Chapter 7
It was the first time he had seen her. She had to be most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on. Eleazar stood in line for the sorting ceremony, his nervousness forgotten as he watched the girl approach the sorting hat, beautiful brown ringlets of hair bouncing behind her as she went. She sat on the stool and the large hat swallowed her vibrant blue eyes.
Five and a half minutes passed by. She was a hatstall. Finally the hat bellowed, "RAVENCLAW!"
A soft smile graced the lips of Miriam Catherine as she bounded her way over to the large table decorated in blue.
He almost wished to be sorted into Ravenclaw just to be near her more.
...
It was their sixth year. Everyone loved Miriam. Perhaps it was that Hufflepuff kindness and loyalty in her that had nearly gotten her placed in the house that drew people to her. None loved her more than Eleazar though. By some miracle, she adored him too. He had to be the luckiest boy in the entire school. They spent time together every chance they got.
"El! El hold on," his friend Dane called after him.
Too late- he was gone, bounding off to follow Miriam on yet another adventure beyond the castle grounds. His friends loathed how starstruck he was by her.
He didn't care. There was no one in the world who mattered more to him than Miriam. No other opinion mattered but her's.
He relished her laughter at him that afternoon when he fell into the black lake whilst attempting to capture a bowtruckle for her.
...
It was their wedding day. She practically glided over to him in her gorgeous white dress. He took her hands in his. She was now more beautiful than ever. He wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of his life by her side.
She made her vows. He made his.
Staring into her eyes, he knew that this was bliss. Nothing could ever drive him to part with her.
...
Eleazar approached her in the garden. Despite him nearly killing the greenery once again during her absense on her last journey, Miriam's magical plants were vibrant and thriving under her care. It wasn't the beautiful garden that drew him in though; It was the sound of her sobs.
Yet another doctor had told her it was impossible. They both were at the start of their forties now. They had seeked the advice of many a nurse and doctor at St. Mungos over the years. No one could explain why they couldn't conceive. The latest doctor had told them that at their age, after all these years of no success, they could expect to never conceive a child.
He had no words that could heal her ache. His own heart ached too. He took her in his arms and held her tightly as they shed their tears together.
...
Eleazar woke with a start. Though in his dreams he had felt her in his arms so vividly, his arms lay empty now. The side of the bed where she should be lay vacant. The tears that tracked his cheeks now were there for another reason entirely than the ones he had shed in his dream.
He rolled over onto his back with a heavy sigh and stared at the ceiling. His heart aching from the gaping hole in it where she belonged.
He had dreamed of Miriam often in the months since her passing. In her absence his memories of her felt more like nightmares. Though there were true nighmares too; His mind inventing different ways in which she must have died whilst he slept. Without knowing the truth, there were so many possibilities as to what happened. All of them shared one commonality though, and it was that he had not been there.
He should have been there to protect her. She had always been so kind and gentle, so trusting in others. She had a way of seeing goodness in everyone and everything. Given her nature he wondered if she had even seen it coming. If he had been there like he should have, he could have protected her. The thought that she had died alone made him feel ill.
No part of him doubted that it had been foul play. She had been healthy. She was fine! They couldn't identify a cause of death. Her wand was unaccounted for.
Someone had to have taken her wand. That they couldn't find a definitive cause of death gave some indication that she had been killed by some intelligent being; Although evidence didn't align with the magic of any wizard.
Eleazar had known that there had been activity from the goblin rebellion in the area she had been researching at the time. Everyone had seen the recent daily prophet reports. He couldn't imagine Miriam ever giving a goblin a reason to attack her but hostilities were high and so he did wonder at the possibility.
Still, the Ministry would not investigate, claiming there was no evidence that there had been anything more to her death than a simple tragedy. They had closed the case almost as soon as it was discovered. What a load of rubbish, he thought.
He ran his hand down his face. He needed to pull himself together. There was a lot to do today.
He would need to help Hallie choose her elective classes today and then in the evening he had the usual end of June faculty meeting to attend at Hogwarts. Undoubtedly, the rest of the faculty would want updates on how the mysterious new student was coming along in her coursework and casting. He had been so occupied with teaching her these last few weeks that he had not even begun to write out his report to update them with during the meeting.
It was still too early to consider making breakfast, instead he made himself some tea and went to his study to get that report written.
An hour and a half later he had a completed report prepared for the meeting and the sun was peaking through the curtains. The silence in the house told him Hallie was likely still sleeping soundly but he doubted she would be for much longer. He likely could start on breakfast and she would be downstairs by the time it was ready.
Sure enough, Hallie had joined him in the kitchen before the bacon was fully cooked. Her mood had seemed lighter lately. After his scheme to suprise her on her birthday and the talk that they had afterwards, she had seemed to recover from the low mood she had been in after the hearing.
He was well-aware that she still had a long way to go before she would be healed enough to reflect the behavior of an average child her age, but he considered her improvement and the conversation they had to be a huge leap for her. After all, it was clear that she had suffered years of mistreatment and would have to leap hurdles in her life that most children would never have to understand.
He felt determined to help her through it and do what he could to make things better for her. He couldn't help but feel a responsibility to do so since he was already involved anyway.
Although he doubted his ability to be of much help without experience raising a child, he would do the best he could with the time he had while he was responsible for her. Thankfully he felt that her choosing to talk to him after the trial might be the first sign of some healing happening. He hoped it was anyway. After breakfast they had shortened lessons and then he did his best to review the options she had available to choose from for elective classes. He had explained the classes before during previous lessons but now they were at the deadline and he would need to know her choices so that he could report them to Matilda in the meeting today.
Hallie only deliberated a short while before choosing Care of Magical Creatures, Study of Ancient Runes, and Magical Theory for her elective classes. The third of which brought him a sense of pride to hear her choose. He had done his best not to bias her towards the subject he taught, but that didn't mean he wasn't pleased to hear she wanted to take the class.
Two hours later it was nearly time for him to leave for the meeting and he was getting ready to leave.
He found Hallie seated in an armchair in the sitting room with a book clutched in hand. It occured to him that this would be the first time he would be leaving her here on her own. He didn't feel the least bit concerned by it. She had proven to be well-behaved and responsible enough in his opinion in the brief time he had known her. However, she did have a look of nervousness about her at the moment. Perhaps it was at the thought of being left here on her own, he thought.
"Everything all right," he asked her.
"Yes, Professor," she said with a nod.
A little unconvinced, he continued, hoping a little detail might reasure her, "I'll only be gone for a few hours. There's nothing dangerous here so you'll be fine. I only ask that you stay near the house and do no magic of any kind whilst im gone, alright?"
"Of course, I won't cause any trouble while you're away," she said.
"Good," he said with a smile. "I didn't think you would anyway, but best to save that for when i'm around."
This earned him a small smile out of her. He had quickly caught on lately that a bit of humor could often cheer the girl up.
Now that she seemed more reasured he bade her a goodbye and headed out the door, apparating away with a loud pop.
Thirty minutes later he walked through the door to the Hogwarts staff room. Usually he would be among the first to arrive but today he was next to last. Even the lengthy walk from the outside gates into Hogwarts couldn't make him more tardy for the meeting than their illustrious headmaster.
"Eleazar! Welcome back," Mirabel greeted cheerfully, rising from her seat and giving him a brief hug and a bright smile. The young professor was ever the cheerful face in the crowd. Although today her kind greeting was echoed by several of the Professors in the room.
Dinah gave him a piercing look and smile and asked him how he was. As she was old friend of his, he knew that look well even if she was trying to be sly about it. If she looked like she was staring right into you, she probably was. Although he was quite skilled by now in legilmency, it didn't mean the craft old woman wouldn't try on occasion to learn what she could. He knew she meant well. She was still worried about him.
Aesop sat in an armchair by the fire. He greeted Eleazar with a grunted hello and raised the glass in his hand to him. Many of the staff considered Aesop to be rather brusque in nature but Eleazar knew him well enough to be on friendly terms and know it was mostly a facade. Aesop was just hoping that acting aloof would encourage people to leave him alone.
"We were just about to start Eleazar. You're just in time. It's good to see you," Matilda greeted him kindly as he took a seat.
"Black wasn't interested in joining us today?" He asked her in mock interest.
"Of course not, after we had planned for him to be here he said he was far too busy today. So now we have adjusted our plans accordingly," she answered with a slight eye-roll.
"How disappointing," Dinah muttered under her breath, causing several professors in the room to chuckle.
He had missed being here with his fellow professors even if he really had needed the break. Being back reminded him of how in the months before he departed to tudor Hallie, his fellow professors had tried valiantly to cheer him up after Miriam's passing. Many of their eyes still lingered in his direction when they thought he wouldn't notice. Of course they would still be concerned and trying to see how he was coping.
He had still been quite the wreck when he left here. He knew it had not gone unnoticed. Staff and students alike had offered their condolences and support at the time but nothing had phased the dark cloud of heartache and grief.
They wouldn't know it yet of course but lately he had been feeling significantly better than he had when he left here. Their concern now was appreciated but unwarranted. He felt much better now and at this point he felt he would rather them just move on from it so he wouldn't have to think about it so much.
Thinking on it too much only brought back the sting of the loss.
The meeting moved along quite like it usually did; Review of the progress they had made and how well the school year had went; A discussion on exam results this year and improvements they could make for the upcoming year and so on.
Inevitably there was a discussion on all the new ways students had found this year to get into trouble and how they might prevent repeats in the next term. Students never failed to impress when it came to methods of creating mischief. Thinking back on it, he had not been very good at following the rules himself as a student here either.
Eleazar was interested to learn that there had been a rather bad injury to a student in the spring quidditch game while he was away and that Black had cut the season short and was now vying to have the sport ended on campus in the future.
The suggestion of such a ridiculous idea of course set both Dinah and Kogowa off on heated rants about the value of the game. It took Matilda several minutes to calm the two avid quidditch fans down and get them back on track. Those two were not going to let that go easily. Black was going to have a time of it if he thought he could remove the sport.
They would really have a hard time keeping rowdy young students out of trouble without the game in place to distract them from trouble but Eleazar doubted that Black would succeed in convincing the Ministry to allow him to cancel the sport.
Eventually the attention of the meeting turned to his student and Eleazar was immediately met with questions from all directions from his curious fellow professors. He had been right to think they would pry him for as much information on the child as possible.
It was understandable that they would be so curious. None of the other professors had met Hallie yet and so to them she was still a fascinating mystery case that piqued their interests with her unique start to magic.
"Tell us what she's like Eleazar. Do we know yet why she came into her magic so late," Dinah queried.
"No, im afraid I don't have an answer to that-" he started to reply.
"More importantly," Matilda interrupted them. "Is she making good progress in her studies and do you have her choices for electives?"
"She is making excellent progress and I do," he answered as he handed Matilda his report and gave her the list for Hallie's electives.
"She is learning at an incredible rate. I really have never seen anything quite like it in all my years of teaching. I think you will all be very pleased with her progress," he elaborated while Matilda read the report.
"Do you think she will be ready in time for term," Aesop asked skeptically.
"I am sure of it. She's a bright young witch and I don't doubt that she will impress each of you when she arrives next term," he said with confidence.
"If she's as smart as you say she is, perhaps she'll be a Ravenclaw," Dinah said thoughtfully.
"Or a hardworking Hufflepuff, Dinah," Mirabel piped up.
"I would suggest that Slytherin is just as viable an option," Ronen added.
Aesop sighed. "Wouldn't it be wiser to just ask Eleazar what house he thinks she'll be in rather than speculating? After all he is the only one who's actually met the girl."
Eleazar chuckled, "I think we'd best let the Sorting Hat decide."
He suspected that the other professors still wanted to know more but Matilda wrapped the meeting up and gave him Hallie's updated list for her school supplies. He doubted their curiosities would be satisfied until they met the girl.
He knew if he stuck around long enough he would be bombarded with more questions and so he wasted no time moving along after the meeting; Insisting that he needed to get back home quickly despite his peers attempts to get him to join them for a drink in Hogsmeade.
"Eleazar, go on and come with us. Matilda hasn't even had a chance to grill you about the girl yet," Aesop said, standing from his armchair and straightening his coat.
"No, no. Hallie is at the house alone right now so I really do have to get back. I'll have to join you another time," he declined politely.
"She's staying with you," Matilda asked with a raised eyebrow. "I would have thought you would be tutoring her at her home?"
"We started out that way but it ended up being more effective and time efficient to tudor her at my home," he answered smoothly.
He wasn't sure Hallie would like for the entire staff at Hogwarts to know about the circumstances of her home life that had led her to be staying with him. No, after her silence and how long it had taken for her to even begin to talk to him about it all, he felt quite sure she would appreciate them not knowing at all.
After all she had been through, she should be allowed to be the one to decide who would know that.
Thankfully although Matilda looked skeptical she let it go. The woman was far too perceptive sometimes. He doubted this would be the last he heard of it.
"I suppose that makes sense," she said.
****
Hallie and Professor Fig were ready early the next morning to leave and get started on their shopping in Diagon Alley.
Yesterday evening Professor Fig had come back from the meeting with a complete list of the supplies Hallie would need for her classes. He had assured her that now they could go to Diagon Alley to collect her supplies and that the sooner they did so, the better off they'd be for it. She felt filled to the brim with nervous excitement at the prospect.
Professor Fig had explained that Diagon Alley was the hot spot in the wizarding community for most shopping and that she could expect to see very busy streets lined with wizarding shops of all kinds. He needed to pick up a few supplies of his own and she would need all of her school supplies including books, robes, and most excitingly of all, a wand.
She had envisioned crowded brightly colored streets buzzing with noise and strange new sights to see. She couldn't wait to see it for herself.
They traveled by Floo again this time. Hallie felt she might finally be beginning to get used to this method of travel, although the spinning was still distasteful in her opinion. How could anyone not be dizzy from all that swirling around in those hot flames? She knew what to expect now with it at least though and by now she had learned how to hold her footing in it.
They exited the grate in a dimly lit little pub. Despite the dingy-looking state of the pub, it was packed with robed wizards chatting merrily over drinks. It was clearly a popular spot so Hallie wondered vaguly why it was in such drab conditions. Perhaps that was simply the style or maybe the owners didn't put much priority in the appearance of the pub. She supposed it wasn't any business of her's anyway.
Professor Fig led her out of the pub into a very small courtyard that had no exit aside from the door that they had just come through.
Well that makes no sense, she thought as she looked around.
Hallie gave her professor a questioning look to which he merely gave her a knowing smile and produced his wand from his coat, tapping one of the aged bricks on the wall with it three times.
At the moment of his last tap, the brick gave a sudden shake and Hallie watched in astoundment as the bricks began to shift and morph before their eyes. A moment later they stood before a large brick archway that had formed in place of the wall. A long cobbled street wound its way beyond the arch and out of sight. Sunlight shined brightly over the street and reflected on the glass windows of the many shops that lined it.
Her neck could have snapped from all the swiveling it was doing as they began to walk the street. Every direction she looked held something new and exciting to see.
There were apothecaries selling ingredients and remedies that Hallie had never heard of and supply stores packed with rolled up parchment and long colorful quills. One store had little fuzzy creatures that Professor Fig called puffskeins in the windows. Another storefront had stacks of cauldrons towering along its walls so haphazardly that Hallie feared they would tople over onto them as they passed by.
She spotted a store called 'Dimmity's Divine Divinations'. It had crystals hanging from the windows and a crystal ball sat on a plush cushion on a table by the window. A small sign rested against the window read 'Find your futures and fortunes'.
Professor Fig had talked to her a bit about divination when she was considering what electives to take. The subject didn't strike her as one she would want to study though. Something about it made her skin crawl.
Hallie noticed that there were a few other children here in Diagon Alley too. Perhaps the first of any she had ever seen to also have magic abilities. A tall blonde boy trailed down the street behind his mother with a bored look on his face. She spotted a few kids who couldn't be much older than her in a store with broomsticks stacked along its shelves and brighly colored padded robes. A small child darted out in front of Hallie as he ran out of a store packed with children's toys and pranks. The store he darted towards across the street sold a myriad of colorful candies and cakes. His frantic mother chased behind him calling to him.
Hallie wondered vaguely what it might have been like to come here with her own parents, had they still been alive to bring her here. What would they have thought of all of this? She felt a dull and familiar ache in her chest at the thought.
She kept falling behind Professor Fig slightly and having to jog to keep up with him. There was just so much to see and absorb and the streets were so packed with people shopping that she was struggling to be vigilant enough to keep pace with him.
He eventually resorted to grabbing her by the shoulder to guide her along, tethering her to him so she wouldn't vanish in the crowd again. To her relief, he seemed amused by her distracted child-like wonder rather than annoyed by it.
He chuckled when he caught ahold of her and said, "You don't need to go and get lost. I'd likely never find you in this crowd."
"Where are we going first," she asked.
"Well that would be Gringots, of course. We won't get much done today without a few Galleons in our pockets," he said, pointing down the street towards a large white building ahead of them.
Gringots bank towered high over the rest of the buildings. The chisled marble it was made from gave it a stately look. One of the creatures Hallie had seen depicted in the fountain at the Ministry stood by the door.
Seeing where her eyes landed, Professor Fig explained, "Gringots Bank is run by Goblins. They are often a suspicious lot and are very intelligent and insightful beings. Gringots would hardly be safer in the hands of any other being but them. Only a fool would try to cross a Gringots goblin."
As they mounted the marble steps, Hallie read the ominous plaque upon the door warning thieves to turn back:
'Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn,
So if you seek beneath our floors,
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.'
She felt heavily inclined to believe him on the matter.
The uniformed goblin at the door opened it for them and bowed as they came to the door. Hallie, who had never before been bowed to or treated in such a manner, was caught off guard by his actions and gave him the kindest thanks she could muster.
He gave her a strange stare as she passed by. Why was he looking at her like that? Had she offended him?
She asked Professor Fig if she had but he answered, "No. There are unfortunately, a great number of wizarding folk who believe goblins to be beneath us and undeserving of basic politeness. It's unlikely he often recieves such a genuine thanks for his work."
"Well that's not very kind" she said.
"I quite agree with you on that. That sort of treatment has only served to deepen the rift between our kind and goblins and the last thing we need now is more tension between our kind and their's," he said with a weary look on his face.
"What do you mean," she asked, a little confused by the way he seemed worried over the topic.
"Humans and goblins have a long history of being at odds with one another, but that's nothing you need to concern yourself with now," he said, attempting to sound light but his tone failing to brush off her concerns entirely.
She had an odd feeling that there was more to the topic than he was letting on at the moment, but she had caught on that he did not want her lingering on it so she let the matter drop.
They made their way over to a goblin who wasn't already busy helping another person and Professor Fig requested to be taken to both his own vault and the Hogwarts Vault.
Hallie had not been too thrilled yesterday when she had questioned how she would pay for her supplies and he had explained to her they would be using the Hogwarts fund for less fortunate students to get her supplies. It wasn't like she had any other options though, so she had no choice but to accept it. She couldn't help but feel embarrassed that she needed to rely on charity to attend school though.
The goblin led them beyond the room and into a more cavernous-like space. Instead of the marble that had been before, this space was plain stone with torches lighting the walls. Metal tracks and a strange-looking cart sat at the end of the slope.
She was not all that pleased to learn they would be boarding said cart. It certainly did not look all that safe. She hesitantly climbed into the seat anyway though.
Almost as soon as they were seated the cart lurched forward at a jarring speed. They were twisting and turning along the tracks faster than her eyes could properly see. It was a bit dizzying to keep looking but she didn't want to close her eyes and miss any potential sights.
Despite the tracks rotating in all different directions, the cart seemed to twist within the tracks in a way that kept them upright the entire time. She was glad of this. If the cart were to turn over with them in it, she didn't think she could tolerate the ride nearly as well.
Still, she decided she very much preferred a broomstick. Why did so many of the methods of travel in the wizarding world have to be so dizzying and uncomfortable? The broomstick was the only method of travel thus far that had not made her feel as if she were spinning wildly out of control.
The cart screetched to a halt beside an overhang with a large rounded metal door. Professor Fig exited the cart and gave the goblin a key from his pocket, who opened the door with it.
Hallie felt it might be impolite to allow herself to be too curious right now so she remained where she was and it wasn't long before they were back on their way, whizzing along the tracks.
Their next stop was several minutes later and the air here was much cooler. They must be fairly deep underground now, she thought. This time the goblin needed no key. Instead, he took one of his long fingers and ran it along the surface of the metal door. A loud click echoed from within the door and it swung open.
Hallie gaped in amazement, "How-"
"Only a Gringots goblin can do that," the goblin said. "A thief who tries would find that it results only in a slow and miserable death trapped within," he continued ominously.
She couldn't tell if he was simply trying to frighten her or not so she simply replied with an short, "Oh."
She thought back to Professor Fig's words about it being foolish to cross a goblin and between the ominous warnings and this goblins behavior, she could understand why. He was a bit unnerving.
None too soon, they re-emerged back onto the sunny cobbled streets of Diagon Alley with all the coin they would need to handle their shopping.
Professor Fig had brought along the list that detailed the supplies she would need. The first place they stopped was one of the nearby apothecaries that sold both ingredients and potion making supplies.
The store smelled awful and had all sorts of ingredients that made Hallie raise her eyebrows. She wrinkled her nose as the door clinked shut behind them, locking in the scent reminiscent of spoiled eggs and steamed cauliflower.
Professor Fig chuckled at the face she made, "It's not going to smell like a flower shop my child."
"Maybe they should open a window or something," she muttered.
Professor Fig busied himself with collecting a few ingredients of his own that he needed whilst Hallie looked around to see which ingredients she could identify from their previous potions lessons.
Some ingredients were pretty straightforward, she could easily recognize a few of the feathers and dried herbs but there were also many things she had not seen before. There was a barrel of slimy purple goo that she couldn't begin to tell what it might have come from. A creepy jar of shiny little beetle eyes sat on the counter. Hallie's skin crawled when she spotted a large container of fuzzy black spider legs. Some of them still gave an occasional twitch. Disgusting, she thought.
"Not a fan of spiders?" Professor Fig's voice asked from behind her, giving her a small jolt.
"Is it that obvious," she asked as they began to collect the ingredients she needed for her potions classes.
He laughed, "well, you look ready to take flight at the sight of those legs, so i'd have to say yes."
"I hope I never have to make any potions that require those," she said with a shudder.
"I can't promise you that but given your distaste for them, may you never have to encounter an acromantula," he said humorously.
"A what?"
"An acromantula. A very large species of spiders that have been known to grow on occasion to a size that rivals an elephant," he explained in an almost matter-of-fact tone.
She could have gone her whole life happily not knowing that information.
She gave him a paled look and said to him in a deadpan, "I didn't want to know that."
He laughed heartily at that. "All the more reason for you to steer clear of the Forbidden Forest during your time at Hogwarts. Aside from the fact that it's forbidden, it's rumored to house more than a few sizable spiders, among other things," he said pointedly.
"Don't worry, i'm convinced. You won't catch me near that place."
"Good," he said cheerfully as he paid the man behind the counter for their items.
Thankfully Hallie did not learn about any more new and horrifying beasts as they continued their shopping. She felt content to finish most of their remaining shopping uneventfully. One lesson on an awful beast was more than enough for her today.
All they had left now was her school books and her wand. Two things that Hallie found especially exciting to do.
A bell over the door to the bookstore jingled softly as they entered the building and Hallie's senses were met with the sight of towering shelves packed with books and the smell of fresh newly printed books.
She adored it. If only they had all day to spend just here.
"Why don't you have a look around while I grab your school books for you," Professor Fig said with a knowing smile.
"Are you sure," she said hesitantly. She didn't want to stick him with doing menial tasks for her whilst she gallivanted around the store.
"Go on," he said. His eyes twinkling.
She needed no further encouragement than that, bounding off between the shelves to read the spines of every tome she could find.
The shelves were packed with interesting books. She hardly knew where to start looking. She paced the shelves, grabbing the occasional book to read its cover whilst Professor Fig tended to their business.
There were plenty of titles to catch her eye. She paused for a moment to flip through a leather bound book titled 'Transfiguring Before You're Transfigured.'
She chose to pass over a small section on nasty hexes and curses that she suspected probably weren't taught at Hogwarts. Something made her suspect Professor Fig might not be thrilled to catch her looking over those.
She was engrossed in looking over a copy of 'Enchanted Paints: Magical Masterpieces and How to Make Them' for several minutes before Professor Fig found her.
He had finished collecting the books they needed and it was time for them to move on to the next store.
She wished they had more time to look over the bookstore but thankfully she had no room for disappointment because now they were heading to Ollivanders.
She was going to get a wand of her own at last. She was practically giddy when they entered the door to Ollivanders.
"Giuseppe Ollivander and his brother Gerbold Ollivander are both old friends of mine," Professor Fig explained. "I suspect you'll enjoy this shop more than all of the others combined."
Ollivander's shop was a cluttered and dusty place. Packed from wall to wall with thin, long boxes of various colors. The counter was vacant of a shopkeeper but a soft shuffling and thudding sound coming from the back of the shop told Hallie that he had not abandoned his post.
She could practically feel the hum of magic in the air here. It made her skin itch and put her on edge.
"Eleazar! It's good to see you my friend," a tall man greeted as he appeared from the back of the store.
"And you Giuseppe. I trust you've been well," Professor Fig replied.
Giuseppe Ollivander was a thin man with thick whispy white hair and bright blue eyes. When he spoke and moved he gave off a strong impression of eccentricity. He waved a hand flippantly as he replied and grasped Professor Fig's hand, "of course, of course. What brings you by today, my friend?"
"Ah, I have a young friend here in need of her first wand," Professor Fig said, giving Hallie's should a pat.
"Her first wand? A little older than most of the first-timers I get in here," Giuseppe said, turning his attention to Hallie.
Hallie nodded awkwardly, feeling a bit shy around Giuseppe's exuberant personality.
"Hallie here is a unique case. She'll be starting at Hogwarts this year as a fifth-year student," Professor Fig explained.
Giuseppe turned a fascinated eye toward Hallie again, "a fifth-year? What an incredible circumstance. How curious indeed!"
He took her hand, shaking it vigorously, "A pleasure to meet you, truly."
He turned to Professor Fig and said, "yes, I think this one will be a fascinating one to pair indeed."
Before Professor Fig could reply Giuseppe vanished among the shelves of boxes, muttering excitedly to himself.
Professor Fig smiled and took a seat in a chair under the window just as Hallie was startled by a tape measurer that had whizzed over to her on its own accord. It immediately started measuring her from head to toe and arm to arm.
"That'll do," Giuseppe said as he reappeared with a navy blue velvet box in hand. The tape measure instantly clattered to the floor at his words.
He opened the box and held it towards Hallie. It contained a beautifully ornate pale wand inside.
"Well go on and take it," Giuseppe said eagerly.
Hallie reached for it, the tip of her finger had hardly grazed the surface of the wand when the entire row of boxes in front of them crashed to the floor with a massive thundering clunk.
Hallie lept backwards, both startled and horrified at the mess she had just caused by barely touching a wand.
Giuseppe snapped the lid back on the box. "Definitely not that one," he said and shuffled over to another row to find another box.
Hallie gave Professor Fig a panicked look. She had not expected to walk in and destroy Ollivander's shop today.
He sat foreward in his chair with a smirk, "Don't worry, I daresay Giuseppe is used to the destruction of his shop by now. It's all quite normal for the process."
"Quite true," Giuseppe said, returning with another box. "Eleazar here completely burned down my father's new curtains the day he chose his wand if I recall correctly."
"And burt the boxes of several wands in the process as well," Professor Fig added with a smile.
"You've never been one to do things by halves my friend."
"Of course not," Professor Fig said as Hallie took the next wand.
As she lifted it from its dusty forest green box the large planter pot beside her shattered, sending dirt and ceramic debree across the shop floor.
Hallie dropped the wand back into its box instantly as though it had burned her and stepped back from it.
"No matter," Giuseppe said and ventured off, returning with another box.
With this wand Hallie was relieved to find that nothing happened when she waved it, but that also wasn't the ideal outcome so it was rejected as well.
Hallie took wand after wand in hand. It seemed each wand held its own disaster or shortcoming. Three of them were plucked from her hand by Giuseppe the moment they touched her fingers. She hadn't even been given a chance for anything to happen with them.
As the pile of rejected wands grew and grew, Giuseppe grew more and more enthusiastic and invested in finding her one. A little to her chagrin, Professor Fig also seemed to be enjoying the complexity of it all. She couldn't quite understand what joy they could be taking from this.
"Is it normal for it to be this difficult," she whispered to Professor Fig in frustration after the fifteenth wand was taken away after it had taken the legs off of a chair.
"I believe it took me a baker's dozen to find my wand," he said cheerfully.
"That's still less than fifteen," she groaned.
He laughed, "don't worry, we'll find your wand soon enough."
Giuseppe returned with another dusty blue box in hand. This wand was thin and had a rich mahogany color to it. A little swirling pattern etched into it swirled up and around the length of it, stopping two inches below its end. A thin golden colored ring decorated both the end of its handle and the opposite end where the pattern ceased.
What a pretty wand, Hallie thought as she took it. This wand felt warm and comfortable in her hand, as though it were a familiar token that she had often held. It felt like an extension of herself.
She lifted the wand and a soft breezy light emitted from it as she did so. Waving it rewarded her with a stream of pale blue and golden swirling lights dancing off its end.
"Excellent," Professor Fig said.
"Ten and a half inches, cypress wood, slightly yielding flexibility, and a unicorn core. An excellent fit for one with a pure and selfless heart. Cypress wands are known to be in the hands of the bold and self-sacrificing, you know? In the old days Ollivanders were honored to match them to witches and wizards who would often die a heroic death." Giuseppe rattled on excitedly. He took the wand and began wrapping it in a bag.
"Well I do hope there will be no need for any heroics from this one, Giuseppe," Professor Fig said as he paid the man. Hallie couldn't help but agree. She adored her new wand but that idea was naturally, slightly unnerving.
"Why of course. Nowadays, there's hardly the threat of such a need. Another wand, another beginning to a bright and magical future," Giuseppe replied happily.
"Thank you, Giuseppe. We'd best be on our way now, but it was good to see you," Professor Fig said as he passed the packaged wand to Hallie.
"Well that's the last thing on our list, but I was thinking we might make one more stop today before we go," Professor Fig said as they exited Ollivander's shop.
"Oh? Where to," Hallie asked as they started walking down the street.
Professor Fig stopped in front of a dimly lit little shop. The sign in front read 'Sabine's Owl Emporium.'
"I was thinking you might need an owl of your own once you're at Hogwarts. You won't want to be stuck relying on the school's owls, they can be terribly unreliable at times," he said.
Hallie stared at him with her mouth agape. There was no way that was in the budget and she absolutely couldn't ask him to buy her such a thing.
"But-" she began.
Apparently sensing where she was going with it, Professor Fig interrupted, "Ah-ah! I'll be hearing none of that! Consider it a very late birthday present and a reward for many months of hard work."
"But Professor-" she began and clamped her mouth shut when he gave her a sharp look.
Several minutes later they emerged from the shop with a small tawny and white barn owl perched happily in its cage and Hallie stuttering out her thanks to Professor Fig.
Looking at the bird that the shopkeeper had boasted to have a very sweet and friendly disposition, Hallie couldn't believe her luck. It was the last thing she could have ever expected to receive. She hardly knew how to react to such a gift.
She could hardly imagine ever having a better day.