Chapter 43 The Strange Lighter

"Clang-clang!"

The bell at the shop's entrance rang.

Livid and Tom walked in, and they were immediately hit by a strange, foul odor...

The merchandise in this shop was arranged in complete disarray.

Rather than a store, it looked more like a warehouse piled with old junk.

Second-hand robes were heaped onto a counter on the left-hand side of the entrance, looking just like a pile of garbage.

A few adult wizards in plain clothing were picking through them, hoping to find a size suitable for their children.

On the right-hand side was a massive pile of messy books.

Most of these books were second-hand textbooks, tattered and old.

There were only a few other books, but their condition looked merely average at best.

One could easily imagine that the well-preserved second-hand books had been picked clean long ago...

Tom frowned as he looked at this trash, feeling a sense of relief rising in his chest.

Although following Livid into that heist had been terrifyingly risky, it had ultimately saved him from the fate of having to buy a mountain of garbage in a place like this...

Livid was right; if he had entered Hogwarts carrying junk bought from this place, he definitely would have been looked down upon.

Clothes make the man.

Before people knew of your true abilities, they naturally judged you by your appearance!

Unlike the enthusiastic service in other shops, the clerk here was slumped over the counter, dozing off.

Only when someone came to check out would he listlessly raise his head to tally the items and collect the money.

The goods in the shop were all cheap, so the clerk's salary certainly wasn't going to be high.

A lack of enthusiasm was therefore entirely normal.

However, despite the clerk's lack of zeal, there were still quite a few wizards browsing the merchandise.

Livid quickly spotted what he wanted to buy in the glass display window facing the street.

Bundles of battered wands, tossed together with a massive bunch of quill pens that had lost all their feathers, were thrown into the same crate like a pile of casually tied firewood...

Tom looked at those second-hand wands, so broken that even their cores were exposed, and his heart turned ice-cold.

Would casting magic with these wands actually cause him to blow himself up?

Livid wasn't particularly surprised; could wands tossed into a corner like garbage possibly be in any good condition?

Yet, these decrepit wands suited Livid's purposes quite well.

After all, many of these wands had likely been scavenged from wizards who had died in battle, bearing the lingering aura of past conflicts to varying degrees...

In other words, through the tempering of their previous owners, these wands had achieved a relatively high compatibility with the Dark Arts.

They were simply perfect for Livid to practice certain spells that must not be discovered...

After a good while, Livid finally drew a wand from the pile, one that had merely lost some of its paint, a look of satisfaction on his face.

"Oh! Ninety-nine percent new! A rare find!"

Compared to the other wands whose cores were literally spilling out, the condition of this one was remarkably good.

"This one's for you," Livid said casually, handing the wand to Tom before plunging back into the wand pile.

Tom took the wand and gave it a casual wave. Overall, it felt reasonably balanced in his hand.

Furthermore, this wand gave him a strange sensation, as if... it were excited to meet him?

"This'll do."

Buying wands here didn't come with the luxury of Mr. Ollivander patiently explaining their properties to them.

Consequently, Tom had no idea what materials this wand was made of.

Still, since it felt decent enough, it would serve adequately as a backup wand.

When Livid emerged from the wand pile once more, he was holding five more second-hand wands.

Though none were in as good condition as the one Tom held, they were still usable. At the very least, their cores remained safely encased within the wood.

"Why are you buying so many?" Tom asked with a puzzled look.

"Better safe than sorry."

Livid held the five wands in his hand and then turned his attention to the rest of the shop's inventory.

Tom was no longer in a rush to leave; instead, he walked over toward the massive pile of old books...

Toby had mentioned earlier that while this place was full of junk, people occasionally managed to unearth some hidden treasures.

Tom figured that perhaps nestled within this pile of garbage were some precious magical manuscripts or the like...

Livid shared the same thought, and with a silent mutual understanding, the two of them walked toward the book pile together.

Tom squatted on the ground, frowning as he used his old wand to shove several filthy second-hand textbooks aside, and began searching meticulously.

Livid, meanwhile, bypassed the book pile, intending to start digging from the other side.

Just as Livid walked around and prepared to inspect any unique old books, he suddenly felt as though his eyes had been flashed by something.

Livid turned his head in puzzlement toward the neighboring shelf.

This shelf was haphazardly stacked with all sorts of bizarre alchemical artifacts, though without a doubt, most of them were broken.

Livid approached the shelf, by which time he could already see the faint blue light flickering upon it.

Like Tom, he drew an old wand and pushed the clutter on the shelf aside as best as he could.

With alchemical items of unknown origin and uncertain purpose, even if they were damaged, it was always best to exercise caution.

At last, the source of the faint blue light was revealed before Livid.

It was a golden, strip-like object about two fingers wide, engraved with strange patterns that Livid couldn't decipher. It looked rather like an exquisitely carved cigarette lighter.

And that faint blue light was currently pulsing across those strange patterns.

Livid gently prodded the "lighter" with his wand.

The "lighter" remained completely unresponsive, while the blue light continued to flicker steadily.

With a slight flick of Livid's wand, a small gecko on the wall flew over and landed right on the "lighter"!

After waiting a bit longer and finding that the small gecko showed no signs of abnormality, Livid released his hold on the creature.

The startled gecko scurried away in a panic, and throughout the entire process, nothing unusual had happened.

Only then did Livid feel secure enough to reach out and pick up the "lighter."

In truth, while this shop bought and sold second-hand goods, it was still a legitimate business and would never purchase Dark artifacts.

Ordinary people wouldn't bring Dark artifacts here to sell either; they would typically take them to Knockturn Alley.

Everything Livid had just done was merely a precaution.

Livid examined the lighter in his hand closely, then cautiously pressed his finger against the blue light.

"Snap!"

A hairline crack appeared near the top of the lighter.

Livid used his thumb to push gently, and a cap swung open along the fissure, revealing a tiny, ghostly blue flame burning at the tip...

Livid hadn't expected this thing to actually be nothing more than an ordinary lighter.

No... wait. How could an ordinary lighter emit light for no reason?

"Click!"

Livid closed the lighter's cap, extinguishing the small flame at the top.

"Tom, come take a look at this."

"What is it?" Tom walked over, fixing his gaze on the lighter Livid was holding out. "Isn't this just an ordinary lighter?"

"Ordinary? Didn't you notice it was glowing?" Livid asked, puzzled.

"Glowing? Where's the light?" Tom took the lighter, looked it over, and said with an expression of disgust, "It won't even open."

"You can't see the light on it? And it won't open?" Livid rubbed his chin, staring at the lighter in Tom's hand that was still emitting a faint blue glow.

"Well, as far as I can see, this is just a gold-plated lighter, and..." Tom tried prying the lighter open again. "...it genuinely won't open."

Livid took the lighter back, then gave it a gentle flick with his thumb.

"Snap!"

The lighter snapped open instantly.

Tom's eyes widened. "This... Let me try again!"

Yet, no matter how Tom tried, he was entirely unable to open the lighter the way Livid had.

"In other words, this blue light is indeed something only I can see..."

Livid looked thoughtfully at the faintly glowing lighter in his hand.