Hogwarts: Don't call me the Staff Maker

Chapter 15 Tom's Revenge

As it turns out, some of Siron's intuitions were quite accurate... well, you could not call them intuitions.

While everyone was celebrating, Celen saw the gray cat fur that had fallen on the stairs, and Tom at the top of the stairs.

If you have good eyesight, you can even see the blood scabs on its body and its incongruous gray fur.

It appeared as soon as Xilun entered the common room, looking smug, as if it were asking for credit.

Take credit?

A few minutes later, Xilun couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

He suddenly realized that Tom might have seen Mrs. Lorris stop him last night.

It's not impossible.

After all, he had warned Tom before he entered the school not to harm other people's pets... and Mrs. Lorris was also Filch's pet.

Therefore, Tom could not have attacked it without a reason.

And it's highly unlikely that Mrs. Lorice would actively provoke Tom, who is a size larger than her.

Furthermore, even if Tom really disliked Mrs. Lorris, he would immediately remove the evidence from his body after taking action... just like when he tried to hide Raeford.

Celen never doubted Tom's intelligence.

After all, most of the cats in the Yila Owl Shop have some cat-raccoon blood, so the fact that it stands out from the crowd and becomes the "top dog in the pet shop" is enough to explain a lot.

Tom's willingness to keep the "evidence of the crime" for an entire day, and to appear brazenly in front of Siron, demonstrates his fearlessness and lack of concern about punishment.

Thinking about it this way, things become much simpler.

"Well done."

Celen walked up the stairs and rubbed Tom's chin.

The cat rubbed against Xilun's hand, making purring noises.

"But you still can't eat with your colleagues, that's non-negotiable!"

The soft touch in his palm vanished instantly, and when he turned his head again, all Xilun could see was the tip of a black tail disappearing into the revelry.

"Silon".

Ron's voice came from behind.

You said you'd tell us the reason tonight.

"Ah, that's right." Xilun stood up.

"What were you doing just now?" Harry asked curiously.

He thought he saw Xilen touching something, but it disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"It's nothing," Xilun said casually. "Didn't you want to know why I changed dorms? Come with me."

Upon hearing this, Harry immediately put his previous doubts to the back of his mind.

The group went up to the second floor together.

Xilun's new dormitory is not far from the old dormitory, in fact, it is right next door, with less than ten feet between the two doors.

The layout of the room remained unchanged.

That's for sure. After all, Gryffindor didn't prepare any real single dorm rooms. This is a five-person room, but there weren't that many new students, so it just happened to be empty.

After Harry and the others entered, they all looked around in unison.

Then, their attention fell on the table in the dormitory.

Their dorm also has one of these large tables, quite big, located in the middle of the five beds. It's usually used to put backpacks, snacks, Wizard's Chess, and other similar items. It can also be used for doing homework and reading.

But there's only one person in this dormitory, Xilun, so there aren't many things there.

There's only a long, transparent glass tube on the table, containing a pale yellow gel-like substance, and a... magic wand?

"This isn't a magic wand; it's just a work in progress."

Before they could ask, Xiren explained, "The staff is infused with a mixture of fifty different herbs and tree oils. It's non-toxic, but it has a slightly pungent smell."

As they spoke, Xilun had already taken out the half-finished wand.

The liquid that came out dripped onto the table, and Harry and the others only felt a faint smell lingering around their noses.

It was a strange taste, a mixture of bitterness, earthiness, and sourness... like a layer of fermented tomato sauce poured over freshly cut tree roots.

That's very strange.

Seamus and Ron both instinctively covered their noses, while Harry didn't do anything.

He had been living in the Dursleys' cupboard for a long time, and it smelled just as bad, but he was used to it.

He was watching Xilun with great interest at that moment.

"You just said that was a half-finished wand?"

"To be precise, it's the staff itself." With a gentle rub of his fingers, the cylindrical wooden stick immediately split in two.

"Is it finished?" Xilun raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Necessary preparations," Siren said, raising his hand and pulling out a red, slightly glowing "rope" from somewhere.

"Wait a minute, Siron..." Neville suddenly realized something and blurted out, "Are you going to make a wand now?"

"Yes," Xilun nodded. "The staff is well-maintained, and the core is readily available, so why not?"

"But, but...we're still here." Neville hesitated for a moment, then stammered, "Can we see the process of making the wand?"

Neville, after all, came from a pure-blood wizarding family. Although he had a bad memory, he knew what the process of "making a wand" meant.

There are thousands of wizards in the British magical world, but only Ollivander can make wands... or at least, Ollivander is the only one he knows.

"You mean this?" Xilun glanced at them.

Neville, Harry, Seamus, Ron...

"Oh, it's alright, no problem at all. I trust you," Xiren said with a smile.

It was as if a ray of sunlight had torn through the darkness outside the window, and a strange feeling of emotion, along with guilt, welled up in the hearts of the group.

They wouldn't let go of the matter of Xilun changing dormitories, saying so many nasty things, but Xilun trusted them so much that he was even willing to share such a family secret...

Damn it, they're not human!

In fact, when they smelled that strange odor, they already understood why Xilun wanted to live here.

If it's just a one-time thing, they can just put up with it. But if they could smell it every day... I don't even want to think about it, they would definitely go crazy.

"Don't worry, I definitely won't tell anyone," Simon Finigan said first, his firm gaze carrying a sense of mission.

"Huh?" Xilun glanced at him. "I'm not... well, you can understand it that way too."

In fact, Xilun wasn't worried at all.

If you could learn how to make a wand just by looking at it, that ability would be too cheap.

Moreover, these individuals... well, how should I put it, are not known for their intelligence.

Of course, you can't say such things, otherwise it would be too hurtful.

Ignoring everyone else, Xiren placed the red "rope" on the cross-section of the staff.

One end of the "rope" resembled a stream flowing into a river, or a fish, which meandered under Xilun's control, leaving an irregular trail of shimmering red light behind it.

Manipulation?

Harry suddenly felt a pang of confusion, and he also noticed that Siren's right hand was glowing, golden in color, and seemed to be some kind of symbol.