Hogwarts: Don't call me the Staff Maker

Chapter 765 The Freshman Who Can't Buy Anything

Life in the humble dwelling was relatively peaceful.

Ambitious Death Eaters have begun to act openly, throwing the wizarding world into chaos, as if it had returned to the time of the First Wizarding War more than a decade ago.

London is always shrouded in a thick, greyish-white fog. Even though it is August, the hottest month of the year, people inside the fog are shivering with cold.

That's a change brought about by Dementors; it probably won't be long before they start attacking Muggles without restraint.

But all of this had nothing to do with the few people living in the humble dwelling.

Whether it was Siron and Harry, who were targeted by Voldemort, or Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and other prospective members of the Order of the Phoenix, they were all well protected.

Mad-Eye Moody never sent them on any missions, and Mrs. Weasley never allowed anyone else to discuss the outside situation in front of them.

If you ignore the fact that you can't leave the Burrow, this holiday is almost no different from any other year.

However, Diagon Alley is a different story.

Fred and George ventured to Diagon Alley a few days ago and were nearly captured by Death Eaters hiding there. They were only saved by Tonks arriving just in time.

Back at the Burrow, Fred tells everyone that the Death Eaters have completely taken over Diagon Alley, with Ollivander's Wand Shop being a particular focus of their attention.

"There are at least three Death Eaters guarding the alley entrance." George glanced at Siron and said softly, "That's what we saw; there are probably more."

"But don't worry, your grandfather is fine," Fred said quickly. "Those Death Eaters are just guarding the alley entrance; they don't seem to have any intention of storming into the store."

"It's not that I don't have ideas, it's just that I can't do them." Xilun shook his head.

Given the Death Eaters' behavior, if they had actually stormed into the wand shop, they probably would have already used Garrick to threaten him.

Fortunately, Ollivander had some means of self-defense. As long as Garrick didn't come out of the wand shop on his own, even Voldemort couldn't do anything to him.

This is also the main reason why Siren can stay in the Burrow with peace of mind.

"What a waste of this year's holiday," Fred suddenly sighed. "It should be the busiest time in Diagon Alley, but there's not a soul in sight."

"Yeah—" George poured himself a glass of whiskey. "I wonder if this year's freshmen will be able to buy the things they need for school."

Buying things is definitely possible.

The children of those pure-blood families had absolutely no restrictions when going out into Diagon Alley; they could even buy things from shops that were already closed.

Fred said he witnessed a Death Eater use magic to force open the doors of Flourish and Blotts and select textbooks for two new students.

"I suppose other things are bought in the same way."

As for the magic wand—

Although Garrick closed his wand shop to prevent Death Eaters from taking advantage of him, obtaining a wand wasn't actually that difficult for most pure-blood wizards.

There are quite a few wand makers in Britain, but none of their products are as good as Ollivander's.

If they didn't mind the trouble, they could go a little further and buy wands from Grigovich.

Therefore, the Death Eaters' occupation of Diagon Alley had almost no impact on pure-blood newcomers.

But the same thing is a huge problem for students from mixed-race and Muggle families.

They can't get into Diagon Alley.

The Hogwarts professors tried many methods, including joining forces to form a group to protect Diagon Alley.

With Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout working together, the Death Eaters entrenched there were no match for them.

However, the Death Eaters had their own methods. They couldn't do anything to the professor, but they could threaten the shopkeeper.

Under their threat, all the shops in Diagon Alley closed their doors. Professor McGonagall and her companions couldn't force the doors open with magic like the Death Eaters, so they went several times but returned empty-handed.

Charlie later told me that Professor McGonagall had apparently purchased a batch of books, uniforms, and herbs for the new students from elsewhere. Additionally, Headmaster Maxim of Beauxbatons offered to help.

In comparison, the wand became the easiest problem to solve.

Last week, Professor McGonagall visited the Burrow, bringing with her all the new hair that couldn't be bought as wands. Siron turned them all into wands in just three days—the cores were their own hair, so there was no worry about them being unusable.

Now we just have to wait for Professor McGonagall to come and collect it.

"Think about it, you're in a worse situation," Fred said, patting Celen on the shoulder.

"We're just unable to operate, but you're giving away wands for free."

"Yeah, what a huge loss!" George clutched his chest, looking distressed. "Twenty-eight wands, that's almost two hundred Galleons!"

"Who said I was going to give them away for free?" Siren glanced at the two of them. "The newborn wands are seven gallons each, that's cheap enough, not a single nut can be shortchanged."

"Are you sure those little guys can come up with seven Galleons?" Fred asked, raising an eyebrow.

Previously, for the safety of the new students and to prevent them from being targeted by Death Eaters, the Hogwarts professors did not bring them to Diagon Alley.

As a result, this year's freshmen can't even get into Diagon Alley, let alone exchange money at Gringotts.

Those mixed-race freshmen are a little better off; since they have a wizard in their family, they can still get some Galleons.

But those Muggle-born freshmen will probably only have pounds sterling.

"You don't mean you want them to pay in pounds, do you?" Fred asked.

"What would I do with pounds? I don't need them," Siron said, shaking his head.

"You can go to Gringotts and exchange them for Galleons," Ron said. "Colin Crevy goes to Gringotts every year to exchange for Galleons; he said it himself."

"Not everyone can freely exchange pounds for gallons." Hermione said as she walked out of the kitchen.

"Normally, only Muggle-born students can exchange one hundred pounds for twenty Galleons before the start of each academic year. If a wizard has already graduated from Hogwarts, one hundred pounds will only get them one Galleon."

"One? That's so few!"

"That's quite a lot." Hermione shook her head. "Don't forget, a Galleon is a gold coin bigger than a bottle cap."

"Yes, that's why I don't plan to accept pounds; it's too unprofitable," Celen said.

"But the new students don't have Galon either?"

"It's just not available right now," Xiren shook his head. "I can wait a while longer; they can use it first and pay after the war is over."

"Ah, that's a good idea too," Fred said with a smile.

No one refuted Siron's statement; it seemed that everyone believed the wizarding war was bound to end, and that they would surely emerge victorious.

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