'Wands by Thomas'

It was kind of scary, you know? Having that careers interview with McGonagall while Umbridge was sitting there in the corner scribbling away on her pad. Remember her? She really was a foul woman, wasn't she? Whatever happened to her, it couldn't have been bad enough for my liking. Well, maybe not, but you know what I mean.

I had no idea at all about what I wanted to do after school before I went in. I mean, I was quite good at lessons - some more than others - but there was nowhere I really shone. I was no Hermione, that's for sure. Mind you, I was as good as Harry or Ron or Seamus, and better than Neville - but then, that's not saying a lot, is it?

Anyway, I go in and sit down, and Professor McGonagall is sitting at her desk reading through her papers, and the Toad is sitting in the corner. McGonagall begins.

"Good at Charms," she says, when I'm settled, "and Transfiguration. Not so good at Potions." Well, who would be, with Snape as teacher? Not that I was going to say that with those two sitting there. Remember what he was like? And the way he used to treat Neville?

"Or herbology," she went on. Well, I'm not exactly a country lad. "Or History of Magic." Enough said. "Well, Mr Thomas, what ideas do you have?"

I couldn't tell her that I didn't have any ideas at all, though it was true. With Muggles as parents, I hadn't any clue about what really went on in the wizarding world. I think I just stammered and said "Err ...."

"Any interests outside the classroom?"

Well, yeah, but a lot of them I wasn't going to tell McGonagall about! Again, there quite a few things I was quite good at, but nothing that really grabbed me, so to speak.

I could hear the Toad's quill scratching away, and I knew I had to say something. And then I remembered something.

"Well ... there's one thing ..."

"Yes?"

"I remember going to Diagon Alley for the first time ..." and really scary it was too. Great, but scary, if you're from a Muggle family like mine. "Going into Ollivanders. And seeing all those wands."

"Wands. Hmm. Yes, indeed. Well, wands are important in Charms and Transfiguration, and they're your strongest subjects."

And I remembered that first Potions lesson, and Snape saying: "There'll be no foolish wand waving in these lessons," and being really disappointed.

So I asked her: "How are wands made, Professor?"

"Well," she said slowly, "if you're thinking of that, it's quite a skilled business. And you have to have the aptitude for it. Do you think you have an aptitude?"

You know, I think I heard the Toad mutter 'Muggle born'? I could have been wrong, and McGonagall didn't give any sign she'd heard it. But suddenly that made me really mad. Who was the Toad to go around saying things like that?

"I dunno, Professor. But I'd like to find out."

"Well, Ollivander does take on apprentices from time to time. Not that many, mind. And it's a long training." I shrugged. "We could try and arrange some work experience for you in the summer, if you would like that."

Work experience? Didn't sound a bad idea, that. "At Ollivanders?" She nodded. Going to Diagon Alley each day. That didn't sound a bad idea either. I mean, as I said, if you're a Muggle born, then you don't have much idea about what goes on in places like that. And it seemed a good way of finding out.

So I blurted out: "Yes, please, Professor."

I got one of those rare smiles. You know how she doesn't smile much. But this time she did. And I smiled back. Somehow, I felt that it was us against the Toad, and somehow we'd won.

Well, I didn't hear anything for a while after that, and there was so much else going on that year - you know what it was like just then - that I almost forgot about it. But right at the end of term, just after the exams, McGonagall comes up to me after lunch and says: "That work experience at Ollivanders. I've just had an owl back saying you can go for a trial period in the holidays."

I blinked, cos as I said, I'd almost forgotten about it. "Oh, yeah, right. Thanks, Professor. Thanks very much. Are you better now?"

"Recovering, Dean, recovering. And thank you for asking."

"Yeah, well - we missed you."

You know, I think she was embarrassed? Anyway she hurried off. And I got the parchment with the details later that evening.

It was one of the times that I really regretted being from a Muggle family. All the other people who worked at Ollivanders - they could Apparate in, or go by Floo. Me - I had to take a bus, then twelve stops on the Tube, with one change on the way, then a ten minute walk. In the rush hour too. All this before I even get to work. Mind you, Dad could give me a lift part of the way sometimes, depending on where he was going.

And then I had to go in by the Leaky Cauldron before I got to Diagon Alley. I wish I'd known Lavender lived so close by, cos if I did, I'd have asked her if I could Floo from there. By the time I found out, I'd almost got my Apparating licence.

So one Monday morning at nine o'clock, I walk into Ollivanders. He comes out from the back, and looks at me. "Yes?" I remember Dad saying how scary he seemed, and he looked even more scary just then, and suddenly I wondered whether this was a good idea or not. Anyway, I told him who I was, and he just kept on looking at me, and I was getting even more nervous, then he just says, "Come with me."

I follow him round the back. It's really big there, much bigger than it seems from the outside. Magic, I suppose. And that's where all the workshops are. He points to a chair, and tells me to sit down. He gets a chair too, and sits and looks at me. Creepy, or what?

Then he just starts talking. Asks me about wands. Asks to look at mine. He takes it and twirls it and twiddles it, and nods, and hands it back. No idea what that was all about. Eventually he stands up, and tells me to come along with him. And I get the tour of the workshops.

There's the place where the supplies come in, where they sort them. The wood for the wands and the materials for the cores. Stuff like unicorn hair. He picks up some unicorn hair, gives me half a dozen strands, and says: "What do you think?"

What do I think? Of half a dozen white hairs? I mean, I ask you. But I laid them out on my hand, and rolled them with a finger, and sort of get a feeling. I pick out two of them, and lay them down, and say: "These two."

He looks kind of surprised, and picks them up, holds them up to the light, and takes them between finger and thumb, and pulls them through. "Hmm," he says. Then he does the same with the others. "Hmm," he says again. And I'm standing there watching, wondering if I've blown it already.

Then he says: "How did you know?"

I look at him. "What do you mean?"

"How did you know? That these two are suitable, and that the others - well, they'll work, but they're not top class."

I blinked. "I dunno. Just a guess."

I get that "Hmm" again. Then he reaches down and picks up a handful of sticks - wood that's already been shaped, but without cores. Believe it or not, that's we call them - just 'sticks'. All sizes, all different woods. He lays them down on the table and looks at me. So I pick them up one by one, and twiddle them back and forward between my fingers, and put them down into two piles. When I've finished, he goes through them one by one as well.

"Eight out of nine. Quite an impressive score." Then he looks at me. "You have a talent, Mr Thomas. A definite talent."

And suddenly he wasn't creepy at all. And I had this great feeling. You see, up to them, I'd been quite good at quite a few things, but there was nothing I was really good at. And now he's telling me I've got a talent. I grin at him, and he smiles back. Not a creepy smile at all.

"You've not handled wands at all before?"

"No, sir."

"I see. You've a lot to learn," he warns me.

"Yes, sir."

He looks at me again, and then takes me round the rest of the workshops.

The first week I do all sorts of odd jobs; cleaning up, tidying around, that sort of thing. And each day he gives me a book to read. Not the sort of book you can read on the Tube either. Providing you can find a seat. So each evening I go into my room, and read the book through, and go back in the next morning, and give him the book back, and he gives me another.

I don't think I've ever read so much in my life before. No, I didn't read Hogwarts - A History, when McGonagall called that very first time. And as for the school textbooks, I read them a chapter a time. They were just homework, so to speak. But these books - they were really interesting.

And the next Monday, he calls me into the workshop, and he starts sorting sticks, and he shows me how he's doing it. And having read the books, it all starts to make more sense. Then he starts explaining how some sticks are much better than others, and the really good ones he sorts out for the wands he makes personally. Then there's the second class wands, which get made in the workshops. Then the third class ones, which are really there for the likes of me to practice on.

And the Monday after that, it's the sorting of cores. Same sort of thing really. And I get to go in the workshops, start working with the other apprentices.

So after three weeks, he calls for me again, and tells me to sit down.

"Are you enjoying the work, Dean?"

"Yeah. I mean, it's really good."

"And you think you have an aptitude?"

"I think so."

He nodded. "So do I. Now, up to now, you've just here on a trial basis, so to speak. And I haven't given you any money yet." I just nod at that. "Perhaps we ought to make it slightly more formal. Continue the trial for the rest of the holidays, but pay you for it." Well, I wasn't going to say no at that! "At the end of the summer, we can come to some sort of decision." He stops, and looks at me, and I nod again. "If - and it is 'if' - I decide to offer you an apprenticeship, there is a lot involved. Not being from a wizarding background, I suggest you have a talk with Professor McGonagall next term. She will tell you what is involved, and you'll be getting impartial advice." Another nod from me.

He reaches for a bag and hands it over. "Twenty Galleons for your work so far." I think I blinked at that. It seemed a lot, but I didn't really know what it was really worth. "And ten Galleons a week for the rest of the holidays."

I wasn't really in a position to bargain, and I was enjoying it so much, so I didn't argue. Actually, it was quite generous, given that I knew so little then. And the money was welcome, I can tell you. It didn't solve the Muggle money problem, but it meant I didn't have to go to Gringotts with grubby tenners to get wizard money.

Well, it all went from there. That's how I got into the wand business. I spent all the next summer working at Ollivanders, and started the apprenticeship as soon as I left Hogwarts. And saved all my money. Saved like mad. So here I am. New shop. It's not in the best of locations, you might say, but it's a start. 'Wands by Thomas'. I thought of all sorts of names, and you can imagine the sort of suggestions that Fred and George came up with, but in the end, I settled for something simple. The Weasleys? Yeah, I still see quite a lot of them. They're good blokes - all of them.

Anyway, is that enough for your article? Has Colin got enough pictures yet? How many articles have you had published now? Really? So the writing's going well? Nice to hear some else from the old days is getting on. I'm looking forward to seeing this in print. The opening is on Monday, and I certainly need the publicity.

Good seeing you, too. Give my regards to Dennis, will you, Colin? Watch the step there. And good luck with the writing.