Shopping Spree and Wand

Dumbledore brought Ezio to Diagon Alley, but unfortunately, he could not accompany Ezio while he shopped. It wasn't that Dumbledore was too busy, but rather that he was simply too famous.

His personality was easygoing; at the very least, students would greet him happily whenever they saw him. They respected Dumbledore, but they were not afraid of him.

Because of this, Dumbledore was treated like a superstar in Diagon Alley. He could only offer a wry smile as he bid Ezio farewell. The old man was well-equipped to handle such scenes, but it would inevitably cost him a great deal of unnecessary time.

Fortunately, Ezio's behavior put Dumbledore at ease. He was a clever child who didn't require much effort to look after, and he was remarkably independent.

Equally pleased with this arrangement, Ezio entered Diagon Alley alone. He wore a traditional Assassin's Cloak with a white base and red-and-blue accents, with a handsome Gyrfalcon perched on his shoulder. Even though he wore a hood and an outfit that was hardly low-profile, almost no one's gaze lingered on him.

A glamorous, background character—that was essentially the vibe he gave off.

"Hello, I need to exchange some Galleons."

After entering Gringotts, it took Ezio only two minutes to complete the necessary first step. The scholarship provided by Hogwarts was meager. After purchasing a wand, the remaining 29 Galleons would only be enough to buy second-hand books and essential equipment at a used shop. Ezio hated second-hand goods, especially second-hand tools and equipment, because they represented accidents.

Assassins, without exception, were extremely averse to the occurrence of accidents. A target should simply be killed as planned; there was no need for fancy tricks, or one would see what true cruelty looked like.

He exchanged one hundred Galleons at an exchange rate of 1:5 pounds, and then used five gold bars to exchange for an additional one thousand Galleons. One gram of gold for one Galleon—the goblins were very good at business. Galleons were not pure gold; at most, they were gold-plated. How could they ever run a business at a loss? After all, they even made you pay extra for the magical money pouches. (Note)

What followed was a low-key "shopping spree." Aside from a broomstick, which had great practical value, Ezio purchased an extra waist bag and a chest bag at the magical equipment store. He also had a special inner vest custom-made to conveniently store the other tools he carried. At Flourish and Blotts and the second-hand bookstore, Ezio also purchased a batch of introductory magic books, as well as many volumes on the history of the magical world. However, most of these were miscellaneous essays covering everything under the sun, with at least sixty or seventy percent of the content being fictional, though there were some genuine records mixed in. He was looking for clues regarding the Twelve Moons, and such things were clearly obscure secrets; otherwise, how could Snape not know about them?

Perhaps this search was futile, but he did not intend to give up, as this was also a necessary process for understanding the reality of the magical world.

He remembered some things about the Harry Potter world, but clearly, the movies and this real, alternate world were different. At the very least, the characters' appearances were not the same. At the very least, Snape's face was quite different from the one in his memory; it wasn't the same person at all. Compared to the actor in the movie, this guy was truly like an old bat fluttering about in a dark world.

By the time the shopping ended, the time had reached three in the afternoon. Ezio, who had only curiously bought some magical snacks to tide him over, arrived at his final stop in Diagon Alley before his body could sound the alarm of hunger.

Ollivander's Wand Shop.

"Hello, I'm here to buy a wand."

After pushing the door open and entering, Ezio spoke simply and quickly. Before the sound of the wind chimes faded, he had already walked to the shop counter, where an old man watched him calmly from behind it.

"Welcome. A Hogwarts freshman, I presume?" Ollivander nodded gently. "Let me measure you for your size."

Ezio did not receive the protagonist treatment that Harry Potter had. The old man was strictly professional and didn't chatter with him. Perhaps it was also because Ezio didn't have wizard parents, so Ollivander had nothing to chat about; his conversations always started with, "I remember your wand."

"Which hand do you use?"

"Both hands, so I might need two."

"The second one will be charged at the normal price, not the seven-Galleon discount for Hogwarts freshmen." Ollivander had encountered similar situations many times. He remained calm, not even pausing his measuring movements. "Wands are not cheap; in fact, they are quite expensive. After a wizard comes of age, some choose to replace their wands, but this often comes at a high cost."

Monopolies are certainly profitable, Ezio muttered to himself.

"What is the normal price?"

"About sixty to eighty Galleons. Some wands that use rare wood or phoenix tail feathers are more expensive, ranging from one hundred thirty to two hundred Galleons."

"It seems I can afford that. Thank you, sir."

"It is I who should thank you for your generosity, young man." Ollivander retracted the measuring tape and then walked lightly behind the counter.

"Try this one. Chestnut wood, dragon heartstring, fourteen inches, excellent elasticity. And this one is also quite good: maple, unicorn hair, thirteen inches."

Choosing a suitable wand, or rather, finding a wand that matched the wizard, was not a simple matter. Ollivander's measurement of body dimensions was mostly to select the appropriate length, while the selection of the wand's properties required some comparison to determine.

After a period of comparison, Ollivander determined that the young wizard before him leaned toward wands capable of unleashing higher power. At the same time, he had unusually high requirements for the wand's sensitivity and precision. It was true that the wand chose the wizard, but one still had to match the wizard with a wand suitable for his traits before letting the wand do the choosing.

"Well, well, a picky customer. But I think I will eventually find the one that suits you."

Ollivander paused for a moment. "You are very particular about wands. I have seen such high requirements many times, and I have always been able to satisfy the customer's needs."

"Try this one. I believe this wonderful combination might bring me some surprises."

"Elder wood, phoenix tail feather, thirteen and three-quarter inches. The tail feather in the core was taken from a rather special phoenix. It was preparing to be reborn because it was injured at the time, and it is precisely because of this that I chose elder wood to match this core."

Ezio took the dark gray wand. When he held it, he didn't feel anything special. He only felt that the wand was very docile; other than that, there was nothing unusual.

"It seems it has accepted you. Give it a wave." Ollivander's eyes brightened slightly. "You can tell it in your heart what you want to do, for example, making something float, and see if it responds accurately."

Ezio nodded and gave a light wave. A piece of parchment on the counter drifted two or three inches off the table.

"It seems we have successfully found one. Now, let's try this."

Ollivander nodded with satisfaction and took out another new wand.

"I rarely use materials other than dragon heartstring, unicorn hair, and phoenix tail feather to make wands. Although I have tried thousands of combinations of wood and cores, I believe these three are the most versatile. However, I would not be so reckless as to conclude that they are the irreplaceable, optimal materials."

"There are very, very many magical creatures in the world. The core of this wand is a Thunderbird feather. Shikoba Wolfe, a wandmaker in North America, is very fond of it. But it cannot be denied that when a Thunderbird feather is used as a core, it requires the wizard to have strong control to master it, because it is extremely swift and temperamental."

"Redwood struck by lightning, Thunderbird tail feather, fourteen inches. Try it; perhaps you will like it."

Ezio took the wand under Ollivander's expectant gaze. The moment he held it, a spark resembling lightning jumped from the tip, and the Elder wand in his other hand did not want to be outdone, emitting a spark of its own.

"It seems they both like you. Be careful they don't fight later." Ollivander chuckled and added, "I'm joking. Wands don't fight, but I hope you don't neglect either of them. Only through constant use will a wand truly align with a wizard. Rapport must be cultivated."

"But for now, which wand do you intend to pay for in full?" Ollivander looked at Ezio with a smile. "Either one of them is quite expensive."

"First come, first served. I'll take the Redwood and Thunderbird one." Ezio did not let his perfectionism take over; he made his decision decisively.

"That will be one hundred and seventy-seven Galleons, including wand-care wax, a polishing cloth, and a carrying case."

Note: In 1990, the exchange rate of the British pound to gold was about 5.1 pounds per gram. The magical world operates on a gold standard. The reason for restricting the exchange of pounds to Galleons is likely because the Ministry of Magic controls the contact between wizards and Muggles; how could they allow goblins to have contact with Muggles? Collecting Muggle currency to exchange for gold with Muggles must be restricted by the goblins. Therefore, there is no limit on gold to Galleons, but there is a limit on pounds to Galleons.