Chapter 472: Wand Revision (Edited)

"Dumbledore!" Rita Skeeter made a happy face at the sight of Dumbledore.

"How are you?" she said, approaching Dumbledore and extending a large, plump hand with red-painted fingernails, "Have you read my summer paper on the International Congress of Wizards?"

"It was wonderful," Dumbledore smiled slightly, but did not shake Skeeter's hand, "I especially loved reading the part where you portrayed me as an old lunatic."

Rita Skeeter didn't look the least bit embarrassed, as if she really thought Dumbledore was flattering her.

"Nyajajajajaja!" Fish suddenly interjected at that moment, "George and Fred also said, Albus, you're a bit of a lunatic."

?(?ΦΦ?)?

"Oh, those two little friends," Dumbledore grinned, "The two of them always have incredible wit...and guts."

Somehow, with Dumbledore's very gentle, even pleasant, tone, Harry got the feeling that the twins were going to suffer.

"Well, the wand testing ceremony is about to begin, so please go and sit over there."

Dumbledore said to the four Champions, pointing to a row of seats by the door, instead of continuing his conversation with Fish.

The four Champions complied with Dumbledore's instructions and took a seat by the door, while Dumbledore sat with the other four judges.

Rita Skeeter looked around, found a corner to sit in, and pulled a roll of parchment and a long, dazzling green quill from her crocodile-skin bag.

Harry watched her put the tip of the quill in her mouth, suck on it for a moment, and then stand it upright on the parchment.

"May I present Mr. Ollivander." Dumbledore said to the Champions as he took a seat at the referee's table. "He will check your wands to make sure they are in good condition before the tournament."

"It's been a long time nya!"

(?ΦΦ?)?

Fish smilingly waved to Mr. Ollivander, and Mr. Ollivander also smiled and nodded to Fish.

"Miss Delacour, you go first, okay?" said Mr. Ollivander, heading for the open space in the middle of the room.

Fleur stepped forward and handed him her wand.

"Not bad," said Mr. Ollivander quietly after careful examination, "Nine and a half inches... of very flexible maple wood.... It contains... Oh, my goodness..."

"It contains the hair of a Veela," said Fleur: "It's my grandmother's hair."

"Nya?!"

(?ΦΦ?)?

Fish's eyes lit up and he suddenly asked Mr. Ollivander aloud, "Fish can also make a wand out of his own nya hair?"

"Well... using a wizard's own body tissue as the core of the wand was popular for a while many years ago, then it became clear that the wand was more comfortable to use, but didn't enhance the spell as much, so gradually no one did it again. However, I think a more powerful wizard could make a better wand and, of course, my favorite wand is...".

Mr. Ollivander became so eloquent when talking about wand making that Dumbledore had to cough twice to remind him to get to the point.

"Sorry, sorry," Mr. Ollivander smiled and slapped his forehead, "Where was I? Ah, yes! I've never used Veela's hair.... I think a wand made from Veela's hair is too sensitive and whimsical...but, to each his own, since it suits you..."

He ran his fingers through the wand and, after checking it for scratches and bruises, he whispered, "Orchideous!".

A bouquet of flowers bloomed at the tip of the wand.

"Very good, very good, in good condition." said Mr. Ollivander, as he picked up the flowers and handed them to Fleur along with his wand.

He then examined Krum's wand and recognized it as the work of Gregorovitch, who was as famous as himself, and Ollivander couldn't help but mutter, "He's an excellent wandmaker, though his style is not something I'm very.... comfortable with, but..."

The key point was muffled by Mr. Ollivander, and even the sharp-eared cat failed to catch it.

After handing the examined wand back to Krum, Mr. Ollivander's silver-white eyes looked at Fish.

"It's your turn," he said softly, "Fish."

Fish stood up, hopped over to Mr. Ollivander and handed him his wand. The first thing he did with his wand was to look him over carefully for bite marks.

After confirming that Fish had not used his wand to sharpen his teeth, Mr. Ollivander breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yes, I remember it perfectly well, it was one of my first creations." His mood was much more excited than before: "The core of the wand is the hair of a leopard cat, which I bought from a Cherokee in exchange for a whole Occamy eggshell."

Mr. Ollivander prattled on about Fish's purchase of the wand: "Twelve inches, vine wood! Yes, vine wands are more sensitive than any wooden wand when it comes to fitting the owner, they unleash magic when they find the right owner, and the magic you produced then, Fish, was the most spectacular I've seen in three times!".

He spoke excitedly before calming down a bit, then brought Fish's wand back up to his nose and, after a long moment, said in a slightly grumpy tone, "But you don't seem to use it much..."

"Because Fish's claws are better nya!"

?(?ΦΦ?)?

Fish raised his hands and answered confidently.

Mr. Ollivander smacked his lips and said nothing more. He pointed Fish's wand at the open window and shouted, "Avis!"

There was a loud bang from the vine-wood wand, like the firing of a pistol, and a flock of birds flew out from the tip of the wand and flew through the open window into the pale sunlight.

Fish pouted secretly, Ollivander's bird spell was far worse than Professor McGonagall's.

"And the last one... Mr. Potter." Mr. Ollivander handed the wand back to Fish and finally spoke Harry's name.

"Ah, yes," Ollivander began similarly to Fish after grabbing Harry's wand, "Yes, yes, yes. I remember it well... Holly wood, eleven inches long, phoenix tail feathers ..."

Mr. Ollivander muttered as he meticulously examined Harry's wand.

For some reason, it took much longer this time than the others. Finally, he let a stream of wine flow from the head of his wand and handed it back to Harry, declaring it to be in perfect condition.

After examining the wands, Ludo Bargmann and Rita Skeeter suggested that the Champions be photographed again.

The four Champions and the five judges were photographed together, with Fish in the center of the room as expected, and Harry forced by Skeeter to stand next to Fish. He then insisted on taking a picture of the Champions one by one.

Fish, who was already hungry and impatient, reluctantly finished the individual photos and, despite Rita Skeeter's pleas, the cat ran out of the room and into the Great Hall for dinner.

Rita Skeeter had no choice but to settle for second best, her chubby fingers imprisoning the equally hungry Harry and forcing him to stay for his interview.