......
Certainly, it was indeed looted!
George couldn't help but curl his lip as he walked into the chaotic apothecary, looking around at the mess inside.
The potion shop was turned upside down, a clear sign that it had been robbed by a dark wizard during the past six months since George left for Hogwarts.
Luckily, he had sold off all the valuable items long ago, so the thief likely left empty-handed.
"Restore to its original state!"
George raised his wand and cast a Restoration Spell, causing the potion shop to quickly revert to its state before he left.
The main issue is that he hasn't learned any protective spells yet, otherwise he could have laid down some sort of anti-unlock spells and protective enchantments before leaving, which would have kept most dark wizards out.
Thieves like this, who steal small items, have limited power. True powerful dark wizards wouldn't stoop to doing such disreputable acts.
"Clean and renew."
After cleaning up and tidying his luggage, George once again began reading by candlelight.
The spellbook George was currently reading was titled "Magical Wandry 101", a specialized magic book on wand knowledge, written by the famous wandmaker Ollivanders.
It explains a lot of knowledge about wands.
Of course, there is no mention of how to make wands in this book.
There are two main parts of a wand: the wand wood and the core.
Not all wood is suitable for making wands; only those trees that possess magical qualities can be used in crafting wands.
Such trees are rare and difficult to find, looking identical to their ordinary counterparts, and only experienced wandmakers can identify them by their unique properties.
But there's also a simpler way: one can look for nests of the protective tree rogues, as trees with such nests are usually ones that can be used to craft wands.
Different types of trees produce wands with different qualities. Finding a wand that matches one's own characteristics can greatly enhance magical performance when casting spells.
For example, wands made from the Golden Honeysuckle tree can only be fully utilized by the most talented wizards, otherwise they will produce strange noises and unpleasant odors, significantly reducing magical power.
Wands made from Redwoods prefer kind-hearted and helpful wizards; apple woods prefer those with goals and ideals; snow cedar woods favor determined and loyal ones, and so on.
The length, hardness, and flexibility of a wand also affect its power.
The core is even more crucial than the wand wood, as it is more important than the wand wood. The extent to which a wand's magical power is amplified depends primarily on the choice of core.
It is usually made from the hair or organs of magical creatures, such as a Niffler's hair, a Thestral's tail feather, a Cryptovore's whiskers, the neural network of an Arachnophobia bird-eating creature and the spine spines of a White River monster.
Among them, the most precious are the unicorn's mane hair, the dragon's heart nerve, and the phoenix's tail feather.
"Unicorn's mane hair?"
Seeing this, George silently dug out a small box from his suitcase, opened it, and revealed several bundles of unicorn tail hair inside.
He knew that wizards like Ollivander probably aren't in short supply of money, and it would be very difficult to convince someone to teach him how to make wands just by throwing gold galleons at them.
So he had prepared this rare unicorn tail hair.
Unicorns, the most sacred magical creatures, are indeed treasures from head to toe.
Unicorn blood can sustain life, even if you're teetering on the edge of death, it can forcibly extend your life.
Unicorn horns can be used to create advanced potions, ground powder from one gram of horn worth twenty-one gold galleons.
The unicorn's tail hair is the top-tier material for making wands.
However, unicorns are extremely rare, with there being only a few in the entire world.
Happily, a few unicorns still survive within the Forbidden Forest, although one was killed by Voldemort last year.
A few days before graduation, George secretly left the castle in the middle of the night, using his "Wings" magic to silently fly into the Forbidden Forest.
Communicating with the creatures of the Forbidden Forest through his mental powers, George avoided the dangers of centaurs and eight-eyed spiders, and found the few surviving unicorns.
Afterwards, he used magnetic control to slice off the tails of the unicorns at lightning speed, and thus harvested these bundles of snow-white unicorn tail hair.
Unicorn tail hair is similar to horsehair, after all; once it's cut, it will grow back in a few years without causing any harm.
George didn't believe that the large amount of unicorn tail hair he had collected could not entice Ollivander to teach him how to make wands.
Normally, a unicorn's tail contains approximately two thousand strands of hair, and one strand of tail hair can be used to create a top-tier wand. George had harvested the tails of four unicorns, resulting in a total of eight thousand strands of tail hair.
He had to "bash" in such a way that it would make Ollivander willing to teach him.
The next morning, George opened the door of the potion shop to find a blanket of snow outside.
It had snowed all night the previous evening, transforming the normally foreboding Diagon Alley into something less terrifying.
Trampling on the pristine snow, leaving a trail of footprints, George walked out of Diagon Alley and arrived at the entrance to Ollivander's Wand Shop, which was located on the south side of Diagon Alley.
This was his second time visiting this wand shop, the first being when he came to buy a wand before school started.
Ollivanders Wand Shop is arguably one of the oldest stores in Diagon Alley, having started crafting wands since 382 BC. It doesn't look large and appears somewhat dilapidated, with the gold lettering on the signboard somewhat worn out.
Pushing the door open, the shop immediately filled with a tinkling alert.
"Afternoon, do you need to buy a wand?"
An old man with silver-white eyes and full white hair, greeted George warmly in a soft voice.
He was the owner of the shop, Gellert Grindelwald.
George walked slowly up to Ollivander and a faint smile appeared on his face.
"Afternoon, Mr. Ollivanders, my name is George. I am not here to buy a wand, but rather to learn the art of wand-making from you."
"Are you joking?"
Ollivander's face immediately turned stiff, as if he felt that the young wizard was fooling him.
George heard this and took out a large bag containing one hundred gold Galleons, placing it on the counter.
"I can pay for the lessons. As long as you agree to teach me, the amount is up to you."
"I'm sorry, I cannot teach you."
Ollivanders eyes fell on the gold Galleons on the table, revealing a slightly surprised expression before he decisively shook his head.
Being able to produce so much gold suggests that the other party is indeed interested in learning the art of wand-making, but wand-making is the Ollivander family's survival in the wizarding world. How could it be so easily taught to an outsider?
Even if it were a hundred thousand gold Galleons, he wouldn't be able to teach him.
Seeing Ollivanders resolute expression, George sighed and knew that trying to impress Ollivander with gold Galleons would not work. He then placed the box containing four bundles of unicorn tail hair on the table.
"Then what if I offer these as payment?"
George reached out and opened the box, pushing it towards Ollivander.
"What is this for payment... unicorn tail hair!!!"
Ollivander, who had appeared calm until then, almost jumped up in surprise upon seeing the entire four bundles of unicorn tail hair. His silver eyes seemed almost to be riveted to the box.
...
