A Belly Full of Wicked Water Sprite

Holly wood, phoenix tail feather—that should be the match.

Mainly because he had been spacing out the whole time and hadn't remembered clearly. It wasn't until the two of them left Ollivander's shop and ran into the late-arriving Hagrid asking about it that it came back to him.

Hagrid, meanwhile, was rambling on and on about some funny incident in the courtyard of the Leaky Cauldron.

"You have no idea—some genius, must've not known how to get into Diagon Alley, just straight-up wrecked the brick wall. Really, couldn't he have just turned around and asked old Tom?"

Kayson and Harry fell silent.

"Why are you two making that face? Don't tell me it was you who did the wrecking?"

"..."

"It wasn't you, right?"

"..."

"...Come on, come on—those Aurors are going out of their minds looking for you two. Let's move, let's move." Hagrid took a deep breath and quickly led them into the crowd.

"By the way, have you been to Gringotts yet?" Hagrid asked suddenly as they walked.

"...What's Gringotts?" Harry looked up.

"That white building—it's the wizards' bank. Dumbledore's been keeping your family vault key safe, so today's a good day to return it to its rightful owner... And I've got business there too."

The three of them arrived at Gringotts and soon boarded the mine cart heading down to the underground vaults.

"Is this thing safe?" Kayson's mouth twitched as he asked, a little curious.

"Rest assured, safety is Gringotts' top priority," the goblin sitting at the front explained, turning back.

Slowly, the cart started moving. Kayson sat at the back, watching the scenery blur past, and let out an instinctive cheer: "That's awesome!"

"..."

"Too loud?"

"No... that's awesome!" Hagrid echoed with a cheer of his own.

Then the two of them each headed to their own vaults, leaving Kayson alone leaning against the stone wall, zoning out.

He had no intention of opening a vault. Anything he needed could fit in a single trunk. If one wasn't enough, he'd just upgrade to a bigger one.

Soon, Hagrid came back, apparently done retrieving his things, and stood off to the side waiting for Harry.

"What's taking that kid so long?"

"No idea..."

Just as they were wondering, Harry finally walked out clutching a big bag of gold Galleons, heading straight for Kayson.

"...I have a feeling..."

Sure enough, Harry handed the sack full of Galleons directly to Kayson. But he didn't take it—really didn't. Gold to him was no different from the pebbles on the roadside. He'd rather have a bare concrete room to renovate for fun than gold.

"What are you doing?"

"Paying you back."

Kayson looked at Hagrid with an innocent expression, clearly hoping he'd help talk Harry out of it.

Hagrid just shrugged. "Take it. It's Harry's way of showing gratitude, and you did help him settle things with the Dursleys."

"Can't you at least try to talk him out of it..."

Kayson muttered in exasperation, then crouched down and patted Harry on the shoulder. "Honestly, I'm not good at talking to kids, but this really isn't necessary. You might not know this, but I'm an alchemist. Gold is useless to me. Don't dwell on that matter. Now put those coins back."

Harry looked at Kayson, then at the sack of Galleons in his hand, and shook his head.

"...Hagrid, help me talk to him."

"How am I supposed to talk him out of it? It's Harry's gift to you. Why not just take it? I recall the Potter family vault is pretty well-off."

"I can't take a kid's money... And honestly, this kind of makes me look bad. I'm not short on cash." Kayson spoke earnestly.

"So..."

"So as your future Potions professor, the first lesson I'm teaching you is: don't be stingy with friends, but sometimes throwing money around does more harm than good to a friendship."

"Alright." Harry looked a little dejected as he carried the sack back into the vault.

Kayson breathed a sigh of relief. By the law of conservation, since he'd lost the Galleons, a steady stream of goodwill from Harry was now flowing into his account.

The two of them leaned against the stone wall waiting again. The little goblin who had been standing in the corner earlier crept over with a sly look.

"Sir, are you an alchemist? And a professor at Hogwarts?"

Kayson looked down at the goblin and was about to nod when Hagrid stepped in front of him.

"Stay away from my friend."

The goblin slunk off, leaving Kayson blinking in confusion. "Why's that?"

"Goblins are full of bad intentions. Don't deal with them if you don't have to." Hagrid said sternly.

"Oh... alright."

Soon, the three of them were back above ground. Every time the goblin tried to get close to Kayson, Hagrid scared him off with a fierce look, and only once they'd left Gringotts did he return to his usual cheerful grin.

"Let's see, next up... books, robes... let's split the work. Harry, you take the money and go to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Kayson, you go buy Harry a set of books—just get the full first-year set. I've got some personal business, something Dumbledore asked me to do, so I need to head to Knockturn Alley." Hagrid looked at the two of them as he spoke.

"Mhm, no problem. Harry, wait for me at Madam Malkin's. I'll find you after I buy the books. Don't wander off alone." Kayson nodded and headed toward Flourish and Blotts.

Once inside the bookstore, he first asked for a set of first-year magic textbooks, then packed up the basic alchemy books they had in stock. Sure, the Hogwarts library had more advanced alchemy texts, but honestly...

They were a bit too advanced. He couldn't understand them.

He summoned an Ender Chest, stuffed all the books inside, then crushed it directly, causing it to shatter into dark green pixels that dissipated into the air. Everyone else assumed it was just an intricate alchemical creation.

For instance... a pair of platinum-haired father and son.

"A rather exquisite object. The work of some alchemist?"

Kayson looked at the speaker—a platinum-haired boy, and another with the same hair color who looked like his father. It was Draco Malfoy and Lucius Malfoy, father and son.

"I made it myself. Nothing worth mentioning."

"You're an alchemist?"

"Draco." Lucius patted Draco on the back, though it was unclear what exactly displeased him.

"Oh..."

"Lucius Malfoy." Lucius removed his glove and extended his hand toward Kayson.

"Kayson Heath." Though Kayson didn't know why the man wanted to shake his hand, he maintained his politeness.

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