7 Diagon Alley
Chapter 7 –
Upon stepping through the archway, following closely behind Prof. McGonagall, Nathan was instantly hit by an aromatic smell, that he could only describe as that of fresh honey and rose syrup. Turning his head towards the direction of the smell, he noticed it was coming from the closest shop that coincidentally was selling cauldrons and potion ingredients, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the archway back into the Leaky Cauldron was closing on itself. What he was more interested in, was the fact that despite there being literal bats, and other animals hanging outside the potion shop, it still smelled inviting.
Noticing the distracted state of her ward, Minerva lightly grasped his shoulder, gently guiding him ahead of her. "We'll have to come back for that later, Mr. Frye. We should sort out your affairs with the Goblins first, for all your wizarding money is placed in there, by your deceased mother and father, bless their soul. Oh, by the way, be wary of Goblins, Mr. Frye. While they are some of the fairest of creatures, you do not want to earn their ire either, some of the methods of retribution that they have come up with are shared through history as tales of caution on many occasions." She advised him.
While Nathan knew, the most basic idea of what to expect from Goblins, he didn't know every detail of the original books or movies from his previous life, so he appreciated the cautionary warning from her. Even if he'd already decided to stay respectful to them, he still wouldn't behave naively and believe that they were going to bend over backward for him at his slightest polite gesture.
Passing through the winding cobbled pathway of Diagon Alley, slowly making his way to the giant white marbled bank, Nathan could spot some of the more famous shops that he was already excited to visit, as the Quality Quidditch Supplies to his right, the Madam Malkin's clothes shop just beside it, Greengrass Apothecary's on the left, the Eyelops Owl Emporium preceding that and on the far end, Ollivander's Wand Shop beside Flourish and Blotts bookstore.
The stores were all extremely busy, with children of all ages, and other customers. The market was extremely lively, and it had a feeling of joviality around it.
He quickly bustled his way through the market street and made his way to the Footsteps of the bank and noticed two armored Goblins, waiting by the large white door, at the top of the steps. Just beside them was a silver plaque reading the famous warning/challenge to all would-be bank robbers in the wizarding world.
"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."
The goblins guarding the gate looked at the approaching duo and opened the gate for them, recognizing one of the customers as a frequenter this time of year.
The Goblins, according to Nathan, were exactly like how the books had described them, based on his hazy recollection, for despite his rudimentary eidetic memory, Nathan didn't quite remember every detail of his past life, having died after forgetting many details that would have aided him significantly in his long-term quest.
Walking up in front of a free goblin teller, Prof. McGonagall cleared her throat and enunciated "Excuse me, I would like to request the vault key of the Frye family, their ward is intending to return to Hogwarts and would like to collect the galleons that are stored in there."
The beady-eyed, pointy-eared goblin looked at the woman and then turned his stare on the child beside her, "Very well, he will have to prove the veracity of his claim, via his blood of course. Please follow Foulclaw to the bloodletting bowl, and once his claim is verified, he will direct you to the desired vault. Be warned, that if the claimant isn't who he says he is, theft charges will be levied on both you and the claimant. Foulclaw! Take these clients to the Bloodletting." He finished with a toothy grin.
The professor, though having expected this, merely nodded and followed the trotting goblin that showed up in under barely a few moments and without a spare glance, led them to a room in one of the inner rooms of the bank.
Nathan followed the goblin to the bowl at the center of the room and waited while the Goblin procured a parchment labeled Frye signatory. The parchment was placed, in the bowl, immersed in the transparent liquid that was visible under the light. Foulclaw procured a serrated knife and demanded Nathan, place no less than three drops of blood on the liquid over the parchment.
Upon piercing his hand, Nathan was astonished that there was no pain whatsoever, and McGonagall was kind enough to vanish the excess blood that threatened to flow out of his palm. Smiling at her, Nathan waited for something to happen, and when the engravings on the Bowl flashed gold while receiving a satisfactory nod from the Professor, he knew that he had a vault of gold in Gringotts. The only question remaining was, how much gold did he possess?
oOOOOOOOOOOo
The ride to the vaults was an extremely pleasant one, Nathan may or may not have whooped In joy after successfully spotting dragon fire on the lower floors of the bank. He also admired the stalagmites and stalactites formed in the caverns.
The cart came to a halt and Foulclaw got off, handling the lantern. "Vault nine hundred and fifty-one, this is your new key, do not lose it, the locks have been replaced, to fit it. The cost of replacing a lost key would be fifteen galleons." Saying that, once he'd made sure both the Professor and Nathan had made it off of the cart, he inserted the key into the lock and opened the vault.
Inside was the largest pile of gold Nathan had ever seen. "The total amount comes to around forty-seven thousand, five hundred and thirty-one galleons, fifteen sickles, and two knuts. That is the entire savings that late Mr. and Mrs. Frye had successfully collected. There are no other accounts." He informed Nathan, in a professionally clipped tone.
"Right, Mr. Frye. You would need around two hundred galleons to acquire most of your basic schooling necessities, and a further eleven hundred galleons as fees that are due to the school, for your first year of schooling. I've already Informed your mother, and she's asked me to remind you to transfer the fees appropriate to the school's vault." McGonagall also chimed in right after. 'Greedy old bat!' Nathan thought internally.
Instead of procuring the gold, Nathan instead decided to purchase a blood-bound mokeskin pouch, directly connected to the vault, so that he has a constant supply of gold available for his purchases. He also quickly instructed the Goblin to divert the required school fees to the appropriate vault. And he returned via the cart to Diagon Alley again.
Nathan couldn't help but stare at the hustle and bustle of the market alley. His attention was caught on the group of children, crowding around Quality Quidditch Supplies, they were staring at the latest lineup of Nimbus brooms, which according to the moving poster on the outside, was the Nimbus – 1900. Nathan wondered how the brooms were enchanted to make them capable of flight. He decided that he'd try finding out whether he can replicate the enchantments himself.
Hearing the clearing of a throat beside him, Nathan turned and caught sight of Prof. McGonagall's amused face. "There will be time for that later, Mr. Frye. We should get a hold of your school supplies first. I hope you have perused the list of supplies necessary, that I handed to you with the letter earlier this morning?" She queried. At his nod, she continued, "then it's best if we follow the list accordingly, it's prepared in that way so that your purchases are made efficiently and without the excess time needed."
Taking a glance at the list, that Nathan fished out of the pocket of his jacket, he found that it read.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
è UNIFORM
First-year students will require:
1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)
Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags
è COURSE BOOKS
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
1. A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
2. Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
3. A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emetic Switch
4. One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
5. Magical Draughts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
6. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
7. The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble
è OTHER EQUIPMENT
1. A wand
2. A cauldron (pewter, standard size 2) set
3. A set of glass or crystal vials
4. A telescope set
5. A set of brass scales
# Please note: Students may also bring either an owl, a cat, or a toad.
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST-YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS.
Seeing that robes are the first on the list, as well as Madame Malkin's being the nearest shop from Gringotts, Nathan decided to start his shopping there.
When they entered the store, an assistant greeted them, "Welcome to Madam Malkin's. How may we help you today?"
"I need five sets of standard Hogwarts robes and uniforms; please make them in the best material that will survive long-term use. Two black pointed hats, made from a similar material, and five pairs of white socks. Three sets of sweaters, made from a wool and silk blend. Three sets of winter robes made from your best material." Nathan paused for a moment before adding, "Please line the insides of both summer and winter robes with pockets. And if there are any enchantments that can go with the clothing, please apply them as well."
The assistant jotted down all the requests and replied, "Certainly, there is a five-minute wait. Please, wait in the seating area. I will call you in when it is your turn."
Nathan and the professor sat in the seating area and waited for the assistant to return, within five minutes she called Nathan in for the measurement, and Madame Malkin used her charmed-measuring tapes to take measures and then asked them to return in half an hour to get their clothes.
Nathan then decided to purchase a set of Enchanted trunks for extra storage as well as a high-security warding feature, to store his books and other supplies. He also had Madame Malkin's enchant the trunk to be shrinkable so that he could carry it around safely inside his pocket If the need arises.
He then slowly proceeded to shop for most of the early noon, purchasing a variety of supplies from his set of pewter and bronze Cauldrons, to the brass scales, a serrated knife for potion brewing, the magically enchanted glass vials, and finally decided to head on over to Flourish and Blotts, to purchase his set of school textbooks, after he had received the delivery of his clothing and trunk, from Madame Malkin's.
Stepping into Flourish and Blotts, he could easily smell the scent of fresh unopened books. The store was filled with lines of shelves, filled to the brim with Books of all shapes and sizes. The store was segmented into different sections, each differentiated by the floating letters spelling out labels such as 'Hogwarts Standard Educational Set.', 'Biographies and Auto-biographies of famous Witches and Wizards of old, 'Gilderoy Lockhart's Autobiography collection', 'Magical Sports', 'Magical Theory for the curious' and 'Obscure arts for magical practitioners.'
Nathan first set aside the books that were mentioned in the list, for his first year of Hogwarts education, despite having a similar, but older set back home. He then set about collecting the textbooks necessary for older classes as well, so that he could enable himself to learn enough to be able to draw his own conclusions for magical theory. At home, and finally, he looked through the 'Obscure arts of Magical Practitioners' and found a rather thin book, labeled 'Magicks from the Mind, Soul, and Body. Placing these inside his floating book bag, provided by Prof. McGonagall, he decided to head to the counter for check out, but not before collecting another rendition of 'Hogwarts; A history' and 'Modern Magical History' as well, so that he could corroborate his knowledge of past events, in this Universe.
Nathan had been pointedly ignoring the incredulous looks from both Prof. McGonagall and the other shoppers, regarding the absurd number of books that he'd decided to purchase on that day. Prof. McGonagall had even attempted at redirecting Nathan to finish the purchase on multiple occasions but he'd somehow managed to give her the slip and add that one extra book to his already impressive pile.
After a few seconds of blank staring at the shoulder-high stack of books, placed on her counter, the assistant finally tallied the price which amounted to around thirteen hundred and seventy-two galleons and eight sickles. Grumbling and extracting said amount from his Mokeskin pouch, Nathan directed Prof. McGonagall, to float the books inside his trunk, so that he doesn't have to lug the books around on his back. Shrinking said trunk, Nathan pocketed it, inside the chained pocket of his Bomber jacket, and bounded off towards Ollivander's. It was time for him to purchase a wand.
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