Vitality [ Harry Potter ]

|| Ch. 3: The Plum Colored Box

Ch. 3: The Plum Colored Box:

"Okay, so we've got all of my books, my robes, my stuff for Potions, my telescope... What else is there?" Grace asked as Hagrid adjusted everything he was carrying.

"Yeh'll need ter make a stop inter Ollivanders ter get yer wand," he explained. "And while yeh do tha', I'm goin' ter ask at the Leaky Cauldron if there's a place we can put all o' these packages." Grace's expression changed to slightly confused. "Oh, don' worry... I won' be gone for long, now. I'll meet yeh back inside o' the Leaky Cauldron for dinner, eh?" She gave him a smile in return to his suggestion. "Alrigh'. See yeh in a bit, then."

He did his best to wave at her as he started walking back the way they had came. Grace felt slightly uncomfortable with her new freedom but, after taking a deep breath, she began to walk. As she did, the sign for Ollivander's came into view.

She sped up and reached the shop in no time. Taking another deep breath, she entered. A little bell rang as she did so, however, the rest of the store remained silent.

She waited a few seconds before calling out, "Hello? I'd- I'd like to buy a wand, please." There was the sound of shuffling and a crash from behind the counter before an old man, his head full of the whitest hair, poked his head around the corner of a shelf that had been stocked with hundreds of different colored and slim shaped boxes. His bright eyes roamed over her for a moment before he opened his mouth to speak.

"It's about time, Miss Potter," he said, allowing his body to come around the shelf and rest behind the counter. "I wondered when you'd be joining us in the wizarding world." She let a small laugh escape her lips.

"You're not the only one, Sir," she quipped. The old man gave her a smile.

"You don't have to call me 'sir', Miss Potter. Mr. Ollivander will do... Or even just Ollivander..." His voice trailed off as he wandered back around the same corner he had emerged from, leaving Grace to stand awkwardly in the middle of the shop. When he returned minutes later, his arms were laden with three or four different boxes, each of different colors. He placed all of them down on the counter before her and handed her the deep blue box first.

Grace opened it with slightly shaky hands, but Mr. Ollivander seemed to take no notice. She was astonished at the beauty of the object that laid inside of the box, for she thought that a wizard's wand was nothing more than an oddly shaped stick. Mr. Ollivander's design proved her to be extremely wrong as she held up the wand within the box.

"The wand you are holding is made of the finest birch wood. It looks to be thirteen and three-quarters inches long and has a core of troll whisker. I'd like you to give it a wave, please," said Mr. Ollivander.

Grace looked down at the wand before giving it an uncertain flick. She jumped as the flowerpot on Mr. Ollivander's counter shattered to pieces, leaving soil and ceramic fragments scattered across the floor.

"I'm sorry!" she squeaked as she hesitantly placed the wand down on his counter. Mr. Ollivander merely chuckled at her. He then handed her an emerald-colored box. She opened this one to find another beautifully crafted wand.

"Ah, yes... This one is made of oak wood with unicorn tail hair as the core. It's about eleven and one-quarter inches..."

Grace flicked the wand, this time with more gusto to her flick. However, she was frightened again when the old clock on the wall next to her began to chime loudly and repeatedly. Mr. Ollivander flicked his own wand and the clock was silenced.

Without saying a word, Grace slipped that wand back onto the counter as well. Mr. Ollivander eyed her for a moment before traveling around the counter, tape measure in hand. He hummed in wonder, his untrimmed brow furrowed, as he began to measure the length and width of her right arm. She was curious about what her measurements meant to the old man, but she dared not to ask, for fear of being offensive. Suddenly, Mr. Ollivander stood very straight and his magical tape measure snapped back into place.