Chapter 4: The Wand Shop

Chapter 4: The Wand Shop

The doorbell rang overhead. Unlike the bustling other shops on the street, this shop seemed very empty. There was only an old man with curly white hair writing something with his head down on the wooden table facing the door. As the bell rang, he raised his head and frowned at Della.

Della thought he looked a little surprised...or was it, frightened?

It was strange, but she gave her signature cute smile.

Before Della could say anything, the old man in front of her suddenly stood up and walked towards her. Della was so shocked that she put away her smile and took two steps back.

"May I have your name!"

"Della Doreen Riddle! Sir!"

The old man in front of him asked aggressively as he walked. Quasi looked at Mr. Ollivander at a loss as he had never seen him like this before. Maggie felt Della's trembling and jumped out from her collar threateningly, raising her snake head high and posing an attacking posture towards the approaching old man.

Ollivander stared at the snake in shock, and finally stopped.

"You're a Parseltongue?"

"No, no, sir, it's just my pet." Della guessed in her heart that Parseltongue was the ability to communicate with snakes, but looking at the face in front of her that was frowned to the point of being distorted, she subconsciously denied Ollivander's words.

"Mr. Ollivander! Mr. Ollivander! It was Dumbledore who asked Quarsi to bring Della here! Dumbledore said Della is a good child!"

Quasi's voice brought Ollivander back to his senses. "Dumbledore..." he murmured as if chewing something, squinting at the girl with a look of panic on her face from time to time.

Della felt his gaze like a knife scanning her face back and forth. They stared at each other for a long time, and even Maggie, who was sitting high on Della's shoulder, kept confronting each other.

Looking at Della's slightly stubborn black eyes, Ollivander still breathed a sigh of relief. He said to Della apologetically:

"I'm sorry, Della, I lost my temper."

"That's all right, sir, I just don't quite understand."

This sentence attracted Ollivander's attention again. He sighed softly, "It's just that I lost my composure. You did nothing wrong, Della."

As he spoke, he glanced at the little blue-gray snake that was still holding its head high on Della's shoulder, then turned and walked towards the inner room filled with boxes. "I think I know which wand is more suitable for you."

Ollivander pulled out a dusty box and opened it while walking towards Della, who had tentatively moved to the table. "Walnut wood, snake nerve core, twelve and a quarter inches. Try it, Della."

Della looked at the wand with a snake pattern handed to her by Ollivander, and bravely took it from the old man who had just glared at her. As soon as she held it, a wonderful feeling surged into Della's heart, and Maggie on her shoulder also leaned forward, as if wanting to get close to the wand.

"Indeed, it is tailor-made for you." Ollivander looked at the familiar little girl in front of him with mixed feelings.

"Thank you, sir, I like it very much. How much is it?"

"Seven Galleons."

Quasi quickly took out seven gold coins and placed them on the wooden table. Looking at Ollivander who was still frowning and staring at Della, Quasi took two steps back and tentatively tugged at the corner of Della's clothes.

Della glanced down, holding her wand and pursing her lips as she bowed to Ollivander, "Thank you, sir. I'll be out first."

"Come on, let's go, Della."

A hoarse voice came from above her head. Della felt that the word "Della" seemed to contain other pronunciations, which made her heart tremble. She almost ran out of Ollivander's Wand Shop.

As soon as the door was closed, Della and Quasi looked at each other, both breathing slightly. Maggie had retracted her coat while Della was running, and was tightly wrapping her arms around her thin shoulders to give her some sense of security.

Della took a deep breath and patted Maggie on the shoulder, indicating that she was fine. Noticing Kwasi's worried look, Della smiled and shook her head at him, "I'm fine, Kwasi. In fact, I'm happy about the wand in my hand."

Seeing Della waving her wand in a show-off manner, Kwasi's attention was diverted. He shouted happily again, "Della got a good wand! Kwasi is happy for Della!"

Della also smiled and took out the list, and the two of them embarked on a shopping trip again.

A large cauldron, a set of phials, a telescope, a brass balance, and various required books.

On Quasi's recommendation, Della visited many shops except the robe shop. The two of them looked carefully for more than an hour before they bought all the items.

Walking with her friends on the busy streets, and without those empty eyes, Della felt that this was the most real and happiest day in her eleven years.

It seemed that as soon as I left the town that I had filled with dolls, my emotions returned.

Della followed behind Quasi, thinking about this and that. She seldom had such emotional fluctuations. Today's novelty, suspicion, and even the panic in the wand shop all gave Della a very different experience. Some of the emotions were not pleasant, and she was still recalling them in a morbid way.

She thought that maybe it was because she hadn't acted like a human being for a long time.

After following Quasi to the door of Madam Mokin's robe shop, Della looked at the thin but tall figure reflected in the glass on the door and secretly decided not to use that ability unless it was an emergency.

At this moment, Quasi suddenly shouted at the tall figure standing by the glass next to the store, "Hagrid! Hagrid! Quasi met Hagrid!"

The giant body like a hill also turned around. Della looked at the slovenly dressed man in surprise. The dirty robe dragged to his ankles. The clothes he wore were very tight, and his messy long hair and overlong beard were intertwined together, almost as if they were one.

From a hygienic point of view, Della might not have a very good impression of him, but once the giant smiled innocently, he looked very friendly.

Quasi was already skipping towards Hagrid, and Della followed his steps, slightly shifting her toes as she also walked towards Hagrid.

"Why are you here!"

"It was Dumbledore who asked Quasi to send Della to Diagon Alley for shopping! Quasi met a very good Della!"

Della's pale face flushed slightly, and she smiled at Hagrid nervously, "Hello, I'm Della Doreen Riddle, nice to meet you."

Hagrid was stunned for a moment, then he laughed as if he didn't care. "Della looks like a really good girl. I also brought someone to Diagon Alley." He paused and winked at Della and the others in a sly way. "It's that Harry Potter."

Hearing the name that appeared in the bar, Della blinked, and Quasi in front of her shouted exaggeratedly, "Potter! Potter! It's the savior who survived the disaster!" He jumped and expressed his excitement in a voice louder than usual.

Hagrid laughed. Della wanted to ask something but felt it was inappropriate to ask now, so she could only cooperate with him by smiling. In her peripheral vision, the door of Madam Malkin's robe shop opened, and the doorbell sound that almost every shop had reached Della's ears. She subconsciously turned her head to look, and saw a black-haired boy who looked about the same age as herself pushed open the door and looked at her. Well, he should have been looking at Hagrid.

"Harry!" Hagrid called out to the boy. The little boy, who had been feeling a little uneasy looking over here, could only scratch his head and walked towards the people with strange configuration.

Walking a few steps closer, Harry scratched his head and shyly gave Della a smile, and Della responded with a smile.

To be honest, she felt that she was becoming more and more adept at smiling.

"Harry, this is Quasi, this is Della, say hello Harry, you are both freshmen."

"Della Doreen Riddle," Della smiled and added to Harry, "Hello, Harry."

"Hello...Della..."

It was evident that he was even more shy, but the excited Quasi soon freed him, and with a series of high-pitched voices he was helpless against the wonderful elf.

Finally, it was Hagrid who put an end to Quasi's excitement. Della waved goodbye to them, smiled at Quasi, and then entered the robe shop.