Quidditch Emporium

The next morning, at dawn.

Bright sunlight streamed through the window and fell across Gemini's face. He frowned under its glare, then groggily climbed out of bed.

Sitting dazedly on the broad bed, Gemini saw bustling traffic outside the window to his left and the crowded Diagon Alley outside the window to his right. The dissonance confused him for several seconds before he realized that he was now in a suite at The Leaky Cauldron.

"Coo~"

By the window, Hedwig hooted at Gemini. The sun was already high in the sky, and it was time for her to sleep...

Gemini gave Hedwig a serious look. "Your schedule is unhealthy."

"Coo~"

Hedwig rolled her eyes at Gemini and tucked her head beneath her wing.

She scoffed at Gemini's words. As an owl, her schedule was perfectly normal!

Seeing that Hedwig did not want to bother with him, Gemini shrugged and got up to wash.

The facilities in the room's washroom were strange. Both the sink and bathtub looked the same as those in the Muggle world, except none of them were connected to any pipes, yet water still flowed from them.

"Good morning, Mr. Fox."

Feeling refreshed, Gemini went downstairs and saw Old Tom standing behind the bar, wiping a filthy wineglass while grinning at him with his toothless mouth.

"Good morning, Mr. Tom."

Gemini sat at the long table in the center of the bar. A slovenly witch waved her wand and delivered a steaming breakfast.

Grilled sausage, fried eggs, and milk.

This simple, bland, and monotonous English breakfast was inescapable for both Muggles and wizards.

Honestly, the greasy smell of grilled sausage made Gemini nauseous now. Compared with that, he would rather eat strategic supplies like compressed biscuits and canned food sold by the Weapon Shop.

Still, he did not waste the sausage—saving it for Hedwig was not a bad option either.

After breakfast, Gemini passed through the small courtyard behind The Leaky Cauldron and made his way into Diagon Alley.

Diagon Alley was even livelier today than it had been yesterday, perhaps because Hogwarts was about to begin term.

A large crowd of children, ranging from eleven or twelve to seventeen or eighteen, had gathered outside a Magical Joke Shop called Gambol and Japes. Business seemed to be booming.

However, Gemini had little interest in prank toys such as magical jokes. His attention was focused more on the Quidditch Emporium next door.

Behind the glass display window stood an exquisite broom. Its handle was coated in gleaming gold-red paint, and a row of tiny golden words was inscribed at its tip: Nimbus 2000. Resting on a wooden stand, it constantly drew the eyes of passing children.

Pushing open the door, Gemini entered the shop.

"Ha~ Welcome."

The shopkeeper was a pot-bellied wizard in a burgundy wizard's robe, with several large gemstone rings on his fingers. He looked like a newly rich man.

"Here to look at brooms, dear?" The shopkeeper smiled at Gemini. "Feel free to look around, but please do not touch anything carelessly, all right?"

"Thank you very much for your generosity." Gemini smiled mildly.

The shopkeeper clearly did not consider him a customer, but that was understandable. Judging by the prices on the shelves, even the cheapest broom here cost around sixty or seventy Galleons. Who would think an eleven-year-old child could afford a good broom?

Even so, the shopkeeper displayed good manners despite not seeing Gemini as a customer. From that alone, there was a reason he could run such a Wizarding World 4S dealership.

"Are you a new Hogwarts student this year?" the shopkeeper asked with a smile.

"Yes, I am a new student this year." Gemini nodded.

"Oh, how wonderful." The shopkeeper clapped his hands excitedly. "For a polite child like you, I highly recommend Hufflepuff. Ha ha, I graduated from there myself."

"Although people always say we are mediocre, mediocrity is not necessarily a bad thing. And there are many outstanding wizards from Hufflepuff." The shopkeeper spread his hands. "For instance... me~"

Gemini laughed. This shopkeeper was quite interesting.

"Thank you very much for your advice."

"You're welcome, child."

"May I ask how much the Nimbus 2000 costs?" Gemini asked.

"Oh... people have been asking about it a lot lately. You know, this newest model—also the fastest broom currently available—it really draws attention." The shopkeeper smiled. "What I can tell you is that its lowest possible price is 200 Galleons. Of course, that would be the absolute lowest. Normally, it would cost around 230 to 270."

Gemini nodded slightly.

Two hundred Galleons translated to roughly 1,000 Pounds Sterling, about two months' wages for an ordinary person. It was not terribly expensive, but it was not cheap either.

Although 200 Galleons did not seem like much, the value of money depended on the era and social environment in which it existed.

It was now 1991 in Britain. In China at this time, the average monthly wage was only seventy or eighty yuan, and the exchange rate between Pounds Sterling and yuan was nowhere near as low as it would be thirty years later.

What did 200 Galleons mean at present? Two months' salary for an ordinary Briton. In China of this era, that made someone a household worth ten thousand yuan.

In an age when watches, bicycles, and sewing machines were still considered the three essential items for marriage, 200 Galleons was no small sum. That did not change just because this was Britain or the Wizarding World.

After all, once the Weasley twins received Harry's thousand-Galleon investment, they opened a Magical Joke Shop in Diagon Alley in a very short time, and their lives immediately took off.

"To date, total sales of the Nimbus 2000 have reached more than triple the combined sales of all other first-rate brooms. I have to say, it truly is an excellent broom. It is the fastest broom I have ever seen so far."

The shopkeeper clicked his tongue in admiration.

Gemini nodded and swept his gaze around the shop. At last, he looked toward a black broom at the very back of the room. It was a very refined-looking broom.

"That one is..."

"The Tinderblast. A fine but unpopular broom, produced in 1940. Before the Nimbus series burst onto the scene, it was always my favorite. Of course, I still love it now, but it can no longer keep up with the current market. It is a real pity."

The shopkeeper sighed, then seemed to remember something and laughed. "But I heard from the Broom Family that they seem to be planning something big in the next couple of years, and they told me to prepare early. You have heard of the Broom Family, right? A renowned broom-making family. They have never pursued money, only perfection."

Gemini understood. The Tinderblast... the Broom Family...

Judging by the name, the Firebolt that appeared later was probably made by the Broom Family, wasn't it?

Turning his attention to the Weapon Shop, Gemini pulled up the Flying Broomsticks data.

Nimbus 2000.

Price: 90 Galleons.

Firebolt.

Price: 270 Galleons.

Three times the difference...

According to the description provided by the Weapon Shop, the Firebolt's high price was due to its goblin-forged metal components. That was the most expensive part of it.

By comparison, traditional brooms had never considered that aspect. Due to cost, the Firebolt seemed to be the first to incorporate goblin alchemy into a broom. No wonder it cost that much even in the Weapon Shop.