Diagon Alley

"Albert, are you sure we haven't come to the wrong place?" Herb was comparing the map in his hand, but he could not find the pub Professor McGonagall had mentioned.

"We need to find the bookstore first. There's a Record Store next to it." Albert raised a hand and pointed at the large bookstore ahead, beside which stood a Record Store.

"This is it? But I..."

"...can't see where the pub is?" Albert finished for him.

If he had not deliberately looked for it, he would never have noticed the little pub beside the large bookstore.

The hurried passersby did not spare it so much as a glance. Naturally, that included his father, Herb.

"I can see the pub now. Do you remember what Professor McGonagall said?"

"Muggles can't find the pub?" Herb muttered. "I hate that word, Muggle."

Herb held his son's hand and let Albert pull him forward. A few seconds later, he saw the legendary Leaky Cauldron—a filthy, cramped pub.

"I hate this place. It's too dirty."

"Me too. Let's go in!"

Suppressing the disgust on their faces, father and son pushed open the door and entered the pub one after the other.

Dirty, messy, dark.

That was the pair's assessment of the pub. Several men and women who looked anything but normal sat inside, mostly elderly people. They wore ridiculous top hats that made them look utterly comical.

If this crowd had walked out on the street, they would definitely have drawn countless stares. Yet here, Albert and Herb were the ones who stood out, as conspicuous as a flame in the darkness.

Herb quickly composed himself and walked toward the counter. Looking at the bald old man, he asked tentatively, "Mr. Tom?"

"A young wizard from a Muggle family?" Tom sized Albert up, then looked up and smiled at Herb. "You want to know how to get to Diagon Alley?"

"Yes, Mr. Tom. Professor McGonagall said you could take us to Diagon Alley." Albert studied the old man as well, forcing a polite smile onto his face.

"Of course. Please follow me." Tom came out from behind the bar and beckoned them to follow.

The three arrived in the pub's back courtyard. There was only a brick wall, a rubbish bin, and several empty barrels.

"This rubbish bin will always be here. Count three bricks up, then two across, and that's the brick." Tom pointed to the spot he had just tapped, then drew his wand and tapped the brick three times. Turning to Albert, he said, "Once you have your own wand, you'll be able to open the entrance to Diagon Alley yourself. Remember, tap it three times with your wand."

The brick Old Tom had tapped began to tremble. The brick wall shifted in a bizarre fashion, and a small hole appeared in its center. The opening grew larger and larger. In only a few seconds, an archway wide enough for all three of them to pass through had formed before them.

A cobblestone street stretched forward from beneath their feet. Shops lined both sides, while wizards came and went among hawkers' stalls.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley." Tom smiled at them.

"Mr. Tom, how do we get back later?" Herb asked.

"Once you've bought everything, just follow the method I showed you and you can open the door." Tom patiently answered Herb's question, then reminded them, "Oh, you'd better go to Gringotts first and exchange some Galleons with the goblins. Muggle money can't be used here. Walk straight ahead from here—the white building is Gringotts Wizarding Bank."

"Thank you for the advice, Mr. Tom."

"Have a pleasant time." Tom smiled and waved at them before turning back toward the pub. He liked this job.

After Tom left, the entrance vanished and became a wall again.

"Let's go exchange some money." Herb took a deep breath.

"This place feels very different." Albert looked over the surrounding shops and smiled at Herb. "It feels like we've gone back a century."

"To be honest, I'm starting to doubt whether sending you to Hogwarts is the right choice. Maybe Daisy was right to insist otherwise." Herb let out a soft sigh. The magical world was fascinating, but it always gave him the impression that it had fallen behind the times.

"Dad, it's not like I have to live in the magical world." Albert could not help rolling his eyes. "I'm going to Hogwarts mainly to master this incredible power."

"Oh, you're right." Herb's mood improved somewhat. The two made their way through the crowd toward Gringotts.

Just as Tom had said, it was a white building. Beside the bronze doors stood a small figure—it was... a goblin.

"They're really something." Herb's expression was a little stiff. It was his first time seeing a humanoid creature that was not human.

Albert did not care much. He examined the goblin's appearance: short stature, pointed beard, long fingers and toes, and a dark face. A creature with absolutely no sense of beauty.

As they entered, Albert noticed the goblin bowing to them.

Beyond it was a second set of doors, silver in color. Words were carved on both doors. Herb stepped closer, studied them carefully, and read aloud, "Enter, stranger, but beware what awaits the greedy. Those who take without earning shall surely face the harshest punishment..."

"I really don't understand how diligently wizards must rob banks for them to need warning slogans carved on the doors," Herb muttered after reading it.

Albert nearly laughed when he heard that. He hurriedly cleared his throat and asked, "How much are you planning to exchange?"

"This?" Herb thought for a moment and said quietly, "One thousand pounds. If it's not enough, we can exchange more later."

One thousand pounds was equivalent to a month's wages for most people.

Albert made a rough estimate. It should be about two hundred Galleons. He nodded. "I think that should be enough."

After entering, two goblins bowed to them and led them into a tall marble hall. Herb said that he needed to exchange some Galleons.

The goblins then led them to a counter on the right and handed Herb a sheet of Parchment. On it were the exchange rate between pounds and Galleons, as well as the magical world's monetary system.

1 Galleon = 4.95 pounds.

1 Galleon = 17 Sickles; 1 Sickle = 29 Knuts.

Herb handed the Parchment to his son and asked, "How many pounds would 200 Galleons cost?"

"990 pounds."

"Please exchange this for 200 Galleons." Herb took 990 pounds from his wallet and handed them over for the goblin to exchange.

"Certainly, please wait a moment." The goblin accepted the pounds and began counting them.

"Excuse me, Mr. Goblin, can any amount of pounds be exchanged for Galleons here?" Albert curiously voiced a question that had puzzled him in his previous life.

"In theory, yes, but we do not accept too much Muggle currency." The goblin rang a bell, summoning another goblin and giving him an instruction. The second goblin fetched a bag of gold coins and handed it to Herb, then led them aside to verify the number of Galleons.

"I didn't expect them to actually be gold coins." Herb turned a Galleon between his fingers and could not help remarking on it.

After counting the Galleons and confirming that the number was correct, the two left Gringotts with their gold.

As they walked down the sunlit street, the gold coins in their pockets clinked pleasantly together, as though urging them to hurry up and spend them.