double witch

[chanuphis]

This is not a shouting match, but it could get that way any moment now.

"I'm not impugning your quality, Mr. Ollivander, but if you don't want to sell me a wand -"

"I have sold you a wand, Miss Swan, and if you say it does not suffice for your purposes I do not see how else I could possibly interpret you."

"Only in quantity!" she says. "I just want two."

"With an attitude like that you might one day find yourself in possession of two pieces -"

"That's exactly the sort of reason I want a second! If you won't sell me one -"

"I have sold you one, good day, Miss Swan!" Ollivander turns to the next customer. "Pardon her. What can I do for you today?"

Comments

[peterverse]

The next customer has a somewhat bewildered but interested look on her face, after catching the end of the not-shouting-match.

"Hello! I'm here for my wand! Because that's apparently a thing!"

And before the other girl can go somewhere else, Sadde looks at her and says, brightly, "Don't go anywhere!"

[chanuphis]

"Where would I go, when I don't know where else to get a spare wand?" mutters the girl, folding her arms and standing aside to wait.

Ollivander measures various parts of the new customer. "And what might your name be?" he asks her.

[peterverse]

Sadde grins at the other girl and turns back to Ollivander. "My name might be Sadde Woods, yes, yes, I know, it's a pleasure to meet you anyway."

[chanuphis]

"Well, Miss Woods," says Ollivander, "try this one, there you go, give it a wave." He hands her a wand.

[peterverse]

Sadde continues grinning, and takes the offered wand, and gives it a wave. That might not have been the very best of ideas, as it causes a small explosion somewhere close, which makes her giggle. "Ooh, can I keep this one?"

[chanuphis]

"Well - we'll see if anything else gets you a more refined response," says Ollivander, whisking it out of her hand and presenting her with another. "Holly and unicorn hair, nine inches, rigid -" He thwips his own wand in the direction of the explosion, tidying up the toppled boxes.

[mswoods]

The girl pouts slightly but accepts the new wand, which fails to have any effects whatsoever. "I liked the other one better," she comments as Ollivander offers her yet another wand.

They back-and-forth like that for a while, with the wands more-or-less evenly divided between 'does absolutely nothing' and 'causes various kind of localised chaos and destruction' (Sadde seems utterly delighted whenever that happens). Eventually they find one that produces suitably pleasant sparkly effects - pine and dragon heartstring (of course), nine and three-quarters inches, fairly sturdy - and so Sadde has her wand! Except...

"So, can I get a second one?" she asks, grinning impishly.

[chanuphis]

"No," snaps Ollivander, glaring at Miss Swan.

"Then tell us who will sell us extras," Miss Swan insists again.

Ollivander growls, but then, perhaps because he sees the approach of more students who may find these girls a corrupting influence, gives them the address of a secondhand shop which may have something. Miss Swan thanks him politely and departs the shop, smiling a little at Sadde.

[mswoods]

Sadde laughs at Ollivander's reaction - she hadn't really expected a different one - and scoots, returning the other girl's smile with a grin of her own.

"So, hi, nice to meet you, I'm Sadde! But you knew that. What's your name?"

[chanuphis]

"I'm Miranda. Did you already want a second wand or were you just riling him up?"

[mswoods]

"Nice to meet you!" she repeats," And neither! I caught the end of your-" she pauses for a second then decides to go with: "discussion, and thought it was a very sensible idea. I'm also a bit jealous because I didn't have that idea," she concludes, not sounding jealous or any other kind of negative, really.

[chanuphis]

"Well, hopefully this..." They approach the address; it's a dusty pawn shop. "...will have something for both of us."

The proprietress is also confused that they want additional wands, but accepts Miranda's explanation happily and brings out an assortment for the girls to try.

[mswoods]

Sadde does another inexpert wand-wave, and predictably enough there are more explosions.

"So how does this work, exactly?" she asks no one in particular. "The whole choosing things? Are wands sentient?" She looks proud of knowing the word 'sentient.' "Don't they get jealous of other wands? Where did these ones come from? Did their original magical people get new ones? If they could get new ones why couldn't we?" The barrage of questions happens very quickly, and the pause after this last one should probably be interpreted more as one for breath than an indicator that she was done with questions.

[chanuphis]

"They're not sentient," Miranda laughs.

"Most of these were used by people who had inherited wands that never quite worked for them and finally replaced them, or people who died," the proprietress says. "What your wand is made of says a little about who you are as a witch! And some of the materials will get slightly different results."

[mswoods]

"Well if they're not sentient then how do they choose?" she insists. "Is it just a match of, like, materials and personality? Is this like that personality-type thing, with broad categories lots of people can fit? What does dragon heartstring indicate? What about pine? And nine-and-three-quarters inches? Shouldn't we try to get a similar one to make sure there'll be a fit? Why did the other- Mr. Ollivander ask so offended when we asked for more wands, if they're not even sentient? Why not just give us another copy of a wand with exactly the same specs?" This time she has to pause for a few more seconds, she's quite out of breath.

(Incidentally, she has caused some more explosions.)

[chanuphis]

(The proprietress takes Sadde by the shoulders and turns her towards the shop window, which will be relatively easily repaired.)

"Oh, dear, I don't know, really," she says, "I'm not a wandmaker, this is a pawnshop. Why didn't you ask Mr. Ollivander? Anyway, I don't happen to have exact copies of either of your exact wands."

Miranda swishes the last of the standard options - she doesn't keep getting interrupted by explosions and doesn't have as many questions. She looks sadly at the heap.

"I'll - hm. There are some curiosity pieces, non-standard materials and the like, if you'd like to try, dear?"

"Yes please."

[mswoods]

Sadde shrugs. "I think he'd probably have bit my head off if I asked him anything," she comments, and she does not say that this would also have prevented her from riling Ollivander up! Which had not been the main reason she'd asked but it had been a nice bonus.

Eventually she does find another wand that's not so openly hostile to her: dragon heartstring as well, hawthorn, nine inches. She beams happily and looks at Miranda: "No luck? What's your original one anyway?"

[chanuphis]

"Pine and phoenix feather," Miranda says, as the proprietress brings out an armful of "curiosity" wands and starts opening their boxes for her. Some of them are not even made of wood - there's ivory in there, and what looks like a solid sliver of unicorn horn, and dragon claw and what might be bone. Miranda picks up one of the least dodgy-looking and gives it a wave, then the next.

[mswoods]

Sadde pays the proprietress and watches Miranda's attempts with interest. Well, sometimes, anyway; other times she's watching her own two wands and grinning at them. She's a witch! That is just so cool.

Eventually she gets tired of staring at the two sticks of wood and devotes her full attention to Miranda, choosing this moment to ask, "So I take it you were born a witch, yes?"

[chanuphis]

"Yes? I don't think a person can suddenly start being a witch later on," Miranda says.

[mswoods]

Sadde waves her hand a bit, "Yes, yes, I meant like, born knowing you were a witch- or, like, your family has magic- you know, you knew you had magic since always." She pauses a bit, and amends: "I mean, you knew what magic was since always."

She seems to be lacking some vocabulary here.

[chanuphis]

"I was brought up as a witch, yes. It's okay, though, you'll catch up, my mum is Muggleborn and she's done fine."

[mswoods]

She tilts her head. "Muggleborn is someone like me, then? That didn't know much about magic before? ...does that mean you call people like my mum- people without magic, muggles?"

[chanuphis]

"Yeah. Did nobody come give you a quick explanation of everything when you got your letter? How'd you get into the alley if nobody was helping you?"

Miranda picks up the last normal-wood-looking wand and gives it a swash through the air. It engulfs her arm and the rest of a sphere that radius in a globe of warm light. "...I think this one likes me, how much is it?"

"Oh, not even as much as a new Ollivander, dear, five Galleons."

Miranda pays her.

[mswoods]

Sadde oooohs when she sees the pretty globe of warm light. After Miranda and the proprietress finish their transaction, she looks at the other girl and explains: "Someone did come, but I guess they forgot to explain the nomenclature? I think mum and I might have derailed the conversation a little bit further than usual. What'd you get there?"