Working Is a Must

Working Is a Must

The first thing to do after getting money was buy a wand.

Ollivander's Wand Shop was old and cramped, with a single wand displayed on a faded purple cushion in the window.

Above the door hung a peeling gold-lettered sign that read: Ollivander, makers of fine wands since 382 B.C.

If the words on that sign were true, Plato had still been alive when their family started making wands! Back when the various states of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods were still beating each other up, his family had already begun making wands? Professor McGonagall pushed open the door, setting off the brass bell beside it with a crisp chime.

The shop was not large. Aside from the counter and a long bench, everything else was shelves piled with thousands of narrow wand boxes all the way to the ceiling.

The place was thick with dust. For wizards who could use Scourgify, that was rather hard to accept.

Ted looked to the left. An elderly man with hair not much better than Einstein's silently emerged from behind the shelves.

"Oh, Professor McGonagall, long time no see. So, this is the Little Wizard about to enroll."

This was Ollivander, Great Britain's master wandmaker.

"Hold out your hand~" At Ollivander's words, a ruler flew up from the counter and automatically began measuring Ted's height, arm span, and so on.

"Which hand is your dominant hand?"

"My right hand."

"Try this one!" With a wave of his hand, a box flew over.

"Twelve and a quarter inches, Mahogany body, Male Unicorn Tail Hair core. Suitable for Transfiguration..."

"Oh, no!" Ted had barely touched the wand and had not even had time to swing it before it was snatched away.

"How about this one? Cherry Wood, Phoenix Tail Feather..."

Ted gave the wand a wave. Bang! Bang! Two loud explosions rang out, and the wand nearly flew out of his hand.

"No, no, no. This won't do." Ollivander shook his head repeatedly.

Ted: It really won't. What I need is a wand, not a double-bang firecracker.

"How about this one? Walnut Wood, Dragon Heartstring?"

This time, the wand let out a piercing shriek and flew straight away.

So now it was a skyrocketing monkey firework?!

He tried seven or eight wands in a row. Some reacted far too violently, while others performed decently, but he could still feel his Magic Power catching slightly, not flowing smoothly.

Ted's Perception of Magic Power was exceptionally keen, and he could detect the subtle mismatch between himself and the wand.

Though it was troublesome, Ollivander seemed to enjoy it immensely, like playing Tetris while waiting for the right vertical piece to appear. Professor McGonagall, seated on the bench to one side, was also remarkably patient.

Ollivander said, "Ha, a picky little customer. I like that! Let's take our time~"

Ted felt that this hobby of his was somewhat pathological~ At Ollivander's, wands only came with three kinds of cores: Phoenix Tail Feather, unicorn hair, and Dragon Heartstring.

However, wands made by other wandmakers might have other cores. Fleur's wand, for example, had Veela hair as its core—her grandmother's hair.

The original story had mentioned another German master wandmaker, Gregorovitch, though Ted could not remember what happened to him in the end.

Just as another box flew over, Ted sensed something different.

He had not even seen the wand yet, but a faint pull was already emanating from inside the box.

Ollivander gently stroked the wand and began the introduction. "Cedar wood, with a Phoenix Tail Feather core, ten and three-quarter inches long. The handle has simple horizontal ridges for grip. Its texture is hard and brittle..."

When Ted took the wand, he felt his Magic Power flow with extraordinary ease, even becoming stronger and more active.

With a light wave, a great deal of streamers and fireworks burst from the tip of the wand, nearly filling the shop.

This time it was a giant sparkler. Not bad! "Wow, wow, wow~~~ It seems you two are an excellent match!" Ollivander looked delighted.

"The Cedar wand owners I have met have generally possessed strong personalities and uncommon loyalty."

"My father, Gervaise Ollivander, used to say—an owner of a Cedar wand will never be deceived. I deeply agree with that. Cedar wands are always matched with owners of exceptional insight."

"I would add one more warning to my father's words: do not make an enemy of any Cedar wand owner, and especially do not harm those they cherish."

"Those perfectly matched with Cedar wands are exceedingly fearsome potential opponents. Those who declare war on them without thinking are usually shocked by this fact."

"That will be 7 Galleons!" Ollivander held out his hand.

A nice story, but sadly there was no discount at the end~ No, perhaps the story had been made up just to sell it at a better price! As Ted walked out with his own Cedar Phoenix Feather Wand, his thoughts churned:

Other protagonists got wands that were their father's final masterpiece, or wands made from peach wood struck by lightning during their great-grandfather's journey through the mysterious East and leg hair from black-and-white bamboo-eating beasts. Why was mine so ordinary?! Didn't you have some mysterious wand that had been sitting around for centuries, unable to find its owner? Boring. Not interesting at all!

Though he grumbled internally, the wand's attributes were indeed quite good.

Cedar Phoenix Feather Wand (Green)

Magic Power Enhancement: +Lv1
Magic Power Strengthening Spell: +Lv1
Spell Keen Insight: +1 Perception
Note: A young person's first wand~

Professor McGonagall was also satisfied with the result. "All right, next I need to take you to have your school uniform tailored."

"Uh~" Ted stopped in his tracks. "Professor, I saw a secondhand clothing store and a secondhand shop earlier. Given my financial situation, I think secondhand goods would be a good choice."

McGonagall looked at him and, after confirming that he was not forcing himself, said, "All right."

In truth, it was indeed unrealistic for Ted to buy everything new even with his student loan.

Originally, McGonagall had wanted to buy him two new robes and get the textbooks secondhand. After all, children still cared about appearances.

But since Ted had suggested it himself, there was no reason not to.

The two first went to a secondhand robe shop beside Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, where school uniforms were tailored, and bought some slightly oversized old robes so he could still wear them a year later.

Then they went to the secondhand shop to see what might be useful. They could not find a suitable Cauldron; they were all too battered.

If Ted used something like that to brew potions, he might end up blowing Snape to death.

He did get a set of glass bottles. They were a little dirty, but a thorough cleaning would not affect their use.

Secondhand books were rather difficult to find. Perhaps the economy was bad this year, since there were too many people buying used books. Ted only managed to pick up three: The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1, Magical Drafts and Potions, and One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi.

"All right, Ted. I still have my old textbooks, and I can give them to you. We can buy the rest new at the bookstore."

Professor McGonagall was very generous, willing to give her old textbooks to this thrifty new student who had also gotten to pet her.

"Thank you so much. But I'd like to wait a little longer. There are still nearly two months before school starts. Perhaps I can find a few more secondhand books and save some Galleons..."

Textbooks were fucking expensive! If he bought them all new, Ted's student loan would be almost completely spent.

Although Hogwarts provided food and lodging and charged no tuition, not leaving himself even a Sickle made him feel terribly insecure!

McGonagall recalled what she had observed after turning into a Cat: this little fellow was very independent, so he should be fine, right? After discussing it for a while, Professor McGonagall ultimately agreed with Ted's plan. She gave him the rest of the student loan and told him to come browse for bargains himself when he had time.

Professor McGonagall put Ted on the bus and left.

Ted returned to the orphanage with the secondhand goods he had bought.

On the bus, he thought it over and over before finally making a decision—he needed to make money.

Either he needed to sing on the streets more aggressively~ or he could work in Diagon Alley and earn Galleons directly. No exchange necessary, no middleman taking a cut.

His student loan for the first year was 20 Galleons. After that, it would only be 5 Galleons a year.

And this year's shopping trip in Diagon Alley had already cost 7 Galleons just for the wand. That was not something he could buy secondhand.

If he bought all the textbooks new, that would be another 12 Galleons...

There was also the Cauldron, glass bottles, and other odds and ends. Was he supposed to skip Potions Class? And what about Dragonhide Gloves? Was he supposed to skip Herbology too?

If Lockhart became the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor next year, he would even have to borrow someone else's textbooks! That was why Ted wanted to hunt for bargains over these two months and try to get everything secondhand. At least then he could have a few Galleons left as pocket money.

Oh, right, he also had an allowance of 50 Galleons at Gringotts that he could exchange from Pound Sterling...

Money was not everything, but being without money was absolutely impossible. He had to earn some!

Moreover, the Pages of Mind Power Manual (Blue) from the Otherworldly Knowledge granted by his talent also required experience to exchange for.

He had tested it over the past two days. Reading and studying could earn experience, but studying ordinary Muggle textbooks carefully for an entire day only earned four or five experience points.

If he did not exchange it at the start of next month, the Pages of Mind Power Manual (Blue) would be replaced by new Otherworldly Knowledge. That would be such a waste! There was probably no hope of earning 400 experience through self-study in just over twenty days.

Sure enough, he still had to look for opportunities in Diagon Alley. Even if he could not trigger any more quests, there was still the quest to explore Diagon Alley that he could complete.

He had to work. Only by scraping together some experience and Galleons could he keep living like this.

Ding~ Quest Triggered:

Working Man (Green)

A single Knut can stump a hero! To earn some money and gather experience, you have to think of a way. Diagon Alley has plenty of opportunities and is a good choice.

Objective: Successfully find a job in Diagon Alley.

Reward: 100 experience, Restore Energy Card (Green).

Working men have working souls; working wizards are all superior men!

Well, now he had even more reason to go.