The Elder Wand That Defied Reason

The Elder Wand That Defied Reason

Silvan had indeed promised to help Hagrid fix something—his wand.

But this was definitely not something anyone else could know about, especially Harry and Ron.

In a sense, the two of them were just like Hagrid: both could keep their mouths shut and would never voluntarily reveal a secret.

They just each had one flaw.

Hagrid occasionally let something slip, while Harry and Ron plotted loudly. Whenever they discussed secrets, they paid no attention to whether anyone was nearby.

The next day was Hogwarts' first weekend after the start of term.

Early Saturday morning, Silvan left the castle and headed alone to the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

Hagrid's hut was quite conspicuous; it was visible at a glance.

When Silvan approached, the hut's front door was tightly shut, and the windows were completely covered without so much as a crack.

"We agreed to meet today. Is he not home?" Silvan wondered as he stepped forward and knocked on the door.

On the second knock, the door creaked open a crack from within.

"Keep it down, Silvan, keep it down..."

Hagrid peered through the gap, his eyes nervously fixed on the castle.

"Get in, quickly!"

He stepped aside, then immediately shut the door once Silvan squeezed inside.

"No one saw you, did they?"

"No," Silvan said. "I think you're too nervous. Acting like this will only draw attention."

"Maybe you're right..." Hagrid rubbed his hands together. "But I really can't relax. I even put Fang in the Forbidden Forest."

"Fang?"

"A dog I keep."

"So you think a dog would reveal the secret that you're illegally keeping a wand?"

"Oh, please keep your voice down." Hagrid instinctively lifted the curtain and glanced outside.

"Fine." Silvan did not press the matter. He merely held out his hand. "Give me your wand now. I need to examine its condition."

Hagrid nodded and pulled a pink umbrella from an inner pocket of his coat.

Honestly, Hagrid's disguise was terribly halfhearted. It was even a small umbrella. Silvan thought it looked a little small even for himself, let alone eleven-foot-tall Hagrid.

It could probably only cover Hagrid's head.

If Hagrid had not stayed in the school's Forbidden Forest all this time, someone would probably have noticed something was off long ago.

Oh well. Hagrid was not going to use this umbrella to keep out the rain anyway, so this would do.

Silvan took the umbrella and casually removed its canopy and handle.

Sixteen inches—it was probably the longest wand Silvan had seen so far. With the crudely made willow casing around it, it measured a full twenty inches.

"Silvan, how is it... Oh, what did you do?!"

Before Hagrid could finish, he saw Silvan rub his wand hard.

A layer of wood, like the skin shed by a fire lizard, crumbled into dust with a light shake, revealing the battered wand beneath.

The sixteen-inch wand was covered in spiderweb-like cracks, and in some places, the red phoenix tail feather inside could even be seen.

Ignoring Hagrid's heartache, Silvan held it up before his eyes and examined it carefully for a while.

"Who repaired it for you?"

"I can't say." Hagrid shook his head. "Don't ask. I won't tell you."

"Fine, it doesn't matter." Silvan did not seem bothered. "But I can say for certain that whoever repaired this wand must have been a powerful wizard."

"Of course. Dumbledore is the greatest wizard..."

A look of terror suddenly appeared on Hagrid's face.

"I shouldn't have said that. I betrayed Dumbledore. He fixed my wand, and I betrayed him."

"Don't get so worked up, Hagrid." Silvan could not help rubbing his ears. "You don't think I'd report you, do you? Don't forget, I'm helping you repair your wand too."

"I-I didn't mean that."

"I know." Silvan held the wand flat before his eyes. "I was wrong. It doesn't seem to need repairing again after all."

"Huh?"

"Look at this." Silvan carefully pried up an oak fragment, trying to remove it.

But several threads thinner than hairs tightly connected the fragment to the rest of the wand.

"I've never seen such a powerful Repairing Charm." Silvan could not help marveling. "Damage like this simply cannot be repaired with magic, yet it has remained intact in another form. It's unbelievable."

"That was Dumbledore," Hagrid said as though it were only natural.

Silvan said nothing, but his desire to see the Elder Wand grew even stronger.

If he remembered correctly, Hagrid's wand had been snapped fifty years ago. For it to have lasted this long, this thing truly defied reason.

"Then are you still going to repair it? It can still be used as it is."

"Repair it. Of course, repair it." Hagrid nodded eagerly.

Usable or not, seeing it cracked like this was too upsetting. He did not even dare use much force, afraid it would snap again.

"All right." Silvan nodded, took out a wand, and began murmuring a spell.

The incantation was long, taking nearly half a minute from start to finish.

Hagrid watched with his own eyes as his wand seemed to become a shedding lizard. First, an outer layer was pushed out, and the wand instantly became a size thinner.

Then came the second layer.

After that, all that remained was a fiery-red phoenix tail feather.

Hagrid let out an involuntary whimper, then quickly covered his mouth, afraid he would disturb Silvan.

There was no need. Once Silvan began working, such a small sound would not distract him.

He first picked up the outermost layer of the wand's body.

The runes carved into it had all shifted out of place. No wonder it had cracked so badly. If Dumbledore's Repairing Charm had not been so powerful, it would have shattered completely long ago.

But that also made it easier for Silvan to repair. There was no need to piece together a puzzle.

Silvan opened the leather bag he carried with him and took out a silver carving knife, several pieces of wood, and a jar of wand glue resembling pine resin.

He had decided to do Hagrid this favor long ago. He had prepared all of this in advance.

First, he carefully glued the fragments back together. After confirming their positions were correct, he enlarged the corresponding runes bit by bit.

Put simply, the work was quite straightforward. He only needed to use new markings to cover the original misalignments, restoring the integrity of the runes.

The process was troublesome, though, and mistakes could not be made. It was delicate work and would take some time.

Normally, if Silvan or Ollivander encountered this situation elsewhere, they would advise the customer to buy a new wand. It would cost half as much as repairing it.

But this time, Silvan said nothing, because Hagrid could not buy a new wand, and Ollivander would not sell him one.

Silvan himself could have made one, but he had no wands of this size in stock. Hagrid likely would not be able to use the others.

He would take it slowly. It was the weekend, after all, and he had nothing else to do.

(End of Chapter)