Harry, however, didn't say anything more. He wasn't going to directly contradict a kind old man; at most, he would try to gently nudge him in another direction.
"All right then, Mr. Potter, let's see… which arm do you use for your wand?" Ollivander's gaze suddenly sharpened.
Harry had no idea what Ollivander meant, but he answered obediently, "My right hand, sir."
"Raise your arm. Yes, just like that. I need to get your body measurements before I can match you with the wand that suits you best." Ollivander walked over to the shelves packed with wand boxes and began to select.
While Ollivander searched for a wand, the measuring tape continued to move on its own, taking Harry's measurements.
These included, but were not limited to, his height, the length of his legs, the length of his arms—even the distance between his eyes was measured.
Harry had no idea what these numbers were used for. Maybe it was some sort of secret wizarding technique.
Right now, most of his attention was on the self-moving tape measure itself. He could sense magic flowing through it, and that power seemed to have given the tape a hazy, half-formed sense of awareness.
What kind of magic was this?
Harry was intrigued; it was a kind of magic he had never encountered before.
Kamar-Taj had self-sweeping brooms as well, but those were driven by preset programs, completely different from the faint, budding "mind" given to this tape.
Harry's thoughts jumped ahead. If this magic that granted a hint of intelligence could be developed further… could it be used to create life?
Sure enough, no matter how unimpressive the wizarding world might look at times, there were still things here worth learning.
Once the tape finished, it slipped down to the floor and coiled itself into a little heap.
Ollivander finally stopped in front of one of the boxes. He took out a wand and handed it to Harry.
"Here we are, Mr. Potter—beechwood and dragon heartstring, nine inches, nice and flexible.
"Give it a wave."
The moment Harry's fingers closed around the wand, he felt it tug at the magic inside his body, pulling out far more power than he could safely control.
An overwhelming surge of magic rushed out from the tip of the wand, as if it meant to tear apart everything in front of it.
Harry's heart lurched. Just as the force was about to slam into Mr. Ollivander, he shattered the space before him like a mirror and, at the last possible moment, sent that blast of telekinesis into the Mirror Dimension.
Maybe Ollivander was simply too old to react—he didn't seem to realize he'd just come within a hair's breadth of death.
Instead, he looked around in puzzlement and finally asked Harry,
"Mr. Potter, did you hear something that sounded like a mirror breaking?"
Harry's nerves jumped. "N-No, I didn't hear anything…"
"Looks like I really am getting old."
Ollivander shook his head and took the wand back from Harry's hand.
"This one won't do for you. Try this one.
"Maple and phoenix feather, seven inches, good and springy."
This time, Harry was prepared. Although his magic was still being stirred up, it didn't slip out of control.
He tried pulling on his telekinesis with the wand, but the flow of magic felt sluggish and rough. The chair he tried to move simply shattered into pieces.
"No, that won't do either." Ollivander took that wand back too, then fetched yet another one—but that one still wasn't right.
After several tries, Ollivander didn't show the slightest hint of impatience. On the contrary, he was more and more entertained.
"A most particular customer indeed. But here, you will always find the wand that is meant for you.
"Let's see… this one: holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."
The instant Harry took hold of it, he knew something was different.
This wand felt as if it had fused completely with him. The flow of his magic sped up noticeably, and even the amount of magic he could bring under his control increased.
With the wand's help, the magic he could actively manipulate had doubled!
Harry's eyes lit up. If he could keep this twofold boost when he went back to the other world, he'd surpass Wong, Mordo, and the rest, and become the strongest sorcerer beneath the Sorcerer Supreme himself!
What in the world was going on with this wandcraft?
There were no arrays carved into the wand, no sigils to reconcile conflicts between different magical materials—it really did look like they had just put a few materials together and somehow produced this miraculous effect.
No, it couldn't be that simple. The magic within all these ingredients had merged perfectly together, and that was what allowed the wand to unleash such unbelievable power.
Harry was still dazed when Ollivander suddenly cried out:
"Remarkable! Extraordinary, truly extraordinary!"
Harry looked at him in confusion, and Ollivander explained,
"I remember every wand I've ever sold. Two wands were made with tail feathers from the same phoenix. One is the wand in your hand… and the other belongs to the wizard who gave you that scar."
Harry's eyes narrowed slightly. The mysterious man!
Was this a coincidence?
Or was it what people liked to call the destiny of a savior?
Harry didn't believe in destiny. He pushed those thoughts aside and instead began to consider how to use the "brother wand" connection to track the mysterious man down.
Divination, perhaps?
That had real potential.
He paid Mr. Ollivander seven Galleons for the wand and left the shop.
He had already decided to add wandmaking to his study schedule.
If low-magic materials from this world could create a wand that doubled his power, what about the high-magic materials from the other world?
Could they grant him strength greater still?
Just as he stepped out of the wand shop, Hagrid came striding up to meet him.
In his right hand he carried a birdcage; in his left, a huge cake.
"Harry, I never gave yeh a proper birthday before. Happy birthday!
"Take a look at my carefully chosen gift—a snowy owl. I reckon you'll like her!"
Harry accepted the presents with a bright smile, feeling himself grow fonder and fonder of this world he had once despised.
"Thank you, Hagrid. I really do love it!"
Once all the shopping was done, Hagrid took Harry back to the Dursleys' and then left.
Over the next month, Harry got along very well with the Dursley family. They bent over backwards to please him, hoping to wring more magic out of him and to persuade him to drop the requirement that they say "I'm an idiot" every time he cast a spell for them.
Harry turned them down flat. They didn't dare get angry and could only keep fawning on him.
For most of that month, Harry threw himself into studying this world's magic.
From "The Book of Spells" and the "Standard Book of Spells" series, he learned a lot of interesting magic.
To his surprise, most of the spells in this world weren't very offensive in nature, but they were wonderfully ingenious.
Spells like Reparo, which restores things as if they were never broken, and Scourgify, which cleans them spotless—in his other world, such magic would require an extremely high level of mastery to perform. Here, even little wizards could pull them off with ease.
What excited him the most was Transfiguration. The nature of the spell meshed almost perfectly with his chaos magic.
Using Transfiguration, he could not only change the shape of objects—he could even start to make slight alterations to the underlying rules!
Good grief.
The Sorcerer Supreme had told him it would be a very long time before he'd be able to alter rules directly—but now, with Transfiguration, he was already managing it!