The windows all over the street were filled with all sorts of junk. Good things were sold inside the shops of wizards who produced them or as a shop of writing supplies that had a contract with farmers to supply the same parchment.

"Gringotts," my mom announced when we finally stopped. "Ron, remember where everything is."

We were in front of a snow-white building towering over small shops. The building seemed to overwhelm with its majestic beauty. And there was a goblin in a scarlet and gold uniform standing by the highly polished bronze doors. I've seen enough of them, and there's a whole clan of them living in the foothills.

He was two heads shorter than me. Short like all his people. But that doesn't make it any less combative. The lovingly polished halberd sparkles. Goblin runes are carved on the butt of the blade and on the shaft of the halberd, as well as on his steel armor. He had a dark green, intelligent face, a pointed beard, and, as I noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as we walked inside. Now we were standing in front of a second set of doors, this time silver. They were engraved with lines about greedy thieves.

Two goblins greeted us with bows as we passed through the silver doors and found ourselves in a huge marble hall. A hundred more goblins sat on high chairs behind a long counter, making notes in large ledgers, weighing coins on copper scales, and examining precious stones with magnifying glasses. There were more doors leading out of the hall than I could count. other goblins let people in and out through them. Well, yes, the only bank in the whole of magical Britain. Although it has branches in other countries, goblins mostly live in the mountainous area of our continent, which is accessed by passageways in magical Britain.

Mom came up to the counter, my brothers and I crowded behind her.

"Good morning," Mom said to the free goblin. "We're here to get some money from the Weasley safe."

"Do you have a key to it, ma'am?"

Mom took out a small bronze key and put it on the counter.

The goblin studied him through a special glass with runes.

"Everything seems to be in order."

"Mom, what's he doing?" I was curious about everything, and I stared at the goblin curiously.

"He's checking for a fake key, Ron."

"The scoffer!" goblin called his colleague at the counter to escort us to our safe.

We followed him to one of the doors. Mom took out a thermos and took a couple of sips of mint tea.

"Children, take a few sips of tea for motion sickness."

The goblin just snorted.

"Oh, those people with their weak bodies."

The scoffer opened the door for us. We were standing in a narrow stone corridor lit by burning torches. The road sloped steeply down, and there were thin cast-iron rails on the floor. The scoffer whistled, and a large cart clanked up to us. We climbed inside — we managed it with difficulty, although there were expansion charms on the cart, there were still a lot of us, and let's go. Percy, like his mother, turned green almost immediately from the speed and somersaults of the cart.

At first, we raced through a maze of winding corridors. I tried to remember the way, but soon gave up this useless task. I was starting to feel a little queasy, after all, my broom would never accelerate to that speed. I tried to take my mind off the local attractions. Luna said that goblins at Gringots keep dragons in top-secret safes. The cart has already passed the stalactites by the underground lake twice. Are we going in circles? The rattling cart seemed to know the way by itself, because the Scoffer wasn't driving it, even though he had his hand on the lever.

Maybe he has mental control like Dad's car? Although there is only mental height control, and turns are controlled by the steering wheel. Turn the steering wheel from left to right. I rode our Ford with my brothers while my mom wasn't looking. I even tried to control it. I'm taking off well, but I'm having a little trouble landing.

Icy air blew over me, and my eyes stung, but I kept them wide open. At some point, it seemed to me that I noticed a flash of fire at the end of the corridor, and I quickly turned around to see if it was a dragon, but I was too late — the cart went down sharply. Now she was passing by an underground lake, with stalactites and stalagmites growing on the ceiling and walls, just like in the Alshan Mountains. Finally, we arrived at the place.

Goblin unlocked the door. A cloud of green smoke erupted from inside, and when it cleared, I sighed in frustration. There was a small pile of silver coins inside. A few gold pieces. A few more knuts.

The mother began to collect the coins in her bag. Oh, I hope we have enough for second-hand stuff. Even though Bill and Charlie are sending a portion of our salaries to help us, there's still not enough money for such a horde of schoolchildren. Unfortunately, some things need to be bought new. And they're expensive. I'll need to get a new wand in two or three years.

* * *

Another frantic cart race, and we were already standing outside the bank, squinting in the sunlight.

Mom took out bottles of pumpkin juice from her purse and handed one to Percy. Then she took a sip herself. The greenery gradually began to fade from their faces.

"Kids, let's go sit in the park in a couple of blocks. I have your favorite berry juice with me. Percy and I need to get some rest."

"Yes, Mom, let's go. I'm not feeling well either." I muttered.

"Mom, we're going to visit Dr. Fireworks for some miracle firecrackers." Fred grumbled, taking out a bottle of apple juice from his hip bag. He squeezed the apples himself this morning. And his brother was cutting sandwiches with smoked mountain salmon.

"Fred, save me half the juice. I'll share a sandwich with you." George said.

"All right, go ahead, but behave yourself. Ron, Percy, here's Morse for you." Mom took out a cool bottle of raspberry-currant juice from her purse. I poured myself a cup of warm chamomile tea.

After getting drunk, we went to the local magic park, with benches between the spreading trees and a small magical spring that restores strength. It shone softly with a blue-violet light in the semi-darkness of the park. Rainbow hedgehogs rustled in the bushes, their needles shining softly. Moon moths fluttered around, which can only be found in the twilight of a forest grove.

I was feeding my little rat with wheat seeds and apple slices when the twins found us half an hour later. Mom was just feeding the magic chipmunks. She took out a bag of moonbeams. As soon as she scattered them on the grass, sparkling chipmunks appeared from behind the bushes — they carefully picked up the berries, leaving behind a scattering of blue sparks. They say they bring luck to the one who feeds them for the whole day. Percy carefully held out the berries in the palm of his hand to one of the chipmunks, who quickly devoured them from his palm.

"It feels like I can move mountains. But let's get back to shopping, otherwise we won't have time for everything, Mom."

There were also magical frogs croaking around the spring. They shimmered with a green light with silver streaks. Their choir played musical roulades and they caught and swallowed mosquitoes flying into the park.

Finally, we rested and went back to Diagon Alley to get the things we needed.

* * *

"Come on, kids, let's go to Malkin's first to get Percy's robes."

"Mom, why does Percy have new robes?" I was surprised. After all, everyone always bought used things. Only Bill and Charlie were wearing new clothes. And that was only because they didn't have to pay tuition. They passed the quota, and now the twins had to pay fifty galleons each for a year of schooling. Grandpa paid well for Ginny and me. Otherwise, I would have gone to study at the Welsh School of Magic. Most of the Weasley clan was graduating.

"Because he's the prefect, Roni."

I grimaced as I took a bite of a sandwich with smoked pork and boiled egg with tomato slices. I was hungry again. It's not enough for me to learn from this nerd at home, but he will also build us at school. Percy, if you let him go, he won't shut up. He's always grumbling about future OWLs. They say he has so many subjects and everything needs to be passed perfectly. That's why Roland needs to shut up and sit quietly in his room. Take an example from your sister.

We entered a ready-to-wear studio. There were even Muggle clothes for sale, as well as frock coats and classic trousers for magicians. Madame Malkin turned out to be a squat, smiling sorceress dressed in mauve robes.

"Are we going to study at Hogwarts? It's been a long time, Molly, since I've had anyone from your family." She said it before we could explain the purpose of our visit to her. "You've come to the right place."

"We only need robes for the older boy." Mom intervened in the saleswoman's monologue.

"Well, as you wish. Will you wait here or outside?" The smiling woman pointed to the rows of chairs against the wall of the studio.

"Here."

"Look at the selection of ready-to-wear goods over there. Pray, I've known you for a long time, аs a mother with many children, you will get a discount. There are second-hand items in that rack over there if you don't want to take new ones. Nels recently brought almost new things. It's time for your youngest to change his trousers to longer ones. You can see for yourself. And I'll give you fifteen sickles for a pair of trousers. You'll only pay me three galleons."

"Well okay. Ron, go get yourself a pair of oversized trousers."

I went to inspect the clothes that fit me. These dark blue jeans will do, bend the legs a little so that they grow and that's it.

"Mom, I chose these jeans."

"So this is for the winter, but for the fall and the end of spring we need something easier. These gray ones with a dark green check will do. Ron, try it on. Isolde, will you give us another five sickles for our shirts? We'll take two."

"Well, pray, but only because you're my school friend."

Madame Malkin placed Percy next to the mirror. Centimeter-long ribbons immediately began to spin around him. After that, she began to adjust his robes. At the same time, I was trying on blue and gray shirts. I opted for a lighter grey and a flannel dark blue for winter. After waiting for her to finish and paying for the purchases, we went outside.

* * *

We went to the Pen and Ink shop to buy parchment and quills. The feathers are supplied by the Nile Goose Farm in our region, and they have many suppliers all over the world's magic frontier. And the parchments are bought from western farms, where there are pastures for cattle.

A silver bell tinkled above the door, and we entered the shop. The air smelled of wax, dried herbs, and a hint of magic. There were racks of pencil cases along the walls, and bundles of goose feathers glittered in the windows: snow-white, with a silver sheen, and even a few shimmering ones, as if sprinkled with stardust. Master Einar, the white-haired shopkeeper with lace-up glasses, looked up from the ledger and smiled affably:

"Welcome, Mrs. Weasley! It's been a while since you've been in, it's been three months now. How can I help you?"

Mom looked around the shop windows and sighed:

"How expensive everything is, but what can you do? We need feathers. Ordinary, but of good quality. For school. Jars of black and blue ink."

I immediately rushed to the display case with enchanted feathers:

"Wow, look, Percy! These people write themselves! And these ones change the ink color on command! Imagine how convenient it is to take notes on the history of magic."

Percy, more restrained, went to the counter and took out a list:

"Three simple pens, please. And one more thing with a basic durability enchantment — for the control ones. Six jars of black ink, a jar of blue ink, and two jars of green ink."

Master Einar deftly collected the order, putting the feathers on the counter:

"Excellent specimens. Length 17 cm, manual sharpening, basic protective charms. The ink was recently imported from our Longbottom factory in Cumbria. Only 12 silvers for everything. Percy reached for the money and asked for a few more ordinary notebooks made of stitched parchment.

Mam raised her eyebrows:

"Twelve?! Yes, in the spring we took the same set for eight! Why have prices jumped again?"

Einar sighed and put down the pen he was about to pack:

"Spring is molting, dear. Then the farmers hand over the feathers in bags, we buy them in bulk, and we lower prices. And now it's summer, there are no fresh supplies, we are working with stocks. Besides, all kinds of travelers take them in the summer, and demand is growing.... Plus, you know, protection from insects, protection from rodents, enchantment for safety — all this is included in the price."

Mom pursed her lips, but didn't argue:

"Okay, okay. Give my youngest three regular pens and one enchanted one for the tests. But then give me more wax for polishing — and a discount for a bulk order, like last time! And four jars of black ink and one blue one. Oh, and parchment for notes and homework.

Einar chuckled:

"For wholesale— of course. And I'll add the wax for free, as regular customers. Here, take the scrolls for homework. And six stitched notebooks."

He carefully packed the feathers in a leather pencil case, handed it to Mom, and winked at Percy and me:

"And for the young students— a lollipop! Today we have an action: "To the pen — a sweetness for inspiration.""

I happily grabbed a mint ball, and Percy nodded politely:

"Thank you, Master Einar."

Mom, already relenting, put the coins on the counter:

"Well, at least that way. Next time I come in the spring, I'll stock up for the future!"

"A wise decision," Einar nodded. "And if you tell me in advance, I'll reserve the best feathers from the new batch for you."

Mom was about to head for the exit with a pen case, when I, without looking up from looking at the windows, exclaimed:

"Mom, look! The enchanted parchment!"

Percy was also interested and moved closer to the shelf, where sheets of parchment lay in neat piles — thick, slightly golden, with smooth holes along one edge.

"Stitched like notebooks," he remarked. "Convenient for notes."

Master Einar, noticing the boys' interest, came over and took one of the stacks:

"Great choice! This is an enchanted parchment from the western farms of the magical world. It is made from the skin of special magical sheep — it is stronger than usual, the ink on it does not fade for a hundred years, and the edges do not crumble. In addition, the firmware is made with an enchanted thread — notebooks do not fall apart even after hundreds of flips.

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