A Trip to Diagon Alley

Early in the morning, just as the sun rose, Albert opened his eyes and awoke from his sleep. He turned his head slightly towards the door, and heard familiar footsteps coming from the hallway.

The next moment, there was a knock on the door, and Nia's voice rang out from outside.

"Get up, Albert, get up now!"

Albert got out of bed, covered a yawn, and stretched when the door was opened. Tom squeezed in through the crack, trotted onto a chair, and then jumped down onto the soft cushion on the table, settling in comfortably.

"It seems Tom really likes this cushion." Albert reached out and patted Tom's head, then smiled and said to Nia, "You go out first, I'll change my clothes."

"Hurry up, Dad said we need to be in London before ten o'clock." Nia called Tom away, not forgetting to take Tom's cushion with her before leaving.

"So early?" Albert was a little surprised.

"He said that if we go earlier, we'll have enough time to explore Diagon Alley," Nia said, leaning against the wall. She clearly agreed with Herb's idea.

After all, this time it was the Anderson family going to Diagon Alley together; to put it bluntly, it was just the whole family going shopping in Diagon Alley.

If you don't set aside time beforehand, the rest of the trip will become very rushed.

When Albert went downstairs for a meal, Nia suggested taking a camera to take some photos, but Albert immediately rejected the suggestion.

"Doing that will make you stand out, which is not a good thing."

"They..." Daisy frowned slightly, carefully choosing her words before saying, "...look down on ordinary people?"

She ultimately didn't use the word "discrimination".

"Yes, some wizards are like that," Albert didn't deny it. "They think they are superior because they have extraordinary powers. In fact, the entire Wizarding World is quite backward, you'll see when you go to Diagon Alley. But sometimes you can't deny that magic is indeed very good and can solve a lot of problems. But most wizards' thinking is too backward, or rather, they are very insecure and afraid of being persecuted. Well, ordinary people also have a lot of blame for this."

Actually, if magic and technology could be combined...

Albert immediately dismissed this unrealistic idea.

Reformers are usually the unlucky ones who die on the front lines.

For a nobody like Albert, living his short life to the fullest is the most important thing. Even if the world were to explode in three hundred years, it would have nothing to do with him.

Until the end of the meal, they didn't continue talking about that unpleasant topic, but instead discussed some things to be aware of when going to Diagon Alley.

At 8:30, Albert and his family set off by car for London.

In the Britain, this time is considered quite early for most people.

It took the Anderson family a while to arrive in London, Herb quickly led them to the large bookstore and Record Store.

"Are we there?" Nia asked, looking between the large bookstore and the Record Store. "Where's the bar?"

"We've arrived," Albert nodded.

"I came here a few more times while you were at Hogwarts, but I couldn't find that pub no matter what I did," Herb exclaimed. "Magic is such a wonderful thing."

"Because there's a spell nearby that blocks ordinary people," Albert explained. "The spell's effect is to make ordinary people ignore certain things, which can prevent them from accidentally entering the Leaky Cauldron."

"How do we get in?" Daisy asked.

"Come with me." Albert took Nia's hand. "Don't be nervous, just be natural."

With Albert's help, the Anderson family finally got into the Leaky Cauldron.

"I didn't even notice there was a bar here!" Nia was startled by the sight inside the Leaky Cauldron after following Albert into it. She shrank back and hid behind Albert, tightly gripping his hand.

There was no way around it; it was just too dark and dirty here. There were also a few strange guys sitting in the bar: an old woman smoking a pipe, a bald, slovenly old man, and a middle-aged man who was already drunk. No matter how you looked at it, these guys were completely different from the people Nia usually encountered.

Albert nodded slightly to the bar owner, Tom, ignoring the stares from the others, and led his family toward the backyard.

"Don't be nervous, you're here to shop," Albert said, noticing Daisy biting her lip.

Although Daisy appeared as calm as ever, Albert knew that she had a habit of biting her lip when she was nervous.

"This place is more... dilapidated than I imagined." Daisy looked around the backyard and asked, "Is the entrance here?"

Ever since Albert visited Diagon Alley last year, the Anderson family has known that the entrance to Diagon Alley is in the backyard of the Leaky Cauldron.

"Yes." Albert took out his wand, tapped the third brick from the left above the trash can, and then gestured for everyone to step back.

Looking at the archway opening in the wall leading to Diagon Alley, Nia looked extremely excited and screamed, "It's amazing!"

Albert smiled and said, "Welcome to Diagon Alley."

"I didn't expect Diagon Alley to be a street." Daisy looked around at the wizards coming and going and the old shops on both sides of the alley. She understood Albert's description. It did look like it had been there for a while. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it backward.

"Where do we go next?" Daisy asked.

"Let's go buy the books first," Albert said.

Because Herb had spent a lot of Galleon last year and hadn't spent them all yet, they didn't go to Gringotts this time, and Nia was disappointed that she couldn't see the Goblin.

However, the magic shops lining both sides of the cobblestone street quickly caught Nia's attention.

Albert was pulled into Flourish and Blotts by Nia, and Herb and Daisy exchanged glances and followed them in.

Nia's gaze was immediately drawn to the unusual magic books.

After entering the bookstore, Herb had a brief conversation with the owner and purchased the books Albert needed.

Okay, actually you only need to buy one book, which is the one used in Charms Class, "Standard Book of Spells, Level 2". The rest of the textbooks will be from last semester.

"Is this book not for sale?" Albert asked the shop owner, pointing to the books on the display shelf.

"Yes, not for sale," the shopkeeper explained. "This is a new work by Mr. Morg Mr. McDougal, and it is said that he only printed one hundred copies."

"All one hundred copies sold out?" Albert was a little surprised. He had thought Mr. Morg Mr. McDougal's book wouldn't sell. "Why didn't you continue printing?"

"I heard the content is very difficult, and ordinary people can't understand it at all, so Mr. Morg Mr. McDougal thought it wouldn't sell even if it were printed, so he stopped printing it," the shop owner explained. "If you are interested in Runes, I recommend you buy Mr. Morg Mr. McDougal's ' Comprehensive Guide to Basic Runes,' which is simple and easy to understand."

"So, Mr. McDougal's printing of those hundred copies was mostly for giving away?" Albert muttered under his breath. That makes sense; if others can't even understand the book, why would they buy it? Spend five Galleon to collect it?

"Don't you have a copy of this?" Nia asked, puzzled.

"Alright, let's go!" Albert took the book, paid the other person a Galleon, and left with Nia.

There are still many things that need to be bought.

For example, going to a pharmacy to replenish the various ingredients of a medicine.

To be honest, Nia really disliked pharmacies; the strange ingredients inside terrified her.

Before leaving the pharmacy, Albert asked Herb to buy a bottle of Essence of Dittany. With this, if he accidentally got injured in the future, he could use Essence of Dittany to heal quickly without leaving a scar.

After Albert's introduction, the Anderson were quite moved and bought another bottle to give to Grandpa Luke, as this was a rare find that couldn't be bought in the Muggle World.

Because his School Uniform was a few inches too short for his limbs, Albert needed to have several new robes made at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.

Albert ran into acquaintances here: the McDougal sisters and their mother, who had come to pick up their custom-made robes.

The two did not exchange a single word from beginning to end. Mrs. McDougal paid the bill and left with her daughter.

"You two know each other?" Daisy asked curiously.

"I guess we know each other, we play at the same club," Albert replied casually.

This time, Nia didn't clamor to have a dress made for herself; she simply watched with great curiosity Madam Malkin helped Albert with the entire process of making clothes.

While Albert was replenishing his Ink, Quill, and parchment at the Weasley Is Our King Magical Supplies, Nia was drawn to a beautiful moving constellation model—a large glass sphere containing a model of the Solar System.

However, Herb didn't buy it for her because he thought it had no value other than as an ornament, and that 15 Galleon was too expensive.

Nia was a little upset.

However, Albert secretly told her that if Nia excelled in school, he would help persuade her family to buy it for her.

Nia's expression immediately brightened, and she smiled happily, saying that she would study hard.

After buying what they needed, the Anderson family continued strolling Diagon Alley. When they passed the Magical Menagerie shop, they went in and bought some food for Tom.

If you get tired of walking around, you can grab a bite to eat under the parasols outside the Coffee shop and chat with your family about your Diagon Alley.

During this time, Albert also met Wood, who was shopping in Diagon Alley with his family, and the goalkeeper reminded him to buy Flying Broom.

"Flying Broom?"

Albert briefly explained Quidditch to his family, and Herb asked Albert if they wanted to visit the Quality Quidditch Supplies, which they had passed by earlier.

Herb and Daisy thought their son was the best; simple Quidditch was obviously no challenge for him, and judging from the tone of the other man, they believed Albert was qualified to join the Quidditch team.

"No need," Albert politely declined. "If I successfully join the team, it's not too late to buy brooms then."

"Oh, alright." Herb respected Albert's opinion, but on the way back, he couldn't help but ask, "You don't seem to like Quidditch very much?"

"To be precise, I don't really like Quidditch training," Albert thought for a moment and then answered honestly. "It's too much of a waste of time; I think I can do other things."

"I think Albert just finds Quidditch training too troublesome," Nia couldn't help but complain. "He used to give up basketball and tennis quite easily, and he only persisted with Karate for a few months after he took the initiative to learn it."

The Andersons fell silent. They both knew this: Albert knew a lot, but he was just too lazy. He gave up on many things without studying them in depth. Otherwise, he could have achieved good results in some field.

Well, it seems the the Andersons ' brains are deliberately blocking out Albert's desire to enter the financial world.