The Daily Prophet: 2 September 1997
PAGE TWO Ollivander's Closing Leaves Students Scrambling for Wands Barnaby Snell
The sudden and mysterious closing of the famed Ollivander's Wand Shop in Diagon Alley, London, has left new students to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in need of a new source of wands. The famed shop, to which nearly every Wizard and Witch in Britain has given their custom for years, has been boarded up for the past week through unexplained circumstances.
No one has seen or heard from Garrick Ollivander, the shop's proprietor, since the shop's closing. His fellows amongst Diagon Alley's shop owners are concerned, but hopeful of his return.
"I assume he's taking a long-needed and well-deserved holiday," said Madam Malkin, owner of the famed Robes for All Occasions shop down the road from Ollivander's. "The old man is a true craftsman. He won't stray from his passion for too much longer."
In the interim, first-year Hogwarts pupils and Wizards in need of wand repair have turned to alternate sources. Wandmakers in France, Germany and Bulgaria have received numerous orders despite the Ministry for Magic's high tariff on importing wands and other magical items.
Also, local wandmakers have been hard at work honing their craft, though this has led to several calamitous cases. Reports of defective and even exploding wands have been reported across Britain, with one wandmaker in Leicester being arrested by Aurors for causing grievous bodily harm with his defective products.
A growing trend amongst the elder generations has been the gifting of their wands to younger Wizards and Witches in need. "My young granddaughter is headed off to Hogwarts soon," said Clytemnestra Lyttelton, 105, of Eye, Cambridgeshire. "She needs a good wand, not one of these knock-offs from the boy down the road."
The Ministry is reminding purchasers of wands in the wake of Ollivander's closing to mind their wands closely and practice safe magic, using protection where warranted, and operating under close supervision when necessary.