"Fifty Galleons," Ollivander said with a smile.
Fifty Galleons was not a small sum. For some Ministry employees, that was close to an entire month's salary, and for most families buying school supplies, it would have been enough to make them argue until the candles burned down.
"Fine," Jamie said.
He nodded without hesitation, took a money pouch from inside his robe, and tossed it onto the counter. The pouch landed with a crisp, heavy clink, the unmistakable sound of gold coins striking together.
"That's fifty Galleons," Jamie said with an easy smile. "You can count them."
This time, Ollivander was genuinely surprised. Fifty Galleons had been an ambitious price, the sort of number meant to leave room for bargaining. Most witches and wizards would have tried to haggle, unless they came from families rich enough not to care.
"Even if we're not short on money, you didn't have to accept that price at once," Tyler murmured, leaning closer to Jamie. "That wand isn't worth fifty Galleons."
They were indeed wealthy now. After what had happened at Gringotts, money was the least of their concerns. Even so, there was no reason to let themselves be overcharged for the sake of appearances.
"Don't worry," Jamie whispered back, his smile unchanged. "I have a plan. I'm not the type to take a loss."
Ollivander opened the pouch on the counter and lowered his head to count the Galleons inside one by one. His attention was fixed on the gold, and he did not notice Jamie quietly lifting the snakewood wand.
"Imperio."
Ollivander heard the soft incantation, and then his gaze went unfocused. The sharp awareness in his pale eyes faded, replaced by a dreamy calm that settled over him like warm mist.
"Hey," Tyler said under his breath, staring at Jamie. "Why did you cast the Imperius Curse on Ollivander?"
"The Ollivander family is one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight," Jamie replied lightly. "Their most valuable inheritance should be their wand-making craft."
He turned the snakewood wand between his fingers, his expression curious rather than cruel. "I'm very interested in how wands are made. Those fifty Galleons should be considered payment for viewing the Ollivander family inheritance."
Most pure-blood families had their own forms of inheritance. The Gaunts had Parseltongue, passed down through Slytherin's bloodline. The Blacks had deep knowledge of old magic, including Animagus research and many dark family records. The Ollivanders had their ancestral craft of wand-making, refined over centuries.
Of course, some inheritances could only be passed through blood. Parseltongue, prophecy, and similar gifts depended heavily on lineage, and no outsider could simply take them by reading a book. Wand-making, however, was different. It was a craft built on knowledge, experience, and technique.
That was exactly why Jamie had chosen to act.
To most wizards, wand-making did not matter. A wand was a tool, a weapon, and a necessity, but if they needed one, they simply went to a shop and bought it. They did not care how the wood was chosen, how the core was matched, or how the wand's internal magic was shaped.
Jamie cared.
The wand-making craft of the wizarding world fascinated him, but the Ollivanders would never teach their family secrets to outsiders. Since that door was closed, he would have to find another way in.
"You're too bold," Tyler said, frowning. "Attacking Ollivander openly is dangerous. He isn't an ordinary wizard."
"That's why I need your help," Jamie said with a grin. "Don't worry. Once we're finished, I'll use a Memory Charm."
"Move quickly, then," Tyler said after a brief silence. "I can't guarantee no one will walk in to buy a wand while we're doing this."
His words were as good as agreement. After all, they were two sides of the same person, and Jamie's choice was not entirely separate from his own. Since they had the strength to act, there was no need to fear every small risk, though caution still mattered.
At their current level, unless they encountered someone like Dumbledore, most ordinary wizards were no longer a serious threat. In the wizarding world, magic was power, and they had enough power to begin taking what they needed.
"Mr Ollivander," Jamie said, turning to the wandmaker, "please bring out the Ollivander family's records on wand-making."
Ollivander, still under the Imperius Curse, did not resist. Though he was the most famous wandmaker in Britain and, in a sense, the largest supplier of magical weapons in the country, his own magical strength was not extraordinary.
Not every elderly wizard was Dumbledore. For most witches and wizards, age weakened magic rather than sharpening it, and their strength gradually declined as their bodies grew frail. Ollivander had skill, knowledge, and history behind him, but none of that helped him now.
Under the spell's influence, he turned and walked into the workshop behind the counter. A short while later, he returned carrying a large stack of old books, along with a thick notebook bound in worn leather.
The Imperius Curse was not impossible to resist. A wizard with strong enough willpower could fight against its control, and some rare individuals could break free of it altogether. Ollivander, however, clearly could not.
"Just as I thought," Jamie said, opening the notebook with interest. "Wand-making isn't simple at all. It requires unique magical circuits, and the set recorded in this notebook should be the Ollivander family's own design."
The notebook was old, far older than it first appeared, and the ink on many pages had faded to a deep brown. Even so, the diagrams remained clear. Lines of magical patterns twisted across the pages, precise and complex, describing the inner structure that allowed wand wood and magical core to work together.
A successful set of magical circuits was not something a wizard could invent casually. It had to be tested again and again, adjusted through countless failures, and refined over decades or even centuries. Every mature pattern was the crystallised effort of generations.
Many magical objects required such patterns. Alchemical items, protective devices, cursed objects, and dark artefacts all depended on different forms of magical circuitry. Wands were no exception, though their methods were usually guarded even more fiercely.
"Geminio."
Beside him, Tyler began casting the Doubling Charm again and again. One by one, copies of the wand-making books appeared, each duplicate forming cleanly beneath his wand. He moved quickly, his expression focused, because neither of them had time to waste.
The Doubling Charm could create a complete copy of an object, but the lifespan of the duplicate depended on the caster's magical power. If the wizard's magic was weak, the copy might vanish after only a short time. If the wizard's magic was strong, the duplicate could remain for much longer.
With Tyler's magic, the copies would last long enough for them to transfer the knowledge properly. That was all they needed.
"Look through it later," Tyler said, his tone growing impatient. "Hurry up."
Jamie also understood that this was not the right time to study. He copied the thick notebook, slipped the duplicate into his robe, and then instructed Ollivander to put all the wand-related books back exactly where they belonged.
.....
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