Chapter 61: Wand, Silver Mane

When Hagrid led Harry and the others out of the Forbidden Forest, the sky outside had already brightened.

Filch had been waiting beside the hut early on; when he saw the group walk out of the Forbidden Forest intact, a look of disappointment immediately crossed his face.

"What a shame…" Filch muttered under his breath as he stepped forward, but before he could say another word, a large hand shoved him aside.

Hagrid glared furiously at Malfoy.

"Scaring classmates in the Forbidden Forest — I'll be telling Professor Snape about this!"

Malfoy didn't care in the slightest; he knew perfectly well that Snape would never punish him.

"How boring. Can we go back now?" Without waiting for Hagrid's answer, Malfoy walked off toward the castle, grumbling as he went:

"I really wish I could be lying in a warm dormitory tonight instead of in that boring, gloomy forest."

"That idiot… sorry, I meant Slytherin." Hagrid glanced at Filch, then said quietly to Silven, "So, those centaurs really didn't steal the unicorn's corpse?"

"No," Silven said firmly.

Harry glanced at Silven and nodded vigorously as well.

"That's really strange — how did the unicorn's corpse just suddenly disappear?" Hagrid scratched his head and turned to walk into his hut.

Silven, Harry, and Neville followed Filch back to the castle together.

Along the way, Harry kept turning his head, looking at Silven as if he wanted to say something, but right up until they reached the Great Hall, he never got a word out.

After spending an entire night in the Forbidden Forest, they were absolutely starving; the only thing on their minds right now was a hearty breakfast.

Ron, Hermione, and the Weasley twins were also there — they had likewise just finished their detention and come running, ravenous.

Although it wasn't breakfast time yet, the moment they sat down, the table was still piled high with mountains of toasted bread and fragrant sausages and bacon.

Silven took out his wand, gave it a light flick, and fresh lingonberry jam spread evenly across the surface of the toast.

"Does this kind of thing Count as using magic too?" Fred asked, a bit puzzled.

"I think I remember when I first started school — I wanted to use magic for absolutely everything." George set down the pumpkin juice jug in his hand. "But I stopped doing that ages ago."

Silven paid them no heed, continuing to spread jam and slice sausages with his wand.

"It's really beautiful." Hermione suddenly said, "I've never seen such a beautiful wand before — did you make this one too?"

"Just a wand…" Ron hadn't been paying attention at first, but when he glanced up instinctively, he couldn't help but freeze.

"Yes, I think it's beautiful too," Silven said, gently running his fingers over the new wand in his hand.

【Silver Mane】

【Whomping Willow (unicorn), three-headed dog's tooth, twelve and a half inches】

【Condition: Perfect】

【Trait: Pride: The unicorn suppresses the opponent's wand attributes and lowers the affinity between both sides (even as a wand, the unicorn still looks down on all living things equally)

Sacred: White magic effects +50%, casting speed +30%, magic range +30%; dark magic effects -90%

Purify: When using magic against curses and dark creatures, the countering effect is increased by 100%

Spell-Breaker: Offensive magic penetration +20%, with a chance to directly shatter the opponent's defensive magic.

Tear: After magic deals damage to a target, the Counter-spell effect is weakened by 30%】

【Exclusive Spell: Splendor of the Unicorn · Silver Mane Starfall (SplendorMonocerotis) — the unicorn's soul leaps from the wand core and charges the target at full force.】

Silven had never seen such an outrageous wand before; he had always assumed the unicorn was the core, but in fact the three-headed dog's tooth was, and the unicorn had become part of the wand's body.

Even more exaggerated were those five positive traits — the lowest was a 20% boost, and the highest reached a ridiculous 100%.

Judging by the effects, the first three should come from the unicorn, and the last two from the three-headed dog, which also matches their respective positions within the wand.

Besides, this was also the first — and only — wand Silven had ever seen that possessed both a name and an exclusive spell.

Silver Mane.

Silven took a deep breath, struggling to suppress the urge to try out that exclusive spell.

He even had a thought: the legendary Elder Wand probably isn't much more than this.

Too bad that last time he went to the headmaster's office, Dumbledore didn't have the Elder Wand with him — otherwise he could have compared the two and seen just how big the gap was.

"Oh, I know!" At that moment, George suddenly shouted, drawing everyone's attention.

"This is the wand you made from a Whomping Willow branch, right!"

"Mm, that's right," Silven nodded.

"Incredible." Fred sighed in admiration. "I've never seen a wand with golden patterns on it before — it looks a little familiar. If the tip were just a bit thinner, it'd look exactly like a unicorn's horn."

"Mm…" Harry raised his head, opened his mouth, but still said nothing.

"If you like this kind of wand, it's not like there's no way," Silven said.

"Forget it." Fred waved his hand. "We can't afford a second wand right now — a Whomping Willow one must be really expensive."

"No, I didn't mean for you to buy a new wand — it's this." Silven took out a thumb-sized bottle and set it on the table.

"Wand-dyeing spray," Silven explained. "Spray it on your wand and you can easily change it to whatever color you like."

"Impossible." George blurted out. "We tried this ages ago — no dye will stick to a wand's body, not even with magic."

"That's just because you couldn't do it," Silven said with a smile. "Remember what my surname is?"

"Ollivander… oh!" The Weasley twins both showed looks of sudden realization at the same time.

"How much for this stuff?" they asked eagerly.

"Ten galleons a bottle," Silven said. "But seeing as we served detention together, I can give you the lowest discount — one galleon."

"What a discount you just can't refuse," George clicked his tongue. "But can you actually make any money like this?"

"Quite a bit," Silven said.

"……"

"You really are a profiteer."

The two of them looked at Silven with utter disdain.

"All right, I suppose," Silven said. "Green and silver are thirty Galleons a bottle, and there's no discount."

"That's fair enough."

In the end, Fred and George bought gold and red sprays respectively, and after a moment's hesitation, Hermione bought a blue one as well.

One Galleon was not exactly cheap for her, but the school year was nearly over, and the pocket money she had left was enough to cover the expense.

Ron wanted to buy one too, but he had no money and could only watch longingly.

Ten minutes later, the few of them finished breakfast and left the Great Hall.

Back in the dormitory, Neville threw himself straight onto the bed and was asleep within seconds.

Their first class that morning wasn't until ten, so they could still squeeze in a bit more sleep.

Ron was dead tired too, but just before dropping off he forced himself to ask Harry, "What's the matter with you? You didn't say a word all through breakfast — something on your mind?"

"No, nothing," Harry said. "Ron, do you think a unicorn could be made into a wand core?"

"Of course it could," Ron yawned. "Have you forgotten? The core of my old wand was unicorn tail hair."

"Not tail hair," Harry said. "A whole unicorn."

"What? Harry, are you so tired you're talking in your sleep?"

Ron rolled over in bed, muttering, "A unicorn's that big — how could it possibly be made into a wand core? Even a giant wouldn't use a wand that huge."

"But I saw it with my own eyes, and Silven admitted it himself," Harry said. "Hagrid wouldn't believe it either — he insists Silven was joking. Could he really have been joking?"

No one answered.

By then Ron was already asleep; steady breathing came from behind the curtains.

(End of chapter)