4 Chapter 4 - Diagon Alley

"All right, Asmodeus, you seem to have recovered. Follow me.

You see that bin, Folow the sequence."

Dumbledore tapped his wand on some stones in the wall, and it started to disassemble, revealing an entrance to a new world, vastly different from the London where Asmodeus had spent the last month and a half.

Asmodeus looked around and saw various shops with peculiar names. He heard many strange names of potions offered by the sellers. Someone even shouted something about a dragon's heart and liver.

Dumbledore said, "Let's go; I'll take you to buy a wand first. It's the most important thing for a wizard in our time, though maybe not for you."

They walked peacefully for 3-5 minutes until they reached an old, or rather ancient, if the sign was to be believed, shop.

Ollivander Since 382 B.C. - The Best Wands

Asmodeus doubted this claim but didn't say anything.

They entered the shop, and the bell rang to announce new customers.

From the far corner of the shop, a slightly hoarse voice could be heard saying,

"I'm coming; wait a moment."

A few minutes later, Asmodeus saw an elderly gray-eyed man who said, "Oh, Albus, it's been a while since I've seen you. Your wand certainly doesn't need any service."

Dumbledore replied, "Garrick, I've come to you not alone, and this young wizard needs a wand."

Huh? Ollivander asked, "Are 11-year-olds so tall now?"

Asmodeus raised his head and answered, "I'm 13, but I've never bought a wand before."

"Strange," Ollivander replied, "but I'm not concerned about that."

"Come on, boy, tell me which hand you use?" While Ollivander asked, a tape measure was already flying around Asmodeus, measuring him everywhere.

He said, "Right hand, sir."

Ollivander mumbled in response, "Hmm, right-handed. All right, let me have a look." And he walked back into the depths of the store.

"Let's see, try these." Ollivander pulled out a couple of wands and handed them to Asmodeus.

"This one is oak, 14 inches, phoenix feather core. It's for those with strong convictions, good for Transfiguration."

As soon as Asmodeus took the wand in his hands, he felt as if a tributary had emerged in the stream of inner energy within his body, and the energy flowed in that direction. However, he distinctly sensed that this tributary was not strong enough to contain the fiery energy in his blood.

Just as he contemplated this, the wand in his hand ignited. Yet, it wasn't a mere tip flare as if triggered by a spell; on the contrary, the entire wand emitted streams of flame, resembling molten metal. Within a couple of seconds, only ashes remained from the wand.

Dumbledore and Ollivander observed this, blinking and exchanging glances between themselves.

"Ummm, what was that?" Asmodeus asked, looking at Ollivander.

"I would like to know that too," Ollivander said, glancing at the ashes on the ground before turning his gaze to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore, with a twinkle in his eye, looked at both of them and asked Asmodeus,

"What did you feel when you took the wand?"

He replied, "Well, it felt like I had a lake, and someone dug a canal to my lake, intending to divert it to their house to steal my water. Turns out, there's an underground spring in my lake, and it occasionally erupts. After two of these eruptions (heartbeats), the house and canal were flooded and destroyed."

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows in surprise, listening to Asmodeus' analogy. Ollivander, in turn, leaned in to closely examine the ashes on the ground.

"Interesting description," said Dumbledore. "This might be a sign of overly strong magic within you. I also noticed a clear dominance of fire elements in your magical energy. But, I'm confident Ollivander will find a suitable wand for you."

Ollivander stood up and said, "Don't worry, young man. I have a few more options. Let's try others."

"I need to think. You mentioned that the wand's power was insufficient; I believe you should try wands made from dragon heartstrings since, as we saw, the phoenix feather was too delicate for you. You need a wand that can withstand the enormous reservoir of magic within you and the abundance of fire elements.

Here's a 13.5-inch acacia wand with a core of heartstring from a fiery dragon. It's highly flexible and powerful, suitable for dueling. Give it a try," said Ollivander.

After a few seconds, Ollivander was looking at a new pile of ashes on the floor and turned his gaze to Dumbledore, whose mouth corners were already twitching. He asked,

''Did you bring him here to seek revenge on me for haggling over the price of Fawkes' feathers last time?'"

"No, of course not. I would never do such a thing. The main question is, what do we do now?" said Dumbledore.

Ollivander replied, "Go buy everything else and come back to me at 5 p.m. I'll try to look for something. But I can't guarantee it will be suitable."

Dumbledore said, "Alright, we'll be back at 5. Let's go, Asmodeus, we have a lot to buy."

When they opened the door, they saw a man with platinum hair ascending the steps in front of the shop, accompanied by a child around 10-11 years old.

"Hello, Dumbledore. It's quite remarkable that the school headmaster personally selects a wand for a student. I wonder what's happening?" greeted Lucius.

"Hello, Lucius. I don't think my affairs should concern you until I'm at school. Come, Asmodeus, we need to go to the bookstore," said Dumbledore, leading the way.

Dumbledore, although polite in most cases, holds disdain for those like Malfoy, people who waver in their allegiance. You never know his exact position. He didn't want the Board of Governors to learn about the child possibly missed by the acceptance book, as it would be considered a director's negligence.

Even though Dumbledore never personally handled student admissions—leaving it to the magical quill and book—he knew former Death Eaters could find any excuse to cause him trouble.