The Day of the Draw at Hogwarts

After a long wait, it was finally Tom's turn to leave the station.

"So, do you have any plans for the holiday?" Looking at the slowly moving queue in front of her, Hermione asked Tom quietly as if she suddenly remembered something, "Do you want to stay at my house? I mean, we can stay at my house." During the holidays, we will preview all the second-year courses and do homework together - the professors have left a lot of summer homework! And... we can also go fishing together!"

Hermione's voice gradually became softer, "Fishing is quite interesting, isn't it? I heard from dad that there have been more fish in that river recently..."

It seems that Hermione doesn't want to study, but wants to fish!

But Tom had no plans to stay at Hermione's house during the holidays.

"Uh, Hermione, I have plans for the holidays. I want to find a job in one or two shops in Diagon Alley..."

Hermione: Σ(⊙▽⊙”!

Tom's words reminded her.

"Ah! Why didn't I think of that!" She stamped her feet, "Indeed, I should find a part-time job during the summer vacation. I have to talk to my parents..."

Before she could finish her words, it was their turn to cross the platform. They passed through the wall leading to the Muggle world and came to King's Cross station between platforms nine and ten.

Tom saw that Ron's family were near the platform, and his little sister Ginny looked very excited because she had just met Harry. Harry's figure was almost disappearing into the distance. Uncle Vernon didn't want to stay here for even a second. He felt that the "magic factor" in the air was too high.

The Grangers were also waiting for their daughter on the platform. Hermione crossed the platform and immediately ran to them. But before she said a few words, Hermione hurriedly expressed that she wanted to find a part-time job in magic during the holidays.

Mr. Granger scratched his head and was a little confused, but he still agreed to his daughter.

"Is that okay? Then she might have to take the subway home alone after get off work..." Mrs. Granger was a little worried.

Mr. Granger's face was straight: "So what, this is London! The heart of the British Empire——"

Mr. Granger once visited Paris, France. The dirty, smelly, and homeless subway stations there left a deep impression on him. Therefore, he often expressed this to his friends: The French subway stations are probably the most unique in Europe. Medieval style place.

To be fair, compared to the New York subway and the Paris subway, the London subway is clean and hygienic, and it is definitely the brand name of the Angsa national subway. But Mr. Granger felt extremely uncomfortable when he thought about his only daughter having to squeeze into the subway.

So he changed the subject, "But I've been very free recently, so I can pick you up after you get off work!"

Of course he is very free, because he works in his own clinic and has truly implemented a flexible working system.

Hermione didn't notice her father's inner struggle. She was summarizing her advantages and trying to leave a good impression on her boss during the interview.

"Where's little Tom?" Mrs. Granger suddenly thought of the little boy.

"He should be going to Diagon Alley now, right? He also wants to find a summer job there."

"Oh——" The Grangers suddenly realized something.

At this time, Tom had already arrived in Diagon Alley. When it came to part-time jobs, the first thing that came to his mind was Flourish and Blotts Bookstore. The advantage of this part-time job is that I have books to read! Just reading it in secret is not shabby.

So he walked into Flourish and Blotts Bookstore and announced his intention. Lawrence, the manager of Flourish and Blotts, is a thin, middle-aged man who, like many British people, is bald. Lawrence gave Tom a strange look: there are very few children at Hogwarts who choose to work part-time during the summer vacation. Most of the young wizards choose to play at the houses of friends and relatives during the holidays.

But having cheap labor coming to your door is naturally a good thing.

Even though Lawrence is known as a manager, he really doesn’t have many people under him. Once you get busy, you often have to do it yourself. It's summer vacation now, and Hogwarts will soon welcome new students, a new semester, and a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Then a large number of new books will be introduced. I'm afraid he will have to work overtime until he vomits blood, so he needs to hiring.

So he invited Tom into the bookstore's office.

After entering the office, Lawrence sat down on his worn armchair, and then with a flick of his wand, a chair was brought for Tom.

"What's your name?" He took out a roll of parchment and a lint-free quill from the drawer.

"Tom Yoder, twelve years old."

Lawrence raised his head and glanced at Tom, "The job in the bookstore is not easy. You have to move books."

"I learned the levitation spell very well." Tom took out his wand and moved the stack of books back and forth in Lawrence's office lightly.

Lawrence glanced at Tom in surprise: It's very good that he can use the levitating spell to this extent at the age of twelve. Many third-grade children may not be as skilled as him.

"Can I take a look at your transcript?" He became slightly interested in Tom.

"Of course." Tom took out his transcript and handed it over.

When Lawrence saw Tom's ranking, he raised his head in surprise and looked at Tom carefully. He suddenly understood why Tom wanted to work here - this is a top student!

"Ahem, don't fold the pages when reading, and try not to touch the brand new book." It only took one second for Mr. Lawrence to see through Tom's true purpose - he also came here like this when he was young, "And this is my job. Work cannot be delayed.”

Next comes the salary and working hours.

Lawrence proposed that Tom come to work in the store on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from 8 am to 5 pm, with an hour's lunch time, one galleons a day, and food and accommodation were not included.

Tom was unhappy on the spot: Dumbledore could offer Dobby a salary of ten galleons a week, but I only get one galleone for working from morning to night?

I'm a top student at Hogwarts and Dumbledore's confidant, so I need more money!

Finally, after wrangling for a long time, Lawrence agreed: three days a week, five galleons, no food and accommodation, but a set of second-grade textbooks for one month of work.

Everyone is happy.

At this time, Mr. Lawrence didn’t know that the second grade was about to welcome the magical Professor Lockhart, who required seven textbooks for one class! Seven books! How can these little wizards from poor families live?

Professors in some universities in Europe and the United States often ask students to buy books they have published in order to make a profit - don't think that books are not worth a few dollars, it is very common for a genuine new book to cost hundreds of euros.

Lockhart, the birdman, wants seven books at once! If you can't empathize, just imagine receiving an email before the start of school one day, telling you that one of your required courses requires a thousand euros to buy textbooks. By the way, Lockhart's books are very expensive, five galleons a copy. The same required textbook, "Standard Spells, Level 2" only costs 1 galleon.