Chapter 78: Wandmaking Skills Acquired
"George, from today onward, you are my student. I will do everything in my power to train you into a wandmaker as skilled as I am!"
Inside the wand shop, Ollivander clutched the box of unicorn tail hairs with trembling hands, making a solemn promise to George.
"Please don't get too excited. I believe in you."
George, seeing the elderly Ollivander's bloodshot eyes, feared that the old man might keel over from sheer excitement.
For a wizard like Ollivander, who had spent his entire life studying wands, receiving eight thousand unicorn tail hairs was like giving a martial arts fanatic eight thousand top-tier martial arts manuals or a lecher eight thousand of the most beautiful women.
Not only would he be willing to teach you wandmaking, but he might even kneel and call you "Dad" without hesitation.
"Good, good. When would you like to start learning?"
Ollivander managed to calm his overwhelming excitement and asked.
With so many top-tier wand cores, perhaps before he died, he could create a wand as powerful as the legendary Elder Wand, becoming a legend in the wizarding world and a myth in wandmaking.
"If possible, right now."
George didn't want to waste any time. The sooner he learned wandmaking, the sooner his main body and other分身 could acquire wands, significantly boosting their strength.
After caressing the box of unicorn tail hairs, Ollivander didn't hesitate. He got up, hung a "Closed" sign on the door, and led George to the backyard.
If George wanted to start now, then he would teach him now.
Thus, George began his enjoyable holiday wandmaking journey.
Even on Christmas Day, he didn't let Ollivander off, dragging the old man into lessons until nightfall before returning to the potion shop.
However, on Christmas morning, he did take some time to select various gifts and sent Pigwidgeon to deliver them.
The recipients included Tonks and her Auror colleagues, his Slytherin classmates, friends like Harry, Ron, Hermione, Luna, and Ginny, as well as every professor at Hogwarts.
He even sent a gift to Dumbledore.
Of course, none of the gifts were particularly expensive. While George wasn't short on money, gifts shouldn't be too extravagant. Otherwise, they would become a burden rather than a gesture of goodwill, as the recipients would feel obligated to reciprocate.
And so, time passed until the day before the Christmas holidays ended.
"This one is quite good. It can barely be considered a qualified wand. You have a natural talent for wandmaking, but don't get complacent. Keep practicing when you return to school."
Ollivander examined the wand in his hand, which had a Troll whisker core and a pine wood shaft, and nodded with satisfaction.
Initially, he had planned to teach George only the basics.
Wandmaking wasn't a simple craft. The foundational knowledge of materials, core processing, and wood carving would typically take months to grasp.
But to his surprise, George showed remarkable talent in wandmaking.
First, George quickly understood the complex foundational knowledge Ollivander explained. Second, his hands-on skills were exceptional, with few mistakes. In just half a month, George had successfully crafted a qualified wand.
Although there were still some minor flaws, they weren't significant. The wand could easily be sold in the shop.
"Thank you for your guidance during this time. I'll come back to learn more during the summer break."
George politely bid farewell to Ollivander and left the wand shop.
His rapid mastery of wandmaking wasn't due to extraordinary talent but rather his three brains working together, his superhuman physical abilities, and the foundational knowledge he had already acquired from reading wandmaking books at Hogwarts.
"That boy, if he continues to delve into wandmaking, might not be inferior to me."
Watching George's retreating figure, Ollivander sighed in admiration.
Meanwhile, at the Fairy Tail guild.
George flew out of the library and landed in the guild hall. After scanning the room, he asked Mirajane at the bar:
"Have you seen Natsu?"
Finding magical trees in this world was incredibly easy. A quick flight around the forest behind the guild would yield several suitable trees.
If he wanted to be more meticulous, he could spend some money to search for them in magical shops.
With the wand wood sorted, the next step was the core.
Cores weren't difficult either. This world was teeming with magical creatures, and Fairy Tail mages often took on quests to subdue creatures attacking towns.
He could ask them to bring back some hair or horns for him.
If all else failed, he could use his own hair as a core, though the results wouldn't be ideal.
He was looking for Natsu because he had heard that Natsu was raised by a dragon, could use Dragon Slayer Magic, and had a dragon-like physique. He wanted to test if Natsu's hair could serve as a wand core.
According to the history books of this world, dragons were the most powerful magical creatures. If Natsu's hair had even one percent of a dragon's power, it would surpass most magical creatures.
So, he wanted to give it a try.
"You mean Natsu? He took on a book-finding quest and teamed up with Lucy to complete it."
Mirajane replied gently.
Levy, who had been browsing the quest board, quickly ran over.
"Is that the 200,000J book-finding quest? I was hesitating whether to take it, but Natsu beat me to it."
The 200,000J book-finding quest was relatively low-risk but time-consuming. After the guild's cut and splitting the reward among the team members, each person wouldn't get much.
Subtracting travel expenses, accommodations, and potential magical item costs, the profit would be even smaller.
That's why she had been hesitating.
"Perhaps it's good that you didn't take it, Levy. The client has increased the reward from 200,000J to 2,000,000J."
At that moment, Master Makarov jumped down from the second floor and landed on the bar.
"What? 2,000,000J just to find a book? That's almost as much as a large-scale subjugation quest!"
The guild members began to buzz with excitement.
Many regretted not taking the book-finding quest, missing out on the 2,000,000J reward.
"It's probably not that simple."
With Natsu gone, George returned to the library, though he also thought Levy had made the right choice by not taking the quest.
High rewards meant high risks. It definitely wasn't just a simple book-finding quest.
And Levy's team's strength, to be honest, wasn't up to par.
Levy's Solid Script Magic had many effects, but each attack was too weak. More importantly, she wasn't particularly skilled in combat and had some mental blocks.
Her two teammates were even weaker.
To be honest, even without a wand, George could easily defeat all three of them if he got serious.
(End of Chapter)