"Sir, you—"

"Take it." Les shoved the laurel wood wand into Lupert's arms.

"It's my first time witnessing someone actively choosing a wand," Lupert said while carefully stowing the wand in her pocket, marveling at how her eyes had truly been opened today.

Or rather, ever since she decided to follow this gentleman, her perspective had been constantly refreshed.

"So what is the normal process?" Les, intrigued, wanted to know what the scene of "the wand choosing the wizard" would look like if there were no interruptions.

"Mr. Ollivander will measure our physical data, and based on his experience, he will select a suitable wand for us. Then we will try it out. If the wand chooses us, that's it; if the wand rejects us or is deemed unsuitable, we move on to the next one."

Les: …

In his view, the essence of this process was still the wizard choosing the wand, and the wand maker played too strong a role in between, requiring a very high level of skill from the maker himself.

He wasn't very optimistic about Ollivander's insistence. To him, using only unicorn tail hair, phoenix feathers, and dragon heartstrings for wand cores seemed like a narrow-minded obsession. It was like saying that beef, honey, and wine are great ingredients, but which restaurant would only use those three to create dishes? That would be a bit extreme.

However, overall, Garrick Ollivander was still relatively progressive; the three types of wand cores he chose were indeed very powerful magical substances. More importantly, they were only seven galleons—Les truly doubted whether Ollivander could make a profit at such a low price. He had just passed by a potion shop and noticed that the price for an ounce of dragon liver was nearing a galleon.

If he really were that kind of charitable wand maker, Les wouldn't mind offering Mr. Ollivander some assistance within his means.

Glancing up at the position of the sun and realizing it was still early for lunch, Les decided to take a trip to Knockturn Alley to sell a few magical items he no longer needed and use the money to buy some books.

Knockturn Alley and Diagon Alley were actually connected.

As a werewolf, Lupert was naturally a regular at Knockturn Alley. She skillfully led Les around an inconspicuous corner, through a winding alley, and then they arrived at the gray area of the magical world, Knockturn Alley.

Unlike the bright and shiny Diagon Alley, the overall tone of Knockturn Alley was dark and gloomy, and the shops there looked closely related to dark magic. A shop near the entrance displayed a collection of withered human heads in its window, while the shop diagonally across had a large cage at its entrance filled with giant black spiders.

Groups of ragged wizards clustered in the alley, whispering among themselves, their conversation a mystery.

"Most of the shops here have some connections to the big shots in the Ministry of Magic," Lupert quietly explained to Les about Knockturn Alley. "Those pureblood family bigwigs like to conduct shady transactions here, and many wizards who aren't doing well take on tasks that skirt the edges of the law to make a living."

"Mm." Les nodded, indicating that this kind of operation was quite common; wizards and Muggles had been playing these kinds of games for a thousand years, and he believed that another thousand years down the line, these tricks would still be around.

"You seem quite familiar with this place?"

Lupert forced a bitter smile. "Because I'm a werewolf..."

As the two chatted, a pair of hate-filled eyes fell upon them.

Macmillan, who had healed his fingers, stood at the corner of the alley, looking darkly at Les and Lupert as they ventured deeper into Knockturn Alley.

He had initially planned to swallow his bitter fruit and consider himself unlucky, but who would have thought these two would dare to step into Knockturn Alley? In such a mixed environment, it was only natural for something unexpected to happen, and Macmillan would not miss this golden opportunity.

He glanced around and spotted a familiar figure in a dark corner. He quickly walked up to the person wrapped tightly in robes and tossed a pouch filled with gold galleons in front of him.

"Twenty galleons, and there will be another twenty upon completion."

"Deal."

…

"Is this the shop you recommended?" Les stopped in front of a store named Borgin and Burkes. Like other shops in Knockturn Alley, Borgin and Burkes looked shabby and gloomy. Through the window, he could vaguely see many magical items exuding an aura of evil: a wildly spinning glass eye, bloodstained cards, withered human hands…

"Yes, if you want to sell dark magical items, this is definitely the best choice. The owner of Borgin and Burkes has a sharp eye, but they also drive a hard bargain."

"That's fine, I'm aware." Les had paid special attention to the prices of magical materials in Diagon Alley and had a basic understanding of the current prices in the magical world, so it would be difficult to swindle him.

Upon entering the store, a hunchbacked man appeared in front of them and greeted them with a slick tone, "Welcome to Borgin and Burkes."

After sizing up their clothing and noticing the shopping bags marked with the label of quality clothing, his smile grew even broader.

"Borgin and Burkes specializes in providing secret appraisal services for rare and ancient magical artifacts inherited from ancient wizarding families. Trust me, there's no one more professional than us in Knockturn Alley. Welcome, how can I assist you today?"

"I'm here to sell a few inconspicuous trinkets," Les said, taking out three boxes and placing them on the counter.

"Oh?" Seeing that they were there to sell items, Mr. Borgin's smile slightly faded, and his expression grew more serious.

If they were coming to buy something, Mr. Borgin would have the upper hand, but if the tables were turned, the initiative would no longer be his. He could potentially acquire valuable items at a low price through his persuasion, or he might misjudge and accidentally take in a counterfeit.

Becoming serious, Mr. Borgin put on a pair of pince-nez glasses, laid out a black velvet cloth on the counter, and finally took out a pair of dragon leather gloves to wear.

He opened the three boxes one by one.

The first box contained a bracelet made of white beads, the second held a light yellow candle, and the third contained a seed about the size of a brown peach pit.

A glint of interest flashed in Mr. Borgin's eyes; he looked up at Les, hoping he would introduce the three magical items.

Les naturally wouldn't refuse; he picked up the bracelet from the first box and fiddled with the slightly yellowed beads.

"This bracelet's beads are made from the skull bones of fairies. Wearing it is quite beneficial for creating magical items; adding one while forging metal products can significantly enhance the quality of the weapon."

Borgin: ?!

Lupert: !!!