There Aren't Many Honest People in the Wizarding World

"Good, excellent!"

Ollivander placed the wand back in its box and tied an intricate knot with the ribbon. "Pine usually chooses self-reliant wizards. A distinctive personality may even be seen as isolation. Phoenixes, meanwhile, are independent creatures that keep apart from the world..."

As he said this, Ollivander gave Andy a slightly appraising look.

"Many wandmakers insist that pine wands choose long-lived wizards, and I agree—because I have never seen a pine-wand owner die young. And the phoenix represents rebirth through fire."

So I can just live recklessly? Andy felt a little excited.

Ollivander continued, "The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Collins. I believe you will accomplish great things in the future. At school, though, you should try to make a few more friends."

"That will be seven Galleons."

"Thank you, Mr. Ollivander."

Andy accepted the wand box and handed Ollivander seven Galleons, but he did not leave immediately.

Originally, Andy had not believed in the idea that wands chose wizards. Yet this pine-and-Phoenix Feather wand seemed unusually well suited to him.

Any transmigrator who came to the world of Harry Potter would surely pursue power and immortality. As for the love and friendship Dumbledore spoke of—they were fine to have, but there seemed to be no need to deliberately seek them out.

Well, when he met a girl he liked, he definitely had to pursue her proactively. Andy had plenty of experience in that regard.

And independence... even isolation...

Andy knew himself very well. He was just an ordinary transmigrator, equipped with all the traits of a transmigrator. Independence and immortality—it had to be said that this wand seemed as though it had been specially prepared for him.

"Mr. Collins, is there anything else?" Ollivander asked curiously when he saw that Andy had not left.

"Yes!"

Andy frowned. "Mr. Ollivander, you said that wands choose wizards, but a person's character is not fixed forever..."

Rather than growing impatient, Ollivander explained patiently, "Of course. While such cases are rare, they are not unheard of."

"In fact, every wand begins as only a semi-finished product. It grows alongside the wizard it chooses, gradually adapting to that wizard's personality and casting habits. So even if a wizard suddenly undergoes a drastic change in temperament, the wand will change along with them."

"Remember, a wand is a wizard's most trustworthy companion."

"Thank you!" Andy nodded to show that he understood.

Ollivander's explanation was somewhat idealistic, but that was simply how the Wizarding World worked. It was hardly strange for wands to have personalities of their own.

"I'd also like to buy a wand-care kit."

Andy decided that from now on, he would treat his wand the way he treated a girlfriend and make it fall in love with him as soon as possible.

Hmm... if it were a Witch, then she could treat her wand as a boyfriend.

Maybe it was a little too thin? After buying his wand, Andy went to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and purchased three sets of Hogwarts uniforms.

The uniforms needed to be tailored and would not be delivered to Andy's home for another three days.

After buying his wand and Hogwarts uniforms, Andy went to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. He ordered a cup of ice cream and ate while waiting for Helen and Isabel.

Whenever they came to Diagon Alley, Isabel absolutely refused to go home without eating ice cream from this shop.

After waiting about ten minutes, Helen entered the ice cream parlour with Isabel's hand in hers. "I had the things sent home by owl. Andy, you and Isha wait here for a while. I have something to take care of."

"Got it. Don't worry!" Andy said casually.

Other than exceptionally honest people, there were basically not many honest people in the Wizarding World.

Everyone was a wizard who wielded miraculous magic. It would have been truly strange if they had never secretly done anything bad.

Not to mention anything else, even a model Three-Good Student like Hermione had gone bad less than a year after entering Hogwarts. From breaking school rules to breaking the law, none of it mattered as long as she was not caught.

Helen was a Potions Master. Taking the occasional order for prohibited potions did not seem like much of a problem.

Even if the Ministry of Magic found out, Kyle could help manage the connections. On top of that, there was always an illegal Portkey at home, so escaping would take only an instant.

The cauldron of Polyjuice Potion brewed a month and a half ago had already been delivered, and a sizable sum of Galleons had been added to the family vault.

Honestly, being as poor as the Weasley family was what was truly abnormal in the Wizarding World.

During the first few years after transmigrating, Andy had thought that Muggle money and Wizarding World money could be exchanged freely.

Only after asking Helen did he learn that Little Wizards from the Muggle World were the only ones who received a certain exchange quota each year.

Helen had found that quite regrettable.

Back when she learned from a classmate that Muggle money could be exchanged for Galleons, she had even gone out of her way to learn the Imperius Curse and the Memory Charm. In the end, Gringotts did not offer that service at all.

After waiting around fifteen minutes, Helen entered the ice cream parlour with a delighted expression. "Andy, Isha, we're going home."

"But I haven't finished eating yet," Isabel said pitifully. She did not want to go home so early.

"Eat the rest at home. Mom has something important to do." Helen gave her no room to argue and pulled Isabel out of the ice cream parlour.

After returning home through the fireplace, Andy looked at Helen and asked, "Do you need help?"

"Hmm... it's an advanced potion. You probably can't handle it."

"What is it this time?"

"Veritaserum!"

All right, Andy knew about that stuff.

Veritaserum was not absolutely effective. There were many ways to ignore its effects, so it could not be used in trials or similar situations.

But when paired with the Cruciatus Curse, Veritaserum became extremely effective.

Whoever had bought it was definitely a Dark Wizard.

Helen went to brew the potion, Isabel continued eating the unfinished box of ice cream, and with nothing else to do, Andy took his wand out of its box.

"Andy, are you going to cast a spell?" Isabel looked at him curiously.

"I want to give it a try!"

Andy opened Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1.

As the First Year Charms Class textbook, Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 recorded only nine simple spells. Just from their names, one could tell they were cheap, commonplace stuff, and they did not look powerful in the slightest.

But Andy was not disappointed at all.

Charms Class indeed taught only basic magic. True offensive spells and defensive spells were actually the domain of Defense Against the Dark Arts Class.

Quirrell was the final boss of the first book. Even if he was not very bright, he could not possibly be as much of a fraud as the Flying Class professor, could he?

After all, he had to pretend to be a professor while waiting for a chance to steal the Philosopher's Stone. He had to make the act look convincing.

If he really were a fraud, would Dumbledore not have fired him already?