The old shop was crammed, from ceiling to floor with tiny boxes in very neat stacks.  There seemed too many to count but Ollivander knew his stock like the back of his hand, able to lay his fingers on any particular wand with ease.  His shop was busiest in August and September, when all the new first year students at Hogwart's and, for that matter, many other schools across the world, were looking for their first wand.  Now, in mid November, he was able to catch up on the backlog of work that he'd left on the back burner until he'd had a chance to catch up.

The situation with  Obderedria Pienas's wand was a case in point.  He'd wanted to have it ready for the time he returned to Hogwart's to for the second weighing of the Champion's wands.  Retuning her wand had taken longer than he had expected.  It had been a very delicate task, bringing the wand in line with his specifications.  It would never be as good as one he had crafted but it would serve well enough for the witch it had chosen but likely for no one else.  Ollivander prided himself in being able to handle any wand proficiently but there were certain wands with very distinct preferences.  Obderedria Pienas's wand was one of them.

He looked up as the door opened, smiling at Leopold as he entered with the young witch in tow.  "Welcome,"  he said.  "I believe I have adjusted your wand sufficiently that it will cause you no more trouble."  He waved Obderedria over.  "If you would be so kind as to give your wand a quick flourish, we will see if your issues have been resolved."  Ollivander didn't like referring to it as 'fixing' a 'problem'.  It was far too negative.

Obderedria hadn't been sure that this day was going to come. She had half forgotten the date when her old wand was supposed to have been modified, the ceremony they had before the next event in the tournament. But Professor Sandusky had passed along the news of delay, so she had to wait longer. And longer. Into an indeffinant length of time was she felt, just maybe, she would never see her old wand again and that would be sad.

So she had been overjoyed when Professor Sandusky said they needed to make a visit to Ollivander's shop that weekend, that he was getting permission to escort her. She had passed the shop in Diagon before but had never entered. It was filled with nothing but wands in boxes. Like shoeboxes for someone with tiny narrow feet.

Although now she was apprehensive. She had struggled with adapting to Professor Sandusky's former wife's wand. Was her original wand going to be just as foreign? When it was held out for her she didn't recognize it, although it had to be the same. It had the same point.

"What, um, happened to it?" She tried not to sound rude, or ask why she had been waiting so long for her wand.

Ollivander was quick to explain. "I have had to do something I do not do, miss Pienas. For one thing, it is very difficult to construct a wand and thus to disassemble it. So it took time to examine all the contents of your wand and then to figure out what to do. The wood was decent and the core, though inferior to my standards, was used to your hand. To change either would be to change the personality of your wand. At times I almost wondered if I would better serve you by pairing you with a new wand but you would be at a disadvantage to learn with a new wand and to have an unpaired wand learn from you."

"To modify your wand to be better attuned with you meant the inclusion of new material. I did not wish to add another core. Foreign wand makers have come to develop dual core wands but I find that leads to wands with unexpected instability. My remaining option was to add another wood." He gestured to the new handle of the wand, a different color of wood with many curves and wobbles, like the fancy knob of a staircase. "After refitting the core to the wood, I stripped away a section of your original wand at the bottom to integrate the handle. Larch, it also covers part of the core. You wand is now nine inches, I did not want it to be too longer than what you were used to. Larch is known to instill courage and discover hidden talents, though it cannot be forced. As it is only a handle, it may not impart as much as a wand of complete Larch but it should patch qualities lacking in your wand."

He placed the wand in her hand. Obderedria was rather overwhelmed at the explanation so she did nothing but standing there holding it, trying to get a feel for her new--oldish wand.

"Ollivander is the finest craftsman in the world,"  Leopold said.  "If there is anyone who could correct the problem with your wand, Miss Pienas, he sits before you.  I realize this took longer than you expected but I'm sure you will find the wait worth it.  Why not try one of your transfiguration spells?  I happen to have a rather gaudy button in my pocket, selected for exactly this occasion."

Leopold produced the button and set it on a stool.  It was very gaudy, made of faux gold and some very large fake gemstones.

"Oh--beetle buttons."

Did that sound like swearing? Hopefully not--although Obderedria still considered her transfiguration to be stagnant at sub-par. Back when this whole business with her wand began she had told Professor Sandusky her fears about beetles made into and from buttons, especially when they had holes in them.

But she had to try her best, didn't she, even though it had been awhile since she had done this kind of a transfiguration. She tried to picture what kind of beetle the button would turn into--they had very similar shapes so that made the transfiguration easier--maybe like a broach? Or what was it in Egypt, Scarab?

Some sparks shot out from her wand as she performed the spell, striking the button. At first she thought nothing had happened. Her throat lumped temporarily. Then little yellow legs came out from the shiny beetle that wasn't a button though its exoskeleton kept the same shape of ribbed gold braid, the twinkling gems becoming the multifaceted eyes of the beetle. It buzzed loudly as it flew into the air.

Feeling prompted, Obderedria held out the palm of her hand as the beetle landed. She didn't see any holes. "Ow!!" The beetle flew around her head after she shook it off by putting her fingers in her mouth to lick. The beetle's feet were as sharp as pins.

"Well done!"  Leopold cried.  "You've had trouble with that spell in the past, so I thought it a good test of your wands ability now that it has been adjusted.  You've done a marvelous job, Garrik.  I couldn't be more pleased with the result.  The question is whether Miss Pienas is satisfied. 

Leopold had a secondary reason for his pleasure.  Although Obderedria had been more than careful with it, he still wanted his wife's wand back.  It was good that someone had gotten some use out of it but now it was time for it to come home.

Obderedria kept licking her finger until the bleeding subsided. The Flumes had Blood Flavored Lollipops at their store, Honeydukes, and that was probably the one sweet she could never stomach a full serving of. The last of the metallic taste escaped her mouth as her Head of House continued his congratulations.

Funny. She couldn't really tell a difference yet.

She noted Sandusky's expectant look. "Oh!" She retrieved his late wife's wand that she had been allowed to borrow. Beech, 8 inches. Ollivander had remarked that it was unusually made with unicorn hair from the mane instead of the tail, something his uncle had crafted. If there was anything she was going to miss it was the lavender smell from its years of being stored in a scented box. Which was an unusual thing to miss about a wand. That and the musicality of it, how the wand hummed and sang.

It was really only these qualities that had lifted Obderedria's spirits as she waited on her old wand to be repaired. For try as she might, she hadn't gotten better at using a wand. Marginally better but the increase in skill had soon plateaued when she used Sandusky's late wife's wand.

The wand was special. But then it was never hers to begin with.

She held out the wand for her Head of House, trading an unusual feeling that had just now gotten familiar to a familiar feeling that wasn't the same. Wand personalities.

Leopold's old face looked both delighted and saddened when he saw the wand.  "Thank you, Miss Pienas," he said, his voice catching slightly.  "I know you took very good care of it while you had it and for that I thank you.  My wife would have been pleased.  Hopefully with your own wand properly tuned, you will have an easier time of things."

He'd risked a great deal loaning out his wife's wand and he'd long debated, considered, even cried over the idea.  Oberedria had been one of the few students he would have considered allowing to use the wand and she had proven a wise choice.  Now all that needed to be done was a return trip to Hogwart's so she could put her new wand to the test.