Hogwarts and the Holy Grail War

The fitting process was quick. Ethan jumped off the stool and returned to the front of the store to continue looking at the various styles of robes on the wall.

"Deng deng deng-"

The sound of knocking on the glass caught Ethan's attention. He saw Professor Figo standing at the window. He smiled at him and raised a birdcage in his other hand, which contained a pure black short-eared owl.

At this time, Madam Malkin also came out from the back. She handed Ethan a bag and said with a smile: "Three sets of robes, waterproof, automatic ironing and repair, with maximum pocket capacity, all packed for you - a total of ten Galleons, dear."

Ethan took out the Galleons that Professor Figo had given him before he left from his bulging trouser pocket. It was said to be a subsidy for freshmen. He counted out ten golden coins and placed them in Madam Malkin's palm. With his other hand, he took the bag containing the robe, turned around and walked out of the store: "Goodbye, ma'am."

"Looking forward to seeing you next time, dear." Madam Malkin greeted Ethan warmly from behind.

Ethan came to Professor Figo and looked at the owl in the cage. The short-eared owl squatted quietly on the shelf, shaking its head left and right and looking at Ethan.

"Black Cat, let's just call it Black Cat." Ethan suggested, looking at the two small tufts of pointed hair on the short-eared owl's head that looked like cat ears.

"Then you can give the clothes to the black cat and let it take them back to the carriage." Professor Figo opened the cage, and the black cat flapped its wings and flew out, landing steadily on Ethan's arm. "Now all that's left is to buy your wand and go to Gringotts to find out what's going on."

Chapter 4 Ollivander and the Unusual Wand

The black cat flew into the sky with the bag of clothes and the cage in which it had been locked. Ethan watched it disappear into the distance and was surprised that an owl could carry so many things.

Ollivanders is located at the end of Diagon Alley. Professor Figo took Ethan past Gringotts and came to a small, shabby shop. The golden sign on the door had peeled off, and it read: Ollivanders - Making fine wands since 382 BC. Ethan looked through the window and saw a wand placed alone on a faded purple cushion.

They walked into the store, and a jingling bell sounded from deep inside the store. Ollivander's store was very long and narrow. Apart from a bench and a counter, there were only shelves with cartons containing wands. Professor Figo sat on the bench and waited. Ethan walked to the counter and looked at the thousands of long and narrow cartons on both sides that were almost stacked to the ceiling.

wow-

A white-haired old man slid down the shelf on a ladder to the counter. He slowly climbed down the ladder and glanced over Ethan at Professor Figo.

"Fir wood, made of unicorn tail hair, twelve inches long, and a bit tough. Wise and tenacious, it is a wand that complements its owner, Professor Figo."

"Choose a wand that suits Ethan, Garrick." Professor Figo said concisely without responding.

Mr. Ollivander withdrew his gaze and looked Ethan up and down.

"Aha, interesting, very interesting. Which hand do you use for your wand? Hold it out so I can measure it for you."

"Either hand will do, sir." Ethan opened his arms, and Mr. Ollivander walked out of the counter and came to Ethan. He took out a tape measure with a silver scale from his pocket and began to measure Ethan's size. He muttered something while measuring.

"Each Ollivander wand contains extremely powerful magical substances, which is the essence of it, Mr. Ethan. We use unicorn hair, phoenix tail feathers and dragon nerves. Each Ollivander wand is unique, because no two unicorns, dragons or phoenixes are exactly the same. Of course, if you use a wand that is supposed to belong to another wizard, you will never get such a good effect."

Mr. Ollivander loosened his hand, letting the tape measure automatically measure the remaining dimensions. He walked to a shelf, selected a cardboard box, opened it and handed it to Ethan.

"Try this one. Holly wood, phoenix feather. Eleven inches long. Very flexible."

Ethan took out the wand from the box and waved it gently. The wand emitted a beautiful halo of light, and a spark shot out from the tip of the wand, exploding in the air like a firework.

"Well, the fit is good, but - not good enough. Try this one, willow wood, unicorn hair, fourteen inches."

Ollivander found another paper box from his side, took out the wand from it and handed it to Ethan. Ethan took the wand, but before he could swing it, Mr. Ollivander snatched it back.

"No, no, try this one, same as before, fourteen inches, grapevine wood, dragon heart nerve."

Ethan tried one wand after another, and the tried wands were piled on the counter. He felt a little bored, and shook his sore arms and asked, "Mr. Ollivander, haven't you chosen yet?"

"No, no, no, your situation is very special, Mr. Ethan. You have to know that it is the wand that chooses the wizard. For example, the compatibility between a wand and a wizard is either zero or one hundred points. But your compatibility with these wands can reach sixty, seventy, or even more than ninety points - but it is still a little short of full marks. This has never happened before. It's amazing, so amazing..."

Suddenly, Mr. Ollivander stopped looking for his wand and thought for a moment: "Well, maybe you should try that one, wait a moment."

Mr. Ollivander turned and went deeper into the store. Ethan could only hear the clatter of rummaging coming from the back. After waiting for a while, Mr. Ollivander came out again with a bright yellow paper box in his hand.

He placed the paper box on the counter, blew away the dust, and gently opened the box. Inside the box lay a silver-gray magic wand, which reflected a metallic luster under the weak light. There was a raised section at a short distance on the wand, just like the stem of a bamboo.

"This one is... very special. Twelve inches long, made of elder, and the core is... dragon tendon, Chinese dragon tendon. I think it might suit you."

"Dragon tendons? Didn't you say before that you only used phoenix feathers, dragon nerves, and unicorn tail feathers to make the core of the staff?"

"Like I said, it's very special. I once traveled around to improve my wand craftsmanship. This wand was made when I traveled to China, absorbing Eastern craftsmanship. But so far no wizard has been chosen by it, so it has to be left in the shop to collect dust."

Mr. Ollivander looked at Ethan seriously, but he looked a little funny because he was rummaging around for the dust in his hair and on the tip of his nose.

Ethan took the wand with some doubt. The wand felt soft and solid, and it didn't feel as hard and cold as it looked. Instead, it felt warm and soft. He raised the wand and waved it gently.

Ethan felt a gentle flow of energy flowing down his arm to the wand, and a bright silver spark burst out from the tip of the wand. The spark exploded in the air like fireworks, turning into dazzling colorful light and slowly falling down.

"That's it! Yes, that's it!" Mr. Ollivander shouted ecstatically.

Ethan shook the wand, his brows full of satisfaction - the shape of the wand reminded him of the hard whip that he had fun playing with when he was exercising in his previous life.

"I can't neglect physical training after arriving at Hogwarts," he thought to himself.

"It's a handy wand, isn't it?" Professor Figo stood up from the bench and waved at Ethan. "How much does it cost for this wand, Garrick?"

"To be honest, I wanted to give you this wand, Mr. Ethan. But the material itself is a bit - I have to make a living, so I'll just give you eight Galleons."

Ethan placed eight large coins on the counter, put his wand into his sleeve - the length of the wand was slightly shorter than Ethan's forearm, and followed Professor Figo out of the store. Mr. Ollivander bowed slightly to them.

“Thank you for your patronage.”

Mr. Ollivander straightened up and turned to look at the mess in the shop caused by the wand testing just now.

"Elderberry...ah ha, wonderful...so wonderful..." he muttered softly, took off the wand clipped to his ear, and waved it gently towards the store.

“Reparo.”

Chapter 5 Gringotts

Gringotts is a tall white building located at the intersection of Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley. It is the only bank in the wizarding world run by goblins. You can deposit money or rent a vault. It is said to be the safest place in the world besides Hogwarts.

The old man and the young man walked through two bronze and silver doors and entered a spacious marble hall. There were about a hundred fairies sitting on high stools behind long counters on both sides, some weighing coins with copper scales, some examining gems with eyepieces, and hastily recording in large account books. There were countless doors in the hall, leading to different places, and many fairies led people in and out of these doors.

Ethan shook his head left and right, looking at these working goblins. They had pointed ears, calculating faces that looked like they were meant to hang street lamps, and long limbs that didn't match their short stature.

"Ethan, look away." Professor Figo reminded quietly, "Fairies don't like being looked at like that. They are smart, but not very friendly."

Ethan shrank his head and stopped looking around. He followed Professor Figo obediently to an unused counter.

"Hello," Professor Figo said to the goblin behind the counter, "We are here to collect the grant for new students at Hogwarts."

"Document." The goblin was writing something with a feather pen in his hand. He looked up at the two of them and said.

Professor Figo took out a piece of parchment and handed it over: "Here you go."

The goblin put the quill back into the ink bottle, took the parchment, and looked at it carefully.

"Mr. Ethan, right? The total for this school year is 30 Galleons. Keep it." The goblin took out a palm-sized bag and placed it on the counter. He counted 30 gold coins from behind the counter and poured them into the bag. The bag made a clinking sound of metal colliding.

Ethan took the bag, which had not become much fatter, and took out 20 Galleons from it and handed them to Professor Figo: "Professor, this is the money you gave me in the name of a subsidy."

"Keep it. You need the money more than I do." Professor Figo pushed back Ethan's hand holding the money. "Besides, my salary as a professor is not low."

"Thank you, professor." Ethan stopped being pretentious and put the money back into the bag.

"One more thing." Professor Figo approached the goblin behind the counter and muttered quietly.

"Let's get the contents of vault 12."

"Vault 12?"

The goblin pushed up his glasses and looked at the two of them carefully.

"key?"

"Here it is." Professor Figo took out the key and handed it to the goblin. The goblin took the key and examined it carefully.

"No problem, both of you follow me."

The goblin pressed a button on the counter, then walked down the counter and led the two to an unattended door. Ethan saw a goblin run out of another door and come to the empty counter to take over his job.

After passing through the gate and out of the hall, the goblin led the two to a narrow stone corridor ramp, which was illuminated by torches inserted on the walls on both sides of the ramp. At the end of the ramp was a railway. The goblin blew a whistle, and a small car rushed along the track and stopped in front of them.

"Please come in first, both of you." The fairy bowed politely.

The two of them got into the passenger seat on the right side of the car and sat down. Ethan saw that there was no device similar to a seat belt on the seat, so he silently grabbed the railings on both sides of the seat.

"If you don't want to lose your hand, you'd better not put it out of the car." The fairy climbed into the driver's seat with a strange smile and pushed the joystick. "Then let's go."

The car sped along the winding track. Ethan found that the car was running very steadily. He slowly loosened his grip on the railing and began to look curiously at the vault doors that kept flashing on both sides of the corridor. He asked the goblin.

"Sir, how many vaults are there in Gringotts?"

"There are tens of thousands of them. We can see quite a few on the way to Vault 12 alone," the goblin driving the car continued. "We are now below the main hall of Gringotts. Ah, the vaults we are passing by were all built recently."

The car rushed deeper along the track. The rattling sound of the car and the whistling cold air destroyed Ethan's senses, but this did not prevent him from opening his eyes wide and trying to see everything around him clearly.

"Please hold your breath for now," the fairy suddenly reminded.

There was a waterfall ahead of the track. The two were caught off guard and quickly protected their heads, closed their eyes and mouths, and enjoyed the sudden wash.

"The waterfall just now has the effect of washing away all magic, which is an anti-theft measure on their side." Professor Figo cast a drying spell on himself and Ethan and explained.

"Oh, so you must have seen the Thief-Proofing Falls before?"

"Just heard a little bit."

The car passed a fork in the road and drove out of the corridor to a wide underground cave. At the bottom of the cave was a lake, with many stalagmites emerging from the lake and connected to the huge stalactites hanging from the top of the cave. There were countless vault doors on the stone walls around the cave, and many cars driven by fairies were speeding past on different tracks.

"This area contains the lower vaults." The fairy explained to the two.

"How much further do we have to go?" Ethan shouted to the goblin.

"We still have some way to go. Gringotts is over six hundred years old, and Vault 12 is about the same age. So we're heading to the deepest part next. Hold on tight."

They went deeper and deeper, speeding up. The air became even colder and more biting at the sharp turns. The car rattled to a mountain stream, and the direction of travel gradually became horizontal. There were only a few vault doors scattered on both sides of the track. In front of the track, a uniformed goblin with a stern face stood on the stone steps beside the track and waved to them to stop.

"Vault number?" the uniformed goblin asked them.

"Vault 12," the goblin driving the car replied. "Today is an unusually big day!"

"Go ahead." The goblin guard snorted and waved his hand to signal them to continue passing.

Ethan saw the armband on the goblin's arm emitting a strange flash, and whispered to Professor Figo: "Professor, the armband that the goblin is wearing is glowing."

"Glow? The same light as the box and key before?"

"No, the light on the armband is red and dimmer, which gives me an uncomfortable feeling."

"What?" asked the goblin in the driver's seat.

"It's nothing, we just think that the fairy just now was very special." Professor Figo hurriedly explained.

"Oh, he's in charge of the oldest area in the bank. No one has been there for a long time." The goblin said nonchalantly.

The car finally stopped at the entrance of a corridor.

"We're here." The fairy asked the two to get out of the car.

"We're finally here." Ethan got out of the car and stomped his numb legs.

At the end of the corridor was a vault door. The goblin came to the vault door, took out the key and poked it into a hole on the door. With a click, the mechanism on the vault door started to work automatically. With a puff of green smoke and a creaking sound that sounded like it was under a lot of weight, the door slowly opened to one side.

"Vault No. 12." The fairy finally introduced it to the two.

"Thank you for your help." Professor Figo thanked him as he stepped over the threshold and walked into the vault. "Follow me, Ethan."

Ethan followed Professor Figo into the vault: "What do you think we are looking for, Professor?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure. Sir, please tell me..." Professor Figo turned and asked the goblin outside the door.

"According to the regulations of Vault No. 12, I will open the door for you two... and then close it." The goblin smiled and waved his finger, and the heavy vault door closed at once.

"Wait!" Professor Figo stood there in a daze, with his hands open, looking at the tightly closed vault door.

The goblin's voice came from the other side of the door along with the sound of the mechanism being activated.

"Good luck to you two."

Chapter 6 Vault No.

"Good luck to you two."

Professor Figo looked at the tightly locked door and sighed.

“I didn’t expect it to be like this.”

"Professor, look!" Ethan tugged at the corner of Professor Figo's clothes, his voice trembling.

"Lumos." Professor Figo turned around, and the tip of his staff glowed faintly, using it to observe the interior of the vault.

Inside the vault is a not very spacious tunnel, surrounded by stone walls and with a row of doorless cabinets reaching the ceiling on both sides. The space for activities is only a few square meters, only slightly wider than the door.

A large number of Galleons were piled casually on the ground and in the cabinets, reflecting the golden light. Ethan looked around at these shining gold coins, his eyes flashing with a green light like a hungry wolf.

Professor Figo didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He pretended not to notice Ethan's poor behavior, walked to the end of the tunnel, and carefully examined the stone wall that was so smooth that it didn't look like it was chiseled.

"Ethan, can you see anything?" Professor Figo asked without turning his head.

"Ah? Oh, professor, let me take a look." Ethan stopped searching for gold coins, walked to the stone wall, and gently touched it.