Work Text:
Harry floats the sign into place and uses a permanent sticking charm on it before standing back to admire it.
Potter’s Custom Dual Core Wands
Fred and George had told him it’s a boring name, but Hermione agreed that at least it’s very accurate and less likely to put him in direct competition with Ollivanders. Granted, his shop is just inside Cattery Alley, not in Diagon like Ollivanders. Mostly because he liked the building’s style better here. Also granted, he’s less than a block from Ollivanders, so it’s not like his building will be hard to spot.
After a moment of admiration of the sign, he casts the self-cleaning charm Hermione had found on it and the building itself and then a subtle sparkle charm Luna taught him a while back on it and the windows.
There. Much better. And he won’t need to worry about his building getting dirty and dingy.
He goes inside to the sound of the cheery bell on the door and double checks his glass display counters filled with wand cores and woods. All set up so a wizard can nearly touch them to test for compatibility but without being able to use sleight of hand to slip one down a sleeve and walk out with it. They also have the self-cleaning and sparkle spells on them, along with others to prevent damage.
Satisfied, he turns the sign on the door to OPEN.
Rather than waste time fretting about when he’ll get his first customer, he settles down to work on a Whomping willow/Wampus cat whisker/dragon heartstring wand he’s creating. It’s going to be a very aggressive wand and possibly a natural disaster when paired with a witch or wizard. He does intend to stock a few pre-made wands, after all.
He’s just dropped the shaped wood into the potion to soak for two days when the sound of the bell makes his head jerk up.
A blond teenager around 15 or 16 walks in and looks around curiously.
The kid’s probably just curious.
Harry clears his throat, wiping his hands to make sure they’re clean. “Can I help you?”
The boy startles. “Mr. Potter? Um. Oh. Yeah. Ollivander had a lot of trouble matching me last time and I broke my wand and I, uh, don’t want to go back if there’s another option. He’s kind of…”
“Creepy?” Harry offers wryly.
“Yes!” the boy says in explosive relief.
“I can make you a wand, yes, but fair warning, I charge cost of materials and labor, unlike Ollivander, so my wands are more expensive. The cheapest you’ll find here are around fifteen galleons,” he cautions. “Most of that is for the materials. My theory is the Ministry subsidizes Ollivanders or he’d never be able to keep his shop open when he doesn’t even charge the price of materials.”
“Oh.” The boy blinks a few times. “I can afford it. My name is Jeramiah Hornby.”
“Alright. Let’s start over here with the woods, then. Hold your hand either on or just above the glass and push a bit of your magic down into each specimen as you move along the counter to test if it’s compatible. You’ll know when it is. Even if one reacts to you, tell me and then continue down the counter to test the others, because sometimes people require dual woods rather than dual cores,” he instructs.
Jeremiah hesitantly complies. His face lights up as he tries the second specimen.
“Ah. Alder. An unyielding would that prefers helpful, considerate and likeable owners. Makes for a very reliable wand, good for non-verbal magic,” he explains, ignoring the boy’s faint blush at the description of preferred owners. He jots down which wood to use and then waits until Jeremiah finishes testing all the woods.
“Alright. Let’s move on to the cores, starting here.” He indicates a second counter.
“Yowch!” Jeremiah yelps as the African mermaid hair shocks him.
“Definitely not that one. Sorry about that. It has opinions.” Granted, the reaction was funny and he’s more amused than sorry.
“It’s fine,” Jeremiah replies, shaking out his hand. “Will the others do that?”
“Most of them won’t,” Harry assures him.
He does not look reassured, but dutifully tests each core as he goes down the counter. Other than that first core, he doesn’t get a reaction until he comes to the one near the end.
“Snallygaster heartstring. Powerful, curious and good with defensive magic. Between this and the alder, you should have no problem casting non-verbal defensive spells. Let’s see if any of the others work for you as well.”
Spoiler: They don’t.
Jeremiah looks depressed. “Does this mean I need to go to Ollivanders?”
Harry laughs. “No, nothing like that. My sign says what it does so I’m not in competition with other wandmakers that have their businesses in the alleys. I can still make a custom wand that only has one core. But first-” He takes out the three vials containing the heartstrings on the snallygaster shelf. “-tell me which of these three reacts to you. I’m told they’re from three different beasts, which I’m not sure I believe, but if it’s true, only one of them will work for you.”
“Oh!” He touches each vial tentatively and finally picks up the third one and hands it to Harry. “This one.”
“Huh. Looks like maybe they weren’t lying to me.”
“Why would you think they were lying?”
“Oh, that. Ollivander will tell you no two dragon heartstring wands are the same because no two dragons are the same, but Ollivander’s a chump. I asked Hermione about heartstrings and she researched it and told me she doesn’t know how many dragons have, but humans average 80 heartstrings per person. You think the person butchering a dragon is going to sell one heartstring and throw out the rest?”
The boy shakes his head. “Dragon parts are too expensive to throw out.”
“Yeah, me either.” He adds up the cost of materials and adds two galleons to the total, since it won’t take much work to finish. “That’ll be 22 galleons and you can return for it in two hours.”
The boy brightens. “Okay! Um. Why don’t you say things like ‘rigid’ and ‘bendable’ about the wands?”
“You mean like Ollivander does? Who cares if your wand is ‘bendable’ or ‘whippy’? All that matters is if it works and what it’s good or bad at,” Harry scoffs.
“Wands can be bad at things?”
“Oh yeah. Applewood and unicorn hair? You’ll never ever get that wand to do malicious dark spells. Elder wands? No loyalty at all. Things like that.”
“Oh. That makes sense I guess.”
Harry’s guessing that it makes little to no sense to him, but it’s nice of him to sound like he might understand it.
“Do I pay you now or later?”
“Either or.”
Jeremiah nods. “Now then.”
“Do you want a wand holster to keep your wand safe from breakage?” Harry asks. “They’re on that wall. Oh, and I need to measure your wand arm to see how long a wand you need. How old are you?”
“Um. Okay. Does my age matter?”
“Yes, because it depends on how many years you’ve got left to grow, you see. I can also measure your hand if you’d prefer a wider grip.”
“Oh. Yes, please, then. I’m fifteen and a half.”
Harry measures him and jots down the numbers. “Holster or no? You can decide which one when you pick it up if you prefer.”
“Oh, um. I’ll get one.”
“Right then. You’ll need size EE. There are ones with only a ‘deliberate release only’ intention charm on them or you can get ones with ‘ownership only’ and ‘disillusionment’ and ‘summon dropped wand’ charms on them. I’d recommend at least the ‘ownership’ charmed ones so no one can take your wand out of its holster except you. They come in a variety of leathers, so make sure you pay attention to the price. The dragon leather ones are usually the most expensive,” he elucidates.
“Usually?”
“I don’t make them. I get them from a leatherworker. She sometimes gets creative and uses rarer leathers. I don’t know much about them,” he explains.
“How come Ollivanders doesn’t sell holsters?”
“How do you think he gets repeat customers? He has a pretty much guaranteed market in careless school children, don’t you think? He’s the cheapest wandmaker in Britain. Possibly the best one, too.” Harry waves it off.
“You think he’s better than you?”
“Oh, I know it is. I’ve only been at this for two years. He’s been at it for a lifetime. I make decent wands and guarantee replacement if I think a wand might have a longevity or performance issue, but I don’t have years of little tricks of the trade on my side. I do however, have someone with those years of experience who taught me most of her tricks, so don’t worry about your wand being substandard. Snallygaster might not be one of his ‘three supreme cores’, but it is closely related to dragons and a better match is always better than a supreme half match.”
Harry takes out the Alder and Snallygaster heartstring and takes them to his workstation while the boy floats over to the wall and starts looking at holsters.
Alder.
Alder is an unyielding, obstinate wood but prefers owners that are helpful, considerate and very likeable. It is unusual in that it seeks traits in its owners that are its direct opposite. With the right owner, they are magnificent and loyal partners. They excel in non-verbal magic, thus their reputation for belonging only to the most skilled wixen.
Harry is of the opinion that it’s a good match with the Snallygaster heartstring, quite honestly.
Snallygaster heartstring.
Snallygasters are curious creatures, which is reflected in this core’s inquisitiveness. This is quite a powerful core, on par with dragon heartstring, despite that old coot Ollivander’s opinion of it being inferior. It excels at defensive magic, amplifying any such spells its owner casts. Its ideal owner is quick to learn new spells, mastering them with ease and less prone to accidents than dragon heartstring as well as less prone to flamboyance.
Evidentially, Jeremiah gets lost in the selection, because he’s standing at the counter looking between a blue dyed holster in one hand and a black holster in the other when Harry finishes the wand construction and adding the trace half an hour later.
Hm.
He coats the wand in lacquer and then dries it with a spell and carries it over to the counter. “Having issues?”
Jeremiah frowns at the holsters. “Should I get blue because I’m in Ravenclaw or go with black and risk someone thinking I’m in Hufflepuff?”
“Why does it matter? You’re only going to be in Hogwarts another two or three years. No one really cares about the houses once they graduate. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from the war, it’s that the houses don’t determine your future. One of the best aurors I knew and the head of the DMLE were or are Hufflepuffs. A Gryffindor was a traitor who got my parents killed. A Slytherin, for all he was an unpleasant man, was the bravest man I’ve ever met. Hermione Granger could’ve as well been a Ravenclaw. All the houses stand for is certain personality traits you have when you’re eleven, nothing that defines your future.” Okay, yeah, he’s been listening to Hermione’s rant about it too much lately, hasn’t he?
At least the kid looks impressed.
“Oh. I’ll take this one then,” he says and puts the black one on the counter and practically skips over to the wall to put the blue one back.
Harry rings up the purchase and tells him, “One dragon leather EE holster with ‘intentional’, ‘ownership’ and ‘disillusionment’ charms and one 11 and 3/4ter inch alder and snallygaster wand. That comes to 33 galleons and 16 sickles.”
He thinks it’s hilarious that wixen shopkeepers use charmed parchment rolls to print out receipts. At least it tears off easily or he’d have to hunt down some muggle paper rolls.
Jeremiah pays and signs the receipt with the Truth Quill kept on the counter for that purpose, and Harry hands over the wand. It glows subtly, just barely bright enough to see under the shop’s lights. The kid gives it an awed look. “Wow. This feels better than my old wand!”
“It should. It’s literally made for you,” Harry tells him in amusement.
“This is so cool! I’m going to tell all my mates about your shop!” Jeremiah enthuses, then rushes to the door.
“Wait!”
The teen stops, door held half open and looks back.
“You forgot your holster.”
“Oh.” He rushes back over and grabs it. “Thanks.”
“No problem.”
This time he manages to exit with a little more dignity.
When the door closes behind him, Harry laughs giddily. His first client! Wait until he tells Hermione. She won’t believe it! She’d told him it would take a week to get his first one. And he might’ve stolen a few of Ollivander’s customers. Oops.
He takes out a Ministry form and fills out the specifications of the wand and who he sold it to. A boring requirement, but one to comply with if he wants to stay legal. The receipt he’ll keep for his own records.
~
Harry gently dips the wampus cat whisker in the potion and uses a gentle drying spell to make sure its coating stays put, then transfers it from the tweezers to his fingers and dips the end the tweezers held to make sure no spot is uncovered and dries that end too. Satisfied, he places it back in its vial for later use. He’s about ready to uncork the vial with dragon heartstring in it when the door tinkles again and lets a man in his mid-fifties in.
Two customers in one day?
He sets aside the dragon heartstring and walks towards the front. “How can I help you today?”
“Do you sell back up wands?”
What? Oh no. “I can, but I’ll warn you that I register each wand with the Ministry. No exceptions.”
The man grins at him. “Good man. I’m an auror, so I have a permit to carry two wands if you need to see it.”
Harry shrugs. “It’s not against the law to sell a back up wand. Are you here for a custom wand or just looking?”
“I thought I’d take a look at your wall of pre-made wands.”
Raising an eyebrow slightly, Harry says, “Alright, just let me get your measurements so I can tell you what size you’re looking for. They’re all labeled.”
Measuring goes easily enough.
“You’re looking for a 5F wand, sir. Ten and a half inches with a wider grip.”
“Jolly good. I just go through this gate?”
“That’s right.” Harry doesn’t mention the anti-theft measures built into the gate. Or the magic containment barriers that the little walls around the space anchor. Unlike Ollivander, he is not fine with wand misfires wrecking his shop, even if he can repair most of them easily. He does wander over to watch the chaos, though.
The first wand lets off a loud bang, startling the man into colorful swearing.
The second one does absolutely nothing, refusing his magic entirely.
The third one lets off a little shower of violet sparks, which fade before they hit the floor, a sign of a good match.
“Find one you like?” Harry asks rhetorically.
“Yes. What is it?” The man turns and holds it out for inspection.
“Oh, that one. It’s cedar with diricawl and owl feather cores. A bit unusual, but the best ones are. Very good with silent apparition. The owl feather means most of your spells will be quiet, excepting the ones that are meant to make noise, of course. The diricawl lends itself to easy apparition. And the cedar is powerful and likes owners with strength of character and loyalty. Perhaps the most powerful wand, but it will reappear in your hand if you drop it or are disarmed or have need of it if you drop your main wand. The owl feather means you’ll always know where to apparate to, even if you’ve never been there before. Really good with Point Me charms, too.”
Cedar.
Cedar prefers perspicacious and perceptive owners with strength of character and unusual loyalty. When well matched, its owner has the potential to be a frightening adversary, particularly if harm is done to one they are fond of. Those who thoughtlessly challenge a wixen with a cedar wand is in for the shock of a lifetime.
Good traits in an auror, in his opinion.
Owl feather.
Owl feather cores do not produce the strongest wands, but its ideal owner will find their spells to be particularly quiet unless the spell is meant to create sound and find that their apparation is close to entirely silent. They will find themselves able to apparate to coordinates of places they’ve never been as long as one knows the address, albeit this does not mean that it will be a safe place to end up or lessen the risk of splinching if one is careless. Owl feather wands are loyal and hardworking, never refusing their owners demands, and are particularly good with Point Me charms.
Come to think of it, silent spells are probably a plus for an auror and the apparation bit could be convenient too.
Diricawl feather.
Diricawl feather is a surprisingly powerful core that lends itself to easy apparition and lessened risk of splinching. Diricawl is slightly sentient in that its owner may find themselves apparating without intention if they find themselves in dire circumstances or are startled badly. They may find themselves in unfamiliar places as long as that place is sufficiently removed from where they were before apparating.
The man stares at the wand like it’s the second coming of Merlin. “Huh. I think this will be my main wand now.”
Harry chuckles.
“Alright. Do you need a holster? You’d be size CF.”
“Oh, yes, a holster would be good. I don’t think the one I have would hold this one properly,” the man agrees.
He waits at the counter until the man comes back with a dark grey holster. It’s one with the ‘deliberate release’, ‘ownership’ and ‘disillusionment’ charms on it. Adding up the cost of the wand and holster, he says pleasantly, “That’ll be 41 galleons total. Please sign the receipt to complete your purchase.”
The man chokes on thin air for a moment, then wheezes, “That’s fair.”
Then he picks up the Truth Quill and tries to sign his name. It comes out an incomprehensible mess.
“What the-?”
Harry sighs and vanishes the ink before it can soak in. “Your real name, please.”
“Lysander is my real name!”
“Your legal name,” Harry corrects drily.
“Curses. Why did mother have to name me Zebedee?”
“You can legally change it, you know.”
“Then I’d have to listen to her screech about it for the next 90 years. No thanks,” Lysander mutters while scrawling his birth name.
Harry looks up at the ceiling with a smirk. “You know, I’m sure I heard Hermione say once that sometimes Mother Magic changes a name without consulting anyone. You do know what a white lie is? And bribery?”
Lysander chokes again and then bursts into laughter. “The Man Who Conquered is giving me advice on how to commit vice? I’m an auror, you know.”
“Who me? Never. I didn’t say a word.” Harry grins at him toothily.
“I like you. I hope your wand works as well as you say it will,” Lysander says and walks out of the shop with a jaunty air.
“It’s your wand now!” Harry calls after him.
~
Harry gently uses Fuse on a Chestnut and Maplewood wand with a Jackelope horn core.
Chesnut.
Chestnut is a curious wood in that it takes on different characteristics depending on its owner and wand core. It is naturally attracted to tamers of magical beasts, those greatly skilled in herbology and those who are natural fliers. This wood when paired with dragon heartstring may find less than scrupulous owners, overly attracted to luxury and material good. Conversely, when paired with unicorn hair it prefers owners with a predilection for all manner of justice.
The wood is an interesting one to him, though he’s not sure how it will perform when paired with Maplewood and Jackelope.
Maplewood.
Maplewood is not for the stay-at-home wixen. It prefers travelling, exploration and new challenges. If it does not get these, it’s magic will grow heavy and lacklustere. When it does get these, it will shine, quite literally burnishing itself, growing with its owner in power and status.
Will the Chestnut take on the qualities of the Maplewood or of its Jackelope core or a bit of both?
Jackelope Horn
Jackelope horn cores are best suited to the whimsical and bold, often preferring owners with a bit of mischief or trickery in their souls. It refuses dominating personalities in all cases. One must make friends with this core, not attempt to tame it. It is also surprisingly loyal, refusing to work for anyone but friends and allies of its owner and only allows them to do so in situations of duress.
While he advertises dual wand cores, he also likes making dual wand woods. He mostly makes them out of curiosity to see how they’ll perform and if they’ll have any strange issues to look out for. Harry doesn’t expect to sell many of them, but he’s rich enough to experiment without his pocketbook noticing.
Seconds after he’s done fusing the pieces the bell rings again and he looks up to see his friends Neville and Luna entering, Neville looking around curiously while Luna’s eyes are fixed on the wand in his hands.
“Harry! You made my wand! We’ll just wait to let you finish it up,” Luna greets him brightly.
He pauses, looks at the wand and then looks back at Luna. “I thought you had a wand?”
“Oh, I do! But it’s been cracked for a year.”
“Why didn’t you get it repaired?”
“Well, I did, but it’s never worked quite right since I sat on it and I knew you’d have the perfect wand for me today.”
“Right.” With that settled, he turns his attention to the lacquer. If Luna thinks that this is her wand, she’s undoubtedly correct. It does seem like the sort of wand meant for her, now that he thinks on it.
“Oh. Can you make it purple? It won’t change the properties of the lacquer,” she requests.
“Alright, but if it goes wrong, it’s on you,” he warns.
“I understand,” she says agreeably.
Skeptically, he uses a color changing spell on the lacquer and applies it delicately before using a drying spell on it. He holds it up for inspection and Luna bounces over to gawk at it.
“Harry, that’s a lovely shade of warm purple! Thank you! How much is it?”
“For you? Four galleons, plus the price of a proper holster. No more sitting on wands for you.” He hands her the wand carefully and she takes it reverently.
In response, it lights up brightly. A perfect match.
“Oh, Harry, you should charge me the cost to make it, at least,” she scolds, obviously enthralled with her new wand.
“I was making it for practice, Luna. I’m charging you cost of labor and that’s it.”
“Well thank you then. I love it!”
“I’m glad.” Then he turns to Neville. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but why are you here?”
Neville startles. “Oh, Luna assured me I needed a wand holster and Gran said it was about time. Which is unfair of her, since she never bought me one in the first place.”
“Oh. Luna, you’re looking for a size AB. Neville, what are your wand’s measurements?”
“Uh? Thirteen inches, I think. Regular grip.”
“Then you’re looking for HC, then. The display’s over there and the tags will tell you which charms they have on them. I recommend at least the ‘intentional’ and ‘ownership’ ones. Luna, I recommend you get the ‘summoning’ one, as well, to help prevent more sitting accidents.”
“Okay. Thanks, Harry,” Neville says.
“Yes. Thank you, Harry,” Luna replies tranquilly.
They both go over to browse through the holsters for a bit.
Neville comes back with a smart looking brown dragon leather one embroidered with vines and gladly pays 16 galleons for it. “I didn’t realize holsters would be so expensive.”
“It’s the enchantments. A plain dragon leather holster with just the ‘intentional’ charm only costs 10. Ordinary cow leather with the charm only costs 5. I don’t set the prices. The leatherworker who makes them for me does.”
“Makes sense,” Neville agrees and takes the time to figure out how to strap on the holster, then puts his wand into it and watches in mild amazement as the holster promptly fades from view.
“If you want it to reappear, just think about it. That way you can remove it and put it on easily. A tricky bit of charmwork, I think.”
“He’s talented.”
“She, actually.”
“Oh. Well. She’s talented.”
“I agree. How have you been?” After that, they chitchat a bit over how life is going for each of them and wait for Luna to make her selection.
Luna eventually floats back over with a light gray one embroidered with a unicorn and pays the required total of 18 galleons. “You have a lovely shop, Harry. You should be proud. And I quite like the wand and holster.”
“Thank you. I am. I hope you enjoy them.”
“I’m sure I will. Have a good day, Harry. Neville has promised me ice cream,” she says airily as she straps on her own holster and puts her wand in it. Unlike Neville’s it doesn’t have the ‘disillusionment’ charm, but she seems happy with that.
“Goodbye, Harry,” Neville calls as he follows her out of the shop.
“Goodbye, Neville.”
~
This time when the bell rings, Harry is just sitting, staring into space as he contemplates what to work on next. He’s out of ideas for the moment, to be honest. Getting up, he sees his newest customer is around 11.
Coming to the front, he remarks, “I don’t think you’re meant to be here. Ollivanders isn’t far from here. I can give you directions if you need.”
The little redhead wrinkles his nose. “I don’t like Ollivanders. It looks old. Mum won’t care as long as I get a wand.”
Harry’s pretty sure his mum will care, but it’s not his funeral.
“Are you sure? My wands cost a good deal more than Ollivander’s do. I also recommend that my customers buy wand holsters to prevent breakage. They aren’t cheap.”
The kid makes a mulish expression. “I’m sure!”
“Alright. Come over here and press a bit of your magic through the glass into the individual cores and tell me which ones seem right to you. You’ll know when you feel them,” he instructs.
On his first attempt, Alistair yelps and jerks back, glaring at the African Mermaid hair in betrayal.
Harry’s lips twitch. “That one has opinions. It shocks anyone who isn’t its owner.”
“You could’ve warned me!” Alistair huffs.
“Now where’s the fun in that?” he asks, a small grin growing at the kid’s annoyed glare. “Keep going. The others won’t shock you.”
Alistair huffs and moves to the next core.
One of the first few cores is a match.
Curupira hair.
Curupira hair cores make for slightly unstable wands, sometimes casting a spell weaker or stronger than intended. Their ideal owner is talented but also unpredictable. They will always perform well when in defense of a magical creature, but are less than ideal for when one has to ward off a harmful magical creature, often performing quite poorly.
Unpredictable, eh? Well, it’s certain that this kid’s decision to visit his shop for a wand wasn’t predictable.
Surprisingly, the next core is a match as well.
Demiguise hair.
While not the strongest of cores, it is nearly prescient in its eagerness to cast spells as soon as its owner attempts them. It also will cast a superior version of Disillusionment. Its ideal owner is intelligent and difficult to catch off guard.
Harry is amazed that such a young child needs two cores, considering how rare that is. This one is going to be a terror, he can tell. He doesn’t say anything, though, merely watches as the child tries the other cores, finding no others that work.
“Okay, before we move on to cores, come check which of the hairs work for you,” he says, pulling out the Curupira hair vials.
The kid comes over eagerly.
“This one!” He picks the second vial confidently.
He raises an eyebrow, but puts the other vials back and pulls out the Demiguise vials. “And these?”
The first one seems to be the one, so he leaves that out while putting the others back.
“Alright. On to the woods. Same deal with testing them.”
The kid follows him willingly over to the other long counter and starts trying them with a hint of glee in his expression. The first wood to respond to him is Ash.
Ash.
An Ashwood owner is not lightly swayed from their beliefs or purposes. An ideal owner for Ash is stubborn and courageous, but never crass or arrogant. Ash is an extremely loyal wood, refusing to perform well for anyone one other than its chosen owner. Those who brashly or over-confidently insist on trying Ashwood wands will find their performance very disappointing. Ashwood wands should never be gifted or passed down.
Well. That tracks from the limited interaction he’s had with the kid. He’s very determined.
Harry knows the expression on his face must be quite something when a second wood responds to the kid.
Dogwood.
Dogwood is a quirky, mischievous wood that demands its owner provide it with fun and excitement. Not to say it is incapable of being serious. It can perform outstandingly even under difficult circumstances. They are rather noisy wands and absolutely refuse to do non-verbal spells. They do well with clever, ingenious owners, usually notorious pranksters, but not always.
This kid. Definitely going to be a terror. Hogwarts should be trembling in fear, because he’s undoubtedly going to be a prankster on par with the Marauders, though hopefully a lot less cruel.
Fortunately, no other wand woods respond to the kid or Harry would need to sit down to recover.
“Alright, kid. I need to measure your dominant arm and then you can pick a holster and go off on your other errands. Your wand will take a few days to make, so you can come back in eight days,” he tells him.
“My name isn’t kid!”
“You didn’t give me your name,” Harry points out.
“Oh. I’m Alistair Dalglish. Why will it take so long to make my wand?”
“Because the dual woods and cores mean that I need to soak the woods in two separate potions for several days apiece,” he explains. “The cores also require special preparation. Eight days is the minimum time needed for everything.”
“Cool. I’ll let Mum know.”
Harry measures Alistair’s arm. “You’ll need a DD sized holster.”
“They come in different sizes?” Alistair wants to know.
“They do. Some wands are longer than others and have wider or narrower grips.”
“Oh.”
He watches the boy go over to pick out a holster and then takes out the two woods and picks up the two wand cores to take to his work station. At least he can do the initial prep work now.
Harry is in the middle of dipping the cores when the bell jangles harshly and an auburn-haired woman rushes in and starts scolding Alistair. He finishes dipping and drying the cores, then goes over to rescue the kid.
“Ma’am. You should know that he wouldn’t be able to find a wand at Ollivanders because his wand requires both dual cores and dual woods. Ollivanders only uses single woods and cores, so any match he found there would be weak at best.”
She turns on him ferociously when he interrupts, but gradually deflates as she listens. “Oh, fine. How much will it cost?”
“Unfortunately, quite a lot, as the cores that chose him are rather rare.” He does some quick mental calculations. “I believe it will come out to 44 galleons.”
The woman gasps in shock. “So much!?”
“Unlike Ollivanders I charge the price of the materials. I’m fairly sure the Ministry subsidizes him so families can afford wands for their children. I also charge basic labor costs depending on how complex the wand is to make. This one is six galleons for labor and thirty-eight galleons for materials. It’ll take eight days to make properly,” he tells her.
“Eight days,” she repeats, looking a little faint, but also like the price of labor now makes sense. “So, we need to come back next Wednesday?”
“Correct.”
“And what are these?” She waves at the wall of wand holsters.
“Wand holsters. They prevent breakage from accidentally sitting with your wand in your pocket. I’m sure you can understand why that’s a good investment with wands that cost as much as mine do.”
She considers that. “That’s fair. Alistair, you go ahead and pick one out. I’ll pick one out for myself.”
Harry clears his throat. “Which size you get depends on the size of your wand and handle grip.”
“Oh. It’s ten inches and I’m not sure on the grip size.” She holds it out for his inspection.
He nods. “You’ll need a BC size. They come priced according to what leather is used and which charms they have on them. The standard charm is ‘intentional release’ which means your wand won’t fall out of its holster; that’s standard with all the holsters. Then there are ‘ownership only’ which means only the owner of the wand can draw it. ‘Disillusionment’ which means it’ll be invisible once you store your wand in it. And ‘summon wand’ which will summon your wand back to its holster if you drop it or are disarmed. They range in price from 5 galleons to 16 galleons.”
She groans. “This shopping trip is so expensive!”
“I’m sorry. I’m not the one who sets the prices on the holsters because I don’t make them. I do think she only charges materials and basic labor, though,” he says apologetically.
“It’s fine.” She waves him off.
After a few minutes, she comes over to the counter, Alistair trailing behind her. Hers is a blue Drake skin with ‘intentional’, ‘ownership’ and ‘summon’ charms that’s 11 galleons and Alistair’s is a brightly striped, red, white and black Chupacabra skin holster with all four charms on it, coming to 15 galleons. “That’ll be 26 galleons and I’ll need you to sign the receipt.”
With a wordless grumble she pays and signs the receipt as Elenor Dalglish. Then she drags Alistair out by the ear, ignoring his complaints. “Don’t ‘Mum’ me, young man! You’re still in trouble for running off without telling me where you were going.”
“But Mum-!” The rest of Alistair’s protest is cut off by the door closing.
~
“So, how many customers did you get today?” George asks as he steps out of the floo at the Burrow for the party celebrating his first day as a shop owner.
“Depends. Do I count the ones who only bought holsters? Or only the ones who bought wands?” he asks.
“Both!” Fred replies.
“I had six customers who bought holsters and four of those who bought wands, one of which was Luna,” he answers.
“Four on your first day?” Hermione asks in disbelief. Then snaps at Fred. “Holsters do not count!”
“Oh good! Then I win the pot!” he says brightly.
Harry sighs and hands Fred two galleons, as do the others.
“So, tell us about your day,” Molly urges from the dining room.
“Well, my first customer was a teenager who thinks Ollivander is creepy and was willing to pay more to avoid him. He was very excited about his new wand. My second customer was an auror who bought one of my pre-made wands and seemed very pleased with it. My third and fourth customers were Neville and Luna, who came in just as I finished up a wand. Luna informed me it was her wand without even trying it. It did seem to like her. My fifth and sixth customers were a mother and son. An eleven-year-old, if you can believe it. He didn’t like the look of Ollivanders and apparently looked around until he found my shop. I shudder to think where he’d have gone if he hadn’t found it. His mum wasn’t too pleased with him.”
“Harrrryy!” Ron complains. “Details!”
“Yes, dear, details would be appreciated,” Molly calls.
“Fine.” He flops between Fred and George, forcing them to move apart to not get sat on. “So, there I was-”
He regals them with the details and gets to eat a wonderful meal. A good ending to a great day, in his opinion.
~
Extra Grimoire Entries:
Whomping willow.
Handsome in appearance, Whomping willow selects owners with large potential and an aggressive but clever nature. It enhances non-verbal magic, much like its less magical cousin, the Willow. Unlike the Willow, it does not have healing properties. Instead, it gives extra oomph to destructive spells like Bombarda. Sentient and known to aggressively cast spells on its partner’s behalf if its partner is in danger, even if separated from its partner. A good wood for duelists and warriors. Does not easily change allegiance but if its owner becomes timid it is best to retire it or find it a new owner so that it doesn’t act out. It makes for powerful wands. Should not go to wixen with a loose moral code, lest they give into temptation and become an openly destructive person.
Wampus cat whisker.
This core is good at quick casting and pairs well with those who use Legilimency. It strengthens Obliviation spells. Its ideal owner has quick reflexes and strength of mind and body. Can sometimes be aggressive.
Dragon heartstring.
These cores produce very powerful and flamboyant magic, however, they are prone to accidents. They are one of the cores most likely to change allegiance, but they bond strongly with their current owners once conquered. They are among the cores easiest to turn to dark arts, though they will not tempt the owners to them of their own selves. Though in combination with certain woods, this is not entirely true as the temptation of power often pulls owners towards the dark arts as a consequence. One should avoid pairing this core with cherry unless the owner is one of high morals and great self-control, for instance. Fortunately, I have never been called on to make such a wand, for I fear the consequences should the owner go astray. Elder is another I’d avoid pairing it with, though I am aware that it is the core most commonly used with elder.