"Mm, not bad."
Professor McGonagall returned to her usual manner. "Term starts tomorrow. Have you prepared everything Miss Hall needs for school?"
Audrey hurried to answer:
"Everything is ready, Professor McGonagall."
Professor McGonagall nodded in satisfaction and led the two into her office. "Excellent. Tomorrow, you will be the last to be sorted, as a transfer student. Make sure you don't miss it. Oh, yes, Miss Hall, you will stay in your previous room for now, but once you have been sorted tomorrow, you will move to your new dormitory. Of course, I would much prefer you to stay here in Gryffindor. Then you would have a few of Gryffindor's Little Lions as roommates."
Audrey bowed in thanks. "Of course. Thank you, Professor McGonagall."
"I know that, given your age and talent, starting in the first year may take some getting used to. But Professor Dumbledore and I have discussed it, and your first term will serve as a transition. Once it is over, we can reassess your year according to your mastery of magic. Take Mr. Edward, for example. He could have entered his sixth year long ago."
Edward scratched his head helplessly.
"Er, Professor McGonagall, you make it sound as if I'm deliberately holding myself back."
Professor McGonagall immediately grew serious. "No, I thoroughly approve of your decision not to skip any years. Unlike your peers, who are always far too reckless and arrogant to settle down and study properly."
"Thank you for your... approval." Edward continued, "By the way, Professor McGonagall, Audrey hasn't been making much progress in Transfiguration. Could she come to you with questions later?"
McGonagall smiled faintly. As the Transfiguration teacher, she welcomed every student who liked the subject.
"Any time."
After saying goodbye to Professor McGonagall, the two headed for the Gryffindor common room.
They had just rounded a corner when a dark shape shot into Edward's arms, meowing as she lunged for his ear. "(╬◣ω◢)"
Edward hurriedly begged for mercy. "Ow, gently! Gently, Lilith! Don't actually bite through it. I'd have to get vaccinated."
Lilith refused to listen. She clamped onto his ear and kept growling.
"Meow! (▼皿▼#)"
"Meow, meow. (╯`□′)╯"
"Meoooow, meowww, ＜(｀□′)＞"
"I was wrong! I was wrong! I shouldn't have left you all alone. Next time I go out, I'll take you with me, all right?"
Unfortunately, Lilith was only a relatively clever cat, after all. How could she understand such complicated sentences? Edward coaxed her for quite a while, then produced a piece of dried chicken before her anger finally subsided. She scampered off to bask in the sun and gnaw on it.
He glanced at the sun outside and said:
"Since it's still early, I'm going to Diagon Alley to buy a new wand. Would you rather rest here or come along and have a look around?"
Audrey clenched her fists. "Once I return to Backlund, I'll have plenty of time to rest every day."
"All right, then let's ask Fawkes for help."
After only a few steps, Edward stopped short. "Wait, let me try something first." He grabbed Audrey's wrist, then vanished from Hogwarts Castle with a crack.
Ollivander's wand shop, Diagon Alley.
Edward and Audrey appeared out of thin air. The gust of wind they stirred up knocked over a nearby stack of wand boxes, but Ollivander reacted quickly and restored them with a wave of his wand.
It worked!
Apparition powered by spirituality had actually bypassed Hogwarts' anti-Apparition enchantment.
"Oh, Mr. Edward, next time you use Apparition, please try to choose a destination outside." Ollivander rubbed his unruly white hair.
"Of course. Sorry."
Edward apologized at once, but his face was full of smiles. Hogwarts' anti-Apparition enchantment had no effect on Apparition fueled by spirituality. Following that logic, other spells cast with spirituality might also produce unexpected effects!
Suddenly, he felt as though he could take Voldemort on single-handedly!
"Mr. Edward, what brings you here today?"
Ollivander's voice shattered his fantasy. Edward hurriedly said, "Mr. Ollivander, my wand was destroyed. I'd like to buy a new one."
"What?"
He looked astonished. "How was it destroyed? Surely it wasn't snapped for violating Ministry of Magic laws?"
"No, no. I just encountered a fantastic beast during my travels, and it swallowed my wand in one bite."
"Oh, what a shame. You must understand that every wizard's wand ought to accompany them for life. They will never find another wand that suits them better than their first."
Edward froze. The pain of losing a friend of three years welled up in him again. From mastering his first spell to becoming proficient in all kinds of magic and growing into a proper wizard, that wand had witnessed his entire journey.
That damned little black bird!!
"Then... do you have any specially crafted wands like Audrey's?"
Audrey obligingly waved the Dragon Bone Wand in her hand.
Ollivander shrugged. "I made quite a few attempts in the past, but that was the only real success. The rest were defective. I daresay they couldn't manage so much as a Lumos."
"Ah, well..." Edward had no choice. Resigned, he said, "Then please give me another like my old wand. Blackthorn, phoenix feather core, ten and three-quarter inches."
"Very well."
Ollivander snapped his fingers, and a measuring tape flew up to Edward and began taking his measurements.
"Sir, aren't we just getting another like my old wand? Is this still necessary?"
"Of course it is. Your proportions are quite different from three years ago."
"But didn't you just say that every wizard's first wand suits them best?"
Ollivander stopped what he was doing and blinked. "Oh, that's magic."
"..."
Audrey couldn't help bursting into laughter. Usually, Edward was the one feeding her that sort of nonsense. Now it was his turn to be left utterly bewildered by someone else's nonsense.
Edward could only let him carry on. Meanwhile, he asked, "Mr. Ollivander, have you ever tried making a wand in a different form, such as a ring or bracelet? Not only would it be easier to carry, but casting spells would be more convenient too."
"Of course I have. But such 'wands' not only failed to cast spells properly, they turned the intended magic back on the caster. I knocked myself unconscious for an entire day with a single Stunning Spell."
"Er, why was that?"
Ollivander pinched his chin and thought for a moment. "A wand serves as a conduit when a wizard casts a spell. Magic power flows from the wizard's body into one end, travels through the wand, and emerges from the other, completing the casting."
"But if it is made into a ring, with both ends connected, the magic released enters an endless loop. Eventually, it goes off 'on the spot,' harming the caster. Mm, that is more or less how it works."
Why had this suddenly turned scientific?
"I see."
Edward thought for a moment, then asked, "What if it were shaped like brass knuckles, with a protrusion on the ring? Could you cast spells successfully by swinging your fist?"
"Well, your idea is... quite unusual." Ollivander pictured it and wiped nonexistent sweat from his forehead. "I cannot imagine what it would look like when wizards cast spells at one another that way."
"That would be terribly unladylike... no! Terrifying!"
Imagining herself swinging her fist to cast Stupefy, Audrey couldn't help shuddering.
Oh, that wasn't magical at all!
How could one put it?
It had a sort of postmodern aesthetic, like Audrey uprooting a weeping willow?
Chapter 33: Audrey enters the Grand View Garden
Half an hour later, Edward received his new wand. It was still blackthorn with a phoenix feather core, but its length had increased to eleven inches. He couldn't help fretting. Hiding it in his sleeve would be even harder now!
"That will be nineteen Galleons. Thank you."
A young Hogwarts wizard's first wand generally cost seven Galleons because of the discount for newcomers. Their second wand would be sold at full price, usually around twenty Galleons.
After paying, Edward asked another question. "Mr. Ollivander, do you have any failed, unusable wands here? I'd like to buy some to study."
"Hmm?"
Ollivander's face darkened at once. His wrinkled skin seemed to crease even further, and his silvery eyes filled with anger. "Failed? Mr. Edward, are you questioning my wandmaking ability? Since officially taking over this shop, I have never made a single failed wand!"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
Edward immediately apologized, but then ventured another question. "Then... what about before you took over the shop? You did just mention that there were some defective ones."
"..."
A flicker of discomfort crossed Ollivander's face. He waved his arms, trying to sound more convincing. "That... that was only because I wanted to try something new. Special materials and wand cores, for example, or ring-shaped wands."
Edward put on a respectful expression. "I understand, I understand. Then could you sell me those fail... experimental pieces?"
"Wait here."
Leaving him with that curt instruction, Ollivander climbed a small wooden ladder to the top of the shop. A moment later, he returned with five boxes and thrust them into Edward's arms. "If you really want to study wands, start with these ordinary materials. Five Galleons altogether."
Edward readily paid, successfully acquiring five "defective" wands. They were all intended as payment for the messenger. To be safe, he reluctantly bought three intact wands as well, specifically choosing one identical to his own in case the messenger proved a "picky eater."
Next, he bought some ingredients for brewing Polyjuice Potion, along with a flask of the finished potion, before finally taking Audrey to the Leaky Cauldron.
As the starting point for most young Muggle-born wizards, the Leaky Cauldron was dirty and cramped. Audrey couldn't understand why its owner wouldn't spare a few seconds to cast a Scouring Charm.
Several drunken men sat nearby, drinking and chatting among themselves. Even at the sight of the beautiful Audrey, they merely glanced up. A few raised their glasses in greeting.
Just then, Edward walked to the pub entrance and looked back at her with a smile.
"Audrey, are you ready to see what this world really looks like?"
"What?"
He flung open the pub door. Bathed in the glow of the setting sun, the towering buildings and bustling traffic of a modern metropolis came into Audrey's view.
London, Britain, 1991.
Charing Cross Road.
Standing at the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron beside the bustling street, Audrey stared at the metropolis in shock. Until now, she had believed Backlund was the largest, most prosperous city in the world. Yet compared with the dense forest of tall buildings before her, it might qualify as little more than a small town.
And she, who had come from a great city, seemed to have become a country bumpkin who had never seen the world.
"This... this place..."
The enormous gulf between her expectations and reality left her momentarily at a loss for words.
"Hogwarts Castle is far from the city, and magic keeps ordinary people out. Life there has remained as it was hundreds of years ago, ancient and traditional, so it looks much like your world. But here... you can think of it as Backlund several hundred years in the future: a modern world that has developed rapidly for centuries and left wizards far behind."
Before you continue