Shadow trail of the beautiful world

Chapter 70 28. Lola

At midnight, Merlin carried the gifts in several bags, pushed open the door of the small shop in front of him, and stepped into it.

Whether it was with Mr. Arthur or Hermione, Merlin had heard of the name of the wand master Ollivander several times. They praised this wand craftsman and praised him as the best in the world without hesitation. The master wandmaker.

But to be honest, the dilapidated, old, and strange-smelling little shop in front of him doesn't quite match the identity of the master who is well-known in the wizarding world.

The space in this shop was very small, smaller than any magic shop that Merlin had been to before.

Its interior is nothing but a bench and an old counter.

But to Merlin's amazement, on the huge bracket in front of his eyes, there were thousands of long and narrow boxes used to hold wands, almost reaching the ceiling.

It is no exaggeration, there are at least 3000 wands here.Merlin didn't even dare to open his spirit vision, he didn't even need to look, he could easily feel the magic power rippling in this hall.

It was the breath of countless weak magic powers fused together, like...

The countless magic wands in front of him seemed to be singing together.

It is a miracle of simplicity and grandeur.

"Oh, there are not too many guests at this time."

A slightly tired and out of breath voice appeared from the shadow beside Merlin.

Under Merlin's gaze, an old man in a wizard's robe slowly came out of the shadows. He held a brush in his hand, and he was supposed to be cleaning the dust on the supports holding the wand just now.

This wizard looks very old, his face is covered with wrinkles, and there are silver hairs on the top of his head. Although he has not been well taken care of, but with the temperament of this old wizard, it adds a sense of mystery to him .

And the most memorable thing is that this old wizard has a pair of special, silver-white eyes.

"Master Ollivander."

Merlin leaned slightly towards the master staff maker in front of him, and he introduced himself:

"My name is Merlin. I heard your name from a friend. I came all the way from North America just to buy a wand that suits me here."

"No no no!"

Ollivander was not very happy because of Merlin's compliment. On the contrary, he put down the brush in his hand and said in a serious tone:

"You don't choose the wand, young man, the wand chooses you."

"Always remember this, it's not just your weapon, it's an extension of your magic power, your will and your soul, it's not only your proof of identity, it's also your lifelong old friend."

"Well, I remember."

Merlin nodded, he had no intention of arguing with the old wizard in front of him.

Merlin didn't know much about magic.

But in the biography of "Hogwarts, a School History" he is reading, which teaches common sense of magic, it records in detail the characteristics of the wand made by Ollivander.

It is said that this old wizard has made wands for generations. Their family history can be traced back to Roman times. The wands made by the wizards of his family are better than any other wands.

The Ollivander family is first-class in the selection and matching of the core and wood materials. They have inherited many secrets in their family. They can perfectly integrate the core and wood into one. It is said that they also inherit a kind of perception magic. , allowing the wand to freely choose the ideal owner.

But Merlin didn't come here to covet the secrets of the old wizard family.

His purpose is very simple, just like other little wizards who come here, it is to choose a wand that suits him.

"Then let's get started."

The old wizard didn't seem like a very talkative person.

Or rather, he enjoys his work more than the small talk.

"Every wizard should have a wand that matches his own magic power, which can make the magic you release more powerful and easier to manipulate. And when you hold the wand, the wand itself resonates with the wizard's magic power, which can make the magic power in your body It flows more smoothly."

Ollivander turned around, stepped on the wooden ladder, took down the three wand boxes from the bracket, put them on the counter, and made a "please" gesture to Merlin.

"Let's try it first, let me see the nature of your magic power."

Merlin looked at the three wands in front of him, and he shook his head, not trying like other wizards.

He is not a naturally awakened wizard, which means that he cannot use the wands of ordinary wizards.

He looked at the puzzled Master Ollivander in front of him, hesitated for a moment, and said softly:

"I shouldn't hide it. My magic power comes from... the devil. I am not a natural awakened magic power, Master, do you have any suggestions for my situation?"

Merlin looked at the staff master in front of him with a trace of apprehension, he was ready to be thrown out the next moment.

After all, he knew that traditional wizards hated everything to do with demons and devils.

But to his surprise, Master Ollivander did not show a disgusted expression. On the contrary, he blinked his silver-white eyes, and reached out to take back the three wand boxes in front of him.

He said calmly:

"Oh! This kind of situation is relatively rare. Well, my ancestors occasionally encountered such wizards in the Middle Ages, but I haven't encountered many in my life. Frankly speaking, this is really curious. "

Behind him, Merlin watched as the old wizard slowly put the wand case back on the shelf.He asked softly:

"You, don't you hate demon walkers like me?"

"Hate?"

Ollivander stood on the ladder, looked back at Merlin, and said:

"Why hate it?"

"Are you going to hurt me? Are you going to try to sabotage my shop and my job?"

"No, I have no malice."

Merlin replied, Ollivander shrugged, and he asked with a smile:

"Then why should I hate you?"

"I'm a pure craftsman, Merlin."

"I wouldn't even waste time at Hogwarts if the process of making a wand didn't necessarily require me to learn magic. All I care about is the wand, and only the wand. I don't care about anything else. My only concern is ..."

The master stick maker took out a dusty box from the three-story bracket. While blowing the dust on the box, he climbed down the ladder and said to Merlin:

"The only thing I care about is whether you can find a suitable wand with me, and whether you can be chosen by these cute little guys."

The old wizard walked forward slowly, complaining like an ordinary old man while walking:

"Wizards have some rigid and inappropriate bad habits. They hate this, don't like that, and like to promulgate some laws on their own, but they don't care whether it will affect other people. Because of their preferences, I even had to give up Make something interesting, something that piques my interest."

Ollivander put the old wooden box on the counter, and he said to Merlin:

"For a craftsman, this is an unbearable invisible confinement. But the good news is that I, who was young and passionate, made many interesting attempts on the spur of the moment... Although this work looks It looks a little unorthodox, but it's mine too, so give it a go, kid."

The master wand reached out to open the wooden box, and a magic wand appeared in front of Merlin's eyes.

Inside the black velvet lining, a wand fifteen and a half inches long lay quietly in the box.

Merlin had seen Hermione's wand, Arthur's wand, and Auror's wand, all of them were black without exception, and their shapes were very similar, all of which were simply embellished with several knots.

All the wand masters don't seem to like fancy decorations very much, and the wands they make all belong to that simple style.

But the wand in front of Merlin's eyes was different.

It's red, dark red to be precise.It's like a layer of fine red paint has been evenly applied to the wood.

It has 3 sections as a whole, and looks like an irregular cone when viewed from the side.

This wand, made by the young master Ollivander, has a slightly weird decoration on the handle.Three sculptures like devil's claws are engraved on the wand, which looks like the remaining two-thirds of the wand extend from the ghost's claws.

This decoration makes the wand look a little weird, with a hint of gloomy temperament.

No wonder, the old wizards would say that it is a bit "unorthodox".Old-fashioned and serious orthodox wizards will definitely not like it.

"It's made of yew."

Ollivander introduced to Merlin:

"Because of the poisonous sap of this tree, the yew in the Mediterranean is often associated with magic and death. After the outer bark of the yew tree dries up and dies, a new tree will continue from the center of the tree. Therefore, in the Roman period, it was regarded as the "tree of immortality", and in some esoteric systems, it also symbolized the reincarnation of the soul."

Ollivander told Merlin the story of the yew wood like a few treasures. He looked at the wand in front of Merlin's eyes, and with a trace of nostalgia, he said:

"In England, the ancient Celtic priests also regarded the yew as a symbol of eternal life and immortality... The magical nature of such trees is biased towards darkness, destruction and death. Only those with black magic Only a wizard with natural talent can be recognized by a yew wand, but that refers to other wands, not this one."

"This one is unique."

The wand master's fingers stroked the red ghost claw wand, as if stroking a lover's skin, and he said softly:

"I made it without the materials that wand cores are often used for..."

"At that time, I had a whim and used a devil's horn, ground it into powder, and decorated it with the specially treated Yeqi tail feathers. This kind of random behavior has always been hated by the staff masters , because it could easily lead to bad things."

"But...it worked out."

"Even I didn't expect that this wand would be made so smoothly."

Ollivander withdrew his fingers, he looked at Merlin, a wave flashed in his eyes, and he said:

"I thought it would never see the light of day again, because in this era, under the pursuit and supervision of rigid wizards, very few people can get power from demons, and they will not be backlashed by power. Dimension The blockade is very strong, and the demons who can cross the border in this era are either very weak, so weak that they are not worth mentioning, or they are so strong that they can make the entire wizarding world tremble."

The old wizard took a step back, waved his hands and added several defensive spells to himself, then made a "please" gesture to Merlin, and said:

"Try it, oh yes, I have to warn you..."

"Its temper is not very good, and it is more...greedy."

Merlin looked at the red wand in front of him, and he took a deep breath to calm himself down.After a few seconds, he stretched out his fingers and held the red wand in front of him.

It was a bit heavy at the beginning, at least heavier than Merlin imagined.

But the balance is excellent, and the feel is perfect, like an extension of your own arm.

"Try injecting magic power."

Ollivander saw Merlin pick up the wand, but was not counterattacked instinctively by the wand, a trace of surprise flashed in his silver eyes.As a Master Wandmaker, there is nothing more exciting than seeing your wand found its owner.

Therefore, he urged in a slightly hasty tone.

Merlin nodded, and cautiously injected the dark magic power in his body into the wand, this action seemed to wake up the sleeping wand.

The next moment, a looming hum echoed from the wand.

It is like a hungry child, instinctively absorbing the dark magic power.

It longs for this magic that comes from the same place it comes from.

In just a few seconds, Merlin's magic power changed from being actively injected at the beginning to being absorbed instinctively by the wand, and the speed of the ingestion became faster and faster. After a few seconds, the cold wind began to blow in the small shop. reverberate.

Both Ollivander and Merlin heard the sound of a giant beast swallowing water.

"You want more?"

Merlin felt the wand tremble in his hand, and he said in a gentle voice:

"Okay! I'll give you...all of it!"

Merlin completely let go of the control over the magic power in his body, allowing the magic power to flow into the wand in his hand like a tide.

The more magic the wand draws, the slower the dark magic will eat into his soul and body.

Under the cover of the thicker and thicker dark mist, Merlin's suppressed spirit became more and more relaxed, until the last moment, almost two-thirds of the existing dark magic power in his body was sucked out by the wand.

Only then did the red wand's thirst for magic power be satisfied.

With the waving of Merlin's wrist, the dark mist in the small shop parted obediently at this moment, and a mass of light like a red flame wrapped around the tip of the magic wand in Merlin's hand, like a lantern that was turned on.

And the red ghost claw wand that was full stayed docilely in Merlin's palm, as if he really went home and then fell asleep lazily.

"very nice."

Master Ollivander looked at the docile wand in Merlin's hand, and on his wrinkled face flashed a smile of pure satisfaction like a child's.

He said to Merlin:

"It's yours, sir, use it well."

Merlin looked at the magic wand in his hand that seemed to extend his soul, and said softly:

"Then can I give it a name?"

"Oh? A name for the wand?"

Master Ollivander blinked, and he said to Merlin:

"Very few wizards do that with their wands, but if you really want to, go for it, it's yours anyway."

"Ok."

Merlin put all the remaining Galleons in his pocket on Master Ollivander's counter, and the master wandmaker did not refuse the payment far exceeding the cost of making a wand.

He looked at Merlin, and Merlin looked at the red wand in his hand. Under the dim light, a dim red halo shone on the surface of the wand.

This reminded Merlin of his lost birthday present, and he whispered to his wand:

"Hello..."

"Lola."

(End of this chapter)