Chapter 3

Santana was no stranger to Diagon alley. She was there all the time with Quinn and their other friends Mike and Sam to do shopping or hang out at the ice cream shop. Yet walking through the Leaky Couldron this time felt like the first time. This time she was coming with a singular purpose, entering shops she'd never had a reason to even look at before. 

While she was excited to buy every single item on her school list, there was one thing she could not wait to get her hands on. As soon as they were through the archway she and Quinn ran straight to Olivander's. 

"I should have known" Her mother laughed when she caught up to them. 

"Well you both won't be getting your wands at the same time, so Quinn why don't you and I go get started on your robes."

"Can't I watch Santana get her wand?"

"Quinnie that could take forever." Mrs Fabray gently stroked her daughter's hair. 

"Please mum" Quinn begged. 

"Please" Santana clasped her hands in front of her, almost like she was praying. 

"Come on Judy, you remember the excitement." 

Smiling at Mrs Lopez, Mrs Fabray let her hand drop to Quinn's shoulder. 

"Alright, let's go in then."

"YES" Santana and Quinn both cheered. 

Walking into Olivander's felt life changing for Santana. The shop wasn't as large as she remembered it from when Leon had come to get his own wand, but the towers of wand boxes gave it a grand feeling none the less. Somewhere in the seemingly unorganised disaster of a shop was Santana's wand, and that made it the most important shop in Diagon alley, regardless of how it looked.

"Aaah" A loud whisper came from somewhere in the shop, raspy and strained like the person was trying hard not to cough. Santana and Quinn glanced at each other. "The time has come then has it?"

An old man came wobbling out from behind one of the precariously piled towers of boxes, with long wispy silver-white hair and skin so wrinkled it looked like it no longer fit him. His eyes were grey, but seemed to focus with laser like accuracy wherever he looked, piercing into Santana and making her uncomfortable. 

"What time?" Quinn asked quietly, like because the man was whispering she had to whisper too. 

His gaze snapped to her, allowing Santana to take a breath. 

"The time…." he said slowly, "When the souls of young witches and wizards begin the search for their perfect match."

Santana frowned. 

"Their match?"

"Looking for the connection through which they will finally be set free. I help them on their journey."

Again, Quinn and Santana glanced at each other. 

"So Olivander's just as creepy as ever" Santana heard her mother whisper to Mrs Fabray. She had to agree. Everything about the man before her was unsettling. 

After studying her and Quinn for a long moment, walking around them both, he stopped in front of them and looked at their mothers. 

"Who's first then?"

"Me." Santana said quickly, stepping forward.

A tape measure appeared out of nowhere, stretching itself out beside Santana to take her height. Olivander looked at the measurement and nodded. 

"Arms out" he instructed. As soon as Santana's arms were spread the tape measure took to measuring the length from one arm to another, and then from one shoulder to the other. Every time it waited for Olivander to nod before taking up a new position. 

Finally, when it had measured round her head and the length of her fingers, it rolled itself up and hovered in the air in front of Olivander. 

"Wait here." Olivander said, before disappearing further in the shop. 

"That man" Mrs Fabray said, shaking her head. "I was always convinced he had a history in the dark arts."

"He's harmless." Mrs Lopez told an alarmed looking Quinn. "Strange, but very good at what he does."

"The best" Mrs Fabray said, nodding. "But then again, so was Lord-"

"Don't Judy" Mrs Lopez snapped. Mrs Fabray laughed, clearly amused by her friend's reaction. Neither woman seemed concerned that their daughters had no idea what they were talking about. "This could take a while, let's sit."

As their mothers situated themselves on the benches by the door, Santana turned to Quinn.

"What do you think it's going to look like?"

"Black" Quinn said immediately. Both girls smirked. "Oh I don't know. Every wand I've ever seen just seems to fit the person it belongs to, sometimes in a way you might never even think of before you see it."

"That's true."

"I think it'll probably be curved though."

Santana went quiet, lost in her thinking. Much like with which Hogwarts house she would be in, she had spent a lot of time thinking about what her wand would look like when she finally got one. She'd pictured how she would change Leon's or her parents' wands to fit her better, but it was always things like the colour or the length. She had never been able to come up with an original design, or like Quinn said, decide if she preferred the curved or straight ones. Given how different wands could be, Santana had no idea what to expect. 

"Yours will probably be a light colour" she finally said, deciding not to think too hard about it. She was about to find out after all. 

Olivander took twenty minutes to return. When he did, it was with a floating pile of boxes trailing behind him.

"Alright." He turned to the boxes once he was before them and selected a box from the centre. The pile didn't collapse, instead retaining its structure as if nothing had been disturbed. He handed Santana the wand inside. 

Nothing happened. 

"Try waving it" Mrs Lopez said. Santana raised her hand, but the wand was gone before she could wave it. 

"Why didn't you tell me you used your left!" he said angrily. Santana frowned. 

"You didn't ask."

"Useless, all useless…" he muttered, shooing away the pile. They disappeared to the back of the store, presumably from wherever Olivander had gotten them from. Olivander went in the opposite direction, down an aisle created by the towers of boxes. 

Santana turned to frown at her mother, her arms raised in question. Her mother shrugged. 

Olivander returned much sooner than the first time, this time with only four boxes. 

He unwrapped the first box and handed Santana the sleek blue wand with silver wrapped around the handle like a coiling snake. Nothing happened when she waved it. 

The next was a dark brown one, made of what looked like mahogany. It had carvings up the entire length of the wand with a slight bump on the handle for grip. Nothing happened when she waved it either. 

The third one was also brown, though it mixed with pink. That alone was bad enough, but then the whole wand looked like it was made of beads. Santana cringed as soon as she saw it, almost wanting to refuse to try it, but she wasn't sure how Olivander would take it, so she gingerly gripped the handle. 

Sparks exploded from the tip so powerful that Santana dropped the wand. Olivander ducked quickly out of the way as the pile of boxes to their left burst into flames. 

Mrs Lopez jumped from her seat, waving her wand at the flames and shouting "Aguamenti"

The water that erupted from the tip of her wand quickly put out the flames, some of it splashing onto Olivander and Santana as well. 

"I'm so sorry Mr Olivander." Santana said, scared he'd kick her out.

Olivander was shaking his head, staring at the wand on the floor. 

Quinn and Mrs Fabray were laughing behind them, but Santana couldn't even bring herself to glare at them. Olivander still hadn't spoken and it was scaring her.

"She didn't mean it." Mrs Lopez said. 

Olivander bent and picked the wand from the floor, examining the tip. Still holding the wand close to his face, Santana noticed his eyes shift to focus on her. 

Her mother was still talking.

"She doesn't even know how to do that. I'm sure you understand-"

"Yes" Olivander said, looking up. "Yes I think I do."

His gaze seemed even more piercing than before, with the off-putting greyness of his eyes causing Santana to feel like she was staring into the eyes of the dead. She understood why Mrs Fabray believed he was or used to be evil. 

He turned abruptly, making Santana blink, and vanished quickly in yet another direction. 

"Don't worry Santana." Her mother said, patting her back. "It happens."

"Should have known you'd set something on fire" Quinn laughed. "You always were a hot head-"

"Maybe you'd like me to set you on fire." Santana snapped. She turned away from both Quinn and her mum, not wanting to see the shock at her outburst. She knew it had been un-called for, and if it were Quinn who'd set the place on fire she would definitely have teased her as well. But she was still reeling from the experience. It was like something inside her had reacted badly with the wand and that was what caused the explosion. Her left hand was still tingling slightly. 

Olivander's reappearance broke the tension in the room. 

"I've had this for a long time." As he walked to them, he paused to look at a piece of parchment that Santana wasn't sure had been there before, nodded, and then opened the box. It floated as he used both hands to pull out the wand. "Yes I think this will do."

Santana thought it was beautiful. A deep purple colour with white carvings along it like vines creeping up the wand all the way to the tip. The handle itself was larger than the rest of the wand. Thicker.  But it had no markings. Unlike the rest of the wand, which was circular, it was square shaped, with the point at which its shape changed marked with a silver ring. 

As soon as Santana touched it, the tip of the wand glowed. Santana snapped her hand back, afraid it was a sign of another fire. 

Olivander smiled, not a very comforting sight, and held it out for her. 

"Take it."

Hesitantly, Santana reached out and wrapped her fingers round the wand. Her thumb rested just below the silver ring, the handle fitting her hand perfectly.

The wand glowed again, stronger than the first time, but there were no sparks, no explosion. A gust of wind rustled Santana's hair and robes, making her laugh. 

Olivander's smile widened. 

"Acacia, of course." He said, looking almost awed. "I have only ten acacia wood wands in my store. Those remaining from the total of twenty five that I made. I am always very interested to see what the owners of my acacia wands will go on to do as they are tricky wands that often refuse to produce magic for any but their owner, and withhold their best effects from all but those most gifted."

Santana grinned, looking down at her wand. 

"What are the other properties?" her mother asked. 

"Phoenix feather, which makes this pairing all the more….interesting."

"Why's that?" Santana asked. 

"Well Acacia is already one of the more sensitive wand woods, but phoenix feather is the pickiest core, and the hardest to tame. That the hardest wood and core to tame have chosen you is….interesting. Says a lot about the will of your spirit"

Santana didn't really know what Olivander was talking about, because she couldn't figure out how a piece of wood could be picky, but she couldn't help feeling proud, like she'd done something exceptional. 

"Rigid" Olivander continued, "Which speaks to both your temperaments and therefore does not surprise me at all, and 10 and a quarter inches, nothing remarkable there."

She turned to Quinn with a smirk, ignoring Olivander's last sentence.

"Beat that."

  ****

Finding Quinn's wand took longer than Santana's. She went through over thirty wands, the discarded pile of boxes was nearly as high as the rows that surrounded them. 

"And people say I'm stubborn" Santana groaned. She leaned dramatically against her mother, twirling her wand between her fingers as had become habit since getting it. 

"It's not like she can't decide which one she wants" Mrs Lopez whispered, into Santana's hair. 

"The wand chooses the witch remember Santana" Quinn called. 

"Quite right." Olivander called from somewhere in the shop. 

"Just goes to show how annoying you are." Santana laughed. "Even the wands don't want to be stuck with you."

"At least I haven't set anything on fire." Quinn quipped just as Olivander reappeared and she turned to him. Santana glared at the back of her head. 

It amazed Santana how calm Olivander remained through the entire process. He didn't seem annoyed by the fact that none of the wands were right for Quinn. Even Quinn was getting impatient, yet it was simply on to the next one for him, and when his pile ran out, he was all too happy to go get more for her to try. 

"Quinn come on!" Santana moaned, now dropping into her mother's lap. 

"I'M TRYING!"

From the tip of the wand Quinn was holding, red, green, blue and gold streaks of light came swirling out. Santana sat up, eyes wide. There was a warm look in Quinn's eyes that she'd never seen before. She imagined that's how she looked when her wand had chosen her. The colours swirled around Quinn's head, then down to her feet and vanished. 

"Beautiful" Quinn's mum said. 

"That's Elm for you. Produces the most elegant and sophisticated magic."

Santana snapped out of her reverie as Quinn smirked at her. 

"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah" Santana rolled her eyes, a smirk forming on her lips. "The wood for stuck up, posh people."

Quinn laughed, walking towards Santana. Now that she was closer, Santana could really see the wand design. It was dark grey with a fat handle that thinned as you got to the tip. The whole thing was completely straight, with indents and crevices that looked like marble carved by waves. The bottom of the handle was covered in light brown wood that had a very thin gold lining. 

Elegant was definitely the word that came to mind as Santana looked at it. 

"Nice" she had to say honestly. 

Quinn smiled proudly at her new wand. 

"Thanks."

  ****

Santana went about the rest of the shopping with her wand securely in her hand. She hadn't put it away or let it go, even when she was being fitted for her robes. Madam Malkin didn't seem to notice though. She measured Quinn and Santana at the same time, marking where robes needed to be trimmed. 

When she was done, she took out a piece of parchment and wrote it all down. 

"Names?" she asked kindly. 

"Santana Lopez" Santana said, as she and Quinn stepped down from their podiums.

"Quinn Fabray."

Madam Malkin wrote their names down on the parchment. 

"I'll just keep note of this for when you need your house robes. Your mothers have already placed an order."

It was all becoming more and more real to Santana. She had a wand and house robes on the way. All that was left was to actually get to Hogwarts. The anticipation was burning in her stomach. The thought that she still had three weeks to September first was a painful one. 

She and Quinn found their mothers at Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour with two cups of ice cream waiting for them. 

"That's it then isn't it?" Quinn's mum asked, looking down at Quinn's list. "We've got all the books, the robes, the potions ingredients and cauldron, wands…yeah."

"Unless you want an owl?" Santana's mum raised a questioning eyebrow. 

Santana thought about it. Leon already had an owl. She couldn't see what she needed one as well for. The only people she would need to send letters to were her parents. Everyone else she would be at school with. 

"No" she said, shaking her head. 

'I'd like a cat." Quinn said. 

"Really?" Santana frowned. 

Quinn cocked her head. "Why not?"

"Why?"

Biting her lip, Quinn looked round the alley for the pet shop. 

"Mmh you're right" she said, watching a boy walk out with a cat in his arms. "Better not."

"Alright then, so we can go home." Mrs Lopez stood up, throwing her ice cream cup in the trash. "I'm sure Leon is dying to see your wands."