Chapter 4 The Cunning Showdown

"What's that? It looks like a coin..."

Maca played with the object in his hand while recalling the mysterious blue light he had seen earlier. He temporarily abandoned his plan to leave and pulled out a broken piece of wood from another basket nearby.

Pretending to be curious, Maca asked about the price after listening to the short and ambiguous explanation from the short wizard.

"Ten galleons! It must be worth ten galleons, it's so rare and precious!" protested the short wizard.

Maca interrupted him and offered a price confidently, "Three galleons. From what I know, that's all it's worth."

He spoke with a firm tone, as if he knew exactly the real value of the so-called "Horcrux coffin".

"No! At least eight galleons! You must know, that infamous wizard - the despicable Horcrux - was buried in it..."

Before he could finish, Maca interrupted again, "Four galleons! That's my final offer, nothing more."

As the short wizard hesitated, Maca pretended to be angry and grabbed something from the shelf with a casual motion, exclaiming loudly, "Fine! Add this to the deal, eight galleons for both items! Otherwise, I'm not interested!"

Maca slammed the eight galleons onto the nearby countertop and stared at the short wizard expectantly.

Suddenly speechless, the short wizard looked at the item in Maca's hand and the eight galleons on the countertop, looking defeated.

It was an old-looking coin that felt heavy in Maca's hand, but besides being dirty there was nothing particularly special about it.

"Alright, alright, I'll just give it to you. Thanks for the good deal," the short wizard said reluctantly, collecting the money into a locked drawer.

On the street, Maca was in a great mood. He played with the old coin in his hand, feeling pleased with himself. Even this dark alleyway somehow brightened up.

Of course, he didn't have a chance to see the short wizard in the Borgin and Burkes shop smiling just as smugly.

"Arrogance is the most precious asset humans possess. It helps Borgin gain profits," the short wizard remarked, patting the drawer full of money and making a clanging sound.

The old coin in Maca's hand was, of course, enchanted by the short wizard himself. In fact, it was just an old dirty cast-iron coin.

Nevermind the tricks of the swindler, on the other side, Maca was satisfied with his bargaining skills and estimated it was time to go. He headed back towards the direction he came from.

"Hmm?"

At a fork in the road, Maca saw a tall figure walking out of the Gringotts bank's entrance in the crowd.

"Hagrid?" Maca murmured to himself, heading towards him.

As he dodged through the crowded people, he immediately noticed the small figure next to Hagrid.

"Oh! Are you the famous...Harry Potter?" Maca intentionally looked the boy up and down before speaking.

Before the boy could react, people around them had already gathered and exclaimed, "Oh my goodness, it's Harry Potter!"

"Really? Oh my!"

"Good gracious! I feel like I'm dreaming!"

The crowd immediately began to discuss animatedly, with a few even edging forward as if they had seen some rare magical creature.

Maca looked around and immediately grabbed Harry's sleeve, running off and signalling for Hagrid to follow. It was only after they had entered the junk shop that Maca and Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oops, sorry, I didn't expect them to react like that," Maca said apologetically.

"Oh, it's okay," Harry shook his head at Maca, who was the same age as him. "But why? This is the second time it's happened, am I famous or something?"

Maca looked at Hagrid and nodded as if he understood something.

"Well...I'm sorry, but I don't think I should be the one to explain this to you," Maca scratched his head, though he was just lazy to elaborate.

Just as Harry was trying to pry, Hagrid came over.

"Alright, alright, now that we're here, why don't we go buy a wand first?" Hagrid patted Maca's shoulder, happy to say, "You come too! Uh..."

"Maca, Maca McClain," Maca nodded.

"Oh, yes, Mr. McClain," Hagrid also nodded along.

"No, I mean, just call me Maca," Maca said, suddenly putting his hand on Hagrid's butt. He immediately noticed this and felt awkward.

"Goodness, you're really tall!" Maca purposely pinched his throat to ease the awkwardness.

Hagrid laughed awkwardly at the remark but didn't say anything.

Maca then realized that Hagrid was probably concerned about his blood status. Of course, according to Hagrid's personality, he was probably more concerned about how children perceived him than his own blood status.

Maca immediately stretched his hand back, regardless of whether it was Hagrid's butt or shoulder, and said with ease, "There was a goblin who said the same thing to me at Gringotts just now."

"Hahaha! You're not much older than a goblin at your age," Hagrid wasn't dumb, and he had obviously noticed that Maca was actively easing the atmosphere.

Harry, who stood to the side, looked at the two in confusion. He didn't understand what they were talking about but felt that the atmosphere was a bit strange.

"Alright, let's go! We'll go to Ollivanders across the street, where you'll definitely be able to buy the best wand."

Yes, a wand - this was what Maca and Harry had both been longing for.

This was a shabby little shop, with a faded golden sign on the door that said, "Ollivanders: Crafting Fine Wands Since 382 BC."

A single wand sat alone on a faded purple cushion inside a dusty window display.

As they entered the shop, the sound of tinkling bells came from somewhere at the back of the shop. The shop was very small, with only a bench, and nothing else.

Hagrid sat on the bench and waited, while Harry had a strange feeling as if he were in a strictly managed library.

He suppressed the many questions that had just arisen in his mind and began to look at the thousands of narrow, elongated boxes almost reaching the ceiling. For some reason, he suddenly felt uneasy. The dust and silence here seemed to conceal mysterious magic.

"Good morning," a gentle voice said, startling Harry.

Hagrid, who was sitting down, seemed to be equally startled, as there was a sudden sound of shuffling and scraping and he quickly stood up from the bench.

An old man stood in front of them, his light-colored eyes shining brightly like two moons in the dimly-lit shop.

"Hello, Mr. Ollivander," Maca greeted politely.

Harry looked a bit shy but also said, "Hello."

"Oh yes," the old man said, "yes, yes. I knew I would be seeing you soon, Harry Potter, no problem at all. Your eyes are just like your mother's, when she came in here to buy her first wand, it seems like it happened only yesterday. Ten and a quarter inches long, made of willow, swishy and excellent for charms."

Mr. Ollivander walked up to Harry, and Harry wished he would blink more because his silver eyes were making him uncomfortable.

"Your father, on the other hand, favored an oak wand. Eleven inches long, pliable, and a little more powerful, ideal for transfiguration. I say he favored it – it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."

Mr. Ollivander seemed to have not noticed Hagrid standing beside them. He moved closer and closer to Harry, his nose almost touching Harry's face. Harry could even see his own reflection in the old man's cloudy eyes.

"Oh, this is...," Mr. Ollivander gently brushed his fingers over the lightning-shaped scar on Harry's forehead.

"I am so sorry, that it was a wand I sold that did it. Thirteen and a half inches long, yew wood. Very powerful, powerful indeed, but in the wrong hands... if only I had known what that wand was going out into the world to do..."

Mr. Ollivander let out a soft sigh, but then looked behind Harry and seemed to recognize Hagrid, which made Harry finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"Ah, Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! Delighted to see you again, holly and sixteen inches, phoenix feather core, nice and supple?"

"Y-yes, sir," Hagrid said.

"A great wand, isn't it? But I suppose they snapped it in half when they banned you from performing magic?" Mr. Ollivander suddenly became serious.

"Yes, they did, sir," Hagrid slowly stepped back, "I still have the pieces though."

"But you don't use it anymore, do you?" Mr. Ollivander asked eagerly.

"Oh no, sir," Hagrid replied, and Harry noticed that Hagrid was tightly holding onto his pink umbrella as he spoke.

Of course, Maca wasn't paying attention to Hagrid's old broken wand because Ollivander finally focused his attention on him.

"Oh, a new face. Hello, child." Ollivander's interest in Maca wasn't as strong as it was for Harry, which was understandable since Maca had no extraordinary background story to make others aware of him. "What is your name?"

"Maca McClain," Maca answered.

"Oh, alright, Mr. McClain," Mr. Ollivander said, sharply scanning the two of them with his eyes. "So, which of you gentlemen wants to go first?"

He took a long strip of tape measure out of his pocket, marked with a silver scale, and looked serious as he gestured for Harry to step forward.