The Strange Lighter

"Jingle!"

The bell by the shop door rang.

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

The goods in this shop were arranged in utter disorder.

Rather than a shop, it was more like a warehouse for piling up old junk.

Second-hand robes were heaped on a counter to the left of the entrance like a pile of garbage.

Several plainly dressed adult wizards were picking through them, hoping to find sizes that would fit their children.

On the right was a huge jumble of books.

Most of them were battered, worn-out second-hand textbooks.

There were only a few other books, and those were in fairly mediocre condition as well.

Any Used Book in good condition had presumably been picked out long ago...

Tom frowned as he looked at all this trash, unable to help feeling fortunate.

Although taking part in that job with Li Weide had been terrifyingly risky, it had also spared him the fate of having to buy heaps of rubbish in a place like this...

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

Clothes made the man, and saddles made the horse.

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

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

Only when someone came to pay did he lazily lift his head, count the goods, and take the money.

The goods here were cheap, 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 a glass display case facing the street.

Bundles of battered wands and a large bundle of quills that had lost all their feathers had been tossed into the same box, like a heap of firewood tied together at random...

Tom's heart sank halfway when he saw the Second-hand Wands, so broken that 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 garbage possibly be in? Still, these battered wands suited him perfectly.

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

In other words, after being tempered by their former owners, these wands were already fairly compatible with Dark Magic.

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

After searching for quite a while, Li Weide finally pulled a wand from the pile with delight. It had merely lost a bit of paint.

"Oh! Ninety-nine percent new! A rare find!"

Compared with the other wands whose cores had practically fallen out, this wand was already in exceptionally good 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 strange feeling, as though it was... excited to meet him?

"This is the one."

This time, Mr. Ollivander was not standing beside them, patiently explaining everything.

So Tom had no idea what material the 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 Second-hand Wands in his hand.

None of them were in as good condition as the one Tom held, but they were still usable. At the very least, their cores were still wrapped inside their shafts.

"Why are you buying so many?" Tom asked in confusion.

"Better safe than sorry."

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

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 this place was full of trash, people occasionally still found bargains.

Tom thought that perhaps some valuable Magic Manuscripts or something might be hidden amid this pile of junk...

Li Weide had the same thought, and with perfect unspoken understanding, he and Tom walked toward the book pile together.

Tom crouched on the floor, frowning as he used the old wand to shove several filthy second-hand textbooks aside before searching carefully.

Li Weide, meanwhile, went around the pile of books, intending to start rummaging from the other side.

Just as Li Weide rounded the corner, intending to see if there were any distinctive 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 alchemical devices had been piled haphazardly on it, but without a doubt, most of them were already damaged.

Li Weide walked over to the shelf. By then, he could already see the faint flicker of blue light among the items.

Like Tom, he pulled out an old wand and carefully pushed aside the clutter on the shelf.

When it came to alchemical devices of unknown origin and unknown purpose, even damaged ones warranted caution.

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

It was a golden, bar-shaped object about two fingers thick. Strange patterns that Li Weide could not understand were engraved upon it, making it look like an exquisitely crafted lighter.

The faint blue light was flickering across those strange patterns.

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

The "lighter" did not react at all, and the blue light continued to flicker.

With a light flick of his wand, a small gecko on the wall flew over and landed on the "lighter"!

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

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

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

In truth, although this shop bought and sold old items, it was still a legitimate store and would never purchase Dark Magic items.

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

What Li Weide had just done was merely a precaution.

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

Click!

A thin seam appeared along the upper end of the lighter.

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

Li Weide had not expected this thing to really be just an ordinary lighter? No... how could an ordinary lighter glow for no reason? Click!

Li Weide closed the lighter's lid, extinguishing the little flame at its tip.

"Tom, come take a look at this."

"What is it?" Tom walked over, his gaze falling on the lighter Li Weide held out to him. "Isn't that just an ordinary lighter?"

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

"Glowing? Where?" Tom took the lighter and looked it over, 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, which was still emitting its faint blue glow.

"Yeah. To me, it's just a gold-plated lighter, and..." Tom tried prying 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 had.

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

Li Weide looked thoughtfully at the lighter glowing faintly blue in his hand.