Shopping

The Grangers' mouths twitched. Mrs. Granger said, "This child is really strong now."

Mr. Granger merely shrugged and continued exchanging currency with the goblins.

Hermione said, "That piece of gold looks really strange."

"Exactly," Oren whispered. "That thing used to be a section of the Weasleys' roof beam."

Hermione...

"Mr. Black, I'm Griphook. Here are your exchanged Galleons, and we've also included a trunk with an Undetectable Extension Charm."

Oren had no interest in remembering a goblin's name. He could not even tell what distinguished one of them from another. After hiring that goblin as his luggage-carrying lackey, he left the bank with the Grangers.

Taking a bite of his ice cream, Oren whispered to Hermione, "Um, Hermione, what's going on with Mr. Granger? He's been giving me an appraising look the whole way."

"Er... I don't know either."

"Tsk, tsk. You don't understand your own dad? What a model of filial piety. I've truly witnessed a loving father and dutiful daughter today."

The young witch squeezed her ice cream cone until it creaked. The two bickered all the way without slowing down in the slightest. Once inside an ingredients shop, she began picking through potion ingredients.

"Aren't you buying any potion ingredients, Oren?"

"No. Professor Dumbledore already prepared my books, and Professor McGonagall helped me prepare my robes. As for potion ingredients, I'll just raid Snape when the time comes."

Hermione...

"I didn't expect them to sell copper ingots here." Oren picked one up and bent it hard, deforming the ingot on the spot.

"Not bad. Let's buy some." Oren held up two fingers.

"Two ingots? All right." The shopkeeper began packing them up.

"No, no, no. I mean twenty tons."

The Grangers!!!

The shopkeeper said in disbelief, "How many?!"

Oren curled his lip and told the goblin, "Hey, Bottlecap, pay for it."

"Um, Mr. Black, it's Griphook." Griphook opened the trunk and took out a considerable number of Galleons.

"Remember to deliver them to Hogwarts. Headmaster Dumbledore will sign for them on my behalf," Oren instructed.

"Of course, of course." The shopkeeper was thrilled to have landed such a huge order. Oren could practically see his tonsils.

Seeing the increasingly strange looks her parents were giving Oren, Hermione tugged on his sleeve and whispered, "Hey, hey, hey, Oren. I know you got the Philosopher's Stone, but could you stop acting like a nouveau riche? Can't you restrain yourself a little?"

"My temperament just hasn't caught up yet," Oren retorted. "And what do you mean, nouveau riche? I've never touched money. I'm not interested in money."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, of course. So can you stop being quite so nouveau riche now?"

"Fine." Oren said helplessly, "I'll do my best to pretend."

Hermione said, "You don't need to pretend. Just tone it down a little."

Oren...

"Ahem. Anyway, let's hurry to the bookshop and meet up with Harry and the others."

"Hmph!" Like a little rooster that had won a fight, Hermione puffed out her chest and strode out of the shop first.

Mr. and Mrs. Granger exchanged a helpless glance and followed.

The moment they stepped outside, they ran into Harry and Ron, who were out shopping.

"Oren said, "Harry, Ron, I suggest you buy some toilet paper."

"Why?" Harry and Ron asked in unison, bewildered.

"You each ate four ice creams. Tsk, tsk. I reckon you're about to become human fountains."

Harry and Ron went pale, already feeling faint pains in their stomachs.

Hermione rolled her eyes at the three of them and dragged them off to buy ink and parchment.

Along the way, they ran into the twins stocking up on a huge batch of fireworks, as well as Percy reading in a secondhand shop.

"How to Gain Power as a Prefect," Ron read aloud. "I bet he's already planning how to become Minister for Magic."

"Did you hear that, Hermione? You've got a formidable rival," Oren teased.

Hermione said, "Hmph!"

When they reached the outskirts of Flourish and Blotts, Oren pointed at the long queue. "What day is it today?"

"Look over there!" Ron said, pointing at the banner.

It read: Gilderoy Lockhart Book Signing.

"It really is him! Almost all the books on our list were written by him," Hermione said excitedly.

"It really is him," Oren repeated in an imitation of Hermione's voice.

"Look at the people queuing over there, Hermione," Oren teased. "They're all middle-aged women. So congratulations, Hermione. You've skipped thirty years of detours."

"Y-you-you!" Hermione's pointing finger trembled.

Mr. and Mrs. Granger covered their faces with both hands. They could not bear to watch. They truly could not.

The group squeezed their way over to where the Weasley family was queuing.

"This is so strange. How could Hermione admire someone like Lockhart?" Ron complained.

Harry said, "Maybe because Lockhart is handsome?"

"Isn't Oren pretty handsome too?"

"Come on, Ron. He's pretty, not handsome."

The two suddenly felt something behind them staring at them with dangerous eyes.

They stiffly turned around and saw Oren, whose eyes were nearly glowing red.

Harry and Ron: Danger!

"Harry! Harry Potter!" Lockhart rushed over and dragged Harry away. "Smile for the cameras! What a lovely smile. We're sure to make the front page!"

Give me a smile, sweetheart. Oren quickly shook the strange thought out of his head.

Like a peacock, Lockhart pulled Harry along while saying something to the surrounding crowd.

Ron glanced at Mrs. Molly, who was clapping, and quietly said, "That guy says he's going to be this year's Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. Looks like we're getting another strange professor."

"Heh," Oren said. "I just hope he's tough enough. Quirrell, the last one, didn't end well."

Hermione glared at the two people slandering her idol.

Oren said, "Boring. Anyone want to look at antiques? There's a stall not far away. The goods look like they were freshly welded last week."

"No one? Fine, your loss. Hey, what's-your-name, Bottlecap, right? Hurry up and follow me."

Griphook, whose presence had been completely ignored, sighed. Bottlecap it was, then.

Before long, Oren returned carrying a bronze automobile artifact.

Hermione said, "An automobile? And it's bronze? What kind of weird thing did you buy?"

"What do you mean, weird thing? This subject matter alone is worth three hundred Galleons," Oren retorted.

"What happened?" Oren looked curiously at Arthur's black eye.

Harry said, "Mr. Arthur got into a fight with Lucius just now."

Oren!!!

Damn it, what did I miss? Making someone who lived for entertainment miss out on entertainment was simply the cruelest punishment possible.

Oren instantly felt that the automobile model was no longer appealing.

"You didn't see it. To mock Mr. Arthur, Lucius even casually bought a book and gave it to Ginny," Harry said, still angry about what had just happened.

"Fighting in the street! Look at the example you're setting for the children," Mrs. Molly complained. "What will Lockhart think?"

"He was delighted," Fred said. "He even asked that Daily Prophet fellow whether they could put it in the report."

After finishing their shopping, the group saw the Grangers off outside the Leaky Cauldron.

"Ron, what are those wizards over there riding? Is that a bus?" Oren asked.

"That's the Knight Bus. You want to ride it?" Ron earnestly advised, "Take my advice: don't. You can't handle it."

Oren said nothing, but inwardly complained: Yeah, right. I'll definitely ride that kiddie bus someday.