Harry suddenly realized that the tape measure, which was measuring between his nostrils, was doing this on its own. Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes.

　　"That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. just take it and give it a wave."

　　Harry took the wand and (feeling foolish) waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once.

　　"Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try --"

　　Harry tried -- but he had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander.

　　"No, no -here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."

　　Harry tried. And tried. He had no idea what Mr. Ollivander was waiting for. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.

　　"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere -- I wonder, now - - yes, why not -- unusual combination -- holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."

　　Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers. He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls. Hagrid whooped and clapped and Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well... how curious... how very curious... "

　　He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious... curious..

　　"Sorry," said Harry, "but what's curious?"

　　Mr. Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare.

　　"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather -- just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother why, its brother gave you that scar."

　　Harry swallowed.

　　"Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember.... I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter.... After all, He- Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things -- terrible, yes, but great."

　　Harry shivered. He wasn't sure he liked Mr. Ollivander too much. He paid seven gold Galleons for his wand, and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his shop.

哈利突然意识到那卷尺是自己在测量他两个鼻孔之间的距离，而奥利万德斯先生正绕着架子，把盒子取下来。

　　"可以了，"他说完这句话，那卷尺就缩成一团摊在了地上，"接下来，波特先生，试试这个。山毛榉和蜥蜴龙的心弦，9英尺寸、又好又灵活，拿着它试着挥舞一下吧。"哈利拿着手仗，并且感有点愚蠢地挥动了一下。但是奥利万德斯先生立刻把它拿了回去。

　　"枫树木和凤凰羽毛，7英寸极富有弹性，试一下吧。"哈利想试，便还没等他把这根手杖举起来，又被奥利万德斯先生拿了回去。

　　"不，不行——这根乌木和独角兽的毛发，八英寸半、有弹性的，继续试一下。"哈利试了一遍又一遍，他不明白奥利万德斯先生在等什么，试过的魔杖已经在椅子上堆得越来越高，但是越多的魔杖从架子上被拿出来，奥利万德斯先生似乎越高兴。

　　"难应付的顾客，不用担心，我们一定会在这儿找到一根适合你的，对了，为什么不呢——不一般的组合——冬青木和凤凰羽毛，十一英寸，又好又柔轻。"哈利拿住这根手杖，立刻感到一股暖流涌上手指尖。他把手杖高举过头，在布满灰尘的空气中放下来的时候，一股红色、金色的火焰仿佛从魔杖的一端冒出来似的，跳动的火星溅到四周的墙上。

　　哈格力跳着拍手，而奥利万德斯先生则大叫："好啊！太好了！太棒了！多么神奇啊，简直太稀奇了……""对不起！"哈利问，"有什么稀奇的？"

　　奥利万德斯紧紧地以一种朦胧的目光盯着哈利。

　　"我记得我所卖过每一根魔杖，波特先生。真是太巧了，在你手中这根魔杖中所使用的凤凰羽毛和另一根中所使用的羽毛来自同一只凤凰。仅仅那一根而已，太神奇了，也许当他的兄弟伤了你，给你留下了这块疤痕时，这根手杖就注定了要为你所使用了。"哈利不禁吞了吞口水。

　　"是的，十三英寸半。这些事发生得多么神奇啊，这根手杖选择了你，记得。

　　我想我们应该期盼着什么重大的事情会发生在你身上，波特先生，毕竟，那个不知名的家伙干了许多大事——可怕但是确实伟大。"哈利在颤抖，他不确信他是否喜欢这个奥利万德斯先生。他为这根魔杖付了7个帆船币，奥利万德斯鞠躬送他们离开了他的店。