The Silverwick Sword had a magical contract with John.
Whenever John needed it, he only had to make a light grasping motion in the air, and the Silverwick Sword would appear.
Perhaps because of the shock of exile, or perhaps because he was now in a different time, the Silverwick Sword could no longer be summoned.
The current John truly had nothing left.
He did not even have a wand.
After staying at Bathilda's house for a few days, he prepared to gather some materials and craft himself a wand as soon as possible.
As for buying one…
Setting aside whether he even had the money—Ollivander was a very formidable man. Whether it was a wand made by his father or by himself, once someone chose it, he could remember that person's name with absolute clarity.
John did not want to alter history, and in this era there was no place like Johnny Silverhand's establishments.
So he could only do it himself.
Fortunately, Godric's Hollow had abundant natural resources.
When he first arrived in the woods, he had already smelled the scent of linden wood, which could serve as suitable wand material.
The magical world could not be judged by common sense.
For example, even with John being blind and heading out alone, Bathilda showed no intention of stopping him.
Not in the slightest did she seem to think a blind person going out would encounter any obstacles.
The way wizards thought was different from Muggles. John had known that for a long time.
After leaving the house, he replayed the path he had taken when he first arrived.
Working backward from the steps at Bathilda's front door, he found the route leading to the woods.
He set off.
He walked straight into a wall.
Bonk!
"Tsk… something's not right." John rubbed his nose and reached out to feel the courtyard wall he had just bumped into.
Had he miscounted his steps?
A breeze drifted past, carrying the scent of morning glories.
John recalled Bathilda mentioning that her neighbor had a yard full of them.
He guessed the wall he had hit belonged to the neighbor's house.
So he felt along the wall, inching his way forward.
On the 1st floor, at the window that was rarely opened, a girl watched the boy's strange behavior.
Even though John was blind, his senses remained sharp.
He noticed someone staring at him and immediately lifted his head.
Startled like a frightened fawn, the girl quickly ducked behind the window.
When the gaze disappeared, John simply assumed it was someone's curiosity.
After he finished feeling his way along the wall and walked past, the girl gathered her courage and peeked out again.
All John left behind was his retreating figure.
But the boy's unfocused eyes from earlier stirred a trace of curiosity in the girl.
"Ariana."
Her brother's call made the girl quickly shut the window.
A red-haired boy, who looked about seventeen or eighteen, walked in.
What left the deepest impression about him was those blue eyes.
Seeing his sister hiding there without responding, the boy's eyes carried a weariness far beyond his years.
Their mother's death had forced this boy, who had just graduated from Hogwarts, to shoulder the responsibility of caring for his younger siblings.
His younger brother was stubborn and had not yet returned from Hogwarts.
His sister, because of certain circumstances, was unable to attend Hogwarts and remained ill at home, unable to go outside.
The European trip he had once planned with a friend had also been canceled because of all this.
A bird meant to soar had chosen to break its own wings and remain behind to care for its family.
The girl looked at the boy, clutching her teddy bear timidly without speaking.
The boy understood his sister's condition and did not force her to answer. He simply smiled gently and reminded her to eat properly.
…
John finally arrived at the woodland where he had first appeared.
The journey had not been smooth. At one point, he stepped into the stream and nearly slipped on a stone and fell.
The breeze carried the scent of fresh grass, brushing across John's face and through his hair.
Leaves rustled in the wind, the soft sound calming the mind.
John felt his way through the woods and found a linden tree.
Alchemy heightened sensitivity to scents.
After searching the nearby area, he picked up a fallen linden branch.
Lifting it, John carefully put it away.
"No small handbag really is inconvenient."
Thinking of his little handbag, John missed being able to just toss anything into it.
He still wanted to try his luck and see if he could find an oak tree.
Collecting some oak sap would improve the quality of the wand.
But he could not venture too deep. He was still unfamiliar with this place.
After searching around the outskirts and failing to find any oak, John chose to head back.
As a blind person, he was still quite conspicuous in a place like this.
Godric's Hollow was a semi-wizarding settlement. Aside from Bathilda, other witches and wizards lived there as well.
An elderly resident noticed John and asked if he needed help.
John smiled and politely declined, and the man let it go.
Still, the white-haired blind boy seemed to have attracted attention.
Especially when John walked into Bathilda Bagshot's house—that lifelong spinster's home.
The next day, John went out again, gradually familiarizing himself with the village.
At the neighbor's window, the girl once again secretly watched the blind boy.
Clutching her teddy bear, she stared at him as he passed the front of her house.
There was something very unusual about this blind boy, something that made the girl, who disliked talking to others, pay special attention to him.
This time, the blind boy did not walk into a wall, and as time passed, he grew more and more adept.
It was almost as if his eyes were not blind at all. If not for the occasional need to touch the wall, no one might have noticed.
The girl's increasing attention toward him also caught her brother's notice.
The red-haired boy did not disturb his sister. He simply watched the person passing by the house, wondering when Bathilda next door had gained a new resident.
…
John began crafting his wand.
He found a bottle of oak sap in Bathilda's house, which she normally used to repair loose book pages.
She had no objection to lending it to John.
What did surprise her, however, was that a blind boy actually knew how to make a wand himself.
After stripping the bark from the linden wood, John borrowed some tools and began shaping it.
As for the core, John simply plucked one of his own hairs.
Although he was human, he also possessed traits close to those of a magical creature.
So in theory, using his hair as a wand core was not impossible.
Moreover, doing so would make the wand far more compatible with him.
For example, Fleur used the hair of her Veela grandmother, which provided better magical affinity.
Wandmaking was not something that could be completed in a day or two.
During this period, John did not remain idle. He went out almost every day.
Relying on his knowledge as an alchemist, he gathered various materials outside that could be used for brewing potions.
Bathilda did not find his frequent outings strange in the slightest. She did not even show any intention of asking about them.
Being this slow to notice things, John felt that her remaining unmarried might actually be a very good choice.
John also learned a few things about Bathilda, such as the fact that she had never married and had a playboy nephew.
John could roughly guess what kind of personality that nephew had—probably similar to Sirius.
If Sirius had not spent those years in Azkaban, with his looks, attracting a few women would not have been difficult.
Aside from that nephew, there was no one in Bathilda's household who caused trouble.
That allowed John to breathe a little easier. After all, as an outsider… Naturally, the lower his profile, the better.
Ideally, before finding a way back, it would be best if no one knew him at all.
Especially those with influence—he should stay far away from them.
John firmly held to this idea. He would avoid contact with anyone destined to become famous in the future.
That would minimize the chances of affecting the future he came from.
If something went wrong and the Voldemort he had painstakingly killed ended up revived...
John suspected that if he went looking for Death again, Death would not be fooled a second time.
A week passed.
John made his way to the woods with practiced ease.
The residents had grown used to seeing him and no longer found it strange.
On this day, the wand he had been soaking in oak sap was finally ready to be taken out.
The freshly removed wand was still a bit sticky, but after drying in the sun, it was essentially complete. Only a few finishing touches remained.
John decided to test it.
"Reparo."
He started with the simplest Repair Charm.
The cup he had broken yesterday rapidly restored itself under his spell.
"Orchideous."
A beautiful cluster of orchids appeared at the tip of his wand instead of the white flash of a Blasting Curse.
"Thirteen and three-quarter inches, linden wood, human hair core."
The wand was unusually long. John had deliberately designed it so it could serve other purposes when necessary.
With a wand in hand, John no longer had to fear casting spells.
Using the Supersensory Charm allowed him to maintain a form of "vision."
He tapped the tabletop, and the Supersensory Charm spread outward, the entire house mapping itself into his awareness.
It was at that moment that someone knocked on Bathilda's door.
A boy about John's age appeared.
Golden hair and a wild, handsome face.
The moment she saw him, Bathilda was briefly dazed, as if she were seeing her nephew in his youth.
The boy addressed Bathilda as great-aunt…
Bathilda was quite surprised by her grandnephew's arrival.
Although he did not explain the reason, Bathilda had already guessed.
Her grandnephew seemed to have been expelled from school as well.
That made her think of the other "expelled student" currently in the house.
What was wrong with children these days, all so rebellious at school age?
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