Harry's Wondrous World - John Williams

Chapter Eighteen: Big Gifts In Small Boxes

It was finally the day of our trip to the Harry Potter resort. Nana had dropped us off at the entrance, giving us hugs and telling us to have a good time before leaving us to our own devices. Judging by the look on Nora's face, I don't think she could get rid of my grandmother fast enough.

"We're here!" She squealed. "I can't believe we're actually here!"

"We're here!" I more or less echoed. Though I didn't feel the same amount of excitement as she did, I'll admit that I did feel super happy to be here and experience it with her. "Where to first?"

She looked down at her map which we bought at the entrance. "Well....obviously Diagon Alley is first. It's the first gateway for any witch and wizard."

We followed the crowd through a hallway which eventually made a turn and we both gasped at the sight before us.

Diagon Alley was huge. The shops were ginormous and the streets were packed with people as they passed by the shops and ate their food at concession stands on the road. And it was sort of on a diagonal (at least I think it was). I swear it was like construction reached into the books and took out Diagon Alley itself for the theme park.

"Holy moly," Nora breathed. "Are you seeing this?!"

"My peepers are taking it all in," I said as I recorded her reaction on my phone. She spun around in a circle and yelled "HELLO DIAGON ALLEY!" at the top of her lungs, earning herself both weird looks and relatable laughter from the other tourists.

"Where should we go first?" She asked me after looking at her map. "We could go get a wand?"

"Sure. It would suck if we went to Hogwarts without one."

She laughed so hard at this I thought she was going to pass out. "Imagine that! I read a fanfic once where the girls could cast spells with tampons. I didn't even think they wore tampons. Or even had the period talk for that matter."

The lineup for Ollivander's wasn't as long as I expected it to be. They took in a few people at a time, about seven or eight to a group, but I'm not exactly sure what happened from there. The shop door closed and it was hard to see into the glass windows.

"My wand is always seven inches with unicorn hair. Mahogany and slightly flexible. What about yours?"

This went completely over my head as she stared at me for an answer. "Huh? I don't know. Made of wood I suppose. Or plastic. Made from recycled muggle water bottles."

Nora snorted, amused. "You're the future of the wizarding world, you are. Wands made from recycled materials. Wouldn't that be nice?"

"I'm always thinking ahead," I clicked my tongue while doing the gun fingers at her. "And why is it called the wizarding world anyway? Isn't that a little sexist?"

She didn't have a chance to answer when the shop door opened and a man wearing a bright green cloak and pointy hat stepped out.

"Welcome to Ollivander's!" He boisterously called out. "Step right in and get your wand! Or let your wand get you. After all, it's-"

"THE WAND THAT CHOOSES THE WIZARD!" Nora squealed. She was dancing on her tip toes in excitement beside me as she held her face with her hands.

The man laughed. "Indeed it does, young lady. Now step right in. Watch your step there."

The shop was very tall. Lined with boxes that I could only assume held wands from the floor to ceiling, my jaw almost dropped at the authenticity of it all. I haven't seen any of the movies (Nora won't let me watch them) so I guess this shop is what it looked like in the movies.

"My name is Jester. Ollivander has asked me to cover for him while he was away on a very important trip. Are you all attending Hogwarts this year?"

Jester was answered with a few murmurs and nods from the tourists. Nora was the only one who said "Yes sir!" loud enough for him to hear.

"That's wonderful to hear! It's so good to see some fresh faces. Now....who would like to go first?"

Nora's hand shot up in the air so fast that it accidentally smacked me in the face.

Jester pointed to her. "Young lady! You seem very excited about going to Hogwarts. What's your name, darling?"

"Nora. Nora Lovegood, sir."

I could see an amused twinkle in the man's eyes as she told him her name. "Ah. Lovegood. Any relation to....."

Nora shook her head. "No. I just really admire her and her bravery."

Who were they talking about? There was no doubt they were talking to a character in a later book. Damn. I need to read more.

"Alright, missy. Let's see...." Jester turned to the wall of boxes behind him and pulled one out. "How about this one?"

He took it out and handed it to Nora, who gripped it and scrutinized it carefully.

"Point it at that shelf above us and say 'Wingardium Leviosa!'"

The smirk on Nora's face was priceless so I quickly took out my phone to record this. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

To my utter shock and surprise, the boxes on the wall exploded outwards. The group around me gasped just as loud as I did, surprised by how the spell actually worked....ish.

Jester frowned. "Hmm. Nope. Not that one. Try.....this."

Nora was handed another one and she pointed it at a shelf. The shelves all collapsed on top of each other which for some reason I thought was hilarious.

"Oh dear...." Jester grumbled (this actor was amazing and very into his role). "Let's try one final wand. I have a good feeling about this one."

Nora was passed one final wand and the lights around us suddenly dimmed. A light shine down over her like a halo alongside a mysterious wind whipping around her. I'll admit. I had the chills when this happened and it wasn't because of the wind either. This all felt a little too real.

"Well done, Ms. Lovegood!" Jester exclaimed. "The wand you're destined to use has chosen you! You're now one step closer on your way to greatness! Just head to the back of the shop there and my coworker will make sure everything is in order for you."

Nora paid for her wand (which was ridiculously expensive. $40 plus tax) and she happily tucked it into the belt of her skirt. "That was amazing, wasn't it? It felt so authentic....I'm so glad I got to do that. Are you getting a wand?"

I shook my head. "Nah I'm-"

"You're getting one. I won't leave here until you do."

So I ended up getting one too. After the whole show with Jester, there was another part of the shop in the back that can't be seen from the outside. It had replica wands from the movies as well as custom wands and the choices seemed never ending. It wasn't until Nora picked one out did the quest seem to finally come to an end.

"This one looks like it fits your personality. Check it out."

I opened the box to look inside. The wand within was 8 inches with a light brown handle and a black....wand part. It looked really pretty.

"Don't I have an eye for wands or what?" Nora winked.

"Isn't the wand supposed to pick me?" I snickered. Then I leaned down to the box and whispered, "Hey wand. Do you choose me? My name is Laney Rubia. I'm seventeen. I like skateboarding and long walks on the beach-"

"Stop it!" Nora laughed. "It's a wand, not a Tinder profile!"

We paid for my wand and exited the shop through the back. Getting a little hungry, we stopped into a little diner and ordered some sandwiches for lunch. Apart from the bread being a different color, it was really good. Even Nora enjoyed herself.

"Robes. We need robes," she said after we finished eating.

"It's smouldering out there. I'm not wearing thick old robes."

She rolled her eyes at me. "They give you a bag for it, dummy. They're not forcing you to wear it the whole time." Nora packed her map away and gathered her bags of treats. "I hope they have Ravenclaw robes in my size...."

"I'm sure they do. You're not even big so I don't see why they wouldn't."

She grumbled something unintelligible. "Are you getting Gryffindor robes?"

"Gryffindor? Is that what House you see me in?"

The harshness of my words probably caught her off guard. I didn't mean to sound rude. I was just surprised she put me in the most popular House at the school.

"I mean....it just suits you, Laney. Just stop and think about it." She stopped me in the middle of the alley and looked me right in the eyes. "You're brave. You have endless courage. You put yourself in the line of danger to protect other. Like how you protect me. Gryffindor's your House."

An image of a roaring lion came to mind but I quickly doused that thought with a mental hose. "Right. I mean, I always thought I was a Slytherin but Gryffindor is fine too. At least it's not Hufflepuff-"

"Hey," Nora snapped, though not in a harsh tone. "Don't diss the Hufflepuffs. They're nice people."

We stepped into a little souvenir store after that. While Nora wandered off to a clothing part of the store, my phone started buzzing in my pocket. I took it out. It was Sam.

There was no time to let Nora know I was taking a phone call so I just stepped outside the store in hope that the noise wasn't as loud.

It was still loud.

"Hey, Rubia. How's the sun treating you? Did you burst into flames yet?" Sam laughed as I hit the Talk button.

"You're so funny, Sam. You should really consider a career in comedy. I'm sure someone would love to throw a tomato or two at you on stage."

"Hey now. I'm sensing some hostility here. I only called to see how the trip was going if y'all did the dirty-"

"Samwise I'm sleeping under my grandmother's roof. I'm not having sex with someone when my grandparents are right across the hall. And it's Nora. I'm not....."

There was a pause on the other line. "So? Laney. You've been my best friend since god knows how long. I've seen the way you sneak glances at Nora when she's not looking but you know what, Laney Omiyo Rubia? She looks at you too."

My eyes darted up to look at Nora inside the shop. She was giggling as she blew bubbles into the air as kids chased them around. "No she doesn't. Don't be an ass, Sammy."

"She does. I swear on my all my vinyl records. She looks at you the same way you look at her and it's killing me that neither of you have said anything yet. What are you so afraid of?"

I closed my eyes. "You don't understand."

He sighed. "No. I don't. But what I do understand is that you both deserve each other. So make this trip the trip. Make some magic happen, Laney."

I'm not sure what happened next but something in the shop window caught my eye as a ray of sunshine glinted down on it. From where I stood I could tell it was a necklace. It was shaped like a broomstick. What kind it was, that was beyond my knowledge of the books but as soon as I saw it I knew that it was meant to be Nora's.

"Hey Sammy? I gotta let you go bud. Something just came up."

Sam began to laugh. "Yeah! Go get 'em, tiger! Go get the girl!"

I don't know about getting the girl but I was getting that damn necklace that's for sure. Thankfully Nora wasn't paying any attention to what I was doing so I was able to go in and buy it without her even knowing. The lady who took my money at the register smiled broadly and winked, which got me wondering if Nora and I were really that obvious.

"Hey!" Nora appeared next to me outside. "You ready to head on over to another shop? Or do you want to catch the train?"

My mouth moved mechanically. Suddenly I was at a loss for words and I couldn't find the right ones to say. So my dumbass thrust the bag containing her necklace into her hands.

"What's this?" She peered inside and took out the box. "Laney. You really need to stop buying me stuff-"

"I had to get it. It just-you know how you see something and you're like 'oh wow that seems like such a good gift for that friend!' so you get it and you hope deep down that they love it and they cherish it forever and don't hate it?"

I knew I was breathing hard. I also knew that this was the longest sentence I've ever spoken to Nora. Maybe it made sense. Maybe it didn't. But there was definitely some word vomit happening here. If it were actual vomit, she'd be dripping from head to toe.

"Wow. That was probably the most you ever said to me in a single sentence," she chuckled.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to lay all that on you at once."

She shrugged. "Don't worry about it. How about I just open the bag and see what it is you picked out?"

She opened the bag. As soon as she picked out the little red box with a hand, I immediately saw her eyes well up with tears. But it wasn't until it was open did she completely break down into happy sobs.

"It's so pretty," she choked. "It's a Firebolt broomstick."

"I thought it was like a Nimbus 2018 or something."

Nora laughed at this as she took the necklace out of the box to hold it up in the sunlight. It sparkled in the reflection of her glasses. "It's beautiful, Laney. Again, you shouldn't be wasting your money on me. You're going to college in September. You need every penny."

I didn't say this out loud to her but in my mind I said that I'd spend every dollar I had on her if that's what it took to make her smile and make her happy. Cheesy, I know. And I'm not the one for cheesy one liners either. It's just what she did to me.

As she began to try and put it on I gave her a quick tap on the shoulder and pointed to the necklace. "I can....help?"

She blinked before nodding. "Sure. Okay."

Necklace in my hand, I try to control my breathing as she moved her bushy blonde hair to the side. The back of her neck was now exposed and I couldn't help but admire how smooth it looked. If I hadn't been in full control of myself I probably would've kissed her there.

I slowly moved the necklace so that it was in the front of her. The clasp was easy enough; just open it by pulling down on the latch and slipping the small coil on the other side into it. After that was done, Nora fixed her hair back into its original position and turned to face me.

"So? How does it look?" She asked.

She looked amazing as usual. The necklace rest just between her collarbones in the most attractive way possible. The trademark lightning bolt necklace that she always wore sparkled alongside the broomstick one almost like they were meant to be.

"Beautiful," I breathed, though I wasn't really talking about the necklaces.

She beamed. "Thank you! Now let me treat you to a little something." She slipped her hand into mine and squeezed it gently. "How does Butterbeer sound?"
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NORA AND LANEY ARE SO FREAKING CUTE TOGETHER

Ahem. Sorry about that. I just have a deep love and appreciation for my two girls. They're my babies.

I was looking around online the other day for ideas for a necklace that Laney could get Nora and the broomstick necklace caught my idea. I should've saved it and posted it here but naturally I didn't.

IN OTHER NEWS Shadowhunters is BACK. Oh god if you aren't watching this show then you should. You'll fall in love with Alec and Magnus. Malec is so inspiring and amazing to watch onscreen. Matt and Harry know their characters so well.

You know the drill people: leave a comment. Leave a vote. And if you want, share this story with other readers! Thank you so much for reading!