Ollivander thought for a moment and said:
"Charlie Weasley. I remember his wand was twelve inches, ash, unicorn tail hair, correct?
A very fine wand. A shame its owner had a change of heart and abandoned it.
And its new owner didn't take good care of it either.
Tut, tut. In the depths of despair, wands will sometimes do things people can scarcely imagine."
Douglas's eyes lit up at once. An old fox was an old fox indeed. Why hadn't he thought of that explanation?
Tut, tut.
Ollivander's words left Ron feeling terribly wronged. For a moment, he truly believed he hadn't taken good care of that wand.
That was why it had destroyed itself under Professor Holmes's spell.
Smack!
Douglas slapped the distracted Ron on the head.
"Out with the old, in with the new.
What's there to feel bad about? Think about it. If your wand hadn't broken,
would you have chosen to buy a new one?
Exactly!
If you don't buy a new wand, how is our Mr. Ollivander supposed to earn money to buy new wandmaking materials?
If he doesn't buy new materials, how will the suppliers earn any money?
If the suppliers don't earn money, they can't pay taxes to the Ministry of Magic.
Without those taxes, the Ministry of Magic can't pay your father's salary.
Without his salary, how could your father raise you?
If he didn't raise you, how could you spend money on a wand?
If you don't buy a wand..."
With every sentence Douglas spoke, Ron nodded instinctively.
By the end, Douglas saw that he had thoroughly confused Ron.
He raised an eyebrow at Ollivander, looking very pleased with himself.
The message was: when it came to pulling the wool over someone's eyes, he was no worse.
Ollivander blinked his silvery eyes, conceding defeat.
Just then, Ron suddenly said:
"But you're the one buying my wand, Professor, not my dad..."
Thump!
Douglas said irritably:
"Don't get hung up on the details.
Hurry up and choose a wand. Professor McGonagall only gave us an hour.
You've nearly wasted it all dawdling!"
"You're the one dawdling!" Ron muttered aggrievedly.
By the time Ron had chosen a fourteen-inch willow wand with unicorn tail hair,
forty minutes of their hour had passed.
Douglas prepared to take Ron back to the Leaky Cauldron, where they would wait for the fireplace to reconnect to Hogwarts.
As he passed Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, he cautiously glanced inside.
Finding that Slane was no longer there, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
It wasn't that he disliked being friends with Slane.
He simply didn't want every conversation with Slane to turn to demands for his manuscript within three sentences.
Look, editors in the Muggle world never pestered him like that.
Of course, that might also have been because the editors in the Muggle world couldn't find him at all.
Just as he thought he had avoided Slane, a figure rushed out of Madam Primpernelle's Beautifying Potions, opposite Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.
"Hello, my dear Professor Holmes! I certainly didn't expect to see you in London at this hour!"
Douglas forced a smile and immediately pulled Slane into a hug.
Then he leaned close to his ear and whispered:
"I'm out shopping with a student. Watch what you say!
The manuscript will be mailed to the company on Monday!"
Slane, who had still been looking resentful, heard Douglas's last remark.
His face immediately lit up, and he clapped Douglas hard on the back.
"Deal!" he whispered.
Douglas hastily released Slane. Two grown men hugging in the middle of the street-what a sight.
He glanced at the storefront of Madam Primpernelle's Beautifying Potions.
He teased:
"Aha, I'm out shopping with a student. What's a grown man like you doing taking an interest in beauty potions?"
Slane said helplessly:
"Actually, I came with Romi and little Rose.
They're still choosing things inside. Shall we go for a drink at the Leaky Cauldron?"
Douglas readily agreed:
"Of course, but I only have twenty minutes. In twenty minutes, I have to return to Hogwarts through the fireplace.
You know how it is. Professor McGonagall's arrangements!"
After that, Slane quickly ran into Madam Primpernelle's Beautifying Potions to let his wife know.
Then his wife Romi came out with little Rose to greet Douglas.
They then headed toward the Leaky Cauldron, chatting and laughing with Douglas.
Once again, Ron felt ignored.
He looked at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour beside him, then felt his pockets.
He could only trail pitifully behind Douglas. Perhaps he could at least get a glass of juice.
When it was time for the fireplace to connect, Ron gulped down the remaining half-glass of Pumpkin Juice in his hand.
As a result, just after returning to Professor McGonagall's office,
Ron let out an enormous burp right in front of Professor McGonagall.
Douglas rolled his eyes repeatedly.
After Ron said goodbye to Douglas,
he returned to the Gryffindor Common Room and immediately saw Harry sitting pitifully at a table in the corner, memorizing his books.
Beside him, Hermione was doing her homework while advising Ginny on her Transfiguration essay,
and reminding Harry whenever he recited something incorrectly.
George and Fred were researching new ways to cheat.
As far as they were concerned, even if their cheating failed, the worst that could happen was another five or six hours memorizing books in Professor Holmes's office.
The moment they saw their dear little brother return, they rushed over excitedly.
Sandwiching Ron between them, they said gleefully:
"Well done, Ron!"
"Now we really are brothers in misery!"
"We heard you and Harry have to memorize four whole subjects!"
"I'd like to interview our dear little brother. How do you feel?"
Ron struggled with all his might, but still couldn't escape his two brothers' clutches.
He said defiantly:
"Hmph! I'll definitely memorize it all.
You two may only have one book, but you have to report to Professor Holmes every day.
Heh heh, Harry and I only have to go on weekends!"
George and Fred exchanged a glance and wailed in anguish.
No one had reminded them of that before.
Hermione walked over, pulled Ron away, and said disapprovingly to the Weasley Twins:
"If you won't study, at least don't disturb Ron while he's studying!
Under Professor Holmes's arrangements, Ron and Harry are sure to get very good marks at the end of this school year.
What will Mrs. Weasley think of you two then?"
George and Fred wailed again.
"Heavens, are we going to have another Percy in the family?"
"Mum will be thrilled. New robes, new pets..."
"Looks like we'll be using our little brother's hand-me-downs from now on!"
That made some of the students around them burst out laughing.
Hermione glared fiercely at the twins, then tugged Ron over:
"Don't listen to their nonsense. Get on with memorizing. If the end of the school year comes and you still haven't finished,
that's when things will really be terrifying for you!"
Ginny stole a glance at Harry, then smiled at Ron and said:
"Hermione's right. Given Professor Holmes's relationship with Mum, she'll definitely find out how you're doing at school..."
Only then did Ron recover from the twins' remarks, muttering:
"They seem to have a point.
If my grades improve, does that mean I can be like Percy, with no more old clothes and new textbooks too...?"
As though suddenly supercharged, Ron turned to Hermione with bloodshot eyes and said:
"Hermione, can you teach me how to memorize all this quickly?
I'm going to surpass Percy and become Mum's best child!"
Harry, Hermione, and Ginny looked at one another.
Had Ron been put under Percy's Imperius Curse?
After reading the first page, Ron let out a deep yawn.
"I've memorized the first section. That should be enough to write out from memory in Professor Holmes's office tonight, right?"
"I've been running around all day. I'm so sleepy!"
"All right, Hermione, stop nagging. I won't go back to the dormitory to sleep. I'll just put my head down for a nap and memorize more when I wake up! Surely that's all right!"
"How about I show you my new wand? I didn't dare take it out with George and Fred here!"
"Look at this finish. Look at this beautiful willow grain..."
Seeing this,
Harry, Hermione, and Ginny shrugged at one another.
It seemed they had been overthinking things earlier.
Before you continue