This was amazing! I loved your characterizations. It's the best portrayal of Ollivander I've ever seen:
He is a keen studier of people, an observer of social currents and the tides of power. He doesn’t usually get involved; that isn’t his place. He is a firm believer in the need for both light and dark in the world, and his role as a wandmaker is to facilitate the use of magic, whether for good or evil. To deny either side would be to alter the balance of things and meddle in affairs much larger than himself, but he does like to watch how people cope, react and use their magic.
The way you show him as a man and wandmaker, inseparable from his profession and still much more, has impressed me a lot. I love how he watches everyone, sees everyone for themselves without judging.
I'm fascinated by what you have to say about wandlore.
All came to him as chunks of wood and bundles of cores, and all eventually spoke to him, told him the kinds of wands they wanted to be. Molly’s unicorn tail practically demanded that particular piece of birch, and he remembers the two dragon heartstrings that became Fred and George’s wands being completely tangled and inseparable until he decided to use the same branch of alder to make both. The wand chooses the wizard. Perhaps the wand knew who would come to own it before the wizard was even born.
This is just beautiful.
I think I love your Muriel even more. I loved that you didn't explain away her contradictions and showed her realistically (her character as well as her body). Loved her wit:
“I’m a hundred and eight years old, Ollivander. I don’t think much about the long term.
“Self-pity isn’t attractive in anyone, least of all a man who just had an orgasm.”
But it was her first introduction that made me love her:
“And what,” she asks, “happens if a woman becomes Ollivander’s apprentice?”
An all-around wonderful story! Will rec it at my journal.