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with some secret magic. |
"Good afternoon," said a soft voice. Harry jumped. Hagrid must have |
jumped, too, because there was a loud crunching noise and he got quickly |
off the spindly chair. |
An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like |
moons through the gloom of the shop. |
"Hello," said Harry awkwardly. |
"Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. |
Harry Potter." It wasn't a question. "You have your mother's eyes. It |
seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten |
and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm |
work." |
Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Harry. Harry wished he would blink. Those |
silvery eyes were a bit creepy. |
"Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. |
Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I |
say your father favored it -- it's really the wand that chooses the |
wizard, of course." |
Mr. Ollivander had come so close that he and Harry were almost nose to |
nose. Harry could see himself reflected in those misty eyes. |
"And that's where..." |
Mr. Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harry's forehead with a |
long, white finger. |
"I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he said softly. |
"Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in |
the wrong hands... well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into |
the world to do...." |
He shook his head and then, to Harry's relief, spotted Hagrid. |
"Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again.... Oak, sixteen |
inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?" |
"It was, sir, yes," said Hagrid. |
"Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got |
expelled?" said Mr. Ollivander, suddenly stern. |
"Er -- yes, they did, yes," said Hagrid, shuffling his feet. "I've still |
got the pieces, though," he added brightly. |
"But you don't use them?" said Mr. Ollivander sharply. |
"Oh, no, sit," said Hagrid quickly. Harry noticed he gripped his pink |
umbrella very tightly as he spoke. |
"Hmmm," said Mr. Ollivander, giving Hagrid a piercing look. "Well, now |
-- Mr. Potter. Let me see." He pulled a long tape measure with silver |
markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?" |
"Er -- well, I'm right-handed," said Harry. |
"Hold out your arm. That's it." He measured Harry from shoulder to |
finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round |
his head. As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of |
a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix |
tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands |
are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite |
the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with |
another wizard's wand." |
Harry suddenly realized that the tape measure, which was measuring |
between his nostrils, was doing this on its own. Mr. Ollivander was |
flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes. |
"That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on |
the floor. "Right then, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon |
heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. just take it and give it a |
wave." |
Harry took the wand and (feeling foolish) waved it around a bit, but Mr. |
Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once. |
"Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try --" |
Harry tried -- but he had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was |
snatched back by Mr. Ollivander. |
"No, no -here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. |
Go on, go on, try it out." |
Harry tried. And tried. He had no idea what Mr. Ollivander was waiting |
for. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the |
spindly chair, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the |
shelves, the happier he seemed to become. |
"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here |
somewhere -- I wonder, now - - yes, why not -- unusual combination -- |
holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple." |
Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers. He raised |
the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air |
and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, |
throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls. Hagrid whooped and |
clapped and Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very |
good. Well, well, well... how curious... how very curious... " |
He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, |
still muttering, "Curious... curious.. |
"Sorry," said Harry, "but what's curious?" |
Mr. Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare. |
"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It |
so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave |
another feather -- just one other. It is very curious indeed that you |
should be destined for this wand when its brother why, its brother gave |
you that scar." |
Harry swallowed. |
"Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things |
happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember.... I think we must expect |
great things from you, Mr. Potter.... After all, He- |
Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things -- terrible, yes, but great." |
Harry shivered. He wasn't sure he liked Mr. Ollivander too much. He paid |
seven gold Galleons for his wand, and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his |
shop. |
The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky as Harry and Hagrid made |
their way back down Diagon Alley, back through the wall, back through |
the Leaky Cauldron, now empty. Harry didn't speak at all as they walked |
down the road; he didn't even notice how much people were gawking at |
them on the Underground, laden as they were with all their funny-shaped |
packages, with the snowy owl asleep in its cage on Harry's lap. Up |
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