Chapter 184: Love One Another
The apprentice from Ollivanders saw the Magi-Metal Wizards staring at him in stunned silence and thought he had botched the order.
He had originally been just an alchemy enthusiast at the bottom of the wizarding world—not even a proper alchemist. He made a living selling handmade crafts to young wizards or to the Muggle parents accompanying their magical children.
Because the things he made were merely crafts created with magic, perhaps containing a few magical elements, they weren't even considered a breach of the Statute of Secrecy.
So when Mr. Ollivander announced he was recruiting apprentices with a foundation in alchemy, he was the first to sign up.
This was his very first assignment under Mr. Ollivander!
I can't mess this up! He was almost ready to kneel. "There shouldn't be a problem!" he stammered, frantically explaining. "Three nights ago, Mr. Ryan Welles personally discussed the transaction with Mr. Ollivander. The instructions were to deliver the goods here, today!"
He rummaged wildly through his pockets, wrinkling his own clothes in his haste. "Look, right here! This is the order form! I really haven't got the wrong place!"
Martin strode forward, snatching the order form from the apprentice's hand. He stared intently at the information written there.
Unlike the flamboyant, scribbled signatures of wealthy merchants in TV dramas, the signature at the bottom of the order was neat and clear, proudly displaying the name: Ryan Welles.
"Unit price for Magi-Alloy wands: 10 Galleons. As Mr. Ryan Welles is one of the co-creators of the Magi-Alloy wand technique at Ollivanders Wand Shop, a 20% discount has been applied. Total price: 704 Galleons."
The apprentice handed over a quill. "If everything is in order, please sign your name in the recipient box. Thank you."
"I understand. Please wait a moment." Martin took the quill and signed his name, stroke by stroke.
His handwriting wasn't neat. On the final stroke, the tip of the quill dug deep into the parchment, the ink bleeding through to the other side.
"I've delivered the goods, so my job is done. I hope you all have a wonderful life. Goodbye!"
Overjoyed at having salvaged his first assignment, the apprentice bid them a polite farewell, grabbed a handful of Floo Powder, threw it into the fireplace, and vanished.
He was probably hoping never to see them again, lest he run into another group of customers who didn't even know they'd bought anything and scare himself half to death.
Although getting scared half to death during a delivery counted as a work injury and Mr. Ollivander would definitely reimburse him, taking medicine and being sick still meant suffering in his own body. It wasn't pleasant. That scare just now felt like his heart was about to crack open.
Martin walked silently to the pile of wands. He picked one up, raised his hand, and began to distribute them.
One by one, people came forward and took the wands they had dreamed of from Martin's hands.
Each of them had fantasized about going to Ollivanders, getting their own Magi-Alloy wand, singing and dancing with joy.
They had imagined how happy they would be, how excited, how overwhelmed with emotion.
But now, everyone was silent. They took their wands one by one, stood aside one by one, heads bowed, clutching the metal rods.
"There's actually one for me too?" The balding middle-aged man at the end of the line hadn't expected to be included. He hadn't left simply because the atmosphere wasn't right for him to sneak away.
But he had only realized it wasn't the right time to sneak away. When it was his turn, in his shock, he forgot that the atmosphere also wasn't right for making irrelevant comments.
Martin said nothing. He thrust the last wand towards the man with force, as if trying to stab him with it. "Everyone. Has one."
"What a coincidence! I was just saying I wanted to buy them for everyone—" The middle-aged man started to chuckle, then noticed everyone looking at him with murderous eyes. He fell silent, took his wand, and tucked his tail between his legs at the back of the group.
Silence fell over the banquet hall. But beneath the silence, a fire surged, ready to erupt at any moment and burn whatever needed burning.
Beauxbatons Headmistress's Office.
Nicolas and Perenelle sat at the head of the table. Neither had gone downstairs to look, yet they both seemed to know exactly what had happened.
Nicolas said to Ryan, "When the witch hunts began, I went to debate the Pope. The thing that left the deepest impression on me was when he quoted a line from the Gospel: 'A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.'"
"You've all read about the situation back then in books. Pope Innocent VIII used that sentence to highlight the failure of wizards. Because wizards didn't understand how to love one another; wizards only racked their brains figuring out how to kill each other. At that time, whether for Hogwarts or Beauxbatons, the greatest threat wasn't the Church, but Dark Wizards fishing in troubled waters, looking for experimental materials. Almost every enrollment period, young wizards would disappear, snatched away by nearby Dark Wizards for experiments.
"So, when Innocent VIII said we weren't united, that we brought it on ourselves... at that time, I couldn't refute him."
"Their method was to stand above all Muggles. Our method was seclusion and infighting. Perhaps that's why their glory lasted so long, while we have long since become ancient stories."
Speaking of the past, the old man sighed deeply. "Well done. Very well done. Ryan, you must continue to do this. Unite everyone. Love everyone."
Ryan and Madame Maxime both stood up. Faced with the heavy topic of the witch hunts, as juniors listening to a firsthand witness, they couldn't remain seated.
Maxime stood out of respect for history and the ancient elder.
Ryan stood purely because he was on pins and needles.
The person speaking was his teacher. While "I love my teacher, but I love truth more" is a powerful argument for refuting a mentor, when the teacher's expectations are positive, uplifting, and reasonable, one can only stand respectfully and listen.
But the teacher's expectations were a bit too positive. Using the Bible to set standards for him... Ryan almost thought Nicolas Flamel wanted him to roleplay the guy on the cross.
"A large part of magic is the power of the heart/mind. You led the experiment yourself; you should know this very well," Nicolas said, cutting off Ryan, who was about to express his unworthiness and lack of talent. "So, my requirement for you is this: spend more time with people like Martin, and then follow your heart in what you do. Can you do that?"
Ryan suddenly felt the underlying meaning of Nicolas's words was somewhat familiar. But with things put this way, he naturally couldn't say no. He immediately declared, "I certainly can. I will set aside time every week to interact with them. At least once."
~~~
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