Wicked Eclipse

The hotel that the Kostas family stayed at was right outside of Diagon Alley. The room was just big enough for the four of them. The building was old and smelled like it—mildew and a library mixed together. Hardwood floors creaked with every step, but nobody minded all that much. From the right vantage point, Alex could see the busy shopping center from the window. She thought business would slow down after eight o’clock, but all it did was bring in a different age group. The Leaky Cauldron got particularly crowded as well as the two other pubs in the area.

After a full day of shopping, the kids had their robes, cauldrons, most of their school books (there were a few editions that could only be bought in the states), and more candy than they knew what to do with. Ben and Alex spent a couple of hours looking through every page of every book, pointing to different passages and pictures, but eventually the excitement of it all wore off just enough for them to get drowsy and crawl into one of the two beds in the room.

“Do you think they’ll like it there?” Melody asked once she heard soft snores coming from her son. Alex was next to him, curled up under the covers and clutching one of her stuffed animals as she slept soundly.

“Hm? Where?”

“Ilvermorny. Do you think they’ll enjoy their time there?”

Henry dropped the Daily Prophet he was reading and looked at his wife. “Of course they will! What’s not to like about it? Just shopping with them takes me back.” He sighed nostalgically. “Those seven years at that school were some of the best of my life. Made great friends, met you there—“

“Got into trouble whenever you could,” Melody added slyly.

“Yeah, that too, but it was a good time and I learned so much while attending. I made amazing memories at Ilvermorny and you did, too, so I know they will.”

Melody chewed on her lip. “I just… Sometimes I think Hogwarts would be better for them. They would get a little more cultured, have some of the most talented witches and wizards right in their backyard…”

“Sweetheart, have you heard about the things that have gone on at Hogwarts? Their mortality rate is through the roof!”

The brunette waved him off. “That was during the war.”

“No, just last year, two students died while at Hogwarts. Well, I guess technically one, but the other was petrified and no one has been able to revive the little girl yet. Probably have a damn basilisk slithering around in there again.”

“Hen, that’s ridiculous.”

“No,” the wizard looked at her pointedly. “You’re being ridiculous. Ilvermorny is a fantastic school and it’s got great teachers as well. I’m sure at least half of our own professors are still there, ready to give our children just as good of an education as they gave us. It’s ranked one of the best wizarding schools in the world, and I know Hogwarts is as well, but they’ve got all of those House rivalries. There are kids that go there whose parents still associate with Death Eaters, not to mention Europe’s Ministry of Magic is a little shady, babe.”

“Not since Shacklebolt took office,” Melody told him.

“Shacklebolt has made it better, but there are still questionable people who work for him. I just don’t trust it.”

“You don’t trust the MACUSA either.”

“Well, I trust it more than the Ministry.”

They both lapsed into silence for a few moments until Henry reached over from his chair to put his hand on his wife’s. “They will do wonderfully at Ilvermorny and if you get worried about them not being cultured enough, there are great exchange programs that they can participate in when they get older. They can go to Beauxbatons for a year or Castelobruxo. They can spend a summer with their great aunt here, if you’d like, but Ilvermorny is where they belong.”

Melody sucked on the inside of her cheek for a few seconds before nodding. “I know, I know. I just want what’s best for them.”

“I do, too, and I think this is it. They’re gonna be great and they’re gonna make great friends and great memories and the best part is that they get to do it together. No matter what the world throws at them, Ben and Alex are always going to have each other and that’s gonna make school and the rest of their lives so much easier.”

The witch smiled and squeezed her husband’s hand. “You’re right. Now, how about we get to bed, too. We’ve got another long day ahead of us.”

“We do,” Henry got up and stretched, yawning as he did. “They’ve got to pick out wands. You know how long that can take.”



Alex and Ben skipped happily down the street, their parents hurrying behind them. They had quickly gotten over being told that they couldn’t wear their school robes that day, pouts replaced by wide smiles when Henry and Melody let them know that they were going to be picking out wands, or that wands would be picking them out, really.

They had passed Ollivander’s the day before, so the children rushed for it, remembering where it was situated in the mess of shops. Melody smiled when they stepped in. It was exactly how she remembered it, which was a little strange considering it and most of the other stores had been nearly annihilated in the last war. Her parents had brought her to the renowned wand shop when she was her own children’s age and she promised herself that Ben and Alex would get nothing less than an Ollivander wand. They were known throughout the world for being top-notch. Henry argued that his own Jonker wand was just as good, but Melody truly didn’t believe that. No one could beat Ollivander.

Still, the shelves were jam packed with thin boxes, one stacked on top of the other from floor to ceiling on every wall. Shelves took up more than half of one side of the small shop, there really only being a small space to stand in. There were a couple of seats by the front window, no doubt for tired parents to sit in during the rush that always happened before the school year started. The only thing that seemed to be different was that it wasn’t quite as dusty as it used to be.

The sound of wheels turning on metal reached their ears and made the family look to the shelves. A young man slid into a view, standing on a ladder that looked like it belonged in a huge library.

“Hi, hello, how can I help you?”

“We are here to get the kids their first wands.”

The man frowned. “Americans?”

All four of them nodded.

“Doesn’t Ilvermorny provide wands for their students?” The man asked, climbing down from the ladder and rounding the corner. He dusted his hands off and placed them on his hips.

“Yes,” Henry said with a smile, “but my wife here is convinced that our children are too good for American wands and insisted on coming here.”

“Good choice,” the shopkeeper winked. “Well, my name is Jared Ollivander. I took over the shop when my grandfather died, but I assure you, he taught me everything he knew about wandmaking.”

Melody nodded, shaking the man’s hand as he extended it to every one of them.

“So,” he leaned down to look Ben and Alex in the eyes. “Where should we start?”

“I had a phoenix feather core,” Melody piped up again. “He had Wampus hair. I don’t know if that helps at all.”

“It does, actually. Gives me at least a little idea, which is better than nothing. Give me a mo’.”

He shuffled off into the shelves and they could hear rustling and what sounded like some boxes dropping. He returned shortly after, arms full of the skinny containers.

“Now, all I can really tell you is not to be scared when brandishing a wand. You will know when one has chosen you. Believe me. Here you go.” Jared handed each child a wand and motioned for them to flick them.

Alex felt power shoot through the wood and the desk with the old cash register on it cracked horribly down the middle. She immediately dropped the wand and covered her mouth with her hands.

“It’s okay, love,” Jared told her, picking it up off the ground. “Now we know that wasn’t the right one.” He pulled out his own wand from his pants and with the flick of his wrist and the incantation, “Reparo,” the desk was back to normal.

Meanwhile, young Benjamin had sent a stack of papers in a corner flying everywhere—another mess that the shopkeeper easily cleaned up. He took both wands, handed back the opposites, and when they failed again, he put them back into their respective boxes and gave them two more to try. The routine went on for some time.

Ben was the first to find his—an eleven inch wand made of maple wood with a phoenix feather core. He beamed along with his parents, holding onto it tightly.

“It’s amazing!” He exclaimed. “Feels like something I was supposed to have this whole time.”

Jared nodded as he grinned, then he turned back to Alexandra. “Now we’ve just got you.”

She sighed, and peered at all the wands on the shelves. “Can I just look around for a little bit?”

“Of course! You might even feel pulled toward a wand. That’s something I won’t be able to sense, so go right ahead.”

She sauntered over to a shelf, fingering through the boxes and reading the labels. Maple, ash, pine, pear, beech, blackthorn, cedar, dogwood, phoenix feathers, unicorn hair, Wampus hair, Thunderbird feathers, Rougarou hair, there were just so many.

She walked around for several minutes, bending down to read what kind of wands were sitting on the floor. It felt much warmer down there and she scrunched her face up when she read dragon heartstring on one of the boxes. She pulled it out and realized it was the box that was making her warm. With shaky hands, Alex opened it, revealing a beautiful dark wood. She picked it up and breathed deeply. Energy ran through her hand and up her arm. It was comforting and right.

“Alex, are you okay, honey?” She heard her mother call out.

“Yeah!” The girl knelt down to gather the box then began making her way out of the labyrinth of shelves. She emerged, holding the wand victoriously.

Jared frowned, taking it from her and examining it. “Where did you find this?” He asked.

“She pointed back to where she had come. “Way in the back, down on the ground.”

He seemed surprised.

“What? Is there something wrong with it?” Mr. Kostas asked.

“No, no, it’s just that I haven’t had a child choose a wand with dragon heartstring as the core in a long time. A few years, actually.”

“Dragon heartstring… Those wands are usually used in—“

“Dark magic, yes, but it all has to do with the witch or wizard wielding it. Plus, we haven’t seen a whole lot of the dark arts since the fall of you-know-you. They make very strong bonds with their owners and can perform great magic. Wands with these cores also learn faster than others. It’s a great piece, really.”

Henry and Melody nodded, though the witch had a sick look on her face. Alex reached up to take her wand from the shopkeeper again, smiling when she wrapped her fingers around the wood and that feeling of warmth spread throughout her body. Her cheeks flushed. She felt powerful.

Jared grinned and shook his head. “Yes, there is absolutely no denying that the choice has been made.”

“Well, alright then,” Henry clapped his hands together. “How about we get all this paid for then we can hit Wiseacre’s and Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes before dinner.”

“Maybe we can even run by Eeylop’s Owl Emporium,” Melody said, laughing at the way both of the children went haywire.

“Yes! Please! Please can we go! I want to see the owls!”

Mr. Kostas took care of the wands, thanking the young Mr. Ollivander profusely, and the family walked out and down the alley toward the wizarding equipment shop. None of them were aware of the pair of women who were following them—one a young lady aged no more than thirty and the other a girl who looked about the same age as Ben and Alex.

They spent quite a while in Wiseacre’s, gathering parchment and quills for school work as well as a few study guides, then went into Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes where Alex and Benjamin ran around looking at everything. The shelves were lined with darkness powder, Decoy Detonators, sneakoscopes, Bombtastic Bombs, Chinese Fortune Sticks, Extendable Ears, Never Ending Fireworks, Pygmy Puffs, Boxing Telescopes, and all different kinds of candies that could make you faint, vomit, or transform into a canary. It was a mad house and it took quite a while to get to the front of the line to pay, but when they did, they were greeted by a very friendly redheaded man who scanned and bagged everything expertly.

“You lot find everything alright today?” He asked with a crooked grin.

“Oh yeah,” Henry told him. “I’ve never been here before. Last time I shopped in Diagon Alley, it was all about Gambol and Jape’s.”

The ginger let out a short laugh. “Gambol and Jape’s had nothing on us. When my brother and I opened this shop up about eight years ago, we stole that whole customer base. Felt bad for them, but they were getting a bit… Out of touch with the youth.”

“Well, eight years ago, you were probably one of the kids shopping at his place!” Melody said with a laugh. The man didn’t look very old at all.

“Yeah, Fred and I actually dropped out of Hogwarts to open this place up. Drove our mum mad.”

“Well, I’m glad you did!” Alex said happily. “This place is great! I’m glad you left school.”

Ben elbowed her, “You’re not supposed to say that!”

“No,” the owner laughed. “I’m glad I left school, too. Anyway, I’m George Weasley, so whenever you come back, ask for me and I’ll be more than happy to help you out!”

“Thank you so much!”

The children left with all of the essential joke products and grumbling stomachs. Eeylorp’s Owl Emporium was going to have to wait as food was a more pressing matter. The family wandered into The Leaky Cauldron just as they had the day before and found a table in the middle of the building. It was more of a pub than anything, but it served food and there was so much history in the place that it was worth putting up with the boisterous crowd at the bar.

Ben and Alex listened to their mother talk about how the place was nearly demolished in the 1900s due to the creation of Charing Cross Road, but the community had rallied and performed memory charms on those planning on flattening the building, forcing the no-maj’s to make new plans for the important road so that they could keep their pub.

“How do you know so much about these places?” Ben asked. This was not the first time she had given them a history lesson about Diagon Alley.

“Well,” Melody chewed on a particularly tough piece of her pork chop. “I learned a lot in the years I spent with my aunt. I was young, but I remember it well. I actually really liked living around here, but I knew I couldn’t stay.”

“Why not?”

“My family left England for a reason, kids—a very good one.”

“What reason?” Alex questioned.

Her mother just laughed. “I’ll tell you when you’re older, sweetheart.”

They ate happily, making small conversation. In the corner of the pub, the woman and child who had been following the Kostas family sat, watching them intently.