Hogwarts Card System.

Chapter 4: Working is a must.

The first thing I did when I got money was to buy a magic wand.

Ollivanders Wand Shop has an old and cramped storefront, and a wand sits on a faded purple cushion in the window.

Above the door is a peeling gold sign that reads: Ollivander, making fine wands since 382 BC.

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

Back when the states of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods were still wrestling with each other, his family had already started making magic wands?

Professor McGonagall pushed open the door and entered, the brass bell by the door being rang out with a clear sound.

The store is not very spacious. Apart from the counter and a bench, the rest of the space consists of shelves piled up to the ceiling with thousands of narrow cardboard boxes containing magic wands.

The shop was heavily dusty, which was unacceptable to a wizard who could clean it thoroughly.

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

"Oh, Professor McGonagall, it's been a long time. So, this is the young wizard who's about to enroll."

This is Ollivander, the master rod maker from Great Britain.

"Reach out~" As Ollivander spoke, a ruler flew up from the counter and automatically began measuring Ted's height, wingspan, and so on.

Which hand is your dominant hand?

"Right hand."

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

"Twelve and a quarter inches, mahogany shaft, core made of a male unicorn's tail hair. Suitable for Transfiguration..."

"Oh no!" Ted had just touched the wand and hadn't even had a chance to wave it when it was snatched away.

"How about this one? Cherry wood, phoenix tail feathers..."

Ted swung his wand, and "Bang! Bang!" There were two loud noises, and the wand almost flew out of his hand.

"No, no, no, this won't do." Ollivander shook his head.

Ted: That won't do. I need a wand, not a firecracker.

"And what about this one? The walnut wood, the dragon heartstring?"

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

Is this a rocket launcher?!

I tried seven or eight in a row. Some reacted too strongly, while others performed okay, but I could still feel that the magic was slightly blocked and not very smooth.

Ted has an extremely keen sense of magic and can detect subtle mismatches between his wand and himself.

Although it was tedious, Ollivander enjoyed it immensely, like playing Tetris, waiting for the right vertical bar to appear. Professor McGonagall, sitting on a bench nearby, also seemed quite patient.

Ollivander: "Ha, a picky little guest, I love it! Let's take it slow~"

Ted felt his hobby was somewhat morbid.

At Ollivanders, wands will only have three types of cores: phoenix feather, unicorn hair, and dragon heartstring.

However, wands made by other wand manufacturers may have different cores, such as Fleur's wand, which has Veela hair (her grandmother's hair) as its core.

The original work mentions another German rod maker, Grigorovich, but I don't remember what happened to him afterward.

Just as another box flew over, Ted sensed something was different.

He hadn't seen the wand yet, but a faint attraction was already emanating from the box.

Ollivander stroked the wand and began his description: "Cedar wood, with a phoenix feather core, ten and three-quarters inches long, with simple horizontal ridges on the handle for a non-slip grip. It is hard and brittle..."

When Ted received the wand, he felt that the magic flowed very smoothly, and even became stronger and more active.

With a gentle wave of his wand, a multitude of ribbons and fireworks flew out from the tip of the wand, almost filling the entire shop.

This time it's a big burst of color, and it looks pretty good!

"Wow, wow, wow~~~ It seems like you two are a perfect match!" Ollivander's expression was full of joy.

"The cedar wand wielders I've met are generally tough-minded and have an extraordinary level of loyalty."

"My father, Gervés Ollivander, used to say that the owner of a cedar wand can never be deceived. I wholeheartedly agree. A cedar wand is always a good match for a very insightful owner."

"I would also like to add a piece of advice to my father's words: never make an enemy of any Cedarwood Wand Master, and especially never harm those they cherish."

"Those who are perfectly matched with cedar wands are extremely formidable potential adversaries, and those who declare war on them without thinking are usually shocked by this."

"A sincere offer of 7 Galleons!" Ollivander said, extending his hand.

The story was good, it's a pity there was no discount at the end~

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

As Ted walked out holding his own cedarwood wand, his mind was in turmoil:

The wands of other characters are either your father's last creations, or wands your great-grandfather crafted during his travels in the mysterious East using peach wood struck by lightning and the leg hair of black and white iron-eating beasts. Why are mine so ordinary?!

You have nothing but a mysterious magic wand that has been left behind for hundreds of years and whose owner has never been found?

It's boring, completely boring!

Despite my inner complaints, the wand's attributes were indeed quite good.

【Cedar Wood Phoenix Feather Magic Wand (Green)】

Magic Amplification: +1 Magic Power

Enhancement Spell: +lv1 Spell

Keen Insight: +1 Perception

Note: A young person's first magic wand~

Professor McGonagall was also satisfied with the result. "Alright, now we need to take you to get your school uniform made."

"Uh~" Ted stopped in his tracks. "Professor, I just saw a second-hand clothing store and a second-hand shop. I think second-hand goods are a good option for me given my financial situation."

McGonagall looked at him, making sure he wasn't insisting, and said, "Okay."

In reality, it's simply unrealistic to buy all new cars with a Ted student loan.

McGonagall originally wanted to buy two new robes and then buy secondhand textbooks. After all, children do care about their appearance.

But since Ted brought it up, there's no reason not to.

The two first went to a second-hand robe shop, which was next to the Madame Malkin robe shop that made school uniforms, and bought some slightly larger old robes so they could wear them for another year.

Then I went to a second-hand store to see if there was anything useful, but I couldn't find a suitable crucible; they were all too broken.

If Ted were to use this stuff to brew a potion, he might just blow Snape up.

I did get a set of glass bottles, though they were a bit dirty, but after careful washing they were still usable.

Secondhand books are a bit hard to find. I don’t know if it’s because of the economic downturn this year, but there are too many people buying secondhand books. Ted managed to find three books: “Standard Spells, Beginner”, “Potions and Elixirs”, and “A Thousand Magical Herbs and Mushrooms”.

"Alright, Ted. I have some of my old textbooks that I can give you. We can go to the bookstore and buy new ones for the rest."

Professor McGonagall was very generous and offered to give her own textbook to this thrifty and hardworking freshman who had also raised her.

"Thank you so much. However, I'd like to wait a little longer. There are still almost two months until the start of the semester. Maybe I can find a few more secondhand books and save some Galleons..."

Textbooks are so damn expensive!

If he buys all new ones, Ted's student loan will be almost completely used up.

Although Hogwarts provides room and board and doesn't charge tuition, I don't feel safe at all because they don't leave me a single Shirk!

McGonagall recalled her observations of Ted after she turned into a cat: This little guy is very independent, he should be fine, right?

After some discussion, Professor McGonagall finally agreed with Ted's approach and gave him the remaining student loan, allowing him time to shop on Taobao himself.

Professor McGonagall saw Ted off onto the bus and then left.

Ted returned to the orphanage with the secondhand goods he had bought.

He thought it over and over in the car, and finally made a decision—he had to earn money himself.

Or should we increase our busking efforts?

Either work in Diagon Alley and earn Galleons directly. No need to exchange them; there are no middlemen taking a cut.

My student loan for the first year was 20 Gallons, and it will only be 5 Gallons each year thereafter.

This year, shopping in Diagon Alley, a wand alone costs 7 Galleons, which you can't buy secondhand.

If you buy brand new textbooks, it will cost 12 Galleons...

There are also some odds and ends like crucibles and glass bottles. Are we not going to potions class?

And what about the dragon skin gloves? Are we not going to have herbalism class anymore?

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 spent two months searching on Taobao to try and get a complete set of secondhand goods, so that he could at least save a few gallons of pocket money.

Oh right, I still have a 50 Galleons quota that I can exchange for Galleons in GBP at Gringotts...

Money isn't everything, but you can't do anything without it. You have to make money!

Furthermore, the otherworldly knowledge granted by his own talent [a few pages of the Mind Power Manual (Blue)] also requires experience to exchange for.

I tried it myself a couple of days ago. You can gain experience by reading books, but if you study a regular Muggle textbook carefully for a whole day, you can only gain four or five points of experience.

If you don't redeem it at the beginning of next month, the [Several Pages of the Psychic Abilities Manual (Blue)] will be overwritten by new extraterrestrial knowledge. What a pity!

It's probably hopeless to expect to learn 400 experiences by reading books on my own in just over twenty days.

I guess I'll have to go back to Diagon Alley to look for opportunities. Even if I can't trigger another mission, there's still the mission to explore Diagon Alley that I can complete.

I have to work, just to gain some experience and Gallon so I can make a living.

"Ding~ Task triggered:"

[Working Class (Green)]

Even a hero can be stumped by a single nut! To earn some money and gain experience, you'll have to come up with a plan. Diagon Alley offers many opportunities and is a good choice.

Goal: To successfully find a job in Diagon Alley.

Reward: 100 experience points, card [Restore Energy (Green)].

"Working people, working souls, working wizards—they're all superior beings!"

Well, now we definitely have to go.

(End of this chapter)