The Other Witches

4. The Alley and the Wandmaker

Whoa. Just whoa. This place, it's amazing.

The shops that line the streets are filled with objects and instruments that I've seen in my wildest dreams. Loud hooting issues from shop down the road. A window displays ornate glass bottles of colorful liquid that sparkles, fizzes, and glows different shades of purple. A set of magnificent blue robes decorated with jewels is being hung up on a mannequin. A middle-aged wizard scoops some coarse gray powder into a bag in exchange for a handful of silver coins.

If this is Diagon Alley, I can't wait to see Hogwarts.

"Right. We'll go to Gringotts, then to Flourish and Blotts, to get your books," Henson instructs, "then proceed to get your cauldrons, equipment, and of course, your wands. This way, please."

By the time we finish at the bookshop and buy cauldrons, phials, and scales, we are loaded to maximum capacity. Then the magic handbag comes to the rescue. Last but definitely not least, we walk down a deserted street to Ollivanders, the famous wand shop.

Ollivanders seems empty when we open the door. Henson turns to us and says, "I'll be at Madam Malkin's getting your robes, meet me there when you've received your wands." She then closes the door behind her.

We stand in silence. Then Mr. Ollivander appears from behind a shelf.

"Well, if it isn't the five young women that everyone's talking about."

He clambers down a ladder and approaches the desk. I pluck up the courage to ask, "Sir, what do you mean, 'that everyone's talking about'?"

"I am afraid that it is not my place to tell you what exactly it means," he replies quietly as he skims over the piles of wand boxes. "Miss Nova?"

Ella steps tentatively to the desk.

"This could be it," Ollivander says, "Cypress, phoenix tail feather, 14 1/2 inches. Surprisingly swishy. Give it a try."

Ella waves the wand gently, and a dozen golden butterflies burst out, fluttering around the room and diappearing. Ollivander looks impressed.

"Very good. It's not often that a witch is chosen on her first try. Hmm.... Miss Demille?"

He hands the green box to Ella and picks up a reddish orange one as Lucy steps forward.

"Try this one. Acacia and dragon heartstring. 11 3/4 inches, reasonably pliant."

With an enthusiastic swish, Lucy sends multcolored fireworks into the air, creating a spectacular light show.

"Quite interesting. Only on rare occasions do two wands choose their witch with one try. Let's see....Miss Bellington?" Ollivander reaches for a purple box.

"Pine, dragon heartstring, 11 3/4 inches, nice and supple."

Lauren hesitantly flicks the wand, creating a shimmering silver ribbon that ties itself into a neat bow and falls into her hand.

Ollivander begins to mutter, "Curious... very curious..."

He takes a blue box from a high shelf and says, "Miss Winsleigh?"

Von takes the wand as he states, "Maple, phoenix feather, 12 3/4 inches, surprisingly swishy."

With a small wave, Von conjures a rainbow right there inside Ollivanders. Ollivander himself looks a bit uneasy. He clears his throat unnecessarily and says, "And finally, Miss Glasswater." He sides a plain black box off the shelf, looking uncertainly from me to the box. He hands a dark-wooded wand to me.

"Blackthorn and phoenix feather. 12 1/4 inches. Unyielding."

I point my wand at the vase of flowers sitting on the desk. I flourish it upwards, and the flowers turn into sparrows and fly out the slightly open door.

"I advise you to be careful with that wand, Miss Glasswater," Ollivander says shakily, "and the rest of you girls also. There has never been a day when I sold five first-try wands to five witches of the same age. I fear what the public is saying is quite true. You will be the reincarnation of the bond that was severed. Now hurry, before you draw more attention to yourselves."

We quickly pay him seven Galleons apiece and exit the shop.

"Darn, I wanted to ask him what he meant," Lucy exclaims.

"Didn't we all, Lucy?" Von says, obviously annoyed.

"But I do have a feeling that we're going to find out exactly what he meant. And it'll be at a certain place called Hogwarts," Lucy says, kind of quietly, and in a lower voice. She's been doing that since we got to London. I wonder why...

"Great. It'll be nice to have some clarification in my life," says Von.

Henson walks up with our robes from Madam Malkin's. She examines the newly purchased wands in our hands, then turns around, saying, "We're going back to the Leaky Cauldron to rest for a few days. I suggest that you five stay in your room as much as possible. I hate to admit it, but you five are quite well-known around this area. Truth be told, you girls are....Oh, look at the time! We need to hurry up if we want to make it to the Leaky Cauldron before the Alley gets more crowded! Follow me!" she yells over the clamor of the people in the street.

They're leaving us in the dark. That's what they're doing. Everyone we've met so far has been keeping something from our knowledge. And if there's one thing that annoys me, it's my own ignorance. There had better be some explanation to why all of this is happening.

There has to be.

Hello fellow wattpandas (thanks to a good friend for that name), The reason I don't upload every day is that these ideas come to me slowly (to answer the question of a different friend). I'm really sorry that the chapters are so short and i'll try to make them longer as I get farther into this story.

Thanks for the comments!

-RedV