A Certain Magical Hogwarts

Chapter 6 Two Thousand Years of Professional Rod Making

Hagrid chattered on and on, constantly complaining about the Ministry of Magic's various unreasonable regulations, as if the whole world was against his adorable dragon.

The two fairies led them into a tall marble hall.

There were about a hundred fairies sitting on high stools behind a row of long counters. Some were weighing coins with copper scales, while others were examining gems with eyepieces, all while hastily recording them in a large ledger.

The hall had countless doors, each leading to a different place, and many fairies guided visitors through these doors, making it seem extremely busy.

"I need to exchange it for two hundred Galleons." Roy pulled out a small stack of pounds and handed it to an old devil.

Hogwarts provides seven years of compulsory education; the school does not charge tuition. However, textbooks, wizard robes, wands, and other such items must be purchased by the students themselves.

So here's the question.

Since Hogwarts doesn't charge tuition, how does it maintain its daily expenses?

William learned from Hagrid that the school's funding mainly came from grants from the Ministry of Magic, donations from the board of trustees, and donations from prominent alumni.

Of course, his income was much higher than that, after all, Hagrid was just a key keeper.

The old fox was indeed a shrewd businessman. He glanced at Roy and William casually, and with his sharp eyes, he instantly determined from their clothes that they were not poor. Then he began to enthusiastically promote his products.

The old monster seems to be a natural-born actor; he got into character in a second and began his performance.

Gringotts Private Vault

Hidden 20,000 meters underground,

Ukraine's iron belly protects,

Exclusive one-to-one confidential key

The coin box will automatically alarm when separated from the vault by ten meters.

The difference between very good and excellent is just a tiny bit; that gap is called Gringotts.

Gringotts Private Vault – You deserve it!

Roy: "..."

William: "..."

Hagrid: "(☆?☆)!!"

Roy and William looked disgusted, but the old fox wasn't angry and continued to push other financial products.

As for Hagrid, who was beaming with excitement... he completely ignored him. The other party was obviously a poor guy and not his potential client.

William looked at the incessantly chattering old hag and felt as if he were seeing the barber from his past life. The old hag rambled on and on, but the core message was still the same: "Hey bro, how about getting a membership card?"

Before William could say anything, his father Roy decisively refused.

He had already inquired and learned that Galleons are magical coins, and they are not made of pure gold, but rather an alloy produced using fairy smelting techniques.

Since it's not pure gold, even if you exchange a lot of it and store it in Gringotts, it will be subject to inflation instead of maintaining its value along with the price of gold.

Only a fool would keep his money in the bank; wouldn't it be better to invest in it?

"What a pity."

As he walked along the road, Hagrid sighed repeatedly.

"If it weren't for the fact that all the money was spent on buying Cerberus, I would also like to set up a private treasury."

Hey William, what kind of look is that? Not everyone can have a private treasury; it's a symbol of a successful man!

Let me tell you, without a private treasury, even getting married is difficult in the wizarding world!

Hmm, why does that sound so familiar to William?

Next, Hagrid led the two into the Madam Malkin's Robe Shop.

Madam Malkin was a short, plump witch with a friendly smile, dressed in purple. After taking their measurements, she suggested that the three of them go and buy other items first.

So they went to the wand shop first.

This was a small, run-down shop. The gold lettering on the door had peeled off and read: Ollivanders: Crafting fine wands since 382 BC.

In the dusty shop window, a magic wand sits forlornly on a faded purple cushion.

Wow, they've been making sticks for over two thousand years!

As they entered the shop, the sound of tinkling wind chimes came from somewhere at the back of the shop.

The shop was small, with only a bench and thousands of narrow cardboard boxes stacked almost to the ceiling.

This place is full of magic wands.

"Good evening." A head suddenly popped out from the pile of cardboard boxes.

But this man was not Ollivander; he was very young and thin... and looked only a year or two older than William.

"Oh, Merlin's beard! Cedric, what are you doing here?" Hagrid was startled.

"Hey, hello Hagrid."

The boy named Cedric shook his apprenticeship clothes, sending up a cloud of dust.

"I'm working here during the summer vacation."

"Oh, really?" Hagrid glanced at Cedric with a suspicious look in his eyes.

"If you want to make money, I've posted quests at Hogwarts. You can come help me train magical creatures during the summer vacation. There's no need to come here."

Cedric quickly waved his hand and said, "Money doesn't matter, the key is interest. I just want to learn some skills from Mr. Ollivander."

Of course, the most important reason the boy didn't say was... he didn't want to raise any Billywig bugs; those things were very fast and had a long, thin stinger.

That's absolutely terrible!

"You could ask the Weasley brothers for help next time; they're probably short on cash," Cedric suggested "kindly."

"Merlin's beard, don't mention those two bastards!" Hagrid's beard trembled with anger.

"I spent half a semester chasing them out of the Forbidden Forest... I've never seen such audacious students, freshmen, roaming the Forbidden Forest!"

Cedric nodded and turned his gaze to William.

"This must be the new junior, right? Hello, my name is Cedric Diggory, just call me Cedric."

Cedric had a high nose bridge and black hair. Although he was thin, his black pupils were bright and piercing.

"Hello, my name is William Stark, you can just call me William." William extended his hand and shook hands with him.

Hagrid smiled and said, "William, talk to Cedric more. He's the best student in the entire first year."

I've heard many professors praise him, especially Professor McGonagall, who, you know, is very strict.

"No, not at all." Cedric's face flushed slightly. He turned his head away embarrassedly and called out to the inner room, "Mr. Ollivander, we have a guest."

After a while, accompanied by the sound of wind chimes, an old man stood in front of them. His large, light-colored eyes shone like two bright moons in the dimly lit shop.

"Hello," William said. "My name is William Stark."

"Hmm, another little wizard." The old man, with his disheveled white hair, muttered to himself.

"That's great. I think those lovely wands can't wait to meet their new owners."

He smoothed his hair and exclaimed in surprise, "Oh, of course! The wand chooses its master, so it's hidden somewhere, and my job is to find it."

Mr. Ollivander approached William. Although his tone was amiable, his narrow, silvery-white eyes gave him an extremely eerie appearance.

He stared into William's dark green eyes for a moment before turning to look at Hagrid.

He seemed to have just noticed Hagrid, exclaiming in surprise, "Oh, Rubeus Hagrid! It's so good to see you again. Oak, sixteen inches long, a little bent, isn't it?"

“Yes, sir.” Hagrid nodded. “That’s a fine wand.”

"But I imagine the Ministry of Magic must have crushed you when they expelled you, right?" Ollivander suddenly became serious.

"Ah, of course, they broke it, yes." Hagrid slowly moved his feet, retreating towards Roy, as if that made him feel safer.

"I still have the broken wand."

"But you don't use it anymore, do you?" Ollivander continued to ask.

"No need, how can you use a wand that's already broken?"

Hagrid answered nervously, but his large hands gripped the tattered pink umbrella tightly.

……

……

(P.S. Ollivander's Wand Boutique reminds all young wizards that if you collect and recommend this item, you'll receive a wand made of sandalwood and Ao Bing's dragon tendons. (ω))

Here's a quick note: many people mistakenly believe Cedric is a year older than the twins, but they're actually in the same year. Hermione's birthday is in September 1979, and Harry's is on July 31, 1980. Hermione is a year older than Harry, but those born after September 1st must start the following year. Cedric falls into this category; his birthday falls between September and the start of the Goblet of Fire, allowing him to participate. The same applies to Angelina, who is in the same year as the twins.

(End of this chapter)