"Conveniently, even if my other spells aren't that advanced, the six max-level Dark curses alone are enough to keep me from fearing any magical creature in the Forbidden Forest."
Dylan's thoughts turned to his wand customization.
"I've already sent plenty of money home and told Dad to buy stocks. Even if they haven't skyrocketed in a few months, we've still made a decent profit."
"With that money, I can completely afford a little 'skin' for my spellcasting. Then even if someone sees me using magic with their own eyes, so what?"
"Who would believe that a spell cast from a wand glowing pink is actually Avada Kedavra?"
He could fling a pink fluffy-bunny version of the Killing Curse and people might just think he was playing with special effects.
"Besides the ingredients used for potions, I could even sell the extra parts for money."
Dylan did not particularly care about selling magical creature parts,
but money was still money.
"If I got hold of Harry's cloak, could I just go and rob Gringotts outright?"
He did not even dare imagine what kind of reward his achievement system would give him if he actually pulled that off.
As he thought, he was already planning how to sneak into the Forbidden Forest and start hunting down the potion ingredients he needed.
Hagrid and Neville chatted a bit longer and then set a time for Neville to come back and pick up the special feed.
He walked them to the door and then turned and headed into the Forest.
Dylan glanced once at the dark, dense depths of the trees, then withdrew his gaze.
"Let's head back."
He and Neville made their way toward Hogwarts.
Neville rubbed his chubby cheek. "Merlin, that cake nearly shattered my teeth."
He turned to Dylan. "Did you notice just now?"
Dylan blinked. "Notice what?"
He had spent the whole time thinking about how to slip into the Forest and do unspeakable things to Hagrid's Arafaks.
"The cake! Hagrid baked another batch just now!"
"Oh? And?"
"You really didn't see it? I saw Hagrid lose his grip on the tray, and one rock cake fell."
"Fang was at his feet, and the cake hit him right on the head. He passed out on the spot!"
"Huh?" Dylan froze. "I really didn't notice."
Neville bared his teeth. "I think he's used to it. He was only out for a moment before he woke up again."
Dylan nodded. "Fair enough. No wonder I missed it."
"I'm going to check on the Flame-Thorn. Hagrid rummaged around just now and managed to find a little bit of special feed. It'll have to do for now."
Dylan dipped his head. "All right, you go on. I'll head back to the dorm."
Neville paused. He had been about to ask Dylan to come along.
But he did not get the words out before Dylan had already shut that road off.
He sighed. "Then…"
Dylan knew he was worried about him.
He smiled and patted the boy's shoulder. "All right, all right. I'll take care of myself. I'm not planning to study that long today anyway. I'm going to relax a bit and work on something else."
"Huh? Something else? Isn't that still studying…?" Neville looked at him suspiciously.
"No, no. I'm going to work on something more fun, not textbook stuff." Dylan shook his head at once.
"All right then." Neville nodded. "I'll head to the greenhouse. Take care of yourself!"
"Got it, Mr. Longbottom." Dylan waved.
"Mrrow!" Coalball also lifted a tiny paw at Neville.
"See you tonight, Coalball." Neville grinned.
After they parted, Dylan took Coalball back to the dorm. Seamus was already gone.
Dylan kicked off his shoes and flopped onto the bed, arms and legs spread.
He dropped Coalball to the side.
Then he drew his wand and studied it carefully.
The wand was pitch-black, with a cold sheen. Its grain seemed to hold faint, moving sigils.
But on closer inspection, there was nothing there at all.
"No need to change the skin. It looks cool enough as it is, and I don't need to hide my identity by making it look different."
He felt the chill of the wood under his fingertips.
Tapping the tip lightly with his index finger, he murmured,
"Any ideas? Want pink effects when casting, or multicolor?"
The wand remained motionless.
"If you won't answer, I'll just assume you like both."
He thought for a moment and glanced at his current money tab.
"Besides what I left for my parents to play with, I've still got over ten thousand Galleons. A hundred coins is nothing."
With a thought,
he opened the wand icon on his panel.
Then the wand customization section.
After a moment's consideration, a wicked idea popped into his head.
"Why not add a pink starlight particle effect?"
Right then,
the System prompt popped up.
[Message]: Spend 300 gold coins to add a pink starlight particle effect to the wand's attack visuals? Yes/No
"What? Three hundred?"
Dylan stared.
Hadn't it said a hundred per change?
He stared at the prompt for a while,
and then it clicked.
"Then… what if I just add a pink attack effect?"
Sure enough, the instant he changed his request, the prompt shifted.
[Message]: Spend 100 gold coins to add a pink effect to the wand's attack visuals? Yes/No
Dylan smacked his lips.
So pink, starlight, and particles were three separate effects?
Charging once for the color was one thing.
But weren't "starlight" and "particles" just one effect?
"Forget it. I'm already spending money. Might as well go all in."
[Message]: Spend 300…
Dylan hit "Yes."
In the next second, he clearly felt something strange happen to his wand.
Buzz.
The wand suddenly trembled in his hand.
It felt as if some subtle, unfathomable magic had descended onto the wood.
The process was quick, and the wand's customization was complete.
Dylan poked his head out from under the blankets and glanced toward the door.
No one.
"Let's give it a try."
He could hardly wait as he swung the wand.
In an instant, something utterly different from all his previous spellcasting happened.
Along the path of the wand,
a pink starlight particle effect burst out like a waterfall of dreams.
(End of Chapter)
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