They met several of their classmates from Diagon Alley, not just Ernie.
A number of young witches from Hogwarts came for shopping, accompanied by their parents, in the weekend before the start of school.
They also met their roommate, Sycamore, and their twin friend, Jiaydan.
After greeting the members of Hedgehog, Harry turned his head and saw Zhou Zhang walking into the Owl Post Office accompanied by a gentleman with an elegant Asian face.
He instinctively ducked his neck and turned his head away, but then caught sight of Ginny and Hermione watching him with disdain.
In any case, the Gringotts building is one of the tallest in Diagon Alley, even if it were replaced with tents, it would still be the largest among them.
Instead of the warning at the entrance of the tent, there was a notice posted.
"Due to the Diagon Alley battle, multiple cracks have appeared in the underground vaults, which are currently under repair. For the safety of our esteemed customers:"
All customers who need to withdraw funds will have to go to the underground vaults with the staff of Gringotts.
Gringotts will continue to protect the wealth of all our esteemed customers as always. Thank you for your cooperation!"
Hermione whispered the words from the notice.
"That saves a lot of trouble, doesn't it?"
Ron shrugged fearlessly.
"I'd rather eat Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean to the point of getting the Booger flavor than ride in Gringotts' carriage."
"Oh, you're so disgusting, Ron!"
Ginny rolled her eyes at Ron.
In any case, it's still challenging to move the grand and solemn hall of Gringotts into a tent.
Although the overall appearance is similar, the space is still quite cramped.
Ginny, who was squeezed into Harry's arms, felt her face turn red all the way to her neck. Feeling the softness of the chest that rubbed against his chest and teased him by floating up and down near his nostrils, Harry felt as if he had been hit by some dark magic, causing blood to surge up his head in waves.
Even the delicate face of Zhou Zhang, whom he had just met briefly, became insignificant in Harry's mind.
"--Speaking of Harry"
Ron behind Harry didn't notice the odd color of Harry's face. He looked at the counter ahead.
A wizard was haggling with an elf over several rubies as red as ember, and eventually, they reached an agreement. The elf brought out a delicate wooden box from beneath the counter, opened it, and a pile of shiny Galleons cascaded onto the table.
Ron looked enviously at the wizard checking the coin's authenticity.
"I still don't know how much gold your parents have left you?"
Hermione's expression was disapproving. She poked Ron's back.
"That's Harry's privacy, Ron. You shouldn't ask that!"
"Oh, it's okay, Hermione--"
Harry panted as he recollected the amount of wealth in his vault.
"Honestly, I'm not quite sure, Ron. I've never counted, but it must be tens of thousands."
Not only Ron, but even Fred and George had a touch of envy in their eyes.
To facilitate the wizards in withdrawing funds, the elves had brought several large boxes of gold into the small room at the back of the hall, using a pay-as-you-go accounting method.
Therefore, Harry quickly obtained enough gold for his entire academic year.
Heavy gold bags in hand always brings joy, and after spending two months at Grimmauld Place, he had nothing to do but go to the Ministry of Magic for an interrogation, visit Mr. Weasley at St. Mungo's Hospital, and a quick visit to Diagon Alley.
Harry only took a stroll around the square near the old mansion for his summer vacation.
Harry was eager to start spending his money.
However, Mrs. Weasley encountered some controversy while withdrawing money.
"The book list sent from Hogwarts indicates that you don't need to buy any new books, which will save some money. But, oh, you all need new robes and some supplies. Ginny's cauldron is unusable; a new one needs to be bought."
Mrs. Weasley was crunching the numbers.
"I can buy them myself, Mom——"
Ginny said thoughtfully,
"I haven't spent much of the prize money I won in the competition!"
"Oh, dear, that's your own money, and you can use it elsewhere. It's our duty as your parents to provide you with learning supplies --"
Mrs. Weasley looked at Ginny with full eyes of affection, rubbing her thick, red hair.
This scene made Ron 'disgusted'. When Mrs. Weasley was talking to the elf, he turned his head and wrinkled his nose, complaining to Hermione who was raising her eyebrows with her arms crossed,
"Oh, but why do I have to spend my own gold to buy a broomstick, and why should I apply in advance!"
"It's simple, you little fool--"
George, imitating Mrs. Weasley, also patted Ron's hair and said with a smile,
"Because Dad and Mom don't have that much gold in the vault for you to squander."
Surprisingly, Hermione pulled out an entire Galleon from her account, which required her to spend several extra Galleons to buy a special pouch to carry all those coins.
"What are you planning to do, Hermione?"
Harry stared in astonishment at Hermione who was weighing the pouch.
"Are you planning to clear out the stock of Flourish and Blotts?"
"Oh. It's my business, Harry. Don't ask too many questions."
Hermione said, a bit ungraciously.
Buying robes from Madam Pince's Uniform Shop was their last collective activity.
As if knowing that this group of teenage boys and girls were at home when their door broke, Mrs. Weasley was generous enough to allow Harry and the others to have a free afternoon, while she herself took Ginny to buy a cauldron.
Fred and George vanished as quickly as a wisp of smoke.
Hermione didn't show much interest in Ron buying a broomstick, as Harry had predicted. When she found the tent of Flourish and Blotts, she dove in headfirst and ignored them.
"Let's go--"
Ron pulled Harry along eagerly towards the Quidditch Specialty Shop.
"We've wasted too much time, Ernie must be waiting for me!"
They spent much longer at the Quidditch Specialty Shop than they had imagined.
Harry only spent a little time restocking the supplies for his broom's maintenance box, but it was Ron's hesitation between the Lightning and Comet series that forced Harry to help with suggestions, along with Ernie.
As Ron happily walked out of the Quidditch Specialty Shop with his first ever serious Quidditch broom, the sun had already risen to the top of their heads.
Afterwards, Ernie went his own way.
Ron suggested that they go to the Butterbeer tent at the Puddlemere Whiskery Bar alone, as a celebration for him getting his first Quidditch broom.
Harry had no objections, they searched among the tents for a while before finding the tent of the Puddlemere Whiskery Bar.
Like most shops, the Puddlemere Whiskery Bar was built on its original site. However, the portal connecting the Muggle world had been destroyed.
"How's business, Tom?"
Harry was somewhat familiar with Tom, the owner of the Puddlemere Whiskery Bar. He had been staying in the bar's second floor for nearly a month.
"Oh, Mr. Potter, it's you?"
Inside the tent, which was brighter than the original bar, there were indeed some customers, but they were mainly parents with children having lunch. The original lively atmosphere of the Puddlemere Whiskery Bar had vanished.
Tom was boredly cleaning glasses behind the bar, and the sunlight following Harry and Ron's intrusion made Old Tom squint his eyes.
After recognizing Harry's face, Old Tom quickly came out from behind the bar and approached them.
"Oh, as you can see, business has dropped off dramatically--"
After greeting them, Old Tom's face fell immediately, and with a look, he indicated the food that the customers had ordered, looking dejected.
"This awful situation, most people are not too willing to stay out for a long time. "
So, there's hardly anyone coming to drink at my place now. The most people do is eat a bit and then rush off. To be honest, I really miss my old bar, but the Ministry says it'll be at least half a year before they give us back our original Diagon Alley--"
"That's already quite fast--"
Ron said,
"Think about the Quidditch stadium last year; it took hundreds of Ministry employees half a year to set up that stadium. They definitely can't pull out so many people now."
"The key is--"
Harry was quite concerned about this issue as it involved Professor Brain, and he looked at Old Tom with concern.
"Is the Ministry compensating you for your losses?"
