Edwina gave her mother one final look and encouraging nod, before pushing old wooden door of Olivanders magical shop. The door creaked softly, and there was a quiet sound of bells ringing, announcing the arrival of customer.

Walking along Diagon Alley, Edwina got used to the constant crowd that took her and her mother from one shop to another, regardless of whether they were on the list from the magic school or not. This time there was no one. Edwina blinked a few times to adjust to the darker room and looked around. Further in the room was a counter with various papers, boxes, and a quill with ink on it. There was no shopkeeper in sight. Beside the counter were stairs, leading to the second floor, and all around – dozens, hundreds, if not thousands of small boxes and drawers on shelves that reached to the ceiling. Some of them were placed crookedly one on top of the other and looked as if they would fall even from the lightest touch.

“Hello?” Edwina called uncertainly. Her voice echoed. “Is anyone here?”

No response. Perhaps, the shopkeeper had left, Edwina guessed, and decided to look around on herself, confident that, whoever it was, would return soon. Although she should not stay here for long, her mother was still waiting for her outside.

Edwina took a deep breath and smelled wood, paper, and magic. The same strange, yet unmistakable smell of something unusual, different, that had haunted her since she and her mother had set foot in Diagon Alley. Her father would probably call it nonsense, although to be fair, he was still new to the thought that magic was even real. Edwina still felt bitter that he could not be with them right now because of work. She did not understand it - it might be the only chance to see the wizarding world, but her father chose a boring football job!

"Here for the first wand, I assume?"

The sudden, hoarse old voice from behind the counter startled Edwina, and she jumped up, taking a few steps back from the boxes she had been mindlessly examining. She wanted to try touching them too, almost reached out, but her mother's warning not to touch unknown magical things was still firmly in her head. Of course, a minute longer and Edwina would have happily forgotten about it. Now, as if from nowhere, an old man appeared before her. A wizard, Edwina corrected herself. His face was lined, his hair was gray, almost white, but his eyes were clear and wise, and his smile was friendly. It seems that it was Ollivander himself just as professor from the school described him before. She could not believe that he was so old and still working! He should really like his job. Although if her job was related to magic, she probably would never want to retire herself.

“Er, yes!” Edwina nodded, squaring her shoulders. “For Hogwarts.”

The wizard nodded and looked her up and down, his expression thoughtful before a smile returned to his face. "Ah, Hogwarts, yes. First year. You can't do without a wand. However, I hope that the wand that chooses you today will take you much further than the walls of the school. Now, I think I have a wand in mind that would be right for you."

Then he turned and began searching among the shelves and hundreds of numbers. Edwina, leaning against the counter, watched this process with admiration. Ollivander, raised his index finger in the air, counted the numbers and looked for what seemed to be the right one.
"Really? You mean you can tell which wand will be right for me that easily? Just by looking at me? No quizzes or tests?" Edwina tried to sincerely understand how that was possible, because the man looked more than confident as he pulled out a long brown box and carried it to the counter.

Right in front of Edwina, a box was opened, and a wooden wand lay neatly on a blue cloth. Beautiful and elegant. Probably expensive, Edwina thought. The shopkeeper glanced at her again, as if judging his decision, then took the wand out of the box and turned it over in his hands. Carefully, like something fragile.

"There is no need for tests, when it comes to wands," he said, then continued, "28.3 centimeters. English oak. Unicorn hair. Flexible." He handed it to Edwina with both hands. "Try it."

Edwina took it carefully but firmly. Her wand. She was enchanted by it. Is... is she really a witch now? Like all those who walk Diagon Alley?

"Try it? What am I supposed to do?" she waved her wand widely. At the same moment, a gust of wind shot from the wand, causing several boxes to fall from the shelf near. Edwina looked startled at the commotion and then at Ollivander, handing the wand back as quickly as possible. "Sorry! I- I accidentally!"

Ollivander merely shook his head and put the wand back in the box. "No, not this one..." He plunged back into the search for another box, muttering something to himself.

While he turned away, Edwina quickly began arranging boxes on the shelf in a random order, hoping that this would not bother Mr. Ollivander too much. It was a wonder he did not throw her out immediately. If her mother had seen this... She glanced quickly out the window at the street where her mother stood, looking at the other shops and people around, blissfully unaware. Edwina breathed a sigh of relief. It was no good to worry her mother even more. When she heard wizard return, Edwina swiftly stepped to the counter, hands clasped behind her back.

Ollivander glanced at the shelf on which she hastily tossed the wand boxes, but said nothing. Edwina thought he really wanted to say something, but decided not to. Or she was just imagining it. He took a new wand out of the box and, with only a moment's hesitation, gave it to Edwina.

"25.5 centimeters. Ash. Dragon heartstring. Slightly flexible. Try to swing it lightly."
Edwina held the wand with trepidation this time. What if she throws something off the shelves again? Or even worse - sets on fire! It has already happened once to her even without a wand.

She hesitated before waving new wand. "Um... Should- Should I really do that?"

"If you don't try, you won't know if it's yours." Ollivander spoke and nodded encouragingly.

Edwina let out a quick breath and convinced herself that he probably had everything under control like a responsible adult should. Still, he did not kick her out right away, did he? She took one last look at Ollivander and waved the wand confidently, though much more lightly. A sad pile of sparks flew from the wand, and then it hissed, smoked, and did nothing else.

Ollivander took this wand back as well, saying that it was not the wand she needed. Edwina was getting nervous. Maybe they will not be able to pick up wand for her? Maybe she is not actually a witch, or she is some kind of spoiled witch - really, everyone around seems to live in it, and she is from a family in which magic was only heard from fairy tales! How then will she attend Hogwarts without a wand? She really wanted to! No, she needed a wand.

"Mr. Ollivander, is it-... is that how it should be? That the wand does not pick me right away?" Edwina decided to ask, looking sadly at the half-opened boxes left behind at the counter. "Or is it because I'm not from here?"

Ollivander's voice came from somewhere further away in the room, although she couldn't see him. "Oh, many great wizards didn't find the wand they needed right away. As much as wizards don't like it, the wand chooses them, not the other way around," his face reappeared behind the counter with a new box. "Sometimes a wand is chosen on the first try, but others take dozens of tries before they find the one that will choose them."

Ollivander blew the dust off the box (Edwina waved her hand in front of her face to keep it from getting on her, but in the end, she sneezed anyway) and opened it, taking out another wand. This one was shorter than the others. Edwina herself was not sure how she could use the others when they were so long. And the wands themselves, when she thought about it, seemed to slip out of her hand.

Ollivander examined the wand before handing it over, this time without description. The wand fell into her hand, each curve seemingly crafted for her palm. Excitedly, she sincerely hoped that this wand would be the one. Edwina, knowing already what to do, waved it lightly and tensed, expecting the worst. But instead of a hurricane or a small fire, she felt a wave of warmth spread easily from the fingertips of her right hand and down her body to her heart. It was the kind of warmth as if someone had wrapped her in a blanket. The tip of the wand glowed. She no longer felt that the wand wanted to escape.

Ollivander smiled, evidently pleased with his work. "20 centimeters. Chestnut. Dragon heartstring. Inflexible." He paused, then looked Edwina straight in the eye and said, "It chooses those who hold to their beliefs and are brave enough to defend them."

Edwina could not believe that she actually had a wand now. Her wand, the one that would not be taken back. The wand that had chosen her. Her, of all people and wizards. A genuine smile spread across her face.

"Woah, that's so cool!" she exclaimed with delight, forgetting about formality, and felt as if she could jump to the ceiling. "It's now my wand? Really? Trully mine? Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Edwina almost forgot to pay for it in her joy, but she quickly came to her senses and gave a few galleons from her pocket. She was though still confused which one were galleons, which one were knuts, and which one were sickles, so she asked for some help from Ollivander. Having paid quickly, she thanked him again, beaming with happiness and she jumped out of the shop. Looks like she really would be studying in the school of magic this year after all!

"Mum, I have a wand!" Edwina said loudly, causing several passersby to turn their heads, but she did not care. She was officially a witch now!

Well almost.