"Yeah this is not a good idea." Declan announced loudly, spinning around to face them all with a smile besides his blunt wording. At everyone's laughs, he said, "What? Oh come on, they're never gonna pick us over a bunch of teeny weeny doe-eyed looking kids."

"The harsh reality," Jordan sighed.

"Kaiden, I don't suppose you have any uh, age shifting powers in your arsenal?" Bear whispered with a cheeky glint in his eye.

"Even if I did," Kaiden chuckled, "I'd be concerned as to why someone was gifted with age changing."

"But you could get kids meals for life," Alex offered. Everyone twisted around to look at her strangely. "You get them here, like, in McDonalds and stuff. Have I not taken you to a McDonalds yet?"

"No, I think we got nuggets from there once. Just not kids meals — can we get back to the fact that age changing is a potential gift?"

"Or we could go in and get our wands?" Dix arched a red, judgemental brow. "I've been waiting for this day since I read the books in the Palace Library, okay?"

"What a nerd," Jordan announced teasingly. He wrapped a hand around Dix nevertheless and kissed her softly. "My nerd, though."

Alex and Bear reenacted their usual throwing-up act.

"I'm not your nerd. I'm my own nerd."

"Wands!" Declan reminded them loudly. Alex shook her head with a chuckle and turned towards Ollivanders.

The wand shop was painted a dark forest green, the two curved windows out front showcasing several different wands. Upon stepping inside, the six of them were immediately surrounded by boxes and boxes of wands stacked absolutely everywhere. Along the walls in hundreds of different colours, the long boxes stacked carefully on spare tables or shown off in glass cabinets, it was clear that Ollivanders was the wand shop around these parts. Alex spent a few minutes browsing amongst the wands available - the ones of the characters in spotlight, then a few others with no owners and only make. Acacia wood and unicorn hair, Blackthorn and dragon heartstring, Fir and Veela hair were amongst the random wands available.

A wooden staircase wound up one side of the shop, leading up to a balcony overlooking the ground floor; Bear and Dix had gone up the staircase to visit the upper floor of more wands, surprise surprise. Deeper into the shop were several backrooms to make space for people and wands - Kaiden, Declan and Jordan had gone off into one of the back rooms where a staff member was demonstrating the interactive wand part.

A kid was gawking at a white aspen wood wand (maybe he was drooling), tugging at his mother's arm impatiently. Alex noticed a corridor that split off the front room, where a few people were following another staff member in a cloth wizard's hat and vest. Deciding that everyone would be able to handle themselves for two minutes without their Freyan guide, she tagged onto the back of the group.

Mostly made of little kids and their parents, Alex stuck to the back as the employee revealed a hidden door in a dead-end corridor. The smaller ones were immediately enchanted, eyes wide as they rushed into the secret room with anxious parents trailing behind. The door swung shut behind her, the last person in the room.

The room, not surprisingly, was chock full of wands as well, with a small curving staircase that cast shadows over the lady standing behind the wooden desk below it. Alex peered through the lighting in the room - darker than the fancy lights out front and settled herself comfortably in the back. Maybe it was another one of those interactive experiences.

At the children's inquisitive curiosity, the lady behind the desk in purple robes cleared her throat.

"Just a wee reminder folks, we browse with our eyes and not our hands." That arose a round of light chuckles from the crowd. Once the chatter had died on, the woman clasped her hands together and gave them all a warm smile.

"Welcome, everyone, to Ollivanders. Makers of fine wands since 382 BC. Now, I understand that you are all here today to witness a wand pairing, a very special time in a wizard's life. I am Wandkeeper Nora, and..."

Her words trailed off as her gaze searched the room carefully. "You."

Nora's outstretched finger landed on a small girl that had inched close to Alex's side. Shorter than the rest, but with a mature air around her, the girl stepped forward to Nora's table. She reminded Alex of herself a little bit, with dark eyes and brown hair. Without many photos to look back on (the majority before phones contained snapshots of her parents' archaeological discoveries and not their child), she had to pick out the pieces from her memory. She wasn't that confident as a child; quieter, maybe, but the wonder in the little girl's eyes was something she knew they shared.

Embrace the wonder.

"Tell me, what is your name?"

"Lara."

"Well, Lara, I can already sense that you and your wand strive for excellence. Now, which is your wand arm?"

"My right."

"Perfect. Hold it straight out, yes, just like that." A tape measure appeared in Nora's hands, used to measure Lara's right arm. "You may know that every wand has a core of a powerful magical substance we use. There is unicorn hair, the heartstrings of dragons, and phoenix tail feathers."

Lara let her arm down as Nora continued her wand 101 introduction.

"Just like all of us, no unicorn hair, dragon heartstring, or phoenix feather is the exact same. That is what makes your wand special, and what uniqueness links your wand to you. Of course, you'd get sub-par results with another wizard's wand." Nora wound her way back around her desk and ran her fingers over the ends of the wand boxes. When she found one of her choosing, she pulled out the dark blue box.

"Beech, with a unicorn hair core, not so flexible however," Nora opened up the box and carefully handed over a short wand. She then pointed to a tall set of dark wood drawers."Try to unlock those boxes for me, will you? Just a wave of your wand and the incantation Alohomora "

Lara nodded with all of her ten-year-old confidence and waved her wand, "Alohomora."

Immediately upon her words, the drawers began slamming in and out sporadically off the shelves, at a speed that dared them to fly right out.

Hurriedly, Nora took back the wand and handed Lara another. "Perhaps not. Don't fret, Lara, try this one. After all, the wand chooses the wizard. Hawthorn with unicorn hair as well."

"What do I say?" Lara's soft voice echoed around the room, her brown eyes still wide in amazement. Alex knew the questions in the little girl's head; how is this possible? What happened? Am I in a different world? How did I do that?

"Point your wand at those three shelves of wand boxes up there. A swish and flick, with a little Wingardium Leviosa should do the trick."

Lara nodded, perhaps a bit more nervous this time around. Her swish and a flick looked practically memorised from the films. She jumped a bit when the boxes copied the drawers' sporadic movements, blue and yellow and green shoving their way out of the top shelves.

"No, no," Nora hurriedly took the wand back and gave Lara a gentle smile. With a swish of her own wand, the boxes rearranged themselves quietly back into their original positions. "I know we are getting close. The strongest results come when the affinity between wand and wizard is the strongest, and—oh."

The Wandkeeper dove behind the desk and produced a green box, quickly blowing the thick layer of dust off it.

"Thirteen inches...yes, pliable, flexible. Ivy wood and dragon heartstring. I do quite believe, Lara, that this wand has chosen you."

Nora handed Lara the wand, and as soon as the girl's hands clasped around the polished grip of the wand, the room exploded in light. For a second, Alex was whisked back to the same light that had blinded her upon arriving in Medora. But this was different. The light faded much quicker, and with a round of excited (albeit a bit sullen from the other kids) applause. Alex could only smile at Lara's expression - pure amazement, confusion, and most importantly of all, wonder.

"Perfect!" Nora cried, her swathes of grand purple robes swishing with her claps. "Brilliant! Ivy wood is known to indicate a prosperous life ahead of the wielder, bringing good luck. One of the most loyal woods, you are sure to have a lifelong friend, not just wand, by your side. Ollivander's ivy woods have proven themselves to protect their holder against the darkest of times. I can sense the same determination and resilience in your wand, and you. Congratulations, Lara."

Alex let her smile linger for a little moment, and her memories of Medora too.

"Now, please familiarise yourself with appropriate wand safety. If you have any questions, my lovely Wandkeeper apprentices would be happy to answer. Off you trot, and for the others, please, feel free to browse Ollivanders and let the wand choose you. Goodday."

A/N: omg a chapter no way ahahaha yes - wand shopping is over, next time we see everyone there will be a short summary that day and then day two - riding the rides!

-dommie out