@denmother

What had started with her just going out to get groceries when it had started raining had turned into something much more and she was glad to finally be at Ollivanders. While it had been tempting to just spend all day in bed with Alek, Ophelia knew her time was better spend if she came into work. Both options had been fun, one more so than the other obviously but even if it was Sunday, he knew where she was meant to be. It was where she came each Sunday unless something else kept her away. In recent times that had been the time she was in quarantine. Thankfully, there was no chance of her returning to that. She didn’t think there could be another epidemic so soon but she knew not to get ahead of herself.

Being at Ollivanders at least made her feel comfortable. She had made a commitment to becoming a wandmaker and she was happy to be here. It was her comfort place. She knew that she didn’t have to worry about being here even without her magic. She could still send wands and their accessories. She had become good at reading people in her time here. Of course, she would never be as good as Garrick Ollivander himself but then again, she was a Jameson, not an Ollivanders. She had not yet run into anyone who thought that was a problem or it was strange that there wasn’t a Ollivanders making wands here. She had her supporters and she was satisfied with that.

Walking around the shop, she dusted the place down as best she could. While the dust had been a long standing characteristic of the shop, she did try and keep the place as tidy as possible. It was not always possible but she made it work as best she could. When’s he had first returned to work, she had found that it was hard fo her to even clean because she was simply exhausted from the epidemic but she had built her strength up again.

But she was in a good place now and that satisfied her for the time being. The witch had been stacking up wand boxes on a shelf left of the counter when she heard the doorbell chime indicating that someone had walked in. ”I’ll be with you soon…” she told them politely. Turning around she came face to face with an older witch. ”Hello ma’am, how can I help you?”
 

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[attr="class","redqueen"]Sticks Without Purpose, Are Just Wands Without Owners

[attr="class","tweedles"]Iseul liked to visit wand shops around the world, not only to see what kind of wands were selling and what wasn't, but also to feel the atmosphere of each in turn. They all had their own charm, a certain crackle of energy interwoven with that smell all old and dusty buildings share. Of course, the ones in Korea tended to hold themselves to a different standard, cleaner and more organized than this one in Diagon Alley, but Iseul couldn't help but find a certain...charm in it's disarray. For all that it looked like a mess of boxes stacked haphazardly, ready to topple over at any moment, there was a certain strength lingering in the power she felt whenever she entered. Even this far from the full moon, when her senses were at their most natural levels, Iseul could still pick up on the magical energy vibrating throughout the little shop.

The woman standing behind the counter was definitely not Garrick Ollivander, though that wasn't a surprise given his death over ten years ago, Iseul was more surprised that they hadn't sold out of wands or renamed the shop in all that time, though the place looked much like it had every other time Iseul had visited. She'd known Ollivander in passing, as fellows with shared occupations who occasionally ran into each other. He'd even offered a few insights into how he crafted his wands, though he hadn't revealed his real secrets, and she'd shared a few of her own in return. Iseul wouldn't have called him a friend, per se, but he'd been a friendly face all the same.

"Hello," she greeted warmly. "Oh I'm not here for a wand, not really. I've got plenty." Three, actually. One for dueling, one for basic use that she kept on her person at all times, and a spare that she kept hidden for emergencies. Nobody actually knew about the emergency wand, as it had been Nam-Kyo's and his family believed he'd been buried with it, but Iseul had held onto it in a fit of sentimental pique and always planned to put it back. Now she could admit that she wasn't ever going to, and she'd stashed it away to be used in case the political climate turned particularly negative towards her, for whatever reason--whether her blood-status or her nature as a werewolf. "I just like to visit on occasion. Get a feel for what's selling and what's not. I'm Iseul, Iseul Kim," she introduced with a polite nod. She'd taken to using the western way of introductions, with her family name after her given one, to avoid confusion from those who didn't understand the Asian convention of giving the family name first. She's been mistakenly called Kim more than once.

[attr="class","rabbit"]460 - @ophelia - Outfit

♕fai

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Wands were her life. Ophelia had been so passionate about them for over a decade. While that had made her stand out from her classmates at school, she didn’t care. She wanted to craft them. But she had lost her magic with so many others with the epidemic that had spread quickly through the magical community. Wands were just sticks to her now. It broke her heart to think of something so powerful as something so mediocre now. She knew of their full potential better than most.

Still, she persevered on and was lucky to still keep her job at the wand shop. She knew that this was where she was meant to be. Despite her inability to create wands she could still sell them and she still had to make the shop look presentable. Everyone knew Ollivanders for being a dusty place but the witch tried to clean up the place as best she could. She just had to use muggle methods for the moment. But she longed to have her magic. Obviously she could get by day to day without it but she needed it for her work.

For a long time her work had been her life but last month on Valentine’s another person had been gaining more and more of her attention. Sure, they weren’t together officially but Alek had definitely been appearing in her thoughts more often. She knew she had to be cautious when it came to relationships given her track record when it came to them.

Still, she she knew she had to venture into the unknown at times. She was only getting one life and she ought to live it as best possible. With this in mind she persevered through her work at Ollivanders.

Ophelia served all kinds of customers. She had regulars who went through so many wand care kits and then she others that had been in here for the first time. Normally they were first year Hogwarts students but this time it was a much older woman.

It was nice to have someone come in to simply look even if this was unheard of at Ollivanders. Ophelia offered her a polite smile which only widened when the older woman gave her name. Damn, she had heard of Iseul Kim but had never met her, not until now at least. ”Wow, it’s an honour to meet you. I’m Ophelia Jameson…..wandmaker here at Ollivanders, well until I lost my magic” she said, trying not to frown. ”I’m sorry, I’ve heard wonderful things about you and the wands you make, I’ve just not made it far enough to Korea to visit” she said wondering if that sounded like an apology or not. She had only been around mainland Europe but she had read up plenty on the wandmaking of Asia and naturally it fascinated her.

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[attr="class","redqueen"]Wood Without Core is Such a Bore

[attr="class","tweedles"]Wandmakers were a rare breed, as the skill was a difficult one to master. One could study and memorize the theory behind it endlessly, but without the deftness and patience required to be truly skilled in it, making wands would only be a passable skill for most. For all that Iseul had been raised in a traditional Korean Pureblood family, they had also been wandmakers for generations, and when Iseul had expressed her own desire to learn the trade of their family, her father had been nothing short of supportive. She hadn't been sure of her arranged marriage until the day her father showed her the draft for the contract, which stipulated that Iseul was to be allowed whatever necessary privilege to pursue wandmaking. Essentially, if Iseul could reasonably explain anything as even remotely necessary for her trade, her husband couldn't stop her from doing it. It was such a controversial thing to include in a contract, anything that gave a wife any semblance of freedom was controversial, and the fact that her own father had seen fit to give her even that much...well, Iseul couldn't have been more relieved. In the end, it didn't really matter, because Nam-Kyo hadn't been a fan of restricting her in any form and especially so after the affair was discovered. It made her sound like she'd held it over his head, and she had for the first few years, but then she really had forgiven him and he had learned to respect her enough that she didn't need to bring it up anymore.

Iseul wasn't sure she could say she'd ever been in love with her husband, but there'd been a certain fondness and respect to their relationship. She'd certainly loved him, even if not in a truly romantic fashion, and he had cared for her a great deal in turn. Still, she hadn't wanted to pressure her own children into an arranged marriage unless they chose it, which none of them had. They'd all found love on their own and she was so glad to see them in loving relationships. Even Joo-Won, who still struggled with the irritability of his partial nature, something Iseul could never be sure if it was from the werewolf attack or simply a facet of his personality. Considering how gentle and soft-spoken he was during and around the new moon, she was likely to believe the former. Despite them all being married, only Kyung-Tae had provided her with a grandchild, and that only recently. Iseul was glad for it, to be sure, but she'd rather hoped to be a grandmother several times over by now.

She huffed a small laugh, "I've not been to Korea in some time myself, honestly." They still talked about her behind her back, like they thought she didn't know what they thought of her choices, and while she might endure it for the sake of her children, neither side were very welcoming of them either. She had tried, in the early days, to allow her children to know their family, but it became clear that their family had no desire to truly know them. So Iseul had more or less stopped caring about it and set about living her life how she liked. "My family aren't very enthused about the paths I've taken, and I'm rather sick of trying to hold myself to their standards. But it's nice to know I have fans among the trade."

[attr="class","rabbit"]574 - @ophelia - sorry for the feels

♕fai

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Losing her magic had been devastating for Ophelia. She didn’t want to appear weak but without her magic, she felt exactly like that. She had spent most of her life being strong but the one thing that defined any witch or wizard was their ability to perform, control and exhibit their magical skilsl. One piece of compensation for Ophelia was that she was not alone in this. The full number who had lost their magic was too many to count. The witch still hoped everyone’s magic would be restored soon, it was just a matter of time. THere was no way the magical community in the UK would function with so many people without their magic and with the borders closed.

The magical population in the UK was amongst the biggest in the world and they were critical to the world or so Ophelia thought. She could be wrong but with someone who looked into wandlore and the history of the magical world and therefore the intricacies of the magical world, she had a feeling she was right.

Ophelia still continued to learn about wandlore as she saw that as something she needed to keep herself updated on everything that was related to her profession. It was something that she had worked towards most of her life and she tried to make sure that knew what was happening around the world with other wandmakers and what was being discovered in different parts of the world in regards to wands. They were important to any witch or wizard and having one brought great responsibility. Ophelia always enjoyed helping first year Hogwarts students get their first wand and their looks on their faces when they finally chose the right one. If she didn’t get her magic back by the time the summer rolled around and first years came by for their wands, she wasn’t sure how she would go about helping them with that. At least they were still young enough to not lose their magic.

So many questions about the epidemic plagued Ophelia, one of which was how the virus was able to distinguish between an adult and a child or a teenager when spreading around in the magical world. Maybe they had just been in the right place at the right time. But she was glad that the yong people had not fallen sick and that they were been spared.

The younger witch nodded as the older woman explained she had not been to Korea in a while. That was one piece of information that. Ophelia was not away of when it came to Isuel Kim. She had been interested in the woman’s workings with wands. Hearing the older woman explain that her family had not been that supportive of the choice she had made in life had Ophelia feeling empathy towards the more experienced wandmaker. She had been lucky herself to have some great supporters in her life. She had lost her parents at a young age and she was glad to have had her aunt and uncle be there for her when she announced she wanted to become a wandmaker someday. ”I try to keep abreast of what is happening around the world and I find some unique things happening around the world” Ophelia replied hoping to take the attention of the older woman if she was not comfortable talking about the lack of support from her family.