Chapter 73: Part-Time Work (Edited)

After a long wait, it was finally Tom's turn to leave the station.

"So, do you have any plans for the vacations?" looking at the line moving slowly in front of them, Hermione seemed to suddenly remember something and asked Tom in a low voice, "Do you want to stay at my house? I mean, we could all study for second year and do homework together during the vacations, the teachers have left a lot of homework for the summer! Also... we can go fishing together!"

Hermione's voice gradually softened, "Fishing is fun too, isn't it? I hear from Dad that there are more fish in that river lately..."

It seemed Hermione didn't want to study, she wanted to fish!

But Tom had no plans to stay at Hermione's house during the vacations.

"Erm, Hermione, I have plans for the vacations. I want to find a job in a store or two in Diagon Alley..."

Hermione: Σ(⊙▽⊙"!

Tom's words reminded her.

"Gee! why didn't I think of that?". She stomped her foot, "Indeed, I should get a part-time job for the summer, I'll have to talk to my parents about it..."

Before she could finish her sentence, it was their turn to cross the platform. They crossed the wall that led to the Muggle world and arrived at King's Cross station, between platforms nine and ten.

Tom saw that the Ron family was near the platform, and his little sister Ginny looked very excited to have just seen Harry. Harry was already disappearing into the distance, Vernon didn't want to stay here for a second, he felt the "magic factor" in the air was too high.

The Grangers were also waiting for their daughter on the platform. Hermione crossed the platform and ran towards them. But before they could say a word, Hermione was quick to say that she wanted to find a part-time job in the magical world during the vacations.

Mr. Granger scratched his head in confusion, but agreed with his daughter.

"It's okay, I might have to take the subway home alone after work..." said Mrs. Granger, a little worried.

Mr. Granger grimaced, "What's the matter? this is London! The heart of the British Empire-"

Mr. Granger had once been to Paris, France, and was so impressed by the dirty, smelly, bum-filled subway stations that he often joked with his friends that French subway stations were the most medieval places in Europe.

To be fair, the London Underground is cleaner and more hygienic than either New York or Paris, and is undoubtedly the pride of the subway in the country. But the thought of his only daughter having to take the tube alone was very distasteful to Mr. Granger. So he changed the subject: "But I have a lot of free time these days, so I can pick you up after work!".

Of course he was free, because he worked in his own clinic, which actually gave him a really flexible schedule.

Hermione didn't notice her father's entanglement, she was taking stock of the pros and cons of the situation.

"Where's little Tom?" Mrs. Granger suddenly remembered the child.

"He should be in Diagon Alley by now, shouldn't he? He's also trying to get a part-time job for the summer there."

"Oh~~" The Granger's suddenly realized something.

By this time, Tom had moved to Diagon Alley, and when it came to a part-time job, the first thing that came to mind was Flourish and Blotts Bookstore. The nice thing about this part-time job was that there were books to read. Not bad.

So he walked into the bookstore and told them why he was there. The manager, Lawrence, was a thin middle-aged man and, like many Englishmen, he was bald. Lawrence looked at Tom quizzically: very few Hogwarts boys chose to work part-time in the summer, most young wizards opting to spend their vacations playing with friends and family.

But it was good to have cheap labor arriving on their doorstep.

Lawrence may be a manager, but there are really few people below him.

When things get complicated, he often has to do it himself. It was the summer vacations, and Hogwarts would soon have a new intake of students, a new course, and a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, so there would be a lot of new books and he would have to work overtime if he did it all himself, so he needed to hire someone.

So he invited Tom into the bookstore office.

Once inside, Lawrence sat down in his worn armchair and, with a wave of his wand, brought Tom a chair as well.

"What's your name?" he pulled a roll of parchment and a quill from a drawer.

"Tom Yodel, twelve years old."

Lawrence looked at Tom, "It's not an easy job in a bookstore, you have to move books."

"I'm pretty good with the levitation spell." Tom pulled out his wand and moved the stack of books in Lawrence's office back and forth with a wave of his hand.

Lawrence looked at Tom with some surprise: being able to use a levitation spell like that at twelve years old was pretty good, many third years might not be as skilled as he was.

"Can I have a look at your report card?" he took a mild interest in Tom.

"Sure." Tom pulled out his report card and handed it over.

When Lawrence saw Tom's grades, he raised his head in surprise and looked carefully at Tom. He suddenly understood why Tom wanted to come to work here: he was a student!

"Ahem, don't tear the pages when you're reading, and try not to touch the new books." It only took Mr. Lawrence a second to see what Tom really intended: He had done the same thing when he was younger, "And you can't waste time on your work."

Then came the salary and schedule.

Lawrence suggested to Tom that he come to work on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 08:00 am to 17:00 pm, with an hour's lunch, a galleon a day and no food or lodging.

Tom was unhappy: Dumbledore was offering Dobby ten galleons a week, and I only get one galleon a day for working from morning to night?

I'm an outstanding student at Hogwarts, Dumbledore's confidant, I need to be paid more!

It took a lot of haggling before Lawrence agreed to three days a week, five galleons, no board and lodging, and a set of second-year materials.

It was a happy ending.

Unbeknownst to Mr. Lawrence, the second year was about to have a fantastic teacher, Professor Lockhart, who wanted seven textbooks for a course! Seven books! How could those little wizards from poor families live?!

Professors at some European and American universities often make their students buy their own books for profit; don't think they're not worth a few dollars, it's not uncommon to pay hundreds of euros for a new, authentic book.

This cocksucker, Lockhart, wants seven books at a time! If you are not able to empathize, imagine that one day before the start of classes you receive an email telling you that you have to spend a thousand euros on a textbook for a compulsory subject. By the way, Lockhart books are very expensive, at five gallons a copy. The same compulsory book, "Standard Spells, Level 2", costs only one galleon.