Uncle Vernon's little car drove into an old commercial street in London, a place that had once been a bustling shopping district.
Decades ago, it had been packed with people and far livelier than it was now.
Even so, there were still quite a few pedestrians around.
Hagrid, huge as ever, walked in front of them, easily parting the crowds and opening a broad path.
"Here we are."
He stopped beside a blank stretch of wall next to a bookshop. "This is the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron."
"The… entrance to a pub?"
Vernon and Dudley stared blankly at the empty wall, seeing absolutely nothing.
"Only wizards can see the door here. So if you want to go in, someone has to show you the way. Now, follow me. Just hold on to Holly and Lynn's hands and you'll be able to go through."
In Lynn's and Holly's eyes, however, there was clearly an old wooden door set into the wall, with a crooked signboard above it that read The Leaky Cauldron.
As Hagrid pushed the door open, the others filed in behind him. The Muggle pedestrians on the street outside didn't notice this very conspicuous group vanishing at all.
The moment they entered the pub, Aunt Petunia let out a soft, disgusted little "Ew—"
She was a woman who loved cleanliness, and what the Leaky Cauldron presented to them was: shabby and filthy. Who knew how many years the floor hadn't been washed? Every step sank into a strange, squishy softness—no carpet, just layers of compacted grime like some revolting fungus mat.
Hagrid's giant frame stood out at once. As he walked into the Leaky Cauldron, quite a few people raised their glasses to him in greeting. Behind the bar, Tom the landlord was wiping dirty glasses with an equally dirty rag while calling out to Hagrid.
"The usual, Hagrid?"
"No, I'm on Hogwarts business today. Got to take these two kids to Diagon Alley to get their things."
"That is rare."
Tom's cloudy gaze drifted over to Holly and Lynn, standing with the Dursleys behind Hagrid. In fact, he gave Lynn a couple of extra glances and didn't pay much attention to the pretty little girl beside him.
Unfortunately, he didn't see a lightning-shaped scar on Lynn's forehead, so he withdrew his gaze.
"New first-years, eh? My niece is starting Hogwarts this year too—first year. Maybe they'll get to know each other. Her name's Hannah Abbott, sweet girl, that one."
"We'll talk later. It'll be noon soon, and we've still got places to be."
Hagrid chuckled, nodded, and led them deeper into the Leaky Cauldron.
Ahead lay a small courtyard surrounded by red brick walls, with several rubbish bins stacked to one side. This was the dead end of the Leaky Cauldron's corridor.
"This is the entrance to Diagon Alley. You two, watch closely. You count three bricks up from here, then two across, and then tap three times with a wand…"
Hagrid rummaged in his enormous pocket and produced a very cute pink umbrella, then tapped the bricks three times with the tip.
Right in front of their curious, astonished eyes, the brick wall rolled and folded away, revealing a wide passage. Beyond the red brick archway, a winding cobblestone street stretched into the unknown distance.
"Welcome to Diagon Alley!"
Stepping out of the passage, Hagrid pointed ahead at the bustling crowd, a smile hidden in his beard.
The wizarding shopping street, full of heavy medieval architectural style, rang with cries of hawkers and the sounds of haggling. Strange items dazzled the eyes, tugging at their attention and trying to make them stop and stare.
Hagrid didn't rush them, just watched happily from the side. When he'd gone to fetch Holly—Harry—earlier, he'd worried the Dursleys were treating the child badly. But from the looks of it, the Dursley couple were treating Holly far better than their own son. That made him genuinely pleased.
On the way, Hagrid even paid out of his own pocket for ice cream cones at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. These magical treats only needed one bite to lift a person several inches off the ground. None of them had ever seen anything like it before.
Even Lynn, with his four-dimensional treasure-trash bag, was intrigued. Magic was just as new to him. If he hadn't one day learned that a place called Privet Drive existed, he would have gone on thinking this was simply a parallel 1990s London.
Wizards really were well-hidden in the Muggle world, and very few in number—so few that in all his years wandering, he'd never seen a single person he could confidently call suspicious.
"Come on, this way. I'm taking Holly and Lynn to Gringotts. Oh, and don't ever trust goblins lightly. Nasty little blighters, very tricky."
When Hagrid stopped in front of a striking white marble building, he pointed to the grand doors.
The Dursleys all nodded. In their eyes, goblins… really didn't look like anything good. They were born with shifty faces.
The lavish décor inside Gringotts stood in sharp contrast to the Diagon Alley outside. When they reached the counter, Hagrid turned to Lynn.
"D'you want to open an account or a vault or something?"
"Maybe?" Lynn shrugged. He wasn't particularly attached to the idea either way. "I just don't know how much it costs."
"Ah, most honoured sir."
The goblin behind the counter raised his head, a smile appearing now that he smelled profit.
"Gringotts Wizarding Bank is one of the safest places in the wizarding world. Here, your wealth will receive first-class protection. If you wish to apply for a vault, we have no fewer than seven levels of security you may choose from."
"What's the cheapest?" Lynn glanced at him. He did have some savings, but even if he turned it all into gold, it wouldn't be that much.
"The cheapest vault is a one-off purchase. You merely need thirty Galleons to buy permanent usage rights," the goblin said with a genial smile, ready to launch into a full sales pitch.
"Oh. I'm broke. Forget it."
Lynn waved his hand decisively. The goblin's face darkened a shade.
"I want to exchange for Galleons. The rate is five pounds to one Galleon?"
"Yes, sir." The goblin's voice cooled. "If you're a Hogwarts student, you have an annual exchange limit of one hundred Galleons."
"And if I go over a hundred?"
"We support unlimited exchange of physical gold into Galleons."
In the wizarding world, gold was still hard currency. In alchemy, it had irreplaceable value as a material.
"Alright then, I'll just exchange a hundred Galleons for now."
Lynn pulled out a big handful of crumpled banknotes—about a little over a thousand pounds. That was roughly most of his net worth. With telekinesis and teleportation, he could get money quickly if he wanted, but he simply didn't spend much. With a Universal Tent and a Gourmet Tablecloth, he didn't need to pay for food or lodging.
After quickly counting out five hundred pounds, Lynn shoved the rest back into his backpack.
"Would you like a wallet with built-in Undetectable Extension Charm, as well as weight reduction and anti-theft protection?"
As the goblin brought over a tray full of gleaming Galleons, he still tried to squeeze a bit more gold out of Lynn.
"Nope."
Lynn pulled the tray over and swept all one hundred shining coins into his backpack. "They're already perfectly safe."
This kind of stingy customer was the goblin's least favourite sort. Sulking, he plopped back down, glared with dead-fish eyes, and turned to Holly.
"And what can we do for you?" he asked in a dry voice.
"I need to take some money out of my vault."
Holly took out her golden key. The moment it appeared, the goblin's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
They would never mistake the family crest on those golden keys. The Potter family, though not one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, was still an old, wealthy wizarding family with a long history. Even now, their shampoo patents were still making them money hand over fist.
But isn't Harry Potter a boy?
The goblin's jaw dropped so far you could have fit a fist in his mouth.
Still, goblins didn't particularly care about wizard affairs. As long as the key was valid, that was all that mattered. Maybe this wasn't Harry Potter at all, but some other branch of the Potter bloodline outside the main line.
None of that was a goblin's problem. Gringotts assumed no responsibility for any losses caused by the owner losing their key.
"There's one more thing."
As the goblin returned the key to Holly, Hagrid pulled an envelope from his pocket.
"This is about the item in Vault Seven-One-Three."
The goblin immediately turned serious. After reading the letter, he nodded and turned his head.
"Griphook!" he called.
"He'll take you to these two vaults."
As he finished speaking, a goblin named Griphook trotted over and led them down a side passage into a narrow stone corridor. The corridor sloped downward, and soon a railway line running deep into the earth appeared in front of them.
Griphook blew a whistle, and a cart came hurtling towards them.
Cold wind whipped their faces as they sped along the twisting tracks of the underground maze. After two or three minutes, the cart screeched to a halt. Hagrid's face had taken on a faint greenish tinge.
"Want a mint, Hagrid?"
Lynn pulled a handful of individually wrapped mints from his pocket. "Suck on a few. Helps a lot."
"Tha's mighty kind of yeh."
Hagrid gratefully nodded, peeled a few, and popped them into his mouth. The sharp, cool sensation eased the tension in his brow a little.
Griphook took Holly's key and opened the vault door. A thick greenish smoke billowed out, and when the flames from the torches lit the inside, Holly's sharp intake of breath echoed clearly in the underground chamber.
"All this is yours," Hagrid said with a broad, squinty smile, looking much better.
Piles upon piles of Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts reflected dazzling metallic light. Off to one side, there were crates full of gold and silver ingots. Deeper in, she could see decorations hanging on the walls—ornamental swords and shields inlaid with huge gemstones, too many for the eye to take in properly.
"Maybe I really do need a wallet…" Holly turned to Lynn. "But for now, can I borrow your bag?"
Hagrid helped her scoop up a hefty amount of money into the leather pouch he'd brought.
"This'll be plenty for your school things in Diagon Alley."
The heavy money bag was put into Lynn's backpack. It had to be close to a thousand Galleons, at least—but compared to the whole vault, it wasn't even a drop in the bucket.
"How does it feel to turn into a little rich girl?"
On the way to Vault 713, Lynn glanced at her and asked with a grin.
"I can finally buy presents for Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and Dudley!" Holly said happily. "And of course, for you too, Lynn!"
Her beautiful eyes blinked a few times, and the joy on her face made it feel like she was glowing against a dark backdrop.
"Tsk."
Lynn raised his brows slightly. "Looking like that, I doubt many boys will be able to handle you, y'know."
Holly's smile faded. She pressed her lips together and turned her head away.
Vault 713 was a bit of a letdown for her. She had imagined that such a mysterious vault would hold some earth-shattering treasure. Instead, Hagrid simply grabbed a small, brown paper-wrapped package in a hurry and left.
She was curious about it, of course, but far more excited for the shopping spree waiting for her back in Diagon Alley.
After they returned to the main hall and met up with the Dursleys, the real fun of Diagon Alley began. Everything in the magical world had a huge pull on them.
To make carrying things easier, Holly even spent a bit of gold on a belt pouch.
Strictly speaking, casting an Undetectable Extension Charm wasn't particularly difficult. But if you wanted that charm to last long-term, remain effective, and stay stable, the material and craftsmanship of the container both had to meet strict requirements.
Those shoddy, expanded bags could fail at any moment. When that happened, everything inside would explode out all at once, and a wizard caught off guard could very well be killed.
The Ministry of Magic didn't ban the manufacture of expanded containers—couldn't ban it, really—but most wizards still chose to buy their enchanted luggage from proper shops with guarantees and protections. No one wanted to die buried under their own belongings.
After walking around with Holly for a while and helping her buy all her books, Lynn said he wanted to wander off on his own. Holly had her nose practically glued to the windows of Quality Quidditch Supplies, drooling over the racing brooms inside, so the two agreed to meet at four o'clock that afternoon at the Leaky Cauldron to go home together.
Compared to Holly's bottomless curiosity toward the magical world, Lynn was much calmer. His own treasure bag was magical enough that he'd already had some mental preparation for this sort of thing.
Still, there was one thing in the wizarding world that attracted him more than anything else.
Ollivanders wand shop stood in the middle-to-late stretch of Diagon Alley. This part of the street was nowhere near as lively or prosperous as the front. Most shops here sold second-hand books and old odds and ends.
When Lynn found himself standing in front of that old shop with its flaking gold sign, he couldn't help feeling a swell of anticipation.
The items in his four-dimensional pocket were still external tools. Things like the Superpower Training Box—items that actually let him gain power—were rare.
Magic, though, was different. Once he learned it, it would become part of him.
With that thought raising his spirits, Lynn pushed open the door of Ollivanders.