Weighing of the Wands

In the Potions classroom, Harry and Hermione sat at one table, while Ron sat at the table with Dean and Seamus.

"The antidote!" Snape said, glancing around the class, his cold, dark eyes flashing with an unpleasant light. "You should now prepare your own recipes. I require you to brew them carefully, and then we'll choose one person to try..."

The Potions in fourth grade is really difficult; students are already required to research the recipes on their own.

As early as the first week of school, Snape had already explained the relationship between antidotes and other drugs—and the antidotes he was referring to weren't just antidotes to poisons, but also antidotes to Love Potion, Polyjuice Potion, and Veritaserum. The knowledge involved was vast and profound, almost enough to be a subject in itself. Of course, the Hogwarts curriculum only taught the antidotes to the more common Potions.

Snape once said he would poison one of them before Christmas to see if their antidote would work. Looks like today is the day!

Skylar didn't care; according to the plot, he and Harry didn't have to go to class today anyway.

As for Daphne, he had already secretly practiced the preparation of the universal antidote with her several times. As long as Daphne's steps were correct, even if the Astronomy changes were not properly coordinated, and even if the heat was not well controlled, it would still be able to neutralize most poisons—after all, it contained Bezoar, so as long as it wasn't a poison of the level of Basilisk Venom or Nundu venom, there shouldn't be any problems.

Furthermore, the likelihood of Snape choosing a Slytherin student as the target of his poisoning is extremely low.

Just then, there was a knock on the door of the underground classroom.

The newcomer was a third-year student from Gryffindor, with gray-brown hair and a short stature. Skylar remembered his name as Colin Creevey, a hardcore Harry Potter fan.

He slipped into the classroom sideways, first flashing a smile at Harry, before heading towards Snape's podium at the front of the classroom.

"What is it?" Snape asked impatiently.

"Excuse me, sir, I need to take Harry Potter upstairs."

Snape's gaze fell from his hooked nose to Colin, and the smile vanished from Colin's eager face.

"Potter has an hour of Potions," Snape said curtly. "He'll go upstairs after class."

Colin blushed.

"Sir—sir, not just Harry Potter, but Skylar Malfoy too. Mr. Bagman sent me to fetch them," he said nervously. "All the Champion are going; I think they want to take a picture..."

Snape's expression was priceless.

He'd been holding back for so long; he'd wanted to poison Harry right before Halloween, but was interrupted by the welcoming ceremony for off-campus guests. Now that he finally had the chance to prank Harry, he was about to watch helplessly as his prize slipped away.

No matter how unwilling he was, he couldn't say anything, since Skylar would leave the classroom with Harry.

"Potter— " he said with a sneer, "Why would our renowned Potter need such a rudimentary Potions?"

He walked to Skylar's desk, looked at Skylar with a scrutinizing gaze, and said with a cold expression, "Malfoy, good luck." He paused, then said softly, "Come to my office sometime after you're done."

Skylar looked at Professor Snape and nodded in agreement.

Harry and Skylar stood up and walked towards the door.

"Isn't that amazing, Harry?" Colin exclaimed eagerly as Harry stepped out of the classroom and closed the door. "Isn't that right? You've become Champion!"

Harry felt his face burning and wished Colin would shut his mouth. He had lost to Skylar twice before, and the thought of competing with him completely eroded his confidence.

He tried to change the subject, "Why are they taking pictures, Colin?"

"It was probably published in the Daily Prophet!"

"Great," Harry muttered to himself, "Exactly what I wanted. To embarrass myself even more."

Arriving at an empty classroom, Colin tossed out a "Good luck" and hurried away.

It was a small classroom, with most of the desks pushed to the back, leaving a large open space in the middle. However, three desks were placed side by side in front of the blackboard, covered with a long velvet cloth. Behind the velvet-covered desks were five chairs, one of which was occupied by Ludovic Bagman, who was talking to a witch dressed in a magenta robe.

Eleanor and Katarin greeted Skylar with delight upon seeing Skylar, completely ignoring Harry standing to the side, which made Harry's expression even more unpleasant.

Bagman suddenly saw Harry, quickly stood up, and jumped forward.

"Ah, come in, Harry, come in... There's nothing to worry about, it's just the wand testing ceremony, the other referees will be here soon--"

"Detect wands?" Harry asked anxiously.

"We need to check that your wands are fully functional and in good working order, because they will be your most important equipment in the upcoming competitions," Bagman said. "The experts are upstairs with Dumbledore. Then we'll take some photos. This is Rita Skeeter," he said, pointing to the witch in the magenta robe, "She's writing a short article for the Daily Prophet about the Triwizard Tournament..."

Rita's outfit was very fashionable, clearly meticulously styled. Her blonde hair was curled very deliberately, obviously fixed with some kind of Potions, but her sense of aesthetics was probably lacking; the hairstyle paired with her wide chin looked very awkward.

She narrowed her eyes slightly, staring at Harry like a hyena that had found its prey.

"Before we begin, may I speak a few words with Harry?" she asked Bagman, her eyes still fixed on Harry. "The youngest Champion, you know... just to add some color to the story."

Bagman had barely agreed when poor Harry was dragged into the broomhouse for an interview.

Eleanor watched this scene with a knowing look, and whispered to Skylar, "You Britain journalists are really something. You ignore us overseas guests, and you don't even bother to interview Sir Merlin, but you only want to interview that Boy Who Lived..."

Skylar naturally knew what was going on.

Rita is a writer who specializes in writing gossip and slanderous news. For the sake of her career, she's not even afraid of Dumbledore. However, she has a weakness: her greatest fear is losing the career she's worked so hard to build— Skylar has powerful connections in the media world, so how could she dare to mess with her?

Skylar chuckled and replied, "He's Boy Who Lived, after all! He's bound to attract more readers' attention. You know, readers these days are very discerning; they demand novelty, logical consistency, and masterful writing. Even so, some people still read pirated copies of Knut's * Daily Prophet * from its competitors."

Katarin chuckled. "Mr. Malfoy, I get the feeling you're holding a grudge?"

The conversation was interrupted by Dumbledore's footsteps as he and Mr. Ollivander came down from upstairs. After hearing about Harry and Rita from Bagman, he frowned and immediately went into the broom to interrupt the interview, thus rescuing Harry.

Rita was so excited her face flushed red as she ran out with the parchment in hand. Harry, on the other hand, looked as if he had swallowed a fly; he was as ugly as could be.

Next, the wand testing ceremony begins.

The first person to test the wand was Katarina Monroe.

Ollivander twirled the wand between his slender fingers like a conductor's baton, causing it to spark with pink and gold. Then he brought the wand close to his eyes, examining it closely.

"Not bad," he said softly, "Eleven and a half inches... very elastic... made of aspen... contains... oh my god, this is..."

"It contains a feather from a Feathered Serpent," Katarin said, "And is my family heirloom wand."

Although Skylar had never actually made a wand, he was far from ignorant about Wandlore. The House of Malfoy, House of Black, and Greengrass Families, as well as the Ravenclaw's Collection, all possessed books on wand making. Combining the knowledge passed down through these families, Skylar might not be as good as Ollivander, but he was certainly more than capable of surpassing most people in the field of wand making.

Aspen wands are often suited to natural duelists, as they are among the most martial of all. It is said that in the early days of Silver Spear, only wizards and witches wielding aspen wands were permitted to participate.

The Feathered Serpent's feathers are of extraordinary origin, combining the powerful properties of the Dragonheart Wand—making the spells cast even more potent; at the same time, they possess the versatility of the Phoenixheart Wand—allowing for many creative variations in spell effects.

Judging solely from the wand, Skylar's conclusion is --

They are indeed formidable opponents!

Ollivander frowned deeply. The wand's power was completely beyond his ability to appreciate. The Feathered Serpent had been extinct for a long time, and he had never seen the Feathered Serpent wand before!

So he could only pretend to run his fingers over the wand, obviously checking for scratches and dents, and didn't even dare to use it to cast a spell before returning it to Katarin.

"Very good, very good, in good form," said Mr. Ollivander. "Mr. Malfoy, it's your turn."

Katarin returned to her seat with light steps, and smiled sweetly at Skylar as she passed him.

Mr. Ollivander examined it very carefully, looking it over and over again for more than ten minutes, before finally looking at Skylar with a serious expression and saying, "Mr. Malfoy, do you remember what I told you three years ago when you bought this wand from me? I've noticed that your wand seems to have changed..."

Skylar frowned and asked, "Excuse me, is there something wrong with my wand?" Skylar thought there might be a problem with his wand that he hadn't noticed, but he was confident that he had always taken good care of it.

"No, no, don't misunderstand, Mr. Malfoy." Ollivander hurriedly said, "There's nothing wrong with the wand, but I feel there's something different about it that I can't quite describe. I assure you that this change will only benefit you; its compatibility with you has increased, and using it will make your spells much easier."

Mr. Ollivander had Skylar's wand produce a string of silvery smoke rings that drifted from one end of the room to the other. Satisfied, he said, "Miss Hohenheim, it's your turn."

Eleanor rose gracefully and handed the wand to Mr. Ollivander.

"Hmm," said Mr. Ollivander, "If I'm not mistaken, this is a product of Gregorovitch. He's an excellent wand maker, although I'm not entirely... well..."

Eleanor's face remained expressionless, but Skylar still caught a glimpse of mockery in her eyes.

Ollivander's expression suddenly changed drastically, "Oh--"

His face flushed an unnatural red, clearly shocked by his discovery, and he murmured, "I was mistaken, this isn't Gregorovitch, this is... this is..."

"This is Cadmus Peverell's wand!"

Perhaps surprised that this unassuming old man could see through the wand's origins, a hint of astonishment flashed in Eleanor's eyes, but a smile appeared on her lips.

"Yes, our ancestors were fortunate enough to possess this item."

A glint of light flashed in Skylar's eyes.

Is this family, which practices Necro-Alchemy, truly connected to the "Resurrection Stone," the highest achievement in Necro-Alchemy?

So it turns out I almost underestimated this opponent.

Besides the Paracelsus lineage, do you also have the Peverell family lineage, Eleanor von Hohenheim...?

Ollivander held the wand up to his eyes and examined it several times, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. He couldn't tell the material of the wand or the composition of the core!

After a long pause, he spoke, a slight tremor in his voice. "Very good, very good... looks like a good wand..."

It was finally Harry's turn.

Aha!

"Ah, yes," said Mr. Ollivander, his light-colored eyes suddenly gleaming with excitement. "Yes, yes, yes. I remember it perfectly well."

No one knew how excited he was! Finally, he could face a simple magic wand!

It's just Phoenix Tail Feather and holly wood! The simplest wand ever!