Ollivander took in every flicker of emotion on Draco's face, the corners of his mouth lifting in a knowing, satisfied smile.
He had run this wand shop for over a hundred years and met countless people. His skill at discerning wands and recognizing their spirits had long since reached perfection.
Only then could he precisely pick out a compatible presence among thousands of wands, allowing the Ollivander name to endure in the wizarding world for a thousand years without fading.
"Boy, open it and have a look yourself. Perhaps this is the very wand you've been longing for." Ollivander held the long red-and-white box out to Draco, his tone calm and assured.
Draco raised his hand and gently lifted the lid. A layer of fine white velvet lined the interior, making the wand inside look all the more exquisite.
Compared with the pomegranate-wood wand from before, its finish was clearly far superior.
Ollivander leaned over and introduced it proudly. "This wand is ten inches long, made of hawthorn, with a core taken from a unicorn's tail hair-unicorns are rare to begin with, and the magic concentrated in their hair is pure and resilient. Ordinary cores simply cannot compare."
This was Draco's third time picking up a wand. The instant his fingertips touched it, he felt an inexplicable liking for it.
The black handle had been polished until it felt smooth and comfortable, while the shaft had a faint crimson sheen and a lustrous finish. It fit his palm perfectly and felt wonderful to hold.
Yet even after he held it quietly for a while, the wand remained as still as water. Nothing unusual happened; not even the faintest resonance of magic arose.
Seeing this, Ollivander's smile faded, and he fell silent.
Normally, the instant a compatible wand touched a wizard, there would be a response, whether a flicker of light or a flow of magic. There was no reason for it to remain this silent.
This left him rather baffled.
Without waiting for Ollivander's urging, Draco gave the wand a gentle wave. A beam of white magical light tinged with pale red suddenly shot out and struck the floor.
With a faint crack, a fine fissure appeared in the smooth wooden floor.
Draco felt a little pleased. He had not expected his first attempt at casting to be this powerful. It seemed that compatibility between wand and wizard really was the key to performing magic.
But Ollivander's brows drew tightly together, his eyes full of confusion and doubt, without the slightest hint of approval.
"Sir, what's wrong? Is there something wrong with this wand?" Draco could not help asking.
"There's nothing wrong with it. It's just that the power this wand released is very strange." Ollivander shook his head.
"Hawthorn paired with unicorn hair should possess tremendous explosive power. Even if this is your first time casting, it shouldn't merely leave a slight crack in the floor. This power falls far short of its proper standard. There must be something amiss."
With that, he raised his wand and pointed it gently at the floor, silently reciting an incantation. A soft white light fell upon the fine crack, and it instantly returned to its original state, leaving not a trace behind.
Draco had not expected Ollivander to be so exacting about wands. He smiled helplessly. "Sir, surely close enough will do. If it really unleashed its full power, wouldn't it overturn your shop? Would you only be satisfied once the building collapsed and the ground caved in?"
"That simply won't do." Ollivander shook his head firmly, his eyes filled with stubborn earnestness. "A wand is a wizard's lifelong companion. There can be no settling for less. If you reluctantly accept it, you would be letting down the wand's spirit, and I would be failing my responsibility to my customer. That is absolutely unacceptable."
Draco had never imagined that this seemingly ordinary old man would be so conscientious and responsible, and a measure of deep respect immediately arose in his heart.
He no longer insisted on his own view and asked sincerely, "In that case, do you have a wand here that would suit me better?"
Ollivander, however, ignored Draco's question. He was still looking down in thought, muttering to himself with a thoroughly perplexed expression.
"That's not right. Where exactly did things go wrong? This shouldn't happen... An ordinary wizard finds a compatible wand within three tries at most. Why does one abnormality after another crop up with you?"
He muttered for a long while but still could not work out the crux of the matter. In the end, he could only give up.
He looked up at Draco, his tone softening somewhat. "Boy, do you have a particular type of wand you prefer? The shape of the shaft, for instance, the type of wood, or where the core comes from. You can tell me anything."
Draco lowered his head in thought for a moment, and a bold idea suddenly arose in his mind.
He looked up at Ollivander and asked tentatively, "Grandpa, do you have... any wands from China?"
At this, a flash of surprise crossed Ollivander's eyes. Clearly, he had not expected Draco to make such an unusual request.
Over his many years running the wand shop, he had acquired some wands from China through various channels. However, their wandmaking techniques were very different from those of the West, and their choice of materials was more distinctive as well.
As a result, very few wizards were willing to try them. Those wands had remained tucked away in a corner and had never been offered for public sale.
Now that this boy had brought them up himself, could he have some connection to Chinese magic?
At this thought, a gleam flashed through Ollivander's eyes, and he spoke with a measure of delight:
"Boy, you truly are fortunate! I happened to examine some wands from China recently and specially kept the most unusual one. Before I've even offered it to the public, you've asked about it yourself. Perhaps this is fate at work. It may truly be compatible with you."
As he spoke, he turned and walked deeper into the shop, rummaging through a large, bulging sack of coarse cloth.
The sack was stuffed full, and even a slight shake produced the sound of wood knocking together. Clearly, it held quite a few more objects.
Seeing this, Draco could not help asking, "Sir, I heard that you've always focused exclusively on making wands with dragon heartstring, phoenix feather, and unicorn hair cores, using woods commonly found in the West. Why did you suddenly start buying wands from China?"
"What do you know?" Ollivander waved a hand without turning around.
With a touch of pride, he said, "The greatest taboo for a craftsman is to stagnate. Only by keeping pace with the times, absorbing the strengths of wandmaking techniques from different places, and using them to make up for our shortcomings can we keep improving and give my wands greater spirit. If I stubbornly cling to the old ways, sooner or later the times will leave me behind."
These words surprised Draco somewhat. Rumor had it that Ollivander was a conservative, stubborn old man.
He supposedly still adhered to traditional wandmaking techniques and refused to make the slightest adjustment. Only after hearing him in person today did Draco realize that the rumors were wrong.
He was actually so perceptive and open-minded, and so eager to improve.
Before Draco could think further, Ollivander had pulled a long box from the sack and slowly walked back.
The box was pale yellow all over, its color plain and pure, without the slightest unnecessary decoration. It was simple and substantial.
Judging by how the boxes of the previous two wands had matched their wood, this box's color was presumably the natural color of the wand inside. Such a unified whole made for a particularly fitting match.
Ollivander gently held the pale yellow box out to Draco, a note of anticipation in his voice. "Give this one a try. This wand's spirit is extremely unusual. Perhaps it really will be compatible with you."
Draco reached out and took the box. The instant his fingertips touched its surface, there was a soft snap, and the lid sprang open on its own, as though the wand inside could no longer wait to meet him.
A layer of light brown velvet lined the box. A pale yellow wand lay quietly within, its shaft straight, its texture smooth and warm, and its surface faintly lustrous. There were no elaborate patterns, yet it exuded an ancient, substantial air.
Ollivander's mouth fell slightly open in surprise, his eyes filled with disbelief.
In all his years running the wand shop, he had never seen a wand spring its box lid open of its own accord. Such an extraordinary occurrence was enough to show that this wand shared an exceptionally deep bond of fate with the boy before him.
And the very first instant Draco saw this wand, a powerful sense of connection arose in his heart.
This was the unique wand that belonged to him, a companion destined to remain by his side for life across mountains and seas.
Draco could not wait to reach out and clasp the wand tightly in his palm.
In an instant, a golden pattern of light burst from the shaft, slowly moving along the grain of the wood and tracing the lifelike outline of a lion.
The light was gentle yet powerful. Warm, steady magic slowly flowed through his palm into every part of his body, like a clear spring nourishing parched land, leaving his whole body wonderfully comfortable.
Ollivander could not help exclaiming, his eyes filled with shock and delight:
"I never imagined it. I truly never imagined it! Fate is so wondrous. Such a profound bond is truly rare! It seems another brilliant, dazzling magical journey is about to begin!"
After his exclamation, he slowly composed himself and explained to Draco:
"This wand is ten inches long, made of peach wood unique to China, with a core taken from a lion's mane. Its spirit is pure and resilient, containing tremendous vitality and protective power. It is exceedingly rare and precious."
Draco nodded solemnly, holding the wand and examining it closely. The more he looked, the more delighted he felt.
The smooth warmth of the shaft, the flowing golden patterns of light, and the sense of compatibility that melded into his very blood all left him utterly certain.
This was the wand he had been searching for all along!
And he was the person the wand had been searching for all along!
[Ding, original wand changed. Fortune points increased by 10!]
Just then, the shop door was gently pushed open. The brass bell above it jingled, and a clear female voice came from the doorway. "Hello, is anyone here?"