Immediately afterward, Professor McGonagall drew her wand and tapped one of the bricks in the wall.
The brick wall immediately began rippling like waves.
One brick after another shifted aside, and after a few seconds, a doorway appeared before Professor McGonagall and Charles.
Professor McGonagall smiled as she opened the doorway, revealing the bustling scene of Diagon Alley beyond it.
She gestured toward it and welcomed Charles.
“Come on, Charles.”
“The magical world is right in front of you.”
Charles was also filled with delight.
He even pressed himself against the wall beside the newly opened doorway, gave one of the bricks a hearty kiss, and then cheered.
“The magical world!”
“Here I come!”
Seeing how energetic Charles was, Professor McGonagall couldn’t help smiling.
The last trace of worry in her heart gradually disappeared.
She had originally been afraid that Charles might have been traumatized by being kidnapped by Dark.
But judging from his current appearance, Charles seemed to have completely forgotten about it.
He’s such an enthusiastic child.
And quite adorable too.
I think he’ll be a perfect fit for Gryffindor.
Professor McGonagall silently thought to herself.
She was already looking forward to the moment during the Sorting Ceremony when Charles would be assigned to Gryffindor.
What she didn’t know was that while Charles was kissing the brick, he was also thinking about something entirely different.
Just one lick of a magical brick gives me one or two Deduction Points.
As expected, even magically enchanted bricks in the wizarding world are nowhere near as valuable as the black rocks along the coast of R’lyeh.
Dark, my dear friend…
Where the hell are you?
When are we going to meet again so you can take me to R’lyeh for another feast?
After a moment, Charles reminded himself,
People shouldn’t be too greedy.
Although these bricks couldn’t compare with the rocks of R’lyeh, they were still about as valuable as the magical recovery meals from St.
Mungo’s.
More importantly, St.
Mungo’s was only so large.
They could only provide a limited number of magical meals every day.
But this wall had at least several hundred bricks.
And the Ministry of Magic was responsible for maintaining them.
If he licked each brick several times, that would still amount to thousands of Deduction Points every day.
How could he possibly complain?
Coming here for a late-night snack sounds pretty good.
With that thought, Charles followed Professor McGonagall through the doorway and truly entered Diagon Alley.
The bustling sight of the magical world’s premier commercial street immediately appeared before him.
Ancient shops lined both sides of the street.
The streets were packed with people.
Witch and wizard parents everywhere were bringing their children to purchase the supplies they needed for school.
Just on this single street, Charles felt that there had to be more than a thousand people!
Charles silently complained in his heart.
J.K.
Rowling, come out and apologize!
You said there were only three thousand wizards in the entire United Kingdom?
You’re a novelist.
What do you know about Harry Potter?!
At this moment, Professor McGonagall first led Charles through the ancient-looking streets toward the magnificent Gringotts Wizarding Bank.
As they walked, she explained various things about Gringotts to him.
It was the bank of the magical world.
Aside from Hogwarts, it was supposedly the safest place in the wizarding world.
Charles nodded politely as he listened, but deep down, he was highly skeptical.
Neither of those two places sounded particularly safe to him.
Starting this year, didn’t something happen at Hogwarts practically every year?
And Gringotts was even worse.
This year, Quirrell would storm into the underground vaults with Voldemort and attempt to steal the Philosopher’s Stone.
To be fair, that was somewhat understandable.
Voldemort might only be capable of possessing Quirrell at the time, but he had once been the Dark Lord.
It wasn’t unreasonable for Gringotts’ defenses to be unable to stop him.
But a few years later… This story is hosted at g.com.
Harry Potter and his two friends, three students who hadn’t even formally graduated from Hogwarts, would somehow enter Gringotts during a highly tense period, steal Hufflepuff’s Cup, and even escape with a dragon.
All Charles could say was that Gringotts’ supposedly legendary defenses really weren’t anything special.
They were just fortunate that the magical world didn’t have many master thieves.
While these thoughts flashed through his mind, Charles continued walking with Professor McGonagall toward the entrance of Gringotts.
Just as they were about to enter, a loud crack suddenly came from beside them.
A goblin suddenly appeared out of thin air.
Fortunately, Professor McGonagall was quick enough to pull Charles aside.
Otherwise, the two of them might have collided with the goblin that had just Apparated.
Charles stopped walking.
He stared fixedly at the goblin, a strange light appearing in his eyes.
Professor McGonagall assumed that Charles had been frightened by the creature and quickly explained.
“This is a goblin from Gringotts.”
“They are one of the oldest races in the magical world and possess powerful magical abilities by nature.”
“They are particularly famous for their skill in creating enchanted weapons.”
“Gringotts itself was established by goblins…”
Charles obviously wasn’t frightened by the goblin’s appearance.
He had simply remembered something important.
In the original Harry Potter story, there seemed to be a difference between the Apparition used by wizards and the Apparition used by goblins, house-elves, and similar creatures.
The latter could Apparate into places that wizards could not reach.
Even if an area was sealed by magic, goblins and house-elves could still enter and leave without obstruction.
Even the anti-Apparition enchantments established by Voldemort himself could not stop a house-elf who had spent its entire life doing housework.
So what exactly caused this difference?
If Charles could have a goblin take him through Apparition several times and personally observe the changes involved, it might provide excellent reference material for Deep Blue.
That could potentially reduce the Deduction Point cost of Apparition even further.
The first deduction currently required twenty thousand points.
The second deduction would probably cost at least one hundred thousand.
Charles couldn’t possibly gather that many points in the short term.
But if he could reduce the first deduction to ten thousand points, then with a little effort to gather points from other sources, he might be able to perform the second deduction of Apparition soon.
This spatial magic would be incredibly useful for escaping danger.
Therefore, after a moment, Charles called out to the goblin who was preparing to enter Gringotts.
“Hello, Mr. Goblin.”
“I just witnessed your Apparition.”
“That was truly an incredible form of magic.”
“My professor just told me that goblins are one of the oldest and most noble races in the magical world.”
“You naturally possess magical talents far beyond those of wizards.”
“And the enchanted weapons you create surpass every magical artifact made by wizards.”
“That’s absolutely amazing!”
When the goblin had first been called over, its expression had clearly been impatient.
After all, it could tell at a glance that Charles had been brought to Gringotts by Professor McGonagall to exchange Muggle money for Galleons.
And anyone being guided by a Hogwarts professor was basically guaranteed to come from a Muggle family rather than a wizarding noble family.
According to Gringotts’ internal assessment, such customers were considered low-value clients.
Naturally, the goblin had little reason to be friendly toward them.
But as Charles placed compliment after compliment upon it—
Amazing magic.
The most noble race.
Natural magical talent far superior to wizards…
The corners of the goblin’s mouth inevitably began creeping upward.
Its expression also visibly softened.
“Young wizard, you certainly have good taste.”
“That’s exactly right.”
“We goblins are exactly as you’ve heard.”
Charles immediately struck while the iron was hot.
“Then may I ask if you could take me through Apparition a few times?”
“I’d like to personally experience the noble magic of goblins.”
The goblin hesitated.
“But I still have things to do.”
“My time is very valuable…”
Charles immediately pulled out a check from a London bank.
“I have two hundred pounds here.”
“After exchanging the portion needed for Galleons, could the rest be your payment?”
“Please don’t refuse me, Mr. Goblin.”
The moment the goblin saw the check, its eyes lit up.
Two hundred pounds could be exchanged for forty Galleons at Gringotts.
However, Muggle-born wizards were subject to an annual exchange limit.
Even if a Muggle-born wizard had a fortune worth millions, they could only exchange a certain amount of Muggle currency for Galleons each year.
Unless they were willing to pay Gringotts a little “money laundering fee.”
Naturally, Gringotts employees weren’t subject to such restrictions.
Charles had offered two hundred pounds.
A first-year student could exchange a maximum of ten Galleons.
That left thirty Galleons as the goblin’s payment.
And all it had to do was take Charles through Apparition a few times.
The goblin immediately agreed.
“Deal!”
“My name is Bash.”
“Dear young wizard, providing excellent service to our customers has always been the principle of Gringotts.”
“We can begin whenever you’re ready.”
Throughout the entire process, Charles had skillfully flattered the goblin.
He had even gone so far as to pull out pounds and offer it a bribe.
Professor McGonagall’s expression changed little by little as she watched.
She stared at Charles in disbelief.
How is this child so skilled at bribery?!
Professor McGonagall suddenly felt that her earlier judgment of Charles might have been mistaken.
She pulled Charles aside and spoke sternly.
“Charles.”
“Were you just flattering him to achieve your own goal?”
“And you even bribed him?”
“That is not something a child should be doing.”
Faced with Professor McGonagall’s stern expression, Charles sighed.
“Professor, as you know, I’m an orphan.”
“I grew up in an orphanage and only moved out later.”
“You don’t seriously think an orphanage is some kind of paradise, do you?”
“Pleasing the staff and bribing them so that I could eat a little more was practically a required course.”
“I know it’s a bad habit.”
“But I think I’ve already gotten used to flattering people…”
“Professor…”
“Do you think I’m a bad person?”
Professor McGonagall’s expression instantly changed.
Her stern face became flustered and helpless, turning bright red.
She opened her mouth several times, but couldn’t seem to figure out what to say.
Her eyes were suddenly filled with pity and affection as she looked at Charles.
“No, no.”
“How could I?”
Professor McGonagall gently hugged Charles and patted him on the shoulder.
“Good child.”
“Once you go to Hogwarts, you won’t need to please anyone anymore.”
“If anyone dares bully you, I absolutely won’t let them off easily.”
“As for now…”
Professor McGonagall pulled out a small money pouch, stuffed it into Bash’s hands, then took Charles’s check back.
She looked at Charles.
“Go on.”
“Have fun.”
“Consider this a treat from your professor.”
Charles’s face filled with emotion.
He then grabbed Bash.
With a loud crack, Bash Apparated away with Charles.
After Charles disappeared, Professor McGonagall slowly buried her face in her hands and crouched down beside the entrance to Gringotts.
She muttered quietly to herself,
“Why did I talk to that poor child like that?”
“I must have frightened him terribly, didn’t I?”
“I’m such an idiot!”
(End of Chapter)