Mr Ollivander had come so close that he and Alexandra were almost nose to nose. Alexandra could see herself reflected in those misty eyes, along with some smoky things she didn't want to look at too much.
He shook his head and then, to Alexandra's relief, spun on his heel to march back into his shop.
"Hmmm," said Mr Ollivander, turning again towards her, apparently collecting his thoughts. "Well, now – Miss Potter. Let me see." He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"
"Err – well, I'm left-handed," said Alexandra.
"Hold out your arm. That's it." He measured Alexandra from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round her head. As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Miss Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, the heartstrings of dragons, and the hair, blood or skin of dozens of magical animals. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, griffins, sphinxes or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."
The speech sounded like the man had rehearsed it and practised it thousands of times.
Alexandra suddenly realised that the tape measure, which was measuring between her nostrils, was doing this on its own. Mr Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes.
"That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Miss Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave."
Alexandra took the wand and waved it around a bit to experiment. The left window almost exploded under the impact. Mr Ollivander snatched it out of her hand almost at once.
"Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try –"
Alexandra tried –and she almost set the shop on fire. The wand was snatched back by Mr Ollivander again.
"No, no – here, oak and thestral hair, ten inches, solid. Go on, go on, try it out."
Alexandra tried. And destroyed the door behind Ollivander. She tried again with another wand. And then another, unleashing more chaos and destruction into the shop. She had no idea what Ollivander was waiting for. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair and near it, but the more wands Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier and more excited he seemed to become. She also noticed that the core of the wands she tried were rarely phoenixes, unicorns or dragons now. Some of the magical creatures Mr. Ollivander was announcing were names of the Greek and other mythologies she had learnt in the school library, and she prayed she would never met some of these beasts face to face in her life.
"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere – I wonder, now – yes, why not – a powerful combination – rosewood and hydra heartstring, twelve inches, whippy."
Alexandra took the wand. She felt a sudden sensation of both warmth and cold in her fingers. She raised the wand slightly to her eyes, and then brought it down swiftly, swishing down through the dusty air and a small hurricane of blue and green magic shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing sparks onto the walls. Mr Ollivander smiled and exclaimed: "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well … how interesting … how very surprising …"
He put Alexandra's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Interesting … interesting …"
"Excuse me," said Alexandra curious, "but what's interesting?"
Mr Ollivander fixed Alexandra with his intimidating stare.
"I remember every wand I've ever made and sold, Miss Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that hydra wands are rarely made as very few wizards and witches are destined for this type of magical core, as hydras are not only uncommon, but also fearsome and powerful magical beasts. I created only two wands with hydra heartstring, and the other wand is still in my shop awaiting its new master or mistress. It is very interesting indeed that you should be destined for this wand when no one for the last century was able to create a single spark from the two wands using this magical component."
Alexandra swallowed, not liking at all the semi-creepy tone used by the man...
"Yes, twelve inches. Rosewood. Interesting indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the witch, remember … I think we must expect great things from you, Miss Potter … After all, witches like Morgana Le Fay did terrible things, terrible but great..."
She was forced to shiver at his tone. She wasn't sure she enjoyed Mr Ollivander at all after this. She paid seven gold Galleons for her wand and Mr Ollivander bowed her out of his shop.
It was now late-afternoon and the sun hung low in the sky as Alexandra emerged from Ollivander's shop. She estimated she must have passed over two hours in that shop searching a wand. She made her way back down Diagon Alley, which was now less crowded than in the morning, took the time to thank Mr Fortescue for his advice and then went back through the Leaky Cauldron, now completely empty of any clients. Once out of the pub, she went to the backside alley of the morning and cancelled her disguise, before beginning the combination of teleportation and walk that would bring her back to the Dursleys household.
She arrived late in the night, unlocked the door and managed to get to her bedroom without waking up her cousin, her aunt, or her uncle. She had managed to survive her first day in the magical world! Now she had to ensure it was going to stay that way for a long time.
4 August 1991, Unknown place
"So the attempt at Gringotts failed, Knight Alchemist."