Ollivander held the meticulously crafted wand in his hands and presented it respectfully to Adelaide.
He bowed slightly, his face full of apology, and said in a sincere and humble tone, "Honorable Miss Grindelwald, I am truly sorry. Due to some calibration issues, it took a full month longer than expected to complete this custom wand for you."
Adelaide waved her hand to show she didn't mind; as long as the wand was ready before the term started so she wouldn't go to school empty-handed, it was fine.
She examined the wand before her carefully. Its wood had a fine, textured grain, a deep reddish-brown color throughout, and was exactly thirteen inches long.
"The power of this wand is extremely great, even surpassing that of its brother."
Ollivander spoke softly. After Adelaide took the wand, he instinctively took a small step back, seemingly wary of the wand before him.
Adelaide gripped the handle with her right hand and brought it close to her eyes to inspect it carefully—it truly was a beautiful wand!
The corners of her mouth curled up slightly into a satisfied smile.
As Adelaide's fingers lightly brushed against it, the tip of the wand suddenly erupted with dazzling sparks, like brilliant fireworks blooming in the night sky.
These sparks flickered and danced in the air near the ceiling of the wand shop, as if they possessed a life of their own.
Beside her, Ollivander marveled inwardly. He knew the uniqueness of this wand; the natural power contained in the Ancient Oak and the immense magic of the Phoenix Tail Feather blended perfectly, making its power comparable to the legendary elder wand.
This was why the delivery date had been delayed by a month; it wasn't until July 1990 that he had fully calibrated the wand and written to Adelaide to come and collect it.
Originally, Ollivander had some concerns about whether such a powerful wand would willingly accept Adelaide as its master, but the scene before him made him realize that such worries were entirely unnecessary.
In Adelaide's hand, the wand was like a fish in water, as if it had become a part of her body, completely following her every command and direction.
Adelaide was very satisfied with the wand. After paying the balance, she left the wand shop.
Diagon Alley was bustling and lively today.
Adelaide walked the streets of Diagon Alley alone—Edward was working overtime and couldn't get away, and Dumbledore had to postpone his arrival due to a sudden emergency meeting and would meet her later.
But this was fine; it gave her a chance to use this time alone to buy her books and various equipment first.
Adelaide carefully pulled out the Hogwarts acceptance letter that had arrived a week ago, gently unfolded the parchment, and turned directly to the crucial second page.
Clothing like school uniforms had already been custom-ordered last Sunday when Dumbledore took her, so now she just had to wait for the Owl to deliver them to her door.
As for textbooks and other equipment, Dumbledore had thoughtfully made notes on the second page of the letter—items with a checkmark next to them indicated that they were already in stock at home and didn't need to be purchased again.
[Textbooks]
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 by Miranda Goshawk (√)
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot (√)
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling (√)
A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch (√)
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore (√)
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger (√)
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander (√)
Defense Against the Dark Arts: Constant Vigilance by Jack MacFusty
Dancing with Black Dragons by Alice MacFusty
[Other Equipment]
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set of glass or crystal phials
1 telescope (√)
1 set of brass scales (√)
She had already gotten her wand, and the cauldron and phials could be bought at the general store ahead. As for textbooks, except for Defense Against the Dark Arts: Constant Vigilance required for Defense Against the Dark Arts, she didn't have—wait!
What on earth is this "Dancing with Black Dragons"?
Adelaide widened her eyes and leaned in to read the parchment twice more to make sure she hadn't made a mistake. The author of Dancing with Black Dragons was Alice MacFusty, and the author of Defense Against the Dark Arts: Constant Vigilance was Jack MacFusty. Could it be that this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was a descendant of the MacFusty Family?
Speaking of which, that family sounded very familiar... Oh right, Edward's sister seemed to have married into that family!
Adelaide drifted into her memories. Edward had mentioned it a few times, saying it was a wealthy family that had accumulated vast wealth by breeding Black Dragons on the Hebrides Islands in Scotland for generations.
Recalling that Dumbledore had sent Edward on a week-long business trip last month, Adelaide suspected that this Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher might have been swindled into the job from the MacFusty Family by Edward and his sister.
Poor fellow, she hoped he or she could leave Hogwarts alive after the one-year term was up, preferably without missing any limbs.
The curse on the Defense Against the Dark Arts position at Hogwarts was already famous in the British Wizarding World by now; the Professors for this course were practically like consumables, changed every year without fail.
The chaotic teaching system had also led to Hogwarts graduates' proficiency in Defense Against the Dark Arts falling behind their peers from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons over the last thirty years.
There had been enthusiastic Wizards who didn't believe in the jinx and wanted to take over Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, but none of them had a good end, and the students' grades hadn't improved much either.
When even sacrificing the Professor didn't help, and neither the students' grades nor one's own safety was guaranteed, who could handle that?
In recent years, except for Severus Snape, no one had the courage to proactively apply for the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor.
For Dumbledore, the biggest headache every year was finding a suitable candidate for the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher; he couldn't really let the school's Potions Master take the role, could he?
Although this Potions Professor was genuinely interested in the Dark Arts and had expressed that he could hold two positions simultaneously, Dumbledore still didn't want to risk appointing him to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts.
There weren't even ten living Potions Masters in the world who could rival Snape; if something went wrong while he was the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, Hogwarts would suffer a huge loss.
Dumbledore would rather use his connections to trick other Wizards with some ability into teaching than satisfy Snape's willful request.
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