Strange Lighter

"Clang!"

The bell by the shop door rang.

Li Weide and Tom walked in, greeted by a strange, foul stench...

The merchandise in this shop was arranged in a complete mess.

Rather than a shop, it looked more like a warehouse piled high with old things.

Secondhand robes had been heaped onto a counter to the left of the entrance like a pile of rubbish.

Several plainly dressed adult wizards were picking through them, hoping to find sizes suitable for their children.

On the right was a huge pile of miscellaneous books.

Most of them were secondhand textbooks, battered and worn.

There were only a few other books, and those appeared to be in merely average condition as well.

Any secondhand books in good condition had presumably been picked out long ago...

Tom frowned as he looked at this rubbish, feeling somewhat relieved.

Although the job he had pulled with Li Weide had been terrifyingly risky, it had spared him the fate of having to buy a pile of junk in a place like this...

Li Weide had been right. If he entered Hogwarts carrying rubbish bought from here, people would definitely look down on him.

Clothes make the man, and a saddle makes the horse.

Before people knew what you were capable of, of course they would judge you by appearances!

Unlike the enthusiastic attendants in other shops, this shop's clerk was currently dozing with his head on the counter.

Only when someone came to pay did he listlessly raise his head to count the goods and take the money.

The shop sold cheap merchandise, so naturally the clerk's wages would not be high.

It was perfectly normal for him to lack motivation.

Still, despite the clerk's lack of enthusiasm, quite a few wizards were browsing the shop.

Li Weide quickly found what he wanted in the glass display window facing the street.

Bundles of battered wands, along with a large bundle of quills that had lost all their feathers, had all been tossed into the same box like a heap of randomly tied firewood...

Tom's heart sank halfway as he looked at the secondhand wands so damaged that even their cores were exposed.

Would using these wands to cast magic really not blow him up?

Li Weide was not particularly surprised. What kind of condition could wands tossed into a corner like rubbish possibly be in?

However, these battered wands were exactly what Li Weide needed.

After all, many of these wands had most likely been picked off wizards who had died in battle, and each of them carried more or less a few "soul rings"...

In other words, after being tempered by their former owners, these wands had already developed fairly high compatibility with the Dark Arts.

They were perfect for Li Weide to use when practicing magic that could not be discovered by others...

After searching for quite some time, Li Weide finally delightedly pulled a wand from the pile that had only lost a little paint.

"Ooh! Ninety-nine percent new! What a rare find!"

Compared to the other wands whose cores had practically fallen out, this wand was already in excellent condition.

"This one's for you." As he spoke, Li Weide casually handed the wand to Tom before plunging back into the pile.

Tom took the wand and gave it a casual wave. Overall, it felt fairly comfortable in his hand.

Moreover, the wand gave him a peculiar feeling, as though it was... excited to have met him?

"I'll take this one."

This time, Mr. Ollivander was not there patiently explaining the wands to them.

So Tom had no idea what material this wand was made from.

Still, since it felt reasonably comfortable, it would do as a spare wand.

When Li Weide emerged from the wand pile again, he had five secondhand wands in his hand.

None were in as good condition as the one Tom held, but they were still usable. At the very least, their cores were still enclosed within their shafts.

"Why are you buying so many?" Tom asked doubtfully.

"Better safe than sorry."

Li Weide held the five wands in his hand and looked over the shop's other merchandise.

Tom was no longer in a hurry to leave. Instead, he headed toward the huge pile of old books...

Toby had said earlier that although there was plenty of rubbish here, people occasionally still managed to find bargains.

Tom thought that perhaps some valuable magic manuscripts or something might be hidden among this pile of junk...

Li Weide had the same thought, and with unspoken understanding, he and Tom headed toward the pile of books together.

Tom crouched on the floor, frowning as he used the old wand to push several filthy secondhand textbooks aside, then began searching carefully.

Li Weide went around the pile of books, planning to start searching from the other side.

Just as Li Weide had rounded it and was about to see whether there were any unusual old books, he suddenly felt as though something had flashed before his eyes.

Puzzled, Li Weide turned to look at the shelf beside him.

A great many strange Alchemy Tools had been piled haphazardly on that shelf, but without question, most of them had already been damaged.

Li Weide walked up to the shelf. By then, he could already see the faint flicker of blue light upon it.

Like Tom, he pulled out an old wand and carefully pushed aside the pile of clutter on the shelf as much as possible.

When it came to Alchemy Tools of unknown origin and unknown purpose, even damaged ones had to be handled with caution.

At last, the source of the faint blue light was exposed before Li Weide.

It was a golden, bar-shaped object about two fingers thick, engraved with strange patterns Li Weide could not understand. It looked like an exquisitely crafted Lighter.

Those faint blue lights were flickering across the strange patterns.

Li Weide gently poked the "Lighter" with his wand.

The "Lighter" did not react at all, and the blue light continued flickering.

With a light flick of his wand, Li Weide sent a small gecko flying over from the wall, where it landed on the "Lighter"!

After waiting quite some time and seeing that the little gecko showed no abnormalities, Li Weide finally released it from his restraint.

The little gecko fled the spot in panic, and nothing unusual happened throughout.

Only then did Li Weide feel safe enough to reach out and pick up the "Lighter."

In fact, although this shop bought and sold old items, it was still a legitimate business. It would never purchase Dark Arts items.

Ordinary people would not bring Dark Arts items here to sell, either. They generally sold them in Knockturn Alley.

What Li Weide had done just now was merely a precaution.

Li Weide carefully examined the Lighter in his hand, then cautiously pressed a finger against the blue light.

Click!

A narrow seam appeared along the top of the Lighter.

Li Weide gently pried it with his thumb. A lid opened along the seam, and a tiny tuft of ghostly blue flame appeared at the top...

Li Weide had not expected this thing to really be nothing more than an ordinary Lighter?

No... How could an ordinary Lighter glow for no reason?

Click!

Li Weide snapped the lid shut, extinguishing the small flame at its tip.

"Tom, come take a look at this."

"What is it?" Tom walked over and looked at the Lighter Li Weide handed him. "Isn't this just an ordinary Lighter?"

"Ordinary? Didn't you notice it's glowing?" Li Weide asked doubtfully.

"Glowing? Where is there any light?" Tom took the Lighter and examined it, then said with a look of disdain, "It won't even open."

"You can't see the light on it? And you can't open it either?" Li Weide stroked his chin as he looked at the Lighter in Tom's hand, still giving off that dim blue glow.

"Mm. To me, it's just a gold-plated Lighter, and..." Tom tried prying open the Lighter again. "It really won't open."

Li Weide took the Lighter back and lightly flicked it with his thumb.

Click!

The Lighter opened.

Tom's eyes widened. "This... Let me try again!"

But no matter how Tom tried, he could not open the Lighter the way Li Weide could.

"So that means only I can actually see this blue light..."

Li Weide looked thoughtfully at the Lighter in his hand, which continued to emit its faint blue glow.