DOTM: Chapter 622/623

Chapter 622: Diagon Alley

Hogwarts only accepts a limited number of new students each year, and they're scattered across the British Isles. Forget having 'relatives' on the same street, it's rare to even find two students from the same city.

Considering that most of these students come from wizarding families, the chances of ordinary children receiving a Hogwarts letter are quite low. Some years, there are only a handful of such students, or even none at all.

This year was no different. Aside from the few children gathered here, there was only one other girl named Hermione Granger, who came from a completely Muggle family.

Because of this rare circumstance, both Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic conducted background checks on the children. The final conclusion was that "everything is normal," and the children's shared magical potential and distant kinship could be explained by the possibility of wizard blood somewhere in their ancestral lines that hadn't been passed down until now.

By now, Selene had already asked all the necessary questions, and Professor McGonagall had patiently answered them. She even demonstrated a bit of magic to gain the guardian's trust.

Having reached this stage of the process, it was time for Professor McGonagall to meet the children.

When Selene called out to them, Ethan dismissed the mirror image in front of him and, like a normal child reluctantly leaving his game, walked toward the living room.

"Hello, Ethan Arendelle. I am the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts."

"Is it this Hogwarts?"

Ethan raised the acceptance letter in his hand. Professor McGonagall smiled and nodded. Being attractive is often an advantage. Upon seeing such a cute and beautiful child, most people couldn't help but feel a sense of goodwill.

Each child who emerged was closely observed by Professor McGonagall. It could be said she was very satisfied. After observing them for a while, she didn't notice anything unusual. On the contrary, she found them all to be quite gifted, and she even wished she could pull every one of them into Gryffindor.

After chatting with the children for a while, Professor McGonagall took her leave. Before departing, she explained to Selene how to get to Diagon Alley and how to exchange money into the wizarding currency, which could be done at Gringotts.

"Goodbye, Professor McGonagall!"

"I hope to see you at Hogwarts soon, Mr. Arendelle."

As Professor McGonagall walked to the street corner and disappeared, the children all wore surprised expressions. But through Ethan's eyes, he could clearly see that she hadn't truly left. She'd merely turned invisible and was still standing there, watching.

Ethan wasn't the only one who could see through McGonagall's spell. Her invisibility was designed for Muggles. Anyone with a bit of power could see through it.

For someone like Logan with special abilities, even without advanced Druid training, his keen sense of smell could tell that she hadn't actually gone.

Pretending nothing had happened, they returned inside and resumed their usual, uneventful routine. In everyone's eyes, Ethan and the others were a group of quiet but intelligent children. Because they were obedient, even with just Selene as their guardian, there weren't any troublesome incidents.

In Professor McGonagall's view, this was ideal. No one disliked well-behaved children.

In the days that followed, McGonagall secretly accompanied Selene and the children to Diagon Alley. She didn't truly leave until they had entered.

Though Diagon Alley was bustling, compared to earlier times, hardly anyone paid special attention to Ethan's group.

It was close to the start of the school year, so Diagon Alley was filled with students. Not just first-years, but also returning students shopping for supplies.

"It's really lively here."

Without Professor McGonagall's constant supervision, everyone could finally talk freely. Although the area was crowded, they didn't have to be overly cautious with their words. Even if they acted a little strange, it wouldn't draw much attention. Eccentrics were common in the wizarding world, and most people were used to it.

"Probably because this place is really famous..."

The wizarding world isn't small, but it's not that big either. There are only so many wizards. While the UK has more than one place selling magical supplies, one Diagon Alley can meet the needs of nearly all wizards in the country.

This is because it hosts the flagship stores of many major magical brands. So most wizards prefer to shop here. Especially at this time of year, it's no surprise it's crowded.

Unlike other children who stayed close to their parents, Ethan and the others split up after entering Diagon Alley. Selene went to Gringotts to exchange currency, while the rest wandered around.

Diagon Alley wasn't that big, and they had already agreed to meet at the wand shop later. Until then, everyone could explore and figure out where the items they needed were.

Scáthach always preferred to act alone and quickly disappeared. Logan was the same. He said he wanted to wander, but Ethan suspected he just wanted to sneak off for a smoke. Did he really think no one would notice those cigars hidden in the snack stash? Too naive.

Illya followed Ethan as usual. Rin originally wanted to explore on her own but ended up dragging Leah with her as company.

Kind-hearted Leah had initially planned to stay with her teacher, but she couldn't bring herself to reject Rin's enthusiasm and ended up being pulled away.

"Anywhere you want to go?"

"I don't know. Let's just wander."

Now that her internal questions had been resolved, Illya was much more cheerful and generally acted like a ten-year-old child.

For Illya, most of her life had been spent in the Einzbern castle. She'd never truly seen the outside world. Even though she had learned plenty and was nearly an adult in age, a part of her still held a child's innocence.

Perhaps because they were all in child form, and this outing was so relaxed, that childlike side of Illya had finally been unleashed.

She darted around like a curious toddler, wanting to look at everything that caught her attention. Time passed quickly as she explored.

During this time, Ethan saw Harry Potter following behind Hagrid. The future Savior of the wizarding world was still just a cute little boy.

Harry looked around curiously, acting similarly to Illya. Though Illya was much more energetic, and her antics attracted a lot of attention. Still, most people just smiled kindly at the sight of such a lovely girl.

Some vendors even gave them small snacks or toys. Clearly, cuteness could indeed be a form of currency. Within an hour, Illya had basically taken care of lunch for both herself and Ethan.

At times like these, Ethan had to act like the responsible older brother, guiding Illya to thank the kind-hearted vendors. Illya never thought of such things herself. Her moral compass was underdeveloped, and she needed to live among others longer to learn how to behave appropriately—or at least appear normal.

Because Illya had been overly energetic, by the time they arrived at the wand shop, they were already late.

"Hehe, I guess I got carried away."

Illya scratched her head sheepishly. Even though she was technically an adult, she didn't understand why she was enjoying this childlike happiness so much.

Ethan knew it was because she had never experienced this kind of life before and deeply yearned for it. But this wasn't the time to give a lecture, so he simply smiled and said, "As long as you're happy."

Then he walked toward the wand shop, which he had already located.

Nothing unusual happened along the way. Aside from Harry Potter, they didn't encounter any familiar plot characters.

That was a good sign. It meant Ethan wouldn't have to become friends with the Golden Trio, wouldn't have to fight Voldemort, and wouldn't get caught in the absurd battles between the Death Eaters and the Ministry.

He just needed to applaud Mr. Savior Harry Potter when the time came and be a proper bystander.

"Here we are. By the way, does magic in this world have to be cast with a wand?"

Standing at the entrance of Ollivanders, Illya asked curiously. Based on what she had seen and heard so far, it seemed like wands were an essential tool for spellcasting.

Ethan, however, knew that wandless magic existed in this world. So wands weren't absolutely necessary. But for most wizards, losing their wand rendered them powerless.

"A wand is just a tool that helps with spellcasting."

"Got it."

(To be continued.)

Chapter 623: Choosing a Wand

Wands in the world of Harry Potter play a very important role throughout the films, with the most famous one even directly influencing the outcome of the final battle.

However, for Ethan, they held no significance. Wands in the Harry Potter world were very temperamental; until a wizard personally touched one, even the maker wouldn't know which type of wizard their meticulously crafted wand would suit.

In Ethan's eyes, Ollivanders wand shop held an important place in the wizarding world not just because the craftsmanship was exquisite, but more importantly, because it housed a massive variety of different wands, ensuring that customers could find one suited to them.

Almost every possible combination of materials used for crafting wands could be found in this shop, and there were also size variations, meaning even wands made from the same material would have distinctly different 'personalities'.

When Ethan and Illya arrived at the wand shop, Selene was already paying, as several others, including Rin Tohsaka, had already found suitable wands.

"Too slow."

Given Ethan's position in the team, most of the time no one would express dissatisfaction toward him. But today was an exception, because Logan was in a particularly bad mood—the cigars he had carefully hidden among his snacks had been swapped, and he didn't need to think too hard to know who was responsible.

As the deputy captain of the Artemis and one of the earliest members, Logan certainly had the right to express his displeasure toward Ethan—especially since he'd been tricked into coming here this time.

"You guys already picked?"

"Choosing a wand is actually pretty interesting."

When choosing a wand, or rather when a wand chooses a wizard, all sorts of accidents could occur. Ollivanders was frequently the scene of such events, though the shop owner had long grown used to it.

The owner, Ollivander, was calmly tidying up while greeting the two children who had just entered.

"Are you two also here for wands?"

"Yes, we both need wands."

"Just a moment."

While the owner rummaged through a large pile of boxes, Rin gave Ethan a brief rundown of the wands the others had picked.

The types of wood used for the wand shafts varied greatly. The few people before him all had wands made from different woods.

However, Ollivander only used three types of materials for wand cores: phoenix feather, unicorn hair, and dragon heartstring.

Rin, Leah, and Logan had unicorn hair core wands. Scáthach's wand had a black dragon heartstring core.

At that moment, the shop owner brought out two boxes and placed them in front of Ethan and Illya.

"Try these two."

Illya reached out casually, but the owner stopped her with a hand.

"No, no, miss, this is the one you need to try."

The shop owner seemed to have a special ability that allowed him to roughly judge which kind of wand a wizard might be suited to. Unfortunately, the accuracy of this ability was limited, requiring multiple attempts to find the right match.

Illya extended her hand to grasp the wand. Under the shop owner's guidance, she gave it a gentle wave... Nothing happened.

"Seems this one isn't it."

He then turned to Ethan. Ethan glanced at the wand in front of him. It looked more like a randomly trimmed branch than a wand, and he immediately shook his head.

"I can say with certainty that this is not the wand I want."

It was too ugly. Please allow him to reject it.

"Alright."

Ollivander wasn't a young fool. Seeing Ethan's undisguised expression of disdain, he already understood what the boy was thinking.

"Perhaps I can help you find one with a more appealing appearance."

"Please bring out the one with the BEST! APPEARANCE! in your esteemed shop."

"Your wish is granted, sir."

Ollivander turned and headed toward the back, apparently indicating that the wand with the best appearance was buried deep in the storage area. Ethan took the opportunity to instruct Illya.

"When you wave the wand, remember to release your magic at the same time. You should feel the wand actively drawing the magic out of you."

"Really? I thought my magic was going to go out of control, so I suppressed it."

For people like them who had used magic for years, there was no way they would be manipulated by a wand. Not even beginners like Leah had trouble controlling their power.

When the others were choosing their wands, similar situations must have occurred. But no one had reminded him or Illya—clearly, they were waiting to watch the fun. Leah might have thought it wasn't something that would trouble her teacher.

Indeed, it wasn't. As soon as Illya waved the wand and after observing the magical tool up close, Ethan already understood how it worked.

The wands in this world were tools for guiding and amplifying magic. They helped casters release their magic more smoothly. They could also store the user's casting habits, helping them cast spells more efficiently.

But since every wizard was unique, each had different magic fluctuations. This caused some wands to be too fast in channeling one person's magic, leading to instability, while for others they were too slow, leading to failed spells.

Without trying it personally, it was hard to say which wand suited whom.

Of course, that only applied to ordinary wizards.

Mature wizards who had trained to a certain level could control their magic well and were no longer affected by the wand's characteristics. They could use even a borrowed wand freely, though due to habit and long-term synchronization with their own wand, they could unleash greater power with their own.

And Ethan's control over energy had reached an entirely different level. Using a wand posed no challenge for him.

In other words, any wand in Ollivanders could work for him. So why would he choose the ugliest one? Of course, he wanted the coolest-looking one.

Ollivander soon returned with the most visually striking wand in the shop and placed it in front of Ethan.

To be honest, wands in the Harry Potter world didn't really match Ethan's aesthetic preferences. He didn't particularly like these conductor's baton-like short sticks. The only reason he didn't go to school empty-handed and show off 'god-like magic' was because he wanted to stay low-profile.

Relatively speaking, the black wand in front of him, about as thick as an adult's finger, thirty centimeters long, and carved with intricate patterns, was barely acceptable.

Casually picking up the wand, Ethan felt its innate characteristics. The wand had very strong guidance and amplification abilities. It wasn't suitable for beginners, as the massive boost made it hard to control and could easily lead to spellcasting errors.

But like he said before, for Ethan, that didn't matter. He easily controlled the energy within his body (which was actually divine power), allowing it to flow smoothly into the wand. A faint glow emerged without causing any magic surges or damage to the shop.

"Oh, it looks like you've found your wand. This is..."

"Ethan." Ethan looked at the wand in his hand like a child who'd just gotten a new toy. "Ethan Arendelle."

"Mr. Arendelle, congratulations."

"Thank you."

Next, Illya also gave it a few tries. After understanding how it worked, she, like Ethan, cared mainly about the appearance.

Unfortunately, these short sticks didn't offer much variation in design. After checking a few, Illya picked one she was satisfied with. She then learned her wand was made of palm wood with a phoenix feather core.

Ethan's was made of yew wood with a Fireball Dragon heartstring core.

"Fireball Dragon?"

He hadn't expected such a coincidence. Maybe this really was the most suitable wand for him. Of course, that still didn't change the fact that Ethan disliked the short stick design.

After paying the galleons and leaving Ollivanders, Ethan saw Harry Potter about to enter just as he was exiting. The other boy looked at him curiously, especially at the new wand in his hand.

Naturally, their eyes met. Ethan gave Harry a polite smile, then followed the others to buy more supplies.

Continuing down Diagon Alley, Selene had already exchanged enough galleons at Gringotts. Ethan's team had never worried about money, and this time was no different. They could buy anything they wanted.

The only issue was with pets. No one seemed interested in getting one.

Fortunately, the Hogwarts letter had stated that students 'may bring' an owl, cat, or toad. It wasn't a requirement.

"Too bad. If I had thought of it earlier, I would've brought Auriel." Though Ethan wasn't entirely sure what kind of creature Auriel was, it looked somewhat like a cat.

"I doubt Auriel would want to come," Logan said, casually tearing open a bag of crisps. He didn't think Auriel would be willing to give up large magic stones just to come to this world.

Ethan thought for a moment. That little thing was either gnawing on magic stones or sleeping somewhere secluded lately. People were almost forgetting it even existed on the ship.

Just when Ethan thought everyone had given up on pets, he noticed Illya crouching in a corner, seemingly playing with something.

Walking over to take a look, he saw Illya staring wide-eyed at... a white bear cub?

(To be continued.)