Mum, da and I had been going through the shops in Diagon Alley all morning getting my school supplies. The only thing left on my list was my wand.

"Keep the best part for last,"

mum had said. I think mum and da were almost as excited for me to get my first Olivander's wand as I was - almost.

I opened the door to the shop and looked around in astonishment. Every wall was full of shelves, and those shelves were piled high with small boxes which I could only assume held wands. And one of these wands was going to be mine. As the door entered, a small chime went off alerting the workers that someone had entered. I looked around to see if anyone would come up, but I did not see anyone, so I just continued to walk into the shop not really sure what else to do.

Mum and da entered after me - the chime sounding two more times. I could see my da was getting ready to shout when I heard the squeal of what sounded like ball bearings, or a rusty wheel. I looked up and saw an older Wizard high up on a ladder as it rolled into the room - the wheels rolling along the shelving and making an awful racket as they rolled. As soon as the man was in the room my da said,

"Mr. Olivander, this is my daughter Madeline. She needs a wand as she will be going to Hogwarts this year."

Said the last bit beaming with pride.

Mr Olivander descended his ladder and looked me over once, then looked at my da and mum,

"I remember every wand I ever sold." He looks at da then says, "James Howard, 29,8 cm Rowan wood with Phoenix feather, I believe, quite flexible." Looking over at my mum he says, "Isla Sinclair... oh well now I guess that has changed to Howard. hmm. Yours I believe was 26,6 cm Hazel wood and Unicorn hair, supple."

He looks at me and uses his wand to summon a tape measure that starts to measure me.

"So, now what will we get for the young miss Madeline Howard?"

He gently takes my head in his hands, looking over my head, and face, and ears as if he is measuring something, or inspecting it. The tape measure continues to measure the most random of things, my elbow, the length of my braids, the tip of my nose to my right hand...

Mr Olivander pushes his ladder back, goes up two rungs, removes a small box and hands it to me.

"11,2 cm Willow and Dragon Heartstring,"he says. "Well, open it up and try it out. See what it does."

I take the wand in hand, as I move it back to make a small swishing motion, a handful of boxes careen off their shelves. I put the wand back in the box. Thankfully Mr. Olivander does not seem displeased at the mess, but seemed a little excited.

"Well obviously not that one." he reached around for another box, took out the wand and handed it to me to try, "12,7 cm Ebony wood and Phoenix feather, try this one."

I took it in hand, and I was able to make a complete swish this time. The wand felt oddly warm in my hand, then black ink erupted from the tip, turning into bubbles that floated up to the ceiling and burst leaving little black rings on the ceiling. Sheepishly I put the wand back in its box, and again Mr. Ollivander seemed more excited. He did this with two more wands - 13,5 cm Acacia wood and Unicorn hair, and 12,8 cm Alder wood with Unicorn hair - but neither of these were right either, and at each incident he just seemed to get more excited.

Finally, after taking the Alder wood wand back from me, he looked me over one more time and ran up the stairs to a small alcove and retrieved a dusty box.

"Hmm, I think this one is just the one. The wand chooses the wizard - or witch in your case. I think you will find this one to be a good fit." Opening the box he offers me the lidless box and says, "31,3 cm Aspen wood and Snallygaster Heartstring."

I reach into the box, taking the wand and make a tenuous swish. When I do, the wand warms in my hand - not like it is going to burn or warm from fire, but a cozy warm as if I were sitting at home, in front of my hearth reading a good book under my blanket warm. This wand felt like home. Then a warm glow started to emit from the tip of the wand, and then slowly faded. No disaster this time, just the warm welcoming home of a long lost family member.

"Yes, yes, I thought that would be the one. This will serve you well. Take care of it and it will take care of you."

He hands me the wand box, and my da pays for the wand and we head out of the shop - me now feeling as if I could take on the whole world with my very own wand!