A Custom Wand

"Dad, why were you so nice to that guy?" Draco asked, sounding aggrieved.

Lucius Malfoy glanced at him. "Naturally, I'm paving the way for your future connections."

"Heh, after meeting him for the first time, I think he already hates me." Draco rolled his eyes, clearly not taking Lucius's words to heart.

"It's good that you know. Now let me test you: since you've already offended him, what should you do next to repair this relationship?" Lucius asked quietly.

"What should I do?" Draco asked blankly.

"An orphan, yet dressed luxuriously, with fair skin. You can tell he enjoys comfort and dislikes hardship. But he's an orphan. What supports all that?" Lucius guided him.

"...Money?" Draco ventured. He quickly saw Lucius's relaxed smile and continued, "Since he's an orphan, it must be someone else's money. But neither the Weasley family nor that Hagrid looks wealthy."

"That green-eyed child—didn't you see the lightning scar on his forehead? That's Harry Potter. The Potter Family doesn't lack money," Lucius reminded him at the right moment.

"...So I should compete with Potter by throwing money around and win Kane Hiss's friendship?" Draco said with a frown.

Lucius knew perfectly well that his son was not particularly likable, so he set the bar lower. "There's no need to compete. It's enough if he becomes an ordinary friend who doesn't hate you. Naturally, that includes Harry Potter."

"So I've got two more social tasks?"

"That's right." Lucius nodded. "If possible, I'd even like you to restore the Weasley family's friendship."

"A bunch of poor people. What use are they?" Draco said with a curl of his lip.

"Because they're a group. There's always strength in numbers. Of course, if you don't want to, forget it," Lucius said casually.

Draco looked at the four retreating figures...

"They're pure-blood wizards, at least. I'll give it a try. Just a try."

"Good boy." Lucius reached out and rubbed the back of Draco's head in praise.

Meanwhile... at Ollivanders' Wand Shop.

"Compared to Diagon Alley, where that little brat who might as well have his eyes on top of his head is walking around, this place is much more comfortable. At least it's cool, and there aren't any other living people around."

Kane had just finished speaking from the little sofa in the corner when the bell over the door rang. A little girl with somewhat bushy chestnut hair and a fair face walked in.

"Oh, there are so many people. Should I come back later?" the little girl asked instinctively.

"No need. Ollivander is just customizing a wand for Kane. Call for him and he'll come out," Hagrid explained.

The little girl nodded. "All right. I'm Hermione Granger, so you're all new students—except for you, sir."

That last "sir" was clearly directed at Hagrid.

"Looks like my youth is truly gone." Hagrid sighed, then introduced himself as well. Everyone else in the shop also introduced themselves in turn.

Hermione nodded, then wandered around the shop with her hands behind her back and her toes raised.

Compared to buying a wand, talking to other young wizards her age interested her just as much.

"Mr. Hagrid just said that Mr. Ollivander is customizing a wand for you?" Hermione walked up to Kane, who was staring eye to eye with a raven.

Kane looked at the girl in front of him and nodded blankly.

"But I read in books that the Ollivander family only uses three kinds of magical materials: unicorn hair, dragon heartstring, and phoenix feathers. I've never heard that they offered custom wands..." Hermione looked puzzled. She truly was not questioning him; she was simply uneasy.

Could the gap between Muggle-born young wizards and pure-blood young wizards already have begun here?

Muggle-born young wizards could only use ordinary wands, while pure-blood young wizards could have Ollivander tailor one specifically for them?

The path to becoming Hogwarts's top student did not seem very bright for the moment.

"Ollivander must have customized plenty of special wands, right? What do you think, Hagrid?" Kane awkwardly tossed the subject to Hagrid.

Hagrid thought back. "Hmm, I suppose that's true. I've been Hogwarts's gamekeeper for so many years, and I've seen quite a few young wizards using wands customized by Ollivander. Elder wood with Thestral tail hair, elder wood with serpent nerve, elder wood with Taowu hair, elder wood with Qilin hair, elder wood with feathers from all kinds of magical birds. Even the young wizards' own hair."

"May I ask just how powerful elder wood is? Why is every single one made from that wood?" Hermione interrupted at once.

"Oh, that's not it. It's only because Dumbledore's wand is made of elder wood. Every other elder wand is just a tribute to that one," Hagrid explained.

Hermione nodded and looked at Kane. "So, Kane, your wand is elder wood too."

"Of course not. I've seen Dumbledore's genuine wand. It's covered in knots, so it must be uncomfortable to hold." Kane waved a hand.

The moment Kane finished speaking, Hermione's heart skipped a beat. She was a Muggle-born young wizard who had only arrived in Diagon Alley today, while this pure-blood wizard before her had apparently met Dumbledore, Hogwarts's headmaster, long ago.

He had even examined Dumbledore's wand from up close—and found fault with it.

By that measure, wasn't the gap between Muggle-born young wizards and pure-blood young wizards greater than the sky itself?

Sitting on the sofa, Kane had no idea that Hermione had elevated him, a pitiful little orphan, into one of the magical world's privileged pure-bloods. He was teasing the raven in its cage when footsteps suddenly came from the workshop. Ollivander emerged, holding Kane's wand.

"Mr. Hiss, I'd wager that you'll absolutely love this wand." Smiling, Ollivander placed the wand on the counter and waited for Kane to come over and take it himself. That too was part of the ritual.

But Kane truly did not care about such rituals. He only felt that the wand on the counter was like a third hand he had been separated from for years.

Perhaps because everything from the living wood to the nightmare fuel had involved Kane's shadow, the wand was not all that different from something grown out of Kane himself. With a thought, the wand instantly flew into his palm.

Hermione's eyes widened at the sight. "Was that wandless magic?"

Kane raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I just picked up a wand. Is there really that much to it?"

After saying that, he looked at the wand in his hand. The bark and ordinary wood at the grip end of the living wood had been stripped away, leaving only the glossy, dense heartwood at its center. It was of moderate thickness and slightly longer than an ordinary wand, so Ollivander had flattened it slightly and set mithril and crystals into the flat sides.

The entire wand resembled a long, slender hidden blade.

As for the wailing face on one end of the living wood, once the living wood had been stripped of its outer layer, it had shrunk proportionately. By some unknown method, Ollivander had bent that end into a pommel, and pinned its mouth firmly shut with two gleaming golden cross-shaped nails, leaving it unable to make the slightest sound.

Seeing how perfectly Kane matched the wand, Ollivander hurriedly spoke up. "Try it! Try it!"

Kane nodded and casually swung the wand.

As the wand moved, the gems set into its blade gave off a faint glow. Kane's once-obedient shadow instantly bared its fangs and claws. With Kane's permission, the shadow left his feet and began whipping through the air along with the wand's movements.

Watching Kane's shadow turn his shop into a complete mess, Ollivander felt not the slightest bit of displeasure. He felt only satisfaction with the wand he had made.

Kane soon stopped moving and turned the wand over in his hand, thoroughly satisfied.

Ollivander casually waved his own wand, and the wrecked shop became neat and orderly again.

Of the three others present, Harry and Ron looked at Kane's wand, then at their own, and suddenly found their wands far less appealing.

And Hermione too. She gathered her courage and raised a hand. "Mr. Ollivander, if I wanted to customize a wand as well, what would I need to pay?"