~ "The wand chooses the wizard... it's not always clear why."
— Garrick Ollivander
~
~ Corvus Black - POV ~
~ Diagon Alley, London ~
Ollivanders Wand Shop is exactly as it was depicted in the books and movies; narrow and shabby with peeling gold letters over the door of the shop that read: Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.
The shop's display consisted of a solitary wand lying on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window. The shop was tiny, empty except for a single, spindly chair in the corner. Thousands of narrow boxes containing wands were piled right up to the ceiling of the tiny shop, and the whole place had a thin layer of dust about it.
Ollivanders Wand Repair and Re-Tooling was a workshop, next-door to Ollivanders, in which wand-repair services could be provided.
Standing there, peering through the shops display window, I let my senses loose and felt the magic of the wands bleed through the shop. I was momentarily struck by the almost overwhelming amount of magic congregating from the thousands upon thousands of wands. Ollivanders famous words about the wands choosing the wizard's or witch's wasn't just the cryptic words of the strange wand maker, they were truth.
Not even inside the shop yet, but I could sense each of those thousands of wands in there awaiting their destined witch or wizard. To my shocked awe, they even seemed to be quasi-sentient, not alive in anyway a mortal being is, but aware and conscious enough to be able to choose a weilder that resonates with them.
In these past months I have been able to peruse the extensive library housed in the Black family home, I've read a few books about wandlore and studied some of the history of wands. The Black library even had some references to the Deathstick, the Elder Wand, and it was stated that it was created sometime around the 13th century, as that is when the stories of the most powerful wand in existence started to circulate around the medieval wizarding world.
Wands were developed in Europe at an unknown point, though it was known that it was in the B.C. era. The Ollivander family started manufacturing wands in 382 B.C. Over time, they earned a worldwide reputation.
A wand was a quasi-sentient magical instrument through which a witch or wizard channelled their magical powers to centralise the effects for more complex results. Most spells were cast with the aid of wands, but spells could be cast without the use of wands. Although wandless magic was more common in other countries, such as someplaces in Africa, European wizards were generally used to using the tool and found wandless magic more difficult, requiring much more concentration and skill to perform those same spells. Additionally, it was possible for a wand casting a constant effect such as the Sunlight Charm to be removed from the caster's hand and continue to produce the charm.
Some magical creatures such as house-elves and goblins were known to perform magic similar to that used by wizards and, in fact, were forbidden to carry wands. This had been a point of contention between wizards and goblins for centuries, and still is if you ask any of the goblins.
Wands were manufactured and sold by wandmakers, the most famous of these in Great Britain being Garrick Ollivander, and in Eastern Europe, Mykew Gregorovitch, who was the last wizard to own the Elder Wand before Gellert Grindelwald stole it from him. Each wand consisted of a specific type of wood that surrounded a core of magical substance. Although the wand cores might came from the same creature, or the wood might came from the same tree, no two existing wands were exactly alike. Wands were often buried alongside their owners; like when Dumbledore was buried with the Elder Wand and later retrieved by Voldemort, even though it's allegiance was no longer to Dumbledore, or burned when their owner died; though there were several instances of wands being passed down through families or otherwise finding their way into the black market of the Wizarding community.
Wands were referred to as "quasi-sentient" because their being imbued with a great deal of magic made them as animate as an inanimate object could be. Although they could not think or communicate like a human being, they could perform certain actions through their own will. They could perform actions such as picking their owners, changing allegiances, and, in certain circumstances, perform magic on their own.
Every single wand was unique and its character would depend on the particular tree and magical creature which its materials were derived from. Moreover, each wand, from the moment it found its ideal owner, would begin to learn from and teach its human partner. As time progressed, the bond between the wand and its chosen owner would continue to strengthen, which in turn increased the power of the magic they performed together. This growing connection could even allow wands and their owners to have unique abilities between them; Salazar Slytherin, for example, taught his wand to sleep unless a command in Parseltongue was given, another interesting tidbit I found in some old dusty tome within the Black family library.
Magic with a wand was usually performed with an incantation, but more experienced wizards could cast nonverbal spells, which concealed the spell until cast and could thereby prevent an opponent from adequately protecting themself in time.
Anyway, my point is that the study of wands and wandlore is extensive and ancient. Something that I'll have to set aside time for, study, and practice sometime later. Hopefully Hogwarts will have a larger assortment of books about wandlore than is available to me in the family library.
For now I should get inside and find myself my own 'quasi-sentient' partner.
Grabbing the handle of the shops door, I entered the famous wandmakers shop to the chiming of the bell meant to alert Ollivander to a new customer. Stepping up to the counter that separated the front of the shop from the rest of the thousands of wandboxes shelved along the walls, I was just about to call out when an old man with pale silvery eyes and white skin popped up behind the counter.
"Ah, Mr. Black, I-" Garrick Ollivander, the eccentric wandmaker, began before he was cut off by the rumblings of wandboxes and shelves somewhere in the back of the shop. It stopped Ollivander from what I'm assuming would have been his eidetic remembrance for every wand he's ever sold, including both of my parents and siblings, and instead put a dumbfounded look onto his wrinkled face.
While Ollivander was being struck quiet by the strange happenings in his own wand shop, I was using my slowed down perception of time and magical senses to try and perceive what was going on in the back of the shop. But as soon as my magic senses came close to the area that the rumbling was coming from, the rumbling ceased immediately. Instead two black with silver embroidered wandboxes, both dusty and ancient, flew off the shelves and landed upon the counter between Ollivander and myself.
For a few moments we both just stared wide-eyed at the unexpected moment of, what I can only imagine is, a first time occurrence of wands choosing the wizard before the wandmaker even begins to measure me, or even start looking for a matching wand. The assumption was solidified when the said wandmaker looks up at me with his wide silvery eyes and back down again to the two wandboxes before shaking his bewildered head and opened his mouth.
"Ahm, Well... that has never happened before. How wonderfully mysterious." He says, before a childlike wonder and a big shit-eating grin appears on his face.
While Ollivander was being struck by the euphoria of a first-time experience in his many years as a wandmaker and wandlore enthusiasts. I was momentarily struck by the distracting questioning thought of. 'I wonder if any of the other Shadow Copies were having as fun and magical of a time as I was at the moment?'
~
~ Shadow Copy Two/Shadow Monarch ~
~ Omniversal Void ~
As I floated there; watching the decaying alternate universe of Solo Leveling finally die out and crumble away into the nothingness of the Omniversal Void, I thought to myself; 'does this mean my luck is so terrifying that I won't have to go looking for Gilgameshs' soul and his A rank Golden Rule skill? I'm starting to suspect some higher being is either messing with me or blessing me with any and all opportunities that I could ever wish for vehemently.'
After a few moments of contemplation I let out a wary and doubtful sigh. 'It doesn't matter for now. I'll just be glad to have inherited the memory and power of THE SHADOW MONARCH, Sung Jinwoo, the Aura farmer himself, even as a failure AU version that lost his final battles leading to the destruction of his universe. Sucks that I couldn't also get his last remaining shadow soldier as well, especially since it was Igris himself, my absolute favorite of his shadow soldiers. Oh well, I've already got more than I was expecting, no use crying for something like that when I got the power to get my own Igris in the future. Now I should get back to heading to the Invincible universe, I have Viltrumite DNA to collect.'
~