New Wand
Nearly done with second year, and Charlie snaps. Thandi has never seen him this angry, this put out, this incredibly upset. The boy, usually sweet and faking irritability, is shaking as once again, his basic levitation spell fizzles.
“Why! Isn’t! This! Working?!” He throws his wand on the ground and Thandi winces. “I have the best teacher! I studied and studied and studied but it still doesn’t work! I know I have magic! I have the best wand I could have! But I try and I try and nothing comes of it!”
His shouting ends with an exasperated roar, nearly comical coming from such a small boy. Thandi doesn’t see the humor, though, and she feels the prickle of tears in her eyes. He was working so hard, always studying with her, but his results were incredibly…lesser. Has she failed him and herself? Where did she go wrong?
Charlie’s arms wrap around her and he cries into her, whining still. “I got my wand from my father, it should be the best wand for me, but it always stings and bites and I hate that piece of shit wand, and it completely hates me!” A sob wracks his body as he clings. Thandi strokes his head as he complains. “Maybe I’m just stupid!! Maybe I was never meant to come here!! Maybe all of this is awful!!”
“You don’t mean that, do you?” Thandi can’t keep the tremble out of her voice as she speaks up.
Charlie peeks up at her and his eyes go wide. Tears in his Ravenclaw’s eyes? No no. That won’t do. And it’s his fault. He wipes her face dutifully, kissing her cheek as he does so.
Thandi squeezes her eyes shut, her frown deep, but it’s quick to turn when her cheek is showered in soft kisses. “Charm. For…sadness…” Her Slytherin is mumbling, hugging her now instead of simply clinging. It brings her thoughts back on track.
“What kind of wand do you have?”
Charlie gives her a quizzical look as he tilts his head to think. “Er…oh. Um, cypress and dragon?”
“Maybe…you don’t match your wand, darling?”
Charlie’s heart skips a beat and then stops dead. That’s possible? His father’s wand choice would probably be really uptight. Admittedly, he had wondered at times when Thandi talked about wandlore and the sentience of the stupid sticks. “Wait…you mean it’s possible that I don’t just suck?“
Thandi snorts. “Think about it! You’re a prodigy in potions, you are great at herbology, you even are good at magical creature care! You’re not a good student, but you try, and all the things without wands…”
Charlie is giddy now. “Can. Can we go try wands? Hogsmeade, I think there is a place there, um…”
“Greenwich’s?”
“Yes! That! Thandi, you’re a genius!“
She blushes at his excited compliment as he loses himself to the possibilities. It takes a minute for it to catch up with him, and he frantically tries to cover it up, but Thandi laughs instead.
The weekend sees the pair in Hogsmeade, clutching each other’s hand as they walk around to try to find the place. Charlie tries to pretend he isn’t excited, but Thandi can tell. He squeezes her hand, walking close to her as he looks around frantically.
Eventually, they find the tired shopfront of Greenwich’s Wandcrafts. The place looks simultaneously new and old somehow, as if it had seen something terrible the day construction was finished and made the entire thing into a frown.
Charlie gapes at it, nerves showing. Thandi, though, pulls him in and announces their entry with a loud, “Excuse me!”
An old man shuffles out, blinking at them owlishly behind enormous spectacles. “Hogwarts children? At this time of year? I must warn you, big wand repair simply isn’t possible–“
“Actually, we need to match a wand with my friend here. He’s using a cypress and dragon heartstring wand, and it doesn’t agree with him at all!”
“Hmm. Indeed…” The old man shuffles closer and peers at them both. “That’s a temperamental combination for wizards more…” The man glances at Charlie’s clinging to Thandi, the look of false calm warped under his anxiety. “…fiercely independent, the sort who demands respect and takes it. I can see you’re a gentler sort. Let’s see…”
“Mr. Greenwich, how can you tell?” Thandi leans forward, hungry for any more information, and the man falls into the trap of her eternal inquisitiveness. The discussion runs long and Charlie’s fear cools into general curiosity.
He lets himself separate from Thandi at last as she animatedly discusses regional cores with the patient Mr. Greenwich. The old man seems delighted at the company and her genuine interest.
Charlie is only half listening. It’s neat, but he’s here for a wand. He peers at wands in open boxes, inspecting them closely. This one is black and shiny, like a thick lacquered chopstick. That one is greenish with a sort of angry feeling emanating from it. Yet another catches his eye and he reaches out to touch the grain of the wood before recoiling. The feeling of dread as he approaches these are enough for him to turn his attention elsewhere.
A spiral of shelves sits in the middle of the room, and Charlie walks around it, fingers tracing the many drawers that no doubt contain already-made wands or components. How would he know what to look for?
Charlie looks to Thandi as she holds out her wand to Mr. Greenwich, who comments on the excellent make. “Another Ollivander original! Your wand is certainly fond of you. That’s a good match.”
She always just seems to naturally do right. But him! He’s fucked around for two years with the wrong sort of wand and now he doesn’t know what…he’s…doing…
His fingers stop on a drawer that seems to feel…just…warm. Not temperature warm, no, but…it reminds him of the common room, his head in Thandi’s lap as she strokes his hair. Or when the salamanders all came rushing to him at once, excited to become acquainted. Or when his mother gives him a big hug before sending him off to bed…
Charlie glances up at the two speaking before opening the drawer. A mass of wands sits here, but one in particular seems to want him to pick it up. Gently, almost reverently, he pulls it out and looks at it closely.
It’s a handsome piece, about as long as his forearm, perhaps a touch longer, and it has fronds carved into the length. Charlie turns it over in his hands, heart dropping when he sees a crack in the handle. It seemed so perfect.
No, he still wants it.
“Wingardium leviosa.” His eyes widen as he sees the pen in his hand rise easily. What?! “Thandi. Thandi! Ravenclaw! Look! Look!!!”
Thandi gives him a glance and then does a doubletake. “You’re doing it!”
Mr. Greenwich shuffles over. “Ah, yes. Willow and unicorn. Though…” He reaches out and plucks the wand from Charlie’s hands, levitating pen dropping like a stone. “As I thought. This was an experimental wand made by an apprentice of mine years ago. This crack could end up splitting if it isn’t held together by something very strong and very dear. A lucky charm, of sorts.”
The disappointment on Charlie’s face is intense. Thandi could practically see his heart drop to his shoes. She steps up and holds out her hand expectantly. “May I?”
“Well…you are quite knowledgeable, young lady. I suppose you have an idea?”
“I do!” The smile on her face brings hope back to Charlie, his eyes following the wand pass between them both. She pulls out her own wand and spools out some thread from her jumper carefully.
Mumbled words and subtle gestures wrap the thread firmly around the handle, concealing the imperfection and making a nice, finished wrap. She holds it up. “Tada!”
“That seems…” Mr. Greenwich’s words trail off as he sees Charlie tearfully accept the wand from her, holding it gently in his hands. He looks from it to her and hugs her fiercely, and this brings a smile to Mr. Greenwich’s face. “Perfectly suited. I’ll tell you what…since it’s an old experiment, why don’t you trade your old one for this one? I won’t charge a cent.”
Thandi pats Charlie and he pulls away, silently yanking his old wand from his robes and holding it out. The old man takes it with a smile and gives them both a nod. “Thank you both for entertaining an old man today. You, young lady, may have a talent for wandlore. Let me know if you would like to apprentice to a wandmaker…we pass them around like gravy at a Sunday brunch!”
Thandi giggles and gives a slight curtsy. “Thank you, Mr. Greenwich! You really did us a kindness.”
“Stop in any time, Thandi. And…”
“Ch-Charlie. And she won’t apprentice to you! She’s got much bigger goals!!” The look of determination on his face makes Mr. Greenwich chuckle.
“Indeed. Good luck in your studies, children.” He waves goodbye as the pair leaves hand in hand, Charlie excitedly examining his new wand.