The blazing rays of the summer sun beat down on Ellory’s face which caused her to have to squint her eyes as she gazed down the street. They had managed to get most of their supplies without much hassle, to which Ellory was grateful. It had been her whom had suggested the family do their shopping early so that they had some hope of avoiding the madness that Diagon Alley turned into when a new year at Hogwarts was about to start. For a moment, she was worried that her pleas wouldn’t be heard, but thankfully her mum was more excited to get the girls their school supplies than they were and managed to convince their dad to agree to getting an early start.

Ellory was excited too, of course, but she couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming amount of anxiety as well. As they approached the front of the ancient wand shop, Ollivanders, she glanced meaningfully at her sister. Emlyn was way better at all of this stuff than she was, and she was in vital need of a good pep talk. “Em,” she whispered too low for their parents, who trailed several yards behind them, to hear. “What if….” she paused, a gulp forming in her throat. She averted eye contact and gripped her hands together tightly, hoping that the pressure would keep them from shaking. It didn’t.

Emlyn was excited to get her school supplies and was thrilled when her parents agreed to shop early at her sister’s suggestion. Emlyn and her family had been making good progress on the supplies list with one major item still on the list - wands. As the family walked to the shop, Emlyn heard her sister whisper to her. Ellory started saying something but suddenly stopped and appeared choked up and nervous. Emlyn could see her sister tightly gripping her hands and decided to reach out and take her sister’s hand for comfort. Emlyn reached and squeezed Ellory’s hand gently, with only enough force to hopefully let her sister know she was there for her if she needed.

Emlyn wasn’t very worried about getting matched for a wand. She had heard stories of some who went to get their first wand after receiving their letter of acceptance, to find that nothing magical or extraordinary would occur. It’s one of the biggest fears for any young witch or wizard, to show up ready to learn magic and then not have magical ability. “Oh, come off it, Elo,” Emlyn rolled her eyes before giving her sister a tug on the arm. “There’s no way you’re not magical - I’m sure all of the wands in the store will be dying at the chance to have you as their owner.” Instead of sounding reassuring, she said it rather matter-of-factly. Emlyn didn’t do well with heartfelt moments. “Now come on, let’s go!”

Though she knew she had to put on a front for Ellory, Emlyn did wonder if there was a chance that it would happen to her. She shook off the feeling as nearly 1,000 goosebumps raced down her spine at the thought of that happening to her or her sister. Instead, Emlyn straitened her posture as she walked and looked at her sister with a big, somewhat forced (but hopefully reassuring) smile. Emlyn kept hold of her sister’s hand for the remainder of the walk to Ollivander's shop.

Ellory still was not convinced that this would not end disastrously for her, but the fact that Emlyn had such confidence in her was at least mildly reassuring. Maybe it was a good thing that she was born with a twin, because if she was on her own there was no way she was making it through the door to the wand shop without losing consciousness.

Nevertheless, the girls marched forth into Ollivanders, where the shopkeeper seemed to be waiting patiently. The bells made a cheerful jingle as they opened the door, and then again as their parents entered behind them. Ellory took a deep breath and looked to her sister once more before they both walked up to the counter.

“Hello, young Prossers,” the man addressed them with a smile. “And hello again, Nia and Ioan,” he looked to their parents with a twinkle in his eye. “You’re looking quite a bit older from when we last met.” Ellory’s brows furrowed; did this man know her parents or did he just have an obscenely good memory?

“Hello, Ollivander!” their dad greeted the man with a handshake while keeping his other arm locked with their mum’s. “Yes, about 25 years older, mind,” he chuckled. “We were hoping to get these two ladies fitted with their very own wands.”

Ollivander nodded and said, “Yes, of course, of course.” He looked at their parents thoughtfully for a moment before peering back at them studiously. Finally, he said “Your father has a cypress wood and phoenix feather wand, you know, and your mother holds one with cedar and unicorn hair,” he stated. “Makes for a curious pair. Who would like to go first?” The man smiled, his eyes twinkling once more.

Ellory panicked and looked at her sister, giving her a meaningful nudge and a terrified expression. There was no way that she was going first, and Emlyn would know it.

Emlyn glanced at her sister after being gently nudged and saw a look of panic. Emlyn knew this meant she should go first. This was much like the time the family visited a water park for the first time a few years prior and Ellory refused to go down a tall water slide until she saw Emlyn survive the drop and arrive safely in the pool below.

Emlyn stepped forward. “I’ll go first, as long as my sister is okay with it” nudging her sister playfully to help hide Ellory’s nerves from the old wizard. Emlyn looked up at the top shelves which held a seemingly endless supply of wands. The man behind the counter bent over slightly to address Emlyn directly. He looked at her for a few moments and said “I think I have a few ideas” and wandered back to his stores.

“What does that mean? Doesn’t he need to know my name? Anything about me? My favorite color? My favorite type of animal hair or something?” she rapid fired questions in her mind and looked up at her parents. Neither showed any sign or indicator that this was abnormal and smiled back at her. She looked back at the counter where Mr. Ollivander returned with three wands.

“Alright Ms. Prosser, I think this just might be the wand. 21,6 centimeters made of Redwood and Phoenix feather, like your father’s”. The shopkeeper handed her the wand. It was heavier than she imagined it would be given its size. She firmly gripped the handle and made a small sweeping motion. A shelf behind Mr. Ollivander made a rumble and a few wands fell off the shelf having been misplaced. “Hmmm, I’m thinking maybe another” Mr. Ollivander said as he took the wand back and handed her another. “Give this one a try…. 21,6 centimeters, made of Oak and Unicorn Hair. Let’s see if you share a similar core to your mother”. Emlyn flicked this wand and nothing happened. She flicked it again, this time faster and with greater force. Still, nothing happened. She set the wand back on the counter and said “I don’t think this one is it either”.

“No problem my dear, that means this must be the right one for you” he said, gesturing towards the final wand. “22,6 centimeters, made of Cherrywood and Thunderbird Tail Feather. This is a tough wand to use, but very powerful if you can manage it”. Emlyn hesitated a moment at his words, then reached and placed her hand around the handle. Despite being larger, this wand felt perfect in her hand. She gripped the wand a little bit tighter and readied a swiping motion. Before she could move her wand, small sparks erupted from the tip, like that of a sparkler firework. Emlyn jumped not knowing what to do.

Her parents laughed and Mr. Ollivander looked down at her and said “I think this wand has found its owner my dear”. Emlyn’s sudden anxiety was changed to happiness and relief. She looked at her new wand and smiled. She finally had a wand of her own and it was so much better than she had imagined. Filled with joy, she turned towards her sister and said “Okay twinnie, your turn”.

“Okay twinnie, your turn”.

Ellory stiffened. She had started to let her guard down during the mild hilarity that was her sister trying out different kinds of wands. While she was feeling better that Emlyn had survived the process without any signs of illness or injury, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she may fail miserably and not be able to find a suitable wand at all. Then, she wouldn’t be able to go to Hogwarts, and Emlyn would leave home without her.

Seemingly oblivious to Ellory’s internal conflict, the man leaned over the counter just as he had done with her sister and glared at her with those creepy twinkling eyes again. She felt vulnerable and exposed, as if he was glaring into her soul. Just as she was shuffled her feet and gripped her arm uncomfortably, the man finally broke his gaze and swiftly turned around to face the wall of boxes once more. “Yes, I think I know just the thing,” he said, pulling out a box with dark green wrappings. He opened it and gently handed the wand over to her. “Beech and Unicorn Hair, 22 centimeters. Go on, give it a try.”

Ellory stood awkwardly for a moment, with the wand held at arm’s length as it was a dirty trash bag. She gave it a small, stiff flick with her wrist, which caused some papers on the counter to blow frantically onto the ground. “Oh goodness, I’m so sorry about that!” she hastily set the wand down and backed away from it as it was a poisonous spider. Her face grew hot with embarrassment. At least she definitively knew that she wasn’t a Squib, though, since she had been able to get some sort of reaction out of the wand, albeit a negative one.

“Oh not to worry, dear, not to worry,” the shopkeeper chuckled and placed the wand carefully back into the box. “I’m afraid that one will not do, though.” He stacked the box back onto the shelf and hovered his hand over a different section for a moment before picking out a dark red box instead. “Here, this one is Chestnut and Dragon Heartstring, 24 centimeters. Give it a go.”

Ellory felt a little bit more comfortable this time around, although her palms were still so sweaty that she was afraid the wand might slip out of her hands. Still, she gripped it tightly and gave it a wave. There a loud, extended jingling sound as the bells over the door crashed to the ground and rolled a few feet. Ellory nearly jumped in fright, causing the wand to awkwardly fly out of her hands. “Oh no!” She quickly scrambled to pick up both the bells and the wand and set them back on the counter, her face growing increasingly more red from fright and shame. “Er, I’m sorry about that, Mr. Ollivander,” she averted eye contact with the man, instead choosing to stare down at her feet. “I’ll be more careful next time.”

The man simply laughed again and happily turned back to the shelf once more. “It’s not a problem, my child. It’s all part of the process, you know.” He mumbled a few things that she wasn’t sure of before facing towards her yet again, this time with a box that was a dark plum color. “This fine wand is made from Cherry Wood with a Dragon Heartstring core. It’s 23 centimeters. Nice and gentle does it.”

Afraid that she may take out an eye next, Ellory was hesitant to take the wand this time. She knew that she had to if she wanted to have a wand though, so she inhaled sharply and closed her eyes as she picked it up. She studied the wand for a moment before raising it gently and pointing it out in front of her. Much to her surprise, the wand shot out a few small maroon sparks from the tip. “Whoa,” Ellory startled a bit, and relaxed when she saw that the sparks hadn’t burned anything.

“Why, I think we’ve found it,” the man said with a smile and a glint in his bright blue eyes. “This wand chooses owners who are intuitive and have an affinity with nature. I trust you will use it well.”

Ellory gazed at the wand, her very own wand, in shock for a moment. After it had sunk in, a huge smile took over her face. “Thank you very much, Mr. Ollivander! I will definitely take good care of it, I promise.” She grabbed her sister’s hand joyously and spun around in a circle, giggling like mad. “We’ve got wands, Em!” She grinned, convinced she must be the happiest girl in all of London. “Mum, dad!” she skipped up to her parents. “Do you think we could go get some ice cream to celebrate?” Her parents agreed, and told the two girls that they could run ahead while they paid for the wands. Emlyn and Ellory skipped happily to Florean Fortescue’s, and refused to let go of their wands for the rest of the day.