The Stark Wealth Gap Between Wizarding Families

The Stark Wealth Gap Between Wizarding Families

Harry and Ron seemed to hit it off immediately, chatting idly in the compartment.

Aaron held Abei in his arms, lazily watching the scenery outside and savoring this rare sense of freedom.

Just then, a rattling sound came from outside the compartment. A slightly plump saleswoman pushed a trolley filled with all kinds of snacks over and asked the three of them, "Would you like to buy something, children?"

"No, thank you. I brought my own." Ron awkwardly took out three sandwiches wrapped in transparent oilcloth.

"I'm not hungry," Aaron said. Then he suddenly thought of something and glanced at the pet in his arms. "But we'll take some anyway!"

The plump woman smiled happily. "Certainly, sir. What would you like? We have Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs, pies, cakes..."

"No need to list them all." Aaron sounded a little impatient as he casually took out a Galleon. "I'll take those four things you mentioned. Enough for three people."

"Oh, just a moment."

The plump woman began searching through her trolley, then placed a pile of snacks on the compartment table and gave Aaron several Silver Sickles in change.

"Wow!" Ron's eyes widened. "Aaron, what does your family do? You seem really rich."

"It's nothing much. We just run a small business."

"And you call that nothing? You just paid with a Galleon!" Ron asked in astonishment. "My yearly allowance probably isn't even that much."

Aaron's mouth twitched. This guy really looked like he had never seen money before. "Uh... I suppose it's because you have four siblings, so your family expenses are higher?"

Hearing that, Ron silently nodded. "Actually, you don't fully understand. I have five brothers and one Sister."

Aaron: ...

No wonder this kid's allowance did not even amount to one Galleon.

A family that was already poor had to raise seven children. That was simply making a bad situation worse. Without careful budgeting, they might not even survive.

"I originally only thought your mother was amazing for managing to raise seven children.

"But I never expected your father to be even more amazing, supporting your entire family on one person's salary."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing. I was simply expressing my admiration for your father. Yes, that's right, admiration." Aaron pointed at the snacks on the table. "You two, stop staring. Help yourselves if you want anything, but remember to save a few pies for my Abei. Meat pies would be even better."

Ron could not help shifting his gaze to the white cat. "Your pet is so cute! I only have a rat, and Percy was going to throw it away."

As he spoke, he pulled a fat gray rat from his pocket. "His name is Scabbers. He's beyond saving—he does nothing but eat and sleep all day."

Aaron immediately scooted backward, putting as much distance as possible between himself and the rat.

Meanwhile, Abei in his arms seemed to have caught a whiff of something disgusting. It wore a wary, disgusted expression, pointing one snow-white paw at the sleeping rat and baring its teeth nonstop.

Ron immediately put his pet away. He had almost forgotten that Aaron's pet was a cat. Taking out a rat in front of a cat was no different from feeding it.

"Don't worry, my Abei doesn't eat rats." Aaron gave a wry smile as he soothed Abei, then looked at the rat with scrutiny in his eyes.

After all, Abei was a Holy Dragon, not a cat. Anything that could make it react like this was probably no ordinary rat—or perhaps it was not a rat at all.

But that had nothing to do with him. Even if Ron, like him, had raised some magical creature nobody had ever seen before, so what?

Only then did Ron relax and put Scabbers on the table, then happily began enjoying the food.

As for the sandwiches he had brought, he had already tossed them aside. Compared to these snacks, what were those worth?

Harry picked up a box, glanced at it, and popped one of the beans inside into his mouth. Then an indescribable flavor filled his mouth, and his expression turned strange.

"Those are Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. They come in all sorts of flavors," Ron said. "There's chocolate mint, spinach, tripe, and pork liver.

"George said he once got a bogey-flavored one."

"Ugh!" Aaron suddenly felt sick and immediately put that snack on the Blacklist.

Harry silently spat out the Every Flavor Bean in his mouth and tossed it into the trash. He felt that the one he had eaten was probably bogey-flavored.

A moment later, Harry picked up a star-shaped box labeled Chocolate Frog and asked curiously, "There isn't really a frog inside, is there?"

"You could put it that way," Aaron said with a smile.

"It's magic. Usually, people buy these snacks for the cards inside. Every pack comes with a card of a Great wizard. I've already collected over five hundred," Ron said.

Harry opened the package. A croak rang out in the compartment, and the eyes of the pure chocolate-colored frog moved slightly before it leaped toward the window.

But just as it jumped into the air, Abei sprang up and caught it in its paws, proudly bringing the chocolate toward its mouth.

Cough, cough!

Aaron cleared his throat, and Abei awkwardly stopped moving.

"Go ahead and eat it, but be a little careful. I don't want your mouth covered in chocolate," Aaron said with a smile.

Abei froze for a moment, then raised its paw and crushed the Chocolate Frog before putting it into its mouth piece by piece.

Harry and Ron were both stunned by the sight.

They had seen cats before, but they had never seen one so intelligent and human-like.

"Aaron, how much did that cat cost? It must have been expensive, right?" Ron asked blankly. He silently compared Abei with Scabbers and suddenly felt that rats were no longer appealing—though they had never been appealing to begin with.

"It was left behind by an elder in my family... I think?" Aaron said with an odd expression. He did not know how else to explain it, but that was what the Dragon Leash License seemed to indicate.

"I don't know how much it's worth, but I know I'd never sell it, no matter the price."

"So that's how it is." Ron looked disappointed. "By the way, what's your surname?"

"Gaius. I'm from the Gaius Family."

Ron froze for a moment. He really had not heard that surname very often.

Harry picked up the card from the box. It showed an old man with glasses and a white beard. He looked especially kind, though his nose was a little crooked. Strangely enough, the image on the card moved, something that was simply impossible in the Muggle world.

The name on the card was Albus Dumbledore.

"It's Dumbledore. I already have six of him," Ron said with a smile.

Harry smiled. When he looked down at the card again, the image had disappeared. For a child who had only just come into contact with the Magic World, that was quite novel.

"He's gone?"

"He can't stay there all day, can he?" Ron said. "He'll come back."

"There's no need to take it so seriously. Our headmaster is Dumbledore.

"Seeing the Real Person is definitely more practical than looking at a card."

Even so, Harry still somehow put the card away.

The train passed through forests and fields before arriving at a stretch of plains. Outside the window was a lake, its sparkling waves calming everyone's mood.

If not for a rat gnawing at food on the table, Aaron might have been in an even better mood.

"Ron, if possible, could you please ask your rat to be a little quieter?"

"Uh, sorry. It disturbed you." Ron awkwardly lifted the rat off the table. "Oh, right. Fred taught me a spell that can turn it yellow. I'll show you two."

"Sure! Other than Hagrid, I haven't seen any other wizards cast spells!" Harry showed great interest.

Aaron nodded as well. After all, a magic performance could add a little fun to this not-so-long journey.