Teen Ink

The Handel-less Wand

If you looked at the Sable family, you would see any normal family. The father’s name was Clark, and he was somewhat tall. He had dark brown, untidy hair, and light brown eyes. He was long and lanky, but looked very kind. The mother was named Blanca, and she was shorter than the father. She had blond hair with a brown tinge that fell just past her shoulders, and blue eyes that sparkled. She wasn’t unattractive, but she wasn’t unnaturally pretty either. Their daughter, Kiera, had a unique hairstyle. Brown-blond like her mother’s, it had a distinct cut. Her bangs looked like a row of triangles facing downward across her forehead, with dark brown tipping the ends as if they had been dyed. The hair on the sides of her head was also cut like a triangle with the ends dark, so it looked as if she could take both sides and tie them together under her chin, if they were a tad longer. These sections rested in front of her shoulders. The rest of her hair was trailing down her back, long enough for her to sit on, also with darker ends.
Though they looked like a normal family, if you took other things into account, they wouldn’t seem at all normal. For one thing, the all wore black robes as daily clothing. Clark and Blanca’s robes had delicate stitching along the collar, sleeves, and ends. The stitching on Blanca’s robes were bronze and yellow, and on Clark’s robes it was gold and green. Also, if you overheard a conversation between the family on the streets, you’d be sure you heard wrong. Broomsticks, caldrons, and a place called Hogwarts were main topics of discussion. Indeed, the Sable’s were not at all normal.
They were wizards, or people who know magic. Not only were they wizards, they could also trace their history back many generations and still have all of their immediate relatives been pure wizards. For example, Kiera’s parents were pure blood, as were her grandparents, great grandparents, and so on.
Today, sometime near the end of August, Kiera and her father, carrying a cauldron full of supplies, were walking in a crowded square with other wizards. There were many of them walking in and out of shops selling anything a wizard could want or need. Clark was telling his daughter a story many wizard parents told their children.
“…And then, do you know who Dumbledore gave ten points?” Kiera’s dad asked her.
“Oh Dad, just tell me already!” the girl giggled.
“Oh, you’re no fun,” he said playfully. “Well, Dumbledore gave Neville Longbottom ten points for trying to remind his friends to follow the rules!”
Kiera laughed. “Neville? He did do something good for Gryffindor after all!”
“He sure did!” Kiera’s father said. “And that was the end of Harry Potter’s first year at Hogwarts.”
Kiera smiled lovingly at he father. “You know, when I put all the facts together, Harry Potter seems rather conceded,” she commented.
“I wouldn’t know, I’ve never met the man. Although you might meet his sons. The eldest child will be in his third year, and his second child will be entering with you this year,” Kiera’s father said passively. Kiera instantly started looking at the children around her, as if just glancing at them would tell her whether she should be friends with them or not. They were all running around happily, and for good reason.
Kiera looked for what seemed the thousandth time at the letter in her hand. It was a list of materials, almost all of them checked off by her father.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY


UNIFORM
First-year students will require:
1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)√
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear√
3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)√
4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)√
Please note that all pupils’ clothes should carry name tags√

COURSE BOOKS
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk√
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot√
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling√
A Beginners’ Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch√
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore√
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger√
The Monster Book of Monsters√
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble√

OTHER EQUIPMENT
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)√
1 telescope√
1 set brass scales√
Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

“I still can’t believe you hung on to all this stuff. You had half my book list! Why on earth did you keep The Monster Book of Monsters after you finished Hogwarts?” Kiera asked wonderingly, looking away from the paper and at the materials in the cauldron her father carried. On top of all the other books and robes and whatnot, a green book with gold lettering reading The Monster Book of Monsters was sitting. It looked up and gave a faint sound like a combination of purr and a growl.
“Oh, I dunno, it kinda grew on me,” he replied, stroking the book’s spine so it made an odd crooning noise. “Anyway, now that we have everything else, it’s time to get your wand! Old man Ollivander gave me my wand, I still have it. He always gives you just the right one.”
Kiera followed her father to a narrow, old looking shop. She glanced up to the peeled gold letters over the door and took a minute to decipher the words: Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. She gave a happy little skip as she walked through the door after her father. Immediately Kiera noticed a very old looking man with light colored, wide eyes, as well as a man that couldn’t have been past twenty-five, with blond, short hair and blue eyes. The older man turned as they entered, and spotted Kiera’s father.
“Ah, Clark Sable! Do you still have your first wand? It was pine, twelve inches, flexible, yes?” He asked, his voice soft but welcoming.
“Yes, I still have it. Right on the nose as usual, Ollivander. My daughter’s going to Hogwarts this year, so we need to give her a wand,” he said, gently urging Kiera forward.
“Hello Mr. Ollivander!” Kiera said brightly, and then looked to the blond man. “And who are you?”
The man smiled. “I’m also Mr. Ollivander. I’m training to take over the shop if my grandfather ever decides to retire.”
“I don’t personally see that happening,” Kiera’s father said, laughing a bit as he sat down in an old looking wooden chair to wait.
“Hold out your wand hand,” the older Mr. Ollivander said, retrieving a tape measure from somewhere behind the neat piles of thin boxes that no doubt contained wands of every sort. Kiera extended her right hand and watched as the tape started to measure her hand and arm in any number of ways.
“What types of cores do you use here?” Kiera asked curiously as the younger Mr. Ollivander started taking down a few boxes and pulling out wands. “My mother says she’s been to places that use Thestral hair and Veela hair, and some other really odd combinations.”
“We only use dragon heartstring, unicorn hair, and phoenix tail feathers,” the older Mr. Ollivander said. “Veela hair seems to make … temperamental wands.”
“Here, try this,” the younger Mr. Ollivander suggested, giving Kiera a wand. “Maple, swishy, eight inches, unicorn hair.”
Kiera swished the wand once, but one of the two Ollivanders took it back. “No, that won’t work. Maybe this one. Mahogany, stiff, ten inches, phoenix tail feather.”
And on it went. Kiera waved wand after wand, and the pile of used wands became larger and larger. Twice, the younger Ollivander took down a particularly dusty box, but his grandfather told him to put it back.
“Excuse me,” Kiera asked. “But what’s in the box you keep putting back?”
“That’s a wand I’ve had for a while,” the older Mr. Ollivander said. “I couldn’t find a handle that quite adapted to it, so I haven’t been able to sell it. Not many people want handle-less wands.”
“I wouldn’t mind trying it,” Kiera said, wondering what combination it may be.
“Alright, here,” said the wand maker in training. “Rosewood, sturdy, eleven-and-a-half inches, dragon heartstring.”
Kiera took the wand, and noticed one end of the wand was thinner than the other. She took the wider end in her hand and felt warmth spread through her whole body. She waved the wand to one side, and sparkles flew in all directions. Kiera looked in wonder at all the colors: gold, silver, bronze, black, red, green, blue, and yellow. Clark clapped, looking at the sparks with an almost admiring look. Both of the Ollivanders also applauded.
“Bravo! Yes, that wand finally has a wizard now,” the elder wand maker stated.
“I thought that one might fit her well,” his grandson agreed.
Kiera smiled, twirling the wand in her fingertips. True, it was strange it had no handle, but that made it unique. Kiera looked up as her father paid for the wand, and before leaving, she gave a quick hug to each of the Ollivanders before hurrying out after her father.
“Well, the only things we needed to buy today were my new wand and dress robes,” Kiera commented as her father checked off the wand on the letter and put it away. “Do we just go home now? There are so many people…”
“Well, if you want to go home, we can,” he replied. “But I want to look in Flourish and Blotts for some books I wanted to read a few paragraphs of.”
“Why didn’t you tell me when I was buying my school books?”
“Because I didn’t want to buy the books I want to read. Tell you what, why don’t you go see if Fred and Roxanne are at their father’s store?”
Kiera’s face brightened. Of course, she should have thought of Fred and Roxanne! She knew them both fairly well, since she often came to Diagon Alley; she spent quite a lot of time at the joke stores with the other children. Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes had the best merchandise by far. Hugging her dad and thanking him for the idea, Kiera ran off and entered the bright store. Making her way through the crowds of other children, Kiera spotted a boy about nine with flaming red hair and enough freckles to make a star map with. He was talking with another boy and a girl, both whom looked about Kiera’s own age. The girl had red-brown hair that went slightly past her shoulders, and the boy had black, untidy hair. As Kiera made her way over to the red-haired boy, the other two left the store.
“Hey Fred!” Kiera said as she reached him. “How are you and your sister?”
“Jealous we can’t go to Hogwarts this year,” he replied. “Or I am, Roxanne’s still got three whole years, at least I’ve only got one.”
Kiera giggled and gave him a hug. “Well, I’ll tell you if it’s as wonderful as the parents make it out to be, I promise.”
“My cousins said they’d teach me first year spells early so I can get a head start on my work,” Fred announced proudly. Kiera smiled and looked down at him in mock sternness.
“You can’t start practicing until you’re in school or the Ministry of Magic will arrest you and put you in Azkaban!” Kiera scolded, wagging her finger at him.
“Nah, they’re not worth my time,” Fred said, walking to the back of the store. Laughing, Kiera glanced around to see if she could find Roxanne. When she couldn’t, she shrugged and exited to find her dad. School started tomorrow, and she wanted to look over her books.