The Wand for a Giant

The next day was Saturday, and the Quidditch season was about to begin.

Gryffindor and Slytherin were destined to clash. Students from both houses had been glaring at each other since breakfast, and the tension was thick enough to cut with a knife.

The players on both teams had it especially bad. Almost every one of them had at least five older students at their side, to keep the opposition from sabotaging them.

It had happened many times before, so both sides knew the drill.

"You don't have to eat so fast." Seamus Finnigan watched Silvan shovel bread into his mouth and kindly reminded him, "It's only nine. The match doesn't start for another two hours."

Silvan didn't answer. His mouth was too full.

He took the huge bottle of Pumpkin Juice Neville handed him and gulped down a few mouthfuls, finally washing down the food.

"I'm not going to watch the match." Silvan checked the time, stood up, and hurried out.

"Want me to save you a seat?" Seamus called after him. "It's the first match of the season. It's bound to be packed."

Silvan didn't slow down or reply. He only waved a hand, then disappeared through the Great Hall doors.

"Does he want me to save him a seat or not?" Seamus frowned, unable to figure out what the wave meant.

"I don't think so." Hermione thought it over before saying, "Silvan doesn't seem interested in Quidditch. He's never joined in when we've talked about it."

"Impossible," Ron said firmly. "There's no wizard who isn't interested in Quidditch. It's the most popular sport. Right, Harry?"

Harry didn't answer.

The thought of stepping onto the pitch soon had his mind going blank. He hadn't even noticed what Ron had just said.

"Why aren't you eating breakfast?" Hermione noticed that Harry hadn't touched the sausages or bread on his plate.

"Don't you like the food?"

"I don't feel like eating anything," Harry said. He was so nervous that his stomach felt as if it were turning over. He couldn't eat a thing.

"That won't do." Hermione frowned. "I read that a Quidditch match can last a long time. It could even go on for a day or two. You have to make sure you have enough energy."

"But I really am not hungry."

"You still have to eat. The Seeker is always the other team's main target," Seamus Finnigan said. He even helped spread a thick layer of ketchup over Harry's sausage.

"Thanks, Seamus."

Everyone in the Great Hall was cheering Harry on.

Outside the castle, Silvan had already reached Hagrid's cabin. He raised a hand and knocked.

The door opened quickly.

Hagrid looked at Silvan standing outside, his expression complicated.

"I really shouldn't have agreed to this yesterday."

"But you already did," Silvan said. "You're going to be a professor someday, Hagrid. You can't go back on your word."

"How could I ever become a professor?" Hagrid slapped his forehead in frustration.

The night before, Silvan had flattered him with those very words until he was floating on air. In his befuddlement, he'd handed the thing over.

Only after coming to his senses had he realized he might have been tricked.

He had a record with the Ministry of Magic. How could someone who couldn't even use a wand openly ever become a professor?

But he'd already given his word, and he couldn't very well take it back... After all, Silvan seemed to really like the thing.

"Come in." Hagrid opened the door just wide enough for Silvan to squeeze through.

"Don't let anyone see you."

"Don't worry. I'm being careful." Silvan hurried into the cabin and blurted out, "Where is it?"

"Over there." Hagrid pointed. "I put it near the fireplace like you asked... Fang went crazy last night, so I had to put him somewhere else."

He didn't need to point it out. The moment he stepped inside, Silvan spotted the thing he'd been thinking about all night: the Complete Troll Spine.

After that, Silvan couldn't take his eyes off it.

"But, Silvan, why would you want something like that?" Hagrid came over, his expression complicated. "I thought only... only that sort of wizard would use it." He hesitated, but in the end, he couldn't bring himself to say "Dark wizard."

"You don't understand, Hagrid. You don't know what this means to a wandmaker." Silvan's voice was brimming with excitement. "In the sixth century BC, the invincible Andros tried to make a special wand for his Patronus. Its core was the spinal nerve of a Mountain Troll."

"The invincible Andros?" Hagrid scratched his head, unfamiliar with the name.

"He was the greatest wizard in ancient Greece in the sixth century BC, and the first wizard to cast spells without a wand. He ushered in the age of Wandless Magic," Silvan explained. "He also created the Patronus Charm, which could summon a Patronus as large as a Giant. There's no other like it in history."

"Oh..." Hagrid nodded. He wasn't particularly interested in a wizard who'd lived two thousand years ago, but he soon realized something was odd.

"Wait, you said a wand for a Patronus... Can a Patronus use a wand?"

"Of course not, which is why he failed." Silvan shrugged. "But that wand really did exist, and it was the only wand a Giant could use."

Hagrid instinctively glanced at a cabinet in the corner. The bottle holding his wand was kept inside it.

"So you want to make a wand for a Giant too?" Hagrid seemed to have guessed what Silvan was thinking. "Using the spinal nerve of a Troll?"

"No. I want to use this entire spine." Silvan took a deep breath and gave the answer Hagrid thought was utterly impossible.

The bone was five feet long and as thick as a bowl. How could something like that be used as a wand core?

Silvan knew it would be difficult too, but this was a rare opportunity, and he wanted to try.

Besides, he had a feeling that if he succeeded in making this wand, his wandmaking abilities would take a great leap forward.

Just as they had when his grandfather, Garrick Ollivander, first made a wand with a Phoenix Feather.

Come to think of it, Fawkes had provided that feather. Garrick Ollivander had already been twenty-nine at the time.

"All right, if you're sure." Hagrid didn't understand, but he chose to respect Silvan's wishes.

"Do you need me to help?"

"No." Silvan shook his head. "Snape has already prepared it. It's spotless, perfect."

"Do you need anything else?"

"I'm missing a wand wood that can match it..." Silvan said. "Hagrid, what about the Troll Club?"

"That useless old club?" Hagrid thought back. "I think I threw it into the Forbidden Forest yesterday. I'll go look now. It should still be there."