You'll Know Eventually

Choosing a wand was incredibly boring. Or rather, Josh felt like a monkey being gawked at by the three of them.

Perhaps Ollivander and Crouch were responsible for gasping throughout the entire process, while Garen wore an expression like he was constipated—wanting to laugh but not daring to make a sound. The reason was simple: Josh had spent nearly half a day repeating the motions of flicking his wrist and having the wand snatched away.

Although nearly every flick of his hand blew up Ollivander's shop, Ollivander fixed it all with a single Reparo. That made Josh take notice. While he had not needed to use his own magic power at all—the wand had merely drawn out his magic—the fact remained that he was a Fourth-Rank Mage. Even the tiniest thread of his magic power was terrifying.

This made Josh decide to properly study the magic of this world. In his eyes, there was no useless magic, only useless mages. And while these spells looked a bit like parlor tricks, Josh felt that many of them had great potential. If he thoroughly studied them and combined them with Baleful Phantasm, the results would likely be quite impressive.

But right now, Josh was extremely annoyed. Taking another wand, he directly channeled his own magic power and flicked it—

"Boom!" The tremendous blast startled even Garen, who had been enjoying the show. Ollivander and Crouch stood there stupidly, unable to move. Josh's attack blasted a huge hole through the front of Ollivander's shop, and flying stones smashed into the store across the street.

Many passersby also stopped where they were, staring at one another. They had been lucky not to pass by while Josh was losing his temper, though that was also because Josh had deliberately kept an eye on them. And if Josh had not controlled the output of his magic power, Ollivander's shop would probably have needed to be rebuilt entirely.

"I think this is the one, isn't it, Mr. Ollivander?" Josh looked at Ollivander with a dark expression, gripping the wand tightly in a manner that clearly said, Tell me it doesn't suit me again, and I won't let this go.

"O-of course!" Ollivander was quick to read the situation. He immediately nodded. "Of course, it suits you perfectly! Nine inches long, sycamore wood with a phoenix nerve—the results could not be better!"

Josh nodded and turned the wand over in his hands. In truth, he knew perfectly well that this wand did not suit him at all. But he had already become unbearably impatient. Besides, what did it matter if it was unsuitable? Josh could not understand why wands chose their owners rather than owners choosing their wands, so he simply used his own magic power to forcibly suppress its resistance.

The wand was no match for Josh, so it immediately fell silent. Yet even Garen and Crouch could hear what seemed to be a mournful whimper from it, let alone Ollivander. Garen, however, did not care in the slightest. He knew nothing about the affairs of mages.

Crouch and Ollivander both wore constipated expressions. They could only look pitifully at the wand, hoping its owner would treat it a little better.

"All right, gentlemen. I have my wand now. Mr. Ollivander, I'll pay you in a moment. Crouch, what have you decided? If you agree, we can prepare to leave. Of course, I won't blame you if you refuse. I'll find someone else to help."

"Um, I think I'm fine with it, Mr. Josh."

Crouch hesitated briefly before immediately nodding. He also wanted to see what this seemingly formidable young wizard intended to do. Although Ollivander had said Josh seemed even more terrifying than Dumbledore, considering their ages, Crouch felt Dumbledore should probably be stronger.

In the magical world, being older might mean one was more powerful. But while age meant abundant experience, it could also mean one's prime had passed. The clearest example was Dumbledore, who had actually died in the end. Josh no longer remembered exactly how the man had died, but he assumed Voldemort had driven him into a corner.

Josh had actually guessed right. Dumbledore had been forced to fake his death in order to temper the Chosen One, Harry Potter, only to unexpectedly die at Malfoy's hands. He could be considered horribly unlucky.

After paying, Josh left Ollivander's wand shop directly—through the huge hole, of course. He left behind Ollivander, who took the money with a helpless expression while staring at the hole. He had already tried his spell, but it seemed unable to restore the place at all. He felt he had suffered a tremendous loss.

"To be honest, Josh, is this wand really useful to you?"

As they headed toward the barrier leading out of Diagon Alley, Garen asked this question. He clearly remembered that Josh had never used a wand, staff, or anything similar. He generally cast magic barehanded. Moreover, his magic resembled that of Valoran; unlike the mages of the Muya Continent, he did not need to chant.

"It's basically useless for now. I'm not sure about later. It needs more research, because these wands seem to have an innate ability to guide magic power. They seem to reduce consumption a little while also increasing power somewhat."

Josh shook his head, saying he only wanted to research it. But he immediately remembered that Valoran seemed to have many divine artifacts, which made him curious. "By the way, don't you have any weapons or equipment or something?"

"I do have a weapon. Look." Garen patted the greatsword on his back, which was stored in a large case.

"That's not what I mean." Josh glanced at the black case. It had originally been meant to hold a cello, yet Garen was using it like this. "I mean something like Infinity Edge or Sanguine Blade. Though honestly, I think you'd be best suited for that Sakura Blade—no, what was it called? Youmuu's Ghostblade! Yes, that's the name. And with a Black Cleaver on top of that, I think it would suit you perfectly!"

"Are you kidding?" Garen looked at Josh with a sour face.

"Never mind what Youmuu's Ghostblade is—I've never even heard of it. Black Cleaver is Darius's weapon. He inherited it from some Roxas war hero who supposedly died ages ago. That guy seems to be called Sion now, and he once strangled one of our Demacian kings to death. Do you think I would use that thing?"

"Mm, armor-piercing stats, I guess," Josh said with a shrug.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"..."

Filled with confusion, Garen and Josh followed Crouch to King's Cross Station. It was quite strange, because the station was hidden among the Muggles, and its crude entrance method left both Josh and Garen clicking their tongues. Josh was fine since he had seen it before, but Garen found it rather difficult to understand.

"Do you think the people around here are idiots?" Garen poked Josh's shoulder. "They can't see this? Someone runs into a wall and disappears. It's so obvious, yet nobody notices?"

"Probably because of Repelling Charms, Disillusionment Charms, and all sorts of other spells?" Josh said uncertainly. "If I were alone, I could pass through here without alerting anyone's senses. But according to this guy, the students here all travel to Hogwarts from this place. It seems they aren't as bad as I thought, at least when it comes to hiding things."

"Who knows?" Garen shrugged indifferently. "By the way, Josh, when are you giving me that Battle Qi you mentioned? I'm curious what that thing you said I can't cultivate is like."

"I'll pick a manual for you once we reach Hogwarts. I happen to be planning to properly study the magic of this world there, so you'll have plenty of time to train."

Josh spoke as he boarded the train. He did not avoid Crouch while saying this, because what they were discussing had no meaning at all in this world. It would not matter even if someone knew.

The train to Hogwarts looked extremely old. According to Crouch, it had over a hundred years of history. A man called Ollivander Gambol had forcibly taken it from humans around 1850. Though the train looked outdated, its performance was quite good.

Of course, the main reason was that it ran very fast. Its noise was also very loud, but that was not a problem for Josh. Perhaps because there was still some time before school began, there were very few people on the train. The three of them were probably the youngest passengers aboard.

"Do you really only want to be a teacher?"

Crouch had little to do on the train. Although it sold many strange foods, he could tell that the two before him had no interest in any of them, and he did not have enough spare money to buy such things himself. Too bored to endure it any longer, he finally asked.

"Of course. What else?" Josh replied without turning around, his gaze still fixed on the scenery outside the window. "Do you think calling me teacher or professor then will be difficult?"

"Of course not. I just find it strange. Why did Mr. Ollivander say that seeing you was like seeing Professor Dumbledore? Has your wizard rank already reached that level?"

Crouch scratched his head. He had always felt Josh was not difficult to get along with. He was merely a little reserved after being frightened by Ollivander's remark. But he was only fifteen or sixteen, unlike Josh, who had already lived for twenty or thirty years before starting over. He was intensely curious about many things.

"Who knows? Maybe Mr. Ollivander was mistaken." Josh smiled carelessly. "Besides, no one has said that young people must be inferior to older ones. Accumulating magical power is indeed troublesome, and it may create an insurmountable gulf. But if there is a way to make up the difference, then isn't anything possible?"

"A way?" Crouch rubbed the back of his head and asked doubtfully, "Do you have a way?"

"Of course." Josh spoke softly. "Perhaps you'll know eventually."