"Of course," Zeke said kindly. He tilted the box so she could take the wand. "Go right ahead." And hopefully this would be the one.


Having just got done ringing up a particularly large purchase of wands and accessories - he did not envy those parents and/or guardians - Zeke turned his attention to the next customer. The parchment of measurements floated its way towards him, and he plucked it out of the air and perused what was written there.

A couple of minutes later, he approached this young boy, carrying with him two wand boxes - the most promising two options, though perhaps it was overconfident of him to assume it would be one or the other. As he smiled at the boy, he found he recognised him, though very, very vaguely. Not until he looked to the nearby couple - possibly the parents, as they seemingly had eyes only for him and each other - did he remember that he had seen them here before, for another wand fitting, probably several years ago now, given the haziness of the details in his memory.

"Hello, young man," Zeke addressed the boy, smiling as he set the two wand boxes he'd already collected on the nearby counter. "I have a couple of wands for you to try. Let's see how well you get on with this one first, hm?" he added, opening up the first box and offering its contents to his customer. "Give it a wave, and tell me if it feels right."


There he was, all ready to watch for the immediate signs of a successful or unsuccessful match, when the wand itself immediately took all the mystery out of the situation. Well. That was fair. Little too much of a kick in that one, perhaps, or perhaps the wood was just a touch too wilful. Good, good, it gave a good indication of what they could expect from the next.

He gave a small chuckle. "Yes, I think we can count that as a positive," he said, and busied himself with picked up the next wand box, as the boy had taken it upon himself to retrieve the second wand from the wall. Zeke did cast it a quick glance to ascertain any serious damage to the wand itself, but saw nothing to worry about. He readied its box for its return, and opened up the new wand box in his hands, for when his customer was ready to resume.

"Third time's a charm, as they say."


Call him an old softie at heart (and you may be right, at least sometimes, in some contexts) but Zeke found this sight - the relief, mostly - rather heartwarming. It really was such a nice sight to see his customers so pleased with their wands, and bonding so quickly.

But yes, the accessories. "New wand owner bundle... faux leather..." Zeke didn't really need to say it out loud to remember, but did often find it sometimes put customers at ease even just to murmur their request to himself as he went about sorting it, so they'd know he'd heard and understood. He retrieved the standard faux leather set, and bundled it all together to ring it up along with the wand. "Here we are then. That's 16 galleons altogether, please."


Zeke allowed himself a little chuckle at the girl's enthusiasm, feeling more sure by the moment that the wand had chosen the correct owner. But then, he hadn't yet known one to make a mistake - though some owners did not take kindly to them, and that did cause a slight conflict. Seemed there was no such danger here.

"You are very, very welcome," he said to his customer, taking the coins and counting them into the register, though not before picking up the wand that had been set down, and putting it safely back into its box. Of course she could take it back out again whenever she pleased, but for the moment he thought it safest to bundle it all together. "Good luck with that wand of yours. I'm sure you'll do great things together."


"Quite correct. It tells us we're on the right track; I suspect it was an issue with the core, in this case." Actually, he was near certain, and becoming more so with every moment. Aside from anything else, he was confident and adept in his profession, enough to get very close to the right match based on measurements alone. From there it became a case of eliminating the possibilities based on results.

"A very wise philosophy." Impressive. Would that most eleven year olds had such a perspective; many would surely be a lot more comfortable doing what they loved, or simply existing as their own selves. But there was no dwelling on that right now. His focus was on the wand fitting alone, and he broke into a wide grin when this wand made it clear that it had chosen its person. Very interesting. Very entertaining.

Zeke opened his mouth to speak, but Diamond beat him to it. "Yes, that's perfectly okay with me. And I agree. This is the one." So, was she ready? Because he had information for her, and a sneaking suspicion she would want to remember every word.

"This wand is eleven inches and two thirds of light fir, with a dragon heartstring core. Chinese Fireball, to be precise." So. Perhaps she might understand why he seemed to be trying to hold back a smile at that. How another core had resulted in a frosty reception, whereas the fire-breathing core - of the Fireball variety - had found itself right at home. Not that dragon heartstrings were noted for a propensity towards fire magic; it was just an interesting note. "Fir favours strong-minded and focused individuals, and magic-wise it's best suited for transfiguration spells, though that's not to say it can't perform well in other areas of magic. It's often observed that owners of fir wands are capable of great things, and make excellent leaders. Dragon heartstring is known to provide the wand's magic with a lot of oomph, nice and powerful, and as a core it lends to quickly mastering new spells. Very versatile. Because of the power it has, it may take more effort to master those fiddly, delicate spells. These wands also bond very closely to their owners." Which, in his totally unbiased opinion, was a very good thing.

"The wand by itself will be 10 galleons," Zeke said, moving towards his cash register so that he could ring the wand up. "Plus the price of anything else you're looking to buy." And now, of course, was another opportunity for questions. He suspected there may be a few.

_________

[11⅔ inch light fir with dragon heartstring [Chinese Fireball]]


"My wand fitting?" Zeke repeated, definitely not delaying the actual answering of the question. That part came next, in the pause during which he thought back to that time, a very conflicted time. It should have been happy, and yet the whole thing was tinged with... well. It was a time of transition. "It took a few tries to find a match. One gave me a shock, and flew out of my hand..." A little funny, considering the wand he eventually ended up with. "... another didn't perform any obvious magic, only gave me a bad feeling that didn't ease up until I handed it back. When my wand chose me, it caused a brief but strong sense of finding home ... plus it conjured up falling leaves, and the smell of the woods and pine needles." The wand itself had not been pine, but it was a scent he'd become extremely partial to.

Ahem. But enough about him. He'd only gone into detail, really, because his customer did seem like she could use as much information, perhaps as much reassurance, as he could provide, so there might be fewer surprises.

He watched closely, feeling that this was one of those customers whose initial signs of success might be more subtle, more restrained. At the raise of the eyebrow, he allowed a small smile.

"That's a very good sign," Zeke replied, considering girl and wand for a moment. After giving the two of them an appraising look, noting the subtlest signs that the two were at home with each other, he broke into a smile and gave a nod. Most significantly, he did not insist the wand be waved properly. "Yes; unless I'm very much mistaken, we have a match."

A doubly apt one too, given what he'd just been talking about.

"Your wand here is ten and a quarter inches of supple pine, with a hippogriff feather at the core. Pine makes for a very adaptable wand, very versatile. They are particularly suited to non-verbal magic - good to keep in mind for when you learn this in a few years - and generally to potions work, hexes, jinxes, curses, conjuration, and other transfiguration magic. It's a very reliable wand wood, too." And, from what else Zeke had come to learn and associated with pine owners - though he didn't necessarily like to assume with any degree of certainty - this one seemed like she may fit the bill. "That being said... Well, hippogriff cores also make for adaptable wands, though only when the wand is well-cared for. You'll need to treat it with respect, or risk spells backfiring. These cores don't like to perform dishonourably, either, and if it's forced to produce magic in such a way that it doesn't like - you should be able to sense if it's resistant to the idea - you'll find it will only perform sub-par magic from then on." A little daunting, Zeke knew, but it was an interesting combination, intriguing, one which almost seemed to keep itself balanced, in a way. Essentially, it all boiled down to hippogriff cores not being suited to bullies, and Zeke felt fairly sure this child was unlikely to be such a person. Although, again, he'd never assume his speculations to be fact.

He moved towards the cash register now. "9 galleons for just the wand, but we also have other products, if you're interested in accessories," he said, gesturing to the price board.

_________

[10¼ inch supple pine with hippogriff feather]


Zeke allowed himself a smile at the flourish which, he fancied, had mirrored his own in terms of theatricality, if not in exact style.

And... speaking of theatricality, huh. Well, wasn't that apt? Not to mention, what seemed like a perfect match on the first attempt. This suspicion was only confirmed in the next moment, when the girl declared her liking for it. Zeke beamed at her, and nodded. "Yes, absolutely." For money, of course. But the point was that he considered this a wand well matched. "Congratulations. The wand has chosen you."

Which meant he had some information for her. Zeke straightened, adjusting his waistcoat as he did so, before folding his hands in front of him. "This wand is twelve and a quarter inches of ebony, rather firm, with a knarl quill at the core." One of his favourites to look at, ebony; jet-black, attractive, stark, dramatic. "The wood is well-suited to defensive, protective magic, and the dispelling of dark magic. It can take some time to master an ebony wand, so you'll need to be willing to put in the time and effort, but it's a truly diverse tool, works well for all elemental magic and can be used for most any purpose." To its credit, yes, but that could also be a slight risk factor. Still, it wasn't up to him to say anything about how to use the wand - unless, of course, he was giving a heads up as to what it would not perform, or what might lessen its power. "For wands with a knarl quill core, disarming traps and unlocking locks are easy spells to master, as well as revealing spells, direction spells, and magic which illuminates your surroundings. Hexes are one of the most natural spell types for knarl quill core wands, and spells that confuse or disorient the target will be particularly strong." Good to know for prospective duellers, and... well, and plenty of other people, Zeke imagined. Or it was information that would seldom be relevant. Who knew?

He smiled again, and moved towards his cash register, ready to ring it up. "The wand by itself will be 11 galleons, and we have other products too, if you're interested in any of those," he said, nodding towards the price board.

_________

[12¼ rather firm ebony with knarl quill]