"Oh, Harry—my dear boy—you really could turn up anywhere—"
Mrs. Weasley was still panting from sprinting over. She yanked a big clothes brush out of her bag and started beating the soot off Harry like he'd just come down a chimney.
Mr. Weasley took Harry's glasses, tapped them once with his wand, and handed them back sparkling like they'd just come out of the box.
Harry looked around at every face—really looked. All of them were worried about him. Not a single wizard here was rolling their eyes because he'd caused another scene. Sometimes the days since he'd escaped Privet Drive felt like a dream.
"Sean! Sweetheart, I'm so happy to see you!"
Mrs. Weasley's eyebrows shot up when she spotted Sean. She looked like Christmas had come early.
"Come on, my dears, let's go get some Galleons."
She said it with total confidence, like the Weasley vault had suddenly turned into Fort Knox.
She grabbed Harry with her left hand, Sean with her right, and plunged straight into the crowd.
Ron, now officially the "neglected" one, just shrugged at Hermione and Justin.
"Typical. Mum's always nicer to strangers. Though I've gotta say, I've never seen her this excited to visit Gringotts."
…
Sean had basically been kidnapped by Mrs. Weasley's enthusiasm. She kept up a constant stream of questions about his summer the whole way. Mr. Weasley just smiled his usual goofy smile and nodded along until he spotted Hermione's parents standing awkwardly by the long marble counter, waiting for their daughter to introduce them.
"Aha! Mr. and Mrs. Granger—you're Muggles!" Mr. Weasley announced happily. "We've got to go for a drink sometime! What've you got there? Oh, you're changing Muggle money—look at that, Molly!"
He pointed excitedly at the ten-pound note in Mr. Granger's hand like it was a rare magical creature.
Soon goblins appeared to whisking different families off to different vaults. Everyone had to split up for a bit.
The Weasleys dragged Harry off. Hermione hurried over to help her parents figure out the money-exchange situation.
That left just Sean and Justin.
"Together?" Justin asked. He was apparently flying solo on the vault run too.
"Sure," Sean said.
The little cart ride was a total rush—wind whipping their hair as the goblin floored it through the underground tunnels.
When they reached Justin's vault, Sean had to squint. Piles of Galleons, random rare ingredients, and stuff Sean couldn't even identify.
"My dad isn't exactly sold on the wizarding world," Justin said with an easy laugh, "and neither is Mum, really. But luckily they both support me."
His collar was still perfectly pressed—Mrs. Finch-Fletchley's handiwork, no doubt.
Sean glanced at him. So everything in Justin's trunk back at school had just been the tip of the iceberg?
He remembered there were limits on how many pounds you could exchange for Galleons… which meant the Finch-Fletchleys were converting actual gold or jewels.
Yeah, Sean officially couldn't relate to rich-people problems.
Then it was Sean's turn.
Justin's jaw actually dropped. He could roughly guess the number of coins in there, and the number was obscene.
Did this kid rob Gringotts? No, that would've taken too long.
That was the moment Justin truly understood how terrifyingly profitable a top-tier alchemist could be.
Back above ground, the whole crew met up again and headed for Flourish and Blotts.
"I still can't believe Mum and Dad found the money for all our school stuff this year," Ron muttered, half in shock. "Five complete sets of Lockhart books—plus actual notes in the margins of the second-hand ones! And Ginny's getting a new wand and robes…"
"But doesn't your dad work at the Ministry?" Harry asked, confused.
"Mate, the Ministry isn't exactly known for handing out fat paychecks," Ron whispered. Hermione and Justin leaned in, curious.
When they reached the bookshop, they found a mob outside trying to push their way in. A giant banner stretched across the upper windows:
THE SAGE'S MASTER?
Exclusive Interview with Grandmaster Flora Olivia Tella—On Sale Now!
And a smaller one underneath:
GILDEROY LOCKHART
signing his autobiography Magical Me
Today 12:30 – 4:30 p.m.
"The Sage's Master"? I've never even heard that title," Hermione said, baffled.
"Maybe because we don't live in the wizarding world full-time?" Justin offered with a grin.
The banner had clearly been up for a while—every copy of the Daily Prophet in sight had already been snatched up. A few wizards were walking around looking smug.
"That alchemical sage is so young—and he's still a Hogwarts student! Merlin, I graduated way too early," one witch sighed to her shy boyfriend.
"Y-yeah… though, uh, we graduated five years ago," he mumbled.
She glared, stormed off. He realized his mistake a second too late and scurried after her with a panicked face.
Hermione winced like she felt his pain.
"What an idiot," she muttered.
Justin nodded solemnly. Harry and Ron looked clueless.
"You two are idiots too!" she snapped.
But the Lockhart frenzy quickly distracted her. The crowd around the shop was mostly middle-aged witches who looked exactly like Mrs. Weasley—starstruck and giggling.
A very tired-looking wizard stood at the door pleading, "Ladies, please, no shoving… mind the books…"
Sean got swept along in the middle of the group and somehow squeezed inside with everyone else.
The line snaked from the front door all the way to the back of the store, where Gilderoy Lockhart was holding court.
They each grabbed a copy of Break with a Banshee and slipped into the line near the Weasleys and Grangers.
"Oh, there you are—perfect timing!" Mrs. Weasley said breathlessly, patting her hair flat. "Such a shame we missed the paper, but we're about to meet the man himself…"
Finally they could see him.
Lockhart sat behind a table surrounded by massive posters of his own face—all winking and flashing dazzling white smiles at the crowd. The real Lockhart wore forget-me-not blue robes that matched his eyes perfectly, and his pointed hat sat at a jaunty angle on his wavy golden hair.
"Yes, yes, everyone," he boomed, arms spread wide, "you are absolutely in for a treat today. Both of today's big events involve yours truly—"