Chapter 167 A trip to Diagon Alley
In the early morning, as the sun had just risen, Albert had already opened his eyes and woke up from his sleep. He turned his head slightly and looked at the door, and there was a familiar sound of footsteps in the corridor.
The next moment, there was a knock on the door, and Nia's voice sounded outside the door.
“Get up, Albert, get up quickly!”
Albert got up from the bed, just covered a yawn, raised his hands and stretched, the door was opened, Tom got in through the crack in the door, trotted and jumped to the chair, and then jumped again and landed on the chair. The soft cushions on the table make you lie down comfortably.
"It seems that Tom likes this cushion very much." Albert reached out and touched Tom's head, and said to Nia with a smile: "You go out first, and I will change clothes."
"Hurry up, dad said we should arrive in London before ten o'clock." Nia greeted Tom to leave, not forgetting to take away Tom's cushion before leaving.
“So early?” Albert was a little surprised.
“He said to go earlier so that we can have enough time to visit Diagon Alley.” Nia said as she was leaning against the wall. She obviously agreed with Herb’s approach.
After all, this time the Anderson family went to Diagon Alley together. To put it bluntly, they were just a family going shopping in Diagon Alley.
If you don’t make time in advance, the rest of your trip will be very rushed.
When Albert went downstairs to dine, Nia also proposed to bring a camera to take some photos, but Albert rejected it directly.
“That makes you stand out, which is not a good thing.”
"They..." Daisy frowned slightly, considered her words and said, "...'look down on' ordinary people?"
She did not use the word discrimination after all.
"Yes, some wizards are like this." Albert did not deny this. "They feel that they are superior to others because of their extraordinary power. In fact, the entire magical world is very backward. Wait until you go to Diagon Alley. You will know, but sometimes you cannot deny that magic is indeed very good and can solve a lot of troubles. But the thinking of most wizards is too backward, or they have low self-esteem and are afraid of being persecuted. Well, ordinary people We have to shoulder a lot of blame in this regard.”
Actually, if magic and technology can be combined...
Albert immediately shook off this unrealistic idea.
Reformers are usually the unlucky ones who die on the front lines.
For a little man like Albert, spending his short life well is the most important thing. Even if the world explodes in three hundred years, it has nothing to do with him.
Until the end of the meal, they did not continue to talk about the unpleasant topic, but only talked about some things that should be paid attention to when going to Diagon Alley.
At half past eight, Albert and his family set off for London by car.
In the UK, this time is considered very early for most people.
It took the Andersons some time to arrive in London, and Herb soon took them to large bookstores and record stores.
“Are we here?” Nia looked between the big bookstore and the record store and asked doubtfully, “Where’s the bar?”
“Here we are.” Albert nodded.
"While you were going to Hogwarts, I came here several times, but I couldn't find the bar." Herb couldn't help but sigh, "Magic is really a magical thing."
"Because there is a spell that blocks ordinary people nearby." Albert explained, "The effect of this spell is to make ordinary people ignore something, which can prevent ordinary people from entering the Leaky Cauldron Bar by mistake."
“How do we get in?” Daisy asked.
“Come with me.” Albert took Nia’s hand, “Don’t be nervous, let yourself look natural.”
With Albert's help, the Anderson family finally entered the Leaky Cauldron.
"I didn't notice there was a bar here just now!" After Nia followed Albert into the Leaky Cauldron Bar, she was startled by the scene inside. She shrank and hid behind Albert, tightly grabbed his hand.
No way, it's too dark and dirty here. There are a few strange guys sitting in the bar, an old woman smoking a pipe, a bald and slovenly old man, and a middle-aged man who is already drunk. No matter how you look at it, , these guys all have different styles from the people Nia comes into contact with every day.
Albert nodded slightly towards the bar owner Tom, ignored the looks cast by others, and led his family towards the backyard.
“Don’t be nervous, you are here for shopping.” Albert noticed Daisy biting her lip and comforted her.
Although Daisy looked calm as usual, Albert knew that she had a habit of biting her lips when she was nervous.
"The environment here is more...shabby than I thought." Daisy looked at the backyard and asked, "Is the entrance here?"
Since Albert visited Diagon Alley last year, the Anderson family all know that the entrance to Diagon Alley is in the backyard of the Leaky Cauldron.
“Yes.” Albert took out his wand, tapped the third brick from the left above the trash can, and then motioned for everyone to move back.
Looking at the archway that opened on the wall leading to Diagon Alley, Nia looked extremely excited and screamed: "It's so amazing."
Albert smiled and said, "Welcome to Diagon Alley."
"I didn't expect Diagon Alley to be a street." Daisy looked at the wizards going around and the old shops on both sides of the alley. She understood Albert's description a little bit. This place did look like it had been there for a while, using backward It's not too much to describe it.
“Let’s buy books first,” said Albert.
Since Herb exchanged a large amount of Galleons last year and have not spent them all yet, they did not go to Gringotts this time. Nia was disappointed that she could not see the goblins.
However, the magic shops on both sides of this pebbled street soon attracted Nia's attention.
Albert was pulled into Flourish and Blotts Bookstore by Nia. Herb and Daisy looked at each other and followed behind.
Nia’s eyes were immediately attracted by those different magic books.
After entering the bookstore, Herb had a simple communication with the store owner and purchased the books that Albert needed.
Well, you only really need to buy one copy, which is Standard Spells, Level 2 for use in Charms. The remaining textbooks will continue to be used from the previous semester.
“Is this book not for sale?” Albert asked the shopkeeper, pointing to the books on the display shelf.
"Yes, it is not for sale." The pointer explained, "This is a new work by Mr. Mog McDougal. It is said that he only printed a hundred copies."
"All one hundred copies have been sold out?" Albert was a little surprised. He originally thought that Mr. Mog McDougal's book would not be sold. "Why don't you continue to print it?"
"I heard that the content inside is very difficult and ordinary people can't understand it at all, so Mr. Mog McDoug thought it wouldn't sell even if it was printed, so he stopped printing it." The shop owner explained, "If you are interested in magic text, If you are interested, I recommend you to buy Mr. Mog McDougal’s "Comprehensive Solution to Basic Magic Texts", this book is simple and easy to understand."
“So, the hundred volumes of books printed by Mr. McDougal were mostly used to give away to others?” Albert muttered softly. That's right. If no one else can understand this book, how can you buy it? Should you spend five galleons to buy it and keep it?
“Don’t you have a copy of this?” Nia asked in confusion.
"Okay, let's go!" Albert took the book, paid the other party a galleon, and left with Nia.
There are still many things that need to be purchased.
For example, go to a pharmacy to replenish various ingredients of medicine.
By the way, Nia really dislikes pharmacies, and the weird ingredients in them scare her to death.
Before leaving the drugstore, Albert asked Herb to buy a bottle of white essence. With this, if he is accidentally injured in the future, he can use the white essence to heal it quickly without leaving scars.
After being introduced by Albert, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson were quite moved and bought another bottle to give to Grandpa Luke. This is a good thing that cannot be bought in the Muggle world.
Since the uniform was several inches too short for his limbs, Albert needed to go to Madam Malkin's Robe Shop to have some new robes ordered.
Albert met an acquaintance here, the McDougal sisters and their mother, who came to pick up custom-made robes.
The two parties never spoke from beginning to end, and Mrs. McDougal left with her daughter after paying.
“Do you know each other?” Daisy asked curiously.
“We know each other, we’re in the same club.” Albert replied casually.
This time, Nia did not clamor to customize one for herself, but watched with curiosity the whole process of Mrs. Malkin custom-making clothes for Albert.
While Albert was replenishing ink, quills and parchment in Wieseek's magic supply shop, Nia's attention was attracted by a wonderful model of moving constellations, which was a large glass ball with a model of the solar system inside.
However, Herb did not buy it for her because he thought it had no value except as a decoration, and it cost 15 galleons, which was too expensive.
Nia is a little depressed.
However, Albert secretly told her that as long as Nia had excellent grades in school, he would help convince the family to buy it for her.
Nia's face immediately turned gloomy and she smiled happily, saying that she would study hard.
After purchasing the necessary items, the Anderson family continued to wander around Diagon Alley. When passing by the Magic Zoo store, they also went into the store and bought some rations for Tom.
If you are tired from shopping, just have something to eat under the umbrella outside the coffee shop and chat with your family about your experiences in Diagon Alley.
During this period, Albert also met Wood, who came to Diagon Alley for shopping with his family, and the goalkeeper reminded him to remember to buy a broomstick.
“Flying broomstick?”
Albert briefly explained Quidditch to his family. Herb asked Albert if he wanted to go to the Quidditch boutique, which they had passed by before.
In the eyes of Herb and Daisy, their son is the best. Simple Quidditch obviously cannot be a problem for him, and judging from the tone of the person just now, they think Albert is qualified to join the Quidditch team.
“No need.” Albert declined politely, “If you successfully join the team, it’s not too late to buy a broom.”
"Oh, okay." Herb respected Albert's opinion, but on the way back, he couldn't help but ask, "You don't seem to like Quidditch very much?"
"To be precise, I don't really like Quidditch training." Albert thought for a while and answered honestly, "It's such a waste of time. I think I can do other things."
"I think Albert just finds Quidditch training troublesome." Nia couldn't help complaining, "In the past, he simply gave up basketball and tennis, and he only took the initiative to learn karate for a few months. .”
The Andersons were silent. They all knew this. Albert knew a lot of things, but he was too lazy. He gave up without studying in depth. Otherwise, he should have achieved good results in a certain field.
Well, the Andersons’ brains seem to have actively blocked Albert’s desire to enter the financial world.
(End of this chapter)