Shatter One, Pay Ten? This Kid Was Surprisingly Polite!

At that moment, Professor McGonagall was not the only one filled with anticipation. Charle could not help feeling the same.

Even in Charle's previous life, wands had been something that made magic enthusiasts excited whenever they were discussed.

Many Harry Potter fans online would visit various mysterious fan-made websites to test what kind of wand suited them best.

Some even commissioned custom wands online just to fulfill their fantasy of waving a wand and casting magic.

Charle had not been quite so fanatical in his previous life, but in this life, wands truly existed, and their enhancement of a wizard's abilities was unparalleled.

Without a wand, it was difficult even for a wizard to cast spells.

Even highly skilled wizards capable of wandless magic found its effects vastly inferior to casting with a wand.

Take Charle, for example. Through repeated deductions of the Lumos spell and the Banishing Charm, his understanding of those two spells had long reached an unprecedented level.

Casting those two spells without a wand was not impossible for Charle.

Yet even a basic spell like Lumos placed an enormous burden on him when cast wandlessly.

With Charle's current magical power, he could only make a firefly-like glow appear at his fingertips, making it practically useless.

In fact, forget Charle—even wizards on Dumbledore and Voldemort's level found wands nearly irreplaceable.

They possessed the ability to cast wandlessly, but rarely used it. Presumably, the cost was too great and the results too poor.

Thus, a wand that truly belonged to him was the most important thing to Charle right now.

Following Professor McGonagall, Charle soon arrived at the only wand shop in Diagon Alley.

The storefront was small and shabby. A single wand lay alone on a faded purple cushion in the window.

The gold lettering on the sign above the door had peeled away, but it still read: "Ollivander, makers of fine wands since 382 B.C."

Inside the shop, there was nothing but a long bench. Thousands of narrow wand boxes were stacked almost to the ceiling.

Professor McGonagall called out, and an old wizard emerged from within.

Naturally, this was Ollivander, one of Europe's Three Great Wandmakers.

When he saw Charle and Professor McGonagall, Ollivander, who had already been through countless back-to-school seasons, put on a practiced, enthusiastic smile.

"Ah, another young wizard here to buy a wand."

"Believe me, Ollivander's wands will never disappoint you..."

Before he could finish, Professor McGonagall interrupted the opening speech Ollivander had likely repeated hundreds of times.

"Mr. Ollivander, this is Charle."

"Headmaster Dumbledore asked me to pass along a message. Charle's talent is astonishing, even beyond his expectations."

"He said you should prepare to be challenged. This may prove even more difficult than choosing a wand for him."

At those words, Ollivander's voice caught, and undisguised surprise appeared on his face.

He had made hundreds upon thousands of wands in his lifetime, but only a few had gone on to accompany famous wizards.

Dumbledore alone had made Ollivander renowned, completely cementing his position as Britain's foremost wandmaker.

Before that, several wandmakers in Britain had wanted to challenge Ollivander.

But after Dumbledore displayed talent that shook the Wizarding World, Ollivander needed only one sentence to end wandmaking rivalries that had once required long contests to settle.

"Which Dumbledore do you mean?"

And now, a young wizard whom even Dumbledore had praised as a genius stood before him?

Once his surprise passed, Ollivander was overcome with excitement.

In his view, this truly was his lucky year.

Before the savior Harry Potter had even arrived, such a gifted young wizard had already come to him.

After this, Ollivander's Wand Shop would surely become even more unshakable in reputation.

Who the hell was Gregorovitch of Germany? How could he possibly be mentioned in the same breath as Ollivander?!

Ollivander immediately rose and walked excitedly toward Charle, warmly measuring his arm length and asking about all manner of habits.

After Charle answered each question, Ollivander fell into excited contemplation, occasionally murmuring to himself as though considering what type of wand would suit Charle best.

Charle spoke up then.

"Mr. Ollivander, my circumstances are somewhat special, so I have special requirements for my wand as well."

"I can accept whatever power it has, but it must be extremely durable and capable of withstanding the strongest or most extreme magical power imaginable."

"What I mean is, even if light comparable to the sun bursts forth from its tip, it must be able to endure it perfectly."

"..."

Before Charle could finish, Ollivander chuckled and waved a hand.

"Mr. Charle, perhaps you do not understand how the Ollivander Family chooses wands for wizards."

"We do not select according to a wizard's demands. Rather, based on experience accumulated over countless years, we match wands to a wizard's personality and spirit. This has been proven with countless wizards. Please trust my professionalism."

"As for whether a wand might fail to withstand a spell's magical power? I can guarantee that such a thing will never happen!"

Ollivander then took out several wand boxes on his own, removed a Beechwood wand with a Dragon Heartstring core, and handed it to Charle.

"Here, try this one."

Charle paused and did not reach out to take it immediately.

After all, the wand he wanted needed to be capable of withstanding the Eternal Blazing Sun Spell, his strongest spell at present.

The wand he had gotten from Dak had cracked after just one casting, then shattered when he forced out another Laser Spell.

Charle seriously doubted whether the wand Ollivander had brought out could withstand it.

He asked Ollivander again for confirmation.

"Mr. Ollivander, are you sure it is durable enough?"

"What if it breaks later? You will not make me pay for it, will you?"

An absurd smile appeared on Ollivander's face.

He suddenly found Charle rather adorable.

When Charle's name went down in history someday, perhaps he could bring up this conversation as an amusing anecdote.

Then Ollivander made a go-ahead gesture and said with complete confidence,

"If the wand breaks, I'll give you ten for every one that shatters."

"Believe me, Mr. Charle. No one understands wands better than I do!"

Charle froze for a moment.

Looking at the wand before him, an idea suddenly surfaced in his mind.

Previously, just taking a few bites of the Elder Wand had earned him an extremely generous number of Deduction Points.

These ordinary wands were naturally inferior to the Elder Wand, but they were still rare Magical Items.

They were probably the most valuable objects most wizards would ever buy in their lives.

Both the wood and the core were materials imbued with magical power.

If he ate them, the Deduction Points he gained would probably far exceed the Magic Meals at St. Mungo's Hospital.

Charle then revealed an embarrassed smile.

"Mr. Ollivander, then I'll have to thank you."

Ollivander stood there, stunned.

"???"

"This kid... was surprisingly polite?"