18

An hour later, I was standing in the streets of London, outside the British Ministry of Magic.

Walking down the street, I hail a cab after waiting for a while and ask it to head to Charing Cross Road.

Sitting in the back, I pass the time looking out the window while admiring the view.

In my previous life, I had never been to London, much less any part of Europe or Britain.

So, finally being able to see the sights of a new country, I was happy.

The soft snow that would fall occasionally made the sights even more ethereal with the grey clouds as a backdrop.

A long drive later, I jumped out of the cab. "Keep the meter running. I'll be back in a few minutes." I tell the driver.

Looking around, I soon find a small pub hidden by the side of a street and enter.

Walking through, I feel as if I went back in time and entered a pub from the 1800s.

"Merry Christmas Tom. Can I bother you to help me enter the alley." Altering my appearance with a quick henge, I approach the barkeep.

"No worries lad. Happy to help." With a small smile, the aged wizard led me to the back and knocked on a wall of bricks, revealing the entrance to the famous Diagon Alley.

"Off you go lad."

The next few minutes are spent taking in the various sights that I had only seen in movies in my past life.

The bookstore, the pet store, the wand shop, the clothes shop. Everything was magical, but old.

Stepping into Diagon Alley was like stepping through time.

Taking a few minutes to enjoy the view, I compose myself and head towards the large white gold building.

"Gringotts", written in bold and oppressive font above the entrance.

The two goblins standing by the side probably noticed my illusion, but noticing no ill intent, they let me pass unobstructed.

"Excuse me, but I would like to withdraw some galleons and convert them to pounds." After waiting in front of a teller, I speak after the goblin teller turns towards me.

"Amount needed." He curtly asks in a deep voice.

"2000 British pounds." I answer.

"Vault key?" he puts his hand forward, to which I place a small metallic key on his hand.

"Follow me. There is a 10% service fee that we'll automatically cut, think of it as a Christmas discount." The goblin smiles at me while showing me his sharp pointed teeth.

"Thanks for that. The discounts' a big loss for you guys, considering the previous charge was around 20%." I say as we arrive at a small counter by the side.

"Yeah, well, the secret is that people transfer a lot of money during this period, we still make the same profit anyways." He shows off his teeth as he smirks at me.

"Good business strategy." I reply as I grab the wads of cash and stuff them in my bag.

"Hope you have a good business and a lot of profits. Merry Christmas." I take my leave from the establishment as I leave Diagon Alley.

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Catching the same cab, I ask him to head towards the closest library he knows in the area.

Soon, we reach a massive library, but seeing as it was Christmas morning, the doors were looked.

Paying the cabbie, I head to the back of the building and enter through a window.

They didn't call Madara the greatest ninja for nothing.

Quickly running around the library under a simple disillusionment charm, I copy every book in the building into the Library of Heaven's Path.

An hour later, the two-storey building was fully copied into my library and by checking the directory of the city, I found out the locations of a few more libraries close by.

This time, hailing the knight bus, I head to the next library and do the same thing I did at the previous one.

The next 4 hours pass by in a flash and my library collection had increased by a huge margin.

By hitting a few public libraries as well as university libraries, I was able to collect a lot of books on muggle subjects.

Compiling a few heaven's path books on the various subjects was not a problem.

Skimming through them, I decided it was enough for the day.

Hailing a ride to a nearby hotel, I check in under the guise of a rather famous character from my previous life.

With rugged features and piercing blue grey eyes, I fix my coat and head to my room.

"Room service for Mr Thomas Shelby." With a swift knock on the door, the door to the hotel suite opens and a server brings in a wonderous spread of Christmas delicacies.

"Thank you. You can go now." With a deep voice, I dismiss the server and lock the door.

"Thank you for the food." With that, the multiple portions of meals present before me were sucked into my stomach, many providing nourishment for the Tree of Life, while a small portion nourishing my own body.

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The rest of the day and night were spent reading through all the new flawless books I had created.

Books on the laws of physics, economics, languages, maths, chemistry, you name it, they were mostly flawless.

When I opened my eyes, the sun was just rising, marking the beginning of a new day.

"Time to make some money." I jump of the bed as I throw on some clothes suitable for a mid-level gambler.

Heading out of the high-end hotel, I walk to a hidden bar with a small gambling den.

"Give me some chips for 200." I throw a few notes on the gambling table and take a seat.

What followed was me cleaning out their whole stash of money.

"Tell me, where are the bid leagues." With a flash of my ocular prowess, the bunch of goons about to cave my head in with metal pipes, drop to the ground in a daze as they mutter out a date and address.

"Thank you for your cooperation."

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