Britain, London.
An owl swiftly flew over London, scaring away a group of small animals in a corner and drawing the attention of some passersby.
Seeing a bird of prey like an owl in downtown London was, to some extent, a rare sight.
However, most of those who stopped were children or tourists from out of town.
In contrast, the locals of London appeared much calmer, all looking as if they were accustomed to such sights.
It was just an owl; although uncommon, it wasn't unheard of, especially in July each year, when they were seen everywhere.
It was currently mid-July.
"Such a fuss over nothing, a bunch of ignorant outsiders."
Their short shirts seemed to suddenly transform into refined suits, and the old gentlemen, with a strange sense of superiority, held their heads high, their steps becoming noticeably lighter.
No one noticed that the owl in the sky, after crossing a street, suddenly vanished.
It seemed to have passed through a transparent veil; in just the blink of an eye, the owl appeared above another bustling street.
However, the people here were all dressed in various strange costumes, some even wearing pointed hats, and even the buildings were peculiar, looking like they were from the century before last… or perhaps even earlier.
Although from the sky, this place was only a few feet away from the outside street, it felt like two completely different worlds.
"Welcome to Diagon Alley!"
Directly below the owl, a drunken man could faintly be heard shouting loudly.
But none of this concerned the owl; it just wanted to finish its work quickly and go back for a delicious feast of nuts.
Continuing forward, the owl skillfully circled a cobblestone path and landed on a small windowsill behind Ollivander's Wand Shop.
The window was clean, allowing a clear view of a boy inside, about ten years old, who was bent over, fully engrossed in something.
The next second…
"Bang!"
Something seemed to explode, sparks flew everywhere in the room, accompanied by a harsh explosion and a puff of black smoke.
"Oh, hawthorn and Red Cap nerve, truly a fiery combination; perhaps holly would be more suitable!"
Xilun Ollivander straightened up, muttering softly, while looking at a line of red, floating words that appeared before him.
【Hawthorn, Red Cap nerve, ten and a half inches】
【Status: Unfinished】
【Characteristic: Prone to explosion】
Xilun rubbed his forehead.
It had been eleven years since he came to this world, and in these eleven years, Xilun had gradually grown accustomed to the Wizards coming and going around him, and had slowly accepted his new identity.
A member of a… well, a wand-making family.
His grandfather was the famous Garrick Ollivander, who possessed an extraordinary memory and could remember every single wand.
From a young age, Xilun could see the properties, materials, and characteristics of every wand.
He couldn't quite tell if this was his golden touch or an inherent talent of the Ollivander family bloodline.
Xilun was more inclined to believe it was the former, because besides this, he could also fashion some utterly illogical materials into wand cores.
Even Ollivander would find it very difficult to make a wand embedded with a toad's tongue, but Xilun could, and with a success rate that wasn't low.
In a sense, it was quite impressive, but it wasn't very useful.
Xilun sighed.
However, in recent years, under the influence of his grandfather, Garrick Ollivander, he had gradually grown to love making wands and had become increasingly fascinated, making his golden touch less of a burden.
Thinking of this, Xilun shook his head, skillfully picked up another wand nearby, and gave it a gentle wave.
"Scourgify!"
"Reparo!"
The dust and black smoke from the explosion instantly vanished, and the room was restored to its tidy state.
After doing all this, Xilun turned to look towards the window.
There was nothing outside, but he could see the bustling Diagon Alley street and a few brown feathers on the windowsill.
"Strange, I clearly heard something knocking on the window just now, why is it gone…?"
Xilun walked over, opened the window, picked up the feathers, looked at them for a moment, and casually put them in his pocket.
Just then, the sound of flapping wings suddenly came from beside him, and Xilun instinctively lowered his head.
It was an owl with ruffled feathers, glaring at him angrily and letting out a series of harsh screeches.
Xilun didn't understand what it was saying, but from its expression, it seemed to be cursing him, and quite rudely at that.
"Hey, you need to be reasonable, the explosion wasn't my fault."
However, the owl was clearly not satisfied with this excuse, forcefully threw the item in its claws, and flew away without looking back.
"Alright, I wish you a smooth journey…"
Xilun closed the window and then looked at the item thrown on the ground.
It was a pale yellow envelope, with the following written in emerald green ink:
【To Mr. Xilun Ollivander, Ollivander's Wand Shop, Second Floor, In front of the Desk, Diagon Alley】
Flipping the envelope over, the back had a wax seal, a shield crest, with a capital "H" surrounded by a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake.
Oh, right, a letter delivered by an owl in mid-July—what else could it be but a Hogwarts acceptance letter?
Xilun then realized it was already July, and soon, he would be a Hogwarts freshman.
He wasn't as excited as he had imagined.
If he had received this ten years ago, he would probably have jumped with excitement, but now… well, he was still excited, just not as exaggeratedly so.
Moreover, compared to attending Hogwarts, he had found something more interesting.
Making wands.
He had even thought that it would be fine if he didn't receive the Hogwarts acceptance letter; that way, he would have more time to research wand making.
But this was clearly impossible.
As a child with magic, it was impossible not to receive a Hogwarts acceptance letter; Dumbledore couldn't make such a basic mistake.
Even if Dumbledore made a mistake, there was still Minerva McGonagall.
But this was also good.
Xilun stretched his arms and casually placed the envelope on the table.
"Thump thump thump…"
At that moment, slightly hurried footsteps came from downstairs.
Xilun picked up his wand and opened the door in advance.
The next second…
"I just saw an owl!" A head poked in from outside.
"Has that thing arrived?" Garrick Ollivander asked impatiently, not even having time to put down the tape measure in his hand.
"That's right, the Hogwarts acceptance letter…" Xilun pointed to the envelope placed on the table.
Ollivander immediately shifted his gaze, and upon seeing the familiar crest, blurted out:
"Excellent!"
"Honestly, I'd rather take my mother's advice and go to Beauxbatons," Xilun said thoughtfully, propping his chin with one hand.
"Alchemy is a great help to my research, but Hogwarts doesn't have Alchemy classes."
"And my father, mother, and grandmother all graduated from Beauxbatons. My mother also told me that her good friend was promoted to Principal last year, so it would actually be more suitable for me to go there."
Dumbledore had a great reputation; not only was he the Chief Wizard of the International Confederation of Wizards, but he was also recognized as the strongest white Wizard, yet his eyes were only on Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort.
It wasn't that he didn't care about other ordinary students, but he certainly wouldn't pay special attention.
In contrast, Beauxbatons was different.
His mother, Lila Ollivander, graduated from Beauxbatons and was both a student and friend to Olympe Maxime, who was then a Professor, and they often kept in touch after graduation.
Now Madam Maxime was the Principal of Beauxbatons, so if he went to school there, it would definitely be much more convenient.
And more importantly, in the coming years, Lord Voldemort would begin planning his resurrection, and staying at Hogwarts would be very troublesome.
"Hmm… Hogwarts is also great…" Ollivander's gaze drifted, "And, didn't we agree…?"
Ollivander wanted Xilun to attend Hogwarts because Xilun was the only child still willing to inherit his wand-making craft.
His son, Xilun's father, Ga Li An Ollivander, also liked making wands when he was young, but after graduating from Beauxbatons, he became obsessed with botany and traveled all over the world with his wife.
And his daughter, Xilun's aunt, graduated from Ilvermorny and is now a somewhat famous expert in magical creatures.
He didn't know what was going on, but his son's and daughter's careers were both closely related to wand making, yet they were vastly different.
Ollivander thought for a long time and finally concluded that it must be a problem with the schools; Ilvermorny and Beauxbatons were too far away.
Now that Xilun had finally shown a passion for wand making, he was determined to personally guide him and not let him go off to school again.
There was just one thing…
Upon thinking of something, Ollivander's face fell.
How to put it, Xilun was very talented and also very diligent, but the direction of his talent seemed a bit off.
Xilun didn't like traditional wand-making methods and core materials; in other words, Xilun didn't like using Unicorn tail hair, Phoenix tail feathers, and Dragon heartstring as wand cores, but instead preferred some… well, in his opinion, rather unconventional combinations.
For example, Troll nose hair, Red Cap trigeminal nerve, Hinkypunk leg bone.
Ollivander wouldn't even dream of making these things into wand cores, let alone actually do it, but Xilun found endless joy in it.
Ollivander also tried to guide Xilun back to the "right path," but clearly, he hadn't succeeded.
Moreover, Ollivander didn't dare to be too forceful, fearing that Xilun, like his daughter, would get angry and run off to Ilvermorny in the United States after being yelled at a couple of times.
Let it be a little crooked; at least it's being passed down.
"Alright, alright, I didn't say I wasn't going to Hogwarts," Xilun said, shrugging, seeing Ollivander looking pitiful and hesitant.
On second thought, Hogwarts wasn't bad either.
Although a bit troublesome, it could provide many good materials: Cerberus, Dementor, Dragon, Lord Voldemort, Whomping Willow.
Especially the Whomping Willow; there was only one such tree in the entire British magic world at Hogwarts, and Xilun had coveted it for a long time.
Oh, and the old wand in Dumbledore's hand; if he could just get a glimpse of it, it should be of great help to him.
Even if it wasn't helpful, he wanted to see that legendary wand, preferably to try it out himself.
Although the possibility was slim, Xilun was willing to wait; there would always be an opportunity.