“Proud, extreme, explosive…” Sitting on the steps outside Ollivanders under the warm sunlight, Vaughn examined his brand-new elder wand.
Ollivander’s muttered words from ten minutes earlier still echoed in his ears.
“Dragon heartstring rejects almost no form of magic, Mr.
Vaughn Weasley.
Unlike unicorn hair, which resists evil, or phoenix feather, which tends toward balance and moderation, it can help bring any spell closer to perfection—stronger, brighter, more powerful.” “But I must say, it is also the core most prone to complications, especially when paired with elder wood.
This wood is radical by nature.
From the moment it comes into existence, it longs for the summit.” “For centuries, the wizarding world has circulated stories that elder wands bring misfortune.
From my personal experience, I could certainly say that’s nonsense.
Yet the truth is that if one day your destiny is no longer unique, no longer powerful, or if you are defeated…” “Then it may very well abandon you.” “I’m sure you’ve heard the tale of the Elder Wand.
While The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a children’s storybook, it illustrates the nature of elder wands quite accurately.” “They never truly belong to anyone.” Vaughn gently ran his fingers along the wand.
The distinctive knots of elder wood felt smooth and comfortable in his hand.
He could feel it trembling with excitement, eagerly responding to his magic.
“So…
would you abandon me?” he murmured.
Of course, the wand lacked the intelligence to answer.
“Meow.” Marmalade, who had been resting her head on Vaughn’s lap, lifted it at the sound of his voice.
She let out a soft cry and licked his chin as though trying to comfort him.
Vaughn chuckled and scratched through her thick fur.
The giant cat immediately pushed herself against him, purring contentedly.
As if he would worry about being betrayed by a wand.
The conditions Ollivander described would never occur if he had anything to say about it.
His destiny no longer being unique?
That would require another transmigrator appearing in this world.
No longer being powerful?
Then he’d simply remain powerful forever.
Being defeated?
Not a chance.
Even when recounting the Elder Wand’s history, the sly old wandmaker had hidden behind the guise of a fairy tale.
But Vaughn knew better.
The Elder Wand truly existed.
It had aided Grindelwald in stirring chaos across the wizarding world and later spent decades quietly serving Dumbledore.
It had never once abandoned either of them of its own accord.
In the end, Grindelwald’s defeat and Dumbledore’s death had both resulted from choices made by the wizards themselves.
A wand was ultimately just a tool.
“If you crave power that much, then someday I’ll compare you against the real Elder Wand.” The thought made him smile.
He slipped the wand into the holster at his waist.
Behind him, the sounds of wand testing continued inside Ollivanders for a while longer.
Then the door finally opened.
Ron emerged glowing with pride, holding a brand-new wand aloft.
“Fourteen inches, willow wood, unicorn hair!
It’s brilliant!” he announced loudly.
“Just now I made thousands of boxes float around inside!
Too bad you didn’t see it, Vaughn!” His triumphant expression showed no trace of the terrified boy who had been dragged into the shop by Molly barely ten minutes earlier while shrieking in panic.
For the first time in his life, he possessed something brand new instead of another hand-me-down.
The boy was positively inflated with confidence.
Then he heard Vaughn ask with a smile, “Did you buy a wand case?” “…” The grin froze on Ron’s face.
“They’re pretty delicate, you know.
You’ll need maintenance oil too.
A proper set costs at least a few dozen Sickles.” “…” His shoulders immediately began to sag.
“Hmm.
Doesn’t everyone exchange gifts on Halloween?
Though I suppose some people won’t need one anymore.” Vaughn continued smiling.
Ron sniffled.
His eyes began turning watery.
The stubborn pride still lingering within him urged him to straighten up and argue…
But…
Halloween gifts…
Damn it.
This felt like a trap.
Like all middle-aged women, Molly loved chatting about family matters.
By the time she finally finished catching up with Ollivander and left the shop, their Diagon Alley shopping trip was officially complete.
Well…
Perhaps not quite complete for Ron.
They returned to the Burrow through the Floo Network.
Throughout the afternoon, owls arrived one after another carrying their purchases, including Marmalade, who obviously couldn’t travel through fireplaces.
Alongside all of Vaughn’s school supplies were the various sweets he’d bought for Ginny.
The little girl rewarded him with an enthusiastic kiss before immediately attempting to share the candy with Marmalade.
She had fallen in love with the “little kitty” from the very first moment she saw her.
Especially after Marmalade smelled Vaughn’s scent on Ginny and affectionately rubbed against her.
From then on, Ginny practically glued herself to the giant cat, dragging her all over the house while introducing her to every corner of her new territory.
This only made Ron more miserable.
For almost the entire day, he hid inside his room and refused to let Scabbers outside.
Unfortunately, Marmalade caught Scabbers on the second-floor windowsill early the very next morning.
Nobody knew how the rat had managed to open Ron’s window.
Several stolen cookies were even wrapped around his tail.
He appeared to be attempting to run away from home.
Sadly for him, a Stunning Spell dropped from above.
The crafty little rat never had a chance to resist and promptly became Marmalade’s toy.
When Ron got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and discovered Scabbers missing, he frantically searched for him.
By the time he found them, a large patch of fur had been torn from the rat’s body.
Scabbers had come frighteningly close to death.
Ron immediately burst into tears.
He screamed and cried while trying to drive Marmalade away.
Then Ginny charged in on her short little legs and pummeled him with a barrage of tiny fists.
After that, Ron nailed every window in his room shut and begged Arthur to build him a rat cage.
From then on, Scabbers lived under maximum security.
Every day, whenever Vaughn passed the fourth floor with Marmalade, he would spot Ron peeking through a tiny crack in his bedroom door, watching them suspiciously.
To be honest…
It looked rather pathetic.
The only exceptions were Vaughn’s potion-brewing periods.
Every half month, he would lock himself in the attic for several days to work on potions, and Marmalade naturally stayed with him.
Those few days became the happiest days of Ron’s life.
As for Scabbers himself, Vaughn didn’t think much about him.
As long as the rat didn’t escape, that was enough.
While waiting for school to begin, Vaughn’s life continued in an orderly rhythm.
Every half month, he brewed potions.
In his spare time, he practiced spells.
Using his older brothers’ discarded textbooks and old wands, he had gradually mastered the spells from Hogwarts textbooks since the age of eight.
His proficiency varied considerably.
Without proper instruction, self-study could only take him so far.
Arthur and Molly were no help.
They were too busy with work and household responsibilities.
As for his brothers…
Percy was rather selfish.
Expecting him to set aside his own studies to tutor a younger sibling was pure fantasy.
And Fred and George?
Even less reliable.
Their spellwork was a complete disaster.
Vaughn still remembered reading in his previous life that the twins, despite being two years older than Harry Potter, had once needed Harry himself to teach them the Disarming Charm.
Ridiculous.
Time flowed onward.
And finally…
September 1st arrived.