A Bend in Time

Their first stop on the list is Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. A squat, witch in her late twenties or early thirties dressed in mauve, warmly smiles at them. "Hogwarts?" She asked.

"That would be correct, all three of them," Reginald briskly replied.

"Excellent," Madam Malkin hummed as she gestured for the three children to stand on a stool. With a measuring tool and pins, Madam Malkin's slips robes on all three of them and begins to swiftly measure and fit the robes. "All done, my dear," the seamstress said moving on to finish up Severus and Lily.

Rowan carefully slips off the robe and jumps onto the ground. The measuring of Severus and Lily are promptly completed. Reginald nods his head, before moving on to the next shop. Madam Malkin waves goodbye to them as a new customer stepped inside her shop.

At the next shop, they purchase parchment and quills. Severus and Lily enjoy picking out stylish quills and ink while Rowan grimaces. She'd rather use a pen. In the end, Rowan settled for dark feathered quills in a variety of dark colors.

Then they were off to Flourish and Blotts book shop. Reginald leads the Evans couple to the counter to purchase the required books, while Rowan, Lily, and Severus all scurry away in search of books. The three of them had to practically be dragged away against their wills to the next shop. Though, they were bribed by Reginald into leaving by each of the children being allowed to select a book for their own.

The next shop is filled with cauldrons, scales, and telescopes. It was a bit interesting but not as much as the Apothecary. The Apothecary is fascinating despite the horrible smell of bad eggs and rotted cabbages. The walls and tables are lined with jars of herbs, dried roots, bright colored powders, bundles of exotic and normal feathers, strings of fangs, snarled claws, etc.

Reginald and the Evans couple purchase a supply of basic potion ingredients for the children, while Rowan, Lily, and Severus study with great fascination the items on sale. There are things that they had never heard such a gizzard of a jackalope! Still, there is something that made Rowan frown.

On one of the trays are silver unicorn horns for sale at twenty-one galleons. She had read in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them that the slaying of a unicorn is considered one of the foulest deeds! Yet here were unicorn horns on sale! It would seem that wizardkind could and would turn a blind eye to such vile deeds. It wasn't a surprise, really, even idealistic wizards could be rather pragmatic.

After several stops, they finally make their way to their last stop, Ollivanders. The three adults and three children enter an old shop that has a peeling gold-letter sign that says, "Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C." In the dusty window, a single wand is placed on a faded purple cushion to emphasize the shop's single purpose.

The shop only has a single counter with a bench, while the rest of the shop is cluttered with hundreds of thin boxes that almost reach to the very ceiling. The feeling of being in a strict library permeates throughout the room. Rowan wrinkles her nose at the layers of dust, while Severus and Lily study the shop with a solemn gaze. From the back of the shop, a pale old man soundlessly emerges and says, "Good afternoon."

Mr. Ollivander sharp silver eyes shine like the moon in the gloomy shop air. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Mr. Prince. Hornbeam with a dragon heartstring. 12 inches. Very powerful and most suited for dueling. It served you well, did it not?" Mr. Ollivander sharply inquired with silver eyes that seemed to peer straight through Reginald.

"It served me well enough in my youthful days as a duelist," Reginald evasively replied gesturing to the three children. "Our fiery maiden is Lily Evans and as for the other two, they are my grandchildren, Severus, and Rowan Prince. The three of them will be attending Hogwarts this upcoming September."

"Excellent," Mr. Ollivander said as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a long strip of silver tape. "Ladies, first. Miss Evans, please hold out your dominant hand?" Mr. Ollivander instructed.

Lily holds out her right hand as Mr. Ollivander says, "Please raise your arm." Lily does as she is instructed to do as he begins to measure her arm starting from her shoulder all the way to her fingertips.

Mr. Ollivander nods and says, "Good, good. Now, remember each wand is unique to itself with its own core. There is unicorn hair, phoenix tail feather, dragon's heartstring, and much, much more. For no, two wands are ever alike! And remember, you will never get the same result with another wizard's wand." And with a flourish, Mr. Ollivander vanishes into the packed shelves, before swiftly returning with three boxes.

Mr. Ollivander pulls out the first and says, "Holly and phoenix feather. 11 inches. Quite Springy," Mr. Ollivander holds out the wand to Lily and adds, "Go on try it out."

Lily tries the wand, but nothing happens as Mr. Ollivander snatches the wand back. "Not to worry, we still have more to try," Mr. Ollivander said as he grabbed the second wand from its box. "Oak and unicorn hair. 10 inches. Quite sturdy."

Lily barely takes the wand as Mr. Ollivander grabs the second wand out of her hand. "No, this will be better. Willow with a unicorn hair core. 10 ¼ inches. Quite swishy." Lily nervously takes the third wand as bright white sparks emerge like fireworks from the tip.

"Perfect!" Mr. Ollivander exclaimed. "A quite rare combination of flexibility and strength, most suited for charms."

With a smile, Mr. Ollivander turns to Rowan and says, "Now, your turn my dear."

Rowan holds out her right hand as Mr. Ollivander furrows his brows, before bolting into the maze of shelves. The minutes trickle by and to their surprise, they hear muttering and the faint sound of cursing from the back of the store. A loud crashing sound is suddenly heard as Mr. Ollivander exclaims in triumph, "I have it!"

Mr. Ollivander rather disconcerted emerges with a long, thin, silver, locked case. Mr. Ollivander with trembling fingers unlocks the case to reveal a gray, blackish wand resting inside. Mr. Ollivander gently holds out the wand to Rowan. "Elder with a Thestral core. 13 inches, quite powerful," Mr. Ollivander falls silent, before softly muttering words unheard, "Forged by the Ollivander best forgotten and inspired by that children's tale."

Rowan raises an eyebrow in recognition of the wood and the core item. A thestral is invisible monstrous horse-like creatures that could only be seen upon viewing the death of another. The wood wand is elder wood the same as the wand from myth. To be honest, both wands were similar except that the Elder's wand is 15 inches long instead. Interesting, things were getting curiouser, and curiouser.

Rowan gingerly takes the wand as green-like floating sparks light up the air. "How curious," Mr. Ollivander softly said as he bends over to faintly whisper into Rowan's ear, "The wand symbolizes life and the core symbolizes death, an interesting conflicting combination. May you fare better with this wand, Miss Prince, than the wand that inspired its creation."

Mr. Ollivander steps back and says, "A powerful wand useful for all sort of magic." Mr. Ollivander turns towards the excited fidgeting figure Severus and says, "Now, your turn, Mr. Prince."

Mr. Ollivander quickly takes Severus's measurement, before heading into the back and returning with two boxes. Mr. Ollivander holds out the first wand and says, "Blackthorn with a dragon's heartstring. 13 1/2 inches. Quite firm."

Severus firmly takes the simple, elegant dark wand as warm white sparks emerge from the tip.

"Marvelous," Mr. Ollivander said in approval. "Firm and strong excellent for Defense Against the Dark Arts." Mr. Ollivander turns to glance meaningfully at Reginald and says, "Quite the talented group."

Reginald and the Evans couple all thank Mr. Ollivander as do the twins and Lily. They all wave goodbye as Reginald says, "To celebrate a successful shopping day let us head down to Eeylops Owl Emporium, I'll be buying the children an owl."

The Evans move to protest, but Reginald persuasively says, "Nonsense, it is the least I can do." The Evans couple could only agree under Reginald's relentless persuasion. Reginald was not altruistic, rather he had an ulterior purpose in mind. He was Slytherin and they plotted for any eventuality.