Kingsley did not initially offer any opinion on Elara’s wand.
“Uncle Kingsley, are people who use yew wands bad?”
“What on earth is Ollivander telling children?” Kingsley sighed involuntarily.
“That master is always a bit eccentric.
However, this wand should be a good fit for you.
It’s just that…
Thestral tail hair, and thirteen inches—honestly, it’s not very auspicious.”
As he spoke, Kingsley found himself unable to continue.
Elara’s wand was simply too closely associated with death, always carrying a sense of ominous foreboding.
“Let me treat you to some ice cream.” Noticing Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour and Elara, whose gaze was drawn to the ice cream, Kingsley immediately changed the subject.
“How about a strawberry peanut butter ice cream?”
“Thank you, Uncle Kingsley.”
Elara ate her ice cream and tirelessly wandered back and forth through Diagon Alley.
The variety of peculiar magical items was an eye-opener, and she took the opportunity to appraise the prices they could fetch on the Mystra’s Contract.
Clearly, the prices were not very high—the expensive ones were only a few dozen GP, or even just a few GP—but the sheer quantity made up for it.
Elara loved the magical world.
There were also various magical materials that dazzled her.
Many of the wizard spells she had learned required spell components.
It was not until Kingsley was about to change shifts that Elara, under his guidance, bought a set of second-hand first-year books, including A History of Magic, Magical Theory, A Beginner’s Guide to Transfiguration, The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 1, One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, Magical Drafts and Potions, and The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection.
There were also three sets of plain work robes (black), a plain pointed hat (for winter warmth), a pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar fireproof material), and a thick winter cloak (with silver fastenings).
Everything was second-hand, but fortunately, it was all cleaned well.
Elara was not a fussy person, so she naturally packed it all up.
Because she still had some money left—especially after Kingsley offered to sponsor some school supplies—she bought a beautiful crystal and a complete set of the Standard Book of Spells series: “Perhaps I can finish The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 1, and then I can move on to the next one.”
“Alright.” Seeing how happy Elara was to have the money to buy other books, Kingsley said nothing more.
Before sending the sleepy Elara upstairs to bed, Kingsley said to her: “Ollivander says the wand chooses the wizard, but that doesn’t mean the wand determines what kind of person the wizard is.
You can choose what kind of person you want to become.”
“Thank you, Uncle Kingsley.” Elara disappeared behind the door.
Elara, who had been exhausted, instantly perked up.
She couldn’t wait to experiment with magic.
She took out her wand and sat in front of the table, with a quill placed in front of her.
She started with the simplest introductory spell.
Holding her wand, she gently traced an arc with her wrist, lifted it slightly, and then enunciated the incantation clearly:
“Wingardium Leviosa.”
The quill slowly floated into the air, hovering, and moved and rotated slowly following the movement of Elara’s wand.
She succeeded on the third try.
Elara felt her magical talent was actually quite good—the Levitation Charm succeeded on the first try.
She continued to flip through The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 1.
For Alohomora, she tried a few times and opened the door in one go.
Elara took a quiet peek, saw no one, and then closed the door to continue her experiments.
She tried them one by one.
The Softening Charm succeeded on the first try, making the table very soft, and it recovered after a while.
Elara repeatedly experimented with these spells and quickly mastered them.
Fourth, the wand-lighting charm.
She chanted the incantation: “Lumos.”
There was no change at all.
A second time, “Lumos.”
Still no reaction.
She blew out the candle nearby—was it because the light was too weak?
The light from downstairs shone on Elara through the crack in the door.
She stared fixedly at the wand and enunciated again seriously: “Lumos.”
Still, there was no change.
Not even the faintest glimmer of light appeared at the tip of the wand.
Elara tried various methods afterwards, but made no progress.
Could it be that her previous “learning spells like drinking water” was just an illusion?
She stared at the tip of the wand with one eye, falling into a state of existential doubt.
This was the simplest spell, not even requiring a gesture.
She turned to the next page.
“Severing Charm.” She chanted the incantation, and the table was split open directly, leaving a deep crevice on the wall behind it as well.
It succeeded on the first try.
She wasn’t stupid.
So what about “Lumos”?
Still, no light appeared.
The Knockback Jinx and Fire-Making Spell also succeeded after a few tries.
Elara tried the Reparo charm again—Reparo could seamlessly repair most damaged objects; this spell was invented by Orabella Nuttley before 1754 and could be said to be an extremely versatile spell.
She wanted to clean up the damage she had caused while she was at it.
“Reparo.” She said the spell, but there was absolutely no reaction.
After repeated experiments, the result was the same as the wand-lighting charm; there was no movement at all.
She calmly analyzed the reason.
Once could be a coincidence, but if a second spell also didn’t work, something wasn’t right.
The spells she failed to cast were all positive-leaning magic; while attack-oriented magic succeeded after one or two tries.
Neutral magic succeeded after researching it a few times.
Only the positive-leaning magic yielded nothing after so many attempts.
She wouldn’t become a student with uneven skills, would she?
She went to touch the scars left on the wall, feeling that it almost fell into the category of Dark Arts.
Would she be unable to learn positive magic in the future?
Would her future style also be consistent with that of a Dementor?
After trying magic so many times, Elara finally felt exhausted.
She wrote her feelings in her notebook: the suspected magic power had not bottomed out, but rather it was a physical exhaustion, as if she had stayed up for days and nights in the past.
Elara stopped obsessing over this matter and turned to dive under the covers.
It was already three in the morning, and the lights downstairs had been turned off, and the shop was closed.
It was time to rest—this body of hers still followed human settings, not as resilient as her Dementor original form.
If she wasn’t careful, she would overdraw herself.
She quickly fell asleep.
The next day, she didn’t wake up until the sun was high.
“I’m sorry, I overslept.” Elara bowed and apologized to Tom.
Looking at Elara’s bloodless face, Tom couldn’t help but frown: “What’s going on with you?
You were secretly practicing magic last night, weren’t you?” He looked as if he understood everything.
Elara said embarrassedly: “Yes, I practiced a little.”
At this moment, Kingsley walked over.
“Then show us, let’s see the results of your staying up late.” Kingsley said with a smile, “I thought you were already tired after walking around all day yesterday, I didn’t expect you to still have the energy to study magic.”
Elara demonstrated her newly learned Severing Charm, directly splitting another one of Tom’s tables.
“I’m sorry.” Elara apologized again.
“It’s fine, it will be simple once you learn the Reparo charm in the future.” Kingsley stepped in to smooth things over, repairing the table as good as new.
“Learning a spell in one night can be considered a gifted talent.
Why did you want to learn this spell?”
Seeing this scene, Elara thought: “Why can Kingsley use it, but I can’t?”
“If I learn this, you should be relieved to let me wander outside.” Elara demonstrated this magic, partly to prove that she had the ability to protect herself, and at the same time to establish a persona of “lacking a sense of security.” These days, Tom had been restricting her from running around.
“Of course you can.
But remember to come back on time at night, and also—don’t sleep until this time like today again.
By the time you finish your work, it will be dark.” Tom said while wiping a glass.
“Thank you, Grandpa Tom.
By the way, can you go upstairs and help me repair the table as well?”
Tom couldn’t help but complain: “You little one, you look so well-behaved, why do you have to take it out on my table?” But he didn’t blame her too much.
Elara apologized profusely, promising not to use his table next time.
Kingsley looked at the restored table and muttered to himself: “The power is truly a bit astonishing…
Is it just a simple Severing Charm?”