1st July, 1890 — Ollivander’s, Hogsmeade
Gideon Ollivander / Billie Farrow

“Which one’s the best kind?” Jimmy asked Mr. Ollivander very seriously, trying to ignore Billie snooping in the corner. This was a very important day, and his very important day was going to get ruined by having his nemesis in the room.

He’d been too excited to wait any longer to get his wand. Great-Granny had said something about not using it ‘til Hogwarts, but privately Jimmy thought it would be best to get a headstart with it and figure out how it all worked, make sure he had a little flair before he got to Hogwarts with the other first years.

He had also been worried, a little, that if he let Great-Granny go at her own pace that they wouldn’t get to the wand shop until the day before term started, and all the good wands would be gone. That, uh, maybe wasn’t going to be a problem: Jimmy could have peered around the shop for hours and maybe not have counted half of them, so.

Still, Great-Gran had let him come by himself while she went for tea (or a nap?) down the street, which was good, because then she couldn’t embarrass him in front of Farrow. There was still a chance he might embarrass himself in front of Farrow, but - never gonna happen, Jimmy told himself firmly. He was going to be the best wizard ever and not give Farrow a single advantage.

Hopefully.

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Some shop owners along High Street would refuse to do business with an unaccompanied child, instead asking them to come back when they had an adult in tow, but Gideon was amused by these solitary young shoppers, more than anything else. It didn't happen often, of course, because even parents who were inclined to let their children roam free on the streets of Hogsmeade on a day-to-day basis were likely to want to be present for something as important as their offspring buying their first wand. As long as he didn't get the impression they were trying to sneak around or hide something, though, Gideon had no problem helping them. Sometimes it was even easier to find the right wand for them, without having to deal with an intervening parent who had opinions on which wand might be best, or even just prevented their child from answering Gideon's questions.

"That depends on what you want your wand to do," Gideon answered easily. "But every wand is the best kind for someone. They've got a personality of their own, you know," he continued conversationally as he passed by Billie to select a first wand for the boy to try. "And they won't be shy about saying whether they want you or not. Do you fancy yourself as more of a knight or a Robin Hood, do you think?" he asked offhandedly as he perused the two possibilities from a particular section of shelving.

  

When Billie had slithered out of the back room to peer at her father's next customer, she was taken aback. Fletcher was not who she expected to see standing there alone. Of course, she knew he'd need a wand since they were both destined to head to Hogwarts at the same time, but she'd hoped that he would have had enough sense to go to the Diagon Alley branch instead.

With a curl to her lips, Billie strut her way to a corner of the room where she would be able to observe all the action and be sure Jimmy would have full view of her. She perched herself upon a stool in an almost territorial, cat-like manner. He was on her turf now; he better tread lightly.

"More like a troll, no doubt," she murmured, loud enough for the boy to hear, grinning.

Oh this was going to be fun.

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   Elias Grimstone, Gideon Ollivander, Madeleine Backus

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MJ, yet again working her magic.  <3 <3 Thank you

“I’d rather be a troll than a flobberworm,” Jimmy shot back, bristling grumpily... but soon remembered this wasn’t the place for retaliation of any kind, including but not limited to witty comebacks, rude hand gestures, or putting Billie Farrow in a headlock.

He bit his lip. Because Farrow had the upper hand, and it really wasn’t fair that he had the command of half the High Street. It left Jimmy no choice but to behave unless he wanted Mr. Ollivander to give him a dud wand, or worse - this could be the Honeydukes ban all over again.

He sniffed, and fought the urge to fold his arms. “Robin Hood, obviously,” he said to the man in a louder voice, hoping Ollivander hadn’t heard the flobberworm bit, and hoping more that Billie wouldn’t laugh. Robin Hood was an easy answer.

“Not that I’m a thief, or anything,” he added hastily, which was not strictly speaking true, but he didn’t need Ollivander thinking the money he’d brought to pay for the wand was suspicious. It wasn’t: Great-Granny had only milked it out of some fancy relative Jimmy didn’t know. As far as he knew, that was totally normal. “Knights are boring. Besides the swords.” He didn’t understand how the question was helping Mr. Ollivander make his mind up about the wand. Were there wands that looked like swords, maybe? Or was this all part of Billie’s master plan to mess with him?!

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Gideon hadn't heard the bit about the flobberworm, nor Billie's preceding comment about the troll — which was lucky for them. While he had occasionally been involved in brawls himself, as a young man (and more recently while drinking, though he wouldn't have admitted it to Billie), he had no desire to see one break out in the middle of his shop. He had his reputation as an upstanding businessman to uphold, and his stock of wands to protect, after all.

"Red oak and unicorn hair, then," he decided, tapping the box with the edge of his own wand to make it protrude from the stack, where he could then tug it out of its place. The rows and columns of wand boxes were rather inconvenient when it came to reshelving wands that had not found their way into someone's hand by the end of the day, but given the sheer number of wands he had to have on hand in order to ensure he had something fitting for everyone who came in, there really wasn't any more efficient way to store them. Or, if there was, he hadn't discovered it yet.

Returning to the center of the store, he opened the box and held it out to Mr. Fletcher to take hold of. "It's a very handsome wand," he commented. "My father made it. It's rigid, which means it will be harder to learn with, but stronger once you've mastered it," he explained. He was being a bit more free with his explanations than he might have been normally, since the boy was unaccompanied; he might not have anyone else to tell him about the way these things worked. "Go on and give it a wave."

  

Billie's response to Jimmy was to, very maturely, pull a face at him by attempting to stretch her nose up toward her forehead. She had other choice words to say to him, but she didn't want Gideon to hear, especially if he shooed her away. She wanted to watch Fletcher hopefully blow something up, and maybe (maybe!) she was slightly excited for him. A fact she would never share, not even under penalty of death. This could even be their last hurrah, depending on the choice she was meant to make in a few days, and if he even wanted to be in her presence again.

A snort came from the corner Billie lurked in, but it could easily be mistaken for a cough. She was fairly certain Jimmy was a thief. Not that it truly bothered her none. Some kids worked for their spare change, some acquired it elsewhere. However, she didn't think Fletcher was one to share with the poor.

Once a first wand was chosen, she sat up a bit straighter to be sure she wouldn't miss anything. She restrained herself from mockingly retorting that Jimmy was not handsome, preferring to wait and see what happened when he tried to use it.

  

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MJ, yet again working her magic.  <3 <3 Thank you

Jimmy let out a hum of appreciation at the wand’s description, and shot Billie a self-satisfied, raising his eyebrows sort of look at the word handsome. He was assuming a handsome wand would only suit an exceptionally handsome owner, and if Billie Farrow thought that was funny then he was probably only jealous.

But, whether it was Farrow was sitting there silently jeering or Mr. Ollivander’s thing about the wand being harder to learn with, the moment Jimmy gripped it his stomach gave a nervous flip of apprehension. What if he did this wrong? What if it didn’t work? What if not one of these wands worked for him and Mr. Ollivander turned him away empty-handed?

Trying to force the thought from his mind, Jimmy straightened up, sniffed, and gave the wand a wave - or maybe more of a jab through the air, like it was a sword. And it did something! Only that something was one of the wand boxes opposite shooting out from its place on the shelf and only narrowly missing his head as it arced across the room.

“Um. I meant to do that,” Jimmy said quickly.

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"Did you?" Gideon asked with a raised eyebrow. Obviously not, but the child's attempt to cover himself was rather amusing. Gideon took the red oak wand away and replaced it in the box, then strode over to the wand that had flung itself across the room and picked it up. "Perhaps you'd like to try this one, then?" he asked as he squinted down at the label.

"Apple and dragon heartstring," he announced with some surprise. "Not what I would have guessed. Unless you want to be a manticore tamer when you're older," he mused. Still, he'd offered to give the boy a chance with this wand and he didn't seem any harm in keeping that promise. It wasn't likely to be a match, in his opinion, but he tried not to make a habit of ignoring coincidences when matching a young witch or wizard with their wand. On one memorable past occasion, he'd spent hours trying to find a suitable wand only to eventually realize that the wand box which kept catching fire every three attempts was literally begging to be given a chance with the young lady. It had taken him quite a while to realize that the wand in question was the culprit and not merely an unfortunate victim.

  

Billie tried her hardest to stifle the giggles that spilled out of her mouth. She even tried to clamp her hands over her lips to make her sniggering less audible. There was just something incredibly hilarious about her nemesis nearly getting knocked out by a rogue wand box. If Gideon hadn't been standing right there, she wouldn't have even tried to make herself less heard.

Her eyes rolled at Fletcher's insistence that he meant to cause such catastrophe, but she soon quieted again when it seemed Gideon was going to allow him to try the wand he'd knocked off.

"Yes, be a manticore tamer," she jeered, unable to stop the comment popping out. She did, wisely, omit the part where she thought he should choose such a career because it was highly likely that he would be eaten.

  

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MJ, yet again working her magic.  <3 <3 Thank you

Apple. Apple? This one already sounded common and boring and much worse than red oak, Jimmy decided, just as Mr. Ollivander (who hadn’t believed his excuses, pah!) mentioned manticores.

Billie had the brass to find this funny. Jimmy might never once have pictured himself having a future of taming manticores, but the best thing Farrow could tame was a dumb cat, so why he was jeering, he didn’t know! “Maybe I will,” Jimmy said in an uppity tone, turning towards Billie with the new wand in hand. “And then I’ll set it loose on you!” He mutter-threatened, waving the wand a little aggressively...

Upon which it made a sad wheezing sound and nothing else. His cheeks flushed. Even stupid apple wouldn’t work?

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   Billie Farrow, Gideon Ollivander

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Working as he did in a profession that saw as many children among its customers as adults, Gideon was used to childish antics. He recognized Billie's tone as baiting, and gave her a quick warning look; she might do as she pleased when out and about, but while she was in the shop he expected some modicum of professionalism. Before he could say anything to her on the subject, though, his attention was drawn to Mr. Fletcher and his latest wand.

For a child to point a wand at anyone was dangerous. For Mr. Fletcher to do so in an aggressive fashion using a poorly matched wand could have been disastrous. Gideon snatched the apple wand away from him, finding it difficult to entirely hide his anger. The wand might have only made a disappointing noise, but what had happened was besides the point. Far worse things could have happened. Billie might have found herself dodging a fireball or dealing with a life-threatening wound, because of this boy's careless disregard for the consequences of his actions.

"Mister Fletcher," Gideon said sternly. "I will not have you pointing wands at anyone in my shop. You might have done serious damage without thinking it through. If you act irresponsibly again, I haven't the slightest qualm about sending you home today empty-handed," he warned.

He took a moment to replace the apple wand in the box, then set it aside to be reshelved later. He felt tired, suddenly; scolding children wasn't something he enjoyed, even if in this case it had been necessary.

"Billie," he called wearily. "Fetch the holly and dragon heartstring wand, please. Eleven and three-quarter inches."

  

While Billie generally tried to be the brave sort, especially around Jimmy, she found her eyes widening at the wand that waved in her direction. She'd already been hit once by a rogue spell during the niffler escape, and she didn't particularly wish to be surprised in such a way again. Not to mention she'd peeked in on enough of Gideon's wand customers to realize that a large population of them ended up breaking windows, setting fires, or other destructive feats.

When the wand didn't produce anything but a mere wheezing noise, Billie stuck up her chin, courage returning, but she didn't say anything. The warning look Gideon had given her had stayed her tongue. For now. She couldn't seem to restrain herself when it came to Fletcher, especially now that she was was in a foul temper due to all the what-ifs weighing on her mind.

She did, however, feel a bit bad for Jimmy that he'd been scolded. Even if she wanted to punch his stupid face, she wouldn't ever wish for him not to receive a wand. That would just be cruel.

With a nod, Billie slipped off the stool and carried it with her in case the wand in question was on a high shelf. She paused when she reached Holly wands and side stepped to the left, squinting at the labels. Not long enough. Unicorn. Too long. Not Holly. There is sat nearly at the bottom of the shelf. Tugging it out, she carefully carried it over to Gideon, sneaking a cross-eyed look at Jimmy on her way by. "Here!"

  

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MJ, yet again working her magic.  <3 <3 Thank you

Oops.

He could tell he was in proper trouble - even though nothing had happened, which Jimmy did privately think was quite unfair. Wait until he’d turned Billie into a flobberworm one day and then be angry, y’know? Waste of energy otherwise. But -

But he swallowed his instinct to argue, the threat of being sent home without a wand doing its work to put the fear of Merlin in him. If he didn’t have a wand, he’d be no good at Hogwarts, and everyone would go without him and he would be left with Great-Gran. And Hestia, if she didn’t get tired of him too. Which she probably would, if he grew up to be a stupid wandless wizard.

His face contorted into an expression of silent sheepishness as he waited for Billie to bring the holly wand, not really looking at him or daring to look at Mr. Ollivander in the eye either for a while. Still, he took the holly wand because it would do no good if he couldn’t make up for his mistake, and this time he was tentative enough to wait for a nod from the wandmaker before he so much as flicked it.

When he did - with the smallest, faintest flick! - there came a loud explosive bang, and Jimmy got a faceful of soot and slightly singed hair for his efforts, a cloud of smoke settling in blackish ash around his feet in a small circle. Goddamnit! Wiping his face off valiantly with his sleeve, he winced as he looked at Mr. Ollivander (Billie would be dying of laughter so he couldn’t look there, he just knew it) and squeaked, “...Sorry.” This was it, then. No wand was ever going to choose him.

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   Billie Farrow, Ophelia Devine

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Gideon couldn't help but laugh at the soot explosion (once a quick glance confirmed, at least, that it had done no serious or permanent damage to his shop). It was just such a mismatch, with the very slight motion that he'd done and the disproportionately large effect it had created. That, and he might have been subconsciously looking for something to lighten the mood after he'd just gotten done scolding the boy. He didn't really enjoy being strict or stern with children, if he could avoid it. In another life, maybe he would have traded places with Quin and run the candy store — but the fact was that wands could be very dangerous when mishandled. Raising his voice was sometimes unavoidable, but that didn't mean he enjoyed it, or that he wanted that sort of air to linger over the rest of the visit. This was the perfect transition back into a pleasant wand shopping excursion.

"What, you mean that wasn't what you wanted to happen?" he teased as he took the wand back from the boy. He replaced it in the box and then set about cleaning the soot up with his own wand as he contemplated where to go next. Chestnut was too changeable, he thought. Blackthorn was too aggressive for boy who had pointed his wand at Billie not out of any overt malice but rather, it seemed, as a ill-considered joke. Dogwood was a possibility — it was a mischevious wood, and would have enjoyed antics such as that, but with the wrong core a dogwood wand might have preferred to play tricks on Mr. Fletcher rather than with him. A good wand should be a co-conspirator, Gideon thought, not a competitor, and that was the challenge of finding a perfect match among so many opportunities.

"Alright, let's pull out a few," he suggested as he finished cleaning up and turned his attention to the shelves. "These are fun wands. You'll like them. Let's start with maple and phoenix feather," he said as he pulled it down and placed the box on the table, then opened it to put the wand on display. "This is an adventuring wand. It's getting fairly restless in the stacks, here, so I imagine it'll be quite happy to go home with you. And then... laurel and kelpie hair next," he decided, moving to remove that one as well and placing it out besides the first wand. "This wand might be a bit hard to please. It's quite ambitious. As long as you're doing right by it, though, it'll be a very loyal wand. I've heard of laurel wands actually striking thieves with lightning bolts if they try to separate them from their owners. And then last... dogwood and dragon heartstring," he said after a moment of thought. "Dogwood likes to have a bit of fun, but this one is paired with heartstring from a particularly fearsome dragon, which will make for an interesting combination. Let's see what these think of you, Mr. Fletcher."

  

Even though Billie enjoyed poking fun at him, she would never wish to be part of the reason Jimmy left without a wand. That would just be cruel. After she handed over the box, she silently decided that she would strive to be on her best behavior for the remainder of the time. An unofficial truce. Temporary, of course. Just long enough for the boy to receive his wand and pay for it. Once Fletcher was out the door, all bets were off.

However, she hadn't foreseen the explosion, and she didn't possess enough self-control to keep herself from doubling over with laughter. One look at Fletcher's sooty face and singed hair threw her straight into hysterics. It didn't help that Gideon had also laughed, which she considered silent permission not to try to stifle it. "You look like you were sneaking up someone's chimney," Billie blurted out between giggles. Perhaps, if all else failed, he could take up a profession as a chimney sweep.

While Gideon went to round up more boxes, she allowed her laughter to subside, perhaps feeling a little guilty about poking fun at Fletcher's misfortune, especially after he just been yelled at. To make it up to him, Billie whispered loudly, "Someone caught fire to the counter once, and their mother's handbag with it. So a little soot face ain't so bad." It was meant to be reassuring, but it was possible it would fall flat.

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   Fallon Gillespie

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MJ, yet again working her magic.  <3 <3 Thank you

He tugged at a tuft of his hair awkwardly as both of them laughed at him. He wouldn’t have minded this, if he’d planned for it. But he supposed that was why they’d found it funny. In any case, Mr. Ollivander managed to magic away the mess he’d made (Jimmy was pleased he hadn’t been made to sweep it up himself; that would have made this very boring) and he supposed he could forgive Farrow’s laughter, since the other boy had moved on to making fun of some other people who were way worse.

“And what did you do?” Jimmy said with a sudden smirk, trying to turn this around on Billie. S’far as he knew Billie didn’t have a mum, so the handbag story couldn’t have been his, but he had to hope Billie had caused a bit of chaos too. “What kinda wand did ya get, then?” He added distractedly, as Mr. Ollivander returned with a selection.

(He allowed himself an exhale: they hadn’t run out of possibilities yet, then. That was good.) Jimmy listened wide-eyed to each wand’s description - personality, it seemed like - and peered at them in wonder, still a little nervous about getting close in case he blasted himself - yeah, yeah, or anyone - with the effects of them. He didn’t dare touch the laurel one, just cause if it didn’t like thieves what if it didn’t like him already?? He didn’t want to get struck by lightning! The other two sounded equally intriguing... the maple one looked especially handsome, but when he picked it up it still felt restless, somehow, like it couldn’t wait to get away.

So he switched it for the one made from the dragon heartstring. And... dogwood. “It’s not made out of a dog, is it?” Jimmy asked, bemused, as he picked it up and swirled it around in his hand, finding this one strangely warm to the touch.

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