Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 8 First Impressions of Diagon Alley in the Magical World

"Hello, I am Hermione Granger."

The little girl reached out her hand to Loren.

"Hello, I am Loren Morgan."

Loren shook hands twice, feeling that it was a bit pretentious for two children to perform such social etiquette.

"Are you also one of the selected freshmen?"

The girl is now filled with curiosity about everything related to wizards; she was so excited last night that she almost couldn't sleep.

Loren's thoughts were still wandering, and the little girl wanted to ask something else.

"We'll talk later. Now we're heading to the Leaky Cauldron."

Professor McGonagall interrupted them, holding their hands with her left hand and waving her wand with her right.

"Phantom Appearance!"

Snapped!

Loren felt much better the second time than the first; the time he was squeezed in the tube was much shorter. This might be because he had gotten used to it, or it might be because the distance was shorter this time.

Meanwhile, the lively little girl on the other side burst into tears.

But before Professor McGonagall could offer any comfort, a sobbing sound rang out first.

"Was that a kind of magic too?"

"Is the spell a phantom manifestation?"

"Can we learn this in the future?"

After asking three questions, the little girl took a deep sniff, calmed down, and looked straight at Professor McGonagall with bright eyes.

Professor McGonagall and Loren, who were standing nearby, were immediately rendered silent.

Should Loren join the queue and ask at this point, showing the appropriate curiosity about the magical world?

Professor McGonagall paused for a moment, then said, "You'll find out after you enroll. Now, I'll show you how to get from the Muggle world to Diagon Alley. You'll have to figure that out on your own for the rest of the school year."

Loren and Hermione then looked up and surveyed their surroundings. In front of them was a somewhat dirty and dilapidated little bar, with black stains covering the exterior walls.

It seemed like passersby couldn't even see the bar.

Professor McGonagall led them through a bar, which was even darker and dirtier. The people inside were dressed very strangely; some wore top hats, and others had coats with hems dragging on the ground.

They sized up Hermione's jeans and plaid coat, seemingly finding them very attractive. Loren, dressed in clothes made by a local tailor—a somewhat outdated look on the streets—seemed perfectly normal to the people in the bar.

Feeling uncomfortable under such an offensive gaze, Hermione frowned deeply, but she remained silent.

As they passed the bar, the bar owner waved to Professor McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall pursed her lips and didn't say much. She led them to a small courtyard surrounded by walls on all sides. There was nothing there except for trash cans and weeds.

"Just count three tiles up from the wall above the trash can—then count two tiles horizontally, and tap the wall three times with your wand, and then..." Professor McGonagall said, demonstrating as she spoke.

The brick began to shake, and a small hole appeared in it. Eventually, the hole transformed into an archway leading to another magical world.

Welcome to Diagon Alley.

Professor McGonagall spoke with a hint of pride, even though she performed this task many times every year, she never showed impatience. Unveiling the magic world to a young wizard was a delightful task.

As I walked along the archway, a rumbling sound came from behind me.

Hermione and Loren looked back, and the archway had turned back into an ordinary wall.

Along the way, I saw all sorts of strange and unusual shops, selling owls, crucibles, and oddly shaped brooms, but I didn't stop at any of them.

"Professor McGonagall, why do wizards use owls to deliver messages?"

"Professor McGonagall, why are the crucibles made of different materials and in different sizes?"

"Professor McGonagall, why can the flying broomstick fly? Does it have an engine? What powers it?"

Hermione was a little nervous, and she kept asking questions.

When children go to unfamiliar places, they are always a little scared. Their curiosity is also a way to relieve their inner emotions.

Professor McGonagall was able to answer at first, but Hermione kept asking questions, always adding "why".

Finally, Professor McGonagall said, "Some questions will be answered after you enroll, and some you will have to find the answers to yourself."

Hermione then stopped and turned her gaze to her friend beside her.

Loren was observing the shops and pedestrians on the street with great interest, connecting what he saw with his memories of his past life.

"Loren, why don't you ask anything? Aren't you curious at all?" Hermione asked Loren.

Loren looked at the little girl in front of him; her eyes were really bright. "Hermione, do you know? I live on a ranch and have two talking kittens. One is very cute, and the other isn't so pretty."

"Oh, is that a wizard's pet too? I thought you were a Muggle like me." Hermione quickly added the question; she already knew from Professor McGonagall that Muggle was the wizard's term for ordinary people.

Professor McGonagall also noticed what Loren said: a talking cat? She'd never had one before; why hadn't she seen one when she visited Loren's house?

"The one that wasn't very good-looking kept asking why, and then it was given away?" Loren said seriously, suppressing a laugh.

Professor McGonagall realized from Loren's expression that he was talking nonsense.

"Huh? Why? Because it's not cute? Do you have any other cats you can give me? Even if they're not as cute." Hermione was still captivated by the cute talking kitten, then added, "Even if it can't talk, it'll do."

Loren could hardly contain himself: "Because cute cats don't always ask why!" After saying that, Loren burst out laughing.

Professor McGonagall also looked amused.

Hermione blinked, paused for a moment, and finally realized what she meant: "You're so mean! You're messing with me!" She said, and then slapped Loren on the shoulder with her teeth, but not very hard.

"Just kidding!" Loren said, laughing as he apologized.

As Hermione passed Flourish and Blotts, her eyes gleamed with barely concealed excitement. She couldn't wait to go inside and search for the answers to all her questions, but Professor McGonagall didn't stop either.

"The currency used by wizards is different from that in the Muggle world. We need to go to Gringotts first to exchange for some wizarding currency," Professor McGonagall explained.

Discussing the surrounding shops, the group finally arrived at their destination.

It was a snow-white building, taller than the other shops around it, with a gleaming bronze door.

Elf waiters in scarlet and gold uniforms stood in front of the door. They were less than half the height of a normal adult, a head shorter than Loren, but their arms and legs were very long.

As they entered, the fairy waitress bowed to them. Then a second silver door appeared, inscribed with: "Please enter, stranger. But beware of the consequences of greed. Unrequited taking and unearned gain will be severely punished. Therefore, if you wish to take from our underground vault a fortune that has never belonged to you, thief, you have been warned. Beware that you will not find treasure, but rather retribution."

Inside was a marble hall, where hundreds of fairy employees sat on high stools at a long row of counters, conducting various tasks. Some were weighing coins on bronze scales, while others were examining gemstones...

The hall had countless doors leading to different places, and the fairy led people back and forth between these doors.

With Professor McGonagall's help, Loren and Hermione exchanged pounds for the wizarding world's currency. Through the goblins' explanations and Professor McGonagall's supplementary information, the two learned some basic facts.

Muggle currency is exchanged for wizarding currency, primarily Galleons, which are exclusive to students from Muggle families at Hogwarts.

Every transaction is meticulously recorded, and transactions exceeding a certain amount will be subject to further inquiries. However, there are virtually no restrictions on exchanging Galleons for Muggle currency, taking into account that some wizards reside in the Muggle world and have this need.

Of course, wizards must have ways to obtain Muggle currency without exchanging it, but most of them would violate the Secret Service Act.

In addition, Loren discovered that the wizarding currency system was very rudimentary. Even though the exchange of Muggle currency for Galleons was specifically accounted for and recorded, gold could still be exchanged without limit.

Based on this alone, Loren could easily cripple the wizarding economy, making them spend 50 marks—no, I mean galons—on a loaf of bread.

However, a rudimentary system also means ruthlessness, and the goblins of Gringotts have the highest right of interpretation.

The currency has no financial attributes; the amount produced and issued is entirely up to the fairies. If Loren were to attack them using financial means, the result would simply be the fairies issuing a rogue statement and rewriting the rules.

Using price manipulation to disrupt the market wouldn't yield much benefit, as the market is too small. Unless they could get the wizards to sign some kind of labor contract, but that's unrealistic, as it would be like being tricked into handing over a large sum of money.

In addition, Loren found the strange exchange rate of 1 Gallon to 17 Sickles and 1 Sickle to 29 Nats very distressing.

Decimal is the best! C—oh wait, I mean Java is the best…

(End of this chapter)