After spending some time in the pet shop, Wayne fully grasped the power of his 'Magical Creature Affinity' talent.
Even the most stubborn, haughty creatures would obediently flock to him, tamed with minimal effort.
Not only that, he could roughly sense their emotions and understand the meaning behind their sounds.
Though these creatures were already domesticated as wizarding pets, Wayne was confident this talent would work just as well on wild or even dangerous magical beasts.
'Old Newt must have a similar gift—how else could he lug around a suitcase full of hazards?' Wayne mused.
If he wanted, he could emulate Newt and carry his own menagerie.
But he had no such intentions.
Magical creatures were nothing but trouble. Even the seemingly harmless Niffler could wreak havoc.
Newt's life had been split between being Dumbledore's errand boy and cleaning up after his creatures.
He'd been banned from dozens of countries by their respective Ministries of Magic. Even in America, where he now lived, the MACUSA was perpetually on edge—had it not been for Newt's past heroics in saving their magical community and helping capture Grindelwald, they'd never have tolerated his presence.
Wayne had no desire to become as universally reviled as Newt.
Under the 'reluctant' gazes of the creatures, Wayne adjusted his trousers and strode out without a backwards glance.
The shop assistant was baffled.
Seriously?
No purchases, no supplies—just waltzing in to stir up the animals for no reason?
Unaware he'd nearly been blacklisted, Wayne left the Magical Menagerie and headed to Flourish and Blotts.
Outside the bookstore, a large poster on a tripod featured a greasy middle-aged wizard batting his eyelashes incessantly, drawing clusters of passing witches to stop and stare—a truly magical spectacle.
Seeing Wayne sizing him up, he immediately put on a standard customer-service smile, his eight teeth gleaming brightly.
But in truth, Wayne was looking at the lines of text floating above his head.
"Four-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award, Order of Merlin, Third Class, and honorary member of the Dark Arts Defence League—Mr Lockhart's latest work, Travels with Trolls, is now available!"
Wayne pondered thoughtfully.
This fraud of the wizarding world was currently thriving, having already published five or six books. It was baffling why he'd suddenly decide next year to go and teach at Hogwarts.
Did he genuinely believe the feats recorded in these books were his own doing?
However, when Wayne saw the price of Travels with Trolls in the shop, he suddenly had an epiphany.
Seven Galleons?
He'd bought three standard spellbooks for less than five Galleons—this price was practically daylight robbery.
Could this bloke have taken the Defence Against the Dark Arts teaching post just to sell his books?
A set costing thirty or forty Galleons, multiplied by Hogwarts' several hundred—nearly a thousand—students, would amount to tens of thousands of Galleons.
That was a staggering sum.
After flipping through the book casually, Wayne decided to purchase Lockhart's entire collection.
Setting aside the flowery, hollow prose, the content was quite substantial—after all, these were adapted from real cases.
The wizarding world wasn't full of fools. If everything had been fabricated, Lockhart would've been exposed long ago.
After instructing the shop assistant to wrap up all of Lockhart's books, Wayne moved on to browse other titles.
He was deeply curious about everything in the magical world. Learning spells was one thing, but he was even more interested in understanding how wizards lived and their unique culture.
This would help him integrate better into the wizarding society, rather than remaining a Muggle who happened to know magic.
As for the Dark Lord...
Honestly, it wasn't that Wayne looked down on Voldemort, but after fighting for half his life, the man hadn't even managed to take over a single school and had been thoroughly outplayed by a prophecy.
It was hard to muster any real interest.
Now, if Grindelwald were to resurface and stir up trouble again—that would be something. At least that man had vision.
Defence Against the Dark Arts—buy.
Encounters with No-Face Fiends—buy.
The complete Standard Book of Spells series—buy.
In one go, Wayne purchased textbooks for the next several years, not even sparing Newt's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
This globally renowned book on magical creatures cost a mere one Galleon—an absolute bargain compared to Lockhart's works.
Seeing Wayne's frenzied book-buying spree, even the manager of Flourish and Blotts couldn't help but intervene.
"Young man, you must be a first-year, right? None of these books are needed for your year. You can always buy them when the time comes."
"Oh." Wayne casually placed Advanced Potion-Making into his trolley before looking up with a smile. "I've got nothing better to do during the holidays. Might as well treat them as leisure reading—no harm done."
Seeing his determination, the manager didn't press further. Wayne then picked up another book.
The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore
Hiss—now that was provocative.
Upon seeing the author's name, Wayne wasn't surprised. Rita Skeeter—there was nothing she wouldn't write.
His trolley was now overflowing with books, and Wayne finally called it a day. Just as he was about to check out, Wayne caught sight of the thickest book tucked away in an inconspicuous corner—a full five inches thick.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Hogwarts: A History.
Wayne's heart leapt with joy. He had wanted to buy this highly referenced collection of miscellaneous writings from the original series earlier, but hadn't been able to find it.
The shop assistant had even said it was out of stock, yet here was one hidden in the corner.
Crouching down, Wayne tugged the hefty book free with some effort. Though it looked a bit grubby, the book itself was brand new.
He didn't mind—as long as it was readable.
"Ouch!"
"Ouch!"
Two cries of pain rang out simultaneously.
Just as he was about to stand up and head to the till, Wayne felt a sharp pain in his head as it collided with something hard.
Rubbing his head and stepping back, he finally saw what—or rather, who—he'd bumped into.
A little girl.
A fluffy head crowned with thick, bushy brown hair that looked rather dreadful, currently clutching her chin in pain while baring her front teeth.
Wayne, however, found it amusing.
With such distinctive features, who else could it be but the legendary know-it-all herself?