Diagon Alley

After a night of flying through the wind, Harry and Hagrid arrived in old London.

But since dawn had already broken, Hagrid had no choice but to bring the motorcycle down and drive through London's streets. The sun hung high in the sky, and it was fully light out. Hagrid drove past bookstores, video shops, burger joints, and cinemas.

Suddenly, the motorcycle came to a stop. Harry found himself facing an extremely shabby little pub. There were clearly plenty of people on the street, yet not a single one looked toward this run-down pub, which did not fit in at all with its neat and clean surroundings.

"This pub has been enchanted. It makes Muggles unconsciously ignore it, and only wizards can spot it," Hagrid said casually.

Harry could not help but marvel. "That's amazing."

"This pub's quite famous. We can get into Diagon Alley through the back of it." Hagrid walked inside.

Harry hurriedly tidied his long hair, which had been tousled by the wind, straightened his clothes, and entered the pub with an amused smile.

If he remembered correctly, Voldemort would appear here. At that thought, the smile at the corner of Harry's lips grew even brighter!

"Voldemort, let's begin our pleasant little game."

The inside of the pub was truly filthy and dark. Whether it was the floor, the tables, or the pillars, Harry suspected they had never been wiped down. Several old women were drinking small glasses of liquor in a corner, while a few men were chatting nearby.

When Harry and Hagrid walked in, everyone in the pub could not help looking over, because the room suddenly darkened—after all, Hagrid had directly blocked out the sunlight. The people inside seemed to all know Hagrid and greeted him one after another. But upon seeing Harry, they all felt a strange sensation rise in their hearts.

He had the appearance of a child, yet his emerald eyes held an adult's calm, and his face bore a sincere smile. Everyone in the pub was an adult. The children who had come in before, even with adults accompanying them, had worn nervous and fearful expressions. Yet this child did not seem frightened in the slightest.

Moreover, he wore long hair that no child would normally have, and the gleaming silver mark on his forehead drew everyone's attention even more.

The plump pub owner could not help asking Hagrid, "Who's this child?" The others also looked toward Hagrid, because this child gave them a very unusual feeling.

Hagrid smiled and merely said, "I was ordered by Dumbledore to pick him up."

The people in the pub froze at the mention of Dumbledore's name. After all, Dumbledore was currently the most prestigious and powerful wizard. But then they realized who the person before them was!

Everyone shot to their feet at once, and the sound of chairs scraping against the floor could be heard. They stared at Harry with excitement and disbelief on their faces, as though they had seen an idol they had admired for ages—the kind of fans who were utterly devoted!

The fat pub owner rushed over first and seized Harry's hand. "Mr. Potter, I never expected it to be you!"

The fat owner wanted to say more, but another man shoved him aside.

"Sir, hello. I'm Kedori. It's such an honor."

The fat owner, pushed to one side, glared at Kedori as though Kedori had stolen his wife.

Harry smiled. "Hello, Mr. Kedori." Kedori was so excited he looked ready to faint.

Everyone else fought to shake Harry's hand and greet him.

"I'm so excited, sir!"

"Mr. Potter, I don't know how to—"

"I'm so happy, I feel like I—"

Harry responded to each of them politely, handling himself perfectly.

At that moment, a pale young man approached, his expression excited.

Hagrid greeted him and told Harry, "This is Professor Quirrell. He's one of Hogwarts' teachers."

Professor Quirrell stammered, "P-Potter, I-I'm v-very h-happy to m-meet you." Harry raised an eyebrow and glanced at the thick scarf wrapped around his head. Voldemort was there, but Harry was not worried. Voldemort was currently so weak that he could only move by possessing someone else. He might not even be able to beat Hagrid.

Harry was pestered by them for another ten minutes before finally breaking free and following Hagrid to the wall at the back.

Hagrid smiled. "Now you know just how famous you are, eh?"

Harry shook out his hand. He realized he had underestimated just how great he was in the eyes of other wizards. But thinking about it, that was only natural. When Voldemort had ruled the wizarding world through force, non-pure-blood wizards had been hunted down, and everyone had been forced to obey his commands. It had been a bloody, dark, desperate era. Yet for certain reasons, Harry had defeated the Dark Lord and ended the war. There was no one who would not be grateful to Harry, the savior.

Take Jing Ke of China, for example. He had failed to kill the tyrannical First Emperor of Qin, yet he had still become a hero remembered for millennia. And the Dark Lord, more evil and vicious than the First Emperor of Qin, had been successfully destroyed by Harry. So it was not strange at all that Harry was respected this much.

And as history progressed, Harry's reputation would probably only grow greater. Sooner or later, he would become one of the most famous figures in history.

Of course, that was all in the future.

Right now, Harry only wanted to hurry up and see what Diagon Alley and Gringotts looked like.

Hagrid raised his pink umbrella and tapped a certain brick in the wall three times with its tip. Next came the moment to witness a miracle.

The wall Hagrid had tapped rippled as if a small stone had been thrown into water. From top to bottom, the bricks trembled and shrank away to either side, forming a passage.

It truly was a magical sight. It would have been even more perfect without all the dust flying everywhere.

Harry followed Hagrid into the passage. As he walked through, he saw the way behind him rapidly close up as the bricks squeezed together. The scene resembled water flowing into a depression in the surface, filling the emptiness.

After walking several dozen meters, they emerged from the passage. Blinding sunlight appeared overhead. When Harry turned back, there was nothing behind him but a solid wall.

Before them stretched a winding cobblestone street whose end could not be seen.

Hagrid smiled. "Welcome to Diagon Alley."

Harry looked around Diagon Alley in astonishment and excitement. Shops stood side by side, while cloaked men, women, and elderly people moved through the narrow alleyways. From time to time, they chatted with shopkeepers and haggled over prices.

The magical world he had longed for so deeply now lay right before his eyes. Standing here, it felt as though the world had always been this way—ordinary and bustling. Wizards passed Harry back and forth, their conversations reaching his ears, but they were certainly not things like, "Let's go kill people in the Muggle world tomorrow," "I invented a spell that can change the wizarding world," or "I'm going dragon-slaying tonight."

Instead, they said things like, "The automatic dishwasher at home broke, so I need to buy a new one," "The students have bought quite a lot of equipment this year," "The price of dragon scales... those people are absolutely insane," and "How did the corn pebble fudge sell out already?"

They were not the sort of wizards people imagined, eternally dwelling in darkness. They were simply ordinary human beings, one after another.

This feeling was wonderful. Harry smiled. He really liked this feel.

But regarding the "corn pebble fudge" those two children had mentioned earlier, Harry really wanted to complain.

Sunlight fell on a shop near Harry. The entrance was filled with cups—ah, no, pots. Copper pots, iron pots, tin pots, silver pots, all kinds of sizes.

Harry said, "Are these the pots we need to buy for our equipment?"

Hagrid replied, "Yes, but we need to go to Gringotts to withdraw some money first."

Harry and Hagrid walked forward. It really was the deluxe edition of a cute boy and a beast!

Harry passed one shop after another, taking in all these novel sights. He only regretted not having been born with two more eyes.

My worldview had practically been destroyed.

Strange hooting and fluttering sounds came from a gloomy shop, then turned into squeaks. The sign read "Pet Shop." Many owls were kept in cages hanging outside the door.

There was a building that looked twice the size of an ordinary shop, with several boys pressed against its display window. "The latest broomstick, the Nimbus 2000." This was the Broomstick Shop.

There were also shops that made wizard robes, sold stationery, and sold magical materials.

"Spellcraft, quills, parchment..." All sorts of strange and novel items.

Then they arrived before a tall, snow-white building. Its bronze doors stood open, and at the entrance stood a little man wearing a scarlet uniform trimmed with gold.

Harry thought, This is definitely perverted, and Rich and Willful.

Sooner or later, a few big men will corner him and strip him naked, Harry thought darkly.

Hagrid said to Harry, "This is a goblin."

The goblin was even shorter than Harry, with a dark face and especially long hands and feet.

When they entered Gringotts, the goblin bowed to them. There was even a greeter. This was really ridiculous.

There was another door inside, with words written on it that sounded like some mysterious prophecy. Anyway, as Harry saw it, the meaning was basically this: Foolish humans, want my wealth? Then come to Gringotts and take it. But let me warn you: if you court death, you will die!