The Silent Witch of Hogwarts

Chapter 7: The Wand and the Uninvited Guest

"Ah... coming to buy a wand at this hour... the wand must be broken, right?" A hoarse voice entered Loila's ears as soon as she pushed open the door.

"Oh~ cypress wood shaft, unicorn hair core, ten and a quarter inches long..." Ollivander, the owner of the wand shop, looked nostalgic whenever he saw Lupin, or Lupin's wand.

"So, Mr. Lupin," he clearly recognized the newcomer by his wand, "why have you come at this time?"

"To buy Miss Loila Hamilton a new wand," Lupin said gently, then turned slightly to reveal Loila hiding behind him.

"Ah... Miss Hamilton..." Ollivander muttered, glancing at Loila's wand.

"You're not a Hogwarts student, are you?" He immediately came to that conclusion.

Then, seeing Loila's somewhat surprised expression, he said, "Every Hogwarts student buys their wand from me... I'm not familiar with your wand at all."

"Oh wait...you're Durmstrang's student, right?" Ollivander's words made Lupin subconsciously glance at Loila.

Loila cried out in surprise and shrank back.

"Hehe." Ollivander seemed quite pleased with their surprise. He nodded and explained, "Most of Durmstrang's students buy their wands from Gregovich."

"Each of his works is very distinctive," he said with a smile. "Works of art that are pleasing to the eye..."

He muttered to himself, then casually waved his wand and pulled one out from the mountain of wands.

"How about this wand?"

"Hollywood staff body, unicorn hair core..." He was saying this when he suddenly frowned: "Oh... wait a minute."

"Miss Hamilton has Veela blood, doesn't she?" He seemed to see Loila's pointed ears and long silver hair under her hood because of her movements.

"Hmm...hmm..." Loila's barely audible voice, barely audible, as she pulled her hat brim tighter, made Ollivander nod. "In that case...perhaps your wand will have to wait a while."

"Why?" Lupin asked, somewhat curiously.

"Because wizards with Veela blood find it easier to use wands with Veela hair as the core," Ollivander explained with a smile. "And I don't have any of those cores here... so I need some time to procure and make them."

"Then... how long will it take?" Lupin asked on Loila's behalf after thinking for a moment.

"Within a week," Ollivander said, flicking his wand to retrieve a quill and paper.

"Write your address here." He nodded slightly to Loila. "I will let you know when the wand is finished."

"..." Loila pursed her lips and carefully picked up a quill pen to write the location of the tavern on a piece of paper.

"Also, please leave this broken wand behind," Ollivander continued. "I need to refer to your old wand so that your new one will be easier to use."

"Wait...wait..." Loila asked in a low voice, as if she had just remembered something, "This wand...can it be repaired...?"

"Hmm... it's probably no use." Ollivander took the wand and examined it. "The core and the shaft are basically damaged."

"Repairing it is less worthwhile than making a new one," he said, frowning. "How did you manage to ruin your wand like this?"

"It seems like just ordinary use of spells..." He paused abruptly, then shook his head. "Sorry... I spoke too much."

"N-nothing...it's nothing..." Loila pursed her lips and carefully shrank back behind Lupin.

This Mr. Ollivander is quite a... perceptive person... at least very perceptive of wands...

"Clatter".

"jingle."

Just as Lupin and Loila were about to leave, the door to Ollivander's Wand Shop was pushed open again.

The person who came in this time was a middle-aged man, followed by a girl with long dark golden hair and silver eyes. She seemed a little dazed, but her eyes were surprisingly lively.

"Mr. Lupin?" The middle-aged man was taken aback when he saw Lupin, but his expression turned to shock when he saw Loila next to Lupin.

"You have a child?" he asked instinctively.

"No... Mr. Lovegood, this is Miss Loila Hamilton." Lupin quickly shook his head. "My... friend?"

"Friend...friend?" Not only Mr. Lovegood, but even Loila herself was taken aback.

Am I actually friends with Mr. Lupin?

Loila was subconsciously a little happy; this seemed to be her first friend.

"This is Mr. Xenophilius Lovegood," Lupin said, nodding slightly to Loila. "He is the editor-in-chief of the magazine 'The Quibbler'."

Then, as if he had thought of something, he lowered his voice and said, "He's a bit... um... unique."

A person with distinctive characteristics?

What Loila actually wanted to say was that the girl following behind Mr. Lovegood seemed more distinctive than him.

She had somehow gotten to Ollivander's side, her eyes glued to Loira's wand.

"Luna!" Mr. Lovegood noticed Luna's actions as well. He pursed his lips and called out softly, "Come and greet Mr. Lupin and..."

"Miss Hamilton," Lupin reminded her at the opportune moment.

"Yes, Miss Hamilton, please say hello."

"She's your senior from university..."

"Ah..." Loila was about to explain something when Luna gently shook her head: "Miss Hamilton is not my senior."

"Forehead……"

Everyone else in the shop was stunned.

“She wasn’t wearing a Hogwarts uniform…and…” Luna paused, her silver eyes flashing, “She didn’t smell like Hogwarts.”

"The smell of Hogwarts?" Lupin twitched his nose unconsciously.

Mr. Lovegood, standing before him, had already pulled up his own sleeve and was sniffing it: "The smell of Hogwarts?"

"It seems there really is..." he muttered, glancing at Loila. "Miss Hamilton, can I smell it..."

"Alas!"

Loila quickly hid behind Lupin.

Mr. Lupin, this Mr. Lovegood is not just peculiar, he's a very strange person!

"Ah... Mr. Lovegood... are you here to buy a wand?" At this moment, thanks to Ollivander, he interrupted Lovegood's strange behavior.

"Ah, that's right, that's right." Lovegood turned to Ollivander: "Buy Luna a wand."

"Is Miss Lovegood already eleven years old?" Lupin asked with some curiosity.

"Hmm," Mr. Lovegood nodded. "He was eleven when he should have been."

"..."

Loila pursed her lips... Sometimes she didn't quite understand what this man was saying...

But wait... if she's eleven years old... then she'll be enrolling at Hogwarts this fall... wouldn't that mean she'll be my student?

Loila felt even more embarrassed... Was it too shameful for a professor to be seen like this by his students?