The little pub still looked exactly the same as when Harry had seen it last year—not a single thing had changed.
Dirty, messy, dim, and nearly empty.
Only two or three people sat in the corners. The walls were lit by kerosene lamps, making it hard to see clearly.
Old Tom sat behind the bar, directly facing the door, lazily wiping a bottle of liquor. He looked extremely bored.
When someone came into the pub, he didn't react at all.
It wasn't that he didn't know how to run a business—this was simply the nature of the Leaky Cauldron.
As one of the few known gateways between the Muggle world and the wizarding world, the Leaky Cauldron saw a tremendous amount of foot traffic.
Especially around times like the beginning or end of term at Hogwarts and during the holidays—there was a constant stream of wizards coming and going, even on ordinary days.
Unfortunately, they were merely passing through. They weren't true patrons of the Leaky Cauldron.
The Leaky Cauldron—famous as it was—was seen by 99% of those who passed through it as nothing more than a stepping stone between the two worlds.
Very few people ever came here just to eat, drink, or stay the night.
Naturally, Old Tom assumed Harry was just another wizard passing through.
Harry walked over, looked distastefully at the filthy wooden tables, and waved to get Tom's attention.
Old Tom looked up and, upon recognizing Harry, his cheeks began trembling with excitement.
He was just about to speak when Harry motioned for silence, and Tom obediently shut his mouth.
The two of them walked into the small courtyard where Tom lived alone. Tom asked in a fawning tone, "What can I do for you, Mr. Potter?"
Harry got straight to the point. "I want to buy the Leaky Cauldron."
After learning how much his "parents" had left him, Harry had been thinking about ways to spend some of it.
For any wizard, the amount of Galleons he had stored in Gringotts was more than substantial.
But if that money only got used occasionally when he needed something, then what was the point of having so much of it?
So after some thought, he decided investing a portion into the Leaky Cauldron was a good idea.
Harry had long realized that wizards lacked economic sense.
There were far too many places in the wizarding world that, with just a little improvement, could turn huge profits.
The Leaky Cauldron was one of them. First of all, it was famous. Second, it already functioned as a restaurant, pub, and inn all in one—practically built to make money.
Most importantly, Harry suspected that Old Tom had already been thinking about selling the place. Otherwise, he wouldn't have considered buying it.
After all, a few years from now, the owner would become Hannah—Neville's wife.
Sure enough, Tom didn't look sad or reluctant at all upon hearing Harry's offer. He just seemed a little puzzled. "May I ask why you want to buy this place?"
"I don't have a home. So I need one," Harry replied with a not-quite-reasonable reason. It wasn't entirely true, but it wasn't false either. He couldn't stay in a Muggle hotel forever.
It was a heavy topic—his parents had died long ago, and his home had been reduced to rubble.
Tom immediately regretted running his mouth.
He quickly said, "I've been wanting to sell this pub for years now. I'm getting old, and I want to return to my hometown in Northern Ireland and retire on a farm. But no one's ever been willing to take over. If you're interested, I'd be happy to sell it to you at a low price."
Harry declined Tom's generosity—it felt too much like taking advantage of an old man's sweat and blood.
"Could you help me contact some renovation companies?" Harry asked.
With the matter settled, Tom looked far more relaxed. "Of course."
The renovations were Harry's top priority. Whether he could turn the Leaky Cauldron into a high-class, popular inn would depend entirely on how the remodeling went.
Since the decision was made, Harry and Tom signed the contract on the spot.
Tom never expected that the matter he'd been dwelling on for so long would be resolved so suddenly.
He still had to say goodbye to many friends, clean out the bar, and contact magical renovation companies.
The two of them agreed to meet again in a few days, giving Tom time to handle all the necessary arrangements.
…
Back at the hotel, Harry began thinking about what would come next.
Owning the pub was only the first step. He'd also need to consider things like brand-new furniture, future supply chains for food and drink, accommodations, management… and most importantly—staff.
Harry didn't want to hire wizards.
He wanted to hire Muggles.
Because wizarding thinking was far too narrow, while Muggles were constantly exposed to new ideas and innovations from the outside world. That's what could truly transform the pub.
What Harry envisioned was a place that appeared to reflect wizarding culture on the surface—but was fundamentally run with modern service standards at its core.
He believed the wizarding world would come to love that. It was simply the inevitable direction of the times—Harry was just getting ahead of it.
But hiring Muggles would be tricky.
The Ministry of Magic had long since established rules forbidding the Muggle world from discovering the wizarding world.
If anything went wrong, the Ministry would come and wipe the Muggles' memories.
Still, in modern times, wizards were having more and more interactions with Muggles.
Some wizards had already begun employing Muggles for services. In those cases, magical contracts had to be signed. The most important clause in such contracts: Muggles were absolutely forbidden from revealing the existence of magic to other Muggles.
Harry made a note to buy some of those magical contracts in Diagon Alley while writing a letter to Hagrid.
He was still too young. When dealing with people, most wouldn't take him seriously—it wasn't convenient. He needed an adult to assist him.
And Hagrid was the perfect choice. With that huge build of his, things could be simplified just by his presence.
Of course, Dumbledore or Snape could also help, but… could you really imagine someone like that helping to open a pub?
In his letter, Harry explained his plan to purchase the Leaky Cauldron and asked Hagrid to be his representative. He also reminded him not to forget to feed Big Black.
After writing the letter, he called Little Black and had him deliver it to Hagrid.
…
Then he wandered around Diagon Alley for a bit—but couldn't find any place selling the contracts.
Because they were technically restricted items, no one dared sell them openly.
But a shopkeeper at a general goods store gave him a subtle hint: "Maybe… Knockturn Alley…"
Passing through a narrow alleyway, he reached a hidden street thick with a shady and uneasy atmosphere—this was Knockturn Alley.
Voldemort would probably love a place like this, but Harry wasn't impressed.
After asking an old witch, he did eventually find a place selling the contracts for Muggles.
Very expensive—but Harry held his nose and bought them anyway.
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