An Owl Comes Bearing a Letter

In mid-July, on an exceptionally sunny afternoon, Evita turned eleven. After eating her cake, she went out for a walk, and an owl paid her a visit with a letter in its beak.

It was from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and addressed to Miss Lorand of Godric's Hollow... An acceptance letter from Hogwarts! Evita couldn't help jumping on the spot. She carefully put the letter away and hurried home, where she grabbed a quill and hastily wrote a few words on a piece of parchment. She asked her owl to deliver it to the Scamander family, then wrote a reply to Hogwarts and asked another owl to take it.

Next, she ran to knock on the door next door, calling out joyfully, "Lily! Lily! James! My letter's here! An owl came to see me!"

James opened the door with a vacant expression, looking utterly exhausted from lack of sleep.

"James?" Evita stared at him, stunned. "You look so worn out," she couldn't help saying.

"Well, Harry last night..." James said instinctively. Then he looked down and saw the familiar envelope in the girl's hand. He hurriedly called to his wife, "Lily, come quick! Evita's acceptance letter is here!"

The red-haired woman rushed over and cupped Evita's face in both hands. "Wonderful! Weiwei, you're about to become a proper little witch. We need to make a big platter of roast beef to celebrate! Before term starts, we'll go shopping in Diagon Alley together and invite Sirius along."

"Mm-hmm," Evita said, nodding. "Okay! Love you, Lily!"

Lily rubbed her cheeks, beaming.

After the celebration, the group soon set off to buy all the supplies needed for school.

When they arrived in Diagon Alley, Lily glanced over the list and made arrangements. "James, take Harry and buy the books Weiwei needs. Here's the list, eight books in total. Sirius, sorry for the trouble, but could you buy the telescope and the other equipment? I'll take Weiwei to get her robes."

Evita stood on tiptoe and waved in front of Lily's eyes. "What about me? What about me?"

"Of course, you'll be a good girl and stand like a perfect mannequin at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions," Lily answered. "It'll be very uncomfortable if your robes don't fit."

The two of them headed for the robe shop together. Before they left, Evita looked back and saw Sirius wink and mouth the word "broom." She nodded and hurriedly made an encouraging gesture, showing that she absolutely approved.

First-year students weren't allowed to bring flying broomsticks, and Lily wouldn't agree to it either. Fortunately, there was still Sirius. That way, even if the last broomstick she'd received as a Christmas present was discovered and confiscated, another would be waiting to be used.

I wonder if Adele will come back... Where did she go? She hasn't even written... Even though we can talk in our heads every day, letters are still a must!

While she was thinking, they reached the shop. Its owner, Madam Malkin, was a short, plump witch with a welcoming smile.

"Here for a first-year uniform?" Before Lily could speak, she said kindly, "Don't worry, I have a particularly good selection of robes here. Come on, stand on this footstool and I'll take your measurements."

Evita nodded and climbed onto it. Madam Malkin recommended several styles, and Lily suggested a few as well. Unable to make up her mind, Evita simply waved her hand and bought them all.

Carrying the packaged robes, they went outside together and saw Sirius a little way off, waving vigorously with a large serving of ice cream in his other hand. James sat beside him, holding an ice cream of his own.

"Strawberry, chocolate, and nuts? Wonderful, I was just craving this," Evita said. She took the ice cream, sat down, and ate a big mouthful before adding contentedly, "Now all I need is a wand, one that belongs entirely to me."

Though there were quite a few wands in her suitcase, she and those wands had always seemed to fit together like an ordinary hand and arm, without that unique sense of exclusivity.

As it happened, the group was sitting near Ollivander's Wand Shop. They only had to look up to see the small, shabby shop and the dilapidated sign in front of its window.

Full of anticipation, Evita went inside alone.

"Hello," a big-eyed old man said gently, coming over to greet her. "I'm Ollivander."

"Very pleased to meet you, Mr. Ollivander. I'm Evita Lorand."

"You look so much like your mother, with the same silver curls," the old man remarked. "And such lovely purple eyes."

Evita secretly asked in her mind, When did you come here to buy a wand?

Adele: ...I dunno. I haven't gotten that far in making up the character's backstory. All the wands I gave you came from France.

"She came while traveling around the world," the old man continued. "Her wand had been accidentally damaged, so she bought a new one here: ten and three-quarter inches, made of Vine Wood, with a unicorn tail hair."

"Now then." Ollivander's brief reminiscence soon ended. He smiled faintly, his sharp, silvery-white eyes sweeping over Evita as he took out a tape measure. "Which hand do you use for your wand?"

Evita thought for a moment. She was always using all sorts of wands and didn't pay much attention to which hand she used, so she answered timidly, "Either one."

The tape measure began measuring her on its own. Ollivander brought out one long box after another, opening them and taking out the wands inside.

"Alder, unicorn tail feather, nine inches, quite hard. Give it a try."

Evita tried waving it, but nothing happened.

Ollivander promptly handed her another wand. "Holly, Phoenix Feather, ten inches. Try this one."

Still, nothing happened.

The wands piled up, but Ollivander didn't think any of them were quite right. He was delighted. "Never mind, very curious... We can always find the wand that suits you best here. Don't rush..."

He took a box down from the highest shelf. "Acacia wood, a rather unusual wand wood, and Dragon Heartstring, ten and a quarter inches. A most curious combination."

Evita took it in her hand and found she couldn't bear to put it down.

"Good, very good," Ollivander said, clapping his hands. "Excellent!"

When she rejoined Sirius, who was waiting outside, Evita couldn't help waving the wand in her hand. "Look, it's especially beautiful."

"Acacia wood?" Sirius recognized the wand's material. "It's very rare."

"Mr. Ollivander said so too," Evita said gleefully. "I think it suits me, because I'm a pretty rare sort myself."

She pointed to her silver curls. "Like these, for example."

Sirius laughed and patted Evita on the shoulder. "So am I," he said.