Alex stands next to his friends as Hagrid offers them a handful of Floo Powder from the Inn’s supplies. He sighs and steps forward, deciding to go first. He grabs a generous helping of Floo Powder, steps into the fireplace, and confidently says, “Diagon Alley.”


    Instantly, a large green flame swallows Alex and Jewel. Alex stays calm, and as soon as the flames vanish, he notices his surroundings have changed. He steps out of the fireplace, notices all the dirt and soot on his clothes and takes out a bottle of water and a towel, and begins cleaning his soot-covered shoes and clothes.


    Jewel wonders, looking a bit confused.


    Quickly behind him, Rishi, Tereza, Menchi, and finally Hagrid appear in the same fireplace.


    Alex takes a good look around and notices that he’s in a rather large building, with not one but many fireplaces. It looks like a mix between a pub and a train station, with people constantly arriving and leaving.


    “So dirty!” Tereza complains loudly. Alex, still holding the cleaning supplies, removes a bit of soot from her boots and pants as well.


    “Thank you! You’re such a gentleman. I like it,” she says with a huge smile, rubbing his head as he cleans her clothes, thankful for the gesture.


    Menchi, however, cleverly uses her Aura to avoid any soot. Her clothes—a pair of shorts, a black top, and a casual green robe, somehow remain spotless.


    Rishi, on the other hand, uses a large, dirty old coat to prevent his clothes from getting dirty. He promptly tosses it back into his inventory once he arrives, his clothes completely clean.


    “... Are you guys bored or something? To plan for a situation like this? Also, Menchi, that robe looks kinda cool, but combined with your clothes… well, forget it!” Alex questions them, slightly annoyed they didn’t mention anything to him about these precautions.


    Hagrid, completely ignoring the soot, speaks up: “Let’s go, friends. We’ve got a lot of things to buy, mostly for the poor animals. Classes must go on, despite the Corruption. Can’t have those little buggers forage by themselves under these circumstances. Dumbledore will have to pay a little bit more this year for the Care of Magical Creatures class.”


    The group walks outside, arriving in the busy Diagon Alley. Despite school being in session, the street is still filled with quite a few people. Some are obviously here to have fun, while others are busily running from store to store, clearly not here for a leisurely shopping trip but to do their jobs.


    “Now, everyone, I need yer help! I’ve got to teach a class in just a few hours, so we’ll have to split up, to cover everything. Let’s meet back here at 12 PM. Alex and Jewel, you two are one team. Rishi, how about you come with me? The girls can go together.”


    “...”


    Alex, looking slightly annoyed at Hagrid, isn’t sure whether to complain or just drop it. Jewel, despite being a cute and well-behaved spider, isn’t especially helpful in assisting him with shopping, only able to offer some moral support.


    Hagrid steps close to Alex and whispers, “I’m sorry. I trust you and have some special business you need to take care of for me. First, visit Eeylops Owl Emporium here in Diagon Alley and give them this order. More importantly, I need ya to go to Knockturn Alley. I’ve got some bets to pay and collect. Go to the usual betting shop right next to Cobb & Webb’s and give that old, nasty witch of an owner what I owe her. After that, see if you can spot that old snake called Morris. He usually hangs around there all day, that worthless bum. He owes me some special food for attracting Nifflers. It’s supposedly even more tempting for the bunch than Galleons! If I can replicate and confirm this, I’ll become famous, ya hear me?! Maybe they’ll give me an Order of Merlin, maybe even first class, for solving this issue!” Hagrid explains, his voice growing louder and louder as he begins to brag and laugh loudly, drawing skeptical looks from everyone around him.


    “... Sure, Hagrid. That sounds… promising,” Alex says, receiving a note along with a small pouch obviously filled with various coins and another smaller pouch containing Hagrid’s betting debts.


    The group splits up, with Tereza, Menchi, and Rishi looking at Alex with a hint of worry. Alex just shrugs and boldly leaves, waving them goodbye.


    Alex wanders through the busy streets of Diagon Alley, taking in the weirdly odd and almost silly-looking buildings. Jewel also looks around in excitement, clearly curious about this strange new place. A few people stare at Jewel, but thanks to her cute appearance, nobody is really scared—spiders aren’t that uncommon as pets for wizards.


    Alex is slightly annoyed when two middle-aged witches approach him, wanting to pet Jewel. Jewel, however, is annoyed and wants to bite them, forcing Alex to desperately plead with her in his mind not to attack.


    “Sorry, Karens, we need to go,” he says, quickly moving on, leaving behind two offended, confused and stunned witches.


    Alex approaches a nearby shopkeeper working in a shop called “Bats! Bats! Bats!”. The man is cleaning the shop entrance with a broom, the building itself a weirdly thin structure with lots of bats sitting on top. sea??h thё Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    “Excuse me, I’m new around here. Where the he—I mean, where could I find Eeylops Owl Emporium?” Alex asks, trying not to curse to avoid being a bad influence on Jewel, for the first time discovering a serious problem in his manners, obviously seeing a need to rectify his everyday use of language.


    “Owls?! Are you blind? I’m all about bats—they’re clearly superior! Silly wizard!” the disgruntled owner snaps at Alex.


    “Aren’t bats pretty much blind? Tell you what, I’ll refer a large bat enthusiast—no, a huge bat enthusiast—to your shop. But just tell me where that Owl Emporium is,” Alex says in a diplomatic tone, vaguely making a note to tell Tereza about this place.


    “Fine, you seem new here. It’s just 10 stores that way,” he says, pointing in the direction Alex was already heading.


    “Thank you,” Alex says, quickly moving in the direction he was told. He arrives at the Owl Emporium, relieved to find it completely empty. As he enters, he sees dozens of owls in cages: barn owls, brown owls, screech owls, tawny owls, and even a snowy owl that looks a bit like Hedwig. Each costs a whopping 10 to 15 Galleons.


    Alex quickly approaches the shopkeeper, hands over Hagrid’s order, and within a few minutes, the man packs a huge amount of items onto a cart, presenting it to Alex.


    “Hmm, that’s all? Are you sure? Do I need to check if you didn’t scam me? Hehe,” Alex says, looking at the shopkeeper with a skeptical expression. He’s honestly just joking around, too lazy to check all the tiny items on the shopping list.


    The shopkeeper begins to tremble slightly.


    “Show me that damn order,” Alex says, unleashing a small amount of Ren, jewel doing the same but slightly overdoing it scaring the shopkeeper, making him tremble and nervously hand over the note. Alex reads every single item on it and then checks the corresponding items on the cart. It’s mostly supplies and food for owls.


    Alex then notices that there are three 1-month supplies of owl food listed on the order, but he only spots two huge crates on the cart.


    “... You better bring out the rest. I’ll give you one more chance before I burn this place down and let my beautiful female friend here taste roasted owl after all… until she’s full!”


    “I’m sorry! I just missed a few things. I’ll bring them immediately!” the scared shopkeeper replies, hurrying to get the missing items.


    Alex notes in horror that the shopkeeper wasn’t just short one crate of food—a bunch of other smaller items were missing as well. The man quickly stuffs them onto the cart.


    “I’m so sorry about that. Anyway, that’ll be 158 Galleons,” the shopkeeper says.


    Alex opens Hagrid’s small pouch, carefully counts the coins, and confirms there are exactly 160 Galleons inside. He takes out 10 Galleons and throws the pouch to the shopkeeper.


    “Keep the rest,” he says smugly and leaves stuffing all the items including the cart itself into his inventory. The shopkeeper looks like he wants to object but decides to remain silent, sighing a bit.


    Leaving the shop, Alex spots a store selling all kinds of food nearby.