Chapter 8: The Euphoria of Diagon Alley (Edited)

"Tom, did you hear what they said? God, if they put me in Slytherin, I'll probably drop out." Hermione overheard the conversation, and once the two of them walked away, they began to talk about the Hogwarts houses with great interest.

Tom shrugged, "That's a generalization, each of the four houses has its own strengths and weaknesses, but it's true that the vast majority of dark wizards come from Slytherin."

"There are four houses at the school? What four? How do you know?", The unknown always intrigued the young girl.

"There are four houses at Hogwarts: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin," Tom said.

"The four houses correspond to the four elements, Gryffindor values courage and chivalry, this house represents fire, Ravenclaw values wit, learning and wisdom, this house represents wind, Hufflepuff values hard work, patience, friendship and honesty, this house represents earth and Slytherin values cunning, wit and ambition, this house represents water. Gryffindor is actually the French word 'Gryffin' means 'Griffin', and 'd'or' can refer to the gold enamel metal, meaning golden griffin or griffin."

"So Ravenclaw is 'Raven Claw'?" Hermione was very good at saying the same thing.

"Yes, a metaphor for their thirst for knowledge," Tom nodded.

"Each house has its own style and stereotypes, Gryffindor is the house of the brave, Hufflepuff loves food and life, Ravenclaw has a thirst for knowledge, Slytherin is a bunch of ambitious types." Tom gave Hermione a brief description of the four houses.

"Oh yes, and the four mottos:

We come from the wilderness, we thirst for strength, we are idealistic, we are brave, we are fair and bold, we never give up, we are Gryffindors!

We come from the forest, we are loving, we are loyal to nature, we are honest and loyal, we are tough and honest, we are not afraid of danger, we are Hufflepuff!

We come from the river, we are wise, we think calmly, we study hard, we seek the truth, we never give up, we are Ravenclaw!

We come from the mud, we crave power, we are ambitious, we are strong and calm, we are elegant and have self-esteem, we never regret, we are Slytherin!"

With the four mottos, Hermione viewed each house through a filter of common sense.

"You know a lot!" said Hermione.

"I asked a lot of questions the last time I saw Professor McGonagall, and if you want to know more, you can borrow a book called 'Hogwarts: a history' from the Hogwarts library," Tom said.

Hermione memorized the name of the book.

The shopping was done, and Hermione had gone to Mr. Ollivander's store to buy a wand, a ten and a half inch wand made of vine wood with fire dragon heart fiber as the core.

"Vinewood wands are quite rare, and their owners are almost always wizards with noble ambitions and visions beyond the ordinary. A wand with fire dragon heart fiber as the core of the wand is extremely powerful and capable of the most magnificent magic, and has a greater capacity for learning." Tom listed his wand to Hermione, like a fan on a forum, knowing all the properties of the various wand cores and wand bodies.

It was clear that these words had tickled Hermione, and she was in such a good mood that her eyes narrowed into a pair of curved crescents.

"What about your wand? what's it made of?" asked Hermione.

"Horned Water Snake horns and acacia wood, very rare, I think..." replied Tom.

The two of them discussed wands for a while, when they came to a store with a "Magical Menagerie" sign.

"I want to go buy myself an animal, do you want to come with me?" Tom saw the store and remembered that it didn't look like it had a pet.

"I don't think so," Hermione said, as she had spent her budget on too many books to buy a pet like an owl, "The school should provide us with a free owl. Besides, I don't have the energy to take care of a pet in the first semester, I have to have a good foundation for my school work, so I have enough on my plate with schoolwork..."

Mr. Granger shot a grateful look at his daughter, who was so bright and studious that maybe she could go to medical school after graduating from magic school.

So Tom walked alone into the magical zoo, where there wasn't much room, cages hung everywhere and the little creatures inside were making all sorts of noises. The tent smelled of animal stench.

A pair of purple toads with huge eyes sat by the door, gobbling up dead flies. A large tortoise with a jeweled shell stood motionless near the window, cats of all colors, noisy crows, black rats with silky fur ...

The store was full of life.

He walked up to the counter and said to the witch behind it, "Hi, I'd like to buy a pet, the kind you can take to Hogwarts."

The witch looked up and looked at Tom, "At Hogwarts toads, cats or an owl are allowed, but of course other types of pets are not off limits..."

"And is that golden tiger allowed?" Tom's eyes were sharp and he instantly spotted a tiger cub in the corner, curled up in a ball with his eyes closed and a few flash coming out of his nostrils every now and then, cute as a button.

"Sorry, I can't." The witch dismissed Tom dryly, "There are no tigers at Hogwarts."

"That's a shame," Tom said.

"Child, I suggest you get an owl. It can deliver your mail and packages. Toads aren't fashionable these days, unless you're really into Potions, and cats, because of their personalities, can sometimes be a nuisance," the witch said.

Tom took it in stride and followed a witch to see the owls. It turned out that owls were more expensive than the others, with the best ones costing tens of galleons, and those, like Harry's Hedwig, that were white and unadulterated, were even more expensive, and could only be afforded by a tycoon like Hagrid, who used a ten-gallon unicorn tail hair as a bandage.

Yes, Hagrid was a rich man, and he had a lot of treasures in his hut, such as a whole bunch of unicorn hair, which cost 10 galleons a piece, and acromantula poison, which sold for 100 galleons, making Hagrid the richest man at Hogwarts.

But for Tom, the price was too high.

But his eyes fell on a small group of white creatures.

"Pigeons?" Tom asked, amazed.

"Yes, carrier pigeons, they can also deliver mail, but they can't deliver packages." The shopkeeper nodded, "Five galleons for one."

After a moment's thought, Tom bought a white-bodied, red-billed pigeon. Just as he was about to leave, he noticed that there seemed to be some kind of event going on in the store.

"Blind box." That was the answer he received from the witch at the counter.

Five gold galleons were good for a raffle, but there was no telling what the reward would be. On second thought, Tom figured he might as well give it a try, after all, he had the Intuition skill, and he had used it so often in the last few days that he was almost at level 1, currently at [Level 0 (99+/100)].

"Okay, let me pick a box, please." Tom put ten gold galleons on the counter, five for the pigeon and five for the card draw.

The witch held a small box close to Tom, who slid his hand through the top opening and pulled out a ball with the words "Grand Prize" written on it.

Cashier: "???"

Tom: "!!!"