The shop was small, almost entirely filled by thousands of narrow boxes stacked nearly to the ceiling.
Accompanied by the tinkling of wind chimes, an old Wizard emerged from the back; he had silver-white eyes that shone like two bright moons in the dim shop.
"Welcome, Professor McGonagall, I remember... 9 ½ inches, fir wood, Dragon heartstring."
"That's right, Mr. Ollivander, your memory is astonishing."
"Is this Young Wizard here to buy a wand?"
"Karl Olin, a very talented child."
Ollivander looked at Professor McGonagall with surprise; he had seen this stern lady many times over thirty years, each time bringing a Young Wizard from a Muggle family to buy a wand.
She would solemnly introduce the Young Wizard's name but never offer any evaluation, let alone such praise.
"Alright, Mr. Olin, it's a pleasure to meet you. Tell me which hand you use to wield your wand."
"Just call me Karl, Mr. Ollivander, I'm right-handed."
"My pleasure. Please raise your arm, Karl, I need to take some measurements."
Ollivander pulled out a tape measure with silver markings and began measuring Karl from his fingertips, wrist, elbow, and shoulder.
"Every Ollivander wand possesses powerful magicproperties, which is their essence. My favorite cores are Unicorn hair, Phoenix tail feathers, and Dragonheartstring."
"That must be very expensive, right?"
"Don't worry, Karl, Hogwarts students only need seven Galleons. After all, the Unicorn hair and Phoenix tail feathers here are sourced from your school."
After measuring Karl's arm, Ollivander began measuring his height: the top of his head, armpits, knees, ankles...
"However, once you graduate, you won't have this discount, so I recommend you purchase a professional wand maintenance kit, it only costs..."
"Ahem!"
Professor McGonagall stared expressionlessly at Ollivander, and the old man immediately changed the subject.
"What I mean is... you should cherish and take good care of your wand, because no matter the year, Galleons are hard to earn."
Seeing the old man looking a bit awkward under the lioness's gaze, Karl had to help ease the atmosphere.
"Mr. Ollivander, my height and arm length will definitely change when I grow up, so what's the point of measuring now?"
Hearing this question, Ollivander was a bit surprised, and Professor McGonagall's gaze towards Karl became even more satisfied.
"That's an excellent question. I only remember two people asking me that: you and Professor McGonagall."
Professor McGonagall: This child is like me!
Ollivander turned and walked towards the shelves stocked with wands, picking out some long boxes and bringing them down, leaving the tape measure to operate automatically.
"Do you see, Karl? We are Wizards, and this ruler is also a magical creation. Do you think I'm measuring the present? No! In fact, I'm measuring the future!"
"I see!"
Karl, having another mystery solved, was very happy, so happy that he had a whimsical idea.
"Sir, can wands only be made of wood?"
"What do you mean?"
"Is there a wand that's forged from metal through countless refinements, with edges and blades, heavy and hard, capable of easily breaking bricks and stones, snapping tendons and bones, with a sharpened tip and a blood groove, able to freely pierce through chests and bellies, making a big hole with every stab, sending a chill through the heart and spurting blood... a wand like that?"
Ollivander: (⊙﹏⊙)
Professor McGonagall: (￣,￣)
After a long silence, Ollivander looked at Professor McGonagall with a very complex expression:
You Hogwarts students aren't even pretending anymore?
Before, students only went to Azkaban for further study after graduating. Now what?
Are you directly establishing Hogwarts's fifth house, the Azkaban branch?
"Karl! Don't have such dangerous thoughts. Wands are for casting magic."
Professor McGonagall lectured Karl, then explained to Ollivander: "You know, this child comes from the Muggleworld, so it's not strange for him to have such thoughts. He just lacks a sense of security."
Karl, who hadn't said a word: My Professor will debate for me!
"Alright, try this wand, made of willow wood and Unicornhair, 11 inches."
Ollivander handed over the willow wand. This wand had a beautiful appearance and the characteristic of being suitable for advanced non-verbal spells. Its ideal owner usually lacked a sense of security.
Karl took it and gave it a slight shake, and a gentle breeze blew from the tip, stirring up a lot of dust in the shop.
"Alright, not this one."
Ollivander shook his head, took back the willow wand, and then selected another one to hand to Karl.
"Beech wood and Dragon heartstring, 9 inches long, suitable for intelligent and talented Young Wizards."
The wand in Karl's hand let out a hum, and then fell silent.
"Now try one of the few wands I have made from Phoenixfeathers, maple wood. This is a privilege for HogwartsYoung Wizards, as Fawkes is very protective of his tail feathers."
This time, as soon as Karl gripped the wand, Ollivandersnatched it away.
Karl: (¬_¬)
It seemed Phoenix tail feathers were indeed very precious; the old man was truly afraid the wand would be bought.
"Let me think, let me think... Perhaps we can try this one! You two should like each other!"
Ollivander pondered for a moment, then walked back to the shelf, excitedly bringing back a long box.
The wand inside looked like a large sewing needle, with a wisp of grey-gold animal hair tied to the hole at the end, looking very handsome.
Huh? Is this wand tip really that sharp?
Karl eyed the old man suspiciously. Compared to a wand, this thing looked more like a weapon, didn't it?
"12 inches, a wand made of sycamore wood, eager to explore, yearning for new experiences."
"If its owner is a curious, energetic, and adventurous Young Wizard, then its learning and adaptability will absolutely be astonishing!"
At this point, Ollivander began to recall with a hint of melancholy:
"That was over 100 years ago, when my father was communicating with the North American wandmaker Johannes Jonker, he traded some cat-leopard fur from him."
"Later, I spent a lot of effort to make this wand, but the combination of sycamore wood and cat-leopard made this wand... its personality is a bit mischievous!"
"I think you can try it, after all, you also have a lot of personality!"
I always feel like there's a hidden meaning in what this old man is saying!
What kind of personality can a wand have?
Karl picked up the wand, unconsciously twirled it in his hand, and performed a flick, pick, and thrust like wielding an Emei piercer.
Instantly, all the boxes containing wands in the shop flew up and slammed in the direction Karl's wand pointed.
"Bang, bang, bang... crack... crash..."
Some boxes hit the wall, some shattered glass. Fortunately, as boxes for wands, they were of good quality, otherwise, either the old man or the child would surely have died today.
Under Ollivander's dumbfounded gaze, Karl put his hands behind his back, a docile and innocent smile appearing on his face.
"So~rry~"
"It's fine... I deserved this..."