"What is this?!"
Dumbledore looked at the neatly arranged wooden sticks, which were clearly mass-produced, and felt utterly speechless.
"Ah, it's the White Wizard. Would you like a set too? This is our carefully crafted upgraded version of the Savior's wand."
"It uses materials meticulously cultivated in France, redesigned by a famous wand designer from Italy, processed with German precision engineering, and finally hand-assembled by our English team."
"Today it's only 3 Galleons a piece, and it's buy two get one free. You can use two as chopsticks and one for casting spells. It's really a great deal, Sir, won't you get a set?"
The salesperson continuously pitched to Dumbledore, leaving him stunned. There were too many things to complain about, he didn't even know how to begin.
The 'White Wizard' part he was immune to, but what about France, Italy, Germany, and England? This was all nonsense, wasn't it? This clearly came from some unknown small workshop under a Death Eater's name. More importantly...
"Didn't they say the core was Phoenix feather? Why do these wands have various feathers in their cores, but no Phoenix?"
Dumbledore, suspecting he had made a mistake, double-checked, and after still coming to the same conclusion, his mind was full of questions. However, he was also secretly relieved that Fawkes hadn't been plucked.
Isn't this blatant false advertising? If you keep doing this, aren't you afraid of your shop being trashed?
"The wand core is, of course, 'Phoenix' feather, Professor."
Tom, who had caught up a few steps behind, leaned closer to Dumbledore.
"Professor, the magical creatures that provide these feathers are all uniformly named Phoenix."
"'Phoenix' providing Phoenix feathers, that's a very reasonable thing, isn't it?"
"..."
Dumbledore, having lived for a century, had never encountered such a cunning merchant. It almost completely refreshed his worldview.
"Besides, Professor, it's not like we don't have wands with real Phoenix tail feathers. Here, bring them out to open Professor Dumbledore's eyes."
Hearing Tom say this, the salesperson quickly ran into the shop and soon returned holding an exquisite box.
After opening it and showing it to Dumbledore, he saw two extremely familiar wands.
"What is this?!"
"Yew, Phoenix feather, 13.5 inches."
"Holly, Phoenix feather, 11 inches."
"Both wand cores come from Fawkes' feathers. Given the materials and manufacturing difficulty, only 7 sets are produced, and they will be out of print once sold out. Oh, and they are sold as a set, not individually, and also come with Lord Voldemort and Harry's signatures. Absolutely worth the price, but only customers who reach the highest VIP level in our store are eligible to purchase them."
"..."
Alright, alright, to earn a little money, you've abandoned all principles. No wonder Fawkes has seemed to have lost quite a few feathers these days. He still couldn't escape someone's clutches.
Also, playing like this, the whole "Lord Voldemort and Harry are fated enemies," "twin wands," and Sybill Trelawney's prophecy will all be ruined by you.
"Tom, the magic world is truly 'blessed' to have you!"
Tom pretended not to hear the gritted teeth in Dumbledore's words and proudly lifted his chin.
"Of course, Professor, if you like, I can give you a set right now."
Is this just about a set of wands? Just as Dumbledore's anger was about to erupt, he heard Tom pick up a cheap wand and continue:
"Besides, this thing is a great act of charity in the magic world. If this thing sold for seven Galleons, everything would be wrong, but now that it sells for 3 Galleons, everything is right, and customers will even say thank you. If you don't believe me, ask Mrs. Weasley over there."
Dumbledore looked in the direction Tom was pointing and saw Molly Weasley, laden with large and small bags, returning with a full haul.
Molly also noticed Tom at this moment, trotted over, and before Tom could react, gave him a big hug.
"Thank you, Tom, thank you for looking after George and Fred. And your shop is truly wonderful. Not only is it well-stocked, but the prices are so cheap! Look, I bought so much and didn't spend much money at all. This will relieve a lot of financial pressure on the family for a while."
"Oh, right, taking advantage of today's special, I also bought Ron a new wand, so he won't have to use Charlie's old wand anymore. Thank you, Tom."
Tom nudged Dumbledore, his meaning clear: See? I told you so.
Mrs. Weasley then noticed Dumbledore was also there, hesitated, and finally spoke: "Professor Dumbledore, they're all saying now that you're the White Wizard, the mastermind behind the magic world, the new master of the Death Eaters, you..."
Another one. He was tired. Let it all be destroyed. Dumbledore, being pure, disdained to explain away the dirty water some little scoundrel had splashed on him.
The last stop of the visit was Ariana Avenue, which was the end of Knockturn Alley.
"Dumbledore Square, dedicated to the outstanding contributions of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore (1881-) to the magic world."
Seeing these words, the still-living Dumbledore felt a bit embarrassed to face anyone.
And what embarrassed Dumbledore even more was yet to come.
In the center of the square was a huge statue of Dumbledore seated on a throne, holding the elder wand, with Grindelwald personally crowning Dumbledore beside him.
"What is this again?!"
Dumbledore's voice was trembling. As he and Tom got closer, he saw a small inscription on the base: "In memory of Albus Dumbledore defeating Grindelwald in 1945, thereby being crowned the White Wizard."
Why is it the White Wizard again? Tom, you have a vendetta against the White Wizard, don't you?
So, this White Wizard title, he has to take it whether he wants to or not, right? He felt like he had been firmly placed in this position by someone's series of outrageous actions.
He, who always loved to scheme, how did he fall to such a state? Where did things start to go wrong?
Just as Dumbledore was questioning his life, a crowd gradually began to gather nearby.
"Let us begin our afternoon prayer."
With a word from the leader, the accompanying people knelt on one knee before Dumbledore's statue and began to chant the "Dumbledore Holy Scripture." At first glance, it seemed like he had stumbled into some unspeakable scene.
This series of actions drew many curious passersby to stop and watch.
"..."
Dumbledore pulled Tom and left directly. This wretched place, he couldn't stay there for another moment.
Back at Hogwarts, Dumbledore hadn't yet recovered from today's New Knockturn Alley experience when he saw a figure limping quickly towards him.
"Albus, I finally found you."
"I found... I found..."