Harley took the wand, and a burst of light instantly erupted from between the tips.
Ollivander shouted loudly, "Oh, simply wonderful! You truly are suited for this wand, a wand with a serpent core chosen by your own intuition.
It really is too marvelous, I must make a note of this to do some research later."
As he spoke, Ollivander waved his own wand.
An exceptionally thick notebook and a quill flew out from the deepest part of the shop. Ollivander flipped the notebook to a somewhat later page, then rapidly recorded something.
After a long while, Ollivander finally remembered he still had a guest, so he raised his head again:
"Thank you very much, Miss Potter. You have provided me with an entirely new line of thought, allowing a Warlock to rely on their own intuition to choose a suitable wand core.
I have always believed that the wand chooses the Warlock, but why shouldn't it work the other way around, with the Warlock choosing the wand?"
Harley ultimately spent seven Galleons to buy this wand, and at the same time received a set of wand care tools gifted by Ollivander.
Along the way back, Harley kept examining her wand, a nameless light flashing in her eyes.
Dumbledore, who had hardly spoken the whole time in the shop, finally piped up:
"Harley, you must protect your wand well. Wands and owls can be said to be a Warlock's best companions, so you must cherish them.
You especially need to watch out that you don't walk and admire your new wand at the same time, lest you crash headfirst into a tree and snap the wand in half."
Harley nodded somewhat sheepishly, carefully putting the wand away.
It was already midday. After Madam Malkin agreed to send the unfinished clothes directly to Harley's home, Harley left her address and declined Dumbledore's proposal for the two of them to have a meal together.
Dumbledore did not press her further, directly sending Harley back to the Dursley household. He handed Harley her train ticket to Hogwarts and then departed.
Seeing that Dumbledore had already left the Dursley family living room, and that the Dursley family had also gone out, seemingly with no intention of returning until evening,
Harley instantly breathed a long sigh of relief. She tossed the luggage she had bought casually onto the open floor of the living room and slumped onto the sofa.
It was truly fortunate; the last loophole in Harley's plan had also cleared.
Harley had originally prepared to disguise herself as someone who knew nothing, paired with her own proficient acting skills, thereby concealing the secret of the Demoness Pathway.
Simply put, it meant denying it to the death.
Yet this presented a problem, because Harley was unsure whether there was anyone monitoring her surroundings, nor was she certain whether the Dursley family would shoot their mouths off.
However, the plan went even more perfectly than she had imagined. Dumbledore was quite interested in the nightmare Harley described, and seemed to know something about that soul fragment.
Therefore, by utilizing the shattering of that soul fragment and gaining an extra memory as a cover, Harley successfully misled Dumbledore.
All she needed to do right away was seal the Dursley family's memories of this morning, which could be accomplished with just a little curse.
After reviewing her plan, Harley drew the wand she carried with her and began to study it carefully.
When Harley grasped this wand, she suddenly felt as though it shared a flesh-and-blood connection with her.
Not only was there a compatibility in terms of being a Warlock in this world, but if one regarded this wand as a Mythical Creature item, it was also exceptionally compatible with her Demoness Pathway!
Thus, Harley formed multiple speculations regarding the core of this wand, even harboring a conjecture that its core came from the nerves of a Great Serpent possessing demigod strength!
After all, the Mythical Creature form of a Demoness sequence was a snake-haired woman, similar to the legendary Medusa.
Of course, this was just Harley's wild fancy. After all, Mythical Creature items crafted from materials on a demigod could only be encountered by chance, not sought.
Regardless, this wand was at least extremely compatible with herself and would suffice for the time being.
Sitting up from the sofa, Harley began reading her textbooks right there in the living room. That white snowy owl had already been named Hedwig by her, and at that moment was quietly perched on Harley's shoulder.
Owls really were spiritually receptive. When Harley hadn't given Hedwig a name yet, she wanted to reach out and cuddle it.
As a result, Hedwig put on airs, acted unfamiliar, and went to peck Harley, angering Harley to the point that she even entertained the thought of refining it into a puppet for a split second.
Yet the moment Harley had that thought, this snowy owl, which had been flapping incessantly, seemed to sense danger, instantly calming down and obediently letting Harley pet it for a long time.
Subsequently, when Harley casually opened A History of Magic and picked the first name she saw as the owl's name, it did not put up the slightest resistance.
This gave Harley a very favorable impression of such spiritually receptive, tactful birds. At least they weren't like certain nobles who remained extremely arrogant in the face of powerful Beyonders.
Some fools even hoarded grain during the war of the gods, unwilling to sell the grain to commoners at fair prices. Such fools deserved death.
After Dumbledore returned to Hogwarts, he was not nearly as leisurely and carefree as Harley.
Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape were in the headmaster's office. Professor McGonagall looked to be in rather poor complexion, but Professor Snape was somewhat excited, pacing back and forth in the office.
Seeing Dumbledore step out of the fireplace, Professor Snape rushed up to him eagerly, yet still put on an appearance of not caring overly much:
"Headmaster, is that child alright? I mean, is it..."
But Dumbledore interrupted him: "Severus, you go on out first. I need to talk to Professor McGonagall about something in private."
"Headmaster, why on earth can't I stay and listen? You know that I—"
Before Professor Snape could finish speaking, he was checked by Dumbledore:
"Sorry for the trouble, Severus. You know that some matters are not suitable for too many people to know."
It was plain to see that Dumbledore's mood was hardly good, so the words he spoke cut straight to the core.
Professor Snape was clearly rather reluctant. However, after the two of them glared at each other for a moment, Professor Snape still chose to leave the headmaster's office.
After Professor Snape left, Dumbledore looked at Professor McGonagall: "Minerva, I've seen that child."
"How is the situation? Did Harry really turn into Harley?" Professor McGonagall asked anxiously.
Dumbledore nodded, then began recounting from the moment he met Harley all the way until he sent her home.
Subsequently, Dumbledore added quite a bit of his own analysis, and told Professor McGonagall that he had already used multiple spells to confirm it—that truly was Harley.
"Yet that shouldn't be!" Professor McGonagall said with a look of unease, "Even if she's a Metamorphmagus, she should at least be able to change back!
And her name shouldn't have changed either. Yet right now even the names on the Book of Admittance have changed!"
"In fact, regarding this point, I have also formed some conjectures." Dumbledore tapped the tabletop lightly,
"Harley told me something..."
Following that, Dumbledore recounted the information that Harley had seen Voldemort's image in a nightmare, as well as her sensation of something shattering.
The two of them analyzed this and discussed it for a long time, but in the end could only drop it. After all, the information they grasped was truly too scant, making it impossible to determine which specific scenario it was.
However, the two of them at least reached a consensus. After all, no Warlock had seen Harley for so many years (second-set detail, she had been seen a few times in the original work), and the only person who had contact with her was the Squib Mrs. Figg, while this Squib had no records whatsoever in the magical world.
Therefore, as long as Dumbledore announced that he had intentionally announced the wrong gender back then in order to prevent other dark Warlocks from hunting down Harley, everything could be smoothly explained away.
After Professor McGonagall departed, Dumbledore specially summoned Professor Snape over and issued repeated warnings to him, demanding that Professor Snape exercise restraint.
Two days after Dumbledore took Harley to Diagon Alley, a news piece in the Daily Prophet swept through the entire wizarding world.
"The boy who lived, Harry Potter, is actually a girl!"
Before you continue