Charlie stood at the entrance of Diagon Alley, just outside the Leaky Calderon, not realizing his jaw was literally dropped. The street was bustling with
cloaked men and women, and shops tightly packed into this place that was hidden behind a brick wall. He closed his mouth and swallowed hard, as he carefully stepped into the alley. He felt strangely out of place, as he was dressed in tattered jeans and a old, stained t-shirt. This was normal dress for him and for where he lived, but nobody was even remotely close to this. He felt the coins that he was told were currency jingle in his pockets, given to him as a form of financial aid, as he had not way of paying for supplies himself, and he decided that it was imperative that he get some new clothes as soon as possible. He fumbled for the scrap of paper in his pockets to look for where he should go for new clothes, and to his dismay he saw that there was no shop listed for him to get robes at. He quickly started walking through the street, hoping he'd stumble upon where he was supposed to get clothes. This kind of feeling was foreign to Charlie, as he normally wouldn't care how he looked, but here he felt like a fish out of water, and everything he thought he knew from before was quite evidently wrong.
Unfortunately for the child, he was unable to find Madam Malkin's, though he did manage to find his way to Olivander's by happenstance. He looked upon the aging building, with desquamating golden letters spelling out "Olivander's: Makers of Fine Wands Since 382 B.C". He blinked, not quite able to take in the age of the store in front of him, as it predated the birth of Jesus freaking Christ, a man who inspired the world's most popular religion. He reasoned that he'd have to enter the store eventually, so now may as well be the time to do so, especially since he had no idea where to go from here. He glanced down again at his clothes, and exhaled before entering the shop.
The shop had hardwood floors, and felt ancient on the inside, like he was stepping into a completely different time period. He stepped carefully and quietly to the front desk, and was about to quietly call out for some kind of assistance, only for a very old man with... interesting white hair. Charlie opened his mouth to speak, only for Olivander to start speaking.
"You've come for you first wand, have you?" The old man asked kindly, smiling down at the obviously muggleborn child. He'd seen many children come through in his many years, so he knows one when he sees one.
Charlie looked up at the man, and nodded, and quietly said,"Um, yes sir" Charlie told him, "But I'm not sure what I'm looking for, or even where to start." The boy rubbed the back of his own head.
A smile cracked over Olivander's lips, and he said the phrase he had so many times before, "My boy, you needn't worry, for the wand chooses the wizard." He told him and turned to look at the shelves upon shelves of wands around him, "Why don't you talk a bit about yourself, and give this wand a go?" He asked as he started to pull out a wand and handed it to him.
Charlie was not expecting to be asked anything like that, so he was taken a little off guard as he clumsily took the wand, "My name's Charlie," He said lamely, as he looked down at the floor, and swished his arm around, causing the wand to weakly extrude a few sparks. "And I guess I'm a little thrown off by all this, my families not uh... magical." He said uncomfortably, and looked curiously at the wand.
Olivander shook his head, and quickly took the wand from Charlie, startling him a little bit, "No no..." He said, and took another wand out, examined it closely, and handed it over to him, "There's nothing wrong with that Charles, keep going." The man said to him, "And try your hand at that one while you do." He instructed, and watched him closely.
Charlie blinked, as it wasn't normal for people to take this level of interest in him, "There's not too much to tell, I'm pretty boring." He said, and flicked this wand, and it emitted a loud whining noise, before dying down, causing Charlie to cover his ears in pain, but he continued "This is probably the most interesting this I've ever done." He said with a slanted frown.
Olivander plucked the wand from Charlie's hand and chuckled, "I'm sure that will change soon lad," he said, and figured out which wand was destined for this boy. He grabbed a long box, and handed it to him knowingly, "I believe you'll find this one more to your liking" He smiled.
Charlie took the box, and reached for the wand inside, "I hope so," He said, and jabbed the wand forward, and a torrent of wind blew forward in the direction he pushed, knocking over a more few wands in the process. He marveled at the one in his hand, and Olivander nodded.
"It looks like your wand found you," He said, his face lighting up , "Black Oak, twelve and a quarter inches, unicorn tail hair, and quite bendy." He announced, "That will be seven Galleons my boy," He told him.
Charlie blinked, and turned his head,"Um, what?" He asked, unsure as he reached into the pocket, and produced some coins, "I'm not sure which of these are which," He said uneasily.
The old man nodded expectantly, and took seven gold coins, and explained, "Not to worry. The gold ones are Galleons you see, the silver ones are Sickles, and the tiny bronze ones are Knuts." He patted him on the back, "17 Sickles in a Galleon, and 29 Knuts in a Sickle." He told him.
Charlie gave a slightly confused nod, starting to understand, before shoving the coins back in his pocket, "Thank you," He said, and then hesitated, before asking,"Could you tell me where I can get robes?" He asked hopefully.
Ollivander nodded, "Of course, you'll be looking for Madam Malkin's, it's right down the road, you can't miss it." He told him.
Charlie nodded, "Madam Malkin's right down the road," He muttered, and turned to take his leave. He stepped out onto Diagon Alley, and walked down the street, quickly finding the shop, and entered, ready to get himself some more fitting clothing
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