Chapter 4

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

Chapter 4 Diagon Alley

"Albert, are you sure we

aren’t in the wrong place?" Herb was looking at the map in his hand, but

he couldn't find the bar mentioned by Professor McGonagall.

"We have to find the

bookstore first. Next to the bookstore is the bar." Albert raised his

finger and pointed to the big bookstore in front of him, and the bar next to it.

"That's it? But

I..."

"...Can't see the

location of the bar?" Albert finished speaking for him,

If he hadn't made a special

observation, he wouldn't have paid attention to the small bar next to the big

bookstore.

People passing by in a hurry

didn't even look at it, including, of course, his father Herb.

"I've seen the bar,

remember what Ms. McGonagall said?"

"Muggles can't find the

bar?" Herb muttered. "I hate that word Muggle."

Herb held his son's hand and

was pulled forward by Albert. A few seconds later, he saw the legendary Leaky

Cauldron Bar,

It was a dirty little bar.

"I hate this place, it's

so dirty."

"Me too, come in!"

Restraining the look of

disgust on their faces, the father and son pushed the door and walked into the

bar one after the other.

Dirty, messy, dark.

This is the evaluation that

both of them gave to this bar. There are some men and women who don't look

normal, and they are mostly elderly people. They are also wearing ridiculous

top hats on their heads, which look very funny.

If this group of people walked

outside in the street, they would definitely attract the attention of countless

people, as dazzling as a ray of fire in the dark.

Herb calmed down immediately,

walked towards the counter, looked at the bald elderly man and asked

tentatively, "Mr. Tom?"

"A young wizard from a

Muggle family?" Tom looked at Albert before looking up and smiling at

Herb. "You want to ask how to get to Diagon Alley?"

"Yes, Mr. Tom, Professor

McGonagall explained, that you can take us to Diagon Alley." Albert also

looked at the old man in front of him, and forced a polite smile on his face.

"Come with me, of

course." Tom came out from behind the bar and beckoned them to follow.

The trio came to the backyard

of the bar, where there was nothing but a brick wall, a litter box and a few

empty wine barrels.

"This trash can will

always be here, you need to count three pieces up, and then two pieces in the

horizontal direction, this is the brick." Tom pointed to the place where

he had just tapped with his hand, and then pulled out a wand tapped the brick

three times, turned to Albert and said, "When you have your own wand, you

can open the entrance to Diagon Alley yourself. Remember to tap three times

with your wand."

The brick that Old Tom had

knocked began to vibrate, the brick wall moved very strangely, and a small path

appeared in the middle. An archway which they can pass through.

A cobblestone-paved street

stretched forward from the foot, flanked by shops on both sides, and there were

many wizards and hawking stalls on the street.

"Welcome to Diagon

Alley." Tom said smiling at the two of them.

"Mr. Tom, how shall we

get back later?" asked Herb.

"When you're done

shopping, you can open the door the same way i did." Tom answered Herb's

question patiently, not forgetting to remind: "By the way, you'd better go

to Gringotts first. And exchange your currency for galleons. Muggle coins

cannot be used here, go ahead from here and that snow-white building is The

Gringotts Wizarding Bank."

"Thank you for your

suggestion, Mr. Tom."

"Have a nice day."

Tom smiled and waved at the two of them, turning to go back to the bar, after

he finished his job.

After Tom leaves, the entrance

disappears and reverts back into a brick wall.

"Let's go and exchange

the currency." Herb took a deep breath.

"It feels very different

here.

Albert looked at the surrounding shops, smiled and

said to Herb: "Gives me a feeling that the times have gone backwards by a

century. "

"To be honest, I have

some doubts about the correctness of letting you go to Hogwarts. Maybe Daisy's

persistence is the right one." Herb sighed lightly. Although the wizarding

world is magical, it always gives him a sense of inconsistency. The illusion of

the past.

"Dad, I don't necessarily

have to live in the wizarding world." Albert couldn't help rolling his

eyes and reminded, "I want go to Hogwarts mainly to learn how to master

this magical power."

"Oh, you're right."

Herb's mood improved a little, and the two walked through the crowd to

Gringotts.

As Tom said, this is a white

building, and there is a short figure standing beside the bronze gate, that

is... a goblin.

"They're so

special." Herb's facial expression was a little stiff, and as this was the

first time he had seen other humanoid creatures other than humans.

Albert didn't care, and looked

at the goblin's appearance, short and fair-skinned, as if they have spent very

little time outside. They had very long fingers and feet, dome-shaped heads, a

creature without beauty.

As they entered, Albert noticed the goblin bowing to

them.

There was a second door behind

it, it was silver, and there were inscriptions on the two doors. After Herb

approached, he took a closer look and read aloud: " Enter,

stranger, but take heed Of what awaits the sin of greed For those who take, but

do not earn, Must pay most dearly in their turn. So if you seek beneath our

floors A treasure that was never yours, Thief, you have been warned, beware Of

finding more than treasure there...."

"I really don't

understand, how diligently wizards need to rob the bank before they need to

carve a warning sign on the door?" Herb couldn't help muttering after

reading it.

Albert wanted to laugh a

little after hearing this, and quickly cleared his throat and

asked. "How much are you going to exchange?"

"This?" Herb thought

for a while and whispered, "One thousand pounds, if it's not enough, we

can exchange more later."

A thousand pounds is

equivalent to a month's salary for most people.

Albert estimated that it was

about 200 Galleons. He nodded and said, "I think it should be

enough."

After entering, the two

goblins bowed to them and led them into a tall marble hall. Herb said he

needed to change some Galleons.

Then one goblin led them to

the counter on the right side, and handed a piece of parchment to Herb. The

parchment was about the exchange rate of pounds and Galleons and the concept of

money in the magical world.

1 Galleon equals £4.95.

1 Galleon is equal to 17 Sickles,

and 1 Sickles is equal to 29 Knuts.

Herb handed the parchment to

his son and asked, "How much is 200 Galleons in pounds?"

"£990."

"Please help me exchange

200 Galleons." Herb took out 990 pounds from his wallet and asked the

goblins to exchange them for Galleons.

"Okay, wait a

minute." The goblin took the pound and started counting.

"Excuse me, Mr. Goblin,

can I exchange any British pounds for Galleons here?" Albert curiously

asked the doubts of his previous life.

"That's right in theory,

but we won't accept too much Muggle money." The goblin rang the bell and

called another goblin to give an order. The goblin took a bag of gold coins and

handed it to Herb. Then lead them aside to verify the number of Galleons.

"I didn't expect it to be

a gold coin." Herb fiddled with the galleons within his fingertips and

couldn't help but sigh.

After counting the galleons

and making sure it was correct, the two left Gringotts.

Walking on the sunny street,

the gold coins in their pockets collided and made a pleasant jingling sound, as

if urging them to spend the gold coins quickly.

Previous