The next morning, Tom was woken by Eric.
Still bleary eyed, Tom stared at him and asked, “What is it?” “I need a wand.” “Didn’t I tell you?
You’ll have to wait a few days.
At the very least, I need to make sure the Ministry isn’t going to come looking for you over what happened.” Tom knew perfectly well that he couldn’t actually keep Eric confined to the Leaky Cauldron.
Those two displays of Magical Pressure alone had made it clear that a prodigy like Eric simply couldn’t be compared with an ordinary wizard like himself.
Tom had graduated from Hogwarts too.
But when he had been a first-year, forget manifesting his magic into tangible pressure, he hadn’t even managed to successfully cast his first spell until three months after receiving his wand.
Eric, meanwhile, didn’t even need a wand to knock an entire swarm of flying Monster Books out of the air.
Tom only wanted to keep Eric nearby as a precaution.
If he let the boy wander around as he pleased, Merlin only knew what he might get up to next.
And the mere thought that he might have to deal with Ministry bureaucrats again made Tom’s mood even worse.
Faced with Tom’s wrinkled, disgruntled expression, Eric smiled.
“If they wanted to find you, they would have come yesterday.
Waiting another few days isn’t going to change anything.” “Tom, I need a wand today.” There was an unmistakable firmness in Eric’s voice, leaving no room for refusal.
He said it with a smile, but Tom had no doubt that Eric didn’t consider himself to be asking for a favour.
It sounded much more like an order.
Tom stared at him for a moment before finally noticing that Eric was already dressed to go out.
He wore the same simple jeans and denim jacket as before.
Paired with his handsome, gentle features, the outfit made him look immediately likeable.
It was extremely difficult to connect the boy standing before him with the young wizard who had terrified an entire crowd only yesterday.
“Fine.” Perhaps hoping to be rid of Eric sooner rather than later, Tom didn’t bother arguing further.
After quickly getting himself ready, he led Eric downstairs.
Compared with yesterday, there were quite a few more witches and wizards loitering around the brick wall leading from the Leaky Cauldron into Diagon Alley.
The pub’s front entrance was no different.
They wore long robes with suspicious bulges hidden underneath, excitement written plainly across their faces.
Some even carried gleaming cameras in their hands.
The Daily Prophet, the Hogsmeade Evening Post, the Ministry Gazette, and several other newspapers had all sent reporters.
Their noses for a story were certainly sharp.
Presumably, they had learned that Eric had been travelling with Tom and concluded that he might be staying at the Leaky Cauldron.
So they had arrived early to stake the place out.
The Leaky Cauldron was Tom’s territory, and none of them dared force their way inside.
Several had tried contacting Tom by letter, but he hadn’t replied to a single one.
All they could do was wait outside and hope fortune favoured them.
A short while later, three alleys away, Tom and Eric emerged through the back door of an abandoned shop.
The interior had clearly been deserted for years.
The only noteworthy feature was a tunnel leading underground.
Tom didn’t forget to draw his wand and restore the secret entrance behind them.
His expression remained completely blank throughout.
When it came to shaking off packs of nosy reporters, he had plenty of experience.
Meanwhile, the journalists waiting outside the Leaky Cauldron remained utterly unaware that their targets had already left.
“How long do you think they’ll keep waiting before they give up?” Eric asked with an amused glance in their direction.
Tom continued walking.
“Until they get a clear photograph of your face.
Or until you agree to an exclusive interview with one of their papers.” Then a rare smile appeared on his face.
“Do you know you’ve already got nicknames?” “What are they?” “The Destroyer of Flourish and Blotts.
Conqueror of the Monster Books.
The Boy Who Broke Diagon Alley’s Windows.
There are plenty more I can’t remember.” Tom glanced at him.
“You’re going to be famous, boy.” “The creativity of witches and wizards never ceases to amaze me.” “Quite,” Tom replied dryly.
“And my pub isn’t big enough to house all of them.” It wasn’t long before the two arrived at Ollivanders.
The wand shop had an elegant, old-fashioned appearance.
Its overall colour scheme was dark, and a mysterious atmosphere seemed to cling to the building both inside and out.
It was also rather shabby, as though witches and wizards simply didn’t care much about appearances.
Large patches of the outer wall had crumbled away, exposing the masonry underneath.
Above the entrance hung a faded gilt sign, Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC.
Whatever else could be said about the shop, it still looked considerably better than the Leaky Cauldron.
An elderly man with white hair sat near the entrance, meticulously polishing a wand in his hands.
Without waiting for Tom, Eric walked straight inside.
The instant he crossed the threshold, the System’s voice sounded.
[Ding!
Congratulations.
You have successfully arrived at the designated Sign-In location before the quest deadline, Ollivanders.] [Sign-In commencing immediately.
Please do not leave the Sign-In location before completion.] After a brief wait, the System sounded again.
[Congratulations.
Quest complete: Arrive at Ollivanders and complete a Sign-In before twelve noon.] [Quest Reward: Unknown.] [Reward acquired: Wand Affinity.] ━━━━━ SYSTEM ━━━━━ [Wand Affinity] Every wand is crafted from different materials.
No two wands in the world are completely identical, and naturally, different witches and wizards are suited to different wands.
This depends upon the compatibility between wand and wizard.
If handled improperly, some wands may even resist the witch or wizard attempting to use them.
Wand Affinity increases the host’s compatibility with any wand currently being wielded, allowing every wand to recognise the host as though it were his own.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ This was precisely why Eric had insisted on waking Tom and coming to buy a wand today.
He had only received this quest the previous night, shortly before going to sleep.
At the time, Eric hadn’t known what the reward would be.
Now that he did, however, it was clearly exceptional.
Unlike the previous Sign-In quests, this one had come with a strict time limit.
Eric had to reach the designated location before twelve noon today.
Considering how crowded Diagon Alley became around midday, Eric had no choice but to wake Tom early and have him bring him here to buy his wand.
At the moment, there were no other customers in the shop besides Eric and Tom.
Fortunately, nothing had gone wrong with his plan.
Eric quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
The witches and wizards of Diagon Alley might not recognise him, but practically everyone knew Tom.
Judging by the crowd of reporters gathered outside the Leaky Cauldron, both of their names were undoubtedly drawing plenty of attention now.
“Ah!
Another young wizard without a wand!” The moment he saw Eric and Tom enter, Ollivander immediately abandoned what he was doing and hurried over.
He looked very old, but there wasn’t the slightest lack of energy in him.
As long as the subject involved wands, he seemed capable of maintaining that excitement indefinitely.
Ollivander strode briskly towards Eric, talking all the while.
“A new Hogwarts student, yes?
Quite a few young witches and wizards have already purchased their first wands from me these past few days.
You must always remember, the wand chooses the wizard…” His words suddenly trailed off.
He had noticed Tom standing behind Eric.
The two had both spent many years in Diagon Alley and were obviously well acquainted.
Ollivander’s practised speech came to an abrupt halt.
His pale eyes widened.
“Tom?
You brought this boy here?” Tom answered with a helpless smile.
Ollivander’s expression changed as the pieces fell into place.
“So you’re the boy who nearly blew up Flourish and Blotts with magic?” He looked at Eric.
Then, very deliberately, took two steps backwards.