Wand Shopping (OPEN)

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"So like milk chocolate," she corrected, nodding at his words. "Because chocolate can be dark and then it just looks black." With a smile, she added, "Spike is a nice name. I can never think of names for anything, so I let mum do that, but sometimes the names she gives are yucky and then I have to try really hard to think of a nice one."

"Well, I t-think we have a n-new professor this y-year."

Breaking into a wide grin, she giggled excitedly. "Who was the old one? Was he a bad one? Is that why you need a new Professor? Who is the new Professor?" The questions came as she thought of them, her mind unable to process what she was saying until they were actually out of her mouth - but by then, it was too late to take them back and so she just left it. Besides, she truly did want to know all that.

When he mentioned what he liked to read, she nodded enthusiastically. It was so nice to find someone else who liked books, so they could talk about it. "I've read about the World Wars before, but only the true stories, not the made up ones. Mum has an old copy of some diary written by a girl. Anne, her name was. It was really sad but really good! I hope nobody ever reads my diary." Moving aside to let an employee grab a box above her, she paused momentarily. Once he left, she turned back to Finley. "I read a lot of books by this Muggle author named Enid Blyton. Have you heard of her? She writes a lot about fairies and elves and magic but I don't think she was a witch because it's all wrong!"

As the question of whether she could show him her abilities came, she hesitated for a moment. Her parents always told her not to show off, but then again, Finley had asked, so it wasn't her bragging, was it? She didn't think so. Nodding, she replied, "Sure! But I'm not very good at it yet, so it might not work... I can change my hair colour for you if you want? What's your favourite colour?"

"C-can we be f-friends? No m-matter what house y-your in?"

Frowning slightly and cocking her head to the side, Brooke gave him a confused look. "Aren't we already friends? Or do you have to ask before we can become friends? I didn't know you had to, if you do."

Bobbing her head up and down - it was a wonder it didn't fall off - she grinned. "But you're a Muggleborn, so I think it's normal for you to not be that good at magic. My daddy was a Muggleborn too and he told me charms was the worst subject for him for a long time, but he practised a lot and then got better! Maybe you can ask him to tell you how to be better?" she said, matter of factly, without intent of being rude or saying anything hurtful.

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"L-like milk c-chocolate." Finley agreed softly, nodding as she said Spike was a nice name. It was a little aggressive, Finley thought, for such a loving animal, but his dad liked the name, so Finley didn't openly say that. Though it didn't seem like it was uncommon for parents to pick bad names, because Brooke had the same issue.

"T-The old one w-was an older w-witch. S-She wasn't very g-good." Finley explained with a small shrug. "I t-think the n-new one is going to b-be the m-man who teaches DADA, P-Professor Newbury?" Finley explained, wondering if the witch knew anything about the current professors at all.

The book conversation had Finley nodding enthusiastically. He'd read Anne Frank's diary, that was a very good book. And then the mention of Enid Blyton. "Of c-course! She is w-wonderful!" Finley replied with a grin. "W-which is your favourite?" He asked, letting out a soft laugh at just how wrong Enid Blyton had got magical beings so wrong. "I g-guess that's M-Muggles for you." He joked softly, knowing his mind set had been quite the same only a year ago until such an amazing world had been opened to him.

"Sure! But I'm not very good at it yet, so it might not work... I can change my hair colour for you if you want? What's your favourite colour?"

"B-blue!" Finley replied with a smile, anticipation quite clearly showing on his face to see how the witch could do magic before even going to Hogwarts. That, well, he really wished he could do that.

The question about being friends made Finley's eyes look a little worried. "I d-don't know... I've n-never had a f-friend." He admitted softly, not looking to the witch because he didn't want to see the look of disgust that was probably inevitably coming his way.

"But you're a Muggleborn, so I think it's normal for you to not be that good at magic."

Ouch. "W-well, there was H-Hermione Granger. S-she was a-amazing." Finley replied softly. The notion of practicing wasn't one he was unfamiliar with, he just wasn't very good at the practical application. "I-I'll get there, one d-day." He managed deciding not to say much more on it because it made him feel vastly uncomfortable talking about how bad he was at magic.

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"That's a very nice colour. Like my hair, but mummy says it's vain to say that I look nice all the time. But I think brown is a nice colour for my hair. It wasn't nice black, or yellow, or red," she commented, her tone matter-of-factly, because to her, that was what she was doing - stating facts.

At the mention of the flying Professor she nodded enthusiastically. "DADA is my favourite class," she announced, then paused and tilted her head slightly. "Or at least I think it will be. I read all the textbooks already and that seems the most interesting. Well, that and CoMC because the animals sound amazing."

The question made her stop and think. There had been so many over the years that she had to take a moment just to remember. "Series or single book?" she asked, but didn't actually wait for an answer. "And magical or not? Because the Faraway Tree series was so fun to read but the magic was all wrong. Well, I guess the tree could have had an undetectable expansion charm but the fairies were not proper ones and it was weird with the Muggle children and all that. And then there's the Mallory Towers series which is just a Muggle boarding school for girls and I reread them so many times, and I really wanted to go to a boarding school - and now I am! Oh, and the Five Find Outers, also Muggle based. That one is amazing too, because it's muggle children solving mysteries. Fatty seemed like a fun person I wish I could meet him, and Bess seems so nice too. But of course I know they're not real."

She stopped to take a deep breath before continuing, her mind going at a speed that would be considered extremely fast for others, but was normal for her. "And for single books there's this one about a woodland elf.. No, pixie, named Pip. That one was really funny because he always gets in trouble with his aunt. And there's another magic one about a man who has wandless magic and goes out to put wrongs to right, Mr. Pink Whistle, but there are a few books on him so I guess that's not a single one... Which ones have you read? And which are your favourites?" The sudden abrupt ending to her rant was a result of her mouth getting tired, despite the fact that her brain was still sprouting out information.

When he gave his favourite colour, she smiled. "Like the ocean? My favourite colour is purple. But I can't have purple hair, that's silly." She giggled. "Well, mum says it's silly to have now. When I'm older she says I can decide. But let me make it blue for you now."

Scrunching up her nose tightly and squeezing her eyes shut - because this was the only way she knew how to concentrate fully on something - she imagined her hair turning a dark blue. The tingling of her scalp told her that the change was starting, and she waited for a minute or so before opening her eyes; that was how long it normally took. She knew that it was only suppose to take a few seconds, but she wasn't quite there yet. Grinning at him, she pulled a fistful of hair sideways to look at it herself. "Do you like it?"

When he admitted he didn't have friends, she gave him a funny look. "Are you sure? Why don't you have friends? I have many many many friends. Everyone I meet is my friend! That's what mummy tells me - think of everyone as a friend and treat them like it. I think she's very smart because then it's not easy to be mean to them."

At the mention of another witch, also Muggle-born, she took a few moments to remember who that was. "Ohh, her. Well, she was .. What is that word dad used?" She frowned a little before breaking into a grin. "Gifted! Yea, that. She was gifted. So you can't say every muggle born has to do that well because she was just able to do good at that. I think everyone has something they are good at, and some things they are very bad at too!"

Moving along the shelves, she continued to look at the different boxes, wondering what the different things meant. "So what wand picked you?" she asked, motioning around to the shelves.

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Finley nodded along as Brooke spoke about her hair colour. He could see why yellow and red would probably not suit her, though black was quite a surprise given the witch's already dark hair colour. "I t-think brown looks r-really nice." Finley assured her, because it did to him, though in fairness Finley probably wasn't one to give opinions on what did and did not look good.

"D-DADA is very g-good. The p-professor is nice t-too. I l-like him." Finley replied, because Professor Newbury seemed to be more forgiving of Finley's mistakes than some of the other teachers. Which made him a little less nervous when he was in class, but only a little bit.

"The f-famous five is my f-favourite. Mum m-made me read a-all of them." Finley replied to which he liked the most. The adventures they went on were amazing, and they were the books that he'd really pushed through on with his reading. "B-but all the o-ones you mentioned a-are amazing!" Finley insisted with a grin. Knowing someone else loved books like he did was really cool, in his opinion, and he knew Brooke and himself were going to be great friends for exactly that reason.

The notion of his favourite colour made Finley pause for a moment, before shaking his head. "I've n-never seen the o-ocean. Not in p-person." He admitted softly, before letting off a small shrug. City breaks they'd done, but he'd never been to the seaside.

But he was pulled from his thoughts when the witch started to scrunch up her face, as if she'd smelled something bad. Finley looked around nervously for a moment before realising her hair was slowly changing colour. Oh! Concentration was key in magic, and that was precisely what Brooke was doing. After what seemed like quite some time, the witch's hair turned blue, and Finley couldn't help but grin at the way she looked. It was so cool!

"Do you like it?"

"T-that is s-so cool!" Finley gushed excitedly, shaking his head at the awesome display of magic he'd just seen. He'd never done something so good in his first year of magic, so Brooke must have been truly talented. "Y-you're amazing!" Finley added happily.

The notion of friends made Finley nod slowly. "I t-try, but p-people don't seem to l-like me very m-much." He told the witch, not really sure how else to put it in that moment. "B-but I am n-nice to everyone." He added quickly, making sure that she knew it wasn't his fault that a lot of people didn't seem to like him.

Finley over looked the comment on Hermione Granger being gifted. Finley wanted to be gifted, but he knew it didn't work like that.

"So what wand picked you?"

"M-my wand is a e-eleven and a half, yew w-wood, unicorn h-horn cored wand. The y-yew means I'm a p-protector of life and d-death... I d-don't understand why I g-got that one... And the u-unicorn horn means I'm u-unlikely to p-possess the power to do the D-Dark Arts, which is f-fine." Finley explained, because he'd read up on it out of curiosity.

"Y-yew is unusual, so I'm h-hoping they can f-fix it." He added, a little softer because he still wasn't sure they could.

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"Thank you!" she said cheerfully, honestly meaning it. There wasn't an arrogant bone in her body, not after the way her parents raised her. If anything, she was far too modest, not usually showing off or talking about her achievements - and it did seem that having learnt to control her metamorphmagus abilities made her better at controlling other aspects of magic as well. Or, even if she did talk about them, her intentions were nothing more than pure, open conversation without any intent whatsoever of showing off or bragging.

At the mention of the Professor, she grinned at him. "Oh that's good. I would hate to have a not nice or boring Professor teaching me. I don't think I could learn anything if there are because I can't pay attention and end up not hearing anything they say and then I'll fail tests and then they will kick me out." She paused, tilted her head for a few moments, then shrugged. "Or at least I think they will kick me out. I don't know. Do they do that at Hogwarts?" Throughout, her tone remained rather happy and carefree; all she was doing was talking about whatever came into her mind, not honestly worrying about things like that. If and when problems came, that was the only time she ever gave a care towards them.

Raising her eyebrows at him, she looked surprised for a few moments. "Oh, how come? Where are you from? You should come to my home sometime, then, if you want to. I live by the ocean and the forest, so I have two choices! It's all very nice, because I can play in the water during summer but in winter I can go camping with daddy and we have a small treehouse. We built it together but daddy charmed it so that the inside is so much bigger!" Stopping only to take a quick breath, she continued not two seconds later. "It's amazing, and you should totally come by sometime and see it, and see the ocean too, only not in winter cos then it's too cold to swim."

Smiling brightly at the boy, she shook her head. "No, I'm not. What is amazing is the .. meta.. meta... The whatever-you-call-it-that-starts-with-meta thingy. It was passed down to me from my grandmother, so not everyone can have it. And I think it's amazing that it choose me," she explained, recalling what she had been told by her parents when she asked why they couldn't do it, but still not fully understanding genes and inheritance and all that kind of thing.

"You are nice," she agreed, nodding. But there was nothing else to say, nothing that she knew to say, and so she left it at that. It was probably the shortest thing she had said to him. A few moments later, when her brain had finally stopped thinking about how much fun it would be for Finley to come over (yes, she had still been processing that) and caught up, she added, "Some people don't know how to like everyone. It's weird but that's what mummy always told me. She said, 'Don't expect people to be nice cos you are nice. Be nice because it is the right thing to do and not cos you want something from that, cos that is not a nice thing to do,' and I think she's right, cos then you're not really being nice, you know?"

Eyes widening, she stared in awe at him for a few moments. "Wow," she breathed after a few seconds. "That's.. wow. I wonder how you protect it? That's so cool. I wonder what mine will be! Do they tell you what it means or do I have to read for myself? Oooo, I'm so excited!" Grinning at him, Brooke glanced around, visibly deflating when she saw there were still at least 7 more people, excluding Finley, in front of her. At least she had a new friend to keep her company as she waited.

At his comment, she shrugged. "I'm sure they can, they sell wands, right? I mean, if they sell them they can fix them." This logic made perfect sense in Brooke's eyes, and she didn't bother to elaborate any more, quite certain that the boy would be able to understand what she was saying.

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The comments on liking professors brought a smile to Finley's features. "Y-you'll like m-most of them." He assured her with a grin, before considering her next questions as the line shuffled along a little bit. "I d-don't think they k-kick you out..." Finley replied, frowning a little bit. "I m-mean, I'm still t-there." He added, giving a small shrug because he wasn't sure how these things worked, though he guessed if you were really terrible at magic then Hogwarts wouldn't have much choice, but he didn't want to worry Brooke.

"I l-live in O-Oxford. It's the m-most inland place in E-England." Finley explained, it wasn't so bad, the place was pretty, busy. And the countryside... Well, that was quite something. But the offer of going to Brooke's house to see the sea sounded absolutely amazing. "I w-would love to!" Finley responded to her offer with a grin. Of course, he would have to speak to his parents, and he would have to work out how to get there, but he didn't see that his parents would mind too much.

The information about being a metamorphagus and it being inherited wasn't new to the Ravenclaw, he had read up on it in his hours in the library and it had sounded really cool. "N-no, you are a-amazing." Finley insisted with a small smile, his cheeks warming slightly. "And a m-metamorphagus." He added brightly.

The information about her mum saying not everyone was nice made Finley nod. His parents weren't so good at saying things like that. But he didn't think about that too much, he did what he did, and they were around sometimes to see, but more often than not they were working. It didn't really matter.

"I l-looked it up m-myself." Finley explained happily, though he couldn't tell if the people behind the counter would tell them individually. "Y-you can ask them." Finley added a moment later, not wanting Brooke to feel put out at the notion she might not find out herself. Though, like her, he wasn't sure how you protected death, grown ups were a little bit weird in their explanations.

The logic from Brooke about being able to fix them because they made them made Finley nod quite enthusiastically. He still wasn't sure, but Brooke's logic was more than enough for him to cling on to. The Ravenclaw's gaze swept to the shopkeeper, almost trying to will the man to have the knowledge Finley needed him to have. It was just a waiting game, really.

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