Chapter 41: Not All Pieces of Wood Can Be Called Wands

After enjoying a delightful, alternative magical lunch, Annie, driven by curiosity, followed some strange wizards and discovered this place called Diagon Alley. From the looks of it, this seemed to be a dedicated marketplace where these wizards gathered to trade magical items.

Looking at this street filled with an exotic magical atmosphere, Annie felt a sense of refreshment. Even in the continent of Valoran, it seemed no place utilized magic in daily life to such an extreme degree, nor with such meticulous attention to detail. There, mages and ordinary people lived together, far from a society composed purely of wizards.

Seeing the brooms automatically sweeping the streets, the shop signs moving to solicit customers, books that could fly and talk, suitcases that followed their owners, and the streets filled with magicians? Wizards? It was enough to make Annie's eyes spin! So, magic could make life this convenient—why had she never thought of it before?

The wizards of this world were truly peculiar! These unconventional wizards actually used magic to hide themselves in places ordinary people could not discover, thereby completely separating the world of ordinary people from the world of wizards. They could coexist without affecting one another, which also reduced a great deal of unnecessary trouble.

Furthermore, their magic seemed to be used more for the convenience of daily life, which was quite different from Valoran. As far as Annie knew, magic in Valoran focused more on combat. Even Annie herself practiced mostly combat spells or spells related to fighting; spells for daily convenience were relatively few, or rather, extremely rare.

Back at the Leaky Cauldron, Annie had been too focused on eating her lunch and dealing with the struggling Chocolate Frogs to notice the hidden Diagon Alley! However, when she noticed that during her meal, over twenty people emerged from the fireplaces, bypassed the corner of the Leaky Cauldron bar, and disappeared into the inner courtyard, Annie finally realized something was amiss!

The reason Annie was able to discover the place was that the courtyard over there was so small it couldn't possibly hold that many people. Therefore, she reasoned there must be a hidden space inside. Consequently, under the pressure of Annie's gold coins, the owner of the Leaky Cauldron, Old Tom, humbly demonstrated to her how to find and open the gateway to Diagon Alley.

Having arrived at Diagon Alley not long ago, Annie was currently in Ollivander's Wand Shop, arguing with Mr. Ollivander about something. The two were locked in a heated, red-faced confrontation, neither willing to back down.

At first, Mr. Ollivander thought Annie had come to buy a wand, even though he knew the little girl looked a bit young—far from the age of enrollment, and theoretically not yet in need of a wand.

However, there were always certain people—wealthy families or noble houses with long traditions—who would prepare a wand for their children in advance so they could be exposed to magic early. This was quite common. For privileged families like them, finding a way to bypass the Ministry of Magic's monitoring of underage wizards was far too easy!

But after he began attending to this little girl customer, things became less pleasant for Ollivander. Because from the beginning until now, this girl named Annie had already blown up over a dozen wands! You read that right: blown up! A rough count of the handles on the floor showed she had turned a dozen expensive wands into piles of useless wood chips, leaving nothing but the intact handles!

Normally, a child might cause a minor magical disturbance, or perhaps some random sparks or lightning, but this little girl was extraordinary. As soon as a wand reached her hand, and as soon as she gave it a light flick as he instructed, the wand would instantly explode into fragments!

In truth, if it were just blowing up a few wands, Ollivander wouldn't have thought much of it. After all, he made the wands himself; if they broke, it was just a minor loss of material costs. What he truly could not stand was the girl's mockery of his craftsmanship—a blatant, naked mockery!

"You call this a wand? They're just a piece of rotten wood wrapped around some magical material used to channel mana! Besides channeling mana, what use are they? No mana amplification, no spell enhancement, no inscribed magic circles, let alone enchantments! The only difference between them is the efficiency of mana conduction, right?" These were Annie's exact words, and it was because of this sentence that she had thoroughly offended Mr. Ollivander.

"Just what kind of brat are you from? What could you possibly understand at your age? I'm telling you, a wizard cannot exist without a wand! Because a wizard without a wand cannot cast spells! Yes, they are exactly as you say—merely different in their conduction properties." Ollivander paused, took a breath, and continued.

"But it is precisely because of those different conduction properties that every wizard must find a wand that best matches their attributes and has the best conduction performance! Only in this way can a wizard cast spells more effectively and smoothly! A wizard without a wand is not much different from a Squib!" The little girl's words had indeed struck a nerve with Ollivander, but he stubbornly maintained his stance; old men were just that obstinate!

The wands he made indeed lacked mana amplification or enhancement effects, but excellent mana conduction alone was a remarkable feat! One must realize that even the legendary Elder Wand of Dumbledore merely allows for the casting of immense magic and enables the holder to cast powerful spells easily—that was all! To put it plainly, the Elder Wand possessed superior and more compatible mana conduction, which allowed it to release high-powered spells easily. This was perfectly consistent with the direction Ollivander had pursued for a long time!

Furthermore, the reason he was so angry was that the girl's words were simply too obnoxious. To put it bluntly, his wands were indeed just pieces of wood wrapped around different magical conductors.

For example: dragon heartstring, unicorn hair, phoenix feather, veela hair, serpent nerve, and so on—these various magical materials, paired with different types of raw wood, could create a multitude of different wands. Not a single one was exactly the same; every wand had a different conductive performance for every wizard's magic. This was the very foundation of Ollivander's existence!

It was because of this that Ollivander required wizards to select the one wand from his vast stock that best suited them and matched their mana conduction. If a wand and a wizard were a mismatch, the spells cast would be underpowered or simply fail to manifest.

Over countless years, Ollivander had accumulated rich experience in wandmaking, and he was now able to produce wands with increasingly better conductive properties. Combined with his exquisite wood-carving skills, his products were gaining more and more recognition from wizards. These were his unique secrets, the honors and beliefs he had always taken pride in! And now, his traditional craft was being dismissed as worthless by a little girl? How could he not be furious?

"Pfft! What's the use of good conduction if it's still just a pile of rotten wood? Don't think you're so great just because you wrap them in weird stuff! And who told you that you can't cast spells without a wand? I don't care for your trinkets!" Annie truly looked down on these short, stubby sticks; they were short, ugly, and felt flimsy in her hand—not at all practical!

They were nothing like the wands Annie imagined!

In Annie's view, a wand, besides the most basic requirement of mana conduction, should have a powerful magic gem or something similar as a power center. Once a power center was established, it should be inscribed with protective or offensive magic or arrays to achieve simplified casting or enhanced spell power.

This could vary based on the wand's energy attribute. For example, besides the general spell amplification found in most wands, a Crystal Frost Staff would lean toward freezing effects; a Void Staff would lean toward magic breaking; an Angelic Staff would lean toward mana and protection enhancement, and so on. There were others, but she wouldn't list them all. Only things like that could truly be called wands! Not just a piece of wood wrapped in strange things like his!

The reason Annie had entered the shop in the first place was that she had been quite expectant, as the sign outside read: "Ollivander, Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.!" This was a shop that had been around for thousands of years, right? She thought it must be incredibly impressive, and its treasure must be at least god-tier.

But the result? Looking at them now, what kind of nonsense was Ollivander making? They only possessed the most basic attribute of mana conduction, and even that varied from person to person?

To put it nicely, it was "the wand chooses the wizard," but in reality, it was just blindly picking one from a massive pile of unstable products that happened to match the wizard! This might fool an outsider who knew nothing, but she thought she could trick Annie? Hmph, not a chance!

Besides, she had never deigned to use a wand for spellcasting. She had always just grabbed a fireball and hurled it! Using her hands directly was so much more convenient; why would she need some damn wand? By the time they realized they were in trouble and pulled out a wand, Annie would have had enough time to throw several fireballs!

Currently, lying in Annie's spatial pocket was a wand made of an Infinity Gem. It could not only deploy shields and control souls, but it also possessed infinite energy! That was a real wand—not only could it enhance spell power to a certain extent, but if she got annoyed, she could use it to whack people! If Annie pulled that wand out, wouldn't it scare this stubborn old man to death? Oh right! It didn't seem to have infinite energy right now, but its power to control souls was definitely intact!

"Fine, fine, fine! If you don't want it, then leave! Get out! This old man won't sell you a wand then; go find one that suits you yourself! My shop is too small and doesn't have what you need. Go, go, go! I don't welcome little brats like you here!" Ollivander was so angry his hair practically stood on end, and he began to unceremoniously kick her out. In all his long life, this was the first time he had ever chased away a customer.

He no longer cared about the dozen or so wands that had just exploded; he wasn't doing this deal! Regardless, his business was a monopoly; he alone decided the price of wands in Ollivanders! He would recover this cost sooner or later. He was the only wandmaker in the British wizarding world—no other branches! Buy if you want, otherwise get lost!

Now, just thinking about the little girl's words made Ollivander's blood boil. A pile of rotten wood wrapped in weird stuff? What kind of talk was that? He would never admit it! And he would never tolerate anyone slandering his ancestral craft!

Therefore, not only was he kicking her out, but he also decided he would never sell a single wand to this little girl again! He had memorized her face. If she came back to buy a wand when she reached school age, he would tell her to go buy one abroad; he simply wouldn't sell to her! That was the confidence of a monopoly—if she wanted to buy one, she'd have to beg this old man! Hah! The thousand-year-old Ollivander shop truly had that confidence.

"Hmph! If you won't sell, then don't! They're just a bunch of rotten sticks; I wouldn't want them even if they were free. Goodbye!" Annie snapped back angrily. As soon as she stepped out of the shop, the door slammed shut behind her with a loud *thud*! It seemed she had been blacklisted and had become the most unwelcome customer in Ollivander's Wand Shop.

Pah! If he won't sell, fine! Why so aggressive? There were so many other strange and fun things here; Annie wouldn't care for his rotten wood wands anyway. She planned to take advantage of the remaining time to continue exploring and see what other curious things were worth her attention.

(End of Chapter)