heavier in my hand than the vine wand I'd held earlier, as though it's real wood. I stare up into the wizened old face in wonder.

He stares back until something strange happens--the lights flicker on and off, then turn a bright gold color for a split second. A few people in the crowded store scream in surprise, but then settle down, apparently dismissing the lights to be an electrical malfunction.

"What was that?" I demand, wondering what was going on. The man's eyes are wide and protuberant, locked creepily onto mine unblinkingly.

"Come with me." Then he suddenly turns without warning and strides into his back room.

"But—my family—" I start to stammer in confusion, but the man is already gone. I turn back toward my family, knowing that if I leave they'll wonder where I am and then start to panic if I'm not found. However, curiosity starts to gnaw at me as I stare in the direction where the man disappeared. I quickly shake my head and turn away; who knows who that man was, whether he could be some crazy person trying to lure me away or not.

I return to my family and decide to buy the wand in my hand anyway, based on how realistic it seems. The thought of the extremely weird encounter with that Ollivander man giving me the wand keeps coming back to my mind, but I shake it out of my thoughts.

I manage to persuade my parents to get me the wand and we leave the shop. I turn to get a last glimpse of Ollivanders, and through one of the windows I can see the old man dressed as Ollivander watching me, no emotion on his face.