Darian looked at him in confusion, his tone sounding like an interrogation.
"Hello, may I ask who you are?"
"I am Robin Smallburrow, the Sheriff of Great Hole Town."
Darian was a bit surprised; he hadn't expected to meet a Hobbit police officer.
"Hello, Sheriff Robin, I am Darian. I just came from Hobbiton, and I plan to travel around the Shire."
"You're that wizard Darian?!"
"Huh? Sheriff, you know me?"
"Ahem, news of a wizard arriving in Hobbiton has spread throughout the Shire. I didn't expect you to come to Great Hole Town," the Sheriff explained after realizing who Darian was.
Once Sheriff Robin learned Darian's identity, his attitude changed dramatically, and he warmly welcomed him.
Led by Sheriff Robin, Darian arrived at the only inn in town, "The Bird and Baby Inn," to check in.
Besides its peculiar name, the inn's low ceiling was a bit unfriendly to him; he had to be careful not to hit his head.
The bed was also quite small; the innkeeper had to push two beds together so Darian could stretch his legs while sleeping.
[Hogwarts Sign-in System: Location detected in the Shire — Great Hole Town. Sign in?]
The system prompt appeared again.
Darian was delighted and quickly shouted, "Sign in!"
[Sign-in successful! Congratulations on obtaining the Hogwarts first-year Charms class textbook, "Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1"!]
A phantom spellbook appeared out of thin air, floating in front of Darian.
The book turned pages at his will, and he eagerly opened it.
The first-year Charms textbook was simple, containing only five basic spells: Lumos, Levitation Charm, Incendio, Alohomora, and Reparo—no offensive power whatsoever.
But Darian was very satisfied; since his transmigration, this was the first time he truly encountered magic.
Before, he only had raw magical power and could crudely control objects to fly using magic energy.
That was somewhat like the Levitation Charm but mentally and magically exhausting, requiring total focus to control the cleaver for attacks.
This meant that when controlling the cleaver against an enemy, he couldn't be distracted—making him a clear, vulnerable target.
Magic, however, was different; it acted like a stable anchor point. Besides needing concentration during casting, once the spell succeeded, he only had to maintain the magic output steadily.
The magical effects were very stable.
Darian quickly flipped through the spellbook and began to learn the simplest spell, Lumos.
After carefully studying and memorizing the spell's principles, casting techniques, and wand movements, he tried to cast it.
"Lumos!"
Without a wand, Darian simply waved his hand, imitating a wand movement.
The first attempt failed.
He wasn't discouraged; after all, casting without a wand—wandless casting—is an advanced technique.
Only a few powerful wizards could do it; ordinary wizards often couldn't even cast silently, let alone wandlessly.
Thus, most wizards without a wand had combat strength no better than Muggles.
With continued effort,
A faint light flickered at Darian's fingertip—barely brighter than a firefly—then quickly faded with a Nox.
This small success motivated him instantly.
"Lumos!"
Encouraged, he cast again, and a white light flickered brightly at his fingertip like candlelight, illuminating Darian's joyful smile.
The next day,
Sheriff Robin invited Darian to visit various attractions in Great Hole Town.
They saw the Town Hole—the municipal government building—and Darian was warmly welcomed by the Mayor of the Shire.
The Shire was different from the outside world; its governance was loose and ancient laws prevailed.
Every town and village was basically self-governing, with Hobbits voluntarily fulfilling their duties.
So the Mayor's role was mostly ceremonial: organizing banquets, managing the post office, and maintaining public order, elected every seven years.
After the Town Hole, Sheriff Robin took Darian to the Mathom-house—the Shire's museum.
"Mathom" in Hobbit slang means useless, so the Mathom-house collected things Hobbits considered useless but didn't want to throw away.
However, Darian was surprised.
Among the museum's items were many weapons: bows and arrows, spears, armor, longswords, and axes.
He stood before a bow and arrow made of unknown wood, orange-yellow, as hard as iron but very flexible, carved with elegant floral patterns.
"This bow and arrow belonged to an Elf; it's been here for a long time," Sheriff Robin explained, noticing Darian's interest.
Darian was surprised—he hadn't expected to find an Elf's weapon here.
Sheriff Robin then showed him armors and axes said to be crafted by Dwarves.
These armors were clearly made for Hobbits but bore battle scars, proof that Hobbits once fought fiercely.
Darian could barely imagine what enemy could have forced such gentle Hobbits to raise arms.
Finally, Darian gazed at a shimmering silver chainmail vest, woven from countless silver rings.
It was soft yet incredibly tough.
However, the vest was quite large—made for someone Darian's height and build.
"This chainmail was forged by Dwarves; it's so tough it can't be cut by knives or melted by fire. But Hobbits can't wear it, so it stays here in the Mathom-house," Sheriff Robin said.
Darian's eyes gleamed with desire.
As a fragile wizard, he desperately needed defensive gear.
"Sheriff Robin, I want this chainmail. Can I buy it?"
The Sheriff shook his head.
"Sorry, these items, though useless to us, belong to the town residents. To get it, you'd need their consent."
Darian felt a bit disappointed.
But then Sheriff Robin chuckled:
"Wizard Darian, if you can show your magic at the upcoming banquet, I think everyone would happily agree."
"What banquet?"
"In five days, we celebrate the 1200th anniversary of Great Hole Town. There will be a big banquet in the Great Hole Hall, and you're warmly invited!"
Hearing this, Darian immediately agreed.
He had planned to leave after signing in, but now, to get that chainmail, he would stay a few more days.