Madam Bones switched to asking Hailey probing questions about her life with the Dursleys. How they treated her, what they did to her. By the end of the discussion about her family, Hailey was exhausted and the Tonkses had furious expressions on their faces. Dora had even turned red and had black horns sprouting out of her forehead, although Hailey was pretty sure that was to help calm everyone down. Even Madam Bones’ expression was grave as she sat there. “How could Albus leave her in a situation like that?”

Hailey yawned, covering her mouth with her hand. “Because he isn’t a very nice man. I don’t know his full name and even I can tell that much.” She frowned. “It feels like he has more than the three names most people do, though.”

“How did you…” Madam Bones began, only to pause and sigh. “Right, you’re apparently Fae. Makes sense.” She rubbed her face with her hands, sighing again. “I’ll make sure that no word of this gets to Albus. I can’t guarantee anything beyond Hailey getting to Hogwarts though. However, we can start the paperwork and the legal proceedings towards a more permanent solution for our young Heir Apparent here.”

The tension among the Tonkses dropped noticeably, Dora cheered and even Andi let out a relieved sigh. “Thank you, Amelia. We really appreciate it.”

Madam Bones smiled faintly. “Think nothing of it dear. Now… if I could just have a moment of time with Hailey, alone? I just wish to ask her a few questions, nothing more.”

Andi turned to look towards Hailey. “Are you okay with that, Hailey?”

Pausing to think about it, Hailey slowly nodded her head in agreement, smiling. Andi nodded, squeezing Hailey’s shoulder gently, before she stood up and looked over to Ted and Dora. “Well, let’s give them some privacy.” 

Her husband and Dora nodded their agreement, Dora bouncing to her feet instantly. After reassuring Hailey some more, the Tonkses left, leaving a suddenly nervous Hailey with a silent Madam Bones. 

“Now Hailey, I wished to ask if you were comfortable with all of these… changes that you’ve been experiencing the last few days, and I’m not talking about your living situation either. I hope that nobody is pressuring you to dress as a girl or change your name. I know that Ny-Dora has some odd thoughts on her gender sometimes, but that’s to be expected from a metamorphmagus.”

Hailey shook her head, looking down at her hands before looking Madam Bones in the eye. “No one is making me do anything. I’ve felt like this for a long time, and it’s only because the Tonkses aren’t the Dursleys that I’ve been allowed to – to be who I am on the inside, on the outside. I’ve never been happier.”

Madam Bones stared at her for a moment, finally taking a sip of her drink before she responded. “Are you sure you aren’t equating just being free of the Dursleys? After all, you yourself told me that Dora pranked you with very girly clothes.”

Smiling fondly at the memory, Hailey bobbed her head briefly. “I’m sure, I’ll be forever grateful to Dora for helping me understand what it was about myself that I was missing. Without her help, it might’ve taken a lot longer for me to come out of my shell.”

They both fell silent, the steady tick tock of an old style clock was the only noise that accompanied them. After a moment of her staring at Hailey, deep in thought, Madam Bones finally spoke up, “Well… if you are sure. I’ll organise to get the paperwork sorted for your name and gender change immediately. So you will be assigned the correct dormitory for when you go to Hogwarts.”

Hailey’s face lit up in a brilliant smile as happy little butterflies fluttered through her. “Really? Like, really really?”

Madam Bones’ mouth twitched as she smiled slightly. “Really, really.”

Unable to contain her excitement, Hailey squealed happily, jumping up and circling the table, before throwing herself into a hug with Madam Bones, making sure to not drain her magic. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Hailey chanted. 

A hand awkwardly patted Hailey’s head. “You’re welcome, Hailey. I just hope that you know what you are doing.”

“I do!”

“Then I don’t see any problem.”

The rest of the night was a blur to Hailey. Madam Bones stayed for a little while longer, talking to Andi and Ted, mostly about mundane things that Hailey had no idea about. It wasn’t until, with a loud thunk of Hailey’s head hitting the table from nodding off, that they called it a night. All in all, things were looking up, it seemed to Hailey. 

⚡️

Things were not going well. Hailey had been at Ollivander’s wand shop for half an hour already, with no success yet. It felt like she’d tried almost every wand in the shop and failed with each one. 

A few days after Madam Bones’ visit had seen Andi knocking on Hailey’s door to wake her up for breakfast. Hailey kept offering to help around the house, but she was gently told they didn’t need or want her to help them, her staying with them was because they wanted her there, not because she could do things. The idea was a hard one for Hailey to accept, she’d only ever been wanted around for things that she could do for others. 

Andi had explained that they were going to go shopping and visit her bank vault at Gringotts, a goblin bank, which Hailey was amazed to discover. It was even more amazing that she apparently had a vault of money left behind by her parents. 

After walking into a pub called The Leaky Cauldron, Hailey, Andi and Dora entered the magical marketplace called Diagon Alley. Hailey struggled to stop from gawking at all of the weird and wonderful sights that greeted her. She had tried to not stare at the strangely dressed witches and wizards going about their day or at the fascinating open displays of magic everywhere. Flashing, signs, so more animated, and much more realistic than she had ever seen before, brooms sweeping on their own, creatures that she hadn't even dreamed of. And that was just the start.

Hailey’s scar itched. Andi had glamoured it so people wouldn’t see it, as she had mentioned that everyone would recognise her, and that it was simpler if no one did so just yet. Their first stop had been to Mr. Ollivander’s shop, as a wand was the first and easiest way to identify who a witch is. 

Which was partially why Hailey was getting frustrated now. Mr. Ollivander was nice, if a little strange, and had been nothing if not unfalteringly polite. Her name and different gender to what he had been expecting hadn't done anything but raise an eyebrow from him. 

“Never mind, Miss Potter. We’ll find one that suits you yet, or failing that, create a custom one.” Mr. Ollivander hummed in thought for a moment, absentmindedly taking the wand from Hailey’s hand and placing it back in its box. 

None of the wands had responded to her, most barely even doing any sort of magic at all. Hailey had been trying to hide it, but she had been scared that maybe she couldn’t do magic, or that she was somehow broken. 

Hailey winced as with a wave of yet another wand, this one made up of a unicorn hair core, holly, nine and a quarter inches in length, caused a loud thunderous noise. 

“No, not that one,” Mr. Ollivander said, grabbing the wand out of Hailey’s hand quickly. The wand maker sighed, before shrugging his shoulders once. “Okay, I don’t think any of these are going to work. Looks like it’s time for my last resort. Come with me, Miss Potter. We’ll go out the back to my workshop and test individual wand materials. Is that acceptable, Andromeda?”

Andi stood near the door, silently watching. Dora had long gone off to do something, Hailey didn’t know what, and from her grin, she wasn’t sure that she wanted to know. “If you think it’s the only way that she can get a wand, then I don’t see why not,” Andi replied. “It’s not like we have much choice in wand makers, without travelling pretty far.”

“Actually, there is another wand maker nearby, just in Knockturn Alley,” Andi winced as Ollivander paused. “I was going to suggest going to her next, if we can’t find what we need for Miss Potter out the back. She does good work, just… not, in my opinion, as good of a job as me. Now, come along into the back,” he finished with a small smile, gesturing for Hailey and Andi to follow him. 

Stepping through the doorway in the back of the packed shop, Hailey gasped as she saw many more wands and what she assumed were the material required to make them, in either various boxes or just laying about on several overburdened desks. 

Ollivander gestured to an empty spot in the middle of the room. “Stand right here, please, Miss Potter. I am going to create a runic circle around you and another one that I will place wand crafting material into. This is to test your compatibility with each material, hopefully so I can create a wand from them.”

Hailey nodded nervously, before stepping into the open area he had pointed to. 

“This isn’t dangerous or will hurt her, right?” Andi asked, concern clear on her face. Hailey was suddenly worried about that herself. 

Ollivander shook his head. He had ducked down low and was drawing a circle around Hailey’s feet with what looked like chalk. “Not at all. All she has to do is stand there. She may occasionally feel some slight sensations, but they should be mild at most.”

Once the circle was complete, Ollivander began writing strange symbols around the edge of the circle. Already, Hailey could feel a slight tingling sensation surrounding her, and she did her best to not siphon any magic. After all, it would not help her get her wand if she destroyed or interrupted the circle. Ollivander then stood up and started drawing another one on a cleared space on one bench. Hailey could tell that the circle was finished somehow, she wasn’t sure how she knew though. 

“Mr. Ollivander, what is that you are writing with? And what are all of the funny little letters that you’re writing?”

“One moment, Miss Potter,” Ollivander said as he wrote, only turning to Hailey once he had finished. He held up the chalk to Hailey. “This is ground up unicorn horn, pixie dust and a drop of lime. I find it an excellent material for crafting temporary circles such as these two,” at the look of horror on her face, he went on. “I can assure you, the unicorns are not harmed. When a unicorn reaches maturity, their horn falls off and a new one starts to grow in its place. I collect the horns myself. The pixie dust, funnily enough, has nothing to do with actual pixies, or so my supplier tells me,” he said with a shrug, smiling reassuringly at her. 

Hailey sighed with relief, she knew she’d be upset if unicorns, actual unicorns, were harmed to make her wand. 

“And the funny little letters that you called them,” he said with a light chuckle, “are magic runes. It’s the equivalent of me casting the spell by incanting it, but without having to repeat myself over and over.”

Hailey nodded at his explanation, then gasped as both circles flashed a soft purple light -- after he tapped the smaller one with his wand -- the light dimming before they turned back into the white chalk colour. “Okay, it’s all set. Now to just place various items inside this circle, and check for a response,” Ollivander muttered, mostly to himself it seemed. 

The wand maker slowly placed different items into the smaller circle on the bench, occasionally making tutting noises or quietly humming to himself, and occasionally writing something down with a pen shaped like a feather. After another five minutes or so of Hailey just standing there feeling weird sensations every now and then, the tingling of the magic, or feeling like ants were crawling over her skin. Ollivander finally sighed, taking away the final ingredient he had tested from the circle, before writing some more. After another minute or so, he finally stopped, placing his pen, no, his quill actually, in the ink pot. 

“Curious… very curious.”

“What’s curious, Mr. Ollivander?” Hailey asked, curious herself. 

Ollivander turned to look at Hailey with his pale eyes. “The ingredients that resonate most strongly with you, Miss Potter.”

Andi stepped forward several steps, placing a comforting hand on Hailey’s shoulder as she did so. “What did the circles reveal?” she asked with curiosity clear in her voice. 

“Based on my Arithmancy, this is the wand type that you require. Mahogany entwined rosewood, thirteen and a half inches, with a fairy heart core wrapped within freely given fairy wings. A most unusual combination indeed.”

Hailey smiled up at Andi before turning back to Ollivander. “Why is that?” 

Standing up straighter, Ollivander cleared his throat with a short cough. “Rosewood is rarely ever used for wand work. It’s said to be fun and adventurous, but with a darker side if crossed. As for mahogany, well, I’ve never heard of mahogany being used in a wand before today. A fairy heart is something I acquired a number of years ago to try. As far as I am aware, it’s never been used as a core either –” 

Ollivander paused at Hailey’s worried expression, “Ah… don’t worry, it’s not a real fairy heart, it’s a special stone that fairies love to hold onto. I had one failed attempt to make a wand and shelved the project. 

“I would never have thought to use freely given fairy wings with a fairy heart core. It is a most curious combination,” His face cracked into a wide and excited smile. “It’s exhilarating, having something new to work on, an exciting project for me indeed!”

The sheer excitement of the man practically shone out of his eyes, making Hailey giggle happily. Her own excitement rose up to match his. The best part was that it meant she wasn’t broken after all. 

As Andi and Hailey walked out of the back room with a promise of a new wand in two weeks time from Ollivander, there was a tap of the shop window. Hailey glanced that way, only to see Dora standing outside, holding a cage with a snowy owl inside of it, and a big happy grin on Dora’s face.