Garrick Ollivander and Antonio were finally able to take deep breaths as things returned to normal inside the shop. Whatever had happened inside the shop had given the wandmaker a fright.
He took deep breaths to calm his chaotic mind while Antonio made a deeper inspection of the wand.
"Undoubtedly, this wand suits you, Lord Olario," said Ollivander, after few moments, with a sigh. "I do not know if I should I call it a fortunate thing or unfortunate thing."
"The question is, do you want it?"
Antonio raised an eyebrow at this, while Ollivander continued, "What we witnessed just now was an unexpected and unheard phenomenon of magic… of wand lore."
"Let alone me, even my ancestors had not witnessed anything like this. No one can explain the phenomenon that has happened just now."
"This wand is too wild… too unexpected. Maintaining control over it and channel your spells properly would be a difficult task," he explained.
"Do you still desire to keep it, Lord Olario?" Ollivander asked, his hard gaze remaining fixed on Antonio.
"I do," replied Antonio without hesitation.
He tightened his grip on the wand and raised it again, pointing it toward the shop. The next moment, a gale of wind blew from the wand, sweeping across the shop, as Antonio declared, "This is the only wand that can handle my power."
"Now tell me its tale," he said to Ollivander.
Ollivander sighed deeply and nodded, "It seems that only this wild and untamed wand is perfect for your equally wild and untamed magic."
"This wand," he begun the tale, "has been in my family for centuries."
"It was centuries ago, when wand crafting was in its infancy and had still not reached its pinnacle. Those were times when the magical systems we see of today were in their development phase."
"One of my ancestors was in his experimenting phase, roaming all around the earth in search of magical woods and cores suitable for wand crafting."
"At some faraway place, exactly where no one knows," Ollivander continued, "this ancestor of mine encountered a peepal tree and a raven perched on its top branch.
"Mind you, by that time it had already been confirmed that the peepal tree was not a wood which could transmit magic- it was a non-magical wood, thus, unsuitable for wands. Similarly, a raven was a non-magical bird… without an ounce of magic.
"But my ancestor felt some strange sensation coming from the raven. In his memoirs, he described the sensation as otherworldly… soothing… magical… majestic… divine…" Ollivander said.
"Yet he said he could not describe it exactly," he sighed.
"Driven by curiosity, my ancestor tried to examine the tree and the raven," Garrick's expression turned wondrous as he narrated the tale, his eyes fixed on the walls as if viewing the void itself.
He continued with a tint of fascination, "But when my ancestor tried to approach the raven… its eyes flashed a deep red, probably just like what we witnessed now, and then the raven vanished without a trace."
"My ancestor was utterly disappointed when he realized that the raven was a magical bird… probably on par with a phoenix considering the way it vanished from its spot."
He continued, "He felt regret for coming too close to such a unique magical species, yet not being able to observe it closely."
"But his disappointment turned into ecstasy when he found a feather of the raven and a wooden piece from the branch of the peepal tree, on which the raven had been sitting, lying on the ground."
Ollivander turned toward Antonio as his eyes wandered to the wand in Antonio's hands, "Using that peepal branch and the raven feather as the core, my ancestor crafted this wand—fourteen and a half inches long.
"But to his utter dismay, my ancestor was not able to gain a single reaction from the wand. Disappointed, he could only let it be.
"Since then, Lord Olario, this wand has been in our family as an enigma," Garrick's face showed an expression of reverence. "Not a single person in centuries had been able to get a reaction out of it."
"You are the first person in centuries to get a reaction out of it, Lord Olario," the old wandmaker added.
"Are you sure you want this wand, Lord Olario?" Garrick questioned again. Before Antonio could answer, he continued, "I do not wish to belittle you, but this wand is a complete mystery. That peepal tree is a complete mystery, and so is that magical raven."
"And the bird… the raven only adds to the mystery. And mysterious things are always dangerous," said Garrick, his deep and frightening voice echoing in the shop.
Antonio's resolve was firm.
"I will keep it, Mr. Ollivander," he answered.
Ollivander nodded after a moment of silence.
"Very well. That would be 7 galleons," he added.
Antonio nodded and took out 7 galleons from his overcoat, placing them on the counter. With that, he departed from the shop to prepare for his new life.
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