Jack Smith and the Theory of Charms: Chapter 2: Diagon Alley: Part 6

Jackson found his parents sitting on a bench near the store. His mom had her eyes closed, and his dad was talking to her, trying to get her to relax. I think I'm going to come by myself next year.

Once he'd retrieved them they went to the robe shop, Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. It was essentially a clothes store, so his mom was okay while they were there. Then Jackson had to leave his parents on a bench again while he bought his cauldron and went to the Apothecary for potion supplies. After that they bought parchment, ink, and quills. Jackson felt odd looking at the quill pens he bought. He'd never used one before.

Finally, all that was left on his list of supplies were the books. Jackson asked someone on the street and was directed to Flourish and Blotts.

As they approached the bookstore his mother was talking about how she thought she could handle going into the bookstore. "After all," she said, "they're just books."

The front window was filled with books on display. Janus stopped to look at the books and noticed a newspaper on display next to them. The front page read, "Pond Potions prepares to unveil newest product." Underneath the headline was a picture of a man in a red robe, wearing a smug smile as he gestured to something hidden under a red cloth. As Jackson watched the man turned to look out at Jackson, and waved before gesturing to whatever was under the cloth again.

"Um, mom," Jackson said, reaching out and grabbing his mother's arm before she could enter the store. "Maybe it would be better if you stayed out here." He moved to block her sight of the newspaper. "I know they're just books, but it looks busy in there, and people will be talking, and who knows what they'll be talking about."

Jackson's mom looked into the store, grimaced a moment, and finally she said, "Perhaps you're right." She turned away from the store and started toward another bench, Jackson's dad following her.

Jackson breathed a sigh of relief, looked at the newspaper again, shook his head, and entered the store.

Jack Smith

Hey everyone. I'm just thinking about what I've been doing with the names of my posts. I was originally thinking I would give each chapter its own name, but then the chapters were too long to be acceptable blog posts so I did Parts 1, 2, etc to separate them. Now I'm thinking this will be confusing to the readers because when you see the latest post is "Jack Smith and the Theory of Charms Part 4" then you think you've only missed parts 1, 2, and 3, but in actuality you missed Jack Smith and the Tawny Owl as well. So, I'm going to be renaming them all to include a chapter number. I hope this makes it easier to follow.

M

Jack Smith and the Theory of Charms: Chapter 2: Diagon Alley: Part 5

"As I was saying, the wand chooses the wizard, and it will let us know when you hold it for the first time."


Jackson stood there, briefly holding wand after wand as Ollivander pulled them from boxes and gave them to him. "So," Jackson said, trying to get his attention between wands, "there's only one wand for each wizard?"


"Oh, no, of course not," Ollivander replied, yanking a long whitish wand from Jackson's hand and replacing it with a short black one. "No, then what would you do if your wand broke? Oh, no, no. More than one wand can choose the same witch or wizard, and the reverse is also true. A wand can pass from one owner to another, and it may accept the new owner. However, if you are ever forced to use a wand that doesn't recognize you as its master it will not perform nearly as well as your own wand."


"So, does it really matter what wand I get, other than that it chooses me?"


"Yes, and no," Lucy said. "Different wands can be better at different spells, but I've never heard of a wand that could do anything unique, or that couldn't do what others could."


"You'd be surprised," Ollivander said, putting a thick dark brown wand into Jackson's hand. "Among wandmakers, that kind of thing is well known. I prefer to make more standard wands however. Making specialized wands takes a lot of time, most witches and wizards prefer to have a good wand they can use for anything they need over a wand that is very good for a special set of spells and less trustworthy for others." He looked at Lucy, "Don't expect to be learning that kind of thing from me next summer."


Lucy nodded, and Ollivander went back to giving Jackson wands and yanking them away again.


"So," Jackson looked at Lucy, "what is your wand?"


Lucy reached into her coat and pulled out a good sized blueish wand. "Eight inches, blue spruce with a phoenix feather," she said grinning. "Uncle says it's a good wand for a wandmaker. His first wand was blue spruce as well."


Jackson smiled at her. Then he suddenly felt a cold rush as Ollivander placed another wand in his hand. Jackson looked at it and saw a blue glow surrounding the wand. The glow spread around Jackson and he felt invigorated as he clutched the wand tightly.


After a few seconds the glow faded and Jackson could see the pure black of the long skinny wand. Ollivander took the wand back and placed it in the box it had come from before handing the box to Jackson. "Ten inches, ebony, with a heartstring from the oldest dragon I've ever come across."


"Dragon heartstring?" Jackson asked.


"Uncle makes wands with three different types of cores," Lucy explained. "Phoenix feathers like mine, unicorn hairs, and dragon heartstrings."


Ollivander nodded. "Yes, and of the three, only one requires the death of the animal that it comes from." He shook his head sadly. "I only take heartstrings from dragons who have died from... natural means."


"What do you mean natural means?"


"Dragons are immune to all but the worst magical diseases," he said. "And they can live for over a thousand years, but most of them don't live for more than twenty." He frowned as he said, "This is partially because of dragon hunters, but it's mostly due to fighting with their own kind." He shook his head sadly. "Usually all I need to do when I need more heartstrings is go to a sanctuary. They always have one or two that have recently been killed by the others." He ran his hand lovingly along the box containing Jackson's wand. "This dragon however wasn't in a sanctuary. If the word tame could ever be applied to dragon's it wouldn't apply to the ones in the Arctic. Their heartstrings are always particularly potent, so I went up to a den I knew of. I found dozens of dragons, their bodies torn to shreds. There were only three survivors that weren't at least wounded, and they looked young enough that they probably stayed out of the worst of the fight. Some of the dead were so bad there weren't any heartstrings I could use."


"What happened?" Jackson asked.


"The same thing that always happens," Ollivander replied. "Just on a larger scale. One of the younger dragons challenged the leader. Probably some of the other young ones tried to help the challenger, and there were also some who tried to defend the leader. Probably happened the day before I got there. In the end the leader won, but he was wounded so badly that he died minutes after I found him. He was ancient. His black scales had turned almost completely grey." He shook his head at the memory. "The look in his eyes though. He was still alert. And clever! Oh that was the smartest dragon I've ever heard of. That's how he lived so long. How he managed to survive all the challenges he must have faced over the centuries."


"When did that happen, uncle?" Lucy asked. "I don't remember dad telling me about you going to the arctic."


"This was years before you were born," he replied. "In fact, I think your dad was about your age."


Jackson was having trouble wrapping his head around the age difference between Mr. Ollivander and Lucy's dad. Mr. Ollivander saw this and said, "Lucy calls me Uncle, but actually I'm her father's uncle. Her grandfather was my brother.


"As I was saying," Mr. Ollivander went on, "This wand is the first wand I've ever given out with a heartstring from that dragon. The fact that it chose you likely means it recognizes similarities between you and the dragon it came from."


Jackson couldn't help but smile at being compared to an ancient, clever dragon. Lucy smiled too. Jackson then paid for the wand and went out to find his parents.

Jack Smith and the Theory of Charms: Chapter 2: Diagon Alley: Part 4

When they left Gringotts, Jackson immediately pointed himself toward the wand shop he'd seen earlier, Ollivander's. He smiled excitedly as they approached the shop. I'm going to get a wand, he thought. I'm going to get a wand.


"I... I think I'll wait out here," Jackson's mom said when they reached the door. "You go on without me. I'm going to stay here."


"Are you sure?" his dad asked.


"Yeah, I'm sure."


Jackson looked at his mother, her eyes pressed tightly closed and her hands shaking. He could tell his dad was doing great, but his mom couldn't handle it. "Dad, how about you stay here with mom. I'll be fine."


"Uh, okay," his dad said. "You've got that money bag from the goblin." Jackson's mom cringed at the word.


"Yeah, I can pay for it, I'll be fine."


"Okay, we'll be here when you finish."


"Kay," Jackson gave a reassuring smile before entering the shop.


Inside he had a moment to look around at the stacks and stacks of boxes, each box about two inches wide, but varying in length. He smiled as he realized his wand was waiting for him in one of the boxes.


"Good afternoon," said a soft cheerful voice. Quickly a girl his age came out from behind one of the piles, her brown hair grey with dust and bits of cobweb. She smiled at him and said, "From the look of you, I'm guessing you're not here for maintenance. You need a wand."


Jackson nodded.


"I'll get my uncle," she said before heading to the back of the shop. A moment later she returned with a white haired old man.


"Welcome young man," he said, "Here for I wand, of course. Well, let's find you one then."


The old man went to the piles and began grabbing boxes, seemingly at random. The girl walked over to Jackson and smiled at him.


"How old is your uncle?" Jackson whispered to her.


She tilted her head to the side and scratched her head. "I'm not sure," she said. "But he is one of the oldest wizards in the world. That's actually why he took me as his apprentice. I'm Lucy by the way."


"Jackson," he replied, shaking hands with her. "Apprentice? You mean you make wands?"


"Not yet," she replied. "So far all I've been allowed to do is clean the shop and learn about proper wand care, but Uncle said that when I get back from Hogwarts next summer he'll begin teaching me how to make them."


"That's IF you get high marks in school, and you take good care of your wand," Ollivander said, returning with a stack of boxes. He placed them all on the table and said, "Now let's see if any of these wands like you." He opened the first box, and pulled out a short reddish wand. "Five inch, cherry, dragon heart string." He handed it to Jackson.


Jackson carefully took the little wand. "Like me?"


Ollivander immediately took the wand away and put it back in the box. "Yes, you see, it's the wand that chooses the wizard, Mr.... I just realized I forgot to ask your name."


"Smith," Jackson said as Ollivander handed him another wand, this one long thin and black. "Jackson Smith."


"Jackson Smith," Ollivander said, pulling the black wand away and quickly handing him another one.