September 1

"Proud, extreme, volatile..."

Sitting on the steps outside Ollivander's wand shop beneath the bright sun, Vaughan examined the brand-new elder wand in his hand.

Ollivander's murmured words from ten minutes ago still echoed in his ears.

"Dragon heartstring rejects almost no magic, Mr. Vaughan Weasley. Unlike unicorn hair, it does not resist evil, and unlike phoenix feather, it does not follow the rules. It can help you bring any spell closer to perfection—powerful, dazzling."

"But I must say, it is also the core material most prone to mishaps, especially when paired with elder wood—this wand wood has an extreme temperament. From the moment it is born, it yearns for the pinnacle."

"In the wizarding world, it has long been said that elder wands bring misfortune. Speaking from personal experience, I can certainly say that is nonsense. But the truth is, if one day your destiny is no longer unique, no longer powerful, or if you are defeated..."

"Then it may very well abandon you!"

"You must have heard the tale of the Elder Wand, haven't you? Though The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a children's storybook, it also explains the nature of elder wands—they have never truly belonged to anyone!"

Vaughan lightly stroked the wand with his fingers. The distinctive knotted texture of elder wood was smooth and extremely comfortable to hold.

He could feel it trembling, rejoicing, almost impatiently responding to his magic!

"So, will you abandon me?"

Vaughan murmured. Naturally, the wand did not possess the intelligence to answer him.

"Meow!"

Fruit Tea, whose head rested on Vaughan's lap, lifted her head at the sound of his voice and meowed softly. She licked his chin, as if trying to comfort him.

Vaughan smiled and scratched through Fruit Tea's thick fur.

The enormous cat rubbed against him in his arms, purring contentedly.

How could he possibly worry about a wand betraying him?

With his personality, he would never allow any of the conditions Ollivander had mentioned to come to pass.

His destiny would no longer be unique... unless there was another transmigrator in this world!

No longer powerful... then he would simply remain powerful forever!

Defeated by someone... impossible!

Even after telling the story of the Elder Wand, the cunning Ollivander had hidden behind the guise of a fairy tale.

But Vaughan knew that the Elder Wand truly existed. It had once aided Grindelwald in stirring up the world, then remained quiet in Dumbledore's hands for decades. He had never seen it voluntarily abandon its owner.

In the end, whether Grindelwald's defeat or Dumbledore's death, those had been choices they themselves made as wizards.

A wand was ultimately nothing more than a tool!

"Since you crave power, then someday in the future, I'll use you to compete against whoever holds the Elder Wand!"

Thinking that, Vaughan smiled and slipped the wand into the wand holster at his waist.

Behind him, the crackling sounds of someone trying wands continued for a while inside Ollivander's shop. Then the door finally opened, and Ron emerged with a glowing face, holding up a new wand as he strode out with his chest puffed up.

"Fourteen inches, willow, unicorn hair—brilliant!" Ron boasted loudly. "I made thousands of boxes float inside just now. Too bad you didn't see it, Vaughan!"

With that smug expression, he had completely forgotten how, just over ten minutes earlier, he had been shrieking incoherently and had practically been dragged into the shop by his mother.

Now that he finally had something new, instead of another hand-me-down from his brothers, the boy was absolutely bursting with pride!

Then he heard Vaughan say with a smile, "Did you buy a wand care kit?"

"..." Ron's proud grin froze on his face.

"It's quite delicate, you know. It needs polishing oil too. A full set costs at least several dozen Sickles."

"..." His shoulders began to slump unconsciously.

"Hmm, don't people have to exchange gifts on Halloween? Seems some people might not need one anymore?" Vaughan continued with a smile.

Ron sniffed, his eyes beginning to glisten. The stubbornness left in him wanted to make him straighten up and shout back... but Halloween gifts...

Damn it!

It felt like he had fallen into a trap!

Like all middle-aged women, Molly was always eager to pull people into chatting about everyday matters. By the time she had finally exchanged enough pleasantries with Ollivander and stepped out of the shop, their Diagon Alley shopping trip was at last complete.

Well, perhaps not quite so satisfactorily for Ron.

They returned to The Burrow through the fireplace. By afternoon, their purchases were gradually delivered by owls, including Fruit Tea, who had been left in their care since she could not travel by fireplace.

Besides all of Vaughan's school supplies, there were also all kinds of sweets he had bought for Ginny.

The little girl gave Vaughan a fierce kiss, then took the sweets and prepared to share them with Fruit Tea.

From the first moment she saw Fruit Tea, she had fallen in love with the "kitten." Especially after Fruit Tea caught Vaughan's scent on her and rubbed against her, Ginny practically wanted to stick herself to Fruit Tea. She led her all around the house, helping her inspect her new territory.

This made Ron even more miserable. He practically hid in his room all day, not daring to let Scabbers leave.

But early the next morning, Fruit Tea still caught Scabbers on the second-floor windowsill.

At the time, no one knew how the rat had managed to open Ron's bedroom window. Several cookies were even wrapped around his tail, as though he were preparing to run away from home.

Unfortunately, a Stunning Spell came flying down from above, and the cunning little rat became Fruit Tea's toy without the slightest resistance.

When Ron got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and discovered that Scabbers had gone missing, he hurriedly found him—only to see that a large patch of his fur had been torn off, and the rat had nearly died. Ron broke down in terrified tears, screaming and making a scene. He tried to drive Fruit Tea away, only to be pummeled by Ginny's little fists.

After that, he nailed shut every window in his room and begged Arthur to make him a rat cage. From then on, he kept Scabbers hidden away deep in his room.

Whenever Vaughn passed the fourth floor with Fruit Tea, he would see Ron hiding behind his bedroom door, cracking it open just a sliver and watching them warily.

Honestly, he looked pretty creepy...

Only during Vaughn's twice-monthly potion-brewing sessions—when he stayed in the attic for several days without coming out, with Fruit Tea keeping him company—did Ron get to enjoy his happiest days.

Vaughn did not pay much attention to Scabbers. As long as he made sure the rat did not escape, that was enough.

While waiting for school to begin, Vaughn's life continued in an orderly routine. He brewed potions twice a month and practiced spells in his spare time—the spells from the textbooks, which he had gradually learned from the age of eight using his brothers' old books and old wands.

His proficiency varied greatly. Without a teacher to guide him through the tricks of the trade, it was difficult to make much progress through self-study alone.

Arthur and Molly were no help; they had jobs and household chores to handle, leaving them with hardly any time. As for his brothers... Percy was rather selfish, so there was no point hoping he would put aside his own studies to tutor his younger brother.

Fred and George were even less worth mentioning. Their spellwork was a complete mess. Vaughn remembered from the novel in his previous life that the twins, despite being two years older than Harry Potter, had still needed Harry to teach them the Disarming Charm...

Ridiculous!

Time passed, and at last, September 1st arrived!