The money in Dylan's hand was not much.
But it was, after all, his parents' life savings.
Even so, exchanging it all would have been enough for two thousand Galleons.
Dylan, however, had no intention of converting all of it.
He needed to keep some principal on hand.
Apart from that, he spent five hundred pounds to exchange for one hundred Galleons, which he kept on him.
This earned him a round of eye-rolls from the goblins.
As expected, these little Muggle-born wizards always turned out to be paupers, one poorer than the last!
"Let's go, we'll buy your train ticket."
Professor McGonagall led Dylan to buy his ticket for Hogwarts.
At the same time, she reminded him, "At King's Cross Station, you need to look for the third pillar between Platforms Nine and Ten."
"When the time comes, don't be afraid. Just run straight into the pillar and you'll reach Platform Nine and Three-Quarters."
Dylan nodded.
Next, under Professor McGonagall's guidance, he arrived at the wand shop.
Dylan looked up.
He saw the sign hanging above the shopfront: "Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C."
He glanced the cramped little place up and down.
Smacking his lips, Dylan muttered, "Don't tell me this place hasn't been renovated in hundreds of years?"
"Don't worry, wizard buildings can be supported with magic."
Professor McGonagall smiled at Dylan. "The Ollivander family's craftsmanship isn't just in wandmaking. This place isn't going to collapse."
She pushed open the door.
Dylan followed her inside.
As soon as he stepped in, he saw an old man with his rear in the air rummaging through a pile of wands.
Hearing the bell ring over the door—
Ollivander straightened up and turned, immediately spotting Professor McGonagall.
"Nine and a half inches, fir, dragon heartstring… Oh, Professor McGonagall, how nice of you to bring me another young customer."
McGonagall took Dylan's hand and gently pulled him forward.
"Then I'll leave it to you to choose a wand that suits him."
She lowered her head and said to Dylan, "I happen to need to buy some magical ingredients. After you've picked your wand, wait for me by the door."
"All right, Professor." Dylan nodded.
The bell jingled again.
Professor McGonagall left the wand shop.
Seeing a brand-new young wizard standing before him, Ollivander smiled. "Well then, my boy, are you ready to become a true wizard? Now, which is your wand arm…"
"I'm really looking forward to it." Dylan raised his arm. "I usually use my right hand."
"Oh! Very good, wait just a moment." Ollivander stepped up to Dylan and used a tape measure to take his measurements.
At last, he went back to the wand boxes, rummaged around, and took one out.
"Try this one."
Dylan accepted the wand and, out of habit, gave his arm a little wave.
The next instant, muscle memory almost made him fling an Avada Kedavra straight at Ollivander.
"Holy—!"
Dylan jumped, hurriedly forcing down the curse in his mind, then gave only the lightest flick of his wrist.
Whoosh!
A gust of wind exploded out, instantly wrecking the neatly stacked wand boxes Ollivander had just arranged.
Boxes and wands came crashing down with loud bangs.
But Ollivander seemed quite used to this. With a casual wave of his own wand—
"Reparo!"
The wand boxes were seized by magic and floated neatly back to their original places in midair.
"Looks like that one doesn't suit you very well."
Ollivander frowned and turned back to search along the shelves.
"How about this one?"
Dylan took it.
Fwoom!
A jet of magical flame shot out.
"It seems the magic inside you is rather volatile," Ollivander remarked as he took the wand back, then proceeded to let Dylan try seven or eight more.
Almost every single one caused some kind of commotion.
Dylan was starting to panic a bit.
Could this be why he had learned three max-level Unforgivable Curses before even mastering a proper wand?
Were the wands actually resisting him because of that?
"Don't worry, my boy. I have a great many wands here. There will be one that suits you."
Seeing Dylan's expression grow worse, Ollivander tried to console him.
Unfortunately, he had not hit the real issue at all.
Dylan could only force a smile. "Then I'll be in your hands, sir."
"Serving customers is my duty. You're far from the pickiest one I've ever had." Ollivander chuckled.
He went back to searching.
From the lowest shelf to the highest.
"This one won't do. This one doesn't quite fit either… Perhaps try this?"
He pulled another wand down from the wall.
Dylan took it and gave it a small wave.
Boom!
A surge of magic burst forth.
A shockwave barreled straight toward Ollivander.
Dylan jumped again.
But Ollivander deftly raised his wand and dissipated the wave with practiced ease.
As Dylan let out a breath of relief, a question surfaced in his mind.
"Why is it that a young wizard who hasn't yet systematically learned any spells can unleash power comparable to attack magic just by trying wands?"
Dylan took the next wand Ollivander handed him.
Another flick.
This time it actually caused a violent explosion.
Ollivander quickly used his emergency measures to snuff it out.
At that moment, Dylan could not help but focus on the surge of magic roiling inside him.
"It feels like… there's an instant of chaotic change?"
That change was what led to the sudden appearance of flames, the formation of a shockwave, even the detonation of an explosion.
Why was it that every time he swung a wand, without using any incantation at all, it still produced such powerful yet completely different effects?
Dylan continued trying wand after wand.
Until Ollivander finally realized something was off.
"Hold it! What do you think you're doing?"
"Huh? I'm trying to sense, in that instant when the magic bursts out as I grip the wand, whether I can somehow control what effect comes out."
"What did you say? Good heavens! You little wizard are absolutely insane!"
Ollivander's eyes bulged and his expression turned stern.
He even dropped the wand box in his hand, striding over to grab Dylan's wand hand.
"Stop doing that immediately! You're trying to study the invention of spells, and that is an extremely dangerous business! It's not something you should be thinking about at your age!"
"The… invention of spells?" Dylan raised an eyebrow.
He let Ollivander take the wand from his hand.
"Yes. The earliest witches and wizards who studied spells had to go through exactly this sort of thing. Back then, my ancestors had not even started making wands yet."
As if frightened, and also afraid Dylan might secretly keep experimenting with spell creation, Ollivander warned, "Ancient wizards believed that magic had its own will. So they would let it surge out freely and search for visible patterns in it. Over time, those patterns evolved into what we now know as spells."
"But letting magic run wild like that can get you killed!"