Artemis Hexley and the Portrait of the Vault

Chapter 13: Growing Pains

Artemis found herself agreeing to accompany Rakepick to Diagon Alley, albeit begrudgingly. After all, how else was she supposed to get to Ollivander's and ask him to remake her wand for her?

She ran back to her dormitory; bid good morning to Tonks, Penny, and Chiara, all three of whom were now milling around the Hufflepuff common room; collected the pieces of her broken wand and the bottle of Garrotting Gas Professor Snape had given her a year previously; and returned to Professor Rakepick's office, ready to travel to Diagon Alley via the Floo Network.

The green flames carried Artemis from the fireplace in Rakepick's office to the Leaky Cauldron pub, and she and Professor Rakepick walked through the bustling Diagon Alley from the inn to Ollivander's wand shop in stony silence. Once they were inside the shop, Rakepick strode to the counter and rang the bell.

An older gentleman appeared from the back of the shop, and walked out past the shelves of stacked boxes to greet them. As the dim light hit his face, Artemis recognised his features. It was Mr Ollivander, the wand-maker.

"Madam Rakepick," Ollivander said, a note of surprise in his voice. "Or, Professor Rakepick, as I should say. And..." his eyebrows raised as his eyes settled on Artemis, "Artemis Hexley. What can I do for you?"

"Miss Hexley's wand has suffered a misfortune," said Rakepick, sharply. Artemis shot a dirty look at her, which she ignored. "It needs replacing."

"Or fixing," Artemis said, before Ollivander had the chance to speak. She placed the pieces of wand on the counter in front of him. "Can you-"

"No," Ollivander shook his head.

"You barely even looked at it."

"Wands are not just wooden sticks, Miss Hexley. You cannot simply put them back together again," his eyes glittered behind his glasses. "It is clear that this wand is broken beyond repair. One cannot help but wonder how it came to be damaged so very extensively."

His eyes settled on Rakepick, who met his gaze unwaveringly. Artemis was disappointed, but hadn't lost hope.

"I thought you might say that," she sighed. "But, look, the dragon heartstring is fine. It's all in one piece still. Maybe you could remake the wand."

"That won't work, I'm afraid."

"No, but listen. You could take the heartstring and put it inside a new casing, exactly the same as before, and-"

"I know why you wish to have this particular wand returned to you, Miss Hexley," said Mr Ollivander, half-smiling. "I remember every wand I ever sold, you know. I am fully aware of how this wand and that of your brother's are linked. However, I cannot remake the wand. That is not how it works."

"There were others, though, weren't there? With heartstrings from the same dragon?" Artemis wasn't ready to give up, not yet. "Maybe I could try one of those instead."

"You tried them before. None was a match."

"But, I just want-"

"It does not matter what you want," Ollivander said. There was a harshness in his voice that hadn't been there before. Artemis glowered at him, and he smiled, ever so slightly. "The wand chooses the wizard - or the witch - Miss Hexley. No one is quite sure why that is the case, but that is how it always has been. The wands that you tried before did not choose you, I'm afraid. I could reuse the dragon heartstring from the wand you have broken, however, in doing so, I would be making an entirely new wand. There is no guarantee that it would choose you again."

"But it might? It could?"

"Even if it could," Rakepick cut in, "you cannot afford to wait for Mr Ollivander to make you a new wand. Not when you have your O.W.L.s approaching. As your teacher, I must put my foot down on this matter. You will be getting a new wand. Today."