The Ollivander Children
A Harry Potter Fan Fiction currently published on Fanfiction.net, written by a Troper, Vifetoile, The Ollivander Children tells the story of the Ollivander family, centering around Mr. Ollivander, the slightly creepy wandmaker first met in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone. In Half-Blood Prince, Mr. Ollivander is captured, and that's the last that we know of him until Deathly Hallows.
As an Elsewhere Fic, The Ollivander Children focuses on Mr. Ollivander's grand-niece, Calliope, who has been continuing her post-Hogwarts education in Boston, and along the way befriended a Muggle named Mark Printzen. When Calliope hears about her uncle's kidnapping (from her somewhat estranged best friend, Nymphadora Tonks), she returns to England, becoming reluctantly involved with the Order of the Phoenix. However, through an accident she leaves her wand behind, where Mark finds it -- and he decides to look for her in England, having little idea what he's getting into.
The story also dwells on Mr. Ollivander in captivity, and his captor's "experiments"; Calliope's older brother Linus, who works as an Obliviator with the Ministry of Macic and who ends up crossing paths with Mark; and the memory of Benedicte Ollivander, who died in the first war against Voldemort, but whose memory is in considerable danger...
Read The Ollivander Children here. It is currently complete, and a sequel, The Ollivanders At War, is in progress.
Tropes used in The Ollivander Children include:
- Aerith and Bob: Mark and Andrew are starting to really stand out opposite the odd Calliope, Linus, the rare Turpin and Thorfinn, the very weird (for Muggles) Januarius... Even "Tess" is short for the ancient Greek Tisiphone. (On a linguistic note, Mr. Ollivander's first name, Servaas, is the one Dutch name among a slew of English and Greek names. Mysterious.)
- Affably Evil: Turpentine.
- Anguished Declaration of Love: By Mark -- declaring his love for Calliope to her brother, in an attempt to convince Linus to take him along on her rescue mission. And in chapter 22 of "War," Guadalupe to Mark.
- Big Bad Ensemble: Between the Ministry of Magic and, eventually, the Death Eaters, our protagonists have their hands full.
- Black Best Friend: Andrew Dupont.
- Brainy Brunette: Calliope and Linus.
- Break the Cutie: Poor, poor Mark. Just to start with, he's an American Muggle surrounded by British wizards, and most wizards treat him about as well as you'd expect for that. Then he gets put in jail...
- Broken Pedestal: Turpentine to Linus.
- Brother-Sister Team: Several: Calliope and Linus, Tess and Hector, Januarius and Julietta.
- Calling the Old Man Out
- Cannot Spit It Out: Mark.
- Christianity Is Catholic: The Holy Church of Christ the Magician combines this with a mild Crystal Dragon Jesus to make a church where Tarot imagery is sprinkled in with the usual Catholic suspects.
- Cliff Hanger
- Confessional: Mark visits one in chapter two of Ollivanders at War, appropriately titled "The Confessional."
- Cowardly Lion: Mark struggles with this appellation.
- A Day in the Limelight: It gives Mr. Ollivander, the mysterious and little-seen wandmaker, more screen time -- although really most of the action is taken up by OC's.
- Deuteragonist: Between them, Mark and Linus are the deuteragonist and tritagonist, but it's uncertain which is which.
- Disappeared Dad: Calliope and Linus' father is alive, but living in France.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Again, Calliope and Linus, and their mother and sister.
- Elsewhere Fic: Type 2 -- canon characters appear, but the story revolves around original characters.
- Evil Plan: Someone is scheming to erase Benedicte Ollivander from the memory of everyone who ever knew or heard of her.
- The Fool: Mark has elements of this.
- For Science!: Turpentine again.
- Freak-Out: Januarius does not take well to a blood transfusion from a Muggle.
- Freudian Trio:
- Gray Eyes: Every one of the Ollivanders has 'em.
- Hazel Eyes: Mark’s hazel eyes fit the "Mook who promises more than he appears" trope; all the Ollivanders have silver eyes.
- Heroic BSOD: In War, one falls on the cast after Calliope learns that Linus and Mark had pleaded not guilty, knowing that Turpentine had promised to free her if they pleaded guilty.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Mark turns to Drowning His Sorrows in chapter 10 of War.
- Ironic Nickname: Calliope's family nickname is "Shrimp" because she was a tiny, premature baby. Now she's taller than everyone else in her family.
- Knight Templar Big Sister: Tess is very protective of her younger brother, Hector.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: What Obliviators do for a living.
- Lineage Comes From the Father: Averted -- except for Mr. Ollivander, all the members of the Ollivander family are descended through their mothers, and their respective fathers are rarely mentioned.
- Love Hurts: Mark.
- Lower Deck Episode: The entire story.
- Magic Wand: As per Harry Potter rules, every wizard has them. Calliope doesn't and is learning how to use magic without a wand.
- The Masquerade: Firmly in place between wizards and Muggles.
- Meaningful Name: Everyone, in some way or another. Except, probably, Turpentine.
- On the other hand, Turpentine would be the perfect name for someone who strips away layers of memories like you would layers of paint.
- In-universe, the names of the Ollivander Children: Calliope's middle name, Blithe, was chosen by her father to show how happy they were at her birth. Linus’ middle name, Fortitude, is because his mother almost died giving birth to him (also picked out by their father). Benedicte Clemence, a blessing of mercy, from their father (he had a sentimental bent).
- "Lyman" Heckinger, the journalist.
- Tisiphone means "the avenger."
- Memory-Wiping Crew: The Obliviators, where Linus works.
- Mind Rape: What Turpentine inflicts on Mr. Ollivander, and then on Calliope, to extract their memories of Benedicte.
- Missing Mom: Calliope and Linus' mother died a couple of years before the story starts.
- Moment Killer: Linus is unconscious master at this art.
- Muggle Power: Inverted: the more paranoid wizards are terrified of Muggles figuring them out and stealing their magic, as well as considering Muggles generally inferior to them in every way.
- Muggles: Mark is one, Andrew is a Muggle-born wizard.
- Non-Idle Rich: The Ollivanders are loaded, but they value the fact that they work for their money, and don’t flaunt it.
- Original Flavor: Attempting to match the later Harry Potter books, or, that failing, Interwoven, or, The Seamstress and the Lovable Stray.
- Pair the Spares: Hector and Andrew.
- The Pollyanna: Mark. Again. His reaction to the wizarding world is an extended "Ooh, shiny!"
- Preacher Man: Januarius Fell, reverend of the Holy Church of Christ the Magician.
- Pretentious Latin Motto: The Obliviators have "Splendide Mendax," which means "Nobly Untruthful."
- Science Hero: Linus at his best.
- Shout-Out Fanfic: The Weatherwax Theory of Magic.
- Mark actually tells the story of Beren and Luthien at one point.
- The Smurfette Principle: Calliope is nominally the main character -- she's also the most prominent female character by far.
- The Southpaw: Calliope.
- Stoic Spectacles: Linus.
- Sugar and Ice Personality: Calliope.
- Take Me Instead!: Calliope offers in place of Mark, to his dismay.
- Tall, Dark and Bishoujo: Calliope. Mark at least certainly thinks so.
- Tarot Troubles: Courtesy of Julietta Fell, who offers Tarot readings where her brother offers to hear confessions.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Dora and Calliope.
- Transferable Memory: In Harry Potter tradition, a big deal with Obliviators.
- Tsundere: Tess Gibbs.
- Unfazed Everyman: Mark.
- Unperson: What the villain is attempting to do to Benedicte years post-mortem. It works -- partially.
- What Beautiful Eyes!: The Ollivander family as a whole and their striking –- or unnerving -– silver eyes.
