Chapter 74: Chapter 74: Apprentice Rod Maker (Edited)
Once everything was agreed upon, Tom signed a contract with Mr. Lawrence.
With a serious look on his face, Tom carefully signed his name on the contract, then watched Mr. Lawrence quickly sign his name.
"Does this contract have any magic power? For example, if you violate the contents of the contract, just..." Tom looked at the contract carefully, trying to see something in it, it was the first time he had ever signed a magical contract.
Mr. Lawrence was stunned, "Uh.... Does it have legal effect?" But he quickly replied, "This is an apprenticeship contract, you don't need a magic contract! A truly magical contract would only be used for very formal events."
It was then that Tom realized he had made a mistake. But, if he were to sign an important contract in the future, could he see a truly magical contract?
Tom walked out of Flourish and Blotts Bookshop. He had signed the contract today, but he didn't start work until tomorrow, and now he had to rent a place to live.
Tom had a plan for lodging: the Leaky Cauldron, of course. It's not expensive, and there are monthly deals for people like Tom who stay for months at a time. All this from a girl named Hannah from Hufflepuff, whose uncle owns the bar.
But when Tom walked past Ollivander's wand store, his eyes fell on an advertisement: apprentices wanted, board and lodging included, salary negotiable.
Tom couldn't move his feet: This job is perfect!
So he entered Ollivander's wand store.
Wands are not a consumable item. Mr. Ollivander's wand store only does a lot of business on the days of the year when new students start school, but not many in one day. Therefore, the store was a bit "cold".
He entered the store and found Mr. Ollivander standing dazed in front of a mountain of wands.
Hearing his voice, Ollivander looked back with a twinkle in his eye, "Are you Tom? The wand is acacia wood, with horned water snake horns with horns, thirteen inches long..."
"Yes, you have a good memory." Tom's admiration was sincere. Ollivander sold at least a hundred wands a year, but he remembered every wand and its owner by heart. That's the spirit of the true craftsman.
"Are you here to apply for an apprenticeship? Sit down first" Mr. Ollivander also moved two stools and they sat across from each other.
"Do you know anything about wands?" Ollivander cut to the chase.
"A bit of the basics." Tom had already read a book on wands, but it was only cursory.
Hearing Tom say this, Ollivander was filled with energy. Fewer and fewer wizards were willing to study wizardry these days, and even his descendants in the Ollivander family had no one willing to study the craft.
After all, Hogwarts did not offer a "Varitology" course.
Of course, Ollivander did not panic, the study of wands was a very small subject. Only one or two people in the magical world of a country is enough to supply many wizards. To learn this business one would have to open a wand store, but it wouldn't take that many wand stores.
Ollivander thought that he had many years left to live and that the matter of the heir could come a little at a time.
"Then I will ask you, what is the most curious and versatile wood?" asked Ollivander.
"Chestnut wood, which produces a wand with a very different character depending on the core of the wand and is easily influenced by its owner." Tom said.
"Yes, I personally prefer to use unicorn tail hair, fire dragon heart sinews and phoenix feathers for my wands, unicorn tail hair makes the most faithful wands, these are special, can you tell me about them?" Ollivander said.
Tom briefly reminded, "There is a slight disadvantage to a unicorn tail feather as a wand core, it does not make the wand more powerful, and when mishandled, unicorn tail feathers can easily become melancholy. This means that the tail feather has 'died' and needs to be replaced."
Ollivander smiled, got up shakily, went to the back of the store and pulled out some boxes, then pulled a handful of wood from them and asked Tom to identify them one by one.
Tom smiled awkwardly: he didn't know any of them, except the rotten ones like pine and oak.
But Ollivander clearly didn't mind this shortcoming.
"Well, one last question, Mr. Yodel, if you were to make a wand, your first ever, what would you use for the core of the wand?" asked Ollivander.
"Occamy feathers... since it's my first time making a wand and I'm definitely inexperienced, so it would be cheaper to go for a less expensive material." Tom said.
Ollivander smiled: what an interesting boy.
"Occamy feathers aren't cheap, but that's not important, you're hired!" Ollivander said.
At Ollivander's wand store, Tom also worked full-time three days a week: Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays; most stores were closed on Sundays, and Ollivander's wand store was no exception. On weekdays he could stay at Mr. Ollivander's house, and on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings, Ollivander would teach Tom a few things.
Tom's job was simple: he was paid two galleons a week for doing various jobs. Tom accepted, because food and lodging were included, and apprentices were always underpaid, since part of the salary was paid in the form of skills.
The next morning, Tom freshened up, put on some new clothes, and headed for Flourish and Blotts bookstore. He entered the store and took a good look around the largest bookstore in Diagon Alley.
He had always come here as a customer, but now he was an employee.
The bookstore was filled with shelves, each one stacked with books, some of which reached all the way to the ceiling. The larger books were as big as paving slabs, the smaller ones were the size of postage stamps, wrapped in silver-plated cases, and of course, there were some very unique books, such as those with no writing and those that were invisible. In the future, there will be books that bite.
But he found that another person had arrived before him.
It was Hermione, who was also applying for a job with Mr. Lawrence.
Today, Hermione was dressed up, with a sleeveless dark blue dress, a tie around her neck, and her hair was not as messy as usual, but had been carefully combed, and she looked very formal and presentable.
"Well, since you say you're good at counting, I'll put you to the test: a copy of Mr. Lockhart's book, 5 galleons, the bookstore is on sale, buy all seven, it's 10% off, a copy of the Prophet's Almanac, 7 sickle and 5 knut, a copy of the Secret History of Grindelwald, 3 galleons and 9 sickle - 20% off, How about a person buying a set of books by Mr. Lockhart, a copy of the Prophet's Almanac and a copy of the Secret History of Grindelwald, how much does he have to pay in total? He has paid with 34 galleons, do I have to give him change or should I ask him to pay more?"
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