The Wand Core

Chapter One In Which I Meet My Father

So, there I was, having a normal summer living with Uncle Ollivander and Mother, when he shows up. Uncle Ollivander was showing me how to properly polish wands, using his as an example, though I could see my reflection in it.

"You start off by taking this copper rag, and lightly running it over the whole of your wand, like so. Put the rag aside, then —"

Mother was in the front of the shop, and we heard her scream. Uncle Ollivander and I dropped what we were doing, and ran to the front, wands out. Mother was standing there, wand out, her face red, her wand pointing at a man with his hands up. Uncle Ollivander lowered his wand.

"After all these years," he said, "and you turn up now?"

"That's what I said!" Mother shrieked, and waved her wand.

"Protego!" Uncle Ollivander cried out. The curse rebounded, and I ducked.

The man smiled at Uncle Ollivander.

"Still the same after all these years, Garrick. Never would let her lay a finger on me."

"You darn well deserve it!" Mother said.

"Hush, Lilianne," Uncle Ollivander said. "Let's hear what he has to say."

The man looked straight at me. "So you must be Ethel," he said. "My name is Capricorn Ollivander. I'm your father."

I dropped my wand, and exploded.

"Where were you?" I shrieked. "You just left Mother after I was born, and for what? You left my mother, your wife, to raise me on her own? How could you? You realize she always waited for you to come home, she never took her maiden name, Hoggin, again, her name was Ollivander! After twelve years, you come back now, just saying 'So you must be Ethel, my name is Capricorn Ollivander, I'm your father' and expect me to just say 'Oh, hello, Daddy, I'm so glad to have you home! Let's go and play in the garden!' No! I'm not stupid! Where were you last year when I was getting past a three-headed dog, Devil's Snare, a troll, and a gigantic chess set, almost watching some of my best friends die? WHERE WERE YOU?"

I was breathing heavily, and I was shaking. I had thought of what I would say, what I would do when I finally met my father, and I had never expected that. "And the name is Amber," I said.

Capricorn chuckled. "Takes after her mother, does she?"

"Very much," Uncle Ollivander said.

"You didn't answer my question," I growled.

"No, I suppose I didn't. Now that I think about it, my excuse is a poor one. The easy answer? I left for my own interests."

"What's the hard one?" I asked.

Capricorn smiled sadly. "That I cannot tell you, not until you're older."

"I am older!'

"Older than twelve, I mean."

"Why are you here, then?" Mother asked.

Capricorn held up his wand, or rather, two pieces of the same wand. "My wand got snapped a while ago, and I just made it here."

An owl tapped at the shop window, and Capricorn let it in. The owl flew right threw the spell (it had probably gone by now) and to the table. Uncle Ollivander took the letter that was on it, and the owl flew away. I took the envelope, and broke the Hogwarts seal. The book list inside made my eyes bug out. "Mother, look who wrote the book list." I handed her the booklist.

"That pompous windbag!" she cried out, "Gilderoy Lockhart, that blowhard wrote almost all of the books!"

"Gilderoy Lockhart?" Capricorn said. "Wasn't he a few years behind us?"