Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 161 The Storm of Broken Promises
It's clear that Harry really loves that Firebolt. He even seriously considered emptying Gringotts' vault to exchange it for the best broom, even though he still has five more years of schooling at Hogwarts.

Although this crazy idea was rejected as soon as it came to mind, the fact that Harry could hesitate between "buying the Firebolt" and "emptying the vault and then asking the Dursleys for money to buy spellbooks" is enough to prove how tempting it was.

However, while Harry didn't buy any, Siren did... Of course, not Firebolts, as Siren couldn't afford such expensive brooms; he bought an old-fashioned Comet 260.

The staff searched for a long time before finally finding this 40-year-old antique in the back of the warehouse.

The price was also exactly forty Galleons, which is only slightly more expensive than a second-hand one.

But this is new, and in terms of performance and other aspects, it is much better than a second-hand broom, which far exceeds the price difference.

Harry was puzzled, not understanding why Sheryl would buy such an old broom.

“You could easily spend another twenty Galleons to buy a better Seven Stars Sweeper or a Nimbus 2000,” he said. “If you don’t have the money, I can lend it to you. Trust me, a good broom really makes a difference, both in speed and maneuverability.”

“I know, but I don’t play Quidditch, so I don’t need that much speed and agility.” Celen, carrying his Comet 260, laughed, “This is enough for me.”

"Well... alright then." Seeing that Siren said so, Harry had no choice but to nod.

Comet 260 was indeed sufficient for Xiren. He bought the broom simply for convenience. Just like when he went to see the Blood Baron last time, the broom saved him a lot of walking effort and even solved the problem of how to cross the river.

He might have to go to different places like Garrick later on; he can't always borrow a broom.

Anyway, this antique model only costs forty Galleons, which isn't particularly expensive, and even if it breaks later for some reason, he won't feel particularly heartbroken.

……

Harry, who was standing nearby, was still thinking about the fire bolt, and after that, he went to the shop almost every day to look at the broom.

However, this meant he visited the wand shop less often, and Siron enjoyed a few rare days of peace and quiet.

Sometimes living too close to a friend who is too eager to share isn't entirely a good thing, especially since Xilun now has to prepare for something even more important.

Before we knew it, it was mid-August, and Xilun was becoming increasingly tense.

He remembered that Professor McGonagall had written him a letter saying that there might be a storm at the end of August, at which time the Animagus potion he had prepared would be completely transformed, and that he should be prepared.

Xilun initially thought he would be fine, but as the agreed time drew closer, he suddenly became less confident.

Starting in the second week of August, Siren took out the books about Transfiguration from his box, wanting to read them again.

Before this, he had read all these books countless times, and they were filled with his notes and annotations.

By the third week, Xilun couldn't stand it anymore.

But he was still nervous. The thing he did most often every day was to look up at the sky, and the first thing he did when he got up in the morning was to open the window and look outside.

When he discovered that the sky was clear, he couldn't say whether he was disappointed or happy.

Another week passed, and the sky remained clear and cloudless, showing no signs of any storm.

"Sirlen, what are you looking at the sky for? Looking for an owl?" Garrick couldn't help but ask that day, "Will someone write to you soon?"

“No, no.” Xiren shook his head. “I was just checking the weather.”

To avoid worrying Garrick, Celen didn't tell him the truth.

So Garrick only knew that Siron was learning Animagus transformations, but he didn't know that Siron was about to make his first attempt.

"No, this can't go on." After returning to his room, Xilun rubbed his forehead.

He knew that Professor McGonagall would inform him immediately if a storm broke out, so there was no use in worrying now.

And because he kept looking up at the sky, Xilun felt his neck getting a little sore.

He needed to find a way to distract himself.

After much deliberation, Xilun simply dismantled his newly purchased Comet 260.

He had an idea a long time ago: to turn a broom into a giant magic wand so that Quidditch players could use magic during the game.

It's just that we haven't had time to implement it yet.

Although it was his first time doing something like this, it was best to use the cheapest secondhand broom, but Xilun desperately needed to distract himself and couldn't care less about that right now.

Using his experience disassembling brooms at school, he quickly turned Comet 260 into a pile of parts. Another reason he bought this broom was that the new version of the broom had anti-vibration runes engraved in the wooden handle, and if the runes on the staff were also engraved, there would inevitably be a conflict between the two.

The old version of brooms didn't have this problem. The Comet 140 and Five Stars brooms used in schools for teaching all had solid wooden handles.

The same goes for the Comet 260 in Xilun's hand; the magic core of this broom is hidden at the junction of the broom handle and the branch.

Xilun carefully disassembled it and placed it aside, then whispered a spell, splitting the broom handle vertically in two.

This leads to the first problem: how to inscribe the magic runes.

The broom handle is much larger than a regular wand; even the largest troll wand ever made by Celeste was only two and a half feet long.

The broom handle was about five feet long, twice the size of the troll wand, so the original runes were not enough and more had to be added.

But how to add it, or rather, which runes would be more suitable, is something Xilun needs to consider.

This problem wasn't difficult to solve; he could have just asked his grandfather. Given Garrick's knowledge of wands, he would surely have been able to provide Xiren with a suitable solution.

However, Garrick was busy finding wands for the new students, and since Siron's original purpose was to distract himself and pass the time, he didn't ask and instead started researching in his room.

Siren is similar to Garrick in one way: once they start doing something related to wands, they become completely absorbed in it.

This time was no exception. He immersed himself in piles and piles of magic runes every day, and soon forgot that he was about to undergo his first Animagus transformation.

Then one day, Harry came looking for him again.

However, he didn't come alone this time; Hermione and Ron were with him.

The three of them waited in the wand shop for almost half an hour before Siron finally came out of the room... It was Garrick who insisted on calling him out.

"School starts tomorrow, and you haven't bought any new books or things yet. Or are you planning to go to Hogwarts without buying anything?"

"Oh, I didn't buy it?" Xilun rubbed his eyes.

“Probably not,” Harry said from the side. “I came to you last week to buy something, but you’ve been locked in your room the whole time.”

"Sorry, I don't know. Those magical formulas are making my head spin." Xiren folded a piece of parchment twice and stuffed it into his robe pocket.

"Wait a minute..." Then, he suddenly realized something, "When do we start school?"

“Tomorrow,” Harry said. “Why?”

Xilun didn't answer, but rushed straight outside and looked up at space.

The clear blue sky and bright sunlight made him squint and shield his eyes instinctively.

Wasn't there supposed to be a storm at the end of August? This is practically the end of August, so where's the storm?

Could it be that he missed something while studying the magic rune formula?
“Has Professor McGonagall come to see me recently?” he asked.

“Minerva? What does she want with you?” Garrick asked, puzzled.

This meant they hadn't come looking for me. Xilun understood and continued, "What about my letters? Has anyone written to me?"

“It’s all here.” Garrick pointed to several envelopes and packages next to him. “The owl couldn’t get into your room, so it left the things here.”

Xilun quickly picked it up and looked at it.

Neville's, Fred and George's, and Hermione's...

“That letter was the one I gave you last week,” Hermione muttered to herself. “I’ve been waiting for your reply, but you haven’t even read it.”

“Sorry, I’ve been a bit busy lately,” Celen said.

“Okay, I can tell.” Hermione nodded, looking at Cyren’s messy hair.

The last letter was delivered by Hagrid, along with a large package.

Without Professor McGonagall's letter, Celen breathed a slight sigh of relief.

It seems like the storm just didn't come, not that we missed it... Thinking about it that way, it's not so bad.

(End of this chapter)