//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5 
// Story: On the Implications of Parallel Worlds 
// by computerneek 
//------------------------------//

Hagrid determinedly suppressed his worry as he led the two girls to Ollivander’s.  He’d suspected, when they emerged unladen from Madam Malkins, that they’d put their new robes in the same place as their skateboards- and had asked to make sure they had their robes.  They’d both confirmed, so he’d given them their ice creams and started leading them calmly to the next store on the list- for parchment and quills.
Only, when he’d gotten there, he’d found out they both already had an extensive supply of both of the above, though they appreciated knowing where the local supplier was.
After that had been Flourish and Blotts…  which was fairly uneventful, all told.  Twilight had wanted to buy a stack of books thrice her own height, but Lyra had stopped her, saying it wouldn’t fit in her pocket…  and that they could come back to buy half the bookshop later, once everyone got their stuff for Hogwarts.  The store attendant had been mildly alarmed when she said that, especially when Twilight evidently made plans to do exactly that.
Then they’d headed to the potion equipment store, for their cauldrons, scales, and gloves.  Why Lyra had explicitly asked if dragons could talk, Hagrid couldn’t figure out- and neither, apparently, could the attendant that served the girl.  While they were there, the girls had discussed some things that sounded enough like potion making techniques to Hagrid for him to be fairly certain that Professor Snape would just love to have them in his class…  and not necessarily in a good way.
The astronomists’ had been next, where they’d talked about the kinds of telescopes on display…  and the kinds available in Equestria.  Apparently, Twilight had a fifty-foot telescope back home- something which had alarmed the shopkeeper.
Then the apothecary, which both of them had explored thoroughly…  without touching anything.  Not unlike most muggleborns, though with better self-control.
Then, because Lyra had wanted an owl, they’d gone to Eeylops Owl Emporium…  and both he and the proprietor had been driven a little crazy by how they seemed to be chatting with the owls.  So of course, the cage for Lyra’s new owl had vanished tracelessly, while Alto himself- she’d already named him- rode on her shoulder.
He took a deep breath as he came even with the store, and turned towards it.  “Here we are.  Ollivander’s,” he informed them.  “Only place for wands, Ollivander’s.”





Garrick Ollivander looked up from his worktable in the back of his shop when the door chime went off.  He had customers.  Fortunately, he was just selecting the materials for his next wand, not actually making anything; he’s been expecting a large number of customers, and he really didn’t like putting a half-made wand into stasis or forcing a customer to wait until he finished it.
He rose smoothly, and made his way to the front of his shop.  He’d had a much lower customer density than he was used to, for the Hogwarts invitation period.  Usually, he would see between forty and fifty-five customers over about two weeks following the letters- and, at that point, he’d seen exactly six in just over a quarter of that time.
He paused briefly when he spotted the customers.  One he recognized- Hagrid.  He had been here only a few days ago, guiding a nervous muggleborn boy and his mother through the alley.  Now, he had two girls and no adults with him, suggesting one of the rare cases of a muggleborn witch or wizard being thrown out of the family upon receipt of their letter.
Perhaps the strangest part about the two girls wasn’t how their hair seemed to defy the laws of physics as he knew them, but the owl riding on the blue-and-white-haired girl’s shoulder…  with no cage or luggage in sight.  Compounded with that, both girls seemed to be studying the shelves from their place next to Hagrid (who had leaned tiredly against the wall to wait this time), as if there were something there to learn, rather than with the normal curiosity.  As he made his silent approach, he picked out a few words they were muttering to each other.
It seemed the lighter-haired one, with the owl, was having more success in whatever studying they were doing.  She was saying something about ‘bonds waiting to happen, but none complete’.
He stepped into clear view.  “Good afternoon.”
Both girls gave a small start, turning to look at him.  The owl spread its wings partway for balance, before refolding them.  Hagrid opened his eyes.
“Good afternoon,” the owl-toting girl greeted him in turn.  “This is where we get our wands, right?”
He was immediately taken aback; her cheerful, almost happy-go-lucky attitude was quite unusual for anyone entering his shop, let alone anyone that had been disowned.  It was making him curious what their situation really was, or if it was just that they were a little bit crazy.  “Who do I have the pleasure of working with today?” he asked.  They didn’t look like they came from any of the pure-blooded families.
The owl-toting girl answered him with the same, unusual cheeriness.  “I’m Lyra Heartstrings, and this is Twilight Sparkle.”  She gestured towards the other girl.  “We’re here to get our wands?”  She looked up at the shop.  “And, ahh, probably warn you about what’s coming, too.”
He paused, raising an eyebrow.  “Oh?”
“Yeah.  We come from a land that’s magically isolated from the rest of the world…  and about a week and a half ago, we opened a gate through that barrier.  We’re just the first two…  and we’ve already confirmed over two thousand to follow, this year.”
He blinked.  “How many total?”
Lyra shrugged, while Twilight spoke.  “We don’t know yet.  The estimates for the final count range from eight to eighteen thousand right now.”
“...  Ahh,” he muttered.  It certainly sounded like he’d have a busy month and a half- though fortunately, since he had about a hundred and thirty five thousand wands for sale at that moment, he needn’t worry about running out…  this year.  It did sound like he’d be at risk of running out in the coming years, though- and it was distinctly possible he could run out of time to serve them all.  “Shall we get started?”
“Yep!” Lyra answered cheerfully.
“Ahh…  How about you first?”
She grinned.  “Why not?”  Then she looked up at her owl.  “Think you could ride Twilight’s shoulder for a few minutes, Alto?”
“Hoo.”
“He might need my shoulder to be unoccupied, for his measuring tape.”
“Hoo.”
“Yeah, I know.  Please?”
“Hoo.”  The owl- Alto- spread its wings and made a quick hop to Twilight’s shoulder.
Ollivander blinked.  “You can talk to owls?”
She nodded.  “Yeah.  I think it’s a part of the magic we have, unique to our…  civilization, on the other side of our Gate.  The same magic that makes it possible for us to safely pass that gate, actually.”  She glanced up at Alto.  “I’ve noticed that the owls seem to possess a different form of that same magic, allowing them to pass safely.  Good thing, too, with how many Hogwarts letters needed to cross.”
Twilight scowled at her.
“...  Ahh,” Ollivander muttered.  “So, which is your wand arm?”
“My wand arm…  That’d be my dominant arm, right?”
“Dominant arm?” Twilight asked, blinking.
“Yes,” Ollivander nodded.
“Ahh…  Um, I don’t know, to be honest.  Probably ambidextrous.”  She shrugs.  “Dominant arms aren’t nearly as prominent- or common- where we come from.”
“Really?” Twilight asked.
“Alright then,” Ollivander smiled.  It wasn’t often he got an ambidextrous customer- fortunately, they were often easier to find the right match for.  “If you could hold your arms out for me?  Yes, just like that.”  He drew his measuring tape, and set it to work.
Lyra glanced back at Twilight.  “Almost everyone in this world seems to have very prominent dominant arms- such that ambidextrousness is actually rare.  From what I’ve seen so far, the wizarding community is no different.”
“Wow,” Twilight muttered.
Ollivander smiled to himself, and started his normal spiel to the girls, pulled down a few boxes, stopped the measuring tape, and started trying wands.  He did find it interesting that Lyra had to ask if the unicorns could talk.  He’d told her they couldn’t, but that the same was technically true for owls, so he didn’t know if they could talk to unicorns.  Both girls had, for some reason, found that funny.
Hagrid had then mentioned that they’d asked before if dragons could talk, and asked them if they were going to ask about phoenixes too.
Lyra’s answer had been straightforward, and confused both men to no end.  “Nah, those can’t talk where we come from.  Very intelligent, though.”


Eventually, both girls had wands- Alto had hopped back to Lyra’s shoulder as soon as she was done- and had paid from a small pouch stuffed full of coins that Lyra had gotten from somewhere.
“Hmm,” Lyra scowled, her pouch vanishing into thin air, and her wand following suit- just like Twilight’s.  She scanned the shop visually.  “That took about seven minutes, for the two of us.  If we assume that’s about representative of all of our people, and that he works eight hour days with customers back to back, about how long would it take?”
Ollivander winced; that would be a lot of work.
“Well,” Twilight scowled.  “Depending on which estimate we look at, it ranges anywhere from two months to five months.”
“And September First is in about a month and a half.”  Lyra scowled.  “Hmm…  You know, I’d hate to ask this of her, but do you think Starlight would be willing to help with that?”
Twilight rubbed her chin.  “Probably, yeah.  We’d want to make sure there was someone to help her with, you know…”
Lyra shrugged.  “So we just stick one of your friends in each of her first waves, and trust her for the rest.”
Twilight nodded.  “Good point.  And she’d probably be willing to help, depending…”
“Hmm…”  Lyra looked skywards.  “...  Yep, she’s accepted her offer.”
“Really?  Then yeah, she’d most likely be willing to help.”
“With…  what?” Ollivander asked.
“Mm?” Lyra asked, turning to him.  “Oh, spreading the load.  Starlight is good with time manipulation, so with her help, we could have our people coming in here to get wands in manageable waves from now through, what, February?”  She glanced briefly at Twilight, who nodded.  “And yet all have our wands by September.”
“...  Ahh.”