Okay, let's see if I got this straight...
There was a dark lord called Voldemort who killed a bunch of people...
When he was just one year old, his parents were killed by Voldemort, but he couldn't be killed for an unknown reason and ended up killing the dark lord...
Now he's famous and known as The Boy Who Lived...
Last year Voldemort sort of came back, but was killed again by Harry because of a magic stone thing...
And now I'm slightly less confused... yay?
We had been walking to Ollivander's while Mrs. Weasley explained all this to me. Also she refused to say Voldemort's name and wrote it down instead... which is why people refer to him as You-Know-Who.
Anyway, we arrived at Ollivander's, rounded windows and rustic shackles on the small shop.
"Ready?" Mrs. Weasley asked both me and Ginny, giving us both a warm smile and squeezing Ginny's shoulder.
"Oh yeah!" I said, slightly louder than I meant to.
What? It's not everyday a girl gets a magic wand...
Ginny laughed a little at me, and nodded at her mom. She looked a little nervous.
We walked into the shabby shop, a bell chiming softly as the door opened. It was a rather small place with only a single chair which Mrs. Weasley sat herself in. There were dozens of narrow boxes piled as high as the ceiling.
"Hello there," a soft voice called, an air of mystery surrounding it.
"Er... hi," I said, a bit awkwardly, to the old man with pale eyes standing before me. Ginny moved from behind me to next to me and gave a little wave.
"Ah... another Weasley I see." he said while smiling. "Come, come... let us see what wand chooses you."
"Chooses her?" I asked, an eyebrow raised and lost expression on my face. I heard Mrs. Weasley chuckle very quietly behind me.
The man, who I presumed to be Mr. Ollivander, looked back over at me and smiled.
"A muggle-born, may I ask?" he said warmly and with a soft smile, his pale eyes locked on me... which was a little creepy.
"Er... no, actually." I said, more than a little awkwardly. "My mom's a Squib, I think. But I didn't really know magic existed before this summer... so..." I trailed off, a sheepish look crossing my face.
Mr. Ollivander's smile faltered a little, and his eyes closed for the briefest moment.
"Ah... your aunt wouldn't be Liala Hetz, would it?" he asked slowly, his lips pursed together.
My eyebrows raised. "How do you know that?" I asked, a look of sheer confusion entering my face.
That's just going to be what my face looks like at this point...
"Eleven and a half inches, pliable, made of hawthorn... I remember every wand I've sold." Mr. Ollivander said, almost dreamily, his eyes going distant. "I remember the exact day she walked through that door... with her older sister named-"
"Elena?" I asked, my voice getting caught slightly. Ginny put her hand on my arm, as if to calm me down.
Mr. Ollivander nodded, a sad smile plastered on his face.
"I could just tell she wanted to buy a wand, she had a sort of anger in her eyes. She looked at Liala's wand, and I saw the jealousy..." he paused and looked into my eyes. "She cut off from the Wizarding World as soon as she became of age. Tell me... is she okay with it? With you being a witch?"
I opened my mouth, about to respond, then I stopped. This world had faced dark wizards with terrible murder, and here I was, about to complain about my mom's reaction.
"Everything's fine." I said quickly, brushing off Ginny's hand and smiling at Ollivander. "I just didn't know the wand chose the witch, that's all."
Mr. Ollivander looked at me, a sad expression on his face as if he knew exactly what I was thinking.
"So... are the wands going to choose us now or..." I asked, completely changing the tone of the room.
"Ah, yes!" Mr. Ollivander said, reaching behind him for a long tape measure.
He reached for Ginny first, measuring she from shoulder to finger, wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor. It measured everywhere... and started to move on its own. I was mesmerized by it, forgetting about everything as I watched it move without a hand to guide it.
Then Mr. Ollivander came back, several boxes in his hands. "Here you are Miss. Weasley, try this one. Beechwood and unicorn hair. Ten and a quarter inches. Nice and supple. Give it a wave."
Awkwardly, Ginny swished the wand to the right, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it right away. "No... no... Here. Yew and phoenix feather, ten inches, quite whippy."
Ginny took the wand, and her expression instantly shifted. She waved it around, and a stream color shone around her.
"Yes! Oh, bravo! Very good indeed, very good!" Mr. Ollivander cried, a smile lighting his face as the wand "chose" Ginny.
Ginny was smiling. Her wand still clutched in her hand, she turned to me her grin lighting up the room.
"That was amazing..." she said quietly, her eyes getting slightly dreamy.
"Hey! Wake up, dreamy girl!" I joked. Ginny smiled at me and rolled her eyes.
Mr. Ollivander walked up to me next, and tugged my arm slightly to get me closer to the tape measure that was lying on the floor. He quickly started measuring me the same way he did to Ginny, letting it measure me even after he left to grab boxes.
Again, I watched it transfixed. My eyes never leaving the glowing silver strand.
"Try this one... Yew and dragon heartstring. Nine and a quarter inches. Solid." Mr. Ollivander told me, handing me a reddish-brown wand with curves on the bottom.
My finger closed around it and I waved it once through the air. A vase shattered in front of me, flowers showering the floor. The wand was snatched from my hand.
"No... maybe less..." he trailed off, grabbing another wand and handing it to me. "Willow and unicorn hair, nine inches, nice and unyielding."
I took the wand, and it instantly felt wrong. I got through half a swing before severely boxes flew from their places, and crashed to the floor. Mr. Ollivander quickly took the wand while shaking his head.
"No... definitely not... maybe..." he grabbed another box and took out a black wand with silver grooves and curves along the handle. "Blackthorn and dragon heartstring. Eleven and a quarter inches. Nice and supple."
For the third time I grabbed the wand from his hand, but this time was different. I felt a... connection. It felt warm in my hand. I waved it around once and a flash of light burst from the tip. It hit the broken vase and exploded into glittering sparks.
"Wonderful! Oh, very good, very good." Mr. Ollivander cheered.
I smiled and walked back over to Ginny. "You're right... it was amazing." I whispered, looking at the wand in my hand.
"Look who's dreamy now?" Ginny said with a smile.