Giants and Boys

Giants and Boys

Faced with Mr. Weasley's teasing, Ollivander merely smiled politely and said nothing.

Though they had not followed the standard procedure, he did not pay it much mind. After saying it so many times, once more made little difference.

"So you're here this time to buy a new wand for this Mr. Weasley, correct?" Ollivander looked at the smallest boy in the crowd.

The Weasleys had many children and came to patronize his shop almost every year. In a sense, they were regular customers.

"No, not exactly." Mrs. Weasley shook her head. "Actually, we want to buy Charlie a new wand. He'll soon be working at a dragon reserve."

Ollivander froze for a moment, his gaze sweeping over everyone before finally landing on the smallest child's hand.

More precisely, on the wand in his hand.

That wand was battered and worn, with parts of it peeling away. One end still glimmered with a white light.

Merlin's beard, that was unicorn hair!

Ollivander drew a deep breath. He had never seen a wizard whose wand was already in such a state when he had just graduated, worse even than most wands that had been used for twenty or thirty years.

Clearly, it had never been maintained during that time, and its owner had not cherished it in the slightest.

Ollivander's expression darkened, and even his voice grew much colder.

"Yes, I can see that dealing with dragons requires a proper new wand."

He placed heavy emphasis on the words "new wand."

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley understood perfectly well why Ollivander was angry. Both of them flushed with embarrassment, but they had no choice but to pretend they did not know.

Charlie was going to work with dragons, and a sturdy Ollivanders Wand Shop wand was an indispensable necessity.

Fortunately, Ollivander did not say anything more. He merely gave them a cool glance.

"But I must remind you of one thing. This Mr. Weasley is not a first-year student, so there is no discount on this wand purchase."

"We know." Mrs. Weasley nodded hurriedly.

Ollivander nodded without speaking.

"How about I do it this time?" Silvan could tell Ollivander did not want to handle Charlie's business, so he took the initiative. "I'll select this customer's new wand for him."

Under normal circumstances, Ollivander certainly would not have allowed Silvan to mess around.

To put it bluntly, Silvan was only eleven years old. He was not qualified to select wands for customers.

But this time, Ollivander only hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement.

"Then I'll leave it to you, dear." Mrs. Weasley seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

She knew Silvan.

Unlike most people, who only visited a wand shop once every dozen years or so, the Weasleys were frequent customers.

They had met when Percy first came here to buy his wand, and Silvan had also been present when the twins bought theirs.

Today was their third meeting. They could not be called close, but they were no strangers either.

Silvan glanced at Charlie, then at Ron. A string of data instantly appeared before his eyes.

[Willow, unicorn tail hair, fourteen inches]

[Status: Damaged]

[Traits: Magic Weakening (a damaged wand will weaken the power of spells; replacement recommended)]

It was a standard wand, nothing special and with no reference value.

"I heard earlier that you're going to a dragon reserve?"

"Yes, I'll be leaving in the next few days." Charlie nodded.

"Then how about oak?" Silvan said to himself. "Oak contains strength and usually favors wizards with unwavering resolve. It seems like a good match for dragons."

"As for the core, Weasleys are a perfect fit for unicorn tail hair, so there's no need to consider anything else."

"About ten inches for the length." Silvan glanced again at the fourteen-inch willow wand. "Compared to comfort, a shorter wand is more conducive to drawing it quickly."

No one knew what Charlie thought, but Ollivander's eyes grew brighter and brighter. The moment Silvan finished speaking, he had already found a matching wand.

Oak, unicorn hair, ten and one-third inches—exactly in line with Silvan's idea.

Ollivander handed the wand to Charlie.

He could no longer be bothered with anger. He only wanted to see the result as soon as possible. When Charlie did not move, he even urged him.

"What are you standing there for? Try it..."

"Huh?"

"Oh!" Charlie instinctively waved the wand.

A cluster of blooming orchids blossomed at the tip.

"Perfect!" Ollivander cried involuntarily.

Even through his most professional lens, he could find no fault with it. This wand was a perfect fit for Charlie, even better than his old one.

Of course, there was one more thing he had to say: this wand had chosen Charlie, even if he was a boor who had absolutely no idea how to cherish a wand.

"Wonderful, I love it." Charlie was equally delighted with his new wand.

Mrs. Weasley stood there, blinking blankly.

Wait, that fast?

She was an old customer too, but this was the first time she had realized buying a new wand could be so efficient.

Just a few glances, no measuring arms or shoulders, no trying other combinations, and it was chosen already?

And Charlie himself was satisfied as well. He immediately slipped the wand into his coat pocket.

Seeing this, Mrs. Weasley said no more and painfully paid seventeen Galleons for the wand.

That was the true price of a wand.

Honestly, seven Galleons for first-year students was not much.

Take Charlie's wand just now, for example. The unicorn tail hair alone cost nine Galleons, and the specially treated wood required for the shaft came to another Galleon.

Fortunately, the Ministry of Magic provided every first-year student with a five-Galleon wand subsidy, which barely kept them from taking a loss.

Ollivanders Wand Shop had been making wands since 382 BC and could practically be said to monopolize Britain's wand industry, but in reality, it did not make much money at all.

After all, most wizards would not waste Galleons buying themselves a second wand.

Over the next few days, Silvan stayed in the shop to help out. During that time, he also met Hermione, whom Professor McGonagall had brought here to buy a wand.

[Vine wood, dragon heartstring, ten and three-quarters inches]

[Status: Perfect]

[Traits: None]

It was an unremarkable wand. Of course, ninety percent of new wands were like this.

After being used for a long time, a wand would also undergo varying degrees of change along with its user.

Just like Professor McGonagall's wand.

[Fir wood, dragon heart nerve, nine and a half inches]

[Status: Good]

[Traits: Transfiguration Mastery: Mana consumption when using Transfiguration -50% (Minerva McGonagall only)

Transfiguration Master: Transfiguration casting speed +30% (Minerva McGonagall only)

Insight: High chance to directly destroy an opponent's Transfiguration spell (Minerva McGonagall only)]

All three traits were related to Transfiguration, and all of them were related to Professor McGonagall.

This was the sort of case where a wizard influenced a wand. If it were given to someone else, even if those traits did not disappear completely, they would be greatly diminished.

Soon, it was the last day of July.

Early that morning, Silvan was already waiting in the shop for a special customer.

But an entire morning passed without that person appearing, so Silvan could only continue waiting patiently.

It was not until the afternoon, shortly after lunch, that the shop door was pushed open from outside once more.

Accompanied by the crisp chime of the bell, a timid, frail boy who looked like a little chick walked in. With him was a hulking figure standing a full eleven feet tall.