Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 435 The Wand Shop with a Queue
In recent days, the wizards of Diagon Alley have noticed something strange: there seem to be more foreign faces on the streets.

This is not surprising at all; Diagon Alley, as the most famous wizarding street in Britain, attracts many tourists every year.

Strangely, these foreign wizards all seemed to have a common destination: an inconspicuous alley and an unassuming old shop.

Ollivanders Wand Shop, already a small shop, has now been divided in two, with two different queues split in the middle of the counter.

Half of them were perfectly normal, nothing special. The people in this group were all there for Garrick Ollivander, to buy a suitable wand for their soon-to-be school-aged children.

The other half was quite interesting; not only was the line much longer, but it was also incredibly colorful, with yellow, black, white, red, and all sorts of other colors.

Most of the foreign faces that appear in Diagon Alley are here.

"I don't understand, why are there still red-skinned people!" Ron, who had been temporarily called in to act as a waiter, asked in a low voice, his eyes involuntarily glancing at the muscular man with a bright red body in the queue.

He was startled when he first saw it, thinking that someone had caused trouble in the team and beaten others up.

"Is he even human anymore?"

“Strictly speaking, not entirely,” Siren said in a low voice. “He has centaur blood, and like Hagrid and Fleur, he is a half-blood wizard.”

"Centaur?" Ron instinctively craned his neck to look.

"But he doesn't have a horse's body."

There is a tribe of centaurs in the Forbidden Forest of Hogwarts. Ron had seen them before. They all have human upper bodies and horse bodies, and are skilled in archery and divination.

"If they have the bodies of horses, they are centaurs, not half-blood wizards."

The magical world is full of all sorts of strange creatures, including half-giants, so how could it not have half-centrens?
Like most half-human wizards, they possess bodies that are closer to 'human' while retaining other characteristics.

For example, Fleur is stunningly beautiful, Hagrid is incredibly tall, while the centaur is gifted with exceptional divination skills and has different skin colors.

The most common colors are red and blue, and it is said that these two skin colors can help them better observe the stars and perform astrological divination.

As for the specific help it provides... that's a secret belonging to the hybrid centaurs, and Siron doesn't know.

After hearing Xilun's explanation, Ron nodded in understanding and then continued to busy himself maintaining order in the group.

Siren had previously said that if he was willing to help, he would be paid one gallon per day.

That's a Galleon! He's never owned a Galleon in his entire life.

Ron agreed almost without hesitation.

Hermione arrived in the afternoon as well.

She looked in surprise at the long line outside and Ron, who was constantly busy.

Although she didn't know what had happened, she immediately decided to help.

This continued until evening. After the wand shop closed, Ron was so exhausted that he sat down on the ground, panting heavily.

"How come I've never seen so many people at a wand shop before?" Hermione said, panting.

“This is a special case,” Xiren said, putting down his quill. “I think it’s because news of the Triwizard Tournament has spread overseas.”

"The Triwizard Tournament?" Ron looked up. "What does that have to do with Ollivander's Wand Shop?"

“Ah, I know!” Hermione clapped her hands. “It was during the third project, when Fred and George were praising your wand in the stands. I remember someone took a picture of them.”

“That’s right, exactly.” Xiren nodded.

He actually found it strange too.

When the holiday started, not many people came to him to make wands; only Maxim, Fleur, and Krum had made arrangements with him back in Hogwarts.

It wasn't until a few days ago, after Hedwig returned from France, that the number of people coming to see him suddenly increased.

Xilun thought it was probably Ms. Maxim or Furong who helped him promote it.

The reason for this belief is that most of the foreign wizards in the queue were French. Although Xilun could not understand French, he could tell that they were speaking French.

"What kind people...Ms. Maxim and Fleur are such kind people," Siren thought to himself.

He decided that if Fleur's sister really came to him to make a wand, he would not charge any more Galleons.

"But why did they come all this way?" Hermione asked. "Wands and Galleons aren't that big of a deal. Couldn't they just ask an owl for help?"

“Theoretically, it is possible, but very few wizards would do it,” Siron said.

"why?"

"Because they need to confirm that Siron is indeed a wand maker."

Ron helped answer this time. It was rare for Hermione to not know something, so he shook his head and said, "A wizard's hair can do a lot of things, like Polyjuice Potion or other weird curses."

“That’s how it is,” Celen said. “So they had to make sure I really was an Ollivander before they dared to entrust their hair to me.”

In front of him lay a thick notebook, each page of which was covered with a strand of hair or a fingernail (even wizards don't all have hair) taped to it. Specific information was written beside it, so that Siron could deliver it after crafting the wand.

Further down, inside the counter, was a box of glittering Galleons. Because they were all deposits, the quantity wasn't particularly large, but the total amount was still quite considerable.

Siren took out two gold coins and handed them to Ron.

"This is your salary, plus your bonus."

To be honest, Xiren had never seen Ron so agile before. He stood up in a flash, his cheeks flushed with excitement.

"This, this isn't right..."

Despite saying that, he was still tightly gripping the two Galleons in his hands, and an expression of enjoyment unconsciously appeared on his face.

This is what Galleon feels like, and Galleon that belongs to him, it's simply wonderful.

“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Xilun said with a smile, then looked to the other side as if he had just remembered something.

"Hermione, what brings you here? Did Ron write you a letter?"

“No,” Hermione said. “I came to buy new textbooks. My dad’s taking me surfing tomorrow, and I’m worried I might not have time to buy them before school starts… Oh no, my dad’s still waiting for me at the Leaky Cauldron!”

Hermione seemed to have just remembered that she hadn't come to Diagon Alley alone, and she turned and ran out.

……

(End of this chapter)