Hogwarts Card System Chapter 004

The first thing to do with money was to buy a wand.

Ollivanders Wand Shop, with its old and small storefront, had a single wand displayed on a faded purple cushion in the window.

Above the door was a peeling gold sign that read: Ollivanders, Makers of Fine Wands Since 382 B.C.

If the words on the sign were true, then they started making wands when Plato was still alive!

When the states of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods were still duking it out, his family had already started making wands?

Professor McGonagall pushed the door open, and the brass bell by the door jingled crisply.

The shop wasn’t very big. Besides the counter and a long bench, the rest was shelves stacked with thousands of narrow wand boxes, reaching all the way to the ceiling.

The shop was heavily dusted, which was quite unacceptable for a wizard who could use Scourgify.

Ted looked to his left, where an old man with a hairstyle not much better than Einstein’s silently emerged from behind the shelves.

“Oh, Professor McGonagall, long time no see. So, this must be the little wizard who’s going to Hogwarts.”

This was Ollivander, the great British wandmaker.

“Hand out~” As Ollivander spoke, a ruler flew up from the counter and automatically began measuring Ted’s height, arm span, and so on.

“Which is your dominant hand?”

“Right hand.”

“Try this one!” He waved his hand, and a box flew over.

“Twelve and a quarter inches, mahogany, male unicorn tail hair core. Good for Transfiguration…”

“Oh, no!” Ted had barely touched the wand, not even having time to wave it, before it was snatched away.

“How about this one? Cherry wood, phoenix feather…”

Ted held the wand and waved it. “Bang~ Bang!” Two loud bangs immediately sounded, and the wand almost flew out of his hand.

“No, no, no, this won’t do.” Ollivander shook his head repeatedly.

Ted: Indeed not, I need a wand, not a firecracker.

“Then how about this one? Walnut, dragon heartstring?”

This time, the wand let out a piercing shriek and flew straight out.

This time it’s a skyrocket?!

He tried seven or eight wands in a row. Some reacted too strongly, others performed okay, but he could still feel a slight blockage in the magic, not very smooth.

Ted’s perception of magic was very keen, allowing him to detect the subtle mismatch between the wand and himself.

Though troublesome, Ollivander enjoyed it immensely, like playing Tetris, waiting for that perfect vertical piece to appear. Professor McGonagall on the long bench also seemed very patient.

Ollivander: “Ha, a picky little customer, I like it! Let’s take our time~”

Ted thought his hobby was a bit morbid~

At Ollivanders, wands only had three core types: phoenix feather, unicorn hair, and dragon heartstring.

However, wands from other manufacturers might have different cores, like Fleur’s wand, which had a Veela hair core (her grandmother’s hair).

The original novel mentioned another German wandmaker, Gregorovich, but Ted couldn’t recall what happened to him later.

Just as another box flew over, Ted felt something different.

He hadn’t even seen the wand yet, but a faint pull was already emanating from inside the box.

Ollivander stroked the wand and began to introduce it: “Cedar wood, with a phoenix feather core, ten and three-quarter inches long, with simple horizontal ridges on the handle for grip. Brittle texture…”

Ted took the wand and felt the magic flow very smoothly, even becoming stronger and more active.

He gave a gentle flick, and a shower of colorful ribbons and fireworks shot from the wand’s tip, almost filling the shop.

This time it was a big sparkler, felt pretty good!

“Wow wow wow~~~ It seems you two are a great match!” Ollivander’s expression was delighted.

“The cedar wood wand owners I’ve met are generally tough-minded and possess an uncommon loyalty.”

“My father, Gerbold Ollivander, used to say – the owner of a cedar wood wand will never be deceived. I deeply agree with this. Cedar wood wands always match highly insightful owners.”

“I must add a piece of advice to my father’s words: never make an enemy of a cedar wood wand owner, especially do not harm those they cherish.”

“Those perfectly matched with a cedar wood wand are formidable potential adversaries, and those who declare war on them without thinking are usually shocked by this.”

“Seven Galleons, please!” Ollivander extended a hand.

Good story, too bad there was no discount in the end~

No, maybe the story was just made up to get a good price!

Walking out with his own cedar wood wand, Ted’s mind was churning:

Other protagonists’ wands are either your father’s last works, or wands made by your great-grandfather during his mysterious travels in the East, from peach wood struck by lightning and the leg hair of black and white iron-eating beasts. Is mine just so ordinary?!

Don’t you have some mysterious wand that’s been around for hundreds of years, never found its owner?

Boring, absolutely boring!

Though he complained inwardly, the wand’s attributes were indeed good.

[Cedar Wood Phoenix Feather Wand (Green)]

Magic Amplification: +lv 1 Magic

Enhanced Spells: +lv 1 Spells

Keen Insight: + 1 Perception

Note: A young wizard’s first wand~

Professor McGonagall was also pleased with the result. “Alright, next we need to take you to get your school uniform custom-made.”

“Uh~” Ted stopped. “Professor, I just saw a second-hand clothing store and a second-hand shop. I think, given my financial situation, second-hand goods would be a good choice.”

McGonagall looked at him, making sure he wasn’t forcing himself, and said, “Alright.”

In reality, it wasn’t realistic for Ted to buy everything new with his student loan.

Originally, McGonagall had planned to buy two new robes and then second-hand textbooks. After all, children still cared about appearances.

But since Ted suggested it, there was no problem.

The two first went to the second-hand robe shop, which was next to Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions, the custom uniform shop. They bought some slightly larger old robes so they could still wear them a year later.

Then they went to the second-hand shop to see if anything useful was there. They couldn’t find a suitable cauldron; they were all too broken.

If Ted used such things to brew potions, he might end up blowing up Snape.

However, he did get a set of glass bottles. Although a bit dirty, they could be used after a thorough cleaning.

Second-hand books were a bit difficult to come by. Perhaps the economy was bad this year, and too many people were buying second-hand books. Ted only managed to find three: Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1, Magical Drafts and Potions, and One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi.

“Alright, Ted. I have my old textbooks, I can give them to you. For the rest, we’ll go to the bookstore and buy new ones.”

Professor McGonagall was very generous, offering her old textbooks to this frugal and affectionate new student.

“Thank you so much. However, I’d like to wait a bit longer. There are nearly two months until school starts, maybe I can find a few more second-hand books and save some Galleons…”

Textbooks were so damn expensive!

If he bought everything new, Ted’s student loan would almost be completely spent.

Although Hogwarts provided food and lodging and didn’t charge tuition, not leaving himself a single Sickle felt very insecure!

McGonagall recalled her observations of Ted when she was a cat: This little guy is very independent, it should be fine, right?

After some discussion, Professor McGonagall finally agreed with Ted’s approach and handed him the remaining student loan, letting him take his time to shop for bargains.

Professor McGonagall put Ted on the bus and left.

Ted returned to the orphanage with his second-hand purchases.

On the bus, he thought long and hard and finally made a decision—he had to earn money.

Either increase his street performing efforts~

Or work in Diagon Alley to earn Galleons directly. No exchange needed, no middlemen taking a cut.

His first year’s student loan was 20 Galleons, and in subsequent years, it would only be 5 Galleons.

And this year’s shopping in Diagon Alley, just the wand alone cost 7 Galleons, and that couldn’t be bought second-hand.

If textbooks were bought new, it would be 12 Galleons…

And what about cauldrons and glass bottles, and other bits and pieces? No Potions class?

And dragonhide gloves? No Herbology class?

If Lockhart becomes the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor next year, I’ll even have to borrow textbooks from others!

That’s why Ted had to scour for bargains for two months, striving for a complete set of second-hand goods, so he could at least have a few Galleons left for pocket money.

Oh, right, he also had a 50 Galleon allowance to exchange pounds for Galleons at Gringotts…

Money isn’t everything, but no money is absolutely nothing. He had to earn money!

And his talent-given otherworldly knowledge [A Few Pages of Psionics Manual (Blue)] also required experience to exchange.

He had tried it two days ago. Reading and studying could earn experience, but reading ordinary Muggle textbooks, even studying diligently for a day, only yielded four or five points of experience.

If he didn’t exchange it by the beginning of next month, [A Few Pages of Psionics Manual (Blue)] would be replaced by new otherworldly knowledge. What a pity!

In twenty-odd days, relying on self-study to get 400 experience was probably out of the question.

Sure enough, he still had to go to Diagon Alley to look for opportunities. Even if he couldn’t trigger another quest, there was still the quest to explore Diagon Alley to complete.

Working was necessary, just to get some experience and Galleons to sustain his life.

“Ding~ Quest triggered:

[Worker (Green)]

A Knut can stump a hero! To earn some money and gather experience, you must think of a way. Diagon Alley has many opportunities, it’s a good choice.

Goal: Successfully find a job in Diagon Alley.

Reward: 100 Experience, Card [Restore Stamina (Green)].

Workers, working souls, working wizards are all superior!”

Well, now he really had to go.