Just as Herman was examining them carefully one by one, Harry suddenly said, "Found them. Come on, lift these."
Herman looked in the direction Harry pointed and saw a pair of pitch-black statues. They depicted monsters with wings and horns, hideous and terrifying in appearance.
The statues were not particularly large; Herman could just fit one arm around each. Before picking them up, however, he asked, "It's safe to just pick them up, right?"
He could clearly sense a considerable amount of magic attached to the two statues. They were certainly not mere ornaments. Besides, ornaments would not have been kept this deep inside the vault.
Harry thought back for a moment, then said, "It's fine. Go ahead."
Seeing Harry's expression, Herman began muttering inwardly, If it's fine, why did you hesitate?!
This time, Harry explained seriously, "Relax, it's fine. Sirius might be unreliable, but he'd still warn me if there were any really big problems. Go ahead."
"What do you mean, 'really big problems'? So there are often little problems? What kind of problems, exactly?" Herman pressed.
"Just trivial little things. I've picked up books that bite, cups that corrode your skin, and so on. Magic can heal all of it."
Herman immediately said, "Two would be too heavy. Let's carry one each."
"Tch, not a shred of gentlemanly manners. You're a disgrace to British men." Herman, however, did not care. If British men lost face, so be it.
Seeing that Herman remained unmoved, Harry reached out herself. She tentatively placed one hand on a statue, gripping her wand tightly in the other, ready to act at any moment. Amid Herman's tense breathing, nothing unexpected happened.
"Hurry up and carry it," Harry mocked. "Don't leave everything to a girl."
"All right, all right, stop rushing me. I'm picking it up." Seeing that Harry was fine, Herman hurriedly reached out and lifted the statue too.
When his hands touched the statue, nothing unusual happened beyond its icy feel. Still, the statue was quite heavy. If Herman really had been made to carry two, he might not have managed it.
"Let's go." Harry led the way with the statue in her arms, reminding him as she walked, "Oh, right, you can't use the Levitation Charm or any other magic on this thing. Sirius warned me that magic might activate it. If you activate it by accident, you might get attacked."
Herman's hands could not help trembling at Harry's words. Sure enough, there was not a single normal thing in that room. Fortunately, he was not very proficient in his self-taught magic and had yet to develop the habit of using magic for everything. Otherwise, if he had casually cast a Levitation Charm just now, he might already have activated the statue.
The two left the vault. On their way out, they did not activate the trap at the entrance again. Apparently, it only triggered when someone entered, and they made their way out of the vault without incident.
The little goblin locked the vault door and returned the key to Harry, bringing their trip to Gringotts to an end.
As soon as they stepped out of Gringotts, Herman hurriedly tossed the statue into the trolley. While carrying it all that way, he had gradually discovered that it was absorbing his magic, and its temperature kept rising. Herman even wondered whether he was imagining things: he felt as though the statue had begun to develop a heartbeat.
After putting the statue in the trolley, Herman watched it warily, as though facing a formidable enemy. His tense gaze stayed fixed on it like a searchlight, afraid that something might suddenly happen to it.
Only after quite some time, when the statue showed no further changes, did he let out a relieved breath, inwardly rejoicing, Thank goodness. I was really afraid this statue would suddenly wake up like a living creature and take an unexpected bite out of me with those jagged fangs.
Harry waited for Herman a while. Seeing that he still had not moved, she urged him, "Hurry up and keep up. We've still got loads to buy."
As she spoke, Harry casually swept her gaze around, discovering that the Aurors watching them were already in position. A barely perceptible smile crept onto her lips, like a crafty fox, as she silently murmured to herself, The show's about to begin.
Herman did not hear Harry's muttering at all. Otherwise, no matter how much money he was offered, he would definitely have taken the money and run, and would never have continued shopping with Harry.
On the whole, the shopping that followed went fairly smoothly, without any mishaps.
When having clothes made at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, Harry chose to take them with her rather than have the shop deliver them. Fortunately, with the start of term approaching, most students' clothes had already been finished. The two only waited a short while before the freshly made clothes were ready and placed in the trolley.
Next, they bought a cauldron, scales, and the other assorted items one after another. The trolley was packed full, like a small moving hill. As they passed Ollivander's Wand Shop, Herman intended to walk straight past, but Harry stopped him. "What's the rush? Aren't we buying a wand?"
Herman froze for a moment at Harry's words, inwardly grumbling, Are we padding the word count here? What he said aloud, however, was, "Don't you already have a wand?"
As he spoke, his eyes involuntarily drifted toward the wand hanging at Harry's waist. Harry casually took it from her waist, then discreetly slipped it into a hidden pocket in her sleeve, explaining offhandedly, "That wasn't one I bought. Come on, let's buy my first wand."
She didn't buy it? Herman instantly recalled the newspaper reports about Sirius and pondered, If it wasn't bought, it was probably stolen. It might even have belonged to a victim.
Looks like making one myself isn't necessarily the only way to get a second wand.
How can I think like that? I'm going to Hogwarts to be a good student, Herman hurriedly reminded himself. Still, he could not resist adding, Actually, I shouldn't be too rigid about things. Let's see when an opportunity comes along. I can't turn down something delivered right into my hands. Just like that, Herman successfully made peace with himself.
The experience of buying a wand at Ollivander's Wand Shop differed little from the original story's description. After trying wand after wand, Harry finally received the one destined for her-the twin of Voldemort's wand.
After listening to Ollivander's evasive introduction, Harry could not help remarking, "That really is interesting."
"It certainly is," Herman could not help remarking too, inwardly pondering, She's clearly no longer the Chosen One, yet the wand still chose Harry? Could it be because of the Horcrux?
After making that remark, however, Harry hurried away with Herman. Time was short, after all, and there were other things that urgently needed doing.
"We're not buying a pet? Straight to Flourish and Blotts?" Herman asked curiously after hearing Harry's planned route.
Of course, the more important reason was that Herman was making his own little calculations. If they did not buy a pet, there seemed likely to be quite a bit of money left in the purse, and the indignities he had suffered today would not have been for nothing.
"No. I already have a pet. Hogwarts only allows you to bring one, so there's no need to buy another," Harry explained briefly.
"Right you are! I know Flourish and Blotts. I guarantee I'll have the books ready in no time." Like a soldier hearing the charge sounded, Herman pushed the trolley and rushed into Flourish and Blotts, ready to load it up for Harry.
Harry watched Herman shoot into Flourish and Blotts like an arrow loosed from a bow, then glanced back at the Aurors furtively following a short distance away. The corners of her lips rose slightly in a meaningful smile, and she slowly strolled into the bookshop as well.
There were not many people in the bookshop that day, mostly students preparing for the start of term and their parents. Seeing this, the Aurors did not enter.
In Herman's eyes, these Aurors' tailing skills were truly unimpressive, but the Aurors did not think so. They fancied themselves clever, believing they had kept enough distance that the two youngsters could not possibly notice them. At that moment, they were stationed near both the front and back entrances of Flourish and Blotts, waiting for the two youngsters to come out.
Inside the bookshop, Herman was entirely focused on loading books onto the trolley. He never noticed Harry take something from it, then wander around the shop, after which the object vanished without a trace.
"All right, time to pay." With Harry's money in hand, Herman went to settle the bill with a cheerful expression, happily calculating, All the money left will be mine. Just after he finished paying, a thunderous crash suddenly rang out inside the bookshop, followed immediately by terrified cries from the crowd: "There's a monster!"