A Brand-New Diagon Alley

Is this what it feels like to be absurdly lucky?

Grinning wildly, Sean immediately opened the card.

Hermione Granger's Echo (Gold): For half an hour after using this card, for every five spells you cast, the next spell will become Silent Casting; for every twenty spells you cast, the next spell will become Wandless Casting; for every forty spells you cast, the next spell will be enhanced. (Echo effects can stack.)

Sean stared at the card in amazement. If Dumbledore had obtained this card, its use to him would have been extremely limited. But for someone like himself, who had yet to grow, this card was practically a divine artifact!

The only limitation was the number of spells required, but compared to its powerful effects, that could hardly be considered a flaw.

Fully satisfied, Sean chose to stop. In life, one had to know when to quit while ahead.

The next day, when Sean led Allen to stand in front of the Leaky Cauldron, Allen held a suitcase and looked doubtfully at the bustling crowd on the street.

"Damn it, I've passed by here so many times. How did I never notice there was a pub here?"

"Actually, neither did I." Sean gently pushed open the door to the Leaky Cauldron.

Just as expected, it was filthy and shabby.

Allen took out a handkerchief. Frowning, he said quietly, "I'm already starting to regret letting you study magic, Sean."

"But it's interesting too, isn't it, Dad?"

Though the Leaky Cauldron was a famous place in the Wizarding World, it was hardly a pleasant one.

Several old women sat in a corner drinking sherry from small glasses, one of them puffing on a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was chatting with the pub owner, who was almost bald and looked like a shriveled walnut.

When their conversation came to a pause, Sean walked over and gave the pub owner a slight nod. "Good day, sir. Are you Mr. Tom?"

Tom glanced at him and revealed a somewhat vicious smile. "First-year? Hogwarts?"

"Yes, sir."

"Follow me."

Following limping Tom through the bar, they arrived at a small courtyard enclosed by walls on all sides. Tom took out his wand. "Remember this brick. Once you have a wand, you'll be able to enter on your own."

With that, he tapped the brick three times.

To Allen's astonishment, the brick trembled and began to move. A small hole gradually appeared, and as the bricks shifted, the opening grew larger and larger. Soon, a huge archway appeared before the father and son.

As they stepped out of the passage, their view suddenly opened up. Sunlight fell upon the wall behind them, which had already returned to normal.

It was completely different from what Sean had seen in the movies or imagined for himself.

The cobblestone streets were solid and level, not some narrow alley with only a dozen or so shops. The road was crowded with people, and Sean had already noticed several ordinary people. They were easy to spot, dressed in perfectly normal yet still out-of-place clothes, bringing along children who were likely first-years and staring around at everything in wonder.

On both sides of the street stood all kinds of marvelous magical shops, stretching so far that he could not even see the end.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley." Tom flashed his scattered teeth, attempting to give him a friendly smile.

Sean showed no disgust. He smiled and nodded politely. "Thank you very much for your help, Mr. Tom."

After saying goodbye, father and son looked around Diagon Alley in amazement. It was nothing like the narrow, cramped alley Sean remembered. It was more like a bustling commercial street.

Was this the new change brought about by Grindelwald not being defeated?

Along the way, Sean and Allen both wished they had a few more pairs of eyes. Everything here was something they had never seen before.

Moreover, the atmosphere of commercial competition in Diagon Alley seemed much stronger. He had already seen three or four shops selling Magical Creatures alone.

"Rent the Vampire Castle of Transylvania... This company bears no responsibility for tourist casualties?! Damn it, how has this travel agency not gone bankrupt?" As the owner of a private hospital, Mr. Wallop had a particularly strong reaction to such terms.

"Come on, Dad. We have a lot to buy." Sean pulled his father away from the travel agency called Terror Tour.

"Yes, yes, let me see..." Allen turned his gaze into the distance. "That's, uh, Gringotts, right? We need to exchange money used by wizards there." He winked at his son and inconspicuously lifted the suitcase in his hand.

Sean naturally knew what was inside: gold and gemstones.

Mr. Wallop had said that if it was not enough, there was more.

The two walked up to a towering snow-white building. Beside its gleaming bronze doors stood a goblin dressed in a scarlet uniform.

The goblin did not seem inclined to greet them. Allen muttered, "Their service awareness could use some improvement," and the two passed through another silver door into Gringotts' main hall.

At that moment, another goblin wearing a formal vest approached them. He spoke quickly, and his voice was cold.

"First-year from a Muggle Family?"

"Yes, hello."

"Follow me." The goblin led them through a doorway. Inside were two rows of very tall counters, where many customers in jackets and dresses were conducting business. It looked like this area was specifically for Muggle Families.

Walking up to an available goblin, Sean said, "Hello, I'd like to exchange some Galleons."

"Name, school." The goblin behind the counter did not even raise his head.

"Sean Wallop, Hogwarts."

The goblin tilted his head and glanced at a piece of parchment beside him before continuing.

"Name confirmed... Five pounds can be exchanged for one gold Galleon. One Galleon can be exchanged for seventeen Silver Sickles, and one Sickle for twenty-nine copper Knuts. First-year students have an exchange limit of one hundred Galleons. After that, the annual limit is sixty."

Mr. Wallop frowned. He had only taken a rough look at the shop windows earlier, but a single book cost two Galleons. How could one hundred Galleons possibly be enough?

He cleared his throat. "Sir, can we only exchange that much?"

The goblin raised his head, an unpleasant smile appearing on his face.

"Of course. Do you think Muggle currency is useful to us? Every Galleon, Sickle, even Knut has magic on it. What does the pound have? In fact, these Galleons are sponsored for you by Hogwarts."

"What about other things?" Allen placed the suitcase on the counter, and the pleasant clinking of gemstones came from within.

The goblin's pointed ears perked up. He opened the suitcase, and in an instant, his ugly eyes widened. His voice immediately became warm and shrill.

"Of course, of course! We at Gringotts welcome all transactions involving precious metals and gemstones!"