Elderwood Wand

"Mr. Shelby, you could use any masterless wand, because the strength of your soul could command any wand."

"I saw hatred and responsibility on your face. With that kind of character, you would go far."

As Ollivander spoke, he flicked his wand, and a wand box from the highest shelf beside them flew before him.

"All right, Mr. Shelby. Fifteen inches, Elderwood Wand. This was an Elderwood Wand I made years ago, trying to imitate the Elder Wand."

"It took me a great deal of effort to make. Elderwood has always been the most powerful, calm, and ruthless magical material. Its core is a Thestral Tail Feather. Both materials are strange. There was no denying that this wand was extremely powerful, but..."

"What?"

Lyon looked at the wand before him. It appeared to be assembled from bones, with several joint-like protrusions along its shaft. His eyes burned with interest.

"This wand could not recognize a master like the Elder Wand. Or rather, no one could use it—not even its maker, myself. So this wand was a failure."

"But the strength of your soul is sufficient. I think you should be able to use this wand."

Lyon took the wand. The instant he touched it, a familiar burning sensation appeared at his fingertips.

A pillar of black light emerged from the wand tip. Black mist even rose through the surrounding space, and an oppressive aura of death filled everyone's mind.

Boom!

The black light flashed and instantly pierced through the roof!

This burst of black light was even more powerful than the previous two, and even harder to control!

"Merlin's beard! This... is truly astonishing. In your hands, this wand would be every bit as powerful as the Elder Wand."

"This wand would display extraordinary power in your hands." Ollivander's gaze flickered as he looked at the wand in Lyon's hand. "Twenty Galleons. That is the friendship price."

Lyon nodded, then had Hermione choose a wand as well. When they left the wand shop, Hagrid's mouth was still hanging wide open.

[Ding, the host has obtained a wand and officially become a wizard. Talent acquired: Dark Magic Prodigy!]

[Host Panel]

[Name: Lyon Shelby]

[Magic Strength: Level 5]

[Talents:

1. Surging Magic: The host's magic strength is doubled.

2. Dark Magic Prodigy: Powerful talent for Dark Magic. Any Dark Magic could be learned effortlessly in your hands.]

[Mastered Spells: None.]

The sudden system notification in his ear caught Lyon off guard. Dark Magic Prodigy?

He opened the panel and discovered that the talents displayed on it had changed.

There was no time to test his new talent. Putting the matter aside, the group headed toward the pet shop.

"Unbelievable. You had twice the magic power, and I had never seen anything like that when choosing a wand."

"Mr. Hagrid, I was merely a little luckier."

Lyon treated Hagrid quite well, not only because Hagrid was an important character in the original story, but more importantly because Hagrid was genuinely rich.

According to the original description, the fact that he could string together Unicorn tail hairs worth ten Galleons each and use them as a duster already said it all.

Not to mention that the Forbidden Forest now contained a giant spider capable of producing vast amounts of highly valuable venom. Lyon simply did not believe that Hagrid was poor.

"I think I saw you in the newspaper before..."

Harry spoke to Lyon as well. He suddenly recalled that Lyon's face seemed to appear often in the newspapers Uncle Vernon read.

"Oh, your photograph often appeared in the papers my uncle read!"

Lyon frowned. He attended charity events from time to time, so that was probably why.

With the mindset of someone from a later generation, he knew that the mafia could not last forever. It needed a respectable public identity wrapped around it.

Because of that, those newspapers often lavished praise on Lyon. Nearly everyone who regularly read newspapers knew him.

"Just like the paparazzi in my previous life..." Lyon muttered.

The group made their way toward the pet shop, since the Hogwarts acceptance letter included a section allowing students to bring pets.

After leaving the wand shop, Hermione had fallen silent. She was somewhat upset because she had not heard Mr. Ollivander call her a "difficult customer." After all, both Harry and Lyon had been rather unusual when buying their wands.

But after Lyon bought little Hermione a magical sundae, her smile returned. He had not bought one for Harry, though, and Harry looked rather resentful.

At the pet shop, Hagrid gave Harry a white owl, which Harry named Hedwig. Lyon merely swept his gaze over the animals in the shop and lost interest.

New students were only allowed to bring one of three types of pets: owls, cats, or toads. Owls and cats were too troublesome to clean up after, and he did not yet know Scourgify. As for toads...

The sight of that creature reminded Lyon of the "great achievements" of White Eagle Country in his previous life, making him feel nauseated.

He would rather be killed than touch a toad.

After leaving the pet shop, Hagrid sent Harry back to suffer with the Dursleys, while Lyon brought little Hermione's family back to Birmingham.

The moment he returned to Birmingham, Lyon let out a breath. Being on his own turf was far more comfortable.

Later, he would take over Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley. Then members of the Razor Gang could move into Diagon Alley as well.

"Godfather, this is the money collected today. There are another two million pounds at our eastern Birmingham safehouse."

As soon as he returned to his office and took off his suit jacket, one of his subordinates entered.

"There are also some issues with internal member transfers. I have written them all into the proposal. Please review it, Godfather."

"This is a detailed report on the cooperation between the authorities and us. It includes the dock business and the mines. Although we have already sold many troublemakers in Birmingham to the mines to dig coal, we still lack manpower."

"Godfather, there is also..."

"Have Mike manage the collected money. I will convene a Razor Gang meeting tomorrow regarding member transfers. As for the lack of workers at the mines and docks..."

Lyon frowned. "How about this? Give them a total of seven hours a day for sleeping and eating. Have them work without interruption for the remaining seventeen hours. That would leave us with more than enough manpower."

"All right, that is it. Let me rest for a while."

The subordinate listened in a daze, feeling as though a new world had opened before him. "How had I not thought of that? The Godfather is indeed wise."

With that, he excitedly left the room, finally leaving Lyon alone.

After sorting through his thoughts, the most important thing now was transferring all of the Razor Gang's businesses into the Wizarding World.

But at the moment, all he had was money. He did not have a single Galleon.

If he lacked pounds, it would be easy to solve. He would only need to find a local gang and raid their home at night. But that would not work in the Wizarding World.

Shaking his head, Lyon temporarily put the matter aside and took out the textbooks and other books he had bought.

Although his subordinates did not understand magic, no one who could remain in the Razor Gang was stupid. The books they bought included all kinds of subjects: History of Magic, spells, Dark Magic, Transfiguration, and more.

They were not limited to textbooks. Most were books covering various basic facts about the Wizarding World, with instructional books on offensive spells making up the largest share...

Lyon flipped through the books they had bought until he reached the end.

It had to be said that his subordinates truly understood his intentions.

Of the ten books, nine were about Dark Magic...