In the Harry Potter Without Harry Potter

Chapter 10: Is this pickable?

"A combination of Elm wood with Dragon heartstrings, you would have met the owner of this wand when you were a child, Ron. Mundungus Fletcher, the short stocky man with the beard and the two short crooked legs, do you remember him?"

Dumbledore's mouth couldn't help but curl up with a slight curve as he spoke of that man.

Ron obviously still remembered that man as well.

"The thief who came to my house as a guest once when I was six years old and tried to take my family's only silver goblet passed down through the generations and ended up getting caught by my mother?"

Dumbledore laughed heartily.

"Mundungus was indeed very prone to stealing and your father and mother never liked him much before either."

Ron couldn't help but grimace at his words and showed an involuntary look of disgust as he looked at the wand he currently held.

And this gaze was obviously perceived by Dumbledore.

But instead of giving a lecture or reprimanding Ron, he simply asked.

"And do you know why your parents, who never liked him, still personally erected a tombstone for him at his funeral?"

Ron shook his head with a bewildered look on his face like he didn't know about it.

"He was besieged by the Ministry of Magic's Aurors during an operation of the Order of the Phoenix, and in order to keep his memories from being read or being fed a Truth Serum that would lead him to reveal information about us, he made the most fearless decision of his life by not letting himself be captured - he used this wand in your hand to end his own life."

Dumbledore's voice was flat, but Ron's mouth widened; he would have never imagined that the wizard, who looked short and cowardly to him, who had no sense of style at all, who had no other pursuits than to steal things to sell for money, would end up ending his own life in such a manner.

Ron looked back down at the wand in his hand with a very mixed gaze.

"I'll keep it safe for him, Professor."

"That's for sure."

It was only after Ron had stepped back that Justin stepped forward with a nervous flush; the boy had received a lot of stimulation today, learning about the existence of magic and wizards, being taken away from his parents, and coming to this wagon that is supposed to be a school of magic, and now he needed to get the wand that would belong to him.

He wasn't in much of a mood to pick one over the others, and he hurriedly took hold of one of the shorter wands.

Dumbledore remained patient and introduced it to him.

"A combination of Cedar wood with Dragon heartstrings, it was owned by Sturgis Podmore, an early member of the Order of the Phoenix, a reliable male wizard who also died in that battle of the fall of Hogwarts Castle."

"He was a mediocre guy, wasn't he, Professor?" Justin asked hesitantly.

Dumbledore blinked.

"He may not have died as tragically as the others, and never did anything outstanding, but in this day and age, to dare to stand up against that other suffocating power would have been the greatest feat of all, Finch-Fletchley. As we look up at the stars, we too find most of them ordinary, but they are the only ones who shine in the darkness of the night, aren't they?"

Justin's gaze brightened and he nodded vigorously.

"Yes, Professor."

The other four got their own wands, and finally, only Jon remained, and he too, walked up to Dumbledore as all the other eyes focused on him.

To be honest, he didn't care about what kind of wand he would get, as long as it would be working one, then there would be no problem.

But these four wands in front of him, representing four different people's deaths, made his heart feel quite heavy.

Neville's mother, who had been tortured into insanity by the Cruciatus Curse in the original story, had not escaped her bad fate in this world either, dying under the Death Eater's Killing Curse.

Hufflepuff's Head, Professor Sprout, who is portrayed in the book as a kind and gentle witch who cared for each of her students, died seven years ago.

He was not familiar with the latter two wizards, but they still added pressure to this heaviness in his heart.

He knew with unmistakable clarity that this world is definitely not the children's story as it was in the original one.

The students would no longer be able to spend happy hours learning in the castle, and the magical world is no longer a magical world full of novelty and fun.

There are oppression and slavery everywhere, muggle wizards can't even insure their own lives, and the righteous side has become bereaved and left to roam around in a wagon.

Many of the original characters he is familiar with and the protagonist with thick luck (plot armour) was killed in this story (world), and he simply has no choice in this matter either.

Although he was raised in an orphanage, Jon's parents in this world are well documented and verified by both Hogwarts as purely muggle-born.

He didn't want to enter the Hogwarts castle known as the 'Domestication Field', which means he was destined to join Dumbledore's side against Voldemort, who was already firmly established his authority in this world.

Jon didn't know if he had it in him, he didn't have any systems or golden fingers that usually came with protagonists he read about on the internet, and for wizards, magic talent is crucial, and those who have it are destined to achieve much more than those who don't.

But it is useless for him to think so much right now, the only thing he can do right now is to hold a wand in his hand first.

After a quick glance at the remaining wands in the cabinet, Jon stretched out his hand, intending to pick up one of them, when the corner of his eye suddenly caught a glimpse of the innermost part of the wooden cabinet.

This is a wooden cabinet with sliding doors, and Dumbledore had only opened half of the cabinet, and under the cover of the other half of the door, there is still a wooden box hidden away, which under normal circumstances would hardly attract anyone's attention.

Jon was positioned exactly on the far side of the cabinet, which gave him just the right angle to spot it.

His outstretched hand paused slightly.

That wooden box obviously kept a wand as well, only he wasn't sure if Dumbledore had put it here for the new students to pick out that wand.

If it was, then there was no real need to hide it behind the cupboard door on the other side, but if it wasn't, why not just simply store it away without putting it in the cupboard altogether?

Jon hesitated for a moment in his mind, but something inexplicable made him unconsciously reach his hand in and take hold of the wand's sleek body from the wooden box behind the cupboard door and take it out.

"Professor, is this wand pickable?"

He asked Dumbledore as soon as he held the wand in his hand, but just as Dumbledore was about to answer his question, a brilliant cluster of silver sparks suddenly erupted from the wand's tip!

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