On Choosing a Spare Wand

The moment Manus took it, he knew that, just as he had guessed, the slender cloth bag contained a wand.

Though it matched his expectations, Manus was still surprised, and his feelings grew even more complicated.

If they were merely lifting their restrictions on him, Mother had no need to give him a wand of his own. That way, at least in their eyes, if he wanted to practice magic, he would have to borrow a wand from them.

But Mother had still bought him a new wand.

That meant she had truly decided to support him and believed in his abilities—both his talent and his self-control.

Perhaps the past few years, combined with this moment, had fermented his emotions into something qualitatively different. It felt like a kind of gratitude unlike earning a teacher's trust.

Manus blinked away the sting rising in his eyes and focused on the item in his hand.

When he loosened the drawstring, the blue velvet lining inside the cloth bag ensured the wand would not be accidentally knocked about. At the opening, he could also see a rune engraved on the wand's base.

The instant he drew out the wand, Manus almost thought it was a branch that had only recently been snapped off, then lightly polished and turned into a wand.

The bark on the wooden portion of this wand even bore the faint bluish-green hue unique to young branches that had not fully dried.

But when he carefully rubbed it with his fingers, he found it lacked the dampness characteristic of young bark. That faint bluish-green color came from the wood itself, likely due to some special treatment.

His fingers traveled slowly over the shaft. Aside from the rune at its base, the wand bore no traces of carving. Two slight curves along its lower half kept it relatively straight while also making it easier to grip.

"Normally, a wizard needs to go to a wand shop in person to purchase and register a wand, and a wand selected and matched on the spot will also be the most suitable one for that wizard."

Aivina spoke at that moment:

"But you have not reached the proper age yet, and a registered wand means the Ministry of Magic knows it exists and belongs to you. Sometimes that can make things troublesome. There are always secrets that need their traces buried."

As she spoke, Aivina flicked her wrist, and a wand much shorter than the one she normally used slid from a hidden pocket in her sleeve.

"Therefore, having a hidden spare wand becomes necessary. It may not be perfectly matched to you, but it is convenient—and such wands usually need to be short enough to conceal. You are still young, so using a shorter wand will be more convenient for practice."

Aivina placed her spare wand beside Manus's for comparison. Manus's wand was even shorter than Aivina's spare wand.

"My spare wand is ten inches, while yours is nine."

After putting away her spare wand, Aivina introduced it to Manus.

"Both wands are made of elm, a wand material said to be wieldable only by Pure-blood wizards. In truth, wands made from this wood are the safest. Even if they do not match the wizard, they will not cause accidents, so Pure-blood wizards often choose elm wands as their first choice for spare wands."

"As for the core, your wand uses unicorn hair. It is stable and pure, but unsuitable for casting Dark Magic, so it is not usually used as the core for a spare wand. However, it is just right for you at present. In the future, you can buy another wand with dragon heartstring as its core, or purchase some unconventional styles from North America."

After finishing, Aivina added:

"Still, I suggest keeping this wand. A hidden spare wand that is unsuitable for Dark Magic can sometimes produce special results instead."

"I understand, Mom."

Listening to Aivina's arrangements for him and stroking the wand in his hand, Manus could not help revealing a pure smile.

Aivina could not help smiling along with him.

"All right, that concludes the introduction to your gift. Now, go take a look at these books."

"Will there be enough time...?"

Manus looked at the vast collection of books before him. Even with Scholar's Touch, he had no confidence that his current mental strength would let him take all the knowledge here with him before they left.

After all, although it was called a dinner banquet, familiar guests would generally begin arriving in the afternoon, and they would leave after the dinner ended.

According to what Grandfather and Grandmother had said earlier, no one knew when they would be able to come here again afterward.

"Don't worry. You do not need to finish everything in one visit. You can still come here."

Aivina understood what Manus was worried about and patted his head.

"This library is not in the old manor. Count Westcott's portrait is the passage leading here, and his portrait exists in more places than just the old manor—don't forget, your father came here before, yet he still had not seen your grandfather for a long time."

As a magnate who had expanded his business into the Muggle world and made money from both sides, while also advising Aivina to cut losses decisively, how could Count Westcott cling to the old manor like those stubborn fools?

Even a rabbit hole had three exits. Count Westcott, who lacked neither money nor flexibility, had naturally made preparations long ago.

To the King Family, the old manor's irreplaceability was merely symbolic, a matter of appearances. If the old manor were truly destroyed, as long as the people remained, they could immediately establish a new base elsewhere and start anew, suffering almost no irreparable blow.

Hearing Aivina's explanation, Manus breathed a sigh of relief. Only then did he relax and look at the bookshelves before him with shining eyes.

"All right, I will not accompany you any farther. My knowledge of this place is limited to this much. After all, I have not come here to read more than a few books myself. If you want to find a book..."

Aivina snapped her fingers.

"Nati!"

"Mrs. Aivina, Nati is delighted to serve you."

A creature less than five heads tall, looking somewhat like an undernourished goblin, appeared at Aivina's summons and bowed deeply to her.

"Nati is the house-elf responsible for maintaining and cleaning the library. If there are any books you want, you can have it bring them to you."

Aivina said this to Manus, who was curiously examining Nati.

"A house-elf?"

There did not seem to be such a creature in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Hearing Aivina's words, excitement flashed through Nati's eyes as it looked at Manus.

"Young Master Manus, Nati has been waiting for you for a long time. You may entrust any request to Nati."

"Waiting for me?"

While evaluating Nati's mental state, Manus asked with some curiosity.

"When Young Master Griffin came last time, he told Nati that the King Family had a young master, that the King Family finally had another heir of the next generation. Nati is so happy..."