Hogwarts: Don't call me the Staff Maker

Chapter 87 The Shapeshifting Lizard Skin Bag, and Another Use of Dragon Blood Wood

The translucent, dried, shape-shifting lizard had been kept in a box, and when Xilun took it out, it was exactly the same as the one he had seen that night, without any change.

If placed in sunlight, you can see faint, serpentine-like patterns on its back.

If used as a wand core, it could certainly be used to create an excellent transfiguration wand, even if not as dazzling as Silvermane, it would at least be no less impressive than Professor McGonagall's hair. Siron had no doubt about this.

But Siron had no intention of doing so; for him, this shapeshifting lizard had a more important use.

Xiren sat by the window, took out the mandrake juice he had just bought from next door at a high price, and carefully dripped it into the deformed lizard's mouth.

Like ink falling into water, the grayish-brown mandrake sap began to spread rapidly, covering half of the deformed lizard's original color in the blink of an eye.

At the same time, its shriveled body began to swell, and a few seconds later it floated lightly onto Xilun's hand. At this moment, it had completely changed its appearance. Its wrinkled, grayish-brown surface had no luster and looked no different from a candy wrapper.

Um... their uses are about the same.

The Shapeshifting Lizard Skin Pouch (Roughly Processed Version) is a very practical item in the magical world. It looks like a small pouch from the outside, but it can hold a lot of items and has excellent storage capacity.

Later, based on this property, a wizard invented the famous Unseen Stretching Spell.

This is only the initial processing; it can only store things. If a reliable alchemist can be found to help, they can also help guide the shapeshifting lizard to develop its magical perception talent.

Once the vault is opened, only the owner will be able to retrieve the contents. Its security level is second only to Gringotts Vault, making it a portable vault.

But just like Gringotts was stolen from, the shapeshifting lizard skin bag wasn't completely safe either. If someone could forcibly tear the bag open, they could still take what was inside.

However, that depends on the alchemist's abilities.

Xilun doesn't know any good alchemists right now, and he doesn't need this function; he just needs something to store things.

He already carries many wands with him, and he may have even more in the future; he can't possibly keep them all in his pocket.

Not only is it troublesome to find, but it's also very inconvenient to walk in, rattling and clanging. If there were a deformable lizard skin bag, it would solve this problem perfectly.

Xiren hung the newly made morphing lizard skin bag on his waist, then forcefully lifted the giant magic wand on the table and placed it on top of it.

Without any hindrance, the two-foot wand was easily slipped into a fist-sized bag. Celen tried to move it around and it seemed to have lost much of its weight.

nice one.

Siron then put all the other wands in his pocket into the pocket, leaving only his usual Silverfurs. Although the weight wasn't reduced much, he felt much lighter.

It's also very convenient to take them out, because the bag shrinks when you put your hand inside, so Siren only needs to remember the location of the wands to take them out in the shortest amount of time.

After practicing all morning, Celen was already quite skilled; he could simply swipe his hand across the leather pouch and exchange it for a wand.

Unfortunately, the bag shape isn't the most convenient; it would be even better if it could be worn directly on the hand.

Thinking this, Xilun subconsciously looked at the round bamboo ring next to the table.

This is the bamboo staff he had prepared for the shapeshifting lizard; his grandfather, Garrick, believed that this type of staff was best suited for performing shapeshifting magic.

If the shapeshifting lizard staff core can retain this property, Siron can wear it on his wrist as a wand.

But after hesitating for a night, Xilun decided to temporarily abandon the idea.

The properties of the wand are unpredictable, and Siron does not want to take any risks without absolute certainty.

This is another reason why he doesn't seek out alchemists.

Natural mandrake juice will not affect the transformation of the lizard into a staff core, but it's hard to say if it has been alchemically processed.

The next day, Xiren bought another roll of magic tape and, under his grandfather's questioning gaze, carefully stuck the shape-shifting lizard skin bag inside the wide sleeve of his school uniform robe...

"Is this really necessary?" the old wand maker asked, puzzled. "You're starting school soon; are you sure you don't encounter any danger there?"

"That's hard to say." Xilun shook his sleeve. It's alright, it sticks pretty well.

"But you don't usually use other wands."

"It's just that we don't need it now; who knows, we might need it later."

"By the way, I've been wanting to ask you, did you really pick up that shapeshifting lizard?"

"Of course," said Xilun. "Such a valuable item wouldn't be given to me for free."

"I still find it hard to believe," Garrick said, his eyes filled with doubt.

He's lived in Diagon Alley for decades, how come he's never found a shapeshifting lizard? He's never even found a silver shico.

"Don't worry, I really found it in Knockturn Alley," Siren said casually. "The Ministry of Magic has been investigating dark magic items these past few days, hasn't it? Quite a few pure-blood families have been selling things in Knockturn Alley, so maybe it was one of them who dropped it."

"What if they come looking for us?"

"No one will come looking for us," Xiren said without hesitation.

"Unless those six people also made Horcruxes," he added to himself.

However, Garrick clearly misunderstood; he thought that Siron meant that the pure-blood wizards dared not let others know that they had been to Knockturn Alley.

"Well, you're starting school soon anyway," Garrick sighed. "Here's what you wanted; it was just delivered an hour ago."

He placed a brown paper package on the table.

Xilun eagerly opened it, revealing more than a dozen pieces of dragon bloodwood of varying sizes.

"Why do you want me to buy this for you?"

"Of course it's for making wands, we can't just use it to burn in the fireplace," Siron said. He picked up a piece of dragon bloodwood and examined it. Judging from the grain on the cross-section, it should be over fifty years old. Everything else looked about the same, and there was no inferior material being used.

"But dragon bloodwood isn't suitable for making wands," Garrick said. "It's too active and often produces intentions completely opposite to those of the wizard in battle, which is a fatal flaw for a wand."

"That could also be its advantage," Siron said, pulling out a book titled "The Amazing Combination of Potions and Wands" and turning to a page.

"It says here that under certain conditions, the staff can guide the direction of the magic power in the staff core."

"No, it should be suppression," Garrick blurted out.

"Not all," Siren said. "Just as unicorn tail hair is best suited for casting healing spells, Dragon Heartstring has a particular fondness for fire magic. These are characteristics that the staff itself cannot suppress."

"But then, using the Dragon Heartstring wand would only allow me to cast fire spells," Garrick asked. "Isn't a wand that can only use one type of spell a failure?"

"Yes... but no," Siren said with a smile. "At least not to me."

He raised his arm and glanced at the deformed lizard skin bag pressed tightly against his wrist.

……