Hafren burst into Ollivander’s shop and immediately drank the musty smell of wood and earth. She did love that kind of scent.
Her older brothers Ansin and Eolas decided not to join as they wanted to go to Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes to buy some prank items for their last year at Hogwarts. Her mother and father decided to save time and purchase the other supplies she needed from the shops next door.
Lucas however, decided to join her. He stumbled in not too far behind.
Hafren rolled her eyes as he always got distracted and often fell behind.
“Hello?!” Hafren called out boldly.
The shop appeared empty as sunlight trickled through the windows, illuminating the dust floating in the air.
Hafren heard rustling in the back corner of the room.
“Be there in a minute!” A raspy yet cheerful voice sounded.
Lucas came to stand by Hafren. His scruffy dirty blonde hair appeared out of the corner of her eye. He tried to gaze over the counter on tip toes but was still too short.
An old and wrinkled man appeared from the shadows in the back.
“Thank you for waiting.” He said kindly.
Hafren studied him briefly. Despite his seeming age he was quite lively.
“My name is Hafren Dawnus Fenrir. I need to get a wand for my school supplies. It’s my first year at Hogwarts!” She said excitedly with a small squeal in her tone.
The man chuckled.
“I am Mr. Ollivander. Pleasure to make your acquaintance. I know very well who you are and remember every wand I’ve ever sold. Even the wands to your family. Your brothers were the last in your line that I have given a wand to.”
Mr. Ollivander gave a quick flick of his wand and a tape measure rolled out the tip.
Hafren and Lucas stared in awe and wonder of the magic.
“I’ll need to take some measurements first. Please spread your arms out length wise.”
Hafren did as she was told and she and Lucas watched as he measure her wingspan and height.
“What’d you do that for?” Lucas asked.
Ollivander rolled the tape measure up.
“Ahh, to know what length of wand to start with. It’s a very important part of a wand.” He winked at the young boy.
“Let’s try this Redwood wand, unicorn hair, slightly springy, and 9 3/4 inches.”
He pulled a wand out of a box he had on the counter to reveal a curved reddish brown wand. He handed it to Hafren.
Without hesitating she whipped the wand her hardest and shattered a nearby window. Glass fell to the ground making little tinkling noises.
“Woah!” Lucas yelled putting his hands on his head.
Hafren immediately froze. This was worse than when she broke Aunt Isilda’s favourite vase.
“That was not what I was going for…” Hafren muttered almost half to herself and wishing a hole would open up and swallow her.
“Feh, pay it no mind.” Ollivander said waiving his hand dismissively. “I’ll repair it when we’re done but this is clearly not the wand for you.” He said as he took the wand, returning it from whence it came.
“Perhaps a wand of this nature.” He said going over to a shelf on the left.
Inside there was a orangish grained wand. It had rounded woodwork on the handle and was quite a bit longer than the last.
He handed it to Hafren.
“That wand is Rowan with dragon heartstring, 13 1/2 inches and pliant.”
Hafren taking a deep breath gave it a much gentler swish this time hoping for the best.
A small rain cloud appeared over her brother’s head, getting his hair wet enough to soak it.
“Hey!” Her brother said crossly, folding his arms, and pouting.
Ollivander took his own wand out, gave it a wave and evaporated the cloud.
“Sorry.” Hafren said through gritted teeth feeling more awkward than ever.
“Perhaps there’s no such wand for me.” Hafren despaired.
“Not to worry!” Ollivander said hopefully. “Wands take time and have their own feelings. We will find it. Why, I think I know for certain which wand will be best!” He exclaimed intuitively.
He disappeared into the back for a moment.
“Sorry about your hair.” Hafren whispered to Lucas.
“It’s fine. It was getting hot from the sun anyway.” He said with the biggest smile.
Hafren always admired his optimism.
Ollivander returned this time with a black box. Inside it, was a rich dark brown wand with intricate trim.
“This wand is made of Elder wood and Phoenix Feather, 12 1/4 inches, rather bendy.” Hafren took the wand from Ollivander and immediately felt a rush of adrenaline. It made her feel like she could do anything! Take on any challenge! With that, golden sparks began to emit from the wand.
“So pretty!” Lucas exclaimed, clapping his hands.
“This is the wand for me!” Hafren exclaimed.
Ollivander nodded triumphantly.
“Indeed it is. I had thought Rowan at first but not quite.” He said thoughtfully.
“Is Elder a good wand wood to have?” Hafren asked curiously.
“It’s the rarest wand wood of all, and reputed to be deeply unlucky, the elder wand is trickier to master than any other. It contains powerful magic, but scorns to remain with any owner who is not the superior of his or her company; it takes a remarkable wizard to keep the elder wand for any length of time. The old superstition, ‘wand of elder, never prosper,’ has its basis in this fear of the wand, but in fact, the superstition is baseless, and those foolish wandmakers who refuse to work with elder do so more because they doubt they will be able to sell their products than from fear of working with this wood. The truth is that only a highly unusual person will find their perfect match in elder, and on the rare occasion when such a pairing occurs, I take it as certain that the witch or wizard in question is marked out for a special destiny. An additional fact that I have unearthed during my long years of study is that the owners of elder wands almost always feel a powerful affinity with those chosen by rowan.”
Hafren listened carefully to every word. This wand was hers and hers alone. She did ponder the superstition, wand of elder never prosper, but Ollivander had been dismissive of this claim. She was ready to show the world what she could accomplish!
“Thank you Mr. Ollivander!” She beamed. “How much is the wand?”
“That will be two galleons.” He smiled.
Hafren took out the money from a small cloth pouch she carried and gave it to Ollivander.
“Aww now I want one!” Lucas said enviously.
“Don’t worry you’ll get one!” Hafren smiled as she wrapped her arm around his shoulders, half hugging him.
“Make sure to see me in a few years, young Lucas, when it is time for you to attend school.” Ollivander said with a wink.
Lucas lit up immediately.
“Oh yeah for sure!” He said determined.
Together Hafren and Lucas waved good bye to Ollivander and left the shop to go tell her family all about her new wand. She was determined to accomplish great things and be the very best witch there ever was.