Link and Dumbledore looked at each other.
Both of them smiled.
The difference was that Link's smile carried a different meaning.
It was like he was saying to Dumbledore, 'Didn't you say that finding clues by shopping was less likely than the shadow figure choking to death while drinking water? Now the clue is here, what do you say?'
To be honest, that kind of smile looked rather irritating to Dumbledore.
Fortunately, his skin was thick enough. He simply coughed and turned to the saleswoman and said, "What exactly is the process for custom wands? Take us to have a look."
The saleswoman was a bit confused.
She couldn't quite understand why this old man had just advised that noble young master not to get a custom wand, and now was actively asking to learn more.
But that didn't matter.
As long as a deal could be made, that was a good thing.
"No problem. Then, please follow me."
The saleswoman bowed and made a gesture inviting them forward, her smile becoming even brighter.
———
This broad-chested saleswoman was definitely an extremely professional salesperson.
Perhaps because she noticed that Link and the others were also curious about Zangwill Wand Shop itself, she introduced many details about the shop along the way.
It was through this that Link and the others finally learned that this more than ten-story magical building was actually the comprehensive headquarters of Zangwill Wand Shop, integrating wand manufacturing, sales and marketing, and administrative affairs.
All floors above the third belonged to the office areas for Zangwill employees.
The remaining first floor was the reception hall and the mass-produced wand exhibition area.
The second floor consisted of partitioned private rooms that provided custom services.
The third floor was a reception lounge for VIP guests.
Anyone qualified to enter the third floor was either rich or powerful. Aside from invited domestic noble families, other guests had to not only be verified as pure-blood but also spend more than 1000 Galleons in the shop.
This was a very harsh condition.
After all, in today's wizarding world, pure-blood wizards had mostly declined.
It wasn't that there were no wealthy pure-bloods, but they generally weren't very interested in adopting new wand brands like Zangwill.
The ones truly willing to spend money now were half-bloods and Muggle-born wizards who had grown rich by exploiting their own kind.
This newly wealthy class was eager to join the social circles formed by the old pure-blood aristocrats, but they were shut out and looked down upon.
So, feeling empty, they began forming their own circles and started crazily chasing luxury goods to prove their status.
Not realizing that in the eyes of many old pure-blood noble families, their behavior just made them look like upstarts.
So in Link's opinion, Zangwill Wand Shop's membership strategy was really stupid.
But according to the saleswoman, their third-floor VIP lounge was often full.
Thanks to the excellent environment, abundant refreshments, and occasional salon gatherings, many pure-blood wizards who got tired from shopping on Lionheart Street would come up to sit and have a cup of black tea.
The saleswoman also suggested that if Link was interested, he could go up later to have a rest.
This was actually already hinting that the wand customization service Link was about to order would definitely exceed 1000 Galleons.
The saleswoman had clearly said this on purpose.
This kind of wording was one of their usual probing techniques.
People with high emotional intelligence could easily catch the hidden meaning.
Those with confidence would usually remain indifferent, while those lacking confidence or who were stingy would react differently.
Even if they didn't openly get angry since it wasn't directly stated, they would still show some dissatisfaction.
This made it easier for sales staff to estimate the likelihood of closing the deal.
And Link was exactly the type who clearly understood the hint but showed no reaction.
This made the saleswoman subconsciously straighten her already impressive chest even more.
Unfortunately, Link still didn't react at all.
Their group took a special customer magic elevator straight up to the second floor.
The moment the elevator doors opened, they discovered that the second floor was even larger than the first.
And its overall design followed the template of the commercial office buildings from Link's previous life.
Surrounded by giant floor-to-ceiling windows, the entire open floor was divided into multiple functional areas.
This bright architectural style immediately made Emily and Krell's eyes light up.
After all, this kind of style was quite rare in England.
Even the most popular clothing shop among wealthy wizards on Diagon Alley had an overall old architectural style.
That style was elegant and grand, but generally had poor lighting.
Without comparison it wouldn't seem like much.
But compared to what they were seeing now, those buildings felt somewhat oppressive.
"Guests, please follow me."
The saleswoman's gentle reminder brought everyone back to their senses.
Under her guidance, Link and the others walked straight into a partitioned reception room.
A middle-aged man in a suit, looking like a Wall Street elite, was already waiting inside.
Seeing them enter, he quickly stepped forward, bowed with a bright smile, and greeted them.
Most importantly, he used wizard etiquette rather than the handshake common among Muggles but disliked by wizards, especially pure-bloods.
"Distinguished guests, please have a seat."
He invited everyone to sit on the nearby sofa while he remained standing, maintaining a slightly bowed, humble posture.
Meanwhile, the saleswoman who had brought Link's group upstairs had already gone next door to prepare refreshments and brought them over.
Only after everything was arranged did the middle-aged man smile and say, "Please allow me to introduce myself."
"I am the senior client manager of Zangwill Wand Shop, Russell Zangwill. You may also simply call me Little Zangwill."
"Of course, my name is not important."
"What truly matters is our products."
Little Zangwill blinked and smilingly took out an exquisite catalog from the cabinet behind him.
"My high-end customization services are dedicated to the noblest wizards in the world, customers such as yourselves! This is our product showcase catalog."
"Every piece inside is a proud creation of our wand makers, displayed here only after obtaining permission from their owners. Please feel free to take a look."
"At the same time, I will also provide further explanations."
"For example, the user experience of our custom wands and our measurement services…"
Little Zangwill kept talking endlessly.
Meanwhile, Link and Dumbledore had already taken the catalog and started flipping through it.
And after just a few pages, they had to admit something.
This shop called Zangwill Wand Shop had really opened their eyes.
The weirdness of the wands in the catalog made even the term bizarre seem inadequate.
Even the most conservative examples were heavily mutated versions of traditional wands.
For example, ones with small wings, ones drilled with holes so they could be tied to the hand with rope, ones with teeth that could bite people, even a pink bird-beak wand over a meter long…
'Wait!'
'Why does this bird-beak wand look so familiar?'
'Isn't this Sakura's wand?'
'But… this whole series of manga shouldn't even exist yet, right?'
Link's expression instantly twisted.
Seeing this, Little Zangwill immediately stepped forward and asked, "Sir, is there a problem?"
Link looked up at him and pointed at the bird-beak wand in the catalog.
"This wand… was it customized by someone from Neon?"
"Oh! Sir, could it be you've seen this wand before? That would truly be my honor!" Little Zangwill said exaggeratedly.
"This wand was indeed customized by the great wizard Clow Reed for a younger relative from Neon. Would you also like one?"
Link quickly shook his head, "I don't like something that pink."
"That's no problem. We have many other designs!"
Little Zangwill continued excitedly. "For example, sword-shaped ones, axe-shaped ones, lance-shaped ones… these are guaranteed to look powerful!"
"Lance?" Link's expression became extremely strange. "You mean the kind used by medieval bucket-helmet knights, usually about three meters long?"
"Ah! Sir, you really are knowledgeable! You even know this kind of Muggle knowledge! Yes, exactly that kind of lance!"
Little Zangwill said happily, and even helped flip the catalog to the page showing the lance wand.
In the picture was a bearded Arab man holding up a lance and smiling proudly.
This almost made Link laugh out loud.
After all, lances were a proud creation of European cavalry.
And Europeans and Arabs were sworn enemies.
For several hundred years they had fought over Jerusalem until their brains practically turned to mush.
And now, an Arab man had specially ordered a European-style lance wand and even proudly placed his magical portrait holding it into the display catalog.
If Muggle-born wizards who still cared about Muggle society saw this, it would definitely cause trouble.
And besides, ordinary wizards needed to wave their wands to cast spells. Could anyone even swing something as big as a lance?
Link had serious doubts.
While Link was mentally roasting this whole thing, Little Zangwill was staring at him with the look of a puppy watching its owner.
There was no need to guess. He was asking whether Link was interested.
Link cleared his throat awkwardly, "These weapon-shaped wands are too aggressive. They don't really suit me. After all, I'm not Gandalf."
Little Zangwill naturally didn't know who Gandalf was, but he didn't ask. He just continued, "Then you..."
Link waved his hand, signaling him to be quiet, then pulled out his ebony wand and pressed it against his temple.
As the wand slowly moved, a strand of silvery white light was slowly drawn out from Link's mind by the tip.
This strand floated gently in the air and, under Link's magic, began rapidly changing shape, eventually turning into a pure silver dagger set with a large emerald.
Little Zangwill was completely stunned.
Just from his surname, it was obvious he was also a member of the Zangwill family, a well-educated wizard who had seen the world.
That was exactly why he could understand how incredible what Link had just done was.
Just the ability to extract one's own memory from the mind was already something only masters of Occlumency or Legilimency could do.
Not to mention that from extracting the memory to directly turning it into a concrete image without using a Pensieve, Link hadn't spoken a spell or deliberately waved his wand at all.
What did that mean?
It meant Link was not only a master of Occlumency or Legilimency, but also a senior master who had studied nonverbal casting to a very deep level.
Normally this wouldn't be that rare.
After all, people who could master Occlumency and Legilimency were usually already famous great wizards. Being able to cast nonverbal spells was normal.
But Link was just too young.
Looking at that young and handsome face, people might even believe he had just graduated from a magic school.
To possess such profound magical skill at such a young age.
Was this the kind of talent that true English pure-blood wizard nobles possessed?
Sure enough, there was a reason those great pure-blood noble families had stood for thousands of years.
Our French wizarding families are still far behind.
"Uh… are you alright?"
While Little Zangwill was lost in his wild thoughts, Link's voice brought him back.
He quickly closed his mouth, which had been hanging open in shock, and said humbly, "Please forgive me. I was just shocked by your great power. Oh! How rude of me. But may I boldly ask, what is your family name?"
Link's face darkened.
Dumbledore and the others beside him also grew serious.
To avoid alerting the shadow figures, this trip was absolutely confidential.
Which meant they absolutely could not reveal their surnames.
But if they refused to say or used fake names, it would be too easy to expose and also seem suspicious.
Just as Link and the others were thinking of a response, Krell suddenly stood up with a sharp motion and sneered at Little Zangwill,
"What are you supposed to be, thinking you're qualified to know my young master's name? Hah! Even adding your Zangwill family behind you wouldn't be worthy!"
Those words were full of dominance and carried strong mockery and contempt.
Link felt that if he were in Little Zangwill's position, he absolutely wouldn't be able to endure such humiliation.
If someone dared speak to him, Link Flamel, like that, their brains would probably be beaten out.
However, the angry reaction Link expected didn't appear.
Little Zangwill's face turned red, and instead of getting angry, he actually dropped to one knee and said, "I deeply apologize, young master. I was too rash. Please forgive me!"
Link and Dumbledore exchanged looks, the muscles on both their faces twitching slightly.
They really hadn't expected this kind of reaction.
But Link quickly adjusted his expression.
Because he understood.
When English pure-blood noble wizards dealt with non-native pure-blood wizards, they probably all had attitudes like Krell.
Just looking at the Malfoy family made that clear.
And most people treated that way would be angry.
As for why Little Zangwill showed such humility, it could only be attributed to the fact that French wizards had been kneeling for too long and had forgotten how to stand.
"Ahem...", Link coughed twice.
"Uh, let's get back to the topic of the dagger wand."