Chapter 500 - Mr. Ollivander Ⅱ

Mr. Ollivander leads the way into the back with Rowan following down a narrow hall into a surprisingly large workshop. Wands are in the process of being forged there are hundreds of sticks as well as hundreds of drawers that seem to hold rare, precious wand cores. Mr. Ollivander sets the Great Horned Serpent core on the table and says, "I have tree samples of every kind of wood no matter how rare. I'll have you try them all and see which works the best."

A drawer flies open as a hundred or more wooden blocks line up before her. "The best kinds of woods for the wand creation will feel warm to your hand. Put the discarded blocks to the side and then continue onward. We'll narrow the best afterward."

Rowan reaches for her wand and removes the illusion spell from her eye, before returning it to its original spot. Starting with the first wood block of Acacia, she feels nothing before reaching for the next one. Suddenly she can see the power swirling around Mr. Ollivander and gapes. It was rather beautiful like flickering silver lights that were constantly blossoming all around him like flowers.

"So, what do you see?" Mr. Ollivander asked rather unconcerned.

"Your magic is rather delicate," Rowan muttered in embarrassment as she grabbed the next block to no effect. "It's silver and blossoms like spring cherry blossoms."

"Ah, well, I do live for a single pursuit in mind," Mr. Ollivander replied not offended by the revelation. "Interesting, it seems that your eye does not see the future as Grindelwald's did. But still, you should have never touched such forbidden magic in the first place, Miss Prince."

The two of them fall into a heavy silence after that as Rowan keeps trying more wooden blocks to no avail until at last a dark wood with lighter swirls feels rather warm to the touch. She sets it aside, before being stopped by Mr. Ollivander with a gesture of his hand.

Mr. Ollivander slowly says, "Hawthorn. A wood of conflicting natures, the tree leaves and blossoms bring forth life via healing and yet upon being cut the wood smells of death and brings forth life and death itself. An excellent wand for healing or for casting deadly curses. I suppose we might as well stop now, Miss Prince. I'm fairly certain this will be the only wood that will react to you."

Rowan slowly nods and says, "Might you know of a spell that might hide my right eye, Mr. Ollivander? The illusion spell that I've been using seems to be affecting my sense of perception as well."

Mr. Ollivander turns to eye her and says, "None that you are not already aware of. And you are terrible at transfiguration, Miss Prince."

Rowan nods her head in agreement as Mr. Ollivander cryptically adds, "Though I am certain that such a powerful transfiguration would be of no trouble for your twin brother. He seems to have inherited that particular talent from him."

"What?" Rowan stiffly hissed at the old wandmaker.

Mr. Ollivander ignores her question and begins to put the blocks away one by one by hand. Using too much magic on said sample wood cores over time could ruin the samples. Though time consuming, Ollivander had always taken in pride in doing the best by his wands.

Rowan warily studied the old wandmaker the entire time, but she found nothing amiss with his movements. Finished, he closed the drawer shut, before glancing up at her. "I'll have you return to the shop to be measured again once I find an acceptable Hawthorn wood which to use to forge your wand," Mr. Ollivander muttered. "It'll take some time as I must take your nature into question, before paring the wood and core."

"Thank you," Rowan unhappily said, before turning away to leave.

"And Miss Prince," Mr. Ollivander warningly said. "The path you tread is on the tip of the sword. Take care not to fall to either side."

"I know," Rowan replied without turning back, before walking out of the shop. She was somewhat grateful to Ollivander, but she did not like being around him. Maybe, because he always seemed to see too much. Either way, she would rather limit their future encounters.

Rowan returned to meet at their promised location in front of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. Luckily, they had yet to arrive as she sat down and ordered some chocolate ice cream. By the time they arrived, Rowan was already eating her ice cream.

Petunia happily takes a seat and orders mint chocolate ice cream, while Andrew orders Neapolitan ice cream. While they wait for their orders to arrive, Rowan asks, "So how'd it go?"

"I found a lot of useful cookbooks," Petunia said with pride. "And Andrew here even found a rare one for the use of Squibs. It'll be useful as it won't require me to substitute a single cooking step."

"That's nice," Rowan said as she took another bite of her ice cream. "And you, Andrew?"

Andrew winked over at Rowan, who merely just stared at him. "I just browsed around," Andrew emphasized with another wink.

Deciding it was better to turn away, Rowan does and ignores Andrew. Mr. Fortescue soon after arrives with their ice creams and they fall silent as they eat. Finished, they finally gather their things and head to the Floo chimney's. They had not floo'd to Diagon Alley as they hadn't wanted to make Petunia any more nervous than she already was. Now that Petunia had seen the Knight Bus, the Floo system should not seem so bad.

Rowan and Andrew quickly explain to Petunia on what to do. Andrew goes first and says, "9 Mayfield Road," before stepping into the green flames and vanishing away.

Petunia nervously stares at the green flames that die away. "Are you sure this is safe for me to use?' Petunia nervously asked.

"Yes, as it's the floo powder that's doing the magic," Rowan calmly replied. "Just remember to say, 9 Mayfield Road, and all will be well. I'll be coming right after you and Andrew is waiting for you at his uncle's place."

"Okay," Petunia quietly said before taking a deep breath and tossing the sparkling power into the flame. "9 Mayfield Road," she said, before stepping into the green flames and whirling away.

"I hope she doesn't get sick," Rowan muttered before doing the same. She really should have warned Petunia about the motion sickness. But then again, she did not want to frighten her any more than Petunia already was. Petunia would be fine…. probably...