"What is this?" Ollivander's attention was instantly captured by these two items that clearly weren't ordinary.
"Living Wood and Nightmare Fuel. That's what I call them, anyway."
Ollivander carefully reached out to touch the Living Wood and immediately cried out, "This thing is alive! What if it dies while I'm making it into a wand?"
"It only looks alive because it's absorbed some magic. Don't worry, just don't burn it, and you'll be fine. Though if you could, please seal its mouth shut. It doesn't talk, just screams, and it's way too loud."
Kane placed both items on the counter and acted like a hands-off boss, not even glancing at them again as he focused on talking to Ollivander.
"Alright, alright. Any other requirements?" Ollivander continued.
"Mm... make it look good, and ideally give it some extra functions."
"No problem."
Ollivander agreed without hesitation, then moved on to discussing the cost of this custom work.
"Wands in the shop are seven Galleons regardless of material, but since you're providing the materials for this custom wand, how about four Galleons?"
After stating his price, Ollivander waited for Kane to haggle. That's how business worked, after all.
Truth be told, he made wands purely out of passion, and Kane had even given him two materials he'd never seen before.
Forget charging for this wand, he'd have been willing to do it for free. He could even accept paying out of his own pocket.
However, the expected haggling never came. Kane said casually, "Put it on Dumbledore's..."
"I've got money."
Harry not only spoke faster than Kane, but moved faster than Hagrid, who was reaching for money behind him. He straightforwardly placed four Galleons on the counter.
Kane smoothly changed course. "Then put it on Harry's account."
Ron stared at this scene in shock. You could play the friendship game like this?
"Mm-hmm. If everything goes smoothly, you'll see your very own wand this afternoon."
Ollivander didn't even look closely at the four Galleons.
Instead, as if afraid someone would steal them, he quickly snatched up the Living Wood and Nightmare Fuel and hurried into his workshop.
The four of them left Ollivander's wand shop. Next came the usual routine: cauldrons, robes, and so on. Kane very naturally let Harry pay for everything.
But when they were buying books, he suddenly thought of something and looked at Hagrid.
"If there are other young wizards like me who are orphans without money, and don't have a Harry to help pay, how do they buy their things?"
"If a young wizard is truly penniless and in dire straits, Hogwarts will allocate funds to give them financial aid. Of course, you don't qualify as penniless..." Hagrid looked at Kane, whose robes had gold threading, and showed a knowing smile.
This was the most luxurious garment in Madam Malkin's shop: warm in winter, cool in summer, color-changing, self-sizing, self-repairing, stain-resistant, and it came with two pockets enchanted with Undetectable Extension Charms.
Even Harry hadn't been willing to buy this robe. You had to hand it to Kane's sharp eye, spotting it right away.
However, neither Hagrid nor Ron said anything about all this. After all, Kane being able to pull this off was already quite impressive.
Both Hagrid and Ron figured that if they had a friend who wanted to buy them something like this, they'd have a hard time not suspecting that the next step would be their friend trying to scam them into a ditch, or asking for help with something incredibly difficult.
Like having the two of them split into seven groups to take down Voldemort or something.
Yet Kane just happily accepted it, and so did Harry.
This feeling of "my money is your money" was hard not to admire.
With a brother like this, what more could you say? Forget Voldemort, if you wanted to kill Dumbledore, I'd help you do it!
"I feel like I've lost out on so much." Kane's hand, which had been selecting books, suddenly stopped as he said somewhat resentfully.
"Actually, Hogwarts' subsidy is nowhere near as generous as what Harry's giving you.
You'd probably only be able to afford a secondhand cauldron, patched-together robes, and you'd have to hunt for textbooks in the used book section.
The only new thing on you would be your wand," Hagrid explained.
Ron, who was covered head to toe in hand-me-downs and even had a secondhand wand, suddenly felt that, economically speaking, he was worse off than an orphan.
"Then forget about it." Kane casually put the few new books in his hand back on the shelf and headed toward the used book section in the corner.
Ron watched this scene, a bit confused, and leaned closer to Harry. "What's up with Kane? Is he feeling bad about spending your money?"
Harry shook his head.
Ron still didn't understand Kane well enough. The reality was exactly as Harry expected.
Kane was buying used books purely because he was too lazy to take his own notes, so buying used books was just copying the wisdom of previous students.
Hagrid watched the three of them leisurely selecting books before slowly leaving the store. He planned to surprise Kane and Harry with a little gift.
As for why Ron wouldn't be getting one: Kane and Harry were orphans, so it was perfectly normal for someone like Hagrid to buy them gifts. But Ron, with both parents alive, was different.
For Hagrid, who wasn't part of the Weasley family, to buy Ron a gift would have felt awkward, almost like stepping on their toes.
"Although Hagrid wasn't exactly known for his sharp wit, he still knew enough to understand that."
In the bookstore, Ron glanced down at his worn, hand-me-down robes and was reminded of how little his family had.
Even though Harry had offered to pay for everything, Ron refused to let himself rely on his friends like that.
He chose instead to pick out and bargain for all his supplies on his own, even using the few Knuts he had left to treat Kane and Harry to ice cream.
Although Harry had said early on that he'd cover all expenses, Ron personally selected and bargained for everything he needed, even treating Kane and Harry to ice cream with the few Knuts he had left over.
"So, did Hagrid just disappear in the blink of an eye?"
Harry said while eating his ice cream.
"He probably went to take care of something official. Diagon Alley's not that big — if he wants to find us, he will," Ron said casually.
Suddenly, his face shifted. He looked less like someone enjoying ice cream and more like he'd just taken a bite of something awful.
Kane noticed. "Did you see someone you don't want to see?" he asked.
Ron sighed, a little helpless. "Yeah … Malfoy. That prat."
He paused, then added, "He's like a fly — once he spots you, he'll come buzzing around."
No sooner had he spoken than a crisp, arrogant voice came from behind them.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the disgrace of pure‑bloods — Mr. Ron Weasley. Scraped together a few Knuts from under your bed, have you? Enough to splurge on cheap ice cream with his friends?"
Then Kane felt a young wizard standing behind him and Harry.
He seemed to be deciding whose shoulder was worthy of supporting him, and ultimately chose Kane's shoulder, probably because his robes were more expensive.
Kane felt an arm pressing down on his shoulder. "I've never seen these two friends of yours. What's going on? Has the down-and-out Weasley family fallen so far that they're making friends with Mudbloods now?"
The owner of that voice pressed down hard on Kane's shoulder while speaking.
Harry looked at the blond git frantically courting death with pitying eyes, while Kane looked at Ron, who was already pulling out his wand to help him deal with Malfoy.
"This Malfoy git is pretty annoying, but you don't need to trouble yourself."
Draco Malfoy instinctively felt displeased hearing Kane's words.
Even if Ron was a pure‑blood embarrassment, he was still pure‑blood — and in Draco's aristocratic mind, that meant something.
When had it become a "Mudblood's" turn to speak during a pure‑blood quarrel?
Draco instinctively wanted to teach Kane a lesson.
He raised his hand to slap the back of Kane's head, but just as he was about to follow through, he suddenly couldn't move. His entire body was frozen.
A strange and absurd, shadowy claw gripped his hand tightly. Following the shadow downward, it extended from Kane's shadow on the ground.
"What was that??" Kane glanced at the evil golden-haired boy whose face had lost every trace of color from fear, and asked quietly.
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