Magical Studies at Hogwarts

Two days later, at nine o'clock in the morning, Professor McGonagall arrived at St. Mary's Welfare Home on time.Ike and Julianne got up early and waited for the arrival of Professor McGonagall.

After greeting each other, Professor McGonagall stretched out her hand and said somewhat seriously: "Mr. Strider, please hold my hand. The journey ahead will not be so pleasant, and you will feel a little uncomfortable, but that is nothing. serious problem."

"Remember! Don't let go of my hand, or something terrible will happen."

"Okay, Professor McGonagall." Ike knew very well how Professor McGonagall would take him to Diagon Alley, and he knew the dangers of phantom migration very well.

Professor McGonagall nodded upon hearing this. "Goodbye then, Ms. Julianne, I'll be back with Mr. Strider before lunch."

As soon as the words fell, there was a "pop" sound, and the two of them disappeared into the room.

When he reappeared, he was in front of a bar that looked very shabby and small.

Ike didn't go to see the famous Broken Ax Bar. Even though he was mentally prepared, he still didn't expect that the Apparition would be so uncomfortable.

It was as if a strong adult had been forced into a small suitcase and then shaken around wildly.Ike kept taking deep breaths, and it took him a while to suppress the remains of food clogging his throat.

"It's always like this the first time, and it gets much better after that." Professor McGonagall patted Ike on the back, and waited until Ike recovered before leading him to open the door of the bar.

As expected, the environment inside the Broken Ax Bar is not very good.Some wizards and witches were sitting or standing, holding a glass of unknown liquid in their hands, maybe mead, maybe butterbeer, or maybe firewhiskey.

Wearing wizard robes, some were talking to each other, while others were hiding in the corners, hiding themselves in the shadows.

Old Tom stood behind the bar, wiping the table with a dirty-looking rag.Seeing Professor McGonagall and Ike come in, they greeted them warmly.

"Professor McGonagall, why did you bring the new students here so early this year?"

"Yes, new student." Professor McGonagall nodded slightly as a greeting.Old Tom naturally knew Professor McGonagall's character, and immediately said, "Then I won't delay you. Goodbye, Professor McGonagall."

"Goodbye."

He led Ike around the bar and came to a small patio.On the surface, there is nothing except some weeds and a trash can, but Ike knows very well that this is the most prosperous place in the British wizarding world - Diagon Alley.

Professor McGonagall took out her wand and lit it on the wall while saying, "Mr. Strider, you have to remember to count three pieces on top of the trash can and two pieces across the trash can. When you have the wand, Tap three times, like this..."

A small opening appeared at the location pointed by Professor McGonagall, and the entire brick began to shake and slowly roll to both sides. An archway appeared in front of Ike.

"You can't go wrong with this order. Although some naughty students will move the trash can, there is magic here. Just wait for 5 minutes and the trash can will return to where it should be."

"Of course, it would be better if you could remember the location of this brick accurately. Now, let's go to Gringotts first and collect your scholarship."

Professor McGonagall led Ike through the archway, suddenly turned around and smiled.

"I almost forgot, Mr. Strider..."

"Welcome to Diagon Alley!"

Ike showed an excited look at the right time, and Professor McGonagall nodded with satisfaction, and then led Ike straight to the conspicuous white building in Diagon Alley.

After passing through the dense crowd in Diagon Alley, Ike finally stood in front of this famous bank.I saw a gleaming bronze door open, and at the door stood a goblin wearing a scarlet uniform with gold trim, bowing to every wizard who entered Gringotts.

Passing through the bronze gate is a silver gate.There is a text engraved on the door, full of warnings and threats.

Ike refused to comment and followed Professor McGonagall through the silver door.

What came into view was a spacious marble foyer, with a hundred goblins sitting behind a tall long counter, weighing money with a scale, testing gems with eyepieces, and calculating accounts with quill pens.

Professor McGonagall walked straight to the end and handed over Ike's admission notice.

"Mr. Stride's bursary."

The goblin took the notice, checked it on the record, and then handed back a money bag.

"Twenty gold galleons, please keep them."

Professor McGonagall nodded slightly, handed the money bag to Ike, and led Ike away.

"Hogwarts will provide a bursary. It's not much, but it's enough for you to buy all the things you need to go to school. You can lead this money at Gringotts before the start of each year, and you need to come and collect it next year. , Mr. Stride.”

"Of course, if you have Muggle currency, you can go to Gringotts to exchange for gold galleons. Gringotts has no exchange restrictions in this regard."

"Now, let's go buy a wand."

All the way to the depths of Diagon Alley, I saw a shabby little shop.The signboard reads "Ollivander's Wand Shop", and a line of small text reads "Making wands since 382 BC."There was a battered wand in front of the window, resting on a faded purple cushion.

When you push the door open and go in, you'll find long boxes filled with boxes reaching up to the ceiling, making the store seem even more crowded.

"Welcome, Professor McGonagall, are these new students this year? It's much earlier than in previous years." An old man with white hair appeared in front of Ike on a ladder.

"Buy a wand for Mr. Ike Strider, Mr. Ollivander." Professor McGonagall was as serious as ever and nodded to Ollivander as a greeting.

Ollivander obviously also knew Professor McGonagall's character. He nodded slightly and then asked: "So Mr. Strider, what is your dominant hand..."

"Right hand."

Ike replied.

"Right hand, of course, most of them are right hands." Ollivander took out a tape measure and motioned for Ike to stretch out his right arm. The tape measure then automatically measured Ike's arm length, forearm length, height, and even head circumference. .

"Every Ollivander's wand has super powerful magical substances, that's the essence of it. We're used to using unicorn hair, phoenix tail feathers and dragon heartstrings."

"Every Ollivanders wand is unique, as no two unicorns, phoenixes and dragons are exactly the same."

"We believe that the wand chooses the wizard, just as we believe that here you will find the wand that is just for you."

Ollivander put away the tape measure, turned around and took down a box from the shelf and handed it to Ike: "Try this, grapevine wood, dragon heartstrings, eleven inches."

Ike took the wand in his hand without any reaction.Ollivander motioned to Ike to wave his wand, still the same.

"It doesn't look like this one." Ollivander took back the wand, climbed up the ladder, and took one off the shelf.

"Cedar, dragon heartstrings, eleven and seventy-five inches. Try again, kid."

After taking the wand, a silver-white ball of light suddenly shot out from the tip of the wand, directly blowing down the mountain of wands piled high on one side.

"Restored as before." Ollivander took back the wand and waved it, and the collapsed wand mountain returned to its original state.

"In fact, almost every little wizard does this when they buy a wand for the first time. We always have to go through some twists and turns before we know which wand is really suitable."

Ollivander babbled: "But I think I already have the answer."

"Try this one, cedar wood, unicorn hair, twelve and seventy-five inches." Ollivander said as he handed it to Ike, "I think this is it, I'm sure."

After all, the wand master is a wand master. As soon as the wand was in his hand, Ike felt as if it was originally a part of his body. A silvery white and soft shimmer emerged from the tip of the wand, and slowly spread out like ripples.

"This is it, this is it!" Ollivander looked very happy and clapped his hands and said, "My father Gervais Ollivander once often said that the owner of a cedar wand will never be deceived. I deeply agree with this.”

“Cedar wands always match a discerning owner.”

"And unicorn fur can often cast the most stable magic, and they are the most loyal."

"What a neat combination! Boy, I think you'll make a great wizard!"

Ike looked at the smooth white wand in his hand and was very satisfied.At least this is a top-notch looking wand.

"Thank you, Mr. Ollivander."

"It doesn't have to be like this." Ollivander's smile was bright.

"Maeke, six galleons."