The days of hanging out at Hogwarts

"Because...well, I can only buy you second-hand goods, my little Ronnie. There shouldn't be much choice like this."

Molly's face was a little red and she didn't dare to meet Ron's eyes.

Harry sat silently next to him, holding the broomstick care tool in his hand and rubbing the Firebolt carefully. He was afraid of being noticed by Molly and Ron. It was not good to get up and leave now, nor was it good to sit where he was.

He felt like sharp needles were growing out of the floor under his buttocks, making him restless.

To be honest, he would rather take all the money he had in the Gringotts vault and give it to the Weasleys, but he also knew they wouldn't accept it.

"Why are all my things junk..."

Ron muttered something in a low voice. In fact, his mother's embarrassment made him feel more uncomfortable than the old ceremonial robe.

The owl piglet lay in his arms. When he saw the corn kernel in his owner's hand, he was twisting it for a long time without feeding it. He couldn't help but arch his head to catch his finger.

Ron fed the corn kernels to the piglet, stroked its back feathers, and sighed: "Okay, Mom, but I have to choose the color I like. If the style doesn't look good, you have to help me change it." change."

"Oh!" Molly suddenly laughed happily, hugged Ron and kissed him on the forehead, "My dear little Ronny, you are so kind..."

"Don't call me Ronny anymore!" Ron blushed and broke away from the embrace, wiping his forehead in disgust, "I'm a big kid already!"

"You will always be your mother's good boy!"

Molly pressed Ron's head and kissed it again, then happily got up and went to the kitchen, planning to reheat the already cold dinner.

Ron rubbed his cheeks fiercely, noticed the appraising eyes on the left and right, and looked at them fiercely.

Harry lowered his head and carefully wiped the Firebolt, Hermione was concentrating on looking at the fourth grade textbook, and Loren tilted her head to look at the old clock opposite the fireplace with interest.

There was a faint smile on their faces.

Loren liked this clock very much. It had nine golden hands, each of which was engraved with the name of a Weasley family member. There are no numbers on the clock, but the place where each family member may be is written: home, school, work...

There are also words such as "on the road", "missing", "hospital" and "prison". At twelve o'clock on the ordinary clock, "life danger" is marked. At this moment, all seven needles pointed to the position of "home", and the two needles of Arthur and Percy still pointed to "work".

Loren and Bill had discussed the magic of this clock. They always thought that it had shadows of ancient alchemy and involved mysterious blood magic, but they couldn't figure out the reason without taking it apart.

This was their family heirloom, and of course Loren wouldn't be stupid enough to ask if he could take it apart. It was said that George and Fred gave it some thought and ended up with a mixed doubles of Arthur and Molly.

Suddenly, the two golden hands that Loren saw suddenly jumped from "work" to "on the road". A second later, they tremblingly stopped at the "home" position together with the other needles.

He shouted: "Oh, Percy and the others are back!"

Molly didn't answer, but Loren knew she heard because the sound of spatulas turning became lighter in the kitchen.

After a while, Arthur and Percy walked into the warm living room carrying their dinner on a tray.

Arthur sat in an armchair by the fireplace, playing listlessly with some wrinkled cauliflower on the plate, looking exhausted: "Well, things are getting out of hand, Rita Skeeter. They were all scrounging around, searching for more chaos in the Ministry of Magic to report. Now that she had discovered that poor Bertha's wand had released the Dark Mark, it looked like that would be the headline of the Daily Prophet tomorrow. …”

After swallowing a mouthful of broccoli, Arthur realized that no one around him cared about the situation. Everyone was surrounding his third son, Percy, who was sitting on the dining table and waving his hands in excitement:

"Mr. Crouch put a lot of important things in my hands...For a whole week, it was like I was putting out a fire. People kept sending howler letters, and you know, if you don't open the howler letter right away, it will It will explode! There are scorch marks all over my desk, and the best quill has turned into a pile of cinders."

Ginny asked curiously: "Why do they send howler letters?"

Percy smiled pretending to be mysterious and whetted his appetite before continuing: "They want compensation for their damaged property. Mundungus Fletcher filed a claim for a roof with twelve bedrooms and supporting massage. Bathtub tent, but I got to know him. I knew he actually spent the night under a cloak propped up on a stick."

Molly remembered now: "Did you say before that we can get some compensation?"

"Yes, Mom! I have expected this a long time ago!" Percy suddenly raised his voice several times. He took out a receipt with the emblem of the Ministry of Magic, and his pride was almost written on his face, "Since Quirk After that night at the Diqi World Cup, Mr. Crouch paid special attention to me, probably because he discovered my potential, so as soon as my application for compensation was submitted, he approved it for a full eight hundred galleons..."

No one heard him talk about how highly Crouch valued him. Everyone gathered around Molly, craning their necks to look at the bill, especially the numbers on the amount column.

"Eight hundred Galleons!" Ron's eyes widened and he shouted excitedly, "Then I don't have to buy second-hand dress robes!"

George and Fred hugged each other and jumped for joy:

“Our store is ready to open!”

“Where should the store be located?”

“Diagon Alley is great!”

"Hogsmeade is great too!"

Even Ginny's eyes were sparkling: "Can I buy new textbooks?"

"Ahem!" Molly tried her best to suppress the smile at the corner of her mouth and folded the note reservedly, "Ron and Ginny's request can be met. Your father and I need to discuss the matter of George and Fred... In addition, there are also Harry, Loren and Hermione, who were also attacked at the time."

The three Lorens looked at each other and blinked. They didn't expect it to be their business.

Harry waved his hand quickly: "No, Mrs. Weasley, we-"

"You guys are divided into one hundred galleons each," Molly interrupted. She looked at Loren and the three of them seriously, "I will take out the money tomorrow. You can deposit it into Gringotts' underground vault, or you can use it. Come buy something on your back-to-school list.”

"Mrs. Weasley..."

Loren and the others still wanted to refuse, but facing Molly's serious eyes, they had no choice but to nod and agree.

The wind was howling outside the Burrow, and the leaden black and heavy clouds seemed to fall down at any time, but there was a lively and lively scene inside the house. George and Fred were pretending to be coquettish and begging their parents, and the other Weasley children were causing trouble. From time to time there were loud jeers.

Loren sat next to Hermione, smelling the girl's faint fragrance.

This big family...

The next day, Diagon Alley.

The sky in London was also pitch black, and anyone could tell that heavy rain was brewing, but it would still take some time, and the temperature was therefore cool, with no sun at all. It was a good weather to go shopping.

Molly bought an ice cream for each of the seven children, asked George and Fred to take care of the younger siblings, and went to Gringotts to exchange money.

Loren and others strolled leisurely on the street.

As the school year approaches, Diagon Alley is full of students and parents from Hogwarts, as well as tourists staying in the UK for the Quidditch World Cup. Words such as "basilisk", "veela" and "death eaters" can often be heard around them. .

George and Fred looked at the surrounding shops with appreciative eyes, shaking their heads and commenting:

"I'd say Mr. Florin's ice cream is really good, but their sign is too small..."

"The Eela Owl shop window is too ordinary and not attractive at all."

"The Hopping Magic Joke Shop, oh it brought us so many fun times, but I must say, these posters are so corny..."

Loren listened to their murmurs and couldn't help but worry that when the store clerks came out to beat the twins, it would affect them...

Hermione tugged on Loren's sleeve and asked in a low voice: "Did Mrs. Weasley agree to give them money to open a shop?"

"Of course... no." Loren tasted the ice cream in Hermione's hand and shook his head in disgust. It tasted like strawberry again. "Mrs. Weasley said that the two hundred galleons that belong to them can be given to them, but it must be them. After graduation, you can’t even open a shop with two hundred galleons.”

Hermione nodded, seeing the vicious look in the street clerk's eyes, she pulled Loren away from the twins.

Ron smacked his lips while sipping the ice cream and asked, "Besides what's on the list, do you want to buy anything else?"

Harry started counting on his fingers: "New quills, twelve rolls of parchment... and replenishing my potion ingredient box. Lionfish spine powder and belladonna essence are almost used up."

"Twelve rolls of parchment?" Hermione looked at him doubtfully, "Can't this only be used for two weeks?"

Loren also looked at him in confusion: "Magic potion raw material box? Isn't it a raw material box?"

"..."

Harry and Ron fell silent and quietly took two steps to the side, staying away from these two crazy people.

Molly came back before the ice cream was finished. In a short time, she bought textbooks and medicinal materials, leaving only her dress robe.

There are four clothing stores in Diagon Alley, Madam Malkin's Robe Store, Extraordinary Clothing Store, Fengya Wizard Clothing Store and the second-hand robe store that the Weasley family is most familiar with.

Madam Malkin's Robe Shop is located on the north side of Diagon Alley. The owner, Madam Malkin, wears many hats. She designs, cuts and makes garments by herself, and entertains customers and sells them herself. In addition to Hogwarts school uniforms, there are many other styles of wizard robes suitable for various occasions, and even plus-size clothing. It is said that Hagrid learned to make his own clothes from Mrs. Malkin.

Tuofan clothing store is equivalent to a luxury clothing store in the magical world. They pursue magnificence more than comfort, with more exquisite materials and more exquisite workmanship. Their main customer group is pure-blood families who are not short of money. Suede top hats with unicorn fur hatbands and pointed hats with gold and silver pagoda buttons are all their products.

Fengya Wizard Clothing Store is a chain brand clothing store with branches in London, Paris, and Hogsmeade Village. It also generously sponsored this Quidditch World Cup. This store not only sells traditional robes, but also novel styles of clothing.

Weird socks, wizard hats with vulture specimens, fire dragon leather boots... Fengya is always at the forefront of fashion in the wizarding world and leads the trend.

As for second-hand robe shops, the Weasley children are all familiar with them. They are cheap and affordable, and what you see is what you get.

Under a tacit understanding, everyone took Molly to Mrs. Malkin's Robe Shop and bought a dress that was almost the same style as a school robe, but the color was not black and there were several colors to choose from. , there is no school badge on the chest, but some flowers and plants.

After buying all the items needed for the start of school, Molly led the seven children to the Leaky Cauldron, preparing to borrow the fireplace from Old Tom to return to the Burrow. Loren and the others followed slowly behind, their eyes dripping. of turn.

George shook his shoulder and bumped into Fred: "Did you see the notice on the wall? The shop at No. 93 Diagon Alley is about to expire..."

Fred looked melancholy: "I saw it, it didn't say rent, but we definitely don't have enough money."

"Go and ask, at least you need to know how much is missing."

Listening to the two people muttering, Ron, who had been eavesdropping all the way, asked softly: "It's about to expire, but it's long before you graduate. What's the use of asking?"

"!!"

George and Fred were so frightened that they almost screamed and jumped away. When they saw Harry and their bad brother, they pushed them away in disgust: "It's none of your business, just go away and go away."

Ron glared at them: "Be careful I tell mom!"

"Be careful we drop spiders on your bed in the middle of the night!"

"Despicable evil wizard!"

"A timid little baby who is afraid of spiders."

Within a few rounds of the confrontation between the two sides, Ron screamed and wanted to die with the twins.

Loren and Hermione lagged behind, completely unconcerned with the farce ahead. Loren was thinking about the dress she had just seen when passing by the window of the Tuofan clothing store, and quietly glanced at the girl with his peripheral vision.

Hmm...it must look good on her.

Hermione was also musing on her own little thoughts. She didn't pay attention to the traffic at all, nor did she notice Loren's eyes. They were crowded together in a daze, and the two of them were forced to walk shoulder to shoulder on the spacious street.

Looking at the old signboard of the Leaky Cauldron getting closer and closer, Loren stopped and shouted: "Mrs. Weasley, please go back first. I suddenly remembered that I still haven't bought some potion ingredients."

George responded: "Yes, Mom, we also have some materials to buy."

Fred quickly covered Ron's mouth, his head moved rapidly, his lips didn't move but a voice came out from between his lips: "A bag of Bibi's multi-flavor beans."

"Um..." Ron struggled and raised two fingers.

"make a deal."

Hermione slowly raised her right hand and whispered, "Sorry, Mrs. Weasley, I also forgot to buy a book."

"..."

Molly frowned, looking at them suspiciously.