Merlin help him. Gervaise had been doing this long enough to know he was in for a rough day if the children pointed their would be wands at something, and this proved to be no exception. The stack of wands at which the lad had promptly taken aim was scattered about the room, and his groan of dismay was as evident as the resulting mess. Deftly, he snatched the dogwood wand from the boy's hand before choosing something more subdued.

"Try this instead," the wizard sighed. "Demiguise hair, ten and a quarter inches of willow. Quite bendy."