Unexpected Gains

Seeing the mysterious look on Hagrid's face gave Luan a strange feeling.

"I was just about to bring it over to you today." After shutting the door tightly, Hagrid turned and walked over to a large package.

"You know, once autumn comes, they shed their coats. There's loads of this stuff in the Forbidden Forest."

As he spoke, Hagrid pulled a tangled bundle of silvery-white threads from the package before him.

"What is this?"

Luan had never seen threads of such pure color. They even glimmered faintly with a silvery-white light, illuminating every tiny line on Hagrid's palm with perfect clarity.

"Oh, I forgot you've never seen it before. It's Unicorn tail hair. I saved a bundle especially for you." Hagrid stuffed the threads into Luan's hands as he spoke.

Looking at the silvery-white tail hair that Hagrid could barely hold in one hand but that required both of his hands to grasp completely, Luan asked curiously,

"There must be at least a thousand strands here, right?"

"Strands? Do these little things need to be counted in strands? I've always called them a handful, a bundle, or a pack."

"Are there a lot of unicorns in the Forbidden Forest?" Seeing Hagrid scratch his head in confusion, Luan voiced the question in his heart.

"Not that many, only around a hundred. This might be the last herd of unicorns in the United Kingdom."

Whenever Hagrid spoke of this, he could not help feeling sad. He had always believed unicorns should have been able to live freely in the forest rather than be confined to the Forbidden Forest.

He believed that was the only way for the unicorn population to grow larger.

"Actually, you've already done very well."

After deciding to make wands, Luan had specifically looked up books about unicorns.

He knew that this kind of Magical Creature rarely allowed men to touch them, and the fact that Hagrid could care for them in the Forbidden Forest was already an incredible achievement.

"Oh, thank you." Hagrid's sadness came and went quickly. Looking at the Unicorn tail hair in Luan's hands, he continued,

"I know you're making wands. This is one of the easier Wand Core materials to get, and it should be enough for your experiments."

Hagrid was absolutely right. Although there were many materials that could serve as Wand Cores, the mainstream choices in the United Kingdom were Dragon heartstring and Unicorn tail hair.

Of course, that mainstream was also controlled by Ollivanders. Outside the United Kingdom, plenty of people used Veela hair, Troll whiskers, Cat-leopard fur, and other materials as Wand Cores.

However, obtaining those materials was even more difficult.

Luan had originally planned to buy a batch of Wand Core materials with Galleons. Now that Hagrid had prepared so much Unicorn tail hair, he had saved him a considerable expense.

"Thank you very much."

"No need for that. Unicorns shed their coats anyway, and there's lots of tail hair in the Forbidden Forest right now. I just picked it up while I was there."

Hagrid's words reminded Luan of his only friend in Xilin: Gerald, the horse keeper.

Gerald had once told Luan that horses shed some of their old hair in autumn and grew finer, denser, thicker coats to withstand the cold winter.

And unicorns, creatures similar to horses, should go through the same thing.

"All right, since you put it that way, I'll accept it." Luan put the tail hair into his pocket, then looked at Hagrid again.

"By the way, I had 'Hagrid's Rock Cakes' in the Great Hall today."

When Luan asked that, he saw the corners of Hagrid's mouth rise unconsciously.

"That's right. I recommended them to Dumbledore. He likes sweets too, and the Great Hall's menu hadn't changed in decades."

Hagrid explained that he had brought the final version of Hagrid's Rock Cakes to Dumbledore, and, unsurprisingly, earned the headmaster's approval.

Dumbledore had even specifically sent House-elves to learn the process.

"You didn't see it, but they learn incredibly fast. They got it after watching just once. Though they kept suggesting that Rock cakes should be steamed instead of baked. I didn't agree, of course."

Hagrid gave Luan a playful look as he spoke.

"Why not?"

Luan immediately understood what Hagrid meant and picked up the thread without hesitation.

"Oh, that's the soul of Hagrid's Rock Cakes, isn't it!"

"Exactly!"

Seeing the utterly proud expression on Hagrid's face, Luan happily agreed.

Luan chatted with Hagrid for a long time. He took some spare branches from him and also visited the Pumpkin patch behind the hut.

According to Hagrid, the pumpkins there were all meant for Halloween. However, before they had even ripened, insects had come to steal bites of them.

Near evening, Luan returned from Hagrid's hut.

The moment he entered the dormitory, he heard Ron shouting.

"What's going on, Scabbers? Your fur is all over the bedsheets!"

Scabbers, lying on the bed, ignored Ron. It looked extremely exhausted.

Luan instinctively looked at Bouncing and found it merely waving that old Magic Wand Toy, which put him somewhat at ease.

After putting the Unicorn tail hair into his trunk and taking another branch from beneath his bed, Luan went to the Common Room.

That morning's stick had already been carved beyond saving.

Even though Luan had experience with woodcarving, a craft like Wand Making, which demanded even finer precision and control, was truly difficult.

In fact, carving and polishing the basic form of a wand was not difficult for Luan. The problem now was how to split the wand perfectly.

The book said that this step had to follow the wood's natural grain. Otherwise, a wand whose structure was damaged would be unable to channel magic.

The book's explanation was extremely brief, but Luan knew that the fewer words there were, the more difficult it often meant the task was.

Before the wood was split apart, it was impossible to predict the direction of its grain. He could only rely on the slightest sensation to control the direction of his carving knife.

This was an exceptionally difficult challenge for Luan.

He tossed the ruined stick into the fireplace and began making another one beneath the bright flames.

Only after polishing the new stick did Luan begin his magical studies for the day.

Hermione, who was sitting nearby, had wanted to speak to him, but seeing how seriously Luan was studying, she could only abandon the thought.

Early the next morning, another bright flame appeared in the fireplace.

Luan could only sigh helplessly and start carving and polishing all over again.

Fortunately, his bad luck with Wand Making did not affect his performance in class.

During Herbology that morning, Luan once again perfectly mastered the planting and care methods for sinewgrass, earning another House point.

During Charms Class that afternoon, Professor Flitwick explained a new spell: the Fire-making spell.

As the most basic of all fire spells, Professor Flitwick required every student to master it. He also assigned fifteen inches of homework on the evolution of fire spells.

In Transfiguration Class, Professor McGonagall asked the students to turn quills into fountain pens. This was far more difficult than turning matches into needles, and Luan only succeeded on his third attempt.

That night, when Luan returned to the dormitory after finishing his homework in the library, he heard Ron let out another miserable cry.

"Scabbers, where did your whiskers go?"

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