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.)