Tom's Destined Wand

Tom stood numbly in place, letting the measuring tapes automatically take his measurements.

Meanwhile, the still-young Mr. Ollivander carefully recorded the data in a notebook.

Once the measuring tapes had finished, Ollivander dove straight into the pile of wands.

It was quite a while before he managed to squeeze his way back out of the wand pile.

Only now, he had several long boxes in his hands.

Tom looked at the boxes containing wands, his eyes flashing with fervor.

"All right, we'll try them one by one... Unless something unexpected happens, the wand suited to you is among these!" Ollivander arranged all the boxes on the counter.

Tom looked at the long boxes on the table, then at the wands filling the entire room.

"Mr. Ollivander... how do you know these might suit me? What about all the others?"

Ollivander said with a smile, "That's a trade secret... All right, I'm joking. It's not that mysterious, really. These wands were selected according to the measurements I took from you just now."

"And they don't merely might suit you. In fact, every wand here suits you!"

Tom asked in confusion, "They all suit me? So I just need to pick one from among them?"

"No, no, no. Let me stress this again: the wand chooses the wizard, child... So you should stand here, try them out, and let them choose. In the end, they decide for themselves whether to follow you." As he spoke, Ollivander opened one of the wand boxes on the table.

Tom was somewhat dissatisfied with that explanation. He had come to buy a product, yet in the end, the product was choosing him?

"Come now, don't just stand there..." Ollivander took out a black wand and handed it to Tom. "Try giving it a wave."

"Ebony wood, Dragon Heartstring core, ten and a quarter inches. A very fine wand! Tremendous power!"

Tom took the wand, and the dissatisfaction in his heart was already buried beneath his excitement. Tremendous power? He liked powerful wands! "Whoosh!" Tom swung the wand in his hand with all his might.

Yet... nothing happened.

It was as if he had not just waved a wand, but an ordinary dead branch...

"Ah... It seems this wand did not choose you. Let's try the next one..." Ollivander put the Ebony Wand away.

Tom could not help frowning. Not being "chosen" irritated him somewhat.

"Come, let's try this one..."

After that, Tom tried one wand after another, but none of them proved suitable for him.

Instead, Ollivander's shop ended up in a rather miserable state from Tom's wand testing.

However, Ollivander was clearly used to this. With a casual wave, he repaired the blasted tables, chairs, benches, windows, and everything else.

Before long, a pile of wands had already accumulated on the counter in front of Tom.

"Hmm, a somewhat picky customer... Though that's not too common... Ah, perhaps I shouldn't have only let you try wands with Dragon Heartstring cores. Perhaps..."

As he spoke, Ollivander once again burrowed into the pile of wands.

When he reappeared, he had several more wand boxes in his hands.

He opened one of them and took out a black wand.

"This is one of my masterpieces. Holly wood, Phoenix Feather core, eleven inches, supple and flexible..."

Hearing this, Li Weide could not help looking at the wand.

Because it seemed to be the wand of Tom's future nemesis, Harry Potter.

Tom took the wand and gave it a light wave.

"Boom!"

The violent explosion once again shattered the newly repaired glass display window into pieces...

"Oh no! This is completely unsuitable for you!" Ollivander snatched the Holly Wand from Tom's hand as if robbing him.

This was completely different from what he had expected. Not only had this wand failed to resonate with Tom, it had even produced a severe rejection reaction!

After putting away the Holly Wand, Ollivander fell into thought.

Tom, meanwhile, stared at the glass shards scattered across the floor, looking somewhat at a loss.

He even began to doubt himself a little...

Could it be that his talent was actually poor, which was why even being chosen by a wand was so difficult?

In truth, if Tom had not met Li Weide, that massive rock pressing down on him every day, he would never have entertained such thoughts.

But now, Tom had temporarily lost all confidence in his abilities and constantly fell into self-doubt.

Suddenly, Li Weide's voice came from behind him. "Don't worry, Tom. I think it's because you possess exceptionally special talents. That's why choosing a wand is so difficult."

Hearing that, Tom's tense mood eased somewhat.

He turned around, about to speak, only to see Li Weide sitting on a bench, happily enjoying a cup of ice cream.

Tom's mood suddenly became far less pleasant again.

"Where did you get that ice cream?"

Li Weide shrugged. "I just went out and bought it. You were too focused on choosing a wand to notice me."

Tom frowned. "Where's mine?"

Li Weide blinked. "Didn't buy one. I figured you didn't have time to eat right now... You know, ice cream melts..."

"Hmph! It's not like I wanted any anyway!" Tom turned back around again.

Ollivander's voice rang out at that moment.

"From time to time, I do get a few people who are difficult to match with a wand. Without exception, they all possess very special talents, but in the end, they all received the wands that suited them best!"

"So don't worry. The wand best suited to you must still be waiting for you... Good things take time, my dear."

As he spoke, Ollivander took a white wand from another box.

"I gave it some careful thought. Since that Holly Wand rejected you so strongly, why not try this one... Yew Wood, Phoenix Feather core, thirteen and a half inches, exceptionally powerful. Give it a try..."

Tom took the Yew Wand expressionlessly. He was already somewhat numb by now. After all, Ollivander had said roughly the same things when he tried the other wands...

"Hum..."

The instant Tom tightened his grip around the Yew Wand, a dim green glow suddenly spilled from its tip, bathing the entire dark shop in an eerie, ghostly light...

"Wow!" Li Weide watched the scene in amazement.

If he had not known that Tom had barely learned any magic yet, he would have thought Tom had just cast an Avada Kedavra.

"Haha! This is the wand, no doubt about it! This Yew Wand and that Holly Wand from earlier both use tail feathers from the same Phoenix as their cores. You could say they are brother wands!"

"I was just thinking that since the Holly Wand rejected you so strongly, the Yew Wand might be extraordinarily compatible with you! As it turns out, that was indeed the case!"

"Oh... a Yew Wand! I can be certain that you will accomplish extraordinary things in the future!"

Ollivander was visibly excited as well. After all, even he rarely got to witness such a peculiar scene.

Tom stared blankly at the Yew Wand in his hand, at that feeling of being connected by blood...

It was as though his arm had been extended! This discovery greatly boosted Tom's confidence! Heh heh, once I get back and master magic, I'll beat the hell out of that bastard Weide!

Suddenly, Tom felt a faint chill in his wand-free left hand, and then a cup of ice cream appeared in it.

"Congratulations, Tom. You finally got the wand that suits you best..." Li Weide said cheerfully.

"Didn't you say you hadn't bought one?"

"Huh? You believed whatever I said? Since when did you trust me so much, Tom?"

"You fucking..."

"Fine, don't eat it."

"It's your money anyway. Why wouldn't I eat it? Hand it over!"