Closed The Family Business

[Elliot Briar]

Working at Ollivander's had been a challenge, to say the least, but it had helped solidify Elliot's growing interest in wandlore, for which he was grateful. His first few years at Hogwarts, studying with no direction and watching as his classmates had all pursued their talents and interests had set Elliot on edge, filled with fear that he was missing some window to find something he wanted to do with his life. He wasn't completely sure what exactly he wanted to do when he graduated, but he hoped it was something to do with wands, and the relief of that knowledge helped carry him even on difficult or busy days at the shop.

It also encouraged him to catch up with Emmett, hovering awkwardly behind him as Ollivander's closed for the day. "Hey uh, Emmett? Could I ask you something? Really quick?" He said meekly, reaching to tap Emmett on the shoulder before thinking better of it. Elliot mostly got along fine with the other Ollivander's employees, especially Ainsley, but Emmett he gave a wide berth, still quietly terrified of his dour attitude. But from what he'd heard, Emmett's family was pretty deeply involved in wandmaking, and Elliot tried to swallow his skittishness in favor of maybe learning a few things.

 

[Emmett Lancaster]

Emmett loved his work with wands, and he did enjoy Ollivanders - just, outside of the sorting season, typically. Every day of the holiday period, he looked forward to the end of his shift, the satisfying click of the door locking for the evening. Another day out of the way. The man folded his arms and turned to leave and take the short walk back to Bleak Street, with Phyll clung to the fabric of his sleeve, only to be stopped by one of the younger assistants. He turned back, catching sight of the recoiling hand. He looked at it for a hard moment, and then to the boy. "Really quick." He agreed.​

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot had to resist the urge to hide his hand behind his back under Emmett's gaze, resolutely holding it at his side instead. Thankfully Emmett didn't immediately brush him off, so Elliot gathered his wits and tried to focus on what he actually wanted to talk about and not how badly he'd rather just go home right now. "Your family they uh, also run a wand shop, right? I wanted to know a bit more about them, like the types of materials and stuff they use. If you know, I mean," He said, again resisting the urge to fidget. Elliot knew Emmett was a Lancaster, but if he was being honest he had no idea how close Emmett was to the ones who ran Lancaster Spellcarving. He was tempted to ask Emmett if he could introduce him, but the possibility that the other Lancasters were as intimidating as Emmett was a little daunting at the moment. Assuming Emmett would even say yes.

 

[Emmett Lancaster]

Emmett frowned at the question, and slacked his folded arms. "Why?" He asked, almost suspiciously. They both worked at Ollivanders, and while it was easy to assume some of the younger employees only sought jobs there for the higher pay rather than the content, it did seem as if the younger boy had a more vested interest in wands, rather than solely looking to have more galleons in his pocket. Or so he had to assume, from the interactions he'd seen him have with customers. With that in mind, he was curious as to whether Elliot was asking because of his genuine interest in wands, or if someone else had put him up to it, especially with how little they'd interacted before. Perhaps Natalie was worried about the competition.​

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot had been bracing himself for a number of responses from Emmett, but 'Why' hadn't been one of them. He faltered for a minute, trying to articulate something outside of the more planned conversation he'd been prepared to have. "Oh uh. Well, I've being looking more into different wand cores and woods and I noticed Ollivander's is pretty traditionally European and English in what we use here, which makes sense," He started, trying not to be cowed by Emmett's gaze. "So I was curious about what other wand makers around New Zealand might use... And since you're a um. A Lancaster, I figured maybe you'd know.. Something.." Elliot trailed off, suddenly unsure what exactly he was asking Emmett to help him with.

 

[Emmett Lancaster]

Emmett had almost turned to leave again, not sure he had the patience to stand around and wait for the boy to find his words. He paused when he did speak, and took a moment himself to consider if he should answer. "Alright. Walk with me, I'm not standing around here." He muttered, turning to make the leisurely walk to Bleak Street. "My family isn't from here originally, so, like Ollivanders, a lot of our woods are from other countries. We use what we know, and it differs from what Ollivanders offers. Snakewood, red oak, plum, alihotsy. We've only started using some woods from here since we came over. Rimu, for example, or lancewood, but we predominantly use what we are familiar with. If you're after more native woods, you'd be better off asking a native wandmaker." He said simply. "As for our cores, acromantula is a Lancaster speciality. We all use it in ours. Then there's rougarou, grindylow, or runespoor, to name a few. Very little comes from here. I would say we've yet to explore everything New Zealand has to offer. There's a world of wands still to research." His family had traveled a lot, to study wandlore. They were late to the game, compared to places like Ollivanders, and there had been a lot of catching up to do in a short amount of time. He supposed some of their successes may have been owed to their willingness to explore and dabble in areas many other wandmakers weren't willing to go to. "Do you intend to becoming a wandmaker yourself?" He asked suddenly, curious as to what his eventual goal was, if any. He'd always seen many of the other employees as just there to do their job and go home, the exception being Ainsley. Emmett had never bothered to get to know anyone else to really find out.​

 

[Elliot Briar]

There was a beat where Elliot was sure the conversation was over, but he seemed to have said something right, and Elliot quickly hurried to keep up with Emmett, listening closely as he explained more about his family's wand making. "I've seen a few acromantula web wands around the shop, it's uh, pretty powerful stuff," He said. Elliot didn't have as much experience with the other cores that Emmett had mentioned, though he knew a few of them were more common around the states. It did make Elliot curious what sort of materials a local kiwi wand maker would utilize, he'd have to see if he could find one willing to talk to him.

Emmett's next step made Elliot pause, causing him to double his stride to not lose pace with Emmett as he fumbled for an answer again. "I'm not sure. I don't know if I could? I mean, I enjoy learning about it, how the different properties all work together is fascinating, but actually becoming a maker seems um. Difficult?" Elliot had spent so long not really knowing what he'd wanted to do with his life around school, the idea of being able to confidently say wandmaking was a thing he wanted to do still seemed foreign. "I'm enjoying pursuing it for now, at least," He offered hesitantly, shrugging sheepishly. "Did you always wand to be in the wand-making business yourself?" He asked, thinking of Aonghas and his resignation about taking up his own family business.