Welcome to Diagon Alley!

The scenery beyond the windshield flashed past, shifting constantly between fields, rivers, ponds, villages, and more.

With the help of magic, obstacles like trash cans, lampposts, and mailboxes would jump aside to make way whenever the Knight Bus passed.

After about twenty minutes, the Knight Bus finally stopped in a narrow alley.

The enormous bus shrank to the size of a wooden crate as it stopped in the cramped alley. Only a world where magic existed could make something like that possible.

Hagrid shakily stepped off the bus and leaned against the wall at the corner of the alley, retching violently.

Beyond the alley was a Commercial Street lined with shop signs.

However, they had arrived too early. None of the shops had opened, and only hurried pedestrians passed by.

"It's awful!" Hagrid looked terrible, and he was still trembling as he walked. "Vizet, help me find a place called the Leaky Cauldron."

There were all kinds of shops along Commercial Street—fast-food restaurants, clothing stores, jewelry stores, cinemas, and everything else imaginable. The only thing missing was the Leaky Cauldron Hagrid had mentioned.

It was not until Vizet passed a bookstore that a sign suddenly appeared out of thin air.

The sign was extremely old, standing in stark contrast to the brightly lit signs around it.

It was covered in smoke and scorch marks, and bore the image of a black Cauldron with a broken bottom.

"Hagrid, is that it?" Vizet asked, pointing at the sign.

Hagrid retched once, then nodded. "That's right! You'd never guess when this bar was established."

"When was it?" Vizet showed intense curiosity toward everything in the Magical World.

"I remember it was sometime in the early sixteenth century..." Hagrid frowned in thought. "Anyway, it was established before the Statute of Secrecy was enacted! Let's go in!"

Four centuries of history had not brought the Leaky Cauldron much historical depth. They had merely allowed its walls and floor to accumulate a sufficient amount of Stains.

Hagrid seemed to be a regular here. The moment he entered the Leaky Cauldron, the place immediately grew noisy, with the customers waving and smiling at him.

Compared with the quiet of Commercial Street that morning, the incredibly dim Leaky Cauldron was especially lively.

"Same as usual?" An old bald man came to the bar, took out two beer mugs, and tapped them together to produce a pleasant sound.

Hagrid waved his hands repeatedly. "Not today, Tom. I've got something important to do! Give me a potion for motion sickness... Vizet, do you want something to eat?"

Thinking of Luna's family's financial situation, Vizet raised the snack in his hand. "No need. Luna gave me this!"

The bar suddenly fell silent. The customers looked somewhat awkward, even carrying a hint of wariness.

Tom took a step back and asked cautiously, "He's Vizet? That Obscurial?"

"Can't blame you!" Hagrid understood what the customers were wary of. He smacked his forehead and let out a clap like Thunder. "He's a good boy! Why didn't you react like this just now?"

"Sorry..." Tom looked embarrassed. "You're right. I overreacted."

"All right, we should get going!" Hagrid dropped a silver coin and downed the potion for motion sickness in one gulp.

He led Vizet through the bar and into the Small Courtyard at the back.

It was much cleaner than the inside of the Leaky Cauldron, containing only a few tufts of weeds and a Trash Can.

"Vizet, remember this..." Hagrid raised the umbrella he carried with him. "From the Trash Can, count three bricks upward, then two across..."

The umbrella tapped against the bricks with a crisp sound. The entire wall trembled and rearranged itself until a wide archway appeared.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley!"

The morning sunlight was gentle as it fell across the various signs in Diagon Alley, illuminating the names of each shop.

There were many Wizards in Diagon Alley. The shops displayed all kinds of novel items, giving Vizet the strange feeling that he had attended a market fair in his previous life.

Hagrid pointed at a snow-white marble building. "That's Gringotts Bank. We need to collect your scholarship money."

A towering building stood among a row of shops, its entire structure snow-white and exceptionally conspicuous.

Vizet looked toward Gringotts. "Hagrid, that gatekeeper... is he a Goblin?"

"That's right!" Hagrid nodded with a smile. "The currency made by Goblins can't be forged, so Gringotts was founded by them."

Gringotts was magnificently decorated. The two Bronze Gate doors at the very front stood open, with another pair of gleaming silver doors inside.

When Vizet and Hagrid approached, the Goblin welcoming guests immediately bowed and gestured for them to continue inside.

A long string of words was engraved on the silver doors: Enter, stranger, but take heed of what awaits the sin of greed... Thieves, you have been warned, beware of finding more than treasure.

The words were all warnings, reminding Vizet of the famous warning from his previous life—the warning on Tutankhamun's Pyramids.

It was said that everyone who first entered Tutankhamun's Pyramids was killed by the curse contained within.

Vizet was somewhat curious about the so-called "evil consequences." "Hagrid, if a thief really broke in, how would the Goblins deal with them?"

"There are plenty of methods!" Hagrid lowered his voice and led Vizet a few steps farther inside. "Other than Hogwarts, this is the safest place in the Magical World!"

"If a thief touches the doors, they'll be sucked inside and never get out! As for the vaults buried deep underground, the Goblins trained Trolls and Fire Dragons to protect them."

Vizet asked curiously, "Fire Dragons? There are Fire Dragons here too?"

"Of course! Raising dragons is legal here! Well done!" Hagrid's eyes lit up. "I want to raise a Fire Dragon too. Those little cuties are simply too enchanting..."

Hagrid had conducted in-depth research on Fire Dragons and could describe the characteristics of every breed.

However, Vizet found it difficult to imagine why those dangerous Magical creatures, each at least five meters long, could be called "little cuties."

All along the way, Hagrid chattered on, displaying an extreme fanaticism toward Fire Dragons.

They eventually reached the deepest part of the hall. Hagrid handed the application form to the Goblin at the reception desk. "We're here to collect a scholarship."

"Understood!" The Goblin at the reception desk extended one finger. A wisp of flame rose from its sharp, elongated fingernail, and the application form was set alight.

After burning, the application form left behind not even a trace of ash. Only an elegant cursive signature floated in the air.

"Please wait!" After confirming everything was in order, the Goblin at the reception desk jumped down from the counter and disappeared into the shadows.

Vizet asked, "Hagrid, if I have Muggle currency, can I exchange it for Wizard currency?"

"Of course!" Hagrid continued rummaging through the pockets on his body. "An underage Wizard can exchange only fifty Galleons a year, while an adult Wizard can exchange one hundred Galleons a year."

"Why is there a limit?"

"Because Muggle currency is far too easy to obtain. Their banks aren't safe at all. That's why there has to be a limit, to prevent it from affecting the Magical World."

"I finally found them! These are good things!" Hagrid suddenly began to laugh and extended his hand toward Vizet.

More than ten eggs, each about the size of a ball, rested in Hagrid's hand. Their surfaces were covered in orange-red patterns.

Vizet found the eggs somewhat familiar. "Could these be... Runespoor eggs?"