Chapter 3: The Giant and the Boy

Faced with Mr. Weasley's teasing, Ollivander merely smiled politely and said nothing.

Although they hadn't followed the standard procedure, he didn't mind too much — having said it so many times, one more time wouldn't hurt.

"So you've come this time to buy a new wand for this Mr. Weasley, is that right?" Ollivander looked toward the smallest boy in the crowd.

The Weasley children were numerous, and they came to patronize his shop almost every year; in a sense, they could be considered old customers.

"No, that's not it." Lady Weasley shook her head. "Actually, we want to buy Charlie a new wand. He's about to go work at the Dragon Reserve."

Ollivander froze for a moment, his gaze sweeping across everyone before finally landing on the smallest child's hand.

More precisely, on the wand in his hand.

That wand was battered and broken, peeling in places, with one end still gleaming a white light.

Merlin's beard, that was unicorn hair!

Ollivander took a deep breath. He had never seen any wizard whose wand was this wrecked right after graduation — even more battered than most wands that had been used for twenty or thirty years.

Clearly, it had never been maintained once during that time, and its owner hadn't valued it in the slightest.

Ollivander's expression darkened somewhat, and even his voice turned considerably colder.

"Yes, I can see that. Dealing with dragons requires a proper new wand."

When he said "new wand," he bit down hard on the words.

The Weasley couple also understood perfectly well why Ollivander was angry. The two of them couldn't help blushing a little, but had to pretend they didn't know.

Charlie was going to deal with dragons, so a quality Ollivander wand was an essential requirement.

Fortunately, Ollivander didn't say much more — he merely gave them a bland look.

"However, there's something I must remind you of: this Mr. Weasley is not a new student, so this wand purchase comes with no discount."

"We know." Lady Weasley nodded hurriedly.

Ollivander nodded and said nothing.

"Let me handle this one, how about that." Silven saw that Ollivander didn't want to do Charlie's business, and spoke up proactively: "I'll select the new wand for this customer."

Under normal circumstances, Ollivander certainly wouldn't have agreed to let Silven run wild.

To put it bluntly, Silven was only eleven — he wasn't qualified to select wands for customers yet.

But this time, Ollivander only hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement.

"Then thank you, dear." Lady Weasley seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

She knew Silven.

Unlike most people who only visit the wand shop once every decade or so, the Weasleys were regulars.

They had met him when Percy first came to buy his wand, and he had also been there when the twins bought theirs.

Today was the third time meeting — not quite familiar, but not strangers either.

Silven glanced at Charlie, then looked at Ron, and a string of data instantly appeared before his eyes.

【Willow, unicorn tail hair, fourteen inches】

【Condition: Damaged】

【Property: Magic Weakening (A damaged wand will reduce the power of spells; replacement recommended)】

A standard wand — nothing special, and no reference value.

"I just heard you're going to the Dragon Reserve?"

"Yes, I'm setting off in the next few days." Charlie nodded.

"How about oak?" Silven said to himself. "Oak, which stores power, usually leans toward wizards of unyielding resilience — feels like it would pair well with dragons."

"For the core, Weasley and unicorn tail hair are a perfect match — no need to consider anything else."

"Wand length around ten inches, I'd say." Silven glanced again at that fourteen-inch willow wand. "Compared to comfort, a shorter length makes for quicker drawing."

What Charlie thought was unknown, but Ollivander's eyes grew brighter and brighter. The moment Silven finished speaking, he had already found the corresponding wand.

Oak, unicorn hair, ten and a third inches — a perfect match for Silven's thoughts.

Ollivander handed the wand to Charlie.

He could no longer be bothered with being angry now; he just wanted to see the result as soon as possible. Seeing Charlie not moving, he even urged him.

"What are you waiting for? Try it quickly…"

"Huh?"

"Oh!" Charlie instinctively gave the wand a wave.

A cluster of blooming orchids blossomed at the wand's tip.

"Perfect!" Ollivander couldn't help exclaiming.

Even with his most professional eye, he couldn't find any fault — this wand was a perfect match for Charlie, even better than his old one.

Of course, there was one more thing he had to say: this wand had chosen Charlie, even though he was a lout who had absolutely no idea how to cherish a wand.

"Wonderful, I really like it." Charlie was equally enamored with his new wand.

Lady Weasley stood there, blinking in bewilderment.

Wait — that fast?

She was an old customer too, but this was the first time she'd discovered that buying a new wand could be this efficient.

Just a few glances — no need to measure arms or shoulders, no need to try other combinations — and it was already chosen?

And Charlie himself was very satisfied too, tucking the wand straight into his coat pocket on the spot.

Seeing this, Lady Weasley said nothing more, and gritting her teeth, paid seventeen galleons for the wand.

This was the true price of a wand.

Honestly, the seven galleons charged to new students really wasn't much.

Take that wand of Charlie's just now — the unicorn tail hair alone costs nine galleons, and the specially treated wood needed for the wand body works out to another galleon.

Fortunately, the Ministry of Magic gives every new student a five-Galleon wand subsidy, so it barely broke even.

Ollivander's Wand Shop has been making wands since 382 BC, and can almost be said to monopolize Britain's wand industry, but in reality it really doesn't make much money.

After all, most wizards won't waste Galleons buying themselves a second wand.

Over the next few days, Silven stayed at the shop helping out, and during this time he also met Hermione — Professor McGonagall brought her here to buy a wand.

【Vine wood, dragon heartstring, ten and three-quarter inches】

【Condition: Perfect】

【Traits: None】

A perfectly ordinary wand — of course, ninety percent of new wands are like this.

If used long enough, a wand will also undergo varying degrees of change along with its user.

Just like Professor McGonagall's wand.

【Fir wood, dragon heart nerve, nine and a half inches】

【Condition: Good】

【Transfiguration Mastery: Mana consumption -50% when casting Transfiguration (limited to Minerva McGonagall)

Transfiguration Grandmaster: Transfiguration casting speed +30% (limited to Minerva McGonagall)

Insight: High probability of directly destroying an opponent's Transfiguration (limited to Minerva McGonagall)】

Three traits, all related to Transfiguration, and all related to Professor McGonagall.

This kind belongs to the wizard influencing the wand — if switched to another person, these traits wouldn't completely vanish, but they'd be greatly diminished.

……

Soon, the time came to the last day of July.

Early that morning, Silven was already waiting in the shop — he was waiting for a special customer.

But the entire morning passed, and he still hadn't seen that person. Silven could only continue to wait patiently.

Until the afternoon, not long after finishing lunch, the shop door was pushed open from outside once again.

Accompanied by a crisp bell, a timid, scrawny boy who looked like a little chick walked in. With him was a big fellow fully eleven feet tall.

(End of this chapter)