Echo Alley 2

Compared to Diagon Alley, Echo Alley sold a far more dazzling array of goods—trendier, bolder, and brimming with creativity.

In Diagon Alley, without Wade's new inventions, the merchandise in the shops would hardly change from year to year. At most, bookstores would add a few new titles, or broom shops would introduce a new model of flying broomstick.

Other than that, it looked little different from how it had ten, twenty, or even fifty years ago.

Echo Alley, meanwhile, kept pace with Muggle trends—shops played popular punk and hip-hop music, the clothes in robe shops seemed to imitate the Batman films, genuine Vampires dressed themselves up like vampire counts, and Wade had even seen wizard robes worn over ripped jeans and Martin boots.

Wade accepted a steaming cup of "Big Pot Coffee" from the clerk. Holding the handle of the cauldron-shaped cup, he swept his gaze over the young people on the street in their hip-hop outfits, then turned to Salina beside him and asked, "Ms. Goldstein, I thought you had always insisted on complete separation from Muggle society?"

Even while holding coffee, Salina looked as though she were attending a conference. She turned to Wade and said, "Separation means establishing barriers in terms of stance, emotion, law, and daily life. It does not mean burying our heads in the sand and knowing nothing about the changes around us—that is not protection. It is ignorance, a path to self-destruction!"

Her gaze likewise swept across the distinctly "Muggle" decorations. "To ensure that our world remains unnoticed, we must understand them better than anyone else. Only then can we blend in perfectly and avoid their watchful eyes."

"In other words... if you want to hide in a forest, first become a leaf."

Wade felt that she made a great deal of sense,