@Tabitha Murrey
August 2nd, Late Morning

Many school supplies could be dug out and secondhanded in the two-person Darragh household, but not all of them. It turned out that, while Aislin's cousins may have grown out of their first school robes, they still needed their textbooks. Her mam's textbooks were several decades out of date. This still was not a reason to travel all the way to London, England, but her mam must have noticed some sparkle in Aislin's eyes when Diagon Alley came up and decided they could skip the local stores or further attempts at thrifting, just this once. A dizzying Floo ride later and they were there, Aislin pressing her mam for specifics on just how far they'd travelled in just how long.

Their shopping list was much shorter than most of the bright-eyed incoming first years passing through: they needed a new set of glass phials (after her cousin Daphne had pointed out it was useful to have exactly what the Professor expected you to, not just the assortment her mam could spare), her very own pointed hat (every witch should have one all their own), and a complete set of textbooks. And, if she was persistent enough, a stop for ice cream, though that was looking less likely by the minute.

They had the glass phials already, her mam muttering under her breath that she could do just as well as this standard set. She'd told Aislin to not ask for ice cream again or they definitely wouldn't be getting it, and dismissed Aislin's question about how the adjustable high heel shoes worked, anyway, whether that was magic or some mechanism and why anyone would even want to wear them (which she never did), and generally lost whatever brief eclipse of joy and whimsy had made her agree to coming to Diagon Alley. Now they were in Flourish and Blotts and only one of them was particularly focused on the textbook list, and of course it wasn't Aislin. She'd just discovered a section on magical creatures and would be flipping through a book on animal ghosts if her mam wasn't insisting they find some book of spells, which sounded destined to be dry and list-like.

Aislin was in a shirt that hung a bit too long on her and jean shorts, hair in a ponytail that she'd assembled with a little more care than usual since they were going out. Her mam was a tall witch with dark hair pulled back in a bun and dark eyes, sharper than usual today to match the way mother and daughter were snapping at each other, not unheard of for them but not usual, either. Aislin didn't know it, but her mam was reacting the way of a witch with poor skill at letting go, not that Sylvia Darragh would ever to admit to it. If pressed, she would huff she was used to being left, though the wording itself would betray her, because her child was only going off to school. Leaving framed many things for her.

But right now they were finding books, and Aislin would still be with her for another week. She was currently wandering around her mam in some wonky, oblong orbit, drifting to books that caught her eye better than the school-mandated ones and pulling back when her mam called her. They weren't a terribly odd pair in this bookshop, her mam balancing somewhere between professional and motherly, only standing out for their Irish accents and the way Aislin simply could not stand still.

Tabitha’s family had been happy to accompany her through the first adventures of the morning through shops like Madam Malkin and Potage’s shop, filling hands with bags of supplies and goodies. However, they had slowed down once Tabitha had gone solo into Olivander’s to acquire her wand. Upon showing off her new rosewood companion, they had ushered her and her cousin Summer towards the book store while her mother, aunt, and uncle, and her little cousin, continued to chat with some other Pureblood family they had run into.

Sure, in this way, Tabitha couldn’t convince them with a practiced smile to grab her some extra books, but books hadn’t been of a large interest to her most of her life. Besides, getting time alone with Summer was highly prized in Tabitha’s mind. And it gave her a chance to continue showing off the pink-hued wood to someone who was as fascinated as her, as Summer didn’t yet have her own wand. Next year she would get her acceptance and it would be her turn so she was eager to live vicariously through Tabby.

The duo entered the store giggling, with Summer playfully trying to snatch it from Tabitha’s hand. A brief glance from another patron was enough to encourage Tabitha to slip the wand out of sight in her sleeve and give Summer a grimaced expression that dissolved them again into laugher.

“Okay, okay, which book is first on the list?” Summer’s whisper wasn’t exactly the quietest of sounds, but at least it somewhat aligned with the volume inside the shop. Tabitha turned the list towards Summer so she could see the neatly printed ‘Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger’.

“Is the bookstore alphabetical or by genre?”

“I don’t know, use your eyes?” Summer replied with a tease, seeming to mimic someone else’s voice. Summer’s mother’s voice, Tabitha's aunt, to be exact.

Tabitha playfully shoved Summer and then knelt down in the aisle in front of one shelf. “Wait, this looks like it,” She pulled a few blonde ringlets of hair out of her face to get a better look. A heavy textbook was slid out of the shelf with an oomph and then she rose to her feet. “Yuck,” She flipped open the cover and looked down the table of contents, “Wait, I take back that yuck, this looks interesting,” She turned the book towards Summer so she could read, glancing down the aisle to see another pair. A mother and a daughter it seemed. Well, perhaps they were together, it seemed like it the way they glanced each other’s way every so often.

“Okay, Summer, you go get this Book of Spells. I’ll try to find Magical Theory. We’ll be done in no time,” Tabitha seemed to wave Summer off and then just so happen to take a few steps towards the girl. Summer would give a dramatic sigh but wander off to do so.

This other girl seemed roughly Tabitha’s age, maybe she would be another incoming First Year, or even better yet, a Second or Third year who Tabitha could convince to take her under her wing. The other girl’s appearance didn’t seem to be that of a Pureblood but her dad always chastised her for speaking in that way so she tried to dismiss the thought and give a normal smile if she happened to look Tabitha’s way.

@Aislin Darragh

Credit to Tabitha Murrey

@Tabitha Murrey

This was not the most interesting bookstore Aislin had ever been in, committed to textbook distribution as it was. There was a little one in Longford that she loved, cozy with a slightly crooked roof and an unpredictable range of titles, and that was where she spent most of any money she got from birthdays. Flourish and Blotts did not have the same charm, but it was alright for today's purposes, and the lesser interest meant her nose wasn't buried in a book when a pair of girls walked in. They looked around her age and maybe related, both blonde and in pretty clothes, laughing about something and looking like they were having a lot of fun. Aislin wished for a minute that she was in that position, here with her cousins and letting them show her everything fun to do in Diagon Alley rather than her mam.

They had found Miranda Goshawk's Book of Spells and moved on to looking for Magical Theory, which Aislin was notably more excited about. The writing style could still be boring, and the fact this was a textbook was not helping those chances, but learning how and why magic worked? That was the sort of thing Aislin already pestered adults about when she thought of a good question. And how much had the theory and debates changed since her mam went to school? She'd have to dig out the old textbook to cross-reference them.

She glanced back the way they'd just been and made eye contact with the blonde girl, who was holding a textbook she knew was Magical Drafts and Potions because she had passed it to her mam to carry around with a levitation spell only a few minutes ago. The girl smiled at Aislin and Aislin smiled back, quickly but maybe a little lopsidedly. Tutoring as her early education and growing up in a small town meant she didn't meet new kids very often. She guessed she was about to meet a lot of them all at once, though, so she fixed her posture, ruined it by tilting her head, and asked, "Are you a first year, too?" That seemed like a good first question, even though she was pretty sure she was, since she was buying the same textbook Aislin was. But maybe she was a few years older and had just lost hers, or was buying one for someone else, like the probably-related girl she came in with, so Aislin couldn't say for sure.

Tabitha was secretly elated that the girl hadn't brushed her off in the way that some girls her age were said to do. Most of her interactions with people until now existed within the admittedly-large circle of her extended family and, a few times a year, a gala. Though, those interactions had a different set of rules she was instructed to follow. Casual interactions had a whole new set that she had not yet learned, only heard about in grand stories (which weren't that reliable to go off of).

It was, perhaps, with a bit too much formality that Tabitha nodded in response to the question, "Indeed I am," She was barely able to resist the urge to curtsey. Certainly the bookstore was not a scene a level of professionalism to require a curtsey. Though, Tabby couldn't recall what the right gesture was, so she, belatedly, stuck out her hand to shake. Shaking of hands was hardly the right gesture-- hardly done as far as she knew-- but maybe it would work and the other girl would go along with it.

"I'm Tabitha Murrey," The delivery of the line wasn't half bad. Though she bit off the end of the sentence a bit too early, resisting the urge to deliver her full title. Again, not the scene for that. However, she commended herself for the graceful small smile that made it's way onto her face. It was practiced, but hopefully still felt genuine.

Maybe she should have dragged Summer aside yesterday to practice this instead of humoring Nora's tea party. Sure, the seven-year-old's imagination certainly made up for the lackluster fine china and the quality of the over-steeped herbal tea, but that time could have been spent ensuring this interaction didn't go so terribly. Summer was only a year younger than Tabitha but she had attended a small private school, so she had more experience. Tabitha made a mental note to interrogate Summer when they got home how to make new friends. And also what the right gesture was to greet a stranger in a bookstore-- because by this point she was certain it wasn't a handshake.

After too long of a moment, Tabitha pulled her hand back to her side. Chastizing herself for getting lost in her head. "Have you gotten your wand yet?" It may just be Tabitha's continued excitement about her just-received wand that the topic was the first she turned to, but it would make do to fill the silence.

Hopefully Summer could find the rest of the books Tabby needed while she desperately attempted to make a connection with another first year.

@Aislin Darragh

Credit to Tabitha Murrey

@Tabitha Murrey

So she was another first year! Aislin grinned at the confirmation, excited in the way most kids were to learn they wouldn't be going into a new school knowing only their cousins. She technically would know other kids, too, who had grown up near her or who she'd met through the events her grandparents sometimes held for their business, but that list was rather short and Hogwarts was rather big.

And now she knew a girl named Tabitha Murrey, who sounded kind of posh but otherwise seemed perfectly nice. Tabitha was in luck, Aislin was used to shaking hands in way of greeting, mostly from the manners her mam had drilled her on for those more formal events. They shook hands, and it was perhaps a bit odd for two eleven-year-olds in a bookshop, but Aislin just assumed it was the norm in Tabitha's family.

Soon to follow was a question about wands, and her dark eyes lit up with a glint passed down from her grandfather. His interest in the subject was greater than hers, more of a lifelong obsession for the wandmaker and farm owner, but it was impossible to grow up in a Darragh household without developing some interest in wands. That or getting sick of them, but Aislin was plenty happy to have a repository of wand lore knowledge. "I have!" She reached for the holster at her side, mostly hidden by the long hem of her shirt, and held it out so Tabitha could look. Long and reddish brown, it was well taken care of but lacked the shine of a new wand after decades of both use and collecting dust. "This used to be my nan's wand, it's cherry wood and rougarou hair. I haven't figured out how to cast anything yet but my mam wants me to get used to carrying it around."

A wise move on the woman's part, she knew her kid well enough to know she'd be prone to setting it down somewhere and forgetting about it, and at least for now she could also keep an eye out. Across the aisle, she had noticed Aislin in conversation with a girl her age and kindly let them be, continuing on to find the next textbook. Even in a bad mood as she was, Sylvia still remembered what it was like trying to find your place at Hogwarts, and starting to figure that out now may do Aislin good.

Thankfully, the girl went along with the handshake. Tabitha mentally designated that a successful interaction and established the rule to continue leading with a handshake. Certainly, if one person seemed happy to go along with it, that would mean it was the acceptable casual greeting.

In any case, the girl seemed additionally eager on the topic of wands, so Tabitha allowed herself to get carried away. The grin that stretched across Tabitha's face and lit up her eyes was far more genuine than any she had donned for an event. It was that pure unbridled joy that often only her family was privy to witness.

As the other girl drew out her wand, Tabitha let hers drop from where she had it previously crammed along her forearm, tucked in the sleeve. Tabitha held it between her hands so the other girl could give it a look if she wander while she gave the other girl's wand a lookover. Her eyes traveled across it several times with curiosity and an uncertainty to how to react to the fact it was not gleaming with the newness of her own. In fact, it looked rather worn? With the filter of the young girl she was, she spoke without thinking, "I didn't even know you could get wands secondhand. Don't you want a new one? Mine shines!" It wasn't the most elegant of reactions, but without an adult to chastise her, Tabitha didn't quite realize the implications.

Before she could register the implications of what she had said, her eyes widened as the realization dawned, "Cherry wood? Mine is rosewood! We sort of match!" The hues were likely a bit different, but the warm pinkish hue to her own wand may in fact resemble the reddish tint to the other girl's. And for the kind of eleven-year-old she is, that may very well be the most important aspect of anything.

@Aislin Darragh

Credit to Tabitha Murrey

@Tabitha Murrey

The cherry wand held in the space between them was soon joined by Tabitha's, slipped out of her sleeve in a way Aislin found elegant, a trick she might try later. It was really a pretty wand, which seemed only fitting, a rare pinkish color that indicated exactly what kind of wood it was before the other girl confirmed it. There were only a handful of rose bushes on the Darragh's farm so she hadn't seen many made, but she knew the basics: beauty, affinity for divination, reliability.

She was surprised by Tabitha's surprise, though she supposed not everyone was raised learning the intricacies of placing wands in the hands of witches. "Of course you can get wands secondhand." You could get almost anything secondhand, just ask her mam. "It can be a little trickier to find a match, since there are more limited options, and some wands will never work for a second owner." That category was mostly composed of all the woods associated with loyalty, and especially those cores like unicorn tail hair, but her nan's wand held no such pickiness.

As for the shine of her wand... well, Tabitha was right. Hers wasn't pretty just for the color but for the gleam as well, brand new and perfectly hers. The wand in Tabitha's hands liked her, had chosen just her, whereas Aislin's existed more in a state of tolerating her, she was pretty sure, settling for second best. What did she know of power in comparison to her grandmother? Her running theory was that the wand really just wanted to escape its box and so jumped at the opportunity with the first person it found that it could at least sort of work with. "I'll get a new one eventually," she said, sounding less enthusiastic at the prospect of waiting. It came down to when her grandad had time to teach her the basics of carving, since that was the Darragh family rite of passage for getting a wand all their own.

But for now, she had a wand that matched Tabitha's, and that brought a shy smile back to her face. "They do match," she agreed. "It was lucky to find each other, you know?" Whether she meant that in terms of fate and destiny or merely was happy she'd met another classmate before so many strangers were thrown into Hogwarts together was unclear. "Are you excited to start school?"

Tabitha was very delighted in the slightly reminiscent color between the two of their wands. It was excellent news if they had matching wands. It had to be a sign for something. Like friendship. Or perhaps that was too forward. She should be careful when choosing friends, that's what her older brother said. But then again, he made poor decisions with who he chose to associate with. This seemed like a good decision.

The concept of secondhand wands was fascinating, and the fascination showed in Tabitha's focused expression. She was a very avid and expressive listener. "It took me ages to find a wand that worked for me at Ollivanders," She wasn't quite sure why she admitted this to this girl, seeing as they knew nothing about each other and she hadn't yet decided if she wanted to relay that particular information to anyone else in her family yet. "I'm not sure how rare that is that you found one second hand. It's really great that you found one that works for you!" She finished the line with a genuine smile.

"How long is eventually?" If the question was prying too far, Tabitha hadn't noticed. "Hopefully by the time school starts? Isn't it difficult to cast on someone else's wand? I feel like I heard something about that," Unfortunately for Tabitha, much of her tutoring had occurred with general sticks to practice shapes when it came to magical knowledge, otherwise she had been restricted to boring unpractical classes like arithmetic and reasoning. Occasionally, if she was lucky, they might talk about the concepts of potions ingredients or some physics that may be practical in transfiguration. But mostly the boring stuff. Nothing with real magic-- it was only allowed in school, apparently.

The conversation moved on and Tabitha had to remember to keep staying present on topic. "We are lucky! And I am so excited to start school, I've basically waited my whole life for it," The beam on her face remained unshaken. "What class are you most looking forward to? I think Potions and Charms will be my favorite. My older brother says that he likes the Herbology professor the best but I'm not so sure about getting my hands in mud," Her nose wrinkled at the thought of getting grime and dirt under her nails.

@Aislin Darragh

@Tabitha Murrey

Wands were an easy topic for Aislin. She knew far more about them than the average eleven-year-old, at least; any incoming Hogwarts student knew that a wand channeled and focused magic, was essential to spell-casting to all but highly skilled witches, but probably not so much about wand lore and the specifics of wand production and distribution. These were things she'd been raised on, and so she only nodded when Tabitha mentioned the long process of finding her wand, which was actually fairly common with the sheer number of possible combinations and a wandmaker that didn't know anything specific about their client. In Aislin's case, her grandad had been able to narrow down his shop's selection for her, cutting out all the obvious misfits. As for if it was rare to find a wand secondhand, the reality was most people could pair well with any number of wands. Finding an especially powerful match was tricky, since that involved a greater degree of precision in details of length and flexibility and specific materials. It would be difficult to tell if she had gotten so lucky, but Aislin doubted it.

By the time school starts. Aislin blinked slowly, processing how they were not remotely on the same page. "Maybe next year?" Aislin offered. She didn't really know, but it wouldn't be in the next month. Would it be difficult to cast with? "It depends on the wand really." She looked at the length of cherry wood skeptically. Would it be upset to be passed down to a witch with nowhere near the talent of her duelling powerhouse nan? Would it be irked to return to the basics of light and levitation spells, of tiny transfigurations?

But those were insecurities she hadn't even mentioned to her family and tried not to dwell on, so she was far happier to tuck her wand away and switch the subject to their fast-approaching start at Hogwarts. Tabitha seemed just as excited, quick to spill subject opinions and tidbits on teachers, smiling brightly all the while. The expression seemed to come easily to her, and Aislin found herself matching it, if not to the same radiant extent. Though she had to laugh a bit at her disinclination toward dirt. "But that's the best part!" Aislin insisted, more of a tease than a serious argument. She thought that, but it wasn't surprising that this princess-looking girl wouldn't. Never playing in the dirt sounded kind of miserable, though. "You should give it a chance."

As for her own expectations for classes, she knew already. Thought she did, anyway. "It's Potions and Herbology for me." Having a potioneer for a mam and farmers for grandparents had only nurtured an interest in both subjects, and Aislin was plenty eager to get her own hands dirty with the grit of doing everything she'd grown up watching them do. "I won't be ready for homework from all those classes, though." What she had for tutoring was already enough, so what would it be like for eight classes? She'd much rather spend her days searching for bugs or reading books about decomposition, thanks.