Chapter 3
"Since you are a new student, you definitely don't have a wand. Let me help you open Diagon Alley."
With that, Tom led Leon to the small courtyard behind the Leaky Cauldron, then took out a wand and tapped it three times on one of the walls.
The brick that Tom tapped began to shake and move, revealing a small hole in the middle, which quickly grew larger. Before long, a large archway appeared in front of them, leading to a winding, cobblestone street that seemed to have no end.
Tom then pointed Leon in the direction of Gringotts before returning to the pub.
Leon walked in, and the nearest shop was a cauldron shop, but he didn't look around much and went straight to Gringotts. Along the way, Leon passed by an owl shop, a broomstick shop, and various other merchandise stores.
Finally, Leon arrived in front of a tall, white building that towered over the surrounding shops. Next to the shiny bronze door stood a goblin dressed in a scarlet and gold uniform.
Leon approached, and the goblin bowed to him. Leon nodded in return and then walked inside.
He didn't look around much and went directly to the main Leon of Gringotts, where he found an available goblin at a counter.
"Hello, I am a new student at Hogwarts, and I would like to withdraw my galleons."
The goblin sized Leon up and said, "Letter."
Leon took out his Hogwarts acceptance letter to show the goblin—Hogwarts had indicated on the acceptance letter that students in need of financial aid could withdraw funds. The goblin examined Leon's acceptance letter carefully.
"Alright, Mr. Riddle," the goblin returned the acceptance letter to Leon. "According to the regulations, you are a first-year student at Hogwarts, and we will be giving you ten Galleons."
After saying that, the goblin produced ten shiny gold coins. Leon examined them closely before leaving Gringotts.
After leaving Gringotts, Leon calculated the value of the ten Galleons. Five pounds exchanged for one Galleon, so ten Galleons equaled fifty pounds.
Hogwarts is quite stingy. Although they provide food and accommodation, I have to rely on this money to get through the year. All the textbooks for Hogwarts must be bought by myself, plus some daily expenses, and this money might even decrease because I need to buy a wand as a first-year student. It looks like life will be tight.
By the way, Harry Potter is a big fat sheep; all the inheritance left by his parents is under his name.
Harry, we are brothers—though we haven't even met for a day—according to reason, half of the inheritance left by our parents should belong to me, so you need to take good care of me.
Thinking of Harry, Leon was now very curious about the story of the boy who lived. He had been away from the magical world, so Leon had never heard the story of the boy who lived, and he really wanted to know what kind of character he was portrayed as in that story.
Just as Leon was lost in thought, he arrived at Ollivander's Wand Shop.
Looking at the wand shop, Leon took a deep breath and walked inside.
"Ding-a-ling~"
As the door opened, a bell rang. Soon, Ollivander came out from behind a row of shelves.
"Another new student," Ollivander smiled, making Leon feel a bit uneasy. This old man couldn't be what he thought, right? Before Leon could let his imagination run wild, Ollivander quickly walked up, taking out a measuring tape to start measuring.
"Which hand do you prefer to use?"
"Right hand."
"Okay."
After measuring, Ollivander went behind the counter and pulled out a long, narrow box. "Try this wand, hawthorn wood, thirteen and a half inches, with a dragon heartstring core." Before Leon could even touch the wand, Ollivander quickly took it back. "No, no, no, not this one."
"Try this one, willow, eleven inches, with a dragon heartstring core."
This time, Leon took the wand and waved it a few times without deliberately channeling magic, and the wand's tip emitted a red light, shattering a cabinet directly opposite.
In response, Ollivander didn't mind it and just murmured, "Not this one, truly a picky customer." Although Ollivander's words sounded like complaints, one look at his face showed he was quite pleased.
To choose a wand, Leon had surprisingly stayed here from morning until afternoon.
"Excuse me, sir, is it ready yet?" Leon was becoming a bit impatient, but looking at Ollivander, he was getting more and more excited.
"Don't worry, at Ollivander's Wand Shop, customers will always find the wand that suits them best."
"Clink." The sound of the door opening.
Leon turned to see who it was, and as he turned, he saw a large man and a thin, bespectacled boy.
Wow, this contrasting duo made it instantly recognizable to anyone who had seen "Harry Potter."
The famous Harry Potter—who was Leon's cheap brother—and that unfortunate Hagrid, who was trapped by Voldemort.
"Oh, it's Hagrid! Rubeus Hagrid! It's so good to see you again. Oak, sixteen inches long, a bit crooked wand, right?"
"That's right, sir," Hagrid said.
"That's a good wand. But I think it must have been broken when they expelled you?" Mr. Ollivander said, suddenly becoming serious.
"Yes, it was broken, but I still have the broken wand," Hagrid replied. Leon noticed Hagrid tightening his grip on the umbrella in his hand.
"Well, they really are..." Mr. Ollivander was about to speak when Leon interrupted.
"Sir, could you please help me choose a wand first? I feel like I've been here long enough." Leon interjected.
At this moment, Hagrid and Harry, who had just entered, saw that besides Mr. Ollivander, there was another boy in the shop.
With fair skin, a delicate face, deep red hair inherited from his mother, and a pair of black eyes resembling two black gems.
"Sorry" Ollivander first apologized, then said to Hagrid, "This is a very picky customer."
Hagrid understood what Ollivander meant by a picky customer and knew that for wand makers, such customers were the most enjoyable, so he understood Ollivander.
However, Harry, standing by, had no idea what "picky customer" meant in the context of wand makers. He initially thought of it in terms of the Muggle world, but what puzzled Harry was why Mr. Ollivander had a smile on his face when he mentioned "picky customer"?
"Sir, try this one. It's the last wand made by my grandfather, although it doesn't quite fit my wand-making philosophy." Ollivander rummaged for a long time in the back cabinet before pulling out an old small box.
When the small box was revealed, Leon felt a strange sensation he couldn't quite describe—was it affection? Disgust? Rejection? Acceptance?
Leon couldn't articulate it, perhaps no one could, after all, even the brilliant Dumbledore and Voldemort knew little about the field of wand knowledge.
Ollivander opened the lid of the small box, revealing a thirteen-inch wand in front of Leon.
Leon reached out to take the wand, but just as his hand was a short distance from the box's edge, the wand suddenly flew into his hand. Then Leon felt a sensation he couldn't describe as either warm or cold spreading from the hand holding the wand throughout his body.
"This is it, thirteen inches long, purple wood, with a core of..." Ollivander glanced at Hagrid, "the tail feather of a Thestral, a magical creature that only Hagrid can tame in all of Britain."
Ollivander looked at Leon with his dark gray eyes and said, "This is a strange substance, said to be controlled only by wizards who can master death."