The man behind Hogwarts

Charing Cross Road, Westminster, London.

Between a large bookstore and a record store, there is a bar invisible to ordinary people.

It's called: The Leaky Cauldron.

This is the entrance to Diagon Alley.

The Leaky Cauldron only had a small door on the street, and Hagrid even had to bend down to get in.

It was the morning, people were coming and going on the streets, and the simple stone brick floors showed the traces of time.

Hagrid took William to the door of the bar.

William looked around and found that although the door of the Leaky Cauldron was very simple and conspicuous, he noticed it at a glance.

However, the surrounding pedestrians obviously cannot see it.

"Come on, welcome to the Leaky Cauldron." Hagrid opened the door and extended an invitation hand.

Welcome to the magical world.

Once inside.

Low whispers filled his ears.

The first floor of the bar is not spacious. Roughly speaking, there were no more than ten tables, and there were not many guests inside. They were all sitting in twos and threes and talking.

Most of the guests are dressed as wizards.

The images of a few people are much more novel. Some of them have the same fashionable clothes as ordinary people, and some are actually animal skin shawls, just like primitive people.

Hagrid walked to the bar.

"Tom, have a glass of mead and honey water."

Standing at the bar is the bar owner.

"Hagrid, why are you here at the bar today?" He took out two drinks from behind and put them on the table.

Hagrid handed the honey water to William, "William, have a taste. The wizard's drink."

"It's a pity that you can't drink wine yet. Otherwise, you could really try mead. It has a unique and memorable taste."

"Thank you."

"Let me introduce to you, this is William Sides, a new student at Hogwarts. He will definitely achieve great achievements in the future."

Tom let out a light sigh.

"Is such a tall kid actually only 11 years old? I thought he was a little wizard about to graduate."

"Hello, William. Welcome to the Leaky Cauldron. Not only can we eat and drink here, we also provide accommodation. You can come and hang out more in the future."

"Okay, Mr. Tom."

William didn't expect that Tom would still solicit customers.

A little less wizardy.

The cup at the bar is quite big, a full cup of light orange drink mixed with a hint of green.

William took a small sip.

Fragrant, sweet and moist.

For a moment, a strange feeling surged to his lips and tongue, then slid down his throat and straight into his heart and spleen.

Surprisingly delicious.

It is similar to the honey water in ordinary society, but it has a novel and wonderful taste.

Gumbling.

William drank a glass of honey water in a few gulps.

Licking his lips and looking at the bubbles of mead in front of Hagrid, he suddenly wanted to taste it too.

"No William, you can't drink yet." Hagrid quickly finished his glass.

Uh.

I'm just thinking about it.

William was a little embarrassed. It was the first time he tasted wizard food, which was a bit novel.

The two walked around the bar counter and came to a small patio in the back.

Here, there is an old brick wall. There is also a trash can underneath.

"For the bricks above the trash can, count three bricks upward, two bricks sideways, and finally tap three times with the wand."

dong dong dong.

The brick wall automatically deformed, contracting up, down, left and right, and in just a short moment, a door appeared in front of it.

This door leads to Diagon Alley.

"William, as long as you remember the steps to open the door, you can come to Diagon Alley by yourself in the future."

Hagrid walked forward, "But remember, don't expose too much money, let alone go to Knockturn Alley."

"Caution is the first rule of wizards."

William nodded.

On the way here, Hagrid had already introduced him to the general situation of Diagon Alley, including Knockturn Alley, but he simply mentioned that it was not a kind place and didn't say much.

"Hagrid, is our first step to exchange for gold galleons?"

"Yes, we can go to Gringotts."

In Diagon Alley.

The narrow streets were crowded with people.

Some are parents with their children, going in and out of shops; some are lone adult wizards, who appear to be more purposeful, walking hurriedly on the streets, their black robes fluttering.

Not far away, William saw a tall white building.

Gringotts.

When I approached Gringotts, I saw a shiny bronze door first. Standing at the door were goblin guards wearing scarlet and gold uniforms. They noticed William and I and immediately bowed.

Further, there is another silver door, with words such as warnings and curses engraved on it.

William wondered if there would be a golden door inside.

After passing through the door, the two entered a marble hall.

The entire hall is in the shape of high-ceiling columns, with a Roman style; the marble floor is very clean and radiant, and the patterns on it are complex and unusual, but gorgeous and charming.

The hall is long and narrow.

There are two rows of tall wooden tables in the middle, and many goblins in suits and ties are sitting behind the tables.

The short goblins sat behind the high table, and William was very curious about how high their stools would be.

He glanced briefly.

The goblins seemed very busy. They look very serious and upright, with old faces, huge noses, and long ears. Perhaps they are more appropriately called Goblins.

Facing the door, there were several goblins writing on the table.

"Hello, guest, how can I serve you?" A goblin looked at the two of them.

"I'd like to exchange pounds for some gold galleons," William said.

"No problem, how many pounds do you have?"

William took out a bag from the lining of his clothes, which was filled with stacks of pound notes.

I originally wanted to use a wallet, but found that the wallet didn't hold much, so I simply packed it in a bag.

"It's my first time here, and I didn't bring much money. There should be tens of thousands of pounds here. Please help me exchange them all."

Well!

The goblins from Gringotts glanced at him.

It seems to be a wealthy customer.

The attitude of the goblin who greeted William suddenly became humble.

He took the bag and counted it quickly, and from time to time he would look at the pounds with a pair of round eyes next to him.

William thought that maybe he would also check the money.

"Dear guest, you have a total of 6 pounds here." The goblin looked at William.

William nodded without objection.

"According to the regulations of Gringotts Goblin Bank, the first time you exchange pounds for gold galleons, you can only exchange it for a maximum of 5000 gold galleons within one year. Based on the current exchange rate, one gold galleons should be owed 5 pounds, and the total should be I’ll charge you £25000.”

The goblin pulled a small amount of pounds from the pile of money.

"Also, I'm guessing you are a student at Hogwarts?"

"Yes, William is a new student in our school," Hagrid said.

The goblin and the goblin at the head looked at each other, and then said:

"Since Mr. Rubeus Hagrid has vouched for you, we don't need to review your admission notice."

"Because you are a student at Hogwarts, you can receive an additional exchange quota of 5000 gold galleons per year."

The goblin pulled out another small amount of pounds...