Chapter Eleven
Trunks, Teas and Cherry Trees
Tucked into a corner of the alley, Truckle's Trunks was much larger than its facade would indicate. Interestingly enough, this was not a result of expansion charms, but a simple quirk of the architecture. The proprietor hurried over once they entered.
"Welcome. Welcome. Hogwarts, eh?" Without even waiting for an answer, he continued. "Got em all here. Three? No problem. The base model? Or do you want something more advanced?" Harry and the Grangers seemed completely stunned by his energetic approach to salesmanship and McGonagall and Hagrid seemed too busy stifling their laughter to do anything productive.
As such, it fell to Sunset to answer. "Define 'advanced'?"
"Well, I can put a whole host of rune charms on them, but I can add the four basic ones for a galleon per trunk."
"And those are?"
"Undetectable expansion, featherweight, self-shrinking and muggle notice-me-not. Wouldn't want a random muggle coming by and seeing you shrink your trunk, would we?"
"Fair enough." Sunset giggled. At seeing the expressions of those around her she explained. "Sorry, I just can't get over the fact that you call perception filters notice-me-nots."
Mr. Truckle still looked confused, but continued on regardless. "I see. Now I can show you the trunks, if you want." He continued to do just that, demonstrating how to use the trunks, trigger the auto shrinking and showing the effects of the featherweight charm, much to Sunset's interest. She noted that last one as something to look up later.
Not long after, they had three new trunks and one more matter to attend to in the shop. "Mister Truckle," Harry spoke up. "I also need a bag to carry my books. I don't have one right now."
"Oh, of course, I carry bags as well. A bit above standard fare if I do say so myself. Come with featherweight and undetectable expansion charms and an illusion charm that lets you alter the colour to your needs. I have a few models to chose from. Come along."
The others watched with slight amusement as the two walked off deeper into the shop, the proprietor keeping up a running commentary all the way.
Emma turned to McGonagall, amusement clear in her face. "Talkative one, isn't he?"
"Less now than during his school days, but still quite a bit yes."
"Oh my."
Sunset meanwhile contemplated what she had seen of Harry. The boy was supposedly eleven, just as they were, yet both of them were taller than he was. Not to mention he also seemed to be a bit underweight for his height as well. She was starting to get a terrible suspicion.
Once Harry and the proprietor returned, now with an additional book bag, Harry insisted on taking his robes and carrying them himself. He was polite if nothing else.
Once they left the store, McGonagall suggested that they eat a small lunch at the Leaky Cauldron before continuing their shopping. It didn't take long before everyone agreed.
Back at the Leaky Cauldron, everyone ordered lunch. Somehow they all ended up ordering a cup of tea as well. Hagrid's cup was noticeably larger. Taking a sip from her cup as they waited for the food, McGonagall, started up the conversation.
"Normally I'd save getting wands for last, but a wand matching always takes a while and with three of them, I'd like to get that out of the way first." She turned to Emma and Dan. "One of you can accompany the children and I to Ollivander's and the other can go with Hagrid to Flourish and Blot’s and take care of getting the books."
"Normally I'd agree," Emma laughed, "but Hermione would go berserk if we didn't take her along to the book store."
Sunset simply giggled and placed an arm on Hermione's shoulder. 《It's fine, sis. We can come back whenever we want, remember?》
《Right, phoenix. I forgot.》She turned to Emma. "That's alright, mom."
Dan just sighed. "I really wish you'd teach us Equestrian. I hate it when you do that."
Sunset grinned. "Now might not be the best time for that. Or do you want to be shopping with a headache?"
Hermione, nodded. "She has a point. That wasn't exactly pleasant. It's more annoying than painful, but I wouldn't want to have to deal with it on a shopping trip."
"Not to mention," Sunset added, " I could always teach her ancient Thessian and talk with her that way."
"Gettin' the feelin' there's some stuff I don't know about." Hagrid pointed out.
Harry and McGonagall looked on in curiosity, but didn't say anything.
"So." Emma turned to her husband. "You get the books with Mister Hagrid-"
"Jus' Hagrid is fine."
"Very well. You get the books with Hagrid and I go with the kids to get wands for them?"
"Sure. That works."
Once they had all finished their food and tea – Sunset might not have been British, but she was a student of Princess Celestia, a position none could hold for long before developing a love for the beverage – the groups returned to the alley and split up.
As they headed for the wand store, Sunset's thoughts wandered to Harry again. When the food had come he had seemed eager, but also nervous, as though afraid that someone would steal it from him. None of that really helped alleviate Sunset's suspicions, it only made her more suspicious that in Harry's home something was not at all going as it should. Seeing that all his clothes, without exception, were several sizes too large for him and in appalling condition, didn't help either.
She might have to investigate later, but for now it was wand time. She had been looking forward to this all day.
The store wasn't pretty, but it looked like it had always been there. 'Well worn' might have been a good way to describe it. There was no sign. Instead, peeling gold letters on the door itself proclaimed 'Ollivander's: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC.'. A single wand lay on a purple cushion, in the window. After a quick charm, Sunset recognized it as the anchor for the powerful wards that surrounded the shop.
As they stepped in, a bell tinkled somewhere in the depths of the shop. The shop was small and empty save for a small, spindly chair that didn't look entirely stable and rows upon rows of shelves. The entirety of the walls, save for two more doors was covered in shelves as well, stacked to the ceiling with long, narrow boxes. No one needed to guess what they contained.
"Good afternoon." The soft voice startled Emma, Harry and Hermione. McGonagall had apparently expected it and Sunset had sensed the man approaching through his connection with the wards. He was old and his wide, pale eyes seemed to glow in the dim of the shop.
"Good afternoon Mister Ollivander. I've brought another group."
"That I see, Minerva. And what a group it is. Three of them need a wand. The fourth isn't quite there yet. Though that may change." As Minerva looked to Emma in puzzlement who herself only returned a mischievous smile, Ollivander turned to the three children. "Garrick Ollivander, at your service. I see you brought your phoenix along. Is she here to make a donation?"
Philomena trilled slightly as he dismissed the illusion with a wave of his hand. "Gorgeous. Truly gorgeous." Philomena trilled again, lifting of off Sunset's shoulder, before vanishing in a flash of flame above Ollivander's head, leaving behind a single golden feather floating down to be caught by the wand maker. "Am I to presume you want this as your wand core, Miss Shimmer?"
Sunset could only nod. "Very well, we'll see about finding a fitting wood for you in a minute. Now." With a snap of his finger, three measuring tapes came from one of the doors and floated over to the three children. "Yes. I thought I'd be seeing you here soon Mister Potter." He smiled a barely visible smile. "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."
Ollivander moved closer to Harry, staring at him unblinkingly. "Your father, on the other hand, favoured a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration." Sunset noticed McGonagall give a sad smile at that. "Well, I say your father favoured it – it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course.
"And that's where ..." Mr Ollivander had come very close to Harry now, laying a long white finger on a scar on Harry's forehead. Sunset's eyes widened as her charm revealed extremely dark magic clinging to it, tightly focused as if contained. She winced as she focused more closely and, for a split second, saw a flash of green and heard insane, high-pitched laughter.
Unaware of her, Ollivander continued. "I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it. 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 suddenly backed away, motioning for Harry to follow. "Now Mister Potter, which is your wand hand?"
"Uhm, I'm right handed." A tape measure immediately floated over and wrapped around his wrist, tugging on it slightly until Harry stretched out his arm which it then proceeded to measure.
"Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance. We use the tail hairs of unicorns, the heartstrings of dragons and, as you've seen, the tail feathers of phoenixes. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just like no two dragons, unicorns or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course you'll never get such good results with another wizard's wand."
As he spoke, the old man went from one shelf to the next, pulling out boxes by a system he and he alone understood. "That will do." The tape measuring Harry fell to the floor and curled itself up. "While we're at it," He turned to Sunset and Hermione. "What are your wand hands?"
Hermione held out her right hand. Sunset looked at both of hers for a moment before looking back at Ollivander. "I'm – what was the word? – ambidextrous."
"Balance ... I see ... good." The tape measures went to measure Hermione's right arm and both of Sunset's. "Now Mister Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heart string. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave." He absently snapped his fingers, causing the two remaining tape measures to join the first on the floor, before snatching the wand back from Harry.
And so it went. Ollivander gave Harry wand after wand, taking them back sometimes before he had even moved. "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."
The moment Harry touched the wand, a smile started to spread on his face. He brought it above his head and let it swoosh down, spraying red and gold sparks across the room.
"Oh bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well ... how curious ... how very curious ..." Even as he gently placed the wand back in its packaging and wrapped it in brown paper, he continued muttering. "Curious ... curious ..."
"Excuse me," Harry finally spoke up, "but what's curious?"
"I remember every wand I ever sold, Mister Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix who donated the feather for your wand, gave one more. Just one. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother – why, its brother gave you that scar." He cleared his throat and pulled out his own wand, waving it in a circle to cause all the discarded wand boxes to float back to their shelves. "Now, Miss Granger, I believe you are next."
Once more he bounced through the shop, pulling out box after box, while Harry joined Emma and McGonagall in the corner by the door. The process then repeated, Hermione didn't take as long as Harry had, but a few minutes passed regardless. "Let's see here, elm and Opaleye heartstring, nine and five sixth inches, elastic, powerful yet sophisticated, well suited for charms and transfiguration."
Hermione's eyes widened as she touched the wand. She twirled it in a circle and vanished in a flash of green, reappearing on the opposite end of the shop. "My, my. Impressive. That wasn't apparition, was it?"
"No. That was the teleportation Sunset taught me."
"Very good. I'm impressed. Good to see that nonsense disproved once again."
"Pardon?"
"Oh, my apologies. The common wizard isn't exactly knowledgeable on wandlore. There is the persistent myth that only a pureblood wizard could produce magic with a wand made from elm. I've seen it disproved several times in this very shop. Every time is a special joy." As he spoke, he packaged Hermione's wand, as he had Harry's. "Now, Miss Shimmer, if you would come along to the back please, we'll find the perfect wand wood for you." He delicately picked up the golden feather and walked off through one of the doors.
With some trepidation Sunset followed the old wand maker. In a flash of flames, Philomena reappeared above her head, alighting on her shoulder. Before long the arrived in what was clearly a supply room. A shelf held jars with what she assumed to be dragon heartstrings, next to it were two filing cabinets. One of the drawers was open to reveal a row of envelopes, holding unicorn hairs, each meticulously labeled.
The main attraction, of course, were the rows of shelves, not unlike those in the shop itself, holding various lengths of wood. Once more, Ollivander began flitting between shelves, pulling pieces of wood from it and placing them in a row on a table. "Now, move your hand over these, let me know if you feel a pull."
Sunset did as she was asked, floating her hand over each piece of wood in turn. Every once in a while she felt a pull and let Ollivander know about it. He took the indicated pieces of wood and placed them in a row on a second table. After she was through the row, he called her over and asked her to find the one with the strongest pull.
After a few minutes of testing, she had isolated two potential candidates. "This one, or this one. What do you think Philomena?" The phoenix hopped onto the table and placed a primary feather on each of the two pieces of wood, then rather strongly indicated towards one of them, a smooth length of reddish-brown wood, rather beautiful to look at. Sunset moved her hand over it again. "Yes. This one."
"Oh my, Cherry and Phoenix feather. Not a combination I've sold before. Cherry is a wood that is often underestimated by western wizards, but very popular in Japan. The classical combination is, of course, Cherry and Dragon, both materials with great power. But combining the power of Cherry with the versatility and potential of a Phoenix core? That is a combination with potential. Very intriguing. I'll have it ready in a few days.
"Not to mention that this wood stems from a cherry tree that was rather dear to me, it was planted out behind the shop by my grandfather. Take good care of it. Now, come along."
Sunset followed him back to the front of the shop. "Now that will be seven galleons from each of the two of you and a two galleon deposit from you, Miss Shimmer." After Emma and Harry paid the old wizard, he returned to the back and they left the shop, once more squinting into the bright afternoon sun, before they spotted Dan and Hagrid, the latter carrying three bags of books.