Gringotts

Gringotts was arguably the tallest building in Diagon Alley.

Li Weide and Tom stood before the towering white building, studying it closely.

"These Goblins certainly know how to put on a show," Tom said with a curl of his lip.

"I heard they control all the wealth in the wizarding world. It's only natural for them to have an impressive facade," Li Weide said thoughtfully.

Tom frowned. "I really don't understand why wizards would entrust their wealth to another species..."

"We can buy a history book and find out later. As for now..."

The two did not waste any more time and strode quickly toward the entrance.

Gringotts had two doors in total. The first was a gleaming bronze door.

Two Goblin guards in scarlet-and-gold uniforms stood on either side of it.

This was the first time Li Weide and Tom had ever seen Goblins...

They were very short, with oversized heads, a pair of long ears, pointed noses, and long limbs...

Li Weide noticed that their arms seemed longer than their legs.

As Li Weide and Tom gave the Goblins a quick once-over, the Goblins politely bowed to them.

By then, Li Weide and Tom had reached the second, silver door.

A passage resembling poetry was engraved upon the silver door.

Enter, stranger, but beware what awaits the greedy.

Those who take without earning shall face the harshest punishment.

So if you seek to take from our underground vaults wealth that has never belonged to you, thief, you have been warned.

Beware that what you find will not be treasure, but retribution.

Beyond the silver doors was a spacious marble hall, where over a hundred Goblins bustled behind long counters.

Some weighed coins on scales, some inspected gemstones through eyepieces, while others received wizarding customers and hastily wrote something in enormous ledgers...

After looking around, Li Weide walked over to the counter of a Goblin who appeared relatively free.

"Excuse me."

Hearing him, the Goblin put down his quill and leaned over the high counter to look at Li Weide and Tom.

Li Weide and Tom were both dressed in fine, luxurious clothes, looking like young masters from Pure-blood families.

The moment the Goblin saw how they were dressed, the impatience on his face vanished, replaced by a broad smile.

"Welcome. What business would you two like to conduct?" The Goblin's voice was shrill and grating.

Instead of taking out pounds sterling, Li Weide directly pulled five small gold bars from his pocket. "Exchange these for some Galleons."

"Ah! Of course! Of course! I'll weigh them right away!"

The Goblin's eyes immediately lit up at the sight of the gold bars, and his tone became even more obsequious.

He placed the five small gold bars Li Weide had handed him onto a small scale one by one.

"My, the purity of this gold is very high! I can offer you the best rate..."

"Hmm... Today's rate is ten Galleons per gram. Each of your five gold bars weighs one hundred grams. So, how about I exchange them for a total of five thousand Galleons?"

Tom's eyes lit up at once. Honestly, for someone whose entire fortune currently amounted to only twenty Galleons, five thousand Galleons was already an enormous sum!

However, Li Weide shook his head. "Only ten Galleons per gram? Your handling fee is rather steep. I'd better try another counter."

Tom could not help glancing at Li Weide. Five thousand Galleons was already a lot...

"Don't! Wait!" The Goblin hurriedly stopped Li Weide, who was turning to leave. "How about this... My name is La Suo. As long as you're willing to come to me whenever you conduct business at Gringotts in the future..."

As he spoke, La Suo warily glanced around before lowering his voice. "I can offer twelve Galleons per gram. What do you think?"

Tom casually rubbed his face, pretending nothing was amiss, to keep his expression from giving away his excitement and ruining Li Weide's plan...

Li Weide now pretended to hesitate.

"Oh, sir, although gold prices vary every day, this is already the highest rate. Any higher, and I won't be able to explain it to my superiors..." La Suo said helplessly.

"All right, we'll do as you say..."

"Wonderful! I'll fetch your money at once! Oh, and... would you like to open a vault? You know, with an additional vault, you can store your own pocket money. I guarantee your family will never find out!"

"Then open one. And help me deposit these as well." As he spoke, Li Weide took out the rest of his gold bars.

La Suo's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He had been right after all—these two young masters really were rich! Even their pocket money came in gold bars!

By the time they walked out of Gringotts, their wallets were stuffed, and they were wealthy men.

Tom asked in confusion, "How did you know that greedy Goblin wasn't telling the truth?"

Li Weide smiled. "Goblins are greedy. How could they possibly tell the truth? Believe it or not, twelve Galleons per gram isn't the highest rate either. La Suo can definitely pocket another kickback from it."

"Then why did you still exchange with him?" Tom asked in shock.

"Tom, if you want someone to work wholeheartedly for you, you have to let them skim a little benefit. Especially when dealing with creatures like Goblins," Li Weide said indifferently.

"Here, this is for you." Li Weide took out a money pouch and tossed it to Tom. It contained five hundred Galleons. "We'll each take five hundred Galleons. That should be enough for now. We'll keep the rest at Gringotts."

Tom nodded and silently put the money pouch into his pocket.

"All right, it's time to return the clothes. Then... we'll go buy wands!" A hint of anticipation appeared on Li Weide's face.

Li Weide had always used Nonverbal Spellcasting, and now he wanted to see what using a wand felt like. Tom felt the same way.

After the two returned the clothes to Mr. Malkin's and bought the school robes they needed, they hurried to Ollivanders Wand Shop.

The shop looked small and shabby. The gold lettering on its door sign had peeled away, and it read: "Ollivander: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC."

In the shop window, a single wand lay alone upon a faded purple cushion.

Li Weide and Tom pushed open the door and walked inside.

The shop's interior was small, with nothing in it except a bench in one corner.

Thousands upon thousands of long, narrow wand boxes were stacked from floor to ceiling, and a thin layer of dust lay over everything.

"Welcome to Ollivanders Wand Shop! Ah... two more Young Wizards preparing to enroll at Hogwarts."

A young man with silvery-white pupils squeezed out from between the crowded shelves.

"My name is Garrick Ollivander. You've certainly come to the right place to buy wands."

"With so many wands, how are we supposed to choose?" Tom looked doubtfully at the mountain of wand boxes around them.

Ollivander smiled. "Ha ha, in fact, it is not the wizard who chooses the wand, but the wand that chooses the wizard! All right... which of you two will go first?"

Li Weide pushed Tom forward. "He will."

Tom frowned and shot Li Weide a glance. He was already beginning to suspect that Li Weide was plotting something again! However, this time, Li Weide truly had no intention of setting him up.

He simply wanted to see whether Tom would still end up with that fated Yew Wand.

British units of measurement were a bit troublesome, so I simply changed them back to grams. They're easier to read that way.