Without a Word, He Had Harry Pay for All of Diagon Alley for Me

"What was this?" Ollivander's gaze was instantly drawn to the two objects that looked anything but ordinary.

"Living Wood and Nightmare Fuel. That's what I called them."

Ollivander cautiously reached out and touched the Living Wood. He immediately cried out, "This thing is alive! What if it dies while I'm making it into a wand?"

"It only looked alive because it's been tainted by some magic. Anyway, don't worry. As long as you don't burn it, it'll be fine. But if possible, help me seal its mouth. It can't talk, only scream, and it's a little too noisy." After placing the two items on the counter, Kane acted like a hands-off boss, not even sparing them another glance as he focused on talking to Ollivander.

"Alright, alright. Do you have any other requirements?" Ollivander continued.

"Hmm... Make it look nice. It'd be best if it had some other functions too."

"No problem." Ollivander agreed decisively, then brought up the cost of the custom order. "The wands in my shop are seven Galleons regardless of material. But since you're providing all the materials for this custom wand, how about four Galleons?"

After saying that, Ollivander waited for Kane to bargain. Business was business, after all. In truth, he was simply addicted to making wands, and Kane had even given him two materials he had never seen before. He would have been happy to make the wand for free.

He could even accept paying out of pocket.

But the expected bargaining never came. Kane casually said, "Put it on Dumbledore's—"

"I have money." Harry not only spoke faster than Kane, but moved faster than Hagrid, who was reaching for his money behind them. He generously lined up four Galleons on the counter.

Kane immediately changed his tune. "Then put it on Harry's tab."

Ron stared at the scene in shock. Friendship could be played like this?

"Mm-hmm. If all goes well, you'll see your very own wand this afternoon." Ollivander did not even inspect the four Galleons closely. Instead, as though afraid someone might steal them, he swiftly grabbed the Living Wood and Nightmare Fuel and headed into the workshop.

The four of them left Ollivander's wand shop. Next came the usual cauldrons, robes, and all that stuff. Kane naturally had Harry pay for all of it.

But while buying books, Kane suddenly thought of something and looked at Hagrid. "What if there are other young wizards like me—orphans with no money and no Harry to pay for them? How do they buy their things?"

"If a young wizard is truly penniless and in dire circumstances, Hogwarts will set aside money as financial aid. Of course, you aren't exactly penniless..." Hagrid looked at Kane's robes, embroidered with gold thread, and smiled in relief.

This was the most luxurious outfit in Madam Malkin's shop. It was warm in winter and cool in summer, could change color, resize itself, repair itself, repel dirt, and even came with two pockets enchanted with the Undetectable Extension Charm. Even Harry had not been willing to buy it. Kane really did have a sharp eye—he had spotted it at once.

Still, neither Hagrid nor Ron said anything. After all, what Kane had done was already astonishing enough. Whenever Hagrid and Ron imagined having a friend buy them such an outfit, they could hardly avoid suspecting that said friend's next move would be to trick them into a ditch or ask for some impossibly difficult favor.

Like having the two of them split into seven teams to kill Voldemort.

Yet Kane accepted it with a delighted smile, and Harry was the same. That feeling of my money being your money was hard not to admire.

With a brother like this, what else was there to say? Forget Voldemort—if you wanted to kill Dumbledore, I'd do it with you!

"Feels like I lost out on a lot." Kane's hand paused as he was picking out books, and he spoke with a hint of resentment.

"In fact, Hogwarts' aid isn't nearly as generous as what Harry gave you. You could probably only afford a secondhand cauldron, patchwork robes, and textbooks from the used-book section. The only thing on you that would be brand-new would be your wand," Hagrid explained.

Ron, who was dressed from head to toe in secondhand things and whose wand was secondhand too, suddenly felt that, financially speaking, he was worse off than an orphan.

"Then forget it." Kane casually returned the new books in his hands to the shelf and headed toward the used-book section in the corner.

Ron watched this in confusion and leaned toward Harry. "What's wrong with Kane? Does he feel a little embarrassed about spending your money?"

Harry shook his head. Ron still did not understand Kane well enough.

Just as Harry expected, Kane bought used books purely because he was too lazy to take notes himself. Buying used books meant copying the wisdom of those who had come before him.

Watching the three of them slowly browse through books, Hagrid quietly left the bookstore. He planned to prepare a little surprise for Kane and Harry.

As for why Ron was not included, Kane and Harry were orphans. It was perfectly normal for him, as an elder, to buy them gifts. But Ron had both parents, and Hagrid was an outsider. Buying Ron a gift would not be giving Ron a gift—it would be slapping the Weasleys in the face.

Though Hagrid did not consider himself particularly clever, he understood this much social etiquette.

In the bookstore, Ron looked at Kane's robes, which seemed expensive enough to buy the entire Weasley Household, and ultimately did not step onto the point-of-no-return where friends paid for everything.

Although Harry had said early on that he would cover all expenses, Ron personally picked out, haggled over, and bought everything he needed. He even used his remaining Knuts to treat Kane and Harry to ice cream.

"By the way, where did Hagrid disappear to?"

Harry said this while eating ice cream.

"Maybe he went to take care of something important. Diagon Alley isn't that big, anyway. When he wants to find us, it'll be easy," Ron replied casually. Then his expression suddenly changed. It no longer looked like the face of someone eating ice cream, but rather someone who had swallowed shit.

Kane was surprised to see Ron's expression. "Did you see someone you didn't want to see?"

Ron replied helplessly, "I really don't want to see him. An evil little Malfoy brat. Like a fly, once he sees you, he'll definitely come buzzing over."

As if Ron's words had magic in them, a loud, sharp voice suddenly rang out behind Kane. "Well, well, well. Isn't this the disgrace of pure-bloods, the Weasley Household's youngest son, Mr. Ron Weasley? What, did you pry two Knuts out from beneath your floorboards last night? Got enough money to eat cheap ice cream with your friends?"

As he spoke, Kane sensed a young wizard standing behind him and Harry. The boy seemed to be considering whose shoulder was worthy of supporting him. In the end, he chose Kane's, perhaps because Kane's robes were more expensive.

Kane felt an arm drape over his shoulder. "Never seen these two friends of yours before. What's this? Has the impoverished Weasley Lineage fallen so low that it's making friends with Mudbloods now?"

The owner of the voice pressed down hard on Kane's shoulder as he spoke.

Harry gave the blond brat, who was frantically courting death, a pitying glance. Kane, meanwhile, looked at Ron, who had already begun pulling out his wand to help him deal with Malfoy.

"This evil little Malfoy brat really is annoying, but there's no need for you to bother."

Hearing Kane's words, Draco Malfoy instinctively felt displeased. No matter how much Ron was a pure-blood disgrace, he was still pure-blood. When pure-bloods argued among themselves, since when did a Mudblood get to speak?

Draco instinctively wanted to teach Kane a lesson. He raised his hand, ready to slap the back of Kane's head hard, but just as he was about to exert force, he suddenly could not move.

An eerie, absurd shadowy claw gripped his hand tightly. Following the shadow downward, he saw that it extended from Kane's shadow.

"What were you trying to do just now?" Kane looked at the evil blond boy, whose face had been drained completely of color, and asked quietly.