Making a Wand

The second class that afternoon was Transfiguration.

Perhaps because the Deputy Headmistress had to strictly uphold school discipline, Professor McGonagall's expression became extremely stern the moment class began.

"Transfiguration is the most complex and dangerous magic among all the subjects you will study at Hogwarts."

Professor McGonagall swept her sharp gaze around the room, looking each student in the eye.

"Anyone who misbehaves in my class will be asked to leave and never permitted back in. I have warned you!"

The effect of those words was surprisingly good. Every Young Wizard sat up straight, and no one dared speak in class.

However, the serious atmosphere did not last. When Professor McGonagall turned the desk into a pig and then changed it back again—

All the Young Wizards cried out in amazement, Luan included.

Especially when he saw Professor McGonagall raise her wand and recite an incantation, the Wizard Bar above her head instantly became six segments.

"All right. Turning an object into an animal requires a great deal of practice. This week, you only need to master turning a matchstick into a needle."

As Professor McGonagall explained the basic rules of Transfiguration, she handed a matchstick to every student.

She did not speak quickly, but Luan still found it difficult to write down the key points.

He could read some words but could not write them. Even when the words seemed to be right on the tip of his tongue, his mind simply did not know whether the first letter was 'P' or 'B.'

Listening to the rustle of his deskmate taking notes, Luan knowingly set down his quill and began practicing the matchstick-to-needle spell from "Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration."

Hermione turned to glance at Luan, then pursed her lips and continued copying.

By the end of the lesson, Hermione was the only one who had successfully transformed a matchstick into a needle.

Luan had completed half of it too.

Match head plus needle tip.

When the dismissal bell rang, Luan declined Harry and Ron's invitation to eat in the Great Hall and looked at Hermione instead.

"Hermione, can I borrow your notes to copy?"

"Why didn't you write during class?"

"Because some words are on the tip of my tongue, but I just can't write them."

"You can't read?"

Hermione looked at him in surprise. She had already felt that Luan's foundation was very poor last night, but she had not expected it to be this bad.

"I wouldn't say I can't read. At least I know some common words."

"All right. Then it seems 'Modern Magical Phonetics Table' isn't enough. You also need a copy of 'Oxford Reading Tree.'"

"Can I find that in the library too?"

"No, it was one of my primary school textbooks."

After learning that Luan had no way to buy one outside school, Hermione agreed to lend him her old textbooks.

Luan did not mind reading more books, especially when those books could help him learn magic quickly.

Attend class properly, read diligently.

Those were things Luan had to do in this world, but another problem had been troubling him.

What would happen when he returned to Xilin? There were no wands there.

Could the magic he learned still be used in Xilin?

At present, he had only mastered an unskilled Lumos Charm and an incomplete Transfiguration spell.

But both required a wand.

This problem did not trouble Luan for long. As soon as he arrived at the library, he found a solution.

No wonder Xilin had a saying: Books are the wisest advisers and the most patient teachers.

When Luan saw thousands of bookshelves standing before him, he was deeply shaken.

There might have been more shelves here than trees in the Hazelnut Forest he guarded. As for the number of books, it might have exceeded the annual yield of hazelnuts.

"It's impressive, isn't it? I read that this library has the largest collection in the entire magical world," Hermione whispered into Luan's ear.

"There should be magic here, right?" Luan asked curiously, seeing that the library's interior was far larger than it appeared from outside.

"Silence in the library!"

The moment Luan finished speaking, a stern-faced witch in black robes with a hooked nose hurried over.

"Do not damage the books, and do not enter the Restricted Section."

After noticing that Luan was a first-year, Madam Pince, the librarian, immediately added another warning.

Luan covered his mouth and nodded to show that he understood, then began browsing the public section.

There, Luan found many books about wands, but few explained how to make one.

When it came to wands, the words Luan remembered most clearly were something Ollivanders had once said.

The wand chooses the wizard.

But after studying History of Magic, Luan knew that wands had not always existed. They were made by wizards too. Though he did not understand what Ollivanders meant, that did not stop him from deciding to make a wand.

That was right. The solution was to make a wand.

That way, he could test in Xilin whether the magic he learned at Hogwarts would work.

Luan knew the process would be difficult, especially since he knew nothing about making wands.

But the magical knowledge in the library gave him the courage to dream.

When Luan brought "Modern Magical Phonetics Table" and "Wandmaking and Maintenance" to the reading area, a puzzled expression appeared on Hermione's little face.

"Why did you take that book?" Hermione lightly pointed at "Wandmaking and Maintenance."

"Um... I think I should read it. Didn't Professor Flitwick say that if you want to cast magic well, it's best to build a close relationship with your wand? That way, you can use it more easily."

Luan's explanation was extremely sincere, but Hermione reacted differently from most people. She tilted her head and thought for a while, then turned and walked toward the stacks.

"You have a point. I'll borrow one too."

The author of "Wandmaking and Maintenance" was named Ollivanders.

Luan guessed that he was probably the wand shop owner's grandfather or someone from that generation, since the book had been published two hundred years ago.

The book detailed a whole series of steps: selecting materials for wands, gathering them, processing them, embedding the Wand Core, and tuning the wand.

The library closed at nine that night. Luan had only read halfway through the section on selecting wand materials, but he had already discovered several problems.

The book only recorded the traits of wood suitable for making wands, yet it did not explain how to identify wood with magical properties. It could not be that every tree would do.

"The answer to that is probably an Ollivanders family secret. If they had written that into the book too, their wand shop might have gone out of business."

On the way back to the Common Room, Hermione gave what was probably the correct answer.

But that was not what Luan wanted. The very first step of making his wand had hit another dead end.

As they talked, they reached the entrance to the Common Room. Just as the Fat Lady asked for the password, Hermione suddenly stopped and looked at Luan in confusion.

"You didn't take any detours, did you?"

Luan could not quite keep up with how quickly Hermione's mind turned. It was not until she looked toward the moving staircases that he understood.

"That's right. This is the shortest route."

"How did you do that? It's only the second day of school!"

There were many staircases on the way to the Gryffindor Common Room, and they were not fixed. They changed constantly. Even older students often took the wrong path.

Yet in just one day, Luan had remembered the characteristics of every staircase.

"If you walk a route once, shouldn't you remember it?"

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